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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Invasion, by William Le Queux
+
+
+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 Invasion
+
+
+Author: William Le Queux
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 18, 2011  [eBook #36155]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 36155-h.htm or 36155-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36155/36155-h/36155-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36155/36155-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs was in bold face in the
+      original (=bold=).
+
+      Characters enclosed by curly braces after a carat character
+      were superscripted in the original (example: 13^{th}).
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE GREAT FIGHT.]
+
+
+THE INVASION
+
+by
+
+WM. LE QUEUX
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LONDON: GEORGE NEWNES, LTD.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+"I sometimes despair of the country ever becoming alive to the danger of
+the unpreparedness of our present position until too late to prevent
+some fatal catastrophe."
+
+This was the keynote of a solemn warning made in the House of Lords by
+Earl Roberts. His lordship, whilst drawing attention to our present
+inadequate forces, strongly urged that action should be taken in
+accordance with the recommendations of the Elgin Commission that "no
+military system could be considered satisfactory which did not contain
+powers of expansion outside the limit of the regular forces of the
+Crown."
+
+"The lessons of the late war appear to have been forgotten. The one
+prevailing idea seems to be," said Earl Roberts, "to cut down our
+military expenditure without reference to our increased responsibilities
+and our largely augmented revenue. History tells us in the plainest
+terms that an Empire which cannot defend its own possessions must
+inevitably perish." And with this view both Lord Milner and the Marquis
+of Lansdowne concurred. But surely this is not enough. If we are to
+retain our position as the first nation of the world we must be prepared
+to defend any raid made upon our shores.
+
+The object of this book is to illustrate our utter unpreparedness for
+war from a military standpoint; to show how, under certain conditions
+which may easily occur, England can be successfully invaded by Germany;
+and to present a picture of the ruin which must inevitably fall upon us
+on the evening of that not far-distant day.
+
+Ever since Lord Roberts formulated his plans for the establishment of
+rifle-clubs I have been deeply interested in the movement: and after a
+conversation with that distinguished soldier the idea occurred to me to
+write a forecast, based upon all the available military knowledge--which
+would bring home to the British public vividly and forcibly what really
+would occur were an enemy suddenly to appear in our midst. At the outset
+it was declared by the strategists I consulted to be impossible. No such
+book could ever be written, for, according to them, the mass of
+technical detail was far too great to digest and present in an
+intelligible manner to the public.
+
+Lord Roberts, however, gave me encouragement. The skeleton scheme of the
+manner in which England could be invaded by Germany was submitted to a
+number of the highest authorities on strategy, whose names, however, I
+am not permitted to divulge, and after many consultations, much
+criticism, and considerable difference of opinion, the "general idea,"
+with amendment after amendment, was finally adopted.
+
+That, however, was only a mere preliminary. Upon questions of tactics
+each tactician consulted held a different view, and each criticised
+adversely the other's suggestions.
+
+One way alone remained open--namely, to take the facts exactly as they
+stood, add the additional strength of the opposing nations as they at
+present are, and then draw logical conclusions. This, aided by experts,
+was done: and after many days of argument with the various authorities,
+we succeeded in getting them in accord as to the general practicability
+of an invasion.
+
+Before putting pen to paper it was necessary to reconnoitre carefully
+the whole of England from the Thames to the Tyne. This I did by means of
+a motor-car, travelling 10,000 miles of all kinds of roads, and making a
+tour extending over four months. Each town, all the points of vantage,
+military positions, all the available landing places on the coast, all
+railway connections, and telephone and telegraph communications, were
+carefully noted for future reference. With the assistance of certain
+well-known military experts, the battlefields were carefully gone over
+and the positions marked upon the Ordnance map. Thus, through four
+months we pushed on day by day collecting information and material,
+sometimes in the big cities, sometimes in the quietest and remotest
+hamlets, all of which was carefully tabulated for use.
+
+Whatever critics may say, and however their opinions may differ, it can
+only be pointed out, first, that the "general idea" of the scheme is in
+accordance with the expressed and published opinions of the first
+strategists of to-day, and that, as far as the forecast of events is
+concerned, it has been written from a first-hand knowledge of the local
+colour of each of the scenes described. The enemy's Proclamations
+reproduced are practically copies of those issued by the Germans during
+the war of 1870.
+
+That the experts and myself will probably be condemned as alarmists and
+denounced for revealing information likely to be of assistance to an
+enemy goes without saying. Indeed, an attempt was made in the House of
+Commons to suppress its publication altogether. Mr. R. C. Lehmann, who
+asked a question of the Prime Minister, declared that it was "calculated
+to prejudice our relations with the other Powers," while the late Sir H.
+Campbell-Bannerman, in a subsequent letter apologising to me for
+condemning in the House a work he had not read, repeated that it was
+likely to "produce irritation abroad and might conceivably alarm the
+more ignorant public at home."
+
+Such a reflection, cast by the late Prime Minister upon the British
+nation was, to say the least, curious, yet it only confirmed the truth
+that the Government are strenuously seeking to conceal from our people
+the appalling military weakness and the consequent danger to which the
+country is constantly open.
+
+To be weak is to invite war: to be strong is to prevent it.
+
+To arouse our country to a sense of its own lamentable insecurity is the
+object of this volume, which is somewhat compressed from the form in
+which it originally appeared, and that other nations besides ourselves
+are interested in England's grave peril is proved by the fact that it
+has already been published in the German, French, Spanish, Danish,
+Russian, Italian, and even Japanese languages.
+
+    WILLIAM LE QUEUX.
+
+
+
+
+Speaking in the House of Lords on the 10th July 1905, I said:--"It is
+to the people of the country I appeal to take up the question of the
+Army in a sensible practical manner. For the sake of all they hold dear,
+let them bring home to themselves what would be the condition of Great
+Britain if it were to lose its wealth, its power, its position." The
+catastrophe that may happen if we still remain in our present state of
+unpreparedness is visibly and forcibly illustrated in Mr. Le Queux's new
+book which I recommend to the perusal of every one who has the welfare
+of the British Empire at heart.
+
+    29. Nov. 1905       Roberts, FM
+
+
+
+
+THE INVASION.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+THE ATTACK.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE SURPRISE.
+
+
+Two of the myriad of London's nightworkers were walking down Fleet
+Street together soon after dawn on Sunday morning, 2nd September.
+
+The sun had not yet risen. That main artery of London traffic, with its
+irregular rows of closed shops and newspaper offices, was quiet and
+pleasant in the calm, mystic light before the falling of the smoke-pall.
+
+Only at early morning does the dear old City look its best; in that one
+quiet, sweet hour when the night's toil has ended and the day's has not
+yet begun. Only in that brief interval at the birth of day, when the
+rose tints of the sky glow slowly into gold, does the giant metropolis
+repose--at least, as far as its business streets are concerned--for at
+five o'clock the toiling millions begin to again pour in from all points
+of the compass, and the stress and storm of London at once recommences.
+
+And in that hour of silent charm the two grey-bearded sub-editors,
+though engaged in offices of rival newspapers were making their way
+homeward to Dulwich to spend Sunday in a well-earned rest, and were
+chatting "shop," as Press men do.
+
+"I suppose you had the same trouble to get that Yarmouth story through?"
+asked Fergusson, the news-editor of the "Dispatch," as they crossed
+Whitefriars Street. "We got about half a column, and then the wire shut
+down."
+
+"Telegraph or telephone?" inquired Baines, who was four or five years
+younger than his friend.
+
+"We were using both--to make sure."
+
+"So were we. It was a rattling good story--the robbery was mysterious,
+to say the least--but we didn't get more than half of it. Something's
+wrong with the line, evidently," Baines said. "If it were not such a
+perfect autumn morning, I should be inclined to think there'd been a
+storm somewhere."
+
+"Yes--funny, wasn't it?" remarked the other. "A shame we haven't the
+whole story, for it was a first-class one, and we wanted something. Did
+you put it on the contents-bill?"
+
+"No, because we couldn't get the finish. I tried in every way--rang up
+the Central News, P.A., Exchange Telegraph Company, tried to get through
+to Yarmouth on the trunk, and spent half an hour or so pottering about,
+but the reply from all the agencies, from everywhere, in fact, was the
+same--the line was interrupted."
+
+"Just our case. I telephoned to the Post Office, but the reply came back
+that the lines were evidently down."
+
+"Well, it certainly looks as though there'd been a storm, but----" and
+Baines glanced at the bright, clear sky overhead, just flushed by the
+bursting sun--"there are certainly no traces of it."
+
+"There's often a storm on the coast when it's quite still in London, my
+dear fellow," remarked his friend wisely.
+
+"That's all very well. But when all communication with a big place like
+Yarmouth is suddenly cut off, as it has been, I can't help suspecting
+that something has happened which we ought to know."
+
+"You're perhaps right, after all," Fergusson said. "I wonder if anything
+has happened. We don't want to be called back to the office, either of
+us. My assistant, Henderson, whom I've left in charge, rings me up over
+any mare's nest. The trunk telephones all come into the Post Office
+Exchange up in Carter Lane. Why not look in there before we go home? It
+won't take us a quarter of an hour, and we have several trains home from
+Ludgate Hill."
+
+Baines looked at his watch. Like his companion, he had no desire to be
+called back to his office after getting out to Dulwich, and yet he was
+in no mood to go making reporter's inquiries.
+
+"I don't think I'll go. It's sure to be nothing, my dear fellow," he
+said. "Besides, I have a beastly headache. I had a heavy night's work.
+One of my men is away ill."
+
+"Well, at any rate, I think I'll go," Fergusson said. "Don't blame me if
+you get called back for a special edition with a terrible storm, great
+loss of life, and all that sort of thing. So long." And, smiling, he
+waved his hand and parted from his friend in the booking office of
+Ludgate Hill Station.
+
+Quickening his pace, he hurried through the office, and, passing out by
+the back, ascended the steep, narrow street until he reached the Post
+Office Telephone Exchange in Carter Lane, where, presenting his card, he
+asked to see the superintendent-in-charge.
+
+Without much delay he was shown upstairs into a small private office,
+into which came a short, dapper, fair-moustached man with the bustle of
+a man in a great hurry.
+
+"I've called," the sub-editor explained, "to know whether you can tell
+me anything regarding the cause of the interruption of the line to
+Yarmouth a short time ago. We had some important news coming through,
+but were cut off just in the midst of it, and then we received
+information that all the telephone and telegraph lines to Yarmouth were
+interrupted."
+
+"Well, that's just the very point which is puzzling us at this moment,"
+was the night-superintendent's reply. "It is quite unaccountable. Our
+trunk going to Yarmouth seems to be down, as well as the telegraphs.
+Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and beyond Beccles seem all to have been suddenly
+cut off. About eighteen minutes to four the operators noticed something
+wrong, switched the trunks through to the testers, and the latter
+reported to me in due course."
+
+"That's strange! Did they all break down together?"
+
+"No. The first that failed was the one that runs through Chelmsford,
+Colchester, and Ipswich up to Lowestoft and Yarmouth. The operator found
+that he could get through to Ipswich and Beccles. Ipswich knew nothing,
+except that something was wrong. They could still ring up Beccles, but
+not beyond."
+
+As they were speaking, there was a tap at the door, and the assistant
+night-superintendent entered, saying:
+
+"The Norwich line through Scole and Long Stratton has now failed, sir.
+About half-past four Norwich reported a fault somewhere north, between
+there and Cromer. But the operator now says that the line is apparently
+broken, and so are all the telegraphs from there to Cromer, Sheringham,
+and Holt."
+
+"Another line has gone, then!" exclaimed the superintendent-in-charge,
+utterly astounded. "Have you tried to get on to Cromer by the other
+routes--through Nottingham and King's Lynn, or through Cambridge?"
+
+"The testers have tried every route, but there's no response."
+
+"You could get through to some of the places--Yarmouth, for instance--by
+telegraphing to the Continent, I suppose?" asked Fergusson.
+
+"We are already trying," responded the assistant superintendent.
+
+"What cables run out from the east coast in that neighbourhood?"
+inquired the sub-editor quickly.
+
+"There are five between Southwold and Cromer--three run to Germany, and
+two to Holland," replied the assistant. "There's the cable from Yarmouth
+to Barkum, in the Frisian Islands; from Happisburg, near Mundesley, to
+Barkum; from Yarmouth to Emden; from Lowestoft to Haarlem, and from
+Kessingland, near Southwold, to Zandyport."
+
+"And you are trying all the routes?" asked his superior.
+
+"I spoke to Paris myself an hour ago and asked them to cable by all five
+routes to Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Happisburg," was the
+assistant's reply. "I also asked Liverpool Street Station and King's
+Cross to wire down to some of their stations on the coast, but the reply
+was that they were in the same predicament as ourselves--their lines
+were down north of Beccles, Wymondham, East Dereham, and also south of
+Lynn. I'll just run along and see if there's any reply from Paris. They
+ought to be through by this time, as it's Sunday morning, and no
+traffic." And he went out hurriedly.
+
+"There's certainly something very peculiar," remarked the
+superintendent-in-charge to the sub-editor. "If there's been an
+earthquake or an electrical disturbance, then it is a most extraordinary
+one. Every single line reaching to the coast seems interrupted."
+
+"Yes. It's uncommonly funny," Fergusson remarked. "I wonder what could
+have happened. You've never had a complete breakdown like this before?"
+
+"Never. But I think----"
+
+The sentence remained unfinished, for his assistant returned with a slip
+of paper in his hand, saying:
+
+"This message has just come in from Paris, I'll read it. 'Superintendent
+Telephones, Paris, to Superintendent Telephones, London.--Have obtained
+direct telegraphic communication with operators of all five cables to
+England. Haarlem, Zandyport, Barkum, and Emden all report that cables
+are interrupted. They can get no reply from England, and tests show that
+cables are damaged somewhere near English shore.'"
+
+"Is that all?" asked Fergusson.
+
+"That's all. Paris knows no more than we do," was the assistant's
+response.
+
+"Then the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts are completely isolated--cut off
+from post office, railways, telephones, and cables!" exclaimed the
+superintendent. "It's mysterious--most mysterious!" And, taking up the
+instrument upon his table, he placed a plug in one of the holes down the
+front of the table itself, and a moment later was in conversation with
+the official in charge of the traffic at Liverpool Street, repeating the
+report from Paris, and urging him to send light engines north from
+Wymondham or Beccles into the zone of the mystery.
+
+The reply came back that he had already done so, but a telegram had
+reached him from Wymondham to the effect that the road-bridges between
+Kimberley and Hardingham had apparently fallen in, and the line was
+blocked by débris. Interruption was also reported beyond Swaffham, at a
+place called Little Dunham.
+
+"Then even the railways themselves are broken!" cried Fergusson. "Is it
+possible that there has been a great earthquake?"
+
+"An earthquake couldn't very well destroy all five cables from the
+Continent," remarked the superintendent gravely.
+
+The latter had scarcely placed the receiver upon the hook when a third
+man entered--an operator who, addressing him, said:
+
+"Will you please come to the switchboard, sir? There's a man in the
+Ipswich call office who has just told me a most extraordinary story. He
+says that he started in his motor-car alone from Lowestoft to London at
+half-past three this morning, and just as it was getting light he was
+passing along the edge of Henham Park, between Wangford village and
+Blythburgh, when he saw three men apparently repairing the telegraph
+wires. One was up the pole, and the other two were standing below. As he
+passed he saw a flash, for, to his surprise, one of the men fired
+point-blank at him with a revolver. Fortunately, the shot went wide, and
+he at once put on a move and got down into Blythburgh village, even
+though one of his tyres went down. It had probably been pierced by the
+bullet fired at him, as the puncture was unlike any he had ever had
+before. At Blythburgh he informed the police of the outrage, and the
+constable, in turn, woke up the postmaster, who tried to telegraph back
+to the police at Wrentham, but found that the line was interrupted. Was
+it possible that the men were cutting the wires, instead of repairing
+them? He says that after repairing the puncture he took the village
+constable and three other men on his car and went back to the spot,
+where, although the trio had escaped, they saw that wholesale havoc had
+been wrought with the telegraphs. The lines had been severed in four or
+five places, and whole lengths tangled up into great masses. A number of
+poles had been sawn down, and were lying about the roadside. Seeing that
+nothing could be done, the gentleman remounted his car, came on to
+Ipswich, and reported the damage at our call office."
+
+"And is he still there?" exclaimed the superintendent quickly, amazed at
+the motorist's statement.
+
+"Yes. I asked him to wait for a few moments in order to speak to you,
+sir."
+
+"Good. I'll go at once. Perhaps you'd like to come also, Mr. Fergusson?"
+
+And all three ran up to the gallery, where the huge switchboards were
+ranged around, and where the night operators, with the receivers
+attached to one ear, were still at work.
+
+In a moment the superintendent had taken the operator's seat, adjusted
+the ear-piece, and was in conversation with Ipswich. A second later he
+was speaking with the man who had actually witnessed the cutting of the
+trunk line.
+
+While he was thus engaged an operator at the farther end of the
+switchboard suddenly gave vent to a cry of surprise and disbelief.
+
+"What do you say, Beccles? Repeat it," he asked excitedly.
+
+Then a moment later he shouted aloud:
+
+"Beccles says that German soldiers--hundreds of them--are pouring into
+the place! The Germans have landed at Lowestoft, they think."
+
+All who heard those ominous words sprang up dumbfounded, staring at each
+other.
+
+The assistant-superintendent dashed to the operator's side and seized
+his apparatus.
+
+"Halloa--halloa, Beccles! Halloa--halloa--halloa!"
+
+The response was some gruff words in German, and the sound of scuffling
+could distinctly be heard. Then all was silent.
+
+Time after time he rang up the small Suffolk town, but in vain. Then he
+switched through to the testers, and quickly the truth was plain.
+
+The second trunk line to Norwich, running from Ipswich by Harleston and
+Beccles, had been cut farther towards London.
+
+But what held everyone breathless in the trunk telephone headquarters
+was that the Germans had actually effected the surprise landing that had
+so often in recent years been predicted by military critics; that
+England on that quiet September Sunday morning had been attacked.
+England was actually invaded. It was incredible!
+
+Yet London's millions in their Sunday morning lethargy were in utter
+ignorance of the grim disaster that had suddenly fallen upon the land.
+
+Fergusson was for rushing at once back to the "Dispatch" office to get
+out an extraordinary edition, but the superintendent, who was still in
+conversation with the motorist, urged judicious forethought.
+
+"For the present, let us wait. Don't let us alarm the public
+unnecessarily. We want corroboration. Let us have the motorist up here,"
+he suggested.
+
+"Yes," cried the sub-editor. "Let me speak to him."
+
+Over the wire Fergusson begged the stranger to come at once to London
+and give his story, declaring that the military authorities would
+require it. Then, just as the man who had been shot at by German advance
+spies--for such they had undoubtedly been--in order to prevent the
+truth leaking out, gave his promise to come to town at once, there came
+over the line from the coastguard at Southwold a vague, incoherent
+telephone message regarding strange ships having been seen to the
+northward, and asking for connection with Harwich; while King's Cross
+and Liverpool Street Stations both rang up almost simultaneously,
+reporting the receipt of extraordinary messages from King's Lynn, Diss,
+Harleston, Halesworth, and other places. All declared that German
+soldiers were swarming over the north, that Lowestoft and Beccles had
+been seized, and that Yarmouth and Cromer were isolated.
+
+Various stationmasters reported that the enemy had blown up bridges,
+taken up rails, and effectually blocked all communication with the
+coast. Certain important junctions were already held by the enemy's
+outposts.
+
+Such was the amazing news received in that high-up room in Carter Lane,
+City, on that sweet, sunny morning when all the great world of London
+was at peace, either still slumbering or week-ending.
+
+Fergusson remained for a full hour and a half at the Telephone Exchange,
+anxiously awaiting any further corroboration. Many wild stories came
+over the wires telling how panic-stricken people were fleeing inland
+away from the enemy's outposts. Then he took a hansom to the "Dispatch"
+office, and proceeded to prepare a special edition of his paper--an
+edition containing surely the most amazing news that had ever startled
+London.
+
+Fearing to create undue panic, he decided not to go to press until the
+arrival of the motorist from Ipswich. He wanted the story of the man who
+had actually seen the cutting of the wires. He paced his room excitedly,
+wondering what effect the news would have upon the world. In the rival
+newspaper offices the report was, as yet, unknown. With journalistic
+forethought he had arranged that at present the bewildering truth should
+not leak out to his rivals, either from the railway termini or from the
+telephone exchange. His only fear was that some local correspondent
+might telegraph from some village or town nearer the metropolis which
+was still in communication with the central office.
+
+Time passed very slowly. Each moment increased his anxiety. He had sent
+out the one reporter who remained on duty to the house of Colonel Sir
+James Taylor, the Permanent Under-Secretary for War. Halting before the
+open window, he looked up and down the street for the arriving
+motor-car. But all was quiet.
+
+Eight o'clock had just boomed from Big Ben, and London still remained in
+her Sunday morning peace. The street, bright in the warm sunshine, was
+quite empty, save for a couple of motor-omnibuses and a sprinkling of
+gaily dressed holiday-makers on their way to the day excursion trains.
+
+In that centre of London--the hub of the world--all was comparatively
+silent, the welcome rest after the busy turmoil that through six days in
+the week is unceasing, that fevered throbbing of the heart of the
+world's great capital.
+
+Of a sudden, however, came the whirr-r of an approaching car, as a
+thin-faced, travel-stained man tore along from the direction of the
+Strand and pulled up before the office. The fine car, a six-cylinder
+"Napier," was grey with the mud of country roads, while the motorist
+himself was smothered until his goggles had been almost entirely
+covered.
+
+Fergusson rushed out to him, and a few moments later the pair were in
+the upstairs room, the sub-editor swiftly taking down the motorist's
+story, which differed very little from what he had already spoken over
+the telephone.
+
+Then, just as Big Ben chimed the half-hour, the echoes of the
+half-deserted Strand were suddenly awakened by the loud, strident voices
+of the newsboys shouting:
+
+"'Dispatch,' spe-shall! Invasion of England this morning! Germans in
+Suffolk! Terrible panic! Spe-shall! 'Dispatch,' Spe-shall!"
+
+As soon as the paper had gone to press Fergusson urged the
+motorist--whose name was Horton, and who lived at Richmond--to go with
+him to the War Office and report. Therefore, both men entered the car,
+and as they did so a man jumped from a hansom in breathless haste. He
+was the reporter whom Fergusson had sent out to Sir James Taylor's house
+in Cleveland Square, Hyde Park.
+
+"They thought Sir James spent the night with his brother up at
+Hampstead," he exclaimed. "I've been there, but find that he's away for
+the week-end at Chilham Hall, near Buckden."
+
+"Buckden! That's on the Great North Road!" cried Horton, "We'll go at
+once and find him. Sixty miles from London. We can be there under two
+hours!"
+
+And a few minutes later the pair were tearing due north, turning at last
+into the handsome lodge-gates of Chilham Park, and running up the great
+elm avenue, drew up before the main door of the ancient hall, a quaint
+many-gabled old place of grey stone.
+
+A few moments later the breathless journalist faced the Permanent
+Under-Secretary with the news that England was invaded--that the Germans
+had actually effected a surprise landing on the east coast.
+
+Sir James and his host stood speechless. Like others, they at first
+believed the pale-faced, bearded sub-editor to be a lunatic, but a few
+moments later, when Horton briefly repeated the story, they saw that,
+whatever might have occurred, the two men were at least in deadly
+earnest.
+
+"Impossible!" cried Sir James. "We should surely have heard something of
+it if such were actually the case. The coastguard would have telephoned
+the news instantly. Besides, where is our fleet?"
+
+"The Germans evidently laid their plans with great cleverness. Their
+spies, already in England, cut the wires at a pre-arranged hour last
+night," declared Fergusson. "They sought to prevent this gentleman from
+giving the alarm by shooting him. All the railways to London are already
+either cut or held by the enemy. One thing, however, is clear--fleet or
+no fleet, the east coast is entirely at their mercy."
+
+Host and guest exchanged dark glances.
+
+"Well, if what you say is the actual truth," exclaimed Sir James,
+"to-day is surely the blackest day that England has ever known."
+
+"Yes, they should have listened to Lord Roberts," snapped his lordship.
+"I suppose you'll go at once, Taylor, and make inquiries?"
+
+"Of course," responded the Permanent Secretary. And a quarter of an hour
+later, accepting Horton's offer, he was sitting in the car as it headed
+back towards London.
+
+Could the journalist's story be true? As he sat there, with his head
+bent against the wind and the mud splashing into his face, Sir James
+recollected too well the repeated warnings of the past five years,
+serious warnings by men who knew our shortcomings, but to which no
+attention had been paid. Both the Government and the public had remained
+apathetic, the idea of peril had been laughed to scorn, and the country
+had, ostrich-like, buried its head in the sand, and allowed Continental
+nations to supersede us in business, in armaments, in everything.
+
+The danger of invasion had always been ridiculed as a mere alarmist's
+fiction; those responsible for the defence of the country had smiled,
+the Navy had been reduced, and the Army had remained in contented
+inefficiency.
+
+If the blow had really been struck by Germany? If she had risked three
+or four, out of her twenty-three, army corps, and had aimed at the heart
+of the British Empire? What then? Ay! what then?
+
+As the car glided down Regent Street into Pall Mall and towards
+Whitehall, Sir James saw on every side crowds discussing the vague but
+astounding reports now published in special editions of all the Sunday
+papers, and shouted wildly everywhere.
+
+Boys bearing sheets fresh from the Fleet Street presses were seized, and
+bundles torn from them by excited Londoners eager to learn the latest
+intelligence.
+
+Around both War Office and Admiralty great surging crowds were
+clamouring loudly for the truth. Was it the truth, or was it only a
+hoax? Half London disbelieved it. Yet from every quarter, from the north
+and from across the bridges, thousands were pouring in to ascertain what
+had really occurred, and the police had the greatest difficulty in
+keeping order.
+
+In Trafalgar Square, where the fountains were plashing so calmly in the
+autumn sunlight, a shock-headed man mounted the back of one of the lions
+and harangued the crowd with much gesticulation, denouncing the
+Government in the most violent terms; but the orator was ruthlessly
+pulled down by the police in the midst of his fierce attack.
+
+It was half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. The Germans had already
+been on English soil ten hours, yet London was in ignorance of where
+they had actually landed, and utterly helpless.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EFFECT IN THE CITY.
+
+
+Monday, 3rd September, 1910, was indeed Black Monday for London.
+
+By midnight on Sunday the appalling news had spread everywhere. Though
+the full details of the terrible naval disasters were not yet to hand,
+yet it was vaguely known that our ships had been defeated in the North
+Sea, and many of them sunk.
+
+Before 7 a.m. on Monday, however, telegrams reaching London by the
+subterranean lines from the north gave thrilling stories of frightful
+disasters we had, while all unconscious, suffered at the hands of the
+German fleet.
+
+With London, the great cities of the north, Liverpool, Manchester,
+Sheffield, and Birmingham, awoke utterly dazed. It seemed incredible.
+And yet the enemy had, by his sudden and stealthy blow, secured command
+of the sea and actually landed.
+
+The public wondered why a formal declaration of war had not previously
+been made, ignorant of the fact that the declaration preceding the
+Franco-German War was the first made by any civilised nation prior to
+the commencement of hostilities for one hundred and seventy years. The
+peril of the nation was now recognised on every hand.
+
+Eager millions poured into the City by every train from the suburbs and
+towns in the vicinity of the Metropolis, anxious to ascertain the truth
+for themselves, pale with terror, wild with excitement, indignant that
+our land forces were not already mobilised and ready to move eastward to
+meet the invader.
+
+As soon as the banks were opened there was a run on them, but by noon
+the Bank of England had suspended all specie payments. The other banks,
+being thus unable to meet their engagements, simply closed the doors,
+bringing business to an abrupt standstill. Consols stood at 90 on
+Saturday, but by noon on Monday were down to 42--lower even than they
+were in 1798, when they stood at 47-1/4. Numbers of foreigners tried to
+speculate heavily, but were unable to do so, for banking being suspended
+they could not obtain transfers.
+
+On the Stock Exchange the panic in the afternoon was indescribable.
+Securities of every sort went entirely to pieces, and there were no
+buyers. Financiers were surprised that no warning in London had betrayed
+the position of affairs, London being the money centre of the world.
+Prior to 1870 Paris shared with London the honour of being the pivot of
+the money market, but on the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of
+France during the Franco-German War, Paris lost that position. Had it
+not been that the milliards comprising the French War indemnity were
+intact in golden louis in the fortress of Spandau, Germany could never
+have hoped to wage sudden war with Great Britain before she had made
+Berlin independent of London in a money sense, or, at any rate, to
+accumulate sufficient gold to carry on the war for at least twelve
+months. The only way in which she could have done this was to raise her
+rate so as to offer better terms than London. Yet directly the Bank of
+England discovered the rate of exchange going against her, and her stock
+of gold diminishing, she would have responded by raising the English
+bank-rate in order to check the flow. Thus competition would have gone
+on until the rates became so high that all business would be checked,
+and people would have realised their securities to obtain the necessary
+money to carry on their affairs. Thus, no doubt, the coming war would
+have been forecasted had it not been for Germany's already prepared
+war-chest, which the majority of persons have nowadays overlooked. Its
+possession had enabled Germany to strike her sudden blow, and now the
+Bank of England, which is the final reserve of gold in the United
+Kingdom, found that as notes were cashed so the stock of gold diminished
+until it was in a few hours compelled to obtain from the Government
+suspension of the Bank charter. This enabled the Bank to suspend cash
+payment, and issue notes without a corresponding deposit of the
+equivalent in gold.
+
+The suspension, contrary to increasing the panic, had, curiously enough
+the immediate effect of somewhat allaying it. Plenty of people in the
+City were confident that the blow aimed could not prove an effective
+one, and that the Germans, however many might have landed, would quickly
+be sent back again. Thus many level-headed business men regarded the
+position calmly, believing that when our command of the sea was again
+re-established, as it must be in a day or two, the enemy would soon be
+non-existent.
+
+Business outside the money market was, of course, utterly demoralised.
+The buying of necessities was now uppermost in everyone's mind. Excited
+crowds in the streets caused most of the shops in the City and West End
+to close, while around the Admiralty were great crowds of eager men and
+women of all classes, tearful wives of bluejackets jostling with
+officers' ladies from Mayfair and Belgravia, demanding news of their
+loved ones--inquiries which, alas! the casualty office were unable to
+satisfy. The scene of grief, terror, and suspense was heartrending.
+Certain ships were known to have been sunk with all on board after
+making a gallant fight, and those who had husbands, brothers, lovers, or
+fathers on board wept loudly, calling upon the Government to avenge the
+ruthless murder of their loved ones.
+
+In Manchester, in Liverpool, indeed, all through the great manufacturing
+centres of the north, the excitement of London was reflected.
+
+In Manchester there was a panic "on 'Change," and the crowd in Deansgate
+coming into collision with a force of mounted police, some rioting
+occurred, and a number of shop windows broken, while several agitators
+who attempted to speak in front of the infirmary were at once arrested.
+
+Liverpool was the scene of intense anxiety and excitement, when a report
+was spread that German cruisers were about the estuary of the Mersey. It
+was known that the coal staithes, cranes, and petroleum tanks at
+Penarth, Cardiff, Barry, and Llanelly had been destroyed; that Aberdeen
+had been bombarded; and there were rumours that, notwithstanding the
+mines and defences of the Mersey, the city of Liverpool, with all its
+crowd of valuable shipping, was to share the same fate.
+
+The whole place was in a ferment. By eleven o'clock the stations were
+crowded by women and children sent by the men away into the
+country--anywhere from the doomed and defenceless city. The Lord Mayor
+vainly endeavoured to inspire confidence, but telegrams from London,
+announcing the complete financial collapse, only increased the panic.
+
+In London all through the morning, amid the chaos of business in the
+City, the excitement had been steadily growing, until shortly after
+three o'clock the "Daily Mail" issued a special edition containing a
+copy of a German proclamation which, it was said, was now posted
+everywhere in East Norfolk, East Suffolk, and in Maldon in Essex,
+already occupied by the enemy.
+
+The original proclamation had been found pasted by some unknown hand
+upon a barn door near the town of Billericay, and had been detached and
+brought to London in a motor-car by a correspondent.
+
+It showed plainly the German intention was to deal a hard and crushing
+blow, and it struck terror into the heart of London, for it read as will
+be seen on next page.
+
+Upon the walls of the Mansion House, the Guildhall, outside the Bank of
+England, the Royal Exchange, upon the various public buildings within
+the city wards, and westward beyond Temple Bar, proclamations were being
+posted. Indeed, upon all the hoardings in Greater London appeared
+various broadsheets side by side. One by the Chief Commissioner of
+Police, regulating the traffic in the streets, and appealing to the
+public to assist in the preservation of order; and a Royal Proclamation,
+brief but noble, urging every Briton to do his duty, to take his part in
+the defence of King and country, and to unfurl the banner of the British
+Empire that had hitherto carried peace and civilisation in every quarter
+of the world. Germany, whose independence had been respected, had
+attacked us without provocation; therefore hostilities were, alas,
+inevitable.
+
+When the great poster printed in big capitals and headed by the Royal
+Arms made its appearance it was greeted with wild cheering.
+
+It was a message of love from King to people--a message to the highest
+and to the lowest. Posted in Whitechapel at the same hour as in
+Whitehall, the throngs crowded eagerly about it and sang "God Save our
+Gracious King," for if they had but little confidence in the War Office
+and Admiralty, they placed their trust in their Sovereign, the first
+diplomat in Europe. Therefore the loyalty was spontaneous, as it always
+is. They read the royal message, and cheered and cheered again.
+
+As evening closed in yet another poster made its appearance in every
+city, town, and village in the country, a poster issued by military and
+police officers, and naval officers in charge of dockyards--the order
+for mobilisation.
+
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    WE, GENERAL COMMANDING THE 3rd GERMAN ARMY,
+
+    HAVING SEEN the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor
+    William, King of Prussia, Chief of the Army, which authorises
+    the generals commanding the different German Army Corps to
+    establish special measures against all municipalities and
+    persons acting in contradiction to the usages of war, and to
+    take what steps they consider necessary for the well-being of
+    the troops.
+
+    HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE:
+
+    (1) THE MILITARY JURISDICTION is hereby established. It applies
+    to all territory of Great Britain occupied by the German Army,
+    and to every action endangering the security of the troops by
+    rendering assistance to the enemy. The Military Jurisdiction
+    will be announced and placed vigorously in force in every parish
+    by the issue of this present proclamation.
+
+    (2) ANY PERSON OR PERSONS NOT BEING BRITISH SOLDIERS, or not
+    showing by their dress that they are soldiers:
+
+    (a) SERVING THE ENEMY as spies;
+
+    (b) MISLEADING THE GERMAN TROOPS when charged to serve as
+    guides;
+
+    (c) SHOOTING, INJURING, OR ROBBING any person belonging to the
+    German Army, or forming part of its personnel;
+
+    (d) DESTROYING BRIDGES OR CANALS, damaging telegraphs,
+    telephones, electric light wires, gasometers, or railways,
+    interfering with roads, setting fire to munitions of war,
+    provisions, or quarters established by German troops;
+
+    (e) TAKING ARMS against the German troops,
+
+    =WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH.=
+
+    IN EACH CASE the officer presiding at the Council of War will be
+    charged with the trial, and pronounce judgment. Councils of War
+    may not pronounce ANY OTHER CONDEMNATION SAVE THAT OF DEATH.
+
+    THE JUDGMENT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED.
+
+    (3) TOWNS OR VILLAGES in the territory in which the
+    contravention takes place will be compelled to pay indemnity
+    equal to one year's revenue.
+
+    (4) THE INHABITANTS MUST FURNISH necessaries for the German
+    troops daily as follows:--
+
+    1 lb. 10 oz. bread.
+    13 oz. meat.
+    3 lb. potatoes.
+    1 oz. tea.
+    1-1/2 oz. tobacco or 5 cigars.
+    1/2 pint wine.
+    1-1/2 pints beer, or 1 wine-glassful of brandy or whisky.
+
+    The ration for each horse:--
+
+    13 lb. oats.
+    3 lb. 6 oz. hay.
+    3 lb. 6 oz. straw.
+
+    (ALL PERSONS WHO PREFER to pay an indemnity in money may do so
+    at the rate of 2s. per day per man.)
+
+    (5) COMMANDERS OF DETACHED corps have the right to requisition
+    all that they consider necessary for the well-being of their
+    men, and will deliver to the inhabitants official receipts for
+    goods so supplied.
+
+    WE HOPE IN CONSEQUENCE that the inhabitants of Great Britain
+    will make no difficulty in furnishing all that may be considered
+    necessary.
+
+    (6) AS REGARDS the individual transactions between the troops
+    and the inhabitants, we give notice that one German mark shall
+    be considered the equivalent to one English shilling.
+
+    =The General Commanding the Ninth German Army Corps,
+    VON KRONHELM.=
+
+    Beccles, _September the Third, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: THE ENEMY'S FAMOUS PROCLAMATION.]
+
+
+The public, however, little dreamed of the hopeless confusion in the War
+Office, in the various regimental depôts throughout the country, at
+headquarters everywhere, and in every barracks in the kingdom. The armed
+forces of England were passing from a peace to a war footing; but the
+mobilisation of the various units--namely, its completion in men,
+horses, and material--was utterly impossible in the face of the
+extraordinary regulations which, kept a strict secret by the Council of
+Defence until this moment, revealed a hopeless state of things.
+
+The disorder was frightful. Not a regiment was found fully equipped and
+ready to march. There was a dearth of officers, equipment, horses,
+provisions--of, indeed, everything. Men had guns without ammunition;
+cavalry and artillery were without horses; engineers only half equipped;
+volunteers with no transport whatever; balloon sections without
+balloons, and searchlight units vainly trying to obtain the necessary
+instruments.
+
+Horses were being requisitioned everywhere. The few horses that, in the
+age of motor-cars, now remained on the roads in London were quickly
+taken for draught, and all horses fit to ride were commandeered for the
+cavalry.
+
+During the turmoil daring German spies were actively at work south of
+London. The Southampton line of the London and South-Western Railway was
+destroyed--with explosives placed by unknown hands--by the bridge over
+the Wey, near Weybridge, being blown up; and again that over the Mole,
+between Walton and Esher, while the Reading line was cut by the great
+bridge over the Thames at Staines being destroyed. The line, too,
+between Guildford and Waterloo, was also rendered impassable by the
+wreck of the midnight train, which was blown up half-way between
+Wansborough and Guildford, while in several other places nearer London
+bridges were rendered unstable by dynamite, the favourite method
+apparently being to blow the crown out of an arch.
+
+The well-laid plans of the enemy were thus quickly revealed. Among the
+thousands of Germans working in London, the hundred or so spies, all
+trusted soldiers, had passed unnoticed but, working in unison, each
+little group of two or three had been allotted its task, and had
+previously thoroughly reconnoitred the position and studied the most
+rapid or effective means.
+
+The railways to the east and north-east coasts all reported wholesale
+damage done on Sunday night by the advance agents of the enemy, and now
+this was continued on the night of Monday in the south, the objective
+being to hinder troops from moving north from Aldershot. This was,
+indeed, effectual, for only by a long _détour_ could the troops be moved
+to the northern defences of London, and while many were on Tuesday
+entrained, others were conveyed to London by the motor omnibuses sent
+down for that purpose.
+
+Everywhere through London and its vicinity, as well as Manchester,
+Birmingham, Sheffield, Coventry, Leeds, and Liverpool, motor-cars and
+motor-omnibuses from dealers and private owners were being requisitioned
+by the military authorities, for they would, it was believed, replace
+cavalry to a very large extent.
+
+Wild and extraordinary reports were circulated regarding the disasters
+in the north. Hull, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth had, it was
+believed, been bombarded and sacked. The shipping in the Tyne was
+burning, and the Elswick works were held by the enemy. Details were,
+however, very vague, as the Germans were taking every precaution to
+prevent information reaching London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+NEWS OF THE ENEMY.
+
+
+Terror and excitement reigned everywhere. The wildest rumours were
+hourly afloat. London was a seething stream of breathless multitudes of
+every class.
+
+On Monday morning the newspapers throughout the kingdom had devoted
+greater part of their space to the extraordinary intelligence from
+Norfolk and Suffolk, and Essex, and other places. Only the slow,
+old-fashioned "Globe" remained asleep, or pretended to know nothing of
+what was in progress.
+
+That we were actually invaded was plain, but most of the newspapers
+happily preserved a calm, dignified tone, and made no attempt at
+sensationalism. The situation was far too serious.
+
+Like the public, however, the Press had been taken entirely by surprise.
+The blow had been so sudden and so staggering that half the alarming
+reports were discredited.
+
+In addition to the details of the enemy's operations, as far as could as
+yet be ascertained, the "Morning Post" on Monday contained an account of
+a mysterious occurrence at Chatham, which read as follows:
+
+    "CHATHAM, _Sept. 1_ (11.30 P.M.).
+
+"An extraordinary accident took place on the Medway about eight o'clock
+this evening. The steamer 'Pole Star,' 1,200 tons register, with a cargo
+of cement from Frindsbury, was leaving for Hamburg, and came into
+collision with the 'Frauenlob,' of Bremen, a somewhat larger boat, which
+was inward bound, in a narrow part of the channel about half-way between
+Chatham and Sheerness. Various accounts of the mishap are current, but
+whichever of the vessels was responsible for the bad steering or neglect
+of the ordinary rules of the road, it is certain that the 'Frauenlob'
+was cut into by the stem of the 'Pole Star' on her port bow, and sank
+almost across the channel. The 'Pole Star' swung alongside her after the
+collision, and very soon afterwards sank in an almost parallel position.
+Tugs and steamboats carrying a number of naval officers and the port
+authorities are about to proceed to the scene of the accident, and if,
+as seems probable, there is no chance of raising the vessels, steps will
+be at once taken to blow them up. In the present state of our foreign
+relations such an obstruction directly across the entrance to one of our
+principal war-ports is a national danger, and will not be allowed to
+remain a moment longer than can be helped."
+
+    "_Sept. 2._
+
+"An extraordinary _dénouement_ has followed the collision in the Medway
+reported in my telegram of last night, which renders it impossible to
+draw any other conclusion than that the affair is anything but an
+accident. Everything now goes to prove that the whole business was
+premeditated and was the result of an organised plot with the object of
+'bottling up' the numerous men-of-war that are now being hurriedly
+equipped for service in Chatham Dockyard. In the words of Scripture, 'An
+enemy hath done this,' and there can be very little doubt as to the
+quarter from which the outrage was engineered. It is nothing less than
+an outrage to perpetrate what is in reality an overt act of hostility in
+a time of profound peace, however much the political horizon may be
+darkened by lowering war-clouds. We are living under a Government whose
+leader lost no time in announcing that no fear of being sneered at as a
+'Little Englander' would deter him from seeking peace and ensuring it by
+a reduction of our naval and military armaments, even at that time known
+to be inadequate to the demands likely to be made upon them if our
+Empire is to be maintained. We trust, however, that even this
+parochially-minded statesman will lose no time in probing the conspiracy
+to its depths, and in seeking instant satisfaction from those
+personages, however highly placed and powerful, who have committed this
+outrage on the laws of civilisation.
+
+"As soon as the news of the collision reached the dockyard the senior
+officer at Kethole Reach was ordered by wire to take steps to prevent
+any vessel from going up the river, and he at once despatched several
+picket-boats to the entrance to warn in-coming ships of the blocking of
+the channel, while a couple of other boats were sent up to within a
+short distance of the obstruction to make assurance doubly sure. The
+harbour signals ordering 'suspension of all movings' were also hoisted
+at Garrison Point.
+
+"Among other ships which were stopped in consequence of these measures
+was the 'Van Gysen,' a big steamer hailing from Rotterdam, laden, it was
+stated, with steel rails for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway,
+which were to be landed at Port Victoria. She was accordingly allowed to
+proceed, and anchored, or appeared to anchor, just off the railway pier
+at that place. Ten minutes later the officer of the watch on board
+H.M.S. 'Medici' reported that he thought she was getting under way
+again. It was then pretty dark. An electric searchlight being switched
+on, the 'Van Gysen' was discovered steaming up the river at a
+considerable speed. The 'Medici' flashed the news to the flagship, which
+at once fired a gun, hoisted the recall and the 'Van Gysen's' number in
+the international code, and despatched her steam pinnace, with orders to
+overhaul the Dutchman and stop him at whatever cost. A number of the
+marines on guard were sent in her with their rifles.
+
+"The 'Van Gysen' seemed well acquainted with the channel, and
+continually increased her speed as she went up the river, so that she
+was within half a mile of the scene of the accident before the steamboat
+came up with her. The officer in charge called to the skipper through
+the megaphone to stop his engines and to throw him a rope, as he wanted
+to come on board. After pretending for some time not to understand him,
+the skipper slowed his engines and said, 'Ver vel, come 'longside
+gangway.' As the pinnace hooked on at the gangway, a heavy iron cylinder
+cover was dropped into her from the height of the 'Van Gysen's' deck. It
+knocked the bowman overboard and crashed into the fore part of the boat,
+knocking a big hole in the port side forward. She swung off at an angle
+and stopped to pick up the man overboard. Her crew succeeded in rescuing
+him, but she was making water fast, and there was nothing for it but to
+run her into the bank. The lieutenant in charge ordered a rifle to be
+fired at the 'Van Gysen' to bring her to, but she paid not the smallest
+attention, as might have been expected, and went on her way with
+gathering speed.
+
+"The report, however, served to attract the attention of the two
+picket-boats which were patrolling up the river. As she turned a bend in
+the stream they both shot up alongside out of the darkness, and ordered
+her peremptorily to stop. But the only answer they received was the
+sudden extinction of all lights in the steamer. They kept alongside, or
+rather one of them did, but they were quite helpless to stay the
+progress of the big wall-sided steamer. The faster of the picket-boats
+shot ahead with the object of warning those who were busy examining the
+wrecks. But the 'Van Gysen,' going all she knew, was close behind, an
+indistinguishable black blur in the darkness, and hardly had the officer
+in the picket-boat delivered his warning before she was heard close at
+hand. Within a couple of hundred yards of the two wrecks she slowed
+down, for fear of running right over them. On she came, inevitable as
+Fate. There was a crash as she came into collision with the central
+deckhouses of the 'Frauenlob' and as her bows scraped past the funnel of
+the 'Pole Star.' Then followed no fewer than half a dozen muffled
+reports. Her engines went astern for a moment, and down she settled
+athwart the other two steamers, heeling over to port as she did so. All
+was turmoil and confusion. None of the dockyard and naval craft present
+were equipped with searchlights. The harbour-master, the captain of the
+yard, even the admiral superintendent, who had just come down in his
+steam launch, all bawled out orders.
+
+"Lights were flashed and lanterns swung up and down in the vain
+endeavour to see more of what had happened. Two simultaneous shouts of
+'Man overboard!' came from tugs and boats at opposite sides of the
+river. When a certain amount of order was restored it was discovered
+that a big dockyard tug was settling down by the head. It seems she had
+been grazed by the 'Van Gysen' as she came over the obstruction, and
+forced against some portion of one of the foundered vessels, which had
+pierced a hole in her below the water-line.
+
+"In the general excitement the damage had not been discovered, and now
+she was sinking fast. Hawsers were made fast to her with the utmost
+expedition possible in order to tow her clear of the piled-up wreckage,
+but it was too late. There was only just time to rescue her crew before
+she too added herself to the underwater barricade. As for the crew of
+the 'Van Gysen,' it is thought that all must have gone down in her, as
+no trace of them has as yet been discovered, despite a most diligent
+search, for it was considered that, in an affair which had been so
+carefully planned as this certainly must have been, some provision must
+surely have been made for the escape of the crew. Those who have been
+down at the scene of the disaster report that it will be impossible to
+clear the channel in less than a week or ten days, using every resource
+of the dockyard.
+
+"A little later I thought I would go down to the dockyard on the
+off-chance of picking up any further information. The Metropolitan
+policeman at the gate would on no account allow me to pass at that hour,
+and I was just turning away when, by a great piece of good fortune, I
+ran up against Commander Shelley.
+
+"I was on board his ship as correspondent during the manoeuvres of the
+year before last. 'And what are you doing down here?' was his very
+natural inquiry after we had shaken hands. I told him that I had been
+down in Chatham for a week past as special correspondent, reporting on
+the half-hearted preparations being made for the possible mobilisation,
+and took the opportunity of asking him if he could give me any further
+information about the collision between the three steamers in the
+Medway. 'Well,' said he, 'the best thing you can do is to come right
+along with me. I have just been hawked out of bed to superintend the
+diving operations, which will begin the moment there is a gleam of
+daylight.' Needless to say, this just suited me, and I hastened to thank
+him and to accept his kind offer. 'All right,' he said, 'but I shall
+have to make one small condition.'
+
+"'And that is?' I queried.
+
+"'Merely to let me "censor" your telegrams before you send them,' he
+returned. 'You see, the Admiralty might not like to have too much said
+about this business, and I don't want to find myself in the dirt-tub.'
+
+"The stipulation was a most reasonable one, and however I disliked the
+notion of having probably my best paragraphs eliminated, I could not but
+assent to my friend's proposition. So away we marched down the echoing
+spaces of the almost deserted dockyard till we arrived at the
+'Thunderbolt' pontoon. Here lay a pinnace with steam up, and lighted
+down the sloping side of the old ironclad by the lantern of the
+policeman on duty, we stepped on board and shot out into the centre of
+the stream. We blew our whistles and the coxswain waved a lantern,
+whereupon a small tug that had a couple of dockyard lighters attached
+gave a hoarse 'toot' in response, and followed us down the river. We
+sped along in the darkness against a strong tide that was making
+upstream, past Upnor Castle, that quaint old Tudor fortress with its
+long line of modern powder magazines, and along under the deeper shadows
+beneath Hoo Woods till we came abreast of the medley of mud flats and
+grass-grown islets just beyond them. Here above the thud of the engines
+and the plash of the water, a thin, long-drawn-out cry wavered through
+the night. 'Some one hailing the boat, sir,' reported the lookout
+forward. We had all heard it. 'Ease down,' ordered Shelley, and hardly
+moving against the rushing tideway we listened for its repetition.
+Again the voice was raised in quavering supplication. 'What the dickens
+does he say?' queried the commander. 'It's German,' I answered. 'I know
+that language well. I think he's asking for help. May I answer him?'
+
+"'By all means. Perhaps he belongs to one of those steamers.' The same
+thought was in my own mind. I hailed in return, asking where he was and
+what he wanted. The answer came back that he was a shipwrecked seaman,
+who was cold, wet, and miserable, and implored to be taken off from the
+islet where he found himself, cut off from everywhere by water and
+darkness. We ran the boat's nose into the bank, and presently succeeded
+in hauling aboard a miserable object, wet through, and plastered from
+head to foot with black Medway mud. The broken remains of a cork
+life-belt hung from his shoulders. A dram of whisky somewhat revived
+him. 'And now,' said Shelley, 'you'd better cross-examine him. We may
+get something out of the fellow.' The foreigner, crouched down shivering
+in the stern-sheets half covered with a yellow oilskin that some
+charitable bluejacket had thrown over him, appeared to me in the light
+of the lantern that stood on the deck before him to be not only
+suffering from cold, but from terror. A few moments' conversation with
+him confirmed my suspicions. I turned to Shelley and exclaimed, 'He says
+he'll tell us everything if we spare his life,' I explained. 'I'm sure I
+don't want to shoot the chap,' replied the commander. 'I suppose he's
+implicated in this "bottling up" affair. If he is, he jolly well
+deserves it, but I don't suppose anything will be done to him. Anyway,
+his information may be valuable, and so you may tell him that he is all
+right as far as I'm concerned, and I will do my best for him with the
+Admiral. I daresay that will satisfy him. If not, you might threaten him
+a bit. Tell him anything you like if you think it will make him speak.'
+To cut a long story short, I found the damp Dutchman amenable to reason,
+and the following is the substance of what I elicited from him.
+
+"He had been a deck hand on board the 'Van Gysen.' When she left
+Rotterdam he did not know that the trip was anything out of the way.
+There was a new skipper whom he had not seen before, and there were also
+two new mates with a new chief engineer. Another steamer followed them
+all the way till they arrived at the Nore. On the way over he and
+several other seamen were sent for by the captain, and asked if they
+would volunteer for a dangerous job, promising them Ł50 a-piece if it
+came off all right. He and five others agreed, as did two or three
+stokers, and were then ordered to remain aft and not communicate with
+any others of the crew. Off the Nore all the remainder were transferred
+to the following steamer, which steamed off to the eastward. After they
+were gone the selected men were told that the officers all belonged to
+the Imperial German Navy, and by orders of the Kaiser were about to
+attempt to block up the Medway.
+
+"A collision between two other ships had been arranged for, one of which
+was loaded with a mass of old steel rails into which liquid cement had
+been run, so that her hold contained a solid impenetrable block. The
+'Van Gysen' carried a similar cargo, and was provided with an
+arrangement for blowing holes in her bottom. The crew were provided with
+life-belts, and the half of the money promised, and all except the
+captain, the engineer, and the two mates dropped overboard just before
+arriving at the sunken vessels. They were advised to make their way to
+Gravesend, and then to shift for themselves as best they could. He had
+found himself on a small island, and could not muster up courage to
+plunge into the cold water again in the darkness.
+
+"'By Jove! This means war with Germany, man!--War!' was Shelley's
+comment. At two o'clock this afternoon we knew that it did, for the news
+of the enemy's landing in Norfolk was signalled down from the dockyard.
+We also knew from the divers that the cargo of the sunken steamers was
+what the rescued seamen had stated it to be. Our bottle has been fairly
+well corked."
+
+This amazing revelation showed how cleverly contrived was the German
+plan of hostilities. All our splendid ships at Chatham had, in that
+brief half-hour, been bottled up and rendered utterly useless. Yet the
+authorities were not blameless in the matter, for in November, 1905, a
+foreign warship actually came up the Medway in broad daylight, and was
+not noticed until she began to bang away her salutes, much to the utter
+consternation of every one.
+
+This incident, however, was but one of the many illustrations of
+German's craft and cunning. The whole scheme had been years in careful
+preparation.
+
+She intended to invade us, and regarded every stratagem as allowable in
+her sudden dash upon England, an expedition which promised to result in
+the most desperate war of modern times.
+
+At that moment the "Globe," at last aroused from its long and peaceful
+sleep, reproduced those plain, prophetic words of Lord Overstone,
+written some years before to the Royal Defence Commission: "Negligence
+alone can bring about the calamity under discussion. Unless we suffer
+ourselves to be surprised we cannot be invaded with success. It is
+useless to discuss what will occur or what can be done after London has
+fallen into the hands of an invading foe. The apathy which may render
+the occurrence of such a catastrophe possible will not afterwards enable
+the country, enfeebled, dispirited, and disorganised by the loss of its
+capital, to redeem the fatal error."
+
+Was that prophecy to be fulfilled?
+
+Some highly interesting information was given by the Ipswich
+correspondent of the Central News.
+
+Repeated briefly, it was as follows:--
+
+"Shortly before three o'clock on Sunday morning the coastguard at
+Lowestoft, Corton, and Beach End discovered that their telephonic
+communication was interrupted, and half an hour later, to the surprise
+of every one a miscellaneous collection of mysterious craft were seen
+approaching the harbour: and within an hour many of them were high and
+dry on the beach, while others were lashed alongside the old dock, the
+new fish-docks of the Great Eastern Railway, and the wharves,
+disembarking a huge force of German infantry, cavalry, motor-infantry,
+and artillery. The town, awakened from its slumbers, was utterly
+paralysed, the more so when it was discovered that the railway to London
+was already interrupted, and the telegraph lines all cut. On landing,
+the enemy commandeered all provisions, including all motor-cars they
+could discover, horses and forage, while the banks were seized, and the
+infantry, falling in marched up Old Nelson Street into High Street, and
+out upon the Beccles Road. The first care of the invaders was to prevent
+the people of Lowestoft damaging the Swing Bridge, a strong guard being
+instantly mounted upon it, and so quietly and orderly was the landing
+effected that it was plain the German plans of invasion were absolutely
+perfect in every detail.
+
+"Few hitches seemed to occur. The mayor was summoned at six o'clock by
+General von Kronhelm, the generalissimo of the German Army, and briefly
+informed that the town of Lowestoft was occupied, and that all armed
+resistance would be punished by death. Then, ten minutes later, when the
+German war-flag was flying from several flagstaffs in various parts of
+the town, the people realised their utter helplessness.
+
+"The Germans, of course, knew that, irrespective of the weather, a
+landing could be effected at Lowestoft, where the fish-docks and
+wharves, with their many cranes, were capable of dealing with a large
+amount of stores. The Denes, that flat, sandy plain between the upper
+town and the sea, they turned into a camping-ground, and large numbers
+were billeted in various quarters of the town itself.
+
+"The people were terror-stricken. To appeal to London for help was
+impossible, as the place had been cut entirely off, and around it a
+strong chain of outposts had already been thrown, preventing any one
+from escaping. The town had, in a moment, as it seemed, fallen at the
+mercy of the foreigners. Even the important-looking police constables of
+Lowestoft, with their little canes, were crestfallen, sullen, and
+inactive.
+
+"While the landing was continuing during all Sunday the advance guard
+moved rapidly over Mutford Bridge, along the Beccles Road, occupying a
+strong position on the west side of the high ground east of Lowestoft.
+Beccles, where von Kronhelm established his headquarters, resting as it
+does on the River Waveney, is strongly held. The enemy's main position
+appears to run from Windle Hill, one mile north-east of Gillingham,
+thence north-west through Bull's Green, Herringfleet Hill, over to Grove
+Farm and Hill House to Raveningham, whence it turns easterly to
+Haddiscoe, which is at present its northern limit. The total front from
+Beccles Bridge north is about five miles, and commands the whole of the
+flat plain west towards Norwich. It has its south flank resting on the
+River Waveney, and to the north on Thorpe Marshes. The chief artillery
+position is at Toft Monks--the highest point. Upon the high tower of
+Beccles Church is established a signal station, communication being made
+constantly with Lowestoft by helio by day, and acetylene lamps by night.
+
+"The enemy's position has been most carefully chosen, for it is
+naturally strong, and, being well held to protect Lowestoft from any
+attack from the west, the landing can continue uninterruptedly, for
+Lowestoft beach and docks are now entirely out of the line of any
+British fire.
+
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    THE NEWS OF THE BOMBARDMENT of the City of Newcastle and the
+    landing of the German Army at Hull, Weybourne, Yarmouth, and
+    other places along the East Coast is unfortunately confirmed.
+
+    THE ENEMY'S INTENTION is to march upon the City of London, which
+    must be resolutely defended.
+
+    THE BRITISH NATION and the Citizens of London, in face of these
+    great events, must be energetic in order to vanquish the
+    invader.
+
+    The ADVANCE must be CHALLENGED FOOT BY FOOT. The people must
+    fight for King and Country.
+
+    Great Britain is not yet dead, for indeed, the more serious her
+    danger, the stronger will be her unanimous patriotism.
+
+    =GOD SAVE THE KING.=
+
+    HARRISON, _Lord Mayor_.
+
+    MANSION HOUSE,
+    LONDON, _September 3rd, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: THE LORD MAYOR'S APPEAL TO LONDON.]
+
+"March outposts are at Blythburgh, Wenhaston, Holton, Halesworth,
+Wissett, Rumburgh, Homersfield, and Bungay, and then north to Haddiscoe,
+while cavalry patrols watch by day, the line roughly being from Leiston
+through Saxmundham, Framlingham, and Tannington, to Hoxne.
+
+"The estimate, gleaned from various sources in Lowestoft and Beccles, is
+that up to Monday at midday nearly a whole Army Corps, with stores,
+guns, ammunition, etc., had already landed, while there are also reports
+of a further landing at Yarmouth, and at a spot still farther north, but
+at present there are no details.
+
+"The enemy," he concluded, "are at present in a position of absolute
+security."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A PROPHECY FULFILLED.
+
+
+This authentic news of the position of the enemy, combined with the
+vague rumours of other landings at Yarmouth, along the coast at some
+unknown point north of Cromer, at King's Lynn, and other places,
+produced an enormous sensation in London, while the Central News
+account, circulated to all the papers in the Midlands and Lancashire,
+increased the panic in the manufacturing districts.
+
+The special edition of the "Evening Star," issued about six o'clock on
+Tuesday evening, contained another remarkable story which threw some
+further light upon the German movements. It was, of course, known that
+practically the whole of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast was already held
+by the enemy, but with the exception of the fact that the enemy's
+cavalry vedettes and reconnoitring patrols were out everywhere at a
+distance about twenty miles from the shore, England was entirely in the
+dark as to what had occurred anywhere else but at Lowestoft. Attempts
+had been made to penetrate the cavalry screen at various points, but in
+vain. What was in progress was carefully kept a secret by the enemy. The
+veil was, however, now lifted. The story which the "Evening Star" had
+obtained exclusively, and which was eagerly read everywhere, had been
+related by a man named Scotney, a lobster-fisherman, of Sheringham, in
+Norfolk, who had made the following statement to the chief officer of
+coastguard at Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire:
+
+"Just before dawn on Sunday morning I was in the boat with my son Ted
+off the Robin Friend, taking up the lobster pots, when we suddenly saw
+about three miles off shore a mixed lot of curious-looking craft strung
+out right across the horizon, and heading apparently for Cromer. There
+were steamers big and little, many of them towing queer flat-bottomed
+kind of boats, lighters, and barges, which, on approaching nearer, we
+could distinctly see were filled to their utmost capacity with men and
+horses.
+
+"Both Ted and I stood staring at the unusual sight, wondering whatever
+it meant. They came on very quickly, however--so quickly, indeed, that
+we thought it best to move on. The biggest ships went along to Weybourne
+Gap, where they moored in the twenty-five feet of water that runs in
+close to the shore, while some smaller steamers and the flats were run
+high and dry on the hard shingle. Before this I noticed that there were
+quite a number of foreign warships in the offing, with several
+destroyers far away in the distance both to east and west.
+
+"From the larger steamships all sorts of boats were lowered, including
+apparently many collapsible whaleboats, and into these, in a most
+orderly manner, from every gangway and accommodation-ladder,
+troops--Germans we afterwards discovered them to be, to our utter
+astonishment--began to descend.
+
+"These boats were at once taken charge of by steam pinnaces and cutters
+and towed to the beach. When we saw this we were utterly dumbfounded.
+Indeed, at first I believed it to be a dream, for ever since I was a
+lad I had heard the ancient rhyme my old father was so fond of
+repeating:
+
+    "'He who would Old England win,
+    Must at Weybourne Hoop begin.'
+
+"As everybody knows, nature has provided at that lonely spot every
+advantage for the landing of hostile forces, and when the Spanish Armada
+was expected, and again when Napoleon threatened an invasion, the place
+was constantly watched. Yet nowadays, except for the coastguard, it has
+been utterly unprotected and neglected.
+
+"The very first soldiers who landed formed up quickly, and under the
+charge of an officer ran up the low hill to the coastguard station, I
+suppose in order to prevent them signalling a warning. The funny thing
+was, however, that the coastguards had already been held up by several
+well-dressed men--spies of the Germans, I suppose. I could distinctly
+see one man holding one of the guards with his back to the wall, and
+threatening him with a revolver.
+
+"Ted and I had somehow been surrounded by the crowd of odd craft which
+dodged about everywhere, and the foreigners now and then shouted to me
+words that unfortunately I could not understand.
+
+"Meanwhile, from all the boats strung out along the beach, from
+Sheringham right across to the Rocket House at Salthouse, swarms of
+drab-coated soldiers were disembarking, the boats immediately returning
+to the steamers for more. They must have been packed as tightly as
+herrings in a barrel; but they all seemed to know where to go to,
+because all along at various places little flags were held by men, and
+each regiment appeared to march across and assemble at its own flag.
+
+"Ted and I sat there as if we were watching a play. Suddenly we saw from
+some of the ships and bigger barges horses being lowered into the water
+and allowed to swim ashore. Hundreds seemed to gain the beach even as we
+were looking at them. Then, after the first lot of horses had gone,
+boats full of saddles followed them. It seemed as though the foreigners
+were too busy to notice us, and we--not wanting to share the fate of Mr.
+Gunter, the coastguard, and his mates--just sat tight and watched.
+
+"From the steamers there continued to pour hundreds upon hundreds of
+soldiers, who were towed to land, and then formed up in solid squares,
+which got bigger and bigger. Horses innumerable--quite a thousand, I
+should reckon--were slung overboard from some of the smaller steamers
+which had been run high and dry on the beach, and as the tide had now
+begun to run down, they landed only knee-deep in water. Those steamers,
+it seemed to me, had big bilge keels, for as the tide ebbed they did not
+heel over. They had, no doubt, been specially fitted for the purpose.
+Out of some they began to hoist all sorts of things, wagons, guns,
+motor-cars, large bales of fodder, clothing, ambulances with big red
+crosses on them, flat-looking boats--pontoons I think they call
+them--and great piles of cooking pots and pans, square boxes of stores,
+or perhaps ammunition, and as soon as anything was landed it was hauled
+up above high-water mark.
+
+"In the meantime lots of men had mounted on horseback and ridden off up
+the lane which leads into Weybourne village. At first half a dozen
+started at a time; then, as far as I could judge, about fifty more
+started. Then larger bodies went forward, but more and more horses kept
+going ashore, as though their number was never-ending. They must have
+been stowed mighty close, and many of the ships must have been specially
+fitted up for them.
+
+"Very soon I saw cavalry swarming up over Muckleburgh, Warborough, and
+Telegraph Hills, while a good many trotted away in the direction of
+Runton and Sheringham. Then, soon after they had gone--that is, in about
+an hour and a half from their first arrival--the infantry began to move
+off, and as far as I could see, they marched inland by every road, some
+in the direction of Kelling Street and Holt, others over Weybourne Heath
+towards Bodham, and still others skirting the woods over to Upper
+Sheringham. Large masses of infantry marched along the Sheringham Road,
+and seemed to have a lot of officers on horseback with them, while up on
+Muckleburgh Hill I saw frantic signalling in progress.
+
+"By this time they had a quantity of carts and wagons landed, and a
+large number of motor-cars. The latter were soon started, and, manned by
+infantry, moved swiftly in procession after the troops. The great idea
+of the Germans was apparently to get the beach clear of everything as
+soon as landed, for all stores, equipment, and other tackle were pushed
+inland as soon as disembarked.
+
+"The enemy kept on landing. Thousands of soldiers got ashore without any
+check, and all proceeding orderly and without the slightest confusion,
+as though the plans were absolutely perfect. Everybody seemed to know
+exactly what to do. From where we were we could see the coastguards held
+prisoners in their station, with German sentries mounted around; and as
+the tide was now setting strong to the westward, Ted and I just let our
+anchor off the ground and allowed ourselves to drift. It occurred to me
+that perhaps I might be able give the alarm at some other coastguard
+station if I could only drift away unnoticed in the busy scene now in
+progress.
+
+"That the Germans had actually landed in England now apparent; yet we
+wondered what our own fleet could be doing, and pictured to ourselves
+the jolly good drubbing that our cruisers would give the audacious
+foreigner when they did haul in sight. It was for us, at all costs, to
+give the alarm, so gradually we drifted off to the nor'-westward, in
+fear every moment lest we should be noticed and fired at. At last we got
+around Blakeney Point successfully, and breathed more freely; then
+hoisting our sail, we headed for Hunstanton, but seeing numbers of ships
+entering the Wash, and believing them to be also Germans, we put our
+helm down and ran across into Wainfleet Swatchway to Gibraltar Point,
+where I saw the chief officer of coastguards and told him all the
+extraordinary events of that memorable morning."
+
+The report added that the officer of coastguard in question had, three
+hours before, noticed strange vessels coming up the Wash, and had
+already tried to report by telegraph to his divisional inspecting
+officer at Harwich, but could obtain no communication. An hour later,
+however, it had become apparent that a still further landing was being
+effected on the south side of the Wash, in all probability at King's
+Lynn.
+
+The fisherman Scotney's statement had been sent by special messenger
+from Wainfleet on Sunday evening, but owing to the dislocation of the
+railway traffic north of London, the messenger was unable to reach the
+offices of the coastguard in Victoria Street, Westminster, until
+Monday. The report received by the Admiralty had been treated as
+confidential until corroborated, lest undue public alarm should be
+caused.
+
+It had then been given to the Press as revealing the truth of what had
+actually happened.
+
+The enemy had entered by the back door of England, and the sensation it
+caused everywhere was little short of panic.
+
+Some further very valuable information was also received by the
+Intelligence Department of the War Office, revealing the military
+position of the invaders who had landed at Weybourne Hoop.
+
+The whole of the IVth German Army Corps, about 38,000 men, had been
+landed at Weybourne, Sheringham, and Cromer. It consisted of the 7th and
+8th Divisions complete, commanded respectively by Major-General Dickmann
+and Lieutenant-General von Mirbach. The 7th Division comprised the 13th
+and 14th Infantry Brigades, consisting of Prince Leopold of
+Anhalt-Dessau's 1st Magdeburg Regiment, the 3rd Magdeburg Infantry
+Regiment, Prince Louis Ferdinand von Preussen's 2nd Magdeburg Regiment,
+and the 5th Hanover Infantry Regiment. Attached to this division were
+the Magdeburg Hussars No. 10, and the Uhlan Regiment of Altmärk No. 16.
+
+In the 8th Division were the 15th and 16th Brigades, comprising a
+Magdeburg Fusilier Regiment, an Anhalt Infantry Regiment, the 4th and
+8th Thuringen Infantry, with the Magdeburg Cuirassiers, and a regiment
+of Thuringen Hussars. The cavalry were commanded by Colonel Frölich,
+while General von Kleppen was in supreme command of the whole corps.
+
+Careful reconnaissance of the occupied area showed that immediately on
+landing, the German position extended from the little town of Holt, on
+the west, eastward, along the main Cromer road, as far as Gibbet Lane,
+slightly south of Cromer, a distance of about five miles. This
+constituted a naturally strong position; indeed, nature seemed to have
+provided it specially to suit the necessities of a foreign invader. The
+ground for miles to the south sloped gently away down to the plain,
+while the rear was completely protected, so that the landing could
+proceed until every detail had been completed.
+
+
+    _Berlin um Eins!_       _Berlin um Eins!_
+
+    Das Kleine Journal
+    Mittags Ausgabe.
+
+    Berlin, Montag, den 3 September 1910
+
+    Triumph der
+    Deutschen
+    Waffen.
+
+    Vernichtung der
+    Englischen
+    Flotte.
+
+    Von Kronhelm Auf
+    Dem Vormarsche
+    Nach London.
+
+    [Illustration: THE FIRST NEWS IN BERLIN OF THE GERMAN VICTORY.]
+
+
+Artillery were massed on both flanks, namely, at Holt and on the high
+ground near Felbrigg, immediately south of Cromer. This last-named
+artillery was adequately supported by the detached infantry close at
+hand. The whole force was covered by a strong line of outposts. Their
+advanced sentries were to be found along a line starting from Thornage
+village, through Hunworth, Edgefield, Barningham Green, Squallham,
+Aldborough, Hanworth, to Roughton. In rear of them lay their pickets,
+which were disposed in advantageous situations. The general line of
+these latter were at North Street, Pondhills to Plumstead, thence over
+to Matlash Hall, Aldborough Hall, and the rising ground north of
+Hanworth. These, in their turn, were adequately supplemented by the
+supports, which were near Hempstead Green, Baconsthorpe, North
+Narningham, Bessingham, Sustead, and Melton.
+
+In case of sudden attack, reserves were at Bodham, West Beckham, East
+Beckham, and Aylmerton, but orders had been issued by Von Kleppen, who
+had established his headquarters at Upper Sheringham, that the line of
+resistance was to be as already indicated--namely, that having the
+Holt-Cromer Road for its crest. Cuirassiers, Hussars, and some
+motorists--commanded by Colonel von Dorndorf--were acting independently
+some fifteen miles to the south scouring the whole country, terrifying
+the villagers, commandeering all supplies, and posting Von Kronhelm's
+proclamation, which has already been reproduced.
+
+From inquiries it was shown that on the night of the invasion six men,
+now known to have been advance agents of the enemy, arrived at the Ship
+Inn, at Weybourne. Three of them took accommodation for the night, while
+their companions slept elsewhere. At two o'clock the trio let themselves
+out quietly, were joined by six other men, and just as the enemy's ships
+hove in sight nine of them seized the coastguards and cut the wires,
+while the other three broke into the Weybourne Stores, and, drawing
+revolvers, obtained possession of the telegraph instrument to Sheringham
+and Cromer until they could hand it over to the Germans.
+
+That the Fourth German Army Corps were in a position as strong as those
+who landed at Lowestoft could not be denied, and the military
+authorities could not disguise from themselves the extreme gravity of
+the situation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+STATE OF SIEGE DECLARED.
+
+
+That our fleet had been taken unawares was apparent. There were all
+sorts of vague rumours of a sudden attack upon the North Sea Fleet at
+Rosyth, and a fierce cruiser battle, in which we had been badly beaten
+by Germany. It is, however, the land campaign which we have here to
+record.
+
+The authentic account of a further landing in Essex--somewhere near
+Maldon--was now published. The statement had been dictated by Mr. Henry
+Alexander, J.P.,--the Mayor of Maldon, who had succeeded in escaping
+from the town,--to Captain Wilfred Quare, of the Intelligence Department
+of the War Office. This Department had, in turn, given it to the
+newspapers for publication.
+
+It read as follows:--
+
+"On Sunday morning, September 2, I had arranged to play a round of golf
+with my friend Somers, of Beeleigh, before church. I met him at the Golf
+Hut about 8.30. We played one round, and were at the last hole but three
+in a second round when we both thought we heard the sound of shots fired
+somewhere in the town. We couldn't make anything at all of it, and as we
+had so nearly finished the round, we thought we would do so before going
+to inquire about it. I was making my approach to the final hole when an
+exclamation from Somers spoilt my stroke. I felt annoyed, but as I
+looked around--doubtless somewhat irritably--my eyes turned in the
+direction in which I now saw my friend was pointing with every
+expression of astonishment in his countenance.
+
+"'Who on earth are those fellows?' he asked. As for me, I was too
+dumbfounded to reply. Galloping over the links from the direction of the
+town came three men in uniform--soldiers, evidently. I had often been in
+Germany, and recognised the squat pickelhaubes and general get-up of the
+rapidly approaching horsemen at a glance.
+
+"They were upon us almost as he spoke, pulling up their horses with a
+great spattering up of grass and mud, quite ruining one of our best
+greens. All three of them pointed big, ugly repeating pistols at us, and
+the leader, a conceited-looking ass in staff uniform, required us to
+'surrender' in quite a pompous manner, but in very good English.
+
+
+    BY THE KING,
+
+    PROCLAMATION FOR CALLING OUT THE ARMY RESERVE.
+
+    EDWARD R.
+
+    WHEREAS by the Reserve Forces Act, 1882, it is amongst other
+    things enacted that in case of imminent national danger or of
+    great emergency, it shall be lawful for Us, by Proclamation, the
+    occasion being declared in Council and notified by the
+    Proclamation, if Parliament be not then sitting, to order that
+    the Army Reserve shall be called out on permanent service; and
+    by any such Proclamation to order a Secretary of State from time
+    to time to give, and when given, to revoke or vary such
+    directions as may seem necessary or proper for calling out the
+    forces or force mentioned in the Proclamation, or all or any of
+    the men belonging thereto:
+
+    AND WHEREAS Parliament is not sitting, and whereas WE have
+    declared in Council and hereby notify the present state of
+    Public Affairs and the extent of the demands on Our Military
+    Forces for the protection of the interests of the Empire
+    constitute a case of great emergency within the meaning of the
+    said Act:
+
+    NOW THEREFORE We do in pursuance of the said Act hereby order
+    that Our Army Reserve be called out on permanent service, and We
+    do hereby order the Right Honourable Charles Leonard Spencer
+    Cotterell, one of our Principal Secretaries of State, from time
+    to time to give, and when given, to revoke or vary such
+    directions as may seem necessary or proper for calling out Our
+    Army Reserve, or all or any of the men belonging thereto, and
+    such men shall proceed to and attend at such places and at such
+    times as may be respectively appointed by him to serve as part
+    of Our Army until their services are no longer required.
+
+    Given at Our Court at James', this fourth day of September, in
+    the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and ten, and in
+    the tenth year of Our Reign.
+
+    =GOD SAVE THE KING.=
+
+
+"'Do we look so very dangerous, Herr Lieutenant?' inquired I in German.
+
+"He dropped a little of his frills when he heard me speak in his native
+language, asked which of us was the Mayor, and condescended to explain
+that I was required in Maldon by the officer at present in command of
+his Imperial Majesty the Kaiser's forces occupying that place.
+
+"I looked at my captor in complete bewilderment. Could he be some fellow
+trying to take a rise out of me by masquerading as a German officer? But
+no, I recognised at once that he was the genuine article.
+
+"He demanded my parole, which I made no difficulty about giving, since I
+did not see any way of escape, and in any case was only too anxious to
+get back to town to see how things were.
+
+"'But you don't want my friend, do you--he lives out the other way?' I
+queried.
+
+"'I don't want him, but he will have to come all the same,' rejoined the
+German. 'It isn't likely we're going to let him get away to give the
+alarm in Colchester, is it?'
+
+"Obviously it was not, and without more ado we started off at a sharp
+walk, holding on to the stirrup leathers of the horsemen.
+
+"As we entered the town there was on the bridge over the river, a small
+picket of blue-coated German infantry. The whole thing was a perfect
+nightmare. It was past belief.
+
+"'How on earth did you get here?' I couldn't help asking.
+
+"'By water,' he answered shortly, pointing down the river as he spoke,
+where I was still further astonished--if it were possible after such a
+morning--to see several steam pinnaces and boats flying the black and
+white German ensign.
+
+"I was conducted straight to the Moot Hall. There I found a grizzled
+veteran waiting on the steps, who turned round and entered the building
+as we came up. We followed him inside, and I was introduced to him. He
+appeared to be a truculent old ruffian.
+
+"'Well, Mr. Mayor,' he said, pulling viciously at his white moustache,
+'do you know that I've a great mind to take you out into the street and
+have you shot?'
+
+"I was not at all inclined to be browbeated.
+
+"'Indeed, Herr Hauptman?' I answered. 'And may I inquire in what way I
+have incurred the displeasure of the Hochwohlgeboren officer?'
+
+"'Don't trifle with me, sir. Why do you allow your miserable Volunteers
+to come out and shoot my men?'
+
+"'My Volunteers? I am afraid I don't understand what you mean,' I said.
+'I'm not a Volunteer officer. Even if I were, I should have no
+cognisance of anything that has happened within the last two hours, as I
+have been down on the golf course. This officer will bear me out,' I
+added, turning to my captor. He admitted that he had found me there.
+
+"'But, anyway, you are the Mayor,' persisted my interrogator. 'Why did
+you allow the Volunteers to come out?'
+
+"'If you had been good enough to inform us of your visit, we might have
+made better arrangements.' I answered; 'but in any case you must
+understand that a mayor has little or no authority in this country. His
+job is to head subscription-lists, eat a dinner or two, and make
+speeches on public occasions.'
+
+"He seemed to have some difficulty in swallowing this, but as another
+officer who was there, writing at a table, and who, it appears, had
+lived at some period in England, corroborated my statement, the choleric
+colonel seemed to be a little mollified, and contented himself with
+demanding my parole not to leave Maldon until he had reported the matter
+to the General for decision. I gave it without more ado, and then asked
+if he would be good enough to tell me what had happened. From what he
+told me, and what I heard afterwards, it seems that the Germans must
+have landed a few of their men about half an hour before I left home,
+down near the Marine Lake. They had not entered the town at once, as
+their object was to work round outside and occupy all entrances, to
+prevent anyone getting away with the news of their presence. They had
+not noticed the little lane leading to the golf course, and so I had
+gone down without meeting any of them, although they had actually got a
+picket just beyond the railway arch at that time. They had completed
+their cordon before there was any general alarm in the town, but at the
+first reliable rumour it seems that young Shand, of the Essex
+Volunteers, had contrived to get together twenty or thirty of his men in
+their uniforms and foolishly opened fire on a German picket down by St.
+Mary's Church. They fell back, but were almost instantly reinforced by a
+whole company that had just landed, and our men, rushing forward, had
+been ridden into by some cavalry that came up a side street. They were
+dispersed, a couple of them were killed, and several wounded, among them
+poor Shand, who was hit in the right lung. They had bagged four Germans,
+however, and their commanding officer was furious. It was a pity that it
+happened, as it could not possibly have been of any use. But it seems
+that Shand had no idea that it was more than a very small detachment
+that had landed from a gun-boat that some one said they had seen down
+the river. Some of the Volunteers were captured afterwards and sent off
+as prisoners, and the Germans posted up a notice that all Volunteers
+were forthwith to surrender either themselves or their arms and
+uniforms, under pain of death. Most of them did the latter. They could
+do nothing after it was found that the Germans had a perfect army
+somewhere between Maldon and the sea, and were pouring troops into the
+town as fast as they could.
+
+"That very morning a Saxon rifle battalion arrived from the direction of
+Mundon, and just afterwards a lot spike-helmeted gentlemen came in by
+train from Wickford way. So it went on all day, until the whole town was
+in a perfect uproar. The infantry were billeted in the town, but the
+cavalry and guns crossed the river and canal at Heybridge, and went off
+in the direction of Witham.
+
+"Maldon is built on a hill that slopes gradually towards the east and
+south, but rises somewhat abruptly on the west and north, humping up a
+shoulder, as it were, to the north-west. At this corner they started to
+dig entrenchments just after one o'clock, and soon officers and
+orderlies were busy all round the town, plotting, measuring, and setting
+up marks of one kind and another. Other troops appeared to be busy down
+in Heybridge, but what they were doing I could not tell, as no one was
+allowed to cross the bridge over the river.
+
+"The German officer who had surprised me down on the golf course did
+not turn out to be a bad kind of youth on further acquaintance. He was a
+Captain von Hildebrandt, of the Guard Fusilier Regiment, who was
+employed on the Staff, though in what capacity he did not say. Thinking
+it was just as well to make the best of a bad job, I invited him to
+lunch. He said he had to be off. He, however, introduced me to three
+friends of his in the 101st Grenadiers, who, he suggested, should be
+billeted on me. I thought the idea a fairly good one, and Von
+Hildebrandt, having apparently arranged this with the billeting officer
+without any difficulty, I took them home with me to lunch.
+
+"I found my wife and family in a great state of mind, both on account of
+the untoward happenings of the morning and my non-return from golf at
+the expected time. They had imagined all sorts of things which might
+have befallen me, but luckily seemed not to have heard of my adventure
+with the choleric colonel. Our three foreigners soon made themselves
+very much at home, but as they were undeniably gentlemen, they contrived
+to be about as agreeable as could be expected under the circumstances.
+Indeed, their presence was to a great extent a safeguard against
+annoyance, as the stable and back premises were stuffed full of
+soldiers, who might have been very troublesome had they not been there
+to keep them in order.
+
+"Of what was happening up in London we knew nothing. Being Sunday, all
+the shops were shut; but I went out and contrived to lay in a
+considerable stock of provisions one way and another, and it was just as
+well I did, for I only just anticipated the Germans, who commandeered
+everything in the town, and put everybody on an allowance of rations.
+They paid for them with bills on the British Government, which were by
+no means acceptable to the shopkeepers. However, it was 'Hobson's
+choice'--that or nothing. The Germans soothed them by saying that the
+British Army would be smashed in a couple of weeks, and the defrayment
+of such bills would be among the conditions of peace. The troops
+generally seemed to be well-behaved, and treated those inhabitants with
+whom they came in contact in an unexceptionable manner. They did not see
+very much of them, however, as they were kept hard at work all day with
+their entrenchments and were not allowed out of their billets after
+eight o'clock that evening. No one, in fact, was allowed to be about
+the streets after that hour. Two or three people were shot by the
+sentries as they tried to break out in one direction or the other. These
+affairs produced a feeling of horror and indignation in the town, as
+Englishmen, having such a long experience of peace in their own country,
+have always refused to realise what war really means.
+
+"The German fortifications went on at a rapid rate. Trenches were dug
+all round the northern and western sides of the town before dark on the
+first evening, and the following morning I woke up to find three huge
+gun-pits yawning in my garden, which looked to the northward. During
+breakfast there was a great rattling and rumbling in the street without,
+and presently three big field howitzers were dragged in and planted in
+the pits. There they stood, their ugly snouts pointing skyward in the
+midst of the wreck of flowers and fruit.
+
+"Afterwards I went out and found that other guns and howitzers were
+being put in position all along the north side of Beeleigh Road, and
+round the corner by the Old Barracks. The high tower of the disused
+Church of St. Peter's, now utilised for the safe custody of Dr. Plume's
+library, had been equipped as a lookout and signal station."
+
+Such was the condition of affairs in the town of Maldon on Monday
+morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The excitement in London, and indeed all over the country, on Tuesday
+night was intense. Scotney's story of the landing at Weybourne was
+eagerly read everywhere.
+
+As the sun sank blood-red into the smoke haze behind Nelson's Monument
+in Trafalgar Square, it was an ominous sign to the panic-stricken crowds
+that day and night were now assembled there.
+
+The bronze lions facing the four points of the compass were now mere
+mocking emblems of England's departed greatness. The mobilisation muddle
+was known; for, according to the papers, hardly any troops had as yet
+assembled at their places of concentration. The whole of the east of
+England was helplessly in the invader's hands. From Newcastle had come
+terrible reports of the bombardment. Half the city was in flames, the
+Elswick works were held by the enemy, and whole streets in Newcastle,
+Gateshead, Sunderland, and Tynemouth were still burning fiercely.
+
+The Tynemouth fort had proved of little or no use against the enemy's
+guns. The Germans had, it appeared, used petrol bombs with appalling
+results, spreading fire, disaster, and death everywhere. The
+inhabitants, compelled to fly with only the clothes they wore, had
+scattered all over Northumberland and Durham, while the enemy had seized
+a quantity of valuable shipping that had been in the Tyne, hoisted the
+German flag, and converted the vessels to their own uses.
+
+Many had already been sent across to Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Bremerhaven,
+and other places to act as transports, while the Elswick works--which
+surely ought to have been properly protected--supplied the Germans with
+quantities of valuable material.
+
+Panic and confusion were everywhere. All over the country the railway
+system was utterly disorganised, business everywhere was at a complete
+deadlock, for in every town and city all over the kingdom the banks were
+closed.
+
+Lombard Street, Lothbury, and other banking centres in the City had all
+day on Monday been the scene of absolute panic. There, as well as at
+every branch bank all over the metropolis, had occurred a wild rush to
+withdraw deposits by people who foresaw disaster. Many, indeed, intended
+to fly with their families away from the country.
+
+The price of the necessities of life had risen further, and in the East
+End and poorer districts of Southwark the whole population were already
+in a state of semi-starvation. But worst of all, the awful truth with
+which London was now face to face was that the metropolis was absolutely
+defenceless.
+
+Every hour the papers were appearing with fresh details of the invasion,
+for reports were so rapidly coming in from every hand that the Press had
+difficulty in dealing with them.
+
+Hull and Goole were known to be in the hands of the invaders, and
+Grimsby, where the Mayor had been unable to pay the indemnity demanded,
+had been sacked. But details were not yet forthcoming.
+
+Londoners, however, learnt late that night more authentic news from the
+invaded zone, of which Beccles was the centre, and it was to the effect
+that those who had landed at Lowestoft were the IXth German Army Corps,
+with General von Kronhelm, the Generalissimo of the German Army. This
+Army Corps, consisting of about 40,000 men, was divided into the 17th
+Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Hocker, and the 18th by
+Lieutenant-General von Rauch. The cavalry was under the command of
+Major-General von Heyden, and the motor-infantry under Colonel
+Reichardt.
+
+
+    NOTICE.
+
+    TO ALL GERMAN SUBJECTS RESIDENT IN ENGLAND.
+
+    WILHELM.
+
+    To all OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS, GREETING.
+
+    We hereby COMMAND and enjoin that all persons born within the
+    German Empire, or being German subjects, whether liable to
+    military service or not, shall join our arms at any headquarters
+    of either of our Army Corps in England within 24 hours of the
+    date of this proclamation.
+
+    Any German subject failing to obey this our Command will be
+    treated as an enemy.
+
+    By the EMPEROR'S Command.
+
+    Given at Beccles, Sept. 3rd, 1910.
+
+    =VON KRONHELM=,
+    Commanding the Imperial German Army in England.
+
+    [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PROCLAMATION POSTED BY UNKNOWN
+    HANDS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.]
+
+
+According to official information which had reached the War Office and
+been given to the Press, the 17th Division was made up of the Bremen and
+Hamburg Infantry Regiments, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's Grenadiers,
+the Grand Duke's Fusiliers, the Lübeck Regiment No. 162, the
+Schleswig-Holstein Regiment No. 163, while the cavalry brigade consisted
+of the 17th and 18th Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's Dragoons.
+
+The 18th Division consisted of the Schleswig Regiment No. 84 and the
+Schleswig Fusiliers No. 86, the Thuringen Regiment, and the Duke of
+Holstein's Regiment, the two latter regiments being billeted in
+Lowestoft, while the cavalry brigade forming the screen across from
+Leiston by Wilby to Castle Hill were Queen Wilhelmina's Hanover Hussars
+and the Emperor of Austria's Schleswig-Holstein Hussars No. 16. These,
+with the smart motor infantry, held every communication in the direction
+of London.
+
+As far as could be gathered, the German commander had established his
+headquarters in Beccles, and had not moved. It now became apparent that
+the telegraph cables between the East coast and Holland and Germany,
+already described in the first chapter, had never been cut at all. They
+had simply been held by the enemy's advance agents until the landing had
+been effected. And now Von Kronhelm had actually established direct
+communication between Beccles and Emden, and on to Berlin.
+
+Reports from the North Sea spoke of the enemy's transports returning to
+the German coast, escorted by cruisers; therefore the plan was
+undoubtedly not to move until a very much larger force had been landed.
+
+Could England regain her command of the sea in time to prevent the
+completion of the blow?
+
+That night the London streets presented a scene of panic indescribable.
+The theatres opened, but closed their doors again, as nobody would see
+plays while in that excited state. Every shop was closed, and every
+railway station was filled to overflowing with the exodus of terrified
+people fleeing to the country westward, or reserves on their way to join
+the colours.
+
+The incredulous manner in which the country first received the news had
+now been succeeded by wild terror and despair. On that bright Sunday
+afternoon they laughed at the report as a mere journalistic sensation,
+but ere the sun set the hard, terrible truth was forced upon them, and
+now, on Tuesday night, the whole country, from Brighton to Carlisle,
+from Yarmouth to Aberystwyth, was utterly disorganised and in a state of
+terrified anxiety.
+
+The eastern counties were already beneath the iron heel of the invader,
+whose objective was the world's great capital--London.
+
+Would they reach it? That was the serious question upon every one's
+tongue that fevered, breathless night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HOW THE ENEMY DEALT THE BLOW.
+
+
+Meanwhile, at the regimental depôts feverish excitement prevailed on
+Wednesday, September 5, now that every man was ordered on active
+service. All officers and men who had been on leave were recalled, and
+medical inspection of all ranks at once commenced. Rations and bedding,
+stores and equipment were drawn, but there was a great lack of uniforms.
+Unlike the German Army, where every soldier's equipment is complete even
+to the last button on the proverbial gaiter, and stowed away where the
+owner knows where to obtain it, our officers commanding depôts commenced
+indenting for clothing on the Royal Army Clothing Department and the
+Army Corps Clothing Department.
+
+A large percentage of men were, of course, found medically unfit to
+serve, and were discharged to swell the mobs of hungry idlers. The plain
+clothes of the reservists coming in were disposed of, no man daring to
+appear in the ranks unless in uniform. Von Kronhelm's proclamation
+having forbidden the tactics of the Boers of putting mere armed citizens
+into the field.
+
+Horse-collecting parties went out all over the country, taking with them
+head-collars, head-ropes, bits, reins, surcingles, numnahs,
+horse-blankets, and nose-bags. These scoured every county in search of
+likely animals, every farm, every livery stable, every hunting-box, all
+hound-kennels and private stables were visited, and a choice made. All
+this, however, took time. Precious hours were thus being wasted while
+the enemy were calmly completing their arrangements for the
+long-contemplated blow at the heart of the British Empire.
+
+While the War Office refused any information, special editions of the
+papers during Wednesday printed sensational reports of the ruthless
+completion of the impenetrable screen covering the operations of the
+enemy on the whole of the East Coast.
+
+News had, by some means, filtered through from Yarmouth that a similar
+landing to those at Lowestoft and Weybourne had been effected. Protected
+as such an operation was by its flanks being supported by the IVth and
+IXth Army Corps landing on either side, the Xth Army Corps, under
+General von Wilburg, had seized Yarmouth, with its many miles of wharves
+and docks, which were now crowded by the lighters' craft of flotilla
+from the Frisian Islands.
+
+It was known that the landing had been effected simultaneously with that
+at Lowestoft. The large number of cranes at the fish-docks were of
+invaluable use to the enemy, for there they landed guns, animals, and
+stores, while the provisions they found at the various ship's chandlers,
+and in such shops as Blagg's, and the International Stores in King
+Street, Peter Brown's, Doughty's, Lipton's, Penny's and Barnes's, were
+at once commandeered. Great stores of flour were seized in Clarke's and
+Press's mills, while the horse-provender mills in the vicinity supplied
+them with valuable forage.
+
+Beyond these few details, as far as regarded the fate of Yarmouth,
+nothing further was at present known.
+
+The British division at Colchester, which comprised all the regular
+troops north of the Thames in the eastern command, was, no doubt, in a
+critical position, threatened so closely north and south by the enemy.
+None of the regiments--the Norfolks, the Leicestershire, and the King's
+Own Scottish Borderers of the 11th Infantry Brigade--were up to their
+strength. The 12th Infantry Brigade, which also belonged to the
+division, possessed only skeleton regiments stationed at Hounslow and
+Warley. Of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, some were at Norwich, the 21st
+Lancers were at Hounslow, while only the 16th Lancers were at
+Colchester. Other cavalry regiments were as far away as Canterbury,
+Shorncliffe, and Brighton, and although there were three batteries of
+artillery at Colchester, some were at Ipswich, others at Shorncliffe,
+and others at Woolwich.
+
+Therefore it was quite evident to the authorities in London that unless
+both Colchester and Norwich were instantly strongly supported, they
+would soon be simply swept out of existence by the enormous masses of
+German troops now dominating the whole eastern coast, bent upon
+occupying London.
+
+Helpless though they felt themselves to be, the garrison at Colchester
+did all they could. All available cavalry had been pushed out past
+Ipswich, north to Wickham Market, Stowmarket, and across to Bury St.
+Edmunds, only to find on Wednesday morning that they were covering the
+hasty retreat of the small body of cavalry who had been stationed at
+Norwich. They, gallantly led by their officers, had done everything
+possible to reconnoitre and attempt to pierce the enemy's huge cavalry
+screen, but in every instance entirely in vain. They had been
+outnumbered by the squadrons of independent cavalry operating in front
+of the Germans, and had, alas! left numbers of their gallant comrades
+upon the roads, killed and wounded.
+
+Norwich had, therefore, on Wednesday morning fallen into the hands of
+the German cavalry, utterly defenceless. From the Castle the German flag
+was now flying, the Britannia Barracks were being used by the enemy,
+food had all been seized, the streets were in a state of chaos, and a
+complete reign of terror had been created when a company of British
+Infantry, having fired at some Uhlans, were ruthlessly shot down in the
+street close by the Maid's Head.
+
+In addition to this, the Mayor of Norwich was taken prisoner, lodged in
+the Castle, and held as surety for the well-behaviour of the town.
+
+Everywhere Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted, and as the
+invaders poured into the city the inhabitants looked on in sullen
+silence, knowing that they were now under German military discipline,
+the most rigorous and drastic in the whole world.
+
+A special issue of the "Times" in the evening of the 3rd September
+contained the following vivid account--the first published--of the
+happenings in the town of Goole, in Yorkshire:
+
+    "GOOLE, _September 3_.
+
+"Shortly before five o'clock on Sunday morning the night operator of the
+telephone call-office here discovered an interruption on the trunk-line,
+and on trying the telegraphs was surprised to find that there was no
+communication in any direction. The railway station, being rung up,
+replied that their wires were also down.
+
+"Almost immediately afterwards a well-known North Sea pilot rushed into
+the post office and breathlessly asked that he might telephone to
+Lloyd's. When told that all communication was cut off he wildly shouted
+that a most extraordinary sight was to be seen in the River Ouse, up
+which was approaching a continuous procession of tugs, towing flats, and
+barges filled with German soldiers.
+
+"This was proved to be an actual fact, and the inhabitants of Goole,
+awakened from their Sunday morning slumbers by the shouts of alarm in
+the streets, found, to their abject amazement, foreign soldiers swarming
+everywhere. On the quay they found activity everywhere, German being
+spoken on all hands. They watched a body of cavalry, consisting of the
+1st Westphalian Hussars, the Westphalian Cuirassiers, land with order
+and ease at the Victoria Pier, whence, after being formed up on the
+quay, they advanced at a sharp trot up Victoria Street, Ouse Street, and
+North Street to the railway stations, where, as is generally known,
+there are large sidings of the North-East Lancashire and Yorkshire lines
+in direct communication both with London and the great cities of the
+north. The enemy here found great quantities of engines and rolling
+stock, all of which was at once seized, together with huge stacks of
+coal at the new sidings.
+
+"Before long the first of the infantry of the 13th Division, which was
+commanded by Lieutenant-General Doppschutz, marched up to the stations.
+They consisted of the 13th and 56th Westphalian Regiments, and the
+cavalry on being relieved advanced out of the town, crossing the Dutch
+River by the railway bridge, and pushed on as far as Thorne and Hensall,
+near which they at once strongly held the several important railway
+junctions.
+
+"Meanwhile cavalry of the 14th Brigade, consisting of Westphalian
+Hussars and Uhlans, were rapidly disembarking at Old Goole, and,
+advancing southwards over the open country of Goole Moors and Thorne
+Waste, occupied Crowle. Both cavalry brigades were acting independently
+of the main body, and by their vigorous action both south and west they
+were entirely screening what was happening in the port of Goole.
+
+
+    CITY OF NORWICH.
+
+    =CITIZENS--=
+
+    AS IS WELL KNOWN, a hostile army has landed upon the coast of
+    Norfolk, and has already occupied Yarmouth and Lowestoft,
+    establishing their headquarters at Beccles.
+
+    IN THESE GRAVE CIRCUMSTANCES our only thought is for England,
+    and our duty as citizens and officials is to remain at our post
+    and bear our part in the defence of Norwich, our capital now
+    threatened.
+
+    YOUR PATRIOTISM, of which you have on so many occasions in
+    recent wars given proof, will, I have no doubt, again be shown.
+    By your resistance you will obtain the honour and respect of
+    your enemies, and by the individual energy of each one of you
+    the honour and glory of England may be saved.
+
+    CITIZENS OF NORWICH, I appeal to you to view the catastrophe
+    calmly, and bear your part bravely in the coming struggle.
+
+    =CHARLES CARRINGTON=,
+    _Mayor_.
+
+    NORWICH, _September 4, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: APPEAL ISSUED BY THE MAYOR OF NORWICH]
+
+
+"Infantry continued to pour into the town from flats and barges,
+arriving in endless procession. Doppschutz's Division landed at Aldan
+Dock, Railway Dock, and Ship Dock; the 14th Division at the Jetty and
+Basin, also in the Barge Dock and at the mouth of the Dutch River;
+while some, following the cavalry brigade, landed at Old Goole and
+Swinefleet.
+
+"As far as can be ascertained, the whole of the VIIth German Army Corps
+have landed, at any rate as far as the men are concerned. The troops,
+who are under the supreme command of General Baron von Bistram, appear
+to consist almost entirely of Westphalians, and include Prince Frederick
+of the Netherlands' 2nd Westphalians; Count Bulow von Dennewitz's 6th
+Westphalians; but one infantry brigade, the 79th, consisted of men from
+Lorraine.
+
+"Through the whole day the disembarkation proceeded, the townsmen
+standing there helpless to lift a finger and watching the enemy's
+arrival. The Victoria Pleasure Grounds were occupied by parked
+artillery, which towards afternoon began to rumble through the streets.
+The German gunners, with folded arms, sat unconcernedly upon the
+ammunition boxes as the guns were drawn up to their positions. Horses
+were seized wherever found, the proclamation of Von Kronhelm was nailed
+upon the church doors, and the terrified populace read the grim threat
+of the German field-marshal.
+
+"The wagons, of which there were hundreds, were put ashore mostly at
+Goole, but others up the river at Hook and Swinefleet. When the cavalry
+advance was complete, as it was soon after midday, and when reports had
+come in to Von Bistram that the country was clear of the British, the
+German infantry advance began. By nightfall they had pushed forward,
+some by road, some by rail, and others in the numerous motor-wagons that
+had accompanied the force, until march-outposts were established, south
+of Thorne, Askern, and Crowle, straddling the main road at Bawtry. These
+places, including Fishlake and the country between them, were at once
+strongly held, while ammunition and stores were pushed up by railway to
+both Thorne and Askern.
+
+"The independent cavalry advance continued through Doncaster until dusk,
+when Rotherham was reached, during which advance scattered bodies of
+British Imperial Yeomanry were met and compelled to retreat, a dozen or
+so lives being lost. It appears that late in the afternoon of Sunday
+news was brought into Sheffield of what was in progress, and a squadron
+of Yeomanry donned their uniforms and rode forward to reconnoitre, with
+the disastrous results already mentioned.
+
+"The sensation caused in Sheffield when it became known that German
+cavalry were so close as Rotherham was enormous, and the scenes in the
+streets soon approached a panic; for it was wildly declared that that
+night the enemy intended to occupy the town. The Mayor telegraphed to
+the War Office, appealing for additional defensive force, but no
+response was received to the telegram. The small force of military in
+the town, which consisted of the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light Infantry,
+some Royal Artillery, and the local Volunteers, were soon assembled, and
+going out occupied the strong position above Sheffield between Catcliffe
+and Tinsley, overlooking the valley of the Rother to the east.
+
+"The expectation that the Germans intended an immediate descent on
+Sheffield was not realised, because the German tactics were merely to
+reconnoitre and report on the defences of Sheffield, if any existed.
+This they did by remaining to the eastward of the river Rother, whence
+the high ground rising before Sheffield could be easily observed.
+
+"Before dusk one or two squadrons of Cuirassiers were seen to be
+examining the river to find fords and ascertain the capacity of the
+bridges, while others appeared to be comparing the natural features of
+the ground with the maps with which they all appeared to be provided.
+
+"As night fell, however, the cavalry retired towards Doncaster, which
+town was occupied, the Angel being the cavalry headquarters. The reason
+the Germans could not advance at once upon Sheffield was that the
+cavalry was not strongly supported by infantry from their base, the
+distance from Goole being too great to be covered in a single day. That
+the arrangements for landing were in every detail perfect could not be
+doubted, but owing to the narrow channel of the Ouse time was necessary,
+and it is considered probable that fully three days must elapse from
+Sunday before the Germans are absolutely established.
+
+"An attempt has been made by the Yorkshire Light Infantry and the York
+and Lancaster Regiment, with three battalions of Volunteers stationed at
+Pontefract, to discover the enemy's strength and position between Askern
+and Snaith, but so far without avail, the cavalry screen across the
+whole country being impenetrable.
+
+
+    GOD SAVE THE KING.
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
+
+    In regard to the Decree of September 3rd of the present year,
+    declaring a state of siege in the Counties of Norfolk and
+    Suffolk.
+
+    In regard to the Decree of August 10th, 1906, regulating the
+    public administration of all theatres of war and military
+    servitude;
+
+    Upon the proposition of the Commander-in-Chief
+
+    IT IS DECREED AS FOLLOWS:
+
+    (1) There are in a state of war:
+
+    1st. In the Eastern Command, the counties of Northamptonshire,
+    Rutlandshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
+    Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Middlesex
+    (except that portion included in the London Military District).
+
+    2nd. In the Northern Command, the counties of Northumberland,
+    Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire, with the southern shore of
+    the estuary of the Humber.
+
+    (2) I, Charles Leonard Spencer Cotterell, his Majesty's
+    Principal Secretary of State for War, am charged with the
+    execution of this Decree.
+
+    WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL,
+    _September the Fourth, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: This Proclamation was posted outside the War
+    Office in London at noon on Wednesday, and was read by
+    thousands. It was also posted upon the Town Hall of every city
+    and town throughout the Country.]
+
+
+"The people of the West Riding, and especially the inhabitants of
+Sheffield, are stupefied that they have received no assistance--not even
+a reply to the Mayor's telegram. This fact has leaked out, and has
+caused the greatest dissatisfaction. An enemy is upon us, yet we are in
+ignorance of what step, if any, the authorities are taking for our
+protection.
+
+"There are wild rumours here that the enemy have burned Grimsby, but
+these are generally discredited, for telegraphic and telephonic
+communication has been cut off, and at present we are completely
+isolated. It has been gathered from the invaders that the VIIIth Army
+Corps of the Germans have landed and seized Hull, but at present this is
+not confirmed. There is, alas! no communication with the place,
+therefore, the report may possibly be true.
+
+"Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Selby are all intensely excited
+over the sudden appearance of German soldiers, and were at first
+inclined to unite to stem their progress. But the German proclamation,
+showing the individual peril of any citizen taking arms against the
+invaders, having been posted everywhere, has held every one scared and
+in silent inactivity.
+
+"'Where is our Army?' every one is asking. The whole country has run
+riot in a single hour, now that the Germans are upon us. On every hand
+it is asked: 'What will London do?'"
+
+Reports now reached London that the VIIth German Army Corps had landed
+at Hull and Goole, and taking possession of these towns, were moving
+upon Sheffield in order to paralyse our trade in the Midlands. Hull had
+been bombarded, and was in flames! Terrible scenes were taking place at
+that port.
+
+On that memorable Sunday, when a descent had been made upon our shores,
+there were in German ports on the North Sea nearly a million tons gross
+of German shipping. Normally, in peace time, half a million tons is
+always to be found there, the second half having been quietly collected
+by ships putting in unobserved into such ports as Emden, Bremen,
+Bremerhaven, and Geestemunde, where there are at least ten miles of
+deep-sea wharves, with ample railway access. The arrival of these
+crafts caused no particular comment, but they had already been secretly
+prepared for the transport of men and horses while at sea.
+
+Under the cover of the Frisian Islands, from every canal, river, and
+creek had been assembled a huge multitude of flats and barges, ready to
+be towed by tugs alongside the wharves and filled with troops. Of a
+sudden, in a single hour it seemed, Hamburg, Altona, Cuxhaven, and
+Wilhelmshaven were in excited activity, and almost before the
+inhabitants themselves realised what was really in progress, the
+embarkation had well commenced.
+
+At Emden, with its direct cable to the theatre of war in England, was
+concentrated the brain of the whole movement. Beneath the lee of the
+covering screen of Frisian Islands, Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Langebog,
+and the others, the preparations for the descent upon England rapidly
+matured.
+
+Troop-trains from every part of the Fatherland arrived with the
+punctuality of clockwork. From Düsseldorf came the VIIth Army Corps, the
+VIIIth from Coblenz, the IXth were already assembled at their
+headquarters at Altona, while many of them being stationed at Bremen
+embarked from there; the Xth came up from Hanover, the XIVth from
+Magdeburg, and the Corps of German Guards, the pride and flower of the
+Kaiser's troops, arrived eagerly at Hamburg from Berlin and Potsdam,
+among the first to embark.
+
+Each army corps consisted of about 38,000 officers and men, 11,000
+horses, 144 guns, and about 2,000 motor-cars, wagons, and carts. But for
+this campaign--which was more of the nature of a raid than of any
+protracted campaign--the supply of wheeled transport, with the exception
+of motor-cars, had been somewhat reduced.
+
+Each cavalry brigade attached to an army corps consisted of 1,400 horses
+and men, with some thirty-five light machine guns and wagons. The German
+calculation--which proved pretty correct--was that each army corps could
+come over to England in 100,000 tons gross of shipping, bringing with
+them supplies for twenty-seven days in another 3,000 tons gross.
+Therefore about 618,000 tons gross conveyed the whole of the six corps,
+leaving an ample margin still in German ports for any emergencies. Half
+this tonnage consisted of about 100 steamers, averaging 3,000 tons
+each, the remainder being the boats, flats, lighters, barges, and tugs
+previously alluded to.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY'S POINTS OF EMBARKATION]
+
+The Saxons who, disregarding the neutrality of Belgium, had embarked at
+Antwerp, had seized the whole of the flat-bottomed craft in the Scheldt
+and the numerous canals, as well as the merchant ships in the port,
+finding no difficulty in commandeering the amount of tonnage necessary
+to convey them to the Blackwater and the Crouch.
+
+As hour succeeded hour the panic increased.
+
+It was now also known that, in addition to the various corps who had
+effected a landing, the German Guards had, by a sudden swoop into the
+Wash, got ashore at King's Lynn, seized the town, and united their
+forces with Von Kleppen's corps, who, having landed at Weybourne, were
+now spread right across Norfolk. This picked corps of Guards was under
+the command of that distinguished officer, the Duke of Mannheim, while
+the infantry divisions were under Lieutenant-Generals von Castein and
+Von Der Decken.
+
+The landing at King's Lynn on Sunday morning had been quite a simple
+affair. There was nothing whatever to repel them, and they disembarked
+on the quays and in the docks, watched by the astonished populace. All
+provisions were seized at shops, while headquarters were established at
+the municipal buildings, and the German flag hoisted upon the old
+church, the tower of which was at once used as a signal station.
+
+Old-fashioned people of Lynn peered out of their quiet respectable
+houses in King Street in utter amazement; but soon, when the German
+proclamation was posted, the terrible truth was plain.
+
+In half an hour, even before they could realise it, they had been
+transferred from the protection of the British flag to the militarism of
+the German.
+
+Ere sundown on Sunday, stalwart grey-coated sentries of the Guards
+Fusiliers from Potsdam, and the Grenadiers from Berlin were holding the
+roads at Gayton, East Walton, Narborough, Markham, Fincham, Stradsett,
+and Stow Bardolph. Therefore on Sunday night, from Spalding on the east,
+Peterborough, Chatteris, Littleport, Thetford, Diss, and Halesworth,
+were faced by a huge cavalry screen protecting the landing and repose of
+the great German Army behind it.
+
+Slowly but carefully the enemy were maturing their plans for the defeat
+of our defenders and the sack of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DESPERATE FIGHTING IN ESSEX.
+
+
+London was at a standstill. Trade was entirely stopped. Shopkeepers
+feared to open their doors on account of the fierce, hungry mobs
+parading the street. Orators were haranguing the crowds in almost every
+open space. The police were either powerless, or feared to come into
+collision with the assembled populace. Terror and blank despair were
+everywhere.
+
+There was unrest night and day. The banks, head offices, and branches,
+unable to withstand the run upon them when every one demanded to be
+paid in gold, had, by mutual arrangement, shut their doors, leaving
+excited and furious crowds of customers outside unpaid. Financial ruin
+stared every one in the face. Those who were fortunate enough to realise
+their securities on Monday were fleeing from London south and westward.
+Day and night the most extraordinary scenes of frantic fear were
+witnessed at Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo, and London Bridge. The
+southern railways were badly disorganised by the cutting of the lines by
+the enemy, but the Great Western system was, up to the present, intact,
+and carried thousands upon thousands to Wales, to Devonshire, and to
+Cornwall.
+
+In those three hot, breathless days the Red Hand of Ruin spread out upon
+London.
+
+The starving East met the terrified West, but in those moments the bonds
+of terror united class with mass. Restaurants and theatres were closed;
+there was but little vehicular traffic in the streets, for of horses
+there were none, while the majority of the motor 'buses had been
+requisitioned, and the transit of goods had been abandoned. "The City,"
+that great army of daily workers, both male and female, was out of
+employment, and swelled the idlers and gossips, whose temper and opinion
+were swayed each half-hour by the papers now constantly appearing night
+and day without cessation.
+
+Cabinet Councils had been held every day, but their decisions, of
+course, never leaked out to the public. The King also held Privy
+Councils, and various measures were decided upon. Parliament, which had
+been hurriedly summoned, was due to meet, and every one speculated as to
+the political crisis that must now ensue.
+
+In St. James's Park, in Hyde Park, in Victoria Park, on Hampstead Heath,
+in Greenwich Park--in fact, in each of the "lungs of London,"--great
+mass meetings were held, at which resolutions were passed condemning the
+Administration and eulogising those who, at the first alarm, had so
+gallantly died in defence of their country.
+
+It was declared that by the culpable negligence of the War Office and
+the National Defence Committee we had laid ourselves open to complete
+ruin, both financially and as a nation.
+
+The man-in-the-street already felt the strain, for the lack of
+employment and the sudden rise in the price of everything had brought
+him up short. Wives and families were crying for food, and those without
+savings and with only a few pounds put by looked grimly into the future
+and at the mystery it presented.
+
+Most of the papers published the continuation of the important story of
+Mr. Alexander, the Mayor of Maldon, which revealed the extent of the
+enemy's operations in Essex and the strong position they occupied.
+
+It ran as below:
+
+"Of the events of the early hours of the morning I have no very clear
+recollection. I was bewildered, staggered, dumbfounded by the sights and
+sounds which beset me. Of what modern war meant I had till then truly
+but a very faint idea. To witness its horrid realities enacted in this
+quiet, out-of-the-way spot where I had pitched my tent for so many
+years, brought them home to me literally as well as metaphorically.
+
+"I had run down Cromwell Hill, and seeing the flames of Heybridge, was
+impelled to get nearer, if possible, to discover more particularly the
+state of affairs in that direction. But I was reckoning without the
+Germans. When I got to the bridge over the river at the foot of the
+hill, the officer in charge there absolutely prevented my crossing.
+Beyond the soldiers standing or kneeling behind whatever cover was
+offered by the walls and buildings abutting on the riverside, and a
+couple of machine guns placed so as to command the bridge and the road
+beyond, there was nothing much to see. A number of Germans were,
+however, very busy in the big mill just across the river, but what they
+were doing I could not make out. As I turned to retrace my step the
+glare of the conflagration grew suddenly more and more intense. A mass
+of dark figures came running down the brightly illuminated road towards
+the bridge, while the rifle fire became louder, nearer, and heavier than
+ever. Every now and again the air became alive with, as it were, the
+hiss and buzz of flying insects. The English must have fought their way
+through Heybridge, and these must be the bullets from their rifles. It
+was dangerous to stay down there any longer, so I took to my heels. As I
+ran I heard a thundering explosion behind me, the shock of which nearly
+threw me to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the
+Germans had blown up the mill at the farther end of the bridge, and were
+now pushing carts from either side in order to barricade it. The two
+Maxims, too, began to pump lead with their hammering reports, and the
+men near them commenced to fall in twos and threes. I made off to the
+left, and passed into High Street by the end of St. Peter's Church, now
+disused. At the corner I ran against Mr. Clydesdale, the optician, who
+looks after the library which now occupies the old building. He pointed
+to the tower, which stood darkly up against the blood-red sky.
+
+"'Look at those infernal Germans!' he said. 'They can't even keep out of
+that old place. I wish we could have got the books out before they
+came.'
+
+"I could not see any of our invaders where he was pointing, but
+presently I became aware of a little winking, blinking light at the very
+summit of the tower.
+
+"'That's them,' said Clydesdale. 'They're making signals, I think. My
+boy says he saw the same thing on Purleigh Church tower last night. I
+wish it would come down with them, that I do. It's pretty shaky,
+anyway.'
+
+"The street was fairly full of people. The Germans, it is true, had
+ordered that no one should be out of doors between eight in the evening
+and six in the morning; but just now they appeared to have their hands
+pretty full elsewhere, and if any of the few soldiers that were about
+knew of or thought anything of the interdiction, they said nothing.
+
+"The crash of a salvo of heavy guns from the direction of my own house
+interrupted him.
+
+"'That'll be the guns in my garden,' I said.
+
+"'Yes, sir, and they've got three monstrous great ones in the opening
+between the houses just behind the church there,' said Clydesdale.
+
+"As he spoke, the guns in question bellowed out, one after the other.
+
+"'Look--look at the tower!' I cried.
+
+"The light at the top had disappeared and the lofty edifice was swaying
+slowly, slowly, over to the left.
+
+"'She's gone at last!' exclaimed Clydesdale.
+
+"It was true. Down came the old steeple that had pointed heavenward for
+so many generations, with a mighty crash and concussion that swallowed
+up even the noise of the battle, though cannon of all sorts and sizes
+were now joining in the hellish concert, and shell from the English
+batteries began to roar over the town. The vibration and shock of the
+heavy guns had been too much for the old tower, which, for years in a
+tottery condition, had been patched up so often.
+
+"As soon as the cloud of dust cleared off we ran towards the huge pile
+of débris that filled the little churchyard. Several other people
+followed. It was very dark down there, in the shadow of the trees and
+houses, despite the fire-light overhead, and we began striking matches
+as we looked about among the heaps of bricks and beams to see if there
+were any of the German signal party among them. Why we should have taken
+the trouble under the circumstances I do not quite know. It was an
+instinctive movement of humanity on my part, and that of most of the
+others, I suppose.
+
+"I caught sight of an arm in a light blue sleeve protruding from the
+débris, and took hold of it in a futile attempt to remove some of the
+bricks and rubbish which I thought were covering the body of its owner.
+To my horror, it came away in my hand. The body to which it belonged
+might be buried yards away in the immense heap of ruins. I dropped it
+with a cry, and fled from the spot.
+
+"Dawn was now breaking. I do not exactly remember where I wandered to
+after the fall of St. Peter's Tower, but it must have been between
+half-past five and six when I found myself on the high ground at the
+north-western corner of the town, overlooking the golf links, where I
+had spent so many pleasant hours in that recent past that now seemed so
+far away. All around me were batteries, trenches, and gun-pits. But
+though the firing was still going on somewhere away to the right, where
+Heybridge poured black smoke skyward like a volcano, gun and howitzer
+were silent, and their attendant artillerymen, instead of being in cover
+behind their earthen parapets, were clustered on the top, watching
+intently something that was passing in the valley below them. So
+absorbed were they that I was able to creep up behind them, and also get
+a sight of what was taking place. And this is what I saw:
+
+"Over the railway bridge which spanned the river a little to the left
+were hurrying battalion after battalion of green and blue clad German
+infantry. They moved down the embankment after crossing, and continued
+their march behind it. Where the railway curved to the right and left,
+about half a mile beyond the bridge, the top of the embankment was lined
+with dark figures lying down and apparently firing, while over the golf
+course from the direction of Beeleigh trotted squadron after squadron of
+sky-blue riders, their green and white lance pennons fluttering in the
+breeze. They crossed the Blackwater and Chelmer Canal, and cantered off
+in the direction of Langford Rectory.
+
+"At the same time I saw line after line of the Germans massed behind the
+embankment spring over it and advance rapidly towards the lower portion
+of the town, just across the river. Hundreds fell under the fire from
+the houses, which must have been full of Englishmen, but one line after
+another reached the buildings. The firing was now heavier than
+ever--absolutely incessant and continuous--though, except for an
+occasional discharge from beyond Heybridge, the artillery was silent.
+
+"I have but little knowledge of military matters, but it was abundantly
+evident, even to me, that what I had just seen was a very formidable
+counter-attack on the part of the Germans, who had brought up fresh
+troops either from the rear of the town or from farther inland, and
+launched them against the English under cover of the railway embankment.
+I was not able to see the end of the encounter, but bad news flies
+apace, and it soon became common knowledge in the town that our troops
+from Colchester had not only failed to cross the river at any point, but
+had been driven helter-skelter out of the lower town near the station
+and from the smoking ruins of Heybridge with great loss, and were now in
+full retreat.
+
+"Indeed, some hundreds of our khaki-clad fellow-countrymen were marched
+through the town an hour or two later as prisoners, to say nothing of
+the numbers of wounded, who, together with those belonging to the
+Germans, soon began to crowd every available building suitable for use
+as an hospital. The wounded prisoners with their escort went off towards
+Mundon, and are reported to have gone in the direction of Steeple. It
+was altogether a disastrous day, and our hopes, which had begun to rise
+when the British had penetrated into the northern part of the town, now
+fell below zero.
+
+"It was a black day for us, and for England. During the morning the
+same officer who had captured me on the golf course came whirling into
+Maldon on a 24-h.p. Mercedes car. He drove straight up to my house, and
+informed me that he had orders to conduct me to Prince Henry, who was to
+be at Purleigh early in the afternoon.
+
+"'Was it in connection with the skirmish with the Volunteers?' I asked.
+
+"'I don't know,' was the reply. 'But I don't fancy so. In the meantime,
+could I write here for an hour or two?' he asked politely. 'I have much
+to write to my friends in Germany, and have not had a minute up to now.'
+
+"I was very glad to be able to oblige the young man in such a small way,
+and left him in my study till midday, very busy with pens, ink, and
+paper.
+
+"After a makeshift of a lunch, the car came round, and we got into the
+back seat. In front sat his orderly and the chauffeur, a fierce-looking
+personage in a semi-military uniform. We ran swiftly down the High
+Street, and in a few minutes were spinning along the Purleigh Road,
+where I saw much that amazed me. I then for the first time realised how
+absolutely complete were the German plans."
+
+    "TUESDAY, _September 4_.
+
+"About six o'clock this morning I awoke rather suddenly. The wind had
+gone round to the northward, and I was certain that heavy firing was
+going on somewhere in that direction. I opened the window and looked
+out. The 'thud' and rumble of a cannonade, with the accompaniment of an
+occasional burst of musketry, came clearly and loudly on the wind from
+the hills by Wickham Bishops village. The church spire was in plain
+view, and little faint puffs and rings of grey smoke were just visible
+in its vicinity every now and again, sometimes high up in the air, at
+others among the trees at its base. They were exploding shells; I had no
+doubt of that. What was going on it was impossible to say, but I
+conjectured that some of our troops from Colchester had come into
+collision with the Germans, who had gone out in that direction the day
+of their arrival. The firing continued for about an hour, and then died
+away.
+
+"Soon after eight, Count von Ohrendorff, the general officer commanding
+the 32nd Division, who appeared to be the supreme authority here, sent
+for me, and suggested that I should take steps to arrange for the
+manufacture of lint and bandages by the ladies living in the town. I
+could see no reason for objecting to this, and so promised to carry out
+his suggestion. I set about the matter at once, and, with the assistance
+of my wife, soon had a couple of score of more or less willing workers
+busily engaged in the National Schoolroom. In the meantime the roll of a
+terrible cannonade had burst forth again from Wickham Bishops. It seemed
+louder and more insistent than ever. As soon as I got away from the
+schools I hurried home and climbed out on the roof. The top of the Moot
+Hall and other coigns of vantage had all been occupied by the Germans.
+However, with the aid of a pair of field-glasses I was able to see a
+good bit. Black smoke was now pouring from Wickham Bishops in clouds,
+and every now and again I fancied I could see the forked tongues of
+flame shooting up above the surrounding trees. A series of scattered
+black dots now came out on the open ground to the south of the church.
+The trees of Eastland Wood soon hid them from my sight, but others
+followed, mingled with little moving black blocks which I took to be
+formed bodies of troops. After them came four or five guns, driven at
+breakneck pace towards the road that passes between Eastland and
+Captain's Woods, then more black dots, also in a desperate hurry.
+Several of these last tumbled, and lay still here and there all over the
+slope.
+
+"Other dots followed at their heels. They were not quite so distinct. I
+looked harder. Hurrah! They were men in khaki. We were hustling these
+Germans at last. They also disappeared behind the woods. Then from the
+fringe of trees about Wickham half a dozen big brilliant flashes,
+followed after an interval by the loud detonation of heavy cannon. I
+could not distinguish much more, though the rattle of battle went on for
+some time longer. Soon after eleven four German guns galloped in from
+Heybridge. These were followed by a procession of maimed and limping
+humanity. Some managed to get along unaided, though with considerable
+difficulty. Others were supported by a comrade, some carried between two
+men, and others borne along on stretchers. A couple of ambulance carts
+trotted out and picked up more wounded. Our bandages and lint had not
+long to wait before being required. After this there was a cessation of
+firing.
+
+"About one o'clock the German general sent word to me that he thought an
+attack quite possible during the afternoon, and that he strongly advised
+me to get all the women and children out of the town--for the time being
+at any rate. This was evidently well meant, but it was a pretty
+difficult matter to arrange for, to say nothing of raising a panic among
+the inhabitants. However, in an hour and a half's time I had contrived
+to marshal several hundred of them together, and to get them out on the
+road to Mundon. The weather was warm for the time of the year, and I
+thought, if the worst came to the worst, they could spend the night in
+the old church. I left the sad little column of exiles--old, bent women
+helped along by their daughters, tiny children dragged along through the
+dust, clutching their mothers' skirts; infants in arms; and other older
+and sturdier children staggering beneath the weight of the most precious
+home adornments--and made the best of my way back to arrange for the
+forwarding to them of their rations.
+
+"At every step on my homeward way I expected to hear the cannonade begin
+again. But beyond the twittering of the birds in the trees and
+hedgerows, the creak and rumble of a passing cart, and the rush of a
+train along the railway on my left--just the usual sounds of the
+countryside--nothing broke the stillness. As I stepped out on the
+familiar highway, I could almost bring myself to believe that the events
+of the past twenty-four hours were but the phantasmagoria of a dream.
+After interviewing some of the town councillors who were going to
+undertake the transport of provisions to the women and children at
+Mundon, I walked round to my own house.
+
+"My wife and family had driven over to Purleigh on the first alarm, and
+had arranged to stay the night with some friends, on whatever
+shake-downs could be improvised, since every house in the peninsula
+harboured some of the ubiquitous German officers and men. I wandered
+through the familiar rooms, and came out into the garden, or rather,
+what had been the garden. There I saw that the Saxon gunners were all
+standing to their pieces, and one of my none too welcome guests accosted
+me as I left the house.
+
+"'If you'll take my advice, sare, you'll get away out of this,' he said
+in broken English.
+
+"'What! are you going to fire?' I asked.
+
+"'I don't fancy so. It wouldn't hurt you if we were. But I think your
+English friends from Colchester are about to see if they can draw us.'
+
+"As he spoke I became aware of a sharp, hissing noise like a train
+letting off steam. It grew louder and nearer, passed over our heads, and
+was almost instantly followed by a terrible crash somewhere behind the
+house. A deeper and more muffled report came up from the valley beyond
+Heybridge.
+
+"'Well, they've begun now, and the best thing you can do is to get down
+into that gun epaulment there,' said the German officer.
+
+"I thought his advice was good, and I lost no time in following it.
+
+"'Here comes another!' cried he, as he jumped down into the pit beside
+me. 'We'll have plenty of them now.'
+
+"So we did. Shell after shell came hissing and screaming at us over the
+tree-tops in the gardens lower down the hill. Each one of them sounded
+to me as if it were coming directly at my head, but one after another
+passed over us to burst beyond. The gunners all crouched close to the
+earthen parapet--and so did I. I am not ashamed to say so. My German
+officer, however, occasionally climbed to the top of the embankment and
+studied the prospect through his field-glasses. At length there was a
+loud detonation, and a column of dirt and smoke in the garden next below
+us. Then two shells struck the parapet of the gun-pit on our left almost
+simultaneously. Their explosion was deafening, and we were covered with
+the dust and stones they threw up.
+
+"Immediately afterwards another shell passed so close over our heads
+that I felt my hair lift. It just cleared the parapet and plunged into
+the side of my house. A big hole appeared just to the right of the
+dining-room window, and through it came instantaneously the loud bang of
+the explosion. The glass was shattered in all the windows, and thick
+smoke, white and black, came curling from every one of them.
+
+"'The house is on fire!' I shouted, and sprang madly from the pit.
+Heedless of the bombardment, I rushed into the building. Another crash
+sounded overhead as I entered, and a blaze of light shone down the
+stairway for an instant. Another projectile had found a billet in my
+home. I tried to make my way to my study, but found the passage blocked
+with fallen beams and ceiling. What with the smoke and dust, and the
+blocking of some of the windows, it was very dark in the hall, and I got
+quite a shock when, as I looked about me to find my way, I saw two red,
+glittering specks shining over the top of a heap of débris. But the howl
+that followed told me that they were nothing but the eyes of miserable
+Tim, the cat, who, left behind, had been nearly frightened out of his
+senses by the noise and concussion of the bursting shell. As I gazed at
+him another projectile struck the house quite close to us. Tim was
+simply smashed by a flying fragment. I was thrown down, and half-buried
+under a shower of bricks and mortar. I think that I must have lost
+consciousness for a time.
+
+"The next thing I recollect was being dragged out into the garden by a
+couple of Saxons. I had a splitting headache, and was very glad of a
+glass of water that one of them handed to me. Their officer, who
+appeared to be quite a decent fellow, offered me his flask.
+
+"'The house is all right,' he said, with his strong accent. 'It caught
+fire once, but we managed to get it under. Your friends have cleared
+off--at any rate for the present. They got too bold at last, and pushed
+their guns down till they got taken in the flank by the warship in the
+river. They had two of their pieces knocked to bits, and then cleared
+out. Best thing you can do is to do the same.'
+
+"I was in two minds. I could not save the house by staying, and might
+just as well join my people at Purleigh Rectory. On the other hand, I
+felt that it would better become me, as Mayor, to stick to the town.
+Duty triumphed, and I decided to remain where I was--at least for the
+present. All was now quiet, and after an early supper I turned in, and,
+despite the excitement of the day and my aching head, was asleep the
+moment I touched the pillow."
+
+    "WEDNESDAY, _September 5_.
+
+"It must have been about three in the morning when I awoke. My head was
+much better, and for a minute or two I lay comfortably in the darkness,
+without any recollection of the events of the preceding day. Then I saw
+a bright reflection pass rapidly over the ceiling. I wondered vaguely
+what it was. Presently it came back again, paused a moment, and
+disappeared. By this time I was wide awake. I went to the window and
+looked out. It was quite dark, but from somewhere over beyond Heybridge
+a long white ray was sweeping all along this side of Maldon. Now the
+foliage of a tree in the garden below would stand out in pale green
+radiance against the blackness; now the wall of a house half a mile away
+would reflect back the moving beam, shining white as a sheet of
+notepaper.
+
+"Presently another ray shone out, and the two of them, moving backwards
+and forwards, made the whole of our hillside caper in a dizzy dance.
+From somewhere far away to my right another stronger beam now streamed
+through the obscurity, directed apparently at the sources of the other
+two, and almost simultaneously came the crack of a rifle from the
+direction of Heybridge, sharp and ominous in the quiet darkness of the
+night. Half a dozen scattered shots followed; then a faint cheer. More
+and more rifles joined in, and presently the burring tap-tap-tap of a
+Maxim. I hurried on my clothes. The firing increased in volume and
+rapidity; bugles rang out here, there, and everywhere through the
+sleeping town, and above the rolling, rattling clamour of the drums I
+could distinguish the hurried tramp of hundreds of feet.
+
+"I cast one glance from the window as I quitted the room. The electric
+searchlights had increased to at least half a dozen. Some reached out
+long, steady fingers into the vague spaces of the night, while others
+wandered restlessly up and down, hither and thither. Low down over the
+trees of the garden a dull red glare slowly increased in extent and
+intensity. The rattle of musketry was now absolutely continuous. As I
+ran out of the house into the street, I was nearly carried off my feet
+by the rush of a battalion that was pouring down Cromwell Hill at the
+double. Hardly knowing what I did, I followed in their wake. The glare
+in front got brighter and brighter. A few steps, and I could see the
+cause of it. The whole of Heybridge appeared to be on fire, the flames
+roaring skywards from a dozen different conflagrations."
+
+England halted breathless. Fighting had commenced in real earnest.
+
+The greatest consternation was caused by the publication in the "Times"
+of the description of the operations in Essex, written by Mr. Henry
+Bentley, the distinguished war correspondent, who had served that
+journal in every campaign since Kitchener had entered Khartum.
+
+All other papers, without exception, contained various accounts of the
+British defence at the point nearest London, but they were mostly of the
+scrappy and sensational order, based more on report than upon actual
+fact. The "Times" account, however, had been written with calm
+impartiality by one of the most experienced correspondents at the front.
+Whether he had been afforded any special facilities was not apparent,
+but, in any case, it was the most complete and truthful account of the
+gallant attempt on the part of our soldiers to check the advance from
+Essex westward.
+
+During the whole of that hot, stifling day it was known that a battle
+was raging, and the excitement everywhere was intense.
+
+The public were in anxious terror as the hours crept by, until the first
+authentic news of the result of the operations was printed in a special
+evening edition of the "Times," as follows:
+
+    "(From our War Correspondent.)
+
+    "DANBURY, ESSEX, _September 8_.
+
+"To-day has been a momentous one for England. The great battle has raged
+since dawn, and though just at present there seems to be a lull, during
+which the opposing forces are, so to speak, regaining their breath, it
+can be by no means over.
+
+"Dead and living alike will lie out on the battlefield the whole night
+through, for we must hold on to the positions so hardly won, and be
+ready to press forward at the first glimmer of daylight. Our gallant
+troops, Regular and Volunteers alike, have nobly vindicated the
+traditions of our race, and have fought as desperately as ever did their
+forebears at Agincourt, Albuera, or Waterloo. But while a considerable
+success--paid for, alas! by the loss of thousands of gallant lives--has
+been achieved, it will take at least another day's hard fighting before
+victory is in our grasp. Nowadays a soldier need not expect to be
+either victorious or finally defeated by nightfall, and although this
+battle, fought as it is between much smaller forces, and extending over
+a much more limited area, than the great engagement between the Russians
+and Japanese at Liaoyang, will not take quite so long a time to decide,
+the end is not yet in sight. I wrote this after a hard day's travelling
+backwards and forwards behind our advancing line of battle.
+
+"I took my cycle with me in my motor-car, and whenever opportunity
+offered mounted it, and pushed forward as near to the fighting as I
+could get. Frequently I had to leave the cycle also, and crawl forward
+on hands and knees, sheltering in some depression in the ground, while
+the enemy's bullets whined and whistled overhead. As reported in a
+previous issue, the Army which had assembled at Brentwood moved forward
+on the 5th.
+
+"During the afternoon the advanced troops succeeded in driving the enemy
+out of South Hanningfield, and before sundown they were also in full
+retreat from the positions they had held at East Hanningfield and
+Danbury. There was some stiff fighting at the latter place, but after a
+pounding from the artillery, who brought several batteries into action
+on the high ground north-west of East Hanningfield, the Germans were
+unable to withstand the attack of the Argyll and Sutherlands and the
+London Scottish, who worked their way through Danbury Park and Hall Wood
+right into their position, driving them from their entrenchments by a
+dashing bayonet charge. Everything north and east of the enemy's main
+position, which is now known to lie north and south, between Maldon and
+the river Crouch, was now in our hands, but his troops still showed a
+stout front at Wickford, and were also reported to be at Rayleigh,
+Hockley, and Canewdon, several miles to the eastward. All preparations
+were made to assault the German position at Wickford at daybreak to-day,
+but our scouts found that the place had been evacuated. The news that
+Rayleigh and Hockley had also been abandoned by the enemy came in
+shortly afterwards. The German invaders had evidently completed their
+arrangements for the defence of their main position, and now said, in
+effect, 'Come on, and turn us out if you can.'
+
+"It was no easy task that lay before our gallant defenders. Maldon,
+perched on a high knoll, with a network of river and canal protecting it
+from assault from the northward, fairly bristles with guns, many of
+them heavy field howitzers, and has, as we know to our cost, already
+repulsed one attack by our troops. Farther south there are said to be
+many guns on the knolls about Purleigh. Great Canney Hill, standing
+boldly up like an immense redoubt, is reported to be seamed with
+entrenchments mounting many heavy guns. The railway embankment south of
+Maldon forms a perfect natural rampart along part of the enemy's
+position, while the woods and enclosures south-west of Great Canney
+conceal thousands of sharpshooters. A sort of advanced position was
+occupied by the enemy at Edwin Hall, a mile east of Woodham Ferrers,
+where a pair of high kopjes a quarter of a mile apart offered command
+and cover to some of their field batteries.
+
+"Our scouts have discovered also that an elaborate system of wire
+entanglements and other military obstacles protects almost the whole
+front of the somewhat extensive German position. On its extreme left
+their line is said to be thrown back at an angle, so that any attempt to
+outflank it would not only entail crossing the river Crouch, but would
+come under the fire of batteries placed on the high ground overlooking
+it. Altogether, it is a very tough nut to crack, and the force at our
+disposal none too strong for the work that lies before it.
+
+"Further detail regarding our strength would be inadvisable for obvious
+reasons, but when I point out that the Germans are supposed to be
+between thirty and forty thousand strong, and that it is laid down by
+competent military authorities that to attack troops in an entrenched
+position a superiority of six to one is advisable, my readers can draw
+their own conclusions.
+
+"The repairs to the railway line between Brentwood and Chelmsford, that
+had been damaged by the enemy's cavalry on their first landing, were
+completed yesterday, and all night reinforcements had been coming in by
+way of Chelmsford and Billericay. The general headquarters had been
+established at Danbury, and, thither I made my way as fast as my car
+could get along the roads, blocked as they were by marching horse, foot,
+and artillery. I had spent the night at South Hanningfield, so as to be
+on the spot for the expected attack on Wickford; but as soon as I found
+it was not to come off, I considered that at Danbury would be the best
+chance of finding out what our next move was to be.
+
+"Nor was I mistaken. As I ran up to the village I found the roads full
+of troops under arms, and everything denoted action of some kind. I was
+lucky enough to come across a friend of mine on the staff--Captain
+B----, I will call him--who spared a moment to give me the tip that a
+general move forward was commencing, and that a big battle was imminent.
+Danbury is situated on the highest ground for many miles round, and as
+it bid fair to be a fine, clear day, I thought I could not do better
+than try and get a general look round from the summit of the church
+tower before proceeding farther. But I was informed that the General was
+up there with some of his staff and a signalling party, so that I could
+not ascend.
+
+"My pass, however, eventually procured me admission to the little
+platform, which, by the way, the General left a moment after my arrival.
+It was now eight o'clock, the sun was fairly high in the heavens, and
+the light mists that hung about the low ground in the vicinity of Maldon
+were fast fading into nothingness. The old town was plainly
+distinguishable as a dark silhouette against the morning light, which,
+while it illumined the panorama spread out before me, yet rendered
+observation somewhat difficult, since it shone almost directly into my
+eyes. However, by the aid of my glasses I was able to see something of
+the first moves on the fatal chess-board where so many thousands of
+lives are staked on the bloody game of war.
+
+"I noticed among other things that the lessons of the recent war in the
+East had not passed unobserved, for in all the open spaces on the
+eastern slope of the hill, where the roads were not screened by trees or
+coppices, lofty erections of hurdles and greenery had been placed
+overnight to hide the preliminary movements of our troops from the
+glasses of the enemy. Under cover of these, regiment after regiment of
+khaki-clad soldiers, batteries of artillery and ammunition carts, were
+proceeding to their allotted posts down the network of roads and lanes
+leading to the lower ground towards the south-east. Two battalions stood
+in quarter column behind Thrift Wood. They were kilted corps, probably
+the Argylls and the London Scottish. Several field batteries moved off
+to the left towards Woodham Walter. Other battalions took up their
+position behind Hyde Woods, farther away to the right, the last of them,
+the Grenadier Guards, I fancy, passing behind them and marching still
+farther southward.
+
+"Finally, two strong battalions, easily recognised as marines by their
+blue war-kit, marched rapidly down the main road and halted presently
+behind Woodham Mortimer Place. All this time there was neither sight nor
+sound of the enemy. The birds carolled gaily in the old elms round my
+eyrie, the sparrows and martins piped and twittered in the eaves of the
+old church, and the sun shone genially on hill and valley, field and
+wood. To all appearance, peace reigned over the countryside, though the
+dun masses of troops in the shadows of the woodlands were suggestive of
+the autumn manoeuvres. But for all this the 'Real Thing' was upon us. As
+I looked, first one, then another long and widely scattered line of
+crouching men in khaki issued from the cover of Hyde Woods and began
+slowly to move away towards the east. Then, and not till then, a vivid
+violet-white flash blazed out on the dim grey upland five miles away to
+the south-east, which had been pointed out to me as Great Canney, and
+almost at once a spout of earth and smoke sprang up a little way ahead
+of the advancing British. A dull boom floated up on the breeze, but was
+drowned in an ear-splitting crash somewhere close to me. I felt the old
+tower rock under the concussion, which I presently discovered came from
+a battery of at least six big 4ˇ7 guns established just outside the
+churchyard.
+
+"They were manned by a party of bluejackets, who had brought them over
+from Chatham. The movement I saw developing below me was the first step
+towards what I eventually discovered was our main objective--Purleigh.
+
+"Could we succeed in establishing ourselves there, we should be beyond
+effective range from Maldon, and should also take Great Canney in
+reverse, as well as the positions on the refused left flank of the
+enemy. Maldon, too, would be isolated. Purleigh, therefore, was the key
+of the position. Our first move was in this direction. The scouts were
+picked men from the Line battalions, but the firing lines were composed
+of Volunteers and, in some cases, Militiamen. It was considered more
+politic to reserve the Regulars for the later stages of the attack. The
+firing from Canney, and afterwards from Purleigh, was at first at rather
+too long a range to be effective, even from the heavy guns that were in
+use, and later on the heavy long-range fire from 'Bloody Mary' and her
+sisters at Danbury, and other heavy guns and howitzers in the
+neighbourhood of East Hanningfield, kept it down considerably, although
+the big, high-explosive shells were now and again most terribly
+destructive to the advancing British.
+
+"When, however, the firing line--which as yet had not been near enough
+to fire a shot in reply--arrived in the neighbourhood of Loddard's Hill,
+its left came under a terrible rifle fire from Hazeleigh Wood, while its
+right and centre were all but destroyed by a tornado of shrapnel from
+some German field batteries to the north of Purleigh. Though dazed and
+staggered under the appalling sleet of projectiles, the Volunteers stuck
+doggedly to their ground, though unable to advance. Line after line was
+pushed forward, the men stumbling and falling over the thickly-scattered
+bodies of their fallen comrades.
+
+"It was a perfect holocaust. Some other card must be played at once, or
+the attack must fail."
+
+The second of Mr. Henry Bentley's descriptive articles in the "Times"
+told a terrible truth, and was as follows:
+
+    "(From our War Correspondent.)
+
+    "CHELMSFORD, _September 7_.
+
+"When I sent off my despatch by motor-car last night, it was with very
+different feelings to those with which I take my pen in hand this
+evening, in the Saracen's Head Hotel, which is the headquarters of my
+colleagues, the correspondents.
+
+"Last night, despite the hard fighting and the heavy losses we had
+sustained, the promise of the morrow was distinctly a good one. But now
+I have little heart with which to commence the difficult and unpleasant
+task of chronicling the downfall of all our high hopes, the repulse--ay,
+and the defeat--it is no use mincing matters--of our heroic and sorely
+tried Army.
+
+"Yes, our gallant soldiers have sustained a reverse which, but for their
+stubborn fighting qualities and a somewhat inexplicable holding back on
+the part of the Germans, might very easily have culminated in disaster.
+Defeat although it undoubtedly is, the darkness of the gloomy outlook is
+illuminated by the brilliancy of the conduct of our troops.
+
+"From General down to the youngest Volunteer drummer boy, our brave
+soldiers did all, and more, than could be humanly expected of them, and
+on none of them can be laid the blame of our ill-success. The plan of
+attack is agreed on all hands to have been as good a one as could have
+been evolved; the officers led well, their men fought well, and there
+was no running short of ammunition at any period of the engagement.
+
+"'Who, then, was responsible?' it may well be asked. The answer is
+simple. The British public, which, in its apathetic attitude towards
+military efficiency, aided and abetted by the soothing theories of the
+extremists of the 'Blue Water' school, had, as usual, neglected to
+provide an Army fitted to cope in numbers and efficiency with those of
+our Continental neighbours. Had we had a sufficiency of troops, more
+especially of regular troops, there is not the slightest doubt that the
+victory would have been ours. As it was, our General was obliged to
+attack the enemy's position with a force whose numbers, even if they had
+been all regular soldiers, were below those judged necessary by military
+experts for the task in hand.
+
+"Having broken through the German lines, success was in his grasp had he
+had sufficient reinforcements to have established him in the position he
+had won, and to beat back the inevitable counter-attack. But it is best
+that I should continue my account of the fighting from the point at
+which I closed my letter of yesterday. I had arrived at the checking of
+our advance near Loddard's Hill by the blast of shrapnel from the German
+field batteries. It was plain that the Volunteer Brigade, though it held
+its ground, could not advance farther. But, unnoticed by them, the
+General had been preparing for this eventuality.
+
+"On the left the two battalions of Marines that I noticed drawn up
+behind Woodham Mortimer Place suddenly debouched on Loddard's Hill, and,
+carrying forward with them the débris of the Volunteer firing line,
+hurled themselves into Hazeleigh Wood. There was a sanguinary
+hand-to-hand struggle on the wire-entangled border, but the newcomers
+were not to be denied, and, after a quarter of an hour's desperate
+męlée, which filled the sylvan glades with moaning and writhing wounded
+and stark dead bodies, we remained masters of the wood, and even
+obtained a footing on the railway line where it adjoins it.
+
+"Simultaneously a long line of our field batteries came into action near
+Woodham Mortimer, some trying to beat down the fire of the German guns
+opposite, while others replied to a battery which had been established
+near West Maldon Station to flank the railway, and which was now
+beginning to open on Hazeleigh Wood. The latter were assisted by a
+battery of 4ˇ7 guns manned by Volunteers, which took up a position
+behind Woodham Walter. The firing on Great Canney from our batteries at
+East Hanningfield redoubled, the whole summit of the hill being at times
+obscured by the clouds of smoke and débris from the explosions of the
+big, high-explosive projectiles.
+
+"The main firing line, continually fed from the rear, now began slowly
+to gain ground, and when the Grenadiers and the Irish Guards, who had
+managed to work up through the series of plantations that run eastwards
+for nearly two miles from Woodham Hall without drawing any particular
+attention from the busily engaged enemy, came into action on the right,
+there was a distinct move forward. But the defence was too stubborn, and
+about midday the whole line again came to a standstill, its left still
+in Hazeleigh Wood, its right at Prentice Farm. Orders were passed that
+the men should try to entrench themselves as best they could, and spades
+and other tools were sent forward to those corps who were not provided
+with them already.
+
+"Here we must leave the main attack to notice what was going on
+elsewhere. On the north the Colchester Garrison again brought their
+heavy artillery into action on the slopes south of Wickham Bishops,
+while others of our troops made a show of advancing against Maldon from
+the west. These movements were, however, merely intended to keep the
+German garrison occupied. But on the right a rather important flanking
+movement was in progress.
+
+"We had a considerable body of troops at East Hanningfield, which lies
+in a hollow between two little ridges, both running from south-west to
+north-east, and about a mile apart. The most easterly ridge is very
+narrow for the most part, and behind it were stationed several batteries
+of our field howitzers, which fired over it at Great Canney at a range
+of about 5,000 yards. A number of 4ˇ7-inch guns, scattered over the
+western hill, were also concentrated on the same target. Although the
+range was an extremely long one, there is no doubt that they made a
+certain number of effective hits, since Great Canney offered a
+conspicuous and considerable target. But beyond this the flashes of
+their discharges drew off all attention from the howitzer batteries in
+front of them, and served to conceal their presence from the enemy.
+Otherwise, although invisible, their presence would have been guessed
+at. As it was, not a single German projectile came anywhere near them.
+
+"When the fighting began, those troops who were not intended to be held
+in reserve or to co-operate with the right of the main attack moved off
+in the direction of Woodham Ferrers, and made a feint of attacking the
+German position astride the two kopjes at Edwin's Hall, their field guns
+coming into action on the high ground north of Rettendon, and engaging
+those of the enemy at long range. But the real attack on this salient of
+the German position came from a very different quarter.
+
+"The troops detailed for this movement were those who had advanced
+against Wickford at daybreak, and had found it abandoned by the enemy.
+They consisted of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, the Honourable
+Artillery Company, and the Inns of Court Volunteers, together with their
+own and three or four other machine-gun detachments, their Maxims being
+mounted on detachable legs instead of carriages. Co-operating with them
+were the Essex and the East Kent Yeomanry, who were scouting in the
+direction of Hockley.
+
+"The troops had a long, wearisome march before them, the design being to
+take advantage of the time of low tide, and to move along out of sight
+of the enemy behind the northern bank of the river Crouch, as it had
+been discovered that the German line of defence turned back to the
+eastward at a mile or two north of the river at the point aimed at. Its
+guns still commanded it, and might be trusted to render abortive any
+attempt to throw a bridge across it. The Yeomanry had the task of
+occupying the attention of the enemy at Canewdon, and of preventing the
+passage of boats from the German warships. This part of our operations
+succeeded admirably. The long creeping lines of the Oxfordshires and the
+machine-gun detachments in their khaki uniforms were almost
+indistinguishable against the steep mud banks at any distance, and they
+escaped observation both from the German main lines and from their
+outpost at Canewdon until they had reached the entrances of the two
+branch creeks for which they were making.
+
+"Then, and not till then, came the sound of artillery from the left rear
+of the German position. But it was too late. The Oxford companies pushed
+forward at the double. Five companies lined the embankments of Stow
+Creek, the easternmost of the two, while the remainder, ensconced in
+Clementsgreen Creek, aligned the whole of their machine-guns on the
+southern of the two kopjes against which the manoeuvre had been
+directed. Their fire, which, coming from a little to the rear of the
+left flank of the southern kopje, completely enfiladed it, created such
+slaughter and confusion that the Honourable Artillery Company and the
+Inns of Court, who had been working up the railway line from Battle
+Bridge, had little difficulty in establishing themselves at Woodham
+Ferrers Station and in an adjacent farm. Being almost immediately
+afterwards reinforced by the arrival of two regular battalions who had
+been pushed forward from Rettendon, a determined assault was made on the
+southern kopje. Its defenders, demoralised by the pelting shower of lead
+from the machine-gun battery, and threatened also by the advance from
+Woodham Ferrers village, gave way, and our people, forcing their way
+over every obstacle, seized the position amid frantic cheering.
+
+"Meanwhile the Oxfordshires had been subjected to a determined
+counter-attack from North Frambridge. Preceded by a pounding from the
+guns on Kit's Hill, but aided by the fire of the Yeomanry on the south
+bank of the river, who galloped up and lined the embankment, thus
+flanking the defenders of Stow Creek, it was beaten back with
+considerable loss. The machine-guns were transferred to the
+neighbourhood of South Kopje, and used with such effect that its
+defenders, after repulsing several counter-attacks from the adjoining
+German entrenchment, were able to make themselves masters of the North
+Kopje also.
+
+"Elsewhere the fighting still continued strenuous and deadly. The main
+attack had contrived to make some little shelter for itself; but though
+three several attempts were made to advance from this, all ended in
+failure, one nearly in disaster. This was the last of the three, when
+the advancing line was charged by a mass of cavalry which suddenly
+appeared from behind Great Canney Hill. I myself was a witness of this
+attack, the most picturesque incident of the day's fighting.
+
+"I was watching the progress of the engagement through my glasses from
+the high ground about Wickham's Farm, when I saw line after line of the
+German horsemen in their sky-blue tunics and glittering helmets trot out
+into the open, canter, and one after another break into a mad gallop, as
+they bore down upon the advancing lines of our citizen soldiers.
+Staunchly as these had withstood the murderous fire which for hours had
+been directed upon them, this whirlwind of lance and sabre, the thunder
+of thousands of hoofs, and the hoarse cries of the riders, were rather
+more than such partially trained soldiers could stand. A scattering
+discharge from their rifles was followed by something very much
+approaching a _sauve qui peut_.
+
+"A large number of Volunteers, however, sought shelter among the ruined
+houses of Cock Clarke's hamlet, from whence they opened a heavy fire on
+the adventurous horsemen. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who
+were by this time in Mosklyns Copse, and the Guards and other troops on
+the right, also opened a rapid and sustained fire on the German cavalry,
+which seconded by the shrapnel from our guns on Loddard's Hill, caused
+them to turn and ride back for their lives. There was a tremendous
+outburst of firing from both sides after this, followed by quite a lull.
+One could well imagine that all the combatants were exhausted by the
+prolonged effort of the day. It was now between five and six in the
+evening. It was at this time that the news of the capture of the two
+kopjes reached me, and I made for Danbury to write my despatches.
+
+"Shortly after my arrival I heard of the capture of Spar Hill, a
+detached knoll about 1,200 yards to the north-west of Purleigh. The
+Marines from Hazeleigh Wood and the Highlanders from Mosklyns Copse had
+suddenly and simultaneously assaulted it from opposite sides, and were
+now entrenching themselves upon it. What wonder, then, that I reported
+satisfactory progress, and reckoned--too confidently, as it proved--on a
+victory for the morrow?
+
+"I spent a great part of that night under the stars on the hilltop near
+East Hanningfield, watching the weird play of the searchlights which
+swept over the country from a score of different positions, and
+listening to the crash of artillery and clatter of rifle fire which now
+and again told of some attempted movement under cover of the darkness.
+Just before daylight the continuous roar of battle began again, and when
+light dawned I found that our troops had cut right through the German
+lines, and had penetrated as far as Cop Kitchen's Farm, on the
+Maldon-Mundon road. Reinforcements were being hurried up, and an attack
+was being pushed towards the rear of Purleigh and Great Canney, which
+was being heavily bombarded by some of our large guns, which had been
+mounted during the night on the two kopjes.
+
+"But the reinforcements were not enough. The Germans held fast to
+Purleigh and to some reserve positions they had established about
+Mundon. After two or three hours of desperate effort, costing the lives
+of thousands, our attack was at a standstill. At this critical moment a
+powerful counter-attack was made from Maldon, and, outnumbered and
+almost surrounded, our gallant warriors had to give ground. But they
+fell back as doggedly as they had advanced, the Argylls, Marines, and
+Grenadiers covering the retreat on Danbury.
+
+"The guns at East Hanningfield and the two kopjes checked the pursuit to
+a great extent, and the Germans seemed unwilling to go far from their
+works. The kopjes had to be abandoned later in the day, and we now
+occupy our former line from Danbury to Billericay, and are busily
+engaged in entrenching ourselves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEFENCE AT LAST.
+
+
+Late on Wednesday night came tardy news of the measures we were taking
+to mobilise.
+
+The Aldershot Army Corps, so complete in the "Army List," consisted, as
+all the world knew, of three divisions, but of these only two existed,
+the other being found to be on paper. The division in question, located
+at Bordon, was to be formed on mobilisation, and this measure was now
+being proceeded with. The train service was practically suspended, owing
+to the damage done to the various lines south of London by the enemy's
+emissaries. Several of these men had been detected, and, being in plain
+clothes, were promptly shot out of hand. However, their work had,
+unfortunately for us, been accomplished, and trains could only run as
+far as the destroyed bridges, so men on their way to join their
+respective corps were greatly delayed in consequence.
+
+All was confusion at Bordon, where men were arriving in hundreds on foot
+and by the service of motor omnibuses, which the War Office had on the
+day before established between Charing Cross and Aldershot. Perspiring
+staff officers strove diligently, without much avail, to sort out into
+their respective units this ever-increasing mass of reservists.
+
+There was perfect chaos.
+
+Before the chief constituent parts of the division--that is to say,
+regiments who were stationed elsewhere--had arrived little could be done
+with the reservists. The regiments in question were in many cases
+stationed at considerable distance, and although they had received
+orders to start, were prevented from arriving owing to the universal
+interruptions of the railway traffic south. By this, whole valuable days
+were lost--days when at any hour the invaders might make a sudden swoop
+on London.
+
+Reports were alarming and conflicting. Some said that the enemy meant to
+strike a blow upon the capital just as suddenly as they had landed,
+while others reassured the alarmists that the German plans were not yet
+complete, and that they had not sufficient stores to pursue the
+campaign.
+
+Reservists, with starvation staring them in the face, went eagerly south
+to join their regiments, knowing that at least they would be fed with
+regularity; while, in addition, the true patriotic spirit of the
+Englishman had been roused against the aggressive Teuton, and everyone,
+officer and man, was eager to bear his part in driving the invader into
+the sea.
+
+The public were held breathless. What would happen?
+
+Arrivals at Aldershot, however, found the whole arrangements in such a
+complete muddle that Army Service Corps men, who ought to have been at
+Woolwich, were presenting themselves for enrolment at Bordon, and
+infantry of the line were conducted into the camp of the Dragoons. The
+Motor Volunteer Corps were at this moment of very great use. The cars
+were filled with staff officers and other exalted officials, who were
+settling themselves in various offices, and passing out again to make
+necessary arrangements for dealing with such a large influx of men.
+
+There were activity and excitement everywhere. Men were rapidly drawing
+their clothing, or as much of it as they could get, and civilians were
+quickly becoming soldiers on every hand. Officers of the Reserve were
+driving up in motor-cars and cabs, many of them with their old battered
+uniform cases, that had seen service in the field in distant parts of
+the globe. Men from the "Junior" and the "Senior" wrung each other's
+hands on returning to active duty with their old regiments, and at once
+settled down into the routine work they knew so well.
+
+The rumour, however, had now got about that a position in the
+neighbourhood of Cambridge had been selected by the General Staff as
+being the most suitable theatre of action where an effective stand
+could, with any hope of success, be made. It was evident that the German
+tactics were to strike a swift and rapid blow at London. Indeed, nothing
+at present stood in their way except the gallant little garrison at
+Colchester, who had been so constantly driven back by the enemy's
+cavalry on attempting to make any reconnaissance, and who might be swept
+out of existence at any hour.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During Tuesday and Wednesday large gangs of workmen had been busy
+repairing the damaged lines. The first regiment complete for the field
+was the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Fusiliers, who carried upon their
+colours the names of a score of battles, ranging from Corunna and
+Badajoz, all through the Peninsula, Afghanistan, and Egypt, down to the
+Modder River. This regiment left by train for London on Tuesday evening,
+and was that same night followed by the 2nd Battalion King's Liverpool
+Regiment and the 1st King's Shropshire Light Infantry, while the
+Manchester Regiment got away soon after midnight.
+
+These formed the second infantry brigade of the 1st Division, and were
+commanded by Brigadier-General Sir John Money. They were several hours
+getting up to London, whence from Clapham Junction their trains circled
+London on to the Great Eastern system to Braintree, where the Horn Hotel
+was made the headquarters. By other trains in the small hours of the
+morning the last of the Guards Brigade under Colonel (temporary
+Brigadier-General) Lord Wansford departed, and duly arrived at Saffron
+Walden, to join their comrades on the line of defence.
+
+The divisional troops were also on the move early on Wednesday. Six
+batteries of artillery and the field company of Royal Engineers left by
+road. There was a balloon section accompanying this, and searchlights,
+wireless instruments, and cables for field-telegraphy were carried in
+the waggons.
+
+The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General Morgan, C.B., was also
+active. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, commanded by Major-General Fortescue,
+composed of 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, the 2nd
+Bedfordshire, the 1st Princess of Wales' Own, and the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, were preparing, but had not yet moved. The 4th Infantry
+Brigade of the same division, consisting of the 3rd and 4th Battalions
+King's Royal Rifle Corps, the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, and the 2nd South
+Lancashire, with the usual smartness of those distinguished regiments,
+were quick and ready, now as ever, to go to the front. They were
+entrained to Baldock, slightly east of Hitchin, where they marched out
+on the Icknield Way. These were followed by Fortescue's Brigade, who
+were also bound for Baldock and the neighbourhood.
+
+The bulk of the cavalry and field artillery of both divisions, together
+with the divisional troops, were compelled to set out by march-route
+from Aldershot for the line of defences. The single and all-sufficient
+reason of this delay in sending out the cavalry and artillery was owing
+to the totally inadequate accommodation on the railways for the
+transport of so many horses and guns. The troop-trains, which were of
+course, necessary to transport the infantry, were not forthcoming in
+sufficient numbers, this owing to the fact that at several points the
+lines to London were still interrupted.
+
+The orders to the cavalry who went by march-route were to get up to the
+line proposed to be taken up by the infantry as quickly as possible,
+and to operate in front of it to the east and north-east in screening
+and reconnoitring duties. The temporary deficiency of cavalry, who
+ought, of course, to have been the first to arrive at the scene, was
+made good as far as possible by the general employment of hordes of
+motor-cyclists, who scoured the country in large armed groups, in order
+to ascertain, if possible, the dispositions of the enemy. This they did,
+and very soon after their arrival reported the result of their
+investigations to the general officers commanding the 1st and 2nd
+Divisions.
+
+Meanwhile both cavalry and artillery in great bodies, and strings of
+motor omnibuses filled with troops, were upon the white, dusty roads
+passing through Staines to Hounslow and Brentford, thence to London, St.
+Albans, _en route_ to their respective divisions. Roughly, the distance
+was over fifty miles, therefore those marching were compelled to halt
+the night on the way, while those in the motor omnibuses got through to
+their destination.
+
+The sight of British troops hurrying to the front swelled the hearts of
+the villagers and townsfolk with renewed patriotism, and everywhere,
+through the blazing, dusty day, the men were offered refreshment by even
+the poorest and humblest cottagers. In Bagshot, in Staines, and in
+Hounslow the people went frantic with excitement, as squadron after
+squadron rapidly passed along, with its guns, waggons, and ambulances
+rumbling noisily over the stones in the rear.
+
+Following these came pontoon troops with their long grey waggons and
+mysterious-looking bridging apparatus, telegraph troops, balloon
+sections, supply columns, field bakery, and field hospitals, the
+last-named packed in waggons marked with the well-known red cross of the
+Geneva Convention.
+
+No sooner was Aldershot denuded of its army corps, however, than
+battalions began to arrive from Portsmouth on their way north, while
+troops from the great camp on Salisbury Plain were rapidly being pushed
+to the front, which, roughly speaking, extended through Hitchin,
+Royston, to Saffron Walden, across to Braintree, and also the high
+ground commanding the valley of the Colne to Colchester.
+
+The line chosen by the General Staff was the natural chain of hills
+which presented the first obstacle to the enemy advancing on London
+from the wide plain stretching eastward beyond Cambridge to the sea.
+
+If this could be held strongly, as was intended, by practically the
+whole of the British forces located in the South of England, including
+the Yeomanry, Militia, and Volunteers--who were now all massing in every
+direction--then the deadly peril threatening England might be averted.
+
+But could it be held?
+
+This was the appalling question on every one's tongue all over the
+country, for it now became generally known that upon this line of
+defence four complete and perfectly equipped German army corps were
+ready to advance at any moment, in addition to the right flank being
+exposed to the attack of the XIIth Saxon Corps, entrenched on the Essex
+coast.
+
+It was estimated that no fewer than two hundred thousand Germans were
+already upon English soil!
+
+The outlook grew blacker every hour.
+
+London was in a state of absolute stagnation and chaos. In the City,
+business was now at an entire standstill. The credit system had received
+a fatal blow, and nobody wanted to buy securities. Had people kept level
+heads in the crisis there would have been a moratorium, but, as it was,
+a panic had been created that nothing could allay. Even Consols were now
+unsaleable. Some of the smaller banks were known to have failed, and
+traders and manufacturers all over the country had been ruined on
+account of credit, the foundation of all trade, having been swept away.
+Only persons of the highest financial standing could have dealt with the
+banks, even if they had remained open.
+
+The opinion held in banking circles was that if the invasion should
+unfortunately prove disastrous to England, and Germany demand a huge
+indemnity, there was still hope, however small. The experience of the
+Franco-German war had proved that, though in such circumstances the
+Bank, for a considerable period, might not be able to resume cash
+payments, yet, with sound finance, there was no reason that the currency
+should greatly depreciate. During the period of suspension of cash
+payments by the Bank of France, the premium on gold never went above 1ˇ5
+per cent., and during most of the period was 5, 4, or even less per
+mille. Therefore what the French by sound banking had been able to do,
+there was no reason why English bankers could not also do.
+
+
+    WE, WILHELM,
+
+    GIVE NOTICE to the inhabitants of those provinces occupied by
+    the German Imperial Army, that--
+
+    I MAKE WAR upon the soldiers, and not upon English citizens.
+    Consequently, it is my wish to give the latter and their
+    property entire security, and as long as they do not embark upon
+    hostile enterprise against the German troops they have a right
+    to my protection.
+
+    GENERALS COMMANDING the various corps in the various districts
+    in England are ordered to place before the public the stringent
+    measures which I have ordered to be adopted against towns,
+    villages, and persons who act in contradiction to the usages of
+    war. They are to regulate in the same manner all the operations
+    necessary for the well-being of our troops, to fix the
+    difference between the English and German rate of exchange, and
+    to facilitate in every manner possible the individual
+    transactions between our Army and the inhabitants of England.
+
+    =WILHELM.=
+
+    Given at POTSDAM, _September 4th, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: The above is a copy of the German Imperial
+    Decree, printed in English, which was posted by unknown German
+    agents in London, and which appeared everywhere throughout East
+    Anglia and in that portion of the Midlands held by the enemy.]
+
+
+At the outbreak of the war of 1870, on August 1, French Three per Cent.
+Rentes were at 60ˇ85, and Four and a Half per Cent. at 98. On the
+memorable day of Sedan, September 2, they were at 50ˇ80 and 88ˇ50
+respectively, and on January 2, 1871, Three per Cents. were down to
+50ˇ95. At the commencement of the Commune, on March 18, they were at
+51ˇ50 and 76ˇ25, and on the 30th of that month down to 50ˇ60 and 76ˇ25
+respectively.
+
+With so little money in England as there now was, securities had fallen
+to the value at which holders would as soon not sell as sell at such a
+great discount. High rates and the heavy fall in the value of securities
+had brought business in every quarter all over London to a standstill.
+Firms all over the country were now hard put to in order to find the
+necessary money to carry on their various trades. Instantly after the
+report of the reverse at Sheffield, there was a wild rush to obtain
+gold, and securities dropped even a few more points.
+
+Therefore there was little or nothing for the banks to do, and Lombard
+Street, Lothbury, and the other banking centres were closed, as though
+it had been Sunday or Bank Holiday. Despair was, alas! everywhere, and
+the streets presented strange scenes.
+
+Most of the motor omnibuses had been taken off the road and pressed into
+the service of the military. The walls bore a dozen different broadsides
+and proclamations, which were read by the gaping, hungry crowds.
+
+The Royal Standard was flying from St. Stephen's Tower, for Parliament
+had now met, and all members who were not abroad for their summer
+vacation had taken their places at the heated debates now hourly in
+progress. Over Buckingham Palace the Royal Standard also flew proudly,
+while upon every public building was displayed a Union Jack or a white
+ensign, many of which had done duty at the coronation of His Majesty
+King Edward. The Admiralty flew its own flag, and upon the War Office,
+the India Office, the Foreign Office, and all the dark, sombre
+Government buildings in Whitehall was bunting displayed.
+
+The wild enthusiasm of Sunday and Monday, however, had given place to a
+dark, hopeless apprehension. The great mobs now thronging all the
+principal thoroughfares in London were already half-famished. Food was
+daily rising in price, and the East End was already starving. Bands of
+lawless men and women from the slums of Whitechapel were parading the
+West End streets and squares, and were camping out in Hyde Park and St.
+James's Park.
+
+The days were stifling, for it was an unusually hot September following
+upon a blazing August, and as each breathless evening the sun sank, it
+shed its blood-red afterglow over the giant metropolis, grimly
+precursory of the ruin so surely imminent.
+
+Supplies were still reaching London from the country, but there had been
+immediate panic in the corn and provision markets, with the result that
+prices had instantly jumped up beyond the means of the average Londoner.
+The poorer ones were eagerly collecting the refuse in Covent Garden
+Market and boiling it down to make soup in lieu of anything else, while
+wise fathers of families went to the shops themselves and made meagre
+purchases daily of just sufficient food to keep body and soul together.
+
+For the present there was no fear of London being absolutely starved, at
+least the middle class and wealthier portion of it. At present it was
+the poor--the toiling millions now unemployed--who were the first to
+feel the pinch of hunger and its consequent despair. They filled the
+main arteries of London--Holborn, Oxford Street, the Strand, Regent
+Street, Piccadilly, the Haymarket, St. James's Street, Park Lane,
+Victoria Street, and Knightsbridge, overflowing northward into
+Grosvenor, Berkeley, Portman, and Cavendish Squares, Portland Place, and
+to the terraces around Regent's Park. The centre of London became
+congested. Day and night it was the same. There was no sleep. From
+across the river and from the East End the famished poor came in their
+bewildering thousands, the majority of them honest workers, indignant
+that by the foolish policy of the Government they now found themselves
+breadless.
+
+Before the Houses of Parliament, before the fine new War Office and the
+Admiralty, before Downing Street, and before the houses of known members
+of the Government, constant demonstrations were being made, the hungry
+crowds groaning at the authorities, and singing "God Save the King."
+Though starving and in despair, they were nevertheless loyal, still
+confident that by the personal effort of His Majesty some amicable
+arrangement would be arrived at. The French _entente cordiale_ was
+remembered, and our Sovereign had long ago been declared to be the first
+diplomat in Europe. Every Londoner believed in him, and loved him.
+
+Many houses of the wealthy, especially those of foreigners, had their
+windows broken. In Park Lane, in Piccadilly, and in Grosvenor Square
+more particularly, the houses seemed to excite the ire of the crowds,
+who, notwithstanding special constables having been sworn in, were now
+quite beyond the control of the police. The German Ambassador had
+presented his letters of recall on Sunday evening, and together with the
+whole staff had been accorded a safe conduct to Dover, whence they had
+left for the Continent. The Embassy in Carlton House Terrace, and also
+the Consulate-General in Finsbury Square, had, however, suffered
+severely at the hands of the angry crowd, notwithstanding that both
+premises were under police protection.
+
+All the German waiters employed at the Cecil, the Savoy, the Carlton,
+the Métropole, the Victoria, the Grand, and the other big London hotels,
+had already fled for their lives out into the country, anywhere from the
+vengeance of the London mob. Hundreds of them were trying to make their
+way within the German lines in Essex and Suffolk, and it was believed
+that many had succeeded--those, most probably, who had previously acted
+as spies. Others, it was reported, had been set upon by the excited
+populace, and more than one had lost his life.
+
+Pandemonium reigned in London. Every class and every person in every
+walk of life was affected. German interests were being looked after by
+the Russian Ambassador, and this very fact caused a serious
+demonstration before Chesham House, the big mansion where lives the
+representative of the Czar. Audacious spies had, in secret, in the night
+actually posted copies of Von Kronhelm's proclamation upon the Griffin
+at Temple Bar, upon the Marble Arch, and upon the Mansion House. But
+these had been quickly torn down, and if the hand that had placed them
+there had been known, it would certainly have meant death to the one who
+had thus insulted the citizens of London.
+
+Yet the truth was, alas! too plain. Spread out across Essex and Suffolk,
+making leisurely preparations and laughing at our futile defence, lay
+over one hundred thousand well-equipped, well-fed Germans, ready, when
+their plans were completed, to advance upon and crush the complex city
+which is the pride and home of every Englishman--London.
+
+On Friday night an official communication from the War Office was issued
+to the Press, showing the exact position of the invaders. It was roughly
+this:
+
+"The IXth German Corps, which had effected a landing at Lowestoft, had,
+after moving along the most easterly route, including the road through
+Saxmundham and Ipswich, at length arrived at a position where their
+infantry outposts had occupied the higher slopes of the rising ground
+overlooking the river Stour, near Manningtree, which town, as well as
+Ipswich, was held by them.
+
+"The left flank of this corps rested on the river Stour itself, so that
+it was secure from any turning movement. Its front was opposed to and
+directly threatened Colchester, while its outposts, to say nothing of
+its independent cavalry, reached out in a northerly direction towards
+Stowmarket, where they joined hands with the left flank of the Xth
+Corps--those under Von Wilburg, who had landed at Yarmouth--whose
+headquarters were now at Bury St. Edmunds, their outposts being disposed
+south, overlooking the valley of the upper reaches of the Stour."
+
+Nor was this all. From Newmarket there came information that the enemy
+who had landed at Weybourne and Cromer--viz., the IVth Corps under Von
+Kleppen--were now encamping on the racecourse and being billeted in the
+town and villages about, including Exning, Ashley, Moulton, and
+Kentford. Frölich's cavalry brigade had penetrated south, covering the
+advance, and had now scoured the country, sweeping away the futile
+resistance of the British Yeomanry, and scattering cavalry squadrons
+which they found opposed to them, all the time maintaining communication
+with the Xth Corps on their left, and the flower of the German Army, the
+Guards Corps, from King's Lynn, on their right. Throughout the advance
+from Holt, Von Dorndorf's motorists had been of the greatest utility.
+They had taken constantly companies of infantry hither and thither. At
+any threatened point, so soon as the sound of firing was heard in any
+cavalry skirmish or little engagement of outposts, the smart motor
+infantry were on the spot with the promptness of a fire brigade
+proceeding to a call. For this reason the field artillery, who were
+largely armed with quick-firing guns, capable of pouring in a hail of
+shrapnel on any exposed point, were enabled to push on much further than
+would have been otherwise possible. They were always adequately
+supported by a sufficient escort of these up-to-date troops, who,
+although infantry, moved with greater rapidity than cavalry itself, and
+who, moreover, brought with them their Maxims, which dealt havoc far and
+near.
+
+The magnificent troops of the Duke of Mannheim, in their service
+uniforms, who had landed at King's Lynn, had come across the wide, level
+roads, some by way of Downham Market, Littleport, and Ely, and arrived
+at Cambridge. The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General von Kasten,
+protecting the exposed flanks, had marched _viâ_ Wisbech, March,
+Chatteris, and St. Ives, while the masses of the cavalry of the Guard,
+including the famous White Cuirassiers, had been acting independently
+around the flat fen country, Spalding and Peterborough, and away to
+quaint old Huntingdon, striking terror into the inhabitants, and
+effectively checking any possible offensive movement of the British that
+might have been directed upon the great German Army during its ruthless
+advance.
+
+Beyond this, worse remained. It was known that the VIIth Corps, under
+Von Bristram, had landed at Goole, and that General Graf Haeseler had
+landed at Hull, New Holland, and Grimsby. This revealed what the real
+strategy of the Generalissimo had been. Their function seemed twofold.
+First and foremost their presence, as a glance at the map will show,
+effectually prevented any attack from the British troops gathered from
+the north and elsewhere, and who were, as shown, concentrated near
+Sheffield and Birmingham, until these two corps had themselves been
+attacked and repulsed, which we were, alas! utterly unable to
+accomplish.
+
+These were two fine German army corps, complete to the proverbial last
+button, splendidly equipped, well fed, and led by officers who had had
+life-long training and were perfectly well acquainted with every mile of
+the country they occupied, by reason of years of careful study given to
+maps of England. It was now entirely plain that the function of these
+two corps was to paralyse our trade in Yorkshire and Lancashire, to
+commit havoc in the big cities, to terrify the people, and to strike a
+crushing blow at our industrial centres, leaving the siege of London to
+the four other corps now so rapidly advancing upon the metropolis.
+
+Events meanwhile were marching quickly in the North.
+
+The town of Sheffield throughout Tuesday and Wednesday was the scene of
+the greatest activity. Day and night the streets were filled with an
+excited populace, and hour by hour the terror increased.
+
+Every train arriving from the North was crowded with Volunteers and
+troops of the line from all stations in the Northern Command. The 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment had joined the Yorkshire Light Infantry,
+who were already stationed in Sheffield, as had also the 19th Hussars,
+and from every regimental district and depôt came battalions of Militia
+and Volunteers. From Carlisle came the Reservists of the Border
+Regiment, from Richmond those of the Yorkshire Regiment, from Newcastle
+came what was left of the Reservists of the Durham Light Infantry, and
+the Northumberland Fusiliers, from Lancaster the Royal Lancashires,
+while field artillery came from Seaforth and Preston, and small bodies
+of Reservists of the Liverpool and the South Lancashire Regiments came
+from Warrington. Contingents of the East and North Lancashire Regiments
+arrived from Preston. The Militia, including battalions of the Liverpool
+Regiment, the South Lancashire Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, and
+other regiments in the command, were hurried to the scene of action
+outside Sheffield. From every big town in the whole of the North of
+England and South of Scotland came straggling units of Volunteers. The
+mounted troops were almost entirely Yeomanry, and included the Duke of
+Lancaster's Own Imperial Yeomanry, the East Riding of Yorks, the
+Lancashire Hussars, Northumberland Yeomanry, Westmorland and Cumberland
+Yeomanry, the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, and the York Hussars.
+
+These troops, with their ambulances, their baggage, and all their
+impedimenta, created the utmost confusion at both railway stations. The
+great concourse of idlers cheered and cheered again, the utmost
+enthusiasm being displayed when each battalion forming up was marched
+away out of the town to the position chosen for the defence, which now
+reached from Woodhouse on the south, overlooking and commanding the
+whole valley of the river Rother, through Catcliffe, Brinsworth, and
+Tinsley, previously alluded to, skirting Greasborough to the high ground
+north of Wentworth, also commanding the river Don and all approaches to
+it through Mexborough, and over the various bridges which spanned this
+stream--a total of about eight miles.
+
+The south flank was thrown back another four miles to Norton, in an
+endeavour to prevent the whole position being turned, should the Germans
+elect to deliver their threatened blow from a more southerly point than
+was anticipated.
+
+The total line, then, to be occupied by the defenders was about twelve
+miles, and into this front was crowded the heterogeneous mass of troops
+of all arms. The post of honour was at Catcliffe, the dominating key to
+the whole position, which was occupied by the sturdy soldiers of the 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light
+Infantry, while commanding every bridge crossing the rivers which lay
+between Sheffield and the invaders were concentrated the guns of the 7th
+Brigade Royal Horse Artillery, and of the Field Artillery, the 2nd, the
+30th, the 37th, and 38th Brigades, the latter having hurriedly arrived
+from Bradford.
+
+All along the crests of these slopes which formed the defence of
+Sheffield, rising steeply from the river at times up to five hundred
+feet, were assembled the Volunteers, all now by daybreak on Thursday
+morning busily engaged in throwing up shelter-trenches and making hasty
+earthwork defences for the guns. The superintendence of this force had
+merged itself into that of the Northern Command, which nominally had its
+headquarters in York, but which had now been transferred to Sheffield
+itself, for the best of reasons--that it was of no value at York, and
+was badly wanted farther south. General Sir George Woolmer, who so
+distinguished himself in South Africa, had therefore shifted his
+headquarters to the Town Hall in Sheffield, but as soon as he had begun
+to get the line of defence completed, he, with his staff, moved on to
+Handsworth, which was centrally situated.
+
+In the command were to be found roughly twenty-three battalions of
+Militia and forty-eight of Volunteers; but, owing to the supineness and
+neglect of the Government, the former regiments now found themselves, at
+the moment when wanted, greatly denuded of officers, and, owing to any
+lack of encouragement to enlist, largely depleted in men. As regards the
+Volunteers, matters were even worse, only about fifteen thousand having
+responded to the call to arms. And upon these heroic men, utterly
+insufficient in point of numbers, Sheffield had to rely for its defence.
+
+Away to the eastward of Sheffield--exactly where was yet unknown--sixty
+thousand perfectly equipped and thoroughly trained German horse, foot,
+and artillery, were ready at any moment to advance westward into our
+manufacturing districts!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+BRITISH SUCCESS AT ROYSTON.
+
+
+Arrests of alleged spies were reported from Manchester and other large
+towns. Most of the prisoners were, however, able to prove themselves
+naturalised British subjects; but several were detained pending
+investigation and examination of correspondence found at their homes. In
+Manchester, where there are always a number of Germans, it is known that
+many slipped away on Sunday night after the publication of the news of
+the invasion.
+
+In most of the larger Midland towns notices had been issued by the
+mayors deprecating hostility towards residents of foreign origin, and
+stating that all suspicious cases were already receiving the attention
+of the police.
+
+In Stafford the boot factories were idle. In the Potteries all work was
+at a standstill. At Stoke-on-Trent, at Hanley, at Burslem, Tunstall, and
+Congleton all was chaos, and thousands upon thousands were already
+wanting bread. The silk-thread industry at Leek was ruined, so was the
+silk industry at Macclesfield; the great breweries at Burton were idle,
+while the hosiery factories of Leicester and the boot factories of
+Northampton were all shut.
+
+With the German troops threatening Sheffield, Nottingham was in a state
+of intense alarm. The lace and hosiery factories had with one accord
+closed on Tuesday, and the great Market Place was now filled day and
+night by thousands upon thousands of unemployed mill-hands of both
+sexes. On Friday, however, came the news of how Sheffield had built
+barricades against the enemy, and there ensued a frantic attempt at
+defence on the part of thousands of terrified and hungry men and women.
+In their frenzy they sacked houses in order to obtain material to
+construct the barricades, which were, however, built just where the
+fancy took the crowd.
+
+The white, interminable North Road, that runs so straight from London
+through York and Berwick to Edinburgh, was, with its by-roads in the
+Midlands, now being patrolled by British cavalry, and here and there
+telegraphists around a telegraph post showed that those many wires at
+the roadside were being used for military communication.
+
+At several points along the road between Wansford Bridge and Retford the
+wires had been cut and tangled by the enemy's agents, but by Friday all
+had been restored again. In one spot, between Weston and
+Sutton-on-Trent, eight miles south of Newark, a trench had actually been
+dug during the night, the tube containing the subterranean telegraph
+lines discovered, and the whole system to the North disorganised.
+Similar damage had been done by German spies to the line between London
+and Birmingham, two miles south of Shipston-on-Stour; and again the line
+between Loughborough and Nottingham had been similarly destroyed.
+
+The Post Office linesmen had, however, quickly made good the damage
+everywhere in the country not already occupied by the enemy, and
+telegraph and telephone communication North and South was now
+practically again in its normal state.
+
+Through Lincolnshire the enemy's advance patrols had spread South over
+every road between the Humber and the Wash, and in the city of Lincoln
+itself a tremendous sensation was caused when on Wednesday, market-day,
+several bodies of German motor-cyclists swept into the Stonebow and
+dismounted at the Saracen's Head, amid the crowd of farmers and dealers
+who had assembled there, not, alas! to do business, but to discuss the
+situation. In a moment the city was panic-stricken. From mouth to mouth
+the dread truth spread, that the Germans were upon them, and people ran
+indoors and barricaded themselves within their houses.
+
+A body of Uhlans came galloping proudly through the Stonebow a quarter
+of an hour later, and halted in High Street as though awaiting orders.
+Then in rapid succession troops seemed to arrive from all quarters, many
+halting in the Cathedral Close and by Exchequer Gate, and others riding
+through the streets in order to terrify the inhabitants.
+
+Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted by German soldiers upon
+the police station, upon the Stonebow, and upon the door of the grand
+old Cathedral itself, and before noon a German officer accompanied by
+his staff called upon the Mayor, and warned him that Lincoln was
+occupied by the German troops, and that any armed resistance would be
+punished by death, as the Generalissimo's proclamation stated. An
+indemnity was demanded, and then the powerless people saw upon the
+Cathedral and upon several of the public buildings the German flag rise
+and float out upon the summer wind.
+
+Boston was full of German infantry, and officers had taken up temporary
+quarters in the Peacock and other hotels in the market-place, while upon
+the "Stump" the enemy's colours were flying.
+
+No news came from London. People in Norwich, Ipswich, Yarmouth, and
+other places heard vaguely of the invasion in the North, and of fighting
+in which the Germans were careful to report that they were always
+successful. They saw the magnificently equipped army of the Kaiser, and,
+comparing it with our mere apology for military force, regarded the
+issue as hopeless from the very first. In every town the German colours
+were displayed, and all kinds of placards in German and in English made
+their appearance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The "Daily Chronicle," on September 10, published the following despatch
+from one of its war correspondents:
+
+    "ROYSTON, _September_ 9.
+
+"Victory at last. A victory due not only to the bravery and exertion of
+our troops, regular and auxiliary, but also to the genius of
+Field-Marshal Lord Byfield, our Commander-in-Chief, ably seconded by the
+energy and resource with which Sir William Packington, in command of
+the IVth Army Corps at Baldock, carried out that part of the programme
+entrusted to him.
+
+"But though in this success we may hope that we are seeing the first
+glimmerings of dawn--of deliverance from the nightmare of German
+invasion that is now oppressing our dear old England--we must not be led
+into foolishly sanguine hopes. The snake has been scotched, and pretty
+badly into the bargain, but he is far from being killed. The German IVth
+Army Corps, under the famous General Von Kleppen, their magnificent
+Garde Corps commanded by the Duke of Mannheim, and Frölich's fine
+Cavalry Division, have been repulsed in their attack on our positions
+near Royston and Saffron Walden, and driven back with great loss and
+confusion. But we are too weak to follow up our victory as it should be
+followed up.
+
+"The menace of the IXth and Xth Corps on our right flank ties us to our
+selected position, and the bulk of our forces being composed of
+indifferently trained Volunteers and Militia, is much more formidable
+behind entrenchments than when attempting to manoeuvre in a difficult
+and intricate country such as it is about here. But, on the other hand,
+we have given pause to the invaders, and have certainly gained a few
+days' time, which will be invaluable to us.
+
+"We shall be able to get on with the line of fortifications that are
+being constructed to bar the approaches to London, and behind which it
+will be necessary for us to make our final stand. I do not conceive that
+it is possible for such an agglomeration of amateur troops as ours are
+in the main to defeat in the open field such formidable and well-trained
+forces as the Germans have succeeded in throwing into this country. But
+when our Navy has regained command of the sea, we hope that we may,
+before very long, place our unwelcome visitors 'between the devil and
+the deep sea'--the part of the devil being played by our brave troops
+finally concentrated behind the strong defences of the metropolis. In
+short, that the Germans may run out of ammunition and provisions. For if
+communication with the Fatherland is effectively cut, they must starve,
+unless they have previously compelled our submission; for it is
+impossible for an army of the size that has invaded us to live on the
+country.
+
+"No doubt hundreds, nay thousands, of our non-militant countrymen--and,
+alas! women and children--will starve before the German troops are
+conquered by famine, that most terrible of enemies; but this issue seems
+to be the only possible one that will save the country.
+
+"But enough of these considerations of the future. It is time that I
+should relate what I can of the glorious victory which our gallant
+defenders have torn from the enemy. I do not think that I am giving any
+information away if I state that the British position lay mainly between
+Saffron Walden and Royston, the headquarters respectively of the IInd
+and IIIrd Army Corps. The IVth Corps was at Baldock, thrown back to
+cover the left flank and protect our communications by the Great
+Northern Railway. A detached force, from what command supplied it is not
+necessary or advisable to say, was strongly entrenched on the high
+ground north-west of Helions Bumpstead, serving to strengthen our right.
+Our main line of defence--very thinly held in some parts--began a little
+to the south-east of Saffron Walden, and ran westwards along a range of
+high ground through Elmdon and Chrishall to Heydon. Here it turned south
+through Great Chrishall to Little Chrishall, where it again turned west,
+and occupied the high range south of Royston on which stands the village
+of Therfield.
+
+"The night before the battle we knew that the greater portion of the
+German IVth and Garde Corps were concentrated, the former at Newmarket,
+the 1st Division of the latter at Cambridge, the 2nd on this side of St.
+Ives, while Frölich's Cavalry Division had been in constant contact with
+our outposts the greater part of the day previous. The Garde Cavalry
+Brigade was reported to be well away to the westward towards Kettering,
+as we suppose, on account of the reports which have been going about of
+a concentration of Yeomanry and Militia in the hilly country near
+Northampton. Our Intelligence Department, which appears to have been
+very well served by its spies, obtained early knowledge of the intention
+of the Germans to make an attack on our position. In fact, they talked
+openly of it, and stated at Cambridge and Newmarket that they would not
+manoeuvre at all, and only hoped that we should hold on long enough to
+our position to enable them to smash up our IInd and IIIrd Corps by a
+frontal attack, and so clear the road to London. The main roads lent
+themselves admirably to such strategy, which rendered the reports of
+their intentions the more probable, for they all converged on our
+position from their main points of concentration.
+
+"The letter 'W' will exactly serve to show the positions of the
+contending forces. St. Ives is at the top of the first stroke, Cambridge
+at the junction of the two shorter centre ones, Newmarket at the top of
+the last stroke, while the British positions at Royston and Saffron
+Walden are at the junctions of all four strokes at the bottom of the
+letter. The strokes also represent the roads, except that from Cambridge
+three good roads lead towards each of the British positions. The
+prisoners taken from the Germans in the various preliminary skirmishes
+also made no bones of boasting that a direct attack was imminent, and
+our Commander-in-Chief eventually, and rightly as it proved, determined
+to take the risk of all this information having been specially
+promulgated by the German Staff to cover totally different intentions,
+as was indeed quite probable, and to accept it as true. Having made up
+his mind, he lost no time in taking action. He ordered the IVth Corps
+under Sir William Packington to move on Potton, twelve miles to the
+north-west, as soon as it was dark. As many cavalry and mounted infantry
+as could possibly be spared from Royston were placed at his disposal.
+
+"It ought to be stated that while the auxiliary troops had been busily
+employed ever since their arrival in entrenching the British position,
+the greater part of the regular troops had been occupying an advanced
+line two or three miles to the northward on the lower spurs of the
+hills, and every possible indication of a determination to hold this as
+long as possible was afforded to the German reconnoitrers. During the
+night these troops fell back to the position which had been prepared,
+the outposts following just before daylight. About 6 a.m. the enemy were
+reported to be advancing in force along the Icknield Way from Newmarket,
+and also by the roads running on either bank of the river Cam. Twenty
+minutes later considerable bodies of German troops were reported at
+Fowlmere and Melbourn on the two parallel Royston-Cambridge roads. They
+must have followed very close on the heels of our retiring outposts. It
+was a very misty morning--down in the low ground over which the enemy
+were advancing especially so--but about seven a gust of wind from the
+westward dispelled the white fog-wreaths that hung about our left front,
+and enabled our lookouts to get a glimpse along the famous Ermine
+Street, which runs straight as an arrow from Royston for twenty or
+thirty miles to the N.N.W.
+
+"Along this ancient Roman way, far as the eye could reach, poured a
+steady stream of marching men, horse, foot, and artillery. The wind
+dropped, the mists gathered again, and once more enveloped the invaders
+in an impenetrable screen. But by this time the whole British line was
+on the _qui vive_. Regulars, Militia, and Volunteers were marching down
+to their chin-deep trenches, while those who were already there busied
+themselves in improving their loopholes and strengthening their head
+cover. Behind the ridges of the hills the gunners stood grouped about
+their 'Long Toms' and heavy howitzers, while the field batteries waited,
+ready horsed, for orders to gallop under cover of the ridge to whichever
+set of emplacements should first require to be manned and armed. We had
+not enough to distribute before the movements of the enemy should, to a
+certain extent, show his hand.
+
+"About seven o'clock a series of crackling reports from the outskirts of
+Royston announced that the detachment of Mounted Infantry, who now alone
+held it, was exchanging shots with the advancing enemy, and in a few
+minutes, as the morning mistiness cleared off, the General and his
+staff, who were established at the northern edge of the village of
+Therfield, three or four hundred feet higher up than the German
+skirmishers, were able to see the opening of the battle spread like a
+panorama before them. A thick firing line of drab-costumed Germans
+extended right across from Holland Hall to the Coach and Horses on the
+Fowlmere Road. On their left moved two or three compact masses of
+cavalry, while the infantry reserves were easily apparent in front of
+the village of Melbourn. Our Mounted Infantry in the village were
+indistinguishable, but away on the spur to the north-east of Royston a
+couple of batteries of Horse Artillery were unlimbered and were pushing
+their guns up to the brow of the hill by hand. In two minutes they were
+in action, and hard at work.
+
+"Through the glasses the shrapnel could be seen bursting, half a dozen
+together, in front of the advancing Germans, who began to fall fast.
+But almost at once came an overwhelming reply from somewhere out of
+sight behind Melbourn. The whole hilltop around our guns was like a
+spouting volcano. Evidently big high-explosive shells were being fired
+from the German field-howitzers. In accordance with previous orders, our
+horse-gunners at once ran down their guns, limbered up, and started to
+gallop back towards our main position. Simultaneously a mass of German
+cavalry deployed into attack formation near the Coach and Horses, and
+swept down in their direction with the evident intention of cutting off
+and capturing them. But they reckoned without their escort of Mounted
+Infantry, who had been lying low behind the long, narrow line of copse
+north of Lowerfield Farm. Safely ensconced behind this--to
+cavalry--impassable barrier, the company, all good shots, opened a
+terrible magazine fire on the charging squadrons as they passed at close
+range. A Maxim they had with them also swept horses and men away in
+swathes. The charge was checked, and the guns saved, but we had not
+finished with the German reiters. Away to the north-east a battery of
+our 4ˇ7 guns opened on the disorganised cavalry, firing at a range of
+four thousand yards. Their big shells turned the momentary check into a
+rout, both the attacking cavalry and their supports galloping towards
+Fowlmere to get out of range. We had scored the first trick!
+
+"The attacking lines of German Infantry still pressed on, however, and
+after a final discharge the Mounted Infantry in Royston sprang on their
+horses and galloped back over Whitely Hill, leaving the town to be
+occupied by the enemy. To the eastward the thunder of heavy cannon,
+gradually growing in intensity, proclaimed that the IInd Corps was
+heavily attacked. Covered by a long strip of plantation, the German IVth
+Corps contrived to mass an enormous number of guns on a hill about two
+miles north of the village of Elmdon, and a terrific artillery duel
+began between them and our artillery entrenched along the Elmdon-Heydon
+ridge. Under cover of this the enemy began to work his infantry up
+towards Elmdon, obtaining a certain amount of shelter from the spurs
+which ran out towards the north-east of our line. Other German troops
+with guns put in an appearance on the high ground to the north-east of
+Saffron Walden, near Chesterton Park.
+
+"To describe the fortunes of this fiercely contested battle, which
+spread along a front of nearly twenty miles, counting from the detached
+garrison of the hill at Helions Bumpstead--which, by the way, succeeded
+in holding its ground all day, despite two or three most determined
+assaults by the enemy--to Kelshall on the left of the British position,
+would be an impossibility in the space at my disposal. The whole morning
+it raged all along the northern slopes of the upland held by our gallant
+troops. The fiercest fighting was, perhaps, in the neighbourhood of
+Elmdon, where our trenches were more than once captured by the Magdeburg
+battalions, only to be themselves hurled out again by the rush of the
+1st Coldstream Guards, who had been held in reserve near the threatened
+point. By noon the magnificent old palace at Audley End was in flames.
+Art treasures which were of inestimable value and absolutely
+unreplaceable perished in this shocking conflagration. Desperate
+fighting was going on in the streets of the little town of Saffron
+Walden, where a mingled mass of Volunteers and Militia strove hard to
+arrest the advance of a portion of the German Army which was
+endeavouring to work round the right of our position.
+
+"On our left the Foot Guards and Fusiliers of the 1st German Guard
+Division, after receiving a terrible pounding from our guns when they
+poured into Royston at the heels of our Mounted Infantry, had fought
+their way up the heights to within fifteen hundred yards of our trenches
+on the upper slopes of the ridge. Farther than that they had been unable
+to advance. Their close formations offered an excellent target to the
+rifles of the Volunteers and Militia lining our entrenchments. The
+attackers had lost men in thousands, and were now endeavouring to dig
+themselves in as best they could under the hail of projectiles that
+continually swept the hillside. About noon, too, the 2nd Division of the
+Garde Corps, after some skirmishing with the Mounted Infantry away on
+our left front, got into attack formation along the line of the Hitchin
+and Cambridge Railway, and after pouring a deluge of projectiles from
+field guns and howitzers upon our position, advanced upon Therfield with
+the greatest bravery and determination. They had succeeded by 2 p.m. in
+driving our men from the end of the spur running northward near
+Therfield Heath, and managed to get a number of their howitzers up
+there, and at once opened fire from the cover afforded by several copses
+out of which our men had been driven.
+
+"In short, things were beginning to look very bad for Old England, and
+the watchers on the Therfield heights turned their glasses anxiously
+northward in search of General Sir William Packington's force from
+Potton. They had not long to wait. At 2.15 the winking flash of a
+heliograph away near Wendy Place, about eight miles up Ermine Street,
+announced that the advance guard, consisting of the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, was already at Bassingbourn, and that the main body was close
+behind, having escaped detection by all the enemy's patrols and flank
+guards. They were now directly in the rear of the right of the German
+reserves, who had been pushed forward into the neighbourhood of Royston
+to support the attack of their main body on the British position. A few
+minutes later it was evident that the enemy had also become aware of
+their advent. Two or three regiments hurriedly issued from Royston and
+deployed to the north-west. But the guns of the Baldock Corps turned
+such a 'rafale' fire upon them that they hesitated and were lost.
+
+"Every long-range gun in the British entrenchments that would bear was
+also turned upon them, leaving the infantry and field guns to deal with
+the troops assaulting their position. The three battalions, as well as a
+fourth that was sent to their assistance, were simply swept out of
+existence by this terrible cross-fire. Their remnants streamed away, a
+disorganised crowd of scattered stragglers, towards Melbourn; while,
+still holding on to Bassingbourn, the Baldock force moved down on
+Royston, driving everything before it.
+
+"The most advanced German troops made a final effort to capture our
+position when they saw what was going on behind them, but it was
+half-hearted; they were brought to a standstill, and our men, fixing
+bayonets, sprang from their trenches and charged down upon them with
+cheers, which were taken up all along the line for miles. The Germans
+here and there made a partial stand, but in half an hour they were down
+on the low ground, falling back towards the north-east in the greatest
+confusion, losing men in thousands from the converging fire of our guns.
+Their cavalry made a gallant attempt to save the day by charging our
+troops to the north of Royston. It was a magnificent sight to see their
+enormous masses sweeping over the ground with an impetus which looked
+capable of carrying everything before it, but our men, clustering behind
+the hedges of Ermine Street, mowed them down squadrons at a time. Not
+one of them reached the roadway. The magnificent Garde Corps was routed.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF ROYSTON SUNDAY SEPT. 9TH.]
+
+"The combined IIIrd and IVth Corps now advanced on the exposed right
+flank of the German IVth Corps, which, fighting gallantly, fell back,
+doing its best to cover the retreat of its comrades, who, on their part,
+very much hampered its movements. By nightfall there was no unwounded
+German south of Whittlesford, except as a prisoner. By this time, too,
+we were falling back on our original position."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BRITISH ABANDON COLCHESTER.
+
+
+On Tuesday, 10th September, the "Daily News" published the following
+telegram from its war correspondent, Mr. Edgar Hamilton:
+
+    "CHELMSFORD, _Monday, Sept._ 9.
+
+"I sit down, after a sleepless night, to indite the account of our
+latest move. We hear that Sheffield has fallen, and our troops are in
+flight. As, by the time this appears in print, the enemy will of
+necessity be aware of our abandonment of Colchester, the censor will
+not, I imagine, prevent the despatch of my letter.
+
+"For our move has been made one of a retrograde nature, and I do not
+doubt that the cavalry of the German IXth Corps are close behind us and
+in touch with our own. But I must not, in using the word 'retrograde,'
+be supposed to criticise in any way the strategy of our generals. For
+every one here is, I am sure, fully persuaded of the wisdom of the step.
+Colchester, with its plucky little garrison, was altogether too much 'in
+the air,' and stood a great risk of being isolated by a converging
+advance of the IXth and Xth Corps of the German invaders, to say nothing
+of the XIIth (Saxon) Corps at Maldon, which since the unfortunate battle
+of Purleigh has shown itself very active to the north and east.
+
+"The Saxons have refrained from attacking our Vth Corps since its
+repulse, and it has been left almost in peace to entrench its position
+from Danbury to the southward; but, on the other hand, while not
+neglecting to further strengthen their already formidable defences
+between the Blackwater and the Crouch, their cavalry have scoured the
+country up to the very gates of Colchester. Yesterday morning the 16th
+Lancers and the 17th Hussars--who had fallen back from Norwich--together
+with some of the local Yeomanry, moved out by the Tolleshunt d'Arcy and
+Great Totham roads, and drove in their patrols with some loss. At
+Tiptree Heath there was a sharp cavalry engagement between our red
+Lancers and several squadrons of a sky-blue hussar regiment. Our people
+routed them, but in the pursuit that followed would have fared badly, as
+they fell in with the four remaining squadrons supported by another
+complete regiment, had it not been for the opportune arrival of the
+Household Cavalry Brigade, which had moved north-east from Danbury to
+co-operate. This completely changed the aspect of affairs. The Germans
+were soundly beaten, with the loss of a large number of prisoners, and
+galloped back to Maldon in confusion. In the meantime, the 2nd King's
+Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and the 5th Battery R.F. Artillery had been
+sent down to Witham by train, whence they marched up to the high ground
+near Wickham Bishops. They and the Yeomanry were left there in a
+position to cover the main London Road and the Great Eastern Railway,
+and at the same time threaten any movement of the enemy by the Great
+Totham Road. When the news of our success reached Colchester, soon after
+midday, we were all very jubilant. In fact, I fear that a great many
+people spent the afternoon in a species of fool's paradise. And when
+towards the evening the announcement of our splendid victory at Royston
+was posted up on the red walls of the fine town hall, and outside the
+Cups, there was an incipient outbreak of that un-English excitement
+known as 'Mafficking.'
+
+"But this exultation was fated to be but short-lived, even though the
+Mayor appeared on the balcony of the Town Hall and addressed the crowd,
+while the latest news was posted outside the offices of the 'Essex
+Telegraph,' opposite the post office. The wind was in the north, and
+about 5.45 in the afternoon the sound of a heavy explosion was heard
+from the direction of Manningtree. I was in the Cups Hotel at the time
+arranging for an early dinner, and ran out into the street. As I emerged
+from the archway of the hotel I distinctly heard a second detonation
+from the same direction. A sudden silence, ominous and unnatural, seemed
+to fall on the yelping jingoes in the street, in the midst of which the
+rumble of yet another explosion rolled down on the wind, this time from
+a more westerly direction. Men asked their neighbours breathlessly as to
+what all this portended. I myself knew no more than the most ignorant of
+the crowd, till in an officer who rushed hastily by me in Head Street,
+on his way into the hotel, I recognised my friend Captain Burton, of the
+Artillery.
+
+"I buttonholed him at once.
+
+"'Do I know what those explosions were?' repeated he in answer to my
+inquiry. 'Well, I don't know, but I'm open to bet you five to one that
+it's the sappers blowing up the bridges over the Stour at Manningtree
+and Stratford St. Mary.'
+
+"'Then the Germans will have arrived there?' I queried.
+
+"'Most probably. And look here,' he continued, taking me aside by the
+arm, and lowering his voice, 'you take my tip. We shall be out of this
+to-night. So you'd best pack up your traps and get into marching order.'
+
+"'Do you know this?' said I.
+
+"'Not officially, or I shouldn't tell you anything about it. But I can
+put two and two together. We all knew that the General wouldn't be fool
+enough to try and defend an open town of this size with such a small
+garrison against a whole army corps, or perhaps more. It would serve no
+good purpose, and expose the place to destruction and bring all sorts of
+disaster on the civil population. You could have seen that for yourself,
+for no attempt whatever has been made to erect defences of any kind,
+neither have we received any reinforcements at all. If they had meant to
+defend it they could certainly have contrived to send us some Volunteers
+and guns at any rate. No, the few troops we have here have done their
+best in assisting the Danbury Force against the Saxons, and are much too
+valuable to be left here to be cut off without being able to do much to
+check the advance of the enemy. If we had been going to try anything of
+that kind, we should have now been holding the line of the river Stour;
+but I know we have only small detachments at the various bridges,
+sufficient only to drive off the enemy's cavalry patrols. By now, having
+blown up the bridges, I expect they are falling back as fast as they can
+get. Besides, look here,' he added, 'what do you think that battalion
+was sent to Wickham Bishops for this morning?'
+
+"I told him my theories as set forth above.
+
+"'Oh, yes, that's all right,' he answered. 'But you may bet your boots
+that there's more in it than that. In my opinion, the General has had
+orders to clear out as soon as the enemy are preparing to cross the
+Stour, and the Lancasters are planted there to protect our left flank
+from an attack from Maldon while we are retreating on Chelmsford.'
+
+"'But we might fall back on Braintree?' I hazarded.
+
+"'Don't you believe it. We're not wanted there--at least, I mean, not
+so much as elsewhere. Where we shall come in is to help to fill the gap
+between Braintree and Danbury. I think, myself, we might just as well
+have done it before. We have been sending back stores by rail for the
+last two days. Well, good-bye,' he said, holding out his hand. 'Keep all
+this to yourself, and mark my words, we'll be off at dusk.'
+
+"Away he went, and convinced that his prognostications were correct--as,
+indeed, in the main they proved--I hastened to eat my dinner, pay my
+bill, and get my portmanteau packed and stowed away in my motor. As soon
+as the evening began to close in I started and made for the barracks,
+going easy. The streets were still full of people, but they were very
+quiet, and mostly talking together in scattered groups. A shadow seemed
+to have fallen on the jubilant crowd of the afternoon, though, as far as
+I could ascertain, there were no definite rumours of the departure of
+the troops and the close advent of the enemy.
+
+"When I arrived at the barracks, I saw at once that there was something
+in the wind, and pulled up alongside the barrack railings, determined to
+watch the progress of events. I had not long to wait. In about ten
+minutes a bugle sounded, and the scattered assemblage of men on the
+barrack-square closed together and solidified into a series of quarter
+columns. At the same time the Volunteer battalion moved across from the
+other side of the road and joined the Regular troops. I heard a sharp
+clatter and jingling behind me, and, looking round, saw the General and
+his staff with a squad of cavalry canter up the road. They turned into
+the barrack gate, greeted by a sharp word of command and the rattle of
+arms from the assembled battalions. As far as I could make out, the
+General made them some kind of address, after which I heard another word
+of command, upon which the regiment nearest to the gate formed fours and
+marched out.
+
+"It was the 2nd Dorsetshire. I watched anxiously to see which way they
+turned. As I more than expected, they turned in the direction of the
+London Road. My friend had been right so far, but till the troops
+arrived at Mark's Tey, where the road forked, I could not be certain
+whether they were going towards Braintree or Chelmsford. The Volunteers
+followed; then the Leicestershires, then a long train of artillery,
+field batteries, big 4ˇ7 guns, and howitzers. The King's Own Scottish
+Borderers formed the rearguard. With them marched the General and his
+staff; I saw no cavalry. I discovered afterwards that the General,
+foreseeing that a retirement was imminent, had ordered the 16th Lancers
+and the 7th Hussars, after their successful morning performance, to
+remain till further orders at Kelvedon and Tiptree respectively, so that
+their horses were resting during the afternoon.
+
+"During the night march the former came back and formed a screen behind
+the retiring column, while the latter were in a position to observe and
+check any movement northwards that might be made by the Saxons, at the
+same time protecting its flank and rear from a possible advance by the
+cavalry of Von Kronhelm's Army, should they succeed in crossing the
+river Stour soon enough to be able to press after us in pursuit by
+either of the two eastern roads leading from Colchester to Maldon. After
+the last of the departing soldiers had tramped away into the gathering
+darkness through the mud, which after yesterday's downpour still lay
+thick upon the roads, I bethought me that I might as well run down to
+the railway station to see if anything was going on there. I was just in
+time.
+
+"The electric light disclosed a bustling scene as the last of the
+ammunition and a certain proportion of stores were being hurried into a
+long train that stood with steam up ready to be off. The police allowed
+none of the general public to enter the station, but my correspondent's
+pass obtained me admission to the departure platform. There I saw
+several detachments of the Royal Engineers, the Mounted Infantry--minus
+their horses, which had been already sent on--and some of the
+Leicestershire Regiment. Many of the men had their arms, legs, or heads
+bandaged, and bore evident traces of having been in action. I got into
+conversation with a colour-sergeant of the Engineers, and learned these
+were the detachments who had been stationed at the bridges over the
+Stour. It appears there was some sharp skirmishing with the German
+advance troops before the officers in command had decided that they were
+in sufficient force to justify them in blowing up the bridges. In fact,
+at the one at which my informant was stationed, and that the most
+important one of all, over which the main road from Ipswich passed at
+Stratford St. Mary, the officer in charge delayed just too long, so
+that a party of the enemy's cavalry actually secured the bridge, and
+succeeded in cutting the wires leading to the charges which had been
+placed in readiness to blow it up. Luckily, the various detachments
+present rose like one man to the occasion, and, despite a heavy fire,
+hurled themselves upon the intruders with the bayonet with such
+determination and impetus, that the bridge was swept clear in a moment.
+The wires were reconnected, and the bridge cleared of our men just as
+the Germans, reinforced by several of their supporting squadrons, who
+had come up at a gallop, dashed upon it in pursuit. The firing key was
+pressed at this critical moment, and, with a stunning report, a whole
+troop was blown into the air, the remaining horses, mad with fright,
+stampeding despite all that their riders could do. The road was cut, and
+the German advance temporarily checked, while the British detachment
+made off as fast as it could for Colchester.
+
+"I asked the sergeant how long he thought it would be before the Germans
+succeeded in crossing it. 'Bless you, sir, I expect they're over by
+now,' he answered. 'They would be sure to have their bridging companies
+somewhere close up, and it would not take them more than an hour or two
+to throw a bridge over that place.' The bridges at Boxted Mill and
+Nayland had been destroyed previously.
+
+"The railway bridge and the other one at Manningtree were blown up
+before the Germans could get a footing, and their defenders had come in
+by rail. But my conversation was cut short, the whistle sounded, the men
+were hustled on board the train, and it moved slowly out of the station.
+As for me, I hurried out to my car, and, putting on speed, was soon
+clear of the town, and spinning along for Mark's Tey. It is about five
+miles, and shortly before I got there I overtook the marching column.
+The men were halted, and in the act of putting on their greatcoats. I
+was stopped here by the rearguard, who took charge of me, and would not
+let me proceed until permission was obtained from the General.
+
+"Eventually this officer ordered me to be brought to him, I presented my
+pass; but he said, 'I am afraid that I shall have to ask you either to
+turn back or to slow down and keep pace with us. In fact, you had
+better do the latter. I might, indeed, have to exercise my powers and
+impress your motor, should the exigencies of the Service require it.' I
+saw that it was best to make virtue of necessity, and replied that it
+was very much at his service, and that I was very well content to
+accompany the column. In point of fact, the latter was strictly true,
+for I wanted to see what was to be seen, and there were no points about
+going along with no definite idea of where I wanted to get to, with a
+possible chance of falling into the hands of the Saxons into the
+bargain. So a Staff officer, who was suffering from a slight wound, was
+placed alongside me, and the column, having muffled itself in its
+greatcoats, once more began to plug along through the thickening mire.
+My position was just in front of the guns, which kept up a monotonous
+rumble behind me. My companion was talkative, and afforded me a good
+deal of incidental and welcome information. Thus, just after we started,
+and were turning to the left at Mark's Tey, a bright glare followed by a
+loudish report came from the right of the road. 'What's that?' I
+naturally ejaculated. 'Oh, that will be the sappers destroying the
+junction with the Sudbury line,' he replied. 'There's the train waiting
+for them just beyond.'
+
+"So it was. The train that I had seen leaving had evidently stopped
+after passing the junction, while the line was broken behind it. 'They
+will do the same after passing the cross line at Witham,' volunteered
+he.
+
+"A mile or two further on we passed between two lines of horsemen, their
+faces set northwards and muffled to the eyes in their long cloaks.
+'That's some of the 16th,' he said, 'going to cover our rear.'
+
+"So we moved on all night through the darkness and rain, and with the
+first glimmer of dawn halted at Witham. We had about nine miles still to
+go to reach Chelmsford, which I learned was our immediate destination,
+and it was decided to rest here for an hour, while the men made the best
+breakfast they could from the contents of their haversacks. But the
+villagers brought out hot tea and coffee, and did the best they could
+for us, so we did not fare so badly after all. As for me, I got
+permission to go on, taking with me my friend the Staff officer, who had
+despatches to forward from Chelmsford. I pushed on at full speed. We
+were there in a very short space of time, and during the morning I
+learned that the Braintree Army was falling back on Dunmow, and that the
+Colchester garrison was to assist in holding the line of the river
+Chelmer."
+
+
+    NOTICE.
+
+    CONCERNING WOUNDED BRITISH SOLDIERS.
+
+    In compliance with an order of the Commander-in-Chief
+    of the German Imperial Army, the Governor-General
+    of East Anglia decrees as follows:--
+
+    (1) Every inhabitant of the counties of Norfolk,
+    Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire,
+    Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, Rutland,
+    Huntingdon, and Hertford, who gives asylum to or
+    lodges one or more ill or wounded British soldier, is
+    obliged to make a declaration to the mayor of the town
+    or to the local police within 24 hours, stating name,
+    grade, place of birth, and nature of illness or injury.
+
+    Every change of domicile of the wounded is also to
+    be notified within 24 hours.
+
+    In absence of masters, servants are ordered to make
+    the necessary declarations.
+
+    The same order applies to the directors of hospitals,
+    surgeries, or ambulance stations, who receive the
+    British wounded within our jurisdiction.
+
+    (2) All mayors are ordered to prepare lists of the
+    British wounded, showing the number, with their
+    names, grade, and place of birth in each district.
+
+    (3) The mayor, or the superintendent of police, must
+    send on the 1st and 15th of each month a copy of
+    his lists to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief.
+    The first list must be sent on the 15th September.
+
+    (4) Any person failing to comply with this order
+    will, in addition to being placed under arrest for
+    harbouring British troops, be fined a sum not exceeding
+    Ł20.
+
+    (5) This decree is to be published in all towns and
+    villages in the Province of East Anglia.
+
+    =Count VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,
+    Lieutenant-General,
+    Governor of German East Anglia.=
+    IPSWICH, _September_ 6, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: COPY OF ONE OF THE ENEMY'S PROCLAMATIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD.
+
+
+A despatch from Mr. Edgar Hamilton to the "Daily News," as follows, was
+published on Saturday, 15th September:
+
+"At Little Waltham I found myself close to the scene of action. About a
+mile ahead of me the hamlet of Howe Street was in flames and burning
+furiously. I could see the shells bursting in and all over it in perfect
+coveys. I could not make out where they were coming from, but an officer
+I met said he thought the enemy must have several batteries in action on
+the high ground about Littley Green, a mile and a half to the north on
+the opposite side of the river. I crossed over myself, and got up on the
+knoll where the Leicestershires and Dorsets had been stationed, together
+with a number of the 4ˇ7-inch guns brought from Colchester.
+
+"This piece of elevated ground is about two miles long, running almost
+north and south, and at the top of it I got an extensive view to the
+eastward right away to beyond Witham, as the ground fell all the way.
+The country was well wooded, and a perfect maze of trees and hedgerows.
+If there were any Germans down there in this plain they were lying very
+low indeed, for my glasses did not discover the least indication of
+their presence. Due east my view was bounded by the high wooded ground
+about Wickham Bishops and Tiptree Heath, which lay a long blue hummock
+on the horizon, while to the south-east Danbury Hill, with our big
+war-balloon floating overhead, was plainly discernible.
+
+"While I gazed on the apparently peaceful landscape I was startled by a
+nasty, sharp hissing sound, which came momentarily nearer. It seemed to
+pass over my head, and was followed by a loud bang in the air, where now
+hung a ring of white smoke. It was a shell from the enemy. Just ahead
+of me was a somewhat extensive wood; and, urged by some insane impulse
+of seeking shelter, I left the car, which I ordered my chauffeur to take
+back for a mile and wait, and made for the close-standing trees. If I
+had stopped to think I should have realised that the wood gave me
+actually no protection whatever, and I had not gone far when the
+crashing of timber and noise of the bursting projectiles overhead and in
+the undergrowth around made me understand clearly that the Germans were
+making a special target of the wood, which, I imagine, they thought
+might conceal some of our troops. I wished heartily that I was seated
+beside my chauffeur in his fast-receding car.
+
+"However, my first object was to get clear of the wood again, and after
+some little time I emerged on the west side, right in the middle of a
+dressing station for the wounded, which had been established in a little
+hollow. Two surgeons, with their assistants, were already busily engaged
+with a number of wounded men, most of whom were badly hit by shrapnel
+bullets about the upper part of the body. I gathered from one or two of
+the few most slightly wounded men that our people had been, and were,
+very hardly put to it to hold their own. 'I reckon,' said one of them, a
+bombardier of artillery, 'that the enemy must have got more than a
+hundred guns firing at us, and at Howe Street village. If we could only
+make out where the foreign devils were,' continued my informant, 'our
+chaps could have knocked a good many of them out with our
+four-point-sevens, especially if we could have got a go at them before
+they got within range themselves. But they must have somehow contrived
+to get them into position during the night, for we saw nothing of them
+coming up. They are somewhere about Chatley, Fairstead Lodge, and Little
+Leighs, but as we can't locate them exactly, and only have ten guns up
+here, it don't give us much chance, does it?' Later I saw an officer of
+the Dorsets, who confirmed the gunner's story, but added that our people
+were well entrenched and the guns well concealed, so that none of the
+latter had been put out of action, and he thought we should be able to
+hold on to the hill all right. I regained my car without further
+adventure, bar several narrow escapes from stray shell, and made my way
+back as quickly as possible to Chelmsford.
+
+"The firing went on all day, not only to the northward, but also away to
+the southward, where the Saxons, while not making any determined attack,
+kept the Vth Corps continually on the alert, and there was an almost
+continuous duel between the heavy pieces. As it appeared certain that
+the knoll I had visited in the forenoon was the main objective of the
+enemy's attack, reinforcements had been more than once sent up there,
+but the German shell fire was so heavy that they found it almost
+impossible to construct the additional cover required. Several batteries
+of artillery were despatched to Pleshy and Rolphy Green to keep down, if
+possible, the fire of the Germans, but it seemed to increase rather than
+diminish. They must have had more guns in action than they had at first.
+Just at dusk their infantry had made the first openly offensive
+movement.
+
+"Several lines of skirmishers suddenly appeared in the valley between
+Little Leighs and Chatley, and advanced towards Lyonshall Wood, at the
+north end of the knoll east of Little Waltham. They were at first
+invisible from the British gun positions on the other side of the
+Chelmer, and when they cleared the spur on which Hyde Hall stands they
+were hardly discernible in the gathering darkness. The Dorsetshire and
+the other battalions garrisoning the knoll manned their breastworks as
+they got within rifle range, and opened fire, but they were still
+subjected to the infernal rafale from the Hanoverian guns on the hills
+to the northward, and to make matters worse at this critical moment the
+Xth Corps brought a long line of guns into action between Flacks Green
+and Great Leighs Wood, in which position none of the British guns except
+a few on the knoll itself could reach them. Under this cross hurricane
+of projectiles the British fire was quite beaten down, and the Germans
+followed up their skirmishers by almost solid masses, which advanced
+with all but impunity save for the fire of the few British long-range
+guns at Pleshy Mount. There they were firing almost at random, as the
+gunners could not be certain of the exact whereabouts of their
+objectives. There was a searchlight on the knoll, but at the first sweep
+of its ray it was absolutely demolished by a blizzard of shrapnel. Every
+German gun was turned upon it. The Hanoverian battalions now swarmed to
+the assault, disregarding the gaps made in their ranks by the magazine
+fire of the defenders as soon as their close advance masked the fire of
+their own cannon.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.
+Position on the Evening of September 11.]
+
+"The British fought desperately. Three several times they hurled back at
+the attackers, but, alas! we were overborne by sheer weight of numbers.
+Reinforcements summoned by telephone, as soon as the determined nature
+of the attack was apparent, were hurried up from every available source,
+but they only arrived in time to be carried down the hill again in the
+rush of its defeated defenders, and to share with them the storm of
+projectiles from the quick-firers of General von Kronhelm's artillery,
+which had been pushed forward during the assault. It was with the
+greatest difficulty that the shattered and disorganised troops were got
+over the river at Little Waltham. As it was, hundreds were drowned in
+the little stream, and hundreds of others killed and wounded by the fire
+of the Germans. They had won the first trick. This was indisputable, and
+as ill news travels apace, a feeling of gloom fell upon our whole force,
+for it was realised that the possession of the captured knoll would
+enable the enemy to mass troops almost within effective rifle range of
+our river line of defence. I believe that it was proposed by some
+officers on the staff that we should wheel back our left and take up a
+fresh position during the night. This was overruled, as it was
+recognised that to do so would enable the enemy to push in between the
+Dunmow force and our own, and so cut our general line in half. All that
+could be done was to get up every available gun and bombard the hill
+during the night in order to hamper the enemy in his preparations for
+further forward movement and in his entrenching operations.
+
+"Had we more men at our disposal I suppose there is little doubt that a
+strong counter-attack would have been made on the knoll almost
+immediately; but in the face of the enormous numbers opposed to us, I
+imagine that General Blennerhasset did not feel justified in denuding
+any portion of our position of its defenders. So all through the dark
+hours the thunder of the great guns went on. In spite of the cannonade
+the Germans turned on no less than three searchlights from the southern
+end of the knoll about midnight. Two were at once put out by our fire,
+but the third managed to exist for over half an hour, and enabled the
+Germans to see how hard we were working to improve our defences along
+the river bank. I am afraid that they were by this means able to make
+themselves acquainted with the positions of a great number of our
+trenches. During the night our patrols reported being unable to
+penetrate beyond Pratt's Farm, Mount Maskell, and Porter's Farm on the
+Colchester Road. Everywhere they were forced back by superior numbers.
+The enemy were fast closing in upon us. It was a terrible night in
+Chelmsford.
+
+"There was panic on every hand. A man mounted the Tindal statue and
+harangued the crowd, urging the people to rise and compel the Government
+to stop the war. A few young men endeavoured to load the old Crimean
+cannon in front of the Shire Hall, but found it clogged with rust and
+useless. People fled from the villa residences in Brentwood Road into
+the town for safety, now that the enemy were upon them. The banks in
+High Street were being barricaded, and the stores still remaining in the
+various grocers' shops, Luckin Smith's, Martin's, Cramphorn's, and
+Pearke's, were rapidly being concealed from the invaders. All the
+ambulance waggons entering the town were filled with wounded, although
+as many as possible were sent south by train. By one o'clock in the
+morning, however, most of the civilian inhabitants had fled. The streets
+were empty, but for the bivouacking troops and the never-ending
+procession of wounded men. The General and his staff were deliberating
+to a late hour in the Shire Hall, at which he had established his
+headquarters. The booming of the guns waxed and waned till dawn, when a
+furious outburst announced that the second act of the tragedy was about
+to open.
+
+
+    DECREE
+
+    CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR.
+
+    WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA, in virtue of the powers
+    conferred upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor,
+    Commander-in-Chief of the German Armies, order, for the
+    maintenance of the internal and external security of the
+    counties of the Government-General:--
+
+    ARTICLE I.--Any individual guilty of incendiarism or of wilful
+    inundation, of attack, or of resistance with violence against
+    the Government-General or the agents of the civil or military
+    authorities, of sedition, of pillage, of theft with violence, of
+    assisting prisoners to escape, or of exciting soldiers to
+    treasonable acts, shall be PUNISHED BY DEATH.
+
+    In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be
+    sent to penal servitude with hard labour for twenty years.
+
+    ARTICLE II.--Any person provoking or inciting an individual to
+    commit the crimes mentioned in Article I. will be sent to penal
+    servitude with hard labour for ten years.
+
+    ARTICLE III.--Any person propagating false reports relative to
+    the operations of war or political events will be imprisoned for
+    one year, and fined up to Ł100.
+
+    In any case where the affirmation or propagation may cause
+    prejudice against the German Army, or against any authorities or
+    functionaries established by it, the culprit will be sent to
+    hard labour for ten years.
+
+    ARTICLE IV.--Any person usurping a public office, or who commits
+    any act or issues any order in the name of a public functionary,
+    will be imprisoned for five years, and fined Ł150.
+
+    ARTICLE V.--Any person who voluntarily destroys or abstracts any
+    documents, registers, archives, or public documents deposited in
+    public offices, or passing through their hands in virtue of
+    their functions as government or civic officials, will be
+    imprisoned for two years, and fined Ł150.
+
+    ARTICLE VI.--Any person obliterating, damaging, or tearing down
+    official notices, orders, or proclamations of any sort issued by
+    the German authorities will be imprisoned for six months, and
+    fined Ł80.
+
+    ARTICLE VII.--Any resistance or disobedience of any order given
+    in the interests of public security by military commanders and
+    other authorities, or any provocation or incitement to commit
+    such disobedience, will be punished by one year's imprisonment,
+    or a fine of not less than Ł150.
+
+    ARTICLE VIII.--All offences enumerated in Articles I.--VII. are
+    within the jurisdiction of the Councils of War.
+
+    ARTICLE IX.--It is within the competence of Councils of War to
+    adjudicate upon all other crimes and offences against the
+    internal and external security of the English provinces occupied
+    by the German Army, and also upon all crimes against the
+    military or civil authorities, or their agents, as well as
+    murder, the fabrication of false money, of blackmail, and all
+    other serious offences.
+
+    Article X.--Independent of the above, the military jurisdiction
+    already proclaimed will remain in force regarding all actions
+    tending to imperil the security of the German troops, to damage
+    their interests, or to render assistance to the Army of the
+    British Government.
+
+    Consequently, there will be PUNISHED BY DEATH, and we expressly
+    repeat this, all persons who are not British soldiers and--
+
+    (a) Who serve the British Army or the Government as spies, or
+    receive British spies, or give them assistance or asylum.
+
+    (b) Who serve as guides to British troops, or mislead the German
+    troops when charged to act as guides.
+
+    (c) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German soldier or officer.
+
+    (d) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt railways or
+    telegraph lines, render roads impassable, burn munitions of war,
+    provisions, or quarters of the troops.
+
+    (e) Who take arms against the German troops.
+
+    ARTICLE XI.--The organisation of Councils of War mentioned in
+    Articles VIII. and IX. of the Law of May 2, 1870, and their
+    procedure are regulated by special laws which are the same as
+    the summary jurisdiction of military tribunals. In the case of
+    Article X. there remains in force the Law of July 21, 1867,
+    concerning the military jurisdiction applicable to foreigners.
+
+    ARTICLE XII.--The present order is proclaimed and put into
+    execution on the morrow of the day upon which it is affixed in
+    the public places of each town and village, The Governor-General
+    of East Anglia,
+
+    =COUNT VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBERG, Lieutenant-General.=
+
+    NORWICH, _September 7th_, 1910.
+
+
+"I had betaken myself at once to the round tower of the church, next the
+Stone Bridge, from which I had an excellent view both east and north.
+The first thing that attracted my eye was the myriad flashings of rifle
+fire in the dimness of the breaking day. They reached in a continuous
+line of coruscations from Boreham Hall, opposite my right hand, to the
+knoll by Little Waltham, a distance of three or four miles, I should
+say. The enemy were driving in all our outlying and advanced troops by
+sheer weight of numbers. Presently the heavy batteries at Danbury began
+pitching shell over in the direction of the firing, but as the German
+line still advanced, it had not apparently any very great effect. The
+next thing that happened was a determined attack on the village of Howe
+Street made from the direction of Hyde Hall. This is about two miles
+north of Little Waltham. In spite of our incessant fire, the Germans had
+contrived to mass a tremendous number of guns and howitzers on and
+behind the knoll they captured last night, and there was any quantity
+more on the ridge above Hyde Hall. All these terrible weapons
+concentrated their fire for a few moments on the blackened ruins of Howe
+Street. Not a mouse could have lived there. The little place was simply
+pulverised.
+
+"Our guns at Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, aided by a number of field
+batteries, in vain endeavoured to make head against them. They were
+outnumbered by six to one. Under cover of this tornado of iron and
+fire, the enemy pushed several battalions over the river, making use of
+the ruins of the many bridges about there which had been hastily
+destroyed, and which they repaired with planks and other materials they
+brought along with them. They lost a large number of men in the process,
+but they persevered, and by ten o'clock were in complete possession of
+Howe Street, Langley's Park, and Great Waltham, and moving in fighting
+formation against Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, their guns covering
+their advance with a perfectly awful discharge of shrapnel. Our cannon
+on the ridge at Partridge Green took the attackers in flank, and for a
+time checked their advance, but, drawing upon themselves the attention
+of the German artillery, on the south end of the knoll, were all but
+silenced.
+
+"As soon as this was effected another strong column of Germans followed
+in the footsteps of the first, and deploying to the left, secured the
+bridge at Little Waltham, and advanced against the gun positions on
+Partridge Green. This move turned all our river bank entrenchments right
+down to Chelmsford. Their defenders were now treated to the enfilade
+fire of a number of Hanoverian batteries that galloped down to Little
+Waltham. They stuck to their trenches gallantly, but presently when the
+enemy obtained a footing on Partridge Green they were taken in reverse,
+and compelled to fall back, suffering terrible losses as they did so.
+The whole of the infantry of the Xth Corps, supported--as we
+understand--by a division which had joined them from Maldon, now moved
+down on Chelmsford. In fact, there was a general advance of the three
+combined armies stretching from Partridge Green on the west to the
+railway line on the east. The defenders of the trenches facing east were
+hastily withdrawn, and thrown back on Writtle. The Germans followed
+closely with both infantry and guns, though they were for a time checked
+near Scot's Green by a dashing charge of our cavalry brigade, consisting
+of the 16th Lancers and the 7th, 14th, and 20th Hussars, and the Essex
+and Middlesex Yeomanry. We saw nothing of their cavalry, for a reason
+that will be apparent later. By one o'clock fierce fighting was going on
+all round the town, the German hordes enveloping it on all sides but
+one. We had lost a great number of our guns, or at any rate had been
+cut off from them by the German successes around Pleshy Mount, and in
+all their assaults on the town they had been careful to keep out of
+effective range of the heavy batteries on Danbury Hill. These, by the
+way, had their own work cut out for them, as the Saxon artillery were
+heavily bombarding the hill with their howitzers. The British forces
+were in a critical situation. Reinforcements--such as could be
+spared--were hurried up from the Vth Army Corps, but they were not very
+many in numbers, as it was necessary to provide against an attack by the
+Saxon Corps. By three o'clock the greater part of the town was in the
+hands of the Germans, despite the gallant way in which our men fought
+them from street to street, and house to house. A dozen fires were
+spreading in every direction, and fierce fighting was going on at
+Writtle. The overpowering numbers of the Germans, combined with their
+better organisation, and the number of properly trained officers at
+their disposal, bore the British mixed Regular and Irregular forces
+back, and back again.
+
+"Fearful of being cut off from his line of retreat, General
+Blennerhasset, on hearing from Writtle soon after three that the
+Hanoverians were pressing his left very hard, and endeavouring to work
+round it, reluctantly gave orders for the troops in Chelmsford to fall
+back on Widford and Moulsham. There was a lull in the fighting for about
+half an hour, though firing was going on both at Writtle and Danbury.
+Soon after four a terrible rumour spread consternation on every side.
+According to this, an enormous force of cavalry and motor infantry was
+about to attack us in the rear. What had actually happened was not quite
+so bad as this, but quite bad enough. It seems, according to our latest
+information, that almost the whole of the cavalry belonging to the three
+German Army Corps with whom we were engaged--something like a dozen
+regiments, with a proportion of horse artillery and all available
+motorists, having with them several of the new armoured motors carrying
+light, quick-firing and machine guns--had been massed during the last
+thirty-six hours behind the Saxon lines extending from Maldon to the
+River Crouch. During the day they had worked round to the southward, and
+at the time the rumour reached us were actually attacking Billericay,
+which was held by a portion of the reserves of our Vth Corps. By the
+time this news was confirmed the Germans were assaulting Great Baddow,
+and moving on Danbury from east, north, and west, at the same time
+resuming the offensive all along the line. The troops at Danbury must be
+withdrawn or they would be isolated. This difficult manoeuvre was
+executed by way of West Hanningfield. The rest of the Vth Corps
+conformed to the movement, the Guards Brigade at East Hanningfield
+forming the rearguard, and fighting fiercely all night through with the
+Saxon troops, who moved out on the left flank of our retreat. The wreck
+of the first Corps and the Colchester garrison was now also in full
+retirement. Ten miles lay between it and the lines at Brentwood, and had
+the Germans been able to employ cavalry in pursuit, this retreat would
+have been even more like a rout than it was. Luckily for us the
+Billericay troops mauled the German cavalry pretty severely, and they
+were beset in the close country in that neighbourhood by Volunteers,
+motorists, and every one that the officer commanding at Brentwood could
+get together in this emergency.
+
+"Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat, but were driven off
+by our advance guard; others came across the head of the retiring Vth
+Corps, but the terrain was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most
+of them had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows that
+covered the countryside. Had it not been for this we should probably
+have been absolutely smashed. As it was, rather more than half our
+original numbers of men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early
+morning, worn out and dead-beat."
+
+Reports from Sheffield also showed the position to be critical.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+THE SIEGE OF LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE LINES OF LONDON.
+
+
+The German successes were continued in the North and Midlands, and
+notwithstanding the gallant defence of Sir George Woolmer before
+Manchester and Sir Henry Hibbard before Birmingham, both cities were
+captured and occupied by the enemy after terrible losses. London,
+however, was the chief objective of Von Kronhelm, and towards the
+Metropolis he now turned his attention.
+
+After the defeat of the British at Chelmsford on that fateful Wednesday,
+Lord Byfield decided to evacuate his position at Royston and fall back
+on the northern section of the London defence line, which had been under
+construction for the last ten days. These hasty entrenchments, which
+would have been impossible to construct but for the ready assistance of
+thousands of all classes of the citizens of London and the suburbs,
+extended from Tilbury on the east to Bushey on the west, passing by the
+Laindon Hills, Brentwood, Kelvedon, North Weald, Epping, Waltham Abbey,
+Cheshunt, Enfield Chase, Chipping Barnet, and Elstree. They were more or
+less continuous, consisting for the most part of trenches for infantry,
+generally following the lines of existing hedgerows or banks, which
+often required but little improvement to transform them into
+well-protected and formidable cover for the defending troops. Where it
+was necessary to cross open ground they were dug deep and winding, after
+the fashion adopted by the Boers in the South African War, so that it
+would be difficult, if not impossible, to enfilade them.
+
+Special bomb-proof covers for the local reserves were also constructed
+at various points, and the ground in front ruthlessly cleared of houses,
+barns, trees, hedges, and everything that might afford shelter to an
+advancing enemy. Every possible military obstacle was placed in front of
+the lines that time permitted, abattis, military pits, wire
+entanglements, and small ground mines. At the more important points
+along the fifty miles of entrenchments, field works and redoubts for
+infantry were built, most of them being armed with 4ˇ7 or even 6 and 7ˇ5
+in. guns, which had been brought from Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth, and
+Devonport, and mounted on whatever carriages could be adapted or
+improvised for the occasion.
+
+The preparation of the London lines was a stupendous undertaking, but
+the growing scarceness and dearness of provisions assisted in a degree,
+as no free rations were issued to any able-bodied man unless he went out
+to work at the fortifications. All workers were placed under military
+law. There were any number of willing workers who proffered their
+services in this time of peril. Thousands of men came forward asking to
+be enlisted and armed. The difficulty was to find enough weapons and
+ammunition for them, to say nothing of the question of uniform and
+equipment, which loomed very large indeed. The attitude of the Germans,
+as set forth in Von Kronhelm's proclamations, precluded the employment
+of fighting men dressed in civilian garb, and their attitude was a
+perfectly natural and justifiable one by all the laws and customs of
+war.
+
+It became necessary, therefore, that all men sent to the front should be
+dressed as soldiers in some way or another. In addition to that splendid
+corps, the Legion of Frontiersmen, many new armed organisations had
+sprung into being, some bearing the most fantastic names, such as the
+"Whitechapel War-to-the-Knives," the "Kensington Cowboys," the
+"Bayswater Braves," and the "Southwark Scalphunters." All the available
+khaki and blue serge was used up in no time; even though those who were
+already in possession of ordinary lounge suits of the latter material
+were encouraged to have them altered into uniforms by the addition of
+stand-up collars and facings of various colours, according to their
+regiments and corps.
+
+Only the time during which these men were waiting for their uniforms was
+spent in drill in the open spaces of the Metropolis. As soon as they
+were clothed, they were despatched to that portion of the entrenchments
+to which their corps had been allocated, and there, in the intervals of
+their clearing and digging operations, they were hustled through a brief
+musketry course, which consisted for the most part in firing. The
+question of the provision of officers and N.C.O.'s was an almost
+insuperable one. Retired men came forward on every side, but the supply
+was by no means equal to the demand, and they themselves in many
+instances were absolutely out of date as far as knowledge of modern arms
+and conditions were concerned. However, every one, with but very few
+exceptions, did his utmost, and by the 11th or 12th of the month the
+entrenchments were practically completed, and manned by upwards of
+150,000 "men with muskets" of stout heart and full of patriotism, but in
+reality nothing but an army _pour rire_ so far as efficiency was
+concerned.
+
+The greater part of the guns were also placed in position, especially on
+the north and eastern portions of the lines, and the remainder were
+being mounted as fast as it was practicable. They were well manned by
+Volunteer and Militia Artillerymen, drawn from every district which the
+invaders had left accessible. By the 13th the eastern section of the
+fortifications was strengthened by the arrival of the remnants of the
+Ist and Vth Army Corps, which had been so badly defeated at Chelmsford,
+and no time was lost in reorganising them and distributing them along
+the lines, thereby, to a certain extent, leavening the unbaked mass of
+their improvised defenders. It was generally expected that the enemy
+would follow up the success by an immediate attack on Brentwood, the
+main barrier between Von Kronhelm and his objective--our great
+Metropolis. But, as it turned out, he had a totally different scheme in
+hand. The orders to Lord Byfield to evacuate the position he had
+maintained with such credit against the German Garde and IVth Corps have
+already been referred to. Their reason was obvious. Now that there was
+no organised resistance on his right, he stood in danger of being cut
+off from London, the defences of which were now in pressing need of his
+men. A large amount of rolling stock was at once despatched to Saffron
+Walden and Buntingford by the G.E.R. and to Baldock by the G.N.R., to
+facilitate the withdrawal of his troops and stores, and he was given an
+absolutely free hand as to how these were to be used, all lines being
+kept clear and additional trains kept at his disposal at their London
+termini.
+
+[Illustration:
+THE LINES OF LONDON
+Rough sketch showing approximately the lines of entrenchments
+constructed for the defence of the Metropolis.]
+
+September 13 proved a memorable date in the history of England.
+
+The evacuation of the Baldock-Saffron Walden position could not possibly
+have been carried out in good order on such short notice, had not Lord
+Byfield previously worked the whole thing out in readiness. He could not
+help feeling that, despite his glorious victory on the ninth, a turn of
+Fortune's wheel might necessitate a retirement on London sooner or
+later, and, like the good General that he was, he made every preparation
+both for this, and other eventualities. Among other details, he had
+arranged that the mounted infantry should be provided with plenty of
+strong light wire. This was intended for the express benefit of
+Frölich's formidable cavalry brigade, which he foresaw would be most
+dangerous to his command in the event of a retreat. As soon, therefore,
+as the retrograde movement commenced, the mounted infantry began to
+stretch their wires across every road, lane and byway leading to the
+north and north-east. Some wires were laid low, within a foot of the
+ground, others high up, where they could catch a rider about the neck or
+breast. This operation they carried out again and again, after the
+troops had passed, at various points on the route of the retreat. Thanks
+to the darkness, this device well fulfilled its purpose. Frölich's
+brigade was on the heels of the retreating British soon after midnight,
+but as it was impossible for them to move over the enclosed country at
+night, his riders were confined to the roads, and the accidents and
+delays occasioned by the wires were so numerous and disconcerting that
+their advance had to be conducted with such caution that as a pursuit it
+was of no use at all. Even the infantry and heavy guns of the retiring
+British got over the ground nearly twice as fast. After two or three
+hours of this, only varied by occasional volleys from detachments of our
+mounted infantry, who sometimes waited in rear of their snares to let
+fly at the German cavalry before galloping back to lay others, the enemy
+recognised the fact, and, withdrawing their cavalry till daylight,
+replaced them by infantry, but so much time had been lost, that the
+British had got several miles' start.
+
+As has been elsewhere chronicled, the brigade of four regular battalions
+with their guns, and a company of Engineers which were to secure the
+passage of the Stort and protect the left flank of the retirement, left
+Saffron Walden somewhere about 10.30 p.m. The line was clear, and they
+arrived at Sawbridgeworth in four long trains in a little under an hour.
+Their advent did not arouse the sleeping village, as the station lies
+nearly three-quarters of a mile distant on the further side of the
+river. It may be noted in passing that while the Stort is but a small
+stream, easily fordable in most places, yet it was important, if
+possible, to secure the bridges to prevent delay in getting over the
+heavy guns and waggons of the retiring British. A delay and congestion
+at the points selected for passage might, with a close pursuit, easily
+lead to disaster. Moreover, the Great Eastern Railway crossed the river
+by a wooden bridge just north of the village of Sawbridgeworth, and it
+was necessary to ensure the safe passage of the last trains over it
+before destroying it to preclude the use of the railway by the enemy.
+
+There were two road bridges on the Great Eastern Railway near the
+village of Sawbridgeworth, which might be required by the Dunmow force,
+which was detailed to protect the same flank rather more to the
+northward. The most important bridge, that over which the main body of
+the Saffron Walden force was to retire, with all the impedimenta it had
+had time to bring away with it, was between Sawbridgeworth and Harlow,
+about a mile north of the latter village, but much nearer its station.
+Thither, then, proceeded the leading train with the Grenadiers, four 4ˇ7
+guns, and half a company of Royal Engineers with bridging materials.
+Their task was to construct a second bridge to relieve the traffic over
+the permanent one. The Grenadiers left one company at the railway
+station, two in Harlow village, which they at once commenced to place in
+a state of defence, much to the consternation of the villagers, who had
+not realised how close to them were trending the red footsteps of war.
+The remaining five companies with the other four guns turned northward,
+and after marching another mile or so occupied the enclosures round
+Durrington House and the higher ground to its north. Here the guns were
+halted on the road. It was too dark to select the best position for
+them, for it was now only about half an hour after midnight. The three
+other regiments which detrained at Sawbridgeworth were disposed as
+follows, continuing the line of the Grenadiers to the northward. The
+Rifles occupied Hyde Hall, formerly the seat of the Earls of Roden,
+covering the operations of the Engineers, who were preparing the railway
+bridge for destruction, and the copses about Little Hyde Hall on the
+higher ground to the eastward.
+
+The Scots Guards with four guns were between them and the Grenadiers,
+and distributed between Sheering village and Gladwyns House, from the
+neighbourhood of which it was expected that the guns would be able to
+command the Chelmsford Road for a considerable distance. The Seaforth
+Highlanders for the time being were stationed on a road running parallel
+to the railway, from which branch roads led to both the right, left, and
+centre of the position. An advanced party of the Rifle Brigade was
+pushed forward to Hatfield Heath with instructions to patrol towards the
+front and flanks, and, if possible, establish communication with the
+troops expected from Dunmow. By the time all this was completed it was
+getting on for 3 a.m. on the 13th. At this hour the advanced guard of
+the Germans coming from Chelmsford was midway between Leaden Roding and
+White Roding, while the main body was crossing the small River Roding by
+the shallow ford near the latter village. Their few cavalry scouts were,
+however, exploring the roads and lanes some little way ahead. A
+collision was imminent. The Dunmow force had not been able to move
+before midnight, and, with the exception of one regular battalion, the
+1st Leinsters, which was left behind to the last and crowded into the
+only train available, had only just arrived at the northern edge of
+Hatfield Forest, some four miles directly north of Hatfield Heath. The
+Leinsters, who left Dunmow by train half an hour later, had detrained at
+this point at one o'clock, and just about three had met the patrols of
+the Rifles. A Yeomanry corps from Dunmow was also not far off, as it
+turned to its left at the cross-roads east of Takely, and was by this
+time in the neighbourhood of Hatfield Broad Oak. In short, all three
+forces were converging, but the bulk of the Dunmow force was four miles
+away from the point of convergence.
+
+It was still profoundly dark when the Rifles at Hatfield Heath heard a
+dozen shots cracking through the darkness to their left front. Almost
+immediately other reports resounded from due east. Nothing could be seen
+beyond a very few yards, and the men of the advanced company drawn up at
+the cross-roads in front of the village inn fancied they now and again
+saw figures dodging about in obscurity, but were cautioned not to fire
+till their patrols had come in, for it was impossible to distinguish
+friend from foe. Shots still rattled out here and there to the front.
+About ten minutes later the captain in command, having got in his
+patrols, gave the order to fire at a black blur that seemed to be moving
+towards them on the Chelmsford Road. There was no mistake this time. The
+momentary glare of the discharge flashed on the shiny "pickel-haubes" of
+a detachment of German infantry, who charged forward with a loud "Hoch!"
+The Riflemen, who already had their bayonets fixed, rushed to meet them,
+and for a few moments there was a fierce stabbing affray in the
+blackness of the night. The Germans, who were but few in number, were
+overpowered, and beat a retreat, having lost several of their men. The
+Rifles, according to their orders, having made sure of the immediate
+proximity of the enemy, now fell back to the rest of their battalion at
+Little Hyde Hall, and all along the banks and hedges which covered the
+British front, our men, rifle in hand, peered eagerly into the darkness
+ahead of them.
+
+Nothing happened for quite half an hour, and the anxious watchers were
+losing some of their alertness, when a heavy outburst of firing
+re-echoed from Hatfield Heath. To explain this we must return to the
+Germans. Von der Rudesheim, on obtaining touch with the British, at once
+reinforced his advanced troops, and they, a whole battalion strong,
+advanced into the hamlet meeting with no resistance. Almost
+simultaneously two companies of the Leinsters entered it from the
+northward. There was a sudden and unexpected collision on the open
+green, and a terrible fire was exchanged at close quarters, both sides
+losing very heavily. The British, however, were borne back by sheer
+weight of numbers, and, through one of those unfortunate mistakes that
+insist on occurring in warfare, were charged as they fell back by the
+leading squadrons of the Yeomanry who were coming up from Hatfield Broad
+Oak. The officer commanding the Leinsters decided to wait till it was a
+little lighter before again attacking the village. He considered that,
+as he had no idea of the strength of the enemy, he had best wait till
+the arrival of the troops now marching through Hatfield Forest. Von der
+Rudesheim, on his part, mindful of his instructions, determined to try
+to hold the few scattered houses on the north side of the heath which
+constituted the village, with the battalion already in it, and push
+forward with the remainder of his force towards Harlow. His first essay
+along the direct road _viâ_ Sheering was repulsed by the fire of the
+Scots Guards lining the copses about Gladwyns. He now began to have some
+idea of the British position, and made his preparations to assault it at
+daybreak.
+
+To this end he sent forward two of his batteries into Hatfield Heath,
+cautiously moved the rest of his force away to the left, arranged his
+battalions in the valley of the Pincey Brook ready for attacking
+Sheering and Gladwyns, placed one battalion in reserve at Down Hall, and
+stationed his remaining battery near Newman's End. By this time there
+was beginning to be a faint glimmer of daylight in the east, and, as the
+growing dawn began to render vague outlines of the nearer objects dimly
+discernible, hell broke loose along the peaceful countryside. A star
+shell fired from the battery at Newman's End burst and hung out a
+brilliant white blaze that fell slowly over Sheering village, lighting
+up its walls and roofs and the hedges along which lay its defenders,
+was the signal for the Devil's Dance to begin. Twelve guns opened with a
+crash from Hatfield Heath, raking the Gladwyns enclosures and the end of
+Sheering village with a deluge of shrapnel, whilst an almost solid
+firing line advanced rapidly against it, firing heavily.
+
+[Illustration:
+BATTLE OF HARLOW
+1^{ST} PHASE
+about 5 a m Sept 13^{th}]
+
+The British replied lustily with gun, rifle, and maxim, the big
+high-explosive shells bursting amid the advancing Germans and among the
+houses of Hatfield Heath with telling effect. But the German assaulting
+lines had but six or seven hundred yards to go. They had been trained
+above all things to ignore losses and to push on at all hazards. The
+necessity for this had not been confused in their minds by maxims about
+the importance of cover, so the south side of the village street was
+taken at a rush. Von der Rudesheim continued to pile on his men, and,
+fighting desperately, the Guardsmen were driven from house to house and
+from fence to fence. All this time the German battery at Newman's End
+continued to fire star shells with rhythmical regularity, lighting up
+the inflamed countenances of the living combatants, and the pale
+up-turned faces of the dead turned to heaven as if calling for vengeance
+on their slayers. In the midst of this desperate fighting the Leinsters,
+supported by a Volunteer and a Militia regiment, which had just come up,
+assaulted Hatfield Heath. The Germans were driven out of it with the
+loss of a couple of their guns, but hung on to the little church, around
+which such a desperate conflict was waged that the dead above ground in
+that diminutive God's acre outnumbered the "rude forefathers of the
+hamlet" who slept below.
+
+It was now past five o'clock in the morning, and by this time strong
+reinforcements might have been expected from Dunmow, but, with the
+exception of the Militia and Volunteer battalions just referred to, who
+had pushed on at the sound of the firing, none were seen coming up. The
+fact was that they had been told off to certain positions in the line of
+defence they had been ordered to take up, and had been slowly and
+carefully installing themselves therein. Their commanding officer, Sir
+Jacob Stellenbosch, thought that he must carry out the exact letter of
+the orders he had received from Lord Byfield, and paid little attention
+to the firing except to hustle his battalion commanders, to try to get
+them into their places as soon as possible. He was a pig-headed man into
+the bargain, and would listen to no remonstrance. The two battalions
+which had arrived so opportunely had been at the head of the column, and
+had pushed forward "on their own" before he could prevent them. At this
+time the position was as follows: One German battalion was hanging
+obstinately on to the outskirts of Hatfield Heath; two were in
+possession of the copses about Gladwyns; two were in Sheering village,
+or close up to it, and the sixth was still in reserve at Down Hall. On
+the British side the Rifles were in their original position at Little
+Hyde Hall where also were three guns, which had been got away from
+Gladwyns. The Seaforths had come up, and were now firing from about
+Quickbury, while the Scots Guards, after suffering fearful losses, were
+scattered, some with the Highlanders, others with the five companies of
+the Grenadiers, who with their four guns still fought gallantly on
+between Sheering and Durrington House.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+REPULSE OF THE GERMANS.
+
+
+The terrible fire of the swarms of Germans who now lined the edges of
+Sheering village became too much for the four 4ˇ7 guns on the open
+ground to the south.
+
+Their gunners were shot down as fast as they touched their weapons, and
+when the German field battery at Newman's End, which had been advanced
+several hundred yards, suddenly opened a flanking fire of shrapnel upon
+them, it was found absolutely impossible to serve them. A gallant
+attempt was made to withdraw them by the Harlow Road, but their teams
+were shot down as soon as they appeared. This enfilade fire, too,
+decimated the Grenadiers and the remnant of the Scots, though they
+fought on to the death, and a converging attack of a battalion from Down
+Hall and another from Sheering drove them down into the grounds of
+Durrington House, where fighting still went on savagely for some time
+afterwards.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had all but attained a portion of his object, which
+was to establish his guns in such a position that they could fire on the
+main body of the British troops when they entered Sawbridgeworth by the
+Cambridge Road. The place where the four guns with the Grenadiers had
+been stationed was within 3,000 yards of any part of that road between
+Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. But this spot was still exposed to the rifle
+fire of the Seaforths who held Quickbury. Von der Rudesheim therefore
+determined to swing forward his left, and either drive them back down
+the hill towards the river, or at least to so occupy them that he could
+bring up his field-guns to their chosen position without losing too many
+of his gunners.
+
+By six o'clock, thanks to his enormous local superiority in numbers, he
+had contrived to do this, and now the opposing forces with the exception
+of the British Grenadiers, who still fought with a German battalion
+between Durrington House and Harlow, faced each other north and south,
+instead of east and west, as they were at the beginning of the fight.
+Brigadier-General Lane-Edgeworth, who was in command of the British, had
+been sending urgent messages for reinforcements to the Dunmow Force, but
+when its commanding officer finally decided to turn his full strength in
+the direction of the firing, it took so long to assemble and form up the
+Volunteer regiments who composed the bulk of his command, that it was
+past seven before the leading battalion had deployed to assist in the
+attack which it was decided to make against the German right. Meantime,
+other important events had transpired.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had found that the battalion which was engaged with
+the Grenadiers could not get near Harlow village, or either the river or
+railway bridge at that place, both of which he wished to destroy. But
+his scouts had reported a lock and wooden footbridge immediately to the
+westward between Harlow and Sawbridgeworth, just abreast of the large
+wooded park surrounding Pishobury House on the farther side. He
+determined to send two companies over by this, their movements being
+hidden from the English by the trees. After crossing, they found
+themselves confronted by a backwater, but, trained in crossing rivers,
+they managed to ford and swim over, and advanced through the park
+towards Harlow Bridge. While this was in progress, a large force was
+reported marching south on the Cambridge Road.
+
+While Von der Rudesheim, who was at the western end of Sheering hamlet,
+was looking through his glasses at the new arrivals on the scene of
+action--who were without doubt the main body of the Royston command,
+which was retiring under the personal supervision of Lord Byfield--a
+puff of white smoke rose above the trees about Hyde Hall, and at top
+speed four heavily loaded trains shot into sight going south. These were
+the same ones that had brought down the Regular British troops, with
+whom he was now engaged. They had gone north again, and picked up a
+number of Volunteer battalions belonging to the retreating force just
+beyond Bishop's Stortford. But so long a time had been taken in
+entraining the troops in the darkness and confusion of the retreat, that
+their comrades who had kept to the road, arrived almost simultaneously.
+Von der Rudesheim signalled, and sent urgent orders for his guns to be
+brought up to open fire on them, but by the time the first team had
+reached him the last of the trains had disappeared from sight into the
+cutting at Harlow Station. But even now it was not too late to open fire
+on the troops entering Sawbridgeworth.
+
+Things were beginning to look somewhat bad for Von der Rudesheim's
+little force. The pressure from the north was increasing every moment,
+his attack on the retreating troops had failed, he had not so far been
+able to destroy the bridges at Harlow, and every minute the likelihood
+of his being able to do so grew more remote. To crown all, word was
+brought him that the trains which had just slipped by were disgorging
+men in hundreds along the railway west of Harlow Station, and that these
+troops were beginning to move forward as if to support the British
+Grenadiers, who had been driven back towards Harlow. In fact, he saw
+that there was even a possibility of his being surrounded. But he had no
+intention of discontinuing the fight. He knew he could rely on the
+discipline and mobility of his well-trained men under almost any
+conditions, and he trusted, moreover, that the promised reinforcements
+would not be very long in turning up. But he could not hold on just
+where he was. He accordingly, by various adroit manoeuvres, threw back
+his right to Down Hall, whose copses and plantations afforded a good
+deal of cover, and, using this as a pivot, gradually wheeled back his
+left till he had taken up a position running north and south from Down
+Hall to Matching Tye. He had not effected this difficult manoeuvre
+without considerable loss, but he experienced less difficulty in
+extricating his left than he had anticipated, since the newly arrived
+British troops at Harlow, instead of pressing forward against him, had
+been engaged in moving into a position between Harlow and the hamlet of
+Foster Street, on the somewhat elevated ground to the south of Matching,
+which would enable them to cover the further march of the main body of
+the retreating troops to Epping.
+
+But he had totally lost the two companies he had sent across the river
+to attack Harlow Bridge. Unfortunately for them, their arrival on the
+Harlow-Sawbridgeworth Road synchronised with that of the advanced guard
+of Lord Byfield's command. Some hot skirmishing took place in and out
+among the trees of Pishobury, and finally the Germans were driven to
+earth in the big square block of the red-brick mansion itself.
+
+Here they made a desperate stand, fighting hard as they were driven from
+one storey to another. The staircases ran with blood, the woodwork
+smouldered and threatened to burst into flame in a dozen places. At
+length the arrival of a battery of field guns, which unlimbered at close
+range, induced the survivors to surrender, and they were disarmed and
+carried off as prisoners with the retreating army.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By the time Von der Rudesheim had succeeded in taking up his new
+position it was past ten o'clock, and he had been informed by despatches
+carried by motor-cyclists that he might expect assistance in another
+hour and a half.
+
+The right column, consisting of the 39th Infantry Brigade of five
+battalions, six batteries, and a squadron of Dragoons, came into
+collision with the left flank of the Dunmow force, which was engaged in
+attacking Von der Rudesheim's right at Down Hall, and endeavouring to
+surround it. Sir Jacob Stellenbosch, who was in command, in vain tried
+to change front to meet the advancing enemy. His troops were nearly all
+Volunteers, who were incapable of quickly manoeuvring under difficult
+circumstances; they were crumpled up and driven back in confusion
+towards Hatfield Heath. Had Von Kronhelm been able to get in the bulk of
+his cavalry from their luckless pursuit of the Ist and Vth British Army
+Corps, who had been driven back on Brentwood the evening previous, and
+so send a proportion with the 20th Division, few would have escaped to
+tell the tale. As it was, the unfortunate volunteers were shot down in
+scores by the "feu d'enfer" with which the artillery followed them up,
+and lay in twos and threes and larger groups all over the fields,
+victims of a selfish nation that accepted these poor fellows' gratuitous
+services merely in order that its citizens should not be obliged to
+carry out what in every other European country was regarded as the first
+duty of citizenship--that of learning to bear arms in the defence of the
+Fatherland.
+
+By this time the greater portion of the retreating British Army, with
+all its baggage, guns and impedimenta, was crawling slowly along the
+road from Harlow to Epping. Unaccustomed as they were to marching, the
+poor Volunteers who had already covered eighteen or twenty miles of
+road, were now toiling slowly and painfully along the highway. The
+regular troops, who had been engaged since early morning, and who were
+now mostly in the neighbourhood of Moor Hall, east of Harlow, firing at
+long ranges on Von der Rudesheim's men to keep them in their places
+while Sir Jacob Stellenbosch attacked their right, were now hurriedly
+withdrawn and started to march south by a track running parallel to the
+main Epping Road, between it and that along which the covering force of
+Volunteers, who had come in by train, were now established in position.
+The 1st and 2nd Coldstreamers, who had formed Lord Byfield's rearguard
+during the night, were halted in Harlow village.
+
+Immediately upon the success obtained by his right column, General
+Richel von Sieberg, who commanded the 20th Hanoverian Division, ordered
+his two centre and left columns, consisting respectively of the three
+battalions 77th Infantry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, then at
+Matching Green, and the three battalions 92nd Infantry, 10th Pioneer
+Battalion, and five batteries Field Artillery, then between High Laver
+and Tilegate Green, to turn to their left and advance in fighting
+formation in a south-westerly direction, with the object of attacking
+the sorely-harassed troops of Lord Byfield on their way to Epping.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The final phase of this memorable retreat is best told in the words of
+the special war correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," who arrived on
+the scene at about one o'clock in the afternoon:
+
+    "EPPING, 5 P.M., _September 9_.
+
+"Thanks to the secrecy preserved by the military authorities, it was not
+known that Lord Byfield was falling back from the Royston-Saffron Walden
+position till seven this morning. By eight, I was off in my car for the
+scene of action, for rumours of fighting near Harlow had already begun
+to come in. I started out by way of Tottenham and Edmonton, expecting to
+reach Harlow by 9.30 or 10. But I reckoned without the numerous military
+officials with whom I came in contact, who constantly stopped me and
+sent me out of my way on one pretext or another. I am sure I hope that
+the nation has benefited by their proceedings. In the end it was close
+on one before I pulled up at the Cock Inn, Epping, in search of
+additional information, because for some time I had been aware of the
+rumbling growl of heavy artillery from the eastward, and wondered what
+it might portend. I found that General Sir Stapleton Forsyth, who
+commanded the Northern section of the defences, had made the inn his
+headquarters, and there was a constant coming and going of orderlies and
+staff-officers at its portals. Opposite, the men of one of the new
+irregular corps, dressed in dark green corduroy, blue flannel cricketing
+caps, and red cummerbunds, sat or reclined in two long lines on either
+side of their piled arms on the left of the wide street. On inquiry I
+heard that the enemy were said to be bombarding Kelvedon Hatch, and also
+that the head of our retreating columns was only three or four miles
+distant.
+
+"I pushed on, and, after the usual interrogations from an officer in
+charge of a picket, where the road ran through the entrenchments about a
+mile farther on, found myself spinning along through the country in the
+direction of Harlow. As I began to ascend the rising ground towards
+Potter Street I could hear a continuous roll of artillery away to my
+right. I could not distinguish anything except the smoke of shells
+bursting here and there in the distance, on account of the scattered
+trees which lined the maze of hedgerows on every side. Close to Potter
+Street I met the head of the retreating army. Very tired, heated and
+footsore looked the hundreds of poor fellows as they dragged themselves
+along through the heat. It was a sultry afternoon, and the roads inches
+deep in dust.
+
+"Turning to the right of Harlow Common, I met another column of men. I
+noticed that these were all Regulars, Grenadiers, Scots Guards, a
+battalion of Highlanders, another of Riflemen, and, lastly, two
+battalions of the Coldstreamers. These troops stepped along with rather
+more life than the citizen soldiers I had met previously, but still
+showed traces of their hard marching and fighting. Many of them were
+wearing bandages, but all the more seriously wounded had been left
+behind to be looked after by the Germans. All this time the firing was
+still resounding heavy and constant from the north-east, and from one
+person and another whom I questioned I ascertained that the enemy were
+advancing upon us from that direction. Half a mile farther on I ran into
+the middle of the fighting. The road ran along the top of a kind of flat
+ridge or upland, whence I could see to a considerable distance on either
+hand.
+
+"Partially sheltered from the view by its hedges and the scattered
+cottages forming the hamlet of Foster Street was a long, irregular line
+of guns facing nearly east. Beyond them were yet others directed north.
+There were field batteries and big 4ˇ7's. All were hard at work, their
+gunners working like men possessed, and the crash of their constant
+discharge was ear-splitting. I had hardly taken this in when 'Bang!
+Bang! Bang! Bang!'--four dazzling flashes opened in the air overhead,
+and shrapnel bullets rattled on earth, walls, and roofs with a sound as
+of handfuls of pebbles thrown on a marble pavement. But the hardness
+with which they struck was beyond anything in my experience.
+
+"It was not pleasant to be here, but I ran my car behind a little
+public-house that stood by the wayside, and, dismounting, unslung my
+glasses and determined to get what view of the proceedings I could from
+the corner of the house. All around khaki-clad Volunteers lined every
+hedge and sheltered behind every cottage, while farther off, in the
+lower ground, from a mile to a mile and a half away I could distinguish
+the closely-packed firing lines of the Germans advancing slowly but
+steadily, despite the gaps made in their ranks by the fire of our guns.
+Their own guns, I fancied, I could make out near Tilegate Green to the
+north-east. Neither side had as yet opened rifle fire. Getting into my
+car I motored back to the main road, but it was so blocked by the
+procession of waggons and troops of the retreating army that I could not
+turn into it. Wheeling round I made my way back to a parallel lane I had
+noticed, and turning to the left again at a smithy, found myself in a
+road bordered by cottages and enclosures. Here I found the Regular
+troops I had lately met lining every hedgerow and fence, while I could
+see others on a knoll further to their left. There was a little church
+here, and, mounting to the roof, I got a comparatively extensive view.
+To my right the long dusty column of men and waggons still toiled along
+the Epping Road. In front, nearly three miles off, an apparently solid
+line of woods stretched along the horizon, surmounting a long, gradual
+and open slope. This was the position of our lines near Epping, and the
+haven for which Lord Byfield's tired soldiery were making. To the left
+the serried masses of drab-clad German infantry still pushed
+aggressively forward, their guns firing heavily over their heads.
+
+[Illustration:
+BATTLE OF HARLOW
+FINAL PHASE]
+
+"As I watched them three tremendous explosions took place in their
+midst, killing dozens of them. Fire, smoke, and dust rose up twenty feet
+in the air, while three ear-splitting reports rose even above the
+rolling thunder of the gunfire. More followed. I looked again towards
+the woodland. Here I saw blaze after blaze of fire among the dark masses
+of trees. Our big guns in the fortifications had got to work, and were
+punishing the Germans most severely, taking their attack in flank with
+the big 6-inch and 7ˇ5-inch projectiles. Cheers arose all along our
+lines, as shell after shell, fired by gunners who knew to an inch the
+distances to every house and conspicuous tree, burst among the German
+ranks, killing and maiming the invaders by hundreds. The advance paused,
+faltered and, being hurriedly reinforced from the rear, once more went
+forward.
+
+"But the big high explosive projectiles continued to fall with such
+accuracy and persistence that the attackers fell sullenly back, losing
+heavily as they did so. The enemy's artillery now came in for attention,
+and also was driven out of range with loss. The last stage in the
+retreat of Lord Byfield's command was now secured. The extended troops
+and guns gradually drew off from their positions, still keeping a
+watchful eye on the foe, and by 4.30 all were within the Epping
+entrenchments. All, that is to say, but the numerous killed and wounded
+during the running fight that had extended along the last seven or eight
+miles of the retreat, and the bulk of the Dunmow force under Sir Jacob
+Stellenbosch, which with its commander, had, it was believed, been made
+prisoners. They had been caught between the 39th German Infantry Brigade
+and several regiments of cavalry, that it was said had arrived from the
+northward soon after they were beaten at Hatfield Heath. Probably these
+were the advanced troops of General Frölich's Cavalry Brigade."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BATTLE OF EPPING.
+
+
+The following is extracted from the "Times" of 15th September:
+
+    "EPPING, _14th September_, _Evening_.
+
+"I have spent a busy day, but have no very important news to record.
+After the repulse of the German troops attacking Lord Byfield's
+retreating army and the arrival of our sorely harassed troops behind the
+Epping entrenchments, we saw no more of the enemy that evening. All
+through the night, however, there was the sound of occasional heavy gun
+firing from the eastward. I have taken up my quarters at the Bell, an
+inn at the south end of the village, from the back of which I can get a
+good view to the north-west for from two to four miles. Beyond that
+distance the high ridge known as Epping Upland limits the prospect. The
+whole terrain is cut up into fields of various sizes and dotted all over
+with trees. Close by is a lofty red brick water-tower, which has been
+utilised by Sir Stapleton Forsyth as a signal station. Away about a mile
+to my left front as I look from the back of the Bell a big block of
+buildings stands prominently out on a grassy spur of high ground. This
+is Copped Hall and Little Copped Hall.
+
+"Both mansions have been transformed into fortresses, which, while
+offering little or no resistance to artillery fire, will yet form a
+tough nut for the Germans to crack, should they succeed in getting
+through our entrenchments at that point. Beyond, I can just see a corner
+of a big earthwork that has been built to strengthen the defence line,
+and which has been christened Fort Obelisk from a farm of that name,
+near which it is situated. There is another smaller redoubt on the slope
+just below this hostelry, and I can see the gunners busy about the three
+big khaki-painted guns which are mounted in it. There are a 6-inch and
+two 4ˇ7-inch guns I believe. This morning our cavalry, consisting of a
+regiment of yeomanry and some mounted infantry, who had formed a portion
+of Lord Byfield's force, went out to reconnoitre towards the north and
+east. They were not away long, as they were driven back in every
+direction in which they attempted to advance, by superior forces of the
+enemy's cavalry, who seemed to swarm everywhere.
+
+"Later on, I believe, some of the German reiters became so venturesome
+that several squadrons exposed themselves to the fire of the big guns in
+the fort at Skip's Corner, and suffered pretty severely for their
+temerity. The firing continued throughout the morning away to eastward.
+At noon I thought I would run down and see if I could find anything out
+about it. I therefore mounted my car and ran off in that direction. I
+found that there was a regular duel going on between our guns at
+Kelvedon Hatch and some heavy siege guns or howitzers that the enemy had
+got in the neighbourhood of the high ground about Norton Heath, only
+about 3,000 yards distant from our entrenchments. They did not appear to
+have done us much damage, but neither, in all probability, did we hurt
+them very much, since our gunners were unable to exactly locate the
+hostile guns.
+
+"When I got back to Epping, about three o'clock, I found the wide single
+street full of troops. They were those who had come in the previous
+afternoon with Lord Byfield, and who, having been allowed to rest till
+midday after their long fighting march, were now being told off to their
+various sections of the defence line. The Guard regiments were allocated
+to the northernmost position between Fort Royston and Fort Skips. The
+rifles were to go to Copped Hall, and the Seaforths to form the nucleus
+of a central reserve of Militia and Volunteers, which was being
+established just north of Gaynes Park. Epping itself and the contiguous
+entrenchments were confided to the Leinster Regiment, which alone of Sir
+Jacob Stellenbosch's brigade had escaped capture, supported by two
+Militia battalions. The field batteries were distributed under shelter
+of the woods on the south, east, and north-east of the town.
+
+"During the afternoon the welcome news arrived that the remainder of
+Lord Byfield's command from Baldock, Royston, and Elmdon had safely
+arrived within our entrenchments at Enfield and New Barnet. We may now
+hope that what with Regulars, Militia, Volunteers, and the new levies,
+our lines are fully and effectively manned, and will suffice to stay the
+further advance of even such a formidable host as is that at the
+disposal of the renowned Von Kronhelm. It is reported too, from
+Brentwood, that great progress has already been made in reorganising and
+distributing the broken remnants of the 1st and 5th Armies that got back
+to that town after the great and disastrous battle of Chelmsford.
+Victorious as they were, the Germans must also have suffered severely,
+which may give us some breathing time before their next onslaught."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following are extracts from the diary picked up by a "Daily
+Telegraph" correspondent, lying near the body of a German officer after
+the fighting in the neighbourhood of Enfield Chase. It is presumed that
+the officer in question was Major Splittberger, of the Kaiser Franz
+Garde Grenadier Regiment, since that was the name written inside the
+cover of the diary.
+
+From enquiries that have since been instituted, it is probable that the
+deceased officer was employed on the staff of the General commanding the
+IVth Corps of the invading Army, though it would seem from the contents
+of his diary that he saw also a good deal of the operations of the Xth
+Corps. Our readers will be able to gather from it the general course of
+the enemy's strategy and tactics during the time immediately preceding
+the most recent disasters which have befallen our brave defenders. The
+first extract is dated September 15, and was written somewhere north of
+Epping:
+
+"_Sept. 15._--So far the bold strategy of our Commander-in-Chief, in
+pushing the greater part of the Xth Corps directly to the west
+immediately after our victory at Chelmsford, has been amply justified by
+results. Although we just missed cutting off Lord Byfield and a large
+portion of his command at Harlow, we gained a good foothold inside the
+British defences north of Epping, and I don't think it will be long
+before we have very much improved our position here. The IVth Corps
+arrived at Harlow about midday yesterday in splendid condition, after
+their long march from Newmarket, and the residue of the Xth joined us at
+about the same time. As there is nothing like keeping the enemy on the
+move, no time was lost in preparing to attack him at the very earliest
+opportunity. As soon as it was dark the IVth Corps got its heavy guns
+and howitzers into position along the ridge above Epping Upland, and
+sent the greater portion of its field batteries forward to a position
+from which they were within effective range of the British
+fortifications at Skip's Corner.
+
+"The IXth Corps, which had arrived from Chelmsford that evening, also
+placed its field artillery in a similar position, from which its fire
+crossed that of the IVth Corps. This Corps also provided the assaulting
+troops. The Xth Corps, which had been engaged all day on Thursday, was
+held in reserve. The howitzers on Epping Upland opened fire with petrol
+shell on the belt of woods that lies immediately in rear of the position
+to be attacked, and with the assistance of a strong westerly wind
+succeeded in setting them on fire and cutting off the most northerly
+section of the British defences from reinforcement. This was soon after
+midnight. The conflagration not only did us this service, but it is
+supposed so attracted the attention of the partially-trained soldiers of
+the enemy that they did not observe the IXth Corps massing for the
+assault.
+
+"We then plastered their trenches with shrapnel to such an extent that
+they did not dare to show a finger above them, and finally carried the
+northern corner by assault. To give the enemy their due, they fought
+well, but we outnumbered them five to one, and it was impossible for
+them to resist the onslaught of our well-trained soldiers. News came
+to-day that the Saxons have been making a demonstration before Brentwood
+with a view of keeping the British employed down there so that they
+cannot send any reinforcements up here. At the same time they have been
+steadily bombarding Kelvedon Hatch from Norton Heath.
+
+"We hear, too, that the Garde Corps have got down south, and that their
+front stretches from Broxbourne to Little Berkhamsted, while Frölich's
+Cavalry Division is in front of them, spread all over the country, from
+the River Lea away to the westward, having driven the whole of the
+British outlying troops and patrols under the shelter of their
+entrenchments. Once we succeed in rolling up the enemy's troops in this
+quarter, it will not be long before we are entering London."
+
+"_Sept. 16._--Fighting went on all yesterday in the neighbourhood of
+Skip's Corner. We have taken the redoubt at North Weald Basset and
+driven the English back into the belt of burnt woodland, which they now
+hold along its northern edge. All day long, too, our big guns, hidden
+away behind the groves and woods above Epping Upland, poured their heavy
+projectiles on Epping and its defences. We set the village on fire three
+times, but the British contrived to extinguish the blaze on each
+occasion.
+
+"I fancy Epping itself will be our next point of attack."
+
+"_Sept. 17._--We are still progressing, fighting is now all but
+continuous. How long it may last I have no idea. Probably there will be
+no suspension of the struggle until we are actually masters of the
+Metropolis. We took advantage of the darkness to push forward our men to
+within three thousand yards of the enemy's line, placing them as far as
+possible under cover of the numerous copses, plantations, and hedgerows
+which cover the face of this fertile country. At 4 a.m. the General
+ordered his staff to assemble at Latton Park, where he had established
+his headquarters. He unfolded to us the general outline of the attack,
+which, he now announced, was to commence at six precisely.
+
+"I thought myself that it was a somewhat inopportune time, as we should
+have the rising sun right in our eyes; but I imagine that the idea was
+to have as much daylight as possible before us. For although we had
+employed a night attack against Skip's Corner, and successfully too, yet
+the general feeling in our Army has always been opposed to operations of
+this kind. The possible gain is, I think, in no way commensurable with
+the probable risks of panic and disorder. The principal objective was
+the village of Epping itself; but simultaneous attacks were to be
+carried out against Copped Hall, Fort Obelisk, to the west of it, and
+Fort Royston, about a mile north of the village. The IXth Corps was to
+co-operate by a determined attempt to break through the English lining
+the burnt strip of woodland and to assault the latter fort in rear. It
+was necessary to carry out both these flanking attacks in order to
+prevent the main attack from being enfiladed from right and left. At
+5.30 we mounted, and rode off to Rye Hill about a couple of miles
+distant, from which the General intended to watch the progress of the
+operations. The first rays of the rising sun were filling the eastern
+sky with a pale light as we cantered off, the long wooded ridge on which
+the enemy had his position standing up in a misty silhouette against the
+growing day.
+
+[Illustration:
+GERMAN ATTACK ON
+THE LINES OF LONDON]
+
+"As we topped Rye Hill I could see the thickly-massed lines of our
+infantry crouching behind every hedge, bank, or ridge, their
+rifle-barrels here and there twinkling in the feeble rays of the early
+sun, their shadows long and attenuated behind them. Epping with its
+lofty red water-tower was distinctly visible on the opposite side of the
+valley, and it is probable that the movement of the General's cavalcade
+of officers, with the escort, attracted the attention of the enemy's
+lookouts, for half-way down the hillside on their side of the valley a
+blinding violet-white flash blazed out, and a big shell came screaming
+along just over our heads, the loud boom of a heavy gun following fast
+on its heels. Almost simultaneously another big projectile hurtled up
+from the direction of Fort Obelisk, and burst among our escort of Uhlans
+with a deluge of livid flame and thick volumes of greenish brown smoke.
+It was a telling shot, for no fewer than six horses and their riders
+lay in a shattered heap on the ground.
+
+"At six precisely our guns fired a salvo directed on Epping village.
+This was the preconcerted signal for attack, and before the echoes of
+the thunderous discharge had finished reverberating over the hills and
+forest, our front lines had sprung to their feet and were moving at a
+racing pace towards the enemy. For a moment the British seemed stupefied
+by the suddenness of the advance. A few rifle shots crackled out here
+and there, but our men had thrown themselves to the ground after their
+first rush before the enemy seemed to wake up. But there was no mistake
+about it when they did. Seldom have I seen such a concentrated fire.
+Gun, pom-pom, machine gun, and rifle blazed out from right to left along
+more than three miles of entrenchments. A continuous lightning-like line
+of fire poured forth from the British trenches, which still lay in
+shadow. I could see the bullets raising perfect sand-storms in places,
+the little pom-pom shells sparkling about all over our prostrate men,
+and the shrapnel bursting all along their front, producing perfect
+swathes of white smoke, which hung low down in the still air in the
+valley.
+
+"But our artillery was not idle. The field guns, pushed well forward,
+showered shrapnel upon the British position, the howitzer shells hurtled
+over our heads on their way to the enemy in constantly increasing
+numbers as the ranges were verified by the trial shots, while a terrible
+and unceasing reverberation from the north-east told of the supporting
+attack made by the IXth and Xth Corps upon the blackened woods held by
+the English. The concussion of the terrific cannonade that now resounded
+from every quarter was deafening; the air seemed to pulse within one's
+ears, and it was difficult to hear one's nearest neighbour speak. Down
+in the valley our men appeared to be suffering severely. Every forward
+move of the attacking lines left a perfect litter of prostrate forms
+behind it, and for some time I felt very doubtful in my own mind if the
+attack would succeed. Glancing to the right, however, I was encouraged
+to see the progress that had been made by the troops detailed for the
+assault on Copped Hall and Obelisk Fort, and seeing this, it occurred to
+me that it was not intended to push the central attack on Epping home
+before its flank had been secured from molestation from this direction.
+Copped Hall itself stood out on a bare down almost like some medićval
+castle, backed by the dark masses of forest, while to the west of it the
+slopes of Fort Obelisk could barely be distinguished, so flat were they
+and so well screened by greenery.
+
+"But its position was clearly defined by the clouds of dust, smoke, and
+débris constantly thrown up by our heavy high-explosive shells, while
+ever and anon there came a dazzling flash from it, followed by a
+detonation that made itself heard even above the rolling of the
+cannonade, as one of its big 7ˇ5 guns was discharged. The roar of their
+huge projectiles, too, as they tore through the air, was easily
+distinguishable. None of our epaulments were proof against them, and
+they did our heavy batteries a great deal of damage before they could be
+silenced.
+
+"To cut a long story short, we captured Epping after a tough fight, and
+by noon were in possession of everything north of the Forest, including
+the war-scarred ruins that now represented the mansion of Copped Hall,
+and from which our pom-poms and machine guns were firing into Fort
+Obelisk. But our losses had been awful. As for the enemy, they could
+hardly have suffered less severely, for though partially protected by
+their entrenchments, our artillery fire must have been utterly
+annihilating."
+
+"_Sept. 18._--Fighting went on all last night, the English holding
+desperately on to the edge of the Forest, our people pressing them
+close, and working round their right flank. When day broke the general
+situation was pretty much like this. On our left the IXth Corps were in
+possession of the Fort at Toothill, and a redoubt that lay between it
+and Skip's Fort. Two batteries were bombarding a redoubt lower down in
+the direction of Stanford Rivers, which was also subjected to a cross
+fire from their howitzers near Ongar.
+
+"As for the English, their position was an unenviable one. From Copped
+Hall--as soon as we have cleared the edge of the Forest of the enemy's
+sharpshooters--we shall be able to take their entrenchments in reverse
+all the way to Waltham Abbey. They have, on the other hand, an outlying
+fort about a mile or two north of the latter place, which gave us some
+trouble with its heavy guns yesterday, and which it is most important
+that we should gain possession of before we advance further. The Garde
+Corps on the western side of the River Lea is now, I hear, in sight of
+the enemy's lines, and is keeping them busily employed, though without
+pushing its attack home for the present.
+
+"At daybreak this morning I was in Epping and saw the beginning of the
+attack on the Forest. It is rumoured that large reinforcements have
+reached the enemy from London, but as these must be merely scratch
+soldiers they will do them more harm than good in their cramped
+position. The Xth Corps had got a dozen batteries in position a little
+to the eastward of the village, and at six o'clock these guns opened a
+tremendous fire upon the north-east corner of the Forest, under cover of
+which their infantry deployed down in the low ground about Coopersale,
+and advanced to the attack. Petrol shells were not used against the
+Forest, as Von Kronhelm had given orders that it was not to be burned if
+it could possibly be avoided. The shrapnel was very successful in
+keeping down the fire from the edge of the trees, but our troops
+received a good deal of damage from infantry and guns that were posted
+to the east of the Forest on a hill near Theydon Bois. But about seven
+o'clock these troops were driven from their position by a sudden flank
+attack made by the IXth Corps from Theydon Mount. Von Kleppen followed
+this up by putting some of his own guns up there, which were able to
+fire on the edge of the Forest after those of the Xth Corps had been
+masked by the close advance of their infantry. To make a long story
+short, by ten the whole of the Forest, east of the London Road, as far
+south as the cross roads near Jack's Hill, was in our hands. In the
+meantime the IVth Corps had made itself master of Fort Obelisk, and our
+gunners were hard at work mounting guns in it with which to fire on the
+outlying fort at Monkham's Hall. Von Kleppen was at Copped Hall about
+this time, and with him I found General Von Wilberg, commanding the Xth
+Corps, in close consultation. The once fine mansion had been almost
+completely shot away down to its lower storey. A large portion of this,
+however, was still fairly intact, having been protected to a certain
+extent by the masses of masonry that had fallen all around it, and also
+by the thick ramparts of earth that the English had built up against its
+exposed side.
+
+"Our men were still firing from its loopholes at the edge of the woods,
+which were only about 1,200 yards distant, and from which bullets were
+continually whistling in by every window. Two of our battalions had dug
+themselves in in the wooded park surrounding the house, and were also
+exchanging fire with the English at comparatively close ranges. They
+had, I was told, made more than one attempt to rush the edge of the
+Forest, but had been repulsed by rifle fire on each occasion. Away to
+the west I could see for miles, and even distinguish our shells bursting
+all over the enemy's fort at Monkham's Hall, which was being subjected
+to a heavy bombardment by our guns on the high ground to the north of
+it. About eleven Frölich's Cavalry Brigade, whose presence was no longer
+required in front of the Garde Corps, passed through Epping, going
+south-east. It is generally supposed that it is either to attack the
+British at Brentwood in the rear, or, which I think is more probable, to
+intimidate the raw levies by its presence between them and London, and
+to attack them in flank should they attempt to retreat.
+
+"Just after eleven another battalion arrived at Copped Hall from Epping,
+and orders were given that the English position along the edge of the
+Forest was to be taken at all cost. Just before the attack began there
+was a great deal of firing somewhere in the interior of the Forest,
+presumably between the British and the advanced troops of the Xth Corps.
+However this may have been, it was evident that the enemy were holding
+our part of the Forest much less strongly and our assault was entirely
+successful, with but small loss of men. Once in the woods, the superior
+training and discipline of our men told heavily in their favour. While
+the mingled mass of Volunteers and raw free-shooters, of which the bulk
+of their garrison was composed, got utterly disorganised and out of hand
+under the severe strain on them that was imposed by the difficulties of
+wood fighting, and hindered and broke up the regular units, our people
+were easily kept well in hand, and drove the enemy steadily before them
+without a single check. The rattle of rifle and machine gun was
+continuous through all the leafy dells and glades of the wood, but by
+two o'clock practically the whole Forest was in the hands of our Xth
+Corps. It was then the turn of the IVth Corps, who in the meantime, far
+from being idle, had massed a large number of their guns at Copped Hall,
+from which, aided by the fire from Fort Obelisk, the enemy's lines were
+subjected to a bombardment that rendered them absolutely untenable, and
+we could see company after company making their way to Waltham Abbey.
+
+"At three the order for a general advance on Waltham Abbey was issued.
+As the enemy seemed to have few, if any, guns at this place, it was
+determined to make use of some of the new armoured motors that
+accompanied the Army. Von Kronhelm, who was personally directing the
+operations from Copped Hall, had caused each Corps to send its own
+motors to Epping, so that we had something like thirty at our disposal.
+These quaint, grey monsters came down through the Forest and advanced on
+Epping by two parallel roads, one passing by the south of Warlies Park,
+the other being the main road from Epping. It was a weird sight to see
+these shore-going armour-clads flying down upon the enemy. They got
+within 800 yards of the houses, but the enemy contrived to block their
+further advance by various obstacles which they placed on the roads.
+
+"There was about an hour's desperate fighting in the village. The old
+Abbey Church was set on fire by a stray shell, the conflagration
+spreading to the neighbouring houses, and both British and Germans being
+too busy killing each other to put it out, the whole village was shortly
+in flames. The British were finally driven out of it, and across the
+river by five o'clock. In the meantime every heavy gun that could be got
+to bear was directed on the fort at Monkham's Hall, which, during the
+afternoon, was also made the target for the guns of the Garde Corps,
+which co-operated with us by attacking the lines at Cheshunt, and
+assisting us with its artillery fire from the opposite side of the
+river. By nightfall the fort was a mass of smoking earth, over which
+fluttered our black cross flag, and the front of the IVth Corps
+stretched from this to Gillwell Park, four miles nearer London.
+
+"The Xth Corps was in support in the Forest behind us, and forming also
+a front to cover our flank, reaching from Chingford to Buckhurst Hill.
+The enemy was quite demoralised in this direction, and showed no
+indication of resuming the engagement. As for the IXth Corps, its
+advanced troops were at Lamboume End, in close communication with
+General Frölich, who had established his headquarters at
+Havering-atte-Bower. We have driven a formidable wedge right into the
+middle of the carefully elaborated system of defence arranged by the
+English generals, and it will now be a miracle if they can prevent our
+entry into the capital.
+
+"We had not, of course, effected this without great loss in killed and
+wounded, but you can't make puddings without breaking eggs, and in the
+end a bold and forward policy is more economical of life and limb than
+attempting to avoid necessary losses, as our present opponents did in
+South Africa, thereby prolonging the war to an almost indefinite period,
+and losing many more men by sickness and in driblets than would have
+been the case if they had followed a more determined line in their
+strategy and tactics. Just before the sun sank behind the masses of new
+houses which the monster city spreads out to the northward I got orders
+to carry a despatch to General von Wilberg, who was stated to be at
+Chingford, on our extreme left. I went by the Forest road, as the
+parallel one near the river was in most parts under fire from the
+opposite bank.
+
+"He had established his headquarters at the Foresters' Inn, which stands
+high up on a wooded mound, and from which he could see a considerable
+distance and keep in touch with his various signal stations. He took my
+despatch, telling me that I should have a reply to take back later on.
+'In the meanwhile,' said he, 'if you will fall in with my staff you will
+have an opportunity of seeing the first shots fired into the biggest
+city in the world.' So saying, he went out to his horse, which was
+waiting outside, and we started off down the hill with a great clatter.
+After winding about through a somewhat intricate network of roads and
+by-lanes we arrived at Old Chingford Church, which stands upon a species
+of headland, rising boldly up above the flat and, in some places, marshy
+land to the westward.
+
+"Close to the church was a battery of four big howitzers, the gunners
+grouped around them silhouetted darkly against the blood-red sky. From
+up here the vast city, spreading out to the south and west, lay like a
+grey, sprawling octopus spreading out ray-like to the northward, every
+rise and ridge being topped with a bristle of spires and chimney-pots.
+An ominous silence seemed to brood over the teeming landscape, broken
+only at intervals by the dull booming of guns from the northward. Long
+swathes of cloud and smoke lay athwart the dull, furnace-like glow of
+the sunset, and lights were beginning to sparkle out all over the vast
+expanse which lay before us mirrored here and there in the canals and
+rivers that ran almost at our feet. 'Now,' said Von Wilberg at length,
+'commence fire.' One of the big guns gave tongue with a roar that seemed
+to make the church tower quiver above us. Another and another followed
+in succession, their big projectiles hurtling and humming through the
+quiet evening air on their errands of death and destruction in I know
+not what quarter of the crowded suburbs. It seemed to me a cruel and
+needless thing to do, but I am told that it was done with the set
+purpose of arousing such a feeling of alarm and insecurity in the East
+End that the mob might try to interfere with any further measures for
+defence that the British military authorities might undertake. I got my
+despatch soon afterwards and returned with it to the General, who was
+spending the night at Copped Hall. There, too, I got myself a shakedown
+and slumbered soundly till the morning."
+
+"_Sept. 19._--To-day we have, I think, finally broken down all organised
+military opposition in the field, though we may expect a considerable
+amount of street fighting before reaping the whole fruits of our
+victories. At daybreak we began by turning a heavy fire from every
+possible quarter on the wooded island formed by the river and various
+back-waters just north of Waltham Abbey. The poplar-clad islet, which
+was full of the enemy's troops, became absolutely untenable under this
+concentrated fire, and they were compelled to fall back over the river.
+Our Engineers soon began their bridging operations behind the wood, and
+our infantry, crossing over, got close up to a redoubt on the further
+side and took it by storm. Again we were able to take a considerable
+section of the enemy's lines in reverse, and as they were driven out by
+our fire, against which they had no protection, the Garde Corps
+advanced, and by ten were in possession of Cheshunt.
+
+"In the meanwhile, covered by the fire of the guns belonging to the IXth
+and Xth Corps, other bridges had been thrown across the Lea at various
+points between Waltham and Chingford, and in another hour the crossing
+began. The enemy had no good positions for his guns, and seemed to have
+very few of them. He had pinned his faith upon the big weapons he had
+placed in his entrenchments, and those were now of no further use to
+him. He had lost a number of his field guns, either from damage or
+capture, and with our more numerous artillery firing from the high
+ground on the eastern bank of the river we were always able to beat down
+any attempt he made to reply to their fire.
+
+"We had a day of fierce fighting before us. There was no manoeuvring. We
+were in a wilderness of scattered houses and occasional streets, in
+which the enemy contested our progress foot by foot. Edmonton, Enfield
+Wash, and Waltham Cross were quickly captured; our artillery commanded
+them too well to allow the British to make a successful defence; but
+Enfield itself, lying along a steepish ridge, on which the British had
+assembled what artillery they could scrape together, cost us dearly. The
+streets of this not too lovely suburban town literally ran with blood
+when at last we made our way into it. A large part of it was burnt to
+ashes, including unfortunately the ancient palace of Queen Elizabeth,
+and the venerable and enormous cedar-tree that overhung it.
+
+"The British fell back to a second position they had apparently prepared
+along a parallel ridge farther to the westward, their left being between
+us and New Barnet and their right at Southgate.
+
+"We did not attempt to advance farther to-day, but contented ourselves
+in reorganising our forces and preparing against a possible
+counter-attack, by barricading and entrenching the farther edge of
+Enfield Ridge."
+
+"_Sept. 20._--We are falling in immediately, as it has been decided to
+attack the British position at once. Already the artillery duel is in
+progress. I must continue to-night, as my horse is at the door."
+
+The writer, however, never lived to complete his diary, having been shot
+half-way up the green slope he had observed the day previous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON.
+
+
+Day broke. The faint flush of violet away eastward beyond Temple Bar
+gradually turned rose, heralding the sun's coming, and by degrees the
+streets, filled by excited Londoners, grew lighter with the dawn.
+Fevered night thus gave place to day--a day that was, alas! destined to
+be one of bitter memory for the British Empire.
+
+Alarming news had spread that Uhlans had been seen reconnoitring in
+Snaresbrook and Wanstead, had ridden along Forest Road and Ferry Lane at
+Walthamstow, through Tottenham High Cross, up High Street, Hornsey,
+Priory Road, and Muswell Hill. The Germans were actually upon London!
+
+The northern suburbs were staggered. In Fortis Green, North End,
+Highgate, Crouch End, Hampstead, Stamford Hill, and Leyton the quiet
+suburban houses were threatened, and many people, in fear of their
+lives, had now fled southward into central London. Thus the huge
+population of greater London was practically huddled together in the
+comparatively small area from Kensington to Fleet Street, and from
+Oxford Street to the Thames Embankment.
+
+People of Fulham, Putney, Walham Green, Hammersmith, and Kew had, for
+the most part, fled away to the open country across Hounslow Heath to
+Bedfont and Staines; while Tooting, Balham, Dulwich, Streatham, Norwood,
+and Catford had retreated farther south into Surrey and Kent.
+
+For the past three days thousands of willing helpers had followed the
+example of Sheffield and Birmingham, and constructed enormous
+barricades, obstructing at various points the chief roads leading from
+the north and east into London. Detachments of Engineers had blown up
+several of the bridges carrying the main roads out eastwards--for
+instance, the bridge at the end of Commercial Road, East, crossing the
+Limehouse Canal, while the six other smaller bridges spanning the canal
+between that point and the Bow Road were also destroyed. The bridge at
+the end of Bow Road itself was shattered, and those over the Hackney Cut
+at Marshall Hill and Hackney Wick were also rendered impassable.
+
+Most of the bridges across the Regent's Canal were also destroyed,
+notably those in Mare Street, Hackney, the Kingsland Road, and New North
+Road, while a similar demolition took place in Edgware Road and the
+Harrow Road. Londoners were frantic, now that the enemy were really upon
+them. The accounts of the battles in the newspapers had, of course, been
+merely fragmentary, and they had not yet realised what war actually
+meant. They knew that all business was at a standstill, that the City
+was in an uproar, that there was no work, and that food was at famine
+prices. But not until German cavalry were actually seen scouring the
+northern suburbs did it become impressed upon them that they were really
+helpless and defenceless.
+
+London was to be besieged!
+
+This report having got about, the people began building barricades in
+many of the principal thoroughfares north of the Thames. One huge
+obstruction, built mostly of paving stones from the footways, overturned
+tramcars, waggons, railway trollies, and barbed wire, rose in the
+Holloway Road, just beyond Highbury Station. Another blocked the
+Caledonian Road a few yards north of the police-station, while another
+very large and strong pile of miscellaneous goods, bales of wool and
+cotton stuffs, building material, and stones brought from the Great
+Northern Railway depôt, obstructed the Camden Road at the south corner
+of Hilldrop Crescent. Across High Street, Camden Town, at the junction
+of the Kentish Town and other roads, five hundred men worked with a
+will, piling together every kind of ponderous object they could pillage
+from the neighbouring shops--pianos, iron bedsteads, wardrobes, pieces
+of calico and flannel, dress stuffs, rolls of carpets, floorboards, even
+the very doors wrenched from their hinges--until, when it reached to the
+second storey window and was considered of sufficient height, a pole was
+planted on top, and from it hung limply a small Union Jack.
+
+The Finchley Road, opposite Swiss Cottage Station; in Shoot Up-hill,
+where Mill Lane runs into it; across Willesden Lane where it joins the
+High Road in Kilburn; the Harrow Road close to Willesden Junction
+Station; at the junction of the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads; across the
+Hammersmith Road in front of the Hospital, other similar obstructions
+were placed with a view to preventing the enemy from entering London. At
+a hundred other points, in the narrower and more obscure thoroughfares,
+all along the north of London, busy workers were constructing similar
+defences, houses and shops being ruthlessly broken open and cleared of
+their contents by the frantic and terrified populace.
+
+London was in a ferment. Almost without exception the gunmakers' shops
+had been pillaged, and every rifle, sporting gun, and revolver seized.
+The armouries at the Tower of London, at the various barracks, and the
+factory out at Enfield had long ago all been cleared of their contents;
+for now, in this last stand, every one was desperate, and all who could
+obtain a gun did so. Many, however, had guns but no ammunition; others
+had sporting ammunition for service rifles, and others cartridges, but
+no gun.
+
+Those, however, who had guns and ammunition complete mounted guard at
+the barricades, being assisted at some points by Volunteers who had been
+driven in from Essex. Upon more than one barricade in North London a
+Maxim had been mounted, and was now pointed, ready to sweep away the
+enemy should they advance.
+
+Other thoroughfares barricaded, beside those mentioned, were the Stroud
+Green Road, where it joins Hanley Road; the railway bridge in the
+Oakfield Road in the same neighbourhood; the Wightman Road, opposite
+Harringay Station, the junction of Archway Road and Highgate Hill; the
+High Road, Tottenham, at its junction with West Green Road, and various
+roads around the New River reservoirs, which were believed to be one of
+the objectives of the enemy. These latter were very strongly held by
+thousands of brave and patriotic citizens, though the East London
+reservoirs across at Walthamstow could not be defended, situated so
+openly as they were. The people of Leytonstone threw up a barricade
+opposite the schools in the High Road, while in Wanstead a
+hastily-constructed, but perfectly useless, obstruction was piled across
+Cambridge Park, where it joins the Blake Road.
+
+Of course, all the women and children in the northern suburbs had now
+been sent south. Half the houses in those quiet, newly-built roads were
+locked up, and their owners gone; for as soon as the report spread of
+the result of the final battle before London, and our crushing defeat,
+people living in Highgate, Hampstead, Crouch End, Hornsey, Tottenham,
+Finsbury Park, Muswell Hill, Hendon, and Hampstead saw that they must
+fly southward, now the Germans were upon them.
+
+Think what it meant to those suburban families of City men! The ruthless
+destruction of their pretty, long-cherished homes, flight into the
+turbulent, noisy, distracted, hungry city, and the loss of everything
+they possessed. In most cases the husband was already bearing his part
+in the defence of the Metropolis with gun or with spade, or helping to
+move heavy masses of material for the construction of the barricades.
+The wife, however, was compelled to take a last look at all those
+possessions that she had so fondly called "home," lock her front door,
+and, with her children, join in those long mournful processions moving
+ever southward into London, tramping on and on--whither she knew not
+where.
+
+Touching sights were to be seen everywhere in the streets that day.
+
+Homeless women, many of them with two or three little ones, were
+wandering through the less frequented streets, avoiding the main roads
+with all their crush, excitement, and barricade-building, but making
+their way westward, beyond Kensington and Hammersmith, which was now
+become the outlet of the Metropolis.
+
+All trains from Charing Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge, Victoria, and
+Paddington had for the past three days been crowded to excess. Anxious
+fathers struggled fiercely to obtain places for their wives, mothers,
+and daughters--sending them away anywhere out of the city which must in
+a few hours be crushed beneath the iron heel.
+
+The South Western and Great Western systems carried thousands upon
+thousands of the wealthier away to Devonshire and Cornwall--as far as
+possible from the theatre of war; the South Eastern and Chatham took
+people into the already crowded Kentish towns and villages, and the
+Brighton line carried others into rural Sussex. London overflowed
+southward and westward until every village and every town within fifty
+miles was so full that beds were at a premium, and in various places,
+notably at Chartham, near Canterbury, at Willesborough, near Ashford, at
+Lewes, at Robertsbridge, at Goodwood Park, and at Horsham, huge camps
+were formed, shelter being afforded by poles and rick cloths. Every
+house, every barn, every school, indeed every place where people could
+obtain shelter for the night, was crowded to excess, mostly by women and
+children sent south, away from the horrors that it was known must come.
+
+Central London grew more turbulent with each hour that passed. There
+were all sorts of wild rumours, but, fortunately, the Press still
+preserved a dignified calm. The Cabinet were holding a meeting at
+Bristol, whither the Houses of Commons and Lords had moved, and all
+depended upon its issue. It was said that Ministers were divided in
+their opinions whether we should sue for an ignominious peace, or
+whether the conflict should be continued to the bitter end.
+
+Disaster had followed disaster, and iron-throated orators in Hyde and
+St. James's Parks were now shouting "Stop the war! Stop the war!" The
+cry was taken up but faintly, however, for the blood of Londoners, slow
+to rise, had now been stirred by seeing their country slowly yet
+completely crushed by Germany. All the patriotism latent within them was
+now displayed. The national flag was shown everywhere, and at every
+point one heard "God save the King" sung lustily.
+
+Two gunmakers' shops in the Strand, which had hitherto escaped notice,
+were shortly after noon broken open, and every available arm and all the
+ammunition seized. One man, unable to obtain a revolver, snatched half a
+dozen pairs of steel handcuffs, and cried with grim humour as he held
+them up: "If I can't shoot any of the sausage-eaters, I can at least bag
+a prisoner or two!"
+
+The banks, the great jewellers, the diamond merchants, the safe-deposit
+offices, and all who had valuables in their keeping, were extremely
+anxious as to what might happen. Below those dark buildings in Lothbury
+and Lombard Street, behind the black walls of the Bank of England, and
+below every branch bank all over London, were millions in gold and
+notes, the wealth of the greatest city the world has ever known. The
+strong rooms were, for the most part, the strongest that modern
+engineering could devise, some with various arrangements by which all
+access was debarred by an inrush of water, but, alas! dynamite is a
+great leveller, and it was felt that not a single strong room in the
+whole of London could withstand an organised attack by German engineers.
+
+A single charge of dynamite would certainly make a breach in concrete
+upon which a thief might hammer and chip day and night for a month
+without making much impression. Steel doors must give to blasting force,
+while the strongest and most complicated locks would also fly to
+pieces.
+
+The directors of most of the banks had met and an endeavour had been
+made to co-operate and form a corps of special guards for the principal
+offices. In fact, a small armed corps was formed, and were on duty day
+and night in Lothbury, Lombard Street, and the vicinity. Yet what could
+they do if the Germans swept into London? There was but little to fear
+from the excited populace themselves, because matters had assumed such a
+crisis that money was of little use, as there was practically very
+little to buy. But little food was reaching London from the open ports
+on the west. It was the enemy that the banks feared, for they knew that
+the Germans intended to enter and sack the Metropolis, just as they had
+sacked the other towns that had refused to pay the indemnity demanded.
+
+Small jewellers had, days ago, removed their stock from their windows
+and carried it away in unsuspicious-looking bags to safe hiding in the
+southern and western suburbs, where people for the most part hid their
+valuable plate, jewellery, etc., beneath a floor-board, or buried them
+in some marked spot in their small gardens.
+
+The hospitals were already full of wounded from the various engagements
+of the past week. The London, St. Thomas', Charing Cross, St. George's,
+Guy's, and Bartholomew's were overflowing; and the surgeons, with
+patriotic self-denial, were working day and night in an endeavour to
+cope with the ever-arriving crowd of suffering humanity. The field
+hospitals away to the northward were also reported full.
+
+The exact whereabouts of the enemy was not known. They were, it seemed,
+everywhere. They had practically over-run the whole country, and the
+reports from the Midlands and the North showed that the majority of the
+principal towns had now been occupied.
+
+The latest reverses outside London, full and graphic details of which
+were now being published hourly by the papers, had created an immense
+sensation. Everywhere people were regretting that Lord Roberts' solemn
+warnings in 1906 had been unheeded, for had we adopted his scheme for
+universal service such dire catastrophe could never have occurred. Many
+had, alas! declared it to be synonymous with conscription, which it
+certainly was not, and by that foolish argument had prevented the public
+at large from accepting it as the only means for our salvation as a
+nation. The repeated warnings had been disregarded, and we had,
+unhappily, lived in a fool's paradise, in the self-satisfied belief that
+England could not be successfully invaded.
+
+Now, alas! the country had realised the truth when too late.
+
+That memorable day, September 20, witnessed exasperated struggles in the
+northern suburbs of London, passionate and bloody collisions, an
+infantry fire of the defenders overwhelming every attempted assault; and
+a decisive action of the artillery, with regard to which arm the
+superiority of the Germans, due to their perfect training, was apparent.
+
+A last desperate stand had, it appears, been made by the defenders on
+the high ridge north-west of New Barnet, from Southgate to near Potter's
+Bar, where a terrible fight had taken place. But from the very first it
+was utterly hopeless. The British had fought valiantly in defence of
+London, but here again they were outnumbered, and after one of the most
+desperate conflicts in the whole campaign--in which our losses were
+terrible--the Germans at length had succeeded in entering Chipping
+Barnet. It was a difficult movement, and a fierce contest, rendered the
+more terrible by the burning houses, ensued in the streets and away
+across the low hills southward--a struggle full of vicissitudes and
+alternating successes, until at last the fire of the defenders was
+silenced, and hundreds of prisoners fell into the German hands.
+
+Thus the last organised defence of London had been broken, and the
+barricades alone remained.
+
+The work of the German troops on the lines of communication in Essex had
+for the past week been fraught with danger. Through want of cavalry the
+British had been unable to make cavalry raids; but, on the other hand,
+the difficulty was enhanced by the bands of sharpshooters--men of all
+classes from London who possessed a gun and who could shoot. In one or
+two of the London clubs the suggestion had first been mooted a couple of
+days after the outbreak of hostilities, and it had been quickly taken up
+by men who were in the habit of shooting game, but had not had a
+military training.
+
+Within three days about two thousand men had formed themselves into
+bands to take part in the struggle and assist in the defence of London.
+They were practically similar to the Francs-tireurs of the Franco-German
+War, for they went forth in companies and waged a guerilla warfare,
+partly before the front and at the flanks of the different armies, and
+partly at the communications at the rear of the Germans. Their position
+was one of constant peril in face of Von Kronhelm's proclamation, yet
+the work they did was excellent, and only proved that if Lord Roberts'
+scheme for universal training had been adopted the enemy would never
+have reached the gates of London with success.
+
+These brave adventurous spirits, together with "The Legion of
+Frontiersmen," made their attacks by surprise from hiding-places or from
+ambushes. Their adventures were constantly thrilling ones. Scattered all
+over the theatre of war in Essex and Suffolk, and all along the German
+lines of communication, the "Frontiersmen" rarely ventured on an open
+conflict, and frequently changed scene and point of attack. Within one
+week their numbers rose to over 8,000, and, being well served by the
+villagers, who acted as scouts and spies for them, the Germans found
+them very difficult to get at. Usually they kept their arms concealed in
+thickets and woods, where they would lie in wait for the Germans. They
+never came to close quarters, but fired at a distance. Many a smart
+Uhlan fell by their bullets, and many a sentry dropped, shot by an
+unknown hand.
+
+Thus they harassed the enemy everywhere. At need they concealed their
+arms and assumed the appearance of inoffensive non-combatants. But when
+caught red-handed the Germans gave them "short shrift," as the bodies
+now swinging from telegraph poles on various high-roads in Essex
+testified.
+
+In an attempt to put a stop to the daring actions of the "Frontiersmen,"
+the German authorities and troops along the lines of communication
+punished the parishes where German soldiers were shot, or where the
+destruction of railways and telegraphs had occurred, by levying money
+contributions, or by burning the villages.
+
+The guerilla war was especially fierce along from Edgware up to
+Hertford, and from Chelmsford down to the Thames. In fact, once
+commenced, it never ceased. Attacks were always being made upon small
+patrols, travelling detachments, mails of the field post-office, posts
+or patrols at stations on the lines of communication, while
+field-telegraphs, telephones, and railways were everywhere destroyed.
+
+In consequence of the railway being cut at Pitsea, the villages of
+Pitsea, Bowers Gifford, and Vange had been burned. Because a German
+patrol had been attacked and destroyed near Orsett, the parish was
+compelled to pay a heavy indemnity. Upminster, near Romford, Theydon
+Bois, and Fyfield, near High Ongar, had all been burned by the Germans
+for the same reason; while at the Cherrytree Inn, near Rainham, five
+"Frontiersmen" being discovered by Uhlans in a hayloft asleep, were
+locked in and there burned alive. Dozens were, of course, shot at sight,
+and dozens more hanged without trial. But they were not to be deterred.
+They were fighting in defence of London, and around the northern suburbs
+the patriotic members of the "Legion" were specially active, though they
+never showed themselves in large bands.
+
+Within London every man who could shoot game was now anxious to join in
+the fray, and on the day that the news of the last disaster reached the
+Metropolis, hundreds left for the open country out beyond Hendon.
+
+The enemy having broken down the defence at Enfield and cleared the
+defenders out of the fortified houses, had advanced and occupied the
+northern ridges of London in a line stretching roughly from Pole Hill, a
+little to the north of Chingford, across Upper Edmonton, through
+Tottenham, Hornsey, Highgate, Hampstead, and Willesden, to Twyford
+Abbey. All the positions had been well reconnoitred, for at grey of dawn
+the rumbling of artillery had been heard in the streets of those places
+already mentioned, and soon after sunrise strong batteries were
+established upon all the available points commanding London.
+
+These were at Chingford Green, on the left-hand side of the road
+opposite the inn at Chingford; on Devonshire Hill, Tottenham; on the
+hill at Wood Green; in the grounds of the Alexandra Palace; on the high
+ground about Churchyard Bottom Wood; on the edge of Bishop's Wood,
+Highgate; on Parliament Hill, at a spot close to the Oaks on the Hendon
+road; at Dollis Hill, and at a point a little north of Wormwood Scrubs,
+and at Neasden, near the railway works.
+
+The enemy's chief object was to establish their artillery as near London
+as possible, for it was known that the range of their guns even from
+Hampstead--the highest point, 441 feet above London--would not reach
+into the actual city itself. Meanwhile, at dawn, the German cavalry,
+infantry, motor-infantry, and armoured motor-cars--the latter mostly
+35-40 h.p. Opel-Darracqs, with three quick-firing guns mounted in each,
+and bearing the Imperial German arms in black--advanced up the various
+roads leading into London from the north, being met, of course, with a
+desperate resistance at the barricades.
+
+[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT and DEFENCES of
+LONDON
+on Sept. 20^{th} & 21^{st}]
+
+On Haverstock Hill, the three Maxims, mounted upon the huge construction
+across the road, played havoc with the Germans, who were at once
+compelled to fall back, leaving piles of dead and dying in the roadway,
+for the terrible hail of lead poured out upon the invaders could not be
+withstood. Two of the German armoured motor-cars were presently brought
+into action by the Germans, who replied with a rapid fire, this being
+continued for a full quarter of an hour without result on either side.
+Then the Germans, finding the defence too strong, again retired into
+Hampstead, amid the ringing cheers of the valiant men holding that gate
+of London. The losses of the enemy had been serious, for the whole
+roadway was now strewn with dead; while behind the huge wall of
+paving-stones, overturned carts, and furniture, only two men had been
+killed and one wounded.
+
+Across in the Finchley Road a struggle equally as fierce was in
+progress; but a detachment of the enemy, evidently led by some German
+who had knowledge of the intricate side-roads, suddenly appeared in the
+rear of the barricade, and a fierce and bloody hand-to-hand conflict
+ensued. The defenders, however, stood their ground, and with the aid of
+some petrol bombs which they held in readiness, they destroyed the
+venturesome detachment almost to a man, though a number of houses in the
+vicinity were set on fire, causing a huge conflagration.
+
+In Highgate Road the attack was a desperate one, the enraged Londoners
+fighting valiantly, the men with arms being assisted by the populace
+themselves. Here again deadly petrol bombs had been distributed, and men
+and women hurled them against the Germans. Petrol was actually poured
+from windows upon the heads of the enemy, and tow soaked in paraffin and
+lit flung in among them, when in an instant whole areas of the streets
+were ablaze, and the soldiers of the Fatherland perished in the roaring
+flames.
+
+Every device to drive back the invader was tried. Though thousands upon
+thousands had left the northern suburbs, many thousands still remained
+bent on defending their homes as long as they had breath. The crackle of
+rifles was incessant, and ever and anon the dull roar of a heavy field
+gun and the sharp rattle of a Maxim mingled with the cheers, yells, and
+shrieks of victors and vanquished.
+
+The scene on every side was awful. Men were fighting for their lives in
+desperation.
+
+Around the barricade in Holloway Road the street ran with blood; while
+in Kingsland, in Clapton, in West Ham, and Canning Town the enemy were
+making an equally desperate attack, and were being repulsed everywhere.
+London's enraged millions, the Germans were well aware, constituted a
+grave danger. Any detachments who carried a barricade by assault--as,
+for instance, they did one in the Hornsey Road near the station--were
+quickly set upon by the angry mob and simply wiped out of existence.
+
+Until nearly noon desperate conflicts at the barricades continued. The
+defence was even more effectual than was expected; yet, had it not been
+that Von Kronhelm, the German generalissimo, had given orders that the
+troops were not to attempt to advance into London before the populace
+were cowed, there was no doubt that each barricade could have been taken
+in the rear by companies avoiding the main roads and proceeding by the
+side streets.
+
+Just before noon, however, it was apparent to Von Kronhelm that to storm
+the barricades would entail enormous losses, so strong were they. The
+men holding them had now been reinforced in many cases by regular
+troops, who had come in in flight, and a good many guns were now manned
+by artillerymen.
+
+Von Kronhelm had established his headquarters at Jack Straw's Castle,
+from which he could survey the giant city through his field-glasses.
+Below lay the great plain of roofs, spires, and domes, stretching away
+into the grey mystic distance, where afar rose the twin towers and
+double arches of the Crystal Palace roof.
+
+London--the great London--the capital of the world--lay at his mercy at
+his feet.
+
+The tall, thin-faced General, with the grizzled moustache and the
+glittering cross at his throat, standing apart from his staff, gazed
+away in silence and in thought. It was his first sight of London, and
+its gigantic proportions amazed even him. Again he swept the horizon
+with his glass, and knit his grey brows. He remembered the parting words
+of his Emperor as he backed out of that plainly-furnished little private
+cabinet at Potsdam--
+
+"You must bombard London and sack it. The pride of those English must be
+broken at all costs. Go, Kronhelm--go--and may the best of fortune go
+with you!"
+
+The sun was at the noon causing the glass roof of the distant Crystal
+Palace to gleam. Far down in the grey haze stood Big Ben, the Campanile,
+and a thousand church spires, all tiny and, from that distance,
+insignificant. From where he stood the sound of crackling fire at the
+barricades reached him, and a little behind him a member of his staff
+was kneeling on the grass with his ear bent to the field telephone.
+Reports were coming in fast of the desperate resistance in the streets,
+and these were duly handed to him.
+
+He glanced at them, gave a final look at the outstretched city that was
+the metropolis of the world, and then gave rapid orders for the
+withdrawal of the troops from the assault of the barricades, and the
+bombardment of London.
+
+In a moment the field-telegraphs were clicking, the telephone bell was
+ringing, orders were shouted in German in all directions, and next
+second, with a deafening roar, one of the howitzers of the battery in
+the close vicinity to him gave tongue and threw its deadly shell
+somewhere into St. John's Wood.
+
+The rain of death had opened! London was surrounded by a semi-circle of
+fire.
+
+The great gun was followed by a hundred others as, at all the batteries
+along the northern heights, the orders were received. Then in a few
+minutes, from the whole line from Chingford to Willesden, roughly about
+twelve miles, came a hail of the most deadly of modern projectiles
+directed upon the most populous parts of the metropolis.
+
+Though the Germans trained their guns to carry as far as was possible,
+the zone of fire did not at first it seemed extend farther south than a
+line roughly taken from Notting Hill through Bayswater, past Paddington
+Station, along the Marylebone and Euston Roads, then up to Highbury,
+Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Walthamstow.
+
+When, however, the great shells began to burst in Holloway, Kentish
+Town, Camden Town, Kilburn, Kensal Green, and other places lying within
+the area under fire, a frightful panic ensued. Whole streets were
+shattered by explosions, and fires were breaking out, the dark clouds of
+smoke obscuring the sunlit sky. Roaring flame shot up everywhere,
+unfortunate men, women, and children were being blown to atoms by the
+awful projectiles, while others distracted, sought shelter in any cellar
+or underground place they could find, while their houses fell about them
+like packs of cards.
+
+The scenes within that zone of terror were indescribable.
+
+When Paris had been bombarded years ago, artillery was not at the
+perfection it now was, and there had been no such high explosive known
+as in the present day. The great shells that were falling everywhere, on
+bursting filled the air with poisonous fumes, as well as with deadly
+fragments. One bursting in a street would wreck the rows of houses on
+either side, and tear a great hole in the ground at the same moment. The
+fronts of the houses were torn out like paper, the iron railings twisted
+as though they were wire, and paving-stones hurled into the air like
+straws.
+
+Anything and everything offering a mark to the enemy's guns was
+shattered. St. John's Wood and the houses about Regent's Park suffered
+seriously. A shell from Hampstead, falling into the roof of one of the
+houses near the centre of Sussex Place, burst and shattered nearly all
+the houses in the row; while another fell in Cumberland Terrace and
+wrecked a dozen houses in the vicinity. In both cases the houses were
+mostly empty, for owners and servants had fled southward across the
+river as soon as it became apparent that the Germans actually intended
+to bombard.
+
+At many parts in Maida Vale shells burst with appalling effect. Several
+of the houses in Elgin Avenue had their fronts torn out, and in one, a
+block of flats, there was considerable loss of life in the fire that
+broke out, escape being cut off owing to the stairs having been
+demolished by the explosion. Abbey Road, St. John's Wood Road, Acacia
+Road, and Wellington Road, were quickly wrecked.
+
+In Chalk Farm Road, near the Adelaide, a terrified woman was dashing
+across the street to seek shelter with a neighbour, when a shell burst
+right in front of her, blowing her to fragments; while in the early
+stage of the bombardment a shell bursting in the Midland Hotel at St.
+Pancras caused a fire which in half an hour resulted in the whole hotel
+and railway terminus being a veritable furnace of flame. Through the
+roof of King's Cross Station several shells fell, and burst close to the
+departure platform. The whole glass roof was shattered, but beyond that
+little other material damage resulted.
+
+Shots were now falling everywhere, and Londoners were staggered. In
+dense, excited crowds they were flying southwards towards the Thames.
+Some were caught in the streets in their flight, and were flung down,
+maimed and dying. The most awful sights were to be witnessed in the open
+streets; men and women blown out of recognition, with their clothes
+singed and torn to shreds, and helpless, innocent children lying white
+and dead, their limbs torn away and missing.
+
+Euston Station had shared the same fate as St. Pancras, and was blazing
+furiously, sending up a great column of black smoke that could be seen
+by all London. So many were the conflagrations now breaking out that it
+seemed as though the enemy were sending into London shells filled with
+petrol, in order to set the streets aflame. This, indeed, was proved by
+an eye-witness, who saw a shell fall in Liverpool Road, close to the
+Angel. It burst with a bright red flash, and next second the whole of
+the roadway and neighbouring houses were blazing furiously.
+
+Thus the air became black with smoke and dust, and the light of day
+obscured in Northern London. And through that obscurity came those
+whizzing shells in an incessant hissing stream, each one, bursting in
+these narrow, thickly populated streets, causing havoc indescribable,
+and a loss of life impossible to accurately calculate. Hundreds of
+people were blown to pieces in the open but hundreds more were buried
+beneath the _débris_ of their own cherished homes, now being so
+ruthlessly destroyed and demolished.
+
+On every side was heard the cry: "Stop the war--stop the war!"
+
+But it was, alas! too late--too late.
+
+Never in the history of the civilised world were there such scenes of
+reckless slaughter of the innocent and peace-loving as on that
+never-to-be-forgotten day when Von Kronhelm carried out the orders of
+his Imperial master, and struck terror into the heart of London's
+millions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RAIN OF DEATH.
+
+
+Through the whole afternoon the heavy German artillery roared, belching
+forth their fiery vengeance upon London.
+
+Hour after hour they pounded away, until St. Pancras Church was a heap
+of ruins and the Foundling Hospital a veritable furnace, as well as the
+Parcel Post Offices and the University College in Gower Street. In
+Hampstead Road many of the shops were shattered, and in Tottenham Court
+Road both Maple's and Shoolbred's suffered severely, for shells bursting
+in the centre of the roadway had smashed every pane of glass in the
+fronts of both buildings.
+
+The quiet squares of Bloomsbury were in some cases great yawning
+ruins--houses with their fronts torn out revealing the shattered
+furniture within. Streets were indeed, filled with tiles, chimney pots,
+fallen telegraph wires, and _débris_ of furniture, stone steps, paving
+stones, and fallen masonry. Many of the thoroughfares, such as the
+Pentonville Road, Copenhagen Street, and Holloway Road, were, at points,
+quite impassable on account of the ruins that blocked them. Into the
+Northern Hospital, in the Holloway Road, a shell fell, shattering one of
+the wards, and killing or maiming every one of the patients in the ward
+in question, while the church in Tufnell Park Road was burning fiercely.
+Upper Holloway, Stoke Newington, Highbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney,
+Clapton, and Stamford Hill were being swept at long range by the guns on
+Muswell Hill and Churchyard Bottom Hill, and the terror caused in those
+densely populated districts was awful. Hundreds upon hundreds lost their
+lives, or else had a hand, an arm, a leg blown away, as those fatal
+shells fell in never-ceasing monotony, especially in Stoke Newington and
+Kingsland. The many side roads lying between Holloway Road and Finsbury
+Park, such as Hornsey Road, Tollington Park, Andover, Durham,
+Palmerston, Campbell, and Forthill Roads, Seven Sisters Road, and
+Isledon Road were all devastated, for the guns for a full hour seemed to
+be trained upon them.
+
+The German gunners in all probability neither knew nor cared where their
+shells fell. From their position, now that the smoke of the hundreds of
+fires was now rising, they could probably discern but little. Therefore
+the batteries at Hampstead Heath, Muswell Hill, Wood Green, Cricklewood,
+and other places simply sent their shells as far distant south as
+possible into the panic-stricken city below. In Mountgrove and
+Riversdale Roads, Highbury Vale, a number of people were killed, while a
+frightful disaster occurred in the church at the corner of Park Lane and
+Milton Road, Stoke Newington. Here a number of people had entered,
+attending a special service for the success of the British arms, when a
+shell exploded on the roof, bringing it down upon them and killing over
+fifty of the congregation, mostly women.
+
+The air, poisoned by the fumes of the deadly explosives and full of
+smoke from the burning buildings, was ever and anon rent by explosions
+as projectiles frequently burst in mid-air. The distant roar was
+incessant, like the noise of thunder, while on every hand could be heard
+the shrieks of defenceless women and children, or the muttered curses of
+some man who saw his home and all he possessed swept away with a flash
+and a cloud of dust. Nothing could withstand that awful cannonade.
+Walthamstow had been rendered untenable in the first half-hour of the
+bombardment, while in Tottenham the loss of life had been very enormous,
+the German gunners at Wood Green having apparently turned their first
+attention upon that place. Churches, the larger buildings, the railway
+station, in fact, anything offering a mark, was promptly shattered,
+being assisted by the converging fire from the batteries at Chingford.
+
+On the opposite side of London, Notting Hill, Shepherd's Bush, and
+Starch Green, were being reduced to ruins by the heavy batteries above
+Park Royal Station, which, firing across Wormwood Scrubs, put their
+shots into Notting Hill, and especially into Holland Park, where
+widespread damage was quickly wrought.
+
+A couple of shells falling into the generating station of the Central
+London Railway, or "Tube," as Londoners usually call it, unfortunately
+caused a disaster and loss of life which were appalling. At the first
+sign of the bombardment many thousands of people descended into the
+"Tube" as a safe hiding-place from the rain of shell. At first the
+railway officials closed the doors to prevent the inrush, but the
+terrified populace in Shepherd's Bush, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and
+Holborn, in fact, all along the subterranean line, broke open the doors
+and descending by the lifts and stairs found themselves in a place which
+at least gave them security against the enemy's fire.
+
+The trains had long ago ceased running, and every station was crowded to
+excess, while many were forced upon the line itself, and actually into
+the tunnels. For hours they waited there in eager breathlessness,
+longing to be able to ascend and find the conflict over. Men and women
+in all stations of life were huddled together, while children clung to
+their parents in wonder; yet as hour after hour went by, the report from
+above was still the same--the Germans had not ceased.
+
+Of a sudden, however, the light failed. The electric current had been
+cut off by the explosion of the shells in the generating station at
+Shepherd's Bush, and the lifts were useless! The thousands who, in
+defiance of the orders of the company, had gone below at Shepherd's Bush
+for shelter, found themselves caught like rats in a hole. True, there
+was the faint glimmer of an oil light here and there, but, alas! that
+did not prevent an awful panic.
+
+Somebody shouted that the Germans were above and had put out the lights,
+and when it was found that the lifts were useless a panic ensued that
+was indescribable. The people could not ascend the stairs, as they were
+blocked by the dense crowd, therefore they pressed into the narrow
+semi-circular tunnels in an eager endeavour to reach the next station,
+where they hoped they might escape; but once in there women and children
+were quickly crushed to death, or thrown down and trampled upon by the
+press behind.
+
+In the darkness they fought with each other, pressing on and becoming
+jammed so tightly that many were held against the sloping walls until
+life was extinct. Between Shepherd's Bush and Holland Park Stations the
+loss of life was worst, for being within the zone of the German fire the
+people had crushed in frantically in thousands, and with one accord a
+move had unfortunately been made into the tunnels, on account of the
+foolish cry that the German were waiting above.
+
+The railway officials were powerless. They had done their best to
+prevent any one going below, but the public had insisted, therefore no
+blame could be laid upon them for the catastrophe.
+
+At Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, and Tottenham Court Road Stations, a
+similar scene was enacted, and dozens upon dozens, alas! lost their
+lives in the panic. Ladies and gentlemen from Park Lane, Grosvenor
+Square, and Mayfair had sought shelter at the Marble Arch Station,
+rubbing shoulders with labourers' wives and costerwomen from the back
+streets of Marylebone. When the lights failed, a rush had been made into
+the tunnel to reach Oxford Circus, all exit by the stairs being
+blocked, as at Shepherd's Bush, on account of the hundreds struggling
+to get down.
+
+As at Holland Park, the terrified crowd fighting with each other became
+jammed and suffocated in the narrow space. The catastrophe was a
+frightful one, for it was afterwards proved that over four hundred and
+twenty persons, mostly weak women and children, lost their lives in
+those twenty minutes of darkness before the mains at the generating
+station, wrecked by the explosions, could be repaired.
+
+Then, when the current came up again, the lights revealed the frightful
+mishap, and people struggled to emerge from the burrows wherein they had
+so narrowly escaped death.
+
+Upon the Baker Street and Waterloo and other "Tubes," every station had
+also been besieged. The whole of the first-mentioned line from north to
+south was the refuge of thousands, who saw in it a safe place for
+retreat. The tunnels of the District Railway, too, were filled with
+terror-stricken multitudes, who descended at every station and walked
+away into a subterranean place of safety. No trains had been running for
+several days, therefore there was no danger from that cause.
+
+Meanwhile the bombardment continued with unceasing activity.
+
+The Marylebone Station of the Great Central Railway, and the Great
+Central Hotel, which seemed to be only just within the line of fire,
+were wrecked, and about four o'clock it was seen that the hotel, like
+that at St. Pancras, was well alight, though no effort could be made to
+save it. At the first two or three alarms of fire the Metropolitan Fire
+Brigade had turned out, but now that fresh alarms were reaching the
+chief station every moment, the brigade saw themselves utterly powerless
+to even attempt to save the hundred buildings, great and small, now
+furiously blazing.
+
+Gasometers, especially those of the Gas Light and Coke Company at Kensal
+Green, were marked by the German gunners, who sent them into the air;
+while a well-directed petrol bomb at Wormwood Scrubs Prison set one
+great wing of the place alight, and the prisoners were therefore
+released. The rear of Kensington Palace, and the fronts of a number of
+houses in Kensington Palace Gardens were badly damaged, while in the
+dome of the Albert Hall was a great, ugly hole.
+
+Shortly after five o'clock occurred a disaster which was of national
+consequence. It could only have been a mishap on the part of the
+Germans, for they would certainly never have done such irreparable
+damage willingly, as they destroyed what would otherwise have been most
+valuable of loot.
+
+Shots suddenly began to fall fast in Bloomsbury, several of them badly
+damaging the Hotel Russell and the houses near, and it was therefore
+apparent that one of the batteries which had been firing from near Jack
+Straw's Castle had been moved across to Parliament Hill, or even to some
+point south of it, which gave a wider range to the fire.
+
+Presently a shell came high through the air and fell full upon the
+British Museum, striking it nearly in the centre of the front, and in
+exploding carried away the Grecian-Ionic ornament, and shattered a
+number of the fine stone columns of the dark façade. Ere people in the
+vicinity had realised that the national collection of antiques was
+within range of the enemy's destructive projectiles, a second shell
+crashed into the rear of the building, making a great gap in the walls.
+Then, as though all the guns of that particular battery had converged in
+order to destroy our treasure-house of art and antiquity, shell after
+shell crashed into the place in rapid succession. Before ten minutes had
+passed, grey smoke began to roll out from beneath the long colonnade in
+front, and growing denser, told its own tale. The British Museum was on
+fire.
+
+Nor was that all. As though to complete the disaster--although it was
+certain that the Germans were in ignorance--there came one of those
+terrible shells filled with petrol, which, bursting inside the
+manuscript room, set the whole place ablaze. In a dozen different places
+the building seemed to be now alight, especially the library, and thus
+the finest collection of books, manuscripts, Greek and Roman and
+Egyptian antiques, coins, medals, and prehistoric relics, lay at the
+mercy of the flames.
+
+The fire brigade was at once alarmed, and at imminent risk of their
+lives, for shells were still falling in the vicinity, they, with the
+Salvage Corps and the assistance of many willing helpers--some of whom,
+unfortunately, lost their lives in the flames--saved whatever could be
+saved, throwing the objects out into the railed-off quadrangle in
+front.
+
+The left wing of the Museum, however, could not be entered, although,
+after most valiant efforts on the part of the firemen, the
+conflagrations that had broken out in other parts of the building were
+at length subdued. The damage was, however, irreparable, for many unique
+collections, including all the prints and drawings, and many of the
+medićval and historic manuscripts had already been consumed.
+
+Shots now began to fall as far south as Oxford Street, and all along
+that thoroughfare from Holborn as far as Oxford Circus, widespread havoc
+was being wrought. People fled for their lives back towards Charing
+Cross and the Strand. The Oxford Music Hall was a hopeless ruin, while a
+shell crashing through the roof of Frascati's restaurant carried away a
+portion of the gallery and utterly wrecked the whole place. Many of the
+shops in Oxford Street had their roofs damaged or their fronts blown
+out, while a huge block of flats in Great Russell Street was practically
+demolished by three shells striking in rapid succession.
+
+Then, to the alarm of all who realised it, shots were seen to be passing
+high over Bloomsbury, south towards the Thames. The range had been
+increased, for, as was afterwards known, some heavier guns had now been
+mounted upon Muswell Hill and Hampstead Heath, which, carrying to a
+distance of from six to seven miles, placed the City, the Strand, and
+Westminster within the zone of fire. The zone in question stretched
+roughly from Victoria Park through Bethnal Green and Whitechapel, across
+to Southwark, the Borough, Lambeth, and Westminster to Kensington, and
+while the fire upon the northern suburbs slackened, great shells now
+came flying through the air into the very heart of London.
+
+The German gunners at Muswell Hill took the dome of St. Paul's as a
+mark, for shells fell constantly in Ludgate Hill, in Cheapside, in
+Newgate Street, and in the Churchyard itself. One falling upon the steps
+of the Cathedral tore out two of the columns of the front, while
+another, striking the clock tower just below the face, brought down much
+of the masonry and one of the huge bells, with a deafening crash,
+blocking the road with _débris_. Time after time the great shells went
+over the splendid Cathedral, which the enemy seemed bent upon
+destroying, but the dome remained uninjured, though about ten feet of
+the top of the second tower was carried away.
+
+On the Cannon Street side of St. Paul's a great block of drapery
+warehouses had caught fire, and was burning fiercely, while the drapers
+and other shops on the Paternoster Row side all had their windows
+shattered by the constant detonations. Within the Cathedral two shells
+that had fallen through the roof had wrought havoc with the beautiful
+reredos and the choir-stalls, many of the fine windows being also
+wrecked by the explosions.
+
+Whole rows of houses in Cheapside suffered, while both the Mansion
+House, where the London flag was flying, and the Royal Exchange were
+severely damaged by a number of shells which fell in the vicinity. The
+equestrian statue in front of the Exchange had been overturned, while
+the Exchange itself showed a great yawning hole in the corner of the
+façade next Cornhill. At the Bank of England a fire had occurred, but
+had fortunately been extinguished by the strong force of Guards in
+charge, though they gallantly risked their lives in so doing. Lothbury,
+Gresham Street, Old Broad Street, Lombard Street, Gracechurch Street,
+and Leadenhall Street were all more or less scenes of fire, havoc, and
+destruction. The loss of life was not great in this neighbourhood, for
+most people had crossed the river or gone westward, but the high
+explosives used by the Germans were falling upon shops and warehouses
+with appalling effect.
+
+Masonry was torn about like paper, ironwork twisted like wax, woodwork
+shattered to a thousand splinters as, time after time, a great
+projectile hissed in the air and effected its errand of destruction. A
+number of the wharves on each side of the river were soon alight, and
+both Upper and Lower Thames Streets were soon impassable on account of
+huge conflagrations. A few shells fell in Shoreditch, Houndsditch, and
+Whitechapel, and these, in most cases, caused loss of life in those
+densely populated districts.
+
+Westward, however, as the hours went on, the howitzers at Hampstead
+began to drop high explosive shells into the Strand, around Charing
+Cross, and in Westminster. This weapon had a calibre of 4.14 inches, and
+threw a projectile of 35 lbs. The tower of St. Clement Dane's Church
+crashed to the ground and blocked the roadway opposite Milford Lane; the
+pointed roof of the clock-tower of the Law Courts was blown away, and
+the granite fronts of the two banks opposite the Law Courts entrance
+were torn out by a shell which exploded in the footpath before them.
+
+Shells fell time after time, in and about the Law Courts themselves,
+committing immense damage to the interior, while a shell bursting upon
+the roof of Charing Cross Station, rendered it a ruin as picturesque as
+it had been in December, 1905. The National Liberal Club was burning
+furiously; the Hotel Cecil and the Savoy did not escape, but no material
+damage was done to them. The Garrick Theatre had caught fire; a shot
+carried away the globe above the Coliseum, and the Shot Tower beside the
+Thames crashed into the river.
+
+The front of the Grand Hotel in Trafalgar Square showed, in several
+places, great holes where the shell had struck, and a shell bursting at
+the foot of Nelson's Monument turned over one of the lions--overthrowing
+the emblem of Britain's might!
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were, in one or two instances, wrecked, notably
+the Reform, the Junior Carlton, and the Athenćum, into each of which
+shells fell through the roof and exploded within.
+
+From the number of projectiles that fell in the vicinity of the Houses
+of Parliament, it was apparent that the German gunners could see the
+Royal Standard flying from the Victoria Tower, and were making it their
+mark. In the west front of Westminster Abbey several shots crashed,
+doing enormous damage to the grand old pile. The hospital opposite was
+set alight, while the Westminster Palace Hotel was severely damaged, and
+two shells falling into St. Thomas's Hospital created a scene of
+indescribable terror in one of the overcrowded casualty wards.
+
+Suddenly one of the German high explosive shells burst on the top of the
+Victoria Tower, blowing away all four of the pinnacles, and bringing
+down the flagstaff. Big Ben served as another mark for the artillery at
+Muswell Hill and several shots struck it, tearing out one of the huge
+clock faces and blowing away the pointed apex of the tower. Suddenly,
+however, two great shells struck it right in the centre, almost
+simultaneously, near the base, and made such a hole in the huge pile of
+masonry that it was soon seen to have been rendered unsafe, though it
+did not fall.
+
+Shot after shot struck other portions of the Houses of Parliament,
+breaking the windows and carrying away pinnacles.
+
+One of the twin towers of Westminster Abbey fell a few moments later,
+and another shell, crashing into the choir, completely wrecked Edward
+the Confessor's shrine, the Coronation Chair, and all the objects of
+antiquity in the vicinity.
+
+The old Horse Guards escaped injury, but one of the cupolas of the new
+War Office opposite was blown away, while shortly afterwards a fire
+broke out in the new Local Government Board and Education Offices.
+Number 10, Downing Street, the chief centre of the Government, had its
+windows all blown in--a grim accident, no doubt--the same explosion
+shattering several windows in the Foreign Office.
+
+Many shells fell in St. James's and Hyde Parks, exploding harmlessly,
+but others, passing across St. James's Park, crashed into that high
+building, Queen Anne's Mansions, causing fearful havoc. Somerset House,
+Covent Garden Market, Drury Lane Theatre, and the Gaiety Theatre and
+Restaurant all suffered more or less, and two of the bronze footguards
+guarding the Wellington Statue at Hyde Park Corner were blown many yards
+away. Around Holborn Circus immense damage was being caused, and several
+shells bursting on the Viaduct itself blew great holes in the bridge.
+
+So widespread, indeed, was the havoc, that it is impossible to give a
+detailed account of the day's terrors. If the public buildings suffered,
+the damage to property of householders and the ruthless wrecking of
+quiet English homes may well be imagined. The people had been driven out
+from the zone of fire, and had left their possessions to the mercy of
+the invaders.
+
+South of the Thames very little damage was done. The German howitzers
+and long-range guns could not reach so far. One or two shots fell in
+York Road, Lambeth, and in the Waterloo and Westminster Bridge Roads,
+but they did little damage beyond breaking all the windows in the
+vicinity.
+
+When would it end? Where would it end?
+
+Half the population of London had fled across the bridges, and from
+Denmark Hill, Champion Hill, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace they could
+see the smoke issuing from the hundred fires.
+
+London was cowed. These northern barricades, still held by bodies of
+valiant men, were making a last desperate stand, though the streets ran
+with blood. Every man fought well and bravely for his country, though he
+went to his death. A thousand acts of gallant heroism on the part of
+Englishmen were done that day, but alas! all to no purpose. The Germans
+were at our gates, and were not to be denied.
+
+As daylight commenced to fade the dust and smoke became suffocating. And
+yet the guns pounded away with a monotonous regularity that appalled the
+helpless populace. Overhead there was a quick whizzing in the air, a
+deafening explosion, and as the masonry came crashing down the
+atmosphere was filled with poisonous fumes that half asphyxiated all
+those in the vicinity.
+
+Hitherto the enemy had treated us, on the whole, humanely, but finding
+that desperate resistance in the northern suburbs, Von Kronhelm was
+carrying out the Emperor's parting injunction. He was breaking the pride
+of our own dear London, even at the sacrifice of thousands of innocent
+lives.
+
+The scenes in the streets within that zone of awful fire baffled
+description. They were too sudden, too dramatic, too appalling. Death
+and destruction were everywhere, and the people of London now realised
+for the first time what the horrors of war really meant.
+
+Dusk was falling. Above the pall of smoke from burning buildings the sun
+was setting with a blood-red light. From the London streets, however,
+this evening sky was darkened by the clouds of smoke and dust. Yet the
+cannonade continued, each shell that came hurtling through the air
+exploding with deadly effect and spreading destruction on all hands.
+
+Meanwhile the barricades at the north had not escaped Von Kronhelm's
+attention. About four o'clock he gave orders by field telegraph for
+certain batteries to move down and attack them.
+
+This was done soon after five o'clock, and when the German guns began to
+pour their deadly rain of shell into those hastily improvised defences
+there commenced a slaughter of the gallant defenders that was horrible.
+At each of the barricades shell after shell was directed, and very
+quickly breaches were made. Then upon the defenders themselves the fire
+was directed--a withering, awful fire from quick-firing guns which none
+could withstand. The streets, with their barricades swept away, were
+strewn with mutilated corpses. Hundreds upon hundreds had attempted to
+make a last stand, rallied by the Union Jack they waved above, but a
+shell exploding in their midst had sent them to instant eternity.
+
+Many a gallant deed was done that day by patriotic Londoners in defence
+of their homes and loved ones--many a deed that should have earned the
+V.C.--but in nearly all cases the patriot who had stood up and faced the
+foe had gone to straight and certain death.
+
+Till seven o'clock the dull roar of the guns in the north continued, and
+people across the Thames knew that London was still being destroyed,
+nay, pulverised. Then with accord came a silence--the first silence
+since the hot noon.
+
+Von Kronhelm's field telegraph at Jack Straw's Castle had ticked the
+order to cease firing.
+
+All the barricades had been broken.
+
+London lay burning--at the mercy of the German eagle.
+
+And as the darkness fell the German Commander-in-Chief looked again
+through his glasses, and saw the red flames leaping up in dozens of
+places, where whole blocks of shops and buildings, public institutions,
+whole streets in some cases, were being consumed.
+
+London--the proud capital of the world, the "home" of the
+Englishman--was at last ground beneath the iron heel of Germany!
+
+And all, alas! due to one cause alone--the careless insular apathy of
+the Englishman himself!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+FALL OF LONDON.
+
+
+Outside London the September night had settled down on the blood-stained
+field of battle. With a pale light the moon had risen, partly hidden by
+chasing clouds, her white rays mingling with the lurid glare of the
+fires down in the great terrified Metropolis below. Northward, from
+Hampstead across to Barnet--indeed, over that wide district where the
+final battle had been so hotly fought--the moonbeams shone upon the
+pallid faces of the fallen.
+
+Along the German line of investment there had now followed upon the roar
+of battle an uncanny silence.
+
+Away to the west, however, there was still heard the growling of distant
+conflict, now mounting into a low crackling of musketry fire, and again
+dying away in muffled sounds. The last remnant of the British Army was
+being hotly pursued in the direction of Staines.
+
+London was invested and bombarded, but not yet taken.
+
+For a long time the German Field Marshal had stood alone upon Hampstead
+Heath apart from his staff, watching the great tongues of flame leaping
+up here and there in the distant darkness. His grey, shaggy brows were
+contracted, his thin aquiline face thoughtful, his hard mouth twitching
+nervously, unable to fully conceal the strain of his own feelings as
+conqueror of the English. Von Kronhelm's taciturnity had long ago been
+proverbial. The Kaiser had likened him to Moltke, and had declared that
+"he could be silent in seven languages." His gaze was one of musing, and
+yet he was the most active of men, and perhaps the cleverest strategist
+in all Europe. Often during the campaign he had astonished his
+aides-de-camp by his untiring energy, for sometimes he would even visit
+the outposts in person. On many occasions he had actually crept up to
+the most advanced posts at great personal risk to himself, so anxious
+had he been to see with his own eyes. Such visits from the Field Marshal
+himself were not always welcome to the German outposts, who, as soon as
+they showed the least sign of commotion consequent upon the visit, were
+at once swept by a withering English fire.
+
+Yet he now stood there the conqueror. And while many of his officers
+were installing themselves in comfortable quarters in houses about North
+End, North Hill, South Hill, Muswell Hill, Roslyn Hill, Fitzjohn's
+Avenue, Netherhall, and Maresfield Gardens, and other roads in that
+vicinity, the great Commander was still alone upon the Heath, having
+taken nothing save a nip from his flask since his coffee at dawn.
+
+Time after time telegraphic despatches were handed to him from Germany,
+and telephonic reports from his various positions around London, but he
+received them all without comment. He read, he listened, but he said
+nothing.
+
+For a full hour he remained there, strolling up and down alone in quick
+impatience. Then, as though suddenly making up his mind, he called three
+members of his staff, and gave orders for an entry into London.
+
+This, as he knew, was the signal for a terrible and bloody encounter.
+Bugles sounded. Men and officers, who had believed that the storm and
+stress of the day were over, and that they were entitled to rest, found
+themselves called upon to fight their way into the city that they knew
+would be defended by an irate and antagonistic populace.
+
+Still, the order had been given, and it must be obeyed. They had
+expected that the advance would be at least made at dawn, but evidently
+Von Kronhelm feared that six hours' delay might necessitate more
+desperate fighting. He intended, now that London was cowed, that she
+should be entirely crushed. The orders of his master the Kaiser were to
+that effect.
+
+Therefore, shortly before nine o'clock the first detachments of German
+infantry marched along Spaniards Road, and down Roslyn Hill to
+Haverstock Hill, where they were at once fired upon from behind the
+_débris_ of the great barricade across the junction of Prince of Wales
+Road and Haverstock Hill. This place was held strongly by British
+Infantry, many members of the Legion of Frontiersmen--distinguished only
+by the little bronze badge in their buttonholes--and also by hundreds of
+citizens armed with rifles.
+
+Twenty Germans dropped at the first volley, and next instant a Maxim,
+concealed in the first floor of a neighbouring house, spat forth its
+fire upon the invaders with deadly effect. The German bugle sounded the
+"Advance rapidly," and the men emulously ran forward, shouting loud
+hurrahs. Major van Wittich, who had distinguished himself very
+conspicuously in the fighting round Enfield Chase, fell, being shot
+through the lung when just within a few yards of the half-ruined
+barricade. Londoners were fighting desperately, shouting and cheering.
+The standard-bearer of the 4th Battalion of the Brunswick Infantry
+Regiment, No. 92, fell severely wounded, and the standard was instantly
+snatched from him in the awful hand-to-hand fighting which that moment
+ensued.
+
+Five minutes later the streets were running with blood, for hundreds,
+both Germans and British, lay dead and dying. Every Londoner struggled
+valiantly until shot down; yet the enemy, always reinforced, pressed
+forward, until ten minutes later, the defenders were driven out of their
+position, and the house from which the Maxim was sending forth its
+deadly hail had been entered and the gun captured. Volley after volley
+was still, however, poured out on the heads of the storming party, but
+already the pioneers were at work clearing a way for the advance, and
+very soon the Germans had surmounted the obstruction and were within
+London.
+
+For a short time the Germans halted, then, at a signal from their
+officers, they moved along both roads, again being fired upon from every
+house in the vicinity, many of the defenders having retired to continue
+their defence from the windows. The enemy therefore turned their
+attention to these houses, and after desperate struggles house after
+house was taken, those of the defenders not wearing uniform being shot
+down without mercy. To such no quarter was given.
+
+The contest now became a most furious one. Britons and Germans fought
+hand to hand. A battalion of the Brunswick Infantry with some riflemen
+of the Guard took several houses by rush in Chalk Farm Road; but in many
+cases the Germans were shot by their own comrades. Quite a number of the
+enemy's officers were picked off by the Frontiersmen, those brave
+fellows who had seen service in every corner of the world, and who were
+now in the windows and upon roofs. Thus the furious fight from house to
+house proceeded.
+
+This exciting conflict was practically characteristic of what was at
+that moment happening in fifty other spots along the suburbs of North
+London. The obstinate resistance which we made against the Germans was
+met with equally obstinate aggression. There was no surrender. Londoners
+fell and died fighting to the very last.
+
+Against those well-trained Teutons in such overwhelming masses we,
+however, could have no hope of success. The rushes of the infantry and
+rifles of the Guards were made skilfully, and slowly but surely broke
+down all opposition.
+
+The barricade in the Kentish Town Road was defended with valiant
+heroism. The Germans were, as in Chalk Farm Road, compelled to fight
+their way foot by foot, losing heavily all the time. But here, at
+length, as at other points, the barricade was taken, and the defenders
+chased, and either taken prisoner or else ruthlessly shot down. A body
+of citizens armed with rifles were, after the storming of the barricades
+in question, driven back into Park Street, and there, being caught
+between two bodies of Germans, slaughtered to a man. Through those unlit
+side streets between the Kentish Town and Camden Roads--namely, the
+Lawford, Bartholomew, Rochester, Caversham, and Leighton Roads--there
+was much skirmishing, and many on both sides fell in the bloody
+encounter. A thousand deeds of bravery were done that night, but were
+unrecorded. Before the barricade in Holloway Road--which had been
+strongly repaired after the breach made in it by the German shells--the
+enemy lost very heavily, for the three Maxims which had there been
+mounted did awful execution. The invaders, however, seeing the strong
+defence, fell back for full twenty minutes, and then, making another
+rush, hurled petrol bombs into the midst of our men.
+
+A frightful holocaust was the result. Fully a hundred of the poor
+fellows were literally burned alive; while the neighbouring houses,
+being set in flames, compelled the citizen free-shooters to quickly
+evacuate their position. Against such terrible missiles even the best
+trained troops cannot stand, therefore no wonder that all opposition at
+that point was soon afterwards swept away, and the pioneers quickly
+opened the road for the victorious legions of the Kaiser.
+
+And so in that prosaic thoroughfare, the Holloway Road, brave men fought
+gallantly and died, while a Scotch piper paced the pavement sharply,
+backwards and forwards, with his colours flying. Then, alas! came the
+red flash, the loud explosions in rapid succession, and the next instant
+the whole street burst into a veritable sea of flame.
+
+High Street, Kingsland, was also the scene of several fierce conflicts;
+but here the Germans decidedly got the worst of it. The whole infuriated
+population seemed to emerge suddenly from the side streets of the
+Kingsland Road on the appearance of the detachment of the enemy, and the
+latter were practically overwhelmed, notwithstanding the desperate fight
+they made. Then ringing cheers went up from the defenders.
+
+The Germans were given no quarter by the populace, all of whom were
+armed with knives or guns, the women mostly with hatchets, crowbars, or
+edged tools.
+
+Many of the Germans fled through the side streets towards Mare Street,
+and were hotly pursued, the majority of them being done to death by the
+maddened mob. The streets in this vicinity were literally a
+slaughterhouse.
+
+The barricades in Finchley Road, and in High Road, Kilburn, were also
+very strongly held, and at the first-named it was quite an hour before
+the enemy's pioneers were able to make a breach. Indeed, then only after
+a most hotly contested conflict, in which there were frightful losses on
+both sides. Petrol bombs were here also used by the enemy with appalling
+effect, the road being afterwards cleared by a couple of Maxims.
+
+Farther towards Regent's Park the houses were, however, full of
+sharpshooters, and before these could be dislodged the enemy had again
+suffered severely. The entry into London was both difficult and
+perilous, and the enemy suffered great losses everywhere.
+
+After the breaking down of the defences in High Road, Kilburn, the men
+who had held them retired to the Town Hall, opposite Kilburn Station,
+and from the windows fired at the passing battalions, doing much
+execution. All efforts to dislodge them proved unavailing, until the
+place was taken by storm, and a fearful hand to hand fight was the
+outcome. Eventually the Town Hall was taken, after a most desperate
+resistance, and ten minutes later wilfully set fire to and burned.
+
+In the Harrow Road and those cross streets between Kensal Green and
+Maida Vale the advancing Germans shared much the same fate as about
+Hackney. Surrounded by the armed populace, hundreds upon hundreds of
+them were killed, struck down by hatchets, stabbed by knives, or shot
+with revolvers, the crowd shouting, "Down with the Germans! Kill them!
+Kill them!"
+
+Many of the London women now became perfect furies. So incensed were
+they at the wreck of their homes and the death of their loved ones that
+they rushed wildly into the fray with no thought of peril, only of
+bitter revenge. A German whenever caught was at once killed. In those
+bloody street fights the Teutons got separated from their comrades and
+were quickly surrounded and done to death.
+
+[Illustration: LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT.]
+
+Across the whole of the northern suburbs the scenes of bloodshed that
+night were full of horror, as men fought in the ruined streets, climbing
+over the smouldering _débris_, over the bodies of their comrades, and
+shooting from behind ruined walls. As Von Kronhelm had anticipated, his
+Army was compelled to fight its way into London.
+
+The streets all along the line of the enemy's advance were now strewn
+with dead and dying. London was doomed.
+
+The Germans now coming on in increasing, nay, unceasing numbers, were
+leaving behind them everywhere the trail of blood. Shattered London
+stood staggered.
+
+Though the resistance had been long and desperate, the enemy had again
+triumphed by reason of his sheer weight of numbers.
+
+Yet, even though he were actually in our own dear London, our people did
+not mean that he should establish himself without any further
+opposition. Therefore, though the barricades had been taken, the Germans
+found in every unexpected corner men who shot at them, and Maxims which
+spat forth their leaden showers beneath which hundreds upon hundreds of
+Teutons fell.
+
+Yet they advanced, still fighting. The scenes of carnage were awful and
+indescribable, no quarter being given to any armed citizens not in
+uniform, be they men, women, or children.
+
+The German Army was carrying out the famous proclamation of Field
+Marshal von Kronhelm to the letter!
+
+They were marching on to the sack of the wealthiest city of the world.
+
+It wanted still an hour of midnight. London was a city of shadow, of
+fire, of death. The silent streets, whence all the inhabitants had fled
+in panic, echoed to the heavy tread of German infantry, the clank of
+arms, and the ominous rumble of guns. Ever and anon an order was shouted
+in German as the Kaiser's legions went forward to occupy the proud
+capital of the world. The enemy's plans appeared to have been carefully
+prepared. The majority of the troops coming from the direction of
+Hampstead and Finchley entered Regent's Park, whence preparations were
+at once commenced for encampment; while the remainder, together with
+those who came down the Camden, Caledonian, and Holloway Roads, turned
+along Euston Road and Oxford Street to Hyde Park, where a huge camp was
+formed, stretching from the Marble Arch right along the Park Lane side
+away to Knightsbridge.
+
+Officers were very soon billeted in the best houses in Park Lane and
+about Mayfair--houses full of works of art and other valuables that had
+only that morning been left to the mercy of the invaders. From the
+windows and balconies of their quarters in Park Lane they could overlook
+the encampment--a position which had evidently been purposely chosen.
+
+Other troops who came in never-ending procession by the Bow Road, Roman
+Road, East India Dock Road, Victoria Park Road, Mare Street, and
+Kingsland Road all converged into the City itself, except those who had
+come from Edmonton down the Kingsland Road, and who, passing along Old
+Street and Clerkenwell, occupied the Charing Cross and Westminster
+districts.
+
+At midnight a dramatic scene was enacted when, in the blood-red glare of
+some blazing buildings in the vicinity, a large body of Prince Louis
+Ferdinand of Prussia's 2nd Magdeburg Regiment suddenly swept up
+Threadneedle Street into the great open space before the Mansion House,
+whereon the London flag was still flying aloft in the smoke-laden air.
+They halted across the junction of Cheapside with Queen Victoria Street
+when, at the same moment, another huge body of the Uhlans of Altmark and
+Magdeburg Hussars came clattering along Cornhill, followed a moment
+later by battalion after battalion of the 4th and 8th Thuringen Infantry
+out of Moorgate Street, whose uniforms showed plain traces of the
+desperate encounters of the past week.
+
+The great body of Germans had halted before the Mansion House, when
+General von Kleppen, the commander of the IVth Army Corps--who,
+it will be remembered, had landed at Weybourne--accompanied by
+Lieutenant-General von Mirbach, of the 8th Division, and Frölich,
+commander of the cavalry brigade, ascended the steps of the Mansion
+House and entered.
+
+Within, Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, who wore his robes and
+jewel of office, received them in that great, sombre room wherein so
+many momentous questions concerning the welfare of the British Empire
+had been discussed. The representative of the City of London, a short,
+stout, gray-haired man, was pale and agitated. He bowed, but he could
+not speak.
+
+Von Kleppen, however, a smart, soldierly figure in his service uniform
+and many ribbons, bowed in response, and in very fair English said:--
+
+"I regret, my Lord Mayor, that it is necessary for us to thus disturb
+you, but as you are aware, the British Army has been defeated, and the
+German Army has entered London. I have orders from Field Marshal von
+Kronhelm to place you under arrest, and to hold you as hostage for the
+good behaviour of the City during the progress of the negotiations for
+peace."
+
+"Arrest!" gasped the Lord Mayor. "You intend to arrest me?"
+
+"It will not be irksome, I assure you," smiled the German commander
+grimly. "At least, we shall make it as comfortable as possible. I shall
+place a guard here, and the only restriction I place upon you is that
+you shall neither go out nor hold any communication with any one outside
+these walls."
+
+"But my wife?"
+
+"If her ladyship is here I would advise that she leave the place. It is
+better that, for the present, she should be out of London."
+
+The civic officials, who had all assembled for the dramatic ceremonial,
+looked at each other in blank amazement. The Lord Mayor was a prisoner!
+
+Sir Claude divested himself of his jewel of office, and handed it to his
+servant to replace in safe keeping. Then he took off his robe, and
+having done so, advanced closer to the German officers, who, treating
+him with every courtesy, consulted with him, expressing regret at the
+terrible loss of life that had been occasioned by the gallant defence of
+the barricades.
+
+Von Kleppen gave the Lord Mayor a message from Von Kronhelm, and urged
+him to issue a proclamation forbidding any further opposition on the
+part of the populace of London. With the three officers Sir Claude
+talked for a quarter of an hour, while into the Mansion House there
+entered a strong guard of men of the 2nd Magdeburg, who quickly
+established themselves in the most comfortable quarters. German double
+sentries stood at every exit and in every corridor, and when a few
+minutes later the flag was hauled down and the German Imperial Standard
+run up, wild shouts of triumph rang from every throat of the densely
+packed body of troops assembled outside.
+
+The joyous "hurrahs!" reached the Lord Mayor, still in conversation with
+Von Kleppen, Von Mirbach, and Frölich, and in an instant he knew the
+truth. The Teutons were saluting their own standard. The civic flag had,
+either accidentally or purposely, been flung down into the roadway
+below, and was trampled in the dust. A hundred enthusiastic Germans,
+disregarding the shouts of their officers, fought for the flag, and it
+was instantly torn to shreds, and little pieces preserved as souvenirs.
+
+Shout after shout in German went up from the wildly excited troops of
+the Kaiser when the light wind caused their own flag to flutter out, and
+then, as with one voice, the whole body of troops united in singing the
+German National Hymn.
+
+The scene was weird and most impressive. London had fallen.
+
+Around were the wrecked buildings, some still smouldering, some emitting
+flame. Behind lay the Bank of England with untold wealth locked within:
+to the right the damaged façade of the Royal Exchange was illuminated
+by a flickering light, which also shone upon the piled arms of the
+enemy's troops, causing them to flash and gleam.
+
+In those silent, narrow City streets not an Englishman was to be seen.
+Every one save the Lord Mayor and his official attendants had fled.
+
+The Government Offices in Whitehall were all in the hands of the enemy.
+In the Foreign Office, the India Office, the War Office, the Colonial
+Office, the Admiralty, and other minor offices were German guards.
+Sentries stood at the shattered door of the famous No. 10, Downing
+Street, and all up Whitehall was lined with infantry.
+
+German officers were in charge of all our public offices, and all
+officials who had remained on duty were firmly requested to leave.
+Sentries were stationed to guard the archives of every department, and
+precautions were taken to guard against any further outbreaks of fire.
+
+Across at the Houses of Parliament, with their damaged towers, the whole
+great pile of buildings was surrounded by triumphant troops, while
+across at the fine old Abbey of Westminster was, alas! a different
+scene. The interior had been turned into a temporary hospital, and upon
+mattresses placed upon the floor were hundreds of poor maimed creatures,
+some groaning, some ghastly pale in the last moments of agony, some
+silent, their white lips moving in prayer.
+
+On one side in the dim light lay the men, some in uniform, others
+inoffensive citizens, who had been struck by cruel shells or falling
+_débris_; on the other side lay the women, some mere girls, and even
+children.
+
+Flitting everywhere in the half light were nurses, charitable ladies,
+and female helpers, with numbers of doctors, all doing their best to
+alleviate the terrible sufferings of that crowded place, the walls of
+which showed plain traces of the severe bombardment. In places the roof
+was open to the angry sky, while many of the windows were gaunt and
+shattered.
+
+A clergyman's voice somewhere was repeating a prayer in a low, distinct
+voice, so that all could hear, yet above all were the sighs and groans
+of the sufferers, and as one walked through that prostrate assembly of
+victims more than one was seen to have already gone to that land that
+lies beyond the human ken.
+
+The horrors of war were never more forcibly illustrated than in
+Westminster Abbey that night, for the grim hand of death was there, and
+men and women lying with their faces to the roof looked into Eternity.
+
+Every hospital in London was full, therefore the overflow had been
+placed in the various churches. From the battlefields along the northern
+defences, Epping, Edmonton, Barnet, Enfield, and other places where the
+last desperate stand had been made, and from the barricades in the
+northern suburbs ambulance waggons were continually arriving full of
+wounded, all of whom were placed in the churches and in any large public
+buildings which had remained undamaged by the bombardment.
+
+St. George's, Hanover Square, once the scene of many smart weddings, was
+now packed with unfortunate wounded soldiers, British and German lying
+side by side, while in the Westminster Cathedral and the Oratory at
+Brompton the Roman Catholic priests made hundreds of poor fellows as
+comfortable as they could, many members of the religious sisterhoods
+acting as nurses. St. James's Church in Piccadilly, St. Pancras Church,
+Shoreditch Church, and St. Mary Abbotts', Kensington, were all
+improvised hospitals, and many grim and terrible scenes of agony were
+witnessed during that long eventful night.
+
+The light was dim everywhere, for there were only paraffin lamps, and by
+their feeble illumination many a difficult operation had to be performed
+by those London surgeons who one and all had come forward, and were now
+working unceasingly. Renowned specialists from Harley Street, Cavendish
+Square, Queen Ann Street, and the vicinity were directing the work in
+all the improvised hospitals, men whose names were world-famous kneeling
+and performing operations upon poor unfortunate private soldiers or upon
+some labourer who had taken up a gun in defence of his home.
+
+Of lady helpers there were hundreds. From Mayfair and Belgravia, from
+Kensington and Bayswater, ladies had come forward offering their
+services, and their devotion to the wounded was everywhere apparent. In
+St. Andrew's, Wells Street, St. Peter's, Eaton Square, in the Scottish
+Church in Crown Court, Covent Garden, in the Temple Church, in the Union
+Chapel in Upper Street, in the Chapel Royal, Savoy, in St. Clement Danes
+in the Strand, and in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, there were wounded in
+greater or less numbers, but the difficulties of treating them were
+enormous owing to the lack of necessaries for the performance of
+operations.
+
+Weird and striking were the scenes within those hallowed places, as, in
+the half darkness with the long, deep shadows, men struggled for life or
+gave to the women kneeling at their side their name, their address, or a
+last dying message to one they loved.
+
+London that night was a city of shattered homes, of shattered hopes, of
+shattered lives.
+
+The silence of death had fallen everywhere. The only sounds that broke
+the quiet within those churches were the sighs, groans, and faint
+murmurings of the dying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+GERMANS SACKING THE BANKS.
+
+
+Day dawned dismally and wet on September the 21st.
+
+Over London the sky was still obscured by the smoke-pall, though as the
+night passed many of the raging fires had spent themselves.
+
+Trafalgar Square was filled with troops who had piled arms and were
+standing at their ease. The men were laughing and smoking, enjoying a
+rest after the last forward movement and the street fighting of that
+night of horrors.
+
+The losses on both sides during the past three days had been enormous;
+of the number of London citizens killed and wounded it was impossible to
+calculate. There had, in the northern suburbs, been wholesale butchery
+everywhere, so gallantly had the barricades been defended.
+
+Great camps had now been formed in Hyde Park, in the Green Park between
+Constitution Hill and Piccadilly, and in St. James's Park. The Magdeburg
+Fusiliers were being formed up on the Horse Guards Parade, and from the
+flagstaff there now fluttered the ensign of the commander of an army
+corps, in place of the British flag. A large number of Uhlans and
+Cuirassiers were encamped at the west end of the Park, opposite
+Buckingham Palace, and both the Wellington Barracks and the Cavalry
+Barracks at Knightsbridge were occupied by Germans.
+
+Many officers were already billeted in the Savoy, the Cecil, the
+Carlton, the Grand, and Victoria hotels, while the British Museum, the
+National Gallery, the South Kensington Museum, the Tower, and a number
+of other collections of pictures and antiques were all guarded strongly
+by German sentries. The enemy had thus seized our national treasures.
+
+London awoke to find herself a German city.
+
+In the streets lounging groups of travel-worn sons of the Fatherland
+were everywhere, and German was heard on every hand. Every ounce of
+foodstuff was being rapidly commandeered by hundreds of foraging
+parties, who went to each grocer's, baker's, or provision shop in the
+various districts, seized all they could find, valued it, and gave
+official receipts for it.
+
+The price of food in London that morning was absolutely prohibitive, as
+much as two shillings being asked for a twopenny loaf. The Germans had,
+it was afterwards discovered, been all the time, since the Sunday when
+they landed, running over large cargoes of supplies of all sorts to the
+Essex, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk coasts, where they had established huge
+supply bases, well knowing that there was not sufficient food in the
+country to feed their armed hordes in addition to the population.
+
+Shops in Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Edgware Road, Oxford Street,
+Camden Road, and Harrow Road were systematically visited by the foraging
+parties, who commenced their work at dawn. Those places that were closed
+and their owners absent were at once broken open, and everything seized
+and carted to either Hyde Park or St. James's Park, for though Londoners
+might starve, the Kaiser's troops intended to be fed.
+
+In some cases a patriotic shopkeeper attempted to resist. Indeed, in
+more than one case a tradesman wilfully set his shop on fire rather than
+its contents should fall into the enemy's hands. In other cases the
+tradesmen who received the official German receipts burned them in
+contempt before the officer's eyes.
+
+The guidance of these foraging parties was, in very many cases, in the
+hands of Germans in civilian clothes, and it was now seen how complete
+and helpful the enemy's system of espionage had been in London. Most of
+these men were Germans who, having served in the army, had come over to
+England and obtained employment as waiters, clerks, bakers,
+hairdressers, and private servants, and being bound by their oath to the
+Fatherland had served their country as spies. Each man, when obeying the
+Imperial command to join the German arms, had placed in the lapel of his
+coat a button of a peculiar shape, with which he had long ago been
+provided, and by which he was instantly recognised as a loyal subject of
+the Kaiser.
+
+This huge body of German soldiers, who for years had passed in England
+as civilians, was, of course, of enormous use to Von Kronhelm, for they
+acted as guides not only on the march and during the entry to London,
+but materially assisted in the victorious advance in the Midlands.
+Indeed, the Germans had for years kept a civilian army in England, and
+yet we had, ostrich-like, buried our heads in the sand, and refused to
+turn our eyes to the grave peril that had for so long threatened.
+
+Systematically, the Germans were visiting every shop and warehouse in
+the shopping districts, and seizing everything eatable they could
+discover. The enemy were taking the food from the mouths of the poor in
+East and South London, and as they went southward across the river, so
+the populace retired, leaving their homes at the mercy of the ruthless
+invader.
+
+Upon all the bridges across the Thames stood German guards, and none
+were allowed to cross without permits.
+
+Soon after dawn Von Kronhelm and his staff rode down Haverstock Hill
+with a large body of cavalry, and made his formal entry into London,
+first having an interview with the Lord Mayor, and an hour afterwards
+establishing his headquarters at the new War Office in Whitehall, over
+which he hoisted his special flag as Commander-in-Chief. It was found
+that, though a good deal of damage had been done externally to the
+building, the interior had practically escaped, save one or two rooms.
+Therefore the Field Marshal installed himself in the private room of the
+War Minister, and telegraphic and telephonic communication was quickly
+established, while a wireless telegraph apparatus was placed upon the
+ruined summit of Big Ben for the purpose of communicating with Germany,
+in case the cables were interrupted by being cut at sea.
+
+The day after the landing a similar apparatus had been erected on the
+Monument at Yarmouth, and it had been daily in communication with the
+one at Bremen. The German left nothing to chance.
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were now being used by German officers, who
+lounged in easy chairs, smoking and taking their ease, German soldiers
+being on guard outside. North of the Thames seemed practically deserted,
+save for the invaders who swarmed everywhere. South of the Thames the
+cowed and terrified populace were asking what the end was to be. What
+was the Government doing? It had fled to Bristol and left London to its
+fate, they complained.
+
+What the German demands were was not known until the "Daily Telegraph"
+published an interview with Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, which
+gave authentic details of them.
+
+They were as follows:--
+
+    1. Indemnity of Ł300,000,000, paid in ten annual instalments.
+
+    2. Until this indemnity is paid in full, German troops to occupy
+    Edinburgh, Rosyth, Chatham, Dover, Portsmouth, Devonport,
+    Pembroke, Yarmouth, Hull.
+
+    3. Cession to Germany of the Shetlands, Orkneys, Bantry Bay,
+    Malta, Gibraltar, and Tasmania.
+
+    4. India, north of a line drawn from Calcutta to Baroda, to be
+    ceded to Russia.
+
+    5. The independence of Ireland to be recognised.
+
+Of the claim of Ł300,000,000, fifty millions was demanded from London,
+the sum in question to be paid within twelve hours.
+
+The Lord Mayor had, it appeared, sent his secretary to the Prime
+Minister at Bristol bearing the original document in the handwriting of
+Von Kronhelm. The Prime Minister had acknowledged its receipt by
+telegraph both to the Lord Mayor and to the German Field Marshal, but
+there the matter had ended.
+
+The twelve hours' grace was nearly up, and the German Commander, seated
+in Whitehall, had received no reply.
+
+In the corner of the large, pleasant, well-carpeted room sat a German
+telegraph engineer with a portable instrument, in direct communication
+with the Emperor's private cabinet at Potsdam, and over that wire
+messages were continually passing and repassing.
+
+The grizzled old soldier paced the room impatiently. His Emperor had
+only an hour ago sent him a message of warm congratulation, and had
+privately informed him of the high honours he intended to bestow upon
+him. The German Eagle was victorious, and London--the great
+unconquerable London--lay crushed, torn, and broken.
+
+The marble clock upon the mantelpiece shelf chimed eleven upon its
+silvery bells, causing Von Kronhelm to turn from the window to glance at
+his own watch.
+
+"Tell His Majesty that it is eleven o'clock, and that there is no reply
+to hand," he said sharply in German to the man in uniform seated at the
+table in the corner.
+
+The instrument clicked rapidly, and a silence followed.
+
+The German Commander waited anxiously. He stood bending slightly over
+the green tape in order to read the Imperial order the instant it
+flashed from beneath the sea.
+
+Five minutes--ten minutes passed. The shouting of military commands in
+German came up from Whitehall below. Nothing else broke the quiet.
+
+Von Kronhelm, his face more furrowed and more serious, again paced the
+carpet.
+
+Suddenly the little instrument whirred, and clicked as its thin green
+tape rolled out.
+
+In an instant the Generalissimo of the Kaiser's army sprang to the
+telegraphist's side and read the Imperial command.
+
+For a moment he held the piece of tape between his fingers, then crushed
+it in his hand and stood motionless.
+
+He had received orders which, though against his desire, he was
+compelled to obey.
+
+Summoning several members of his staff who had installed themselves in
+other comfortable rooms in the vicinity, he held a long consultation
+with them.
+
+In the meantime telegraphic despatches were received from Sheffield,
+Manchester, Birmingham, and other German headquarters, all telling the
+same story--the complete investment and occupation of the big cities and
+the pacification of the inhabitants.
+
+One hour's grace was, however, allowed to London--till noon.
+
+Then orders were issued, bugles rang out across the parks, and in the
+main thoroughfares, where arms were piled, causing the troops to fall
+in, and within a quarter of an hour large bodies of infantry and
+engineers were moving along the Strand, in the direction of the City.
+
+At first the reason of all this was a mystery, but very shortly it was
+realised what was intended when a detachment of the 5th Hanover Regiment
+advanced to the gate of the Bank of England opposite the Exchange, and,
+after some difficulty, broke it open and entered, followed by some
+engineers of Von Mirbach's Division. The building was very soon
+occupied, and, under the direction of General Von Kleppen himself, an
+attempt was made to open the strong rooms, wherein was stored that vast
+hoard of England's wealth. What actually occurred at that spot can only
+be imagined, as the commander of the IVth Army Corps and one or two
+officers and men were the only persons present. It is surmised, however,
+that the strength of the vaults was far greater than they had imagined,
+and that, though they worked for hours, all was in vain.
+
+While this was in progress, however, parties of engineers were making
+organised raids upon the banks in Lombard Street, Lothbury, Moorgate
+Street, and Broad Street, as well as upon branch banks in Oxford Street,
+the Strand, and other places in the West End.
+
+At one bank on the left-hand side of Lombard Street, dynamite being used
+to force the strong room, the first bullion was seized, while at nearly
+all the banks sooner or later the vaults were opened, and great bags and
+boxes of gold coin were taken out and conveyed in carefully guarded
+carts to the Bank of England, now in the possession of Germany.
+
+In some banks--those of more modern construction--the greatest
+resistance was offered by the huge steel doors and concrete and steel
+walls and other devices for security. But nothing could, alas! resist
+the high explosives used, and in the end breaches were made, in all
+cases, and wealth uncounted and untold extracted and conveyed to
+Threadneedle Street for safe keeping.
+
+Engineers and infantry handled those heavy boxes and those big bundles
+of securities gleefully, officers carefully counting each box or bag or
+packet as it was taken out to be carted or carried away by hand.
+
+German soldiers under guard struggled along Lothbury beneath great
+burdens of gold, and carts, requisitioned out of the East End, rumbled
+heavily all the afternoon, escorted by soldiers. Hammersmith,
+Camberwell, Hampstead, and Willesden yielded up their quota of the
+great wealth of London; but though soon after four o'clock a breach was
+made in the strong rooms of the Bank of England by means of explosives,
+nothing in the vaults was touched. The Germans simply entered there and
+formally took possession.
+
+The coin collected from other banks was carefully kept, each separate
+from another, and placed in various rooms under strong guards, for it
+seemed to be their intention simply to hold London's wealth as security.
+
+That afternoon very few banks--except the German ones--escaped notice.
+Of course, there were a few small branches in the suburbs which remained
+unvisited, yet by six o'clock Von Kronhelm was in possession of enormous
+quantities of gold.
+
+In one or two quarters there had been opposition on the part of the
+armed guards established by the banks at the first news of the invasion.
+But any such resistance had, of course, been futile, and the man who had
+dared to fire upon the German soldiers had in every case been shot down.
+
+Thus, when darkness fell, Von Kronhelm, from the corner of his room in
+the War Office, was able to report to his Imperial Master that not only
+had he occupied London, but that, receiving no reply to his demand for
+indemnity, he had sacked it and taken possession not only of the Bank of
+England, but of the cash deposits in most of the other banks in the
+metropolis.
+
+That night the evening papers described the wild happenings of the
+afternoon, and London saw herself not only shattered, but ruined. The
+frightened populace across the river stood breathless. What was now to
+happen?
+
+Though London lay crushed and occupied by the enemy, though the Lord
+Mayor was a prisoner of war and the banks in the hands of the Germans,
+though the metropolis had been wrecked and more than half its
+inhabitants had fled southward and westward into the country, yet the
+enemy received no reply to their demand for an indemnity and the cession
+of British territory.
+
+Von Kronhelm, ignorant of what had occurred in the House of Commons at
+Bristol, sat in Whitehall and wondered. He knew well that the English
+were no fools, and their silence, therefore, caused him considerable
+uneasiness. He had lost in the various engagements over 50,000 men, yet
+nearly 200,000 still remained. His army of invasion was a no mean
+responsibility, especially when at any moment the British might regain
+command of the sea. His supplies and reinforcements would then be at
+once cut off. It was impossible for him to live upon the country, and
+his food bases in Suffolk and Essex were not sufficiently extensive to
+enable him to make a prolonged campaign. Indeed, the whole scheme of
+operations which had been so long discussed and perfected in secret in
+Berlin was more of the nature of a raid than a prolonged siege.
+
+
+    CITY OF LONDON.
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    WE, the GENERAL COMMANDING the German Imperial Army occupying
+    London, give notice that:
+
+    (1) THE STATE OF WAR AND OF SIEGE continues to exist, and all
+    categories of crime, more especially the contravention of all
+    orders already issued, will be judged by Councils of War, and
+    punished in conformity with martial law.
+
+    (2) THE INHABITANTS OF LONDON and its suburbs are ordered to
+    instantly deliver up all arms and ammunition of whatever kind
+    they possess. The term arms includes firearms, sabres, swords,
+    daggers, revolvers, and sword-canes. Landlords and occupiers of
+    houses are charged to see that this order is carried out, but in
+    the case of their absence the municipal authorities and
+    officials of the London County Council are charged to make
+    domiciliary visits, minute and searching, being accompanied by a
+    military guard.
+
+    (3) ALL NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS, GAZETTES, AND PROCLAMATIONS, of
+    whatever description, are hereby prohibited, and until further
+    notice nothing further must be printed, except documents issued
+    publicly by the military commander.
+
+    (4) ANY PRIVATE PERSON OR PERSONS taking arms against the German
+    troops after this notice will be EXECUTED.
+
+    (5) ON THE CONTRARY, the Imperial German troops will respect
+    private property, and no requisition will be allowed to be made
+    unless it bears the authorisation of the Commander-in-Chief.
+
+    (6) ALL PUBLIC PLACES are to be closed at 8 P.M. All persons
+    found in the streets of London after 8 P.M. will be arrested by
+    the patrols. There is no exception to this rule except in the
+    case of German Officers, and also in the case of doctors
+    visiting their patients. Municipal officials will also be
+    allowed out, providing they obtain a permit from the German
+    headquarters.
+
+    (7) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST provide for the lighting of the
+    streets. In cases where this is impossible, each householder
+    must hang a lantern outside his house from nightfall until 8
+    A.M.
+
+    (8) AFTER TO-MORROW morning, at 10 o'clock, the women and
+    children of the population of London will be allowed to pass
+    without hindrance.
+
+    (9) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST, with as little delay as
+    possible, provide accommodation for the German troops in private
+    dwellings, in fire-stations, barracks, hotels, and houses that
+    are still habitable.
+
+    =VON KRONHELM,
+    Commander-in-Chief.=
+
+    GERMAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS,
+    WHITEHALL, LONDON, _September_ 21, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: VON KRONHELM'S PROCLAMATION TO THE
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.]
+
+
+The German Field Marshal sat alone and reflected. Had he been aware of
+the true state of affairs he would certainly have had considerable cause
+for alarm. True, though Lord Byfield had made such a magnificent stand,
+considering the weakness of the force at his disposal, and London was
+occupied, yet England was not conquered.
+
+No news had leaked out from Bristol. Indeed, Parliament had taken every
+precaution that its deliberations were in secret.
+
+The truth, however, may be briefly related. On the previous day the
+House had met at noon in the Colston Hall--a memorable sitting, indeed.
+The Secretary of State for War had, after prayers, risen in the hall and
+read an official despatch he had just received from Lord Byfield, giving
+the news of the last stand made by the British north of Enfield, and the
+utter hopelessness of the situation. It was received by the assembled
+House in ominous silence.
+
+During the past week through that great hall the Minister's deep voice,
+shaken by emotion, had been daily heard as he was compelled to report
+defeat after defeat of the British arms. Both sides of the House had,
+after the first few days, been forced to recognise Germany's superiority
+in numbers, in training, in organisation--in fact in everything
+appertaining to military power. Von Kronhelm's strategy had been
+perfect. He knew more of Eastern England than the British Commander
+himself, and his marvellous system of spies and advance agents--Germans
+who had lived for years in England--had assisted him forward, until he
+had now occupied London, the city declared to be impregnable.
+
+Through the whole of September 20 the Minister constantly received
+despatches from the British Field Marshal and from London itself, yet
+each telegram communicated to the House seemed more hopeless than its
+predecessor.
+
+The debate, however, proceeded through the afternoon. The Opposition
+were bitterly attacking the Government and the Blue Water School for its
+gross negligence in the past, and demanding to know the whereabouts of
+the remnant of the British Navy. The First Lord of the Admiralty flatly
+refused to make any statement. The whereabouts of our Navy at that
+moment was, he said, a secret, which must, at all hazards, be withheld
+from our enemy. The Admiralty were not asleep, as the country believed,
+but were fully alive to the seriousness of the crisis. He urged the
+House to remain patient, saying that as soon as he dared he would make a
+statement.
+
+This was greeted by loud jeers from the Opposition, from whose benches,
+members, one after another, rose, and, using hard epithets, blamed the
+Government for the terrible disaster. The cutting down of our defences,
+the meagre naval programmes, the discouragement of the Volunteers and of
+recruiting, and the disregard of Lord Roberts' scheme in 1906 for
+universal military training were, they declared, responsible for what
+had occurred. The Government had been culpably negligent, and Mr.
+Haldane's scheme had been all insufficient. Indeed, it had been nothing
+short of criminal to mislead the Empire into a false sense of security
+which did not exist.
+
+For the past three years Germany, while sapping our industries, had sent
+spies into our midst, and laughed at us for our foolish insular
+superiority. She had turned her attention from France to ourselves,
+notwithstanding the _entente cordiale_. She remembered how the
+much-talked-of Franco-Russian alliance had fallen to pieces, and relied
+upon a similar outcome of the friendship between France and Great
+Britain.
+
+The aspect of the House, too, was strange; the Speaker in his robes
+looked out of place in his big uncomfortable chair, and members sat on
+cane-bottomed chairs instead of their comfortable benches at
+Westminster. As far as possible the usual arrangement of the House was
+adhered to, except that the Press were now excluded, official reports
+being furnished to them at midnight.
+
+The clerks' table was a large plain one of stained wood, but upon it was
+the usual array of despatches, while the Serjeant-at-Arms, in his
+picturesque dress, was still one of the most prominent figures. The lack
+of committee rooms, of an adequate lobby, and of a refreshment
+department caused much inconvenience, though a temporary post and
+telegraph office had been established within the building, and a
+separate line connected the Prime Minister's room with Downing Street.
+
+If the Government were denounced in unmeasured terms, its defence was
+equally vigorous. Thus, through that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon the
+sitting continued past the dinner hour on to late in the evening.
+
+Time after time the despatches from London were placed in the hands of
+the War Minister, but, contrary to the expectation of the House, he
+vouchsafed no further statement. It was noticed that just before ten
+o'clock he consulted in an earnest undertone with the Prime Minister,
+the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Home Secretary, and that a
+quarter of an hour later all four went out and were closeted in one of
+the smaller rooms with other members of the Cabinet for nearly half an
+hour.
+
+Then the Secretary of State for War re-entered the House and resumed his
+seat in silence.
+
+A few minutes afterwards Mr. Thomas Askern, member of one of the
+Metropolitan boroughs, and a well-known newspaper proprietor, who had
+himself received several private despatches, rose and received leave to
+put a question to the War Minister.
+
+"I would like to ask the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for
+War," he said, "whether it is not a fact that soon after noon to-day the
+enemy, having moved his heavy artillery to certain positions commanding
+North London, and finding the capital strongly barricaded, proceeded to
+bombard it? Whether that bombardment, according to the latest
+despatches, is not still continuing at this moment; whether it is not a
+fact that enormous damage has already been done to many of the principal
+buildings of the metropolis, including the Government Offices at
+Whitehall, and whether great loss of life has not been occasioned?"
+
+The question produced the utmost sensation. The House during the whole
+afternoon had been in breathless anxiety as to what was actually
+happening in London; but the Government held the telegraphs and
+telephone, and the only private despatches that had come to Bristol were
+the two received by some roundabout route known only to the ingenious
+journalists who had despatched them. Indeed, the despatches had been
+conveyed the greater portion of the way by motor-car.
+
+A complete silence fell. Every face was turned towards the War
+Minister, who, seated with outstretched legs, was holding a fresh
+despatch he had just received.
+
+He rose, and, in his deep bass voice, said:--
+
+"In reply to the honourable member for South-East Brixton, the statement
+he makes appears, from information which has just reached me, to be
+correct. The Germans are, unfortunately, bombarding London. Von
+Kronhelm, it is reported, is at Hampstead, and the zone of the enemy's
+artillery reaches, in some cases, as far south as the Thames itself. It
+is true, as the honourable member asserts, an enormous amount of damage
+has already been done to various buildings, and there has undoubtedly
+been great loss of life. My latest information is that the non-combatant
+inhabitants--old persons, women, and children--are in flight across the
+Thames, and that the barricades in the principal roads leading in from
+the north are held strongly by the armed populace, driven back into
+London."
+
+He sat down without further word.
+
+A tall, thin, white-moustached man rose at that moment from the
+Opposition side of the House. Colonel Farquhar, late of the Royal
+Marines, was a well-known military critic, and represented West Bude.
+
+"And this," he said, "is the only hope of England! The defence of London
+by an armed mob, pitted against the most perfectly equipped and armed
+force in the world! Londoners are patriotic, I grant. They will die
+fighting for their homes, as every Englishman will when the moment
+comes; yet, what can we hope, when patriotism is ranged against modern
+military science? There surely is patriotism in the savage negro races
+of Central Africa, a love of country perhaps as deep as in the white
+man's heart; yet a little strategy, a few Maxims, and all defence is
+quickly at an end. And so it must inevitably be with London. I contend,
+Mr. Speaker," he went on, "that by the ill-advised action of the
+Government from the first hour of their coming into power, we now find
+ourselves conquered. It only remains for them now to make terms of peace
+as honourable to themselves as the unfortunate circumstances will admit.
+Let the country itself judge their actions in the light of events of
+to-day, and let the blood of the poor murdered women and children of
+London be upon their heads. (Shame.) To resist further is useless. Our
+military organisation is in chaos, our miserably weak army is defeated
+and in flight. I declare to this House that we should sue at this very
+moment for peace--a dishonourable peace though it be; but the bitter
+truth is too plain--England is conquered!"
+
+As he sat down amid the "hear, hears," and the loud applause of the
+Opposition there rose a keen-faced, dark-haired, clean-shaven man of
+thirty-seven or so. He was Gerald Graham, younger son of an aristocratic
+house, the Yorkshire Grahams, who sat for North-East Rutland. He was a
+man of brilliant attainments at Oxford, a splendid orator, a
+distinguished writer and traveller, whose keen brown eye, lithe upright
+figure, quick activity, and smart appearance, rendered him a born leader
+of men. For the past five years he had been marked out as a "coming
+man."
+
+As a soldier he had seen hard service in the Boer War, being mentioned
+twice in despatches; as an explorer he had led a party through the heart
+of the Congo and fought his way back to civilisation through an
+unexplored land with valiant bravery that had saved the lives of his
+companions. He was a man who never sought notoriety. He hated to be
+lionised in society, refused the shoals of cards of invitation which
+poured in upon him, and stuck to his Parliamentary duties, and keeping
+faith with his constituents to the very letter.
+
+As he stood up silent for a moment, gazing around him fearlessly, he
+presented a striking figure and in his navy serge suit he possessed the
+unmistakable cut of the smart, well-groomed Englishman who was also a
+man of note.
+
+The House always listened to him, for he never spoke without he had
+something of importance to say. And the instant he was up a silence
+fell.
+
+"Mr. Speaker," he said, in a clear, ringing voice, "I entirely disagree
+with my honourable friend the member for West Bude. England is not
+conquered! She is not beaten!"
+
+The great hall rang with loud and vociferous cheers.
+
+"London may be invested and bombarded. She may even be sacked, but
+Englishmen will still fight for their homes and fight valiantly. If we
+have a demand for indemnity let us refuse to pay it. Let us
+civilians--let the civilians in every corner of England--arm themselves
+and unite to drive out the invader! (Loud cheers.) I contend, Mr.
+Speaker, that there are millions of able-bodied men in this country
+who, if properly organised, will be able to gradually exterminate the
+enemy. Organisation is all that is required. Our vast population will
+rise against the Germans, and before the tide of popular indignation and
+desperate resistance the power of the invader must soon be swept away.
+Do not let us sit calmly here in security, and acknowledge that we are
+beaten. Remember, we have at this moment to uphold the ancient tradition
+of the British race, the honour of our forefathers, who have never been
+conquered. Shall we acknowledge ourselves conquered in this the
+twentieth century?"
+
+"No!" rose from hundreds of voices, for the House was now carried away
+by young Graham's enthusiasm.
+
+"Then let us organise!" he urged. "Let us fight on. Let every man who
+can use a sword or gun come forward, and we will commence hostilities
+against the Kaiser's forces that shall either result in their total
+extermination or in the power of England being extinguished. Englishmen
+will die hard. I myself will, with the consent of this House, head the
+movement, for I know that in the country we have millions who will
+follow me and will be equally ready to die for our country if necessary.
+Let us withdraw this statement that we are conquered. The real, earnest
+fight is now to commence," he shouted, his voice ringing clearly through
+the hall. "Let us bear our part, each one of us. If we organise and
+unite, we shall drive the Kaiser's hordes into the sea. They shall sue
+us for peace, and be made to pay us an indemnity, instead of us paying
+one to them. I will lead!" he shouted; "who will follow me?"
+
+In London the Lord Mayor's patriotic proclamations were now obliterated
+by a huge bill bearing the German Imperial arms, the text of which told
+its own grim tale.
+
+In the meantime the news of the fall of London was being circulated by
+the Germans to every town throughout the kingdom, their despatches being
+embellished by lurid descriptions of the appalling losses inflicted upon
+the English. In Manchester, a great poster, headed by the German
+Imperial arms, was posted up on the Town Hall, the exchange, and other
+places, in which Von Kronhelm announced the occupation of London; while
+in Leeds, Bradford, Stockport, and Sheffield similarly worded official
+announcements were also posted. The Press in all towns occupied by the
+Germans had been suppressed, papers only appearing in order to publish
+the enemy's orders. Therefore this official intelligence was circulated
+by proclamation, calculated to impress upon the inhabitants of the
+country how utterly powerless they were.
+
+    NOTICE AND ADVICE.
+
+    TO THE CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    I ADDRESS YOU SERIOUSLY.
+
+    We are neighbours, and in time of peace cordial relations have
+    always existed between us. I therefore address you from my heart
+    in the cause of humanity.
+
+    Germany is at war with England. We have been forced to penetrate
+    into your country.
+
+    But each human life spared, and all property saved, we regard as
+    in the interests of both religion and humanity.
+
+    We are at war, and both sides have fought a loyal fight.
+
+    Our desire is, however, to spare disarmed citizens and the
+    inhabitants of all towns and villages.
+
+    We maintain a severe discipline, and we wish to have it known
+    that punishment of the severest character will be inflicted upon
+    any who are guilty of hostility to the Imperial German arms,
+    either open or in secret.
+
+    To our regret any incitements, cruelties, or brutalities we must
+    judge with equal severity.
+
+    I therefore call upon all local mayors, magistrates, clergy, and
+    schoolmasters to urge upon the populace, and upon the heads of
+    families, to urge upon those under their protection, and upon
+    their domestics, to refrain from committing any act of hostility
+    whatsoever against my soldiers.
+
+    All misery avoided is a good work in the eye of our Sovereign
+    Judge, who sees all men.
+
+    I earnestly urge you to heed this advice, and I trust in you.
+
+    Take notice!
+
+    =VON KRONHELM,
+    Commanding the Imperial German Army.=
+
+    GERMAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS,
+    WHITEHALL, LONDON, _September_ 20, 1910.
+
+
+While Von Kronhelm sat in that large sombre room in the War Office, with
+his telegraph instrument to Potsdam ever ticking, and the wireless
+telegraphy constantly in operation, he wondered, and still wondered, why
+the English made no response to his demands. He was in London. He had
+carried out his Emperor's instructions to the letter, he had received
+the Imperial thanks, and he held all the gold coin he could discover in
+London as security. Yet, without some reply from the British Government,
+his position was an insecure one. Even his thousand and one spies who
+had served him so well ever since he had placed foot upon English soil
+could tell him nothing. The deliberations of the House of Commons at
+Bristol were a secret.
+
+In Bristol the hot, fevered night had given place to a gloriously sunny
+morning with a blue and cloudless sky. Above Leigh Woods the lark rose
+high in the sky, trilling his song, and the bells of Bristol rang out as
+merrily as they ever did, and above the Colston Hall still floated the
+Royal Standard--a sign that the House had not yet adjourned.
+
+While Von Kronhelm held London, Lord Byfield and the remnant of the
+British Army, who had suffered such defeat in Essex and north of London,
+had, four days later, retreated to Chichester and Salisbury, where
+reorganisation was in rapid progress. One division of the defeated
+troops had encamped at Horsham. The survivors of those who had fought
+the battle of Charnwood Forest, and had acted so gallantly in the
+defence of Birmingham, were now encamped on the Malvern Hills, while the
+defenders of Manchester were at Shrewsbury. Speaking roughly, therefore,
+our vanquished troops were massing at four points, in an endeavour to
+make a last attack upon the invader. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord
+Byfield, was near Salisbury, and at any hour he knew that the German
+legions might push westward from London to meet him and to complete the
+_coup_.
+
+The League of Defenders formed by Gerald Graham and his friends was,
+however, working independently. The wealthier classes, who, driven out
+of London, were now living in cottages and tents in various parts of
+Berks, Wilts, and Hants, worked unceasingly on behalf of the League,
+while into Plymouth, Exmouth, Swanage, Bristol, and Southampton more
+than one ship had already managed to enter laden with arms and
+ammunition of all kinds, sent across by the agents of the League in
+France. The cargoes were of a very miscellaneous character, from modern
+Maxims to old-fashioned rifles that had seen service in the war of 1870.
+There were hundreds of modern rifles, sporting guns, revolvers,
+swords--in fact, every weapon imaginable, modern and old-fashioned.
+These were at once taken charge of by the local branches of the League,
+and to those men who presented their tickets of identification the arms
+were served out, and practice conducted in the open fields. Three
+shiploads of rifles were known to have been captured by German warships,
+one off Start Point, another a few miles outside Padstow, and a third
+within sight of the coastguard at Selsey Bill. Two other ships were
+blown up in the Channel by drifting mines. The running of arms across
+from France and Spain was a very risky proceeding; yet the British
+skipper is nothing if not patriotic, and every man who crossed the
+Channel on those dangerous errands took his life in his hand.
+
+Into Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Milford weapons were also coming over
+from Ireland, even though several German cruisers, who had been up to
+Lamlash to cripple the Glasgow trade, had now come south, and were
+believed still to be in the Irish Sea.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON.
+
+
+Preparations were being continued night and day to place the
+working-class districts in Southwark and Lambeth in a state of strong
+defence, and the constant meetings convened in public halls and chapels
+by the newly-formed League of Defenders incited the people to their
+work. Everybody lent a willing hand, rich and poor alike. People who had
+hitherto lived in comfort in Regent's Park, Hampstead, or one or other
+of the better-class northern suburbs, now found themselves herded among
+all sorts and conditions of men and women, and living as best they could
+in those dull, drab streets of Lambeth, Walworth, Battersea, and
+Kennington. It was, indeed, a strange experience for them. In the sudden
+flight from the north, parents had become separated from their children
+and husbands from their wives, so that in many cases haggard and forlorn
+mothers were in frantic search of their little ones, fearing that they
+might have already died of starvation or been trampled underfoot by the
+panic-stricken multitudes. The dense population of South London had
+already been trebled. They were penned in by the barricades in many
+instances, for each district seemed to be now placing itself in a state
+of defence, independent of any other.
+
+[Illustration:
+THE DEFENCES OF
+SOUTH LONDON
+on Sept 26^{th}
+]
+
+Kennington, for instance, was practically surrounded by barricades, tons
+upon tons of earth being dug from the "Oval" and the "Park." Besides the
+barricades in Harleyford Road and Kennington Lane, all the streets
+converging on the "Oval" were blocked up, a huge defence arm just being
+completed across the junction of Kennington and Kennington Park Roads,
+and all the streets running into the latter thoroughfare from that
+point to the big obstruction at the "Elephant" were blocked by
+paving-stones, bags of sand, barrels of cement, bricks, and such-like
+odds and ends impervious to bullets. In addition to this, there was a
+double fortification in Lambeth Road--a veritable redoubt--as well as
+the barricade at Lambeth Bridge, while all the roads leading from
+Kennington into the Lambeth Road, such as St. George's Road, Kennington
+Road, High Street, and the rest, had been rendered impassable and the
+neighbouring houses placed in a state of defence. Thus the whole
+district of Kennington became therefore a fortress in itself.
+
+This was only a typical instance of the scientific methods of defence
+now resorted to. Mistakes made in North London were not now repeated.
+Day and night every able-bodied man, and woman too, worked on with
+increasing zeal and patriotism. The defences in Haverstock Hill,
+Holloway Road, and Edgware Road, which had been composed of overturned
+tramcars, motor 'buses, household furniture, etc., had been riddled by
+the enemy's bullets. The lesson had been heeded, and now earth, sand,
+tiles, paving-stones, and bricks were used.
+
+From nearly all the principal thoroughfares south of the river the
+paving-stones were being rapidly torn up by great gangs of men, and
+whenever the artillery brought up a fresh Maxim or field-gun the wildest
+demonstrations were made. The clergy held special services in churches
+and chapels, and prayer meetings for the emancipation of London were
+held twice daily in the Metropolitan Tabernacle at Newington. In
+Kennington Park, Camberwell Green, the Oval, Vauxhall Park, Lambeth
+Palace Gardens, Camberwell Park, Peckham Rye and Southwark Park a
+division of Lord Byfield's army was encamped. They held the Waterloo
+terminus of the South-Western Railway strongly, the Chatham Railway from
+the Borough Road Station--now the terminus--the South-Eastern from
+Bricklayers' Arms, which had been converted into another terminus, as
+well as the Brighton line, at Battersea Park and York Road.
+
+The lines destroyed by the enemy's spies in the early moments of the
+invasion had long ago been repaired, and up to the present railway and
+telegraphic communication south and west remained uninterrupted. The
+"Daily Telegraph" had managed to transfer some of its staff to the
+offices of a certain printer's in Southwark, and there, under
+difficulties, published several editions daily despite the German
+censorship. While northern London was without any news except that
+supplied from German sources, South London was still open to the world,
+the cables from the south coast being, as yet, in the hands of the
+British, and the telegraphs intact to Bristol and to all places in the
+West.
+
+Thus, during those stifling and exciting days following the occupation,
+while London was preparing for its great uprising, the "South London
+Mirror," though a queer, unusual-looking sheet, still continued to
+appear, and was read with avidity by the gallant men at the barricades.
+
+Contrary to expectation, Von Kronhelm was leaving South London severely
+alone. He was, no doubt, wise. Full well he knew that his men, once
+within those narrow, tortuous streets beyond the river, would have no
+opportunity to manoeuvre, and would, as in the case of the assault of
+Waterloo Bridge, be slaughtered to a man. His spies reported that each
+hour that passed rendered the populace the stronger, yet he did nothing,
+devoting his whole time, energy, and attention to matters in that half
+of London he was now occupying.
+
+Everywhere the walls of South London were placarded with manifestoes of
+the League of Defenders. Day after day fresh posters appeared, urging
+patience and courage, and reporting upon the progress of the League. The
+name of Graham was now upon every one's lips. He had, it seemed, arisen
+as saviour of our beloved country. Every word of his inspired
+enthusiasm, and this was well illustrated at the mass meeting on Peckham
+Rye, when, beneath the huge flag of St. George, the white banner with
+the red cross--the ancient standard of England--which the League had
+adopted as theirs, he made a brilliant and impassioned appeal to every
+Londoner and every Englishman.
+
+Report had it that the Germans had set a price upon his head, and that
+he was pursued everywhere by German spies--mercenaries who would kill
+him in secret if they could. Therefore he was compelled to go about with
+an armed police guard, who arrested any suspected person in his
+vicinity. The Government, who had at first laughed Graham's enthusiasm
+to scorn, now believed in him. Even Lord Byfield, after a long council,
+declared that his efforts to inspire enthusiasm had been amazingly
+successful, and it was now well known that the "Defenders" and the Army
+had agreed to act in unison towards one common end--the emancipation of
+England from the German thraldom.
+
+Some men of the Osnabrück Regiment, holding Canning Town and Limehouse,
+managed one night, by strategy, to force their way through the Blackwall
+Tunnel and break down its defences on the Surrey side in an attempt to
+blow up the South Metropolitan Gas Works.
+
+The men holding the tunnel were completely overwhelmed by the number
+that pressed on, and were compelled to fall back, twenty of their number
+being killed. The assault was a victorious one, and it was seen that the
+enemy were pouring out, when, of a sudden, there was a dull, heavy roar,
+followed by wild shouts and terrified screams, as there rose from the
+centre of the river a great column of water, and next instant the tunnel
+was flooded, hundreds of the enemy being drowned like rats in a hole.
+
+The men of the Royal Engineers had, on the very day previous, made
+preparations for destroying the tunnel if necessary, and had done so ere
+the Germans were aware of their intention. The exact loss of life is
+unknown, but it is estimated that over 400 men must have perished in
+that single instant, while those who had made the sudden dash towards
+the Gas Works were all taken prisoners, and their explosives
+confiscated.
+
+The evident intention of the enemy being thus seen, General Sir Francis
+Bamford, from his headquarters at the Crystal Palace, gave orders for
+the tunnels at Rotherhithe and that across Greenwich Reach, as well as
+the several "tube" tunnels and subways, to be destroyed, a work which
+was executed without delay, and was witnessed by thousands, who watched
+for the great disturbances and upheavals in the bed of the river.
+
+In the Old Kent Road the bridge over the canal, as well as the bridges
+in Wells Street, Sumner Road, Glengall Road, and Canterbury Road, were
+all prepared for demolition in case of necessity, the canal from the
+Camberwell Road to the Surrey Dock forming a moat behind which the
+defenders might, if necessary, retire. Clapham Common and Brockwell Park
+were covered with tents, for General Bamford's force, consisting mostly
+of auxiliaries, were daily awaiting reinforcements.
+
+Lord Byfield, now at Windsor, was in constant communication by wireless
+telegraphy with the London headquarters at the Crystal Palace, as well
+as with Hibbard on the Malvern Hills and Woolmer at Shrewsbury. To
+General Bamford at Sydenham came constant news of the rapid spread of
+the national movement of defiance, and Lord Byfield, as was afterwards
+known, urged the London commander to remain patient, and invite no
+attack until the League were strong enough to act on the offensive.
+
+Affairs of outpost were, of course, constantly recurring along the river
+bank between Windsor and Egham, and the British Free-shooters and
+Frontiersmen were ever harassing the Saxons.
+
+Very soon Von Kronhelm became aware of Lord Byfield's intentions, but
+his weakness was apparent when he made no counter-move. The fact was
+that the various great cities he now held required all his attention and
+all his troops. From Manchester, from Birmingham, from Leeds, Bradford,
+Sheffield, and Hull came similar replies. Any withdrawal of troops from
+either city would be the signal for a general rising of the inhabitants.
+Therefore, having gained possession, he could only now sit tight and
+watch.
+
+From all over Middlesex, and more especially from the London area, came
+sensational reports of the drastic measures adopted by the Germans to
+repress any sign of revolt. In secret, the agents of the League of
+Defenders were at work, going from house to house, enrolling men,
+arranging for secret meeting-places, and explaining in confidence the
+programme as put forward by the Bristol committee. Now and then,
+however, these agents were betrayed, and their betrayal was in every
+case followed by a court-martial at Bow Street, death outside in the
+yard of the police station, and the publication in the papers of their
+names, their offence, and the hour of the execution.
+
+Yet, undaunted and defiantly, the giant organisation grew as no other
+society had ever grown, and its agents and members quickly developed
+into fearless patriots. It being reported that the Saxons were facing
+Lord Byfield with the Thames between them, the people of West London
+began in frantic haste to construct barricades. The building of
+obstructions had, indeed, now become a mania north of the river as well
+as south. The people, fearing that there was to be more fighting in the
+streets of London, began to build huge defences all across West London.
+The chief were across King Street, Hammersmith, where it joins Goldhawk
+Road, across the junction of Goldhawk and Uxbridge Roads, in the Harrow
+Road where it joins Admiral Road, and Willesden Lane, close to the
+Paddington Cemetery, and the Latimer Road opposite St. Quintin Park
+Station. All the side streets leading into the Goldhawk Road, Latimer
+Road, and Ladbroke Grove Road were also blocked up, and hundreds of
+houses placed in a state of strong defence.
+
+With all this Von Kronhelm did not interfere. The building of such
+obstructions acted as a safety-valve to the excited populace, therefore
+he rather encouraged than discountenanced it. The barricades might, he
+thought, be of service to his army if Lord Byfield really risked an
+attack upon London from that direction.
+
+Crafty and cunning though he was, he was entirely unaware that those
+barricades were being constructed at the secret orders of the League of
+Defenders, and he never dreamed that they had actually been instigated
+by the British Commander-in-Chief himself.
+
+Thus the Day of Reckoning hourly approached, and London, though crushed
+and starving, waited in patient vigilance.
+
+At Enfield Chase was a great camp of British prisoners in the hands of
+the Germans, amounting to several thousands. Contrary to report, both
+officers and men were fairly well treated by the Germans, though with
+his limited supplies Von Kronhelm was already beginning to contemplate
+releasing them. Many of the higher-grade officers who had fallen into
+the hands of the enemy, together with the Lord Mayor of London, the
+Mayors of Hull, Goole, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich, and the Lord Mayors of
+Manchester and Birmingham, had been sent across to Germany, where,
+according to their own reports, they were being detained in Hamburg and
+treated with every consideration. Nevertheless, all this greatly
+incensed Englishmen. Lord Byfield, with Hibbard and Woolmer, was leaving
+no stone unturned in order to reform our shattered Army, and again
+oppose the invaders. All three gallant officers had been to Bristol,
+where they held long consultation with the members of the Cabinet, with
+the result that the Government still refused to entertain any idea of
+paying the indemnity. The Admiralty were confident now that the command
+of the sea had been regained, and in Parliament itself a little
+confidence was also restored.
+
+Yet we had to face the hard facts that nearly two hundred thousand
+Germans were upon British soil, and that London was held by them.
+Already parties of German commissioners had visited the National
+Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the Tate Gallery, and the British and
+South Kensington Museums, deciding upon and placing aside certain art
+treasures and priceless antiques ready for shipment to Germany. The
+Raphaels, the Titians, the Rubenses, the Fra Angelicos, the Velasquezes,
+the Elgin Marbles, the best of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Roman
+antiques, the Rosetta Stone, the early Biblical and classical
+manuscripts, the historic charters of England, and such-like treasures
+which could never be replaced, were all catalogued and prepared for
+removal. The people of London knew this; for though there had been no
+newspapers, information ran rapidly from mouth to mouth. German sentries
+guarded our world-famous collections, which were now indeed entirely in
+the enemy's hands, and which the Kaiser intended should enrich the
+German galleries and museums.
+
+One vessel flying the British flag had left the Thames laden with spoil,
+in an endeavour to reach Hamburg, but off Harwich she had been sighted
+and overhauled by a British cruiser, with the result that she had been
+steered to Dover. Therefore our cruisers and destroyers, having thus
+obtained knowledge of the enemy's intentions, were keeping a sharp
+lookout about the coast for any vessels attempting to leave for German
+ports.
+
+Accounts of fierce engagements in the Channel between British and German
+ships went the rounds, but all were vague and unconvincing. The only
+solid facts were that the Germans held the great cities of England, and
+that the millions of Great Britain were slowly but surely preparing to
+rise in an attempt to burst asunder the fetters that now held them.
+
+Government, Army, Navy, and Parliament had all proved rotten reeds. It
+was now every man for himself--to free himself and his loved ones--or to
+die in the attempt.
+
+Through the south and west of England Graham's clear, manly voice was
+raised everywhere, and the whole population were now fast assembling
+beneath the banner of the Defenders, in readiness to bear their part in
+the most bloody and desperate encounter of the whole war.
+
+The swift and secret death being meted out to the German sentries--or,
+in fact, to any German caught alone in a side street--having been
+reported to Von Kronhelm, he issued another of his now famous
+proclamations, which was posted upon half the hoardings in London; but
+the populace at once amused themselves by tearing it down wherever it
+was discovered. Von Kronhelm was the arch-enemy of London, and it is
+believed that there were at that moment no fewer than five separate
+conspiracies to encompass his death. Londoners detested the Germans, but
+with a hatred twenty times the more intense did they regard those men
+who, having engaged in commercial pursuits in England, had joined the
+colours and were now acting as spies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+REVOLTS IN SHOREDITCH AND ISLINGTON.
+
+
+On the night of September 27, a very serious conflict, entailing much
+loss of life on both the London civilian and German side, occurred at
+the point where Kingsland Road joins Old Street, Hackney Road, and High
+Street. Across both Hackney and Kingsland Roads the barricades built
+before the bombardment still remained in a half-ruined state, any
+attempt at clearing them away being repulsed by the angry inhabitants.
+Dalston, Kingsland, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch were notably
+antagonistic to the invaders, and several sharp encounters had taken
+place. Indeed, those districts were discovered by the enemy to be very
+unsafe.
+
+The conflict in question, however, commenced at the corner of Old Street
+at about 9.30 in the evening, by three German tailors from Cambridge
+Road being insulted by two men, English labourers. The tailors appealed
+in German to four Westphalian infantrymen who chanced to be passing, and
+who subsequently fired and killed one of the Englishmen. This was the
+signal for a local uprising. The alarm given, hundreds of men and women
+rushed from their houses, many of them armed with rifles and knives,
+and, taking cover behind the ruined barricades, opened fire upon a body
+of fifty Germans, who very quickly ran up. The fire was returned, when
+from the neighbouring houses a perfect hail of lead was suddenly rained
+upon the Germans, who were then forced to retire down High Street
+towards Liverpool Street Station, leaving many dead.
+
+Very quickly news was sent over the telephone, which the Germans had now
+established in many quarters of London, and large reinforcements were
+soon upon the scene. The men of Shoreditch had, however, obtained two
+Maxim guns, which had been secreted ever since the entry of the Germans
+into the Metropolis, and as the enemy endeavoured to storm their
+position they swept the street with a deadly fire. Quickly the situation
+became desperate, but the fight lasted over an hour. The sound of firing
+brought hundreds upon hundreds of Londoners upon the scene. All these
+took arms against the Germans, who, after many fruitless attempts to
+storm the defences, and being fired upon from every side, were compelled
+to fall back again.
+
+They were followed along High Street into Bethnal Green Road, up Great
+Eastern Street into Hoxton Square and Pitfield Street, and there cut up,
+being given no quarter at the hands of the furious populace. In those
+narrow thoroughfares they were powerless, and were therefore simply
+exterminated.
+
+The victory for the men of Shoreditch was complete, over three hundred
+and fifty Germans being killed, while our losses were only about fifty.
+
+The conflict was at once reported to Von Kronhelm, and the very fact
+that he did not send exemplary punishment into that quarter was
+sufficient to show that he feared to arouse further the hornets' nest in
+which he was living, and more especially that portion of the populace
+north of the City.
+
+News of the attack, quickly spreading, inspired courage in every other
+part of the oppressed Metropolis.
+
+The successful uprising against the Germans in Shoreditch incited
+Londoners to rebel, and in various other parts of the Metropolis there
+occurred outbreaks.
+
+Von Kronhelm had found to his cost that London was not to be so easily
+cowed after all. The size and population of the Metropolis had not been
+sufficiently calculated upon. It was as a country in itself, while the
+intricacies of its by-ways formed a refuge for the conspirators, who
+were gradually completing their preparations to rise _en masse_ and
+strike down the Germans wherever found. In the open country his great
+army could march, manoeuvre, and use strategy, but here in the maze of
+narrow London streets it was impossible to know in one thoroughfare what
+was taking place in the next.
+
+Supplies, too, were now running very short. The distress among our
+vanquished populace was most severe; while Von Kronhelm's own army was
+put on meagre rations. The increasing price of food and consequent
+starvation had not served to improve the relations between the invaders
+and the citizens of London, who, though they were assured by various
+proclamations that they would be happier and more prosperous under
+German rule, now discovered that they were being slowly starved to
+death.
+
+Their only hope, therefore, was in the efforts of that now gigantic
+organisation, the League of Defenders.
+
+A revolt occurred in Pentonville Road, opposite King's Cross Underground
+Station, which ended in a fierce and terrible fray. A company of the
+Bremen Infantry Regiment No. 75, belonging to the IXth Corps, were
+marching from the City Road towards Regent's Park, when several shots
+were fired at them from windows of shops almost opposite the station.
+Five Germans fell dead, including one lieutenant, a very gorgeous person
+who wore a monocle. Another volley rang out before the infantrymen could
+realise what was happening, and then it was seen that the half-ruined
+shops had been placed in such a state of defence as to constitute a
+veritable fortress.
+
+The fire was returned, but a few moments later a Maxim spat its deadly
+fire from a small hole in a wall, and a couple of dozen of the enemy
+fell upon the granite setts of the thoroughfare. The rattle of musketry
+quickly brought forth the whole of that populous neighbourhood--or all,
+indeed, that remained of them--the working-class district between
+Pentonville Road and Copenhagen Street.
+
+Quickly the fight became general. The men of Bremen endeavoured to take
+the place by assault, but found that it was impossible. The strength of
+the defences was amazing, and showed only too plainly that Londoners
+were in secret preparing for the great uprising that was being planned.
+In such a position were the houses held by the Londoners, that their
+fire commanded both the Pentonville and King's Cross Roads; but very
+soon the Germans were reinforced by another company of the same
+regiment, and these being attacked in the rear from Rodney Street,
+Cumming Street, Weston Street, York Street, Winchester Street, and other
+narrow turnings leading into the Pentonville Road, the fighting quickly
+became general.
+
+The populace came forth in swarms, men and women, armed with any weapon
+or article upon which they could lay their hands, and all fired with the
+same desire.
+
+Hundreds of men who came forth were armed with rifles which had been
+carefully secreted on the entry of the enemy into the Metropolis. The
+greater part of those men, indeed, had fought at the barricades in North
+London, and had subsequently taken part in the street fighting as the
+enemy advanced. Some of the arms had come from the League of Defenders,
+smuggled into the Metropolis nobody exactly knew how.
+
+Up and down the King's Cross, Pentonville, and Caledonian Roads the
+crowd swayed and fought. The Germans against that overwhelming mass of
+angry civilians seemed powerless. Small bodies of the troops were
+cornered in the narrow by-streets, and then given no quarter.
+Brave-hearted Londoners, though they knew well what dire punishment they
+must inevitably draw upon themselves, had taken the law into their own
+hands, and were shooting or stabbing every German who fell into their
+hands.
+
+The scene of carnage in that hour of fighting was awful. The "Daily
+Chronicle" described it as one of the most fiercely contested encounters
+in the whole history of the siege. Shoreditch had given courage to
+King's Cross, for, unknown to Von Kronhelm, houses in all quarters were
+being put in a state of defence, their position being carefully chosen
+by those directing the secret operations of the League of Defenders.
+
+For over an hour the houses in question gallantly held out, sweeping the
+streets constantly with their Maxim. Presently, however, on further
+reinforcements arriving, the German colonel directed his men to enter
+the houses opposite. In an instant a door was broken in, and presently
+glass came tumbling down as muzzles of rifles were poked through the
+panes, and soon sharp crackling showed that the Germans had settled
+down to their work.
+
+The defence of the Londoners was most obstinate. In the streets,
+Londoners attacked the enemy with utter disregard for the risks they
+ran. Women, among them many young girls, joined in the fray, armed with
+pistols and knives.
+
+After a while a great body of reinforcements appeared in the Euston
+Road, having been sent hurriedly along from Regent's Park. Then the
+option was given to those occupying the fortified house to surrender,
+the colonel promising to spare their lives. The Londoners peremptorily
+refused. Everywhere the fighting became more desperate and spread all
+through the streets leading out of St. Pancras, York, and Caledonian
+Roads, until the whole of that great neighbourhood became the scene of a
+fierce conflict, in which both sides lost heavily. Right across
+Islington the street fighting spread, and many were the fatal traps set
+for the unwary German who found himself cut off in that maze of narrow
+streets between York Road and the Angel. The enemy, on the other hand,
+were shooting down women and girls as well as the men, even the
+non-combatants--those who came out of their homes to ascertain what was
+going on--being promptly fired at and killed.
+
+In the midst of all this somebody ignited some petrol in a house a few
+doors from the chapel in Pentonville Road, and in a few moments the
+whole row of buildings were blazing furiously, belching forth black
+smoke and adding to the terror and confusion of those exciting moments.
+Even that large body of Germans now upon the scene were experiencing
+great difficulty in defending themselves. A perfect rain of bullets
+seemed directed upon them on every hand, and to-day's experience
+certainly proves that Londoners are patriotic and brave, and in their
+own districts they possess a superiority over the trained troops of the
+Kaiser.
+
+At length, after a most sanguinary struggle, the Londoners' position was
+carried, the houses were entered, and twenty-two brave patriots, mostly
+of the working-class, taken prisoners. The populace now realising that
+the Germans had, after all, overpowered their comrades, in their
+fortress, fell back; but being pursued northward towards the railway
+line between Highbury and Barnsbury stations, many of them were
+despatched on the spot.
+
+What followed was indeed terrible. The anger of the Germans now became
+uncontrollable. Having in view Von Kronhelm's proclamation--which
+sentenced to death all who, not being in uniform, fired upon German
+troops--they decided to teach the unfortunate populace a lesson. As a
+matter of fact, they feared that such revolts might be repeated in other
+quarters.
+
+So they seized dozens of prisoners, men and women, and shot them down.
+Many of these summary executions took place against the wall of the St.
+Pancras Station at the corner of Euston Road. Men and women were
+pitilessly sent to death. Wives, daughters, fathers, sons were ranged up
+against that wall, and, at signal from the colonel, fell forward with
+bullets through them.
+
+Of the men who so gallantly held the fortified house not a single one
+escaped. Strings of men and women were hurried to their doom in one day,
+for the troops were savage with the lust of blood, and Von Kronhelm,
+though he was aware of it by telephone, lifted not a finger to stop
+those arbitrary executions.
+
+But enough of such details. Suffice it to say that the stones of
+Islington were stained with the blood of innocent Londoners, and that
+those who survived took a fierce vow of vengeance. Von Kronhelm's
+legions had the upper hand for the moment, yet the conflict and its
+bloody sequel had the effect of arousing the fiercest anger within the
+heart of every Briton in the metropolis.
+
+What was in store for us none could tell. We were conquered, oppressed,
+starved; yet hope was still within us. The League of Defenders were not
+idle, while South London was hourly completing her strength.
+
+It seems that after quelling the revolt at King's Cross wholesale
+arrests were made in Islington. The guilt or innocence of the prisoners
+did not seem to matter. Von Kronhelm dealing out to them summary
+punishment.
+
+Terror reigns in London. One newspaper correspondent--whose account is
+published this morning in South London, having been sent across the
+Thames by carrier pigeon, many of which were now being employed by the
+newspapers--had an opportunity of witnessing the wholesale executions
+which took place yesterday afternoon outside Dorchester House, where Von
+Kleppen has established his quarters. Von Kleppen seems to be the most
+pitiless of the superior officers. The prisoners, ranged up for
+inspection in front of the big mansion, were mostly men from Islington,
+all of whom knew only too well the fate in store for them. Walking
+slowly along and eyeing the ranks of these unfortunate wretches, the
+German General stopped here and there, tapping a man on the shoulder or
+beckoning him out of the rear ranks. In most cases, without further
+word, the individual thus selected was marched into the Park at Stanhope
+Gate, where a small supplementary column was soon formed.
+
+    LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS
+
+    DAILY BULLETIN
+
+    The League of Defenders of the British Empire publicly announce
+    to Englishmen, although the North of London is held by the
+    enemy:
+
+    (1) That England will soon entirely regain command of the sea,
+    and that a rigorous blockade of the German ports will be
+    established.
+
+    (2) That three of the vessels of the North German Lloyd
+    Transatlantic passenger service have been captured, together
+    with a number of minor German ships in the Channel and
+    Mediterranean.
+
+    (3) That four German cruisers and two destroyers have fallen
+    into the hands of the British.
+
+    (4) That
+
+    ENGLAND'S MILLIONS ARE READY
+    TO RISE!
+    Therefore
+    WE ARE NOT YET BEATEN!
+    BE PREPARED, AND WAIT.
+
+    League of Defenders.
+
+    Central Office: Bristol.
+
+    [Illustration: COPY OF THE "DAILY BULLETIN" OF THE
+    LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.]
+
+Those chosen knew that their last hour had come. Some clasped their
+hands and fell upon their knees, imploring pity, while others remained
+silent and stubborn patriots. One man, his face covered with blood and
+his arm broken, sat down and howled in anguish, and others wept in
+silence. Some women--wives and daughters of the condemned men--tried to
+get within the Park to bid them adieu and to urge courage, but the
+soldiers beat them back with their rifles. Some of the men laughed
+defiantly, others met death with a stony stare. The eye-witness saw the
+newly-dug pit that served as common grave, and he stood by and saw them
+shot and their corpses afterwards flung into it.
+
+One young fair-haired woman, condemned by Von Kleppen, rushed forward to
+that officer, threw herself upon her knees, imploring mercy, and
+protested her innocence wildly. But the officer, callous and pitiless,
+simply motioned to a couple of soldiers to take her within the Park,
+where she shared the same fate as the men.
+
+How long will this awful state of affairs last? We must die, or conquer.
+London is in the hands of a legion of assassins--Bavarians, Saxons,
+Würtembergers, Hessians, Badeners--all now bent upon prolonging the
+reign of terror, and thus preventing the uprising that they know is,
+sooner or later, inevitable.
+
+Terrible accounts are reaching us of how the Germans are treating their
+prisoners on Hounslow Heath, at Enfield, and other places; of the awful
+sufferings of the poor unfortunate fellows, of hunger, of thirst, and of
+inhuman disregard for either their comfort or their lives.
+
+At present we are powerless, hemmed in by our barricades. Behind us,
+upon Sydenham Hill, General Bamford is in a strong position, and his
+great batteries are already defending any attack upon London from the
+south. From the terrace in front of the Crystal Palace his guns can
+sweep the whole range of southern suburbs. Through Dulwich, Herne Hill,
+Champion Hill, and Denmark Hill are riding British cavalry, all of whom
+show evident traces of the hard and fierce campaign. We see from
+Sydenham constant messages being heliographed, for General Bamford and
+Lord Byfield are in hourly communication by wireless telegraphy or by
+other means.
+
+What is transpiring at Windsor is not known, save that every night there
+are affairs of outposts with the Saxons, who on several occasions have
+attempted to cross the river by pontoons, and have on each occasion been
+driven back.
+
+It was reported to Parliament at its sitting at Bristol yesterday that
+the Cabinet had refused to entertain any idea of paying the indemnity
+demanded by Germany, and that their reply to Von Kronhelm is one of open
+defiance. The brief summary of the speeches published shows that the
+Government are hopeful, notwithstanding the present black outlook. They
+believe that when the hour comes for the revenge, London will rise as a
+man, and that Socialists, Nonconformists, Labour agitators, Anarchists,
+and demagogues will unite with us in one great national patriotic effort
+to exterminate our conquerors as we would exterminate vermin.
+
+Mr. Gerald Graham has made another great speech in the House, in which
+he reported the progress of the League of Defenders and its wide-spread
+ramifications. He told the Government that there were over seven
+millions of able-bodied men in the country ready to revolt the instant
+the word went forth. That there would be terrible bloodshed he warned
+them, but that the British would eventually prove the victors he was
+assured. He gave no details of the organisation, for to a great measure
+it was a secret one, and Von Kronhelm was already taking active steps to
+combat its intentions; but he declared that there was still a strong
+spirit of patriotism in the country, and explained how sturdy Scots were
+daily making their way south, and how men from Wales were already
+massing in Oxford.
+
+The speech was received on both sides of the House with ringing cheers
+when, in conclusion, he promised them that, within a few days, the fiat
+would go forth, and the enemy would find himself crushed and powerless.
+
+"South London," he declared, "is our stronghold, our fortress. To-day it
+is impregnable, defended by a million British patriots, and I defy Von
+Kronhelm--indeed, I dare him to attack it!"
+
+Von Kronhelm was, of course, well aware of the formation of the
+Defenders, but treated the League with contempt. If there was any
+attempt at a rising, he would shoot down the people like dogs. He
+declared this openly and publicly, and he also issued a warning to the
+English people in the German official "Gazette," a daily periodical
+printed in one of the newspaper offices in Fleet Street in both German
+and English.
+
+The German commander fully believed that England was crushed; yet, as
+the days went on, he was puzzled that he received no response to his
+demand for indemnity. Twice he had sent special despatch-bearers to
+Bristol, but on both occasions the result was the same.
+
+Diplomatic representations had been made in Berlin through the Russian
+Ambassador, who was now in charge of British interests in Germany, but
+all to no purpose. Our Foreign Minister simply acknowledged receipt of
+the various despatches. On the Continent the keenest interest was
+manifested at what was apparently a deadlock. The British had, it was
+known, regained command of the sea. Von Kronhelm's supplies were already
+cut off. The cables in direct communication between England and Germany
+had been severed, and the Continental Press, especially the Paris
+journals, gleefully recounted how two large Hamburg-American liners
+attempting to reach Hamburg by passing north of Scotland had been
+captured by British cruisers.
+
+    =ENGLISHMEN!=
+
+    Your Homes are Desecrated!
+    Your Children are Starving!
+    Your Loved Ones are Dead!
+
+    WILL YOU REMAIN IN COWARDLY INACTIVITY?
+
+    The German Eagle flies over London. Hull, Newcastle and
+    Birmingham are in ruins. Manchester is a German City. Norfolk,
+    Essex, and Suffolk form a German colony.
+
+    The Kaiser's troops have brought death, ruin, and starvation
+    upon you.
+
+    WILL YOU BECOME GERMANS?
+
+    =NO!=
+
+    Join THE DEFENDERS and fight for England.
+
+    You have England's Millions beside you.
+
+    =LET US RISE!=
+
+    Let us drive back the Kaiser's men.
+
+    Let us shoot them at sight.
+
+    Let us exterminate every single man who has desecrated English
+    soil.
+
+    Join the New League of Defenders.
+
+    Fight for your homes. Fight for your wives. Fight for England.
+
+    FIGHT FOR YOUR KING!
+
+    The National League of Defenders' Head Offices.
+    Bristol, September 21st, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: A COPY OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE OF
+    DEFENDERS ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1910.]
+
+
+In the Channel, too, a number of German vessels had been seized, and one
+that showed fight off the North Foreland was fired upon and sunk. The
+public at home, however, were more interested in supremacy on land. It
+was all very well to have command of the sea, they argued, but it did
+not appear to alleviate perceptibly the hunger and privations on land.
+The Germans occupied London, and while they did so all freedom in
+England was at an end.
+
+A great poster headed "Englishmen," here reproduced, was seen
+everywhere. The whole country was flooded with it, and thousands upon
+thousands of heroic Britons, from the poorest to the wealthiest,
+clamoured to enrol themselves. The movement was an absolutely national
+one in every sense of the word. The name of Gerald Graham, the new
+champion of England's power, was upon every one's tongue. Daily he spoke
+in the various towns in the West of England, in Plymouth, Taunton,
+Cardiff, Portsmouth, and Southampton, and, assisted by the influential
+committee among whom were many brilliant speakers and men whose names
+were as household words, he aroused the country to the highest pitch of
+hatred against the enemy. The defenders, as they drilled in various
+centres through the whole of the West of England, were a strange and
+incongruous body. Grey-bearded Army pensioners ranged side by side with
+keen, enthusiastic youths, advised them and gave them the benefit of
+their expert knowledge. Volunteer officers in many cases assumed
+command, together with retired drill sergeants. The digging of trenches
+and the making of fortifications were assigned to navvies, bricklayers,
+platelayers, and agricultural labourers, large bodies of whom were under
+railway gangers, and were ready to perform any excavation work.
+
+The Maxims and other machine guns were mostly manned by Volunteer
+artillery; but instruction in the working of the Maxim was given to
+select classes in Plymouth, Bristol, Portsmouth, and Cardiff. Time was
+of utmost value, therefore the drilling was pushed forward day and
+night. It was known that Von Kronhelm was already watchful of the
+movements of the League, and was aware daily of its growth.
+
+In London, with the greatest secrecy, the defenders were banding
+together. In face of the German proclamation posted upon the walls,
+Londoners were holding meetings in secret and enrolling themselves.
+
+Though the German eagle flew in Whitehall and from the summit of St.
+Stephen's Tower, and though the heavy tramp of German sentries echoed in
+Trafalgar Square, in the quiet, trafficless streets in the vicinity,
+England was not yet vanquished.
+
+The valiant men of London were still determined to sell their liberty
+dearly, and to lay down their lives for the freedom of their country and
+honour of their King.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+THE REVENGE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A BLOW FOR FREEDOM.
+
+
+    "'DAILY TELEGRAPH' OFFICE.
+    "_Oct._ 1, 2 P.M.
+
+"Three days have passed since the revolt at King's Cross, and each day,
+both on the Horse Guards' Parade and in the Park, opposite Dorchester
+House, there have been summary executions. Von Kronhelm is in evident
+fear of the excited London populace, and is endeavouring to cow them by
+his plain-spoken and threatening proclamations, and by these wholesale
+executions of any person found with arms in his or her possession. But
+the word of command does not abolish the responsibility of conscience,
+and we are now awaiting breathlessly for the word to strike the blow in
+revenge.
+
+"The other newspapers are reappearing, but all that is printed each
+morning is first subjected to a rigorous censorship, and nothing is
+allowed to be printed before it is passed and initialled by the two
+gold-spectacled censors who sit and smoke their pipes in an office to
+themselves. Below, we have German sentries on guard, for our journal is
+one of the official organs of Von Kronhelm, and what now appears in it
+is surely sufficient to cause our blood to boil."
+
+"To-day, there are everywhere signs of rapidly increasing unrest.
+Londoners are starving, and are now refusing to remain patient any
+longer. The "Daily Bulletin" of the League of Defenders, though the
+posting of it is punishable by imprisonment, and it is everywhere torn
+down where discovered by the Germans, still gives daily brief news of
+what is in progress, and still urges the people to wait in patience,
+for 'the action of the Government,' as it is sarcastically put.
+
+"Soon after eleven o'clock this morning a sudden and clearly
+premeditated attack was made upon a body of the Bremen infantry, who
+were passing along Oxford Street from Holborn to the Marble Arch. The
+soldiers were suddenly fired upon from windows of a row of shops between
+Newman Street and Rathbone Place, and before they could halt and return
+the fire they found themselves surrounded by a great armed rabble, who
+were emerging from all the streets leading into Oxford Street.
+
+"While the Germans were manoeuvring, some unknown hand launched from a
+window a bomb into the centre of them. Next second there was a red
+flash, a loud report, and twenty-five of the enemy were blown to atoms.
+For a few moments the soldiers were demoralised, but orders were shouted
+loudly by their officers, and they began a most vigorous defence. In a
+few seconds the fight was as fierce as that at King's Cross; for out of
+every street in that working-class district lying between the Tottenham
+Court Road and Great Portland Street on the north, and out of Soho on
+the South, poured thousands upon thousands of fierce Londoners, all bent
+upon doing their utmost to kill their oppressors. From almost every
+window along Oxford Street a rain of lead was now being poured upon the
+troops, who vainly strove to keep their ground. Gradually, however, they
+were, by slow degrees, forced back into the narrow side-turnings up
+Newman Street, and Rathbone Place into Mortimer Street, Foley Street,
+Goodge Street, and Charlotte Street; and there they were slaughtered
+almost to a man.
+
+"Two officers were captured by the armed mob in Tottenham Street and,
+after being beaten, were stood up and shot in cold blood as vengeance
+for those shot during the past three days at Von Kleppen's orders at
+Dorchester House.
+
+"The fierce fight lasted quite an hour; and though reinforcements were
+sent for, yet curiously none arrived.
+
+"The great mob, however, were well aware that very soon the iron hand of
+Germany would fall heavily upon them; therefore, in frantic haste, they
+began soon after noon to build barricades and block up the narrow
+streets in every direction. At the end of Rathbone Place, Newman Street,
+Berners Street, Wells Street, and Great Tichfield Street, huge
+obstructions soon appeared, while on the east all by-streets leading
+into Tottenham Court Road were blocked up, and the same on the west in
+Great Portland Street, and on the north where the district was flanked
+by the Euston Road. So that by two o'clock the populous neighbourhood
+bounded by the four great thoroughfares was rendered a fortress in
+itself.
+
+"Within that area were thousands of armed men and women from Soho,
+Bloomsbury, Marylebone, and even from Camden Town. There they remained
+in defiance of Von Kronhelm's newest proclamation, which stared one in
+the face from every wall."
+
+    "_Later._
+
+"The enemy were unaware of the grave significance of the position of
+affairs, because Londoners betrayed no outward sign of the truth. Now,
+however, nearly every man and woman wore pinned upon their breasts a
+small piece of silk about two inches square, printed as a miniature
+Union Jack--the badge adopted by the League of Defenders. Though Von
+Kronhelm was unaware of it, Lord Byfield, in council with Greatorex and
+Bamford, had decided that, in order to demoralise the enemy and give him
+plenty of work to do, a number of local uprisings should take place
+north of the Thames. These would occupy Von Kronhelm, who would
+experience great difficulty in quelling them, and would no doubt
+eventually recall the Saxons from West Middlesex to assist. If the
+latter retired upon London they would find the barricades held by
+Londoners in their rear and Lord Byfield in their front, and be thus
+caught between two fires.
+
+"In each district of London there is a chief of the Defenders, and to
+each chief these orders had been conveyed in strictest confidence.
+Therefore, to-day, while the outbreak occurred in Oxford Street, there
+were fully a dozen others in various parts of the metropolis, each of a
+more or less serious character. Every district has already prepared its
+own secret defences, its fortified houses, and its barricades in hidden
+by-ways. Besides the quantity of arms smuggled into London, every dead
+German has had his rifle, pistol, and ammunition stolen from him.
+Hundreds of the enemy have been surreptitiously killed for that very
+reason. Lawlessness is everywhere, Government and Army have failed them,
+and Londoners are now taking the law into their own hands.
+
+"In King Street, Hammersmith; in Notting Dale, in Forest Road, Dalston;
+in Wick Road, Hackney; in Commercial Road East, near Stepney Station;
+and in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, the League of Defenders this
+morning--at about the same hour--first made their organisation public by
+displaying our national emblem, together with the white flags, with the
+scarlet St. George's Cross, the ancient battle flag of England.
+
+"For that reason, then, no reinforcements were sent to Oxford Street.
+Von Kronhelm was far too busy in other quarters. In Kentish Town, it is
+reported, the Germans gained a complete and decisive victory, for the
+people had not barricaded themselves strongly; besides, there were large
+reinforcements of Germans ready in Regent's Park, and these came upon
+the scene before the Defenders were sufficiently prepared. The flag was
+captured from the barricade in Prince of Wales Road, and the men of
+Kentish Town lost over four hundred killed and wounded.
+
+"At Stepney, the result was the reverse. The enemy, believing it to be a
+mere local disturbance and easily quelled, sent but a small body of men
+to suppress it. But very quickly, in the intricate by-streets off
+Commercial Road, these were wiped out, not one single man surviving. A
+second and third body were sent, but so fiercely was the ground
+contested that they were at length compelled to fall back and leave the
+men of Stepney masters of their own district. In Hammersmith and in
+Notting Dale the enemy also lost heavily, though in Hackney they were
+successful after hard fighting.
+
+"Every one declares that this secret order issued by the League means
+that England is again prepared to give battle, and that London is
+commencing by her strategic movement of local rebellions. The gravity of
+the situation cannot now, for one moment, be concealed. London north of
+the Thames is destined to be the scene of the fiercest and most bloody
+warfare ever known in the history of the civilised world. The Germans
+will, of course, fight for their lives, while we shall fight for our
+homes and for our liberty. But right is on our side, and right will win.
+
+"Reports from all over the metropolis tell the same tale. London is
+alert and impatient. At a word she will rise to a man, and then woe
+betide the invader! Surely Von Kronhelm's position is not a very
+enviable one. Our two censors in the office are smoking their pipes
+very gravely. Not a word of the street fighting is to be published. They
+will write their own account of it.
+
+    "10 P.M.
+
+"There has been a most frightful encounter at the Oxford Street and
+Tottenham Court Road barricades--a most stubborn resistance and gallant
+defence on the part of the men of Marylebone and Bloomsbury.
+
+"From the lips of one of our correspondents who was within the barricade
+I have just learned the details. It appears that just about four o'clock
+General Von Wilberg sent from the City a large force of the 19th
+Division under Lieutenant General Frankenfeld, and part of these,
+advancing through the squares of Bloomsbury into Gower Street, attacked
+the Defenders' position from the Tottenham Court Road, while others
+coming up Holborn and New Oxford Street entered Soho from Charing Cross
+Road and threw up counter-barricades at the end of Dean Street, Wardour
+Street, Berwick, Poland, Argyll, and the other streets, all of which
+were opposite the defences of the populace. In Great Portland Street,
+too, they adopted a similar line, and without much ado the fight,
+commenced in a desultory fashion, soon became a battle.
+
+"Within the barricades was a dense body of armed and angry citizens,
+each with his little badge, and every single one of them was ready to
+fight to the death. There is no false patriotism now, no mere bravado.
+Men make declarations, and carry them out. The gallant Londoners, with
+their several Maxims, wrought havoc among the invaders, especially in
+the Tottenham Court Road, where hundreds were maimed or killed.
+
+"In Oxford Street, the enemy being under cover of their
+counter-barricades, little damage could be done on either side. The
+wide, open, deserted thoroughfare was every moment swept by a hail of
+bullets, but no one was injured. On the Great Portland Street side the
+populace made a feint of giving way at the Mortimer Street barricade,
+and a body of the enemy rushed in, taking the obstruction by storm. But
+next moment they regretted it, for they were set upon by a thousand
+armed men and wild haired women, so that every man paid for his courage
+with his life. The women, seizing the weapons and ammunition of the dead
+Germans, now returned to the barricade to use them.
+
+"The Mortimer Street defences were at once repaired, and it was resolved
+to relay the fatal trap at some other point. Indeed, it was repeated at
+the end of Percy Street, where about fifty more Germans, who thought
+themselves victorious, were set upon and exterminated.
+
+"Until dusk the fight lasted. The Germans, finding their attack futile,
+began to hurl petrol bombs over the barricades and these caused
+frightful destruction among our gallant men, several houses in the
+vicinity being set on fire. Fortunately, there was still water in the
+street hydrants, and two fire engines had already been brought within
+the beleaguered area in case of necessity.
+
+"At last, about seven o'clock, the enemy, having lost very heavily in
+attempting to take the well-chosen position by storm, brought down
+several light field-guns from Regent's Park; and, placing them at their
+counter-barricades--where, by the way, they had lost many men in the
+earlier part of the conflict while piling up their shelters--suddenly
+opened fire with shell at the huge obstructions before them.
+
+"At first they made but little impression upon the flagstones, etc., of
+which the barricades were mainly composed. But before long their
+bombardment began to tell; for slowly, here and there, exploding shells
+made great breaches in the defences that had been so heroically manned.
+More than once a high explosive shell burst right among the crowd of
+riflemen behind a barricade, sweeping dozens into eternity in a single
+instant. Against the fortified houses each side of the barricades the
+German artillery trained their guns, and very quickly reduced many of
+those buildings to ruins. The air now became thick with dust and smoke;
+and mingled with the roar of artillery at such close quarters came the
+screams of the injured and the groans of the dying. The picture drawn by
+the eye-witness who described this was a truly appalling one. Gradually
+the Londoners were being overwhelmed, but they were selling their lives
+dearly, fully proving themselves worthy sons of grand old England.
+
+"At last the fire from the Newman Street barricade of the Defenders was
+silenced, and ten minutes later, a rush being made across from Dean
+Street, it was taken by storm. Then ensued fierce and bloody
+hand-to-hand fighting right up to Cleveland Street, while almost at the
+same moment the enemy broke in from Great Portland Street.
+
+"A scene followed that is impossible to describe. Through all those
+narrow, crooked streets the fighting became general, and on either side
+hundreds fell. The Defenders in places cornered the Germans, cut them
+off, and killed them. Though it was felt that now the barricades had
+been broken the day was lost, yet every man kept courage, and fought
+with all his strength.
+
+"For half an hour the Germans met with no success. On the contrary, they
+found themselves entrapped amid thousands of furious citizens, all
+wearing their silken badges, and all sworn to fight to the death.
+
+"While the Defenders still struggled on, loud and ringing cheers were
+suddenly raised from Tottenham Court Road. The people from Clerkenwell,
+joined by those in Bloomsbury, had arrived to assist them. They had
+risen, and were attacking the Germans in the rear.
+
+"Fighting was now general right across from Tottenham Court Road to
+Gray's Inn Road, and by nine o'clock, though Von Wilberg sent
+reinforcements, a victory was gained by the Defenders. Over two thousand
+Germans are lying dead and wounded about the streets and squares of
+Bloomsbury and Marylebone. The League had struck its first blow for
+Freedom.
+
+"What will the morrow bring us? Dire punishment--or desperate victory?"
+
+    "'DAILY CHRONICLE' OFFICE,
+    "_Oct._ 4, 6 P.M.
+
+"The final struggle for the possession of London is about to commence.
+Through all last night there were desultory conflicts between the
+soldiers and the people, in which many lives have, alas! been
+sacrificed.
+
+"Von Wilberg still holds the City proper, with the Mansion House as his
+headquarters. Within the area already shown upon the map there are no
+English, all the inhabitants having been long ago expelled. The great
+wealth of London is in German hands, it is true, but it is Dead Sea
+fruit. They are unable either to make use of it or to deport it to
+Germany. Much has been taken away to the base at Southminster and other
+bases in Essex, but the greater part of the bullion still remains in the
+Bank of England.
+
+"The most exciting stories have been reaching us during the last
+twenty-four hours, none of which, however, have passed the censor. For
+that reason I, one of the sub-editors, am keeping this diary, as a brief
+record of events during the present dreadful times.
+
+"After the terrific struggle in Marylebone three days ago, Von Kronhelm
+saw plainly that if London were to rise _en masse_ she would at once
+assume the upper hand. The German Commander-in-Chief had far too many
+points to guard. On the west of London he was threatened by Lord Byfield
+and hosts of auxiliaries, mostly sworn members of the National League of
+Defenders; on the south, across the river, Southwark, Lambeth, and
+Battersea formed an impregnable fortress, containing over a million
+eager patriots ready to burst forth and sweep away the vain, victorious
+army; while within central London itself the people were ready to rise.
+
+    =LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.=
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON AND LOYAL PATRIOTS.
+
+    The hour has come to show your strength, and to wreak your
+    vengeance.
+
+    TO-NIGHT, OCT. 4, AT 10 P.M., rise, and strike your blow for
+    freedom.
+
+    A MILLION MEN are with Lord Byfield, already within striking
+    distance of London; a million follow them, and yet another
+    million are ready in South London.
+
+    RISE, FEARLESS AND STERN. Let "England for Englishmen" be your
+    battle-cry, and avenge the blood of your wives and your
+    children.
+
+    AVENGE THIS INSULT TO YOUR
+    NATION.
+
+    REMEMBER: TEN O'CLOCK TO-NIGHT!
+
+
+"Reports reaching us to-day from Lord Byfield's headquarters at Windsor
+are numerous, but conflicting. As far as can be gathered, the authentic
+facts are as follows: Great bodies of the Defenders, including many
+women, all armed, are massing at Reading, Sonning, Wokingham, and
+Maidenhead. Thousands have arrived, and are hourly arriving by train,
+from Portsmouth, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Gloucester, and, in fact,
+all the chief centres of the West of England, where Gerald Graham's
+campaign has been so marvellously successful. Sturdy Welsh colliers are
+marching shoulder to shoulder with agricultural labourers from Dorset
+and Devon, and clerks and citizens from the towns of Somerset, Cornwall,
+Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire are taking arms beside the riff-raff of
+their own neighbourhoods. Peer and peasant, professional man and pauper,
+all are now united with one common object--to drive back the invader,
+and to save our dear old England.
+
+"Oxford has, it seems, been one of the chief points of concentration,
+and the undergraduates who re-assembled there to defend their colleges
+now form an advance-guard of a huge body of Defenders on the march, by
+way of Henley and Maidenhead, to follow in the rear of Lord Byfield. The
+latter holds Eton and the country across to High Wycombe, while the
+Saxon headquarters are still at Staines. Frölich's Cavalry Division are
+holding the country across from Pinner through Stanmore and Chipping
+Barnet to the prison camp at Enfield Chase. These are the only German
+troops outside West London, the Saxons being now barred from entering by
+the huge barricades which the populace of West London have during the
+past few days been constructing. Every road leading into London from
+West Middlesex is now either strongly barricaded or entirely blocked up.
+Kew, Richmond, and Kingston Bridges have been destroyed, and Lord
+Byfield, with General Bamford at the Crystal Palace, remains practically
+in possession of the whole of the south of the Thames.
+
+"The conflict which is now about to begin will be one to the death.
+While, on the one hand, the Germans are bottled up among us, the fact
+must not be overlooked that their arms are superior, and that they are
+trained soldiers. Yet the two or three local risings of yesterday and
+the day previous have given us courage, for they show that the enemy
+cannot manoeuvre in the narrow streets, and soon become demoralised. In
+London we fail because we have so few riflemen. If every man who now
+carries a gun could shoot, we could compel the Germans to fly a flag of
+truce within twenty-four hours. Indeed, if Lord Roberts' scheme of
+universal training in 1906 had been adopted, the enemy would certainly
+never have been suffered to approach our capital.
+
+"Alas! apathy has resulted in this terrible and crushing disaster, and
+we have only now to bear our part, each one of us, in the blow to avenge
+this desecration of our homes and the massacre of our loved ones.
+
+"To-day I have seen the white banners with the red cross--the ensign of
+the Defenders--everywhere. Till yesterday it was not openly displayed,
+but to-day it is actually hung from windows or flown defiantly from
+flagstaffs in full view of the Germans.
+
+"In Kilburn, or, to be more exact, in the district lying between the
+Harrow Road and the High Road, Kilburn, there was another conflict this
+morning between some of the German Garde Corps and the populace. The
+outbreak commenced by the arrest of some men who were found practising
+with rifles in Paddington Recreation Ground. One man who resisted was
+shot on the spot, whereupon the crowd who assembled attacked the German
+picket, and eventually killed them to a man. This was the signal for a
+general outbreak in the neighbourhood, and half an hour later, when a
+force was sent to quell the revolt, fierce fighting became general all
+through the narrow streets of Kensal Green, especially at the big
+barricade that blocks the Harrow Road where it is joined by Admiral
+Road. Here the bridges over the Grand Junction Canal have already been
+destroyed, for the barricades and defences have been scientifically
+constructed under the instruction of military engineers.
+
+"From an early hour to-day it has been apparent that all these risings
+were purposely ordered by the League of Defenders to cause Von
+Kronhelm's confusion. Indeed, while the outbreak at Kensal Green was in
+progress, we had another reported from Dalston, a third from Limehouse,
+and a fourth from Homerton. Therefore, it is quite certain that the
+various centres of the League are acting in unison upon secret orders
+from headquarters.
+
+"Indeed, South London also took part in the fray this morning, for the
+Defenders at the barricade at London Bridge have now mounted several
+field guns, and have started shelling Von Wilberg's position in the
+City. It is said that the Mansion House, where the General had usurped
+the apartments of the deported Lord Mayor, has already been half reduced
+to ruins. This action is, no doubt, only to harass the enemy, for surely
+General Bamford has no desire to destroy the City proper any more than
+it has already been destroyed. Lower Thames Street, King William Street,
+Gracechurch Street, and Cannon Street have at any rate, been found
+untenable by the enemy, upon whom some losses have been inflicted.
+
+"South London is every moment anxious to know the truth. Two days after
+the bombardment we succeeded at night in sinking a light telegraph cable
+in the river across from the Embankment at the bottom of Temple Avenue,
+and are in communication with our temporary office in Southwark Street.
+
+"An hour ago there came, through secret sources, information of another
+naval victory to our credit, several German warships being sunk and
+captured. Here we dare not print it, so I have just wired it across to
+the other side, where they are issuing a special edition.
+
+"Almost simultaneously with the report of the British victory, namely,
+at five o'clock, the truth--the great and all-important truth--became
+revealed. The mandate has gone forth from the headquarters of the League
+of Defenders that London is to rise in her might at ten o'clock
+to-night, and that a million men are ready to assist us. Placards and
+bills on red paper are everywhere.
+
+"Frantic efforts are being made by the Germans all over London to
+suppress both posters and handbills.
+
+"It is now six o'clock. In four hours it is believed that London will be
+one huge seething conflict. Night has been chosen, I suppose, in order
+to give the populace the advantage. The by-streets are for the most part
+still unlit, save for oil-lamps, for neither gas nor electric light are
+yet in proper working order after the terrible dislocation of
+everything. The scheme of the Defenders is, as already proved, to lure
+the Germans into the narrower thoroughfares, and then exterminate them.
+Surely in the history of the world there has never been such a bitter
+vengeance as that which is now inevitable. London, the greatest city
+ever known, is about to rise!
+
+    "_Midnight._
+
+"London has risen! How can I describe the awful scenes of panic,
+bloodshed, patriotism, brutality, and vengeance that are at this moment
+in progress? As I write, through the open window I can hear the roar of
+voices, the continual crackling of rifles, and the heavy booming of
+guns. I walked along Fleet Street at nine o'clock, and I found, utterly
+disregarding the order that no unauthorised persons are to be abroad
+after nightfall, hundreds upon hundreds of all classes, all wearing
+their little silk Union Jack badges pinned to their coats, on the way to
+join in their particular districts. Some carried rifles, others
+revolvers, while others were unarmed. Yet not a German did I see in the
+streets. It seemed as though, for the moment, the enemy had vanished.
+There was only the strong cordon across the bottom of Ludgate Hill, men
+who looked on in wonder, but without bestirring themselves.
+
+"Is it possible that Von Kronhelm's strategy is to remain inactive, and
+refuse to fight?
+
+"The first shot I heard fired, just after ten o'clock, was at the Strand
+end of Fleet Street, at the corner of Chancery Lane. There, I afterwards
+discovered, a party of forty German infantrymen had been attacked, and
+all of them killed. Quickly following this, I heard the distant booming
+of artillery, and then the rattle of musketry and pom-poms became
+general, but not in the neighbourhood where I was. For nearly half an
+hour I remained at the corner of Aldwych; then, on going farther along
+the Strand, I found that the defenders from the Waterloo Road had made a
+wild sortie into the Strand, but could find no Germans there.
+
+"The men who had for a fortnight held that barricade at the bridge were
+more like demons than human beings; therefore I retired, and in the
+crush made my way back to the office to await reports.
+
+"They were not long in arriving. I can only give a very brief _résumé_
+at the moment, for they are so numerous as to be bewildering.
+
+"Speaking generally, the whole of London has obeyed the mandate of the
+League, and, rising, are attacking the Germans at every point. In the
+majority of cases, however, the enemy hold strong positions, and are
+defending themselves, inflicting terrible losses upon the unorganised
+populace. Every Londoner is fighting for himself, without regard for
+orders or consequences. In Bethnal Green the Germans, lured into the
+maze of by-streets, have suffered great losses, and again in
+Clerkenwell, St. Luke's, Kingsland, Hackney and Old Ford. Whitechapel
+too, devoid of its alien population, who have escaped into Essex, has
+held its own, and the enemy have had some great losses in the streets
+off Cable and Leman Streets.
+
+"With the exception of the sortie across Waterloo Bridge, South London
+is, as yet, remaining in patience, acting under the orders of General
+Bamford.
+
+"News has come in ten minutes ago of a fierce and sudden attack upon the
+Saxons by Lord Byfield from Windsor, but there are, as yet, no details.
+
+"From the office across the river I am being constantly asked for
+details of the fight, and how it is progressing. In Southwark the
+excitement is evidently most intense, and it requires all the energy of
+the local commanders of the Defenders to repress another sortie across
+that bridge.
+
+"There has just occurred an explosion so terrific that the whole of this
+building has been shaken as though by an earthquake.
+
+"London has struck her first blow of revenge. What will be its sequel?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SCENES AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.
+
+
+The following is the personal narrative of a young chauffeur named John
+Burgess, who assisted in the defence of the barricade at Waterloo
+Bridge.
+
+The statement was made to a reporter at noon on October 5, while he was
+lying on a mattress in the Church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, so
+badly wounded in the chest that the surgeons had given him up.
+
+He related his story in the form of a farewell letter to his sister. The
+reporter chanced to be passing, and, hearing him asking for some one to
+write for him, volunteered to do so.
+
+"We all did our best," he said, "every one of us. Myself, I was at the
+barricade for thirteen days--thirteen days of semi-starvation,
+sleeplessness, and constant tension, for we knew not, from one moment to
+another, when a sudden attack might be made upon us. At first our
+obstruction was a mere ill-built pile of miscellaneous articles, half of
+which would not stop bullets; but on the third day our men,
+superintended by several non-commissioned officers in uniform, began to
+put the position in a proper state of defence, to mount Maxims in the
+neighbouring houses, and to place explosives in the crown of two of the
+arches of the bridge, so that we could instantly demolish it if
+necessity arose.
+
+"Fully a thousand men were holding the position, but unfortunately few
+of them had ever handled a rifle. As regards myself, I had learned to
+shoot rooks when a boy in Shropshire, and now that I had obtained a gun
+I was anxious to try my skill. When the League of Defenders was started,
+and a local secretary came to us, we all eagerly joined, each receiving,
+after he had taken his oath and signed his name, a small silk Union
+Jack, the badge of the League, not to be worn till the word went forth
+to rise.
+
+"Then came a period--long, dreary, shadeless days of waiting--when the
+sun beat down upon us mercilessly and our vigilance was required to be
+constant both night and day. So uncertain were the movements of the
+enemy opposite us that we scarcely dared to leave our positions for a
+moment. Night after night I spent sleeping in a neighbouring doorway,
+with an occasional stretch upon somebody's bed in some house in the
+vicinity. Now and then, whenever we saw Germans moving in Wellington
+Street, we sent a volley into them, in return receiving a sharp reply
+from their pom-poms. Constantly our sentries were on the alert along the
+wharves, and in the riverside warehouses, watching for the approach of
+the enemy's spies in boats. Almost nightly some adventurous spirits
+among the Germans would try and cross. On one occasion, while doing
+sentry duty in a warehouse backing on Commercial Road, I was sitting
+with a comrade at a window overlooking the river. The moon was shining,
+for the night was a balmy and beautiful one, and all was quiet. It was
+about two o'clock in the morning, and as we sat smoking our pipes, with
+our eyes fixed upon the glittering water, we suddenly saw a small boat
+containing three men stealing slowly along in the shadow.
+
+"For a moment the rowers rested upon their oars, as if undecided, then
+pulled forward again in search of a landing-place. As they passed below
+our window I shouted a challenge. At first there was no response. Again
+I repeated it, when I heard a muttered imprecation in German.
+
+"'Spies!' I cried to my comrade, and with one accord we raised our
+rifles and fired. Ere the echo of the first shot had died away I saw one
+man fall into the water, while at the next shot a second man half rose
+from his seat, threw up his hands, and staggered back wounded.
+
+"The firing gave the alarm at the barricade, and ere the boat could
+approach the bridge, though the survivor pulled for dear life, a Maxim
+spat forth its red fire, and both boat and oarsman were literally
+riddled.
+
+"Almost every night similar incidents were reported. The enemy were
+doing all in their power to learn the exact strength of our defences,
+but I do not think their efforts were very successful. The surface of
+the river, every inch of it, was under the careful scrutiny of a
+thousand watchful eyes.
+
+"Each day the 'Bulletin' of our national association brought us tidings
+of what was happening outside.
+
+"At last, however, the welcome word came to us on the morning of October
+4, that at ten that night we were to make a concerted attack upon the
+Germans. A scarlet bill was thrust into my hand, and as soon as the
+report was known we were all highly excited, and through the day
+prepared ourselves for the struggle.
+
+"A gun sounded from the direction of Westminster. We looked at our
+watches, and found it was ten o'clock. Our bugles sounded and we sprang
+to our positions, as we had done dozens, nay, hundreds of times before.
+I felt faint, for I had only had half a pint of weak soup all day, for
+the bread did not go round. Nevertheless, the knowledge that we were
+about to strike the blow inspired me with fresh life and strength. Our
+officer shouted a brief word of command, and next moment we opened a
+withering fire upon the enemy's barricade in Wellington Street.
+
+"In a moment a hundred rifles and several Maxims spat their red fire at
+us, but as usual the bullets flattened themselves harmlessly before us.
+Then the battery of artillery which Sir Francis Bamford had sent us
+three days before got into position, and in a few moments began hurling
+great shells upon the German defences.
+
+"Behind us was a great armed multitude ready and eager to get at the
+foe, a huge, unorganised body of fierce, irate Londoners, determined
+upon having blood for blood. From over the river the sound of battle was
+rising, a great roaring like the sound of a distant sea, with ever and
+anon the crackling of rifles and the boom of guns, while above the night
+sky grew a dark blood-red with the glare of a distant conflagration.
+
+"For half an hour we pounded away at the barricade in Wellington Street
+with our siege guns, Maxims, and rifles, until a well-directed shell
+exploded beneath the centre of the obstruction, blowing open a great gap
+and sending fragments high into the air. Then it seemed that all
+resistance suddenly ceased. At first we were surprised at this; but on
+further scrutiny we found that it was not our fire that had routed the
+enemy, but that they were being attacked in their rear by hosts of armed
+citizens surging down from Kingsway and the Strand.
+
+"We could plainly discern that the Germans were fighting for their
+lives. Into the midst of them we sent one or two shells; but fearing to
+cause casualties among our own comrades, we were compelled to cease
+firing.
+
+"The armed crowd behind us, finding that we were again inactive, at once
+demanded that our barricade should be opened, so that they might cross
+the bridge and assist their comrades by taking the Germans in the rear.
+For ten minutes our officer in charge refused, for the order of General
+Greatorex, Commander-in-Chief of the League, was that no sortie was to
+be made at present. However, the South Londoners became so infuriated
+that our commander was absolutely forced to give way, though he knew not
+into what trap we might fall, as he had no idea of the strength of the
+enemy in the neighbourhood of the Strand. A way was quickly opened in
+the obstruction, and two minutes later we were pouring across Waterloo
+Bridge in thousands, shouting and yelling in triumph as we passed the
+ruins of the enemy's barricade, and fell upon him with merciless
+revenge. With us were many women, who were, perhaps, fiercer and more
+unrelenting than the men. Indeed, many a woman that night killed a
+German with her own hands, firing revolvers in their faces, striking
+with knives, or even blinding them with vitriol.
+
+"The scene was both exciting and ghastly. At the spot where I first
+fought--on the pavement outside the Savoy--we simply slaughtered the
+Germans in cold blood. Men cried for mercy, but we gave them no quarter.
+London had risen in its might, and as our comrades fought all along the
+Strand and around Aldwych, we gradually exterminated every man in German
+uniform. Soon the roadways of the Strand, Wellington Street, Aldwych,
+Burleigh Street, Southampton Street, Bedford Street, and right along to
+Trafalgar Square, were covered with dead and dying. The wounded of both
+nationalities were trodden underfoot and killed by the swaying,
+struggling thousands. The enemy's loss must have been severe in our
+particular quarter, for of the great body of men from Hamburg and Lübeck
+holding their end of Waterloo Bridge I do not believe a single one was
+spared, even though they fought for their lives like veritable devils.
+
+"Our success intoxicated us, I think. That we were victorious at that
+point cannot be doubted, but with foolish disregard for our own safety,
+we pressed forward into Trafalgar Square, in the belief that our
+comrades were similarly making an attack upon the enemy there. The error
+was, alas! a fatal one for many of us. To fight an organised force in
+narrow streets is one thing, but to meet him in a large open space with
+many inlets, like Trafalgar Square, is another.
+
+"The enemy were no doubt awaiting us, for as we poured out from the
+Strand at Charing Cross we were met with a devastating fire from German
+Maxims on the opposite side of the square. They were holding
+Whitehall--to protect Von Kronhelm's headquarters--the entrances to
+Spring Gardens, Cockspur Street, and Pall Mall East, and their fire was
+converged upon the great armed multitude which, being pressed on from
+behind, came out into the open square only to fall in heaps beneath the
+sweeping hail of German lead.
+
+"The error was one that could not be rectified. We all saw it when too
+late. There was no turning back now, I struggled to get into the small
+side-street that runs down by the bar of the Grand Hotel, but it was
+blocked with people already in refuge there.
+
+"Another instant and I was lifted from my legs by the great throng
+going to their doom, and carried right in the forefront to the square.
+Women screamed when they found themselves facing the enemy's fire.
+
+"The scene was awful--a massacre, nothing more or less. For every
+German's life we had taken, a dozen of our own were now being
+sacrificed.
+
+"A woman was pushed close to me, her grey hair streaming down her back,
+her eyes starting wildly from her head, her bony hands smeared with
+blood. Suddenly she realised that right before her red fire was spitting
+from the German guns.
+
+"Screaming in despair, she clung frantically to me.
+
+"I felt next second a sharp burning pain in my chest.... We fell forward
+together upon the bodies of our comrades.... When I came to myself I
+found myself here, in this church, close to where I fell."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On that same night desperate sorties were made from the London,
+Southwark, and Blackfriars Bridges, and terrible havoc was committed by
+the Defenders.
+
+The German losses were enormous, for the South Londoners fought like
+demons and gave no quarter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+GREAT BRITISH VICTORY.
+
+
+The following despatch from the war correspondent of the "Times" with
+Lord Byfield was received on the morning of October 5, but was not
+published in that journal till some days later, owing to the German
+censorship, which necessitated its being kept secret:--
+
+    "WILLESDEN, _October_ 4 (Evening).
+
+"After a bloody but successful combat lasting from early dawn till late
+in the afternoon, the country to the immediate west of the metropolis
+has been swept clear of the hated invaders, and the masses of the
+'League of Defenders' can be poured into the West of London without let
+or hindrance. In the desperate street fighting which is now going on
+they will be much more formidable than they were ever likely to be in
+the open field, where they were absolutely incapable of manoeuvring. As
+for the Saxons--what is left of them--and Frölich's Cavalry Division,
+with whom we have been engaged all day, they have now fallen back on
+Harrow and Hendon, it is said; but it is currently reported that a
+constant movement towards the high ground near Hampstead is going on.
+These rumours come by way of London, since the enemy's enormous force of
+cavalry is still strong enough to prevent us getting any first-hand
+intelligence of his movements.
+
+"As has been previously reported, the XIIth Saxon Corps, under the
+command of Prince Henry of Würtemberg, had taken up a position intended
+to cover the metropolis from the hordes of 'Defenders' which, supported
+by a small leaven of Regulars, with a proportion of cavalry and guns,
+were known to be slowly rolling up from the west and south. Their front,
+facing west, extended from Staines on the south, to Pinner on the north,
+passing through Stanwell, West Drayton, and Uxbridge. In addition they
+had a strong reserve in the neighbourhood of Hounslow, whose business it
+was to cover their left flank by keeping watch along the line of the
+Thames. They had destroyed all bridges over the river between Staines
+and Hammersmith. Putney Bridge, however, was still intact, as all
+attacks on it had been repulsed by the British holding it on the south
+side. Such was the general state of affairs when Lord Byfield, who had
+established his headquarters at Windsor, formed his plan of attack.
+
+"As far as I have been able to ascertain, its general idea was to hold
+the Saxons to their position by the threat of 300,000 Defenders that
+were assembled and were continually increasing along a roughly parallel
+line to that occupied by the enemy at about ten miles' distance from it,
+while he attacked their left flank with what Regular and Militia
+regiments he could rapidly get together near Esher and Kingston. By this
+time the southern lines in the neighbourhood of London were all in
+working order, the damage that had been done here and there by small
+parties of the enemy who had made raids across the river having been
+repaired. It was, therefore, not a very difficult matter to assemble
+troops from Windsor and various points on the South of London at very
+short notice.
+
+"General Bamford, to whom had been entrusted the defence of South
+London, and who had established his headquarters at the Crystal Palace,
+also contributed every man he could spare from the remnant of the
+Regular troops under his command.
+
+"It was considered quite safe now that the Germans in the City were so
+hardly pressed to leave the defence of the Thames bridges to the masses
+of Irregulars who had all along formed the bulk of their defenders. The
+risk that Prince Henry of Würtemberg would take the bull by the horns,
+and by a sudden forward move attack and scatter the inert and
+invertebrate mass of 'Defenders' who were in his immediate front had, of
+course, to be taken; but it was considered that in the present state of
+affairs in London he would hardly dare to increase the distance between
+the Saxon Corps and the rest of the German Army. Events proved the
+correctness of this surmise; but owing to unforeseen circumstances, the
+course of the battle was somewhat different from that which had been
+anticipated.
+
+"Despite the vigilance of the German spies our plans were kept secret
+till the very end, and it is believed that the great convergence of
+Regular troops that began as soon as it was dark from Windsor and from
+along the line occupied by the Army of the League on the west, right
+round to Greenwich on the east, went on without any news of the movement
+being carried to the enemy.
+
+"Before dawn this morning every unit was in the position to which it had
+been previously detailed, and, everything being in readiness, the Royal
+Engineers began to throw a pontoon bridge over the Thames at the point
+where it makes a bend to the south just above the site of Walton Bridge.
+The enemy's patrols and pickets in the immediate neighbourhood at once
+opened a heavy fire on the workers, but it was beaten down by that which
+was poured upon them from the houses in Walton-on-Thames, which had been
+quietly occupied during the night. The enemy in vain tried to reinforce
+them, but in order to do this their troops had to advance into a narrow
+peninsula which was swept by a cross-fire of shells from batteries which
+had been placed in position on the south side of the river for this very
+purpose.
+
+"By seven o'clock the bridge was completed, and the troops were
+beginning to cross over covered by the fire of the artillery and by an
+advance guard which had been pushed over in boats. Simultaneously very
+much the same thing had been going on at Long Ditton, and fierce
+fighting was going on in the avenues and gardens round Hampton Court.
+Success here, too, attended the British arms. As a matter of fact, a
+determined attempt to cross the river in force had not at all been
+anticipated by the Germans. They had not credited their opponents with
+the power of so rapidly assembling an army and assuming an effective and
+vigorous offensive so soon after their terrible series of disasters.
+
+"What they had probably looked for was an attempt to overwhelm them by
+sheer force of numbers. They doubtless calculated that Lord Byfield
+would stiffen his flabby masses of 'Defenders' with what trained troops
+he could muster, and endeavour to attack their lines along their whole
+length, overlapping them on the flank.
+
+"They realised that to do this he would have to sacrifice his men in
+thousands upon thousands, but they knew that to do so would be his only
+possible chance of success in this eventuality, since the bulk of his
+men could neither manoeuvre nor deploy. Still they reckoned that in the
+desperate situation of the British, he would make up his mind to do
+this.
+
+"On their part, although they fully realised the possibility of being
+overwhelmed by such tactics, they felt pretty confident that, posted as
+they were behind a perfect network of small rivers and streams which ran
+down to join the Thames, they would at least succeed in beating off the
+attack with heavy loss, and stood no bad chance of turning the repulse
+into a rout by skilful use of Frölich's Cavalry Division, which would be
+irresistible when attacking totally untrained troops after they had been
+shattered and disorganised by artillery fire. This, at least, is the
+view of those experts with whom I have spoken.
+
+"What, perhaps, tended rather to confirm them in their theories as to
+the action of the British was the rifle firing that went on along the
+whole of their front all night through. The officers in charge of the
+various units which conglomerated together formed the forces facing the
+Saxons, had picked out the few men under their command who really had
+some little idea of using a rifle, and, supplied with plenty of
+ammunition, had sent them forward in numerous small parties with general
+orders to approach as near the enemy's picket line as possible, and as
+soon as fired on to lie down and open fire in return. So a species of
+sniping engagement went on from dark to dawn. Several parties got
+captured or cut up by the German outlying troops and many others got
+shot by neighbouring parties of snipers. But, although they did not in
+all probability do the enemy much damage, yet they kept them on the
+alert all night, and led them to expect an attack in the morning. One
+way and another luck was entirely on the side of the patriots that
+morning.
+
+"When daylight came the British massed to the westward of Staines had
+such a threatening appearance from their immense numbers, and their fire
+from their batteries of heavy guns and howitzers on the south side of
+the river, which took the German left flank in, was so heavy that Prince
+Henry, who was there in person, judged an attack to be imminent, and
+would not spare a man to reinforce his troops at Shepperton and
+Halliford, who were, numerically, totally inadequate to resist the
+advance of the British once they got across the river.
+
+"He turned a deaf ear to the most imploring requests for assistance, but
+ordered the officer in command at Hounslow to move down at once and
+drive the British into the river. So it has been reported by our
+prisoners. Unluckily for him this officer had his hands quite full
+enough at this time; for the British, who had crossed at Long Ditton,
+had now made themselves masters of everything east of the Thames Valley
+branch of the London and South-Western Railway, were being continually
+reinforced, and were fast pushing their right along the western bank of
+the river.
+
+"Their left was reported to be at Kempton Park, where they joined hands
+with those who had effected a crossing near Walton-on-Thames. More
+bridges were being built at Platt's Eyot, Tagg's Eyot, and Sunbury Lock,
+while boats and wherries in shoals appeared from all creeks and
+backwaters and hiding-places as soon as both banks were in the hands of
+the British.
+
+"Regulars, Militia, and, lastly, Volunteers, were now pouring across in
+thousands. Forward was still the word. About noon a strong force of
+Saxons was reported to be retreating along the road from Staines to
+Brentford. They had guns with them, which engaged the field batteries
+which were at once pushed forward by the British to attack them. These
+troops, eventually joining hands with those at Hounslow, opposed a more
+determined resistance to our advance than we had hitherto encountered.
+
+"According to what we learned subsequently from prisoners and others,
+they were commanded by Prince Henry of Würtemberg in person. He had
+quitted his position at Staines, leaving only a single battalion and a
+few guns as a rearguard to oppose the masses of the 'Defenders' who
+threatened him in that direction, and had placed his troops in the best
+position he could to cover the retreat of the rest of his corps from the
+line they had been occupying. He had, it would appear, soon after the
+fighting began, received the most urgent orders from Von Kronhelm to
+fall back on London and assist him in the street fighting that had now
+been going on without intermission for the best part of two days. Von
+Kronhelm probably thought that he would be able to draw off some of his
+numerous foes to the westward. But the message was received too late.
+Prince Henry did his best to obey it, but by this time the very
+existence of the XIIth Corps was at stake on account of the totally
+unexpected attack on his left rear by the British regular troops.
+
+"He opposed such a stout resistance with the troops under his immediate
+command that he brought the British advance to a temporary standstill,
+while in his rear every road leading Londonward was crowded with the
+rest of his army as they fell back from West Drayton, Uxbridge, Ruislip
+and Pinner. Had they been facing trained soldiers they would have found
+it most difficult, if not impossible, to do this; but as it was the
+undisciplined and untrained masses of the League of Defenders lost a
+long time in advancing, and still longer in getting over a series of
+streams and dykes that lay between them and the abandoned Saxon
+position.
+
+"They lost heavily, too, from the fire of the small rearguards that had
+been left at the most likely crossing-places. The Saxons were therefore
+able to get quite well away from them, and when some attempt was being
+made to form up the thousands of men who presently found themselves
+congregated on the heath east of Uxbridge, before advancing farther, a
+whole brigade of Frölich's heavy cavalry suddenly swept down upon them
+from behind Ickenham village. The _débâcle_ that followed was frightful.
+The unwieldy mass of 'Leaguers' swayed this way and that for a moment
+in the panic occasioned by the sudden apparition of the serried masses
+of charging cavalry that were rushing down on them with a thunder of
+hoofs that shook the earth. A few scattered shots were fired, without
+any perceptible effect, and before they could either form up or fly the
+German Reiters were upon them. It was a perfect massacre. The 'Leaguers'
+could oppose no resistance whatever. They were ridden down and
+slaughtered with no more difficulty than if they had been a flock of
+sheep. Swinging their long, straight swords, the cavalrymen cut them
+down in hundreds and drove thousands into the river. The 'Defenders'
+were absolutely pulverised and fled westwards in a huge scattered crowd.
+But if the Germans had the satisfaction of scoring a local victory in
+this quarter, things were by no means rosy for them elsewhere. Prince
+Henry, by desperate efforts, contrived to hold on long enough in his
+covering position to enable the Saxons from the central portion of his
+abandoned line to pass through Hounslow and move along the London road,
+through Brentford.
+
+"Here disaster befell them. A battery of 4.7 guns was suddenly unmasked
+on Richmond Hill, and, firing at a range of 5,000 yards, played havoc
+with the marching column. The head of it also suffered severe loss from
+riflemen concealed in Kew Gardens, and the whole force had to extend and
+fall back for some distance in a northerly direction. Near Ealing they
+met the Uxbridge brigade, and a certain delay and confusion occurred.
+However, trained soldiers such as these are not difficult to reorganise,
+and while the latter continued its march along the main road the
+remainder moved in several small parallel columns through Acton and
+Turnham Green. Before another half-hour had elapsed there came a sound
+of firing from the advanced guard. Orders to halt followed, then orders
+to send forward reinforcements.
+
+"During all this time the rattle of rifle fire waxed heavier and
+heavier. It soon became apparent that every road and street leading into
+London was barricaded and that the houses on either side were crammed
+with riflemen. Before any set plan of action could be determined on, the
+retiring Saxons found themselves committed to a very nasty bout of
+street fighting. Their guns were almost useless, since they could not be
+placed in positions from which they could fire on the barricades except
+so close as to be under effective rifle fire. They made several
+desperate assaults, most of which were repulsed. In Goldhawk Road a
+Jäegar battalion contrived to rush a big rampart of paving-stones which
+had been improvised by the British; but, once over, they were decimated
+by the fire from the houses on either side of the street. Big high
+explosive shells from Richmond Hill, too, began to drop among the
+Saxons. Though the range was long, the gunners were evidently well
+informed of the whereabouts of the Saxon troops and made wonderfully
+lucky shooting.
+
+"For some time the distant rumble of the firing to the south-west had
+been growing more distinct in their ears, and about four o'clock it
+suddenly broke out comparatively near by. Then came an order from Prince
+Henry to fall back on Ealing at once. What had happened? It will not
+take long to relate this. Prince Henry's covering position had lain
+roughly between East Bedfont and Hounslow, facing south-east. He had
+contrived to hold on to the latter place long enough to allow his right
+to pivot on it and fall back to Cranford Bridge. Here they were, to a
+certain extent, relieved from the close pressure they had been subjected
+to by the constantly advancing British troops, by the able and
+determined action of Frölich's Cavalry Brigade.
+
+"But in the meantime his enemies on the left, constantly reinforced from
+across the river--while never desisting from their so far unsuccessful
+attack on Hounslow--worked round through Twickenham and Isleworth till
+they began to menace his rear. He must abandon Hounslow, or be cut off.
+With consummate generalship he withdrew his left along the line of the
+Metropolitan and District Railway, and sent word to the troops on his
+right to retire and take up a second position at Southall Green.
+Unluckily for him, there was a delay in transmission, resulting in a
+considerable number of these troops being cut off and captured.
+Frölich's cavalry were unable to aid them at this juncture, having their
+attention drawn away by the masses of 'Leaguers' who had managed to get
+over the Colne and were congregating near Harmondsworth.
+
+"They cut these up and dispersed them, but afterwards found that they
+were separated from the Saxons by a strong force of British regular
+troops who occupied Harlington and opened a fire on the Reiters that
+emptied numerous saddles. They, therefore, made off to the northward.
+From this forward nothing could check the steady advance of the English,
+though fierce fighting went on till dark all through Hanwell, Ealing,
+Perivale, and Wembley, the Saxons struggling gamely to the last, but
+getting more and more disorganised. Had it not been for Frölich's
+division on their right they would have been surrounded. As it was, they
+must have lost half their strength in casualties and prisoners.
+
+"At dark, however, Lord Byfield ordered a general halt of his tired
+though triumphant troops, and bivouacked and billeted them along a line
+reaching from Willesden on the right through Wembley to Greenford. He
+established his headquarters at Wembley.
+
+"I have heard some critics say that he ought to have pushed on his
+freshest troops towards Hendon to prevent the remnant of our opponents
+from re-entering London; but others, with reason, urge that he is right
+to let them into the metropolis, which they will now find to be merely a
+trap."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extracts from the diary of General Von Kleppen, Commander of the IVth
+German Army Corps, occupying London:--
+
+    "DORCHESTER HOUSE, PARK LANE, _Oct._ 6.
+
+"We are completely deceived. Our position, much as we are attempting to
+conceal it, is a very grave one. We believed that if we reached London
+the British spirit would be broken. Yet the more drastic our rule, the
+fiercer becomes the opposition. How it will end I fear to contemplate.
+The British are dull and apathetic, but, once roused, they fight like
+fiends.
+
+"Last night we had an example of it. This League of Defenders, which Von
+Kronhelm has always treated with ridicule, is, we have discovered too
+late, practically the whole of England. Von Bistram, commanding the
+VIIth Corps, and Von Haeslen, of the VIIIth Corps, have constantly been
+reporting its spread through Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield,
+Birmingham and the other great towns we now occupy; but our
+Commander-in-Chief has treated the matter lightly, declaring it to be a
+kind of offshoot of some organisation they have in England, called the
+Primrose League....
+
+"Yesterday, at the Council of War, however, he was compelled to
+acknowledge his error when I handed him a scarlet handbill calling upon
+the British to make a concerted attack upon us at ten o'clock.
+Fortunately, we were prepared for the assault, otherwise I verily
+believe that the honours would have rested with the populace in London.
+As it is, we suffered considerable reverses in various districts, where
+our men were lured into the narrow side-streets and cut up. I confess I
+am greatly surprised at the valiant stand made everywhere by the
+Londoners. Last night they fought to the very end. A disaster to our
+arms in the Strand was followed by a victory in Trafalgar Square, where
+Von Wilberg had established defences for the purpose of preventing the
+joining of the people of the East End with those of the West...."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MASSACRE OF GERMANS IN LONDON.
+
+
+    "'DAILY TELEGRAPH' OFFICE,
+    "_Oct._ 12, 6 P.M.
+
+"Through the whole of last week the Germans occupying London suffered
+great losses. They are now hemmed in on every side.
+
+"At three o'clock this morning, Von Kronhelm, having withdrawn the
+greater part of the troops from the defence of the bridges, in an
+attempt to occupy defensive positions in North London, the South
+Londoners, impatient with long waiting, broke forth and came across the
+river in enormous multitudes, every man bent upon killing a German
+wherever seen.
+
+"The night air was rent everywhere by the hoarse, exultant shouts as
+London--the giant, all-powerful city--fell upon the audacious invader.
+Through our office windows came the dull roar of London's millions
+swelled by the 'Defenders' from the west and south of England, and by
+the gallant men from Canada, India, the Cape, and other British colonies
+who had come forward to fight for the Mother Country as soon as her
+position was known to be critical.
+
+"In the streets are to be seen Colonial uniforms side by side with the
+costermonger from Whitechapel or Walworth, and dark-faced Indians in
+turbans are fighting out in Fleet Street and the Strand. In the great
+struggle now taking place many of our reporters and correspondents have
+unfortunately been wounded, and, alas! four of them killed.
+
+"In these terrible days a man's life is not safe from one moment to
+another. Both sides seem to have now lost their heads completely. Among
+the Germans all semblance of order has apparently been thrown to the
+winds. It is known that London has risen to a man, and the enemy are
+therefore fully aware of their imminent peril. Already they are beaten.
+True, Von Kronhelm still sits in the War Office directing
+operations--operations he knows too well are foredoomed to failure.
+
+"The Germans have, it must be admitted, carried on the war in a
+chivalrous spirit, until those drastic executions exasperated the
+people. Then neither side gave quarter, and now to-day, all through
+Islington, Hoxton, Kingsland, and Dalston, right out eastwards to
+Homerton, a perfect massacre of Germans is in progress.
+
+"Lord Byfield has issued two urgent proclamations, threatening the
+people of London with all sorts of penalties if they kill instead of
+taking an enemy prisoner, but they seem to have no effect. London is
+starved and angered to such a pitch, that her hatred knows no bounds,
+and only blood will atone for the wholesale slaughter of the innocent
+since the bombardment of the metropolis began.
+
+"The Kaiser has, we hear, left the 'Belvedere,' at Scarborough, where he
+has been living incognito. A confidential report, apparently well
+founded, has reached us that he embarked upon the steam-trawler _Morning
+Star_ at Scarborough yesterday, and set out across the Dogger, with
+Germany, of course, as his destination. Surely he must now regret his
+ill-advised policy of making an attack upon England. He had gauged our
+military weakness very accurately, but he had not counted upon the
+patriotic spirit of our Empire. It may be that he has already given
+orders to Von Kronhelm, but it is nevertheless a very significant fact
+that the German wireless telegraph apparatus on the summit of Big Ben is
+in constant use by the German Commander-in-Chief. He is probably in
+hourly communication with Bremen, or with the Emperor himself upon the
+trawler _Morning Star_.
+
+"Near Highbury Fields about noon to-day some British cavalry surprised a
+party of Germans, and attempted to take them prisoners. The latter
+showed fight, whereupon they were shot down to a man. The British held
+as prisoners by the Germans near Enfield have now been released, and are
+rejoining their comrades along the northern heights. Many believe that
+another and final battle will be fought north of London, but military
+men declare that the German power is already broken. Whether Von
+Kronhelm will still continue to lose his men at the rate he is now
+doing, or whether he will sue for peace, is an open question.
+Personally, he was against the bombardment of London from the very
+first, yet he was compelled to carry out the orders of his Imperial
+master. The invasion, the landing, and the successes in the north were,
+in his opinion, quite sufficient to have paralysed British trade and
+caused such panic that an indemnity would have been paid. To attack
+London was, in his opinion, a proceeding far too dangerous, and his
+estimate is now proved to have been the correct one. Now that they have
+lost command of the sea, and are cut off from their bases in Essex, the
+enemy's situation is hopeless. They may struggle on, but assuredly the
+end can only be an ignominious one.
+
+"Yet the German eagle still flies proudly over the War Office, over St.
+Stephen's, and upon many other public buildings, while upon others
+British Royal Standards and Union Jacks are commencing to appear, each
+one being cheered by the excited Londoners, whose hearts are now full of
+hope. Germany shall be made to bite the dust. That is the war-cry
+everywhere. Many a proud Uhlan and Cuirassier has to-day ridden to his
+death amid the dense mobs, mad with the lust of blood. Some of the more
+unfortunate of the enemy have been lynched, and torn limb from limb,
+while others have died deaths too horrible to here describe in detail.
+
+"Each hour brings to us further news showing how, by slow degrees, the
+German army of occupation is being wiped out. People are jeering at the
+audacious claim for indemnity presented to the British Government when
+the enemy entered London, and are asking whether we will not now present
+a claim to Germany. Von Kronhelm is not blamed so much as his Emperor.
+He has been the cat's paw, and has burned his fingers in endeavouring to
+snatch the chestnuts from the fire.
+
+"As a commander, he has acted justly, fully observing the international
+laws concerning war. It was only when faced by the problem of a national
+uprising that he countenanced anything bordering upon capital
+punishment. An hour ago our censors were withdrawn. They came and shook
+hands with many members of the staff, and retired. This surely is a
+significant fact that Von Kronhelm hopes to regain the confidence of
+London by appearing to treat her with a fatherly solicitude. Or is it
+that he intends to sue for peace at any price?
+
+"An hour ago another desperate attempt was made on the part of the men
+of South London, aided by a large body of British regulars, to regain
+possession of the War Office. Whitehall was once more the scene of a
+bloody fight, but so strongly does Von Kronhelm hold the place and all
+the adjacent thoroughfares--he apparently regarding it as his own
+fortress--that the attack was repulsed with heavy loss on our side.
+
+"All the bridges are now open, the barricades are in most cases being
+blown up, and people are passing and repassing freely for the first time
+since the day following the memorable bombardment. London streets are,
+however, in a most deplorable condition. On every hand is ruin and
+devastation. Whole streets of houses rendered gaunt and windowless by
+the now spent fires meet the eye everywhere. In certain places the ruins
+were still smouldering, and in one or two districts the conflagrations
+spread over an enormous area. Even if peace be declared, can London ever
+recover from this present wreck? Paris recovered, and quickly too.
+Therefore we place our faith in British wealth, British industry, and
+British patriotism.
+
+"Yes. The tide has turned. The great revenge now in progress is truly a
+mad and bloody one. In Kilburn this afternoon there was a wholesale
+killing of a company of German infantry, who, while marching along the
+High Road, were set upon by the armed mob, and practically exterminated.
+The smaller thoroughfares, Brondesbury Road, Victoria Road, Glendall
+Road, and Priory Park Road, across to Paddington Cemetery, were the
+scene of a frightful slaughter. The Germans died hard, but in the end
+were completely wiped out. German-baiting is now, indeed, the Londoner's
+pastime, and on this dark and rainy afternoon hundreds of men of the
+Fatherland have died upon the wet roads.
+
+"Sitting here, in a newspaper office, as we do, and having fresh reports
+constantly before us, we are able to review the whole situation
+impartially. Every moment, through the various news-agencies and our own
+correspondents and contributors, we are receiving fresh facts--facts
+which all combine to show that Von Kronhelm cannot hold out much longer.
+Surely the Commander-in-Chief of a civilised army will not allow his men
+to be massacred as they are now being! The enemy's troops, mixed up in
+the maze of London streets as they are, are utterly unable to cope with
+the oncoming multitudes, some armed with rifles, and others with
+anything they can lay their hands upon.
+
+"Women--wild, infuriated women--have now made their reappearance north
+of the Thames. In more than one instance, where German soldiers have
+attempted to take refuge in houses, these women have obtained petrol,
+and, with screams of fiendish delight, set the houses in question on
+fire. Awful dramas are being enacted in every part of the metropolis.
+The history of to-day is written in German blood.
+
+"Lord Byfield has established temporary headquarters at Jack Straw's
+Castle, where Von Kronhelm was during the bombardment, and last night we
+could see the signals exchanged between Hampstead and Sydenham Hill,
+from whence General Bamford has not yet moved. Our cavalry in Essex are,
+it is said, doing excellent work. Lord Byfield has also sent a body of
+troops across from Gravesend to Tilbury, and these have regained Maldon
+and Southminster after some hard fighting. Advices from Gravesend state
+that further reinforcements are being sent across the river to operate
+against the East of London and hem in the Germans on that side.
+
+"So confident is London of success that several of the railways are
+commencing to reorganise their traffic. A train left Willesden this
+afternoon for Birmingham, the first since the bombardment--while another
+has left Finsbury Park for Peterborough, to continue to York if
+possible. So wrecked are the London termini, however, that it must be
+some weeks before trains can arrive or be despatched from either Euston,
+King's Cross, Paddington, Marylebone, or St. Pancras. In many instances
+the line just north of the terminus is interrupted by a blown-up tunnel
+or a fallen bridge, therefore the termination of traffic must, for the
+present, be at some distance north on the outskirts of London.
+
+"Shops are also opening in South London, though they have but little to
+sell. Nevertheless, this may be regarded as a sign of renewed
+confidence. Besides, supplies of provisions are now arriving, and the
+London County Council and the Salvation Army are distributing free soup
+and food in the lower-class districts. Private charity, everywhere
+abundant during the trying days of dark despair, is doing inestimable
+good among every class. The hard, grasping employer and the smug
+financier, who had hitherto kept scrupulous accounts, and have been
+noteworthy on account of their uncharitableness, have now, in the hour
+of need, come forward and subscribed liberally to the great Mansion
+House Fund, opened yesterday by the Deputy Lord Mayor of London. The
+subscription list occupies six columns of the issue of to-morrow's
+paper, and this, in itself, speaks well for the openheartedness of the
+moneyed classes of Great Britain.
+
+"No movement has yet been made in the financial world. Bankers still
+remain with closed doors. The bullion seized at Southminster and other
+places is now under strong British guard, and will, it is supposed, be
+returned to the Bank immediately. Only a comparatively small sum has yet
+been sent across to Germany. Therefore all Von Kronhelm's strategy has
+utterly failed. By the invasion, Germany has, up to the present moment,
+gained nothing. She has made huge demands at which we can afford to
+jeer. True, she has wrecked London, but have we not sent the greater
+part of her fleet to the bottom of the North Sea, and have we not
+created havoc in German ports?
+
+"The leave-taking of our two gold-spectacled censors was almost
+pathetic. We had come to regard them as necessities to puzzle and to
+play practical jokes of language upon. To-day for the first time we have
+received none of those official notices in German, with English
+translations, which of late have appeared so prominently in our columns.
+The German Eagle is gradually disentangling his talons from London, and
+means to escape us--if he can."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    10.30 P.M.
+
+"Private information has just reached us from a most reliable source
+that a conference has been arranged between Von Kronhelm and Lord
+Byfield. This evening the German Field Marshal sent a messenger to the
+British headquarters at Hampstead under a flag of truce. He bore a
+despatch from the German Commander asking that hostilities should be
+suspended for twenty-four hours, and that they should make an
+appointment for a meeting during that period.
+
+"Von Kronhelm has left the time and place of meeting to Lord Byfield,
+and has informed the British Commander that he has sent telegraphic
+instruction to the German military governors of Birmingham, Sheffield,
+Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Northampton, Stafford, Oldham, Wigan,
+Bolton, and other places, giving notice of his suggestion to the
+British, and ordering that for the present hostilities on the part of
+the Germans shall be suspended.
+
+"It seems more than likely that the German Field Marshal has received
+these very definite instructions by wireless telegraph from the Emperor
+at Bremen or Potsdam.
+
+"We understand that Lord Byfield, after a brief consultation by
+telegraph with the Government at Bristol, has sent a reply. Of its
+nature, however, nothing is known, and at the moment of writing
+hostilities are still in progress.
+
+"In an hour's time we shall probably know whether the war is to
+continue, or a truce is to be proclaimed."
+
+    "Midnight.
+
+"Lord Byfield has granted a truce, and hostilities have now been
+suspended.
+
+"London has gone mad with delight, for the German yoke is cast off.
+Further information which has just reached us from private sources
+states that thousands of prisoners have been taken by Lord Byfield
+to-day, and that Von Kronhelm has acknowledged his position to be
+absolutely hopeless.
+
+"The great German Army has been defeated by our British patriots, who
+have fought so valiantly and so well. It is not likely that the war will
+be resumed. Von Kronhelm received a number of British officers at the
+War Office half an hour ago, and it is said that he is already making
+preparations to vacate the post he has usurped.
+
+"Lord Byfield has issued a reassuring message to London, which we have
+just received with instructions to print. It declares that although for
+the moment only a truce is proclaimed, yet this means the absolute
+cessation of all hostilities.
+
+"The naval news of the past few days may be briefly summarised. The
+British main fleet entered the North Sea, and our submarines did most
+excellent work in the neighbourhood of the Maas Lightship. Prince
+Stahlberger had concentrated practically the whole of his naval force
+off Lowestoft, but a desperate battle was fought about seventy miles
+from the Texel, full details of which are not yet to hand. All that is
+known is that, having now regained command of the sea, we were enabled
+to inflict a crushing defeat upon the Germans, in which the German
+flagship was sunk. In the end sixty-one British ships were concentrated
+against seventeen German, with the result that the German fleet has
+practically been wiped out, there being 19,000 of the enemy's officers
+and men on the casualty list, the greatest recorded in any naval battle.
+
+"Whatever may be the demands for indemnity on either side, one thing is
+absolutely certain, namely, that the invincible German Army and Navy are
+completely vanquished. The Eagle's wings are trailing in the dust."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HOW THE WAR ENDED.
+
+
+Days passed--weary, waiting, anxious days. A whole month went by. What
+had really happened at sea was unknown. After the truce, London very
+gradually began to resume her normal life, though the gaunt state of the
+streets was indescribably weird.
+
+Shops began to open, and as each day passed, food became more plentiful
+and consequently less dear. The truce meant the end of the war,
+therefore thanksgiving services were held in every town and village
+throughout the country.
+
+There were great prison-camps of Germans at Hounslow, Brentwood, and
+Barnet, while Von Kronhelm and his chief officers were also held as
+prisoners until some decision through diplomatic channels could be
+arrived at. Meanwhile a little business began to be done; thousands
+began to resume their employment, bankers reopened their doors, and
+within a week the distress and suffering of the poor became perceptibly
+alleviated. The task of burying the dead after the terrible massacre of
+the Germans in the London streets had been a stupendous one, but so
+quickly had it been accomplished that an epidemic was happily averted.
+
+Parliament moved back to Westminster, and daily meetings of the Cabinet
+were being held in Downing Street. These resulted in the resignation of
+the Ministry, and with a fresh Cabinet, in which Mr. Gerald Graham, the
+organiser of the Defenders, was given a seat, a settlement was at last
+arrived at.
+
+To further describe the chaotic state of England occasioned by the
+terrible and bloody war would serve no purpose. The loss and suffering
+which it had caused the country had been incalculable; statisticians
+estimated that in one month of hostilities it had amounted to
+Ł500,000,000, a part of which represented money transferred from British
+pockets to German, as the enemy had carried off some of the securities
+upon which the German troops had laid their hands in London.
+
+Let us for a moment take a retrospective glance. Consols were at 50;
+bread was still 1_s._ 6_d._ per loaf; and the ravages of the German
+commerce-destroyers had sent up the cost of insurance on British
+shipping sky-high. Money was almost unprocurable; except for the
+manufacture of war material, there was no industry; and the suffering
+and distress among the poor could not be exaggerated. In all directions
+men, women, and children had been starving.
+
+The mercantile community were loud in their outcry for "peace at any
+price," and the pro-German and Stop-the-War Party were equally vehement
+in demanding a cessation of the war. They found excuses for the enemy,
+and forgot the frightful devastation and loss which the invasion had
+caused to the country.
+
+They insisted that the working class gained nothing, even though the
+British fleet was closely blockading the German coast, and their outcry
+was strengthened when a few days after the blockade of the Elbe had
+begun, two British battleships were so unfortunate as to strike German
+mines, and sink with a large part of their crews. The difficulty of
+borrowing money for the prosecution of the war was a grave obstacle in
+the way of the party of action, and preyed upon the mind of the British
+Government.
+
+Socialism, with its creed of "Thou shalt have no other god but Thyself,"
+and its doctrine, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," had
+replaced the religious beliefs of a generation of Englishmen taught to
+suffer and to die sooner than surrender to wrong. In the hour of trial,
+amidst smoking ruins, among the holocausts of dead which marked the
+prolonged, bloody, and terrible battles on land and at sea, the spirit
+of the nation quailed, and there was really no great leader to recall it
+to ways of honour and duty.
+
+The wholesale destruction of food, and particularly of wheat and meat,
+removed from the world's market a large part of its supplies, and had
+immediately sent up the cost of food everywhere, outside the United
+Kingdom as well as in it. At the same time, the attacks upon shipping
+laden with food increased the cost of insurance to prohibitive prices
+upon vessels freighted for the United Kingdom. The underwriters after
+the first few captures by the enemy would not insure at all except for
+fabulous rates.
+
+The withdrawal of all the larger British cruisers for the purpose of
+defeating the main German fleets in the North Sea left the
+commerce-destroyers a free hand, and there was no force to meet them.
+The British liners commissioned as commerce-protectors were too few and
+too slow to be able to hold their adversaries in check.
+
+Neutral shipping was molested by the German cruisers.
+
+Whenever raw cotton or food of any kind was discovered upon a neutral
+vessel bound for British ports, the vessel was seized and sent into one
+or other of the German harbours on the West Coast of Africa.
+
+The United Kingdom, indeed, might have been reduced to absolute
+starvation had it not been for the fact that the Canadian Government
+interfered in Canada to prevent similar German tactics from succeeding,
+and held the German contracts for the cornering of Canadian wheat,
+contrary to public policy.
+
+The want of food, the high price of bread and meat in England, and the
+greatly increased cost of the supplies of raw material sent up the
+expenditure upon poor relief to enormous figures. Millions of men were
+out of employment, and in need of assistance. Mills and factories in
+all directions had closed down, either because of the military danger
+from the operations of the German armies, or because of the want of
+orders, or, again, because raw materials were not procurable.
+
+Unfortunately, when the invasion began, many rich foreigners who had
+lived in England collected what portable property they possessed and
+retired abroad to Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. Their
+example was followed by large numbers of British subjects who had
+invested abroad, and now, in the hour of distress, were able to place
+their securities in a handbag and withdraw them to happier countries.
+
+They may justly be blamed for this want of patriotism, but their reply
+was that they had been unjustly and mercilessly taxed by men who derided
+patriotism, misused power, and neglected the real interests of the
+nation in the desire to pander to the mob. Moreover, with the income-tax
+at 3_s._ 6_d._ in the pound, and with the cost of living enormously
+enhanced, they declared that it was a positive impossibility to live in
+England, while into the bargain their lives were exposed to danger from
+the enemy.
+
+As a result of this wholesale emigration, in London and the country the
+number of empty houses inordinately increased, and there were few
+well-to-do people left to pay the rates and taxes. The fearful burden of
+the extravagant debts which the British municipalities had heaped up was
+cruelly felt, since the nation had to repudiate the responsibility which
+it had incurred for the payment of interest on the local debts. The
+Socialist dream, in fact, might almost be said to have been realised.
+There were few rich left, but the consequences to the poor, instead of
+being beneficial, were utterly disastrous.
+
+Under the pressure of public opinion, constrained by hunger and
+financial necessities, and with thousands of German prisoners in their
+hands, the British Government acceded to the suggested conference to
+secure peace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Peace was finally signed on January 13, 1911. The British Empire emerged
+from the conflict outwardly intact, but internally so weakened that only
+the most resolute reforms accomplished by the ablest and boldest
+statesmen, could have restored it to its old position.
+
+Germany, on the other hand, emerged with an additional 21,000 miles of
+European territory, with an extended seaboard on the North Sea, fronting
+the United Kingdom at Rotterdam and the Texel, and, it was calculated,
+with a slight pecuniary advantage. Practically the entire cost of the
+war had been borne by England.
+
+As is always the case, the poor suffered most. The Socialists, who had
+declared against armaments, were faithless friends of those whom they
+professed to champion. Their dream of a golden age proved utterly
+delusive. But the true authors of England's misfortunes escaped blame
+for the moment, and the Army and Navy were made the scapegoats of the
+great catastrophe.
+
+When success did come, it came too late, and could not be utilised
+without a great British Army capable of carrying the war into the
+enemy's country, and thus compelling a satisfactory peace.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note
+
+Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
+
+Hyphens removed: "hill[-]side" (page 152), "look[-]out" (page 221),
+"mid[-]day" (page 149), "night[-]fall" (page 157), "rear[-]guard" (page
+142), "sharp[-]shooters" (page 191), "wide[-]spread (page 230).
+
+Hyphen added: "by[-]ways" (page 224).
+
+The following words appear both with and without hyphens and have not
+been changed: "back[-]waters", "motor[-]omnibuses", "pickel[-]haubes".
+
+Page 43: the double quotation mark after "Well, Mr. Mayor," was changed
+to a single quotation mark.
+
+Page 50: "communciation" changed to "communication" (established direct
+communication).
+
+Page 60: "to" changed to "the" (came the VIIth Army Corps).
+
+Page 76: "thei" changed to "their" (some of their field batteries).
+
+Page 85: "Aryglls" changed to "Argylls".
+
+Page 89: "squardon" changed to "squadron" (squadron after squadron).
+
+Page 143: "fellow" changed to "fellows" (hundreds of poor fellows).
+
+Page 166: "fo" changed to "for" (for our salvation).
+
+Page 178: "Shepheard's Bush" changed to "Shepherd's Bush".
+
+Page 187: "Rosyln Hill" changed to "Roslyn Hill".
+
+Page 253: added "as" (and as soon as fired on).
+
+
+
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Invasion, by William Le Queux</title>
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Invasion, by William Le Queux</h1>
+<pre>
+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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Invasion</p>
+<p>Author: William Le Queux</p>
+<p>Release Date: May 18, 2011  [eBook #36155]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari<br />
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>THE INVASION</h1>
+
+<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
+<p>
+<a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE.</b></a><br />
+<br />
+<a href="#BOOK_I"><b>BOOK I.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a><br />
+<br />
+<a href="#BOOK_II"><b>BOOK II.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I_II"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III_II"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV_II"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V_II"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI_II"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII_II"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII_II"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX_II"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a><br />
+<br />
+<a href="#BOOK_III"><b>BOOK III.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I_III"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II_III"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV_III"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a><br />
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V_III"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a><br />
+</p>
+<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 388px;">
+<a href="images/i001-hi.png"><img src="images/i001.png" width="388" height="600" alt="THE GREAT FIGHT." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE GREAT FIGHT.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h1>THE INVASION</h1>
+
+<h2>WM. LE QUEUX</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="center">LONDON: GEORGE NEWNES, LTD.</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 409px;">
+<a href="images/i002-hi.png"><img src="images/i002.png" width="409" height="600" alt="The title page." title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></h2>
+
+<p>"I sometimes despair of the country ever becoming
+alive to the danger of the unpreparedness of our present
+position until too late to prevent some fatal catastrophe."</p>
+
+<p>This was the keynote of a solemn warning made in
+the House of Lords by Earl Roberts. His lordship,
+whilst drawing attention to our present inadequate forces,
+strongly urged that action should be taken in accordance
+with the recommendations of the Elgin Commission that
+"no military system could be considered satisfactory
+which did not contain powers of expansion outside the
+limit of the regular forces of the Crown."</p>
+
+<p>"The lessons of the late war appear to have been
+forgotten. The one prevailing idea seems to be," said
+Earl Roberts, "to cut down our military expenditure
+without reference to our increased responsibilities and
+our largely augmented revenue. History tells us in the
+plainest terms that an Empire which cannot defend its
+own possessions must inevitably perish." And with this
+view both Lord Milner and the Marquis of Lansdowne
+concurred. But surely this is not enough. If we are
+to retain our position as the first nation of the world
+we must be prepared to defend any raid made upon our
+shores.</p>
+
+<p>The object of this book is to illustrate our utter unpreparedness
+for war from a military standpoint; to show
+how, under certain conditions which may easily occur,
+England can be successfully invaded by Germany; and
+to present a picture of the ruin which must inevitably
+fall upon us on the evening of that not far-distant day.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since Lord Roberts formulated his plans for the
+establishment of rifle-clubs I have been deeply interested
+in the movement: and after a conversation with that
+distinguished soldier the idea occurred to me to write a
+forecast, based upon all the available military knowledge&mdash;which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>would bring home to the British public
+vividly and forcibly what really would occur were an
+enemy suddenly to appear in our midst. At the outset
+it was declared by the strategists I consulted to be
+impossible. No such book could ever be written, for,
+according to them, the mass of technical detail was far too
+great to digest and present in an intelligible manner
+to the public.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Roberts, however, gave me encouragement. The
+skeleton scheme of the manner in which England could
+be invaded by Germany was submitted to a number of
+the highest authorities on strategy, whose names, however,
+I am not permitted to divulge, and after many consultations,
+much criticism, and considerable difference
+of opinion, the "general idea," with amendment after
+amendment, was finally adopted.</p>
+
+<p>That, however, was only a mere preliminary. Upon
+questions of tactics each tactician consulted held a different
+view, and each criticised adversely the other's
+suggestions.</p>
+
+<p>One way alone remained open&mdash;namely, to take the
+facts exactly as they stood, add the additional strength
+of the opposing nations as they at present are, and then
+draw logical conclusions. This, aided by experts, was
+done: and after many days of argument with the various
+authorities, we succeeded in getting them in accord as
+to the general practicability of an invasion.</p>
+
+<p>Before putting pen to paper it was necessary to reconnoitre
+carefully the whole of England from the Thames to
+the Tyne. This I did by means of a motor-car, travelling
+10,000 miles of all kinds of roads, and making a tour extending
+over four months. Each town, all the points of
+vantage, military positions, all the available landing
+places on the coast, all railway connections, and telephone
+and telegraph communications, were carefully
+noted for future reference. With the assistance of certain
+well-known military experts, the battlefields were carefully
+gone over and the positions marked upon the
+Ordnance map. Thus, through four months we pushed
+on day by day collecting information and material, sometimes
+in the big cities, sometimes in the quietest and
+remotest hamlets, all of which was carefully tabulated
+for use.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever critics may say, and however their opinions
+may differ, it can only be pointed out, first, that the
+"general idea" of the scheme is in accordance with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+expressed and published opinions of the first strategists
+of to-day, and that, as far as the forecast of events is
+concerned, it has been written from a first-hand knowledge
+of the local colour of each of the scenes described.
+The enemy's Proclamations reproduced are practically
+copies of those issued by the Germans during the war
+of 1870.</p>
+
+<p>That the experts and myself will probably be condemned
+as alarmists and denounced for revealing information
+likely to be of assistance to an enemy goes
+without saying. Indeed, an attempt was made in the
+House of Commons to suppress its publication altogether.
+Mr. R. C. Lehmann, who asked a question of
+the Prime Minister, declared that it was "calculated to
+prejudice our relations with the other Powers," while
+the late Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, in a subsequent
+letter apologising to me for condemning in the House
+a work he had not read, repeated that it was likely to
+"produce irritation abroad and might conceivably alarm
+the more ignorant public at home."</p>
+
+<p>Such a reflection, cast by the late Prime Minister upon
+the British nation was, to say the least, curious, yet
+it only confirmed the truth that the Government are
+strenuously seeking to conceal from our people the
+appalling military weakness and the consequent danger
+to which the country is constantly open.</p>
+
+<p>To be weak is to invite war: to be strong is to prevent
+it.</p>
+
+<p>To arouse our country to a sense of its own lamentable
+insecurity is the object of this volume, which is somewhat
+compressed from the form in which it originally
+appeared, and that other nations besides ourselves are
+interested in England's grave peril is proved by the fact
+that it has already been published in the German,
+French, Spanish, Danish, Russian, Italian, and even
+Japanese languages.</p>
+
+<div class="right">WILLIAM LE QUEUX.</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Speaking in the House of Lords on
+the 10th July 1905, I said:&mdash;"It is to the
+people of the country I appeal to take up the
+question of the Army in a sensible
+practical manner. For the sake of all
+they hold dear, let them bring home to
+themselves what would be the condition of
+Great Britain if it were to lose its
+wealth, its power, its position." The
+catastrophe that may happen if we
+still remain in our present state of
+unpreparedness is visibly and forcibly
+illustrated in Mr. Le Queux's new book
+which I recommend to the perusal of
+every one who has the welfare of the
+British Empire at heart.</p>
+
+<div class="right">Roberts, FM</div>
+
+<p>29. Nov. 1905</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 423px;">
+<a href="images/i007-hi.png"><img src="images/i007.png" width="423" height="600" alt="" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE INVASION.</h2>
+
+<h2><a name="BOOK_I" id="BOOK_I"></a>BOOK I.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ATTACK.</h3>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SURPRISE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Two of the myriad of London's nightworkers were walking
+down Fleet Street together soon after dawn on
+Sunday morning, 2nd September.</p>
+
+<p>The sun had not yet risen. That main artery of
+London traffic, with its irregular rows of closed shops
+and newspaper offices, was quiet and pleasant in the
+calm, mystic light before the falling of the smoke-pall.</p>
+
+<p>Only at early morning does the dear old City look its
+best; in that one quiet, sweet hour when the night's toil
+has ended and the day's has not yet begun. Only in
+that brief interval at the birth of day, when the rose
+tints of the sky glow slowly into gold, does the giant
+metropolis repose&mdash;at least, as far as its business streets
+are concerned&mdash;for at five o'clock the toiling millions
+begin to again pour in from all points of the compass,
+and the stress and storm of London at once recommences.</p>
+
+<p>And in that hour of silent charm the two grey-bearded
+sub-editors, though engaged in offices of rival newspapers
+were making their way homeward to Dulwich to
+spend Sunday in a well-earned rest, and were chatting
+"shop," as Press men do.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you had the same trouble to get that
+Yarmouth story through?" asked Fergusson, the news-editor
+of the "Dispatch," as they crossed Whitefriars
+Street. "We got about half a column, and then the
+wire shut down."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Telegraph or telephone?" inquired Baines, who was
+four or five years younger than his friend.</p>
+
+<p>"We were using both&mdash;to make sure."</p>
+
+<p>"So were we. It was a rattling good story&mdash;the robbery
+was mysterious, to say the least&mdash;but we didn't get
+more than half of it. Something's wrong with the line,
+evidently," Baines said. "If it were not such a perfect
+autumn morning, I should be inclined to think there'd
+been a storm somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;funny, wasn't it?" remarked the other. "A
+shame we haven't the whole story, for it was a first-class
+one, and we wanted something. Did you put it on the
+contents-bill?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, because we couldn't get the finish. I tried in
+every way&mdash;rang up the Central News, P.A., Exchange
+Telegraph Company, tried to get through to Yarmouth on
+the trunk, and spent half an hour or so pottering about,
+but the reply from all the agencies, from everywhere, in
+fact, was the same&mdash;the line was interrupted."</p>
+
+<p>"Just our case. I telephoned to the Post Office, but
+the reply came back that the lines were evidently down."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it certainly looks as though there'd been a
+storm, but&mdash;&mdash;" and Baines glanced at the bright, clear
+sky overhead, just flushed by the bursting sun&mdash;"there
+are certainly no traces of it."</p>
+
+<p>"There's often a storm on the coast when it's quite
+still in London, my dear fellow," remarked his friend
+wisely.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all very well. But when all communication
+with a big place like Yarmouth is suddenly cut off, as
+it has been, I can't help suspecting that something has
+happened which we ought to know."</p>
+
+<p>"You're perhaps right, after all," Fergusson said. "I
+wonder if anything has happened. We don't want to be
+called back to the office, either of us. My assistant,
+Henderson, whom I've left in charge, rings me up over
+any mare's nest. The trunk telephones all come into
+the Post Office Exchange up in Carter Lane. Why not
+look in there before we go home? It won't take us a
+quarter of an hour, and we have several trains home
+from Ludgate Hill."</p>
+
+<p>Baines looked at his watch. Like his companion, he
+had no desire to be called back to his office after getting
+out to Dulwich, and yet he was in no mood to go making
+reporter's inquiries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I'll go. It's sure to be nothing, my
+dear fellow," he said. "Besides, I have a beastly headache.
+I had a heavy night's work. One of my men is
+away ill."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, at any rate, I think I'll go," Fergusson said.
+"Don't blame me if you get called back for a special
+edition with a terrible storm, great loss of life, and all
+that sort of thing. So long." And, smiling, he waved
+his hand and parted from his friend in the booking
+office of Ludgate Hill Station.</p>
+
+<p>Quickening his pace, he hurried through the office, and,
+passing out by the back, ascended the steep, narrow
+street until he reached the Post Office Telephone Exchange
+in Carter Lane, where, presenting his card, he
+asked to see the superintendent-in-charge.</p>
+
+<p>Without much delay he was shown upstairs into a
+small private office, into which came a short, dapper, fair-moustached
+man with the bustle of a man in a great
+hurry.</p>
+
+<p>"I've called," the sub-editor explained, "to know
+whether you can tell me anything regarding the cause
+of the interruption of the line to Yarmouth a short
+time ago. We had some important news coming through,
+but were cut off just in the midst of it, and then we
+received information that all the telephone and telegraph
+lines to Yarmouth were interrupted."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's just the very point which is puzzling us
+at this moment," was the night-superintendent's reply.
+"It is quite unaccountable. Our trunk going to Yarmouth
+seems to be down, as well as the telegraphs. Yarmouth,
+Lowestoft, and beyond Beccles seem all to have
+been suddenly cut off. About eighteen minutes to four
+the operators noticed something wrong, switched the
+trunks through to the testers, and the latter reported to
+me in due course."</p>
+
+<p>"That's strange! Did they all break down together?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. The first that failed was the one that runs
+through Chelmsford, Colchester, and Ipswich up to
+Lowestoft and Yarmouth. The operator found that he
+could get through to Ipswich and Beccles. Ipswich
+knew nothing, except that something was wrong. They
+could still ring up Beccles, but not beyond."</p>
+
+<p>As they were speaking, there was a tap at the door,
+and the assistant night-superintendent entered, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"The Norwich line through Scole and Long Stratton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+has now failed, sir. About half-past four Norwich reported
+a fault somewhere north, between there and
+Cromer. But the operator now says that the line is
+apparently broken, and so are all the telegraphs from
+there to Cromer, Sheringham, and Holt."</p>
+
+<p>"Another line has gone, then!" exclaimed the superintendent-in-charge,
+utterly astounded. "Have you tried
+to get on to Cromer by the other routes&mdash;through Nottingham
+and King's Lynn, or through Cambridge?"</p>
+
+<p>"The testers have tried every route, but there's no
+response."</p>
+
+<p>"You could get through to some of the places&mdash;Yarmouth,
+for instance&mdash;by telegraphing to the Continent, I
+suppose?" asked Fergusson.</p>
+
+<p>"We are already trying," responded the assistant superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>"What cables run out from the east coast in that
+neighbourhood?" inquired the sub-editor quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"There are five between Southwold and Cromer&mdash;three
+run to Germany, and two to Holland," replied the assistant.
+"There's the cable from Yarmouth to Barkum, in
+the Frisian Islands; from Happisburg, near Mundesley,
+to Barkum; from Yarmouth to Emden; from Lowestoft
+to Haarlem, and from Kessingland, near Southwold, to
+Zandyport."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are trying all the routes?" asked his
+superior.</p>
+
+<p>"I spoke to Paris myself an hour ago and asked them
+to cable by all five routes to Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Kessingland,
+and Happisburg," was the assistant's reply.
+"I also asked Liverpool Street Station and King's Cross
+to wire down to some of their stations on the coast, but
+the reply was that they were in the same predicament as
+ourselves&mdash;their lines were down north of Beccles,
+Wymondham, East Dereham, and also south of Lynn.
+I'll just run along and see if there's any reply from
+Paris. They ought to be through by this time, as it's
+Sunday morning, and no traffic." And he went out
+hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p>"There's certainly something very peculiar," remarked
+the superintendent-in-charge to the sub-editor. "If
+there's been an earthquake or an electrical disturbance,
+then it is a most extraordinary one. Every single line
+reaching to the coast seems interrupted."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. It's uncommonly funny," Fergusson remarked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+"I wonder what could have happened. You've never had
+a complete breakdown like this before?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never. But I think&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The sentence remained unfinished, for his assistant
+returned with a slip of paper in his hand, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"This message has just come in from Paris, I'll read
+it. 'Superintendent Telephones, Paris, to Superintendent
+Telephones, London.&mdash;Have obtained direct telegraphic
+communication with operators of all five cables
+to England. Haarlem, Zandyport, Barkum, and Emden
+all report that cables are interrupted. They can get no
+reply from England, and tests show that cables are
+damaged somewhere near English shore.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Is that all?" asked Fergusson.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all. Paris knows no more than we do," was
+the assistant's response.</p>
+
+<p>"Then the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts are completely
+isolated&mdash;cut off from post office, railways, telephones,
+and cables!" exclaimed the superintendent. "It's
+mysterious&mdash;most mysterious!" And, taking up the instrument
+upon his table, he placed a plug in one of
+the holes down the front of the table itself, and a
+moment later was in conversation with the official in
+charge of the traffic at Liverpool Street, repeating the
+report from Paris, and urging him to send light engines
+north from Wymondham or Beccles into the zone of the
+mystery.</p>
+
+<p>The reply came back that he had already done so, but
+a telegram had reached him from Wymondham to the
+effect that the road-bridges between Kimberley and
+Hardingham had apparently fallen in, and the line was
+blocked by débris. Interruption was also reported beyond
+Swaffham, at a place called Little Dunham.</p>
+
+<p>"Then even the railways themselves are broken!" cried
+Fergusson. "Is it possible that there has been a great
+earthquake?"</p>
+
+<p>"An earthquake couldn't very well destroy all five
+cables from the Continent," remarked the superintendent
+gravely.</p>
+
+<p>The latter had scarcely placed the receiver upon the
+hook when a third man entered&mdash;an operator who,
+addressing him, said:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you please come to the switchboard, sir? There's
+a man in the Ipswich call office who has just told me
+a most extraordinary story. He says that he started in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+his motor-car alone from Lowestoft to London at half-past
+three this morning, and just as it was getting light
+he was passing along the edge of Henham Park, between
+Wangford village and Blythburgh, when he saw three
+men apparently repairing the telegraph wires. One was up
+the pole, and the other two were standing below. As he
+passed he saw a flash, for, to his surprise, one of the
+men fired point-blank at him with a revolver. Fortunately,
+the shot went wide, and he at once put on a
+move and got down into Blythburgh village, even though
+one of his tyres went down. It had probably been
+pierced by the bullet fired at him, as the puncture was
+unlike any he had ever had before. At Blythburgh he
+informed the police of the outrage, and the constable, in
+turn, woke up the postmaster, who tried to telegraph
+back to the police at Wrentham, but found that the line
+was interrupted. Was it possible that the men were
+cutting the wires, instead of repairing them? He says
+that after repairing the puncture he took the village
+constable and three other men on his car and went
+back to the spot, where, although the trio had escaped,
+they saw that wholesale havoc had been wrought with
+the telegraphs. The lines had been severed in four or
+five places, and whole lengths tangled up into great
+masses. A number of poles had been sawn down, and
+were lying about the roadside. Seeing that nothing
+could be done, the gentleman remounted his car, came
+on to Ipswich, and reported the damage at our call
+office."</p>
+
+<p>"And is he still there?" exclaimed the superintendent
+quickly, amazed at the motorist's statement.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I asked him to wait for a few moments in
+order to speak to you, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Good. I'll go at once. Perhaps you'd like to come
+also, Mr. Fergusson?"</p>
+
+<p>And all three ran up to the gallery, where the huge
+switchboards were ranged around, and where the night
+operators, with the receivers attached to one ear, were
+still at work.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the superintendent had taken the operator's
+seat, adjusted the ear-piece, and was in conversation
+with Ipswich. A second later he was speaking with
+the man who had actually witnessed the cutting of the
+trunk line.</p>
+
+<p>While he was thus engaged an operator at the farther<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+end of the switchboard suddenly gave vent to a cry of
+surprise and disbelief.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you say, Beccles? Repeat it," he asked excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>Then a moment later he shouted aloud:</p>
+
+<p>"Beccles says that German soldiers&mdash;hundreds of them&mdash;are
+pouring into the place! The Germans have landed
+at Lowestoft, they think."</p>
+
+<p>All who heard those ominous words sprang up dumbfounded,
+staring at each other.</p>
+
+<p>The assistant-superintendent dashed to the operator's
+side and seized his apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa&mdash;halloa, Beccles! Halloa&mdash;halloa&mdash;halloa!"</p>
+
+<p>The response was some gruff words in German, and
+the sound of scuffling could distinctly be heard. Then
+all was silent.</p>
+
+<p>Time after time he rang up the small Suffolk town,
+but in vain. Then he switched through to the testers,
+and quickly the truth was plain.</p>
+
+<p>The second trunk line to Norwich, running from
+Ipswich by Harleston and Beccles, had been cut farther
+towards London.</p>
+
+<p>But what held everyone breathless in the trunk telephone
+headquarters was that the Germans had actually
+effected the surprise landing that had so often in recent
+years been predicted by military critics; that England
+on that quiet September Sunday morning had been
+attacked. England was actually invaded. It was
+incredible!</p>
+
+<p>Yet London's millions in their Sunday morning
+lethargy were in utter ignorance of the grim disaster
+that had suddenly fallen upon the land.</p>
+
+<p>Fergusson was for rushing at once back to the "Dispatch"
+office to get out an extraordinary edition, but
+the superintendent, who was still in conversation with
+the motorist, urged judicious forethought.</p>
+
+<p>"For the present, let us wait. Don't let us alarm the
+public unnecessarily. We want corroboration. Let us
+have the motorist up here," he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," cried the sub-editor. "Let me speak to him."</p>
+
+<p>Over the wire Fergusson begged the stranger to come
+at once to London and give his story, declaring that the
+military authorities would require it. Then, just as the
+man who had been shot at by German advance spies&mdash;for
+such they had undoubtedly been&mdash;in order to prevent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+the truth leaking out, gave his promise to come to town
+at once, there came over the line from the coastguard
+at Southwold a vague, incoherent telephone message regarding
+strange ships having been seen to the northward,
+and asking for connection with Harwich; while
+King's Cross and Liverpool Street Stations both rang
+up almost simultaneously, reporting the receipt of extraordinary
+messages from King's Lynn, Diss, Harleston,
+Halesworth, and other places. All declared that German
+soldiers were swarming over the north, that Lowestoft
+and Beccles had been seized, and that Yarmouth and
+Cromer were isolated.</p>
+
+<p>Various stationmasters reported that the enemy had
+blown up bridges, taken up rails, and effectually blocked
+all communication with the coast. Certain important
+junctions were already held by the enemy's outposts.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the amazing news received in that high-up
+room in Carter Lane, City, on that sweet, sunny morning
+when all the great world of London was at peace, either
+still slumbering or week-ending.</p>
+
+<p>Fergusson remained for a full hour and a half at the
+Telephone Exchange, anxiously awaiting any further
+corroboration. Many wild stories came over the wires
+telling how panic-stricken people were fleeing inland
+away from the enemy's outposts. Then he took a hansom
+to the "Dispatch" office, and proceeded to prepare
+a special edition of his paper&mdash;an edition containing
+surely the most amazing news that had ever startled
+London.</p>
+
+<p>Fearing to create undue panic, he decided not to go to
+press until the arrival of the motorist from Ipswich.
+He wanted the story of the man who had actually seen
+the cutting of the wires. He paced his room excitedly,
+wondering what effect the news would have upon the
+world. In the rival newspaper offices the report was,
+as yet, unknown. With journalistic forethought he had
+arranged that at present the bewildering truth should
+not leak out to his rivals, either from the railway termini
+or from the telephone exchange. His only fear was
+that some local correspondent might telegraph from some
+village or town nearer the metropolis which was still in
+communication with the central office.</p>
+
+<p>Time passed very slowly. Each moment increased his
+anxiety. He had sent out the one reporter who remained
+on duty to the house of Colonel Sir James Taylor, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+Permanent Under-Secretary for War. Halting before
+the open window, he looked up and down the street
+for the arriving motor-car. But all was quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Eight o'clock had just boomed from Big Ben, and
+London still remained in her Sunday morning peace.
+The street, bright in the warm sunshine, was quite
+empty, save for a couple of motor-omnibuses and a
+sprinkling of gaily dressed holiday-makers on their way
+to the day excursion trains.</p>
+
+<p>In that centre of London&mdash;the hub of the world&mdash;all
+was comparatively silent, the welcome rest after the
+busy turmoil that through six days in the week is unceasing,
+that fevered throbbing of the heart of the world's
+great capital.</p>
+
+<p>Of a sudden, however, came the whirr-r of an approaching
+car, as a thin-faced, travel-stained man tore along
+from the direction of the Strand and pulled up before
+the office. The fine car, a six-cylinder "Napier," was
+grey with the mud of country roads, while the motorist
+himself was smothered until his goggles had been almost
+entirely covered.</p>
+
+<p>Fergusson rushed out to him, and a few moments later
+the pair were in the upstairs room, the sub-editor swiftly
+taking down the motorist's story, which differed very
+little from what he had already spoken over the telephone.</p>
+
+<p>Then, just as Big Ben chimed the half-hour, the echoes
+of the half-deserted Strand were suddenly awakened by
+the loud, strident voices of the newsboys shouting:</p>
+
+<p>"'Dispatch,' spe-shall! Invasion of England this
+morning! Germans in Suffolk! Terrible panic! Spe-shall!
+'Dispatch,' Spe-shall!"</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the paper had gone to press Fergusson
+urged the motorist&mdash;whose name was Horton, and who
+lived at Richmond&mdash;to go with him to the War Office
+and report. Therefore, both men entered the car, and
+as they did so a man jumped from a hansom in breathless
+haste. He was the reporter whom Fergusson had
+sent out to Sir James Taylor's house in Cleveland Square,
+Hyde Park.</p>
+
+<p>"They thought Sir James spent the night with his
+brother up at Hampstead," he exclaimed. "I've been
+there, but find that he's away for the week-end at Chilham
+Hall, near Buckden."</p>
+
+<p>"Buckden! That's on the Great North Road!" cried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+Horton, "We'll go at once and find him. Sixty miles
+from London. We can be there under two hours!"</p>
+
+<p>And a few minutes later the pair were tearing due
+north, turning at last into the handsome lodge-gates of
+Chilham Park, and running up the great elm avenue,
+drew up before the main door of the ancient hall, a
+quaint many-gabled old place of grey stone.</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later the breathless journalist faced
+the Permanent Under-Secretary with the news that England
+was invaded&mdash;that the Germans had actually
+effected a surprise landing on the east coast.</p>
+
+<p>Sir James and his host stood speechless. Like others,
+they at first believed the pale-faced, bearded sub-editor
+to be a lunatic, but a few moments later, when Horton
+briefly repeated the story, they saw that, whatever might
+have occurred, the two men were at least in deadly
+earnest.</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible!" cried Sir James. "We should surely
+have heard something of it if such were actually the
+case. The coastguard would have telephoned the news
+instantly. Besides, where is our fleet?"</p>
+
+<p>"The Germans evidently laid their plans with great
+cleverness. Their spies, already in England, cut the wires
+at a pre-arranged hour last night," declared Fergusson.
+"They sought to prevent this gentleman from giving the
+alarm by shooting him. All the railways to London are
+already either cut or held by the enemy. One thing,
+however, is clear&mdash;fleet or no fleet, the east coast is
+entirely at their mercy."</p>
+
+<p>Host and guest exchanged dark glances.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if what you say is the actual truth," exclaimed
+Sir James, "to-day is surely the blackest day that England
+has ever known."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they should have listened to Lord Roberts,"
+snapped his lordship. "I suppose you'll go at once,
+Taylor, and make inquiries?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," responded the Permanent Secretary. And
+a quarter of an hour later, accepting Horton's offer,
+he was sitting in the car as it headed back towards
+London.</p>
+
+<p>Could the journalist's story be true? As he sat there,
+with his head bent against the wind and the mud splashing
+into his face, Sir James recollected too well the repeated
+warnings of the past five years, serious warnings
+by men who knew our shortcomings, but to which no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+attention had been paid. Both the Government and
+the public had remained apathetic, the idea of peril had
+been laughed to scorn, and the country had, ostrich-like,
+buried its head in the sand, and allowed Continental
+nations to supersede us in business, in armaments,
+in everything.</p>
+
+<p>The danger of invasion had always been ridiculed as
+a mere alarmist's fiction; those responsible for the defence
+of the country had smiled, the Navy had been
+reduced, and the Army had remained in contented
+inefficiency.</p>
+
+<p>If the blow had really been struck by Germany? If
+she had risked three or four, out of her twenty-three,
+army corps, and had aimed at the heart of the British
+Empire? What then? Ay! what then?</p>
+
+<p>As the car glided down Regent Street into Pall Mall
+and towards Whitehall, Sir James saw on every side
+crowds discussing the vague but astounding reports now
+published in special editions of all the Sunday papers,
+and shouted wildly everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Boys bearing sheets fresh from the Fleet Street presses
+were seized, and bundles torn from them by excited
+Londoners eager to learn the latest intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>Around both War Office and Admiralty great surging
+crowds were clamouring loudly for the truth. Was it
+the truth, or was it only a hoax? Half London disbelieved
+it. Yet from every quarter, from the north and
+from across the bridges, thousands were pouring in to
+ascertain what had really occurred, and the police had
+the greatest difficulty in keeping order.</p>
+
+<p>In Trafalgar Square, where the fountains were plashing
+so calmly in the autumn sunlight, a shock-headed
+man mounted the back of one of the lions and harangued
+the crowd with much gesticulation, denouncing the
+Government in the most violent terms; but the orator
+was ruthlessly pulled down by the police in the midst
+of his fierce attack.</p>
+
+<p>It was half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. The
+Germans had already been on English soil ten hours, yet
+London was in ignorance of where they had actually
+landed, and utterly helpless.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>EFFECT IN THE CITY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Monday, 3rd September, 1910, was indeed Black Monday
+for London.</p>
+
+<p>By midnight on Sunday the appalling news had spread
+everywhere. Though the full details of the terrible
+naval disasters were not yet to hand, yet it was vaguely
+known that our ships had been defeated in the North
+Sea, and many of them sunk.</p>
+
+<p>Before 7 a.m. on Monday, however, telegrams reaching
+London by the subterranean lines from the north gave
+thrilling stories of frightful disasters we had, while all
+unconscious, suffered at the hands of the German
+fleet.</p>
+
+<p>With London, the great cities of the north, Liverpool,
+Manchester, Sheffield, and Birmingham, awoke utterly
+dazed. It seemed incredible. And yet the enemy had,
+by his sudden and stealthy blow, secured command of
+the sea and actually landed.</p>
+
+<p>The public wondered why a formal declaration of war
+had not previously been made, ignorant of the fact that
+the declaration preceding the Franco-German War was
+the first made by any civilised nation prior to the commencement
+of hostilities for one hundred and seventy
+years. The peril of the nation was now recognised on
+every hand.</p>
+
+<p>Eager millions poured into the City by every train
+from the suburbs and towns in the vicinity of the
+Metropolis, anxious to ascertain the truth for themselves,
+pale with terror, wild with excitement, indignant
+that our land forces were not already mobilised and
+ready to move eastward to meet the invader.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the banks were opened there was a run on
+them, but by noon the Bank of England had suspended
+all specie payments. The other banks, being thus unable
+to meet their engagements, simply closed the doors,
+bringing business to an abrupt standstill. Consols stood
+at 90 on Saturday, but by noon on Monday were down
+to 42&mdash;lower even than they were in 1798, when they
+stood at 47ź. Numbers of foreigners tried to speculate
+heavily, but were unable to do so, for banking being
+suspended they could not obtain transfers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the Stock Exchange the panic in the afternoon
+was indescribable. Securities of every sort went entirely
+to pieces, and there were no buyers. Financiers were
+surprised that no warning in London had betrayed the
+position of affairs, London being the money centre of the
+world. Prior to 1870 Paris shared with London the
+honour of being the pivot of the money market, but on
+the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of France
+during the Franco-German War, Paris lost that position.
+Had it not been that the milliards comprising the
+French War indemnity were intact in golden louis in
+the fortress of Spandau, Germany could never have hoped
+to wage sudden war with Great Britain before she had
+made Berlin independent of London in a money sense,
+or, at any rate, to accumulate sufficient gold to carry
+on the war for at least twelve months. The only way
+in which she could have done this was to raise her rate
+so as to offer better terms than London. Yet directly
+the Bank of England discovered the rate of exchange
+going against her, and her stock of gold diminishing,
+she would have responded by raising the English bank-rate
+in order to check the flow. Thus competition would
+have gone on until the rates became so high that all
+business would be checked, and people would have
+realised their securities to obtain the necessary money
+to carry on their affairs. Thus, no doubt, the coming
+war would have been forecasted had it not been for Germany's
+already prepared war-chest, which the majority
+of persons have nowadays overlooked. Its possession
+had enabled Germany to strike her sudden blow, and
+now the Bank of England, which is the final reserve of
+gold in the United Kingdom, found that as notes were
+cashed so the stock of gold diminished until it was in a
+few hours compelled to obtain from the Government
+suspension of the Bank charter. This enabled the Bank
+to suspend cash payment, and issue notes without a
+corresponding deposit of the equivalent in gold.</p>
+
+<p>The suspension, contrary to increasing the panic, had,
+curiously enough the immediate effect of somewhat allaying
+it. Plenty of people in the City were confident that
+the blow aimed could not prove an effective one, and
+that the Germans, however many might have landed,
+would quickly be sent back again. Thus many level-headed
+business men regarded the position calmly, believing
+that when our command of the sea was again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+re-established, as it must be in a day or two, the enemy
+would soon be non-existent.</p>
+
+<p>Business outside the money market was, of course,
+utterly demoralised. The buying of necessities was now
+uppermost in everyone's mind. Excited crowds in the
+streets caused most of the shops in the City and West
+End to close, while around the Admiralty were great
+crowds of eager men and women of all classes, tearful
+wives of bluejackets jostling with officers' ladies from
+Mayfair and Belgravia, demanding news of their loved
+ones&mdash;inquiries which, alas! the casualty office were
+unable to satisfy. The scene of grief, terror, and suspense
+was heartrending. Certain ships were known to
+have been sunk with all on board after making a gallant
+fight, and those who had husbands, brothers, lovers, or
+fathers on board wept loudly, calling upon the Government
+to avenge the ruthless murder of their loved
+ones.</p>
+
+<p>In Manchester, in Liverpool, indeed, all through the
+great manufacturing centres of the north, the excitement
+of London was reflected.</p>
+
+<p>In Manchester there was a panic "on 'Change," and
+the crowd in Deansgate coming into collision with a force
+of mounted police, some rioting occurred, and a number
+of shop windows broken, while several agitators who
+attempted to speak in front of the infirmary were at
+once arrested.</p>
+
+<p>Liverpool was the scene of intense anxiety and excitement,
+when a report was spread that German cruisers
+were about the estuary of the Mersey. It was known
+that the coal staithes, cranes, and petroleum tanks at
+Penarth, Cardiff, Barry, and Llanelly had been destroyed;
+that Aberdeen had been bombarded; and there
+were rumours that, notwithstanding the mines and defences
+of the Mersey, the city of Liverpool, with all
+its crowd of valuable shipping, was to share the same
+fate.</p>
+
+<p>The whole place was in a ferment. By eleven o'clock
+the stations were crowded by women and children sent
+by the men away into the country&mdash;anywhere from the
+doomed and defenceless city. The Lord Mayor vainly
+endeavoured to inspire confidence, but telegrams from
+London, announcing the complete financial collapse,
+only increased the panic.</p>
+
+<p>In London all through the morning, amid the chaos<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+of business in the City, the excitement had been steadily
+growing, until shortly after three o'clock the "Daily
+Mail" issued a special edition containing a copy of a
+German proclamation which, it was said, was now posted
+everywhere in East Norfolk, East Suffolk, and in Maldon
+in Essex, already occupied by the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The original proclamation had been found pasted by
+some unknown hand upon a barn door near the town of
+Billericay, and had been detached and brought to London
+in a motor-car by a correspondent.</p>
+
+<p>It showed plainly the German intention was to deal
+a hard and crushing blow, and it struck terror into the
+heart of London, for it read as will be seen on next
+page.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the walls of the Mansion House, the Guildhall,
+outside the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange, upon
+the various public buildings within the city wards, and
+westward beyond Temple Bar, proclamations were being
+posted. Indeed, upon all the hoardings in Greater London
+appeared various broadsheets side by side. One by
+the Chief Commissioner of Police, regulating the traffic
+in the streets, and appealing to the public to assist in
+the preservation of order; and a Royal Proclamation,
+brief but noble, urging every Briton to do his duty, to
+take his part in the defence of King and country, and
+to unfurl the banner of the British Empire that had
+hitherto carried peace and civilisation in every quarter
+of the world. Germany, whose independence had been
+respected, had attacked us without provocation; therefore
+hostilities were, alas, inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>When the great poster printed in big capitals and
+headed by the Royal Arms made its appearance it was
+greeted with wild cheering.</p>
+
+<p>It was a message of love from King to people&mdash;a message
+to the highest and to the lowest. Posted in Whitechapel
+at the same hour as in Whitehall, the throngs
+crowded eagerly about it and sang "God Save our Gracious
+King," for if they had but little confidence in the War
+Office and Admiralty, they placed their trust in their
+Sovereign, the first diplomat in Europe. Therefore the
+loyalty was spontaneous, as it always is. They read the
+royal message, and cheered and cheered again.</p>
+
+<p>As evening closed in yet another poster made its appearance
+in every city, town, and village in the country,
+a poster issued by military and police officers, and
+naval officers in charge of dockyards&mdash;the order for
+mobilisation.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PROCLAMATION.</h2>
+<h3>WE, GENERAL COMMANDING THE 3rd GERMAN ARMY,</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>HAVING SEEN the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor William,
+King of Prussia, Chief of the Army, which authorises the generals commanding the
+different German Army Corps to establish special measures against all municipalities
+and persons acting in contradiction to the usages of war, and to take what steps they
+consider necessary for the well-being of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>
+HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE:<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>(1) THE MILITARY JURISDICTION is hereby established. It applies to all
+territory of Great Britain occupied by the German Army, and to every action endangering
+the security of the troops by rendering assistance to the enemy. The Military Jurisdiction
+will be announced and placed vigorously in force in every parish by the issue of
+this present proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>(2) ANY PERSON OR PERSONS NOT BEING BRITISH SOLDIERS,
+or not showing by their dress that they are soldiers:</p>
+
+<p>(a) SERVING THE ENEMY as spies;</p>
+
+<p>(b) MISLEADING THE GERMAN TROOPS when charged to serve as guides;</p>
+
+<p>(c) SHOOTING, INJURING, OR ROBBING any person belonging to the German
+Army, or forming part of its personnel;</p>
+
+<p>(d) DESTROYING BRIDGES OR CANALS, damaging telegraphs, telephones,
+electric light wires, gasometers, or railways, interfering with roads, setting fire to
+munitions of war, provisions, or quarters established by German troops;</p>
+
+<p>(e) TAKING ARMS against the German troops,</p>
+
+<h3>WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH.</h3>
+
+<p>IN EACH CASE the officer presiding at the Council of War will be charged with
+the trial, and pronounce judgment. Councils of War may not pronounce ANY OTHER
+CONDEMNATION SAVE THAT OF DEATH.</p>
+
+<p>THE JUDGMENT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED.</p>
+
+<p>(3) TOWNS OR VILLAGES in the territory in which the contravention takes place
+will be compelled to pay indemnity equal to one year's revenue.</p>
+
+<p>(4) THE INHABITANTS MUST FURNISH necessaries for the German troops
+daily as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="left">1 lb. 10 oz. bread.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left">1 oz. tea.</td><td align="left">1˝ pints beer, or 1 wine-</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">13 oz. meat.</td><td align="left">1˝ oz. tobacco or 5 cigars.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left">glassful of brandy or</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">3 lb. potatoes.</td><td align="left">˝ pint wine.</td><td align="left">whisky.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">The ration for each horse:&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">13 lb. oats.</td><td align="left">3 lb. 6 oz. hay.</td><td align="left">3 lb. 6 oz. straw.</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>(ALL PERSONS WHO PREFER to pay an indemnity in money may do so at the
+rate of 2s. per day per man.)</p>
+
+<p>(5) COMMANDERS OF DETACHED corps have the right to requisition all that
+they consider necessary for the well-being of their men, and will deliver to the inhabitants
+official receipts for goods so supplied.</p>
+
+<p>WE HOPE IN CONSEQUENCE that the inhabitants of Great Britain will make no
+difficulty in furnishing all that may be considered necessary.</p>
+
+<p>(6) AS REGARDS the individual transactions between the troops and the inhabitants,
+we give notice that one German mark shall be considered the equivalent to one English
+shilling.</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>The General Commanding the Ninth German Army Corps,<br />
+VON KRONHELM.</b>
+</div>
+
+<p>Beccles, <i>September the Third, 1910</i>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 403px;">
+<a href="images/i023-hi.png"><img src="images/i023.png" width="403" height="600" alt="THE ENEMY&#39;S FAMOUS PROCLAMATION." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE ENEMY&#39;S FAMOUS PROCLAMATION.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> public, however, little dreamed of the hopeless
+confusion in the War Office, in the various regimental
+depôts throughout the country, at headquarters everywhere,
+and in every barracks in the kingdom. The
+armed forces of England were passing from a peace to a
+war footing; but the mobilisation of the various units&mdash;namely,
+its completion in men, horses, and material&mdash;was
+utterly impossible in the face of the extraordinary
+regulations which, kept a strict secret by the Council
+of Defence until this moment, revealed a hopeless state
+of things.</p>
+
+<p>The disorder was frightful. Not a regiment was found
+fully equipped and ready to march. There was a dearth
+of officers, equipment, horses, provisions&mdash;of, indeed,
+everything. Men had guns without ammunition; cavalry
+and artillery were without horses; engineers only half
+equipped; volunteers with no transport whatever;
+balloon sections without balloons, and searchlight units
+vainly trying to obtain the necessary instruments.</p>
+
+<p>Horses were being requisitioned everywhere. The few
+horses that, in the age of motor-cars, now remained on
+the roads in London were quickly taken for draught,
+and all horses fit to ride were commandeered for the
+cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>During the turmoil daring German spies were actively
+at work south of London. The Southampton line of
+the London and South-Western Railway was destroyed&mdash;with
+explosives placed by unknown hands&mdash;by the
+bridge over the Wey, near Weybridge, being blown up;
+and again that over the Mole, between Walton and
+Esher, while the Reading line was cut by the great
+bridge over the Thames at Staines being destroyed.
+The line, too, between Guildford and Waterloo, was
+also rendered impassable by the wreck of the midnight
+train, which was blown up half-way between Wansborough
+and Guildford, while in several other places
+nearer London bridges were rendered unstable by dynamite,
+the favourite method apparently being to blow the
+crown out of an arch.</p>
+
+<p>The well-laid plans of the enemy were thus quickly
+revealed. Among the thousands of Germans working in
+London, the hundred or so spies, all trusted soldiers,
+had passed unnoticed but, working in unison, each little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+group of two or three had been allotted its task, and
+had previously thoroughly reconnoitred the position and
+studied the most rapid or effective means.</p>
+
+<p>The railways to the east and north-east coasts all reported
+wholesale damage done on Sunday night by the
+advance agents of the enemy, and now this was continued
+on the night of Monday in the south, the objective
+being to hinder troops from moving north from
+Aldershot. This was, indeed, effectual, for only by a
+long <i>détour</i> could the troops be moved to the northern
+defences of London, and while many were on Tuesday
+entrained, others were conveyed to London by the motor
+omnibuses sent down for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere through London and its vicinity, as well
+as Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Coventry, Leeds,
+and Liverpool, motor-cars and motor-omnibuses from
+dealers and private owners were being requisitioned by
+the military authorities, for they would, it was believed,
+replace cavalry to a very large extent.</p>
+
+<p>Wild and extraordinary reports were circulated regarding
+the disasters in the north. Hull, Newcastle,
+Gateshead, and Tynemouth had, it was believed, been
+bombarded and sacked. The shipping in the Tyne was
+burning, and the Elswick works were held by the enemy.
+Details were, however, very vague, as the Germans were
+taking every precaution to prevent information reaching
+London.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>NEWS OF THE ENEMY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Terror and excitement reigned everywhere. The wildest
+rumours were hourly afloat. London was a seething
+stream of breathless multitudes of every class.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday morning the newspapers throughout the
+kingdom had devoted greater part of their space to the
+extraordinary intelligence from Norfolk and Suffolk, and
+Essex, and other places. Only the slow, old-fashioned
+"Globe" remained asleep, or pretended to know nothing
+of what was in progress.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>That we were actually invaded was plain, but most of
+the newspapers happily preserved a calm, dignified tone,
+and made no attempt at sensationalism. The situation
+was far too serious.</p>
+
+<p>Like the public, however, the Press had been taken
+entirely by surprise. The blow had been so sudden and
+so staggering that half the alarming reports were discredited.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to the details of the enemy's operations,
+as far as could as yet be ascertained, the "Morning
+Post" on Monday contained an account of a mysterious
+occurrence at Chatham, which read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Chatham</span>, <i>Sept. 1</i> (11.30 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>).<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>"An extraordinary accident took place on the Medway
+about eight o'clock this evening. The steamer 'Pole
+Star,' 1,200 tons register, with a cargo of cement from
+Frindsbury, was leaving for Hamburg, and came into
+collision with the 'Frauenlob,' of Bremen, a somewhat
+larger boat, which was inward bound, in a narrow
+part of the channel about half-way between Chatham
+and Sheerness. Various accounts of the mishap are
+current, but whichever of the vessels was responsible
+for the bad steering or neglect of the ordinary rules of
+the road, it is certain that the 'Frauenlob' was cut
+into by the stem of the 'Pole Star' on her port bow,
+and sank almost across the channel. The 'Pole Star'
+swung alongside her after the collision, and very soon
+afterwards sank in an almost parallel position. Tugs
+and steamboats carrying a number of naval officers and
+the port authorities are about to proceed to the scene of
+the accident, and if, as seems probable, there is no
+chance of raising the vessels, steps will be at once taken
+to blow them up. In the present state of our foreign
+relations such an obstruction directly across the entrance
+to one of our principal war-ports is a national
+danger, and will not be allowed to remain a moment
+longer than can be helped."</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<i>Sept. 2.</i><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>"An extraordinary <i>dénouement</i> has followed the collision
+in the Medway reported in my telegram of last night,
+which renders it impossible to draw any other conclusion
+than that the affair is anything but an accident.
+Everything now goes to prove that the whole business
+was premeditated and was the result of an organised
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>plot with the object of 'bottling up' the numerous men-of-war
+that are now being hurriedly equipped for service
+in Chatham Dockyard. In the words of Scripture,
+'An enemy hath done this,' and there can be very little
+doubt as to the quarter from which the outrage was
+engineered. It is nothing less than an outrage to perpetrate
+what is in reality an overt act of hostility in a
+time of profound peace, however much the political
+horizon may be darkened by lowering war-clouds. We
+are living under a Government whose leader lost no time
+in announcing that no fear of being sneered at as a
+'Little Englander' would deter him from seeking peace
+and ensuring it by a reduction of our naval and military
+armaments, even at that time known to be inadequate
+to the demands likely to be made upon them if our
+Empire is to be maintained. We trust, however, that
+even this parochially-minded statesman will lose no time
+in probing the conspiracy to its depths, and in seeking
+instant satisfaction from those personages, however
+highly placed and powerful, who have committed this
+outrage on the laws of civilisation.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as the news of the collision reached the
+dockyard the senior officer at Kethole Reach was ordered
+by wire to take steps to prevent any vessel from going
+up the river, and he at once despatched several picket-boats
+to the entrance to warn in-coming ships of the
+blocking of the channel, while a couple of other boats
+were sent up to within a short distance of the obstruction
+to make assurance doubly sure. The harbour signals
+ordering 'suspension of all movings' were also
+hoisted at Garrison Point.</p>
+
+<p>"Among other ships which were stopped in consequence
+of these measures was the 'Van Gysen,' a big
+steamer hailing from Rotterdam, laden, it was stated,
+with steel rails for the London, Chatham, and Dover
+Railway, which were to be landed at Port Victoria. She
+was accordingly allowed to proceed, and anchored, or
+appeared to anchor, just off the railway pier at that
+place. Ten minutes later the officer of the watch on
+board H.M.S. 'Medici' reported that he thought she
+was getting under way again. It was then pretty dark.
+An electric searchlight being switched on, the 'Van
+Gysen' was discovered steaming up the river at a considerable
+speed. The 'Medici' flashed the news to the
+flagship, which at once fired a gun, hoisted the recall
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>and the 'Van Gysen's' number in the international
+code, and despatched her steam pinnace, with orders to
+overhaul the Dutchman and stop him at whatever cost.
+A number of the marines on guard were sent in her with
+their rifles.</p>
+
+<p>"The 'Van Gysen' seemed well acquainted with the
+channel, and continually increased her speed as she
+went up the river, so that she was within half a mile
+of the scene of the accident before the steamboat came
+up with her. The officer in charge called to the skipper
+through the megaphone to stop his engines and to throw
+him a rope, as he wanted to come on board. After pretending
+for some time not to understand him, the skipper
+slowed his engines and said, 'Ver vel, come 'longside
+gangway.' As the pinnace hooked on at the gangway, a
+heavy iron cylinder cover was dropped into her from
+the height of the 'Van Gysen's' deck. It knocked the
+bowman overboard and crashed into the fore part of
+the boat, knocking a big hole in the port side forward.
+She swung off at an angle and stopped to pick up the
+man overboard. Her crew succeeded in rescuing him,
+but she was making water fast, and there was nothing
+for it but to run her into the bank. The lieutenant in
+charge ordered a rifle to be fired at the 'Van Gysen' to
+bring her to, but she paid not the smallest attention, as
+might have been expected, and went on her way with
+gathering speed.</p>
+
+<p>"The report, however, served to attract the attention
+of the two picket-boats which were patrolling up the
+river. As she turned a bend in the stream they both
+shot up alongside out of the darkness, and ordered
+her peremptorily to stop. But the only answer they received
+was the sudden extinction of all lights in the
+steamer. They kept alongside, or rather one of them
+did, but they were quite helpless to stay the progress of
+the big wall-sided steamer. The faster of the picket-boats
+shot ahead with the object of warning those who
+were busy examining the wrecks. But the 'Van Gysen,'
+going all she knew, was close behind, an indistinguishable
+black blur in the darkness, and hardly had the
+officer in the picket-boat delivered his warning before
+she was heard close at hand. Within a couple of hundred
+yards of the two wrecks she slowed down, for fear
+of running right over them. On she came, inevitable as
+Fate. There was a crash as she came into collision with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>the central deckhouses of the 'Frauenlob' and as her
+bows scraped past the funnel of the 'Pole Star.' Then
+followed no fewer than half a dozen muffled reports.
+Her engines went astern for a moment, and down she
+settled athwart the other two steamers, heeling over to
+port as she did so. All was turmoil and confusion. None
+of the dockyard and naval craft present were equipped
+with searchlights. The harbour-master, the captain of
+the yard, even the admiral superintendent, who had
+just come down in his steam launch, all bawled out
+orders.</p>
+
+<p>"Lights were flashed and lanterns swung up and
+down in the vain endeavour to see more of what had
+happened. Two simultaneous shouts of 'Man overboard!'
+came from tugs and boats at opposite sides of
+the river. When a certain amount of order was restored
+it was discovered that a big dockyard tug was
+settling down by the head. It seems she had been
+grazed by the 'Van Gysen' as she came over the obstruction,
+and forced against some portion of one of the
+foundered vessels, which had pierced a hole in her below
+the water-line.</p>
+
+<p>"In the general excitement the damage had not been
+discovered, and now she was sinking fast. Hawsers
+were made fast to her with the utmost expedition possible
+in order to tow her clear of the piled-up wreckage,
+but it was too late. There was only just time to rescue
+her crew before she too added herself to the underwater
+barricade. As for the crew of the 'Van Gysen,' it
+is thought that all must have gone down in her, as no
+trace of them has as yet been discovered, despite a most
+diligent search, for it was considered that, in an affair
+which had been so carefully planned as this certainly
+must have been, some provision must surely have been
+made for the escape of the crew. Those who have been
+down at the scene of the disaster report that it will be
+impossible to clear the channel in less than a week or
+ten days, using every resource of the dockyard.</p>
+
+<p>"A little later I thought I would go down to the dockyard
+on the off-chance of picking up any further information.
+The Metropolitan policeman at the gate would on
+no account allow me to pass at that hour, and I was
+just turning away when, by a great piece of good fortune,
+I ran up against Commander Shelley.</p>
+
+<p>"I was on board his ship as correspondent during the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>man&oelig;uvres of the year before last. 'And what are you
+doing down here?' was his very natural inquiry after we
+had shaken hands. I told him that I had been down
+in Chatham for a week past as special correspondent,
+reporting on the half-hearted preparations being made
+for the possible mobilisation, and took the opportunity
+of asking him if he could give me any further information
+about the collision between the three steamers in
+the Medway. 'Well,' said he, 'the best thing you can
+do is to come right along with me. I have just been
+hawked out of bed to superintend the diving operations,
+which will begin the moment there is a gleam of daylight.'
+Needless to say, this just suited me, and I
+hastened to thank him and to accept his kind offer.
+'All right,' he said, 'but I shall have to make one small
+condition.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And that is?' I queried.</p>
+
+<p>"'Merely to let me "censor" your telegrams before
+you send them,' he returned. 'You see, the Admiralty
+might not like to have too much said about this business,
+and I don't want to find myself in the dirt-tub.'</p>
+
+<p>"The stipulation was a most reasonable one, and however
+I disliked the notion of having probably my best
+paragraphs eliminated, I could not but assent to my
+friend's proposition. So away we marched down the
+echoing spaces of the almost deserted dockyard till we
+arrived at the 'Thunderbolt' pontoon. Here lay a
+pinnace with steam up, and lighted down the sloping
+side of the old ironclad by the lantern of the policeman
+on duty, we stepped on board and shot out into the
+centre of the stream. We blew our whistles and the
+coxswain waved a lantern, whereupon a small tug that
+had a couple of dockyard lighters attached gave a
+hoarse 'toot' in response, and followed us down the
+river. We sped along in the darkness against a strong
+tide that was making upstream, past Upnor Castle, that
+quaint old Tudor fortress with its long line of modern
+powder magazines, and along under the deeper shadows
+beneath Hoo Woods till we came abreast of the medley
+of mud flats and grass-grown islets just beyond them.
+Here above the thud of the engines and the plash of the
+water, a thin, long-drawn-out cry wavered through the
+night. 'Some one hailing the boat, sir,' reported the
+lookout forward. We had all heard it. 'Ease down,'
+ordered Shelley, and hardly moving against the rushing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>tideway we listened for its repetition. Again the voice
+was raised in quavering supplication. 'What the dickens
+does he say?' queried the commander. 'It's German,' I
+answered. 'I know that language well. I think he's
+asking for help. May I answer him?'</p>
+
+<p>"'By all means. Perhaps he belongs to one of those
+steamers.' The same thought was in my own mind. I
+hailed in return, asking where he was and what he
+wanted. The answer came back that he was a shipwrecked
+seaman, who was cold, wet, and miserable, and
+implored to be taken off from the islet where he found
+himself, cut off from everywhere by water and darkness.
+We ran the boat's nose into the bank, and presently
+succeeded in hauling aboard a miserable object, wet
+through, and plastered from head to foot with black Medway
+mud. The broken remains of a cork life-belt hung from
+his shoulders. A dram of whisky somewhat revived
+him. 'And now,' said Shelley, 'you'd better cross-examine
+him. We may get something out of the fellow.' The
+foreigner, crouched down shivering in the stern-sheets
+half covered with a yellow oilskin that some charitable
+bluejacket had thrown over him, appeared to me in
+the light of the lantern that stood on the deck before
+him to be not only suffering from cold, but from terror.
+A few moments' conversation with him confirmed my
+suspicions. I turned to Shelley and exclaimed, 'He says
+he'll tell us everything if we spare his life,' I explained.
+'I'm sure I don't want to shoot the chap,' replied the
+commander. 'I suppose he's implicated in this
+"bottling up" affair. If he is, he jolly well deserves it,
+but I don't suppose anything will be done to him.
+Anyway, his information may be valuable, and so you
+may tell him that he is all right as far as I'm concerned,
+and I will do my best for him with the Admiral.
+I daresay that will satisfy him. If not, you might
+threaten him a bit. Tell him anything you like if you
+think it will make him speak.' To cut a long story short,
+I found the damp Dutchman amenable to reason, and
+the following is the substance of what I elicited from him.</p>
+
+<p>"He had been a deck hand on board the 'Van Gysen.'
+When she left Rotterdam he did not know that the trip
+was anything out of the way. There was a new skipper
+whom he had not seen before, and there were also two
+new mates with a new chief engineer. Another steamer
+followed them all the way till they arrived at the Nore.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>On the way over he and several other seamen were
+sent for by the captain, and asked if they would volunteer
+for a dangerous job, promising them Ł50 a-piece if it
+came off all right. He and five others agreed, as did
+two or three stokers, and were then ordered to remain
+aft and not communicate with any others of the crew.
+Off the Nore all the remainder were transferred
+to the following steamer, which steamed off to
+the eastward. After they were gone the selected men
+were told that the officers all belonged to the Imperial
+German Navy, and by orders of the Kaiser were about
+to attempt to block up the Medway.</p>
+
+<p>"A collision between two other ships had been
+arranged for, one of which was loaded with a mass of
+old steel rails into which liquid cement had been run, so
+that her hold contained a solid impenetrable block. The
+'Van Gysen' carried a similar cargo, and was provided
+with an arrangement for blowing holes in her bottom.
+The crew were provided with life-belts, and the half
+of the money promised, and all except the captain, the
+engineer, and the two mates dropped overboard just before
+arriving at the sunken vessels. They were advised
+to make their way to Gravesend, and then to shift for
+themselves as best they could. He had found himself
+on a small island, and could not muster up courage to
+plunge into the cold water again in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"'By Jove! This means war with Germany, man!&mdash;War!'
+was Shelley's comment. At two o'clock this afternoon
+we knew that it did, for the news of the enemy's
+landing in Norfolk was signalled down from the dockyard.
+We also knew from the divers that the cargo of
+the sunken steamers was what the rescued seamen had
+stated it to be. Our bottle has been fairly well corked."</p>
+
+<p>This amazing revelation showed how cleverly contrived
+was the German plan of hostilities. All our splendid
+ships at Chatham had, in that brief half-hour, been
+bottled up and rendered utterly useless. Yet the
+authorities were not blameless in the matter, for in
+November, 1905, a foreign warship actually came up the
+Medway in broad daylight, and was not noticed until
+she began to bang away her salutes, much to the utter
+consternation of every one.</p>
+
+<p>This incident, however, was but one of the many
+illustrations of German's craft and cunning. The whole
+scheme had been years in careful preparation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She intended to invade us, and regarded every stratagem
+as allowable in her sudden dash upon England,
+an expedition which promised to result in the most
+desperate war of modern times.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the "Globe," at last aroused from
+its long and peaceful sleep, reproduced those plain, prophetic
+words of Lord Overstone, written some years before
+to the Royal Defence Commission: "Negligence
+alone can bring about the calamity under discussion.
+Unless we suffer ourselves to be surprised we cannot be
+invaded with success. It is useless to discuss what will
+occur or what can be done after London has fallen into
+the hands of an invading foe. The apathy which may
+render the occurrence of such a catastrophe possible will
+not afterwards enable the country, enfeebled, dispirited,
+and disorganised by the loss of its capital, to redeem the
+fatal error."</p>
+
+<p>Was that prophecy to be fulfilled?</p>
+
+<p>Some highly interesting information was given by
+the Ipswich correspondent of the Central News.</p>
+
+<p>Repeated briefly, it was as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Shortly before three o'clock on Sunday morning the
+coastguard at Lowestoft, Corton, and Beach End discovered
+that their telephonic communication was interrupted,
+and half an hour later, to the surprise of every
+one a miscellaneous collection of mysterious craft were
+seen approaching the harbour: and within an hour
+many of them were high and dry on the beach, while
+others were lashed alongside the old dock, the new fish-docks
+of the Great Eastern Railway, and the wharves,
+disembarking a huge force of German infantry, cavalry,
+motor-infantry, and artillery. The town, awakened from
+its slumbers, was utterly paralysed, the more so when
+it was discovered that the railway to London was already
+interrupted, and the telegraph lines all cut. On landing,
+the enemy commandeered all provisions, including
+all motor-cars they could discover, horses and forage,
+while the banks were seized, and the infantry, falling
+in marched up Old Nelson Street into High Street, and
+out upon the Beccles Road. The first care of the invaders
+was to prevent the people of Lowestoft damaging
+the Swing Bridge, a strong guard being instantly mounted
+upon it, and so quietly and orderly was the landing effected
+that it was plain the German plans of invasion were
+absolutely perfect in every detail.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Few hitches seemed to occur. The mayor was summoned
+at six o'clock by General von Kronhelm, the
+generalissimo of the German Army, and briefly informed
+that the town of Lowestoft was occupied, and that all
+armed resistance would be punished by death. Then,
+ten minutes later, when the German war-flag was flying
+from several flagstaffs in various parts of the town, the
+people realised their utter helplessness.</p>
+
+<p>"The Germans, of course, knew that, irrespective of
+the weather, a landing could be effected at Lowestoft,
+where the fish-docks and wharves, with their many
+cranes, were capable of dealing with a large amount of
+stores. The Denes, that flat, sandy plain between the
+upper town and the sea, they turned into a camping-ground,
+and large numbers were billeted in various quarters
+of the town itself.</p>
+
+<p>"The people were terror-stricken. To appeal to London
+for help was impossible, as the place had been cut
+entirely off, and around it a strong chain of outposts
+had already been thrown, preventing any one from
+escaping. The town had, in a moment, as it seemed,
+fallen at the mercy of the foreigners. Even the important-looking
+police constables of Lowestoft, with their
+little canes, were crestfallen, sullen, and inactive.</p>
+
+<p>"While the landing was continuing during all Sunday
+the advance guard moved rapidly over Mutford Bridge,
+along the Beccles Road, occupying a strong position
+on the west side of the high ground east of Lowestoft.
+Beccles, where von Kronhelm established his headquarters,
+resting as it does on the River Waveney, is strongly
+held. The enemy's main position appears to run from
+Windle Hill, one mile north-east of Gillingham, thence
+north-west through Bull's Green, Herringfleet Hill, over
+to Grove Farm and Hill House to Raveningham, whence
+it turns easterly to Haddiscoe, which is at present its
+northern limit. The total front from Beccles Bridge
+north is about five miles, and commands the whole of
+the flat plain west towards Norwich. It has its south
+flank resting on the River Waveney, and to the north
+on Thorpe Marshes. The chief artillery position is at
+Toft Monks&mdash;the highest point. Upon the high tower
+of Beccles Church is established a signal station, communication
+being made constantly with Lowestoft by
+helio by day, and acetylene lamps by night.</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy's position has been most carefully chosen,
+for it is naturally strong, and, being well held to protect
+Lowestoft from any attack from the west, the landing
+can continue uninterruptedly, for Lowestoft beach and
+docks are now entirely out of the line of any British
+fire.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PROCLAMATION.</h2>
+
+<h3>CITIZENS OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>THE NEWS OF THE BOMBARDMENT of the
+City of Newcastle and the landing of the German
+Army at Hull, Weybourne, Yarmouth, and other
+places along the East Coast is unfortunately confirmed.</p>
+
+<p>THE ENEMY'S INTENTION is to march upon
+the City of London, which must be resolutely defended.</p>
+
+<p>THE BRITISH NATION and the Citizens of London,
+in face of these great events, must be energetic
+in order to vanquish the invader.</p>
+
+<p>The ADVANCE must be CHALLENGED FOOT
+BY FOOT. The people must fight for King and
+Country.</p>
+
+<p>Great Britain is not yet dead, for indeed, the more
+serious her danger, the stronger will be her unanimous
+patriotism.</p>
+
+<h3>GOD SAVE THE KING.</h3>
+
+<div class="right">HARRISON, <i>Lord Mayor</i>.</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Mansion House</span>,<br />
+<span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>September 3rd, 1910</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 408px;">
+<a href="images/i035-hi.png"><img src="images/i035.png" width="408" height="600" alt="THE LORD MAYOR&#39;S APPEAL TO LONDON." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE LORD MAYOR&#39;S APPEAL TO LONDON.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"March outposts are at Blythburgh, Wenhaston,
+Holton, Halesworth, Wissett, Rumburgh, Homersfield,
+and Bungay, and then north to Haddiscoe, while cavalry
+patrols watch by day, the line roughly being from Leiston
+through Saxmundham, Framlingham, and Tannington,
+to Hoxne.</p>
+
+<p>"The estimate, gleaned from various sources in Lowestoft
+and Beccles, is that up to Monday at midday nearly
+a whole Army Corps, with stores, guns, ammunition,
+etc., had already landed, while there are also reports of
+a further landing at Yarmouth, and at a spot still farther
+north, but at present there are no details.</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy," he concluded, "are at present in a
+position of absolute security."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>A PROPHECY FULFILLED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>This authentic news of the position of the enemy, combined
+with the vague rumours of other landings at Yarmouth,
+along the coast at some unknown point north
+of Cromer, at King's Lynn, and other places, produced
+an enormous sensation in London, while the Central
+News account, circulated to all the papers in the Midlands
+and Lancashire, increased the panic in the manufacturing
+districts.</p>
+
+<p>The special edition of the "Evening Star," issued
+about six o'clock on Tuesday evening, contained another
+remarkable story which threw some further light upon
+the German movements. It was, of course, known that
+practically the whole of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast
+was already held by the enemy, but with the exception<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+of the fact that the enemy's cavalry vedettes and reconnoitring
+patrols were out everywhere at a distance
+about twenty miles from the shore, England was entirely
+in the dark as to what had occurred anywhere
+else but at Lowestoft. Attempts had been made to
+penetrate the cavalry screen at various points, but in
+vain. What was in progress was carefully kept a secret
+by the enemy. The veil was, however, now lifted. The
+story which the "Evening Star" had obtained exclusively,
+and which was eagerly read everywhere, had
+been related by a man named Scotney, a lobster-fisherman,
+of Sheringham, in Norfolk, who had made the
+following statement to the chief officer of coastguard
+at Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire:</p>
+
+<p>"Just before dawn on Sunday morning I was in the
+boat with my son Ted off the Robin Friend, taking up
+the lobster pots, when we suddenly saw about three
+miles off shore a mixed lot of curious-looking craft strung
+out right across the horizon, and heading apparently for
+Cromer. There were steamers big and little, many of
+them towing queer flat-bottomed kind of boats, lighters,
+and barges, which, on approaching nearer, we could
+distinctly see were filled to their utmost capacity with
+men and horses.</p>
+
+<p>"Both Ted and I stood staring at the unusual sight,
+wondering whatever it meant. They came on very
+quickly, however&mdash;so quickly, indeed, that we thought
+it best to move on. The biggest ships went along to
+Weybourne Gap, where they moored in the twenty-five
+feet of water that runs in close to the shore, while some
+smaller steamers and the flats were run high and dry
+on the hard shingle. Before this I noticed that there
+were quite a number of foreign warships in the offing,
+with several destroyers far away in the distance both to
+east and west.</p>
+
+<p>"From the larger steamships all sorts of boats were
+lowered, including apparently many collapsible whaleboats,
+and into these, in a most orderly manner, from
+every gangway and accommodation-ladder, troops&mdash;Germans
+we afterwards discovered them to be, to our
+utter astonishment&mdash;began to descend.</p>
+
+<p>"These boats were at once taken charge of by steam
+pinnaces and cutters and towed to the beach. When
+we saw this we were utterly dumbfounded. Indeed,
+at first I believed it to be a dream, for ever since I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+a lad I had heard the ancient rhyme my old father was
+so fond of repeating:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+"'He who would Old England win,<br />
+Must at Weybourne Hoop begin.'<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>"As everybody knows, nature has provided at that
+lonely spot every advantage for the landing of hostile
+forces, and when the Spanish Armada was expected, and
+again when Napoleon threatened an invasion, the place
+was constantly watched. Yet nowadays, except for the
+coastguard, it has been utterly unprotected and
+neglected.</p>
+
+<p>"The very first soldiers who landed formed up quickly,
+and under the charge of an officer ran up the low hill
+to the coastguard station, I suppose in order to prevent
+them signalling a warning. The funny thing was, however,
+that the coastguards had already been held up by
+several well-dressed men&mdash;spies of the Germans, I suppose.
+I could distinctly see one man holding one of the
+guards with his back to the wall, and threatening him
+with a revolver.</p>
+
+<p>"Ted and I had somehow been surrounded by the
+crowd of odd craft which dodged about everywhere, and
+the foreigners now and then shouted to me words that
+unfortunately I could not understand.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile, from all the boats strung out along the
+beach, from Sheringham right across to the Rocket
+House at Salthouse, swarms of drab-coated soldiers were
+disembarking, the boats immediately returning to the
+steamers for more. They must have been packed as
+tightly as herrings in a barrel; but they all seemed to
+know where to go to, because all along at various
+places little flags were held by men, and each regiment
+appeared to march across and assemble at its own
+flag.</p>
+
+<p>"Ted and I sat there as if we were watching a play.
+Suddenly we saw from some of the ships and bigger
+barges horses being lowered into the water and allowed
+to swim ashore. Hundreds seemed to gain the beach
+even as we were looking at them. Then, after the first
+lot of horses had gone, boats full of saddles followed
+them. It seemed as though the foreigners were too busy to
+notice us, and we&mdash;not wanting to share the fate of
+Mr. Gunter, the coastguard, and his mates&mdash;just sat
+tight and watched.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"From the steamers there continued to pour hundreds
+upon hundreds of soldiers, who were towed to land,
+and then formed up in solid squares, which got bigger
+and bigger. Horses innumerable&mdash;quite a thousand, I
+should reckon&mdash;were slung overboard from some of the
+smaller steamers which had been run high and dry on
+the beach, and as the tide had now begun to run down,
+they landed only knee-deep in water. Those steamers,
+it seemed to me, had big bilge keels, for as the tide ebbed
+they did not heel over. They had, no doubt, been
+specially fitted for the purpose. Out of some they
+began to hoist all sorts of things, wagons, guns, motor-cars,
+large bales of fodder, clothing, ambulances with
+big red crosses on them, flat-looking boats&mdash;pontoons I
+think they call them&mdash;and great piles of cooking pots
+and pans, square boxes of stores, or perhaps ammunition,
+and as soon as anything was landed it was hauled up
+above high-water mark.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime lots of men had mounted on horseback
+and ridden off up the lane which leads into Weybourne
+village. At first half a dozen started at a time;
+then, as far as I could judge, about fifty more started.
+Then larger bodies went forward, but more and more
+horses kept going ashore, as though their number was
+never-ending. They must have been stowed mighty
+close, and many of the ships must have been specially
+fitted up for them.</p>
+
+<p>"Very soon I saw cavalry swarming up over Muckleburgh,
+Warborough, and Telegraph Hills, while a good
+many trotted away in the direction of Runton and
+Sheringham. Then, soon after they had gone&mdash;that is,
+in about an hour and a half from their first arrival&mdash;the
+infantry began to move off, and as far as I could
+see, they marched inland by every road, some in the
+direction of Kelling Street and Holt, others over Weybourne
+Heath towards Bodham, and still others skirting
+the woods over to Upper Sheringham. Large masses of
+infantry marched along the Sheringham Road, and
+seemed to have a lot of officers on horseback with them,
+while up on Muckleburgh Hill I saw frantic signalling
+in progress.</p>
+
+<p>"By this time they had a quantity of carts and wagons
+landed, and a large number of motor-cars. The latter
+were soon started, and, manned by infantry, moved
+swiftly in procession after the troops. The great idea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+of the Germans was apparently to get the beach clear
+of everything as soon as landed, for all stores, equipment,
+and other tackle were pushed inland as soon as
+disembarked.</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy kept on landing. Thousands of soldiers
+got ashore without any check, and all proceeding orderly
+and without the slightest confusion, as though the plans
+were absolutely perfect. Everybody seemed to know
+exactly what to do. From where we were we could see
+the coastguards held prisoners in their station, with
+German sentries mounted around; and as the tide was
+now setting strong to the westward, Ted and I just let
+our anchor off the ground and allowed ourselves to
+drift. It occurred to me that perhaps I might be able
+give the alarm at some other coastguard station if
+I could only drift away unnoticed in the busy scene
+now in progress.</p>
+
+<p>"That the Germans had actually landed in England
+now apparent; yet we wondered what our own fleet
+could be doing, and pictured to ourselves the jolly good
+drubbing that our cruisers would give the audacious
+foreigner when they did haul in sight. It was for us,
+at all costs, to give the alarm, so gradually we drifted
+off to the nor'-westward, in fear every moment lest we
+should be noticed and fired at. At last we got around
+Blakeney Point successfully, and breathed more freely;
+then hoisting our sail, we headed for Hunstanton, but
+seeing numbers of ships entering the Wash, and believing
+them to be also Germans, we put our helm down and
+ran across into Wainfleet Swatchway to Gibraltar Point,
+where I saw the chief officer of coastguards and told
+him all the extraordinary events of that memorable morning."</p>
+
+<p>The report added that the officer of coastguard in
+question had, three hours before, noticed strange vessels
+coming up the Wash, and had already tried to report
+by telegraph to his divisional inspecting officer at Harwich,
+but could obtain no communication. An hour later,
+however, it had become apparent that a still further
+landing was being effected on the south side of the Wash,
+in all probability at King's Lynn.</p>
+
+<p>The fisherman Scotney's statement had been sent by
+special messenger from Wainfleet on Sunday evening,
+but owing to the dislocation of the railway traffic north
+of London, the messenger was unable to reach the offices<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+of the coastguard in Victoria Street, Westminster, until
+Monday. The report received by the Admiralty had
+been treated as confidential until corroborated, lest undue
+public alarm should be caused.</p>
+
+<p>It had then been given to the Press as revealing the
+truth of what had actually happened.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy had entered by the back door of England,
+and the sensation it caused everywhere was little short
+of panic.</p>
+
+<p>Some further very valuable information was also received
+by the Intelligence Department of the War Office,
+revealing the military position of the invaders who had
+landed at Weybourne Hoop.</p>
+
+<p>The whole of the IVth German Army Corps, about
+38,000 men, had been landed at Weybourne, Sheringham,
+and Cromer. It consisted of the 7th and 8th Divisions
+complete, commanded respectively by Major-General
+Dickmann and Lieutenant-General von Mirbach. The
+7th Division comprised the 13th and 14th Infantry
+Brigades, consisting of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau's
+1st Magdeburg Regiment, the 3rd Magdeburg Infantry
+Regiment, Prince Louis Ferdinand von Preussen's 2nd
+Magdeburg Regiment, and the 5th Hanover Infantry
+Regiment. Attached to this division were the Magdeburg
+Hussars No. 10, and the Uhlan Regiment of Altmärk
+No. 16.</p>
+
+<p>In the 8th Division were the 15th and 16th Brigades,
+comprising a Magdeburg Fusilier Regiment, an Anhalt
+Infantry Regiment, the 4th and 8th Thuringen Infantry,
+with the Magdeburg Cuirassiers, and a regiment of
+Thuringen Hussars. The cavalry were commanded by
+Colonel Frölich, while General von Kleppen was in supreme
+command of the whole corps.</p>
+
+<p>Careful reconnaissance of the occupied area showed
+that immediately on landing, the German position extended
+from the little town of Holt, on the west, eastward,
+along the main Cromer road, as far as Gibbet
+Lane, slightly south of Cromer, a distance of about
+five miles. This constituted a naturally strong position;
+indeed, nature seemed to have provided it specially to
+suit the necessities of a foreign invader. The ground
+for miles to the south sloped gently away down to the
+plain, while the rear was completely protected, so that
+the landing could proceed until every detail had been
+completed.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+<div class="center">
+<i>Berlin um Eins!</i>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;     <i>Berlin um Eins!</i><br />
+<br />
+Das Kleine Journal<br />
+Mittags Ausgabe.<br />
+<br />
+Berlin, Montag, den 3 September 1910<br />
+<br />
+Triumph der<br />
+Deutschen<br />
+Waffen.<br />
+<br />
+Vernichtung der<br />
+Englischen<br />
+Flotte.<br />
+<br />
+Von Kronhelm Auf<br />
+Dem Vormarsche<br />
+Nach London.<br />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 338px;">
+<a href="images/i042-hi.png"><img src="images/i042.png" width="338" height="500" alt="THE FIRST NEWS IN BERLIN OF
+THE GERMAN VICTORY." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE FIRST NEWS IN BERLIN OF<br />
+THE GERMAN VICTORY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Artillery were massed on both flanks, namely, at Holt
+and on the high ground near Felbrigg, immediately south
+of Cromer. This last-named artillery was adequately
+supported by the detached infantry close at hand. The
+whole force was covered by a strong line of outposts.
+Their advanced sentries were to be found along a line
+starting from Thornage village, through Hunworth, Edgefield,
+Barningham Green, Squallham, Aldborough, Hanworth,
+to Roughton. In rear of them lay their pickets,
+which were disposed in advantageous situations. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+general line of these latter were at North Street, Pondhills
+to Plumstead, thence over to Matlash Hall, Aldborough
+Hall, and the rising ground north of Hanworth.
+These, in their turn, were adequately supplemented
+by the supports, which were near Hempstead Green,
+Baconsthorpe, North Narningham, Bessingham, Sustead,
+and Melton.</p>
+
+<p>In case of sudden attack, reserves were at Bodham,
+West Beckham, East Beckham, and Aylmerton, but
+orders had been issued by Von Kleppen, who had established
+his headquarters at Upper Sheringham, that the
+line of resistance was to be as already indicated&mdash;namely,
+that having the Holt-Cromer Road for its crest. Cuirassiers,
+Hussars, and some motorists&mdash;commanded by
+Colonel von Dorndorf&mdash;were acting independently some
+fifteen miles to the south scouring the whole country,
+terrifying the villagers, commandeering all supplies, and
+posting Von Kronhelm's proclamation, which has already
+been reproduced.</p>
+
+<p>From inquiries it was shown that on the night of the
+invasion six men, now known to have been advance
+agents of the enemy, arrived at the Ship Inn, at Weybourne.
+Three of them took accommodation for the
+night, while their companions slept elsewhere. At two
+o'clock the trio let themselves out quietly, were joined
+by six other men, and just as the enemy's ships hove
+in sight nine of them seized the coastguards and cut the
+wires, while the other three broke into the Weybourne
+Stores, and, drawing revolvers, obtained possession of
+the telegraph instrument to Sheringham and Cromer
+until they could hand it over to the Germans.</p>
+
+<p>That the Fourth German Army Corps were in a position
+as strong as those who landed at Lowestoft could not
+be denied, and the military authorities could not disguise
+from themselves the extreme gravity of the
+situation.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>STATE OF SIEGE DECLARED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>That our fleet had been taken unawares was apparent.
+There were all sorts of vague rumours of a sudden
+attack upon the North Sea Fleet at Rosyth, and a fierce
+cruiser battle, in which we had been badly beaten by
+Germany. It is, however, the land campaign which we
+have here to record.</p>
+
+<p>The authentic account of a further landing in Essex&mdash;somewhere
+near Maldon&mdash;was now published. The statement
+had been dictated by Mr. Henry Alexander, J.P.,&mdash;the
+Mayor of Maldon, who had succeeded in escaping
+from the town,&mdash;to Captain Wilfred Quare, of the Intelligence
+Department of the War Office. This Department
+had, in turn, given it to the newspapers for publication.</p>
+
+<p>It read as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"On Sunday morning, September 2, I had arranged to
+play a round of golf with my friend Somers, of Beeleigh,
+before church. I met him at the Golf Hut about 8.30.
+We played one round, and were at the last hole but
+three in a second round when we both thought we heard
+the sound of shots fired somewhere in the town. We
+couldn't make anything at all of it, and as we had so
+nearly finished the round, we thought we would do so
+before going to inquire about it. I was making my
+approach to the final hole when an exclamation from
+Somers spoilt my stroke. I felt annoyed, but as I looked
+around&mdash;doubtless somewhat irritably&mdash;my eyes turned
+in the direction in which I now saw my friend was
+pointing with every expression of astonishment in his
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"'Who on earth are those fellows?' he asked. As for
+me, I was too dumbfounded to reply. Galloping over
+the links from the direction of the town came three
+men in uniform&mdash;soldiers, evidently. I had often been
+in Germany, and recognised the squat pickelhaubes
+and general get-up of the rapidly approaching horsemen
+at a glance.</p>
+
+<p>"They were upon us almost as he spoke, pulling up
+their horses with a great spattering up of grass and
+mud, quite ruining one of our best greens. All three of
+them pointed big, ugly repeating pistols at us, and the
+leader, a conceited-looking ass in staff uniform, required
+us to 'surrender' in quite a pompous manner, but in
+very good English.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>BY THE KING,</h3>
+
+<h2>PROCLAMATION</h2>
+<h3>FOR CALLING OUT THE ARMY RESERVE.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>EDWARD R.</p>
+
+<p>WHEREAS by the Reserve Forces Act, 1882, it is
+amongst other things enacted that in case of imminent
+national danger or of great emergency, it shall be
+lawful for Us, by Proclamation, the occasion being
+declared in Council and notified by the Proclamation,
+if Parliament be not then sitting, to order that the
+Army Reserve shall be called out on permanent service;
+and by any such Proclamation to order a Secretary
+of State from time to time to give, and when
+given, to revoke or vary such directions as may seem
+necessary or proper for calling out the forces or force
+mentioned in the Proclamation, or all or any of the
+men belonging thereto:</p>
+
+<p>AND WHEREAS Parliament is not sitting, and
+whereas WE have declared in Council and hereby
+notify the present state of Public Affairs and the extent
+of the demands on Our Military Forces for the
+protection of the interests of the Empire constitute a
+case of great emergency within the meaning of the
+said Act:</p>
+
+<p>NOW THEREFORE We do in pursuance of the
+said Act hereby order that Our Army Reserve be
+called out on permanent service, and We do hereby
+order the Right Honourable Charles Leonard Spencer
+Cotterell, one of our Principal Secretaries of State,
+from time to time to give, and when given, to revoke
+or vary such directions as may seem necessary or
+proper for calling out Our Army Reserve, or all or
+any of the men belonging thereto, and such men
+shall proceed to and attend at such places and at
+such times as may be respectively appointed by him
+to serve as part of Our Army until their services are
+no longer required.</p>
+
+<p>Given at Our Court at James', this fourth day of
+September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
+nine hundred and ten, and in the tenth
+year of Our Reign.</p>
+
+<h3>GOD SAVE THE KING.</h3>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;">
+<a href="images/i045-hi.png"><img src="images/i045.png" width="359" height="600" alt="PROCLAMATION
+FOR CALLING OUT THE ARMY RESERVE" title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'Do we look so very dangerous, Herr Lieutenant?'
+inquired I in German.</p>
+
+<p>"He dropped a little of his frills when he heard me
+speak in his native language, asked which of us was the
+Mayor, and condescended to explain that I was required
+in Maldon by the officer at present in command of his
+Imperial Majesty the Kaiser's forces occupying that
+place.</p>
+
+<p>"I looked at my captor in complete bewilderment.
+Could he be some fellow trying to take a rise out of me
+by masquerading as a German officer? But no, I recognised
+at once that he was the genuine article.</p>
+
+<p>"He demanded my parole, which I made no difficulty
+about giving, since I did not see any way of escape, and
+in any case was only too anxious to get back to town to
+see how things were.</p>
+
+<p>"'But you don't want my friend, do you&mdash;he lives out
+the other way?' I queried.</p>
+
+<p>"'I don't want him, but he will have to come all the
+same,' rejoined the German. 'It isn't likely we're going
+to let him get away to give the alarm in Colchester,
+is it?'</p>
+
+<p>"Obviously it was not, and without more ado we
+started off at a sharp walk, holding on to the stirrup
+leathers of the horsemen.</p>
+
+<p>"As we entered the town there was on the bridge over
+the river, a small picket of blue-coated German infantry.
+The whole thing was a perfect nightmare. It was past
+belief.</p>
+
+<p>"'How on earth did you get here?' I couldn't help
+asking.</p>
+
+<p>"'By water,' he answered shortly, pointing down the
+river as he spoke, where I was still further astonished&mdash;if
+it were possible after such a morning&mdash;to see several
+steam pinnaces and boats flying the black and white
+German ensign.</p>
+
+<p>"I was conducted straight to the Moot Hall. There
+I found a grizzled veteran waiting on the steps, who
+turned round and entered the building as we came up.
+We followed him inside, and I was introduced to him.
+He appeared to be a truculent old ruffian.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, Mr. Mayor,' he said, pulling viciously at his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+white moustache, 'do you know that I've a great mind
+to take you out into the street and have you shot?'</p>
+
+<p>"I was not at all inclined to be browbeated.</p>
+
+<p>"'Indeed, Herr Hauptman?' I answered. 'And may
+I inquire in what way I have incurred the displeasure
+of the Hochwohlgeboren officer?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Don't trifle with me, sir. Why do you allow your
+miserable Volunteers to come out and shoot my men?'</p>
+
+<p>"'My Volunteers? I am afraid I don't understand
+what you mean,' I said. 'I'm not a Volunteer officer.
+Even if I were, I should have no cognisance of anything
+that has happened within the last two hours, as I have
+been down on the golf course. This officer will bear
+me out,' I added, turning to my captor. He admitted
+that he had found me there.</p>
+
+<p>"'But, anyway, you are the Mayor,' persisted my interrogator.
+'Why did you allow the Volunteers to come
+out?'</p>
+
+<p>"'If you had been good enough to inform us of your
+visit, we might have made better arrangements.' I
+answered; 'but in any case you must understand that
+a mayor has little or no authority in this country. His
+job is to head subscription-lists, eat a dinner or two,
+and make speeches on public occasions.'</p>
+
+<p>"He seemed to have some difficulty in swallowing
+this, but as another officer who was there, writing at
+a table, and who, it appears, had lived at some period
+in England, corroborated my statement, the choleric
+colonel seemed to be a little mollified, and contented
+himself with demanding my parole not to leave Maldon
+until he had reported the matter to the General for
+decision. I gave it without more ado, and then asked
+if he would be good enough to tell me what had happened.
+From what he told me, and what I heard afterwards,
+it seems that the Germans must have landed
+a few of their men about half an hour before I left home,
+down near the Marine Lake. They had not entered the
+town at once, as their object was to work round outside
+and occupy all entrances, to prevent anyone getting away
+with the news of their presence. They had not noticed
+the little lane leading to the golf course, and so I had
+gone down without meeting any of them, although they
+had actually got a picket just beyond the railway arch
+at that time. They had completed their cordon before
+there was any general alarm in the town, but at the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+reliable rumour it seems that young Shand, of the
+Essex Volunteers, had contrived to get together twenty
+or thirty of his men in their uniforms and foolishly
+opened fire on a German picket down by St. Mary's
+Church. They fell back, but were almost instantly
+reinforced by a whole company that had just landed,
+and our men, rushing forward, had been ridden into by
+some cavalry that came up a side street. They were
+dispersed, a couple of them were killed, and several
+wounded, among them poor Shand, who was hit in
+the right lung. They had bagged four Germans, however,
+and their commanding officer was furious. It
+was a pity that it happened, as it could not possibly
+have been of any use. But it seems that
+Shand had no idea that it was more than a
+very small detachment that had landed from a gun-boat
+that some one said they had seen down the river.
+Some of the Volunteers were captured afterwards and
+sent off as prisoners, and the Germans posted up a
+notice that all Volunteers were forthwith to surrender
+either themselves or their arms and uniforms, under
+pain of death. Most of them did the latter. They could
+do nothing after it was found that the Germans had a
+perfect army somewhere between Maldon and the sea,
+and were pouring troops into the town as fast as they
+could.</p>
+
+<p>"That very morning a Saxon rifle battalion arrived
+from the direction of Mundon, and just afterwards a lot
+spike-helmeted gentlemen came in by train from
+Wickford way. So it went on all day, until the whole
+town was in a perfect uproar. The infantry were billeted
+in the town, but the cavalry and guns crossed the
+river and canal at Heybridge, and went off in the direction
+of Witham.</p>
+
+<p>"Maldon is built on a hill that slopes gradually towards
+the east and south, but rises somewhat abruptly
+on the west and north, humping up a shoulder, as it
+were, to the north-west. At this corner they started to
+dig entrenchments just after one o'clock, and soon officers
+and orderlies were busy all round the town, plotting,
+measuring, and setting up marks of one kind and another.
+Other troops appeared to be busy down in Heybridge,
+but what they were doing I could not tell, as no one was
+allowed to cross the bridge over the river.</p>
+
+<p>"The German officer who had surprised me down on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+the golf course did not turn out to be a bad kind of youth
+on further acquaintance. He was a Captain von Hildebrandt,
+of the Guard Fusilier Regiment, who was employed
+on the Staff, though in what capacity he did
+not say. Thinking it was just as well to make the best
+of a bad job, I invited him to lunch. He said he had
+to be off. He, however, introduced me to three friends
+of his in the 101st Grenadiers, who, he suggested, should
+be billeted on me. I thought the idea a fairly good
+one, and Von Hildebrandt, having apparently arranged
+this with the billeting officer without any difficulty, I
+took them home with me to lunch.</p>
+
+<p>"I found my wife and family in a great state of mind,
+both on account of the untoward happenings of the
+morning and my non-return from golf at the expected
+time. They had imagined all sorts of things which
+might have befallen me, but luckily seemed not to have
+heard of my adventure with the choleric colonel. Our
+three foreigners soon made themselves very much at
+home, but as they were undeniably gentlemen, they
+contrived to be about as agreeable as could be expected
+under the circumstances. Indeed, their presence was
+to a great extent a safeguard against annoyance, as the
+stable and back premises were stuffed full of soldiers,
+who might have been very troublesome had they not
+been there to keep them in order.</p>
+
+<p>"Of what was happening up in London we knew
+nothing. Being Sunday, all the shops were shut; but
+I went out and contrived to lay in a considerable stock
+of provisions one way and another, and it was just as
+well I did, for I only just anticipated the Germans,
+who commandeered everything in the town, and put
+everybody on an allowance of rations. They paid for
+them with bills on the British Government, which were
+by no means acceptable to the shopkeepers. However,
+it was 'Hobson's choice'&mdash;that or nothing. The Germans
+soothed them by saying that the British Army
+would be smashed in a couple of weeks, and the defrayment
+of such bills would be among the conditions of
+peace. The troops generally seemed to be well-behaved,
+and treated those inhabitants with whom they came
+in contact in an unexceptionable manner. They did
+not see very much of them, however, as they were kept
+hard at work all day with their entrenchments and were
+not allowed out of their billets after eight o'clock that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+evening. No one, in fact, was allowed to be about the
+streets after that hour. Two or three people were shot
+by the sentries as they tried to break out in one direction
+or the other. These affairs produced a feeling of
+horror and indignation in the town, as Englishmen,
+having such a long experience of peace in their own
+country, have always refused to realise what war really
+means.</p>
+
+<p>"The German fortifications went on at a rapid rate.
+Trenches were dug all round the northern and western
+sides of the town before dark on the first evening, and
+the following morning I woke up to find three huge
+gun-pits yawning in my garden, which looked to the
+northward. During breakfast there was a great rattling
+and rumbling in the street without, and presently three
+big field howitzers were dragged in and planted in the
+pits. There they stood, their ugly snouts pointing skyward
+in the midst of the wreck of flowers and fruit.</p>
+
+<p>"Afterwards I went out and found that other guns
+and howitzers were being put in position all along the
+north side of Beeleigh Road, and round the corner by
+the Old Barracks. The high tower of the disused Church
+of St. Peter's, now utilised for the safe custody of Dr.
+Plume's library, had been equipped as a lookout and
+signal station."</p>
+
+<p>Such was the condition of affairs in the town of Maldon
+on Monday morning.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The excitement in London, and indeed all over the
+country, on Tuesday night was intense. Scotney's story
+of the landing at Weybourne was eagerly read everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>As the sun sank blood-red into the smoke haze behind
+Nelson's Monument in Trafalgar Square, it was an ominous
+sign to the panic-stricken crowds that day and night
+were now assembled there.</p>
+
+<p>The bronze lions facing the four points of the compass
+were now mere mocking emblems of England's departed
+greatness. The mobilisation muddle was known; for,
+according to the papers, hardly any troops had as yet
+assembled at their places of concentration. The whole
+of the east of England was helplessly in the invader's
+hands. From Newcastle had come terrible reports
+of the bombardment. Half the city was in flames, the
+Elswick works were held by the enemy, and whole streets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+in Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, and Tynemouth
+were still burning fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>The Tynemouth fort had proved of little or no use
+against the enemy's guns. The Germans had, it appeared,
+used petrol bombs with appalling results, spreading
+fire, disaster, and death everywhere. The inhabitants,
+compelled to fly with only the clothes they wore, had
+scattered all over Northumberland and Durham, while
+the enemy had seized a quantity of valuable shipping
+that had been in the Tyne, hoisted the German flag, and
+converted the vessels to their own uses.</p>
+
+<p>Many had already been sent across to Wilhelmshaven,
+Emden, Bremerhaven, and other places to act as transports,
+while the Elswick works&mdash;which surely ought to
+have been properly protected&mdash;supplied the Germans
+with quantities of valuable material.</p>
+
+<p>Panic and confusion were everywhere. All over the
+country the railway system was utterly disorganised,
+business everywhere was at a complete deadlock, for in
+every town and city all over the kingdom the banks were
+closed.</p>
+
+<p>Lombard Street, Lothbury, and other banking centres
+in the City had all day on Monday been the scene of
+absolute panic. There, as well as at every branch bank
+all over the metropolis, had occurred a wild rush to
+withdraw deposits by people who foresaw disaster. Many,
+indeed, intended to fly with their families away from
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>The price of the necessities of life had risen further,
+and in the East End and poorer districts of Southwark
+the whole population were already in a state of semi-starvation.
+But worst of all, the awful truth with which
+London was now face to face was that the metropolis
+was absolutely defenceless.</p>
+
+<p>Every hour the papers were appearing with fresh
+details of the invasion, for reports were so rapidly coming
+in from every hand that the Press had difficulty in dealing
+with them.</p>
+
+<p>Hull and Goole were known to be in the hands of the
+invaders, and Grimsby, where the Mayor had been unable
+to pay the indemnity demanded, had been sacked. But
+details were not yet forthcoming.</p>
+
+<p>Londoners, however, learnt late that night more
+authentic news from the invaded zone, of which Beccles
+was the centre, and it was to the effect that those who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+had landed at Lowestoft were the IXth German Army
+Corps, with General von Kronhelm, the Generalissimo
+of the German Army. This Army Corps, consisting of
+about 40,000 men, was divided into the 17th Division,
+commanded by Lieutenant-General Hocker, and the
+18th by Lieutenant-General von Rauch. The cavalry
+was under the command of Major-General von Heyden,
+and the motor-infantry under Colonel Reichardt.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h2>NOTICE.</h2>
+
+<h3>TO ALL GERMAN SUBJECTS RESIDENT IN ENGLAND.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>WILHELM.</p>
+
+<p>To all OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS, GREETING.</p>
+
+<p>We hereby COMMAND and enjoin that all persons
+born within the German Empire, or being German
+subjects, whether liable to military service or not,
+shall join our arms at any headquarters of either of
+our Army Corps in England within 24 hours of the
+date of this proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>Any German subject failing to obey this our Command
+will be treated as an enemy.</p>
+
+<p>By the EMPEROR'S Command.</p>
+
+<p>Given at Beccles, Sept. 3rd, 1910.</p>
+
+<div class="right"><b>VON KRONHELM</b>,<br />
+Commanding the Imperial German Army in England.
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 389px;">
+<a href="images/i052-hi.png"><img src="images/i052.png" width="389" height="400" alt="FACSIMILE OF A PROCLAMATION POSTED BY UNKNOWN
+HANDS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">FACSIMILE OF A PROCLAMATION POSTED BY UNKNOWN
+HANDS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>According to official information which had reached
+the War Office and been given to the Press, the 17th
+Division was made up of the Bremen and Hamburg
+Infantry Regiments, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+Grenadiers, the Grand Duke's Fusiliers, the Lübeck
+Regiment No. 162, the Schleswig-Holstein Regiment No.
+163, while the cavalry brigade consisted of the 17th and
+18th Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's Dragoons.</p>
+
+<p>The 18th Division consisted of the Schleswig Regiment
+No. 84 and the Schleswig Fusiliers No. 86, the Thuringen
+Regiment, and the Duke of Holstein's Regiment, the two
+latter regiments being billeted in Lowestoft, while the
+cavalry brigade forming the screen across from Leiston
+by Wilby to Castle Hill were Queen Wilhelmina's Hanover
+Hussars and the Emperor of Austria's Schleswig-Holstein
+Hussars No. 16. These, with the smart motor infantry,
+held every communication in the direction of London.</p>
+
+<p>As far as could be gathered, the German commander
+had established his headquarters in Beccles, and had
+not moved. It now became apparent that the telegraph
+cables between the East coast and Holland and Germany,
+already described in the first chapter, had never
+been cut at all. They had simply been held by the
+enemy's advance agents until the landing had been
+effected. And now Von Kronhelm had actually established
+direct communication between Beccles and Emden,
+and on to Berlin.</p>
+
+<p>Reports from the North Sea spoke of the enemy's
+transports returning to the German coast, escorted by
+cruisers; therefore the plan was undoubtedly not to
+move until a very much larger force had been landed.</p>
+
+<p>Could England regain her command of the sea in time
+to prevent the completion of the blow?</p>
+
+<p>That night the London streets presented a scene of
+panic indescribable. The theatres opened, but closed
+their doors again, as nobody would see plays while in
+that excited state. Every shop was closed, and every
+railway station was filled to overflowing with the exodus
+of terrified people fleeing to the country westward, or
+reserves on their way to join the colours.</p>
+
+<p>The incredulous manner in which the country first
+received the news had now been succeeded by wild
+terror and despair. On that bright Sunday afternoon
+they laughed at the report as a mere journalistic sensation,
+but ere the sun set the hard, terrible truth was
+forced upon them, and now, on Tuesday night, the whole
+country, from Brighton to Carlisle, from Yarmouth
+to Aberystwyth, was utterly disorganised and in a state
+of terrified anxiety.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The eastern counties were already beneath the iron
+heel of the invader, whose objective was the world's
+great capital&mdash;London.</p>
+
+<p>Would they reach it? That was the serious question
+upon every one's tongue that fevered, breathless night.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>HOW THE ENEMY DEALT THE BLOW.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Meanwhile, at the regimental depôts feverish excitement
+prevailed on Wednesday, September 5, now that
+every man was ordered on active service. All officers
+and men who had been on leave were recalled, and medical
+inspection of all ranks at once commenced. Rations
+and bedding, stores and equipment were drawn, but there
+was a great lack of uniforms. Unlike the German Army,
+where every soldier's equipment is complete even to
+the last button on the proverbial gaiter, and stowed
+away where the owner knows where to obtain it, our
+officers commanding depôts commenced indenting for
+clothing on the Royal Army Clothing Department and
+the Army Corps Clothing Department.</p>
+
+<p>A large percentage of men were, of course, found
+medically unfit to serve, and were discharged to swell the
+mobs of hungry idlers. The plain clothes of the reservists
+coming in were disposed of, no man daring to appear
+in the ranks unless in uniform. Von Kronhelm's proclamation
+having forbidden the tactics of the Boers of
+putting mere armed citizens into the field.</p>
+
+<p>Horse-collecting parties went out all over the country,
+taking with them head-collars, head-ropes, bits, reins,
+surcingles, numnahs, horse-blankets, and nose-bags.
+These scoured every county in search of likely animals,
+every farm, every livery stable, every hunting-box, all
+hound-kennels and private stables were visited, and a
+choice made. All this, however, took time. Precious
+hours were thus being wasted while the enemy were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+calmly completing their arrangements for the long-contemplated
+blow at the heart of the British Empire.</p>
+
+<p>While the War Office refused any information, special
+editions of the papers during Wednesday printed sensational
+reports of the ruthless completion of the impenetrable
+screen covering the operations of the enemy
+on the whole of the East Coast.</p>
+
+<p>News had, by some means, filtered through from Yarmouth
+that a similar landing to those at Lowestoft and
+Weybourne had been effected. Protected as such an
+operation was by its flanks being supported by the IVth
+and IXth Army Corps landing on either side, the Xth
+Army Corps, under General von Wilburg, had seized
+Yarmouth, with its many miles of wharves and docks,
+which were now crowded by the lighters' craft of flotilla
+from the Frisian Islands.</p>
+
+<p>It was known that the landing had been effected simultaneously
+with that at Lowestoft. The large number of
+cranes at the fish-docks were of invaluable use to the
+enemy, for there they landed guns, animals, and stores,
+while the provisions they found at the various ship's
+chandlers, and in such shops as Blagg's, and the International
+Stores in King Street, Peter Brown's, Doughty's,
+Lipton's, Penny's and Barnes's, were at once commandeered.
+Great stores of flour were seized in Clarke's
+and Press's mills, while the horse-provender mills in the
+vicinity supplied them with valuable forage.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond these few details, as far as regarded the fate
+of Yarmouth, nothing further was at present known.</p>
+
+<p>The British division at Colchester, which comprised
+all the regular troops north of the Thames in the eastern
+command, was, no doubt, in a critical position, threatened
+so closely north and south by the enemy. None of
+the regiments&mdash;the Norfolks, the Leicestershire, and the
+King's Own Scottish Borderers of the 11th Infantry
+Brigade&mdash;were up to their strength. The 12th Infantry
+Brigade, which also belonged to the division, possessed
+only skeleton regiments stationed at Hounslow and
+Warley. Of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, some were at
+Norwich, the 21st Lancers were at Hounslow, while only
+the 16th Lancers were at Colchester. Other cavalry
+regiments were as far away as Canterbury, Shorncliffe,
+and Brighton, and although there were three batteries
+of artillery at Colchester, some were at Ipswich, others
+at Shorncliffe, and others at Woolwich.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Therefore it was quite evident to the authorities in
+London that unless both Colchester and Norwich were
+instantly strongly supported, they would soon be simply
+swept out of existence by the enormous masses of German
+troops now dominating the whole eastern coast, bent
+upon occupying London.</p>
+
+<p>Helpless though they felt themselves to be, the garrison
+at Colchester did all they could. All available cavalry
+had been pushed out past Ipswich, north to Wickham
+Market, Stowmarket, and across to Bury St. Edmunds,
+only to find on Wednesday morning that they were
+covering the hasty retreat of the small body of cavalry
+who had been stationed at Norwich. They, gallantly
+led by their officers, had done everything possible to
+reconnoitre and attempt to pierce the enemy's huge
+cavalry screen, but in every instance entirely in vain.
+They had been outnumbered by the squadrons of independent
+cavalry operating in front of the Germans, and
+had, alas! left numbers of their gallant comrades upon
+the roads, killed and wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Norwich had, therefore, on Wednesday morning fallen
+into the hands of the German cavalry, utterly defenceless.
+From the Castle the German flag was now flying,
+the Britannia Barracks were being used by the enemy,
+food had all been seized, the streets were in a state of
+chaos, and a complete reign of terror had been created
+when a company of British Infantry, having fired at
+some Uhlans, were ruthlessly shot down in the street
+close by the Maid's Head.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to this, the Mayor of Norwich was taken
+prisoner, lodged in the Castle, and held as surety for
+the well-behaviour of the town.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was
+posted, and as the invaders poured into the city the
+inhabitants looked on in sullen silence, knowing that
+they were now under German military discipline, the
+most rigorous and drastic in the whole world.</p>
+
+<p>A special issue of the "Times" in the evening of the 3rd
+September contained the following vivid account&mdash;the
+first published&mdash;of the happenings in the town of Goole,
+in Yorkshire:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Goole</span>, <i>September 3</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>"Shortly before five o'clock on Sunday morning the
+night operator of the telephone call-office here discovered
+an interruption on the trunk-line, and on trying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+the telegraphs was surprised to find that there was
+no communication in any direction. The railway
+station, being rung up, replied that their wires were also
+down.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost immediately afterwards a well-known North
+Sea pilot rushed into the post office and breathlessly
+asked that he might telephone to Lloyd's. When told
+that all communication was cut off he wildly shouted
+that a most extraordinary sight was to be seen in the
+River Ouse, up which was approaching a continuous
+procession of tugs, towing flats, and barges filled with
+German soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"This was proved to be an actual fact, and the inhabitants
+of Goole, awakened from their Sunday morning
+slumbers by the shouts of alarm in the streets, found,
+to their abject amazement, foreign soldiers swarming
+everywhere. On the quay they found activity everywhere,
+German being spoken on all hands. They watched
+a body of cavalry, consisting of the 1st Westphalian
+Hussars, the Westphalian Cuirassiers, land with order
+and ease at the Victoria Pier, whence, after being formed
+up on the quay, they advanced at a sharp trot up
+Victoria Street, Ouse Street, and North Street to the
+railway stations, where, as is generally known, there are
+large sidings of the North-East Lancashire and Yorkshire
+lines in direct communication both with London
+and the great cities of the north. The enemy here found
+great quantities of engines and rolling stock, all of which
+was at once seized, together with huge stacks of coal
+at the new sidings.</p>
+
+<p>"Before long the first of the infantry of the 13th
+Division, which was commanded by Lieutenant-General
+Doppschutz, marched up to the stations. They consisted
+of the 13th and 56th Westphalian Regiments, and the
+cavalry on being relieved advanced out of the town,
+crossing the Dutch River by the railway bridge, and
+pushed on as far as Thorne and Hensall, near which
+they at once strongly held the several important railway
+junctions.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile cavalry of the 14th Brigade, consisting
+of Westphalian Hussars and Uhlans, were rapidly disembarking
+at Old Goole, and, advancing southwards
+over the open country of Goole Moors and Thorne Waste,
+occupied Crowle. Both cavalry brigades were acting
+independently of the main body, and by their vigorous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+action both south and west they were entirely screening
+what was happening in the port of Goole.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h2>CITY OF NORWICH.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><b>CITIZENS&mdash;</b></p>
+
+<p>AS IS WELL KNOWN, a hostile army has landed
+upon the coast of Norfolk, and has already occupied
+Yarmouth and Lowestoft, establishing their headquarters
+at Beccles.</p>
+
+<p>IN THESE GRAVE CIRCUMSTANCES our only
+thought is for England, and our duty as citizens and
+officials is to remain at our post and bear our
+part in the defence of Norwich, our capital now
+threatened.</p>
+
+<p>YOUR PATRIOTISM, of which you have on so
+many occasions in recent wars given proof, will, I
+have no doubt, again be shown. By your resistance
+you will obtain the honour and respect of your
+enemies, and by the individual energy of each one
+of you the honour and glory of England may be
+saved.</p>
+
+<p>CITIZENS OF NORWICH, I appeal to you to view
+the catastrophe calmly, and bear your part bravely
+in the coming struggle.</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>CHARLES CARRINGTON</b>,<br />
+<i>Mayor</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Norwich</span>, <i>September 4, 1910</i>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 331px;">
+<a href="images/i058-hi.png"><img src="images/i058.png" width="331" height="400" alt="APPEAL ISSUED BY THE MAYOR OF NORWICH" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">APPEAL ISSUED BY THE MAYOR OF NORWICH</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"Infantry continued to pour into the town from flats
+and barges, arriving in endless procession. Doppschutz's
+Division landed at Aldan Dock, Railway Dock, and Ship
+Dock; the 14th Division at the Jetty and Basin, also
+in the Barge Dock and at the mouth of the Dutch River;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+while some, following the cavalry brigade, landed at Old
+Goole and Swinefleet.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as can be ascertained, the whole of the VIIth
+German Army Corps have landed, at any rate as far
+as the men are concerned. The troops, who are under
+the supreme command of General Baron von Bistram,
+appear to consist almost entirely of Westphalians, and
+include Prince Frederick of the Netherlands' 2nd Westphalians;
+Count Bulow von Dennewitz's 6th Westphalians;
+but one infantry brigade, the 79th, consisted
+of men from Lorraine.</p>
+
+<p>"Through the whole day the disembarkation proceeded,
+the townsmen standing there helpless to lift
+a finger and watching the enemy's arrival. The Victoria
+Pleasure Grounds were occupied by parked artillery,
+which towards afternoon began to rumble through the
+streets. The German gunners, with folded arms, sat
+unconcernedly upon the ammunition boxes as the guns
+were drawn up to their positions. Horses were seized
+wherever found, the proclamation of Von Kronhelm
+was nailed upon the church doors, and the terrified
+populace read the grim threat of the German field-marshal.</p>
+
+<p>"The wagons, of which there were hundreds, were
+put ashore mostly at Goole, but others up the river at
+Hook and Swinefleet. When the cavalry advance was
+complete, as it was soon after midday, and when reports
+had come in to Von Bistram that the country was clear
+of the British, the German infantry advance began.
+By nightfall they had pushed forward, some by road,
+some by rail, and others in the numerous motor-wagons
+that had accompanied the force, until march-outposts
+were established, south of Thorne, Askern, and
+Crowle, straddling the main road at Bawtry. These
+places, including Fishlake and the country between
+them, were at once strongly held, while ammunition
+and stores were pushed up by railway to both Thorne and
+Askern.</p>
+
+<p>"The independent cavalry advance continued through
+Doncaster until dusk, when Rotherham was reached,
+during which advance scattered bodies of British Imperial
+Yeomanry were met and compelled to retreat,
+a dozen or so lives being lost. It appears that late in
+the afternoon of Sunday news was brought into Sheffield
+of what was in progress, and a squadron of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+Yeomanry donned their uniforms and rode forward to
+reconnoitre, with the disastrous results already mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>"The sensation caused in Sheffield when it became
+known that German cavalry were so close as Rotherham
+was enormous, and the scenes in the streets soon approached
+a panic; for it was wildly declared that that
+night the enemy intended to occupy the town. The
+Mayor telegraphed to the War Office, appealing for additional
+defensive force, but no response was received to
+the telegram. The small force of military in the town,
+which consisted of the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light
+Infantry, some Royal Artillery, and the local Volunteers,
+were soon assembled, and going out occupied the
+strong position above Sheffield between Catcliffe and
+Tinsley, overlooking the valley of the Rother to the
+east.</p>
+
+<p>"The expectation that the Germans intended an immediate
+descent on Sheffield was not realised, because the
+German tactics were merely to reconnoitre and report
+on the defences of Sheffield, if any existed. This they
+did by remaining to the eastward of the river Rother,
+whence the high ground rising before Sheffield could be
+easily observed.</p>
+
+<p>"Before dusk one or two squadrons of Cuirassiers
+were seen to be examining the river to find fords and
+ascertain the capacity of the bridges, while others
+appeared to be comparing the natural features of the
+ground with the maps with which they all appeared to be
+provided.</p>
+
+<p>"As night fell, however, the cavalry retired towards
+Doncaster, which town was occupied, the Angel being
+the cavalry headquarters. The reason the Germans
+could not advance at once upon Sheffield was that the
+cavalry was not strongly supported by infantry from
+their base, the distance from Goole being too great
+to be covered in a single day. That the arrangements
+for landing were in every detail perfect could not be
+doubted, but owing to the narrow channel of the Ouse
+time was necessary, and it is considered probable that
+fully three days must elapse from Sunday before the
+Germans are absolutely established.</p>
+
+<p>"An attempt has been made by the Yorkshire Light
+Infantry and the York and Lancaster Regiment, with
+three battalions of Volunteers stationed at Pontefract, to
+discover the enemy's strength and position between
+Askern and Snaith, but so far without avail, the cavalry
+screen across the whole country being impenetrable.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+<h3>GOD SAVE THE KING.</h3>
+
+<h2>PROCLAMATION.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<div class="center">TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.</div>
+
+<p>In regard to the Decree of September 3rd of the
+present year, declaring a state of siege in the Counties
+of Norfolk and Suffolk.</p>
+
+<p>In regard to the Decree of August 10th, 1906, regulating
+the public administration of all theatres
+of war and military servitude;</p>
+
+<p>Upon the proposition of the Commander-in-Chief</p>
+
+<div class="center">IT IS DECREED AS FOLLOWS:</div>
+
+<p>(1) There are in a state of war:</p>
+
+<p>1st. In the Eastern Command, the counties of
+Northamptonshire, Rutlandshire, Cambridgeshire,
+Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire,
+Hertfordshire, and Middlesex (except that
+portion included in the London Military District).</p>
+
+<p>2nd. In the Northern Command, the counties of
+Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire,
+with the southern shore of the estuary of the
+Humber.</p>
+
+<p>(2) I, Charles Leonard Spencer Cotterell, his
+Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for War, am
+charged with the execution of this Decree.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">War Office, Whitehall</span>,<br />
+<br />
+<i>September the Fourth, 1910</i>.<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;">
+<a href="images/i061-hi.png"><img src="images/i061.png" width="435" height="600" alt="This Proclamation was posted outside the War Office in
+London at noon on Wednesday, and was read by thousands.
+It was also posted upon the Town Hall of every city and
+town throughout the Country." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">This Proclamation was posted outside the War Office in
+London at noon on Wednesday, and was read by thousands.
+It was also posted upon the Town Hall of every city and
+town throughout the Country.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> people of the West Riding, and especially the
+inhabitants of Sheffield, are stupefied that they have received
+no assistance&mdash;not even a reply to the Mayor's
+telegram. This fact has leaked out, and has caused
+the greatest dissatisfaction. An enemy is upon us, yet
+we are in ignorance of what step, if any, the authorities
+are taking for our protection.</p>
+
+<p>"There are wild rumours here that the enemy have
+burned Grimsby, but these are generally discredited, for
+telegraphic and telephonic communication has been cut
+off, and at present we are completely isolated. It has
+been gathered from the invaders that the VIIIth Army
+Corps of the Germans have landed and seized Hull, but
+at present this is not confirmed. There is, alas! no
+communication with the place, therefore, the report may
+possibly be true.</p>
+
+<p>"Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Selby are
+all intensely excited over the sudden appearance of
+German soldiers, and were at first inclined to unite to
+stem their progress. But the German proclamation,
+showing the individual peril of any citizen taking arms
+against the invaders, having been posted everywhere,
+has held every one scared and in silent inactivity.</p>
+
+<p>"'Where is our Army?' every one is asking. The
+whole country has run riot in a single hour, now that the
+Germans are upon us. On every hand it is asked: 'What
+will London do?'"</p>
+
+<p>Reports now reached London that the VIIth German
+Army Corps had landed at Hull and Goole, and taking
+possession of these towns, were moving upon Sheffield
+in order to paralyse our trade in the Midlands. Hull
+had been bombarded, and was in flames! Terrible
+scenes were taking place at that port.</p>
+
+<p>On that memorable Sunday, when a descent had been
+made upon our shores, there were in German ports on
+the North Sea nearly a million tons gross of German
+shipping. Normally, in peace time, half a million
+tons is always to be found there, the second half having
+been quietly collected by ships putting in unobserved
+into such ports as Emden, Bremen, Bremerhaven, and
+Geestemunde, where there are at least ten miles of deep-sea
+wharves, with ample railway access. The arrival of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+these crafts caused no particular comment, but they
+had already been secretly prepared for the transport of
+men and horses while at sea.</p>
+
+<p>Under the cover of the Frisian Islands, from every
+canal, river, and creek had been assembled a huge
+multitude of flats and barges, ready to be towed by tugs
+alongside the wharves and filled with troops. Of a
+sudden, in a single hour it seemed, Hamburg, Altona,
+Cuxhaven, and Wilhelmshaven were in excited activity,
+and almost before the inhabitants themselves realised
+what was really in progress, the embarkation had well
+commenced.</p>
+
+<p>At Emden, with its direct cable to the theatre of war
+in England, was concentrated the brain of the whole
+movement. Beneath the lee of the covering screen of
+Frisian Islands, Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Langebog,
+and the others, the preparations for the descent upon
+England rapidly matured.</p>
+
+<p>Troop-trains from every part of the Fatherland arrived
+with the punctuality of clockwork. From Düsseldorf
+came the VIIth Army Corps, the VIIIth from Coblenz,
+the IXth were already assembled at their headquarters
+at Altona, while many of them being stationed at Bremen
+embarked from there; the Xth came up from Hanover,
+the XIVth from Magdeburg, and the Corps of
+German Guards, the pride and flower of the Kaiser's
+troops, arrived eagerly at Hamburg from Berlin and
+Potsdam, among the first to embark.</p>
+
+<p>Each army corps consisted of about 38,000 officers and
+men, 11,000 horses, 144 guns, and about 2,000 motor-cars,
+wagons, and carts. But for this campaign&mdash;which
+was more of the nature of a raid than of any protracted
+campaign&mdash;the supply of wheeled transport,
+with the exception of motor-cars, had been somewhat
+reduced.</p>
+
+<p>Each cavalry brigade attached to an army corps consisted
+of 1,400 horses and men, with some thirty-five
+light machine guns and wagons. The German calculation&mdash;which
+proved pretty correct&mdash;was that each army
+corps could come over to England in 100,000 tons gross of
+shipping, bringing with them supplies for twenty-seven
+days in another 3,000 tons gross. Therefore about 618,000
+tons gross conveyed the whole of the six corps, leaving
+an ample margin still in German ports for any emergencies.
+Half this tonnage consisted of about 100<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+steamers, averaging 3,000 tons each, the remainder being
+the boats, flats, lighters, barges, and tugs previously
+alluded to.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 394px;">
+<a href="images/i064-hi.png"><img src="images/i064.png" width="394" height="300" alt="GERMANY&#39;S
+POINTS OF EMBARKATION" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">GERMANY&#39;S<br />
+POINTS OF EMBARKATION</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Saxons who, disregarding the neutrality of Belgium,
+had embarked at Antwerp, had seized the whole
+of the flat-bottomed craft in the Scheldt and the numerous
+canals, as well as the merchant ships in the port,
+finding no difficulty in commandeering the amount of
+tonnage necessary to convey them to the Blackwater
+and the Crouch.</p>
+
+<p>As hour succeeded hour the panic increased.</p>
+
+<p>It was now also known that, in addition to the various
+corps who had effected a landing, the German Guards
+had, by a sudden swoop into the Wash, got ashore at
+King's Lynn, seized the town, and united their forces
+with Von Kleppen's corps, who, having landed at Weybourne,
+were now spread right across Norfolk. This
+picked corps of Guards was under the command of that
+distinguished officer, the Duke of Mannheim, while the
+infantry divisions were under Lieutenant-Generals von
+Castein and Von Der Decken.</p>
+
+<p>The landing at King's Lynn on Sunday morning had
+been quite a simple affair. There was nothing whatever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+to repel them, and they disembarked on the quays
+and in the docks, watched by the astonished populace.
+All provisions were seized at shops, while headquarters
+were established at the municipal buildings, and the
+German flag hoisted upon the old church, the tower of
+which was at once used as a signal station.</p>
+
+<p>Old-fashioned people of Lynn peered out of their
+quiet respectable houses in King Street in utter amazement;
+but soon, when the German proclamation was
+posted, the terrible truth was plain.</p>
+
+<p>In half an hour, even before they could realise it, they
+had been transferred from the protection of the British
+flag to the militarism of the German.</p>
+
+<p>Ere sundown on Sunday, stalwart grey-coated sentries
+of the Guards Fusiliers from Potsdam, and the Grenadiers
+from Berlin were holding the roads at Gayton,
+East Walton, Narborough, Markham, Fincham, Stradsett,
+and Stow Bardolph. Therefore on Sunday night, from
+Spalding on the east, Peterborough, Chatteris, Littleport,
+Thetford, Diss, and Halesworth, were faced by a
+huge cavalry screen protecting the landing and repose
+of the great German Army behind it.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly but carefully the enemy were maturing their
+plans for the defeat of our defenders and the sack of
+London.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>DESPERATE FIGHTING IN ESSEX.</h3>
+
+
+<p>London was at a standstill. Trade was entirely stopped.
+Shopkeepers feared to open their doors on account of
+the fierce, hungry mobs parading the street. Orators
+were haranguing the crowds in almost every open space.
+The police were either powerless, or feared to come into
+collision with the assembled populace. Terror and
+blank despair were everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>There was unrest night and day. The banks, head
+offices, and branches, unable to withstand the run upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+them when every one demanded to be paid in gold, had,
+by mutual arrangement, shut their doors, leaving excited
+and furious crowds of customers outside unpaid.
+Financial ruin stared every one in the face. Those who
+were fortunate enough to realise their securities on
+Monday were fleeing from London south and westward.
+Day and night the most extraordinary scenes of frantic
+fear were witnessed at Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo,
+and London Bridge. The southern railways were badly
+disorganised by the cutting of the lines by the enemy,
+but the Great Western system was, up to the present,
+intact, and carried thousands upon thousands to Wales,
+to Devonshire, and to Cornwall.</p>
+
+<p>In those three hot, breathless days the Red Hand of
+Ruin spread out upon London.</p>
+
+<p>The starving East met the terrified West, but in those
+moments the bonds of terror united class with mass.
+Restaurants and theatres were closed; there was but
+little vehicular traffic in the streets, for of horses there
+were none, while the majority of the motor 'buses
+had been requisitioned, and the transit of goods had
+been abandoned. "The City," that great army of
+daily workers, both male and female, was out of employment,
+and swelled the idlers and gossips, whose temper
+and opinion were swayed each half-hour by the papers
+now constantly appearing night and day without cessation.</p>
+
+<p>Cabinet Councils had been held every day, but their
+decisions, of course, never leaked out to the public.
+The King also held Privy Councils, and various
+measures were decided upon. Parliament, which had
+been hurriedly summoned, was due to meet, and every
+one speculated as to the political crisis that must now
+ensue.</p>
+
+<p>In St. James's Park, in Hyde Park, in Victoria Park,
+on Hampstead Heath, in Greenwich Park&mdash;in fact, in
+each of the "lungs of London,"&mdash;great mass meetings
+were held, at which resolutions were passed condemning
+the Administration and eulogising those who, at the
+first alarm, had so gallantly died in defence of their
+country.</p>
+
+<p>It was declared that by the culpable negligence of the
+War Office and the National Defence Committee we had
+laid ourselves open to complete ruin, both financially
+and as a nation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The man-in-the-street already felt the strain, for the
+lack of employment and the sudden rise in the price
+of everything had brought him up short. Wives and
+families were crying for food, and those without savings
+and with only a few pounds put by looked grimly into
+the future and at the mystery it presented.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the papers published the continuation of the
+important story of Mr. Alexander, the Mayor of Maldon,
+which revealed the extent of the enemy's operations in
+Essex and the strong position they occupied.</p>
+
+<p>It ran as below:</p>
+
+<p>"Of the events of the early hours of the morning I
+have no very clear recollection. I was bewildered,
+staggered, dumbfounded by the sights and sounds which
+beset me. Of what modern war meant I had till then
+truly but a very faint idea. To witness its horrid realities
+enacted in this quiet, out-of-the-way spot where I
+had pitched my tent for so many years, brought them
+home to me literally as well as metaphorically.</p>
+
+<p>"I had run down Cromwell Hill, and seeing the
+flames of Heybridge, was impelled to get nearer, if possible,
+to discover more particularly the state of affairs
+in that direction. But I was reckoning without the
+Germans. When I got to the bridge over the river at the
+foot of the hill, the officer in charge there absolutely
+prevented my crossing. Beyond the soldiers standing
+or kneeling behind whatever cover was offered by the
+walls and buildings abutting on the riverside, and a
+couple of machine guns placed so as to command the
+bridge and the road beyond, there was nothing much to
+see. A number of Germans were, however, very busy
+in the big mill just across the river, but what they were
+doing I could not make out. As I turned to retrace my step
+the glare of the conflagration grew suddenly more and more
+intense. A mass of dark figures came running down the
+brightly illuminated road towards the bridge, while
+the rifle fire became louder, nearer, and heavier than
+ever. Every now and again the air became alive with,
+as it were, the hiss and buzz of flying insects. The
+English must have fought their way through Heybridge,
+and these must be the bullets from their rifles. It was
+dangerous to stay down there any longer, so I took
+to my heels. As I ran I heard a thundering explosion
+behind me, the shock of which nearly threw me to the
+ground. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+Germans had blown up the mill at the farther end of the
+bridge, and were now pushing carts from either side in
+order to barricade it. The two Maxims, too, began to
+pump lead with their hammering reports, and the men
+near them commenced to fall in twos and threes. I made
+off to the left, and passed into High Street by the end
+of St. Peter's Church, now disused. At the corner I ran
+against Mr. Clydesdale, the optician, who looks after
+the library which now occupies the old building. He
+pointed to the tower, which stood darkly up against
+the blood-red sky.</p>
+
+<p>"'Look at those infernal Germans!' he said. 'They
+can't even keep out of that old place. I wish we could
+have got the books out before they came.'</p>
+
+<p>"I could not see any of our invaders where he was
+pointing, but presently I became aware of a little winking,
+blinking light at the very summit of the tower.</p>
+
+<p>"'That's them,' said Clydesdale. 'They're making
+signals, I think. My boy says he saw the same thing
+on Purleigh Church tower last night. I wish it would
+come down with them, that I do. It's pretty shaky,
+anyway.'</p>
+
+<p>"The street was fairly full of people. The Germans, it
+is true, had ordered that no one should be out of doors
+between eight in the evening and six in the morning;
+but just now they appeared to have their hands pretty
+full elsewhere, and if any of the few soldiers that were
+about knew of or thought anything of the interdiction,
+they said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"The crash of a salvo of heavy guns from the direction
+of my own house interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p>"'That'll be the guns in my garden,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, sir, and they've got three monstrous great ones
+in the opening between the houses just behind the
+church there,' said Clydesdale.</p>
+
+<p>"As he spoke, the guns in question bellowed out, one
+after the other.</p>
+
+<p>"'Look&mdash;look at the tower!' I cried.</p>
+
+<p>"The light at the top had disappeared and the lofty
+edifice was swaying slowly, slowly, over to the left.</p>
+
+<p>"'She's gone at last!' exclaimed Clydesdale.</p>
+
+<p>"It was true. Down came the old steeple that had
+pointed heavenward for so many generations, with a
+mighty crash and concussion that swallowed up even the
+noise of the battle, though cannon of all sorts and sizes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+were now joining in the hellish concert, and shell from
+the English batteries began to roar over the town. The
+vibration and shock of the heavy guns had been too
+much for the old tower, which, for years in a tottery
+condition, had been patched up so often.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as the cloud of dust cleared off we ran towards
+the huge pile of débris that filled the little churchyard.
+Several other people followed. It was very dark
+down there, in the shadow of the trees and houses,
+despite the fire-light overhead, and we began striking
+matches as we looked about among the heaps of bricks
+and beams to see if there were any of the German signal
+party among them. Why we should have taken the
+trouble under the circumstances I do not quite know.
+It was an instinctive movement of humanity on my
+part, and that of most of the others, I suppose.</p>
+
+<p>"I caught sight of an arm in a light blue sleeve protruding
+from the débris, and took hold of it in a futile
+attempt to remove some of the bricks and rubbish which
+I thought were covering the body of its owner. To my
+horror, it came away in my hand. The body to which
+it belonged might be buried yards away in the immense
+heap of ruins. I dropped it with a cry, and fled from the
+spot.</p>
+
+<p>"Dawn was now breaking. I do not exactly remember
+where I wandered to after the fall of St. Peter's Tower,
+but it must have been between half-past five and six
+when I found myself on the high ground at the north-western
+corner of the town, overlooking the golf links,
+where I had spent so many pleasant hours in that recent
+past that now seemed so far away. All around me were
+batteries, trenches, and gun-pits. But though the firing
+was still going on somewhere away to the right, where
+Heybridge poured black smoke skyward like a volcano,
+gun and howitzer were silent, and their attendant artillerymen,
+instead of being in cover behind their earthen
+parapets, were clustered on the top, watching intently
+something that was passing in the valley below them.
+So absorbed were they that I was able to creep up behind
+them, and also get a sight of what was taking place.
+And this is what I saw:</p>
+
+<p>"Over the railway bridge which spanned the river a
+little to the left were hurrying battalion after battalion
+of green and blue clad German infantry. They moved
+down the embankment after crossing, and continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+their march behind it. Where the railway curved to the
+right and left, about half a mile beyond the bridge, the
+top of the embankment was lined with dark figures
+lying down and apparently firing, while over the golf
+course from the direction of Beeleigh trotted squadron
+after squadron of sky-blue riders, their green and white
+lance pennons fluttering in the breeze. They crossed
+the Blackwater and Chelmer Canal, and cantered off
+in the direction of Langford Rectory.</p>
+
+<p>"At the same time I saw line after line of the Germans
+massed behind the embankment spring over it
+and advance rapidly towards the lower portion of the
+town, just across the river. Hundreds fell under the
+fire from the houses, which must have been full of
+Englishmen, but one line after another reached the
+buildings. The firing was now heavier than ever&mdash;absolutely
+incessant and continuous&mdash;though, except for an
+occasional discharge from beyond Heybridge, the artillery
+was silent.</p>
+
+<p>"I have but little knowledge of military matters, but
+it was abundantly evident, even to me, that what I had
+just seen was a very formidable counter-attack on the
+part of the Germans, who had brought up fresh troops
+either from the rear of the town or from farther inland,
+and launched them against the English under cover of
+the railway embankment. I was not able to see the end
+of the encounter, but bad news flies apace, and it soon
+became common knowledge in the town that our troops
+from Colchester had not only failed to cross the river at
+any point, but had been driven helter-skelter out of
+the lower town near the station and from the smoking
+ruins of Heybridge with great loss, and were now in
+full retreat.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, some hundreds of our khaki-clad fellow-countrymen
+were marched through the town an hour or
+two later as prisoners, to say nothing of the numbers
+of wounded, who, together with those belonging to the
+Germans, soon began to crowd every available building
+suitable for use as an hospital. The wounded prisoners
+with their escort went off towards Mundon, and are reported
+to have gone in the direction of Steeple. It was
+altogether a disastrous day, and our hopes, which had
+begun to rise when the British had penetrated into the
+northern part of the town, now fell below zero.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a black day for us, and for England. During<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+the morning the same officer who had captured me on
+the golf course came whirling into Maldon on a 24-h.p.
+Mercedes car. He drove straight up to my house, and
+informed me that he had orders to conduct me to Prince
+Henry, who was to be at Purleigh early in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"'Was it in connection with the skirmish with the
+Volunteers?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'I don't know,' was the reply. 'But I don't fancy
+so. In the meantime, could I write here for an hour
+or two?' he asked politely. 'I have much to write to
+my friends in Germany, and have not had a minute up
+to now.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was very glad to be able to oblige the young man
+in such a small way, and left him in my study till midday,
+very busy with pens, ink, and paper.</p>
+
+<p>"After a makeshift of a lunch, the car came round,
+and we got into the back seat. In front sat his orderly
+and the chauffeur, a fierce-looking personage in a semi-military
+uniform. We ran swiftly down the High Street,
+and in a few minutes were spinning along the Purleigh
+Road, where I saw much that amazed me. I then for
+the first time realised how absolutely complete were the
+German plans."</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Tuesday</span>, <i>September 4</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>"About six o'clock this morning I awoke rather suddenly.
+The wind had gone round to the northward, and
+I was certain that heavy firing was going on somewhere
+in that direction. I opened the window and looked out.
+The 'thud' and rumble of a cannonade, with the accompaniment
+of an occasional burst of musketry, came
+clearly and loudly on the wind from the hills by Wickham
+Bishops village. The church spire was in plain
+view, and little faint puffs and rings of grey smoke were
+just visible in its vicinity every now and again, sometimes
+high up in the air, at others among the trees at
+its base. They were exploding shells; I had no doubt
+of that. What was going on it was impossible to say,
+but I conjectured that some of our troops from Colchester
+had come into collision with the Germans, who
+had gone out in that direction the day of their arrival.
+The firing continued for about an hour, and then died
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"Soon after eight, Count von Ohrendorff, the general
+officer commanding the 32nd Division, who appeared to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+be the supreme authority here, sent for me, and suggested
+that I should take steps to arrange for the manufacture
+of lint and bandages by the ladies living in the
+town. I could see no reason for objecting to this, and
+so promised to carry out his suggestion. I set about
+the matter at once, and, with the assistance of my wife,
+soon had a couple of score of more or less willing workers
+busily engaged in the National Schoolroom. In the
+meantime the roll of a terrible cannonade had burst
+forth again from Wickham Bishops. It seemed louder
+and more insistent than ever. As soon as I got away
+from the schools I hurried home and climbed out on
+the roof. The top of the Moot Hall and other coigns of
+vantage had all been occupied by the Germans. However,
+with the aid of a pair of field-glasses I was able to see
+a good bit. Black smoke was now pouring from Wickham
+Bishops in clouds, and every now and again I
+fancied I could see the forked tongues of flame shooting
+up above the surrounding trees. A series of scattered
+black dots now came out on the open ground to the
+south of the church. The trees of Eastland Wood soon
+hid them from my sight, but others followed, mingled
+with little moving black blocks which I took to be
+formed bodies of troops. After them came four or five
+guns, driven at breakneck pace towards the road that
+passes between Eastland and Captain's Woods, then
+more black dots, also in a desperate hurry. Several of
+these last tumbled, and lay still here and there all over
+the slope.</p>
+
+<p>"Other dots followed at their heels. They were not
+quite so distinct. I looked harder. Hurrah! They were
+men in khaki. We were hustling these Germans at last.
+They also disappeared behind the woods. Then from the
+fringe of trees about Wickham half a dozen big brilliant
+flashes, followed after an interval by the loud detonation
+of heavy cannon. I could not distinguish much
+more, though the rattle of battle went on for some time
+longer. Soon after eleven four German guns galloped
+in from Heybridge. These were followed by a procession
+of maimed and limping humanity. Some managed to
+get along unaided, though with considerable difficulty.
+Others were supported by a comrade, some carried between
+two men, and others borne along on stretchers.
+A couple of ambulance carts trotted out and picked up
+more wounded. Our bandages and lint had not long to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+wait before being required. After this there was a cessation
+of firing.</p>
+
+<p>"About one o'clock the German general sent word to
+me that he thought an attack quite possible during the
+afternoon, and that he strongly advised me to get all
+the women and children out of the town&mdash;for the time
+being at any rate. This was evidently well meant, but
+it was a pretty difficult matter to arrange for, to say
+nothing of raising a panic among the inhabitants. However,
+in an hour and a half's time I had contrived to
+marshal several hundred of them together, and to get
+them out on the road to Mundon. The weather was
+warm for the time of the year, and I thought, if the
+worst came to the worst, they could spend the night
+in the old church. I left the sad little column of
+exiles&mdash;old, bent women helped along by their daughters,
+tiny children dragged along through the dust, clutching
+their mothers' skirts; infants in arms; and other older
+and sturdier children staggering beneath the weight of
+the most precious home adornments&mdash;and made the
+best of my way back to arrange for the forwarding to
+them of their rations.</p>
+
+<p>"At every step on my homeward way I expected to
+hear the cannonade begin again. But beyond the
+twittering of the birds in the trees and hedgerows, the
+creak and rumble of a passing cart, and the rush of a
+train along the railway on my left&mdash;just the usual
+sounds of the countryside&mdash;nothing broke the stillness.
+As I stepped out on the familiar highway, I could
+almost bring myself to believe that the events of the
+past twenty-four hours were but the phantasmagoria of
+a dream. After interviewing some of the town councillors
+who were going to undertake the transport of
+provisions to the women and children at Mundon, I
+walked round to my own house.</p>
+
+<p>"My wife and family had driven over to Purleigh on
+the first alarm, and had arranged to stay the night with
+some friends, on whatever shake-downs could be improvised,
+since every house in the peninsula harboured
+some of the ubiquitous German officers and men. I
+wandered through the familiar rooms, and came out
+into the garden, or rather, what had been the garden.
+There I saw that the Saxon gunners were all standing
+to their pieces, and one of my none too welcome guests
+accosted me as I left the house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'If you'll take my advice, sare, you'll get away out
+of this,' he said in broken English.</p>
+
+<p>"'What! are you going to fire?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'I don't fancy so. It wouldn't hurt you if we were.
+But I think your English friends from Colchester are
+about to see if they can draw us.'</p>
+
+<p>"As he spoke I became aware of a sharp, hissing
+noise like a train letting off steam. It grew louder and
+nearer, passed over our heads, and was almost instantly
+followed by a terrible crash somewhere behind the
+house. A deeper and more muffled report came up
+from the valley beyond Heybridge.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, they've begun now, and the best thing you can
+do is to get down into that gun epaulment there,' said
+the German officer.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought his advice was good, and I lost no time
+in following it.</p>
+
+<p>"'Here comes another!' cried he, as he jumped down
+into the pit beside me. 'We'll have plenty of them
+now.'</p>
+
+<p>"So we did. Shell after shell came hissing and screaming
+at us over the tree-tops in the gardens lower down
+the hill. Each one of them sounded to me as if it were
+coming directly at my head, but one after another passed
+over us to burst beyond. The gunners all crouched
+close to the earthen parapet&mdash;and so did I. I am not
+ashamed to say so. My German officer, however, occasionally
+climbed to the top of the embankment and
+studied the prospect through his field-glasses. At
+length there was a loud detonation, and a column of
+dirt and smoke in the garden next below us. Then two
+shells struck the parapet of the gun-pit on our left
+almost simultaneously. Their explosion was deafening,
+and we were covered with the dust and stones they
+threw up.</p>
+
+<p>"Immediately afterwards another shell passed so close
+over our heads that I felt my hair lift. It just cleared
+the parapet and plunged into the side of my house. A
+big hole appeared just to the right of the dining-room
+window, and through it came instantaneously the loud
+bang of the explosion. The glass was shattered in all
+the windows, and thick smoke, white and black, came
+curling from every one of them.</p>
+
+<p>"'The house is on fire!' I shouted, and sprang madly
+from the pit. Heedless of the bombardment, I rushed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+into the building. Another crash sounded overhead as
+I entered, and a blaze of light shone down the stairway
+for an instant. Another projectile had found a
+billet in my home. I tried to make my way to my study,
+but found the passage blocked with fallen beams and
+ceiling. What with the smoke and dust, and the blocking
+of some of the windows, it was very dark in the hall,
+and I got quite a shock when, as I looked about me to
+find my way, I saw two red, glittering specks shining
+over the top of a heap of débris. But the howl that
+followed told me that they were nothing but the eyes
+of miserable Tim, the cat, who, left behind, had been
+nearly frightened out of his senses by the noise and concussion
+of the bursting shell. As I gazed at him
+another projectile struck the house quite close to us.
+Tim was simply smashed by a flying fragment. I was
+thrown down, and half-buried under a shower of bricks
+and mortar. I think that I must have lost consciousness
+for a time.</p>
+
+<p>"The next thing I recollect was being dragged out
+into the garden by a couple of Saxons. I had a
+splitting headache, and was very glad of a glass of
+water that one of them handed to me. Their officer,
+who appeared to be quite a decent fellow, offered me his
+flask.</p>
+
+<p>"'The house is all right,' he said, with his strong
+accent. 'It caught fire once, but we managed to get it
+under. Your friends have cleared off&mdash;at any rate for
+the present. They got too bold at last, and pushed their
+guns down till they got taken in the flank by the warship
+in the river. They had two of their pieces knocked to
+bits, and then cleared out. Best thing you can do is
+to do the same.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was in two minds. I could not save the house by
+staying, and might just as well join my people at
+Purleigh Rectory. On the other hand, I felt that it
+would better become me, as Mayor, to stick to the town.
+Duty triumphed, and I decided to remain where I was&mdash;at
+least for the present. All was now quiet, and after
+an early supper I turned in, and, despite the excitement
+of the day and my aching head, was asleep the moment
+I touched the pillow."</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Wednesday</span>, <i>September 5</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>"It must have been about three in the morning when
+I awoke. My head was much better, and for a minute or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+two I lay comfortably in the darkness, without any recollection
+of the events of the preceding day. Then I
+saw a bright reflection pass rapidly over the ceiling. I
+wondered vaguely what it was. Presently it came back
+again, paused a moment, and disappeared. By this
+time I was wide awake. I went to the window and
+looked out. It was quite dark, but from somewhere over
+beyond Heybridge a long white ray was sweeping all
+along this side of Maldon. Now the foliage of a tree
+in the garden below would stand out in pale green
+radiance against the blackness; now the wall of a house
+half a mile away would reflect back the moving beam,
+shining white as a sheet of notepaper.</p>
+
+<p>"Presently another ray shone out, and the two of
+them, moving backwards and forwards, made the whole
+of our hillside caper in a dizzy dance. From somewhere
+far away to my right another stronger beam now
+streamed through the obscurity, directed apparently at
+the sources of the other two, and almost simultaneously
+came the crack of a rifle from the direction of Heybridge,
+sharp and ominous in the quiet darkness of the
+night. Half a dozen scattered shots followed; then a
+faint cheer. More and more rifles joined in, and presently
+the burring tap-tap-tap of a Maxim. I hurried on
+my clothes. The firing increased in volume and rapidity;
+bugles rang out here, there, and everywhere through the
+sleeping town, and above the rolling, rattling clamour
+of the drums I could distinguish the hurried tramp of
+hundreds of feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I cast one glance from the window as I quitted
+the room. The electric searchlights had increased to
+at least half a dozen. Some reached out long, steady
+fingers into the vague spaces of the night, while others
+wandered restlessly up and down, hither and thither.
+Low down over the trees of the garden a dull red glare
+slowly increased in extent and intensity. The rattle of
+musketry was now absolutely continuous. As I ran out
+of the house into the street, I was nearly carried off my
+feet by the rush of a battalion that was pouring down
+Cromwell Hill at the double. Hardly knowing what I
+did, I followed in their wake. The glare in front got
+brighter and brighter. A few steps, and I could see the
+cause of it. The whole of Heybridge appeared to be on
+fire, the flames roaring skywards from a dozen different
+conflagrations."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>England halted breathless. Fighting had commenced
+in real earnest.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest consternation was caused by the publication
+in the "Times" of the description of the operations
+in Essex, written by Mr. Henry Bentley, the distinguished
+war correspondent, who had served that journal
+in every campaign since Kitchener had entered
+Khartum.</p>
+
+<p>All other papers, without exception, contained various
+accounts of the British defence at the point nearest
+London, but they were mostly of the scrappy and sensational
+order, based more on report than upon actual
+fact. The "Times" account, however, had been written
+with calm impartiality by one of the most experienced
+correspondents at the front. Whether he had been
+afforded any special facilities was not apparent, but, in
+any case, it was the most complete and truthful account
+of the gallant attempt on the part of our soldiers to
+check the advance from Essex westward.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole of that hot, stifling day it was
+known that a battle was raging, and the excitement
+everywhere was intense.</p>
+
+<p>The public were in anxious terror as the hours crept
+by, until the first authentic news of the result of the
+operations was printed in a special evening edition of
+the "Times," as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"(From our War Correspondent.)<br />
+"<span class="smcap">Danbury, Essex</span>, <i>September 8</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>"To-day has been a momentous one for England. The
+great battle has raged since dawn, and though just at
+present there seems to be a lull, during which the
+opposing forces are, so to speak, regaining their breath,
+it can be by no means over.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead and living alike will lie out on the battlefield
+the whole night through, for we must hold on to the
+positions so hardly won, and be ready to press forward
+at the first glimmer of daylight. Our gallant troops,
+Regular and Volunteers alike, have nobly vindicated
+the traditions of our race, and have fought as desperately
+as ever did their forebears at Agincourt, Albuera,
+or Waterloo. But while a considerable success&mdash;paid for,
+alas! by the loss of thousands of gallant lives&mdash;has been
+achieved, it will take at least another day's hard fighting
+before victory is in our grasp. Nowadays a soldier need
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>not expect to be either victorious or finally defeated by
+nightfall, and although this battle, fought as it is between
+much smaller forces, and extending over a much
+more limited area, than the great engagement between
+the Russians and Japanese at Liaoyang, will not take
+quite so long a time to decide, the end is not yet
+in sight. I wrote this after a hard day's travelling backwards
+and forwards behind our advancing line of battle.</p>
+
+<p>"I took my cycle with me in my motor-car, and whenever
+opportunity offered mounted it, and pushed forward
+as near to the fighting as I could get. Frequently I had
+to leave the cycle also, and crawl forward on hands
+and knees, sheltering in some depression in the ground,
+while the enemy's bullets whined and whistled overhead.
+As reported in a previous issue, the Army which
+had assembled at Brentwood moved forward on the 5th.</p>
+
+<p>"During the afternoon the advanced troops succeeded
+in driving the enemy out of South Hanningfield, and
+before sundown they were also in full retreat from the
+positions they had held at East Hanningfield and Danbury.
+There was some stiff fighting at the latter place, but
+after a pounding from the artillery, who brought several
+batteries into action on the high ground north-west of
+East Hanningfield, the Germans were unable to withstand
+the attack of the Argyll and Sutherlands and the
+London Scottish, who worked their way through Danbury
+Park and Hall Wood right into their position,
+driving them from their entrenchments by a dashing
+bayonet charge. Everything north and east of the
+enemy's main position, which is now known to lie north
+and south, between Maldon and the river Crouch, was
+now in our hands, but his troops still showed a stout
+front at Wickford, and were also reported to be at Rayleigh,
+Hockley, and Canewdon, several miles to the
+eastward. All preparations were made to assault the
+German position at Wickford at daybreak to-day, but
+our scouts found that the place had been evacuated.
+The news that Rayleigh and Hockley had also been abandoned
+by the enemy came in shortly afterwards. The
+German invaders had evidently completed their arrangements
+for the defence of their main position, and now
+said, in effect, 'Come on, and turn us out if you can.'</p>
+
+<p>"It was no easy task that lay before our gallant defenders.
+Maldon, perched on a high knoll, with a network
+of river and canal protecting it from assault from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>the northward, fairly bristles with guns, many of them
+heavy field howitzers, and has, as we know to our cost,
+already repulsed one attack by our troops. Farther
+south there are said to be many guns on the knolls
+about Purleigh. Great Canney Hill, standing boldly
+up like an immense redoubt, is reported to be seamed
+with entrenchments mounting many heavy guns. The
+railway embankment south of Maldon forms a perfect
+natural rampart along part of the enemy's position,
+while the woods and enclosures south-west of Great
+Canney conceal thousands of sharpshooters. A sort of
+advanced position was occupied by the enemy at Edwin
+Hall, a mile east of Woodham Ferrers, where a pair of
+high kopjes a quarter of a mile apart offered command
+and cover to some of their field batteries.</p>
+
+<p>"Our scouts have discovered also that an elaborate
+system of wire entanglements and other military obstacles
+protects almost the whole front of the somewhat extensive
+German position. On its extreme left their line
+is said to be thrown back at an angle, so that any
+attempt to outflank it would not only entail crossing the
+river Crouch, but would come under the fire of batteries
+placed on the high ground overlooking it. Altogether,
+it is a very tough nut to crack, and the force at our
+disposal none too strong for the work that lies before it.</p>
+
+<p>"Further detail regarding our strength would be inadvisable
+for obvious reasons, but when I point out that
+the Germans are supposed to be between thirty and
+forty thousand strong, and that it is laid down by competent
+military authorities that to attack troops in an
+entrenched position a superiority of six to one is advisable,
+my readers can draw their own conclusions.</p>
+
+<p>"The repairs to the railway line between Brentwood
+and Chelmsford, that had been damaged by the enemy's
+cavalry on their first landing, were completed yesterday,
+and all night reinforcements had been coming in
+by way of Chelmsford and Billericay. The general
+headquarters had been established at Danbury, and,
+thither I made my way as fast as my car could get
+along the roads, blocked as they were by marching
+horse, foot, and artillery. I had spent the night at South
+Hanningfield, so as to be on the spot for the expected
+attack on Wickford; but as soon as I found it was not
+to come off, I considered that at Danbury would be the
+best chance of finding out what our next move was to be.</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Nor was I mistaken. As I ran up to the village I
+found the roads full of troops under arms, and everything
+denoted action of some kind. I was lucky enough
+to come across a friend of mine on the staff&mdash;Captain
+B&mdash;&mdash;, I will call him&mdash;who spared a moment to give me
+the tip that a general move forward was commencing, and
+that a big battle was imminent. Danbury is situated
+on the highest ground for many miles round, and as
+it bid fair to be a fine, clear day, I thought I could not
+do better than try and get a general look round from
+the summit of the church tower before proceeding farther.
+But I was informed that the General was up there
+with some of his staff and a signalling party, so that
+I could not ascend.</p>
+
+<p>"My pass, however, eventually procured me admission
+to the little platform, which, by the way, the General
+left a moment after my arrival. It was now eight o'clock,
+the sun was fairly high in the heavens, and the light
+mists that hung about the low ground in the vicinity of
+Maldon were fast fading into nothingness. The old
+town was plainly distinguishable as a dark silhouette
+against the morning light, which, while it illumined
+the panorama spread out before me, yet rendered observation
+somewhat difficult, since it shone almost directly
+into my eyes. However, by the aid of my glasses I was
+able to see something of the first moves on the fatal
+chess-board where so many thousands of lives are staked
+on the bloody game of war.</p>
+
+<p>"I noticed among other things that the lessons of the
+recent war in the East had not passed unobserved, for
+in all the open spaces on the eastern slope of the hill,
+where the roads were not screened by trees or coppices,
+lofty erections of hurdles and greenery had been placed
+overnight to hide the preliminary movements of our
+troops from the glasses of the enemy. Under cover of
+these, regiment after regiment of khaki-clad soldiers,
+batteries of artillery and ammunition carts, were proceeding
+to their allotted posts down the network of
+roads and lanes leading to the lower ground towards the
+south-east. Two battalions stood in quarter column behind
+Thrift Wood. They were kilted corps, probably the
+Argylls and the London Scottish. Several field batteries
+moved off to the left towards Woodham Walter. Other
+battalions took up their position behind Hyde Woods,
+farther away to the right, the last of them, the Grenadier
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>Guards, I fancy, passing behind them and marching
+still farther southward.</p>
+
+<p>"Finally, two strong battalions, easily recognised as
+marines by their blue war-kit, marched rapidly down
+the main road and halted presently behind Woodham
+Mortimer Place. All this time there was neither sight
+nor sound of the enemy. The birds carolled gaily in
+the old elms round my eyrie, the sparrows and martins
+piped and twittered in the eaves of the old church,
+and the sun shone genially on hill and valley, field and
+wood. To all appearance, peace reigned over the
+countryside, though the dun masses of troops in
+the shadows of the woodlands were suggestive of
+the autumn man&oelig;uvres. But for all this the 'Real
+Thing' was upon us. As I looked, first one, then
+another long and widely scattered line of crouching men
+in khaki issued from the cover of Hyde Woods and began
+slowly to move away towards the east. Then, and
+not till then, a vivid violet-white flash blazed out on the
+dim grey upland five miles away to the south-east, which
+had been pointed out to me as Great Canney, and
+almost at once a spout of earth and smoke sprang up a
+little way ahead of the advancing British. A dull boom
+floated up on the breeze, but was drowned in an ear-splitting
+crash somewhere close to me. I felt the old
+tower rock under the concussion, which I presently discovered
+came from a battery of at least six big 4ˇ7 guns
+established just outside the churchyard.</p>
+
+<p>"They were manned by a party of bluejackets, who
+had brought them over from Chatham. The movement I
+saw developing below me was the first step towards what
+I eventually discovered was our main objective&mdash;Purleigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Could we succeed in establishing ourselves there,
+we should be beyond effective range from Maldon, and
+should also take Great Canney in reverse, as well as
+the positions on the refused left flank of the enemy.
+Maldon, too, would be isolated. Purleigh, therefore, was
+the key of the position. Our first move was in this
+direction. The scouts were picked men from the Line
+battalions, but the firing lines were composed of Volunteers
+and, in some cases, Militiamen. It was considered
+more politic to reserve the Regulars for the later stages
+of the attack. The firing from Canney, and afterwards
+from Purleigh, was at first at rather too long a range to
+be effective, even from the heavy guns that were in use,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>and later on the heavy long-range fire from 'Bloody
+Mary' and her sisters at Danbury, and other heavy
+guns and howitzers in the neighbourhood of East Hanningfield,
+kept it down considerably, although the big,
+high-explosive shells were now and again most terribly
+destructive to the advancing British.</p>
+
+<p>"When, however, the firing line&mdash;which as yet had
+not been near enough to fire a shot in reply&mdash;arrived in
+the neighbourhood of Loddard's Hill, its left came under
+a terrible rifle fire from Hazeleigh Wood, while its right
+and centre were all but destroyed by a tornado of shrapnel
+from some German field batteries to the north of
+Purleigh. Though dazed and staggered under the appalling
+sleet of projectiles, the Volunteers stuck doggedly
+to their ground, though unable to advance. Line after
+line was pushed forward, the men stumbling and falling
+over the thickly-scattered bodies of their fallen comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a perfect holocaust. Some other card must
+be played at once, or the attack must fail."</p>
+
+<p>The second of Mr. Henry Bentley's descriptive articles
+in the "Times" told a terrible truth, and was as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"(From our War Correspondent.)<br />
+"<span class="smcap">Chelmsford</span>, <i>September 7</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>"When I sent off my despatch by motor-car last night,
+it was with very different feelings to those with which I
+take my pen in hand this evening, in the Saracen's
+Head Hotel, which is the headquarters of my colleagues,
+the correspondents.</p>
+
+<p>"Last night, despite the hard fighting and the heavy
+losses we had sustained, the promise of the morrow was
+distinctly a good one. But now I have little heart with
+which to commence the difficult and unpleasant task
+of chronicling the downfall of all our high hopes, the
+repulse&mdash;ay, and the defeat&mdash;it is no use mincing matters&mdash;of
+our heroic and sorely tried Army.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, our gallant soldiers have sustained a reverse
+which, but for their stubborn fighting qualities and a
+somewhat inexplicable holding back on the part of the
+Germans, might very easily have culminated in disaster.
+Defeat although it undoubtedly is, the darkness of the
+gloomy outlook is illuminated by the brilliancy of the
+conduct of our troops.</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p>
+<p>"From General down to the youngest Volunteer
+drummer boy, our brave soldiers did all, and more, than
+could be humanly expected of them, and on none of
+them can be laid the blame of our ill-success. The plan
+of attack is agreed on all hands to have been as good a
+one as could have been evolved; the officers led well,
+their men fought well, and there was no running short
+of ammunition at any period of the engagement.</p>
+
+<p>"'Who, then, was responsible?' it may well be asked.
+The answer is simple. The British public, which, in its
+apathetic attitude towards military efficiency, aided and
+abetted by the soothing theories of the extremists of the
+'Blue Water' school, had, as usual, neglected to provide
+an Army fitted to cope in numbers and efficiency
+with those of our Continental neighbours. Had
+we had a sufficiency of troops, more especially of regular
+troops, there is not the slightest doubt that
+the victory would have been ours. As it was, our
+General was obliged to attack the enemy's position
+with a force whose numbers, even if they had been all
+regular soldiers, were below those judged necessary by
+military experts for the task in hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Having broken through the German lines, success was
+in his grasp had he had sufficient reinforcements to
+have established him in the position he had won, and
+to beat back the inevitable counter-attack. But it is
+best that I should continue my account of the fighting
+from the point at which I closed my letter of yesterday.
+I had arrived at the checking of our advance near Loddard's
+Hill by the blast of shrapnel from the German
+field batteries. It was plain that the Volunteer Brigade,
+though it held its ground, could not advance farther.
+But, unnoticed by them, the General had been preparing
+for this eventuality.</p>
+
+<p>"On the left the two battalions of Marines that I
+noticed drawn up behind Woodham Mortimer Place
+suddenly debouched on Loddard's Hill, and, carrying
+forward with them the débris of the Volunteer firing
+line, hurled themselves into Hazeleigh Wood. There was
+a sanguinary hand-to-hand struggle on the wire-entangled
+border, but the newcomers were not to be denied, and,
+after a quarter of an hour's desperate męlée, which filled
+the sylvan glades with moaning and writhing wounded
+and stark dead bodies, we remained masters of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>wood, and even obtained a footing on the railway line
+where it adjoins it.</p>
+
+<p>"Simultaneously a long line of our field batteries came
+into action near Woodham Mortimer, some trying to
+beat down the fire of the German guns opposite, while
+others replied to a battery which had been established
+near West Maldon Station to flank the railway, and
+which was now beginning to open on Hazeleigh Wood.
+The latter were assisted by a battery of 4ˇ7 guns manned
+by Volunteers, which took up a position behind Woodham
+Walter. The firing on Great Canney from our batteries
+at East Hanningfield redoubled, the whole summit
+of the hill being at times obscured by the clouds of
+smoke and débris from the explosions of the big, high-explosive
+projectiles.</p>
+
+<p>"The main firing line, continually fed from the rear,
+now began slowly to gain ground, and when the Grenadiers
+and the Irish Guards, who had managed to work
+up through the series of plantations that run eastwards
+for nearly two miles from Woodham Hall without drawing
+any particular attention from the busily engaged
+enemy, came into action on the right, there was a distinct
+move forward. But the defence was too stubborn,
+and about midday the whole line again came to a standstill,
+its left still in Hazeleigh Wood, its right at
+Prentice Farm. Orders were passed that the men should
+try to entrench themselves as best they could, and spades
+and other tools were sent forward to those corps who
+were not provided with them already.</p>
+
+<p>"Here we must leave the main attack to notice what
+was going on elsewhere. On the north the Colchester
+Garrison again brought their heavy artillery into action
+on the slopes south of Wickham Bishops, while others
+of our troops made a show of advancing against Maldon
+from the west. These movements were, however, merely
+intended to keep the German garrison occupied. But on
+the right a rather important flanking movement was in
+progress.</p>
+
+<p>"We had a considerable body of troops at East
+Hanningfield, which lies in a hollow between two little
+ridges, both running from south-west to north-east, and
+about a mile apart. The most easterly ridge is very
+narrow for the most part, and behind it were stationed
+several batteries of our field howitzers, which fired over
+it at Great Canney at a range of about 5,000 yards. A
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>number of 4ˇ7-inch guns, scattered over the western
+hill, were also concentrated on the same target. Although
+the range was an extremely long one, there is no doubt
+that they made a certain number of effective hits, since
+Great Canney offered a conspicuous and considerable
+target. But beyond this the flashes of their discharges
+drew off all attention from the howitzer batteries in
+front of them, and served to conceal their presence from
+the enemy. Otherwise, although invisible, their presence
+would have been guessed at. As it was, not a
+single German projectile came anywhere near them.</p>
+
+<p>"When the fighting began, those troops who were not
+intended to be held in reserve or to co-operate with the
+right of the main attack moved off in the direction of
+Woodham Ferrers, and made a feint of attacking the
+German position astride the two kopjes at Edwin's Hall,
+their field guns coming into action on the high ground
+north of Rettendon, and engaging those of the enemy
+at long range. But the real attack on this salient of the
+German position came from a very different quarter.</p>
+
+<p>"The troops detailed for this movement were those who
+had advanced against Wickford at daybreak, and had
+found it abandoned by the enemy. They consisted of
+the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, the Honourable Artillery
+Company, and the Inns of Court Volunteers, together
+with their own and three or four other machine-gun
+detachments, their Maxims being mounted on detachable
+legs instead of carriages. Co-operating with
+them were the Essex and the East Kent Yeomanry, who
+were scouting in the direction of Hockley.</p>
+
+<p>"The troops had a long, wearisome march before
+them, the design being to take advantage of the time of
+low tide, and to move along out of sight of the enemy
+behind the northern bank of the river Crouch, as it had
+been discovered that the German line of defence turned
+back to the eastward at a mile or two north of the
+river at the point aimed at. Its guns still commanded it,
+and might be trusted to render abortive any attempt to
+throw a bridge across it. The Yeomanry had the task
+of occupying the attention of the enemy at Canewdon,
+and of preventing the passage of boats from the German
+warships. This part of our operations succeeded admirably.
+The long creeping lines of the Oxfordshires and
+the machine-gun detachments in their khaki uniforms
+were almost indistinguishable against the steep mud
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>banks at any distance, and they escaped observation both
+from the German main lines and from their outpost at
+Canewdon until they had reached the entrances of the two
+branch creeks for which they were making.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, and not till then, came the sound of artillery
+from the left rear of the German position. But it was
+too late. The Oxford companies pushed forward at the
+double. Five companies lined the embankments of Stow
+Creek, the easternmost of the two, while the remainder,
+ensconced in Clementsgreen Creek, aligned the whole
+of their machine-guns on the southern of the two kopjes
+against which the man&oelig;uvre had been directed. Their
+fire, which, coming from a little to the rear of the left
+flank of the southern kopje, completely enfiladed it,
+created such slaughter and confusion that the Honourable
+Artillery Company and the Inns of Court, who had
+been working up the railway line from Battle Bridge,
+had little difficulty in establishing themselves at Woodham
+Ferrers Station and in an adjacent farm. Being
+almost immediately afterwards reinforced by the arrival
+of two regular battalions who had been pushed forward
+from Rettendon, a determined assault was made on the
+southern kopje. Its defenders, demoralised by the pelting
+shower of lead from the machine-gun battery, and
+threatened also by the advance from Woodham Ferrers
+village, gave way, and our people, forcing their way over
+every obstacle, seized the position amid frantic cheering.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile the Oxfordshires had been subjected to a
+determined counter-attack from North Frambridge. Preceded
+by a pounding from the guns on Kit's Hill, but
+aided by the fire of the Yeomanry on the south bank
+of the river, who galloped up and lined the embankment,
+thus flanking the defenders of Stow Creek, it was
+beaten back with considerable loss. The machine-guns
+were transferred to the neighbourhood of South Kopje,
+and used with such effect that its defenders, after repulsing
+several counter-attacks from the adjoining German
+entrenchment, were able to make themselves masters
+of the North Kopje also.</p>
+
+<p>"Elsewhere the fighting still continued strenuous and
+deadly. The main attack had contrived to make some
+little shelter for itself; but though three several attempts
+were made to advance from this, all ended in failure,
+one nearly in disaster. This was the last of the three,
+when the advancing line was charged by a mass of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>cavalry which suddenly appeared from behind Great
+Canney Hill. I myself was a witness of this attack,
+the most picturesque incident of the day's fighting.</p>
+
+<p>"I was watching the progress of the engagement
+through my glasses from the high ground about Wickham's
+Farm, when I saw line after line of the German
+horsemen in their sky-blue tunics and glittering helmets
+trot out into the open, canter, and one after another
+break into a mad gallop, as they bore down upon the
+advancing lines of our citizen soldiers. Staunchly as
+these had withstood the murderous fire which for hours
+had been directed upon them, this whirlwind of lance
+and sabre, the thunder of thousands of hoofs, and the
+hoarse cries of the riders, were rather more than such
+partially trained soldiers could stand. A scattering
+discharge from their rifles was followed by something
+very much approaching a <i>sauve qui peut</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"A large number of Volunteers, however, sought
+shelter among the ruined houses of Cock Clarke's hamlet,
+from whence they opened a heavy fire on the adventurous
+horsemen. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,
+who were by this time in Mosklyns Copse, and
+the Guards and other troops on the right, also opened
+a rapid and sustained fire on the German cavalry, which
+seconded by the shrapnel from our guns on Loddard's
+Hill, caused them to turn and ride back for their lives.
+There was a tremendous outburst of firing from both
+sides after this, followed by quite a lull. One could well
+imagine that all the combatants were exhausted by the
+prolonged effort of the day. It was now between five
+and six in the evening. It was at this time that the
+news of the capture of the two kopjes reached me, and
+I made for Danbury to write my despatches.</p>
+
+<p>"Shortly after my arrival I heard of the capture of
+Spar Hill, a detached knoll about 1,200 yards to the
+north-west of Purleigh. The Marines from Hazeleigh
+Wood and the Highlanders from Mosklyns Copse had
+suddenly and simultaneously assaulted it from opposite
+sides, and were now entrenching themselves upon it.
+What wonder, then, that I reported satisfactory progress,
+and reckoned&mdash;too confidently, as it proved&mdash;on a
+victory for the morrow?</p>
+
+<p>"I spent a great part of that night under the stars
+on the hilltop near East Hanningfield, watching the weird
+play of the searchlights which swept over the country
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>from a score of different positions, and listening to the
+crash of artillery and clatter of rifle fire which now
+and again told of some attempted movement under cover
+of the darkness. Just before daylight the continuous
+roar of battle began again, and when light dawned I
+found that our troops had cut right through the German
+lines, and had penetrated as far as Cop Kitchen's
+Farm, on the Maldon-Mundon road. Reinforcements
+were being hurried up, and an attack was being pushed
+towards the rear of Purleigh and Great Canney, which
+was being heavily bombarded by some of our large guns,
+which had been mounted during the night on the two
+kopjes.</p>
+
+<p>"But the reinforcements were not enough. The Germans
+held fast to Purleigh and to some reserve positions
+they had established about Mundon. After two or
+three hours of desperate effort, costing the lives of
+thousands, our attack was at a standstill. At this critical
+moment a powerful counter-attack was made from Maldon,
+and, outnumbered and almost surrounded, our
+gallant warriors had to give ground. But they fell back
+as doggedly as they had advanced, the Argylls, Marines,
+and Grenadiers covering the retreat on Danbury.</p>
+
+<p>"The guns at East Hanningfield and the two kopjes
+checked the pursuit to a great extent, and the Germans
+seemed unwilling to go far from their works. The kopjes
+had to be abandoned later in the day, and we now
+occupy our former line from Danbury to Billericay, and
+are busily engaged in entrenching ourselves."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>DEFENCE AT LAST.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Late on Wednesday night came tardy news of the
+measures we were taking to mobilise.</p>
+
+<p>The Aldershot Army Corps, so complete in the "Army
+List," consisted, as all the world knew, of three divisions,
+but of these only two existed, the other being
+found to be on paper. The division in question, located<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+at Bordon, was to be formed on mobilisation, and this
+measure was now being proceeded with. The train service
+was practically suspended, owing to the damage
+done to the various lines south of London by the
+enemy's emissaries. Several of these men had been
+detected, and, being in plain clothes, were promptly shot
+out of hand. However, their work had, unfortunately
+for us, been accomplished, and trains could only run as
+far as the destroyed bridges, so men on their way to join
+their respective corps were greatly delayed in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>All was confusion at Bordon, where men were arriving
+in hundreds on foot and by the service of motor omnibuses,
+which the War Office had on the day before established
+between Charing Cross and Aldershot. Perspiring
+staff officers strove diligently, without much avail, to
+sort out into their respective units this ever-increasing
+mass of reservists.</p>
+
+<p>There was perfect chaos.</p>
+
+<p>Before the chief constituent parts of the division&mdash;that
+is to say, regiments who were stationed elsewhere&mdash;had
+arrived little could be done with the reservists. The
+regiments in question were in many cases stationed at
+considerable distance, and although they had received
+orders to start, were prevented from arriving owing to
+the universal interruptions of the railway traffic south.
+By this, whole valuable days were lost&mdash;days when at
+any hour the invaders might make a sudden swoop on
+London.</p>
+
+<p>Reports were alarming and conflicting. Some said
+that the enemy meant to strike a blow upon the capital
+just as suddenly as they had landed, while others reassured
+the alarmists that the German plans were not
+yet complete, and that they had not sufficient stores to
+pursue the campaign.</p>
+
+<p>Reservists, with starvation staring them in the face,
+went eagerly south to join their regiments, knowing that
+at least they would be fed with regularity; while, in
+addition, the true patriotic spirit of the Englishman
+had been roused against the aggressive Teuton, and everyone,
+officer and man, was eager to bear his part in driving
+the invader into the sea.</p>
+
+<p>The public were held breathless. What would happen?</p>
+
+<p>Arrivals at Aldershot, however, found the whole
+arrangements in such a complete muddle that Army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+Service Corps men, who ought to have been at Woolwich,
+were presenting themselves for enrolment at
+Bordon, and infantry of the line were conducted into
+the camp of the Dragoons. The Motor Volunteer Corps
+were at this moment of very great use. The cars were
+filled with staff officers and other exalted officials, who
+were settling themselves in various offices, and passing
+out again to make necessary arrangements for dealing
+with such a large influx of men.</p>
+
+<p>There were activity and excitement everywhere. Men
+were rapidly drawing their clothing, or as much of it as
+they could get, and civilians were quickly becoming
+soldiers on every hand. Officers of the Reserve were
+driving up in motor-cars and cabs, many of them with
+their old battered uniform cases, that had seen service
+in the field in distant parts of the globe. Men from
+the "Junior" and the "Senior" wrung each other's
+hands on returning to active duty with their old regiments,
+and at once settled down into the routine work
+they knew so well.</p>
+
+<p>The rumour, however, had now got about that a
+position in the neighbourhood of Cambridge had been
+selected by the General Staff as being the most suitable
+theatre of action where an effective stand could, with
+any hope of success, be made. It was evident that the
+German tactics were to strike a swift and rapid blow
+at London. Indeed, nothing at present stood in their
+way except the gallant little garrison at Colchester, who
+had been so constantly driven back by the enemy's
+cavalry on attempting to make any reconnaissance, and
+who might be swept out of existence at any hour.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>During Tuesday and Wednesday large gangs of workmen
+had been busy repairing the damaged lines. The
+first regiment complete for the field was the 2nd Battalion
+of the 5th Fusiliers, who carried upon their
+colours the names of a score of battles, ranging from
+Corunna and Badajoz, all through the Peninsula, Afghanistan,
+and Egypt, down to the Modder River. This regiment
+left by train for London on Tuesday evening, and
+was that same night followed by the 2nd Battalion King's
+Liverpool Regiment and the 1st King's Shropshire Light
+Infantry, while the Manchester Regiment got away soon
+after midnight.</p>
+
+<p>These formed the second infantry brigade of the 1st<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+Division, and were commanded by Brigadier-General Sir
+John Money. They were several hours getting up to
+London, whence from Clapham Junction their trains
+circled London on to the Great Eastern system to Braintree,
+where the Horn Hotel was made the headquarters.
+By other trains in the small hours of the morning the
+last of the Guards Brigade under Colonel (temporary
+Brigadier-General) Lord Wansford departed, and duly
+arrived at Saffron Walden, to join their comrades on
+the line of defence.</p>
+
+<p>The divisional troops were also on the move early on
+Wednesday. Six batteries of artillery and the field company
+of Royal Engineers left by road. There was a
+balloon section accompanying this, and searchlights, wireless
+instruments, and cables for field-telegraphy were
+carried in the waggons.</p>
+
+<p>The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General Morgan,
+C.B., was also active. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, commanded
+by Major-General Fortescue, composed of 2nd
+Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, the 2nd Bedfordshire,
+the 1st Princess of Wales' Own, and the 1st Royal
+Welsh Fusiliers, were preparing, but had not yet moved.
+The 4th Infantry Brigade of the same division, consisting
+of the 3rd and 4th Battalions King's Royal Rifle
+Corps, the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, and the 2nd South
+Lancashire, with the usual smartness of those distinguished
+regiments, were quick and ready, now as
+ever, to go to the front. They were entrained to Baldock,
+slightly east of Hitchin, where they marched out
+on the Icknield Way. These were followed by Fortescue's
+Brigade, who were also bound for Baldock and the
+neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>The bulk of the cavalry and field artillery of both divisions,
+together with the divisional troops, were compelled
+to set out by march-route from Aldershot for the
+line of defences. The single and all-sufficient reason
+of this delay in sending out the cavalry and artillery
+was owing to the totally inadequate accommodation on
+the railways for the transport of so many horses and
+guns. The troop-trains, which were of course, necessary
+to transport the infantry, were not forthcoming in sufficient
+numbers, this owing to the fact that at several
+points the lines to London were still interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>The orders to the cavalry who went by march-route
+were to get up to the line proposed to be taken up by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+the infantry as quickly as possible, and to operate in
+front of it to the east and north-east in screening and
+reconnoitring duties. The temporary deficiency of
+cavalry, who ought, of course, to have been the first to
+arrive at the scene, was made good as far as possible
+by the general employment of hordes of motor-cyclists,
+who scoured the country in large armed groups, in order
+to ascertain, if possible, the dispositions of the enemy.
+This they did, and very soon after their arrival reported
+the result of their investigations to the general officers
+commanding the 1st and 2nd Divisions.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile both cavalry and artillery in great bodies,
+and strings of motor omnibuses filled with troops, were
+upon the white, dusty roads passing through Staines to
+Hounslow and Brentford, thence to London, St. Albans,
+<i>en route</i> to their respective divisions. Roughly, the distance
+was over fifty miles, therefore those marching were
+compelled to halt the night on the way, while those
+in the motor omnibuses got through to their destination.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of British troops hurrying to the front
+swelled the hearts of the villagers and townsfolk with
+renewed patriotism, and everywhere, through the blazing,
+dusty day, the men were offered refreshment by
+even the poorest and humblest cottagers. In Bagshot, in
+Staines, and in Hounslow the people went frantic with
+excitement, as squadron after squadron rapidly passed
+along, with its guns, waggons, and ambulances rumbling
+noisily over the stones in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>Following these came pontoon troops with their long
+grey waggons and mysterious-looking bridging apparatus,
+telegraph troops, balloon sections, supply columns, field
+bakery, and field hospitals, the last-named packed in
+waggons marked with the well-known red cross of the
+Geneva Convention.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner was Aldershot denuded of its army corps,
+however, than battalions began to arrive from Portsmouth
+on their way north, while troops from the great
+camp on Salisbury Plain were rapidly being pushed to
+the front, which, roughly speaking, extended through
+Hitchin, Royston, to Saffron Walden, across to Braintree,
+and also the high ground commanding the valley
+of the Colne to Colchester.</p>
+
+<p>The line chosen by the General Staff was the natural
+chain of hills which presented the first obstacle to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+enemy advancing on London from the wide plain stretching
+eastward beyond Cambridge to the sea.</p>
+
+<p>If this could be held strongly, as was intended, by
+practically the whole of the British forces located in the
+South of England, including the Yeomanry, Militia, and
+Volunteers&mdash;who were now all massing in every direction&mdash;then
+the deadly peril threatening England might be
+averted.</p>
+
+<p>But could it be held?</p>
+
+<p>This was the appalling question on every one's tongue
+all over the country, for it now became generally known
+that upon this line of defence four complete and perfectly
+equipped German army corps were ready to
+advance at any moment, in addition to the right flank
+being exposed to the attack of the XIIth Saxon Corps,
+entrenched on the Essex coast.</p>
+
+<p>It was estimated that no fewer than two hundred
+thousand Germans were already upon English soil!</p>
+
+<p>The outlook grew blacker every hour.</p>
+
+<p>London was in a state of absolute stagnation and
+chaos. In the City, business was now at an entire
+standstill. The credit system had received a fatal blow,
+and nobody wanted to buy securities. Had people kept
+level heads in the crisis there would have been a moratorium,
+but, as it was, a panic had been created that
+nothing could allay. Even Consols were now unsaleable.
+Some of the smaller banks were known to have failed,
+and traders and manufacturers all over the country
+had been ruined on account of credit, the foundation of
+all trade, having been swept away. Only persons of the
+highest financial standing could have dealt with the
+banks, even if they had remained open.</p>
+
+<p>The opinion held in banking circles was that if the
+invasion should unfortunately prove disastrous to England,
+and Germany demand a huge indemnity, there was
+still hope, however small. The experience of the Franco-German
+war had proved that, though in such circumstances
+the Bank, for a considerable period, might not
+be able to resume cash payments, yet, with sound
+finance, there was no reason that the currency should
+greatly depreciate. During the period of suspension of
+cash payments by the Bank of France, the premium on
+gold never went above 1ˇ5 per cent., and during most
+of the period was 5, 4, or even less per mille. Therefore
+what the French by sound banking had been able to do,
+there was no reason why English bankers could not
+also do.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><b>WE, WILHELM,</b></p>
+
+<p><b>GIVE NOTICE to the inhabitants of those provinces
+occupied by the German Imperial Army, that&mdash;</b></p>
+
+<p>I MAKE WAR upon the soldiers, and not upon
+English citizens. Consequently, it is my wish to
+give the latter and their property entire security, and
+as long as they do not embark upon hostile enterprise
+against the German troops they have a right to
+my protection.</p>
+
+<p>GENERALS COMMANDING the various corps in
+the various districts in England are ordered to place
+before the public the stringent measures which I
+have ordered to be adopted against towns, villages,
+and persons who act in contradiction to the usages
+of war. They are to regulate in the same manner all
+the operations necessary for the well-being of our
+troops, to fix the difference between the English and
+German rate of exchange, and to facilitate in every
+manner possible the individual transactions between
+our Army and the inhabitants of England.</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>WILHELM.</b><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Given at <span class="smcap">Potsdam</span>, <i>September 4th, 1910</i>.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 444px;">
+<a href="images/i094-hi.png"><img src="images/i094.png" width="444" height="600" alt="The above is a copy of the German Imperial Decree,
+printed in English, which was posted by unknown German
+agents in London, and which appeared everywhere
+throughout East Anglia and in that portion of the Midlands
+held by the enemy." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">The above is a copy of the German Imperial Decree,
+printed in English, which was posted by unknown German
+agents in London, and which appeared everywhere
+throughout East Anglia and in that portion of the Midlands
+held by the enemy.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> the outbreak of the war of 1870, on August 1, French
+Three per Cent. Rentes were at 60ˇ85, and Four and a
+Half per Cent. at 98. On the memorable day of Sedan,
+September 2, they were at 50ˇ80 and 88ˇ50 respectively,
+and on January 2, 1871, Three per Cents. were down to
+50ˇ95. At the commencement of the Commune, on March
+18, they were at 51ˇ50 and 76ˇ25, and on the 30th of that
+month down to 50ˇ60 and 76ˇ25 respectively.</p>
+
+<p>With so little money in England as there now was,
+securities had fallen to the value at which holders would
+as soon not sell as sell at such a great discount. High
+rates and the heavy fall in the value of securities had
+brought business in every quarter all over London to a
+standstill. Firms all over the country were now hard
+put to in order to find the necessary money to carry
+on their various trades. Instantly after the report of
+the reverse at Sheffield, there was a wild rush to obtain
+gold, and securities dropped even a few more points.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore there was little or nothing for the banks
+to do, and Lombard Street, Lothbury, and the other
+banking centres were closed, as though it had been Sunday
+or Bank Holiday. Despair was, alas! everywhere,
+and the streets presented strange scenes.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the motor omnibuses had been taken off the
+road and pressed into the service of the military. The
+walls bore a dozen different broadsides and proclamations,
+which were read by the gaping, hungry crowds.</p>
+
+<p>The Royal Standard was flying from St. Stephen's
+Tower, for Parliament had now met, and all members
+who were not abroad for their summer vacation had
+taken their places at the heated debates now hourly in
+progress. Over Buckingham Palace the Royal Standard
+also flew proudly, while upon every public building was
+displayed a Union Jack or a white ensign, many of
+which had done duty at the coronation of His Majesty
+King Edward. The Admiralty flew its own flag, and
+upon the War Office, the India Office, the Foreign Office,
+and all the dark, sombre Government buildings in
+Whitehall was bunting displayed.</p>
+
+<p>The wild enthusiasm of Sunday and Monday, however,
+had given place to a dark, hopeless apprehension.
+The great mobs now thronging all the principal thoroughfares
+in London were already half-famished. Food was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+daily rising in price, and the East End was already
+starving. Bands of lawless men and women from the
+slums of Whitechapel were parading the West End
+streets and squares, and were camping out in Hyde
+Park and St. James's Park.</p>
+
+<p>The days were stifling, for it was an unusually hot
+September following upon a blazing August, and as
+each breathless evening the sun sank, it shed its blood-red
+afterglow over the giant metropolis, grimly precursory
+of the ruin so surely imminent.</p>
+
+<p>Supplies were still reaching London from the country,
+but there had been immediate panic in the corn and
+provision markets, with the result that prices had instantly
+jumped up beyond the means of the average
+Londoner. The poorer ones were eagerly collecting the
+refuse in Covent Garden Market and boiling it down
+to make soup in lieu of anything else, while wise fathers
+of families went to the shops themselves and made
+meagre purchases daily of just sufficient food to keep
+body and soul together.</p>
+
+<p>For the present there was no fear of London being
+absolutely starved, at least the middle class and
+wealthier portion of it. At present it was the poor&mdash;the
+toiling millions now unemployed&mdash;who were the first
+to feel the pinch of hunger and its consequent despair.
+They filled the main arteries of London&mdash;Holborn,
+Oxford Street, the Strand, Regent Street, Piccadilly, the
+Haymarket, St. James's Street, Park Lane, Victoria Street,
+and Knightsbridge, overflowing northward into Grosvenor,
+Berkeley, Portman, and Cavendish Squares, Portland
+Place, and to the terraces around Regent's Park. The
+centre of London became congested. Day and night it
+was the same. There was no sleep. From across the
+river and from the East End the famished poor came in
+their bewildering thousands, the majority of them honest
+workers, indignant that by the foolish policy of the
+Government they now found themselves breadless.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Houses of Parliament, before the fine new
+War Office and the Admiralty, before Downing
+Street, and before the houses of known members
+of the Government, constant demonstrations were
+being made, the hungry crowds groaning at the authorities,
+and singing "God Save the King." Though
+starving and in despair, they were nevertheless loyal,
+still confident that by the personal effort of His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+Majesty some amicable arrangement would be arrived at.
+The French <i>entente cordiale</i> was remembered, and our
+Sovereign had long ago been declared to be the first
+diplomat in Europe. Every Londoner believed in him,
+and loved him.</p>
+
+<p>Many houses of the wealthy, especially those of
+foreigners, had their windows broken. In Park Lane,
+in Piccadilly, and in Grosvenor Square more particularly,
+the houses seemed to excite the ire of the crowds, who,
+notwithstanding special constables having been sworn
+in, were now quite beyond the control of the police. The
+German Ambassador had presented his letters of recall
+on Sunday evening, and together with the whole staff
+had been accorded a safe conduct to Dover, whence they
+had left for the Continent. The Embassy in Carlton
+House Terrace, and also the Consulate-General in Finsbury
+Square, had, however, suffered severely at the
+hands of the angry crowd, notwithstanding that both premises
+were under police protection.</p>
+
+<p>All the German waiters employed at the Cecil, the
+Savoy, the Carlton, the Métropole, the Victoria, the
+Grand, and the other big London hotels, had already
+fled for their lives out into the country, anywhere from
+the vengeance of the London mob. Hundreds of them
+were trying to make their way within the German lines
+in Essex and Suffolk, and it was believed that many
+had succeeded&mdash;those, most probably, who had previously
+acted as spies. Others, it was reported, had been
+set upon by the excited populace, and more than one
+had lost his life.</p>
+
+<p>Pandemonium reigned in London. Every class and
+every person in every walk of life was affected. German
+interests were being looked after by the Russian Ambassador,
+and this very fact caused a serious demonstration
+before Chesham House, the big mansion where
+lives the representative of the Czar. Audacious spies
+had, in secret, in the night actually posted copies of
+Von Kronhelm's proclamation upon the Griffin at Temple
+Bar, upon the Marble Arch, and upon the Mansion
+House. But these had been quickly torn down, and if the
+hand that had placed them there had been known, it
+would certainly have meant death to the one who had
+thus insulted the citizens of London.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the truth was, alas! too plain. Spread out across
+Essex and Suffolk, making leisurely preparations and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+laughing at our futile defence, lay over one hundred
+thousand well-equipped, well-fed Germans, ready, when
+their plans were completed, to advance upon and crush
+the complex city which is the pride and home of every
+Englishman&mdash;London.</p>
+
+<p>On Friday night an official communication from the
+War Office was issued to the Press, showing the exact
+position of the invaders. It was roughly this:</p>
+
+<p>"The IXth German Corps, which had effected a landing
+at Lowestoft, had, after moving along the most
+easterly route, including the road through Saxmundham
+and Ipswich, at length arrived at a position where their
+infantry outposts had occupied the higher slopes of the
+rising ground overlooking the river Stour, near Manningtree,
+which town, as well as Ipswich, was held by
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"The left flank of this corps rested on the river Stour
+itself, so that it was secure from any turning movement.
+Its front was opposed to and directly threatened Colchester,
+while its outposts, to say nothing of its independent
+cavalry, reached out in a northerly direction
+towards Stowmarket, where they joined hands with the
+left flank of the Xth Corps&mdash;those under Von Wilburg,
+who had landed at Yarmouth&mdash;whose headquarters were
+now at Bury St. Edmunds, their outposts being disposed
+south, overlooking the valley of the upper reaches of the
+Stour."</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this all. From Newmarket there came information
+that the enemy who had landed at Weybourne
+and Cromer&mdash;viz., the IVth Corps under Von
+Kleppen&mdash;were now encamping on the racecourse and
+being billeted in the town and villages about, including
+Exning, Ashley, Moulton, and Kentford. Frölich's
+cavalry brigade had penetrated south, covering the advance,
+and had now scoured the country, sweeping away
+the futile resistance of the British Yeomanry, and scattering
+cavalry squadrons which they found opposed to
+them, all the time maintaining communication with the
+Xth Corps on their left, and the flower of the German
+Army, the Guards Corps, from King's Lynn, on their right.
+Throughout the advance from Holt, Von Dorndorf's
+motorists had been of the greatest utility. They had
+taken constantly companies of infantry hither and
+thither. At any threatened point, so soon as the sound
+of firing was heard in any cavalry skirmish or little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+engagement of outposts, the smart motor infantry were
+on the spot with the promptness of a fire brigade proceeding
+to a call. For this reason the field artillery,
+who were largely armed with quick-firing guns, capable
+of pouring in a hail of shrapnel on any exposed point,
+were enabled to push on much further than would have
+been otherwise possible. They were always adequately
+supported by a sufficient escort of these up-to-date troops,
+who, although infantry, moved with greater rapidity than
+cavalry itself, and who, moreover, brought with them
+their Maxims, which dealt havoc far and near.</p>
+
+<p>The magnificent troops of the Duke of Mannheim,
+in their service uniforms, who had landed at King's
+Lynn, had come across the wide, level roads, some by
+way of Downham Market, Littleport, and Ely, and
+arrived at Cambridge. The 2nd Division, under
+Lieutenant-General von Kasten, protecting the exposed
+flanks, had marched <i>viâ</i> Wisbech, March, Chatteris, and
+St. Ives, while the masses of the cavalry of the Guard,
+including the famous White Cuirassiers, had been acting
+independently around the flat fen country, Spalding and
+Peterborough, and away to quaint old Huntingdon,
+striking terror into the inhabitants, and effectively checking
+any possible offensive movement of the British that
+might have been directed upon the great German Army
+during its ruthless advance.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond this, worse remained. It was known that the
+VIIth Corps, under Von Bristram, had landed at Goole,
+and that General Graf Haeseler had landed at Hull, New
+Holland, and Grimsby. This revealed what the real
+strategy of the Generalissimo had been. Their function
+seemed twofold. First and foremost their presence, as
+a glance at the map will show, effectually prevented
+any attack from the British troops gathered from the
+north and elsewhere, and who were, as shown, concentrated
+near Sheffield and Birmingham, until these
+two corps had themselves been attacked and repulsed,
+which we were, alas! utterly unable to accomplish.</p>
+
+<p>These were two fine German army corps, complete to
+the proverbial last button, splendidly equipped, well fed,
+and led by officers who had had life-long training and were
+perfectly well acquainted with every mile of the country
+they occupied, by reason of years of careful study given
+to maps of England. It was now entirely plain that the
+function of these two corps was to paralyse our trade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+in Yorkshire and Lancashire, to commit havoc in the
+big cities, to terrify the people, and to strike a crushing
+blow at our industrial centres, leaving the siege of
+London to the four other corps now so rapidly advancing
+upon the metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>Events meanwhile were marching quickly in the North.</p>
+
+<p>The town of Sheffield throughout Tuesday and Wednesday
+was the scene of the greatest activity. Day and
+night the streets were filled with an excited populace,
+and hour by hour the terror increased.</p>
+
+<p>Every train arriving from the North was crowded with
+Volunteers and troops of the line from all stations in
+the Northern Command. The 1st Battalion West Riding
+Regiment had joined the Yorkshire Light Infantry, who
+were already stationed in Sheffield, as had also the
+19th Hussars, and from every regimental district and
+depôt came battalions of Militia and Volunteers. From
+Carlisle came the Reservists of the Border Regiment,
+from Richmond those of the Yorkshire Regiment, from
+Newcastle came what was left of the Reservists of the
+Durham Light Infantry, and the Northumberland Fusiliers,
+from Lancaster the Royal Lancashires, while field
+artillery came from Seaforth and Preston, and small
+bodies of Reservists of the Liverpool and the South
+Lancashire Regiments came from Warrington. Contingents
+of the East and North Lancashire Regiments
+arrived from Preston. The Militia, including battalions
+of the Liverpool Regiment, the South Lancashire Regiment,
+the Lancashire Fusiliers, and other regiments in
+the command, were hurried to the scene of action outside
+Sheffield. From every big town in the whole of
+the North of England and South of Scotland came
+straggling units of Volunteers. The mounted troops were
+almost entirely Yeomanry, and included the Duke of
+Lancaster's Own Imperial Yeomanry, the East Riding
+of Yorks, the Lancashire Hussars, Northumberland
+Yeomanry, Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry,
+the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, and the York
+Hussars.</p>
+
+<p>These troops, with their ambulances, their baggage,
+and all their impedimenta, created the utmost confusion
+at both railway stations. The great concourse
+of idlers cheered and cheered again, the utmost enthusiasm
+being displayed when each battalion forming
+up was marched away out of the town to the position<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+chosen for the defence, which now reached from Woodhouse
+on the south, overlooking and commanding the
+whole valley of the river Rother, through Catcliffe,
+Brinsworth, and Tinsley, previously alluded to, skirting
+Greasborough to the high ground north of Wentworth,
+also commanding the river Don and all approaches to it
+through Mexborough, and over the various bridges
+which spanned this stream&mdash;a total of about eight miles.</p>
+
+<p>The south flank was thrown back another four miles
+to Norton, in an endeavour to prevent the whole position
+being turned, should the Germans elect to deliver
+their threatened blow from a more southerly point than
+was anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>The total line, then, to be occupied by the defenders
+was about twelve miles, and into this front was crowded
+the heterogeneous mass of troops of all arms. The post
+of honour was at Catcliffe, the dominating key to the
+whole position, which was occupied by the sturdy soldiers
+of the 1st Battalion West Riding Regiment and the 2nd
+Battalion Yorkshire Light Infantry, while commanding
+every bridge crossing the rivers which lay between
+Sheffield and the invaders were concentrated the guns
+of the 7th Brigade Royal Horse Artillery, and of the
+Field Artillery, the 2nd, the 30th, the 37th, and 38th
+Brigades, the latter having hurriedly arrived from
+Bradford.</p>
+
+<p>All along the crests of these slopes which formed the
+defence of Sheffield, rising steeply from the river at
+times up to five hundred feet, were assembled the Volunteers,
+all now by daybreak on Thursday morning busily
+engaged in throwing up shelter-trenches and making
+hasty earthwork defences for the guns. The superintendence
+of this force had merged itself into that of
+the Northern Command, which nominally had its headquarters
+in York, but which had now been transferred
+to Sheffield itself, for the best of reasons&mdash;that it was
+of no value at York, and was badly wanted farther
+south. General Sir George Woolmer, who so distinguished
+himself in South Africa, had therefore shifted
+his headquarters to the Town Hall in Sheffield, but as
+soon as he had begun to get the line of defence completed,
+he, with his staff, moved on to Handsworth,
+which was centrally situated.</p>
+
+<p>In the command were to be found roughly twenty-three
+battalions of Militia and forty-eight of Volunteers;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+but, owing to the supineness and neglect of the Government,
+the former regiments now found themselves, at
+the moment when wanted, greatly denuded of officers,
+and, owing to any lack of encouragement to enlist, largely
+depleted in men. As regards the Volunteers, matters
+were even worse, only about fifteen thousand having
+responded to the call to arms. And upon these heroic
+men, utterly insufficient in point of numbers, Sheffield
+had to rely for its defence.</p>
+
+<p>Away to the eastward of Sheffield&mdash;exactly where was
+yet unknown&mdash;sixty thousand perfectly equipped and
+thoroughly trained German horse, foot, and artillery,
+were ready at any moment to advance westward into
+our manufacturing districts!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>BRITISH SUCCESS AT ROYSTON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Arrests of alleged spies were reported from Manchester
+and other large towns. Most of the prisoners were, however,
+able to prove themselves naturalised British subjects;
+but several were detained pending investigation
+and examination of correspondence found at their homes.
+In Manchester, where there are always a number of
+Germans, it is known that many slipped away on Sunday
+night after the publication of the news of the
+invasion.</p>
+
+<p>In most of the larger Midland towns notices had been
+issued by the mayors deprecating hostility towards residents
+of foreign origin, and stating that all suspicious
+cases were already receiving the attention of the police.</p>
+
+<p>In Stafford the boot factories were idle. In the Potteries
+all work was at a standstill. At Stoke-on-Trent,
+at Hanley, at Burslem, Tunstall, and Congleton all was
+chaos, and thousands upon thousands were already
+wanting bread. The silk-thread industry at Leek was
+ruined, so was the silk industry at Macclesfield; the
+great breweries at Burton were idle, while the hosiery
+factories of Leicester and the boot factories of Northampton
+were all shut.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>With the German troops threatening Sheffield, Nottingham
+was in a state of intense alarm. The lace and
+hosiery factories had with one accord closed on Tuesday,
+and the great Market Place was now filled day and
+night by thousands upon thousands of unemployed
+mill-hands of both sexes. On Friday, however, came
+the news of how Sheffield had built barricades against
+the enemy, and there ensued a frantic attempt at defence
+on the part of thousands of terrified and hungry men
+and women. In their frenzy they sacked houses in
+order to obtain material to construct the barricades,
+which were, however, built just where the fancy took
+the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>The white, interminable North Road, that runs so
+straight from London through York and Berwick to
+Edinburgh, was, with its by-roads in the Midlands, now
+being patrolled by British cavalry, and here and there
+telegraphists around a telegraph post showed that those
+many wires at the roadside were being used for military
+communication.</p>
+
+<p>At several points along the road between Wansford
+Bridge and Retford the wires had been cut and tangled
+by the enemy's agents, but by Friday all had been restored
+again. In one spot, between Weston and Sutton-on-Trent,
+eight miles south of Newark, a trench had
+actually been dug during the night, the tube containing
+the subterranean telegraph lines discovered, and the
+whole system to the North disorganised. Similar damage
+had been done by German spies to the line between
+London and Birmingham, two miles south of Shipston-on-Stour;
+and again the line between Loughborough
+and Nottingham had been similarly destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office linesmen had, however, quickly made
+good the damage everywhere in the country not already
+occupied by the enemy, and telegraph and telephone
+communication North and South was now practically
+again in its normal state.</p>
+
+<p>Through Lincolnshire the enemy's advance patrols had
+spread South over every road between the Humber and
+the Wash, and in the city of Lincoln itself a tremendous
+sensation was caused when on Wednesday, market-day,
+several bodies of German motor-cyclists swept into the
+Stonebow and dismounted at the Saracen's Head, amid
+the crowd of farmers and dealers who had assembled
+there, not, alas! to do business, but to discuss the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+situation. In a moment the city was panic-stricken.
+From mouth to mouth the dread truth spread, that the
+Germans were upon them, and people ran indoors
+and barricaded themselves within their houses.</p>
+
+<p>A body of Uhlans came galloping proudly through the
+Stonebow a quarter of an hour later, and halted in High
+Street as though awaiting orders. Then in rapid succession
+troops seemed to arrive from all quarters, many
+halting in the Cathedral Close and by Exchequer Gate,
+and others riding through the streets in order to terrify
+the inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted by
+German soldiers upon the police station, upon the
+Stonebow, and upon the door of the grand old Cathedral
+itself, and before noon a German officer accompanied by
+his staff called upon the Mayor, and warned him that
+Lincoln was occupied by the German troops, and that
+any armed resistance would be punished by death, as
+the Generalissimo's proclamation stated. An indemnity
+was demanded, and then the powerless people saw upon
+the Cathedral and upon several of the public buildings
+the German flag rise and float out upon the summer wind.</p>
+
+<p>Boston was full of German infantry, and officers had
+taken up temporary quarters in the Peacock and
+other hotels in the market-place, while upon the
+"Stump" the enemy's colours were flying.</p>
+
+<p>No news came from London. People in Norwich,
+Ipswich, Yarmouth, and other places heard vaguely of
+the invasion in the North, and of fighting in which the
+Germans were careful to report that they were always
+successful. They saw the magnificently equipped army
+of the Kaiser, and, comparing it with our mere apology
+for military force, regarded the issue as hopeless from
+the very first. In every town the German colours were
+displayed, and all kinds of placards in German and in
+English made their appearance.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The "Daily Chronicle," on September 10, published
+the following despatch from one of its war correspondents:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Royston</span>, <i>September</i> 9.
+</div>
+
+<p>"Victory at last. A victory due not only to the bravery
+and exertion of our troops, regular and auxiliary, but
+also to the genius of Field-Marshal Lord Byfield, our
+Commander-in-Chief, ably seconded by the energy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+resource with which Sir William Packington, in command
+of the IVth Army Corps at Baldock, carried out
+that part of the programme entrusted to him.</p>
+
+<p>"But though in this success we may hope that we are
+seeing the first glimmerings of dawn&mdash;of deliverance from
+the nightmare of German invasion that is now oppressing
+our dear old England&mdash;we must not be led into foolishly
+sanguine hopes. The snake has been scotched, and
+pretty badly into the bargain, but he is far from being
+killed. The German IVth Army Corps, under the famous
+General Von Kleppen, their magnificent Garde Corps
+commanded by the Duke of Mannheim, and Frölich's
+fine Cavalry Division, have been repulsed in their
+attack on our positions near Royston and Saffron Walden,
+and driven back with great loss and confusion. But we
+are too weak to follow up our victory as it should be
+followed up.</p>
+
+<p>"The menace of the IXth and Xth Corps on our right
+flank ties us to our selected position, and the bulk of
+our forces being composed of indifferently trained Volunteers
+and Militia, is much more formidable behind
+entrenchments than when attempting to man&oelig;uvre in
+a difficult and intricate country such as it is about
+here. But, on the other hand, we have given pause to
+the invaders, and have certainly gained a few days'
+time, which will be invaluable to us.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be able to get on with the line of fortifications
+that are being constructed to bar the approaches
+to London, and behind which it will be necessary for us
+to make our final stand. I do not conceive that it is
+possible for such an agglomeration of amateur troops
+as ours are in the main to defeat in the open field such
+formidable and well-trained forces as the Germans have
+succeeded in throwing into this country. But when our
+Navy has regained command of the sea, we hope that we
+may, before very long, place our unwelcome visitors
+'between the devil and the deep sea'&mdash;the part of the
+devil being played by our brave troops finally concentrated
+behind the strong defences of the metropolis.
+In short, that the Germans may run out of ammunition
+and provisions. For if communication with the Fatherland
+is effectively cut, they must starve, unless they have
+previously compelled our submission; for it is impossible
+for an army of the size that has invaded us to live
+on the country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No doubt hundreds, nay thousands, of our non-militant
+countrymen&mdash;and, alas! women and children&mdash;will
+starve before the German troops are conquered by
+famine, that most terrible of enemies; but this issue
+seems to be the only possible one that will save the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>"But enough of these considerations of the future.
+It is time that I should relate what I can of the glorious
+victory which our gallant defenders have torn from the
+enemy. I do not think that I am giving any information
+away if I state that the British position lay mainly between
+Saffron Walden and Royston, the headquarters
+respectively of the IInd and IIIrd Army Corps. The
+IVth Corps was at Baldock, thrown back to cover the
+left flank and protect our communications by the Great
+Northern Railway. A detached force, from what command
+supplied it is not necessary or advisable to say,
+was strongly entrenched on the high ground north-west
+of Helions Bumpstead, serving to strengthen our right.
+Our main line of defence&mdash;very thinly held in some
+parts&mdash;began a little to the south-east of Saffron Walden,
+and ran westwards along a range of high ground through
+Elmdon and Chrishall to Heydon. Here it turned south
+through Great Chrishall to Little Chrishall, where it
+again turned west, and occupied the high range south
+of Royston on which stands the village of Therfield.</p>
+
+<p>"The night before the battle we knew that the greater
+portion of the German IVth and Garde Corps were concentrated,
+the former at Newmarket, the 1st Division of
+the latter at Cambridge, the 2nd on this side of St.
+Ives, while Frölich's Cavalry Division had been in constant
+contact with our outposts the greater part of the
+day previous. The Garde Cavalry Brigade was reported
+to be well away to the westward towards Kettering, as
+we suppose, on account of the reports which have been
+going about of a concentration of Yeomanry and Militia
+in the hilly country near Northampton. Our Intelligence
+Department, which appears to have been very well
+served by its spies, obtained early knowledge of the intention
+of the Germans to make an attack on our position.
+In fact, they talked openly of it, and stated at
+Cambridge and Newmarket that they would not
+man&oelig;uvre at all, and only hoped that we should hold
+on long enough to our position to enable them to smash
+up our IInd and IIIrd Corps by a frontal attack, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+so clear the road to London. The main roads lent themselves
+admirably to such strategy, which rendered the
+reports of their intentions the more probable, for they
+all converged on our position from their main points of
+concentration.</p>
+
+<p>"The letter 'W' will exactly serve to show the positions
+of the contending forces. St. Ives is at the top of
+the first stroke, Cambridge at the junction of the two
+shorter centre ones, Newmarket at the top of the last
+stroke, while the British positions at Royston and Saffron
+Walden are at the junctions of all four strokes at
+the bottom of the letter. The strokes also represent the
+roads, except that from Cambridge three good roads
+lead towards each of the British positions. The prisoners
+taken from the Germans in the various preliminary
+skirmishes also made no bones of boasting that a direct
+attack was imminent, and our Commander-in-Chief eventually,
+and rightly as it proved, determined to take the
+risk of all this information having been specially promulgated
+by the German Staff to cover totally different
+intentions, as was indeed quite probable, and to accept
+it as true. Having made up his mind, he lost no time
+in taking action. He ordered the IVth Corps under Sir
+William Packington to move on Potton, twelve miles to
+the north-west, as soon as it was dark. As many cavalry
+and mounted infantry as could possibly be spared from
+Royston were placed at his disposal.</p>
+
+<p>"It ought to be stated that while the auxiliary troops
+had been busily employed ever since their arrival in entrenching
+the British position, the greater part of the
+regular troops had been occupying an advanced line
+two or three miles to the northward on the lower spurs
+of the hills, and every possible indication of a determination
+to hold this as long as possible was afforded to
+the German reconnoitrers. During the night these troops
+fell back to the position which had been prepared, the
+outposts following just before daylight. About 6 a.m.
+the enemy were reported to be advancing in force along
+the Icknield Way from Newmarket, and also by the
+roads running on either bank of the river Cam. Twenty
+minutes later considerable bodies of German troops were
+reported at Fowlmere and Melbourn on the two parallel
+Royston-Cambridge roads. They must have followed very
+close on the heels of our retiring outposts. It was a
+very misty morning&mdash;down in the low ground over which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+the enemy were advancing especially so&mdash;but about
+seven a gust of wind from the westward dispelled the
+white fog-wreaths that hung about our left front, and
+enabled our lookouts to get a glimpse along the famous
+Ermine Street, which runs straight as an arrow from
+Royston for twenty or thirty miles to the N.N.W.</p>
+
+<p>"Along this ancient Roman way, far as the eye could
+reach, poured a steady stream of marching men, horse,
+foot, and artillery. The wind dropped, the mists
+gathered again, and once more enveloped the invaders
+in an impenetrable screen. But by this time the whole
+British line was on the <i>qui vive</i>. Regulars, Militia, and
+Volunteers were marching down to their chin-deep
+trenches, while those who were already there busied
+themselves in improving their loopholes and strengthening
+their head cover. Behind the ridges of the hills the
+gunners stood grouped about their 'Long Toms' and
+heavy howitzers, while the field batteries waited, ready
+horsed, for orders to gallop under cover of the ridge
+to whichever set of emplacements should first require
+to be manned and armed. We had not enough to distribute
+before the movements of the enemy should, to
+a certain extent, show his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"About seven o'clock a series of crackling reports from
+the outskirts of Royston announced that the detachment
+of Mounted Infantry, who now alone held it,
+was exchanging shots with the advancing enemy, and
+in a few minutes, as the morning mistiness cleared off,
+the General and his staff, who were established at the
+northern edge of the village of Therfield, three or four
+hundred feet higher up than the German skirmishers,
+were able to see the opening of the battle spread like a
+panorama before them. A thick firing line of drab-costumed
+Germans extended right across from Holland
+Hall to the Coach and Horses on the Fowlmere Road.
+On their left moved two or three compact masses of
+cavalry, while the infantry reserves were easily apparent
+in front of the village of Melbourn. Our Mounted Infantry
+in the village were indistinguishable, but away
+on the spur to the north-east of Royston a couple of
+batteries of Horse Artillery were unlimbered and were
+pushing their guns up to the brow of the hill by hand.
+In two minutes they were in action, and hard at work.</p>
+
+<p>"Through the glasses the shrapnel could be seen bursting,
+half a dozen together, in front of the advancing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+Germans, who began to fall fast. But almost at once
+came an overwhelming reply from somewhere out of
+sight behind Melbourn. The whole hilltop around our
+guns was like a spouting volcano. Evidently big high-explosive
+shells were being fired from the German field-howitzers.
+In accordance with previous orders, our
+horse-gunners at once ran down their guns, limbered up,
+and started to gallop back towards our main position.
+Simultaneously a mass of German cavalry deployed into
+attack formation near the Coach and Horses, and swept
+down in their direction with the evident intention of
+cutting off and capturing them. But they reckoned without
+their escort of Mounted Infantry, who had been
+lying low behind the long, narrow line of copse north of
+Lowerfield Farm. Safely ensconced behind this&mdash;to
+cavalry&mdash;impassable barrier, the company, all good shots,
+opened a terrible magazine fire on the charging squadrons
+as they passed at close range. A Maxim they had
+with them also swept horses and men away in swathes.
+The charge was checked, and the guns saved, but we
+had not finished with the German reiters. Away to the
+north-east a battery of our 4ˇ7 guns opened on the disorganised
+cavalry, firing at a range of four thousand
+yards. Their big shells turned the momentary check
+into a rout, both the attacking cavalry and their supports
+galloping towards Fowlmere to get out of range.
+We had scored the first trick!</p>
+
+<p>"The attacking lines of German Infantry still pressed
+on, however, and after a final discharge the Mounted
+Infantry in Royston sprang on their horses and galloped
+back over Whitely Hill, leaving the town to be occupied
+by the enemy. To the eastward the thunder of heavy
+cannon, gradually growing in intensity, proclaimed that
+the IInd Corps was heavily attacked. Covered by a
+long strip of plantation, the German IVth Corps contrived
+to mass an enormous number of guns on a hill
+about two miles north of the village of Elmdon, and a
+terrific artillery duel began between them and our artillery
+entrenched along the Elmdon-Heydon ridge. Under
+cover of this the enemy began to work his infantry up
+towards Elmdon, obtaining a certain amount of shelter
+from the spurs which ran out towards the north-east
+of our line. Other German troops with guns put in an
+appearance on the high ground to the north-east of
+Saffron Walden, near Chesterton Park.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To describe the fortunes of this fiercely contested
+battle, which spread along a front of nearly twenty miles,
+counting from the detached garrison of the hill at
+Helions Bumpstead&mdash;which, by the way, succeeded in
+holding its ground all day, despite two or three most
+determined assaults by the enemy&mdash;to Kelshall on the
+left of the British position, would be an impossibility in
+the space at my disposal. The whole morning it raged
+all along the northern slopes of the upland held by our
+gallant troops. The fiercest fighting was, perhaps, in
+the neighbourhood of Elmdon, where our trenches were
+more than once captured by the Magdeburg battalions,
+only to be themselves hurled out again by the rush of
+the 1st Coldstream Guards, who had been held in reserve
+near the threatened point. By noon the magnificent
+old palace at Audley End was in flames. Art treasures
+which were of inestimable value and absolutely
+unreplaceable perished in this shocking conflagration.
+Desperate fighting was going on in the streets of the
+little town of Saffron Walden, where a mingled mass of
+Volunteers and Militia strove hard to arrest the advance
+of a portion of the German Army which was endeavouring
+to work round the right of our position.</p>
+
+<p>"On our left the Foot Guards and Fusiliers of the 1st
+German Guard Division, after receiving a terrible pounding
+from our guns when they poured into Royston at the
+heels of our Mounted Infantry, had fought their way up
+the heights to within fifteen hundred yards of our
+trenches on the upper slopes of the ridge. Farther than
+that they had been unable to advance. Their close formations
+offered an excellent target to the rifles of the
+Volunteers and Militia lining our entrenchments. The
+attackers had lost men in thousands, and were now
+endeavouring to dig themselves in as best they could
+under the hail of projectiles that continually swept the
+hillside. About noon, too, the 2nd Division of the Garde
+Corps, after some skirmishing with the Mounted Infantry
+away on our left front, got into attack formation
+along the line of the Hitchin and Cambridge Railway,
+and after pouring a deluge of projectiles from field
+guns and howitzers upon our position, advanced upon
+Therfield with the greatest bravery and determination.
+They had succeeded by 2 p.m. in driving our men from
+the end of the spur running northward near Therfield
+Heath, and managed to get a number of their howitzers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+up there, and at once opened fire from the cover afforded
+by several copses out of which our men had been
+driven.</p>
+
+<p>"In short, things were beginning to look very bad
+for Old England, and the watchers on the Therfield
+heights turned their glasses anxiously northward in
+search of General Sir William Packington's force from
+Potton. They had not long to wait. At 2.15 the winking
+flash of a heliograph away near Wendy Place, about
+eight miles up Ermine Street, announced that the
+advance guard, consisting of the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers,
+was already at Bassingbourn, and that the main
+body was close behind, having escaped detection by all
+the enemy's patrols and flank guards. They were now
+directly in the rear of the right of the German reserves,
+who had been pushed forward into the neighbourhood of
+Royston to support the attack of their main body on
+the British position. A few minutes later it was evident
+that the enemy had also become aware of their advent.
+Two or three regiments hurriedly issued from Royston
+and deployed to the north-west. But the guns of the
+Baldock Corps turned such a 'rafale' fire upon them
+that they hesitated and were lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Every long-range gun in the British entrenchments
+that would bear was also turned upon them, leaving the
+infantry and field guns to deal with the troops assaulting
+their position. The three battalions, as well as a fourth
+that was sent to their assistance, were simply swept out
+of existence by this terrible cross-fire. Their remnants
+streamed away, a disorganised crowd of scattered
+stragglers, towards Melbourn; while, still holding on to
+Bassingbourn, the Baldock force moved down on Royston,
+driving everything before it.</p>
+
+<p>"The most advanced German troops made a final effort
+to capture our position when they saw what was going on
+behind them, but it was half-hearted; they were brought
+to a standstill, and our men, fixing bayonets, sprang from
+their trenches and charged down upon them with cheers,
+which were taken up all along the line for miles. The
+Germans here and there made a partial stand, but in half
+an hour they were down on the low ground, falling back
+towards the north-east in the greatest confusion, losing
+men in thousands from the converging fire of our guns.
+Their cavalry made a gallant attempt to save the day
+by charging our troops to the north of Royston. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+a magnificent sight to see their enormous masses sweeping
+over the ground with an impetus which looked capable
+of carrying everything before it, but our men, clustering
+behind the hedges of Ermine Street, mowed them
+down squadrons at a time. Not one of them reached the
+roadway. The magnificent Garde Corps was routed.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 536px;">
+<a href="images/i112-hi.png"><img src="images/i112.png" width="536" height="500" alt="BATTLE OF ROYSTON
+SUNDAY SEPT. 9TH." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">BATTLE OF ROYSTON<br />
+SUNDAY SEPT. 9TH.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The combined IIIrd and IVth Corps now advanced
+on the exposed right flank of the German IVth Corps,
+which, fighting gallantly, fell back, doing its best to cover
+the retreat of its comrades, who, on their part, very much
+hampered its movements. By nightfall there was no unwounded
+German south of Whittlesford, except as a prisoner.
+By this time, too, we were falling back on our
+original position."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>BRITISH ABANDON COLCHESTER.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On Tuesday, 10th September, the "Daily News" published
+the following telegram from its war correspondent,
+Mr. Edgar Hamilton:</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Chelmsford</span>, <i>Monday, Sept.</i> 9.
+</div>
+
+<p>"I sit down, after a sleepless night, to indite the account
+of our latest move. We hear that Sheffield has fallen, and
+our troops are in flight. As, by the time this appears
+in print, the enemy will of necessity be aware of our
+abandonment of Colchester, the censor will not, I imagine,
+prevent the despatch of my letter.</p>
+
+<p>"For our move has been made one of a retrograde
+nature, and I do not doubt that the cavalry of the German
+IXth Corps are close behind us and in touch with
+our own. But I must not, in using the word 'retrograde,'
+be supposed to criticise in any way the strategy of our
+generals. For every one here is, I am sure, fully persuaded
+of the wisdom of the step. Colchester, with its
+plucky little garrison, was altogether too much 'in the
+air,' and stood a great risk of being isolated by a converging
+advance of the IXth and Xth Corps of the German
+invaders, to say nothing of the XIIth (Saxon) Corps
+at Maldon, which since the unfortunate battle of Purleigh
+has shown itself very active to the north and east.</p>
+
+<p>"The Saxons have refrained from attacking our Vth
+Corps since its repulse, and it has been left almost in
+peace to entrench its position from Danbury to the southward;
+but, on the other hand, while not neglecting to
+further strengthen their already formidable defences
+between the Blackwater and the Crouch, their cavalry
+have scoured the country up to the very gates of Colchester.
+Yesterday morning the 16th Lancers and the 17th
+Hussars&mdash;who had fallen back from Norwich&mdash;together
+with some of the local Yeomanry, moved out by the
+Tolleshunt d'Arcy and Great Totham roads, and drove
+in their patrols with some loss. At Tiptree Heath there
+was a sharp cavalry engagement between our red
+Lancers and several squadrons of a sky-blue hussar regiment.
+Our people routed them, but in the pursuit that
+followed would have fared badly, as they fell in with
+the four remaining squadrons supported by another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+complete regiment, had it not been for the opportune arrival
+of the Household Cavalry Brigade, which had moved
+north-east from Danbury to co-operate. This completely
+changed the aspect of affairs. The Germans were
+soundly beaten, with the loss of a large number of prisoners,
+and galloped back to Maldon in confusion. In the
+meantime, the 2nd King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
+and the 5th Battery R.F. Artillery had been sent
+down to Witham by train, whence they marched up to
+the high ground near Wickham Bishops. They and
+the Yeomanry were left there in a position to cover the
+main London Road and the Great Eastern Railway, and
+at the same time threaten any movement of the enemy
+by the Great Totham Road. When the news of our
+success reached Colchester, soon after midday, we were
+all very jubilant. In fact, I fear that a great many
+people spent the afternoon in a species of fool's paradise.
+And when towards the evening the announcement of our
+splendid victory at Royston was posted up on the red
+walls of the fine town hall, and outside the Cups, there
+was an incipient outbreak of that un-English excitement
+known as 'Mafficking.'</p>
+
+<p>"But this exultation was fated to be but short-lived,
+even though the Mayor appeared on the balcony of the
+Town Hall and addressed the crowd, while the latest
+news was posted outside the offices of the 'Essex Telegraph,'
+opposite the post office. The wind was in the
+north, and about 5.45 in the afternoon the sound of a
+heavy explosion was heard from the direction of Manningtree.
+I was in the Cups Hotel at the time arranging
+for an early dinner, and ran out into the street. As I
+emerged from the archway of the hotel I distinctly heard
+a second detonation from the same direction. A sudden
+silence, ominous and unnatural, seemed to fall on the
+yelping jingoes in the street, in the midst of which the
+rumble of yet another explosion rolled down on the
+wind, this time from a more westerly direction. Men
+asked their neighbours breathlessly as to what all this
+portended. I myself knew no more than the most
+ignorant of the crowd, till in an officer who rushed hastily
+by me in Head Street, on his way into the hotel, I recognised
+my friend Captain Burton, of the Artillery.</p>
+
+<p>"I buttonholed him at once.</p>
+
+<p>"'Do I know what those explosions were?' repeated
+he in answer to my inquiry. 'Well, I don't know, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+I'm open to bet you five to one that it's the sappers
+blowing up the bridges over the Stour at Manningtree
+and Stratford St. Mary.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Then the Germans will have arrived there?' I
+queried.</p>
+
+<p>"'Most probably. And look here,' he continued, taking
+me aside by the arm, and lowering his voice, 'you take
+my tip. We shall be out of this to-night. So you'd best
+pack up your traps and get into marching order.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Do you know this?' said I.</p>
+
+<p>"'Not officially, or I shouldn't tell you anything about
+it. But I can put two and two together. We all knew
+that the General wouldn't be fool enough to try and defend
+an open town of this size with such a small garrison
+against a whole army corps, or perhaps more. It would
+serve no good purpose, and expose the place to destruction
+and bring all sorts of disaster on the civil population.
+You could have seen that for yourself, for no attempt
+whatever has been made to erect defences of any kind,
+neither have we received any reinforcements at all. If
+they had meant to defend it they could certainly have
+contrived to send us some Volunteers and guns at any
+rate. No, the few troops we have here have done their
+best in assisting the Danbury Force against the Saxons,
+and are much too valuable to be left here to be cut off
+without being able to do much to check the advance of the
+enemy. If we had been going to try anything of that
+kind, we should have now been holding the line of the
+river Stour; but I know we have only small detachments
+at the various bridges, sufficient only to drive off
+the enemy's cavalry patrols. By now, having blown up
+the bridges, I expect they are falling back as fast as they
+can get. Besides, look here,' he added, 'what do you
+think that battalion was sent to Wickham Bishops for
+this morning?'</p>
+
+<p>"I told him my theories as set forth above.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, yes, that's all right,' he answered. 'But you
+may bet your boots that there's more in it than that. In
+my opinion, the General has had orders to clear out as soon
+as the enemy are preparing to cross the Stour, and the
+Lancasters are planted there to protect our left flank
+from an attack from Maldon while we are retreating on
+Chelmsford.'</p>
+
+<p>"'But we might fall back on Braintree?' I hazarded.</p>
+
+<p>"'Don't you believe it. We're not wanted there&mdash;at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+least, I mean, not so much as elsewhere. Where we shall
+come in is to help to fill the gap between Braintree and
+Danbury. I think, myself, we might just as well have
+done it before. We have been sending back stores by
+rail for the last two days. Well, good-bye,' he said, holding
+out his hand. 'Keep all this to yourself, and mark
+my words, we'll be off at dusk.'</p>
+
+<p>"Away he went, and convinced that his prognostications
+were correct&mdash;as, indeed, in the main they proved&mdash;I
+hastened to eat my dinner, pay my bill, and get my
+portmanteau packed and stowed away in my motor. As
+soon as the evening began to close in I started and made
+for the barracks, going easy. The streets were still full
+of people, but they were very quiet, and mostly talking
+together in scattered groups. A shadow seemed to have
+fallen on the jubilant crowd of the afternoon, though,
+as far as I could ascertain, there were no definite rumours
+of the departure of the troops and the close advent of
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"When I arrived at the barracks, I saw at once that
+there was something in the wind, and pulled up alongside
+the barrack railings, determined to watch the progress
+of events. I had not long to wait. In about ten
+minutes a bugle sounded, and the scattered assemblage
+of men on the barrack-square closed together and solidified
+into a series of quarter columns. At the same time
+the Volunteer battalion moved across from the other
+side of the road and joined the Regular troops. I heard
+a sharp clatter and jingling behind me, and, looking
+round, saw the General and his staff with a squad of
+cavalry canter up the road. They turned into the barrack
+gate, greeted by a sharp word of command and the
+rattle of arms from the assembled battalions. As far
+as I could make out, the General made them some kind
+of address, after which I heard another word of command,
+upon which the regiment nearest to the gate formed fours
+and marched out.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the 2nd Dorsetshire. I watched anxiously to
+see which way they turned. As I more than expected,
+they turned in the direction of the London Road. My
+friend had been right so far, but till the troops arrived
+at Mark's Tey, where the road forked, I could not be
+certain whether they were going towards Braintree or
+Chelmsford. The Volunteers followed; then the Leicestershires,
+then a long train of artillery, field batteries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+big 4ˇ7 guns, and howitzers. The King's Own Scottish
+Borderers formed the rearguard. With them marched
+the General and his staff; I saw no cavalry. I discovered
+afterwards that the General, foreseeing that a
+retirement was imminent, had ordered the 16th Lancers
+and the 7th Hussars, after their successful morning performance,
+to remain till further orders at Kelvedon and
+Tiptree respectively, so that their horses were resting
+during the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"During the night march the former came back and
+formed a screen behind the retiring column, while the
+latter were in a position to observe and check any movement
+northwards that might be made by the Saxons, at
+the same time protecting its flank and rear from a possible
+advance by the cavalry of Von Kronhelm's Army,
+should they succeed in crossing the river Stour soon
+enough to be able to press after us in pursuit by either
+of the two eastern roads leading from Colchester to
+Maldon. After the last of the departing soldiers had
+tramped away into the gathering darkness through the
+mud, which after yesterday's downpour still lay thick
+upon the roads, I bethought me that I might as well
+run down to the railway station to see if anything was
+going on there. I was just in time.</p>
+
+<p>"The electric light disclosed a bustling scene as the
+last of the ammunition and a certain proportion of stores
+were being hurried into a long train that stood with
+steam up ready to be off. The police allowed none of
+the general public to enter the station, but my correspondent's
+pass obtained me admission to the departure
+platform. There I saw several detachments of the Royal
+Engineers, the Mounted Infantry&mdash;minus their horses,
+which had been already sent on&mdash;and some of the
+Leicestershire Regiment. Many of the men had their
+arms, legs, or heads bandaged, and bore evident traces of
+having been in action. I got into conversation with a
+colour-sergeant of the Engineers, and learned these were
+the detachments who had been stationed at the bridges
+over the Stour. It appears there was some sharp skirmishing
+with the German advance troops before the officers
+in command had decided that they were in sufficient
+force to justify them in blowing up the bridges. In fact,
+at the one at which my informant was stationed, and
+that the most important one of all, over which the main
+road from Ipswich passed at Stratford St. Mary, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+officer in charge delayed just too long, so that a party of
+the enemy's cavalry actually secured the bridge, and succeeded
+in cutting the wires leading to the charges which
+had been placed in readiness to blow it up. Luckily, the
+various detachments present rose like one man to the
+occasion, and, despite a heavy fire, hurled themselves
+upon the intruders with the bayonet with such determination
+and impetus, that the bridge was swept clear in
+a moment. The wires were reconnected, and the bridge
+cleared of our men just as the Germans, reinforced by
+several of their supporting squadrons, who had come
+up at a gallop, dashed upon it in pursuit. The firing
+key was pressed at this critical moment, and, with a
+stunning report, a whole troop was blown into the air,
+the remaining horses, mad with fright, stampeding despite
+all that their riders could do. The road was cut,
+and the German advance temporarily checked, while the
+British detachment made off as fast as it could for
+Colchester.</p>
+
+<p>"I asked the sergeant how long he thought it would
+be before the Germans succeeded in crossing it. 'Bless
+you, sir, I expect they're over by now,' he answered.
+'They would be sure to have their bridging companies
+somewhere close up, and it would not take them more
+than an hour or two to throw a bridge over that place.'
+The bridges at Boxted Mill and Nayland had been destroyed
+previously.</p>
+
+<p>"The railway bridge and the other one at Manningtree
+were blown up before the Germans could get a
+footing, and their defenders had come in by rail. But
+my conversation was cut short, the whistle sounded,
+the men were hustled on board the train, and it moved
+slowly out of the station. As for me, I hurried out to
+my car, and, putting on speed, was soon clear of the
+town, and spinning along for Mark's Tey. It is about
+five miles, and shortly before I got there I overtook the
+marching column. The men were halted, and in the
+act of putting on their greatcoats. I was stopped here
+by the rearguard, who took charge of me, and would
+not let me proceed until permission was obtained from
+the General.</p>
+
+<p>"Eventually this officer ordered me to be brought to
+him, I presented my pass; but he said, 'I am afraid
+that I shall have to ask you either to turn back or to
+slow down and keep pace with us. In fact, you had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+better do the latter. I might, indeed, have to exercise
+my powers and impress your motor, should the exigencies
+of the Service require it.' I saw that it was best
+to make virtue of necessity, and replied that it was
+very much at his service, and that I was very well content
+to accompany the column. In point of fact, the
+latter was strictly true, for I wanted to see what was
+to be seen, and there were no points about going along
+with no definite idea of where I wanted to get to, with a
+possible chance of falling into the hands of the Saxons
+into the bargain. So a Staff officer, who was suffering
+from a slight wound, was placed alongside me, and the
+column, having muffled itself in its greatcoats, once
+more began to plug along through the thickening mire.
+My position was just in front of the guns, which kept
+up a monotonous rumble behind me. My companion
+was talkative, and afforded me a good deal of incidental
+and welcome information. Thus, just after we started,
+and were turning to the left at Mark's Tey, a bright
+glare followed by a loudish report came from the right
+of the road. 'What's that?' I naturally ejaculated.
+'Oh, that will be the sappers destroying the junction
+with the Sudbury line,' he replied. 'There's the train
+waiting for them just beyond.'</p>
+
+<p>"So it was. The train that I had seen leaving had
+evidently stopped after passing the junction, while the
+line was broken behind it. 'They will do the same after
+passing the cross line at Witham,' volunteered he.</p>
+
+<p>"A mile or two further on we passed between two lines
+of horsemen, their faces set northwards and muffled to
+the eyes in their long cloaks. 'That's some of the 16th,'
+he said, 'going to cover our rear.'</p>
+
+<p>"So we moved on all night through the darkness and
+rain, and with the first glimmer of dawn halted at Witham.
+We had about nine miles still to go to reach Chelmsford,
+which I learned was our immediate destination, and
+it was decided to rest here for an hour, while the men
+made the best breakfast they could from the contents
+of their haversacks. But the villagers brought out
+hot tea and coffee, and did the best they could for us,
+so we did not fare so badly after all. As for me, I got
+permission to go on, taking with me my friend the Staff
+officer, who had despatches to forward from Chelmsford.
+I pushed on at full speed. We were there in a very
+short space of time, and during the morning I learned
+that the Braintree Army was falling back on Dunmow,
+and that the Colchester garrison was to assist in holding
+the line of the river Chelmer."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+<h2>NOTICE.</h2>
+<h3>CONCERNING WOUNDED BRITISH SOLDIERS.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>
+In compliance with an order of the Commander-in-Chief
+of the German Imperial Army, the Governor-General
+of East Anglia decrees as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+(1) Every inhabitant of the counties of Norfolk,
+Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire,
+Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, Rutland,
+Huntingdon, and Hertford, who gives asylum to or
+lodges one or more ill or wounded British soldier, is
+obliged to make a declaration to the mayor of the town
+or to the local police within 24 hours, stating name,
+grade, place of birth, and nature of illness or injury.
+</p>
+<p>
+Every change of domicile of the wounded is also to
+be notified within 24 hours.
+</p>
+<p>
+In absence of masters, servants are ordered to make
+the necessary declarations.
+</p>
+<p>
+The same order applies to the directors of hospitals,
+surgeries, or ambulance stations, who receive the
+British wounded within our jurisdiction.
+</p>
+<p>
+(2) All mayors are ordered to prepare lists of the
+British wounded, showing the number, with their
+names, grade, and place of birth in each district.
+</p>
+<p>
+(3) The mayor, or the superintendent of police, must
+send on the 1st and 15th of each month a copy of
+his lists to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief.
+The first list must be sent on the 15th September.
+</p>
+<p>
+(4) Any person failing to comply with this order
+will, in addition to being placed under arrest for
+harbouring British troops, be fined a sum not exceeding
+Ł20.
+</p>
+<p>
+(5) This decree is to be published in all towns and
+villages in the Province of East Anglia.
+</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>Count VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,<br />
+Lieutenant-General,<br />
+Governor of German East Anglia.</b>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Ipswich</span>, <i>September</i> 6, 1910.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 377px;">
+<a href="images/i120-hi.png"><img src="images/i120.png" width="377" height="600" alt="COPY OF ONE OF THE ENEMY&#39;S PROCLAMATIONS." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">COPY OF ONE OF THE ENEMY&#39;S PROCLAMATIONS.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD.</h3>
+
+
+<p>A despatch from Mr. Edgar Hamilton to the "Daily
+News," as follows, was published on Saturday, 15th
+September:</p>
+
+<p>"At Little Waltham I found myself close to the scene
+of action. About a mile ahead of me the hamlet of
+Howe Street was in flames and burning furiously. I
+could see the shells bursting in and all over it in perfect
+coveys. I could not make out where they were
+coming from, but an officer I met said he thought the
+enemy must have several batteries in action on the high
+ground about Littley Green, a mile and a half to the
+north on the opposite side of the river. I crossed over
+myself, and got up on the knoll where the Leicestershires
+and Dorsets had been stationed, together with a number
+of the 4ˇ7-inch guns brought from Colchester.</p>
+
+<p>"This piece of elevated ground is about two miles
+long, running almost north and south, and at the top
+of it I got an extensive view to the eastward right away
+to beyond Witham, as the ground fell all the way. The
+country was well wooded, and a perfect maze of trees
+and hedgerows. If there were any Germans down there
+in this plain they were lying very low indeed, for my
+glasses did not discover the least indication of their presence.
+Due east my view was bounded by the high
+wooded ground about Wickham Bishops and Tiptree
+Heath, which lay a long blue hummock on the horizon,
+while to the south-east Danbury Hill, with our big war-balloon
+floating overhead, was plainly discernible.</p>
+
+<p>"While I gazed on the apparently peaceful landscape
+I was startled by a nasty, sharp hissing sound, which
+came momentarily nearer. It seemed to pass over my
+head, and was followed by a loud bang in the air,
+where now hung a ring of white smoke. It was a shell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+from the enemy. Just ahead of me was a somewhat
+extensive wood; and, urged by some insane impulse of
+seeking shelter, I left the car, which I ordered my chauffeur
+to take back for a mile and wait, and made for
+the close-standing trees. If I had stopped to think I
+should have realised that the wood gave me actually
+no protection whatever, and I had not gone far when
+the crashing of timber and noise of the bursting projectiles
+overhead and in the undergrowth around made
+me understand clearly that the Germans were making
+a special target of the wood, which, I imagine, they
+thought might conceal some of our troops. I wished
+heartily that I was seated beside my chauffeur in his
+fast-receding car.</p>
+
+<p>"However, my first object was to get clear of the wood
+again, and after some little time I emerged on the west
+side, right in the middle of a dressing station for the
+wounded, which had been established in a little hollow.
+Two surgeons, with their assistants, were already busily
+engaged with a number of wounded men, most of whom
+were badly hit by shrapnel bullets about the upper part
+of the body. I gathered from one or two of the few most
+slightly wounded men that our people had been, and
+were, very hardly put to it to hold their own. 'I reckon,'
+said one of them, a bombardier of artillery, 'that the
+enemy must have got more than a hundred guns firing
+at us, and at Howe Street village. If we could only make
+out where the foreign devils were,' continued my informant,
+'our chaps could have knocked a good many of
+them out with our four-point-sevens, especially if we
+could have got a go at them before they got within
+range themselves. But they must have somehow contrived
+to get them into position during the night, for
+we saw nothing of them coming up. They are somewhere
+about Chatley, Fairstead Lodge, and Little Leighs,
+but as we can't locate them exactly, and only have ten
+guns up here, it don't give us much chance, does it?'
+Later I saw an officer of the Dorsets, who confirmed the
+gunner's story, but added that our people were well entrenched
+and the guns well concealed, so that none of
+the latter had been put out of action, and he thought we
+should be able to hold on to the hill all right. I regained
+my car without further adventure, bar several narrow
+escapes from stray shell, and made my way back as
+quickly as possible to Chelmsford.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The firing went on all day, not only to the northward,
+but also away to the southward, where the Saxons,
+while not making any determined attack, kept the Vth
+Corps continually on the alert, and there was an almost
+continuous duel between the heavy pieces. As it appeared
+certain that the knoll I had visited in the forenoon
+was the main objective of the enemy's attack,
+reinforcements had been more than once sent up there,
+but the German shell fire was so heavy that they found
+it almost impossible to construct the additional cover
+required. Several batteries of artillery were despatched
+to Pleshy and Rolphy Green to keep down, if possible,
+the fire of the Germans, but it seemed to increase rather
+than diminish. They must have had more guns in action
+than they had at first. Just at dusk their infantry had
+made the first openly offensive movement.</p>
+
+<p>"Several lines of skirmishers suddenly appeared in the
+valley between Little Leighs and Chatley, and advanced
+towards Lyonshall Wood, at the north end of the knoll
+east of Little Waltham. They were at first invisible
+from the British gun positions on the other side of the
+Chelmer, and when they cleared the spur on which
+Hyde Hall stands they were hardly discernible in the
+gathering darkness. The Dorsetshire and the other
+battalions garrisoning the knoll manned their breastworks
+as they got within rifle range, and opened fire,
+but they were still subjected to the infernal rafale from
+the Hanoverian guns on the hills to the northward, and
+to make matters worse at this critical moment the Xth
+Corps brought a long line of guns into action between
+Flacks Green and Great Leighs Wood, in which position
+none of the British guns except a few on the knoll itself
+could reach them. Under this cross hurricane of projectiles
+the British fire was quite beaten down, and the
+Germans followed up their skirmishers by almost solid
+masses, which advanced with all but impunity save for
+the fire of the few British long-range guns at Pleshy
+Mount. There they were firing almost at random, as the
+gunners could not be certain of the exact whereabouts
+of their objectives. There was a searchlight on the knoll,
+but at the first sweep of its ray it was absolutely demolished
+by a blizzard of shrapnel. Every German gun
+was turned upon it. The Hanoverian battalions now
+swarmed to the assault, disregarding the gaps made in
+their ranks by the magazine fire of the defenders as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+soon as their close advance masked the fire of their own
+cannon.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<a href="images/i124-hi.png"><img src="images/i124.png" width="480" height="500" alt="BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.
+Position on the Evening of September 11." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.<br />
+Position on the Evening of September 11.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The British fought desperately. Three several times
+they hurled back at the attackers, but, alas! we were
+overborne by sheer weight of numbers. Reinforcements
+summoned by telephone, as soon as the determined
+nature of the attack was apparent, were hurried up from
+every available source, but they only arrived in time to
+be carried down the hill again in the rush of its defeated
+defenders, and to share with them the storm of
+projectiles from the quick-firers of General von Kronhelm's
+artillery, which had been pushed forward during
+the assault. It was with the greatest difficulty that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+shattered and disorganised troops were got over the
+river at Little Waltham. As it was, hundreds were
+drowned in the little stream, and hundreds of others killed
+and wounded by the fire of the Germans. They had won
+the first trick. This was indisputable, and as ill news
+travels apace, a feeling of gloom fell upon our whole force,
+for it was realised that the possession of the captured
+knoll would enable the enemy to mass troops almost
+within effective rifle range of our river line of defence. I
+believe that it was proposed by some officers on the staff
+that we should wheel back our left and take up a fresh
+position during the night. This was overruled, as it was
+recognised that to do so would enable the enemy to push
+in between the Dunmow force and our own, and so cut our
+general line in half. All that could be done was to get
+up every available gun and bombard the hill during the
+night in order to hamper the enemy in his preparations for
+further forward movement and in his entrenching operations.</p>
+
+<p>"Had we more men at our disposal I suppose there
+is little doubt that a strong counter-attack would have
+been made on the knoll almost immediately; but in the
+face of the enormous numbers opposed to us, I imagine
+that General Blennerhasset did not feel justified in denuding
+any portion of our position of its defenders. So
+all through the dark hours the thunder of the great
+guns went on. In spite of the cannonade the Germans
+turned on no less than three searchlights from the southern
+end of the knoll about midnight. Two were at once
+put out by our fire, but the third managed to exist for
+over half an hour, and enabled the Germans to see how
+hard we were working to improve our defences along
+the river bank. I am afraid that they were by this
+means able to make themselves acquainted with the
+positions of a great number of our trenches. During
+the night our patrols reported being unable to penetrate
+beyond Pratt's Farm, Mount Maskell, and Porter's Farm
+on the Colchester Road. Everywhere they were forced
+back by superior numbers. The enemy were fast closing
+in upon us. It was a terrible night in Chelmsford.</p>
+
+<p>"There was panic on every hand. A man mounted the
+Tindal statue and harangued the crowd, urging the people
+to rise and compel the Government to stop the war.
+A few young men endeavoured to load the old Crimean
+cannon in front of the Shire Hall, but found it clogged
+with rust and useless. People fled from the villa residences
+in Brentwood Road into the town for safety,
+now that the enemy were upon them. The banks in
+High Street were being barricaded, and the stores still
+remaining in the various grocers' shops, Luckin Smith's,
+Martin's, Cramphorn's, and Pearke's, were rapidly being
+concealed from the invaders. All the ambulance waggons
+entering the town were filled with wounded, although
+as many as possible were sent south by train. By
+one o'clock in the morning, however, most of the civilian
+inhabitants had fled. The streets were empty, but
+for the bivouacking troops and the never-ending procession
+of wounded men. The General and his staff
+were deliberating to a late hour in the Shire Hall, at
+which he had established his headquarters. The booming
+of the guns waxed and waned till dawn, when a furious
+outburst announced that the second act of the tragedy
+was about to open.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
+<h2>DECREE</h2>
+
+<h3>CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA, in virtue of the powers conferred
+upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor, Commander-in-Chief of
+the German Armies, order, for the maintenance of the internal and external security of
+the counties of the Government-General:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE I.&mdash;Any individual guilty of incendiarism or of wilful inundation, of attack,
+or of resistance with violence against the Government-General or the agents of the civil
+or military authorities, of sedition, of pillage, of theft with violence, of assisting prisoners
+to escape, or of exciting soldiers to treasonable acts, shall be PUNISHED BY DEATH.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be sent to penal servitude
+with hard labour for twenty years.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE II.&mdash;Any person provoking or inciting an individual to commit the crimes
+mentioned in Article I. will be sent to penal servitude with hard labour for ten years.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE III.&mdash;Any person propagating false reports relative to the operations of war
+or political events will be imprisoned for one year, and fined up to Ł100.</p>
+
+<p>In any case where the affirmation or propagation may cause prejudice against the
+German Army, or against any authorities or functionaries established by it, the culprit
+will be sent to hard labour for ten years.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE IV.&mdash;Any person usurping a public office, or who commits any act or issues
+any order in the name of a public functionary, will be imprisoned for five years, and
+fined Ł150.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE V.&mdash;Any person who voluntarily destroys or abstracts any documents,
+registers, archives, or public documents deposited in public offices, or passing through
+their hands in virtue of their functions as government or civic officials, will be imprisoned
+for two years, and fined Ł150.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE VI.&mdash;Any person obliterating, damaging, or tearing down official notices,
+orders, or proclamations of any sort issued by the German authorities will be imprisoned
+for six months, and fined Ł80.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE VII.&mdash;Any resistance or disobedience of any order given in the interests of
+public security by military commanders and other authorities, or any provocation or
+incitement to commit such disobedience, will be punished by one year's imprisonment, or
+a fine of not less than Ł150.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE VIII.&mdash;All offences enumerated in Articles I.&mdash;VII. are within the jurisdiction
+of the Councils of War.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE IX.&mdash;It is within the competence of Councils of War to adjudicate upon all
+other crimes and offences against the internal and external security of the English provinces
+occupied by the German Army, and also upon all crimes against the military or civil
+authorities, or their agents, as well as murder, the fabrication of false money, of blackmail,
+and all other serious offences.</p>
+
+<p>Article X.&mdash;Independent of the above, the military jurisdiction already proclaimed
+will remain in force regarding all actions tending to imperil the security of the German
+troops, to damage their interests, or to render assistance to the Army of the British
+Government.</p>
+
+<p>Consequently, there will be PUNISHED BY DEATH, and we expressly repeat this,
+all persons who are not British soldiers and&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>(a) Who serve the British Army or the Government as spies, or receive British spies,
+or give them assistance or asylum.</p>
+
+<p>(b) Who serve as guides to British troops, or mislead the German troops when charged
+to act as guides.</p>
+
+<p>(c) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German soldier or officer.</p>
+
+<p>(d) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt railways or telegraph lines, render roads
+impassable, burn munitions of war, provisions, or quarters of the troops.</p>
+
+<p>(e) Who take arms against the German troops.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE XI.&mdash;The organisation of Councils of War mentioned in Articles VIII. and
+IX. of the Law of May 2, 1870, and their procedure are regulated by special laws which
+are the same as the summary jurisdiction of military tribunals. In the case of Article X.
+there remains in force the Law of July 21, 1867, concerning the military jurisdiction
+applicable to foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>ARTICLE XII.&mdash;The present order is proclaimed and put into execution on the
+morrow of the day upon which it is affixed in the public places of each town and village,
+The Governor-General of East Anglia,</p>
+
+<div class="right"><b>COUNT VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBERG,<br />
+Lieutenant-General.</b>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Norwich</span>, <i>September 7th</i>, 1910.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 452px;">
+<a href="images/i126-hi.png"><img src="images/i126.png" width="452" height="800" alt="DECREE
+CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR." title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> had betaken myself at once to the round tower
+of the church, next the Stone Bridge, from which I had
+an excellent view both east and north. The first thing
+that attracted my eye was the myriad flashings of rifle
+fire in the dimness of the breaking day. They reached
+in a continuous line of coruscations from Boreham Hall,
+opposite my right hand, to the knoll by Little Waltham,
+a distance of three or four miles, I should say. The enemy
+were driving in all our outlying and advanced troops by
+sheer weight of numbers. Presently the heavy batteries
+at Danbury began pitching shell over in the direction
+of the firing, but as the German line still advanced,
+it had not apparently any very great effect. The next
+thing that happened was a determined attack on the
+village of Howe Street made from the direction of Hyde
+Hall. This is about two miles north of Little Waltham.
+In spite of our incessant fire, the Germans had contrived
+to mass a tremendous number of guns and howitzers on
+and behind the knoll they captured last night, and
+there was any quantity more on the ridge above Hyde
+Hall. All these terrible weapons concentrated their
+fire for a few moments on the blackened ruins of Howe
+Street. Not a mouse could have lived there. The little
+place was simply pulverised.</p>
+
+<p>"Our guns at Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, aided
+by a number of field batteries, in vain endeavoured to
+make head against them. They were outnumbered by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+six to one. Under cover of this tornado of iron and
+fire, the enemy pushed several battalions over the river,
+making use of the ruins of the many bridges about
+there which had been hastily destroyed, and which they
+repaired with planks and other materials they brought
+along with them. They lost a large number of men in
+the process, but they persevered, and by ten o'clock
+were in complete possession of Howe Street, Langley's
+Park, and Great Waltham, and moving in fighting formation
+against Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, their guns
+covering their advance with a perfectly awful discharge
+of shrapnel. Our cannon on the ridge at Partridge
+Green took the attackers in flank, and for a time checked
+their advance, but, drawing upon themselves the attention
+of the German artillery, on the south end of the
+knoll, were all but silenced.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as this was effected another strong column
+of Germans followed in the footsteps of the first, and
+deploying to the left, secured the bridge at Little
+Waltham, and advanced against the gun positions on
+Partridge Green. This move turned all our river bank
+entrenchments right down to Chelmsford. Their defenders
+were now treated to the enfilade fire of a number
+of Hanoverian batteries that galloped down to Little
+Waltham. They stuck to their trenches gallantly, but
+presently when the enemy obtained a footing on Partridge
+Green they were taken in reverse, and compelled
+to fall back, suffering terrible losses as they did so. The
+whole of the infantry of the Xth Corps, supported&mdash;as
+we understand&mdash;by a division which had joined them
+from Maldon, now moved down on Chelmsford. In
+fact, there was a general advance of the three combined
+armies stretching from Partridge Green on the
+west to the railway line on the east. The defenders of
+the trenches facing east were hastily withdrawn, and
+thrown back on Writtle. The Germans followed closely
+with both infantry and guns, though they were for a
+time checked near Scot's Green by a dashing charge
+of our cavalry brigade, consisting of the 16th Lancers
+and the 7th, 14th, and 20th Hussars, and the Essex
+and Middlesex Yeomanry. We saw nothing of their
+cavalry, for a reason that will be apparent later. By
+one o'clock fierce fighting was going on all round the
+town, the German hordes enveloping it on all sides but
+one. We had lost a great number of our guns, or at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+any rate had been cut off from them by the German
+successes around Pleshy Mount, and in all their assaults
+on the town they had been careful to keep out of effective
+range of the heavy batteries on Danbury Hill. These,
+by the way, had their own work cut out for them, as
+the Saxon artillery were heavily bombarding the hill
+with their howitzers. The British forces were in a critical
+situation. Reinforcements&mdash;such as could be spared&mdash;were
+hurried up from the Vth Army Corps, but they were
+not very many in numbers, as it was necessary to provide
+against an attack by the Saxon Corps. By three o'clock
+the greater part of the town was in the hands of the
+Germans, despite the gallant way in which our men fought
+them from street to street, and house to house. A dozen
+fires were spreading in every direction, and fierce fighting
+was going on at Writtle. The overpowering numbers
+of the Germans, combined with their better organisation,
+and the number of properly trained officers at their disposal,
+bore the British mixed Regular and Irregular
+forces back, and back again.</p>
+
+<p>"Fearful of being cut off from his line of retreat,
+General Blennerhasset, on hearing from Writtle soon
+after three that the Hanoverians were pressing his left
+very hard, and endeavouring to work round it, reluctantly
+gave orders for the troops in Chelmsford to
+fall back on Widford and Moulsham. There was a lull
+in the fighting for about half an hour, though firing
+was going on both at Writtle and Danbury. Soon after
+four a terrible rumour spread consternation on every
+side. According to this, an enormous force of cavalry
+and motor infantry was about to attack us in the rear.
+What had actually happened was not quite so bad as
+this, but quite bad enough. It seems, according to our
+latest information, that almost the whole of the cavalry
+belonging to the three German Army Corps with whom
+we were engaged&mdash;something like a dozen regiments,
+with a proportion of horse artillery and all available
+motorists, having with them several of the new armoured
+motors carrying light, quick-firing and machine guns&mdash;had
+been massed during the last thirty-six hours behind
+the Saxon lines extending from Maldon to the River
+Crouch. During the day they had worked round to
+the southward, and at the time the rumour reached us
+were actually attacking Billericay, which was held by a
+portion of the reserves of our Vth Corps. By the time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+this news was confirmed the Germans were assaulting
+Great Baddow, and moving on Danbury from east,
+north, and west, at the same time resuming the offensive
+all along the line. The troops at Danbury must
+be withdrawn or they would be isolated. This difficult
+man&oelig;uvre was executed by way of West Hanningfield.
+The rest of the Vth Corps conformed
+to the movement, the Guards Brigade at East
+Hanningfield forming the rearguard, and fighting
+fiercely all night through with the Saxon troops, who
+moved out on the left flank of our retreat. The wreck
+of the first Corps and the Colchester garrison was now
+also in full retirement. Ten miles lay between it and
+the lines at Brentwood, and had the Germans been
+able to employ cavalry in pursuit, this retreat would
+have been even more like a rout than it was. Luckily
+for us the Billericay troops mauled the German cavalry
+pretty severely, and they were beset in the close country
+in that neighbourhood by Volunteers, motorists, and
+every one that the officer commanding at Brentwood
+could get together in this emergency.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat,
+but were driven off by our advance guard; others came
+across the head of the retiring Vth Corps, but the terrain
+was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most of them
+had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows
+that covered the countryside. Had it not been for this
+we should probably have been absolutely smashed. As
+it was, rather more than half our original numbers of
+men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early
+morning, worn out and dead-beat."</p>
+
+<p>Reports from Sheffield also showed the position to be
+critical.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_II" id="BOOK_II"></a>BOOK II.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SIEGE OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I_II" id="CHAPTER_I_II"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LINES OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The German successes were continued in the North and
+Midlands, and notwithstanding the gallant defence of
+Sir George Woolmer before Manchester and Sir Henry
+Hibbard before Birmingham, both cities were captured
+and occupied by the enemy after terrible losses. London,
+however, was the chief objective of Von Kronhelm, and
+towards the Metropolis he now turned his attention.</p>
+
+<p>After the defeat of the British at Chelmsford on that
+fateful Wednesday, Lord Byfield decided to evacuate
+his position at Royston and fall back on the northern
+section of the London defence line, which had been
+under construction for the last ten days. These hasty
+entrenchments, which would have been impossible to
+construct but for the ready assistance of thousands of
+all classes of the citizens of London and the suburbs,
+extended from Tilbury on the east to Bushey on the west,
+passing by the Laindon Hills, Brentwood, Kelvedon,
+North Weald, Epping, Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt,
+Enfield Chase, Chipping Barnet, and Elstree. They were
+more or less continuous, consisting for the most part of
+trenches for infantry, generally following the lines of
+existing hedgerows or banks, which often required but
+little improvement to transform them into well-protected
+and formidable cover for the defending troops.
+Where it was necessary to cross open ground they were
+dug deep and winding, after the fashion adopted by
+the Boers in the South African War, so that it would
+be difficult, if not impossible, to enfilade them.</p>
+
+<p>Special bomb-proof covers for the local reserves were
+also constructed at various points, and the ground in
+front ruthlessly cleared of houses, barns, trees, hedges,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+and everything that might afford shelter to an advancing
+enemy. Every possible military obstacle was placed in
+front of the lines that time permitted, abattis, military
+pits, wire entanglements, and small ground mines. At
+the more important points along the fifty miles of entrenchments,
+field works and redoubts for infantry were
+built, most of them being armed with 4ˇ7 or even 6 and
+7ˇ5 in. guns, which had been brought from Woolwich,
+Chatham, Portsmouth, and Devonport, and mounted on
+whatever carriages could be adapted or improvised for
+the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The preparation of the London lines was a stupendous
+undertaking, but the growing scarceness and dearness
+of provisions assisted in a degree, as no free rations
+were issued to any able-bodied man unless he went out
+to work at the fortifications. All workers were placed
+under military law. There were any number of willing
+workers who proffered their services in this time of
+peril. Thousands of men came forward asking to be
+enlisted and armed. The difficulty was to find enough
+weapons and ammunition for them, to say nothing of
+the question of uniform and equipment, which loomed
+very large indeed. The attitude of the Germans, as set
+forth in Von Kronhelm's proclamations, precluded the
+employment of fighting men dressed in civilian garb,
+and their attitude was a perfectly natural and justifiable
+one by all the laws and customs of war.</p>
+
+<p>It became necessary, therefore, that all men sent to
+the front should be dressed as soldiers in some way
+or another. In addition to that splendid corps, the
+Legion of Frontiersmen, many new armed organisations
+had sprung into being, some bearing the most fantastic
+names, such as the "Whitechapel War-to-the-Knives,"
+the "Kensington Cowboys," the "Bayswater Braves,"
+and the "Southwark Scalphunters." All the available
+khaki and blue serge was used up in no time; even though
+those who were already in possession of ordinary lounge
+suits of the latter material were encouraged to have
+them altered into uniforms by the addition of stand-up
+collars and facings of various colours, according to their
+regiments and corps.</p>
+
+<p>Only the time during which these men were waiting
+for their uniforms was spent in drill in the open spaces
+of the Metropolis. As soon as they were clothed, they
+were despatched to that portion of the entrenchments to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+which their corps had been allocated, and there, in the
+intervals of their clearing and digging operations, they
+were hustled through a brief musketry course, which consisted
+for the most part in firing. The question of the
+provision of officers and N.C.O.'s was an almost insuperable
+one. Retired men came forward on every side,
+but the supply was by no means equal to the demand,
+and they themselves in many instances were absolutely
+out of date as far as knowledge of modern arms and
+conditions were concerned. However, every one, with
+but very few exceptions, did his utmost, and by the
+11th or 12th of the month the entrenchments were practically
+completed, and manned by upwards of 150,000
+"men with muskets" of stout heart and full of patriotism,
+but in reality nothing but an army <i>pour rire</i> so far as
+efficiency was concerned.</p>
+
+<p>The greater part of the guns were also placed in position,
+especially on the north and eastern portions of the lines,
+and the remainder were being mounted as fast as it
+was practicable. They were well manned by Volunteer
+and Militia Artillerymen, drawn from every district
+which the invaders had left accessible. By the 13th the
+eastern section of the fortifications was strengthened by
+the arrival of the remnants of the Ist and Vth Army
+Corps, which had been so badly defeated at Chelmsford,
+and no time was lost in reorganising them and distributing
+them along the lines, thereby, to a certain extent,
+leavening the unbaked mass of their improvised defenders.
+It was generally expected that the enemy
+would follow up the success by an immediate attack
+on Brentwood, the main barrier between Von Kronhelm
+and his objective&mdash;our great Metropolis. But, as it
+turned out, he had a totally different scheme in hand.
+The orders to Lord Byfield to evacuate the position he
+had maintained with such credit against the German
+Garde and IVth Corps have already been referred to.
+Their reason was obvious. Now that there was no
+organised resistance on his right, he stood in danger of
+being cut off from London, the defences of which were now
+in pressing need of his men. A large amount of rolling
+stock was at once despatched to Saffron Walden and
+Buntingford by the G.E.R. and to Baldock by the
+G.N.R., to facilitate the withdrawal of his troops and
+stores, and he was given an absolutely free hand as
+to how these were to be used, all lines being kept clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+and additional trains kept at his disposal at their London
+termini.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 521px;">
+<a href="images/i134-hi.png"><img src="images/i134.png" width="521" height="300" alt="THE LINES OF LONDON
+Rough sketch showing approximately
+the lines of entrenchments constructed
+for the defence of the Metropolis." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE LINES OF LONDON<br />
+Rough sketch showing approximately
+the lines of entrenchments constructed
+for the defence of the Metropolis.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>September 13 proved a memorable date in the history
+of England.</p>
+
+<p>The evacuation of the Baldock-Saffron Walden position
+could not possibly have been carried out in good order
+on such short notice, had not Lord Byfield previously
+worked the whole thing out in readiness. He could not
+help feeling that, despite his glorious victory on the
+ninth, a turn of Fortune's wheel might necessitate a
+retirement on London sooner or later, and, like the good
+General that he was, he made every preparation both
+for this, and other eventualities. Among other details,
+he had arranged that the mounted infantry should be
+provided with plenty of strong light wire. This was intended
+for the express benefit of Frölich's formidable
+cavalry brigade, which he foresaw would be most
+dangerous to his command in the event of a retreat. As
+soon, therefore, as the retrograde movement commenced,
+the mounted infantry began to stretch their wires across
+every road, lane and byway leading to the north and
+north-east. Some wires were laid low, within a foot of
+the ground, others high up, where they could catch a
+rider about the neck or breast. This operation they
+carried out again and again, after the troops had passed,
+at various points on the route of the retreat. Thanks to
+the darkness, this device well fulfilled its purpose.
+Frölich's brigade was on the heels of the retreating
+British soon after midnight, but as it was impossible for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+them to move over the enclosed country at night, his
+riders were confined to the roads, and the accidents and
+delays occasioned by the wires were so numerous and
+disconcerting that their advance had to be conducted
+with such caution that as a pursuit it was of no use at
+all. Even the infantry and heavy guns of the retiring
+British got over the ground nearly twice as fast. After
+two or three hours of this, only varied by occasional
+volleys from detachments of our mounted infantry, who
+sometimes waited in rear of their snares to let fly at the
+German cavalry before galloping back to lay others, the
+enemy recognised the fact, and, withdrawing their
+cavalry till daylight, replaced them by infantry, but so
+much time had been lost, that the British had got several
+miles' start.</p>
+
+<p>As has been elsewhere chronicled, the brigade of four
+regular battalions with their guns, and a company of
+Engineers which were to secure the passage of the Stort
+and protect the left flank of the retirement, left Saffron
+Walden somewhere about 10.30 p.m. The line was
+clear, and they arrived at Sawbridgeworth in four long
+trains in a little under an hour. Their advent did
+not arouse the sleeping village, as the station lies nearly
+three-quarters of a mile distant on the further side of the
+river. It may be noted in passing that while the Stort
+is but a small stream, easily fordable in most places,
+yet it was important, if possible, to secure the bridges
+to prevent delay in getting over the heavy guns and
+waggons of the retiring British. A delay and congestion
+at the points selected for passage might, with
+a close pursuit, easily lead to disaster. Moreover, the
+Great Eastern Railway crossed the river by a wooden
+bridge just north of the village of Sawbridgeworth, and
+it was necessary to ensure the safe passage of the last
+trains over it before destroying it to preclude the use
+of the railway by the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>There were two road bridges on the Great Eastern
+Railway near the village of Sawbridgeworth, which might
+be required by the Dunmow force, which was detailed
+to protect the same flank rather more to the northward.
+The most important bridge, that over which the main
+body of the Saffron Walden force was to retire, with
+all the impedimenta it had had time to bring away
+with it, was between Sawbridgeworth and Harlow, about
+a mile north of the latter village, but much nearer its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+station. Thither, then, proceeded the leading train with
+the Grenadiers, four 4ˇ7 guns, and half a company of
+Royal Engineers with bridging materials. Their task
+was to construct a second bridge to relieve the traffic
+over the permanent one. The Grenadiers left one company
+at the railway station, two in Harlow village,
+which they at once commenced to place in a state of
+defence, much to the consternation of the villagers, who
+had not realised how close to them were trending the
+red footsteps of war. The remaining five companies
+with the other four guns turned northward, and after
+marching another mile or so occupied the enclosures
+round Durrington House and the higher ground to its
+north. Here the guns were halted on the road. It
+was too dark to select the best position for them,
+for it was now only about half an hour after midnight.
+The three other regiments which detrained at Sawbridgeworth
+were disposed as follows, continuing the
+line of the Grenadiers to the northward. The Rifles
+occupied Hyde Hall, formerly the seat of the Earls of
+Roden, covering the operations of the Engineers, who
+were preparing the railway bridge for destruction, and
+the copses about Little Hyde Hall on the higher ground
+to the eastward.</p>
+
+<p>The Scots Guards with four guns were between them
+and the Grenadiers, and distributed between Sheering
+village and Gladwyns House, from the neighbourhood
+of which it was expected that the guns would be able to
+command the Chelmsford Road for a considerable distance.
+The Seaforth Highlanders for the time being
+were stationed on a road running parallel to the railway,
+from which branch roads led to both the right,
+left, and centre of the position. An advanced party of
+the Rifle Brigade was pushed forward to Hatfield Heath
+with instructions to patrol towards the front and flanks,
+and, if possible, establish communication with the troops
+expected from Dunmow. By the time all this was
+completed it was getting on for 3 a.m. on the 13th. At
+this hour the advanced guard of the Germans coming
+from Chelmsford was midway between Leaden Roding
+and White Roding, while the main body was crossing
+the small River Roding by the shallow ford near the
+latter village. Their few cavalry scouts were, however,
+exploring the roads and lanes some little way ahead.
+A collision was imminent. The Dunmow force had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+not been able to move before midnight, and, with the
+exception of one regular battalion, the 1st Leinsters,
+which was left behind to the last and crowded into the
+only train available, had only just arrived at the northern
+edge of Hatfield Forest, some four miles directly north
+of Hatfield Heath. The Leinsters, who left Dunmow
+by train half an hour later, had detrained at this
+point at one o'clock, and just about three had met
+the patrols of the Rifles. A Yeomanry corps from Dunmow
+was also not far off, as it turned to its left at the
+cross-roads east of Takely, and was by this time in the
+neighbourhood of Hatfield Broad Oak. In short, all
+three forces were converging, but the bulk of the
+Dunmow force was four miles away from the point of
+convergence.</p>
+
+<p>It was still profoundly dark when the Rifles at Hatfield
+Heath heard a dozen shots cracking through the
+darkness to their left front. Almost immediately other
+reports resounded from due east. Nothing could be seen
+beyond a very few yards, and the men of the advanced
+company drawn up at the cross-roads in front of the
+village inn fancied they now and again saw figures
+dodging about in obscurity, but were cautioned not to
+fire till their patrols had come in, for it was impossible
+to distinguish friend from foe. Shots still rattled out
+here and there to the front. About ten minutes later
+the captain in command, having got in his patrols, gave
+the order to fire at a black blur that seemed to be moving
+towards them on the Chelmsford Road. There was
+no mistake this time. The momentary glare of the discharge
+flashed on the shiny "pickel-haubes" of a detachment
+of German infantry, who charged forward
+with a loud "Hoch!" The Riflemen, who already had
+their bayonets fixed, rushed to meet them, and for a
+few moments there was a fierce stabbing affray in the
+blackness of the night. The Germans, who were but
+few in number, were overpowered, and beat a retreat,
+having lost several of their men. The Rifles, according
+to their orders, having made sure of the immediate
+proximity of the enemy, now fell back to the rest of
+their battalion at Little Hyde Hall, and all along the
+banks and hedges which covered the British front, our
+men, rifle in hand, peered eagerly into the darkness
+ahead of them.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing happened for quite half an hour, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+anxious watchers were losing some of their alertness,
+when a heavy outburst of firing re-echoed from Hatfield
+Heath. To explain this we must return to the Germans.
+Von der Rudesheim, on obtaining touch with the British,
+at once reinforced his advanced troops, and they, a
+whole battalion strong, advanced into the hamlet
+meeting with no resistance. Almost simultaneously
+two companies of the Leinsters entered it from the
+northward. There was a sudden and unexpected collision
+on the open green, and a terrible fire was exchanged
+at close quarters, both sides losing very
+heavily. The British, however, were borne back by
+sheer weight of numbers, and, through one of those unfortunate
+mistakes that insist on occurring in warfare,
+were charged as they fell back by the leading squadrons
+of the Yeomanry who were coming up from Hatfield
+Broad Oak. The officer commanding the Leinsters
+decided to wait till it was a little lighter before again
+attacking the village. He considered that, as he had
+no idea of the strength of the enemy, he had best wait
+till the arrival of the troops now marching through Hatfield
+Forest. Von der Rudesheim, on his part, mindful
+of his instructions, determined to try to hold the few
+scattered houses on the north side of the heath which
+constituted the village, with the battalion already in
+it, and push forward with the remainder of his force
+towards Harlow. His first essay along the direct road
+<i>viâ</i> Sheering was repulsed by the fire of the Scots Guards
+lining the copses about Gladwyns. He now began to
+have some idea of the British position, and made his
+preparations to assault it at daybreak.</p>
+
+<p>To this end he sent forward two of his batteries into
+Hatfield Heath, cautiously moved the rest of his force
+away to the left, arranged his battalions in the valley of
+the Pincey Brook ready for attacking Sheering and
+Gladwyns, placed one battalion in reserve at Down Hall,
+and stationed his remaining battery near Newman's
+End. By this time there was beginning to be a faint
+glimmer of daylight in the east, and, as the growing
+dawn began to render vague outlines of the nearer objects
+dimly discernible, hell broke loose along the peaceful
+countryside. A star shell fired from the battery at Newman's
+End burst and hung out a brilliant white blaze
+that fell slowly over Sheering village, lighting up its
+walls and roofs and the hedges along which lay its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+defenders, was the signal for the Devil's Dance to begin.
+Twelve guns opened with a crash from Hatfield Heath,
+raking the Gladwyns enclosures and the end of Sheering
+village with a deluge of shrapnel, whilst an almost solid
+firing line advanced rapidly against it, firing heavily.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 413px;">
+<a href="images/i139-hi.png"><img src="images/i139.png" width="413" height="600" alt="BATTLE OF HARLOW
+1ST PHASE about 5 a m Sept 13th" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">BATTLE OF HARLOW<br />
+1<sup>ST</sup> PHASE<br />
+about 5 a m Sept 13th</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> British replied lustily with gun, rifle, and maxim,
+the big high-explosive shells bursting amid the advancing
+Germans and among the houses of Hatfield Heath with
+telling effect. But the German assaulting lines had but
+six or seven hundred yards to go. They had been trained
+above all things to ignore losses and to push on at all
+hazards. The necessity for this had not been confused
+in their minds by maxims about the importance of
+cover, so the south side of the village street was taken
+at a rush. Von der Rudesheim continued to pile on his
+men, and, fighting desperately, the Guardsmen were
+driven from house to house and from fence to fence.
+All this time the German battery at Newman's End continued
+to fire star shells with rhythmical regularity,
+lighting up the inflamed countenances of the living
+combatants, and the pale up-turned faces of the dead
+turned to heaven as if calling for vengeance on their
+slayers. In the midst of this desperate fighting the
+Leinsters, supported by a Volunteer and a Militia regiment,
+which had just come up, assaulted Hatfield Heath.
+The Germans were driven out of it with the loss of a
+couple of their guns, but hung on to the little church,
+around which such a desperate conflict was waged that
+the dead above ground in that diminutive God's acre outnumbered
+the "rude forefathers of the hamlet" who
+slept below.</p>
+
+<p>It was now past five o'clock in the morning, and by
+this time strong reinforcements might have been expected
+from Dunmow, but, with the exception of the
+Militia and Volunteer battalions just referred to, who
+had pushed on at the sound of the firing, none were seen
+coming up. The fact was that they had been told off
+to certain positions in the line of defence they had been
+ordered to take up, and had been slowly and carefully
+installing themselves therein. Their commanding officer,
+Sir Jacob Stellenbosch, thought that he must carry out
+the exact letter of the orders he had received from Lord
+Byfield, and paid little attention to the firing except to
+hustle his battalion commanders, to try to get them into
+their places as soon as possible. He was a pig-headed
+man into the bargain, and would listen to no remonstrance.
+The two battalions which had arrived so opportunely
+had been at the head of the column, and had
+pushed forward "on their own" before he could prevent
+them. At this time the position was as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+One German battalion was hanging obstinately on to the
+outskirts of Hatfield Heath; two were in possession of
+the copses about Gladwyns; two were in Sheering village,
+or close up to it, and the sixth was still in reserve at
+Down Hall. On the British side the Rifles were in their
+original position at Little Hyde Hall where also were
+three guns, which had been got away from Gladwyns.
+The Seaforths had come up, and were now firing from
+about Quickbury, while the Scots Guards, after suffering
+fearful losses, were scattered, some with the Highlanders,
+others with the five companies of the Grenadiers, who
+with their four guns still fought gallantly on between
+Sheering and Durrington House.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_II" id="CHAPTER_II_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>REPULSE OF THE GERMANS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The terrible fire of the swarms of Germans who now
+lined the edges of Sheering village became too much for
+the four 4ˇ7 guns on the open ground to the south.</p>
+
+<p>Their gunners were shot down as fast as they touched
+their weapons, and when the German field battery at
+Newman's End, which had been advanced several hundred
+yards, suddenly opened a flanking fire of shrapnel
+upon them, it was found absolutely impossible to serve
+them. A gallant attempt was made to withdraw them by
+the Harlow Road, but their teams were shot down as soon
+as they appeared. This enfilade fire, too, decimated the
+Grenadiers and the remnant of the Scots, though they
+fought on to the death, and a converging attack of a
+battalion from Down Hall and another from Sheering
+drove them down into the grounds of Durrington House,
+where fighting still went on savagely for some time afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Von der Rudesheim had all but attained a portion of
+his object, which was to establish his guns in such a
+position that they could fire on the main body of the
+British troops when they entered Sawbridgeworth by the
+Cambridge Road. The place where the four guns with
+the Grenadiers had been stationed was within 3,000<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+yards of any part of that road between Harlow and Sawbridgeworth.
+But this spot was still exposed to the
+rifle fire of the Seaforths who held Quickbury. Von der
+Rudesheim therefore determined to swing forward his
+left, and either drive them back down the hill towards
+the river, or at least to so occupy them that he could
+bring up his field-guns to their chosen position without
+losing too many of his gunners.</p>
+
+<p>By six o'clock, thanks to his enormous local superiority
+in numbers, he had contrived to do this, and now the
+opposing forces with the exception of the British Grenadiers,
+who still fought with a German battalion between
+Durrington House and Harlow, faced each other north
+and south, instead of east and west, as they were at the
+beginning of the fight. Brigadier-General Lane-Edgeworth,
+who was in command of the British, had been
+sending urgent messages for reinforcements to the Dunmow
+Force, but when its commanding officer finally decided
+to turn his full strength in the direction of the
+firing, it took so long to assemble and form up the
+Volunteer regiments who composed the bulk of his
+command, that it was past seven before the leading
+battalion had deployed to assist in the attack which it
+was decided to make against the German right. Meantime,
+other important events had transpired.</p>
+
+<p>Von der Rudesheim had found that the battalion which
+was engaged with the Grenadiers could not get near
+Harlow village, or either the river or railway bridge at
+that place, both of which he wished to destroy. But his
+scouts had reported a lock and wooden footbridge immediately
+to the westward between Harlow and Sawbridgeworth,
+just abreast of the large wooded park surrounding
+Pishobury House on the farther side. He determined
+to send two companies over by this, their movements
+being hidden from the English by the trees. After crossing,
+they found themselves confronted by a backwater,
+but, trained in crossing rivers, they managed to ford and
+swim over, and advanced through the park towards
+Harlow Bridge. While this was in progress, a large
+force was reported marching south on the Cambridge
+Road.</p>
+
+<p>While Von der Rudesheim, who was at the western end
+of Sheering hamlet, was looking through his glasses at
+the new arrivals on the scene of action&mdash;who were without
+doubt the main body of the Royston command,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+which was retiring under the personal supervision of
+Lord Byfield&mdash;a puff of white smoke rose above the trees
+about Hyde Hall, and at top speed four heavily loaded
+trains shot into sight going south. These were the same
+ones that had brought down the Regular British troops,
+with whom he was now engaged. They had gone north
+again, and picked up a number of Volunteer battalions
+belonging to the retreating force just beyond Bishop's
+Stortford. But so long a time had been taken in entraining
+the troops in the darkness and confusion of the retreat,
+that their comrades who had kept to the road,
+arrived almost simultaneously. Von der Rudesheim
+signalled, and sent urgent orders for his guns to be
+brought up to open fire on them, but by the time the
+first team had reached him the last of the trains had
+disappeared from sight into the cutting at Harlow
+Station. But even now it was not too late to open fire
+on the troops entering Sawbridgeworth.</p>
+
+<p>Things were beginning to look somewhat bad for Von
+der Rudesheim's little force. The pressure from the
+north was increasing every moment, his attack on the
+retreating troops had failed, he had not so far been able to
+destroy the bridges at Harlow, and every minute the
+likelihood of his being able to do so grew more remote.
+To crown all, word was brought him that the trains
+which had just slipped by were disgorging men in
+hundreds along the railway west of Harlow Station, and
+that these troops were beginning to move forward as if
+to support the British Grenadiers, who had been driven
+back towards Harlow. In fact, he saw that there was
+even a possibility of his being surrounded. But he had
+no intention of discontinuing the fight. He knew he
+could rely on the discipline and mobility of his well-trained
+men under almost any conditions, and he trusted,
+moreover, that the promised reinforcements would not
+be very long in turning up. But he could not hold on
+just where he was. He accordingly, by various adroit
+man&oelig;uvres, threw back his right to Down Hall, whose
+copses and plantations afforded a good deal of cover,
+and, using this as a pivot, gradually wheeled back his
+left till he had taken up a position running north and
+south from Down Hall to Matching Tye. He had not
+effected this difficult man&oelig;uvre without considerable
+loss, but he experienced less difficulty in extricating his
+left than he had anticipated, since the newly arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+British troops at Harlow, instead of pressing forward
+against him, had been engaged in moving into a position
+between Harlow and the hamlet of Foster Street, on the
+somewhat elevated ground to the south of Matching,
+which would enable them to cover the further march
+of the main body of the retreating troops to Epping.</p>
+
+<p>But he had totally lost the two companies he had sent
+across the river to attack Harlow Bridge. Unfortunately
+for them, their arrival on the Harlow-Sawbridgeworth
+Road synchronised with that of the advanced guard of
+Lord Byfield's command. Some hot skirmishing took
+place in and out among the trees of Pishobury, and
+finally the Germans were driven to earth in the big square
+block of the red-brick mansion itself.</p>
+
+<p>Here they made a desperate stand, fighting hard as
+they were driven from one storey to another. The staircases
+ran with blood, the woodwork smouldered and
+threatened to burst into flame in a dozen places. At
+length the arrival of a battery of field guns, which unlimbered
+at close range, induced the survivors to surrender,
+and they were disarmed and carried off as
+prisoners with the retreating army.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>By the time Von der Rudesheim had succeeded in
+taking up his new position it was past ten o'clock, and
+he had been informed by despatches carried by motor-cyclists
+that he might expect assistance in another hour
+and a half.</p>
+
+<p>The right column, consisting of the 39th Infantry Brigade
+of five battalions, six batteries, and a squadron
+of Dragoons, came into collision with the left flank of
+the Dunmow force, which was engaged in attacking Von
+der Rudesheim's right at Down Hall, and endeavouring
+to surround it. Sir Jacob Stellenbosch, who was in
+command, in vain tried to change front to meet the
+advancing enemy. His troops were nearly all Volunteers,
+who were incapable of quickly man&oelig;uvring under
+difficult circumstances; they were crumpled up and
+driven back in confusion towards Hatfield Heath. Had
+Von Kronhelm been able to get in the bulk of his
+cavalry from their luckless pursuit of the Ist and Vth
+British Army Corps, who had been driven back on
+Brentwood the evening previous, and so send a proportion
+with the 20th Division, few would have escaped to
+tell the tale. As it was, the unfortunate volunteers were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+shot down in scores by the "feu d'enfer" with which the
+artillery followed them up, and lay in twos and threes
+and larger groups all over the fields, victims of a selfish
+nation that accepted these poor fellows' gratuitous services
+merely in order that its citizens should not be
+obliged to carry out what in every other European country
+was regarded as the first duty of citizenship&mdash;that of
+learning to bear arms in the defence of the Fatherland.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the greater portion of the retreating British
+Army, with all its baggage, guns and impedimenta,
+was crawling slowly along the road from Harlow to
+Epping. Unaccustomed as they were to marching, the
+poor Volunteers who had already covered eighteen or
+twenty miles of road, were now toiling slowly and painfully
+along the highway. The regular troops, who had
+been engaged since early morning, and who were now
+mostly in the neighbourhood of Moor Hall, east of Harlow,
+firing at long ranges on Von der Rudesheim's men
+to keep them in their places while Sir Jacob Stellenbosch
+attacked their right, were now hurriedly withdrawn and
+started to march south by a track running parallel to the
+main Epping Road, between it and that along which
+the covering force of Volunteers, who had come in by
+train, were now established in position. The 1st and
+2nd Coldstreamers, who had formed Lord Byfield's
+rearguard during the night, were halted in Harlow
+village.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately upon the success obtained by his right
+column, General Richel von Sieberg, who commanded
+the 20th Hanoverian Division, ordered his two centre
+and left columns, consisting respectively of the three
+battalions 77th Infantry and two batteries of Horse
+Artillery, then at Matching Green, and the three battalions
+92nd Infantry, 10th Pioneer Battalion, and five
+batteries Field Artillery, then between High Laver and
+Tilegate Green, to turn to their left and advance in fighting
+formation in a south-westerly direction, with the object
+of attacking the sorely-harassed troops of Lord Byfield
+on their way to Epping.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The final phase of this memorable retreat is best told
+in the words of the special war correspondent of the
+"Daily Telegraph," who arrived on the scene at about
+one o'clock in the afternoon:</p>
+
+<div class="right">"<span class="smcap">Epping, 5 p.m.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>, <i>September 9</i>.</div>
+
+<p>"Thanks to the secrecy preserved by the military
+authorities, it was not known that Lord Byfield was
+falling back from the Royston-Saffron Walden position
+till seven this morning. By eight, I was off in my car
+for the scene of action, for rumours of fighting near
+Harlow had already begun to come in. I started out by
+way of Tottenham and Edmonton, expecting to reach
+Harlow by 9.30 or 10. But I reckoned without the
+numerous military officials with whom I came in contact,
+who constantly stopped me and sent me out of my
+way on one pretext or another. I am sure I hope that
+the nation has benefited by their proceedings. In the
+end it was close on one before I pulled up at the Cock
+Inn, Epping, in search of additional information, because
+for some time I had been aware of the rumbling growl
+of heavy artillery from the eastward, and wondered what
+it might portend. I found that General Sir Stapleton
+Forsyth, who commanded the Northern section of the
+defences, had made the inn his headquarters, and there
+was a constant coming and going of orderlies and staff-officers
+at its portals. Opposite, the men of one of the
+new irregular corps, dressed in dark green corduroy,
+blue flannel cricketing caps, and red cummerbunds, sat
+or reclined in two long lines on either side of their piled
+arms on the left of the wide street. On inquiry I heard
+that the enemy were said to be bombarding Kelvedon
+Hatch, and also that the head of our retreating columns
+was only three or four miles distant.</p>
+
+<p>"I pushed on, and, after the usual interrogations from
+an officer in charge of a picket, where the road ran
+through the entrenchments about a mile farther on,
+found myself spinning along through the country in the
+direction of Harlow. As I began to ascend the rising
+ground towards Potter Street I could hear a continuous
+roll of artillery away to my right. I could not distinguish
+anything except the smoke of shells bursting here
+and there in the distance, on account of the scattered
+trees which lined the maze of hedgerows on every side.
+Close to Potter Street I met the head of the retreating
+army. Very tired, heated and footsore looked the hundreds
+of poor fellows as they dragged themselves along
+through the heat. It was a sultry afternoon, and the
+roads inches deep in dust.</p>
+
+<p>"Turning to the right of Harlow Common, I met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+another column of men. I noticed that these were all
+Regulars, Grenadiers, Scots Guards, a battalion of Highlanders,
+another of Riflemen, and, lastly, two battalions
+of the Coldstreamers. These troops stepped along with
+rather more life than the citizen soldiers I had met
+previously, but still showed traces of their hard marching
+and fighting. Many of them were wearing bandages,
+but all the more seriously wounded had been left behind
+to be looked after by the Germans. All this time
+the firing was still resounding heavy and constant from
+the north-east, and from one person and another whom
+I questioned I ascertained that the enemy were advancing
+upon us from that direction. Half a mile farther
+on I ran into the middle of the fighting. The road ran
+along the top of a kind of flat ridge or upland, whence I
+could see to a considerable distance on either hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Partially sheltered from the view by its hedges and
+the scattered cottages forming the hamlet of Foster Street
+was a long, irregular line of guns facing nearly east.
+Beyond them were yet others directed north. There were
+field batteries and big 4ˇ7's. All were hard at work,
+their gunners working like men possessed, and the crash
+of their constant discharge was ear-splitting. I had
+hardly taken this in when 'Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!'&mdash;four
+dazzling flashes opened in the air overhead, and
+shrapnel bullets rattled on earth, walls, and roofs with a
+sound as of handfuls of pebbles thrown on a marble
+pavement. But the hardness with which they struck
+was beyond anything in my experience.</p>
+
+<p>"It was not pleasant to be here, but I ran my car
+behind a little public-house that stood by the wayside,
+and, dismounting, unslung my glasses and determined
+to get what view of the proceedings I could from
+the corner of the house. All around khaki-clad
+Volunteers lined every hedge and sheltered behind
+every cottage, while farther off, in the lower ground,
+from a mile to a mile and a half away I could distinguish
+the closely-packed firing lines of the Germans
+advancing slowly but steadily, despite the gaps made
+in their ranks by the fire of our guns. Their own guns,
+I fancied, I could make out near Tilegate Green to the
+north-east. Neither side had as yet opened rifle fire.
+Getting into my car I motored back to the main road,
+but it was so blocked by the procession of waggons
+and troops of the retreating army that I could not turn
+into it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> Wheeling round I made my way back to a
+parallel lane I had noticed, and turning to the left again
+at a smithy, found myself in a road bordered by cottages
+and enclosures. Here I found the Regular troops I
+had lately met lining every hedgerow and fence, while
+I could see others on a knoll further to their left. There
+was a little church here, and, mounting to the roof, I
+got a comparatively extensive view. To my right the
+long dusty column of men and waggons still toiled along
+the Epping Road. In front, nearly three miles off, an
+apparently solid line of woods stretched along the horizon,
+surmounting a long, gradual and open slope. This was
+the position of our lines near Epping, and the haven for
+which Lord Byfield's tired soldiery were making. To the
+left the serried masses of drab-clad German infantry still
+pushed aggressively forward, their guns firing heavily
+over their heads.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 406px;">
+<a href="images/i148-hi.png"><img src="images/i148.png" width="406" height="600" alt="BATTLE of HARLOW FINAL PHASE" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">BATTLE of HARLOW<br />
+FINAL PHASE
+</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> I watched them three tremendous explosions took
+place in their midst, killing dozens of them. Fire,
+smoke, and dust rose up twenty feet in the air, while three
+ear-splitting reports rose even above the rolling thunder
+of the gunfire. More followed. I looked again towards
+the woodland. Here I saw blaze after blaze of fire among
+the dark masses of trees. Our big guns in the fortifications
+had got to work, and were punishing the Germans
+most severely, taking their attack in flank with the
+big 6-inch and 7ˇ5-inch projectiles. Cheers arose all
+along our lines, as shell after shell, fired by gunners
+who knew to an inch the distances to every house and
+conspicuous tree, burst among the German ranks, killing
+and maiming the invaders by hundreds. The advance
+paused, faltered and, being hurriedly reinforced from the
+rear, once more went forward.</p>
+
+<p>"But the big high explosive projectiles continued to
+fall with such accuracy and persistence that the
+attackers fell sullenly back, losing heavily as they did
+so. The enemy's artillery now came in for attention,
+and also was driven out of range with loss. The last
+stage in the retreat of Lord Byfield's command was now
+secured. The extended troops and guns gradually drew
+off from their positions, still keeping a watchful eye on
+the foe, and by 4.30 all were within the Epping entrenchments.
+All, that is to say, but the numerous killed
+and wounded during the running fight that had extended
+along the last seven or eight miles of the retreat,
+and the bulk of the Dunmow force under Sir Jacob
+Stellenbosch, which with its commander, had, it was
+believed, been made prisoners. They had been caught
+between the 39th German Infantry Brigade and several
+regiments of cavalry, that it was said had arrived from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+the northward soon after they were beaten at Hatfield
+Heath. Probably these were the advanced troops of
+General Frölich's Cavalry Brigade."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III_II" id="CHAPTER_III_II"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>BATTLE OF EPPING.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The following is extracted from the "Times" of 15th
+September:</p>
+
+<div class="right">"<span class="smcap">Epping</span>, <i>14th September</i>, <i>Evening</i>.</div>
+
+<p>"I have spent a busy day, but have no very important
+news to record. After the repulse of the German troops
+attacking Lord Byfield's retreating army and the arrival
+of our sorely harassed troops behind the Epping entrenchments,
+we saw no more of the enemy that evening.
+All through the night, however, there was the sound of
+occasional heavy gun firing from the eastward. I have
+taken up my quarters at the Bell, an inn at the south
+end of the village, from the back of which I can get
+a good view to the north-west for from two to four
+miles. Beyond that distance the high ridge known as
+Epping Upland limits the prospect. The whole terrain
+is cut up into fields of various sizes and dotted all over
+with trees. Close by is a lofty red brick water-tower,
+which has been utilised by Sir Stapleton Forsyth as a
+signal station. Away about a mile to my left front as I
+look from the back of the Bell a big block of buildings
+stands prominently out on a grassy spur of high ground.
+This is Copped Hall and Little Copped Hall.</p>
+
+<p>"Both mansions have been transformed into fortresses,
+which, while offering little or no resistance to artillery
+fire, will yet form a tough nut for the Germans to crack,
+should they succeed in getting through our entrenchments
+at that point. Beyond, I can just see a corner of a
+big earthwork that has been built to strengthen the defence
+line, and which has been christened Fort Obelisk
+from a farm of that name, near which it is situated.
+There is another smaller redoubt on the slope just
+below this hostelry, and I can see the gunners busy
+about the three big khaki-painted guns which are
+mounted in it. There are a 6-inch and two 4ˇ7-inch guns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+I believe. This morning our cavalry, consisting of a
+regiment of yeomanry and some mounted infantry, who
+had formed a portion of Lord Byfield's force, went out
+to reconnoitre towards the north and east. They were
+not away long, as they were driven back in every
+direction in which they attempted to advance, by
+superior forces of the enemy's cavalry, who seemed to
+swarm everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Later on, I believe, some of the German reiters became
+so venturesome that several squadrons exposed
+themselves to the fire of the big guns in the fort at
+Skip's Corner, and suffered pretty severely for their
+temerity. The firing continued throughout the morning
+away to eastward. At noon I thought I would run down
+and see if I could find anything out about it. I therefore
+mounted my car and ran off in that direction. I
+found that there was a regular duel going on between
+our guns at Kelvedon Hatch and some heavy siege guns
+or howitzers that the enemy had got in the neighbourhood
+of the high ground about Norton Heath, only about
+3,000 yards distant from our entrenchments. They did
+not appear to have done us much damage, but neither,
+in all probability, did we hurt them very much, since
+our gunners were unable to exactly locate the hostile
+guns.</p>
+
+<p>"When I got back to Epping, about three o'clock, I
+found the wide single street full of troops. They were
+those who had come in the previous afternoon with Lord
+Byfield, and who, having been allowed to rest till
+midday after their long fighting march, were now being
+told off to their various sections of the defence line.
+The Guard regiments were allocated to the northernmost
+position between Fort Royston and Fort Skips.
+The rifles were to go to Copped Hall, and the Seaforths to
+form the nucleus of a central reserve of Militia and
+Volunteers, which was being established just north of
+Gaynes Park. Epping itself and the contiguous entrenchments
+were confided to the Leinster Regiment,
+which alone of Sir Jacob Stellenbosch's brigade had
+escaped capture, supported by two Militia battalions.
+The field batteries were distributed under shelter of the
+woods on the south, east, and north-east of the town.</p>
+
+<p>"During the afternoon the welcome news arrived that
+the remainder of Lord Byfield's command from Baldock,
+Royston, and Elmdon had safely arrived within our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+entrenchments at Enfield and New Barnet. We may now
+hope that what with Regulars, Militia, Volunteers, and
+the new levies, our lines are fully and effectively
+manned, and will suffice to stay the further advance of
+even such a formidable host as is that at the disposal
+of the renowned Von Kronhelm. It is reported too, from
+Brentwood, that great progress has already been made
+in reorganising and distributing the broken remnants
+of the 1st and 5th Armies that got back to that town
+after the great and disastrous battle of Chelmsford.
+Victorious as they were, the Germans must also have
+suffered severely, which may give us some breathing
+time before their next onslaught."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The following are extracts from the diary picked up by
+a "Daily Telegraph" correspondent, lying near the body
+of a German officer after the fighting in the neighbourhood
+of Enfield Chase. It is presumed that the officer in
+question was Major Splittberger, of the Kaiser Franz
+Garde Grenadier Regiment, since that was the name
+written inside the cover of the diary.</p>
+
+<p>From enquiries that have since been instituted, it is
+probable that the deceased officer was employed on the
+staff of the General commanding the IVth Corps of the
+invading Army, though it would seem from the contents
+of his diary that he saw also a good deal of the operations
+of the Xth Corps. Our readers will be able to
+gather from it the general course of the enemy's strategy
+and tactics during the time immediately preceding the
+most recent disasters which have befallen our brave
+defenders. The first extract is dated September 15, and
+was written somewhere north of Epping:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 15.</i>&mdash;So far the bold strategy of our Commander-in-Chief,
+in pushing the greater part of the Xth Corps
+directly to the west immediately after our victory at
+Chelmsford, has been amply justified by results.
+Although we just missed cutting off Lord Byfield and a
+large portion of his command at Harlow, we gained a
+good foothold inside the British defences north of
+Epping, and I don't think it will be long before we have
+very much improved our position here. The IVth Corps
+arrived at Harlow about midday yesterday in splendid
+condition, after their long march from Newmarket, and
+the residue of the Xth joined us at about the same
+time. As there is nothing like keeping the enemy on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+the move, no time was lost in preparing to attack him
+at the very earliest opportunity. As soon as it was dark
+the IVth Corps got its heavy guns and howitzers into
+position along the ridge above Epping Upland, and
+sent the greater portion of its field batteries forward to
+a position from which they were within effective range
+of the British fortifications at Skip's Corner.</p>
+
+<p>"The IXth Corps, which had arrived from Chelmsford
+that evening, also placed its field artillery in a similar
+position, from which its fire crossed that of the IVth
+Corps. This Corps also provided the assaulting troops.
+The Xth Corps, which had been engaged all day on
+Thursday, was held in reserve. The howitzers on
+Epping Upland opened fire with petrol shell on the
+belt of woods that lies immediately in rear of the position
+to be attacked, and with the assistance of a strong
+westerly wind succeeded in setting them on fire and
+cutting off the most northerly section of the British
+defences from reinforcement. This was soon after midnight.
+The conflagration not only did us this service,
+but it is supposed so attracted the attention of the
+partially-trained soldiers of the enemy that they did
+not observe the IXth Corps massing for the assault.</p>
+
+<p>"We then plastered their trenches with shrapnel to
+such an extent that they did not dare to show a finger
+above them, and finally carried the northern corner
+by assault. To give the enemy their due, they fought
+well, but we outnumbered them five to one, and it was
+impossible for them to resist the onslaught of our well-trained
+soldiers. News came to-day that the Saxons
+have been making a demonstration before Brentwood
+with a view of keeping the British employed down there
+so that they cannot send any reinforcements up here.
+At the same time they have been steadily bombarding
+Kelvedon Hatch from Norton Heath.</p>
+
+<p>"We hear, too, that the Garde Corps have got down
+south, and that their front stretches from Broxbourne to
+Little Berkhamsted, while Frölich's Cavalry Division
+is in front of them, spread all over the country, from
+the River Lea away to the westward, having driven the
+whole of the British outlying troops and patrols under
+the shelter of their entrenchments. Once we succeed
+in rolling up the enemy's troops in this quarter, it will
+not be long before we are entering London."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 16.</i>&mdash;Fighting went on all yesterday in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+neighbourhood of Skip's Corner. We have taken the
+redoubt at North Weald Basset and driven the English
+back into the belt of burnt woodland, which they now
+hold along its northern edge. All day long, too, our big
+guns, hidden away behind the groves and woods above
+Epping Upland, poured their heavy projectiles on
+Epping and its defences. We set the village on fire
+three times, but the British contrived to extinguish the
+blaze on each occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy Epping itself will be our next point of
+attack."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 17.</i>&mdash;We are still progressing, fighting is now
+all but continuous. How long it may last I have no idea.
+Probably there will be no suspension of the struggle
+until we are actually masters of the Metropolis. We took
+advantage of the darkness to push forward our men to
+within three thousand yards of the enemy's line, placing
+them as far as possible under cover of the numerous
+copses, plantations, and hedgerows which cover the face
+of this fertile country. At 4 a.m. the General ordered
+his staff to assemble at Latton Park, where he had established
+his headquarters. He unfolded to us the general
+outline of the attack, which, he now announced, was to
+commence at six precisely.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought myself that it was a somewhat inopportune
+time, as we should have the rising sun right in our
+eyes; but I imagine that the idea was to have as
+much daylight as possible before us. For although we
+had employed a night attack against Skip's Corner, and
+successfully too, yet the general feeling in our Army
+has always been opposed to operations of this kind.
+The possible gain is, I think, in no way commensurable
+with the probable risks of panic and disorder. The principal
+objective was the village of Epping itself; but
+simultaneous attacks were to be carried out against
+Copped Hall, Fort Obelisk, to the west of it, and Fort
+Royston, about a mile north of the village. The IXth
+Corps was to co-operate by a determined attempt to
+break through the English lining the burnt strip of
+woodland and to assault the latter fort in rear. It was
+necessary to carry out both these flanking attacks in
+order to prevent the main attack from being enfiladed
+from right and left. At 5.30 we mounted, and rode off
+to Rye Hill about a couple of miles distant, from which
+the General intended to watch the progress of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+operations. The first rays of the rising sun were filling
+the eastern sky with a pale light as we cantered off, the
+long wooded ridge on which the enemy had his position
+standing up in a misty silhouette against the growing day.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 472px;">
+<a href="images/i155-hi.png"><img src="images/i155.png" width="472" height="400" alt="GERMAN ATTACK ON
+THE LINES of LONDON" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">GERMAN ATTACK ON<br />
+THE LINES of LONDON</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"As we topped Rye Hill I could see the thickly-massed
+lines of our infantry crouching behind every
+hedge, bank, or ridge, their rifle-barrels here and there
+twinkling in the feeble rays of the early sun, their
+shadows long and attenuated behind them. Epping with
+its lofty red water-tower was distinctly visible on the
+opposite side of the valley, and it is probable that the
+movement of the General's cavalcade of officers, with
+the escort, attracted the attention of the enemy's lookouts,
+for half-way down the hillside on their side of
+the valley a blinding violet-white flash blazed out, and
+a big shell came screaming along just over our heads,
+the loud boom of a heavy gun following fast on its
+heels. Almost simultaneously another big projectile
+hurtled up from the direction of Fort Obelisk, and burst
+among our escort of Uhlans with a deluge of livid flame
+and thick volumes of greenish brown smoke. It was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+telling shot, for no fewer than six horses and their riders
+lay in a shattered heap on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>"At six precisely our guns fired a salvo directed on
+Epping village. This was the preconcerted signal for
+attack, and before the echoes of the thunderous discharge
+had finished reverberating over the hills and
+forest, our front lines had sprung to their feet and were
+moving at a racing pace towards the enemy. For a
+moment the British seemed stupefied by the suddenness
+of the advance. A few rifle shots crackled out here and
+there, but our men had thrown themselves to the ground
+after their first rush before the enemy seemed to wake
+up. But there was no mistake about it when they did.
+Seldom have I seen such a concentrated fire. Gun,
+pom-pom, machine gun, and rifle blazed out from right
+to left along more than three miles of entrenchments.
+A continuous lightning-like line of fire poured forth
+from the British trenches, which still lay in shadow. I
+could see the bullets raising perfect sand-storms in
+places, the little pom-pom shells sparkling about all
+over our prostrate men, and the shrapnel bursting all
+along their front, producing perfect swathes of white
+smoke, which hung low down in the still air in the valley.</p>
+
+<p>"But our artillery was not idle. The field guns,
+pushed well forward, showered shrapnel upon the British
+position, the howitzer shells hurtled over our
+heads on their way to the enemy in constantly increasing
+numbers as the ranges were verified by the trial shots,
+while a terrible and unceasing reverberation from the
+north-east told of the supporting attack made by the
+IXth and Xth Corps upon the blackened woods held
+by the English. The concussion of the terrific cannonade
+that now resounded from every quarter was deafening;
+the air seemed to pulse within one's ears, and it
+was difficult to hear one's nearest neighbour speak.
+Down in the valley our men appeared to be suffering
+severely. Every forward move of the attacking lines left a
+perfect litter of prostrate forms behind it, and for
+some time I felt very doubtful in my own mind if the
+attack would succeed. Glancing to the right, however, I
+was encouraged to see the progress that had been made
+by the troops detailed for the assault on Copped Hall
+and Obelisk Fort, and seeing this, it occurred to me
+that it was not intended to push the central attack on
+Epping home before its flank had been secured from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+molestation from this direction. Copped Hall itself stood
+out on a bare down almost like some medićval castle,
+backed by the dark masses of forest, while to the west of
+it the slopes of Fort Obelisk could barely be distinguished,
+so flat were they and so well screened by greenery.</p>
+
+<p>"But its position was clearly defined by the clouds
+of dust, smoke, and débris constantly thrown up by
+our heavy high-explosive shells, while ever and anon
+there came a dazzling flash from it, followed by a detonation
+that made itself heard even above the rolling of the
+cannonade, as one of its big 7ˇ5 guns was discharged.
+The roar of their huge projectiles, too, as they tore
+through the air, was easily distinguishable. None of
+our epaulments were proof against them, and they did
+our heavy batteries a great deal of damage before they
+could be silenced.</p>
+
+<p>"To cut a long story short, we captured Epping after
+a tough fight, and by noon were in possession of everything
+north of the Forest, including the war-scarred
+ruins that now represented the mansion of Copped Hall,
+and from which our pom-poms and machine guns were
+firing into Fort Obelisk. But our losses had been
+awful. As for the enemy, they could hardly have suffered
+less severely, for though partially protected by their
+entrenchments, our artillery fire must have been utterly
+annihilating."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 18.</i>&mdash;Fighting went on all last night, the English
+holding desperately on to the edge of the Forest, our
+people pressing them close, and working round their
+right flank. When day broke the general situation was
+pretty much like this. On our left the IXth Corps were
+in possession of the Fort at Toothill, and a redoubt that
+lay between it and Skip's Fort. Two batteries were bombarding
+a redoubt lower down in the direction of Stanford
+Rivers, which was also subjected to a cross fire from
+their howitzers near Ongar.</p>
+
+<p>"As for the English, their position was an unenviable
+one. From Copped Hall&mdash;as soon as we have cleared
+the edge of the Forest of the enemy's sharpshooters&mdash;we
+shall be able to take their entrenchments in reverse
+all the way to Waltham Abbey. They have, on the
+other hand, an outlying fort about a mile or two north
+of the latter place, which gave us some trouble with its
+heavy guns yesterday, and which it is most important
+that we should gain possession of before we advance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+further. The Garde Corps on the western side of the
+River Lea is now, I hear, in sight of the enemy's lines,
+and is keeping them busily employed, though without
+pushing its attack home for the present.</p>
+
+<p>"At daybreak this morning I was in Epping and saw
+the beginning of the attack on the Forest. It is rumoured
+that large reinforcements have reached the enemy from
+London, but as these must be merely scratch soldiers they
+will do them more harm than good in their cramped
+position. The Xth Corps had got a dozen batteries in
+position a little to the eastward of the village, and at
+six o'clock these guns opened a tremendous fire upon the
+north-east corner of the Forest, under cover of which
+their infantry deployed down in the low ground about
+Coopersale, and advanced to the attack. Petrol shells
+were not used against the Forest, as Von Kronhelm had
+given orders that it was not to be burned if it could possibly
+be avoided. The shrapnel was very successful in keeping
+down the fire from the edge of the trees, but our troops
+received a good deal of damage from infantry and guns
+that were posted to the east of the Forest on a hill near
+Theydon Bois. But about seven o'clock these troops
+were driven from their position by a sudden flank attack
+made by the IXth Corps from Theydon Mount. Von
+Kleppen followed this up by putting some of his own
+guns up there, which were able to fire on the edge of
+the Forest after those of the Xth Corps had been
+masked by the close advance of their infantry. To make
+a long story short, by ten the whole of the Forest, east
+of the London Road, as far south as the cross roads
+near Jack's Hill, was in our hands. In the meantime
+the IVth Corps had made itself master of Fort Obelisk,
+and our gunners were hard at work mounting guns in it
+with which to fire on the outlying fort at Monkham's
+Hall. Von Kleppen was at Copped Hall about this
+time, and with him I found General Von Wilberg, commanding
+the Xth Corps, in close consultation. The
+once fine mansion had been almost completely shot
+away down to its lower storey. A large portion of this,
+however, was still fairly intact, having been protected to
+a certain extent by the masses of masonry that had
+fallen all around it, and also by the thick ramparts of
+earth that the English had built up against its exposed side.</p>
+
+<p>"Our men were still firing from its loopholes at the
+edge of the woods, which were only about 1,200 yards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+distant, and from which bullets were continually
+whistling in by every window. Two of our battalions
+had dug themselves in in the wooded park surrounding
+the house, and were also exchanging fire with the English
+at comparatively close ranges. They had, I was told,
+made more than one attempt to rush the edge of the
+Forest, but had been repulsed by rifle fire on each
+occasion. Away to the west I could see for miles, and
+even distinguish our shells bursting all over the enemy's
+fort at Monkham's Hall, which was being subjected to a
+heavy bombardment by our guns on the high ground
+to the north of it. About eleven Frölich's Cavalry Brigade,
+whose presence was no longer required in front of
+the Garde Corps, passed through Epping, going south-east.
+It is generally supposed that it is either to attack
+the British at Brentwood in the rear, or, which I think
+is more probable, to intimidate the raw levies by its
+presence between them and London, and to attack them
+in flank should they attempt to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>"Just after eleven another battalion arrived at
+Copped Hall from Epping, and orders were given
+that the English position along the edge of the Forest
+was to be taken at all cost. Just before the attack began
+there was a great deal of firing somewhere in the interior
+of the Forest, presumably between the British and the
+advanced troops of the Xth Corps. However this may
+have been, it was evident that the enemy were holding
+our part of the Forest much less strongly and our assault
+was entirely successful, with but small loss of men.
+Once in the woods, the superior training and discipline
+of our men told heavily in their favour. While
+the mingled mass of Volunteers and raw free-shooters,
+of which the bulk of their garrison was composed, got
+utterly disorganised and out of hand under the severe
+strain on them that was imposed by the difficulties of
+wood fighting, and hindered and broke up the regular
+units, our people were easily kept well in hand, and
+drove the enemy steadily before them without a single
+check. The rattle of rifle and machine gun was continuous
+through all the leafy dells and glades of the
+wood, but by two o'clock practically the whole Forest
+was in the hands of our Xth Corps. It was then the
+turn of the IVth Corps, who in the meantime, far from
+being idle, had massed a large number of their guns
+at Copped Hall, from which, aided by the fire from Fort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+Obelisk, the enemy's lines were subjected to a bombardment
+that rendered them absolutely untenable, and
+we could see company after company making their way
+to Waltham Abbey.</p>
+
+<p>"At three the order for a general advance on Waltham
+Abbey was issued. As the enemy seemed to have few,
+if any, guns at this place, it was determined to make
+use of some of the new armoured motors that accompanied
+the Army. Von Kronhelm, who was personally
+directing the operations from Copped Hall, had caused
+each Corps to send its own motors to Epping, so that we
+had something like thirty at our disposal. These quaint,
+grey monsters came down through the Forest and
+advanced on Epping by two parallel roads, one passing
+by the south of Warlies Park, the other being the main
+road from Epping. It was a weird sight to see these
+shore-going armour-clads flying down upon the enemy.
+They got within 800 yards of the houses, but the enemy
+contrived to block their further advance by various
+obstacles which they placed on the roads.</p>
+
+<p>"There was about an hour's desperate fighting in the
+village. The old Abbey Church was set on fire by a
+stray shell, the conflagration spreading to the neighbouring
+houses, and both British and Germans being too
+busy killing each other to put it out, the whole village
+was shortly in flames. The British were finally driven
+out of it, and across the river by five o'clock. In the
+meantime every heavy gun that could be got to bear
+was directed on the fort at Monkham's Hall, which,
+during the afternoon, was also made the target for the
+guns of the Garde Corps, which co-operated with us by
+attacking the lines at Cheshunt, and assisting us with
+its artillery fire from the opposite side of the river. By
+nightfall the fort was a mass of smoking earth, over
+which fluttered our black cross flag, and the front of the
+IVth Corps stretched from this to Gillwell Park, four
+miles nearer London.</p>
+
+<p>"The Xth Corps was in support in the Forest behind
+us, and forming also a front to cover our flank, reaching
+from Chingford to Buckhurst Hill. The enemy was
+quite demoralised in this direction, and showed no indication
+of resuming the engagement. As for the IXth
+Corps, its advanced troops were at Lamboume End, in
+close communication with General Frölich, who had
+established his headquarters at Havering-atte-Bower.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+We have driven a formidable wedge right into the middle
+of the carefully elaborated system of defence arranged
+by the English generals, and it will now be a miracle if
+they can prevent our entry into the capital.</p>
+
+<p>"We had not, of course, effected this without great loss
+in killed and wounded, but you can't make puddings
+without breaking eggs, and in the end a bold and forward
+policy is more economical of life and limb than
+attempting to avoid necessary losses, as our present
+opponents did in South Africa, thereby prolonging the
+war to an almost indefinite period, and losing many more
+men by sickness and in driblets than would have been
+the case if they had followed a more determined line in
+their strategy and tactics. Just before the sun sank behind
+the masses of new houses which the monster city
+spreads out to the northward I got orders to carry a
+despatch to General von Wilberg, who was stated to be
+at Chingford, on our extreme left. I went by the Forest
+road, as the parallel one near the river was in most parts
+under fire from the opposite bank.</p>
+
+<p>"He had established his headquarters at the Foresters'
+Inn, which stands high up on a wooded mound, and
+from which he could see a considerable distance and
+keep in touch with his various signal stations. He took
+my despatch, telling me that I should have a reply to
+take back later on. 'In the meanwhile,' said he, 'if
+you will fall in with my staff you will have an opportunity
+of seeing the first shots fired into the biggest city
+in the world.' So saying, he went out to his horse, which
+was waiting outside, and we started off down the hill
+with a great clatter. After winding about through a
+somewhat intricate network of roads and by-lanes we
+arrived at Old Chingford Church, which stands upon a
+species of headland, rising boldly up above the flat and,
+in some places, marshy land to the westward.</p>
+
+<p>"Close to the church was a battery of four big howitzers,
+the gunners grouped around them silhouetted
+darkly against the blood-red sky. From up here the vast
+city, spreading out to the south and west, lay like a
+grey, sprawling octopus spreading out ray-like to the
+northward, every rise and ridge being topped with a
+bristle of spires and chimney-pots. An ominous silence
+seemed to brood over the teeming landscape, broken only
+at intervals by the dull booming of guns from the northward.
+Long swathes of cloud and smoke lay athwart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+the dull, furnace-like glow of the sunset, and lights were
+beginning to sparkle out all over the vast expanse which
+lay before us mirrored here and there in the canals and
+rivers that ran almost at our feet. 'Now,' said Von
+Wilberg at length, 'commence fire.' One of the big
+guns gave tongue with a roar that seemed to make the
+church tower quiver above us. Another and another
+followed in succession, their big projectiles hurtling and
+humming through the quiet evening air on their errands
+of death and destruction in I know not what quarter of
+the crowded suburbs. It seemed to me a cruel and
+needless thing to do, but I am told that it was done
+with the set purpose of arousing such a feeling of alarm
+and insecurity in the East End that the mob might try
+to interfere with any further measures for defence that
+the British military authorities might undertake. I got
+my despatch soon afterwards and returned with it to
+the General, who was spending the night at Copped Hall.
+There, too, I got myself a shakedown and slumbered
+soundly till the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 19.</i>&mdash;To-day we have, I think, finally broken
+down all organised military opposition in the field,
+though we may expect a considerable amount of street
+fighting before reaping the whole fruits of our victories.
+At daybreak we began by turning a heavy fire from
+every possible quarter on the wooded island formed by
+the river and various back-waters just north of Waltham
+Abbey. The poplar-clad islet, which was full of the
+enemy's troops, became absolutely untenable under
+this concentrated fire, and they were compelled to fall
+back over the river. Our Engineers soon began their
+bridging operations behind the wood, and our infantry,
+crossing over, got close up to a redoubt on the further
+side and took it by storm. Again we were able to take
+a considerable section of the enemy's lines in reverse,
+and as they were driven out by our fire, against which
+they had no protection, the Garde Corps advanced, and
+by ten were in possession of Cheshunt.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meanwhile, covered by the fire of the guns
+belonging to the IXth and Xth Corps, other bridges had
+been thrown across the Lea at various points between
+Waltham and Chingford, and in another hour the crossing
+began. The enemy had no good positions for his
+guns, and seemed to have very few of them. He had
+pinned his faith upon the big weapons he had placed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+his entrenchments, and those were now of no further use
+to him. He had lost a number of his field guns, either
+from damage or capture, and with our more numerous
+artillery firing from the high ground on the eastern
+bank of the river we were always able to beat down
+any attempt he made to reply to their fire.</p>
+
+<p>"We had a day of fierce fighting before us. There was
+no man&oelig;uvring. We were in a wilderness of scattered
+houses and occasional streets, in which the enemy contested
+our progress foot by foot. Edmonton, Enfield
+Wash, and Waltham Cross were quickly captured; our
+artillery commanded them too well to allow the British
+to make a successful defence; but Enfield itself, lying
+along a steepish ridge, on which the British had assembled
+what artillery they could scrape together, cost us
+dearly. The streets of this not too lovely suburban
+town literally ran with blood when at last we made
+our way into it. A large part of it was burnt to ashes,
+including unfortunately the ancient palace of Queen
+Elizabeth, and the venerable and enormous cedar-tree
+that overhung it.</p>
+
+<p>"The British fell back to a second position they had
+apparently prepared along a parallel ridge farther to the
+westward, their left being between us and New Barnet
+and their right at Southgate.</p>
+
+<p>"We did not attempt to advance farther to-day, but
+contented ourselves in reorganising our forces and preparing
+against a possible counter-attack, by barricading
+and entrenching the farther edge of Enfield Ridge."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sept. 20.</i>&mdash;We are falling in immediately, as it has
+been decided to attack the British position at once.
+Already the artillery duel is in progress. I must continue
+to-night, as my horse is at the door."</p>
+
+<p>The writer, however, never lived to complete his diary,
+having been shot half-way up the green slope he had
+observed the day previous.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV_II" id="CHAPTER_IV_II"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Day broke. The faint flush of violet away eastward
+beyond Temple Bar gradually turned rose, heralding
+the sun's coming, and by degrees the streets, filled by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+excited Londoners, grew lighter with the dawn. Fevered
+night thus gave place to day&mdash;a day that was, alas!
+destined to be one of bitter memory for the British
+Empire.</p>
+
+<p>Alarming news had spread that Uhlans had been seen
+reconnoitring in Snaresbrook and Wanstead, had ridden
+along Forest Road and Ferry Lane at Walthamstow,
+through Tottenham High Cross, up High Street, Hornsey,
+Priory Road, and Muswell Hill. The Germans were
+actually upon London!</p>
+
+<p>The northern suburbs were staggered. In Fortis
+Green, North End, Highgate, Crouch End, Hampstead,
+Stamford Hill, and Leyton the quiet suburban houses
+were threatened, and many people, in fear of their lives,
+had now fled southward into central London. Thus the
+huge population of greater London was practically huddled
+together in the comparatively small area from Kensington
+to Fleet Street, and from Oxford Street to the Thames
+Embankment.</p>
+
+<p>People of Fulham, Putney, Walham Green, Hammersmith,
+and Kew had, for the most part, fled away to the
+open country across Hounslow Heath to Bedfont and
+Staines; while Tooting, Balham, Dulwich, Streatham, Norwood,
+and Catford had retreated farther south into Surrey
+and Kent.</p>
+
+<p>For the past three days thousands of willing helpers
+had followed the example of Sheffield and Birmingham,
+and constructed enormous barricades, obstructing at
+various points the chief roads leading from the north
+and east into London. Detachments of Engineers had
+blown up several of the bridges carrying the main
+roads out eastwards&mdash;for instance, the bridge at the end
+of Commercial Road, East, crossing the Limehouse
+Canal, while the six other smaller bridges spanning the
+canal between that point and the Bow Road were also
+destroyed. The bridge at the end of Bow Road itself was
+shattered, and those over the Hackney Cut at Marshall
+Hill and Hackney Wick were also rendered impassable.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the bridges across the Regent's Canal were also
+destroyed, notably those in Mare Street, Hackney, the
+Kingsland Road, and New North Road, while a similar
+demolition took place in Edgware Road and the Harrow
+Road. Londoners were frantic, now that the enemy were
+really upon them. The accounts of the battles in the
+newspapers had, of course, been merely fragmentary, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+they had not yet realised what war actually meant.
+They knew that all business was at a standstill, that
+the City was in an uproar, that there was no work, and
+that food was at famine prices. But not until German
+cavalry were actually seen scouring the northern
+suburbs did it become impressed upon them that they
+were really helpless and defenceless.</p>
+
+<p>London was to be besieged!</p>
+
+<p>This report having got about, the people began building
+barricades in many of the principal thoroughfares
+north of the Thames. One huge obstruction, built mostly
+of paving stones from the footways, overturned tramcars,
+waggons, railway trollies, and barbed wire, rose in the
+Holloway Road, just beyond Highbury Station. Another
+blocked the Caledonian Road a few yards north of the
+police-station, while another very large and strong pile
+of miscellaneous goods, bales of wool and cotton stuffs,
+building material, and stones brought from the Great
+Northern Railway depôt, obstructed the Camden Road
+at the south corner of Hilldrop Crescent. Across High
+Street, Camden Town, at the junction of the Kentish
+Town and other roads, five hundred men worked with
+a will, piling together every kind of ponderous object
+they could pillage from the neighbouring shops&mdash;pianos,
+iron bedsteads, wardrobes, pieces of calico and flannel,
+dress stuffs, rolls of carpets, floorboards, even the very
+doors wrenched from their hinges&mdash;until, when it reached
+to the second storey window and was considered of sufficient
+height, a pole was planted on top, and from it
+hung limply a small Union Jack.</p>
+
+<p>The Finchley Road, opposite Swiss Cottage Station; in
+Shoot Up-hill, where Mill Lane runs into it; across
+Willesden Lane where it joins the High Road in Kilburn;
+the Harrow Road close to Willesden Junction Station;
+at the junction of the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads;
+across the Hammersmith Road in front of the Hospital,
+other similar obstructions were placed with a view to
+preventing the enemy from entering London. At a hundred
+other points, in the narrower and more obscure thoroughfares,
+all along the north of London, busy workers were
+constructing similar defences, houses and shops being
+ruthlessly broken open and cleared of their contents by
+the frantic and terrified populace.</p>
+
+<p>London was in a ferment. Almost without exception
+the gunmakers' shops had been pillaged, and every rifle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+sporting gun, and revolver seized. The armouries at the
+Tower of London, at the various barracks, and the factory
+out at Enfield had long ago all been cleared of their
+contents; for now, in this last stand, every one was desperate,
+and all who could obtain a gun did so. Many,
+however, had guns but no ammunition; others had
+sporting ammunition for service rifles, and others cartridges,
+but no gun.</p>
+
+<p>Those, however, who had guns and ammunition complete
+mounted guard at the barricades, being assisted at
+some points by Volunteers who had been driven in from
+Essex. Upon more than one barricade in North London
+a Maxim had been mounted, and was now pointed, ready
+to sweep away the enemy should they advance.</p>
+
+<p>Other thoroughfares barricaded, beside those mentioned,
+were the Stroud Green Road, where it joins
+Hanley Road; the railway bridge in the Oakfield Road
+in the same neighbourhood; the Wightman Road, opposite
+Harringay Station, the junction of Archway
+Road and Highgate Hill; the High Road, Tottenham,
+at its junction with West Green Road,
+and various roads around the New River reservoirs,
+which were believed to be one of the objectives
+of the enemy. These latter were very strongly held by
+thousands of brave and patriotic citizens, though the
+East London reservoirs across at Walthamstow could
+not be defended, situated so openly as they were. The
+people of Leytonstone threw up a barricade opposite
+the schools in the High Road, while in Wanstead a
+hastily-constructed, but perfectly useless, obstruction
+was piled across Cambridge Park, where it joins the Blake
+Road.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, all the women and children in the northern
+suburbs had now been sent south. Half the houses in
+those quiet, newly-built roads were locked up, and their
+owners gone; for as soon as the report spread of the
+result of the final battle before London, and our crushing
+defeat, people living in Highgate, Hampstead, Crouch
+End, Hornsey, Tottenham, Finsbury Park, Muswell Hill,
+Hendon, and Hampstead saw that they must fly southward,
+now the Germans were upon them.</p>
+
+<p>Think what it meant to those suburban families of
+City men! The ruthless destruction of their pretty,
+long-cherished homes, flight into the turbulent, noisy,
+distracted, hungry city, and the loss of everything they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+possessed. In most cases the husband was already
+bearing his part in the defence of the Metropolis with
+gun or with spade, or helping to move heavy masses of
+material for the construction of the barricades. The
+wife, however, was compelled to take a last look at all
+those possessions that she had so fondly called "home,"
+lock her front door, and, with her children, join in those
+long mournful processions moving ever southward into
+London, tramping on and on&mdash;whither she knew not
+where.</p>
+
+<p>Touching sights were to be seen everywhere in the
+streets that day.</p>
+
+<p>Homeless women, many of them with two or three little
+ones, were wandering through the less frequented streets,
+avoiding the main roads with all their crush, excitement,
+and barricade-building, but making their way westward,
+beyond Kensington and Hammersmith, which was now
+become the outlet of the Metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>All trains from Charing Cross, Waterloo, London
+Bridge, Victoria, and Paddington had for the past three
+days been crowded to excess. Anxious fathers struggled
+fiercely to obtain places for their wives, mothers, and
+daughters&mdash;sending them away anywhere out of the city
+which must in a few hours be crushed beneath the iron
+heel.</p>
+
+<p>The South Western and Great Western systems carried
+thousands upon thousands of the wealthier away to
+Devonshire and Cornwall&mdash;as far as possible from the
+theatre of war; the South Eastern and Chatham took
+people into the already crowded Kentish towns and villages,
+and the Brighton line carried others into rural
+Sussex. London overflowed southward and westward
+until every village and every town within fifty miles
+was so full that beds were at a premium, and in various
+places, notably at Chartham, near Canterbury, at Willesborough,
+near Ashford, at Lewes, at Robertsbridge, at
+Goodwood Park, and at Horsham, huge camps were
+formed, shelter being afforded by poles and rick cloths.
+Every house, every barn, every school, indeed every
+place where people could obtain shelter for the night,
+was crowded to excess, mostly by women and children
+sent south, away from the horrors that it was known
+must come.</p>
+
+<p>Central London grew more turbulent with each hour
+that passed. There were all sorts of wild rumours, but,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+fortunately, the Press still preserved a dignified calm.
+The Cabinet were holding a meeting at Bristol, whither
+the Houses of Commons and Lords had moved, and all
+depended upon its issue. It was said that Ministers
+were divided in their opinions whether we should sue
+for an ignominious peace, or whether the conflict should
+be continued to the bitter end.</p>
+
+<p>Disaster had followed disaster, and iron-throated
+orators in Hyde and St. James's Parks were now shouting
+"Stop the war! Stop the war!" The cry was taken up
+but faintly, however, for the blood of Londoners, slow to
+rise, had now been stirred by seeing their country slowly
+yet completely crushed by Germany. All the patriotism
+latent within them was now displayed. The national
+flag was shown everywhere, and at every point one heard
+"God save the King" sung lustily.</p>
+
+<p>Two gunmakers' shops in the Strand, which had
+hitherto escaped notice, were shortly after noon broken
+open, and every available arm and all the ammunition
+seized. One man, unable to obtain a revolver, snatched
+half a dozen pairs of steel handcuffs, and cried with
+grim humour as he held them up: "If I can't shoot any
+of the sausage-eaters, I can at least bag a prisoner or
+two!"</p>
+
+<p>The banks, the great jewellers, the diamond merchants,
+the safe-deposit offices, and all who had valuables
+in their keeping, were extremely anxious as to what
+might happen. Below those dark buildings in Lothbury
+and Lombard Street, behind the black walls of the Bank
+of England, and below every branch bank all over London,
+were millions in gold and notes, the wealth of the
+greatest city the world has ever known. The strong
+rooms were, for the most part, the strongest that modern
+engineering could devise, some with various arrangements
+by which all access was debarred by an inrush of water,
+but, alas! dynamite is a great leveller, and it was
+felt that not a single strong room in the whole of
+London could withstand an organised attack by German
+engineers.</p>
+
+<p>A single charge of dynamite would certainly make a
+breach in concrete upon which a thief might hammer
+and chip day and night for a month without making
+much impression. Steel doors must give to blasting
+force, while the strongest and most complicated locks
+would also fly to pieces.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The directors of most of the banks had met and an
+endeavour had been made to co-operate and form a corps
+of special guards for the principal offices. In fact, a
+small armed corps was formed, and were on duty day
+and night in Lothbury, Lombard Street, and the vicinity.
+Yet what could they do if the Germans swept into
+London? There was but little to fear from the excited
+populace themselves, because matters had assumed such
+a crisis that money was of little use, as there was practically
+very little to buy. But little food was reaching
+London from the open ports on the west. It was the
+enemy that the banks feared, for they knew that the
+Germans intended to enter and sack the Metropolis, just
+as they had sacked the other towns that had refused to
+pay the indemnity demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Small jewellers had, days ago, removed their stock
+from their windows and carried it away in unsuspicious-looking
+bags to safe hiding in the southern and western
+suburbs, where people for the most part hid their valuable
+plate, jewellery, etc., beneath a floor-board, or
+buried them in some marked spot in their small gardens.</p>
+
+<p>The hospitals were already full of wounded from the
+various engagements of the past week. The London, St.
+Thomas', Charing Cross, St. George's, Guy's, and Bartholomew's
+were overflowing; and the surgeons, with
+patriotic self-denial, were working day and night in an
+endeavour to cope with the ever-arriving crowd of suffering
+humanity. The field hospitals away to the northward
+were also reported full.</p>
+
+<p>The exact whereabouts of the enemy was not known.
+They were, it seemed, everywhere. They had practically
+over-run the whole country, and the reports from the
+Midlands and the North showed that the majority of
+the principal towns had now been occupied.</p>
+
+<p>The latest reverses outside London, full and graphic
+details of which were now being published hourly by
+the papers, had created an immense sensation. Everywhere
+people were regretting that Lord Roberts' solemn
+warnings in 1906 had been unheeded, for had we adopted
+his scheme for universal service such dire catastrophe
+could never have occurred. Many had, alas! declared it
+to be synonymous with conscription, which it certainly
+was not, and by that foolish argument had prevented
+the public at large from accepting it as the only means
+for our salvation as a nation. The repeated warnings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+had been disregarded, and we had, unhappily, lived in a
+fool's paradise, in the self-satisfied belief that England
+could not be successfully invaded.</p>
+
+<p>Now, alas! the country had realised the truth when
+too late.</p>
+
+<p>That memorable day, September 20, witnessed exasperated
+struggles in the northern suburbs of London,
+passionate and bloody collisions, an infantry fire of the
+defenders overwhelming every attempted assault; and a
+decisive action of the artillery, with regard to which
+arm the superiority of the Germans, due to their perfect
+training, was apparent.</p>
+
+<p>A last desperate stand had, it appears, been made
+by the defenders on the high ridge north-west of New
+Barnet, from Southgate to near Potter's Bar, where a
+terrible fight had taken place. But from the very first
+it was utterly hopeless. The British had fought valiantly
+in defence of London, but here again they were outnumbered,
+and after one of the most desperate conflicts
+in the whole campaign&mdash;in which our losses were terrible&mdash;the
+Germans at length had succeeded in entering
+Chipping Barnet. It was a difficult movement, and a
+fierce contest, rendered the more terrible by the burning
+houses, ensued in the streets and away across the low
+hills southward&mdash;a struggle full of vicissitudes and alternating
+successes, until at last the fire of the defenders
+was silenced, and hundreds of prisoners fell into the
+German hands.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the last organised defence of London had been
+broken, and the barricades alone remained.</p>
+
+<p>The work of the German troops on the lines of communication
+in Essex had for the past week been fraught
+with danger. Through want of cavalry the British had
+been unable to make cavalry raids; but, on the other
+hand, the difficulty was enhanced by the bands of
+sharpshooters&mdash;men of all classes from London who
+possessed a gun and who could shoot. In one or two of
+the London clubs the suggestion had first been mooted
+a couple of days after the outbreak of hostilities, and
+it had been quickly taken up by men who were in the
+habit of shooting game, but had not had a military training.</p>
+
+<p>Within three days about two thousand men had formed
+themselves into bands to take part in the struggle and
+assist in the defence of London. They were practically
+similar to the Francs-tireurs of the Franco-German War,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+for they went forth in companies and waged a guerilla
+warfare, partly before the front and at the flanks of the
+different armies, and partly at the communications at
+the rear of the Germans. Their position was one of constant
+peril in face of Von Kronhelm's proclamation, yet
+the work they did was excellent, and only proved that
+if Lord Roberts' scheme for universal training had been
+adopted the enemy would never have reached the gates of
+London with success.</p>
+
+<p>These brave adventurous spirits, together with "The
+Legion of Frontiersmen," made their attacks by surprise
+from hiding-places or from ambushes. Their adventures
+were constantly thrilling ones. Scattered all over the
+theatre of war in Essex and Suffolk, and all along the
+German lines of communication, the "Frontiersmen"
+rarely ventured on an open conflict, and frequently
+changed scene and point of attack. Within one week
+their numbers rose to over 8,000, and, being well served
+by the villagers, who acted as scouts and spies for them,
+the Germans found them very difficult to get at.
+Usually they kept their arms concealed in thickets and
+woods, where they would lie in wait for the Germans.
+They never came to close quarters, but fired at a distance.
+Many a smart Uhlan fell by their bullets, and many a
+sentry dropped, shot by an unknown hand.</p>
+
+<p>Thus they harassed the enemy everywhere. At need
+they concealed their arms and assumed the appearance
+of inoffensive non-combatants. But when caught red-handed
+the Germans gave them "short shrift," as the
+bodies now swinging from telegraph poles on various
+high-roads in Essex testified.</p>
+
+<p>In an attempt to put a stop to the daring actions of
+the "Frontiersmen," the German authorities and troops
+along the lines of communication punished the parishes
+where German soldiers were shot, or where the destruction
+of railways and telegraphs had occurred, by levying
+money contributions, or by burning the villages.</p>
+
+<p>The guerilla war was especially fierce along from
+Edgware up to Hertford, and from Chelmsford down to
+the Thames. In fact, once commenced, it never
+ceased. Attacks were always being made upon small
+patrols, travelling detachments, mails of the field post-office,
+posts or patrols at stations on the lines of communication,
+while field-telegraphs, telephones, and railways
+were everywhere destroyed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In consequence of the railway being cut at Pitsea,
+the villages of Pitsea, Bowers Gifford, and Vange had
+been burned. Because a German patrol had been
+attacked and destroyed near Orsett, the parish was compelled
+to pay a heavy indemnity. Upminster, near Romford,
+Theydon Bois, and Fyfield, near High Ongar, had
+all been burned by the Germans for the same reason;
+while at the Cherrytree Inn, near Rainham, five
+"Frontiersmen" being discovered by Uhlans in a hayloft
+asleep, were locked in and there burned alive.
+Dozens were, of course, shot at sight, and dozens more
+hanged without trial. But they were not to be deterred.
+They were fighting in defence of London, and around
+the northern suburbs the patriotic members of the
+"Legion" were specially active, though they never
+showed themselves in large bands.</p>
+
+<p>Within London every man who could shoot game was
+now anxious to join in the fray, and on the day that the
+news of the last disaster reached the Metropolis, hundreds
+left for the open country out beyond Hendon.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy having broken down the defence at Enfield
+and cleared the defenders out of the fortified houses, had
+advanced and occupied the northern ridges of London
+in a line stretching roughly from Pole Hill, a little to
+the north of Chingford, across Upper Edmonton, through
+Tottenham, Hornsey, Highgate, Hampstead, and Willesden,
+to Twyford Abbey. All the positions had been well
+reconnoitred, for at grey of dawn the rumbling of artillery
+had been heard in the streets of those places already
+mentioned, and soon after sunrise strong batteries were
+established upon all the available points commanding
+London.</p>
+
+<p>These were at Chingford Green, on the left-hand side
+of the road opposite the inn at Chingford; on Devonshire
+Hill, Tottenham; on the hill at Wood Green; in
+the grounds of the Alexandra Palace; on the high ground
+about Churchyard Bottom Wood; on the edge of Bishop's
+Wood, Highgate; on Parliament Hill, at a spot close to
+the Oaks on the Hendon road; at Dollis Hill, and at a
+point a little north of Wormwood Scrubs, and at Neasden,
+near the railway works.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy's chief object was to establish their artillery
+as near London as possible, for it was known that
+the range of their guns even from Hampstead&mdash;the
+highest point, 441 feet above London&mdash;would not reach<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+into the actual city itself. Meanwhile, at dawn, the German
+cavalry, infantry, motor-infantry, and armoured
+motor-cars&mdash;the latter mostly 35-40 h.p. Opel-Darracqs,
+with three quick-firing guns mounted in each, and
+bearing the Imperial German arms in black&mdash;advanced
+up the various roads leading into London from the north,
+being met, of course, with a desperate resistance at the
+barricades.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 462px;">
+<a href="images/i173-hi.png"><img src="images/i173.png" width="462" height="400" alt="THE BOMBARDMENT and DEFENCES of LONDON
+on Sept. 20th &amp; 21st" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE BOMBARDMENT and DEFENCES of<br />
+LONDON<br />
+on Sept. 20th &amp; 21st</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On Haverstock Hill, the three Maxims, mounted upon
+the huge construction across the road, played havoc with
+the Germans, who were at once compelled to fall back,
+leaving piles of dead and dying in the roadway, for the
+terrible hail of lead poured out upon the invaders could
+not be withstood. Two of the German armoured motor-cars
+were presently brought into action by the Germans,
+who replied with a rapid fire, this being continued for a
+full quarter of an hour without result on either side.
+Then the Germans, finding the defence too strong, again
+retired into Hampstead, amid the ringing cheers of the
+valiant men holding that gate of London. The losses
+of the enemy had been serious, for the whole roadway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+was now strewn with dead; while behind the huge wall
+of paving-stones, overturned carts, and furniture, only
+two men had been killed and one wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Across in the Finchley Road a struggle equally as
+fierce was in progress; but a detachment of the enemy,
+evidently led by some German who had knowledge of
+the intricate side-roads, suddenly appeared in the rear
+of the barricade, and a fierce and bloody hand-to-hand
+conflict ensued. The defenders, however, stood their
+ground, and with the aid of some petrol bombs which
+they held in readiness, they destroyed the venturesome
+detachment almost to a man, though a number of houses
+in the vicinity were set on fire, causing a huge conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>In Highgate Road the attack was a desperate one, the
+enraged Londoners fighting valiantly, the men with arms
+being assisted by the populace themselves. Here again
+deadly petrol bombs had been distributed, and men and
+women hurled them against the Germans. Petrol was
+actually poured from windows upon the heads of the
+enemy, and tow soaked in paraffin and lit flung in
+among them, when in an instant whole areas of the
+streets were ablaze, and the soldiers of the Fatherland
+perished in the roaring flames.</p>
+
+<p>Every device to drive back the invader was tried.
+Though thousands upon thousands had left the northern
+suburbs, many thousands still remained bent on defending
+their homes as long as they had breath. The
+crackle of rifles was incessant, and ever and anon the
+dull roar of a heavy field gun and the sharp rattle of a
+Maxim mingled with the cheers, yells, and shrieks of
+victors and vanquished.</p>
+
+<p>The scene on every side was awful. Men were fighting
+for their lives in desperation.</p>
+
+<p>Around the barricade in Holloway Road the street
+ran with blood; while in Kingsland, in Clapton, in West
+Ham, and Canning Town the enemy were making an
+equally desperate attack, and were being repulsed everywhere.
+London's enraged millions, the Germans were
+well aware, constituted a grave danger. Any detachments
+who carried a barricade by assault&mdash;as, for instance,
+they did one in the Hornsey Road near the station&mdash;were
+quickly set upon by the angry mob and simply
+wiped out of existence.</p>
+
+<p>Until nearly noon desperate conflicts at the barricades<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+continued. The defence was even more effectual than
+was expected; yet, had it not been that Von Kronhelm,
+the German generalissimo, had given orders that the
+troops were not to attempt to advance into London before
+the populace were cowed, there was no doubt that
+each barricade could have been taken in the rear by
+companies avoiding the main roads and proceeding by
+the side streets.</p>
+
+<p>Just before noon, however, it was apparent to Von
+Kronhelm that to storm the barricades would entail
+enormous losses, so strong were they. The men holding
+them had now been reinforced in many cases by regular
+troops, who had come in in flight, and a good
+many guns were now manned by artillerymen.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm had established his headquarters at
+Jack Straw's Castle, from which he could survey the
+giant city through his field-glasses. Below lay the great
+plain of roofs, spires, and domes, stretching away into the
+grey mystic distance, where afar rose the twin towers
+and double arches of the Crystal Palace roof.</p>
+
+<p>London&mdash;the great London&mdash;the capital of the world&mdash;lay
+at his mercy at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>The tall, thin-faced General, with the grizzled moustache
+and the glittering cross at his throat, standing
+apart from his staff, gazed away in silence and in
+thought. It was his first sight of London, and its gigantic
+proportions amazed even him. Again he swept the
+horizon with his glass, and knit his grey brows. He
+remembered the parting words of his Emperor as he
+backed out of that plainly-furnished little private cabinet
+at Potsdam&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You must bombard London and sack it. The
+pride of those English must be broken at all costs. Go,
+Kronhelm&mdash;go&mdash;and may the best of fortune go with
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>The sun was at the noon causing the glass roof of the
+distant Crystal Palace to gleam. Far down in the grey
+haze stood Big Ben, the Campanile, and a thousand
+church spires, all tiny and, from that distance, insignificant.
+From where he stood the sound of crackling
+fire at the barricades reached him, and a little behind
+him a member of his staff was kneeling on the grass with
+his ear bent to the field telephone. Reports were coming
+in fast of the desperate resistance in the streets, and
+these were duly handed to him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He glanced at them, gave a final look at the outstretched
+city that was the metropolis of the world, and
+then gave rapid orders for the withdrawal of the troops
+from the assault of the barricades, and the bombardment
+of London.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the field-telegraphs were clicking, the
+telephone bell was ringing, orders were shouted in
+German in all directions, and next second, with a deafening
+roar, one of the howitzers of the battery in the close
+vicinity to him gave tongue and threw its deadly shell
+somewhere into St. John's Wood.</p>
+
+<p>The rain of death had opened! London was surrounded
+by a semi-circle of fire.</p>
+
+<p>The great gun was followed by a hundred others as,
+at all the batteries along the northern heights, the
+orders were received. Then in a few minutes, from the
+whole line from Chingford to Willesden, roughly about
+twelve miles, came a hail of the most deadly of modern
+projectiles directed upon the most populous parts of the
+metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>Though the Germans trained their guns to carry as far
+as was possible, the zone of fire did not at first it seemed
+extend farther south than a line roughly taken from
+Notting Hill through Bayswater, past Paddington Station,
+along the Marylebone and Euston Roads, then up to
+Highbury, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Walthamstow.</p>
+
+<p>When, however, the great shells began to burst in
+Holloway, Kentish Town, Camden Town, Kilburn,
+Kensal Green, and other places lying within the area
+under fire, a frightful panic ensued. Whole streets were
+shattered by explosions, and fires were breaking out, the
+dark clouds of smoke obscuring the sunlit sky. Roaring
+flame shot up everywhere, unfortunate men, women, and
+children were being blown to atoms by the awful projectiles,
+while others distracted, sought shelter in any
+cellar or underground place they could find, while their
+houses fell about them like packs of cards.</p>
+
+<p>The scenes within that zone of terror were indescribable.</p>
+
+<p>When Paris had been bombarded years ago, artillery
+was not at the perfection it now was, and there had
+been no such high explosive known as in the present
+day. The great shells that were falling everywhere, on
+bursting filled the air with poisonous fumes, as well as
+with deadly fragments. One bursting in a street would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+wreck the rows of houses on either side, and tear a great
+hole in the ground at the same moment. The fronts of
+the houses were torn out like paper, the iron railings
+twisted as though they were wire, and paving-stones
+hurled into the air like straws.</p>
+
+<p>Anything and everything offering a mark to the
+enemy's guns was shattered. St. John's Wood and the
+houses about Regent's Park suffered seriously. A shell
+from Hampstead, falling into the roof of one of the houses
+near the centre of Sussex Place, burst and shattered
+nearly all the houses in the row; while another fell in
+Cumberland Terrace and wrecked a dozen houses in the
+vicinity. In both cases the houses were mostly empty,
+for owners and servants had fled southward across the
+river as soon as it became apparent that the Germans
+actually intended to bombard.</p>
+
+<p>At many parts in Maida Vale shells burst with
+appalling effect. Several of the houses in Elgin Avenue
+had their fronts torn out, and in one, a block of flats,
+there was considerable loss of life in the fire that broke
+out, escape being cut off owing to the stairs having been
+demolished by the explosion. Abbey Road, St. John's
+Wood Road, Acacia Road, and Wellington Road, were
+quickly wrecked.</p>
+
+<p>In Chalk Farm Road, near the Adelaide, a terrified
+woman was dashing across the street to seek shelter
+with a neighbour, when a shell burst right in front of
+her, blowing her to fragments; while in the early stage
+of the bombardment a shell bursting in the Midland
+Hotel at St. Pancras caused a fire which in half an
+hour resulted in the whole hotel and railway terminus
+being a veritable furnace of flame. Through the roof of
+King's Cross Station several shells fell, and burst close
+to the departure platform. The whole glass roof was
+shattered, but beyond that little other material damage
+resulted.</p>
+
+<p>Shots were now falling everywhere, and Londoners
+were staggered. In dense, excited crowds they were
+flying southwards towards the Thames. Some were caught
+in the streets in their flight, and were flung down,
+maimed and dying. The most awful sights were to be
+witnessed in the open streets; men and women blown
+out of recognition, with their clothes singed and torn
+to shreds, and helpless, innocent children lying white
+and dead, their limbs torn away and missing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Euston Station had shared the same fate as St. Pancras,
+and was blazing furiously, sending up a great
+column of black smoke that could be seen by all London.
+So many were the conflagrations now breaking out that
+it seemed as though the enemy were sending into London
+shells filled with petrol, in order to set the streets
+aflame. This, indeed, was proved by an eye-witness,
+who saw a shell fall in Liverpool Road, close to the
+Angel. It burst with a bright red flash, and next second
+the whole of the roadway and neighbouring houses were
+blazing furiously.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the air became black with smoke and dust, and
+the light of day obscured in Northern London. And
+through that obscurity came those whizzing shells in
+an incessant hissing stream, each one, bursting in these
+narrow, thickly populated streets, causing havoc indescribable,
+and a loss of life impossible to accurately calculate.
+Hundreds of people were blown to pieces in the
+open but hundreds more were buried beneath the <i>débris</i>
+of their own cherished homes, now being so ruthlessly
+destroyed and demolished.</p>
+
+<p>On every side was heard the cry: "Stop the war&mdash;stop
+the war!"</p>
+
+<p>But it was, alas! too late&mdash;too late.</p>
+
+<p>Never in the history of the civilised world were there
+such scenes of reckless slaughter of the innocent and
+peace-loving as on that never-to-be-forgotten day when
+Von Kronhelm carried out the orders of his Imperial
+master, and struck terror into the heart of London's
+millions.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V_II" id="CHAPTER_V_II"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RAIN OF DEATH.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Through the whole afternoon the heavy German artillery
+roared, belching forth their fiery vengeance upon
+London.</p>
+
+<p>Hour after hour they pounded away, until St. Pancras
+Church was a heap of ruins and the Foundling Hospital
+a veritable furnace, as well as the Parcel Post Offices and
+the University College in Gower Street. In Hampstead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+Road many of the shops were shattered, and in Tottenham
+Court Road both Maple's and Shoolbred's suffered
+severely, for shells bursting in the centre of the roadway
+had smashed every pane of glass in the fronts of
+both buildings.</p>
+
+<p>The quiet squares of Bloomsbury were in some cases
+great yawning ruins&mdash;houses with their fronts torn out
+revealing the shattered furniture within. Streets were
+indeed, filled with tiles, chimney pots, fallen telegraph
+wires, and <i>débris</i> of furniture, stone steps, paving stones,
+and fallen masonry. Many of the thoroughfares, such as
+the Pentonville Road, Copenhagen Street, and Holloway
+Road, were, at points, quite impassable on account of
+the ruins that blocked them. Into the Northern Hospital,
+in the Holloway Road, a shell fell, shattering one of
+the wards, and killing or maiming every one of the
+patients in the ward in question, while the church in
+Tufnell Park Road was burning fiercely. Upper Holloway,
+Stoke Newington, Highbury, Kingsland, Dalston,
+Hackney, Clapton, and Stamford Hill were being swept
+at long range by the guns on Muswell Hill and Churchyard
+Bottom Hill, and the terror caused in those densely
+populated districts was awful. Hundreds upon hundreds
+lost their lives, or else had a hand, an arm, a leg
+blown away, as those fatal shells fell in never-ceasing
+monotony, especially in Stoke Newington and Kingsland.
+The many side roads lying between Holloway
+Road and Finsbury Park, such as Hornsey Road, Tollington
+Park, Andover, Durham, Palmerston, Campbell,
+and Forthill Roads, Seven Sisters Road, and Isledon
+Road were all devastated, for the guns for a full hour
+seemed to be trained upon them.</p>
+
+<p>The German gunners in all probability neither knew
+nor cared where their shells fell. From their position,
+now that the smoke of the hundreds of fires was now
+rising, they could probably discern but little. Therefore
+the batteries at Hampstead Heath, Muswell Hill, Wood
+Green, Cricklewood, and other places simply sent their
+shells as far distant south as possible into the panic-stricken
+city below. In Mountgrove and Riversdale
+Roads, Highbury Vale, a number of people were killed,
+while a frightful disaster occurred in the church at the
+corner of Park Lane and Milton Road, Stoke Newington.
+Here a number of people had entered, attending a
+special service for the success of the British arms, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+a shell exploded on the roof, bringing it down upon
+them and killing over fifty of the congregation, mostly
+women.</p>
+
+<p>The air, poisoned by the fumes of the deadly explosives
+and full of smoke from the burning buildings,
+was ever and anon rent by explosions as projectiles
+frequently burst in mid-air. The distant roar was incessant,
+like the noise of thunder, while on every hand
+could be heard the shrieks of defenceless women and
+children, or the muttered curses of some man who saw
+his home and all he possessed swept away with a flash
+and a cloud of dust. Nothing could withstand that
+awful cannonade. Walthamstow had been rendered untenable
+in the first half-hour of the bombardment, while
+in Tottenham the loss of life had been very enormous,
+the German gunners at Wood Green having apparently
+turned their first attention upon that place. Churches,
+the larger buildings, the railway station, in fact, anything
+offering a mark, was promptly shattered, being
+assisted by the converging fire from the batteries at
+Chingford.</p>
+
+<p>On the opposite side of London, Notting Hill, Shepherd's
+Bush, and Starch Green, were being reduced to
+ruins by the heavy batteries above Park Royal Station,
+which, firing across Wormwood Scrubs, put their shots
+into Notting Hill, and especially into Holland Park,
+where widespread damage was quickly wrought.</p>
+
+<p>A couple of shells falling into the generating station
+of the Central London Railway, or "Tube," as Londoners
+usually call it, unfortunately caused a disaster
+and loss of life which were appalling. At the first
+sign of the bombardment many thousands of people descended
+into the "Tube" as a safe hiding-place from the
+rain of shell. At first the railway officials closed the
+doors to prevent the inrush, but the terrified populace
+in Shepherd's Bush, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and
+Holborn, in fact, all along the subterranean line, broke
+open the doors and descending by the lifts and stairs
+found themselves in a place which at least gave them
+security against the enemy's fire.</p>
+
+<p>The trains had long ago ceased running, and every
+station was crowded to excess, while many were forced
+upon the line itself, and actually into the tunnels.
+For hours they waited there in eager breathlessness,
+longing to be able to ascend and find the conflict<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+over. Men and women in all stations of life were huddled
+together, while children clung to their parents in wonder;
+yet as hour after hour went by, the report from above
+was still the same&mdash;the Germans had not ceased.</p>
+
+<p>Of a sudden, however, the light failed. The electric
+current had been cut off by the explosion of the shells
+in the generating station at Shepherd's Bush, and the
+lifts were useless! The thousands who, in defiance of
+the orders of the company, had gone below at Shepherd's
+Bush for shelter, found themselves caught like
+rats in a hole. True, there was the faint glimmer of
+an oil light here and there, but, alas! that did not prevent
+an awful panic.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody shouted that the Germans were above and
+had put out the lights, and when it was found that the
+lifts were useless a panic ensued that was indescribable.
+The people could not ascend the stairs, as they were
+blocked by the dense crowd, therefore they pressed into
+the narrow semi-circular tunnels in an eager endeavour
+to reach the next station, where they hoped they might
+escape; but once in there women and children were
+quickly crushed to death, or thrown down and trampled
+upon by the press behind.</p>
+
+<p>In the darkness they fought with each other, pressing
+on and becoming jammed so tightly that many were
+held against the sloping walls until life was extinct.
+Between Shepherd's Bush and Holland Park Stations the
+loss of life was worst, for being within the zone of the
+German fire the people had crushed in frantically in
+thousands, and with one accord a move had unfortunately
+been made into the tunnels, on account of the
+foolish cry that the German were waiting above.</p>
+
+<p>The railway officials were powerless. They had done
+their best to prevent any one going below, but the public
+had insisted, therefore no blame could be laid upon
+them for the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>At Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, and Tottenham Court
+Road Stations, a similar scene was enacted, and dozens
+upon dozens, alas! lost their lives in the panic. Ladies
+and gentlemen from Park Lane, Grosvenor Square, and
+Mayfair had sought shelter at the Marble Arch Station,
+rubbing shoulders with labourers' wives and costerwomen
+from the back streets of Marylebone. When the
+lights failed, a rush had been made into the tunnel to
+reach Oxford Circus, all exit by the stairs being blocked,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+as at Shepherd's Bush, on account of the hundreds
+struggling to get down.</p>
+
+<p>As at Holland Park, the terrified crowd fighting with
+each other became jammed and suffocated in the narrow
+space. The catastrophe was a frightful one, for it was
+afterwards proved that over four hundred and twenty
+persons, mostly weak women and children, lost their
+lives in those twenty minutes of darkness before the
+mains at the generating station, wrecked by the explosions,
+could be repaired.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when the current came up again, the lights revealed
+the frightful mishap, and people struggled to
+emerge from the burrows wherein they had so narrowly
+escaped death.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the Baker Street and Waterloo and other
+"Tubes," every station had also been besieged. The
+whole of the first-mentioned line from north to south
+was the refuge of thousands, who saw in it a safe place
+for retreat. The tunnels of the District Railway, too,
+were filled with terror-stricken multitudes, who descended
+at every station and walked away into a subterranean
+place of safety. No trains had been running for several
+days, therefore there was no danger from that cause.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the bombardment continued with unceasing
+activity.</p>
+
+<p>The Marylebone Station of the Great Central Railway,
+and the Great Central Hotel, which seemed to be only
+just within the line of fire, were wrecked, and about four
+o'clock it was seen that the hotel, like that at St. Pancras,
+was well alight, though no effort could be made to
+save it. At the first two or three alarms of fire the
+Metropolitan Fire Brigade had turned out, but now that
+fresh alarms were reaching the chief station every
+moment, the brigade saw themselves utterly powerless to
+even attempt to save the hundred buildings, great and
+small, now furiously blazing.</p>
+
+<p>Gasometers, especially those of the Gas Light and
+Coke Company at Kensal Green, were marked by the
+German gunners, who sent them into the air; while a
+well-directed petrol bomb at Wormwood Scrubs Prison
+set one great wing of the place alight, and the prisoners
+were therefore released. The rear of Kensington Palace,
+and the fronts of a number of houses in Kensington
+Palace Gardens were badly damaged, while in the dome
+of the Albert Hall was a great, ugly hole.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Shortly after five o'clock occurred a disaster which was
+of national consequence. It could only have been a
+mishap on the part of the Germans, for they would certainly
+never have done such irreparable damage willingly,
+as they destroyed what would otherwise have been
+most valuable of loot.</p>
+
+<p>Shots suddenly began to fall fast in Bloomsbury,
+several of them badly damaging the Hotel Russell and
+the houses near, and it was therefore apparent that one
+of the batteries which had been firing from near Jack
+Straw's Castle had been moved across to Parliament
+Hill, or even to some point south of it, which gave a
+wider range to the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Presently a shell came high through the air and
+fell full upon the British Museum, striking it nearly in the
+centre of the front, and in exploding carried away the
+Grecian-Ionic ornament, and shattered a number of the
+fine stone columns of the dark façade. Ere people in
+the vicinity had realised that the national collection
+of antiques was within range of the enemy's destructive
+projectiles, a second shell crashed into the rear of the
+building, making a great gap in the walls. Then, as
+though all the guns of that particular battery had converged
+in order to destroy our treasure-house of art and
+antiquity, shell after shell crashed into the place in
+rapid succession. Before ten minutes had passed, grey
+smoke began to roll out from beneath the long colonnade
+in front, and growing denser, told its own tale. The
+British Museum was on fire.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was that all. As though to complete the disaster&mdash;although
+it was certain that the Germans were in ignorance&mdash;there
+came one of those terrible shells filled with
+petrol, which, bursting inside the manuscript room, set
+the whole place ablaze. In a dozen different places the
+building seemed to be now alight, especially the library,
+and thus the finest collection of books, manuscripts,
+Greek and Roman and Egyptian antiques, coins, medals,
+and prehistoric relics, lay at the mercy of the flames.</p>
+
+<p>The fire brigade was at once alarmed, and at imminent
+risk of their lives, for shells were still falling in the
+vicinity, they, with the Salvage Corps and the assistance
+of many willing helpers&mdash;some of whom, unfortunately,
+lost their lives in the flames&mdash;saved whatever could be
+saved, throwing the objects out into the railed-off quadrangle
+in front.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The left wing of the Museum, however, could not be
+entered, although, after most valiant efforts on the part
+of the firemen, the conflagrations that had broken out in
+other parts of the building were at length subdued. The
+damage was, however, irreparable, for many unique collections,
+including all the prints and drawings, and
+many of the medićval and historic manuscripts had
+already been consumed.</p>
+
+<p>Shots now began to fall as far south as Oxford Street,
+and all along that thoroughfare from Holborn as far as
+Oxford Circus, widespread havoc was being wrought.
+People fled for their lives back towards Charing Cross
+and the Strand. The Oxford Music Hall was a hopeless
+ruin, while a shell crashing through the roof of Frascati's
+restaurant carried away a portion of the gallery
+and utterly wrecked the whole place. Many of the shops
+in Oxford Street had their roofs damaged or their fronts
+blown out, while a huge block of flats in Great Russell
+Street was practically demolished by three shells striking
+in rapid succession.</p>
+
+<p>Then, to the alarm of all who realised it, shots were
+seen to be passing high over Bloomsbury, south towards
+the Thames. The range had been increased, for, as was
+afterwards known, some heavier guns had now been
+mounted upon Muswell Hill and Hampstead Heath,
+which, carrying to a distance of from six to seven miles,
+placed the City, the Strand, and Westminster within
+the zone of fire. The zone in question stretched roughly
+from Victoria Park through Bethnal Green and Whitechapel,
+across to Southwark, the Borough, Lambeth, and
+Westminster to Kensington, and while the fire upon
+the northern suburbs slackened, great shells now came
+flying through the air into the very heart of London.</p>
+
+<p>The German gunners at Muswell Hill took the dome
+of St. Paul's as a mark, for shells fell constantly in
+Ludgate Hill, in Cheapside, in Newgate Street, and in
+the Churchyard itself. One falling upon the steps of the
+Cathedral tore out two of the columns of the front, while
+another, striking the clock tower just below the face,
+brought down much of the masonry and one of the
+huge bells, with a deafening crash, blocking the road
+with <i>débris</i>. Time after time the great shells went over the
+splendid Cathedral, which the enemy seemed bent upon
+destroying, but the dome remained uninjured, though about
+ten feet of the top of the second tower was carried away.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the Cannon Street side of St. Paul's a great block
+of drapery warehouses had caught fire, and was burning
+fiercely, while the drapers and other shops on the
+Paternoster Row side all had their windows shattered
+by the constant detonations. Within the Cathedral two
+shells that had fallen through the roof had wrought
+havoc with the beautiful reredos and the choir-stalls,
+many of the fine windows being also wrecked by the
+explosions.</p>
+
+<p>Whole rows of houses in Cheapside suffered, while
+both the Mansion House, where the London flag was
+flying, and the Royal Exchange were severely damaged
+by a number of shells which fell in the vicinity. The
+equestrian statue in front of the Exchange had been
+overturned, while the Exchange itself showed a great
+yawning hole in the corner of the façade next Cornhill.
+At the Bank of England a fire had occurred, but had
+fortunately been extinguished by the strong force of
+Guards in charge, though they gallantly risked their
+lives in so doing. Lothbury, Gresham Street, Old Broad
+Street, Lombard Street, Gracechurch Street, and Leadenhall
+Street were all more or less scenes of fire, havoc, and
+destruction. The loss of life was not great in this neighbourhood,
+for most people had crossed the river or gone
+westward, but the high explosives used by the Germans
+were falling upon shops and warehouses with appalling
+effect.</p>
+
+<p>Masonry was torn about like paper, ironwork twisted
+like wax, woodwork shattered to a thousand splinters
+as, time after time, a great projectile hissed in the air
+and effected its errand of destruction. A number of the
+wharves on each side of the river were soon alight, and
+both Upper and Lower Thames Streets were soon impassable
+on account of huge conflagrations. A few shells
+fell in Shoreditch, Houndsditch, and Whitechapel, and
+these, in most cases, caused loss of life in those densely
+populated districts.</p>
+
+<p>Westward, however, as the hours went on, the howitzers
+at Hampstead began to drop high explosive shells
+into the Strand, around Charing Cross, and in Westminster.
+This weapon had a calibre of 4.14 inches, and
+threw a projectile of 35 lbs. The tower of St. Clement
+Dane's Church crashed to the ground and blocked the
+roadway opposite Milford Lane; the pointed roof of
+the clock-tower of the Law Courts was blown away, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+the granite fronts of the two banks opposite the Law
+Courts entrance were torn out by a shell which exploded
+in the footpath before them.</p>
+
+<p>Shells fell time after time, in and about the Law
+Courts themselves, committing immense damage to the
+interior, while a shell bursting upon the roof of Charing
+Cross Station, rendered it a ruin as picturesque as
+it had been in December, 1905. The National Liberal
+Club was burning furiously; the Hotel Cecil and the
+Savoy did not escape, but no material damage was done
+to them. The Garrick Theatre had caught fire; a shot
+carried away the globe above the Coliseum, and the
+Shot Tower beside the Thames crashed into the river.</p>
+
+<p>The front of the Grand Hotel in Trafalgar Square
+showed, in several places, great holes where the shell
+had struck, and a shell bursting at the foot of Nelson's
+Monument turned over one of the lions&mdash;overthrowing
+the emblem of Britain's might!</p>
+
+<p>The clubs in Pall Mall were, in one or two instances,
+wrecked, notably the Reform, the Junior Carlton, and the
+Athenćum, into each of which shells fell through the
+roof and exploded within.</p>
+
+<p>From the number of projectiles that fell in the vicinity
+of the Houses of Parliament, it was apparent that the
+German gunners could see the Royal Standard flying
+from the Victoria Tower, and were making it their
+mark. In the west front of Westminster Abbey several
+shots crashed, doing enormous damage to the grand old
+pile. The hospital opposite was set alight, while the
+Westminster Palace Hotel was severely damaged, and
+two shells falling into St. Thomas's Hospital created
+a scene of indescribable terror in one of the overcrowded
+casualty wards.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly one of the German high explosive shells
+burst on the top of the Victoria Tower, blowing away all
+four of the pinnacles, and bringing down the flagstaff.
+Big Ben served as another mark for the artillery at
+Muswell Hill and several shots struck it, tearing out
+one of the huge clock faces and blowing away the
+pointed apex of the tower. Suddenly, however, two
+great shells struck it right in the centre, almost simultaneously,
+near the base, and made such a hole in the
+huge pile of masonry that it was soon seen to have been
+rendered unsafe, though it did not fall.</p>
+
+<p>Shot after shot struck other portions of the Houses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+of Parliament, breaking the windows and carrying away
+pinnacles.</p>
+
+<p>One of the twin towers of Westminster Abbey fell a
+few moments later, and another shell, crashing into the
+choir, completely wrecked Edward the Confessor's shrine,
+the Coronation Chair, and all the objects of antiquity in
+the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>The old Horse Guards escaped injury, but one of the
+cupolas of the new War Office opposite was blown away,
+while shortly afterwards a fire broke out in the new
+Local Government Board and Education Offices. Number
+10, Downing Street, the chief centre of the Government,
+had its windows all blown in&mdash;a grim accident, no
+doubt&mdash;the same explosion shattering several windows
+in the Foreign Office.</p>
+
+<p>Many shells fell in St. James's and Hyde Parks, exploding
+harmlessly, but others, passing across St.
+James's Park, crashed into that high building, Queen
+Anne's Mansions, causing fearful havoc. Somerset
+House, Covent Garden Market, Drury Lane Theatre, and
+the Gaiety Theatre and Restaurant all suffered more
+or less, and two of the bronze footguards guarding
+the Wellington Statue at Hyde Park Corner were blown
+many yards away. Around Holborn Circus immense
+damage was being caused, and several shells bursting on
+the Viaduct itself blew great holes in the bridge.</p>
+
+<p>So widespread, indeed, was the havoc, that it is impossible
+to give a detailed account of the day's terrors. If
+the public buildings suffered, the damage to property
+of householders and the ruthless wrecking of quiet English
+homes may well be imagined. The people had been
+driven out from the zone of fire, and had left their possessions
+to the mercy of the invaders.</p>
+
+<p>South of the Thames very little damage was done.
+The German howitzers and long-range guns could not
+reach so far. One or two shots fell in York Road, Lambeth,
+and in the Waterloo and Westminster Bridge
+Roads, but they did little damage beyond breaking all
+the windows in the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>When would it end? Where would it end?</p>
+
+<p>Half the population of London had fled across the
+bridges, and from Denmark Hill, Champion Hill, Norwood,
+and the Crystal Palace they could see the smoke
+issuing from the hundred fires.</p>
+
+<p>London was cowed. These northern barricades, still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+held by bodies of valiant men, were making a last desperate
+stand, though the streets ran with blood. Every
+man fought well and bravely for his country, though
+he went to his death. A thousand acts of gallant heroism
+on the part of Englishmen were done that day, but
+alas! all to no purpose. The Germans were at our gates,
+and were not to be denied.</p>
+
+<p>As daylight commenced to fade the dust and smoke
+became suffocating. And yet the guns pounded away
+with a monotonous regularity that appalled the helpless
+populace. Overhead there was a quick whizzing in the
+air, a deafening explosion, and as the masonry came
+crashing down the atmosphere was filled with poisonous
+fumes that half asphyxiated all those in the vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto the enemy had treated us, on the whole,
+humanely, but finding that desperate resistance in the
+northern suburbs, Von Kronhelm was carrying out
+the Emperor's parting injunction. He was breaking
+the pride of our own dear London, even at the sacrifice
+of thousands of innocent lives.</p>
+
+<p>The scenes in the streets within that zone of awful
+fire baffled description. They were too sudden, too
+dramatic, too appalling. Death and destruction were
+everywhere, and the people of London now realised for
+the first time what the horrors of war really meant.</p>
+
+<p>Dusk was falling. Above the pall of smoke from
+burning buildings the sun was setting with a blood-red
+light. From the London streets, however, this evening
+sky was darkened by the clouds of smoke and dust. Yet
+the cannonade continued, each shell that came hurtling
+through the air exploding with deadly effect and spreading
+destruction on all hands.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the barricades at the north had not
+escaped Von Kronhelm's attention. About four o'clock
+he gave orders by field telegraph for certain batteries to
+move down and attack them.</p>
+
+<p>This was done soon after five o'clock, and when the
+German guns began to pour their deadly rain of shell
+into those hastily improvised defences there commenced
+a slaughter of the gallant defenders that was horrible.
+At each of the barricades shell after shell was directed,
+and very quickly breaches were made. Then upon the
+defenders themselves the fire was directed&mdash;a withering,
+awful fire from quick-firing guns which none could withstand.
+The streets, with their barricades swept away,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+were strewn with mutilated corpses. Hundreds upon
+hundreds had attempted to make a last stand, rallied by
+the Union Jack they waved above, but a shell exploding
+in their midst had sent them to instant eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Many a gallant deed was done that day by patriotic
+Londoners in defence of their homes and loved ones&mdash;many
+a deed that should have earned the V.C.&mdash;but in
+nearly all cases the patriot who had stood up and faced
+the foe had gone to straight and certain death.</p>
+
+<p>Till seven o'clock the dull roar of the guns in the north
+continued, and people across the Thames knew that
+London was still being destroyed, nay, pulverised. Then
+with accord came a silence&mdash;the first silence since the
+hot noon.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm's field telegraph at Jack Straw's Castle
+had ticked the order to cease firing.</p>
+
+<p>All the barricades had been broken.</p>
+
+<p>London lay burning&mdash;at the mercy of the German eagle.</p>
+
+<p>And as the darkness fell the German Commander-in-Chief
+looked again through his glasses, and saw the red flames
+leaping up in dozens of places, where whole blocks of
+shops and buildings, public institutions, whole streets in
+some cases, were being consumed.</p>
+
+<p>London&mdash;the proud capital of the world, the "home"
+of the Englishman&mdash;was at last ground beneath the iron
+heel of Germany!</p>
+
+<p>And all, alas! due to one cause alone&mdash;the careless
+insular apathy of the Englishman himself!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI_II" id="CHAPTER_VI_II"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>FALL OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Outside London the September night had settled down
+on the blood-stained field of battle. With a pale light
+the moon had risen, partly hidden by chasing clouds,
+her white rays mingling with the lurid glare of the fires
+down in the great terrified Metropolis below. Northward,
+from Hampstead across to Barnet&mdash;indeed, over
+that wide district where the final battle had been so
+hotly fought&mdash;the moonbeams shone upon the pallid
+faces of the fallen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Along the German line of investment there had now
+followed upon the roar of battle an uncanny silence.</p>
+
+<p>Away to the west, however, there was still heard the
+growling of distant conflict, now mounting into a low
+crackling of musketry fire, and again dying away in
+muffled sounds. The last remnant of the British Army
+was being hotly pursued in the direction of Staines.</p>
+
+<p>London was invested and bombarded, but not yet
+taken.</p>
+
+<p>For a long time the German Field Marshal had stood
+alone upon Hampstead Heath apart from his staff,
+watching the great tongues of flame leaping up here and
+there in the distant darkness. His grey, shaggy brows
+were contracted, his thin aquiline face thoughtful, his
+hard mouth twitching nervously, unable to fully conceal
+the strain of his own feelings as conqueror of the English.
+Von Kronhelm's taciturnity had long ago been proverbial.
+The Kaiser had likened him to Moltke, and
+had declared that "he could be silent in seven languages."
+His gaze was one of musing, and yet he was the most
+active of men, and perhaps the cleverest strategist in
+all Europe. Often during the campaign he had astonished
+his aides-de-camp by his untiring energy, for sometimes
+he would even visit the outposts in person. On
+many occasions he had actually crept up to the most
+advanced posts at great personal risk to himself, so
+anxious had he been to see with his own eyes. Such
+visits from the Field Marshal himself were not always
+welcome to the German outposts, who, as soon as they
+showed the least sign of commotion consequent upon the
+visit, were at once swept by a withering English fire.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he now stood there the conqueror. And while
+many of his officers were installing themselves in comfortable
+quarters in houses about North End, North
+Hill, South Hill, Muswell Hill, Roslyn Hill, Fitzjohn's
+Avenue, Netherhall, and Maresfield Gardens, and other
+roads in that vicinity, the great Commander was still
+alone upon the Heath, having taken nothing save a nip
+from his flask since his coffee at dawn.</p>
+
+<p>Time after time telegraphic despatches were handed
+to him from Germany, and telephonic reports from his
+various positions around London, but he received them
+all without comment. He read, he listened, but he said
+nothing.</p>
+
+<p>For a full hour he remained there, strolling up and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+down alone in quick impatience. Then, as though suddenly
+making up his mind, he called three members of
+his staff, and gave orders for an entry into London.</p>
+
+<p>This, as he knew, was the signal for a terrible and
+bloody encounter. Bugles sounded. Men and officers,
+who had believed that the storm and stress of the day
+were over, and that they were entitled to rest, found
+themselves called upon to fight their way into the city
+that they knew would be defended by an irate and
+antagonistic populace.</p>
+
+<p>Still, the order had been given, and it must be obeyed.
+They had expected that the advance would be at least
+made at dawn, but evidently Von Kronhelm feared that
+six hours' delay might necessitate more desperate fighting.
+He intended, now that London was cowed, that she
+should be entirely crushed. The orders of his master the
+Kaiser were to that effect.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, shortly before nine o'clock the first detachments
+of German infantry marched along Spaniards
+Road, and down Roslyn Hill to Haverstock Hill, where
+they were at once fired upon from behind the <i>débris</i> of
+the great barricade across the junction of Prince of
+Wales Road and Haverstock Hill. This place was held
+strongly by British Infantry, many members of the
+Legion of Frontiersmen&mdash;distinguished only by the little
+bronze badge in their buttonholes&mdash;and also by hundreds
+of citizens armed with rifles.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty Germans dropped at the first volley, and next
+instant a Maxim, concealed in the first floor of a neighbouring
+house, spat forth its fire upon the invaders with
+deadly effect. The German bugle sounded the "Advance
+rapidly," and the men emulously ran forward, shouting
+loud hurrahs. Major van Wittich, who had distinguished
+himself very conspicuously in the fighting round
+Enfield Chase, fell, being shot through the lung when
+just within a few yards of the half-ruined barricade.
+Londoners were fighting desperately, shouting and cheering.
+The standard-bearer of the 4th Battalion of the
+Brunswick Infantry Regiment, No. 92, fell severely
+wounded, and the standard was instantly snatched from
+him in the awful hand-to-hand fighting which that
+moment ensued.</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes later the streets were running with
+blood, for hundreds, both Germans and British, lay
+dead and dying. Every Londoner struggled valiantly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+until shot down; yet the enemy, always reinforced,
+pressed forward, until ten minutes later, the defenders
+were driven out of their position, and the house from
+which the Maxim was sending forth its deadly hail had
+been entered and the gun captured. Volley after volley
+was still, however, poured out on the heads of the
+storming party, but already the pioneers were at work
+clearing a way for the advance, and very soon the Germans
+had surmounted the obstruction and were within
+London.</p>
+
+<p>For a short time the Germans halted, then, at a signal
+from their officers, they moved along both roads, again
+being fired upon from every house in the vicinity, many
+of the defenders having retired to continue their defence
+from the windows. The enemy therefore turned their
+attention to these houses, and after desperate struggles
+house after house was taken, those of the defenders not
+wearing uniform being shot down without mercy. To
+such no quarter was given.</p>
+
+<p>The contest now became a most furious one. Britons
+and Germans fought hand to hand. A battalion of the
+Brunswick Infantry with some riflemen of the Guard
+took several houses by rush in Chalk Farm Road; but
+in many cases the Germans were shot by their own
+comrades. Quite a number of the enemy's officers were
+picked off by the Frontiersmen, those brave fellows who
+had seen service in every corner of the world, and who
+were now in the windows and upon roofs. Thus the
+furious fight from house to house proceeded.</p>
+
+<p>This exciting conflict was practically characteristic of
+what was at that moment happening in fifty other spots
+along the suburbs of North London. The obstinate resistance
+which we made against the Germans was met
+with equally obstinate aggression. There was no surrender.
+Londoners fell and died fighting to the very
+last.</p>
+
+<p>Against those well-trained Teutons in such overwhelming
+masses we, however, could have no hope of success.
+The rushes of the infantry and rifles of the Guards were
+made skilfully, and slowly but surely broke down all
+opposition.</p>
+
+<p>The barricade in the Kentish Town Road was defended
+with valiant heroism. The Germans were, as in Chalk
+Farm Road, compelled to fight their way foot by foot,
+losing heavily all the time. But here, at length, as at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+other points, the barricade was taken, and the defenders
+chased, and either taken prisoner or else ruthlessly
+shot down. A body of citizens armed with rifles
+were, after the storming of the barricades in question,
+driven back into Park Street, and there, being caught
+between two bodies of Germans, slaughtered to a man.
+Through those unlit side streets between the Kentish
+Town and Camden Roads&mdash;namely, the Lawford, Bartholomew,
+Rochester, Caversham, and Leighton Roads&mdash;there
+was much skirmishing, and many on both sides
+fell in the bloody encounter. A thousand deeds of
+bravery were done that night, but were unrecorded.
+Before the barricade in Holloway Road&mdash;which had been
+strongly repaired after the breach made in it by the
+German shells&mdash;the enemy lost very heavily, for the
+three Maxims which had there been mounted did awful
+execution. The invaders, however, seeing the strong
+defence, fell back for full twenty minutes, and then,
+making another rush, hurled petrol bombs into the
+midst of our men.</p>
+
+<p>A frightful holocaust was the result. Fully a hundred
+of the poor fellows were literally burned alive; while
+the neighbouring houses, being set in flames, compelled
+the citizen free-shooters to quickly evacuate their position.
+Against such terrible missiles even the best trained troops
+cannot stand, therefore no wonder that all opposition
+at that point was soon afterwards swept away, and the
+pioneers quickly opened the road for the victorious
+legions of the Kaiser.</p>
+
+<p>And so in that prosaic thoroughfare, the Holloway
+Road, brave men fought gallantly and died, while a
+Scotch piper paced the pavement sharply, backwards
+and forwards, with his colours flying. Then, alas! came
+the red flash, the loud explosions in rapid succession,
+and the next instant the whole street burst into a veritable
+sea of flame.</p>
+
+<p>High Street, Kingsland, was also the scene of several
+fierce conflicts; but here the Germans decidedly got the
+worst of it. The whole infuriated population seemed to
+emerge suddenly from the side streets of the Kingsland
+Road on the appearance of the detachment of the enemy,
+and the latter were practically overwhelmed, notwithstanding
+the desperate fight they made. Then ringing
+cheers went up from the defenders.</p>
+
+<p>The Germans were given no quarter by the populace,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+all of whom were armed with knives or guns, the women
+mostly with hatchets, crowbars, or edged tools.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the Germans fled through the side streets
+towards Mare Street, and were hotly pursued, the
+majority of them being done to death by the maddened
+mob. The streets in this vicinity were literally a
+slaughterhouse.</p>
+
+<p>The barricades in Finchley Road, and in High Road,
+Kilburn, were also very strongly held, and at the first-named
+it was quite an hour before the enemy's pioneers
+were able to make a breach. Indeed, then only after
+a most hotly contested conflict, in which there were
+frightful losses on both sides. Petrol bombs were here
+also used by the enemy with appalling effect, the road
+being afterwards cleared by a couple of Maxims.</p>
+
+<p>Farther towards Regent's Park the houses were, however,
+full of sharpshooters, and before these could be dislodged
+the enemy had again suffered severely. The entry into
+London was both difficult and perilous, and the enemy
+suffered great losses everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>After the breaking down of the defences in High Road,
+Kilburn, the men who had held them retired to the
+Town Hall, opposite Kilburn Station, and from the
+windows fired at the passing battalions, doing much
+execution. All efforts to dislodge them proved unavailing,
+until the place was taken by storm, and a fearful
+hand to hand fight was the outcome. Eventually the
+Town Hall was taken, after a most desperate resistance,
+and ten minutes later wilfully set fire to and burned.</p>
+
+<p>In the Harrow Road and those cross streets between
+Kensal Green and Maida Vale the advancing Germans
+shared much the same fate as about Hackney. Surrounded
+by the armed populace, hundreds upon hundreds
+of them were killed, struck down by hatchets,
+stabbed by knives, or shot with revolvers, the crowd
+shouting, "Down with the Germans! Kill them! Kill
+them!"</p>
+
+<p>Many of the London women now became perfect furies.
+So incensed were they at the wreck of their homes and
+the death of their loved ones that they rushed wildly
+into the fray with no thought of peril, only of bitter
+revenge. A German whenever caught was at once killed.
+In those bloody street fights the Teutons got separated
+from their comrades and were quickly surrounded and
+done to death.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;">
+<a href="images/i195-hi.png"><img src="images/i195.png" width="494" height="400" alt="LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Across the whole of the northern suburbs the scenes of
+bloodshed that night were full of horror, as men fought
+in the ruined streets, climbing over the smouldering
+<i>débris</i>, over the bodies of their comrades, and shooting
+from behind ruined walls. As Von Kronhelm had
+anticipated, his Army was compelled to fight its way
+into London.</p>
+
+<p>The streets all along the line of the enemy's advance
+were now strewn with dead and dying. London was
+doomed.</p>
+
+<p>The Germans now coming on in increasing, nay, unceasing
+numbers, were leaving behind them everywhere
+the trail of blood. Shattered London stood
+staggered.</p>
+
+<p>Though the resistance had been long and desperate,
+the enemy had again triumphed by reason of his sheer
+weight of numbers.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, even though he were actually in our own dear
+London, our people did not mean that he should establish
+himself without any further opposition. Therefore,
+though the barricades had been taken, the Germans
+found in every unexpected corner men who shot at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+them, and Maxims which spat forth their leaden showers
+beneath which hundreds upon hundreds of Teutons
+fell.</p>
+
+<p>Yet they advanced, still fighting. The scenes of
+carnage were awful and indescribable, no quarter being
+given to any armed citizens not in uniform, be they men,
+women, or children.</p>
+
+<p>The German Army was carrying out the famous proclamation
+of Field Marshal von Kronhelm to the letter!</p>
+
+<p>They were marching on to the sack of the wealthiest
+city of the world.</p>
+
+<p>It wanted still an hour of midnight. London was a
+city of shadow, of fire, of death. The silent streets,
+whence all the inhabitants had fled in panic, echoed to
+the heavy tread of German infantry, the clank of arms,
+and the ominous rumble of guns. Ever and anon an
+order was shouted in German as the Kaiser's legions
+went forward to occupy the proud capital of the world.
+The enemy's plans appeared to have been carefully prepared.
+The majority of the troops coming from the
+direction of Hampstead and Finchley entered Regent's
+Park, whence preparations were at once commenced for
+encampment; while the remainder, together with those
+who came down the Camden, Caledonian, and Holloway
+Roads, turned along Euston Road and Oxford Street to
+Hyde Park, where a huge camp was formed, stretching
+from the Marble Arch right along the Park Lane side
+away to Knightsbridge.</p>
+
+<p>Officers were very soon billeted in the best houses in
+Park Lane and about Mayfair&mdash;houses full of works of
+art and other valuables that had only that morning been
+left to the mercy of the invaders. From the windows
+and balconies of their quarters in Park Lane they could
+overlook the encampment&mdash;a position which had evidently
+been purposely chosen.</p>
+
+<p>Other troops who came in never-ending procession by
+the Bow Road, Roman Road, East India Dock Road,
+Victoria Park Road, Mare Street, and Kingsland Road
+all converged into the City itself, except those who had
+come from Edmonton down the Kingsland Road, and
+who, passing along Old Street and Clerkenwell, occupied
+the Charing Cross and Westminster districts.</p>
+
+<p>At midnight a dramatic scene was enacted when, in
+the blood-red glare of some blazing buildings in the
+vicinity, a large body of Prince Louis Ferdinand of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+Prussia's 2nd Magdeburg Regiment suddenly swept up
+Threadneedle Street into the great open space before the
+Mansion House, whereon the London flag was still flying
+aloft in the smoke-laden air. They halted across the
+junction of Cheapside with Queen Victoria Street when,
+at the same moment, another huge body of the Uhlans
+of Altmark and Magdeburg Hussars came clattering along
+Cornhill, followed a moment later by battalion after
+battalion of the 4th and 8th Thuringen Infantry out of
+Moorgate Street, whose uniforms showed plain traces of
+the desperate encounters of the past week.</p>
+
+<p>The great body of Germans had halted before the
+Mansion House, when General von Kleppen, the commander
+of the IVth Army Corps&mdash;who, it will be remembered,
+had landed at Weybourne&mdash;accompanied by
+Lieutenant-General von Mirbach, of the 8th Division,
+and Frölich, commander of the cavalry brigade, ascended
+the steps of the Mansion House and entered.</p>
+
+<p>Within, Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, who
+wore his robes and jewel of office, received them in that
+great, sombre room wherein so many momentous questions
+concerning the welfare of the British Empire had
+been discussed. The representative of the City of London,
+a short, stout, gray-haired man, was pale and agitated.
+He bowed, but he could not speak.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kleppen, however, a smart, soldierly figure in his
+service uniform and many ribbons, bowed in response,
+and in very fair English said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I regret, my Lord Mayor, that it is necessary for us
+to thus disturb you, but as you are aware, the British
+Army has been defeated, and the German Army has
+entered London. I have orders from Field Marshal von
+Kronhelm to place you under arrest, and to hold you
+as hostage for the good behaviour of the City during
+the progress of the negotiations for peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Arrest!" gasped the Lord Mayor. "You intend to
+arrest me?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be irksome, I assure you," smiled the
+German commander grimly. "At least, we shall make
+it as comfortable as possible. I shall place a guard
+here, and the only restriction I place upon you is that
+you shall neither go out nor hold any communication
+with any one outside these walls."</p>
+
+<p>"But my wife?"</p>
+
+<p>"If her ladyship is here I would advise that she leave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+the place. It is better that, for the present, she should
+be out of London."</p>
+
+<p>The civic officials, who had all assembled for the
+dramatic ceremonial, looked at each other in blank
+amazement. The Lord Mayor was a prisoner!</p>
+
+<p>Sir Claude divested himself of his jewel of office, and
+handed it to his servant to replace in safe keeping. Then
+he took off his robe, and having done so, advanced
+closer to the German officers, who, treating him with
+every courtesy, consulted with him, expressing regret
+at the terrible loss of life that had been occasioned by
+the gallant defence of the barricades.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kleppen gave the Lord Mayor a message from
+Von Kronhelm, and urged him to issue a proclamation
+forbidding any further opposition on the part of the
+populace of London. With the three officers Sir Claude
+talked for a quarter of an hour, while into the Mansion
+House there entered a strong guard of men of the 2nd
+Magdeburg, who quickly established themselves in the
+most comfortable quarters. German double sentries
+stood at every exit and in every corridor, and when a
+few minutes later the flag was hauled down and the
+German Imperial Standard run up, wild shouts of triumph
+rang from every throat of the densely packed body of
+troops assembled outside.</p>
+
+<p>The joyous "hurrahs!" reached the Lord Mayor, still
+in conversation with Von Kleppen, Von Mirbach, and
+Frölich, and in an instant he knew the truth. The
+Teutons were saluting their own standard. The civic
+flag had, either accidentally or purposely, been flung
+down into the roadway below, and was trampled in the
+dust. A hundred enthusiastic Germans, disregarding the
+shouts of their officers, fought for the flag, and it was
+instantly torn to shreds, and little pieces preserved as
+souvenirs.</p>
+
+<p>Shout after shout in German went up from the wildly
+excited troops of the Kaiser when the light wind caused
+their own flag to flutter out, and then, as with one voice,
+the whole body of troops united in singing the German
+National Hymn.</p>
+
+<p>The scene was weird and most impressive. London
+had fallen.</p>
+
+<p>Around were the wrecked buildings, some still smouldering,
+some emitting flame. Behind lay the Bank of
+England with untold wealth locked within: to the right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+the damaged façade of the Royal Exchange was illuminated
+by a flickering light, which also shone upon the
+piled arms of the enemy's troops, causing them to flash
+and gleam.</p>
+
+<p>In those silent, narrow City streets not an Englishman
+was to be seen. Every one save the Lord Mayor and his
+official attendants had fled.</p>
+
+<p>The Government Offices in Whitehall were all in the
+hands of the enemy. In the Foreign Office, the India
+Office, the War Office, the Colonial Office, the Admiralty,
+and other minor offices were German guards. Sentries
+stood at the shattered door of the famous No. 10, Downing
+Street, and all up Whitehall was lined with infantry.</p>
+
+<p>German officers were in charge of all our public offices,
+and all officials who had remained on duty were firmly
+requested to leave. Sentries were stationed to guard the
+archives of every department, and precautions were taken
+to guard against any further outbreaks of fire.</p>
+
+<p>Across at the Houses of Parliament, with their damaged
+towers, the whole great pile of buildings was surrounded
+by triumphant troops, while across at the fine
+old Abbey of Westminster was, alas! a different scene.
+The interior had been turned into a temporary hospital,
+and upon mattresses placed upon the floor were hundreds
+of poor maimed creatures, some groaning, some
+ghastly pale in the last moments of agony, some silent,
+their white lips moving in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>On one side in the dim light lay the men, some in
+uniform, others inoffensive citizens, who had been struck
+by cruel shells or falling <i>débris</i>; on the other side lay
+the women, some mere girls, and even children.</p>
+
+<p>Flitting everywhere in the half light were nurses,
+charitable ladies, and female helpers, with numbers of
+doctors, all doing their best to alleviate the terrible
+sufferings of that crowded place, the walls of which
+showed plain traces of the severe bombardment. In
+places the roof was open to the angry sky, while many
+of the windows were gaunt and shattered.</p>
+
+<p>A clergyman's voice somewhere was repeating a prayer
+in a low, distinct voice, so that all could hear, yet above
+all were the sighs and groans of the sufferers, and as
+one walked through that prostrate assembly of victims
+more than one was seen to have already gone to that
+land that lies beyond the human ken.</p>
+
+<p>The horrors of war were never more forcibly illustrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+than in Westminster Abbey that night, for the grim
+hand of death was there, and men and women lying with
+their faces to the roof looked into Eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Every hospital in London was full, therefore the overflow
+had been placed in the various churches. From
+the battlefields along the northern defences, Epping,
+Edmonton, Barnet, Enfield, and other places where the
+last desperate stand had been made, and from the barricades
+in the northern suburbs ambulance waggons were
+continually arriving full of wounded, all of whom were
+placed in the churches and in any large public buildings
+which had remained undamaged by the bombardment.</p>
+
+<p>St. George's, Hanover Square, once the scene of many
+smart weddings, was now packed with unfortunate
+wounded soldiers, British and German lying side by
+side, while in the Westminster Cathedral and the Oratory
+at Brompton the Roman Catholic priests made hundreds
+of poor fellows as comfortable as they could,
+many members of the religious sisterhoods acting as
+nurses. St. James's Church in Piccadilly, St. Pancras
+Church, Shoreditch Church, and St. Mary Abbotts', Kensington,
+were all improvised hospitals, and many grim
+and terrible scenes of agony were witnessed during that
+long eventful night.</p>
+
+<p>The light was dim everywhere, for there were only
+paraffin lamps, and by their feeble illumination many a
+difficult operation had to be performed by those London
+surgeons who one and all had come forward, and were
+now working unceasingly. Renowned specialists from
+Harley Street, Cavendish Square, Queen Ann Street,
+and the vicinity were directing the work in all the improvised
+hospitals, men whose names were world-famous
+kneeling and performing operations upon poor unfortunate
+private soldiers or upon some labourer who had taken up
+a gun in defence of his home.</p>
+
+<p>Of lady helpers there were hundreds. From Mayfair
+and Belgravia, from Kensington and Bayswater, ladies
+had come forward offering their services, and their devotion
+to the wounded was everywhere apparent. In St.
+Andrew's, Wells Street, St. Peter's, Eaton Square, in
+the Scottish Church in Crown Court, Covent Garden, in
+the Temple Church, in the Union Chapel in Upper Street,
+in the Chapel Royal, Savoy, in St. Clement Danes in
+the Strand, and in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, there were
+wounded in greater or less numbers, but the difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+of treating them were enormous owing to the lack of
+necessaries for the performance of operations.</p>
+
+<p>Weird and striking were the scenes within those hallowed
+places, as, in the half darkness with the long,
+deep shadows, men struggled for life or gave to the
+women kneeling at their side their name, their address,
+or a last dying message to one they loved.</p>
+
+<p>London that night was a city of shattered homes, of
+shattered hopes, of shattered lives.</p>
+
+<p>The silence of death had fallen everywhere. The only
+sounds that broke the quiet within those churches were
+the sighs, groans, and faint murmurings of the dying.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII_II" id="CHAPTER_VII_II"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>GERMANS SACKING THE BANKS.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Day dawned dismally and wet on September the 21st.</p>
+
+<p>Over London the sky was still obscured by the smoke-pall,
+though as the night passed many of the raging fires
+had spent themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Trafalgar Square was filled with troops who had piled
+arms and were standing at their ease. The men were
+laughing and smoking, enjoying a rest after the last
+forward movement and the street fighting of that night
+of horrors.</p>
+
+<p>The losses on both sides during the past three days
+had been enormous; of the number of London citizens
+killed and wounded it was impossible to calculate. There
+had, in the northern suburbs, been wholesale butchery
+everywhere, so gallantly had the barricades been defended.</p>
+
+<p>Great camps had now been formed in Hyde Park, in
+the Green Park between Constitution Hill and Piccadilly,
+and in St. James's Park. The Magdeburg Fusiliers
+were being formed up on the Horse Guards Parade, and
+from the flagstaff there now fluttered the ensign of the
+commander of an army corps, in place of the British
+flag. A large number of Uhlans and Cuirassiers were
+encamped at the west end of the Park, opposite Buckingham
+Palace, and both the Wellington Barracks and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+Cavalry Barracks at Knightsbridge were occupied by
+Germans.</p>
+
+<p>Many officers were already billeted in the Savoy, the
+Cecil, the Carlton, the Grand, and Victoria hotels, while
+the British Museum, the National Gallery, the South
+Kensington Museum, the Tower, and a number of other
+collections of pictures and antiques were all guarded
+strongly by German sentries. The enemy had thus
+seized our national treasures.</p>
+
+<p>London awoke to find herself a German city.</p>
+
+<p>In the streets lounging groups of travel-worn sons of
+the Fatherland were everywhere, and German was heard
+on every hand. Every ounce of foodstuff was being
+rapidly commandeered by hundreds of foraging parties,
+who went to each grocer's, baker's, or provision shop
+in the various districts, seized all they could find, valued
+it, and gave official receipts for it.</p>
+
+<p>The price of food in London that morning was absolutely
+prohibitive, as much as two shillings being asked
+for a twopenny loaf. The Germans had, it was afterwards
+discovered, been all the time, since the Sunday when
+they landed, running over large cargoes of supplies
+of all sorts to the Essex, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk
+coasts, where they had established huge supply bases,
+well knowing that there was not sufficient food in the
+country to feed their armed hordes in addition to the
+population.</p>
+
+<p>Shops in Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Edgware
+Road, Oxford Street, Camden Road, and Harrow Road
+were systematically visited by the foraging parties, who
+commenced their work at dawn. Those places that were
+closed and their owners absent were at once broken
+open, and everything seized and carted to either Hyde
+Park or St. James's Park, for though Londoners might
+starve, the Kaiser's troops intended to be fed.</p>
+
+<p>In some cases a patriotic shopkeeper attempted to resist.
+Indeed, in more than one case a tradesman wilfully
+set his shop on fire rather than its contents should fall
+into the enemy's hands. In other cases the tradesmen
+who received the official German receipts burned them in
+contempt before the officer's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The guidance of these foraging parties was, in very
+many cases, in the hands of Germans in civilian clothes,
+and it was now seen how complete and helpful the
+enemy's system of espionage had been in London. Most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+of these men were Germans who, having served in the
+army, had come over to England and obtained employment
+as waiters, clerks, bakers, hairdressers, and private
+servants, and being bound by their oath to the Fatherland
+had served their country as spies. Each man, when
+obeying the Imperial command to join the German arms,
+had placed in the lapel of his coat a button of a peculiar
+shape, with which he had long ago been provided, and
+by which he was instantly recognised as a loyal subject
+of the Kaiser.</p>
+
+<p>This huge body of German soldiers, who for years had
+passed in England as civilians, was, of course, of enormous
+use to Von Kronhelm, for they acted as guides not
+only on the march and during the entry to London, but
+materially assisted in the victorious advance in the
+Midlands. Indeed, the Germans had for years kept a
+civilian army in England, and yet we had, ostrich-like,
+buried our heads in the sand, and refused to turn our
+eyes to the grave peril that had for so long threatened.</p>
+
+<p>Systematically, the Germans were visiting every shop
+and warehouse in the shopping districts, and seizing
+everything eatable they could discover. The enemy were
+taking the food from the mouths of the poor in East and
+South London, and as they went southward across the
+river, so the populace retired, leaving their homes at the
+mercy of the ruthless invader.</p>
+
+<p>Upon all the bridges across the Thames stood German
+guards, and none were allowed to cross without permits.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after dawn Von Kronhelm and his staff rode
+down Haverstock Hill with a large body of cavalry, and
+made his formal entry into London, first having an interview
+with the Lord Mayor, and an hour afterwards
+establishing his headquarters at the new War Office in
+Whitehall, over which he hoisted his special flag as
+Commander-in-Chief. It was found that, though a good
+deal of damage had been done externally to the building,
+the interior had practically escaped, save one or two
+rooms. Therefore the Field Marshal installed himself
+in the private room of the War Minister, and telegraphic
+and telephonic communication was quickly established,
+while a wireless telegraph apparatus was placed upon the
+ruined summit of Big Ben for the purpose of communicating
+with Germany, in case the cables were interrupted
+by being cut at sea.</p>
+
+<p>The day after the landing a similar apparatus had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+been erected on the Monument at Yarmouth, and it had
+been daily in communication with the one at Bremen.
+The German left nothing to chance.</p>
+
+<p>The clubs in Pall Mall were now being used by German
+officers, who lounged in easy chairs, smoking and
+taking their ease, German soldiers being on guard outside.
+North of the Thames seemed practically deserted,
+save for the invaders who swarmed everywhere. South
+of the Thames the cowed and terrified populace were
+asking what the end was to be. What was the Government
+doing? It had fled to Bristol and left London to
+its fate, they complained.</p>
+
+<p>What the German demands were was not known until
+the "Daily Telegraph" published an interview with Sir
+Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, which gave authentic
+details of them.</p>
+
+<p>They were as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>1. Indemnity of Ł300,000,000, paid in ten annual
+instalments.</p>
+
+<p>2. Until this indemnity is paid in full, German troops
+to occupy Edinburgh, Rosyth, Chatham, Dover,
+Portsmouth, Devonport, Pembroke, Yarmouth,
+Hull.</p>
+
+<p>3. Cession to Germany of the Shetlands, Orkneys,
+Bantry Bay, Malta, Gibraltar, and Tasmania.</p>
+
+<p>4. India, north of a line drawn from Calcutta to
+Baroda, to be ceded to Russia.</p>
+
+<p>5. The independence of Ireland to be recognised.</p></div>
+
+<p>Of the claim of Ł300,000,000, fifty millions was demanded
+from London, the sum in question to be paid
+within twelve hours.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Mayor had, it appeared, sent his secretary
+to the Prime Minister at Bristol bearing the original
+document in the handwriting of Von Kronhelm. The
+Prime Minister had acknowledged its receipt by telegraph
+both to the Lord Mayor and to the German Field
+Marshal, but there the matter had ended.</p>
+
+<p>The twelve hours' grace was nearly up, and the German
+Commander, seated in Whitehall, had received no
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>In the corner of the large, pleasant, well-carpeted room
+sat a German telegraph engineer with a portable instrument,
+in direct communication with the Emperor's
+private cabinet at Potsdam, and over that wire messages
+were continually passing and repassing.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The grizzled old soldier paced the room impatiently.
+His Emperor had only an hour ago sent him a message
+of warm congratulation, and had privately informed him
+of the high honours he intended to bestow upon him.
+The German Eagle was victorious, and London&mdash;the
+great unconquerable London&mdash;lay crushed, torn, and
+broken.</p>
+
+<p>The marble clock upon the mantelpiece shelf chimed
+eleven upon its silvery bells, causing Von Kronhelm to
+turn from the window to glance at his own watch.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell His Majesty that it is eleven o'clock, and that
+there is no reply to hand," he said sharply in German to
+the man in uniform seated at the table in the corner.</p>
+
+<p>The instrument clicked rapidly, and a silence followed.</p>
+
+<p>The German Commander waited anxiously. He stood
+bending slightly over the green tape in order to read
+the Imperial order the instant it flashed from beneath
+the sea.</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes&mdash;ten minutes passed. The shouting of
+military commands in German came up from Whitehall
+below. Nothing else broke the quiet.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm, his face more furrowed and more
+serious, again paced the carpet.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the little instrument whirred, and clicked
+as its thin green tape rolled out.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant the Generalissimo of the Kaiser's army
+sprang to the telegraphist's side and read the Imperial
+command.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment he held the piece of tape between his
+fingers, then crushed it in his hand and stood motionless.</p>
+
+<p>He had received orders which, though against his desire,
+he was compelled to obey.</p>
+
+<p>Summoning several members of his staff who had
+installed themselves in other comfortable rooms in the
+vicinity, he held a long consultation with them.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime telegraphic despatches were received
+from Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, and other
+German headquarters, all telling the same story&mdash;the
+complete investment and occupation of the big cities and
+the pacification of the inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>One hour's grace was, however, allowed to London&mdash;till
+noon.</p>
+
+<p>Then orders were issued, bugles rang out across the
+parks, and in the main thoroughfares, where arms were
+piled, causing the troops to fall in, and within a quarter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+of an hour large bodies of infantry and engineers were
+moving along the Strand, in the direction of the City.</p>
+
+<p>At first the reason of all this was a mystery, but very
+shortly it was realised what was intended when a detachment
+of the 5th Hanover Regiment advanced to the
+gate of the Bank of England opposite the Exchange, and,
+after some difficulty, broke it open and entered, followed
+by some engineers of Von Mirbach's Division. The
+building was very soon occupied, and, under the direction
+of General Von Kleppen himself, an attempt was made
+to open the strong rooms, wherein was stored that vast
+hoard of England's wealth. What actually occurred
+at that spot can only be imagined, as the commander
+of the IVth Army Corps and one or two officers and men
+were the only persons present. It is surmised, however,
+that the strength of the vaults was far greater than they
+had imagined, and that, though they worked for hours,
+all was in vain.</p>
+
+<p>While this was in progress, however, parties of engineers
+were making organised raids upon the banks in
+Lombard Street, Lothbury, Moorgate Street, and Broad
+Street, as well as upon branch banks in Oxford Street,
+the Strand, and other places in the West End.</p>
+
+<p>At one bank on the left-hand side of Lombard Street,
+dynamite being used to force the strong room, the first
+bullion was seized, while at nearly all the banks sooner
+or later the vaults were opened, and great bags and
+boxes of gold coin were taken out and conveyed in carefully
+guarded carts to the Bank of England, now in the
+possession of Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In some banks&mdash;those of more modern construction&mdash;the
+greatest resistance was offered by the huge steel doors
+and concrete and steel walls and other devices for security.
+But nothing could, alas! resist the high explosives used,
+and in the end breaches were made, in all cases, and
+wealth uncounted and untold extracted and conveyed
+to Threadneedle Street for safe keeping.</p>
+
+<p>Engineers and infantry handled those heavy boxes
+and those big bundles of securities gleefully, officers
+carefully counting each box or bag or packet as it was
+taken out to be carted or carried away by hand.</p>
+
+<p>German soldiers under guard struggled along Lothbury
+beneath great burdens of gold, and carts, requisitioned
+out of the East End, rumbled heavily all the
+afternoon, escorted by soldiers. Hammersmith, Camberwell,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+Hampstead, and Willesden yielded up their quota of
+the great wealth of London; but though soon after
+four o'clock a breach was made in the strong rooms of
+the Bank of England by means of explosives, nothing in
+the vaults was touched. The Germans simply entered
+there and formally took possession.</p>
+
+<p>The coin collected from other banks was carefully
+kept, each separate from another, and placed in various
+rooms under strong guards, for it seemed to be their intention
+simply to hold London's wealth as security.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon very few banks&mdash;except the German
+ones&mdash;escaped notice. Of course, there were a few small
+branches in the suburbs which remained unvisited, yet
+by six o'clock Von Kronhelm was in possession of enormous
+quantities of gold.</p>
+
+<p>In one or two quarters there had been opposition on
+the part of the armed guards established by the banks
+at the first news of the invasion. But any such resistance
+had, of course, been futile, and the man who had
+dared to fire upon the German soldiers had in every
+case been shot down.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, when darkness fell, Von Kronhelm, from the
+corner of his room in the War Office, was able to report
+to his Imperial Master that not only had he occupied
+London, but that, receiving no reply to his demand for
+indemnity, he had sacked it and taken possession not
+only of the Bank of England, but of the cash deposits
+in most of the other banks in the metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>That night the evening papers described the wild happenings
+of the afternoon, and London saw herself not
+only shattered, but ruined. The frightened populace
+across the river stood breathless. What was now to happen?</p>
+
+<p>Though London lay crushed and occupied by the
+enemy, though the Lord Mayor was a prisoner of war
+and the banks in the hands of the Germans, though the
+metropolis had been wrecked and more than half its inhabitants
+had fled southward and westward into the
+country, yet the enemy received no reply to their demand
+for an indemnity and the cession of British territory.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm, ignorant of what had occurred in the
+House of Commons at Bristol, sat in Whitehall and
+wondered. He knew well that the English were no fools,
+and their silence, therefore, caused him considerable uneasiness.
+He had lost in the various engagements over
+50,000 men, yet nearly 200,000 still remained. His army
+of invasion was a no mean responsibility, especially
+when at any moment the British might regain command
+of the sea. His supplies and reinforcements would
+then be at once cut off. It was impossible for him to
+live upon the country, and his food bases in Suffolk and
+Essex were not sufficiently extensive to enable him to
+make a prolonged campaign. Indeed, the whole scheme
+of operations which had been so long discussed and perfected
+in secret in Berlin was more of the nature of a raid
+than a prolonged siege.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CITY OF LONDON.</h3>
+<h2>CITIZENS OF LONDON.</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>WE, the GENERAL COMMANDING the German Imperial Army occupying
+London, give notice that:</p>
+
+<p>(1) THE STATE OF WAR AND OF SIEGE continues to exist, and all
+categories of crime, more especially the contravention of all orders already issued,
+will be judged by Councils of War, and punished in conformity with martial law.</p>
+
+<p>(2) THE INHABITANTS OF LONDON and its suburbs are ordered to
+instantly deliver up all arms and ammunition of whatever kind they possess. The
+term arms includes firearms, sabres, swords, daggers, revolvers, and sword-canes.
+Landlords and occupiers of houses are charged to see that this order is carried out,
+but in the case of their absence the municipal authorities and officials of the London
+County Council are charged to make domiciliary visits, minute and searching, being
+accompanied by a military guard.</p>
+
+<p>(3) ALL NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS, GAZETTES, AND PROCLAMATIONS,
+of whatever description, are hereby prohibited, and until further notice
+nothing further must be printed, except documents issued publicly by the military
+commander.</p>
+
+<p>(4) ANY PRIVATE PERSON OR PERSONS taking arms against the
+German troops after this notice will be EXECUTED.</p>
+
+<p>(5) ON THE CONTRARY, the Imperial German troops will respect private
+property, and no requisition will be allowed to be made unless it bears the authorisation
+of the Commander-in-Chief.</p>
+
+<p>(6) ALL PUBLIC PLACES are to be closed at 8 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> All persons found in
+the streets of London after 8 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> will be arrested by the patrols. There is no
+exception to this rule except in the case of German Officers, and also in the case of
+doctors visiting their patients. Municipal officials will also be allowed out, providing
+they obtain a permit from the German headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>(7) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST provide for the lighting of the
+streets. In cases where this is impossible, each householder must hang a lantern
+outside his house from nightfall until 8 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span></p>
+
+<p>(8) AFTER TO-MORROW morning, at 10 o'clock, the women and children of
+the population of London will be allowed to pass without hindrance.</p>
+
+<p>(9) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST, with as little delay as possible,
+provide accommodation for the German troops in private dwellings, in fire-stations,
+barracks, hotels, and houses that are still habitable.</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>VON KRONHELM,<br />
+Commander-in-Chief.</b>
+</div>
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">German Military Headquarters,</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Whitehall, London</span>, <i>September</i> 21, 1910.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 428px;">
+<a href="images/i208-hi.png"><img src="images/i208.png" width="428" height="600" alt="VON KRONHELM&#39;S PROCLAMATION TO THE
+CITIZENS OF LONDON." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">VON KRONHELM&#39;S PROCLAMATION TO THE
+CITIZENS OF LONDON.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+The German Field Marshal sat alone and reflected.
+Had he been aware of the true state of affairs he would
+certainly have had considerable cause for alarm. True,
+though Lord Byfield had made such a magnificent stand,
+considering the weakness of the force at his disposal, and
+London was occupied, yet England was not conquered.</p>
+
+<p>No news had leaked out from Bristol. Indeed, Parliament
+had taken every precaution that its deliberations
+were in secret.</p>
+
+<p>The truth, however, may be briefly related. On the
+previous day the House had met at noon in the Colston
+Hall&mdash;a memorable sitting, indeed. The Secretary of
+State for War had, after prayers, risen in the hall and
+read an official despatch he had just received from Lord
+Byfield, giving the news of the last stand made by the
+British north of Enfield, and the utter hopelessness of
+the situation. It was received by the assembled House
+in ominous silence.</p>
+
+<p>During the past week through that great hall the
+Minister's deep voice, shaken by emotion, had been
+daily heard as he was compelled to report defeat after
+defeat of the British arms. Both sides of the House had,
+after the first few days, been forced to recognise Germany's
+superiority in numbers, in training, in organisation&mdash;in
+fact in everything appertaining to military
+power. Von Kronhelm's strategy had been perfect. He
+knew more of Eastern England than the British Commander
+himself, and his marvellous system of spies and
+advance agents&mdash;Germans who had lived for years in
+England&mdash;had assisted him forward, until he had now
+occupied London, the city declared to be impregnable.</p>
+
+<p>Through the whole of September 20 the Minister constantly
+received despatches from the British Field Marshal
+and from London itself, yet each telegram communicated
+to the House seemed more hopeless than its predecessor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The debate, however, proceeded through the afternoon.
+The Opposition were bitterly attacking the Government
+and the Blue Water School for its gross negligence in
+the past, and demanding to know the whereabouts of the
+remnant of the British Navy. The First Lord of the
+Admiralty flatly refused to make any statement. The
+whereabouts of our Navy at that moment was, he said, a
+secret, which must, at all hazards, be withheld from our
+enemy. The Admiralty were not asleep, as the country
+believed, but were fully alive to the seriousness of the
+crisis. He urged the House to remain patient, saying
+that as soon as he dared he would make a statement.</p>
+
+<p>This was greeted by loud jeers from the Opposition,
+from whose benches, members, one after another, rose,
+and, using hard epithets, blamed the Government for the
+terrible disaster. The cutting down of our defences, the
+meagre naval programmes, the discouragement of the
+Volunteers and of recruiting, and the disregard of Lord
+Roberts' scheme in 1906 for universal military training
+were, they declared, responsible for what had occurred.
+The Government had been culpably negligent, and Mr.
+Haldane's scheme had been all insufficient. Indeed, it
+had been nothing short of criminal to mislead the Empire
+into a false sense of security which did not exist.</p>
+
+<p>For the past three years Germany, while sapping our
+industries, had sent spies into our midst, and laughed at
+us for our foolish insular superiority. She had turned
+her attention from France to ourselves, notwithstanding
+the <i>entente cordiale</i>. She remembered how the much-talked-of
+Franco-Russian alliance had fallen to pieces, and
+relied upon a similar outcome of the friendship between
+France and Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>The aspect of the House, too, was strange; the Speaker
+in his robes looked out of place in his big uncomfortable
+chair, and members sat on cane-bottomed chairs instead
+of their comfortable benches at Westminster. As far as
+possible the usual arrangement of the House was adhered
+to, except that the Press were now excluded, official
+reports being furnished to them at midnight.</p>
+
+<p>The clerks' table was a large plain one of stained wood,
+but upon it was the usual array of despatches, while the
+Serjeant-at-Arms, in his picturesque dress, was still one
+of the most prominent figures. The lack of committee
+rooms, of an adequate lobby, and of a refreshment department
+caused much inconvenience, though a temporary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+post and telegraph office had been established within the
+building, and a separate line connected the Prime Minister's
+room with Downing Street.</p>
+
+<p>If the Government were denounced in unmeasured
+terms, its defence was equally vigorous. Thus, through
+that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon the sitting continued
+past the dinner hour on to late in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>Time after time the despatches from London were placed
+in the hands of the War Minister, but, contrary to the
+expectation of the House, he vouchsafed no further statement.
+It was noticed that just before ten o'clock he consulted
+in an earnest undertone with the Prime Minister,
+the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Home Secretary,
+and that a quarter of an hour later all four went out and
+were closeted in one of the smaller rooms with other
+members of the Cabinet for nearly half an hour.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Secretary of State for War re-entered the
+House and resumed his seat in silence.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes afterwards Mr. Thomas Askern, member
+of one of the Metropolitan boroughs, and a well-known
+newspaper proprietor, who had himself received several
+private despatches, rose and received leave to put a
+question to the War Minister.</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to ask the Right Honourable the Secretary
+of State for War," he said, "whether it is not a fact
+that soon after noon to-day the enemy, having moved
+his heavy artillery to certain positions commanding
+North London, and finding the capital strongly barricaded,
+proceeded to bombard it? Whether that bombardment,
+according to the latest despatches, is not still
+continuing at this moment; whether it is not a fact that
+enormous damage has already been done to many of the
+principal buildings of the metropolis, including the
+Government Offices at Whitehall, and whether great loss
+of life has not been occasioned?"</p>
+
+<p>The question produced the utmost sensation. The
+House during the whole afternoon had been in breathless
+anxiety as to what was actually happening in London;
+but the Government held the telegraphs and telephone,
+and the only private despatches that had come to Bristol
+were the two received by some roundabout route known
+only to the ingenious journalists who had despatched
+them. Indeed, the despatches had been conveyed the
+greater portion of the way by motor-car.</p>
+
+<p>A complete silence fell. Every face was turned towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+the War Minister, who, seated with outstretched legs,
+was holding a fresh despatch he had just received.</p>
+
+<p>He rose, and, in his deep bass voice, said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In reply to the honourable member for South-East
+Brixton, the statement he makes appears, from information
+which has just reached me, to be correct. The Germans
+are, unfortunately, bombarding London. Von
+Kronhelm, it is reported, is at Hampstead, and the zone
+of the enemy's artillery reaches, in some cases, as far
+south as the Thames itself. It is true, as the honourable
+member asserts, an enormous amount of damage has
+already been done to various buildings, and there has
+undoubtedly been great loss of life. My latest information
+is that the non-combatant inhabitants&mdash;old persons,
+women, and children&mdash;are in flight across the Thames,
+and that the barricades in the principal roads leading
+in from the north are held strongly by the armed populace,
+driven back into London."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down without further word.</p>
+
+<p>A tall, thin, white-moustached man rose at that moment
+from the Opposition side of the House. Colonel Farquhar,
+late of the Royal Marines, was a well-known military
+critic, and represented West Bude.</p>
+
+<p>"And this," he said, "is the only hope of England!
+The defence of London by an armed mob, pitted against
+the most perfectly equipped and armed force in the
+world! Londoners are patriotic, I grant. They will
+die fighting for their homes, as every Englishman will
+when the moment comes; yet, what can we hope, when
+patriotism is ranged against modern military science?
+There surely is patriotism in the savage negro races of
+Central Africa, a love of country perhaps as deep as in
+the white man's heart; yet a little strategy, a few
+Maxims, and all defence is quickly at an end. And so
+it must inevitably be with London. I contend, Mr.
+Speaker," he went on, "that by the ill-advised action
+of the Government from the first hour of their coming
+into power, we now find ourselves conquered. It only
+remains for them now to make terms of peace as honourable
+to themselves as the unfortunate circumstances
+will admit. Let the country itself judge their actions
+in the light of events of to-day, and let the blood of the
+poor murdered women and children of London be upon
+their heads. (Shame.) To resist further is useless.
+Our military organisation is in chaos, our miserably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+weak army is defeated and in flight. I declare to this
+House that we should sue at this very moment for peace&mdash;a
+dishonourable peace though it be; but the bitter
+truth is too plain&mdash;England is conquered!"</p>
+
+<p>As he sat down amid the "hear, hears," and the loud
+applause of the Opposition there rose a keen-faced, dark-haired,
+clean-shaven man of thirty-seven or so. He was
+Gerald Graham, younger son of an aristocratic house,
+the Yorkshire Grahams, who sat for North-East Rutland.
+He was a man of brilliant attainments at Oxford, a
+splendid orator, a distinguished writer and traveller,
+whose keen brown eye, lithe upright figure, quick activity,
+and smart appearance, rendered him a born leader of
+men. For the past five years he had been marked out
+as a "coming man."</p>
+
+<p>As a soldier he had seen hard service in the Boer War,
+being mentioned twice in despatches; as an explorer he
+had led a party through the heart of the Congo and
+fought his way back to civilisation through an unexplored
+land with valiant bravery that had saved the lives
+of his companions. He was a man who never sought
+notoriety. He hated to be lionised in society, refused
+the shoals of cards of invitation which poured in upon
+him, and stuck to his Parliamentary duties, and keeping
+faith with his constituents to the very letter.</p>
+
+<p>As he stood up silent for a moment, gazing around
+him fearlessly, he presented a striking figure and in his
+navy serge suit he possessed the unmistakable cut of
+the smart, well-groomed Englishman who was also a
+man of note.</p>
+
+<p>The House always listened to him, for he never spoke
+without he had something of importance to say. And
+the instant he was up a silence fell.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Speaker," he said, in a clear, ringing voice, "I
+entirely disagree with my honourable friend the member
+for West Bude. England is not conquered! She is not
+beaten!"</p>
+
+<p>The great hall rang with loud and vociferous cheers.</p>
+
+<p>"London may be invested and bombarded. She may
+even be sacked, but Englishmen will still fight for their
+homes and fight valiantly. If we have a demand for
+indemnity let us refuse to pay it. Let us civilians&mdash;let
+the civilians in every corner of England&mdash;arm themselves
+and unite to drive out the invader! (Loud cheers.)
+I contend, Mr. Speaker, that there are millions of able-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>bodied
+men in this country who, if properly organised,
+will be able to gradually exterminate the enemy. Organisation
+is all that is required. Our vast population will
+rise against the Germans, and before the tide of popular
+indignation and desperate resistance the power of the
+invader must soon be swept away. Do not let us sit
+calmly here in security, and acknowledge that we are
+beaten. Remember, we have at this moment to uphold
+the ancient tradition of the British race, the honour of
+our forefathers, who have never been conquered. Shall
+we acknowledge ourselves conquered in this the twentieth
+century?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!" rose from hundreds of voices, for the House
+was now carried away by young Graham's enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us organise!" he urged. "Let us fight on.
+Let every man who can use a sword or gun come forward,
+and we will commence hostilities against the Kaiser's
+forces that shall either result in their total extermination
+or in the power of England being extinguished.
+Englishmen will die hard. I myself will, with the
+consent of this House, head the movement, for I know
+that in the country we have millions who will follow
+me and will be equally ready to die for our country
+if necessary. Let us withdraw this statement that we
+are conquered. The real, earnest fight is now to commence,"
+he shouted, his voice ringing clearly through
+the hall. "Let us bear our part, each one of us. If
+we organise and unite, we shall drive the Kaiser's hordes
+into the sea. They shall sue us for peace, and be made
+to pay us an indemnity, instead of us paying one
+to them. I will lead!" he shouted; "who will follow
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>In London the Lord Mayor's patriotic proclamations
+were now obliterated by a huge bill bearing the German
+Imperial arms, the text of which told its own grim tale.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the news of the fall of London was
+being circulated by the Germans to every town throughout
+the kingdom, their despatches being embellished by
+lurid descriptions of the appalling losses inflicted upon
+the English. In Manchester, a great poster, headed by
+the German Imperial arms, was posted up on the Town
+Hall, the exchange, and other places, in which Von
+Kronhelm announced the occupation of London; while
+in Leeds, Bradford, Stockport, and Sheffield similarly
+worded official announcements were also posted. The
+Press in all towns occupied by the Germans had been
+suppressed, papers only appearing in order to publish
+the enemy's orders. Therefore this official intelligence
+was circulated by proclamation, calculated to impress
+upon the inhabitants of the country how utterly powerless
+they were.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p>
+<h2>NOTICE AND ADVICE.</h2>
+<h3>TO THE CITIZENS OF LONDON.</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>I ADDRESS YOU SERIOUSLY.</p>
+
+<p>We are neighbours, and in time of peace cordial relations have always
+existed between us. I therefore address you from my heart in the cause
+of humanity.</p>
+
+<p>Germany is at war with England. We have been forced to penetrate
+into your country.</p>
+
+<p>But each human life spared, and all property saved, we regard as in the
+interests of both religion and humanity.</p>
+
+<p>We are at war, and both sides have fought a loyal fight.</p>
+
+<p>Our desire is, however, to spare disarmed citizens and the inhabitants
+of all towns and villages.</p>
+
+<p>We maintain a severe discipline, and we wish to have it known that
+punishment of the severest character will be inflicted upon any who are
+guilty of hostility to the Imperial German arms, either open or in
+secret.</p>
+
+<p>To our regret any incitements, cruelties, or brutalities we must judge
+with equal severity.</p>
+
+<p>I therefore call upon all local mayors, magistrates, clergy, and schoolmasters
+to urge upon the populace, and upon the heads of families, to
+urge upon those under their protection, and upon their domestics, to
+refrain from committing any act of hostility whatsoever against my
+soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>All misery avoided is a good work in the eye of our Sovereign Judge,
+who sees all men.</p>
+
+<p>I earnestly urge you to heed this advice, and I trust in you.</p>
+
+<p>Take notice!</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="right">
+<b>VON KRONHELM,<br />
+Commanding the Imperial German Army.</b>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">German Military Headquarters,</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Whitehall, London</span>, <i>September</i> 20, 1910.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 383px;">
+<a href="images/i215-hi.png"><img src="images/i215.png" width="383" height="600" alt="NOTICE AND ADVICE." title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>While<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> Von Kronhelm sat in that large sombre room
+in the War Office, with his telegraph instrument to
+Potsdam ever ticking, and the wireless telegraphy constantly
+in operation, he wondered, and still wondered,
+why the English made no response to his demands. He
+was in London. He had carried out his Emperor's instructions
+to the letter, he had received the Imperial
+thanks, and he held all the gold coin he could discover
+in London as security. Yet, without some reply from
+the British Government, his position was an insecure
+one. Even his thousand and one spies who had served
+him so well ever since he had placed foot upon English
+soil could tell him nothing. The deliberations of the
+House of Commons at Bristol were a secret.</p>
+
+<p>In Bristol the hot, fevered night had given place to a
+gloriously sunny morning with a blue and cloudless sky.
+Above Leigh Woods the lark rose high in the sky, trilling
+his song, and the bells of Bristol rang out as merrily as
+they ever did, and above the Colston Hall still floated
+the Royal Standard&mdash;a sign that the House had not yet
+adjourned.</p>
+
+<p>While Von Kronhelm held London, Lord Byfield and
+the remnant of the British Army, who had suffered such
+defeat in Essex and north of London, had, four days
+later, retreated to Chichester and Salisbury, where reorganisation
+was in rapid progress. One division of the
+defeated troops had encamped at Horsham. The survivors
+of those who had fought the battle of Charnwood
+Forest, and had acted so gallantly in the defence of
+Birmingham, were now encamped on the Malvern Hills,
+while the defenders of Manchester were at Shrewsbury.
+Speaking roughly, therefore, our vanquished troops were
+massing at four points, in an endeavour to make a last
+attack upon the invader. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord
+Byfield, was near Salisbury, and at any hour he knew
+that the German legions might push westward from
+London to meet him and to complete the <i>coup</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The League of Defenders formed by Gerald Graham
+and his friends was, however, working independently.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+The wealthier classes, who, driven out of London, were
+now living in cottages and tents in various parts of
+Berks, Wilts, and Hants, worked unceasingly on behalf
+of the League, while into Plymouth, Exmouth, Swanage,
+Bristol, and Southampton more than one ship had
+already managed to enter laden with arms and ammunition
+of all kinds, sent across by the agents of the League
+in France. The cargoes were of a very miscellaneous
+character, from modern Maxims to old-fashioned rifles
+that had seen service in the war of 1870. There were
+hundreds of modern rifles, sporting guns, revolvers,
+swords&mdash;in fact, every weapon imaginable, modern and
+old-fashioned. These were at once taken charge of
+by the local branches of the League, and to those men
+who presented their tickets of identification the arms
+were served out, and practice conducted in the open
+fields. Three shiploads of rifles were known to have
+been captured by German warships, one off Start Point,
+another a few miles outside Padstow, and a third within
+sight of the coastguard at Selsey Bill. Two other ships
+were blown up in the Channel by drifting mines. The
+running of arms across from France and Spain was a
+very risky proceeding; yet the British skipper is nothing
+if not patriotic, and every man who crossed the Channel
+on those dangerous errands took his life in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Into Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Milford weapons
+were also coming over from Ireland, even though several
+German cruisers, who had been up to Lamlash to cripple
+the Glasgow trade, had now come south, and were believed
+still to be in the Irish Sea.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII_II" id="CHAPTER_VIII_II"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Preparations were being continued night and day to
+place the working-class districts in Southwark and Lambeth
+in a state of strong defence, and the constant
+meetings convened in public halls and chapels by the
+newly-formed League of Defenders incited the people to
+their work. Everybody lent a willing hand, rich and
+poor alike. People who had hitherto lived in comfort in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+Regent's Park, Hampstead, or one or other of the better-class
+northern suburbs, now found themselves herded
+among all sorts and conditions of men and women, and
+living as best they could in those dull, drab streets of
+Lambeth, Walworth, Battersea, and Kennington. It was,
+indeed, a strange experience for them. In the sudden
+flight from the north, parents had become separated
+from their children and husbands from their wives, so
+that in many cases haggard and forlorn mothers were
+in frantic search of their little ones, fearing that they
+might have already died of starvation or been trampled
+underfoot by the panic-stricken multitudes. The dense
+population of South London had already been trebled.
+They were penned in by the barricades in many instances,
+for each district seemed to be now placing itself
+in a state of defence, independent of any other.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 524px;">
+<a href="images/i218-hi.png"><img src="images/i218.png" width="524" height="400" alt="THE DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON on Sept 26th" title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE DEFENCES OF<br />
+SOUTH LONDON<br />
+on Sept 26th</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Kennington, for instance, was practically surrounded by
+barricades, tons upon tons of earth being dug from the
+"Oval" and the "Park." Besides the barricades in
+Harleyford Road and Kennington Lane, all the streets
+converging on the "Oval" were blocked up, a huge
+defence arm just being completed across the junction of
+Kennington and Kennington Park Roads, and all the
+streets running into the latter thoroughfare from that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+point to the big obstruction at the "Elephant" were
+blocked by paving-stones, bags of sand, barrels of cement,
+bricks, and such-like odds and ends impervious to
+bullets. In addition to this, there was a double fortification
+in Lambeth Road&mdash;a veritable redoubt&mdash;as well as
+the barricade at Lambeth Bridge, while all the roads
+leading from Kennington into the Lambeth Road, such
+as St. George's Road, Kennington Road, High Street,
+and the rest, had been rendered impassable and the
+neighbouring houses placed in a state of defence. Thus
+the whole district of Kennington became therefore a
+fortress in itself.</p>
+
+<p>This was only a typical instance of the scientific
+methods of defence now resorted to. Mistakes made in
+North London were not now repeated. Day and night
+every able-bodied man, and woman too, worked on with
+increasing zeal and patriotism. The defences in Haverstock
+Hill, Holloway Road, and Edgware Road, which
+had been composed of overturned tramcars, motor 'buses,
+household furniture, etc., had been riddled by the enemy's
+bullets. The lesson had been heeded, and now earth,
+sand, tiles, paving-stones, and bricks were used.</p>
+
+<p>From nearly all the principal thoroughfares south of
+the river the paving-stones were being rapidly torn up
+by great gangs of men, and whenever the artillery
+brought up a fresh Maxim or field-gun the wildest demonstrations
+were made. The clergy held special
+services in churches and chapels, and prayer meetings
+for the emancipation of London were held twice daily
+in the Metropolitan Tabernacle at Newington. In Kennington
+Park, Camberwell Green, the Oval, Vauxhall
+Park, Lambeth Palace Gardens, Camberwell Park, Peckham
+Rye and Southwark Park a division of Lord Byfield's
+army was encamped. They held the Waterloo terminus
+of the South-Western Railway strongly, the Chatham
+Railway from the Borough Road Station&mdash;now the
+terminus&mdash;the South-Eastern from Bricklayers' Arms,
+which had been converted into another terminus, as well
+as the Brighton line, at Battersea Park and York Road.</p>
+
+<p>The lines destroyed by the enemy's spies in the early
+moments of the invasion had long ago been repaired,
+and up to the present railway and telegraphic communication
+south and west remained uninterrupted. The
+"Daily Telegraph" had managed to transfer some of its
+staff to the offices of a certain printer's in Southwark,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+and there, under difficulties, published several editions
+daily despite the German censorship. While northern
+London was without any news except that supplied from
+German sources, South London was still open to the
+world, the cables from the south coast being, as yet,
+in the hands of the British, and the telegraphs intact
+to Bristol and to all places in the West.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, during those stifling and exciting days following
+the occupation, while London was preparing for its great
+uprising, the "South London Mirror," though a queer, unusual-looking
+sheet, still continued to appear, and was read
+with avidity by the gallant men at the barricades.</p>
+
+<p>Contrary to expectation, Von Kronhelm was leaving
+South London severely alone. He was, no doubt, wise.
+Full well he knew that his men, once within those narrow,
+tortuous streets beyond the river, would have no opportunity
+to man&oelig;uvre, and would, as in the case of the
+assault of Waterloo Bridge, be slaughtered to a man.
+His spies reported that each hour that passed rendered
+the populace the stronger, yet he did nothing, devoting
+his whole time, energy, and attention to matters in that
+half of London he was now occupying.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere the walls of South London were placarded
+with manifestoes of the League of Defenders. Day
+after day fresh posters appeared, urging patience and
+courage, and reporting upon the progress of the League.
+The name of Graham was now upon every one's lips.
+He had, it seemed, arisen as saviour of our beloved
+country. Every word of his inspired enthusiasm, and
+this was well illustrated at the mass meeting on Peckham
+Rye, when, beneath the huge flag of St. George, the white
+banner with the red cross&mdash;the ancient standard of
+England&mdash;which the League had adopted as theirs, he
+made a brilliant and impassioned appeal to every Londoner
+and every Englishman.</p>
+
+<p>Report had it that the Germans had set a price upon
+his head, and that he was pursued everywhere by German
+spies&mdash;mercenaries who would kill him in secret if they
+could. Therefore he was compelled to go about with
+an armed police guard, who arrested any suspected person
+in his vicinity. The Government, who had at first
+laughed Graham's enthusiasm to scorn, now believed in
+him. Even Lord Byfield, after a long council, declared
+that his efforts to inspire enthusiasm had been amazingly
+successful, and it was now well known that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+"Defenders" and the Army had agreed to act in unison
+towards one common end&mdash;the emancipation of England
+from the German thraldom.</p>
+
+<p>Some men of the Osnabrück Regiment, holding Canning
+Town and Limehouse, managed one night, by strategy,
+to force their way through the Blackwall Tunnel and
+break down its defences on the Surrey side in an attempt
+to blow up the South Metropolitan Gas Works.</p>
+
+<p>The men holding the tunnel were completely overwhelmed
+by the number that pressed on, and were compelled
+to fall back, twenty of their number being killed.
+The assault was a victorious one, and it was seen that
+the enemy were pouring out, when, of a sudden, there
+was a dull, heavy roar, followed by wild shouts and terrified
+screams, as there rose from the centre of the river
+a great column of water, and next instant the tunnel
+was flooded, hundreds of the enemy being drowned like
+rats in a hole.</p>
+
+<p>The men of the Royal Engineers had, on the very day
+previous, made preparations for destroying the tunnel
+if necessary, and had done so ere the Germans were
+aware of their intention. The exact loss of life is unknown,
+but it is estimated that over 400 men must have
+perished in that single instant, while those who had
+made the sudden dash towards the Gas Works were all
+taken prisoners, and their explosives confiscated.</p>
+
+<p>The evident intention of the enemy being thus seen,
+General Sir Francis Bamford, from his headquarters at
+the Crystal Palace, gave orders for the tunnels at Rotherhithe
+and that across Greenwich Reach, as well as the
+several "tube" tunnels and subways, to be destroyed,
+a work which was executed without delay, and was witnessed
+by thousands, who watched for the great disturbances
+and upheavals in the bed of the river.</p>
+
+<p>In the Old Kent Road the bridge over the canal, as
+well as the bridges in Wells Street, Sumner Road, Glengall
+Road, and Canterbury Road, were all prepared for
+demolition in case of necessity, the canal from the
+Camberwell Road to the Surrey Dock forming a moat
+behind which the defenders might, if necessary, retire.
+Clapham Common and Brockwell Park were covered with
+tents, for General Bamford's force, consisting mostly of
+auxiliaries, were daily awaiting reinforcements.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Byfield, now at Windsor, was in constant communication
+by wireless telegraphy with the London<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+headquarters at the Crystal Palace, as well as with
+Hibbard on the Malvern Hills and Woolmer at Shrewsbury.
+To General Bamford at Sydenham came constant
+news of the rapid spread of the national movement of
+defiance, and Lord Byfield, as was afterwards known,
+urged the London commander to remain patient, and
+invite no attack until the League were strong enough
+to act on the offensive.</p>
+
+<p>Affairs of outpost were, of course, constantly recurring
+along the river bank between Windsor and Egham, and
+the British Free-shooters and Frontiersmen were ever
+harassing the Saxons.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon Von Kronhelm became aware of Lord
+Byfield's intentions, but his weakness was apparent when
+he made no counter-move. The fact was that the various
+great cities he now held required all his attention and
+all his troops. From Manchester, from Birmingham,
+from Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and Hull came similar
+replies. Any withdrawal of troops from either city would
+be the signal for a general rising of the inhabitants.
+Therefore, having gained possession, he could only now
+sit tight and watch.</p>
+
+<p>From all over Middlesex, and more especially from
+the London area, came sensational reports of the drastic
+measures adopted by the Germans to repress any sign
+of revolt. In secret, the agents of the League of Defenders
+were at work, going from house to house, enrolling men,
+arranging for secret meeting-places, and explaining
+in confidence the programme as put forward by
+the Bristol committee. Now and then, however, these
+agents were betrayed, and their betrayal was in every
+case followed by a court-martial at Bow Street, death
+outside in the yard of the police station, and the publication
+in the papers of their names, their offence, and
+the hour of the execution.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, undaunted and defiantly, the giant organisation
+grew as no other society had ever grown, and its agents
+and members quickly developed into fearless patriots.
+It being reported that the Saxons were facing Lord
+Byfield with the Thames between them, the people of
+West London began in frantic haste to construct barricades.
+The building of obstructions had, indeed, now
+become a mania north of the river as well as south.
+The people, fearing that there was to be more fighting
+in the streets of London, began to build huge defences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+all across West London. The chief were across King
+Street, Hammersmith, where it joins Goldhawk Road,
+across the junction of Goldhawk and Uxbridge Roads,
+in the Harrow Road where it joins Admiral Road, and
+Willesden Lane, close to the Paddington Cemetery, and
+the Latimer Road opposite St. Quintin Park Station. All
+the side streets leading into the Goldhawk Road,
+Latimer Road, and Ladbroke Grove Road were also
+blocked up, and hundreds of houses placed in a state of
+strong defence.</p>
+
+<p>With all this Von Kronhelm did not interfere. The
+building of such obstructions acted as a safety-valve
+to the excited populace, therefore he rather encouraged
+than discountenanced it. The barricades might, he
+thought, be of service to his army if Lord Byfield
+really risked an attack upon London from that direction.</p>
+
+<p>Crafty and cunning though he was, he was entirely
+unaware that those barricades were being constructed
+at the secret orders of the League of Defenders, and he
+never dreamed that they had actually been instigated by
+the British Commander-in-Chief himself.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the Day of Reckoning hourly approached, and
+London, though crushed and starving, waited in patient
+vigilance.</p>
+
+<p>At Enfield Chase was a great camp of British prisoners
+in the hands of the Germans, amounting to several
+thousands. Contrary to report, both officers and men
+were fairly well treated by the Germans, though with
+his limited supplies Von Kronhelm was already beginning
+to contemplate releasing them. Many of the
+higher-grade officers who had fallen into the hands of
+the enemy, together with the Lord Mayor of London, the
+Mayors of Hull, Goole, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich, and
+the Lord Mayors of Manchester and Birmingham, had
+been sent across to Germany, where, according to their
+own reports, they were being detained in Hamburg and
+treated with every consideration. Nevertheless, all this
+greatly incensed Englishmen. Lord Byfield, with Hibbard
+and Woolmer, was leaving no stone unturned in order to
+reform our shattered Army, and again oppose the invaders.
+All three gallant officers had been to Bristol,
+where they held long consultation with the members of
+the Cabinet, with the result that the Government still
+refused to entertain any idea of paying the indemnity.
+The Admiralty were confident now that the command of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+the sea had been regained, and in Parliament itself a
+little confidence was also restored.</p>
+
+<p>Yet we had to face the hard facts that nearly two
+hundred thousand Germans were upon British soil, and
+that London was held by them. Already parties of
+German commissioners had visited the National Gallery,
+the Wallace Collection, the Tate Gallery, and the British
+and South Kensington Museums, deciding upon and
+placing aside certain art treasures and priceless antiques
+ready for shipment to Germany. The Raphaels, the
+Titians, the Rubenses, the Fra Angelicos, the Velasquezes,
+the Elgin Marbles, the best of the Egyptian, Assyrian,
+and Roman antiques, the Rosetta Stone, the early Biblical
+and classical manuscripts, the historic charters of England,
+and such-like treasures which could never be replaced,
+were all catalogued and prepared for removal. The
+people of London knew this; for though there had been
+no newspapers, information ran rapidly from mouth
+to mouth. German sentries guarded our world-famous
+collections, which were now indeed entirely in the enemy's
+hands, and which the Kaiser intended should enrich
+the German galleries and museums.</p>
+
+<p>One vessel flying the British flag had left the Thames
+laden with spoil, in an endeavour to reach Hamburg,
+but off Harwich she had been sighted and overhauled
+by a British cruiser, with the result that she had been
+steered to Dover. Therefore our cruisers and destroyers,
+having thus obtained knowledge of the enemy's intentions,
+were keeping a sharp lookout about the coast for
+any vessels attempting to leave for German ports.</p>
+
+<p>Accounts of fierce engagements in the Channel between
+British and German ships went the rounds, but all were
+vague and unconvincing. The only solid facts were that
+the Germans held the great cities of England, and that
+the millions of Great Britain were slowly but surely
+preparing to rise in an attempt to burst asunder the
+fetters that now held them.</p>
+
+<p>Government, Army, Navy, and Parliament had all
+proved rotten reeds. It was now every man for himself&mdash;to
+free himself and his loved ones&mdash;or to die in the
+attempt.</p>
+
+<p>Through the south and west of England Graham's
+clear, manly voice was raised everywhere, and the whole
+population were now fast assembling beneath the banner
+of the Defenders, in readiness to bear their part in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+the most bloody and desperate encounter of the whole
+war.</p>
+
+<p>The swift and secret death being meted out to the
+German sentries&mdash;or, in fact, to any German caught
+alone in a side street&mdash;having been reported to Von
+Kronhelm, he issued another of his now famous proclamations,
+which was posted upon half the hoardings in
+London; but the populace at once amused themselves
+by tearing it down wherever it was discovered. Von
+Kronhelm was the arch-enemy of London, and it is
+believed that there were at that moment no fewer
+than five separate conspiracies to encompass his death.
+Londoners detested the Germans, but with a hatred
+twenty times the more intense did they regard those men
+who, having engaged in commercial pursuits in England,
+had joined the colours and were now acting as spies.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX_II" id="CHAPTER_IX_II">CHAPTER IX.</a></h2>
+
+<h3>REVOLTS IN SHOREDITCH AND ISLINGTON.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On the night of September 27, a very serious conflict,
+entailing much loss of life on both the London civilian
+and German side, occurred at the point where Kingsland
+Road joins Old Street, Hackney Road, and High Street.
+Across both Hackney and Kingsland Roads the barricades
+built before the bombardment still remained in
+a half-ruined state, any attempt at clearing them away
+being repulsed by the angry inhabitants. Dalston,
+Kingsland, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch were notably
+antagonistic to the invaders, and several sharp encounters
+had taken place. Indeed, those districts were discovered
+by the enemy to be very unsafe.</p>
+
+<p>The conflict in question, however, commenced at the
+corner of Old Street at about 9.30 in the evening, by
+three German tailors from Cambridge Road being insulted
+by two men, English labourers. The tailors
+appealed in German to four Westphalian infantrymen
+who chanced to be passing, and who subsequently fired
+and killed one of the Englishmen. This was the signal
+for a local uprising. The alarm given, hundreds of men
+and women rushed from their houses, many of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+armed with rifles and knives, and, taking cover behind
+the ruined barricades, opened fire upon a body of fifty
+Germans, who very quickly ran up. The fire was returned,
+when from the neighbouring houses a perfect
+hail of lead was suddenly rained upon the Germans, who
+were then forced to retire down High Street towards
+Liverpool Street Station, leaving many dead.</p>
+
+<p>Very quickly news was sent over the telephone, which
+the Germans had now established in many quarters of
+London, and large reinforcements were soon upon the
+scene. The men of Shoreditch had, however, obtained
+two Maxim guns, which had been secreted ever since
+the entry of the Germans into the Metropolis, and as the
+enemy endeavoured to storm their position they swept
+the street with a deadly fire. Quickly the situation became
+desperate, but the fight lasted over an hour. The
+sound of firing brought hundreds upon hundreds of
+Londoners upon the scene. All these took arms against
+the Germans, who, after many fruitless attempts to
+storm the defences, and being fired upon from every
+side, were compelled to fall back again.</p>
+
+<p>They were followed along High Street into Bethnal
+Green Road, up Great Eastern Street into Hoxton Square
+and Pitfield Street, and there cut up, being given no
+quarter at the hands of the furious populace. In those
+narrow thoroughfares they were powerless, and were
+therefore simply exterminated.</p>
+
+<p>The victory for the men of Shoreditch was complete,
+over three hundred and fifty Germans being killed, while
+our losses were only about fifty.</p>
+
+<p>The conflict was at once reported to Von Kronhelm,
+and the very fact that he did not send exemplary punishment
+into that quarter was sufficient to show that he
+feared to arouse further the hornets' nest in which he
+was living, and more especially that portion of the populace
+north of the City.</p>
+
+<p>News of the attack, quickly spreading, inspired courage
+in every other part of the oppressed Metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>The successful uprising against the Germans in Shoreditch
+incited Londoners to rebel, and in various other
+parts of the Metropolis there occurred outbreaks.</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm had found to his cost that London
+was not to be so easily cowed after all. The size and
+population of the Metropolis had not been sufficiently
+calculated upon. It was as a country in itself, while the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+intricacies of its by-ways formed a refuge for the conspirators,
+who were gradually completing their preparations
+to rise <i>en masse</i> and strike down the Germans
+wherever found. In the open country his great army
+could march, man&oelig;uvre, and use strategy, but here in
+the maze of narrow London streets it was impossible to
+know in one thoroughfare what was taking place in the
+next.</p>
+
+<p>Supplies, too, were now running very short. The
+distress among our vanquished populace was most severe;
+while Von Kronhelm's own army was put on meagre
+rations. The increasing price of food and consequent
+starvation had not served to improve the relations between
+the invaders and the citizens of London, who,
+though they were assured by various proclamations that
+they would be happier and more prosperous under German
+rule, now discovered that they were being slowly starved
+to death.</p>
+
+<p>Their only hope, therefore, was in the efforts of that
+now gigantic organisation, the League of Defenders.</p>
+
+<p>A revolt occurred in Pentonville Road, opposite King's
+Cross Underground Station, which ended in a fierce and
+terrible fray. A company of the Bremen Infantry Regiment
+No. 75, belonging to the IXth Corps, were marching
+from the City Road towards Regent's Park, when several
+shots were fired at them from windows of shops almost
+opposite the station. Five Germans fell dead, including
+one lieutenant, a very gorgeous person who wore a
+monocle. Another volley rang out before the infantrymen
+could realise what was happening, and then it was
+seen that the half-ruined shops had been placed in such
+a state of defence as to constitute a veritable fortress.</p>
+
+<p>The fire was returned, but a few moments later a
+Maxim spat its deadly fire from a small hole in a wall,
+and a couple of dozen of the enemy fell upon the granite
+setts of the thoroughfare. The rattle of musketry quickly
+brought forth the whole of that populous neighbourhood&mdash;or
+all, indeed, that remained of them&mdash;the working-class
+district between Pentonville Road and Copenhagen
+Street.</p>
+
+<p>Quickly the fight became general. The men of Bremen
+endeavoured to take the place by assault, but found
+that it was impossible. The strength of the defences
+was amazing, and showed only too plainly that Londoners
+were in secret preparing for the great uprising that was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+being planned. In such a position were the houses
+held by the Londoners, that their fire commanded
+both the Pentonville and King's Cross Roads; but very
+soon the Germans were reinforced by another company of
+the same regiment, and these being attacked in the rear
+from Rodney Street, Cumming Street, Weston Street,
+York Street, Winchester Street, and other narrow turnings
+leading into the Pentonville Road, the fighting
+quickly became general.</p>
+
+<p>The populace came forth in swarms, men and women,
+armed with any weapon or article upon which they could
+lay their hands, and all fired with the same desire.</p>
+
+<p>Hundreds of men who came forth were armed with
+rifles which had been carefully secreted on the entry of
+the enemy into the Metropolis. The greater part of
+those men, indeed, had fought at the barricades in North
+London, and had subsequently taken part in the street
+fighting as the enemy advanced. Some of the arms had
+come from the League of Defenders, smuggled into the
+Metropolis nobody exactly knew how.</p>
+
+<p>Up and down the King's Cross, Pentonville, and Caledonian
+Roads the crowd swayed and fought. The Germans
+against that overwhelming mass of angry civilians
+seemed powerless. Small bodies of the troops were
+cornered in the narrow by-streets, and then given no
+quarter. Brave-hearted Londoners, though they knew
+well what dire punishment they must inevitably draw
+upon themselves, had taken the law into their own hands,
+and were shooting or stabbing every German who fell
+into their hands.</p>
+
+<p>The scene of carnage in that hour of fighting was
+awful. The "Daily Chronicle" described it as one of the
+most fiercely contested encounters in the whole history
+of the siege. Shoreditch had given courage to King's
+Cross, for, unknown to Von Kronhelm, houses in all
+quarters were being put in a state of defence, their position
+being carefully chosen by those directing the secret
+operations of the League of Defenders.</p>
+
+<p>For over an hour the houses in question gallantly held
+out, sweeping the streets constantly with their Maxim.
+Presently, however, on further reinforcements arriving,
+the German colonel directed his men to enter the houses
+opposite. In an instant a door was broken in, and presently
+glass came tumbling down as muzzles of rifles
+were poked through the panes, and soon sharp crackling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+showed that the Germans had settled down to their
+work.</p>
+
+<p>The defence of the Londoners was most obstinate. In
+the streets, Londoners attacked the enemy with utter
+disregard for the risks they ran. Women, among them
+many young girls, joined in the fray, armed with pistols
+and knives.</p>
+
+<p>After a while a great body of reinforcements appeared
+in the Euston Road, having been sent hurriedly along
+from Regent's Park. Then the option was given to
+those occupying the fortified house to surrender, the
+colonel promising to spare their lives. The Londoners
+peremptorily refused. Everywhere the fighting became
+more desperate and spread all through the streets leading
+out of St. Pancras, York, and Caledonian Roads,
+until the whole of that great neighbourhood became the
+scene of a fierce conflict, in which both sides lost heavily.
+Right across Islington the street fighting spread, and
+many were the fatal traps set for the unwary German
+who found himself cut off in that maze of narrow streets
+between York Road and the Angel. The enemy, on the
+other hand, were shooting down women and girls as well
+as the men, even the non-combatants&mdash;those who came
+out of their homes to ascertain what was going on&mdash;being
+promptly fired at and killed.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of all this somebody ignited some petrol
+in a house a few doors from the chapel in Pentonville
+Road, and in a few moments the whole row of buildings
+were blazing furiously, belching forth black smoke and
+adding to the terror and confusion of those exciting
+moments. Even that large body of Germans now upon
+the scene were experiencing great difficulty in defending
+themselves. A perfect rain of bullets seemed directed
+upon them on every hand, and to-day's experience certainly
+proves that Londoners are patriotic and brave, and in
+their own districts they possess a superiority over the
+trained troops of the Kaiser.</p>
+
+<p>At length, after a most sanguinary struggle, the
+Londoners' position was carried, the houses were entered,
+and twenty-two brave patriots, mostly of the working-class,
+taken prisoners. The populace now realising that
+the Germans had, after all, overpowered their comrades,
+in their fortress, fell back; but being pursued northward
+towards the railway line between Highbury and Barnsbury
+stations, many of them were despatched on the spot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>What followed was indeed terrible. The anger of the
+Germans now became uncontrollable. Having in view
+Von Kronhelm's proclamation&mdash;which sentenced to death
+all who, not being in uniform, fired upon German troops&mdash;they
+decided to teach the unfortunate populace a
+lesson. As a matter of fact, they feared that such revolts
+might be repeated in other quarters.</p>
+
+<p>So they seized dozens of prisoners, men and women,
+and shot them down. Many of these summary executions
+took place against the wall of the St. Pancras Station at
+the corner of Euston Road. Men and women were
+pitilessly sent to death. Wives, daughters, fathers, sons
+were ranged up against that wall, and, at signal from the
+colonel, fell forward with bullets through them.</p>
+
+<p>Of the men who so gallantly held the fortified house
+not a single one escaped. Strings of men and women
+were hurried to their doom in one day, for the troops were
+savage with the lust of blood, and Von Kronhelm, though
+he was aware of it by telephone, lifted not a finger to
+stop those arbitrary executions.</p>
+
+<p>But enough of such details. Suffice it to say that the
+stones of Islington were stained with the blood of innocent
+Londoners, and that those who survived took a fierce
+vow of vengeance. Von Kronhelm's legions had the
+upper hand for the moment, yet the conflict and its
+bloody sequel had the effect of arousing the fiercest anger
+within the heart of every Briton in the metropolis.</p>
+
+<p>What was in store for us none could tell. We were
+conquered, oppressed, starved; yet hope was still within
+us. The League of Defenders were not idle, while South
+London was hourly completing her strength.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that after quelling the revolt at King's Cross
+wholesale arrests were made in Islington. The guilt or
+innocence of the prisoners did not seem to matter. Von
+Kronhelm dealing out to them summary punishment.</p>
+
+<p>Terror reigns in London. One newspaper correspondent&mdash;whose
+account is published this morning in South
+London, having been sent across the Thames by carrier
+pigeon, many of which were now being employed by the
+newspapers&mdash;had an opportunity of witnessing the wholesale
+executions which took place yesterday afternoon
+outside Dorchester House, where Von Kleppen has established
+his quarters. Von Kleppen seems to be the most
+pitiless of the superior officers. The prisoners, ranged
+up for inspection in front of the big mansion, were mostly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+men from Islington, all of whom knew only too well
+the fate in store for them. Walking slowly along and
+eyeing the ranks of these unfortunate wretches, the
+German General stopped here and there, tapping a man
+on the shoulder or beckoning him out of the rear ranks.
+In most cases, without further word, the individual
+thus selected was marched into the Park at Stanhope
+Gate, where a small supplementary column was soon
+formed.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h2>LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS</h2>
+<h3>DAILY BULLETIN</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The League of Defenders of the British Empire publicly
+announce to Englishmen, although the North of London is
+held by the enemy:</p>
+
+<p>(1) That England will soon entirely regain command of the
+sea, and that a rigorous blockade of the German ports will
+be established.</p>
+
+<p>(2) That three of the vessels of the North German Lloyd
+Transatlantic passenger service have been captured, together
+with a number of minor German ships in the
+Channel and Mediterranean.</p>
+
+<p>(3) That four German cruisers and two destroyers have
+fallen into the hands of the British.</p>
+
+<p>(4) That</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+ENGLAND'S MILLIONS ARE READY<br />
+TO RISE!<br />
+Therefore<br />
+WE ARE NOT YET BEATEN!<br />
+BE PREPARED, AND WAIT.
+</div>
+<p>League of Defenders.</p>
+<div class="right">Central Office: Bristol.</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 453px;">
+<a href="images/i231-hi.png"><img src="images/i231.png" width="453" height="300" alt="COPY OF THE &quot;DAILY BULLETIN&quot; OF THE
+LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">COPY OF THE &quot;DAILY BULLETIN&quot; OF THE
+LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Those chosen knew that their last hour had come.
+Some clasped their hands and fell upon their knees,
+imploring pity, while others remained silent and stubborn
+patriots. One man, his face covered with blood
+and his arm broken, sat down and howled in anguish,
+and others wept in silence. Some women&mdash;wives and
+daughters of the condemned men&mdash;tried to get within
+the Park to bid them adieu and to urge courage, but
+the soldiers beat them back with their rifles. Some of
+the men laughed defiantly, others met death with a stony
+stare. The eye-witness saw the newly-dug pit that
+served as common grave, and he stood by and saw them
+shot and their corpses afterwards flung into it.</p>
+
+<p>One young fair-haired woman, condemned by Von
+Kleppen, rushed forward to that officer, threw herself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+upon her knees, imploring mercy, and protested her
+innocence wildly. But the officer, callous and pitiless,
+simply motioned to a couple of soldiers to take her within
+the Park, where she shared the same fate as the men.</p>
+
+<p>How long will this awful state of affairs last? We
+must die, or conquer. London is in the hands of a legion
+of assassins&mdash;Bavarians, Saxons, Würtembergers, Hessians,
+Badeners&mdash;all now bent upon prolonging the reign of
+terror, and thus preventing the uprising that they know
+is, sooner or later, inevitable.</p>
+
+<p>Terrible accounts are reaching us of how the Germans
+are treating their prisoners on Hounslow Heath, at
+Enfield, and other places; of the awful sufferings of the
+poor unfortunate fellows, of hunger, of thirst, and of
+inhuman disregard for either their comfort or their lives.</p>
+
+<p>At present we are powerless, hemmed in by our barricades.
+Behind us, upon Sydenham Hill, General Bamford
+is in a strong position, and his great batteries are
+already defending any attack upon London from the
+south. From the terrace in front of the Crystal Palace
+his guns can sweep the whole range of southern suburbs.
+Through Dulwich, Herne Hill, Champion Hill, and Denmark
+Hill are riding British cavalry, all of whom show
+evident traces of the hard and fierce campaign. We see
+from Sydenham constant messages being heliographed,
+for General Bamford and Lord Byfield are in hourly
+communication by wireless telegraphy or by other means.</p>
+
+<p>What is transpiring at Windsor is not known, save
+that every night there are affairs of outposts with the
+Saxons, who on several occasions have attempted to cross
+the river by pontoons, and have on each occasion been
+driven back.</p>
+
+<p>It was reported to Parliament at its sitting at Bristol
+yesterday that the Cabinet had refused to entertain any
+idea of paying the indemnity demanded by Germany, and
+that their reply to Von Kronhelm is one of open defiance.
+The brief summary of the speeches published shows that
+the Government are hopeful, notwithstanding the present
+black outlook. They believe that when the hour comes
+for the revenge, London will rise as a man, and that
+Socialists, Nonconformists, Labour agitators, Anarchists,
+and demagogues will unite with us in one great national
+patriotic effort to exterminate our conquerors as we would
+exterminate vermin.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Gerald Graham has made another great speech<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+in the House, in which he reported the progress of the
+League of Defenders and its wide-spread ramifications.
+He told the Government that there were over seven
+millions of able-bodied men in the country ready to
+revolt the instant the word went forth. That there would
+be terrible bloodshed he warned them, but that the
+British would eventually prove the victors he was assured.
+He gave no details of the organisation, for to a great
+measure it was a secret one, and Von Kronhelm was already
+taking active steps to combat its intentions; but he
+declared that there was still a strong spirit of patriotism
+in the country, and explained how sturdy Scots were
+daily making their way south, and how men from Wales
+were already massing in Oxford.</p>
+
+<p>The speech was received on both sides of the House
+with ringing cheers when, in conclusion, he promised
+them that, within a few days, the fiat would go forth,
+and the enemy would find himself crushed and powerless.</p>
+
+<p>"South London," he declared, "is our stronghold, our
+fortress. To-day it is impregnable, defended by a million
+British patriots, and I defy Von Kronhelm&mdash;indeed, I
+dare him to attack it!"</p>
+
+<p>Von Kronhelm was, of course, well aware of the formation
+of the Defenders, but treated the League with contempt.
+If there was any attempt at a rising, he would shoot down
+the people like dogs. He declared this openly and
+publicly, and he also issued a warning to the English
+people in the German official "Gazette," a daily periodical
+printed in one of the newspaper offices in Fleet Street
+in both German and English.</p>
+
+<p>The German commander fully believed that England
+was crushed; yet, as the days went on, he was puzzled
+that he received no response to his demand for indemnity.
+Twice he had sent special despatch-bearers to Bristol,
+but on both occasions the result was the same.</p>
+
+<p>Diplomatic representations had been made in Berlin
+through the Russian Ambassador, who was now in charge
+of British interests in Germany, but all to no purpose.
+Our Foreign Minister simply acknowledged receipt of
+the various despatches. On the Continent the keenest
+interest was manifested at what was apparently a deadlock.
+The British had, it was known, regained command
+of the sea. Von Kronhelm's supplies were already cut
+off. The cables in direct communication between England
+and Germany had been severed, and the Continental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+Press, especially the Paris journals, gleefully recounted
+how two large Hamburg-American liners attempting to
+reach Hamburg by passing north of Scotland had been
+captured by British cruisers.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<h2>ENGLISHMEN!</h2>
+<div class="center">
+Your Homes are Desecrated!<br />
+Your Children are Starving!<br />
+Your Loved Ones are Dead!<br />
+<br />
+WILL YOU REMAIN IN COWARDLY INACTIVITY?
+</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The German Eagle flies over London. Hull, Newcastle and
+Birmingham are in ruins. Manchester is a German
+City. Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk form a German colony.</p>
+
+<p>The Kaiser's troops have brought death, ruin, and starvation
+upon you.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="center"><b>WILL YOU BECOME GERMANS?</b></div>
+<h2>NO!</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Join THE DEFENDERS and fight for England.</p>
+
+<p>You have England's Millions beside you.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h2>LET US RISE!</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Let us drive back the Kaiser's men.</p>
+
+<p>Let us shoot them at sight.</p>
+
+<p>Let us exterminate every single man who has desecrated
+English soil.</p>
+
+<p>Join the New League of Defenders.</p>
+
+<p>Fight for your homes. Fight for your wives. Fight for
+England.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<b>FIGHT FOR YOUR KING!</b><br />
+<br />
+The National League of Defenders' Head Offices.<br />
+Bristol, September 21st, 1910.<br />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;">
+<a href="images/i234-hi.png"><img src="images/i234.png" width="426" height="400" alt="A COPY OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE OF
+DEFENDERS ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1910." title="" /></a>
+<span class="caption">A COPY OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE OF
+DEFENDERS ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1910.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>In the Channel, too, a number of German vessels had
+been seized, and one that showed fight off the North
+Foreland was fired upon and sunk. The public at home,
+however, were more interested in supremacy on land.
+It was all very well to have command of the sea, they
+argued, but it did not appear to alleviate perceptibly
+the hunger and privations on land. The Germans occupied
+London, and while they did so all freedom in England was
+at an end.</p>
+
+<p>A great poster headed "Englishmen," here reproduced,
+was seen everywhere. The whole country was flooded
+with it, and thousands upon thousands of heroic Britons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+from the poorest to the wealthiest, clamoured to enrol
+themselves. The movement was an absolutely national
+one in every sense of the word. The name of Gerald
+Graham, the new champion of England's power, was
+upon every one's tongue. Daily he spoke in the various
+towns in the West of England, in Plymouth, Taunton,
+Cardiff, Portsmouth, and Southampton, and, assisted
+by the influential committee among whom were many
+brilliant speakers and men whose names were as household
+words, he aroused the country to the highest pitch
+of hatred against the enemy. The defenders, as they
+drilled in various centres through the whole of the West
+of England, were a strange and incongruous body. Grey-bearded
+Army pensioners ranged side by side with
+keen, enthusiastic youths, advised them and gave them
+the benefit of their expert knowledge. Volunteer officers
+in many cases assumed command, together with retired
+drill sergeants. The digging of trenches and the making
+of fortifications were assigned to navvies, bricklayers,
+platelayers, and agricultural labourers, large bodies of
+whom were under railway gangers, and were ready to
+perform any excavation work.</p>
+
+<p>The Maxims and other machine guns were mostly
+manned by Volunteer artillery; but instruction in the
+working of the Maxim was given to select classes in
+Plymouth, Bristol, Portsmouth, and Cardiff. Time was
+of utmost value, therefore the drilling was pushed forward
+day and night. It was known that Von Kronhelm
+was already watchful of the movements of the League,
+and was aware daily of its growth.</p>
+
+<p>In London, with the greatest secrecy, the defenders
+were banding together. In face of the German proclamation
+posted upon the walls, Londoners were holding meetings
+in secret and enrolling themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Though the German eagle flew in Whitehall and from
+the summit of St. Stephen's Tower, and though the
+heavy tramp of German sentries echoed in Trafalgar
+Square, in the quiet, trafficless streets in the vicinity,
+England was not yet vanquished.</p>
+
+<p>The valiant men of London were still determined to
+sell their liberty dearly, and to lay down their lives for
+the freedom of their country and honour of their King.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="BOOK_III" id="BOOK_III"></a>BOOK III.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE REVENGE.</h3>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I_III" id="CHAPTER_I_III"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>A BLOW FOR FREEDOM.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">'Daily Telegraph' Office.</span><br />
+"<i>Oct.</i> 1, 2 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Three days have passed since the revolt at King's
+Cross, and each day, both on the Horse Guards' Parade
+and in the Park, opposite Dorchester House, there have
+been summary executions. Von Kronhelm is in evident
+fear of the excited London populace, and is endeavouring
+to cow them by his plain-spoken and threatening proclamations,
+and by these wholesale executions of any
+person found with arms in his or her possession. But
+the word of command does not abolish the responsibility
+of conscience, and we are now awaiting breathlessly for
+the word to strike the blow in revenge.</p>
+
+<p>"The other newspapers are reappearing, but all that is
+printed each morning is first subjected to a rigorous
+censorship, and nothing is allowed to be printed before
+it is passed and initialled by the two gold-spectacled
+censors who sit and smoke their pipes in an office to
+themselves. Below, we have German sentries on guard,
+for our journal is one of the official organs of Von Kronhelm,
+and what now appears in it is surely sufficient to
+cause our blood to boil."</p>
+
+<p>"To-day, there are everywhere signs of rapidly increasing
+unrest. Londoners are starving, and are now refusing
+to remain patient any longer. The "Daily Bulletin"
+of the League of Defenders, though the posting of it is
+punishable by imprisonment, and it is everywhere torn
+down where discovered by the Germans, still gives daily
+brief news of what is in progress, and still urges the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+people to wait in patience, for 'the action of the Government,'
+as it is sarcastically put.</p>
+
+<p>"Soon after eleven o'clock this morning a sudden and
+clearly premeditated attack was made upon a body of
+the Bremen infantry, who were passing along Oxford
+Street from Holborn to the Marble Arch. The soldiers
+were suddenly fired upon from windows of a row of shops
+between Newman Street and Rathbone Place, and before
+they could halt and return the fire they found themselves
+surrounded by a great armed rabble, who were emerging
+from all the streets leading into Oxford Street.</p>
+
+<p>"While the Germans were man&oelig;uvring, some unknown
+hand launched from a window a bomb into the centre
+of them. Next second there was a red flash, a loud report,
+and twenty-five of the enemy were blown to atoms.
+For a few moments the soldiers were demoralised, but
+orders were shouted loudly by their officers, and they
+began a most vigorous defence. In a few seconds the
+fight was as fierce as that at King's Cross; for out of
+every street in that working-class district lying between
+the Tottenham Court Road and Great Portland Street on
+the north, and out of Soho on the South, poured thousands
+upon thousands of fierce Londoners, all bent upon
+doing their utmost to kill their oppressors. From almost
+every window along Oxford Street a rain of lead was
+now being poured upon the troops, who vainly strove to
+keep their ground. Gradually, however, they were, by
+slow degrees, forced back into the narrow side-turnings
+up Newman Street, and Rathbone Place into Mortimer
+Street, Foley Street, Goodge Street, and Charlotte Street;
+and there they were slaughtered almost to a man.</p>
+
+<p>"Two officers were captured by the armed mob in
+Tottenham Street and, after being beaten, were stood up
+and shot in cold blood as vengeance for those shot during
+the past three days at Von Kleppen's orders at Dorchester
+House.</p>
+
+<p>"The fierce fight lasted quite an hour; and though
+reinforcements were sent for, yet curiously none arrived.</p>
+
+<p>"The great mob, however, were well aware that very
+soon the iron hand of Germany would fall heavily upon
+them; therefore, in frantic haste, they began soon after
+noon to build barricades and block up the narrow streets
+in every direction. At the end of Rathbone Place, Newman
+Street, Berners Street, Wells Street, and Great
+Tichfield Street, huge obstructions soon appeared, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+on the east all by-streets leading into Tottenham Court
+Road were blocked up, and the same on the west in
+Great Portland Street, and on the north where the district
+was flanked by the Euston Road. So that by two o'clock
+the populous neighbourhood bounded by the four great
+thoroughfares was rendered a fortress in itself.</p>
+
+<p>"Within that area were thousands of armed men and
+women from Soho, Bloomsbury, Marylebone, and even
+from Camden Town. There they remained in defiance of
+Von Kronhelm's newest proclamation, which stared one
+in the face from every wall."</p>
+
+<div class="right">"<i>Later.</i></div>
+
+<p>"The enemy were unaware of the grave significance
+of the position of affairs, because Londoners betrayed
+no outward sign of the truth. Now, however, nearly
+every man and woman wore pinned upon their breasts
+a small piece of silk about two inches square, printed
+as a miniature Union Jack&mdash;the badge adopted by the
+League of Defenders. Though Von Kronhelm was unaware
+of it, Lord Byfield, in council with Greatorex and
+Bamford, had decided that, in order to demoralise the
+enemy and give him plenty of work to do, a number of
+local uprisings should take place north of the Thames.
+These would occupy Von Kronhelm, who would experience
+great difficulty in quelling them, and would no
+doubt eventually recall the Saxons from West Middlesex
+to assist. If the latter retired upon London they would
+find the barricades held by Londoners in their rear and
+Lord Byfield in their front, and be thus caught between
+two fires.</p>
+
+<p>"In each district of London there is a chief of the
+Defenders, and to each chief these orders had been conveyed
+in strictest confidence. Therefore, to-day, while
+the outbreak occurred in Oxford Street, there were fully a
+dozen others in various parts of the metropolis, each of
+a more or less serious character. Every district has
+already prepared its own secret defences, its fortified
+houses, and its barricades in hidden by-ways. Besides
+the quantity of arms smuggled into London, every dead
+German has had his rifle, pistol, and ammunition stolen
+from him. Hundreds of the enemy have been surreptitiously
+killed for that very reason. Lawlessness is
+everywhere, Government and Army have failed them, and
+Londoners are now taking the law into their own hands.</p>
+
+<p>"In King Street, Hammersmith; in Notting Dale, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+Forest Road, Dalston; in Wick Road, Hackney; in
+Commercial Road East, near Stepney Station; and in
+Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, the League of
+Defenders this morning&mdash;at about the same hour&mdash;first
+made their organisation public by displaying our national
+emblem, together with the white flags, with the scarlet
+St. George's Cross, the ancient battle flag of England.</p>
+
+<p>"For that reason, then, no reinforcements were sent
+to Oxford Street. Von Kronhelm was far too busy in
+other quarters. In Kentish Town, it is reported, the
+Germans gained a complete and decisive victory, for
+the people had not barricaded themselves strongly; besides,
+there were large reinforcements of Germans ready
+in Regent's Park, and these came upon the scene before
+the Defenders were sufficiently prepared. The flag was
+captured from the barricade in Prince of Wales Road,
+and the men of Kentish Town lost over four hundred
+killed and wounded.</p>
+
+<p>"At Stepney, the result was the reverse. The enemy,
+believing it to be a mere local disturbance and easily
+quelled, sent but a small body of men to suppress it.
+But very quickly, in the intricate by-streets off Commercial
+Road, these were wiped out, not one single man
+surviving. A second and third body were sent, but so
+fiercely was the ground contested that they were at
+length compelled to fall back and leave the men of
+Stepney masters of their own district. In Hammersmith
+and in Notting Dale the enemy also lost heavily, though
+in Hackney they were successful after hard fighting.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one declares that this secret order issued by
+the League means that England is again prepared to give
+battle, and that London is commencing by her strategic
+movement of local rebellions. The gravity of the situation
+cannot now, for one moment, be concealed. London
+north of the Thames is destined to be the scene of the
+fiercest and most bloody warfare ever known in the history
+of the civilised world. The Germans will, of course,
+fight for their lives, while we shall fight for our homes
+and for our liberty. But right is on our side, and right
+will win.</p>
+
+<p>"Reports from all over the metropolis tell the same
+tale. London is alert and impatient. At a word she will
+rise to a man, and then woe betide the invader! Surely
+Von Kronhelm's position is not a very enviable one.
+Our two censors in the office are smoking their pipes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+very gravely. Not a word of the street fighting is to be
+published. They will write their own account of it.</p>
+
+<div class="right">"10 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span></div>
+
+<p>"There has been a most frightful encounter at the
+Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road barricades&mdash;a
+most stubborn resistance and gallant defence on the part
+of the men of Marylebone and Bloomsbury.</p>
+
+<p>"From the lips of one of our correspondents who was
+within the barricade I have just learned the details. It
+appears that just about four o'clock General Von Wilberg
+sent from the City a large force of the 19th Division
+under Lieutenant General Frankenfeld, and part of
+these, advancing through the squares of Bloomsbury into
+Gower Street, attacked the Defenders' position from the
+Tottenham Court Road, while others coming up Holborn
+and New Oxford Street entered Soho from Charing Cross
+Road and threw up counter-barricades at the end of Dean
+Street, Wardour Street, Berwick, Poland, Argyll, and the
+other streets, all of which were opposite the defences of
+the populace. In Great Portland Street, too, they adopted
+a similar line, and without much ado the fight, commenced
+in a desultory fashion, soon became a battle.</p>
+
+<p>"Within the barricades was a dense body of armed and
+angry citizens, each with his little badge, and every
+single one of them was ready to fight to the death. There
+is no false patriotism now, no mere bravado. Men make
+declarations, and carry them out. The gallant Londoners,
+with their several Maxims, wrought havoc among the
+invaders, especially in the Tottenham Court Road, where
+hundreds were maimed or killed.</p>
+
+<p>"In Oxford Street, the enemy being under cover of
+their counter-barricades, little damage could be done on
+either side. The wide, open, deserted thoroughfare was
+every moment swept by a hail of bullets, but no one was
+injured. On the Great Portland Street side the populace
+made a feint of giving way at the Mortimer Street barricade,
+and a body of the enemy rushed in, taking the
+obstruction by storm. But next moment they regretted
+it, for they were set upon by a thousand armed men
+and wild haired women, so that every man paid for his
+courage with his life. The women, seizing the weapons
+and ammunition of the dead Germans, now returned to
+the barricade to use them.</p>
+
+<p>"The Mortimer Street defences were at once repaired,
+and it was resolved to relay the fatal trap at some other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+point. Indeed, it was repeated at the end of Percy
+Street, where about fifty more Germans, who thought
+themselves victorious, were set upon and exterminated.</p>
+
+<p>"Until dusk the fight lasted. The Germans, finding
+their attack futile, began to hurl petrol bombs over the
+barricades and these caused frightful destruction among
+our gallant men, several houses in the vicinity being set
+on fire. Fortunately, there was still water in the street
+hydrants, and two fire engines had already been brought
+within the beleaguered area in case of necessity.</p>
+
+<p>"At last, about seven o'clock, the enemy, having lost
+very heavily in attempting to take the well-chosen position
+by storm, brought down several light field-guns from
+Regent's Park; and, placing them at their counter-barricades&mdash;where,
+by the way, they had lost many men
+in the earlier part of the conflict while piling up their
+shelters&mdash;suddenly opened fire with shell at the huge
+obstructions before them.</p>
+
+<p>"At first they made but little impression upon the
+flagstones, etc., of which the barricades were mainly
+composed. But before long their bombardment began
+to tell; for slowly, here and there, exploding shells made
+great breaches in the defences that had been so heroically
+manned. More than once a high explosive shell burst
+right among the crowd of riflemen behind a barricade,
+sweeping dozens into eternity in a single instant.
+Against the fortified houses each side of the barricades
+the German artillery trained their guns, and very quickly
+reduced many of those buildings to ruins. The air now
+became thick with dust and smoke; and mingled with
+the roar of artillery at such close quarters came the
+screams of the injured and the groans of the dying. The
+picture drawn by the eye-witness who described this was
+a truly appalling one. Gradually the Londoners were being
+overwhelmed, but they were selling their lives dearly, fully
+proving themselves worthy sons of grand old England.</p>
+
+<p>"At last the fire from the Newman Street barricade
+of the Defenders was silenced, and ten minutes later, a
+rush being made across from Dean Street, it was taken
+by storm. Then ensued fierce and bloody hand-to-hand
+fighting right up to Cleveland Street, while almost at
+the same moment the enemy broke in from Great Portland
+Street.</p>
+
+<p>"A scene followed that is impossible to describe.
+Through all those narrow, crooked streets the fighting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+became general, and on either side hundreds fell. The
+Defenders in places cornered the Germans, cut them
+off, and killed them. Though it was felt that now the
+barricades had been broken the day was lost, yet every
+man kept courage, and fought with all his strength.</p>
+
+<p>"For half an hour the Germans met with no success.
+On the contrary, they found themselves entrapped amid
+thousands of furious citizens, all wearing their silken
+badges, and all sworn to fight to the death.</p>
+
+<p>"While the Defenders still struggled on, loud and
+ringing cheers were suddenly raised from Tottenham
+Court Road. The people from Clerkenwell, joined by
+those in Bloomsbury, had arrived to assist them. They
+had risen, and were attacking the Germans in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>"Fighting was now general right across from Tottenham
+Court Road to Gray's Inn Road, and by nine o'clock,
+though Von Wilberg sent reinforcements, a victory was
+gained by the Defenders. Over two thousand Germans
+are lying dead and wounded about the streets and squares
+of Bloomsbury and Marylebone. The League had struck
+its first blow for Freedom.</p>
+
+<p>"What will the morrow bring us? Dire punishment&mdash;or
+desperate victory?"</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"'<span class="smcap">Daily Chronicle' Office</span>,<br />
+"<i>Oct.</i> 4, 6 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"The final struggle for the possession of London is
+about to commence. Through all last night there were
+desultory conflicts between the soldiers and the people,
+in which many lives have, alas! been sacrificed.</p>
+
+<p>"Von Wilberg still holds the City proper, with the
+Mansion House as his headquarters. Within the area
+already shown upon the map there are no English, all
+the inhabitants having been long ago expelled. The
+great wealth of London is in German hands, it is true,
+but it is Dead Sea fruit. They are unable either to make
+use of it or to deport it to Germany. Much has been
+taken away to the base at Southminster and other bases
+in Essex, but the greater part of the bullion still remains
+in the Bank of England.</p>
+
+<p>"The most exciting stories have been reaching us
+during the last twenty-four hours, none of which, however,
+have passed the censor. For that reason I, one of
+the sub-editors, am keeping this diary, as a brief record
+of events during the present dreadful times.</p>
+
+<p>"After the terrific struggle in Marylebone three days
+ago,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> Von Kronhelm saw plainly that if London were to
+rise <i>en masse</i> she would at once assume the upper hand.
+The German Commander-in-Chief had far too many
+points to guard. On the west of London he was
+threatened by Lord Byfield and hosts of auxiliaries, mostly
+sworn members of the National League of Defenders; on
+the south, across the river, Southwark, Lambeth, and
+Battersea formed an impregnable fortress, containing
+over a million eager patriots ready to burst forth and
+sweep away the vain, victorious army; while within
+central London itself the people were ready to rise.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<h2>LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.</h2>
+<div class="center">
+CITIZENS OF LONDON AND LOYAL PATRIOTS.
+</div>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The hour has come to show your strength, and to
+wreak your vengeance.</p>
+
+<p>TO-NIGHT, OCT. 4, AT 10 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, rise, and strike
+your blow for freedom.</p>
+
+<p>A MILLION MEN are with Lord Byfield, already
+within striking distance of London; a million follow
+them, and yet another million are ready in South London.</p>
+
+<p>RISE, FEARLESS AND STERN. Let "England for
+Englishmen" be your battle-cry, and avenge the blood of
+your wives and your children.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="center">
+AVENGE THIS INSULT TO YOUR<br />
+NATION.<br />
+REMEMBER: TEN O'CLOCK TO-NIGHT!
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 437px;">
+<a href="images/i243-hi.png"><img src="images/i243.png" width="437" height="550" alt="LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.
+CITIZENS OF LONDON AND LOYAL PATRIOTS." title="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"Reports<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> reaching us to-day from Lord Byfield's headquarters
+at Windsor are numerous, but conflicting. As
+far as can be gathered, the authentic facts are as follows:
+Great bodies of the Defenders, including many women,
+all armed, are massing at Reading, Sonning, Wokingham,
+and Maidenhead. Thousands have arrived, and are
+hourly arriving by train, from Portsmouth, Plymouth,
+Exeter, Bristol, Gloucester, and, in fact, all the chief
+centres of the West of England, where Gerald Graham's
+campaign has been so marvellously successful. Sturdy
+Welsh colliers are marching shoulder to shoulder with
+agricultural labourers from Dorset and Devon, and clerks
+and citizens from the towns of Somerset, Cornwall,
+Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire are taking arms beside
+the riff-raff of their own neighbourhoods. Peer and
+peasant, professional man and pauper, all are now united
+with one common object&mdash;to drive back the invader, and
+to save our dear old England.</p>
+
+<p>"Oxford has, it seems, been one of the chief points of
+concentration, and the undergraduates who re-assembled
+there to defend their colleges now form an advance-guard
+of a huge body of Defenders on the march, by way of
+Henley and Maidenhead, to follow in the rear of Lord
+Byfield. The latter holds Eton and the country across
+to High Wycombe, while the Saxon headquarters are
+still at Staines. Frölich's Cavalry Division are holding
+the country across from Pinner through Stanmore and
+Chipping Barnet to the prison camp at Enfield Chase.
+These are the only German troops outside West London,
+the Saxons being now barred from entering by the huge
+barricades which the populace of West London have
+during the past few days been constructing. Every road
+leading into London from West Middlesex is now either
+strongly barricaded or entirely blocked up. Kew, Richmond,
+and Kingston Bridges have been destroyed, and
+Lord Byfield, with General Bamford at the Crystal
+Palace, remains practically in possession of the whole of
+the south of the Thames.</p>
+
+<p>"The conflict which is now about to begin will be one
+to the death. While, on the one hand, the Germans are
+bottled up among us, the fact must not be overlooked
+that their arms are superior, and that they are trained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+soldiers. Yet the two or three local risings of yesterday
+and the day previous have given us courage, for they
+show that the enemy cannot man&oelig;uvre in the narrow
+streets, and soon become demoralised. In London we
+fail because we have so few riflemen. If every man who
+now carries a gun could shoot, we could compel the
+Germans to fly a flag of truce within twenty-four hours.
+Indeed, if Lord Roberts' scheme of universal training in
+1906 had been adopted, the enemy would certainly never
+have been suffered to approach our capital.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! apathy has resulted in this terrible and crushing
+disaster, and we have only now to bear our part, each
+one of us, in the blow to avenge this desecration of our
+homes and the massacre of our loved ones.</p>
+
+<p>"To-day I have seen the white banners with the red
+cross&mdash;the ensign of the Defenders&mdash;everywhere. Till
+yesterday it was not openly displayed, but to-day it is
+actually hung from windows or flown defiantly from
+flagstaffs in full view of the Germans.</p>
+
+<p>"In Kilburn, or, to be more exact, in the district
+lying between the Harrow Road and the High Road,
+Kilburn, there was another conflict this morning between
+some of the German Garde Corps and the populace. The
+outbreak commenced by the arrest of some men who
+were found practising with rifles in Paddington Recreation
+Ground. One man who resisted was shot on the spot,
+whereupon the crowd who assembled attacked the German
+picket, and eventually killed them to a man. This was
+the signal for a general outbreak in the neighbourhood,
+and half an hour later, when a force was sent to quell
+the revolt, fierce fighting became general all through the
+narrow streets of Kensal Green, especially at the big
+barricade that blocks the Harrow Road where it is joined
+by Admiral Road. Here the bridges over the Grand
+Junction Canal have already been destroyed, for the
+barricades and defences have been scientifically constructed
+under the instruction of military engineers.</p>
+
+<p>"From an early hour to-day it has been apparent that
+all these risings were purposely ordered by the League of
+Defenders to cause Von Kronhelm's confusion. Indeed,
+while the outbreak at Kensal Green was in progress, we
+had another reported from Dalston, a third from Limehouse,
+and a fourth from Homerton. Therefore, it is
+quite certain that the various centres of the League are
+acting in unison upon secret orders from headquarters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, South London also took part in the fray this
+morning, for the Defenders at the barricade at London
+Bridge have now mounted several field guns, and have
+started shelling Von Wilberg's position in the City. It
+is said that the Mansion House, where the General had
+usurped the apartments of the deported Lord Mayor, has
+already been half reduced to ruins. This action is, no
+doubt, only to harass the enemy, for surely General
+Bamford has no desire to destroy the City proper any
+more than it has already been destroyed. Lower Thames
+Street, King William Street, Gracechurch Street, and
+Cannon Street have at any rate, been found untenable
+by the enemy, upon whom some losses have been inflicted.</p>
+
+<p>"South London is every moment anxious to know the
+truth. Two days after the bombardment we succeeded
+at night in sinking a light telegraph cable in the river
+across from the Embankment at the bottom of Temple
+Avenue, and are in communication with our temporary
+office in Southwark Street.</p>
+
+<p>"An hour ago there came, through secret sources, information
+of another naval victory to our credit, several
+German warships being sunk and captured. Here we
+dare not print it, so I have just wired it across to the
+other side, where they are issuing a special edition.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost simultaneously with the report of the British
+victory, namely, at five o'clock, the truth&mdash;the great and
+all-important truth&mdash;became revealed. The mandate has
+gone forth from the headquarters of the League of
+Defenders that London is to rise in her might at ten o'clock
+to-night, and that a million men are ready to assist us.
+Placards and bills on red paper are everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>"Frantic efforts are being made by the Germans all
+over London to suppress both posters and handbills.</p>
+
+<p>"It is now six o'clock. In four hours it is believed that
+London will be one huge seething conflict. Night has
+been chosen, I suppose, in order to give the populace
+the advantage. The by-streets are for the most part still
+unlit, save for oil-lamps, for neither gas nor electric light
+are yet in proper working order after the terrible dislocation
+of everything. The scheme of the Defenders is, as
+already proved, to lure the Germans into the narrower
+thoroughfares, and then exterminate them. Surely
+in the history of the world there has never been such a
+bitter vengeance as that which is now inevitable. London,
+the greatest city ever known, is about to rise!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="right">"<i>Midnight.</i></div>
+
+<p>"London has risen! How can I describe the awful
+scenes of panic, bloodshed, patriotism, brutality, and
+vengeance that are at this moment in progress? As I
+write, through the open window I can hear the roar of
+voices, the continual crackling of rifles, and the heavy
+booming of guns. I walked along Fleet Street at nine
+o'clock, and I found, utterly disregarding the order that
+no unauthorised persons are to be abroad after nightfall,
+hundreds upon hundreds of all classes, all wearing
+their little silk Union Jack badges pinned to their coats,
+on the way to join in their particular districts. Some
+carried rifles, others revolvers, while others were unarmed.
+Yet not a German did I see in the streets. It
+seemed as though, for the moment, the enemy had
+vanished. There was only the strong cordon across the
+bottom of Ludgate Hill, men who looked on in wonder,
+but without bestirring themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it possible that Von Kronhelm's strategy is to
+remain inactive, and refuse to fight?</p>
+
+<p>"The first shot I heard fired, just after ten o'clock, was
+at the Strand end of Fleet Street, at the corner of Chancery
+Lane. There, I afterwards discovered, a party of forty
+German infantrymen had been attacked, and all of
+them killed. Quickly following this, I heard the distant
+booming of artillery, and then the rattle of musketry
+and pom-poms became general, but not in the neighbourhood
+where I was. For nearly half an hour I remained
+at the corner of Aldwych; then, on going farther along
+the Strand, I found that the defenders from the Waterloo
+Road had made a wild sortie into the Strand, but could
+find no Germans there.</p>
+
+<p>"The men who had for a fortnight held that barricade
+at the bridge were more like demons than human beings;
+therefore I retired, and in the crush made my way back
+to the office to await reports.</p>
+
+<p>"They were not long in arriving. I can only give a
+very brief <i>résumé</i> at the moment, for they are so numerous
+as to be bewildering.</p>
+
+<p>"Speaking generally, the whole of London has obeyed
+the mandate of the League, and, rising, are attacking the
+Germans at every point. In the majority of cases, however,
+the enemy hold strong positions, and are defending
+themselves, inflicting terrible losses upon the unorganised
+populace. Every Londoner is fighting for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+himself, without regard for orders or consequences. In
+Bethnal Green the Germans, lured into the maze of by-streets,
+have suffered great losses, and again in Clerkenwell,
+St. Luke's, Kingsland, Hackney and Old Ford.
+Whitechapel too, devoid of its alien population, who
+have escaped into Essex, has held its own, and the enemy
+have had some great losses in the streets off Cable and
+Leman Streets.</p>
+
+<p>"With the exception of the sortie across Waterloo
+Bridge, South London is, as yet, remaining in patience,
+acting under the orders of General Bamford.</p>
+
+<p>"News has come in ten minutes ago of a fierce and
+sudden attack upon the Saxons by Lord Byfield from
+Windsor, but there are, as yet, no details.</p>
+
+<p>"From the office across the river I am being constantly
+asked for details of the fight, and how it is progressing.
+In Southwark the excitement is evidently
+most intense, and it requires all the energy of the local
+commanders of the Defenders to repress another sortie
+across that bridge.</p>
+
+<p>"There has just occurred an explosion so terrific that
+the whole of this building has been shaken as though
+by an earthquake.</p>
+
+<p>"London has struck her first blow of revenge. What
+will be its sequel?"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II_III" id="CHAPTER_II_III"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>SCENES AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The following is the personal narrative of a young
+chauffeur named John Burgess, who assisted in the defence
+of the barricade at Waterloo Bridge.</p>
+
+<p>The statement was made to a reporter at noon on
+October 5, while he was lying on a mattress in the Church
+of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, so badly wounded in the
+chest that the surgeons had given him up.</p>
+
+<p>He related his story in the form of a farewell letter
+to his sister. The reporter chanced to be passing, and,
+hearing him asking for some one to write for him, volunteered
+to do so.</p>
+
+<p>"We all did our best," he said, "every one of us.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+Myself, I was at the barricade for thirteen days&mdash;thirteen
+days of semi-starvation, sleeplessness, and constant
+tension, for we knew not, from one moment to another,
+when a sudden attack might be made upon us. At
+first our obstruction was a mere ill-built pile of miscellaneous
+articles, half of which would not stop bullets;
+but on the third day our men, superintended by several
+non-commissioned officers in uniform, began to put
+the position in a proper state of defence, to mount
+Maxims in the neighbouring houses, and to place explosives
+in the crown of two of the arches of the bridge,
+so that we could instantly demolish it if necessity
+arose.</p>
+
+<p>"Fully a thousand men were holding the position, but
+unfortunately few of them had ever handled a rifle. As
+regards myself, I had learned to shoot rooks when a
+boy in Shropshire, and now that I had obtained a gun
+I was anxious to try my skill. When the League of Defenders
+was started, and a local secretary came to us, we
+all eagerly joined, each receiving, after he had taken his
+oath and signed his name, a small silk Union Jack, the
+badge of the League, not to be worn till the word went
+forth to rise.</p>
+
+<p>"Then came a period&mdash;long, dreary, shadeless days of
+waiting&mdash;when the sun beat down upon us mercilessly
+and our vigilance was required to be constant both night
+and day. So uncertain were the movements of the
+enemy opposite us that we scarcely dared to leave our
+positions for a moment. Night after night I spent
+sleeping in a neighbouring doorway, with an occasional
+stretch upon somebody's bed in some house in the
+vicinity. Now and then, whenever we saw Germans
+moving in Wellington Street, we sent a volley into
+them, in return receiving a sharp reply from their
+pom-poms. Constantly our sentries were on the alert
+along the wharves, and in the riverside warehouses,
+watching for the approach of the enemy's spies in boats.
+Almost nightly some adventurous spirits among the
+Germans would try and cross. On one occasion, while
+doing sentry duty in a warehouse backing on Commercial
+Road, I was sitting with a comrade at a window overlooking
+the river. The moon was shining, for the night was a
+balmy and beautiful one, and all was quiet. It was about
+two o'clock in the morning, and as we sat smoking our
+pipes, with our eyes fixed upon the glittering water, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+suddenly saw a small boat containing three men stealing
+slowly along in the shadow.</p>
+
+<p>"For a moment the rowers rested upon their oars, as
+if undecided, then pulled forward again in search of a
+landing-place. As they passed below our window I
+shouted a challenge. At first there was no response.
+Again I repeated it, when I heard a muttered imprecation
+in German.</p>
+
+<p>"'Spies!' I cried to my comrade, and with one accord
+we raised our rifles and fired. Ere the echo of the first
+shot had died away I saw one man fall into the water,
+while at the next shot a second man half rose from his
+seat, threw up his hands, and staggered back wounded.</p>
+
+<p>"The firing gave the alarm at the barricade, and ere
+the boat could approach the bridge, though the survivor
+pulled for dear life, a Maxim spat forth its
+red fire, and both boat and oarsman were literally
+riddled.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost every night similar incidents were reported.
+The enemy were doing all in their power to learn the
+exact strength of our defences, but I do not think their
+efforts were very successful. The surface of the river,
+every inch of it, was under the careful scrutiny of a
+thousand watchful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Each day the 'Bulletin' of our national association
+brought us tidings of what was happening outside.</p>
+
+<p>"At last, however, the welcome word came to us on
+the morning of October 4, that at ten that night we were
+to make a concerted attack upon the Germans. A scarlet
+bill was thrust into my hand, and as soon as the report
+was known we were all highly excited, and through the
+day prepared ourselves for the struggle.</p>
+
+<p>"A gun sounded from the direction of Westminster.
+We looked at our watches, and found it was ten o'clock.
+Our bugles sounded and we sprang to our positions, as we
+had done dozens, nay, hundreds of times before. I
+felt faint, for I had only had half a pint of weak soup
+all day, for the bread did not go round. Nevertheless,
+the knowledge that we were about to strike the blow
+inspired me with fresh life and strength. Our officer
+shouted a brief word of command, and next moment we
+opened a withering fire upon the enemy's barricade in
+Wellington Street.</p>
+
+<p>"In a moment a hundred rifles and several Maxims
+spat their red fire at us, but as usual the bullets flattened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+themselves harmlessly before us. Then the battery of
+artillery which Sir Francis Bamford had sent us three
+days before got into position, and in a few moments began
+hurling great shells upon the German defences.</p>
+
+<p>"Behind us was a great armed multitude ready and
+eager to get at the foe, a huge, unorganised body of
+fierce, irate Londoners, determined upon having blood
+for blood. From over the river the sound of battle was
+rising, a great roaring like the sound of a distant sea,
+with ever and anon the crackling of rifles and the boom
+of guns, while above the night sky grew a dark blood-red
+with the glare of a distant conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>"For half an hour we pounded away at the barricade
+in Wellington Street with our siege guns, Maxims, and
+rifles, until a well-directed shell exploded beneath the
+centre of the obstruction, blowing open a great gap and
+sending fragments high into the air. Then it seemed
+that all resistance suddenly ceased. At first we were
+surprised at this; but on further scrutiny we found that
+it was not our fire that had routed the enemy, but that
+they were being attacked in their rear by hosts of armed
+citizens surging down from Kingsway and the Strand.</p>
+
+<p>"We could plainly discern that the Germans were
+fighting for their lives. Into the midst of them we sent
+one or two shells; but fearing to cause casualties among
+our own comrades, we were compelled to cease firing.</p>
+
+<p>"The armed crowd behind us, finding that we were
+again inactive, at once demanded that our barricade
+should be opened, so that they might cross the bridge
+and assist their comrades by taking the Germans in the
+rear. For ten minutes our officer in charge refused, for
+the order of General Greatorex, Commander-in-Chief of
+the League, was that no sortie was to be made at present.
+However, the South Londoners became so infuriated
+that our commander was absolutely forced to give way,
+though he knew not into what trap we might fall, as
+he had no idea of the strength of the enemy in the
+neighbourhood of the Strand. A way was quickly
+opened in the obstruction, and two minutes later we
+were pouring across Waterloo Bridge in thousands,
+shouting and yelling in triumph as we passed the ruins
+of the enemy's barricade, and fell upon him with merciless
+revenge. With us were many women, who were, perhaps,
+fiercer and more unrelenting than the men. Indeed,
+many a woman that night killed a German with her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+own hands, firing revolvers in their faces, striking with
+knives, or even blinding them with vitriol.</p>
+
+<p>"The scene was both exciting and ghastly. At the
+spot where I first fought&mdash;on the pavement outside the
+Savoy&mdash;we simply slaughtered the Germans in cold
+blood. Men cried for mercy, but we gave them no
+quarter. London had risen in its might, and as our
+comrades fought all along the Strand and around Aldwych,
+we gradually exterminated every man in German
+uniform. Soon the roadways of the Strand, Wellington
+Street, Aldwych, Burleigh Street, Southampton Street,
+Bedford Street, and right along to Trafalgar Square, were
+covered with dead and dying. The wounded of both
+nationalities were trodden underfoot and killed by the
+swaying, struggling thousands. The enemy's loss must
+have been severe in our particular quarter, for of the
+great body of men from Hamburg and Lübeck holding
+their end of Waterloo Bridge I do not believe a single
+one was spared, even though they fought for their lives
+like veritable devils.</p>
+
+<p>"Our success intoxicated us, I think. That we were
+victorious at that point cannot be doubted, but with
+foolish disregard for our own safety, we pressed forward
+into Trafalgar Square, in the belief that our comrades
+were similarly making an attack upon the enemy there.
+The error was, alas! a fatal one for many of us. To fight
+an organised force in narrow streets is one thing, but to
+meet him in a large open space with many inlets, like
+Trafalgar Square, is another.</p>
+
+<p>"The enemy were no doubt awaiting us, for as we
+poured out from the Strand at Charing Cross we were met
+with a devastating fire from German Maxims on the
+opposite side of the square. They were holding Whitehall&mdash;to
+protect Von Kronhelm's headquarters&mdash;the
+entrances to Spring Gardens, Cockspur Street, and Pall
+Mall East, and their fire was converged upon the great
+armed multitude which, being pressed on from behind,
+came out into the open square only to fall in heaps beneath
+the sweeping hail of German lead.</p>
+
+<p>"The error was one that could not be rectified. We
+all saw it when too late. There was no turning back
+now, I struggled to get into the small side-street that
+runs down by the bar of the Grand Hotel, but it was
+blocked with people already in refuge there.</p>
+
+<p>"Another instant and I was lifted from my legs by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+great throng going to their doom, and carried right in the
+forefront to the square. Women screamed when they
+found themselves facing the enemy's fire.</p>
+
+<p>"The scene was awful&mdash;a massacre, nothing more or
+less. For every German's life we had taken, a dozen of
+our own were now being sacrificed.</p>
+
+<p>"A woman was pushed close to me, her grey hair
+streaming down her back, her eyes starting wildly from
+her head, her bony hands smeared with blood. Suddenly
+she realised that right before her red fire was spitting
+from the German guns.</p>
+
+<p>"Screaming in despair, she clung frantically to me.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt next second a sharp burning pain in my chest....
+We fell forward together upon the bodies of our
+comrades.... When I came to myself I found myself
+here, in this church, close to where I fell."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>On that same night desperate sorties were made from
+the London, Southwark, and Blackfriars Bridges, and
+terrible havoc was committed by the Defenders.</p>
+
+<p>The German losses were enormous, for the South
+Londoners fought like demons and gave no quarter.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III_III" id="CHAPTER_III_III">CHAPTER III.</a></h2>
+
+<h3>GREAT BRITISH VICTORY.</h3>
+
+
+<p>The following despatch from the war correspondent of
+the "Times" with Lord Byfield was received on the morning
+of October 5, but was not published in that journal till
+some days later, owing to the German censorship, which
+necessitated its being kept secret:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Willesden</span>, <i>October</i> 4 (Evening).
+</div>
+
+<p>"After a bloody but successful combat lasting from
+early dawn till late in the afternoon, the country to the
+immediate west of the metropolis has been swept clear
+of the hated invaders, and the masses of the 'League
+of Defenders' can be poured into the West of London
+without let or hindrance. In the desperate street fighting
+which is now going on they will be much more formidable
+than they were ever likely to be in the open<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+field, where they were absolutely incapable of man&oelig;uvring.
+As for the Saxons&mdash;what is left of them&mdash;and Frölich's
+Cavalry Division, with whom we have been engaged all
+day, they have now fallen back on Harrow and Hendon,
+it is said; but it is currently reported that a constant
+movement towards the high ground near Hampstead
+is going on. These rumours come by way of London,
+since the enemy's enormous force of cavalry is still strong
+enough to prevent us getting any first-hand intelligence of
+his movements.</p>
+
+<p>"As has been previously reported, the XIIth Saxon
+Corps, under the command of Prince Henry of Würtemberg,
+had taken up a position intended to cover
+the metropolis from the hordes of 'Defenders' which,
+supported by a small leaven of Regulars, with a proportion
+of cavalry and guns, were known to be slowly
+rolling up from the west and south. Their front, facing
+west, extended from Staines on the south, to Pinner on
+the north, passing through Stanwell, West Drayton, and
+Uxbridge. In addition they had a strong reserve in
+the neighbourhood of Hounslow, whose business it was
+to cover their left flank by keeping watch along the
+line of the Thames. They had destroyed all bridges
+over the river between Staines and Hammersmith. Putney
+Bridge, however, was still intact, as all attacks on it
+had been repulsed by the British holding it on the south
+side. Such was the general state of affairs when Lord
+Byfield, who had established his headquarters at Windsor,
+formed his plan of attack.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as I have been able to ascertain, its general
+idea was to hold the Saxons to their position by the
+threat of 300,000 Defenders that were assembled and
+were continually increasing along a roughly parallel
+line to that occupied by the enemy at about ten miles'
+distance from it, while he attacked their left flank with
+what Regular and Militia regiments he could rapidly
+get together near Esher and Kingston. By this time the
+southern lines in the neighbourhood of London were all
+in working order, the damage that had been done here
+and there by small parties of the enemy who had made
+raids across the river having been repaired. It was,
+therefore, not a very difficult matter to assemble troops
+from Windsor and various points on the South of London
+at very short notice.</p>
+
+<p>"General Bamford, to whom had been entrusted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+defence of South London, and who had established
+his headquarters at the Crystal Palace, also contributed
+every man he could spare from the remnant of the
+Regular troops under his command.</p>
+
+<p>"It was considered quite safe now that the Germans
+in the City were so hardly pressed to leave the defence
+of the Thames bridges to the masses of Irregulars who
+had all along formed the bulk of their defenders. The
+risk that Prince Henry of Würtemberg would take the
+bull by the horns, and by a sudden forward move
+attack and scatter the inert and invertebrate mass of
+'Defenders' who were in his immediate front had, of
+course, to be taken; but it was considered that in the
+present state of affairs in London he would hardly dare
+to increase the distance between the Saxon Corps and
+the rest of the German Army. Events proved the correctness
+of this surmise; but owing to unforeseen circumstances,
+the course of the battle was somewhat different
+from that which had been anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>"Despite the vigilance of the German spies our plans
+were kept secret till the very end, and it is believed
+that the great convergence of Regular troops that began
+as soon as it was dark from Windsor and from along the
+line occupied by the Army of the League on the west,
+right round to Greenwich on the east, went on without
+any news of the movement being carried to the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"Before dawn this morning every unit was in the
+position to which it had been previously detailed, and,
+everything being in readiness, the Royal Engineers began
+to throw a pontoon bridge over the Thames at the point
+where it makes a bend to the south just above the site
+of Walton Bridge. The enemy's patrols and pickets
+in the immediate neighbourhood at once opened a heavy
+fire on the workers, but it was beaten down by that
+which was poured upon them from the houses in Walton-on-Thames,
+which had been quietly occupied during the
+night. The enemy in vain tried to reinforce them, but
+in order to do this their troops had to advance into a
+narrow peninsula which was swept by a cross-fire of
+shells from batteries which had been placed in position
+on the south side of the river for this very purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"By seven o'clock the bridge was completed, and the
+troops were beginning to cross over covered by the fire
+of the artillery and by an advance guard which had
+been pushed over in boats. Simultaneously very much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+the same thing had been going on at Long Ditton, and
+fierce fighting was going on in the avenues and gardens
+round Hampton Court. Success here, too, attended the
+British arms. As a matter of fact, a determined attempt
+to cross the river in force had not at all been anticipated
+by the Germans. They had not credited their opponents
+with the power of so rapidly assembling an army and
+assuming an effective and vigorous offensive so soon
+after their terrible series of disasters.</p>
+
+<p>"What they had probably looked for was an attempt to
+overwhelm them by sheer force of numbers. They
+doubtless calculated that Lord Byfield would stiffen his
+flabby masses of 'Defenders' with what trained troops
+he could muster, and endeavour to attack their lines
+along their whole length, overlapping them on the flank.</p>
+
+<p>"They realised that to do this he would have to sacrifice
+his men in thousands upon thousands, but they knew
+that to do so would be his only possible chance of success
+in this eventuality, since the bulk of his men could neither
+man&oelig;uvre nor deploy. Still they reckoned that in the
+desperate situation of the British, he would make up his
+mind to do this.</p>
+
+<p>"On their part, although they fully realised the possibility
+of being overwhelmed by such tactics, they felt
+pretty confident that, posted as they were behind a perfect
+network of small rivers and streams which ran
+down to join the Thames, they would at least succeed
+in beating off the attack with heavy loss, and stood no
+bad chance of turning the repulse into a rout by skilful
+use of Frölich's Cavalry Division, which would be irresistible
+when attacking totally untrained troops after
+they had been shattered and disorganised by artillery
+fire. This, at least, is the view of those experts with
+whom I have spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"What, perhaps, tended rather to confirm them in
+their theories as to the action of the British was the
+rifle firing that went on along the whole of their front
+all night through. The officers in charge of the various
+units which conglomerated together formed the forces
+facing the Saxons, had picked out the few men under
+their command who really had some little idea of using
+a rifle, and, supplied with plenty of ammunition, had
+sent them forward in numerous small parties with general
+orders to approach as near the enemy's picket line as
+possible, and as soon as fired on to lie down and open fire<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+in return. So a species of sniping engagement went
+on from dark to dawn. Several parties got captured or
+cut up by the German outlying troops and many others
+got shot by neighbouring parties of snipers. But, although
+they did not in all probability do the enemy much damage,
+yet they kept them on the alert all night, and led them
+to expect an attack in the morning. One way and
+another luck was entirely on the side of the patriots that
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>"When daylight came the British massed to the westward
+of Staines had such a threatening appearance
+from their immense numbers, and their fire from their
+batteries of heavy guns and howitzers on the south
+side of the river, which took the German left flank in,
+was so heavy that Prince Henry, who was there in
+person, judged an attack to be imminent, and would
+not spare a man to reinforce his troops at Shepperton
+and Halliford, who were, numerically, totally inadequate
+to resist the advance of the British once they got across
+the river.</p>
+
+<p>"He turned a deaf ear to the most imploring requests
+for assistance, but ordered the officer in command at
+Hounslow to move down at once and drive the British
+into the river. So it has been reported by our prisoners.
+Unluckily for him this officer had his hands quite full
+enough at this time; for the British, who had crossed
+at Long Ditton, had now made themselves masters of
+everything east of the Thames Valley branch of the
+London and South-Western Railway, were being continually
+reinforced, and were fast pushing their right
+along the western bank of the river.</p>
+
+<p>"Their left was reported to be at Kempton Park, where
+they joined hands with those who had effected a crossing
+near Walton-on-Thames. More bridges were being built
+at Platt's Eyot, Tagg's Eyot, and Sunbury Lock, while
+boats and wherries in shoals appeared from all creeks
+and backwaters and hiding-places as soon as both banks
+were in the hands of the British.</p>
+
+<p>"Regulars, Militia, and, lastly, Volunteers, were now
+pouring across in thousands. Forward was still the word.
+About noon a strong force of Saxons was reported to be
+retreating along the road from Staines to Brentford.
+They had guns with them, which engaged the field batteries
+which were at once pushed forward by the British to
+attack them. These troops, eventually joining hands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+with those at Hounslow, opposed a more determined
+resistance to our advance than we had hitherto encountered.</p>
+
+<p>"According to what we learned subsequently from
+prisoners and others, they were commanded by Prince
+Henry of Würtemberg in person. He had quitted his
+position at Staines, leaving only a single battalion and
+a few guns as a rearguard to oppose the masses of the
+'Defenders' who threatened him in that direction, and
+had placed his troops in the best position he could to
+cover the retreat of the rest of his corps from the line
+they had been occupying. He had, it would appear,
+soon after the fighting began, received the most urgent
+orders from Von Kronhelm to fall back on London and
+assist him in the street fighting that had now been
+going on without intermission for the best part of two
+days. Von Kronhelm probably thought that he would
+be able to draw off some of his numerous foes to the
+westward. But the message was received too late.
+Prince Henry did his best to obey it, but by this time
+the very existence of the XIIth Corps was at stake on
+account of the totally unexpected attack on his left rear
+by the British regular troops.</p>
+
+<p>"He opposed such a stout resistance with the troops
+under his immediate command that he brought the
+British advance to a temporary standstill, while in his
+rear every road leading Londonward was crowded with
+the rest of his army as they fell back from West Drayton,
+Uxbridge, Ruislip and Pinner. Had they been facing
+trained soldiers they would have found it most difficult,
+if not impossible, to do this; but as it was the undisciplined
+and untrained masses of the League of
+Defenders lost a long time in advancing, and still longer in
+getting over a series of streams and dykes that lay between
+them and the abandoned Saxon position.</p>
+
+<p>"They lost heavily, too, from the fire of the small rearguards
+that had been left at the most likely crossing-places.
+The Saxons were therefore able to get quite
+well away from them, and when some attempt was being
+made to form up the thousands of men who presently
+found themselves congregated on the heath east of
+Uxbridge, before advancing farther, a whole brigade of
+Frölich's heavy cavalry suddenly swept down upon them
+from behind Ickenham village. The <i>débâcle</i> that followed
+was frightful. The unwieldy mass of 'Leaguers'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+swayed this way and that for a moment in the panic
+occasioned by the sudden apparition of the serried
+masses of charging cavalry that were rushing down on
+them with a thunder of hoofs that shook the earth. A
+few scattered shots were fired, without any perceptible
+effect, and before they could either form up or fly the
+German Reiters were upon them. It was a perfect
+massacre. The 'Leaguers' could oppose no resistance
+whatever. They were ridden down and slaughtered with
+no more difficulty than if they had been a flock of
+sheep. Swinging their long, straight swords, the cavalrymen
+cut them down in hundreds and drove thousands
+into the river. The 'Defenders' were absolutely pulverised
+and fled westwards in a huge scattered crowd.
+But if the Germans had the satisfaction of scoring a
+local victory in this quarter, things were by no means
+rosy for them elsewhere. Prince Henry, by desperate
+efforts, contrived to hold on long enough in his covering
+position to enable the Saxons from the central portion
+of his abandoned line to pass through Hounslow and
+move along the London road, through Brentford.</p>
+
+<p>"Here disaster befell them. A battery of 4.7 guns was
+suddenly unmasked on Richmond Hill, and, firing at a
+range of 5,000 yards, played havoc with the marching
+column. The head of it also suffered severe loss from
+riflemen concealed in Kew Gardens, and the whole force
+had to extend and fall back for some distance in a
+northerly direction. Near Ealing they met the Uxbridge
+brigade, and a certain delay and confusion occurred.
+However, trained soldiers such as these are not difficult
+to reorganise, and while the latter continued its march
+along the main road the remainder moved in several
+small parallel columns through Acton and Turnham
+Green. Before another half-hour had elapsed there came
+a sound of firing from the advanced guard. Orders to
+halt followed, then orders to send forward reinforcements.</p>
+
+<p>"During all this time the rattle of rifle fire waxed
+heavier and heavier. It soon became apparent that
+every road and street leading into London was barricaded
+and that the houses on either side were crammed
+with riflemen. Before any set plan of action could be
+determined on, the retiring Saxons found themselves
+committed to a very nasty bout of street fighting. Their
+guns were almost useless, since they could not be placed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+in positions from which they could fire on the barricades
+except so close as to be under effective rifle fire.
+They made several desperate assaults, most of which
+were repulsed. In Goldhawk Road a Jäegar battalion
+contrived to rush a big rampart of paving-stones which
+had been improvised by the British; but, once over,
+they were decimated by the fire from the houses on
+either side of the street. Big high explosive shells from
+Richmond Hill, too, began to drop among the Saxons.
+Though the range was long, the gunners were evidently
+well informed of the whereabouts of the Saxon troops
+and made wonderfully lucky shooting.</p>
+
+<p>"For some time the distant rumble of the firing to
+the south-west had been growing more distinct in their
+ears, and about four o'clock it suddenly broke out comparatively
+near by. Then came an order from Prince
+Henry to fall back on Ealing at once. What had happened?
+It will not take long to relate this. Prince
+Henry's covering position had lain roughly between East
+Bedfont and Hounslow, facing south-east. He had contrived
+to hold on to the latter place long enough to allow
+his right to pivot on it and fall back to Cranford
+Bridge. Here they were, to a certain extent, relieved
+from the close pressure they had been subjected to by
+the constantly advancing British troops, by the able and
+determined action of Frölich's Cavalry Brigade.</p>
+
+<p>"But in the meantime his enemies on the left, constantly
+reinforced from across the river&mdash;while never
+desisting from their so far unsuccessful attack on Hounslow&mdash;worked
+round through Twickenham and Isleworth
+till they began to menace his rear. He must abandon
+Hounslow, or be cut off. With consummate generalship
+he withdrew his left along the line of the Metropolitan
+and District Railway, and sent word to the troops on
+his right to retire and take up a second position at Southall
+Green. Unluckily for him, there was a delay in transmission,
+resulting in a considerable number of these
+troops being cut off and captured. Frölich's cavalry
+were unable to aid them at this juncture, having their
+attention drawn away by the masses of 'Leaguers' who
+had managed to get over the Colne and were congregating
+near Harmondsworth.</p>
+
+<p>"They cut these up and dispersed them, but afterwards
+found that they were separated from the Saxons by a
+strong force of British regular troops who occupied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+Harlington and opened a fire on the Reiters that emptied
+numerous saddles. They, therefore, made off to the
+northward. From this forward nothing could check the
+steady advance of the English, though fierce fighting
+went on till dark all through Hanwell, Ealing, Perivale,
+and Wembley, the Saxons struggling gamely to the last,
+but getting more and more disorganised. Had it not
+been for Frölich's division on their right they would have
+been surrounded. As it was, they must have lost half
+their strength in casualties and prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>"At dark, however, Lord Byfield ordered a general
+halt of his tired though triumphant troops, and bivouacked
+and billeted them along a line reaching from Willesden on
+the right through Wembley to Greenford. He established
+his headquarters at Wembley.</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard some critics say that he ought to have
+pushed on his freshest troops towards Hendon to prevent
+the remnant of our opponents from re-entering
+London; but others, with reason, urge that he is right
+to let them into the metropolis, which they will now
+find to be merely a trap."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Extracts from the diary of General Von Kleppen,
+Commander of the IVth German Army Corps, occupying
+London:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">Dorchester House, Park Lane</span>, <i>Oct.</i> 6.
+</div>
+
+<p>"We are completely deceived. Our position, much as
+we are attempting to conceal it, is a very grave one. We
+believed that if we reached London the British spirit
+would be broken. Yet the more drastic our rule, the
+fiercer becomes the opposition. How it will end I fear
+to contemplate. The British are dull and apathetic, but,
+once roused, they fight like fiends.</p>
+
+<p>"Last night we had an example of it. This League
+of Defenders, which Von Kronhelm has always treated
+with ridicule, is, we have discovered too late, practically
+the whole of England. Von Bistram, commanding the
+VIIth Corps, and Von Haeslen, of the VIIIth Corps, have
+constantly been reporting its spread through Manchester,
+Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Birmingham and the other
+great towns we now occupy; but our Commander-in-Chief
+has treated the matter lightly, declaring it to be a
+kind of offshoot of some organisation they have in England,
+called the Primrose League....</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday, at the Council of War, however, he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+compelled to acknowledge his error when I handed
+him a scarlet handbill calling upon the British to make
+a concerted attack upon us at ten o'clock. Fortunately,
+we were prepared for the assault, otherwise I verily believe
+that the honours would have rested with the populace
+in London. As it is, we suffered considerable reverses
+in various districts, where our men were lured into
+the narrow side-streets and cut up. I confess I am
+greatly surprised at the valiant stand made everywhere
+by the Londoners. Last night they fought to the very
+end. A disaster to our arms in the Strand was followed
+by a victory in Trafalgar Square, where Von Wilberg
+had established defences for the purpose of preventing
+the joining of the people of the East End with those
+of the West...."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV_III" id="CHAPTER_IV_III">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2>
+
+<h3>MASSACRE OF GERMANS IN LONDON.</h3>
+
+
+<div class="right">
+"'<span class="smcap">Daily Telegraph' Office</span>,<br />
+"<i>Oct.</i> 12, 6 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Through the whole of last week the Germans occupying
+London suffered great losses. They are now hemmed in
+on every side.</p>
+
+<p>"At three o'clock this morning, Von Kronhelm, having
+withdrawn the greater part of the troops from the defence
+of the bridges, in an attempt to occupy defensive positions
+in North London, the South Londoners, impatient with
+long waiting, broke forth and came across the river in
+enormous multitudes, every man bent upon killing a
+German wherever seen.</p>
+
+<p>"The night air was rent everywhere by the hoarse,
+exultant shouts as London&mdash;the giant, all-powerful city&mdash;fell
+upon the audacious invader. Through our office
+windows came the dull roar of London's millions swelled
+by the 'Defenders' from the west and south of England,
+and by the gallant men from Canada, India, the Cape,
+and other British colonies who had come forward to fight
+for the Mother Country as soon as her position was known
+to be critical.</p>
+
+<p>"In the streets are to be seen Colonial uniforms side
+by side with the costermonger from Whitechapel or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+Walworth, and dark-faced Indians in turbans are fighting
+out in Fleet Street and the Strand. In the great struggle
+now taking place many of our reporters and correspondents
+have unfortunately been wounded, and, alas! four of
+them killed.</p>
+
+<p>"In these terrible days a man's life is not safe from
+one moment to another. Both sides seem to have now
+lost their heads completely. Among the Germans all
+semblance of order has apparently been thrown to the
+winds. It is known that London has risen to a man,
+and the enemy are therefore fully aware of their imminent
+peril. Already they are beaten. True, Von Kronhelm
+still sits in the War Office directing operations&mdash;operations
+he knows too well are foredoomed to failure.</p>
+
+<p>"The Germans have, it must be admitted, carried on
+the war in a chivalrous spirit, until those drastic executions
+exasperated the people. Then neither side gave
+quarter, and now to-day, all through Islington, Hoxton,
+Kingsland, and Dalston, right out eastwards to Homerton,
+a perfect massacre of Germans is in progress.</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Byfield has issued two urgent proclamations,
+threatening the people of London with all sorts of
+penalties if they kill instead of taking an enemy prisoner,
+but they seem to have no effect. London is starved and
+angered to such a pitch, that her hatred knows no bounds,
+and only blood will atone for the wholesale slaughter
+of the innocent since the bombardment of the metropolis
+began.</p>
+
+<p>"The Kaiser has, we hear, left the 'Belvedere,' at
+Scarborough, where he has been living incognito. A
+confidential report, apparently well founded, has reached
+us that he embarked upon the steam-trawler <i>Morning
+Star</i> at Scarborough yesterday, and set out across the
+Dogger, with Germany, of course, as his destination.
+Surely he must now regret his ill-advised policy of
+making an attack upon England. He had gauged our
+military weakness very accurately, but he had not
+counted upon the patriotic spirit of our Empire. It
+may be that he has already given orders to Von Kronhelm,
+but it is nevertheless a very significant fact that
+the German wireless telegraph apparatus on the summit
+of Big Ben is in constant use by the German Commander-in-Chief.
+He is probably in hourly communication with
+Bremen, or with the Emperor himself upon the trawler
+<i>Morning Star</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Near Highbury Fields about noon to-day some British
+cavalry surprised a party of Germans, and attempted
+to take them prisoners. The latter showed fight, whereupon
+they were shot down to a man. The British held
+as prisoners by the Germans near Enfield have now
+been released, and are rejoining their comrades along
+the northern heights. Many believe that another and
+final battle will be fought north of London, but military
+men declare that the German power is already broken.
+Whether Von Kronhelm will still continue to lose his
+men at the rate he is now doing, or whether he will sue
+for peace, is an open question. Personally, he was
+against the bombardment of London from the very first,
+yet he was compelled to carry out the orders of his
+Imperial master. The invasion, the landing, and the
+successes in the north were, in his opinion, quite sufficient
+to have paralysed British trade and caused such panic
+that an indemnity would have been paid. To attack
+London was, in his opinion, a proceeding far too dangerous,
+and his estimate is now proved to have been the correct
+one. Now that they have lost command of the sea, and
+are cut off from their bases in Essex, the enemy's situation
+is hopeless. They may struggle on, but assuredly the
+end can only be an ignominious one.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet the German eagle still flies proudly over the
+War Office, over St. Stephen's, and upon many other
+public buildings, while upon others British Royal Standards
+and Union Jacks are commencing to appear, each one
+being cheered by the excited Londoners, whose hearts
+are now full of hope. Germany shall be made to bite
+the dust. That is the war-cry everywhere. Many a
+proud Uhlan and Cuirassier has to-day ridden to his
+death amid the dense mobs, mad with the lust of blood.
+Some of the more unfortunate of the enemy have been
+lynched, and torn limb from limb, while others have died
+deaths too horrible to here describe in detail.</p>
+
+<p>"Each hour brings to us further news showing how,
+by slow degrees, the German army of occupation is being
+wiped out. People are jeering at the audacious claim
+for indemnity presented to the British Government when
+the enemy entered London, and are asking whether we
+will not now present a claim to Germany. Von Kronhelm
+is not blamed so much as his Emperor. He has been
+the cat's paw, and has burned his fingers in endeavouring
+to snatch the chestnuts from the fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"As a commander, he has acted justly, fully observing
+the international laws concerning war. It was only
+when faced by the problem of a national uprising that
+he countenanced anything bordering upon capital punishment.
+An hour ago our censors were withdrawn. They
+came and shook hands with many members of the staff,
+and retired. This surely is a significant fact that Von
+Kronhelm hopes to regain the confidence of London
+by appearing to treat her with a fatherly solicitude.
+Or is it that he intends to sue for peace at any price?</p>
+
+<p>"An hour ago another desperate attempt was made
+on the part of the men of South London, aided by a large
+body of British regulars, to regain possession of the
+War Office. Whitehall was once more the scene of a
+bloody fight, but so strongly does Von Kronhelm hold
+the place and all the adjacent thoroughfares&mdash;he apparently
+regarding it as his own fortress&mdash;that the attack
+was repulsed with heavy loss on our side.</p>
+
+<p>"All the bridges are now open, the barricades are in
+most cases being blown up, and people are passing and
+repassing freely for the first time since the day following
+the memorable bombardment. London streets are, however,
+in a most deplorable condition. On every hand
+is ruin and devastation. Whole streets of houses rendered
+gaunt and windowless by the now spent fires meet the
+eye everywhere. In certain places the ruins were still
+smouldering, and in one or two districts the conflagrations
+spread over an enormous area. Even if peace be
+declared, can London ever recover from this present
+wreck? Paris recovered, and quickly too. Therefore
+we place our faith in British wealth, British industry,
+and British patriotism.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. The tide has turned. The great revenge now
+in progress is truly a mad and bloody one. In Kilburn
+this afternoon there was a wholesale killing of a company
+of German infantry, who, while marching along the
+High Road, were set upon by the armed mob, and practically
+exterminated. The smaller thoroughfares, Brondesbury
+Road, Victoria Road, Glendall Road, and Priory
+Park Road, across to Paddington Cemetery, were the
+scene of a frightful slaughter. The Germans died hard,
+but in the end were completely wiped out. German-baiting
+is now, indeed, the Londoner's pastime, and on
+this dark and rainy afternoon hundreds of men of the
+Fatherland have died upon the wet roads.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Sitting here, in a newspaper office, as we do, and
+having fresh reports constantly before us, we are able to
+review the whole situation impartially. Every moment,
+through the various news-agencies and our own correspondents
+and contributors, we are receiving fresh facts&mdash;facts
+which all combine to show that Von Kronhelm
+cannot hold out much longer. Surely the Commander-in-Chief
+of a civilised army will not allow his men to
+be massacred as they are now being! The enemy's
+troops, mixed up in the maze of London streets as they
+are, are utterly unable to cope with the oncoming multitudes,
+some armed with rifles, and others with anything
+they can lay their hands upon.</p>
+
+<p>"Women&mdash;wild, infuriated women&mdash;have now made
+their reappearance north of the Thames. In more than
+one instance, where German soldiers have attempted to
+take refuge in houses, these women have obtained petrol,
+and, with screams of fiendish delight, set the houses in
+question on fire. Awful dramas are being enacted in
+every part of the metropolis. The history of to-day is
+written in German blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Byfield has established temporary headquarters
+at Jack Straw's Castle, where Von Kronhelm was during
+the bombardment, and last night we could see the
+signals exchanged between Hampstead and Sydenham
+Hill, from whence General Bamford has not yet moved.
+Our cavalry in Essex are, it is said, doing excellent work.
+Lord Byfield has also sent a body of troops across from
+Gravesend to Tilbury, and these have regained Maldon
+and Southminster after some hard fighting. Advices from
+Gravesend state that further reinforcements are being
+sent across the river to operate against the East of
+London and hem in the Germans on that side.</p>
+
+<p>"So confident is London of success that several
+of the railways are commencing to reorganise their
+traffic. A train left Willesden this afternoon for
+Birmingham, the first since the bombardment&mdash;while
+another has left Finsbury Park for Peterborough, to
+continue to York if possible. So wrecked are the
+London termini, however, that it must be some weeks
+before trains can arrive or be despatched from either
+Euston, King's Cross, Paddington, Marylebone, or St.
+Pancras. In many instances the line just north of the
+terminus is interrupted by a blown-up tunnel or a fallen
+bridge, therefore the termination of traffic must, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+the present, be at some distance north on the outskirts
+of London.</p>
+
+<p>"Shops are also opening in South London, though
+they have but little to sell. Nevertheless, this may be
+regarded as a sign of renewed confidence. Besides,
+supplies of provisions are now arriving, and the London
+County Council and the Salvation Army are distributing
+free soup and food in the lower-class districts. Private
+charity, everywhere abundant during the trying days of
+dark despair, is doing inestimable good among every
+class. The hard, grasping employer and the smug
+financier, who had hitherto kept scrupulous accounts,
+and have been noteworthy on account of their uncharitableness,
+have now, in the hour of need, come forward
+and subscribed liberally to the great Mansion House
+Fund, opened yesterday by the Deputy Lord Mayor of
+London. The subscription list occupies six columns of
+the issue of to-morrow's paper, and this, in itself, speaks
+well for the openheartedness of the moneyed classes of
+Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>"No movement has yet been made in the financial
+world. Bankers still remain with closed doors. The
+bullion seized at Southminster and other places is now
+under strong British guard, and will, it is supposed,
+be returned to the Bank immediately. Only a comparatively
+small sum has yet been sent across to Germany.
+Therefore all Von Kronhelm's strategy has utterly failed.
+By the invasion, Germany has, up to the present moment,
+gained nothing. She has made huge demands at which
+we can afford to jeer. True, she has wrecked London,
+but have we not sent the greater part of her fleet to the
+bottom of the North Sea, and have we not created havoc
+in German ports?</p>
+
+<p>"The leave-taking of our two gold-spectacled censors
+was almost pathetic. We had come to regard them as
+necessities to puzzle and to play practical jokes of
+language upon. To-day for the first time we have received
+none of those official notices in German, with
+English translations, which of late have appeared so
+prominently in our columns. The German Eagle is
+gradually disentangling his talons from London, and
+means to escape us&mdash;if he can."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class="right">
+10.30 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Private information has just reached us from a most
+reliable source that a conference has been arranged between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+Von Kronhelm and Lord Byfield. This evening the
+German Field Marshal sent a messenger to the British
+headquarters at Hampstead under a flag of truce. He
+bore a despatch from the German Commander asking
+that hostilities should be suspended for twenty-four
+hours, and that they should make an appointment for a
+meeting during that period.</p>
+
+<p>"Von Kronhelm has left the time and place of meeting
+to Lord Byfield, and has informed the British Commander
+that he has sent telegraphic instruction to the German
+military governors of Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester,
+Bradford, Leeds, Northampton, Stafford, Oldham,
+Wigan, Bolton, and other places, giving notice of
+his suggestion to the British, and ordering that for the
+present hostilities on the part of the Germans shall be
+suspended.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems more than likely that the German Field
+Marshal has received these very definite instructions by
+wireless telegraph from the Emperor at Bremen or
+Potsdam.</p>
+
+<p>"We understand that Lord Byfield, after a brief consultation
+by telegraph with the Government at Bristol,
+has sent a reply. Of its nature, however, nothing is
+known, and at the moment of writing hostilities are still
+in progress.</p>
+
+<p>"In an hour's time we shall probably know whether
+the war is to continue, or a truce is to be proclaimed."</p>
+
+<div class="right">
+"Midnight.
+</div>
+
+<p>"Lord Byfield has granted a truce, and hostilities
+have now been suspended.</p>
+
+<p>"London has gone mad with delight, for the German
+yoke is cast off. Further information which has just
+reached us from private sources states that thousands
+of prisoners have been taken by Lord Byfield to-day,
+and that Von Kronhelm has acknowledged his position
+to be absolutely hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>"The great German Army has been defeated by our
+British patriots, who have fought so valiantly and so
+well. It is not likely that the war will be resumed.
+Von Kronhelm received a number of British officers at
+the War Office half an hour ago, and it is said that he is
+already making preparations to vacate the post he has
+usurped.</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Byfield has issued a reassuring message to
+London, which we have just received with instructions to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+print. It declares that although for the moment only
+a truce is proclaimed, yet this means the absolute cessation
+of all hostilities.</p>
+
+<p>"The naval news of the past few days may be briefly
+summarised. The British main fleet entered the North
+Sea, and our submarines did most excellent work in the
+neighbourhood of the Maas Lightship. Prince Stahlberger
+had concentrated practically the whole of his
+naval force off Lowestoft, but a desperate battle was
+fought about seventy miles from the Texel, full details
+of which are not yet to hand. All that is known is that,
+having now regained command of the sea, we were
+enabled to inflict a crushing defeat upon the Germans,
+in which the German flagship was sunk. In the end
+sixty-one British ships were concentrated against seventeen
+German, with the result that the German fleet has
+practically been wiped out, there being 19,000 of the
+enemy's officers and men on the casualty list, the greatest
+recorded in any naval battle.</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever may be the demands for indemnity on
+either side, one thing is absolutely certain, namely, that
+the invincible German Army and Navy are completely
+vanquished. The Eagle's wings are trailing in the dust."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V_III" id="CHAPTER_V_III"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>HOW THE WAR ENDED.</h3>
+
+
+<p>Days passed&mdash;weary, waiting, anxious days. A whole
+month went by. What had really happened at sea was
+unknown. After the truce, London very gradually began
+to resume her normal life, though the gaunt state of the
+streets was indescribably weird.</p>
+
+<p>Shops began to open, and as each day passed, food
+became more plentiful and consequently less dear. The
+truce meant the end of the war, therefore thanksgiving
+services were held in every town and village throughout
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>There were great prison-camps of Germans at Hounslow,
+Brentwood, and Barnet, while Von Kronhelm and his
+chief officers were also held as prisoners until some
+decision through diplomatic channels could be arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+at. Meanwhile a little business began to be done;
+thousands began to resume their employment, bankers
+reopened their doors, and within a week the distress and
+suffering of the poor became perceptibly alleviated. The
+task of burying the dead after the terrible massacre of the
+Germans in the London streets had been a stupendous
+one, but so quickly had it been accomplished that an
+epidemic was happily averted.</p>
+
+<p>Parliament moved back to Westminster, and daily
+meetings of the Cabinet were being held in Downing
+Street. These resulted in the resignation of the Ministry,
+and with a fresh Cabinet, in which Mr. Gerald Graham,
+the organiser of the Defenders, was given a seat, a settlement
+was at last arrived at.</p>
+
+<p>To further describe the chaotic state of England occasioned
+by the terrible and bloody war would serve no
+purpose. The loss and suffering which it had caused the
+country had been incalculable; statisticians estimated that
+in one month of hostilities it had amounted to Ł500,000,000,
+a part of which represented money transferred from British
+pockets to German, as the enemy had carried off some of
+the securities upon which the German troops had laid their
+hands in London.</p>
+
+<p>Let us for a moment take a retrospective glance. Consols
+were at 50; bread was still 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> per loaf; and
+the ravages of the German commerce-destroyers had sent
+up the cost of insurance on British shipping sky-high.
+Money was almost unprocurable; except for the manufacture
+of war material, there was no industry; and the
+suffering and distress among the poor could not be exaggerated.
+In all directions men, women, and children had
+been starving.</p>
+
+<p>The mercantile community were loud in their outcry
+for "peace at any price," and the pro-German and Stop-the-War
+Party were equally vehement in demanding a
+cessation of the war. They found excuses for the enemy,
+and forgot the frightful devastation and loss which the
+invasion had caused to the country.</p>
+
+<p>They insisted that the working class gained nothing,
+even though the British fleet was closely blockading the
+German coast, and their outcry was strengthened when
+a few days after the blockade of the Elbe had begun,
+two British battleships were so unfortunate as to strike
+German mines, and sink with a large part of their crews.
+The difficulty of borrowing money for the prosecution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+of the war was a grave obstacle in the way of the
+party of action, and preyed upon the mind of the British
+Government.</p>
+
+<p>Socialism, with its creed of "Thou shalt have no other
+god but Thyself," and its doctrine, "Let us eat and
+drink, for to-morrow we die," had replaced the religious
+beliefs of a generation of Englishmen taught to suffer
+and to die sooner than surrender to wrong. In the hour
+of trial, amidst smoking ruins, among the holocausts of
+dead which marked the prolonged, bloody, and terrible
+battles on land and at sea, the spirit of the nation quailed,
+and there was really no great leader to recall it to ways
+of honour and duty.</p>
+
+<p>The wholesale destruction of food, and particularly of
+wheat and meat, removed from the world's market
+a large part of its supplies, and had immediately sent
+up the cost of food everywhere, outside the United
+Kingdom as well as in it. At the same time, the attacks
+upon shipping laden with food increased the cost of
+insurance to prohibitive prices upon vessels freighted for
+the United Kingdom. The underwriters after the first
+few captures by the enemy would not insure at all except
+for fabulous rates.</p>
+
+<p>The withdrawal of all the larger British cruisers for the
+purpose of defeating the main German fleets in the North
+Sea left the commerce-destroyers a free hand, and there
+was no force to meet them. The British liners commissioned
+as commerce-protectors were too few and too
+slow to be able to hold their adversaries in check.</p>
+
+<p>Neutral shipping was molested by the German cruisers.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever raw cotton or food of any kind was discovered
+upon a neutral vessel bound for British ports, the vessel
+was seized and sent into one or other of the German
+harbours on the West Coast of Africa.</p>
+
+<p>The United Kingdom, indeed, might have been reduced
+to absolute starvation had it not been for the fact that
+the Canadian Government interfered in Canada to prevent
+similar German tactics from succeeding, and held the
+German contracts for the cornering of Canadian wheat,
+contrary to public policy.</p>
+
+<p>The want of food, the high price of bread and meat in
+England, and the greatly increased cost of the supplies
+of raw material sent up the expenditure upon poor relief
+to enormous figures. Millions of men were out of employment,
+and in need of assistance. Mills and factories<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+in all directions had closed down, either because of the
+military danger from the operations of the German
+armies, or because of the want of orders, or, again, because
+raw materials were not procurable.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, when the invasion began, many rich
+foreigners who had lived in England collected what portable
+property they possessed and retired abroad to
+Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. Their
+example was followed by large numbers of British subjects
+who had invested abroad, and now, in the hour of distress,
+were able to place their securities in a handbag and
+withdraw them to happier countries.</p>
+
+<p>They may justly be blamed for this want of patriotism,
+but their reply was that they had been unjustly and
+mercilessly taxed by men who derided patriotism, misused
+power, and neglected the real interests of the
+nation in the desire to pander to the mob. Moreover,
+with the income-tax at 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> in the pound, and with the
+cost of living enormously enhanced, they declared that
+it was a positive impossibility to live in England, while
+into the bargain their lives were exposed to danger from
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>As a result of this wholesale emigration, in London
+and the country the number of empty houses inordinately
+increased, and there were few well-to-do people left
+to pay the rates and taxes. The fearful burden of the
+extravagant debts which the British municipalities
+had heaped up was cruelly felt, since the nation had to
+repudiate the responsibility which it had incurred for
+the payment of interest on the local debts. The Socialist
+dream, in fact, might almost be said to have been
+realised. There were few rich left, but the consequences
+to the poor, instead of being beneficial, were utterly
+disastrous.</p>
+
+<p>Under the pressure of public opinion, constrained by
+hunger and financial necessities, and with thousands of
+German prisoners in their hands, the British Government
+acceded to the suggested conference to secure peace.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Peace was finally signed on January 13, 1911. The
+British Empire emerged from the conflict outwardly
+intact, but internally so weakened that only the most
+resolute reforms accomplished by the ablest and boldest
+statesmen, could have restored it to its old position.</p>
+
+<p>Germany, on the other hand, emerged with an additional<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+21,000 miles of European territory, with an extended
+seaboard on the North Sea, fronting the United Kingdom
+at Rotterdam and the Texel, and, it was calculated, with
+a slight pecuniary advantage. Practically the entire cost
+of the war had been borne by England.</p>
+
+<p>As is always the case, the poor suffered most. The
+Socialists, who had declared against armaments, were
+faithless friends of those whom they professed to champion.
+Their dream of a golden age proved utterly delusive.
+But the true authors of England's misfortunes escaped
+blame for the moment, and the Army and Navy were
+made the scapegoats of the great catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>When success did come, it came too late, and could
+not be utilised without a great British Army capable of
+carrying the war into the enemy's country, and thus
+compelling a satisfactory peace.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><br /><br />THE END.</div>
+
+<div class="center"><br /><br />PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3>
+
+<p>A table of contents with links has been added at the beginning of the book.</p>
+
+<p>Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.</p>
+
+<p>High-resolution images can be accessed by clicking on the images in the text.</p>
+
+<p>Hyphens removed:
+"hill[-]side" (page 152),
+"look[-]out" (page 221),
+"mid[-]day" (page 149),
+"night[-]fall" (page 157),
+"rear[-]guard" (page 142),
+"sharp[-]shooters" (page 191),
+"wide[-]spread (page 230).</p>
+
+<p>Hyphen added: "by[-]ways" (page 224).</p>
+
+<p>The following words appear both with and without hyphens and have not
+been changed: "back[-]waters", "motor[-]omnibuses",
+"pickel[-]haubes".</p>
+
+<p>Page 43: the double quotation mark after "Well, Mr. Mayor," was changed to a single quotation mark.</p>
+
+<p>Page 50: "communciation" changed to "communication" (established direct communication).</p>
+
+<p>Page 60: "to" changed to "the" (came the VIIth Army Corps).</p>
+
+<p>Page 76: "thei" changed to "their" (some of their field batteries).</p>
+
+<p>Page 85: "Aryglls" changed to "Argylls".</p>
+
+<p>Page 89: "squardon" changed to "squadron" (squadron after squadron).</p>
+
+<p>Page 143: "fellow" changed to "fellows" (hundreds of poor fellows).</p>
+
+<p>Page 166: "fo" changed to "for" (for our salvation).</p>
+
+<p>Page 178: "Shepheard's Bush" changed to "Shepherd's Bush".</p>
+
+<p>Page 187: "Rosyln Hill" changed to "Roslyn Hill".</p>
+
+<p>Page 253: added "as" (and as soon as fired on).</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION***</p>
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@@ -0,0 +1,11190 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Invasion, by William Le Queux
+
+
+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 Invasion
+
+
+Author: William Le Queux
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 18, 2011  [eBook #36155]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 36155-h.htm or 36155-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36155/36155-h/36155-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36155/36155-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs was in bold face in the
+      original (=bold=).
+
+      Characters enclosed by curly braces after a carat character
+      were superscripted in the original (example: 13^{th}).
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: THE GREAT FIGHT.]
+
+
+THE INVASION
+
+by
+
+WM. LE QUEUX
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+LONDON: GEORGE NEWNES, LTD.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+"I sometimes despair of the country ever becoming alive to the danger of
+the unpreparedness of our present position until too late to prevent
+some fatal catastrophe."
+
+This was the keynote of a solemn warning made in the House of Lords by
+Earl Roberts. His lordship, whilst drawing attention to our present
+inadequate forces, strongly urged that action should be taken in
+accordance with the recommendations of the Elgin Commission that "no
+military system could be considered satisfactory which did not contain
+powers of expansion outside the limit of the regular forces of the
+Crown."
+
+"The lessons of the late war appear to have been forgotten. The one
+prevailing idea seems to be," said Earl Roberts, "to cut down our
+military expenditure without reference to our increased responsibilities
+and our largely augmented revenue. History tells us in the plainest
+terms that an Empire which cannot defend its own possessions must
+inevitably perish." And with this view both Lord Milner and the Marquis
+of Lansdowne concurred. But surely this is not enough. If we are to
+retain our position as the first nation of the world we must be prepared
+to defend any raid made upon our shores.
+
+The object of this book is to illustrate our utter unpreparedness for
+war from a military standpoint; to show how, under certain conditions
+which may easily occur, England can be successfully invaded by Germany;
+and to present a picture of the ruin which must inevitably fall upon us
+on the evening of that not far-distant day.
+
+Ever since Lord Roberts formulated his plans for the establishment of
+rifle-clubs I have been deeply interested in the movement: and after a
+conversation with that distinguished soldier the idea occurred to me to
+write a forecast, based upon all the available military knowledge--which
+would bring home to the British public vividly and forcibly what really
+would occur were an enemy suddenly to appear in our midst. At the outset
+it was declared by the strategists I consulted to be impossible. No such
+book could ever be written, for, according to them, the mass of
+technical detail was far too great to digest and present in an
+intelligible manner to the public.
+
+Lord Roberts, however, gave me encouragement. The skeleton scheme of the
+manner in which England could be invaded by Germany was submitted to a
+number of the highest authorities on strategy, whose names, however, I
+am not permitted to divulge, and after many consultations, much
+criticism, and considerable difference of opinion, the "general idea,"
+with amendment after amendment, was finally adopted.
+
+That, however, was only a mere preliminary. Upon questions of tactics
+each tactician consulted held a different view, and each criticised
+adversely the other's suggestions.
+
+One way alone remained open--namely, to take the facts exactly as they
+stood, add the additional strength of the opposing nations as they at
+present are, and then draw logical conclusions. This, aided by experts,
+was done: and after many days of argument with the various authorities,
+we succeeded in getting them in accord as to the general practicability
+of an invasion.
+
+Before putting pen to paper it was necessary to reconnoitre carefully
+the whole of England from the Thames to the Tyne. This I did by means of
+a motor-car, travelling 10,000 miles of all kinds of roads, and making a
+tour extending over four months. Each town, all the points of vantage,
+military positions, all the available landing places on the coast, all
+railway connections, and telephone and telegraph communications, were
+carefully noted for future reference. With the assistance of certain
+well-known military experts, the battlefields were carefully gone over
+and the positions marked upon the Ordnance map. Thus, through four
+months we pushed on day by day collecting information and material,
+sometimes in the big cities, sometimes in the quietest and remotest
+hamlets, all of which was carefully tabulated for use.
+
+Whatever critics may say, and however their opinions may differ, it can
+only be pointed out, first, that the "general idea" of the scheme is in
+accordance with the expressed and published opinions of the first
+strategists of to-day, and that, as far as the forecast of events is
+concerned, it has been written from a first-hand knowledge of the local
+colour of each of the scenes described. The enemy's Proclamations
+reproduced are practically copies of those issued by the Germans during
+the war of 1870.
+
+That the experts and myself will probably be condemned as alarmists and
+denounced for revealing information likely to be of assistance to an
+enemy goes without saying. Indeed, an attempt was made in the House of
+Commons to suppress its publication altogether. Mr. R. C. Lehmann, who
+asked a question of the Prime Minister, declared that it was "calculated
+to prejudice our relations with the other Powers," while the late Sir H.
+Campbell-Bannerman, in a subsequent letter apologising to me for
+condemning in the House a work he had not read, repeated that it was
+likely to "produce irritation abroad and might conceivably alarm the
+more ignorant public at home."
+
+Such a reflection, cast by the late Prime Minister upon the British
+nation was, to say the least, curious, yet it only confirmed the truth
+that the Government are strenuously seeking to conceal from our people
+the appalling military weakness and the consequent danger to which the
+country is constantly open.
+
+To be weak is to invite war: to be strong is to prevent it.
+
+To arouse our country to a sense of its own lamentable insecurity is the
+object of this volume, which is somewhat compressed from the form in
+which it originally appeared, and that other nations besides ourselves
+are interested in England's grave peril is proved by the fact that it
+has already been published in the German, French, Spanish, Danish,
+Russian, Italian, and even Japanese languages.
+
+    WILLIAM LE QUEUX.
+
+
+
+
+Speaking in the House of Lords on the 10th July 1905, I said:--"It is
+to the people of the country I appeal to take up the question of the
+Army in a sensible practical manner. For the sake of all they hold dear,
+let them bring home to themselves what would be the condition of Great
+Britain if it were to lose its wealth, its power, its position." The
+catastrophe that may happen if we still remain in our present state of
+unpreparedness is visibly and forcibly illustrated in Mr. Le Queux's new
+book which I recommend to the perusal of every one who has the welfare
+of the British Empire at heart.
+
+    29. Nov. 1905       Roberts, FM
+
+
+
+
+THE INVASION.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I.
+
+THE ATTACK.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE SURPRISE.
+
+
+Two of the myriad of London's nightworkers were walking down Fleet
+Street together soon after dawn on Sunday morning, 2nd September.
+
+The sun had not yet risen. That main artery of London traffic, with its
+irregular rows of closed shops and newspaper offices, was quiet and
+pleasant in the calm, mystic light before the falling of the smoke-pall.
+
+Only at early morning does the dear old City look its best; in that one
+quiet, sweet hour when the night's toil has ended and the day's has not
+yet begun. Only in that brief interval at the birth of day, when the
+rose tints of the sky glow slowly into gold, does the giant metropolis
+repose--at least, as far as its business streets are concerned--for at
+five o'clock the toiling millions begin to again pour in from all points
+of the compass, and the stress and storm of London at once recommences.
+
+And in that hour of silent charm the two grey-bearded sub-editors,
+though engaged in offices of rival newspapers were making their way
+homeward to Dulwich to spend Sunday in a well-earned rest, and were
+chatting "shop," as Press men do.
+
+"I suppose you had the same trouble to get that Yarmouth story through?"
+asked Fergusson, the news-editor of the "Dispatch," as they crossed
+Whitefriars Street. "We got about half a column, and then the wire shut
+down."
+
+"Telegraph or telephone?" inquired Baines, who was four or five years
+younger than his friend.
+
+"We were using both--to make sure."
+
+"So were we. It was a rattling good story--the robbery was mysterious,
+to say the least--but we didn't get more than half of it. Something's
+wrong with the line, evidently," Baines said. "If it were not such a
+perfect autumn morning, I should be inclined to think there'd been a
+storm somewhere."
+
+"Yes--funny, wasn't it?" remarked the other. "A shame we haven't the
+whole story, for it was a first-class one, and we wanted something. Did
+you put it on the contents-bill?"
+
+"No, because we couldn't get the finish. I tried in every way--rang up
+the Central News, P.A., Exchange Telegraph Company, tried to get through
+to Yarmouth on the trunk, and spent half an hour or so pottering about,
+but the reply from all the agencies, from everywhere, in fact, was the
+same--the line was interrupted."
+
+"Just our case. I telephoned to the Post Office, but the reply came back
+that the lines were evidently down."
+
+"Well, it certainly looks as though there'd been a storm, but----" and
+Baines glanced at the bright, clear sky overhead, just flushed by the
+bursting sun--"there are certainly no traces of it."
+
+"There's often a storm on the coast when it's quite still in London, my
+dear fellow," remarked his friend wisely.
+
+"That's all very well. But when all communication with a big place like
+Yarmouth is suddenly cut off, as it has been, I can't help suspecting
+that something has happened which we ought to know."
+
+"You're perhaps right, after all," Fergusson said. "I wonder if anything
+has happened. We don't want to be called back to the office, either of
+us. My assistant, Henderson, whom I've left in charge, rings me up over
+any mare's nest. The trunk telephones all come into the Post Office
+Exchange up in Carter Lane. Why not look in there before we go home? It
+won't take us a quarter of an hour, and we have several trains home from
+Ludgate Hill."
+
+Baines looked at his watch. Like his companion, he had no desire to be
+called back to his office after getting out to Dulwich, and yet he was
+in no mood to go making reporter's inquiries.
+
+"I don't think I'll go. It's sure to be nothing, my dear fellow," he
+said. "Besides, I have a beastly headache. I had a heavy night's work.
+One of my men is away ill."
+
+"Well, at any rate, I think I'll go," Fergusson said. "Don't blame me if
+you get called back for a special edition with a terrible storm, great
+loss of life, and all that sort of thing. So long." And, smiling, he
+waved his hand and parted from his friend in the booking office of
+Ludgate Hill Station.
+
+Quickening his pace, he hurried through the office, and, passing out by
+the back, ascended the steep, narrow street until he reached the Post
+Office Telephone Exchange in Carter Lane, where, presenting his card, he
+asked to see the superintendent-in-charge.
+
+Without much delay he was shown upstairs into a small private office,
+into which came a short, dapper, fair-moustached man with the bustle of
+a man in a great hurry.
+
+"I've called," the sub-editor explained, "to know whether you can tell
+me anything regarding the cause of the interruption of the line to
+Yarmouth a short time ago. We had some important news coming through,
+but were cut off just in the midst of it, and then we received
+information that all the telephone and telegraph lines to Yarmouth were
+interrupted."
+
+"Well, that's just the very point which is puzzling us at this moment,"
+was the night-superintendent's reply. "It is quite unaccountable. Our
+trunk going to Yarmouth seems to be down, as well as the telegraphs.
+Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and beyond Beccles seem all to have been suddenly
+cut off. About eighteen minutes to four the operators noticed something
+wrong, switched the trunks through to the testers, and the latter
+reported to me in due course."
+
+"That's strange! Did they all break down together?"
+
+"No. The first that failed was the one that runs through Chelmsford,
+Colchester, and Ipswich up to Lowestoft and Yarmouth. The operator found
+that he could get through to Ipswich and Beccles. Ipswich knew nothing,
+except that something was wrong. They could still ring up Beccles, but
+not beyond."
+
+As they were speaking, there was a tap at the door, and the assistant
+night-superintendent entered, saying:
+
+"The Norwich line through Scole and Long Stratton has now failed, sir.
+About half-past four Norwich reported a fault somewhere north, between
+there and Cromer. But the operator now says that the line is apparently
+broken, and so are all the telegraphs from there to Cromer, Sheringham,
+and Holt."
+
+"Another line has gone, then!" exclaimed the superintendent-in-charge,
+utterly astounded. "Have you tried to get on to Cromer by the other
+routes--through Nottingham and King's Lynn, or through Cambridge?"
+
+"The testers have tried every route, but there's no response."
+
+"You could get through to some of the places--Yarmouth, for instance--by
+telegraphing to the Continent, I suppose?" asked Fergusson.
+
+"We are already trying," responded the assistant superintendent.
+
+"What cables run out from the east coast in that neighbourhood?"
+inquired the sub-editor quickly.
+
+"There are five between Southwold and Cromer--three run to Germany, and
+two to Holland," replied the assistant. "There's the cable from Yarmouth
+to Barkum, in the Frisian Islands; from Happisburg, near Mundesley, to
+Barkum; from Yarmouth to Emden; from Lowestoft to Haarlem, and from
+Kessingland, near Southwold, to Zandyport."
+
+"And you are trying all the routes?" asked his superior.
+
+"I spoke to Paris myself an hour ago and asked them to cable by all five
+routes to Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Happisburg," was the
+assistant's reply. "I also asked Liverpool Street Station and King's
+Cross to wire down to some of their stations on the coast, but the reply
+was that they were in the same predicament as ourselves--their lines
+were down north of Beccles, Wymondham, East Dereham, and also south of
+Lynn. I'll just run along and see if there's any reply from Paris. They
+ought to be through by this time, as it's Sunday morning, and no
+traffic." And he went out hurriedly.
+
+"There's certainly something very peculiar," remarked the
+superintendent-in-charge to the sub-editor. "If there's been an
+earthquake or an electrical disturbance, then it is a most extraordinary
+one. Every single line reaching to the coast seems interrupted."
+
+"Yes. It's uncommonly funny," Fergusson remarked. "I wonder what could
+have happened. You've never had a complete breakdown like this before?"
+
+"Never. But I think----"
+
+The sentence remained unfinished, for his assistant returned with a slip
+of paper in his hand, saying:
+
+"This message has just come in from Paris, I'll read it. 'Superintendent
+Telephones, Paris, to Superintendent Telephones, London.--Have obtained
+direct telegraphic communication with operators of all five cables to
+England. Haarlem, Zandyport, Barkum, and Emden all report that cables
+are interrupted. They can get no reply from England, and tests show that
+cables are damaged somewhere near English shore.'"
+
+"Is that all?" asked Fergusson.
+
+"That's all. Paris knows no more than we do," was the assistant's
+response.
+
+"Then the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts are completely isolated--cut off
+from post office, railways, telephones, and cables!" exclaimed the
+superintendent. "It's mysterious--most mysterious!" And, taking up the
+instrument upon his table, he placed a plug in one of the holes down the
+front of the table itself, and a moment later was in conversation with
+the official in charge of the traffic at Liverpool Street, repeating the
+report from Paris, and urging him to send light engines north from
+Wymondham or Beccles into the zone of the mystery.
+
+The reply came back that he had already done so, but a telegram had
+reached him from Wymondham to the effect that the road-bridges between
+Kimberley and Hardingham had apparently fallen in, and the line was
+blocked by debris. Interruption was also reported beyond Swaffham, at a
+place called Little Dunham.
+
+"Then even the railways themselves are broken!" cried Fergusson. "Is it
+possible that there has been a great earthquake?"
+
+"An earthquake couldn't very well destroy all five cables from the
+Continent," remarked the superintendent gravely.
+
+The latter had scarcely placed the receiver upon the hook when a third
+man entered--an operator who, addressing him, said:
+
+"Will you please come to the switchboard, sir? There's a man in the
+Ipswich call office who has just told me a most extraordinary story. He
+says that he started in his motor-car alone from Lowestoft to London at
+half-past three this morning, and just as it was getting light he was
+passing along the edge of Henham Park, between Wangford village and
+Blythburgh, when he saw three men apparently repairing the telegraph
+wires. One was up the pole, and the other two were standing below. As he
+passed he saw a flash, for, to his surprise, one of the men fired
+point-blank at him with a revolver. Fortunately, the shot went wide, and
+he at once put on a move and got down into Blythburgh village, even
+though one of his tyres went down. It had probably been pierced by the
+bullet fired at him, as the puncture was unlike any he had ever had
+before. At Blythburgh he informed the police of the outrage, and the
+constable, in turn, woke up the postmaster, who tried to telegraph back
+to the police at Wrentham, but found that the line was interrupted. Was
+it possible that the men were cutting the wires, instead of repairing
+them? He says that after repairing the puncture he took the village
+constable and three other men on his car and went back to the spot,
+where, although the trio had escaped, they saw that wholesale havoc had
+been wrought with the telegraphs. The lines had been severed in four or
+five places, and whole lengths tangled up into great masses. A number of
+poles had been sawn down, and were lying about the roadside. Seeing that
+nothing could be done, the gentleman remounted his car, came on to
+Ipswich, and reported the damage at our call office."
+
+"And is he still there?" exclaimed the superintendent quickly, amazed at
+the motorist's statement.
+
+"Yes. I asked him to wait for a few moments in order to speak to you,
+sir."
+
+"Good. I'll go at once. Perhaps you'd like to come also, Mr. Fergusson?"
+
+And all three ran up to the gallery, where the huge switchboards were
+ranged around, and where the night operators, with the receivers
+attached to one ear, were still at work.
+
+In a moment the superintendent had taken the operator's seat, adjusted
+the ear-piece, and was in conversation with Ipswich. A second later he
+was speaking with the man who had actually witnessed the cutting of the
+trunk line.
+
+While he was thus engaged an operator at the farther end of the
+switchboard suddenly gave vent to a cry of surprise and disbelief.
+
+"What do you say, Beccles? Repeat it," he asked excitedly.
+
+Then a moment later he shouted aloud:
+
+"Beccles says that German soldiers--hundreds of them--are pouring into
+the place! The Germans have landed at Lowestoft, they think."
+
+All who heard those ominous words sprang up dumbfounded, staring at each
+other.
+
+The assistant-superintendent dashed to the operator's side and seized
+his apparatus.
+
+"Halloa--halloa, Beccles! Halloa--halloa--halloa!"
+
+The response was some gruff words in German, and the sound of scuffling
+could distinctly be heard. Then all was silent.
+
+Time after time he rang up the small Suffolk town, but in vain. Then he
+switched through to the testers, and quickly the truth was plain.
+
+The second trunk line to Norwich, running from Ipswich by Harleston and
+Beccles, had been cut farther towards London.
+
+But what held everyone breathless in the trunk telephone headquarters
+was that the Germans had actually effected the surprise landing that had
+so often in recent years been predicted by military critics; that
+England on that quiet September Sunday morning had been attacked.
+England was actually invaded. It was incredible!
+
+Yet London's millions in their Sunday morning lethargy were in utter
+ignorance of the grim disaster that had suddenly fallen upon the land.
+
+Fergusson was for rushing at once back to the "Dispatch" office to get
+out an extraordinary edition, but the superintendent, who was still in
+conversation with the motorist, urged judicious forethought.
+
+"For the present, let us wait. Don't let us alarm the public
+unnecessarily. We want corroboration. Let us have the motorist up here,"
+he suggested.
+
+"Yes," cried the sub-editor. "Let me speak to him."
+
+Over the wire Fergusson begged the stranger to come at once to London
+and give his story, declaring that the military authorities would
+require it. Then, just as the man who had been shot at by German advance
+spies--for such they had undoubtedly been--in order to prevent the
+truth leaking out, gave his promise to come to town at once, there came
+over the line from the coastguard at Southwold a vague, incoherent
+telephone message regarding strange ships having been seen to the
+northward, and asking for connection with Harwich; while King's Cross
+and Liverpool Street Stations both rang up almost simultaneously,
+reporting the receipt of extraordinary messages from King's Lynn, Diss,
+Harleston, Halesworth, and other places. All declared that German
+soldiers were swarming over the north, that Lowestoft and Beccles had
+been seized, and that Yarmouth and Cromer were isolated.
+
+Various stationmasters reported that the enemy had blown up bridges,
+taken up rails, and effectually blocked all communication with the
+coast. Certain important junctions were already held by the enemy's
+outposts.
+
+Such was the amazing news received in that high-up room in Carter Lane,
+City, on that sweet, sunny morning when all the great world of London
+was at peace, either still slumbering or week-ending.
+
+Fergusson remained for a full hour and a half at the Telephone Exchange,
+anxiously awaiting any further corroboration. Many wild stories came
+over the wires telling how panic-stricken people were fleeing inland
+away from the enemy's outposts. Then he took a hansom to the "Dispatch"
+office, and proceeded to prepare a special edition of his paper--an
+edition containing surely the most amazing news that had ever startled
+London.
+
+Fearing to create undue panic, he decided not to go to press until the
+arrival of the motorist from Ipswich. He wanted the story of the man who
+had actually seen the cutting of the wires. He paced his room excitedly,
+wondering what effect the news would have upon the world. In the rival
+newspaper offices the report was, as yet, unknown. With journalistic
+forethought he had arranged that at present the bewildering truth should
+not leak out to his rivals, either from the railway termini or from the
+telephone exchange. His only fear was that some local correspondent
+might telegraph from some village or town nearer the metropolis which
+was still in communication with the central office.
+
+Time passed very slowly. Each moment increased his anxiety. He had sent
+out the one reporter who remained on duty to the house of Colonel Sir
+James Taylor, the Permanent Under-Secretary for War. Halting before the
+open window, he looked up and down the street for the arriving
+motor-car. But all was quiet.
+
+Eight o'clock had just boomed from Big Ben, and London still remained in
+her Sunday morning peace. The street, bright in the warm sunshine, was
+quite empty, save for a couple of motor-omnibuses and a sprinkling of
+gaily dressed holiday-makers on their way to the day excursion trains.
+
+In that centre of London--the hub of the world--all was comparatively
+silent, the welcome rest after the busy turmoil that through six days in
+the week is unceasing, that fevered throbbing of the heart of the
+world's great capital.
+
+Of a sudden, however, came the whirr-r of an approaching car, as a
+thin-faced, travel-stained man tore along from the direction of the
+Strand and pulled up before the office. The fine car, a six-cylinder
+"Napier," was grey with the mud of country roads, while the motorist
+himself was smothered until his goggles had been almost entirely
+covered.
+
+Fergusson rushed out to him, and a few moments later the pair were in
+the upstairs room, the sub-editor swiftly taking down the motorist's
+story, which differed very little from what he had already spoken over
+the telephone.
+
+Then, just as Big Ben chimed the half-hour, the echoes of the
+half-deserted Strand were suddenly awakened by the loud, strident voices
+of the newsboys shouting:
+
+"'Dispatch,' spe-shall! Invasion of England this morning! Germans in
+Suffolk! Terrible panic! Spe-shall! 'Dispatch,' Spe-shall!"
+
+As soon as the paper had gone to press Fergusson urged the
+motorist--whose name was Horton, and who lived at Richmond--to go with
+him to the War Office and report. Therefore, both men entered the car,
+and as they did so a man jumped from a hansom in breathless haste. He
+was the reporter whom Fergusson had sent out to Sir James Taylor's house
+in Cleveland Square, Hyde Park.
+
+"They thought Sir James spent the night with his brother up at
+Hampstead," he exclaimed. "I've been there, but find that he's away for
+the week-end at Chilham Hall, near Buckden."
+
+"Buckden! That's on the Great North Road!" cried Horton, "We'll go at
+once and find him. Sixty miles from London. We can be there under two
+hours!"
+
+And a few minutes later the pair were tearing due north, turning at last
+into the handsome lodge-gates of Chilham Park, and running up the great
+elm avenue, drew up before the main door of the ancient hall, a quaint
+many-gabled old place of grey stone.
+
+A few moments later the breathless journalist faced the Permanent
+Under-Secretary with the news that England was invaded--that the Germans
+had actually effected a surprise landing on the east coast.
+
+Sir James and his host stood speechless. Like others, they at first
+believed the pale-faced, bearded sub-editor to be a lunatic, but a few
+moments later, when Horton briefly repeated the story, they saw that,
+whatever might have occurred, the two men were at least in deadly
+earnest.
+
+"Impossible!" cried Sir James. "We should surely have heard something of
+it if such were actually the case. The coastguard would have telephoned
+the news instantly. Besides, where is our fleet?"
+
+"The Germans evidently laid their plans with great cleverness. Their
+spies, already in England, cut the wires at a pre-arranged hour last
+night," declared Fergusson. "They sought to prevent this gentleman from
+giving the alarm by shooting him. All the railways to London are already
+either cut or held by the enemy. One thing, however, is clear--fleet or
+no fleet, the east coast is entirely at their mercy."
+
+Host and guest exchanged dark glances.
+
+"Well, if what you say is the actual truth," exclaimed Sir James,
+"to-day is surely the blackest day that England has ever known."
+
+"Yes, they should have listened to Lord Roberts," snapped his lordship.
+"I suppose you'll go at once, Taylor, and make inquiries?"
+
+"Of course," responded the Permanent Secretary. And a quarter of an hour
+later, accepting Horton's offer, he was sitting in the car as it headed
+back towards London.
+
+Could the journalist's story be true? As he sat there, with his head
+bent against the wind and the mud splashing into his face, Sir James
+recollected too well the repeated warnings of the past five years,
+serious warnings by men who knew our shortcomings, but to which no
+attention had been paid. Both the Government and the public had remained
+apathetic, the idea of peril had been laughed to scorn, and the country
+had, ostrich-like, buried its head in the sand, and allowed Continental
+nations to supersede us in business, in armaments, in everything.
+
+The danger of invasion had always been ridiculed as a mere alarmist's
+fiction; those responsible for the defence of the country had smiled,
+the Navy had been reduced, and the Army had remained in contented
+inefficiency.
+
+If the blow had really been struck by Germany? If she had risked three
+or four, out of her twenty-three, army corps, and had aimed at the heart
+of the British Empire? What then? Ay! what then?
+
+As the car glided down Regent Street into Pall Mall and towards
+Whitehall, Sir James saw on every side crowds discussing the vague but
+astounding reports now published in special editions of all the Sunday
+papers, and shouted wildly everywhere.
+
+Boys bearing sheets fresh from the Fleet Street presses were seized, and
+bundles torn from them by excited Londoners eager to learn the latest
+intelligence.
+
+Around both War Office and Admiralty great surging crowds were
+clamouring loudly for the truth. Was it the truth, or was it only a
+hoax? Half London disbelieved it. Yet from every quarter, from the north
+and from across the bridges, thousands were pouring in to ascertain what
+had really occurred, and the police had the greatest difficulty in
+keeping order.
+
+In Trafalgar Square, where the fountains were plashing so calmly in the
+autumn sunlight, a shock-headed man mounted the back of one of the lions
+and harangued the crowd with much gesticulation, denouncing the
+Government in the most violent terms; but the orator was ruthlessly
+pulled down by the police in the midst of his fierce attack.
+
+It was half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. The Germans had already
+been on English soil ten hours, yet London was in ignorance of where
+they had actually landed, and utterly helpless.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EFFECT IN THE CITY.
+
+
+Monday, 3rd September, 1910, was indeed Black Monday for London.
+
+By midnight on Sunday the appalling news had spread everywhere. Though
+the full details of the terrible naval disasters were not yet to hand,
+yet it was vaguely known that our ships had been defeated in the North
+Sea, and many of them sunk.
+
+Before 7 a.m. on Monday, however, telegrams reaching London by the
+subterranean lines from the north gave thrilling stories of frightful
+disasters we had, while all unconscious, suffered at the hands of the
+German fleet.
+
+With London, the great cities of the north, Liverpool, Manchester,
+Sheffield, and Birmingham, awoke utterly dazed. It seemed incredible.
+And yet the enemy had, by his sudden and stealthy blow, secured command
+of the sea and actually landed.
+
+The public wondered why a formal declaration of war had not previously
+been made, ignorant of the fact that the declaration preceding the
+Franco-German War was the first made by any civilised nation prior to
+the commencement of hostilities for one hundred and seventy years. The
+peril of the nation was now recognised on every hand.
+
+Eager millions poured into the City by every train from the suburbs and
+towns in the vicinity of the Metropolis, anxious to ascertain the truth
+for themselves, pale with terror, wild with excitement, indignant that
+our land forces were not already mobilised and ready to move eastward to
+meet the invader.
+
+As soon as the banks were opened there was a run on them, but by noon
+the Bank of England had suspended all specie payments. The other banks,
+being thus unable to meet their engagements, simply closed the doors,
+bringing business to an abrupt standstill. Consols stood at 90 on
+Saturday, but by noon on Monday were down to 42--lower even than they
+were in 1798, when they stood at 47-1/4. Numbers of foreigners tried to
+speculate heavily, but were unable to do so, for banking being suspended
+they could not obtain transfers.
+
+On the Stock Exchange the panic in the afternoon was indescribable.
+Securities of every sort went entirely to pieces, and there were no
+buyers. Financiers were surprised that no warning in London had betrayed
+the position of affairs, London being the money centre of the world.
+Prior to 1870 Paris shared with London the honour of being the pivot of
+the money market, but on the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of
+France during the Franco-German War, Paris lost that position. Had it
+not been that the milliards comprising the French War indemnity were
+intact in golden louis in the fortress of Spandau, Germany could never
+have hoped to wage sudden war with Great Britain before she had made
+Berlin independent of London in a money sense, or, at any rate, to
+accumulate sufficient gold to carry on the war for at least twelve
+months. The only way in which she could have done this was to raise her
+rate so as to offer better terms than London. Yet directly the Bank of
+England discovered the rate of exchange going against her, and her stock
+of gold diminishing, she would have responded by raising the English
+bank-rate in order to check the flow. Thus competition would have gone
+on until the rates became so high that all business would be checked,
+and people would have realised their securities to obtain the necessary
+money to carry on their affairs. Thus, no doubt, the coming war would
+have been forecasted had it not been for Germany's already prepared
+war-chest, which the majority of persons have nowadays overlooked. Its
+possession had enabled Germany to strike her sudden blow, and now the
+Bank of England, which is the final reserve of gold in the United
+Kingdom, found that as notes were cashed so the stock of gold diminished
+until it was in a few hours compelled to obtain from the Government
+suspension of the Bank charter. This enabled the Bank to suspend cash
+payment, and issue notes without a corresponding deposit of the
+equivalent in gold.
+
+The suspension, contrary to increasing the panic, had, curiously enough
+the immediate effect of somewhat allaying it. Plenty of people in the
+City were confident that the blow aimed could not prove an effective
+one, and that the Germans, however many might have landed, would quickly
+be sent back again. Thus many level-headed business men regarded the
+position calmly, believing that when our command of the sea was again
+re-established, as it must be in a day or two, the enemy would soon be
+non-existent.
+
+Business outside the money market was, of course, utterly demoralised.
+The buying of necessities was now uppermost in everyone's mind. Excited
+crowds in the streets caused most of the shops in the City and West End
+to close, while around the Admiralty were great crowds of eager men and
+women of all classes, tearful wives of bluejackets jostling with
+officers' ladies from Mayfair and Belgravia, demanding news of their
+loved ones--inquiries which, alas! the casualty office were unable to
+satisfy. The scene of grief, terror, and suspense was heartrending.
+Certain ships were known to have been sunk with all on board after
+making a gallant fight, and those who had husbands, brothers, lovers, or
+fathers on board wept loudly, calling upon the Government to avenge the
+ruthless murder of their loved ones.
+
+In Manchester, in Liverpool, indeed, all through the great manufacturing
+centres of the north, the excitement of London was reflected.
+
+In Manchester there was a panic "on 'Change," and the crowd in Deansgate
+coming into collision with a force of mounted police, some rioting
+occurred, and a number of shop windows broken, while several agitators
+who attempted to speak in front of the infirmary were at once arrested.
+
+Liverpool was the scene of intense anxiety and excitement, when a report
+was spread that German cruisers were about the estuary of the Mersey. It
+was known that the coal staithes, cranes, and petroleum tanks at
+Penarth, Cardiff, Barry, and Llanelly had been destroyed; that Aberdeen
+had been bombarded; and there were rumours that, notwithstanding the
+mines and defences of the Mersey, the city of Liverpool, with all its
+crowd of valuable shipping, was to share the same fate.
+
+The whole place was in a ferment. By eleven o'clock the stations were
+crowded by women and children sent by the men away into the
+country--anywhere from the doomed and defenceless city. The Lord Mayor
+vainly endeavoured to inspire confidence, but telegrams from London,
+announcing the complete financial collapse, only increased the panic.
+
+In London all through the morning, amid the chaos of business in the
+City, the excitement had been steadily growing, until shortly after
+three o'clock the "Daily Mail" issued a special edition containing a
+copy of a German proclamation which, it was said, was now posted
+everywhere in East Norfolk, East Suffolk, and in Maldon in Essex,
+already occupied by the enemy.
+
+The original proclamation had been found pasted by some unknown hand
+upon a barn door near the town of Billericay, and had been detached and
+brought to London in a motor-car by a correspondent.
+
+It showed plainly the German intention was to deal a hard and crushing
+blow, and it struck terror into the heart of London, for it read as will
+be seen on next page.
+
+Upon the walls of the Mansion House, the Guildhall, outside the Bank of
+England, the Royal Exchange, upon the various public buildings within
+the city wards, and westward beyond Temple Bar, proclamations were being
+posted. Indeed, upon all the hoardings in Greater London appeared
+various broadsheets side by side. One by the Chief Commissioner of
+Police, regulating the traffic in the streets, and appealing to the
+public to assist in the preservation of order; and a Royal Proclamation,
+brief but noble, urging every Briton to do his duty, to take his part in
+the defence of King and country, and to unfurl the banner of the British
+Empire that had hitherto carried peace and civilisation in every quarter
+of the world. Germany, whose independence had been respected, had
+attacked us without provocation; therefore hostilities were, alas,
+inevitable.
+
+When the great poster printed in big capitals and headed by the Royal
+Arms made its appearance it was greeted with wild cheering.
+
+It was a message of love from King to people--a message to the highest
+and to the lowest. Posted in Whitechapel at the same hour as in
+Whitehall, the throngs crowded eagerly about it and sang "God Save our
+Gracious King," for if they had but little confidence in the War Office
+and Admiralty, they placed their trust in their Sovereign, the first
+diplomat in Europe. Therefore the loyalty was spontaneous, as it always
+is. They read the royal message, and cheered and cheered again.
+
+As evening closed in yet another poster made its appearance in every
+city, town, and village in the country, a poster issued by military and
+police officers, and naval officers in charge of dockyards--the order
+for mobilisation.
+
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    WE, GENERAL COMMANDING THE 3rd GERMAN ARMY,
+
+    HAVING SEEN the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor
+    William, King of Prussia, Chief of the Army, which authorises
+    the generals commanding the different German Army Corps to
+    establish special measures against all municipalities and
+    persons acting in contradiction to the usages of war, and to
+    take what steps they consider necessary for the well-being of
+    the troops.
+
+    HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE:
+
+    (1) THE MILITARY JURISDICTION is hereby established. It applies
+    to all territory of Great Britain occupied by the German Army,
+    and to every action endangering the security of the troops by
+    rendering assistance to the enemy. The Military Jurisdiction
+    will be announced and placed vigorously in force in every parish
+    by the issue of this present proclamation.
+
+    (2) ANY PERSON OR PERSONS NOT BEING BRITISH SOLDIERS, or not
+    showing by their dress that they are soldiers:
+
+    (a) SERVING THE ENEMY as spies;
+
+    (b) MISLEADING THE GERMAN TROOPS when charged to serve as
+    guides;
+
+    (c) SHOOTING, INJURING, OR ROBBING any person belonging to the
+    German Army, or forming part of its personnel;
+
+    (d) DESTROYING BRIDGES OR CANALS, damaging telegraphs,
+    telephones, electric light wires, gasometers, or railways,
+    interfering with roads, setting fire to munitions of war,
+    provisions, or quarters established by German troops;
+
+    (e) TAKING ARMS against the German troops,
+
+    =WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH.=
+
+    IN EACH CASE the officer presiding at the Council of War will be
+    charged with the trial, and pronounce judgment. Councils of War
+    may not pronounce ANY OTHER CONDEMNATION SAVE THAT OF DEATH.
+
+    THE JUDGMENT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED.
+
+    (3) TOWNS OR VILLAGES in the territory in which the
+    contravention takes place will be compelled to pay indemnity
+    equal to one year's revenue.
+
+    (4) THE INHABITANTS MUST FURNISH necessaries for the German
+    troops daily as follows:--
+
+    1 lb. 10 oz. bread.
+    13 oz. meat.
+    3 lb. potatoes.
+    1 oz. tea.
+    1-1/2 oz. tobacco or 5 cigars.
+    1/2 pint wine.
+    1-1/2 pints beer, or 1 wine-glassful of brandy or whisky.
+
+    The ration for each horse:--
+
+    13 lb. oats.
+    3 lb. 6 oz. hay.
+    3 lb. 6 oz. straw.
+
+    (ALL PERSONS WHO PREFER to pay an indemnity in money may do so
+    at the rate of 2s. per day per man.)
+
+    (5) COMMANDERS OF DETACHED corps have the right to requisition
+    all that they consider necessary for the well-being of their
+    men, and will deliver to the inhabitants official receipts for
+    goods so supplied.
+
+    WE HOPE IN CONSEQUENCE that the inhabitants of Great Britain
+    will make no difficulty in furnishing all that may be considered
+    necessary.
+
+    (6) AS REGARDS the individual transactions between the troops
+    and the inhabitants, we give notice that one German mark shall
+    be considered the equivalent to one English shilling.
+
+    =The General Commanding the Ninth German Army Corps,
+    VON KRONHELM.=
+
+    Beccles, _September the Third, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: THE ENEMY'S FAMOUS PROCLAMATION.]
+
+
+The public, however, little dreamed of the hopeless confusion in the War
+Office, in the various regimental depots throughout the country, at
+headquarters everywhere, and in every barracks in the kingdom. The armed
+forces of England were passing from a peace to a war footing; but the
+mobilisation of the various units--namely, its completion in men,
+horses, and material--was utterly impossible in the face of the
+extraordinary regulations which, kept a strict secret by the Council of
+Defence until this moment, revealed a hopeless state of things.
+
+The disorder was frightful. Not a regiment was found fully equipped and
+ready to march. There was a dearth of officers, equipment, horses,
+provisions--of, indeed, everything. Men had guns without ammunition;
+cavalry and artillery were without horses; engineers only half equipped;
+volunteers with no transport whatever; balloon sections without
+balloons, and searchlight units vainly trying to obtain the necessary
+instruments.
+
+Horses were being requisitioned everywhere. The few horses that, in the
+age of motor-cars, now remained on the roads in London were quickly
+taken for draught, and all horses fit to ride were commandeered for the
+cavalry.
+
+During the turmoil daring German spies were actively at work south of
+London. The Southampton line of the London and South-Western Railway was
+destroyed--with explosives placed by unknown hands--by the bridge over
+the Wey, near Weybridge, being blown up; and again that over the Mole,
+between Walton and Esher, while the Reading line was cut by the great
+bridge over the Thames at Staines being destroyed. The line, too,
+between Guildford and Waterloo, was also rendered impassable by the
+wreck of the midnight train, which was blown up half-way between
+Wansborough and Guildford, while in several other places nearer London
+bridges were rendered unstable by dynamite, the favourite method
+apparently being to blow the crown out of an arch.
+
+The well-laid plans of the enemy were thus quickly revealed. Among the
+thousands of Germans working in London, the hundred or so spies, all
+trusted soldiers, had passed unnoticed but, working in unison, each
+little group of two or three had been allotted its task, and had
+previously thoroughly reconnoitred the position and studied the most
+rapid or effective means.
+
+The railways to the east and north-east coasts all reported wholesale
+damage done on Sunday night by the advance agents of the enemy, and now
+this was continued on the night of Monday in the south, the objective
+being to hinder troops from moving north from Aldershot. This was,
+indeed, effectual, for only by a long _detour_ could the troops be moved
+to the northern defences of London, and while many were on Tuesday
+entrained, others were conveyed to London by the motor omnibuses sent
+down for that purpose.
+
+Everywhere through London and its vicinity, as well as Manchester,
+Birmingham, Sheffield, Coventry, Leeds, and Liverpool, motor-cars and
+motor-omnibuses from dealers and private owners were being requisitioned
+by the military authorities, for they would, it was believed, replace
+cavalry to a very large extent.
+
+Wild and extraordinary reports were circulated regarding the disasters
+in the north. Hull, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth had, it was
+believed, been bombarded and sacked. The shipping in the Tyne was
+burning, and the Elswick works were held by the enemy. Details were,
+however, very vague, as the Germans were taking every precaution to
+prevent information reaching London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+NEWS OF THE ENEMY.
+
+
+Terror and excitement reigned everywhere. The wildest rumours were
+hourly afloat. London was a seething stream of breathless multitudes of
+every class.
+
+On Monday morning the newspapers throughout the kingdom had devoted
+greater part of their space to the extraordinary intelligence from
+Norfolk and Suffolk, and Essex, and other places. Only the slow,
+old-fashioned "Globe" remained asleep, or pretended to know nothing of
+what was in progress.
+
+That we were actually invaded was plain, but most of the newspapers
+happily preserved a calm, dignified tone, and made no attempt at
+sensationalism. The situation was far too serious.
+
+Like the public, however, the Press had been taken entirely by surprise.
+The blow had been so sudden and so staggering that half the alarming
+reports were discredited.
+
+In addition to the details of the enemy's operations, as far as could as
+yet be ascertained, the "Morning Post" on Monday contained an account of
+a mysterious occurrence at Chatham, which read as follows:
+
+    "CHATHAM, _Sept. 1_ (11.30 P.M.).
+
+"An extraordinary accident took place on the Medway about eight o'clock
+this evening. The steamer 'Pole Star,' 1,200 tons register, with a cargo
+of cement from Frindsbury, was leaving for Hamburg, and came into
+collision with the 'Frauenlob,' of Bremen, a somewhat larger boat, which
+was inward bound, in a narrow part of the channel about half-way between
+Chatham and Sheerness. Various accounts of the mishap are current, but
+whichever of the vessels was responsible for the bad steering or neglect
+of the ordinary rules of the road, it is certain that the 'Frauenlob'
+was cut into by the stem of the 'Pole Star' on her port bow, and sank
+almost across the channel. The 'Pole Star' swung alongside her after the
+collision, and very soon afterwards sank in an almost parallel position.
+Tugs and steamboats carrying a number of naval officers and the port
+authorities are about to proceed to the scene of the accident, and if,
+as seems probable, there is no chance of raising the vessels, steps will
+be at once taken to blow them up. In the present state of our foreign
+relations such an obstruction directly across the entrance to one of our
+principal war-ports is a national danger, and will not be allowed to
+remain a moment longer than can be helped."
+
+    "_Sept. 2._
+
+"An extraordinary _denouement_ has followed the collision in the Medway
+reported in my telegram of last night, which renders it impossible to
+draw any other conclusion than that the affair is anything but an
+accident. Everything now goes to prove that the whole business was
+premeditated and was the result of an organised plot with the object of
+'bottling up' the numerous men-of-war that are now being hurriedly
+equipped for service in Chatham Dockyard. In the words of Scripture, 'An
+enemy hath done this,' and there can be very little doubt as to the
+quarter from which the outrage was engineered. It is nothing less than
+an outrage to perpetrate what is in reality an overt act of hostility in
+a time of profound peace, however much the political horizon may be
+darkened by lowering war-clouds. We are living under a Government whose
+leader lost no time in announcing that no fear of being sneered at as a
+'Little Englander' would deter him from seeking peace and ensuring it by
+a reduction of our naval and military armaments, even at that time known
+to be inadequate to the demands likely to be made upon them if our
+Empire is to be maintained. We trust, however, that even this
+parochially-minded statesman will lose no time in probing the conspiracy
+to its depths, and in seeking instant satisfaction from those
+personages, however highly placed and powerful, who have committed this
+outrage on the laws of civilisation.
+
+"As soon as the news of the collision reached the dockyard the senior
+officer at Kethole Reach was ordered by wire to take steps to prevent
+any vessel from going up the river, and he at once despatched several
+picket-boats to the entrance to warn in-coming ships of the blocking of
+the channel, while a couple of other boats were sent up to within a
+short distance of the obstruction to make assurance doubly sure. The
+harbour signals ordering 'suspension of all movings' were also hoisted
+at Garrison Point.
+
+"Among other ships which were stopped in consequence of these measures
+was the 'Van Gysen,' a big steamer hailing from Rotterdam, laden, it was
+stated, with steel rails for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway,
+which were to be landed at Port Victoria. She was accordingly allowed to
+proceed, and anchored, or appeared to anchor, just off the railway pier
+at that place. Ten minutes later the officer of the watch on board
+H.M.S. 'Medici' reported that he thought she was getting under way
+again. It was then pretty dark. An electric searchlight being switched
+on, the 'Van Gysen' was discovered steaming up the river at a
+considerable speed. The 'Medici' flashed the news to the flagship, which
+at once fired a gun, hoisted the recall and the 'Van Gysen's' number in
+the international code, and despatched her steam pinnace, with orders to
+overhaul the Dutchman and stop him at whatever cost. A number of the
+marines on guard were sent in her with their rifles.
+
+"The 'Van Gysen' seemed well acquainted with the channel, and
+continually increased her speed as she went up the river, so that she
+was within half a mile of the scene of the accident before the steamboat
+came up with her. The officer in charge called to the skipper through
+the megaphone to stop his engines and to throw him a rope, as he wanted
+to come on board. After pretending for some time not to understand him,
+the skipper slowed his engines and said, 'Ver vel, come 'longside
+gangway.' As the pinnace hooked on at the gangway, a heavy iron cylinder
+cover was dropped into her from the height of the 'Van Gysen's' deck. It
+knocked the bowman overboard and crashed into the fore part of the boat,
+knocking a big hole in the port side forward. She swung off at an angle
+and stopped to pick up the man overboard. Her crew succeeded in rescuing
+him, but she was making water fast, and there was nothing for it but to
+run her into the bank. The lieutenant in charge ordered a rifle to be
+fired at the 'Van Gysen' to bring her to, but she paid not the smallest
+attention, as might have been expected, and went on her way with
+gathering speed.
+
+"The report, however, served to attract the attention of the two
+picket-boats which were patrolling up the river. As she turned a bend in
+the stream they both shot up alongside out of the darkness, and ordered
+her peremptorily to stop. But the only answer they received was the
+sudden extinction of all lights in the steamer. They kept alongside, or
+rather one of them did, but they were quite helpless to stay the
+progress of the big wall-sided steamer. The faster of the picket-boats
+shot ahead with the object of warning those who were busy examining the
+wrecks. But the 'Van Gysen,' going all she knew, was close behind, an
+indistinguishable black blur in the darkness, and hardly had the officer
+in the picket-boat delivered his warning before she was heard close at
+hand. Within a couple of hundred yards of the two wrecks she slowed
+down, for fear of running right over them. On she came, inevitable as
+Fate. There was a crash as she came into collision with the central
+deckhouses of the 'Frauenlob' and as her bows scraped past the funnel of
+the 'Pole Star.' Then followed no fewer than half a dozen muffled
+reports. Her engines went astern for a moment, and down she settled
+athwart the other two steamers, heeling over to port as she did so. All
+was turmoil and confusion. None of the dockyard and naval craft present
+were equipped with searchlights. The harbour-master, the captain of the
+yard, even the admiral superintendent, who had just come down in his
+steam launch, all bawled out orders.
+
+"Lights were flashed and lanterns swung up and down in the vain
+endeavour to see more of what had happened. Two simultaneous shouts of
+'Man overboard!' came from tugs and boats at opposite sides of the
+river. When a certain amount of order was restored it was discovered
+that a big dockyard tug was settling down by the head. It seems she had
+been grazed by the 'Van Gysen' as she came over the obstruction, and
+forced against some portion of one of the foundered vessels, which had
+pierced a hole in her below the water-line.
+
+"In the general excitement the damage had not been discovered, and now
+she was sinking fast. Hawsers were made fast to her with the utmost
+expedition possible in order to tow her clear of the piled-up wreckage,
+but it was too late. There was only just time to rescue her crew before
+she too added herself to the underwater barricade. As for the crew of
+the 'Van Gysen,' it is thought that all must have gone down in her, as
+no trace of them has as yet been discovered, despite a most diligent
+search, for it was considered that, in an affair which had been so
+carefully planned as this certainly must have been, some provision must
+surely have been made for the escape of the crew. Those who have been
+down at the scene of the disaster report that it will be impossible to
+clear the channel in less than a week or ten days, using every resource
+of the dockyard.
+
+"A little later I thought I would go down to the dockyard on the
+off-chance of picking up any further information. The Metropolitan
+policeman at the gate would on no account allow me to pass at that hour,
+and I was just turning away when, by a great piece of good fortune, I
+ran up against Commander Shelley.
+
+"I was on board his ship as correspondent during the manoeuvres of the
+year before last. 'And what are you doing down here?' was his very
+natural inquiry after we had shaken hands. I told him that I had been
+down in Chatham for a week past as special correspondent, reporting on
+the half-hearted preparations being made for the possible mobilisation,
+and took the opportunity of asking him if he could give me any further
+information about the collision between the three steamers in the
+Medway. 'Well,' said he, 'the best thing you can do is to come right
+along with me. I have just been hawked out of bed to superintend the
+diving operations, which will begin the moment there is a gleam of
+daylight.' Needless to say, this just suited me, and I hastened to thank
+him and to accept his kind offer. 'All right,' he said, 'but I shall
+have to make one small condition.'
+
+"'And that is?' I queried.
+
+"'Merely to let me "censor" your telegrams before you send them,' he
+returned. 'You see, the Admiralty might not like to have too much said
+about this business, and I don't want to find myself in the dirt-tub.'
+
+"The stipulation was a most reasonable one, and however I disliked the
+notion of having probably my best paragraphs eliminated, I could not but
+assent to my friend's proposition. So away we marched down the echoing
+spaces of the almost deserted dockyard till we arrived at the
+'Thunderbolt' pontoon. Here lay a pinnace with steam up, and lighted
+down the sloping side of the old ironclad by the lantern of the
+policeman on duty, we stepped on board and shot out into the centre of
+the stream. We blew our whistles and the coxswain waved a lantern,
+whereupon a small tug that had a couple of dockyard lighters attached
+gave a hoarse 'toot' in response, and followed us down the river. We
+sped along in the darkness against a strong tide that was making
+upstream, past Upnor Castle, that quaint old Tudor fortress with its
+long line of modern powder magazines, and along under the deeper shadows
+beneath Hoo Woods till we came abreast of the medley of mud flats and
+grass-grown islets just beyond them. Here above the thud of the engines
+and the plash of the water, a thin, long-drawn-out cry wavered through
+the night. 'Some one hailing the boat, sir,' reported the lookout
+forward. We had all heard it. 'Ease down,' ordered Shelley, and hardly
+moving against the rushing tideway we listened for its repetition.
+Again the voice was raised in quavering supplication. 'What the dickens
+does he say?' queried the commander. 'It's German,' I answered. 'I know
+that language well. I think he's asking for help. May I answer him?'
+
+"'By all means. Perhaps he belongs to one of those steamers.' The same
+thought was in my own mind. I hailed in return, asking where he was and
+what he wanted. The answer came back that he was a shipwrecked seaman,
+who was cold, wet, and miserable, and implored to be taken off from the
+islet where he found himself, cut off from everywhere by water and
+darkness. We ran the boat's nose into the bank, and presently succeeded
+in hauling aboard a miserable object, wet through, and plastered from
+head to foot with black Medway mud. The broken remains of a cork
+life-belt hung from his shoulders. A dram of whisky somewhat revived
+him. 'And now,' said Shelley, 'you'd better cross-examine him. We may
+get something out of the fellow.' The foreigner, crouched down shivering
+in the stern-sheets half covered with a yellow oilskin that some
+charitable bluejacket had thrown over him, appeared to me in the light
+of the lantern that stood on the deck before him to be not only
+suffering from cold, but from terror. A few moments' conversation with
+him confirmed my suspicions. I turned to Shelley and exclaimed, 'He says
+he'll tell us everything if we spare his life,' I explained. 'I'm sure I
+don't want to shoot the chap,' replied the commander. 'I suppose he's
+implicated in this "bottling up" affair. If he is, he jolly well
+deserves it, but I don't suppose anything will be done to him. Anyway,
+his information may be valuable, and so you may tell him that he is all
+right as far as I'm concerned, and I will do my best for him with the
+Admiral. I daresay that will satisfy him. If not, you might threaten him
+a bit. Tell him anything you like if you think it will make him speak.'
+To cut a long story short, I found the damp Dutchman amenable to reason,
+and the following is the substance of what I elicited from him.
+
+"He had been a deck hand on board the 'Van Gysen.' When she left
+Rotterdam he did not know that the trip was anything out of the way.
+There was a new skipper whom he had not seen before, and there were also
+two new mates with a new chief engineer. Another steamer followed them
+all the way till they arrived at the Nore. On the way over he and
+several other seamen were sent for by the captain, and asked if they
+would volunteer for a dangerous job, promising them L50 a-piece if it
+came off all right. He and five others agreed, as did two or three
+stokers, and were then ordered to remain aft and not communicate with
+any others of the crew. Off the Nore all the remainder were transferred
+to the following steamer, which steamed off to the eastward. After they
+were gone the selected men were told that the officers all belonged to
+the Imperial German Navy, and by orders of the Kaiser were about to
+attempt to block up the Medway.
+
+"A collision between two other ships had been arranged for, one of which
+was loaded with a mass of old steel rails into which liquid cement had
+been run, so that her hold contained a solid impenetrable block. The
+'Van Gysen' carried a similar cargo, and was provided with an
+arrangement for blowing holes in her bottom. The crew were provided with
+life-belts, and the half of the money promised, and all except the
+captain, the engineer, and the two mates dropped overboard just before
+arriving at the sunken vessels. They were advised to make their way to
+Gravesend, and then to shift for themselves as best they could. He had
+found himself on a small island, and could not muster up courage to
+plunge into the cold water again in the darkness.
+
+"'By Jove! This means war with Germany, man!--War!' was Shelley's
+comment. At two o'clock this afternoon we knew that it did, for the news
+of the enemy's landing in Norfolk was signalled down from the dockyard.
+We also knew from the divers that the cargo of the sunken steamers was
+what the rescued seamen had stated it to be. Our bottle has been fairly
+well corked."
+
+This amazing revelation showed how cleverly contrived was the German
+plan of hostilities. All our splendid ships at Chatham had, in that
+brief half-hour, been bottled up and rendered utterly useless. Yet the
+authorities were not blameless in the matter, for in November, 1905, a
+foreign warship actually came up the Medway in broad daylight, and was
+not noticed until she began to bang away her salutes, much to the utter
+consternation of every one.
+
+This incident, however, was but one of the many illustrations of
+German's craft and cunning. The whole scheme had been years in careful
+preparation.
+
+She intended to invade us, and regarded every stratagem as allowable in
+her sudden dash upon England, an expedition which promised to result in
+the most desperate war of modern times.
+
+At that moment the "Globe," at last aroused from its long and peaceful
+sleep, reproduced those plain, prophetic words of Lord Overstone,
+written some years before to the Royal Defence Commission: "Negligence
+alone can bring about the calamity under discussion. Unless we suffer
+ourselves to be surprised we cannot be invaded with success. It is
+useless to discuss what will occur or what can be done after London has
+fallen into the hands of an invading foe. The apathy which may render
+the occurrence of such a catastrophe possible will not afterwards enable
+the country, enfeebled, dispirited, and disorganised by the loss of its
+capital, to redeem the fatal error."
+
+Was that prophecy to be fulfilled?
+
+Some highly interesting information was given by the Ipswich
+correspondent of the Central News.
+
+Repeated briefly, it was as follows:--
+
+"Shortly before three o'clock on Sunday morning the coastguard at
+Lowestoft, Corton, and Beach End discovered that their telephonic
+communication was interrupted, and half an hour later, to the surprise
+of every one a miscellaneous collection of mysterious craft were seen
+approaching the harbour: and within an hour many of them were high and
+dry on the beach, while others were lashed alongside the old dock, the
+new fish-docks of the Great Eastern Railway, and the wharves,
+disembarking a huge force of German infantry, cavalry, motor-infantry,
+and artillery. The town, awakened from its slumbers, was utterly
+paralysed, the more so when it was discovered that the railway to London
+was already interrupted, and the telegraph lines all cut. On landing,
+the enemy commandeered all provisions, including all motor-cars they
+could discover, horses and forage, while the banks were seized, and the
+infantry, falling in marched up Old Nelson Street into High Street, and
+out upon the Beccles Road. The first care of the invaders was to prevent
+the people of Lowestoft damaging the Swing Bridge, a strong guard being
+instantly mounted upon it, and so quietly and orderly was the landing
+effected that it was plain the German plans of invasion were absolutely
+perfect in every detail.
+
+"Few hitches seemed to occur. The mayor was summoned at six o'clock by
+General von Kronhelm, the generalissimo of the German Army, and briefly
+informed that the town of Lowestoft was occupied, and that all armed
+resistance would be punished by death. Then, ten minutes later, when the
+German war-flag was flying from several flagstaffs in various parts of
+the town, the people realised their utter helplessness.
+
+"The Germans, of course, knew that, irrespective of the weather, a
+landing could be effected at Lowestoft, where the fish-docks and
+wharves, with their many cranes, were capable of dealing with a large
+amount of stores. The Denes, that flat, sandy plain between the upper
+town and the sea, they turned into a camping-ground, and large numbers
+were billeted in various quarters of the town itself.
+
+"The people were terror-stricken. To appeal to London for help was
+impossible, as the place had been cut entirely off, and around it a
+strong chain of outposts had already been thrown, preventing any one
+from escaping. The town had, in a moment, as it seemed, fallen at the
+mercy of the foreigners. Even the important-looking police constables of
+Lowestoft, with their little canes, were crestfallen, sullen, and
+inactive.
+
+"While the landing was continuing during all Sunday the advance guard
+moved rapidly over Mutford Bridge, along the Beccles Road, occupying a
+strong position on the west side of the high ground east of Lowestoft.
+Beccles, where von Kronhelm established his headquarters, resting as it
+does on the River Waveney, is strongly held. The enemy's main position
+appears to run from Windle Hill, one mile north-east of Gillingham,
+thence north-west through Bull's Green, Herringfleet Hill, over to Grove
+Farm and Hill House to Raveningham, whence it turns easterly to
+Haddiscoe, which is at present its northern limit. The total front from
+Beccles Bridge north is about five miles, and commands the whole of the
+flat plain west towards Norwich. It has its south flank resting on the
+River Waveney, and to the north on Thorpe Marshes. The chief artillery
+position is at Toft Monks--the highest point. Upon the high tower of
+Beccles Church is established a signal station, communication being made
+constantly with Lowestoft by helio by day, and acetylene lamps by night.
+
+"The enemy's position has been most carefully chosen, for it is
+naturally strong, and, being well held to protect Lowestoft from any
+attack from the west, the landing can continue uninterruptedly, for
+Lowestoft beach and docks are now entirely out of the line of any
+British fire.
+
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    THE NEWS OF THE BOMBARDMENT of the City of Newcastle and the
+    landing of the German Army at Hull, Weybourne, Yarmouth, and
+    other places along the East Coast is unfortunately confirmed.
+
+    THE ENEMY'S INTENTION is to march upon the City of London, which
+    must be resolutely defended.
+
+    THE BRITISH NATION and the Citizens of London, in face of these
+    great events, must be energetic in order to vanquish the
+    invader.
+
+    The ADVANCE must be CHALLENGED FOOT BY FOOT. The people must
+    fight for King and Country.
+
+    Great Britain is not yet dead, for indeed, the more serious her
+    danger, the stronger will be her unanimous patriotism.
+
+    =GOD SAVE THE KING.=
+
+    HARRISON, _Lord Mayor_.
+
+    MANSION HOUSE,
+    LONDON, _September 3rd, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: THE LORD MAYOR'S APPEAL TO LONDON.]
+
+"March outposts are at Blythburgh, Wenhaston, Holton, Halesworth,
+Wissett, Rumburgh, Homersfield, and Bungay, and then north to Haddiscoe,
+while cavalry patrols watch by day, the line roughly being from Leiston
+through Saxmundham, Framlingham, and Tannington, to Hoxne.
+
+"The estimate, gleaned from various sources in Lowestoft and Beccles, is
+that up to Monday at midday nearly a whole Army Corps, with stores,
+guns, ammunition, etc., had already landed, while there are also reports
+of a further landing at Yarmouth, and at a spot still farther north, but
+at present there are no details.
+
+"The enemy," he concluded, "are at present in a position of absolute
+security."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A PROPHECY FULFILLED.
+
+
+This authentic news of the position of the enemy, combined with the
+vague rumours of other landings at Yarmouth, along the coast at some
+unknown point north of Cromer, at King's Lynn, and other places,
+produced an enormous sensation in London, while the Central News
+account, circulated to all the papers in the Midlands and Lancashire,
+increased the panic in the manufacturing districts.
+
+The special edition of the "Evening Star," issued about six o'clock on
+Tuesday evening, contained another remarkable story which threw some
+further light upon the German movements. It was, of course, known that
+practically the whole of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast was already held
+by the enemy, but with the exception of the fact that the enemy's
+cavalry vedettes and reconnoitring patrols were out everywhere at a
+distance about twenty miles from the shore, England was entirely in the
+dark as to what had occurred anywhere else but at Lowestoft. Attempts
+had been made to penetrate the cavalry screen at various points, but in
+vain. What was in progress was carefully kept a secret by the enemy. The
+veil was, however, now lifted. The story which the "Evening Star" had
+obtained exclusively, and which was eagerly read everywhere, had been
+related by a man named Scotney, a lobster-fisherman, of Sheringham, in
+Norfolk, who had made the following statement to the chief officer of
+coastguard at Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire:
+
+"Just before dawn on Sunday morning I was in the boat with my son Ted
+off the Robin Friend, taking up the lobster pots, when we suddenly saw
+about three miles off shore a mixed lot of curious-looking craft strung
+out right across the horizon, and heading apparently for Cromer. There
+were steamers big and little, many of them towing queer flat-bottomed
+kind of boats, lighters, and barges, which, on approaching nearer, we
+could distinctly see were filled to their utmost capacity with men and
+horses.
+
+"Both Ted and I stood staring at the unusual sight, wondering whatever
+it meant. They came on very quickly, however--so quickly, indeed, that
+we thought it best to move on. The biggest ships went along to Weybourne
+Gap, where they moored in the twenty-five feet of water that runs in
+close to the shore, while some smaller steamers and the flats were run
+high and dry on the hard shingle. Before this I noticed that there were
+quite a number of foreign warships in the offing, with several
+destroyers far away in the distance both to east and west.
+
+"From the larger steamships all sorts of boats were lowered, including
+apparently many collapsible whaleboats, and into these, in a most
+orderly manner, from every gangway and accommodation-ladder,
+troops--Germans we afterwards discovered them to be, to our utter
+astonishment--began to descend.
+
+"These boats were at once taken charge of by steam pinnaces and cutters
+and towed to the beach. When we saw this we were utterly dumbfounded.
+Indeed, at first I believed it to be a dream, for ever since I was a
+lad I had heard the ancient rhyme my old father was so fond of
+repeating:
+
+    "'He who would Old England win,
+    Must at Weybourne Hoop begin.'
+
+"As everybody knows, nature has provided at that lonely spot every
+advantage for the landing of hostile forces, and when the Spanish Armada
+was expected, and again when Napoleon threatened an invasion, the place
+was constantly watched. Yet nowadays, except for the coastguard, it has
+been utterly unprotected and neglected.
+
+"The very first soldiers who landed formed up quickly, and under the
+charge of an officer ran up the low hill to the coastguard station, I
+suppose in order to prevent them signalling a warning. The funny thing
+was, however, that the coastguards had already been held up by several
+well-dressed men--spies of the Germans, I suppose. I could distinctly
+see one man holding one of the guards with his back to the wall, and
+threatening him with a revolver.
+
+"Ted and I had somehow been surrounded by the crowd of odd craft which
+dodged about everywhere, and the foreigners now and then shouted to me
+words that unfortunately I could not understand.
+
+"Meanwhile, from all the boats strung out along the beach, from
+Sheringham right across to the Rocket House at Salthouse, swarms of
+drab-coated soldiers were disembarking, the boats immediately returning
+to the steamers for more. They must have been packed as tightly as
+herrings in a barrel; but they all seemed to know where to go to,
+because all along at various places little flags were held by men, and
+each regiment appeared to march across and assemble at its own flag.
+
+"Ted and I sat there as if we were watching a play. Suddenly we saw from
+some of the ships and bigger barges horses being lowered into the water
+and allowed to swim ashore. Hundreds seemed to gain the beach even as we
+were looking at them. Then, after the first lot of horses had gone,
+boats full of saddles followed them. It seemed as though the foreigners
+were too busy to notice us, and we--not wanting to share the fate of Mr.
+Gunter, the coastguard, and his mates--just sat tight and watched.
+
+"From the steamers there continued to pour hundreds upon hundreds of
+soldiers, who were towed to land, and then formed up in solid squares,
+which got bigger and bigger. Horses innumerable--quite a thousand, I
+should reckon--were slung overboard from some of the smaller steamers
+which had been run high and dry on the beach, and as the tide had now
+begun to run down, they landed only knee-deep in water. Those steamers,
+it seemed to me, had big bilge keels, for as the tide ebbed they did not
+heel over. They had, no doubt, been specially fitted for the purpose.
+Out of some they began to hoist all sorts of things, wagons, guns,
+motor-cars, large bales of fodder, clothing, ambulances with big red
+crosses on them, flat-looking boats--pontoons I think they call
+them--and great piles of cooking pots and pans, square boxes of stores,
+or perhaps ammunition, and as soon as anything was landed it was hauled
+up above high-water mark.
+
+"In the meantime lots of men had mounted on horseback and ridden off up
+the lane which leads into Weybourne village. At first half a dozen
+started at a time; then, as far as I could judge, about fifty more
+started. Then larger bodies went forward, but more and more horses kept
+going ashore, as though their number was never-ending. They must have
+been stowed mighty close, and many of the ships must have been specially
+fitted up for them.
+
+"Very soon I saw cavalry swarming up over Muckleburgh, Warborough, and
+Telegraph Hills, while a good many trotted away in the direction of
+Runton and Sheringham. Then, soon after they had gone--that is, in about
+an hour and a half from their first arrival--the infantry began to move
+off, and as far as I could see, they marched inland by every road, some
+in the direction of Kelling Street and Holt, others over Weybourne Heath
+towards Bodham, and still others skirting the woods over to Upper
+Sheringham. Large masses of infantry marched along the Sheringham Road,
+and seemed to have a lot of officers on horseback with them, while up on
+Muckleburgh Hill I saw frantic signalling in progress.
+
+"By this time they had a quantity of carts and wagons landed, and a
+large number of motor-cars. The latter were soon started, and, manned by
+infantry, moved swiftly in procession after the troops. The great idea
+of the Germans was apparently to get the beach clear of everything as
+soon as landed, for all stores, equipment, and other tackle were pushed
+inland as soon as disembarked.
+
+"The enemy kept on landing. Thousands of soldiers got ashore without any
+check, and all proceeding orderly and without the slightest confusion,
+as though the plans were absolutely perfect. Everybody seemed to know
+exactly what to do. From where we were we could see the coastguards held
+prisoners in their station, with German sentries mounted around; and as
+the tide was now setting strong to the westward, Ted and I just let our
+anchor off the ground and allowed ourselves to drift. It occurred to me
+that perhaps I might be able give the alarm at some other coastguard
+station if I could only drift away unnoticed in the busy scene now in
+progress.
+
+"That the Germans had actually landed in England now apparent; yet we
+wondered what our own fleet could be doing, and pictured to ourselves
+the jolly good drubbing that our cruisers would give the audacious
+foreigner when they did haul in sight. It was for us, at all costs, to
+give the alarm, so gradually we drifted off to the nor'-westward, in
+fear every moment lest we should be noticed and fired at. At last we got
+around Blakeney Point successfully, and breathed more freely; then
+hoisting our sail, we headed for Hunstanton, but seeing numbers of ships
+entering the Wash, and believing them to be also Germans, we put our
+helm down and ran across into Wainfleet Swatchway to Gibraltar Point,
+where I saw the chief officer of coastguards and told him all the
+extraordinary events of that memorable morning."
+
+The report added that the officer of coastguard in question had, three
+hours before, noticed strange vessels coming up the Wash, and had
+already tried to report by telegraph to his divisional inspecting
+officer at Harwich, but could obtain no communication. An hour later,
+however, it had become apparent that a still further landing was being
+effected on the south side of the Wash, in all probability at King's
+Lynn.
+
+The fisherman Scotney's statement had been sent by special messenger
+from Wainfleet on Sunday evening, but owing to the dislocation of the
+railway traffic north of London, the messenger was unable to reach the
+offices of the coastguard in Victoria Street, Westminster, until
+Monday. The report received by the Admiralty had been treated as
+confidential until corroborated, lest undue public alarm should be
+caused.
+
+It had then been given to the Press as revealing the truth of what had
+actually happened.
+
+The enemy had entered by the back door of England, and the sensation it
+caused everywhere was little short of panic.
+
+Some further very valuable information was also received by the
+Intelligence Department of the War Office, revealing the military
+position of the invaders who had landed at Weybourne Hoop.
+
+The whole of the IVth German Army Corps, about 38,000 men, had been
+landed at Weybourne, Sheringham, and Cromer. It consisted of the 7th and
+8th Divisions complete, commanded respectively by Major-General Dickmann
+and Lieutenant-General von Mirbach. The 7th Division comprised the 13th
+and 14th Infantry Brigades, consisting of Prince Leopold of
+Anhalt-Dessau's 1st Magdeburg Regiment, the 3rd Magdeburg Infantry
+Regiment, Prince Louis Ferdinand von Preussen's 2nd Magdeburg Regiment,
+and the 5th Hanover Infantry Regiment. Attached to this division were
+the Magdeburg Hussars No. 10, and the Uhlan Regiment of Altmaerk No. 16.
+
+In the 8th Division were the 15th and 16th Brigades, comprising a
+Magdeburg Fusilier Regiment, an Anhalt Infantry Regiment, the 4th and
+8th Thuringen Infantry, with the Magdeburg Cuirassiers, and a regiment
+of Thuringen Hussars. The cavalry were commanded by Colonel Froelich,
+while General von Kleppen was in supreme command of the whole corps.
+
+Careful reconnaissance of the occupied area showed that immediately on
+landing, the German position extended from the little town of Holt, on
+the west, eastward, along the main Cromer road, as far as Gibbet Lane,
+slightly south of Cromer, a distance of about five miles. This
+constituted a naturally strong position; indeed, nature seemed to have
+provided it specially to suit the necessities of a foreign invader. The
+ground for miles to the south sloped gently away down to the plain,
+while the rear was completely protected, so that the landing could
+proceed until every detail had been completed.
+
+
+    _Berlin um Eins!_       _Berlin um Eins!_
+
+    Das Kleine Journal
+    Mittags Ausgabe.
+
+    Berlin, Montag, den 3 September 1910
+
+    Triumph der
+    Deutschen
+    Waffen.
+
+    Vernichtung der
+    Englischen
+    Flotte.
+
+    Von Kronhelm Auf
+    Dem Vormarsche
+    Nach London.
+
+    [Illustration: THE FIRST NEWS IN BERLIN OF THE GERMAN VICTORY.]
+
+
+Artillery were massed on both flanks, namely, at Holt and on the high
+ground near Felbrigg, immediately south of Cromer. This last-named
+artillery was adequately supported by the detached infantry close at
+hand. The whole force was covered by a strong line of outposts. Their
+advanced sentries were to be found along a line starting from Thornage
+village, through Hunworth, Edgefield, Barningham Green, Squallham,
+Aldborough, Hanworth, to Roughton. In rear of them lay their pickets,
+which were disposed in advantageous situations. The general line of
+these latter were at North Street, Pondhills to Plumstead, thence over
+to Matlash Hall, Aldborough Hall, and the rising ground north of
+Hanworth. These, in their turn, were adequately supplemented by the
+supports, which were near Hempstead Green, Baconsthorpe, North
+Narningham, Bessingham, Sustead, and Melton.
+
+In case of sudden attack, reserves were at Bodham, West Beckham, East
+Beckham, and Aylmerton, but orders had been issued by Von Kleppen, who
+had established his headquarters at Upper Sheringham, that the line of
+resistance was to be as already indicated--namely, that having the
+Holt-Cromer Road for its crest. Cuirassiers, Hussars, and some
+motorists--commanded by Colonel von Dorndorf--were acting independently
+some fifteen miles to the south scouring the whole country, terrifying
+the villagers, commandeering all supplies, and posting Von Kronhelm's
+proclamation, which has already been reproduced.
+
+From inquiries it was shown that on the night of the invasion six men,
+now known to have been advance agents of the enemy, arrived at the Ship
+Inn, at Weybourne. Three of them took accommodation for the night, while
+their companions slept elsewhere. At two o'clock the trio let themselves
+out quietly, were joined by six other men, and just as the enemy's ships
+hove in sight nine of them seized the coastguards and cut the wires,
+while the other three broke into the Weybourne Stores, and, drawing
+revolvers, obtained possession of the telegraph instrument to Sheringham
+and Cromer until they could hand it over to the Germans.
+
+That the Fourth German Army Corps were in a position as strong as those
+who landed at Lowestoft could not be denied, and the military
+authorities could not disguise from themselves the extreme gravity of
+the situation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+STATE OF SIEGE DECLARED.
+
+
+That our fleet had been taken unawares was apparent. There were all
+sorts of vague rumours of a sudden attack upon the North Sea Fleet at
+Rosyth, and a fierce cruiser battle, in which we had been badly beaten
+by Germany. It is, however, the land campaign which we have here to
+record.
+
+The authentic account of a further landing in Essex--somewhere near
+Maldon--was now published. The statement had been dictated by Mr. Henry
+Alexander, J.P.,--the Mayor of Maldon, who had succeeded in escaping
+from the town,--to Captain Wilfred Quare, of the Intelligence Department
+of the War Office. This Department had, in turn, given it to the
+newspapers for publication.
+
+It read as follows:--
+
+"On Sunday morning, September 2, I had arranged to play a round of golf
+with my friend Somers, of Beeleigh, before church. I met him at the Golf
+Hut about 8.30. We played one round, and were at the last hole but three
+in a second round when we both thought we heard the sound of shots fired
+somewhere in the town. We couldn't make anything at all of it, and as we
+had so nearly finished the round, we thought we would do so before going
+to inquire about it. I was making my approach to the final hole when an
+exclamation from Somers spoilt my stroke. I felt annoyed, but as I
+looked around--doubtless somewhat irritably--my eyes turned in the
+direction in which I now saw my friend was pointing with every
+expression of astonishment in his countenance.
+
+"'Who on earth are those fellows?' he asked. As for me, I was too
+dumbfounded to reply. Galloping over the links from the direction of the
+town came three men in uniform--soldiers, evidently. I had often been in
+Germany, and recognised the squat pickelhaubes and general get-up of the
+rapidly approaching horsemen at a glance.
+
+"They were upon us almost as he spoke, pulling up their horses with a
+great spattering up of grass and mud, quite ruining one of our best
+greens. All three of them pointed big, ugly repeating pistols at us, and
+the leader, a conceited-looking ass in staff uniform, required us to
+'surrender' in quite a pompous manner, but in very good English.
+
+
+    BY THE KING,
+
+    PROCLAMATION FOR CALLING OUT THE ARMY RESERVE.
+
+    EDWARD R.
+
+    WHEREAS by the Reserve Forces Act, 1882, it is amongst other
+    things enacted that in case of imminent national danger or of
+    great emergency, it shall be lawful for Us, by Proclamation, the
+    occasion being declared in Council and notified by the
+    Proclamation, if Parliament be not then sitting, to order that
+    the Army Reserve shall be called out on permanent service; and
+    by any such Proclamation to order a Secretary of State from time
+    to time to give, and when given, to revoke or vary such
+    directions as may seem necessary or proper for calling out the
+    forces or force mentioned in the Proclamation, or all or any of
+    the men belonging thereto:
+
+    AND WHEREAS Parliament is not sitting, and whereas WE have
+    declared in Council and hereby notify the present state of
+    Public Affairs and the extent of the demands on Our Military
+    Forces for the protection of the interests of the Empire
+    constitute a case of great emergency within the meaning of the
+    said Act:
+
+    NOW THEREFORE We do in pursuance of the said Act hereby order
+    that Our Army Reserve be called out on permanent service, and We
+    do hereby order the Right Honourable Charles Leonard Spencer
+    Cotterell, one of our Principal Secretaries of State, from time
+    to time to give, and when given, to revoke or vary such
+    directions as may seem necessary or proper for calling out Our
+    Army Reserve, or all or any of the men belonging thereto, and
+    such men shall proceed to and attend at such places and at such
+    times as may be respectively appointed by him to serve as part
+    of Our Army until their services are no longer required.
+
+    Given at Our Court at James', this fourth day of September, in
+    the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and ten, and in
+    the tenth year of Our Reign.
+
+    =GOD SAVE THE KING.=
+
+
+"'Do we look so very dangerous, Herr Lieutenant?' inquired I in German.
+
+"He dropped a little of his frills when he heard me speak in his native
+language, asked which of us was the Mayor, and condescended to explain
+that I was required in Maldon by the officer at present in command of
+his Imperial Majesty the Kaiser's forces occupying that place.
+
+"I looked at my captor in complete bewilderment. Could he be some fellow
+trying to take a rise out of me by masquerading as a German officer? But
+no, I recognised at once that he was the genuine article.
+
+"He demanded my parole, which I made no difficulty about giving, since I
+did not see any way of escape, and in any case was only too anxious to
+get back to town to see how things were.
+
+"'But you don't want my friend, do you--he lives out the other way?' I
+queried.
+
+"'I don't want him, but he will have to come all the same,' rejoined the
+German. 'It isn't likely we're going to let him get away to give the
+alarm in Colchester, is it?'
+
+"Obviously it was not, and without more ado we started off at a sharp
+walk, holding on to the stirrup leathers of the horsemen.
+
+"As we entered the town there was on the bridge over the river, a small
+picket of blue-coated German infantry. The whole thing was a perfect
+nightmare. It was past belief.
+
+"'How on earth did you get here?' I couldn't help asking.
+
+"'By water,' he answered shortly, pointing down the river as he spoke,
+where I was still further astonished--if it were possible after such a
+morning--to see several steam pinnaces and boats flying the black and
+white German ensign.
+
+"I was conducted straight to the Moot Hall. There I found a grizzled
+veteran waiting on the steps, who turned round and entered the building
+as we came up. We followed him inside, and I was introduced to him. He
+appeared to be a truculent old ruffian.
+
+"'Well, Mr. Mayor,' he said, pulling viciously at his white moustache,
+'do you know that I've a great mind to take you out into the street and
+have you shot?'
+
+"I was not at all inclined to be browbeated.
+
+"'Indeed, Herr Hauptman?' I answered. 'And may I inquire in what way I
+have incurred the displeasure of the Hochwohlgeboren officer?'
+
+"'Don't trifle with me, sir. Why do you allow your miserable Volunteers
+to come out and shoot my men?'
+
+"'My Volunteers? I am afraid I don't understand what you mean,' I said.
+'I'm not a Volunteer officer. Even if I were, I should have no
+cognisance of anything that has happened within the last two hours, as I
+have been down on the golf course. This officer will bear me out,' I
+added, turning to my captor. He admitted that he had found me there.
+
+"'But, anyway, you are the Mayor,' persisted my interrogator. 'Why did
+you allow the Volunteers to come out?'
+
+"'If you had been good enough to inform us of your visit, we might have
+made better arrangements.' I answered; 'but in any case you must
+understand that a mayor has little or no authority in this country. His
+job is to head subscription-lists, eat a dinner or two, and make
+speeches on public occasions.'
+
+"He seemed to have some difficulty in swallowing this, but as another
+officer who was there, writing at a table, and who, it appears, had
+lived at some period in England, corroborated my statement, the choleric
+colonel seemed to be a little mollified, and contented himself with
+demanding my parole not to leave Maldon until he had reported the matter
+to the General for decision. I gave it without more ado, and then asked
+if he would be good enough to tell me what had happened. From what he
+told me, and what I heard afterwards, it seems that the Germans must
+have landed a few of their men about half an hour before I left home,
+down near the Marine Lake. They had not entered the town at once, as
+their object was to work round outside and occupy all entrances, to
+prevent anyone getting away with the news of their presence. They had
+not noticed the little lane leading to the golf course, and so I had
+gone down without meeting any of them, although they had actually got a
+picket just beyond the railway arch at that time. They had completed
+their cordon before there was any general alarm in the town, but at the
+first reliable rumour it seems that young Shand, of the Essex
+Volunteers, had contrived to get together twenty or thirty of his men in
+their uniforms and foolishly opened fire on a German picket down by St.
+Mary's Church. They fell back, but were almost instantly reinforced by a
+whole company that had just landed, and our men, rushing forward, had
+been ridden into by some cavalry that came up a side street. They were
+dispersed, a couple of them were killed, and several wounded, among them
+poor Shand, who was hit in the right lung. They had bagged four Germans,
+however, and their commanding officer was furious. It was a pity that it
+happened, as it could not possibly have been of any use. But it seems
+that Shand had no idea that it was more than a very small detachment
+that had landed from a gun-boat that some one said they had seen down
+the river. Some of the Volunteers were captured afterwards and sent off
+as prisoners, and the Germans posted up a notice that all Volunteers
+were forthwith to surrender either themselves or their arms and
+uniforms, under pain of death. Most of them did the latter. They could
+do nothing after it was found that the Germans had a perfect army
+somewhere between Maldon and the sea, and were pouring troops into the
+town as fast as they could.
+
+"That very morning a Saxon rifle battalion arrived from the direction of
+Mundon, and just afterwards a lot spike-helmeted gentlemen came in by
+train from Wickford way. So it went on all day, until the whole town was
+in a perfect uproar. The infantry were billeted in the town, but the
+cavalry and guns crossed the river and canal at Heybridge, and went off
+in the direction of Witham.
+
+"Maldon is built on a hill that slopes gradually towards the east and
+south, but rises somewhat abruptly on the west and north, humping up a
+shoulder, as it were, to the north-west. At this corner they started to
+dig entrenchments just after one o'clock, and soon officers and
+orderlies were busy all round the town, plotting, measuring, and setting
+up marks of one kind and another. Other troops appeared to be busy down
+in Heybridge, but what they were doing I could not tell, as no one was
+allowed to cross the bridge over the river.
+
+"The German officer who had surprised me down on the golf course did
+not turn out to be a bad kind of youth on further acquaintance. He was a
+Captain von Hildebrandt, of the Guard Fusilier Regiment, who was
+employed on the Staff, though in what capacity he did not say. Thinking
+it was just as well to make the best of a bad job, I invited him to
+lunch. He said he had to be off. He, however, introduced me to three
+friends of his in the 101st Grenadiers, who, he suggested, should be
+billeted on me. I thought the idea a fairly good one, and Von
+Hildebrandt, having apparently arranged this with the billeting officer
+without any difficulty, I took them home with me to lunch.
+
+"I found my wife and family in a great state of mind, both on account of
+the untoward happenings of the morning and my non-return from golf at
+the expected time. They had imagined all sorts of things which might
+have befallen me, but luckily seemed not to have heard of my adventure
+with the choleric colonel. Our three foreigners soon made themselves
+very much at home, but as they were undeniably gentlemen, they contrived
+to be about as agreeable as could be expected under the circumstances.
+Indeed, their presence was to a great extent a safeguard against
+annoyance, as the stable and back premises were stuffed full of
+soldiers, who might have been very troublesome had they not been there
+to keep them in order.
+
+"Of what was happening up in London we knew nothing. Being Sunday, all
+the shops were shut; but I went out and contrived to lay in a
+considerable stock of provisions one way and another, and it was just as
+well I did, for I only just anticipated the Germans, who commandeered
+everything in the town, and put everybody on an allowance of rations.
+They paid for them with bills on the British Government, which were by
+no means acceptable to the shopkeepers. However, it was 'Hobson's
+choice'--that or nothing. The Germans soothed them by saying that the
+British Army would be smashed in a couple of weeks, and the defrayment
+of such bills would be among the conditions of peace. The troops
+generally seemed to be well-behaved, and treated those inhabitants with
+whom they came in contact in an unexceptionable manner. They did not see
+very much of them, however, as they were kept hard at work all day with
+their entrenchments and were not allowed out of their billets after
+eight o'clock that evening. No one, in fact, was allowed to be about
+the streets after that hour. Two or three people were shot by the
+sentries as they tried to break out in one direction or the other. These
+affairs produced a feeling of horror and indignation in the town, as
+Englishmen, having such a long experience of peace in their own country,
+have always refused to realise what war really means.
+
+"The German fortifications went on at a rapid rate. Trenches were dug
+all round the northern and western sides of the town before dark on the
+first evening, and the following morning I woke up to find three huge
+gun-pits yawning in my garden, which looked to the northward. During
+breakfast there was a great rattling and rumbling in the street without,
+and presently three big field howitzers were dragged in and planted in
+the pits. There they stood, their ugly snouts pointing skyward in the
+midst of the wreck of flowers and fruit.
+
+"Afterwards I went out and found that other guns and howitzers were
+being put in position all along the north side of Beeleigh Road, and
+round the corner by the Old Barracks. The high tower of the disused
+Church of St. Peter's, now utilised for the safe custody of Dr. Plume's
+library, had been equipped as a lookout and signal station."
+
+Such was the condition of affairs in the town of Maldon on Monday
+morning.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The excitement in London, and indeed all over the country, on Tuesday
+night was intense. Scotney's story of the landing at Weybourne was
+eagerly read everywhere.
+
+As the sun sank blood-red into the smoke haze behind Nelson's Monument
+in Trafalgar Square, it was an ominous sign to the panic-stricken crowds
+that day and night were now assembled there.
+
+The bronze lions facing the four points of the compass were now mere
+mocking emblems of England's departed greatness. The mobilisation muddle
+was known; for, according to the papers, hardly any troops had as yet
+assembled at their places of concentration. The whole of the east of
+England was helplessly in the invader's hands. From Newcastle had come
+terrible reports of the bombardment. Half the city was in flames, the
+Elswick works were held by the enemy, and whole streets in Newcastle,
+Gateshead, Sunderland, and Tynemouth were still burning fiercely.
+
+The Tynemouth fort had proved of little or no use against the enemy's
+guns. The Germans had, it appeared, used petrol bombs with appalling
+results, spreading fire, disaster, and death everywhere. The
+inhabitants, compelled to fly with only the clothes they wore, had
+scattered all over Northumberland and Durham, while the enemy had seized
+a quantity of valuable shipping that had been in the Tyne, hoisted the
+German flag, and converted the vessels to their own uses.
+
+Many had already been sent across to Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Bremerhaven,
+and other places to act as transports, while the Elswick works--which
+surely ought to have been properly protected--supplied the Germans with
+quantities of valuable material.
+
+Panic and confusion were everywhere. All over the country the railway
+system was utterly disorganised, business everywhere was at a complete
+deadlock, for in every town and city all over the kingdom the banks were
+closed.
+
+Lombard Street, Lothbury, and other banking centres in the City had all
+day on Monday been the scene of absolute panic. There, as well as at
+every branch bank all over the metropolis, had occurred a wild rush to
+withdraw deposits by people who foresaw disaster. Many, indeed, intended
+to fly with their families away from the country.
+
+The price of the necessities of life had risen further, and in the East
+End and poorer districts of Southwark the whole population were already
+in a state of semi-starvation. But worst of all, the awful truth with
+which London was now face to face was that the metropolis was absolutely
+defenceless.
+
+Every hour the papers were appearing with fresh details of the invasion,
+for reports were so rapidly coming in from every hand that the Press had
+difficulty in dealing with them.
+
+Hull and Goole were known to be in the hands of the invaders, and
+Grimsby, where the Mayor had been unable to pay the indemnity demanded,
+had been sacked. But details were not yet forthcoming.
+
+Londoners, however, learnt late that night more authentic news from the
+invaded zone, of which Beccles was the centre, and it was to the effect
+that those who had landed at Lowestoft were the IXth German Army Corps,
+with General von Kronhelm, the Generalissimo of the German Army. This
+Army Corps, consisting of about 40,000 men, was divided into the 17th
+Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Hocker, and the 18th by
+Lieutenant-General von Rauch. The cavalry was under the command of
+Major-General von Heyden, and the motor-infantry under Colonel
+Reichardt.
+
+
+    NOTICE.
+
+    TO ALL GERMAN SUBJECTS RESIDENT IN ENGLAND.
+
+    WILHELM.
+
+    To all OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS, GREETING.
+
+    We hereby COMMAND and enjoin that all persons born within the
+    German Empire, or being German subjects, whether liable to
+    military service or not, shall join our arms at any headquarters
+    of either of our Army Corps in England within 24 hours of the
+    date of this proclamation.
+
+    Any German subject failing to obey this our Command will be
+    treated as an enemy.
+
+    By the EMPEROR'S Command.
+
+    Given at Beccles, Sept. 3rd, 1910.
+
+    =VON KRONHELM=,
+    Commanding the Imperial German Army in England.
+
+    [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PROCLAMATION POSTED BY UNKNOWN
+    HANDS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.]
+
+
+According to official information which had reached the War Office and
+been given to the Press, the 17th Division was made up of the Bremen and
+Hamburg Infantry Regiments, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's Grenadiers,
+the Grand Duke's Fusiliers, the Luebeck Regiment No. 162, the
+Schleswig-Holstein Regiment No. 163, while the cavalry brigade consisted
+of the 17th and 18th Grand Duke of Mecklenburg's Dragoons.
+
+The 18th Division consisted of the Schleswig Regiment No. 84 and the
+Schleswig Fusiliers No. 86, the Thuringen Regiment, and the Duke of
+Holstein's Regiment, the two latter regiments being billeted in
+Lowestoft, while the cavalry brigade forming the screen across from
+Leiston by Wilby to Castle Hill were Queen Wilhelmina's Hanover Hussars
+and the Emperor of Austria's Schleswig-Holstein Hussars No. 16. These,
+with the smart motor infantry, held every communication in the direction
+of London.
+
+As far as could be gathered, the German commander had established his
+headquarters in Beccles, and had not moved. It now became apparent that
+the telegraph cables between the East coast and Holland and Germany,
+already described in the first chapter, had never been cut at all. They
+had simply been held by the enemy's advance agents until the landing had
+been effected. And now Von Kronhelm had actually established direct
+communication between Beccles and Emden, and on to Berlin.
+
+Reports from the North Sea spoke of the enemy's transports returning to
+the German coast, escorted by cruisers; therefore the plan was
+undoubtedly not to move until a very much larger force had been landed.
+
+Could England regain her command of the sea in time to prevent the
+completion of the blow?
+
+That night the London streets presented a scene of panic indescribable.
+The theatres opened, but closed their doors again, as nobody would see
+plays while in that excited state. Every shop was closed, and every
+railway station was filled to overflowing with the exodus of terrified
+people fleeing to the country westward, or reserves on their way to join
+the colours.
+
+The incredulous manner in which the country first received the news had
+now been succeeded by wild terror and despair. On that bright Sunday
+afternoon they laughed at the report as a mere journalistic sensation,
+but ere the sun set the hard, terrible truth was forced upon them, and
+now, on Tuesday night, the whole country, from Brighton to Carlisle,
+from Yarmouth to Aberystwyth, was utterly disorganised and in a state of
+terrified anxiety.
+
+The eastern counties were already beneath the iron heel of the invader,
+whose objective was the world's great capital--London.
+
+Would they reach it? That was the serious question upon every one's
+tongue that fevered, breathless night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+HOW THE ENEMY DEALT THE BLOW.
+
+
+Meanwhile, at the regimental depots feverish excitement prevailed on
+Wednesday, September 5, now that every man was ordered on active
+service. All officers and men who had been on leave were recalled, and
+medical inspection of all ranks at once commenced. Rations and bedding,
+stores and equipment were drawn, but there was a great lack of uniforms.
+Unlike the German Army, where every soldier's equipment is complete even
+to the last button on the proverbial gaiter, and stowed away where the
+owner knows where to obtain it, our officers commanding depots commenced
+indenting for clothing on the Royal Army Clothing Department and the
+Army Corps Clothing Department.
+
+A large percentage of men were, of course, found medically unfit to
+serve, and were discharged to swell the mobs of hungry idlers. The plain
+clothes of the reservists coming in were disposed of, no man daring to
+appear in the ranks unless in uniform. Von Kronhelm's proclamation
+having forbidden the tactics of the Boers of putting mere armed citizens
+into the field.
+
+Horse-collecting parties went out all over the country, taking with them
+head-collars, head-ropes, bits, reins, surcingles, numnahs,
+horse-blankets, and nose-bags. These scoured every county in search of
+likely animals, every farm, every livery stable, every hunting-box, all
+hound-kennels and private stables were visited, and a choice made. All
+this, however, took time. Precious hours were thus being wasted while
+the enemy were calmly completing their arrangements for the
+long-contemplated blow at the heart of the British Empire.
+
+While the War Office refused any information, special editions of the
+papers during Wednesday printed sensational reports of the ruthless
+completion of the impenetrable screen covering the operations of the
+enemy on the whole of the East Coast.
+
+News had, by some means, filtered through from Yarmouth that a similar
+landing to those at Lowestoft and Weybourne had been effected. Protected
+as such an operation was by its flanks being supported by the IVth and
+IXth Army Corps landing on either side, the Xth Army Corps, under
+General von Wilburg, had seized Yarmouth, with its many miles of wharves
+and docks, which were now crowded by the lighters' craft of flotilla
+from the Frisian Islands.
+
+It was known that the landing had been effected simultaneously with that
+at Lowestoft. The large number of cranes at the fish-docks were of
+invaluable use to the enemy, for there they landed guns, animals, and
+stores, while the provisions they found at the various ship's chandlers,
+and in such shops as Blagg's, and the International Stores in King
+Street, Peter Brown's, Doughty's, Lipton's, Penny's and Barnes's, were
+at once commandeered. Great stores of flour were seized in Clarke's and
+Press's mills, while the horse-provender mills in the vicinity supplied
+them with valuable forage.
+
+Beyond these few details, as far as regarded the fate of Yarmouth,
+nothing further was at present known.
+
+The British division at Colchester, which comprised all the regular
+troops north of the Thames in the eastern command, was, no doubt, in a
+critical position, threatened so closely north and south by the enemy.
+None of the regiments--the Norfolks, the Leicestershire, and the King's
+Own Scottish Borderers of the 11th Infantry Brigade--were up to their
+strength. The 12th Infantry Brigade, which also belonged to the
+division, possessed only skeleton regiments stationed at Hounslow and
+Warley. Of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, some were at Norwich, the 21st
+Lancers were at Hounslow, while only the 16th Lancers were at
+Colchester. Other cavalry regiments were as far away as Canterbury,
+Shorncliffe, and Brighton, and although there were three batteries of
+artillery at Colchester, some were at Ipswich, others at Shorncliffe,
+and others at Woolwich.
+
+Therefore it was quite evident to the authorities in London that unless
+both Colchester and Norwich were instantly strongly supported, they
+would soon be simply swept out of existence by the enormous masses of
+German troops now dominating the whole eastern coast, bent upon
+occupying London.
+
+Helpless though they felt themselves to be, the garrison at Colchester
+did all they could. All available cavalry had been pushed out past
+Ipswich, north to Wickham Market, Stowmarket, and across to Bury St.
+Edmunds, only to find on Wednesday morning that they were covering the
+hasty retreat of the small body of cavalry who had been stationed at
+Norwich. They, gallantly led by their officers, had done everything
+possible to reconnoitre and attempt to pierce the enemy's huge cavalry
+screen, but in every instance entirely in vain. They had been
+outnumbered by the squadrons of independent cavalry operating in front
+of the Germans, and had, alas! left numbers of their gallant comrades
+upon the roads, killed and wounded.
+
+Norwich had, therefore, on Wednesday morning fallen into the hands of
+the German cavalry, utterly defenceless. From the Castle the German flag
+was now flying, the Britannia Barracks were being used by the enemy,
+food had all been seized, the streets were in a state of chaos, and a
+complete reign of terror had been created when a company of British
+Infantry, having fired at some Uhlans, were ruthlessly shot down in the
+street close by the Maid's Head.
+
+In addition to this, the Mayor of Norwich was taken prisoner, lodged in
+the Castle, and held as surety for the well-behaviour of the town.
+
+Everywhere Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted, and as the
+invaders poured into the city the inhabitants looked on in sullen
+silence, knowing that they were now under German military discipline,
+the most rigorous and drastic in the whole world.
+
+A special issue of the "Times" in the evening of the 3rd September
+contained the following vivid account--the first published--of the
+happenings in the town of Goole, in Yorkshire:
+
+    "GOOLE, _September 3_.
+
+"Shortly before five o'clock on Sunday morning the night operator of the
+telephone call-office here discovered an interruption on the trunk-line,
+and on trying the telegraphs was surprised to find that there was no
+communication in any direction. The railway station, being rung up,
+replied that their wires were also down.
+
+"Almost immediately afterwards a well-known North Sea pilot rushed into
+the post office and breathlessly asked that he might telephone to
+Lloyd's. When told that all communication was cut off he wildly shouted
+that a most extraordinary sight was to be seen in the River Ouse, up
+which was approaching a continuous procession of tugs, towing flats, and
+barges filled with German soldiers.
+
+"This was proved to be an actual fact, and the inhabitants of Goole,
+awakened from their Sunday morning slumbers by the shouts of alarm in
+the streets, found, to their abject amazement, foreign soldiers swarming
+everywhere. On the quay they found activity everywhere, German being
+spoken on all hands. They watched a body of cavalry, consisting of the
+1st Westphalian Hussars, the Westphalian Cuirassiers, land with order
+and ease at the Victoria Pier, whence, after being formed up on the
+quay, they advanced at a sharp trot up Victoria Street, Ouse Street, and
+North Street to the railway stations, where, as is generally known,
+there are large sidings of the North-East Lancashire and Yorkshire lines
+in direct communication both with London and the great cities of the
+north. The enemy here found great quantities of engines and rolling
+stock, all of which was at once seized, together with huge stacks of
+coal at the new sidings.
+
+"Before long the first of the infantry of the 13th Division, which was
+commanded by Lieutenant-General Doppschutz, marched up to the stations.
+They consisted of the 13th and 56th Westphalian Regiments, and the
+cavalry on being relieved advanced out of the town, crossing the Dutch
+River by the railway bridge, and pushed on as far as Thorne and Hensall,
+near which they at once strongly held the several important railway
+junctions.
+
+"Meanwhile cavalry of the 14th Brigade, consisting of Westphalian
+Hussars and Uhlans, were rapidly disembarking at Old Goole, and,
+advancing southwards over the open country of Goole Moors and Thorne
+Waste, occupied Crowle. Both cavalry brigades were acting independently
+of the main body, and by their vigorous action both south and west they
+were entirely screening what was happening in the port of Goole.
+
+
+    CITY OF NORWICH.
+
+    =CITIZENS--=
+
+    AS IS WELL KNOWN, a hostile army has landed upon the coast of
+    Norfolk, and has already occupied Yarmouth and Lowestoft,
+    establishing their headquarters at Beccles.
+
+    IN THESE GRAVE CIRCUMSTANCES our only thought is for England,
+    and our duty as citizens and officials is to remain at our post
+    and bear our part in the defence of Norwich, our capital now
+    threatened.
+
+    YOUR PATRIOTISM, of which you have on so many occasions in
+    recent wars given proof, will, I have no doubt, again be shown.
+    By your resistance you will obtain the honour and respect of
+    your enemies, and by the individual energy of each one of you
+    the honour and glory of England may be saved.
+
+    CITIZENS OF NORWICH, I appeal to you to view the catastrophe
+    calmly, and bear your part bravely in the coming struggle.
+
+    =CHARLES CARRINGTON=,
+    _Mayor_.
+
+    NORWICH, _September 4, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: APPEAL ISSUED BY THE MAYOR OF NORWICH]
+
+
+"Infantry continued to pour into the town from flats and barges,
+arriving in endless procession. Doppschutz's Division landed at Aldan
+Dock, Railway Dock, and Ship Dock; the 14th Division at the Jetty and
+Basin, also in the Barge Dock and at the mouth of the Dutch River;
+while some, following the cavalry brigade, landed at Old Goole and
+Swinefleet.
+
+"As far as can be ascertained, the whole of the VIIth German Army Corps
+have landed, at any rate as far as the men are concerned. The troops,
+who are under the supreme command of General Baron von Bistram, appear
+to consist almost entirely of Westphalians, and include Prince Frederick
+of the Netherlands' 2nd Westphalians; Count Bulow von Dennewitz's 6th
+Westphalians; but one infantry brigade, the 79th, consisted of men from
+Lorraine.
+
+"Through the whole day the disembarkation proceeded, the townsmen
+standing there helpless to lift a finger and watching the enemy's
+arrival. The Victoria Pleasure Grounds were occupied by parked
+artillery, which towards afternoon began to rumble through the streets.
+The German gunners, with folded arms, sat unconcernedly upon the
+ammunition boxes as the guns were drawn up to their positions. Horses
+were seized wherever found, the proclamation of Von Kronhelm was nailed
+upon the church doors, and the terrified populace read the grim threat
+of the German field-marshal.
+
+"The wagons, of which there were hundreds, were put ashore mostly at
+Goole, but others up the river at Hook and Swinefleet. When the cavalry
+advance was complete, as it was soon after midday, and when reports had
+come in to Von Bistram that the country was clear of the British, the
+German infantry advance began. By nightfall they had pushed forward,
+some by road, some by rail, and others in the numerous motor-wagons that
+had accompanied the force, until march-outposts were established, south
+of Thorne, Askern, and Crowle, straddling the main road at Bawtry. These
+places, including Fishlake and the country between them, were at once
+strongly held, while ammunition and stores were pushed up by railway to
+both Thorne and Askern.
+
+"The independent cavalry advance continued through Doncaster until dusk,
+when Rotherham was reached, during which advance scattered bodies of
+British Imperial Yeomanry were met and compelled to retreat, a dozen or
+so lives being lost. It appears that late in the afternoon of Sunday
+news was brought into Sheffield of what was in progress, and a squadron
+of Yeomanry donned their uniforms and rode forward to reconnoitre, with
+the disastrous results already mentioned.
+
+"The sensation caused in Sheffield when it became known that German
+cavalry were so close as Rotherham was enormous, and the scenes in the
+streets soon approached a panic; for it was wildly declared that that
+night the enemy intended to occupy the town. The Mayor telegraphed to
+the War Office, appealing for additional defensive force, but no
+response was received to the telegram. The small force of military in
+the town, which consisted of the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light Infantry,
+some Royal Artillery, and the local Volunteers, were soon assembled, and
+going out occupied the strong position above Sheffield between Catcliffe
+and Tinsley, overlooking the valley of the Rother to the east.
+
+"The expectation that the Germans intended an immediate descent on
+Sheffield was not realised, because the German tactics were merely to
+reconnoitre and report on the defences of Sheffield, if any existed.
+This they did by remaining to the eastward of the river Rother, whence
+the high ground rising before Sheffield could be easily observed.
+
+"Before dusk one or two squadrons of Cuirassiers were seen to be
+examining the river to find fords and ascertain the capacity of the
+bridges, while others appeared to be comparing the natural features of
+the ground with the maps with which they all appeared to be provided.
+
+"As night fell, however, the cavalry retired towards Doncaster, which
+town was occupied, the Angel being the cavalry headquarters. The reason
+the Germans could not advance at once upon Sheffield was that the
+cavalry was not strongly supported by infantry from their base, the
+distance from Goole being too great to be covered in a single day. That
+the arrangements for landing were in every detail perfect could not be
+doubted, but owing to the narrow channel of the Ouse time was necessary,
+and it is considered probable that fully three days must elapse from
+Sunday before the Germans are absolutely established.
+
+"An attempt has been made by the Yorkshire Light Infantry and the York
+and Lancaster Regiment, with three battalions of Volunteers stationed at
+Pontefract, to discover the enemy's strength and position between Askern
+and Snaith, but so far without avail, the cavalry screen across the
+whole country being impenetrable.
+
+
+    GOD SAVE THE KING.
+
+    PROCLAMATION.
+
+    TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
+
+    In regard to the Decree of September 3rd of the present year,
+    declaring a state of siege in the Counties of Norfolk and
+    Suffolk.
+
+    In regard to the Decree of August 10th, 1906, regulating the
+    public administration of all theatres of war and military
+    servitude;
+
+    Upon the proposition of the Commander-in-Chief
+
+    IT IS DECREED AS FOLLOWS:
+
+    (1) There are in a state of war:
+
+    1st. In the Eastern Command, the counties of Northamptonshire,
+    Rutlandshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
+    Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Middlesex
+    (except that portion included in the London Military District).
+
+    2nd. In the Northern Command, the counties of Northumberland,
+    Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire, with the southern shore of
+    the estuary of the Humber.
+
+    (2) I, Charles Leonard Spencer Cotterell, his Majesty's
+    Principal Secretary of State for War, am charged with the
+    execution of this Decree.
+
+    WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL,
+    _September the Fourth, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: This Proclamation was posted outside the War
+    Office in London at noon on Wednesday, and was read by
+    thousands. It was also posted upon the Town Hall of every city
+    and town throughout the Country.]
+
+
+"The people of the West Riding, and especially the inhabitants of
+Sheffield, are stupefied that they have received no assistance--not even
+a reply to the Mayor's telegram. This fact has leaked out, and has
+caused the greatest dissatisfaction. An enemy is upon us, yet we are in
+ignorance of what step, if any, the authorities are taking for our
+protection.
+
+"There are wild rumours here that the enemy have burned Grimsby, but
+these are generally discredited, for telegraphic and telephonic
+communication has been cut off, and at present we are completely
+isolated. It has been gathered from the invaders that the VIIIth Army
+Corps of the Germans have landed and seized Hull, but at present this is
+not confirmed. There is, alas! no communication with the place,
+therefore, the report may possibly be true.
+
+"Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Selby are all intensely excited
+over the sudden appearance of German soldiers, and were at first
+inclined to unite to stem their progress. But the German proclamation,
+showing the individual peril of any citizen taking arms against the
+invaders, having been posted everywhere, has held every one scared and
+in silent inactivity.
+
+"'Where is our Army?' every one is asking. The whole country has run
+riot in a single hour, now that the Germans are upon us. On every hand
+it is asked: 'What will London do?'"
+
+Reports now reached London that the VIIth German Army Corps had landed
+at Hull and Goole, and taking possession of these towns, were moving
+upon Sheffield in order to paralyse our trade in the Midlands. Hull had
+been bombarded, and was in flames! Terrible scenes were taking place at
+that port.
+
+On that memorable Sunday, when a descent had been made upon our shores,
+there were in German ports on the North Sea nearly a million tons gross
+of German shipping. Normally, in peace time, half a million tons is
+always to be found there, the second half having been quietly collected
+by ships putting in unobserved into such ports as Emden, Bremen,
+Bremerhaven, and Geestemunde, where there are at least ten miles of
+deep-sea wharves, with ample railway access. The arrival of these
+crafts caused no particular comment, but they had already been secretly
+prepared for the transport of men and horses while at sea.
+
+Under the cover of the Frisian Islands, from every canal, river, and
+creek had been assembled a huge multitude of flats and barges, ready to
+be towed by tugs alongside the wharves and filled with troops. Of a
+sudden, in a single hour it seemed, Hamburg, Altona, Cuxhaven, and
+Wilhelmshaven were in excited activity, and almost before the
+inhabitants themselves realised what was really in progress, the
+embarkation had well commenced.
+
+At Emden, with its direct cable to the theatre of war in England, was
+concentrated the brain of the whole movement. Beneath the lee of the
+covering screen of Frisian Islands, Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Langebog,
+and the others, the preparations for the descent upon England rapidly
+matured.
+
+Troop-trains from every part of the Fatherland arrived with the
+punctuality of clockwork. From Duesseldorf came the VIIth Army Corps, the
+VIIIth from Coblenz, the IXth were already assembled at their
+headquarters at Altona, while many of them being stationed at Bremen
+embarked from there; the Xth came up from Hanover, the XIVth from
+Magdeburg, and the Corps of German Guards, the pride and flower of the
+Kaiser's troops, arrived eagerly at Hamburg from Berlin and Potsdam,
+among the first to embark.
+
+Each army corps consisted of about 38,000 officers and men, 11,000
+horses, 144 guns, and about 2,000 motor-cars, wagons, and carts. But for
+this campaign--which was more of the nature of a raid than of any
+protracted campaign--the supply of wheeled transport, with the exception
+of motor-cars, had been somewhat reduced.
+
+Each cavalry brigade attached to an army corps consisted of 1,400 horses
+and men, with some thirty-five light machine guns and wagons. The German
+calculation--which proved pretty correct--was that each army corps could
+come over to England in 100,000 tons gross of shipping, bringing with
+them supplies for twenty-seven days in another 3,000 tons gross.
+Therefore about 618,000 tons gross conveyed the whole of the six corps,
+leaving an ample margin still in German ports for any emergencies. Half
+this tonnage consisted of about 100 steamers, averaging 3,000 tons
+each, the remainder being the boats, flats, lighters, barges, and tugs
+previously alluded to.
+
+[Illustration: GERMANY'S POINTS OF EMBARKATION]
+
+The Saxons who, disregarding the neutrality of Belgium, had embarked at
+Antwerp, had seized the whole of the flat-bottomed craft in the Scheldt
+and the numerous canals, as well as the merchant ships in the port,
+finding no difficulty in commandeering the amount of tonnage necessary
+to convey them to the Blackwater and the Crouch.
+
+As hour succeeded hour the panic increased.
+
+It was now also known that, in addition to the various corps who had
+effected a landing, the German Guards had, by a sudden swoop into the
+Wash, got ashore at King's Lynn, seized the town, and united their
+forces with Von Kleppen's corps, who, having landed at Weybourne, were
+now spread right across Norfolk. This picked corps of Guards was under
+the command of that distinguished officer, the Duke of Mannheim, while
+the infantry divisions were under Lieutenant-Generals von Castein and
+Von Der Decken.
+
+The landing at King's Lynn on Sunday morning had been quite a simple
+affair. There was nothing whatever to repel them, and they disembarked
+on the quays and in the docks, watched by the astonished populace. All
+provisions were seized at shops, while headquarters were established at
+the municipal buildings, and the German flag hoisted upon the old
+church, the tower of which was at once used as a signal station.
+
+Old-fashioned people of Lynn peered out of their quiet respectable
+houses in King Street in utter amazement; but soon, when the German
+proclamation was posted, the terrible truth was plain.
+
+In half an hour, even before they could realise it, they had been
+transferred from the protection of the British flag to the militarism of
+the German.
+
+Ere sundown on Sunday, stalwart grey-coated sentries of the Guards
+Fusiliers from Potsdam, and the Grenadiers from Berlin were holding the
+roads at Gayton, East Walton, Narborough, Markham, Fincham, Stradsett,
+and Stow Bardolph. Therefore on Sunday night, from Spalding on the east,
+Peterborough, Chatteris, Littleport, Thetford, Diss, and Halesworth,
+were faced by a huge cavalry screen protecting the landing and repose of
+the great German Army behind it.
+
+Slowly but carefully the enemy were maturing their plans for the defeat
+of our defenders and the sack of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DESPERATE FIGHTING IN ESSEX.
+
+
+London was at a standstill. Trade was entirely stopped. Shopkeepers
+feared to open their doors on account of the fierce, hungry mobs
+parading the street. Orators were haranguing the crowds in almost every
+open space. The police were either powerless, or feared to come into
+collision with the assembled populace. Terror and blank despair were
+everywhere.
+
+There was unrest night and day. The banks, head offices, and branches,
+unable to withstand the run upon them when every one demanded to be
+paid in gold, had, by mutual arrangement, shut their doors, leaving
+excited and furious crowds of customers outside unpaid. Financial ruin
+stared every one in the face. Those who were fortunate enough to realise
+their securities on Monday were fleeing from London south and westward.
+Day and night the most extraordinary scenes of frantic fear were
+witnessed at Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo, and London Bridge. The
+southern railways were badly disorganised by the cutting of the lines by
+the enemy, but the Great Western system was, up to the present, intact,
+and carried thousands upon thousands to Wales, to Devonshire, and to
+Cornwall.
+
+In those three hot, breathless days the Red Hand of Ruin spread out upon
+London.
+
+The starving East met the terrified West, but in those moments the bonds
+of terror united class with mass. Restaurants and theatres were closed;
+there was but little vehicular traffic in the streets, for of horses
+there were none, while the majority of the motor 'buses had been
+requisitioned, and the transit of goods had been abandoned. "The City,"
+that great army of daily workers, both male and female, was out of
+employment, and swelled the idlers and gossips, whose temper and opinion
+were swayed each half-hour by the papers now constantly appearing night
+and day without cessation.
+
+Cabinet Councils had been held every day, but their decisions, of
+course, never leaked out to the public. The King also held Privy
+Councils, and various measures were decided upon. Parliament, which had
+been hurriedly summoned, was due to meet, and every one speculated as to
+the political crisis that must now ensue.
+
+In St. James's Park, in Hyde Park, in Victoria Park, on Hampstead Heath,
+in Greenwich Park--in fact, in each of the "lungs of London,"--great
+mass meetings were held, at which resolutions were passed condemning the
+Administration and eulogising those who, at the first alarm, had so
+gallantly died in defence of their country.
+
+It was declared that by the culpable negligence of the War Office and
+the National Defence Committee we had laid ourselves open to complete
+ruin, both financially and as a nation.
+
+The man-in-the-street already felt the strain, for the lack of
+employment and the sudden rise in the price of everything had brought
+him up short. Wives and families were crying for food, and those without
+savings and with only a few pounds put by looked grimly into the future
+and at the mystery it presented.
+
+Most of the papers published the continuation of the important story of
+Mr. Alexander, the Mayor of Maldon, which revealed the extent of the
+enemy's operations in Essex and the strong position they occupied.
+
+It ran as below:
+
+"Of the events of the early hours of the morning I have no very clear
+recollection. I was bewildered, staggered, dumbfounded by the sights and
+sounds which beset me. Of what modern war meant I had till then truly
+but a very faint idea. To witness its horrid realities enacted in this
+quiet, out-of-the-way spot where I had pitched my tent for so many
+years, brought them home to me literally as well as metaphorically.
+
+"I had run down Cromwell Hill, and seeing the flames of Heybridge, was
+impelled to get nearer, if possible, to discover more particularly the
+state of affairs in that direction. But I was reckoning without the
+Germans. When I got to the bridge over the river at the foot of the
+hill, the officer in charge there absolutely prevented my crossing.
+Beyond the soldiers standing or kneeling behind whatever cover was
+offered by the walls and buildings abutting on the riverside, and a
+couple of machine guns placed so as to command the bridge and the road
+beyond, there was nothing much to see. A number of Germans were,
+however, very busy in the big mill just across the river, but what they
+were doing I could not make out. As I turned to retrace my step the
+glare of the conflagration grew suddenly more and more intense. A mass
+of dark figures came running down the brightly illuminated road towards
+the bridge, while the rifle fire became louder, nearer, and heavier than
+ever. Every now and again the air became alive with, as it were, the
+hiss and buzz of flying insects. The English must have fought their way
+through Heybridge, and these must be the bullets from their rifles. It
+was dangerous to stay down there any longer, so I took to my heels. As I
+ran I heard a thundering explosion behind me, the shock of which nearly
+threw me to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the
+Germans had blown up the mill at the farther end of the bridge, and were
+now pushing carts from either side in order to barricade it. The two
+Maxims, too, began to pump lead with their hammering reports, and the
+men near them commenced to fall in twos and threes. I made off to the
+left, and passed into High Street by the end of St. Peter's Church, now
+disused. At the corner I ran against Mr. Clydesdale, the optician, who
+looks after the library which now occupies the old building. He pointed
+to the tower, which stood darkly up against the blood-red sky.
+
+"'Look at those infernal Germans!' he said. 'They can't even keep out of
+that old place. I wish we could have got the books out before they
+came.'
+
+"I could not see any of our invaders where he was pointing, but
+presently I became aware of a little winking, blinking light at the very
+summit of the tower.
+
+"'That's them,' said Clydesdale. 'They're making signals, I think. My
+boy says he saw the same thing on Purleigh Church tower last night. I
+wish it would come down with them, that I do. It's pretty shaky,
+anyway.'
+
+"The street was fairly full of people. The Germans, it is true, had
+ordered that no one should be out of doors between eight in the evening
+and six in the morning; but just now they appeared to have their hands
+pretty full elsewhere, and if any of the few soldiers that were about
+knew of or thought anything of the interdiction, they said nothing.
+
+"The crash of a salvo of heavy guns from the direction of my own house
+interrupted him.
+
+"'That'll be the guns in my garden,' I said.
+
+"'Yes, sir, and they've got three monstrous great ones in the opening
+between the houses just behind the church there,' said Clydesdale.
+
+"As he spoke, the guns in question bellowed out, one after the other.
+
+"'Look--look at the tower!' I cried.
+
+"The light at the top had disappeared and the lofty edifice was swaying
+slowly, slowly, over to the left.
+
+"'She's gone at last!' exclaimed Clydesdale.
+
+"It was true. Down came the old steeple that had pointed heavenward for
+so many generations, with a mighty crash and concussion that swallowed
+up even the noise of the battle, though cannon of all sorts and sizes
+were now joining in the hellish concert, and shell from the English
+batteries began to roar over the town. The vibration and shock of the
+heavy guns had been too much for the old tower, which, for years in a
+tottery condition, had been patched up so often.
+
+"As soon as the cloud of dust cleared off we ran towards the huge pile
+of debris that filled the little churchyard. Several other people
+followed. It was very dark down there, in the shadow of the trees and
+houses, despite the fire-light overhead, and we began striking matches
+as we looked about among the heaps of bricks and beams to see if there
+were any of the German signal party among them. Why we should have taken
+the trouble under the circumstances I do not quite know. It was an
+instinctive movement of humanity on my part, and that of most of the
+others, I suppose.
+
+"I caught sight of an arm in a light blue sleeve protruding from the
+debris, and took hold of it in a futile attempt to remove some of the
+bricks and rubbish which I thought were covering the body of its owner.
+To my horror, it came away in my hand. The body to which it belonged
+might be buried yards away in the immense heap of ruins. I dropped it
+with a cry, and fled from the spot.
+
+"Dawn was now breaking. I do not exactly remember where I wandered to
+after the fall of St. Peter's Tower, but it must have been between
+half-past five and six when I found myself on the high ground at the
+north-western corner of the town, overlooking the golf links, where I
+had spent so many pleasant hours in that recent past that now seemed so
+far away. All around me were batteries, trenches, and gun-pits. But
+though the firing was still going on somewhere away to the right, where
+Heybridge poured black smoke skyward like a volcano, gun and howitzer
+were silent, and their attendant artillerymen, instead of being in cover
+behind their earthen parapets, were clustered on the top, watching
+intently something that was passing in the valley below them. So
+absorbed were they that I was able to creep up behind them, and also get
+a sight of what was taking place. And this is what I saw:
+
+"Over the railway bridge which spanned the river a little to the left
+were hurrying battalion after battalion of green and blue clad German
+infantry. They moved down the embankment after crossing, and continued
+their march behind it. Where the railway curved to the right and left,
+about half a mile beyond the bridge, the top of the embankment was lined
+with dark figures lying down and apparently firing, while over the golf
+course from the direction of Beeleigh trotted squadron after squadron of
+sky-blue riders, their green and white lance pennons fluttering in the
+breeze. They crossed the Blackwater and Chelmer Canal, and cantered off
+in the direction of Langford Rectory.
+
+"At the same time I saw line after line of the Germans massed behind the
+embankment spring over it and advance rapidly towards the lower portion
+of the town, just across the river. Hundreds fell under the fire from
+the houses, which must have been full of Englishmen, but one line after
+another reached the buildings. The firing was now heavier than
+ever--absolutely incessant and continuous--though, except for an
+occasional discharge from beyond Heybridge, the artillery was silent.
+
+"I have but little knowledge of military matters, but it was abundantly
+evident, even to me, that what I had just seen was a very formidable
+counter-attack on the part of the Germans, who had brought up fresh
+troops either from the rear of the town or from farther inland, and
+launched them against the English under cover of the railway embankment.
+I was not able to see the end of the encounter, but bad news flies
+apace, and it soon became common knowledge in the town that our troops
+from Colchester had not only failed to cross the river at any point, but
+had been driven helter-skelter out of the lower town near the station
+and from the smoking ruins of Heybridge with great loss, and were now in
+full retreat.
+
+"Indeed, some hundreds of our khaki-clad fellow-countrymen were marched
+through the town an hour or two later as prisoners, to say nothing of
+the numbers of wounded, who, together with those belonging to the
+Germans, soon began to crowd every available building suitable for use
+as an hospital. The wounded prisoners with their escort went off towards
+Mundon, and are reported to have gone in the direction of Steeple. It
+was altogether a disastrous day, and our hopes, which had begun to rise
+when the British had penetrated into the northern part of the town, now
+fell below zero.
+
+"It was a black day for us, and for England. During the morning the
+same officer who had captured me on the golf course came whirling into
+Maldon on a 24-h.p. Mercedes car. He drove straight up to my house, and
+informed me that he had orders to conduct me to Prince Henry, who was to
+be at Purleigh early in the afternoon.
+
+"'Was it in connection with the skirmish with the Volunteers?' I asked.
+
+"'I don't know,' was the reply. 'But I don't fancy so. In the meantime,
+could I write here for an hour or two?' he asked politely. 'I have much
+to write to my friends in Germany, and have not had a minute up to now.'
+
+"I was very glad to be able to oblige the young man in such a small way,
+and left him in my study till midday, very busy with pens, ink, and
+paper.
+
+"After a makeshift of a lunch, the car came round, and we got into the
+back seat. In front sat his orderly and the chauffeur, a fierce-looking
+personage in a semi-military uniform. We ran swiftly down the High
+Street, and in a few minutes were spinning along the Purleigh Road,
+where I saw much that amazed me. I then for the first time realised how
+absolutely complete were the German plans."
+
+    "TUESDAY, _September 4_.
+
+"About six o'clock this morning I awoke rather suddenly. The wind had
+gone round to the northward, and I was certain that heavy firing was
+going on somewhere in that direction. I opened the window and looked
+out. The 'thud' and rumble of a cannonade, with the accompaniment of an
+occasional burst of musketry, came clearly and loudly on the wind from
+the hills by Wickham Bishops village. The church spire was in plain
+view, and little faint puffs and rings of grey smoke were just visible
+in its vicinity every now and again, sometimes high up in the air, at
+others among the trees at its base. They were exploding shells; I had no
+doubt of that. What was going on it was impossible to say, but I
+conjectured that some of our troops from Colchester had come into
+collision with the Germans, who had gone out in that direction the day
+of their arrival. The firing continued for about an hour, and then died
+away.
+
+"Soon after eight, Count von Ohrendorff, the general officer commanding
+the 32nd Division, who appeared to be the supreme authority here, sent
+for me, and suggested that I should take steps to arrange for the
+manufacture of lint and bandages by the ladies living in the town. I
+could see no reason for objecting to this, and so promised to carry out
+his suggestion. I set about the matter at once, and, with the assistance
+of my wife, soon had a couple of score of more or less willing workers
+busily engaged in the National Schoolroom. In the meantime the roll of a
+terrible cannonade had burst forth again from Wickham Bishops. It seemed
+louder and more insistent than ever. As soon as I got away from the
+schools I hurried home and climbed out on the roof. The top of the Moot
+Hall and other coigns of vantage had all been occupied by the Germans.
+However, with the aid of a pair of field-glasses I was able to see a
+good bit. Black smoke was now pouring from Wickham Bishops in clouds,
+and every now and again I fancied I could see the forked tongues of
+flame shooting up above the surrounding trees. A series of scattered
+black dots now came out on the open ground to the south of the church.
+The trees of Eastland Wood soon hid them from my sight, but others
+followed, mingled with little moving black blocks which I took to be
+formed bodies of troops. After them came four or five guns, driven at
+breakneck pace towards the road that passes between Eastland and
+Captain's Woods, then more black dots, also in a desperate hurry.
+Several of these last tumbled, and lay still here and there all over the
+slope.
+
+"Other dots followed at their heels. They were not quite so distinct. I
+looked harder. Hurrah! They were men in khaki. We were hustling these
+Germans at last. They also disappeared behind the woods. Then from the
+fringe of trees about Wickham half a dozen big brilliant flashes,
+followed after an interval by the loud detonation of heavy cannon. I
+could not distinguish much more, though the rattle of battle went on for
+some time longer. Soon after eleven four German guns galloped in from
+Heybridge. These were followed by a procession of maimed and limping
+humanity. Some managed to get along unaided, though with considerable
+difficulty. Others were supported by a comrade, some carried between two
+men, and others borne along on stretchers. A couple of ambulance carts
+trotted out and picked up more wounded. Our bandages and lint had not
+long to wait before being required. After this there was a cessation of
+firing.
+
+"About one o'clock the German general sent word to me that he thought an
+attack quite possible during the afternoon, and that he strongly advised
+me to get all the women and children out of the town--for the time being
+at any rate. This was evidently well meant, but it was a pretty
+difficult matter to arrange for, to say nothing of raising a panic among
+the inhabitants. However, in an hour and a half's time I had contrived
+to marshal several hundred of them together, and to get them out on the
+road to Mundon. The weather was warm for the time of the year, and I
+thought, if the worst came to the worst, they could spend the night in
+the old church. I left the sad little column of exiles--old, bent women
+helped along by their daughters, tiny children dragged along through the
+dust, clutching their mothers' skirts; infants in arms; and other older
+and sturdier children staggering beneath the weight of the most precious
+home adornments--and made the best of my way back to arrange for the
+forwarding to them of their rations.
+
+"At every step on my homeward way I expected to hear the cannonade begin
+again. But beyond the twittering of the birds in the trees and
+hedgerows, the creak and rumble of a passing cart, and the rush of a
+train along the railway on my left--just the usual sounds of the
+countryside--nothing broke the stillness. As I stepped out on the
+familiar highway, I could almost bring myself to believe that the events
+of the past twenty-four hours were but the phantasmagoria of a dream.
+After interviewing some of the town councillors who were going to
+undertake the transport of provisions to the women and children at
+Mundon, I walked round to my own house.
+
+"My wife and family had driven over to Purleigh on the first alarm, and
+had arranged to stay the night with some friends, on whatever
+shake-downs could be improvised, since every house in the peninsula
+harboured some of the ubiquitous German officers and men. I wandered
+through the familiar rooms, and came out into the garden, or rather,
+what had been the garden. There I saw that the Saxon gunners were all
+standing to their pieces, and one of my none too welcome guests accosted
+me as I left the house.
+
+"'If you'll take my advice, sare, you'll get away out of this,' he said
+in broken English.
+
+"'What! are you going to fire?' I asked.
+
+"'I don't fancy so. It wouldn't hurt you if we were. But I think your
+English friends from Colchester are about to see if they can draw us.'
+
+"As he spoke I became aware of a sharp, hissing noise like a train
+letting off steam. It grew louder and nearer, passed over our heads, and
+was almost instantly followed by a terrible crash somewhere behind the
+house. A deeper and more muffled report came up from the valley beyond
+Heybridge.
+
+"'Well, they've begun now, and the best thing you can do is to get down
+into that gun epaulment there,' said the German officer.
+
+"I thought his advice was good, and I lost no time in following it.
+
+"'Here comes another!' cried he, as he jumped down into the pit beside
+me. 'We'll have plenty of them now.'
+
+"So we did. Shell after shell came hissing and screaming at us over the
+tree-tops in the gardens lower down the hill. Each one of them sounded
+to me as if it were coming directly at my head, but one after another
+passed over us to burst beyond. The gunners all crouched close to the
+earthen parapet--and so did I. I am not ashamed to say so. My German
+officer, however, occasionally climbed to the top of the embankment and
+studied the prospect through his field-glasses. At length there was a
+loud detonation, and a column of dirt and smoke in the garden next below
+us. Then two shells struck the parapet of the gun-pit on our left almost
+simultaneously. Their explosion was deafening, and we were covered with
+the dust and stones they threw up.
+
+"Immediately afterwards another shell passed so close over our heads
+that I felt my hair lift. It just cleared the parapet and plunged into
+the side of my house. A big hole appeared just to the right of the
+dining-room window, and through it came instantaneously the loud bang of
+the explosion. The glass was shattered in all the windows, and thick
+smoke, white and black, came curling from every one of them.
+
+"'The house is on fire!' I shouted, and sprang madly from the pit.
+Heedless of the bombardment, I rushed into the building. Another crash
+sounded overhead as I entered, and a blaze of light shone down the
+stairway for an instant. Another projectile had found a billet in my
+home. I tried to make my way to my study, but found the passage blocked
+with fallen beams and ceiling. What with the smoke and dust, and the
+blocking of some of the windows, it was very dark in the hall, and I got
+quite a shock when, as I looked about me to find my way, I saw two red,
+glittering specks shining over the top of a heap of debris. But the howl
+that followed told me that they were nothing but the eyes of miserable
+Tim, the cat, who, left behind, had been nearly frightened out of his
+senses by the noise and concussion of the bursting shell. As I gazed at
+him another projectile struck the house quite close to us. Tim was
+simply smashed by a flying fragment. I was thrown down, and half-buried
+under a shower of bricks and mortar. I think that I must have lost
+consciousness for a time.
+
+"The next thing I recollect was being dragged out into the garden by a
+couple of Saxons. I had a splitting headache, and was very glad of a
+glass of water that one of them handed to me. Their officer, who
+appeared to be quite a decent fellow, offered me his flask.
+
+"'The house is all right,' he said, with his strong accent. 'It caught
+fire once, but we managed to get it under. Your friends have cleared
+off--at any rate for the present. They got too bold at last, and pushed
+their guns down till they got taken in the flank by the warship in the
+river. They had two of their pieces knocked to bits, and then cleared
+out. Best thing you can do is to do the same.'
+
+"I was in two minds. I could not save the house by staying, and might
+just as well join my people at Purleigh Rectory. On the other hand, I
+felt that it would better become me, as Mayor, to stick to the town.
+Duty triumphed, and I decided to remain where I was--at least for the
+present. All was now quiet, and after an early supper I turned in, and,
+despite the excitement of the day and my aching head, was asleep the
+moment I touched the pillow."
+
+    "WEDNESDAY, _September 5_.
+
+"It must have been about three in the morning when I awoke. My head was
+much better, and for a minute or two I lay comfortably in the darkness,
+without any recollection of the events of the preceding day. Then I saw
+a bright reflection pass rapidly over the ceiling. I wondered vaguely
+what it was. Presently it came back again, paused a moment, and
+disappeared. By this time I was wide awake. I went to the window and
+looked out. It was quite dark, but from somewhere over beyond Heybridge
+a long white ray was sweeping all along this side of Maldon. Now the
+foliage of a tree in the garden below would stand out in pale green
+radiance against the blackness; now the wall of a house half a mile away
+would reflect back the moving beam, shining white as a sheet of
+notepaper.
+
+"Presently another ray shone out, and the two of them, moving backwards
+and forwards, made the whole of our hillside caper in a dizzy dance.
+From somewhere far away to my right another stronger beam now streamed
+through the obscurity, directed apparently at the sources of the other
+two, and almost simultaneously came the crack of a rifle from the
+direction of Heybridge, sharp and ominous in the quiet darkness of the
+night. Half a dozen scattered shots followed; then a faint cheer. More
+and more rifles joined in, and presently the burring tap-tap-tap of a
+Maxim. I hurried on my clothes. The firing increased in volume and
+rapidity; bugles rang out here, there, and everywhere through the
+sleeping town, and above the rolling, rattling clamour of the drums I
+could distinguish the hurried tramp of hundreds of feet.
+
+"I cast one glance from the window as I quitted the room. The electric
+searchlights had increased to at least half a dozen. Some reached out
+long, steady fingers into the vague spaces of the night, while others
+wandered restlessly up and down, hither and thither. Low down over the
+trees of the garden a dull red glare slowly increased in extent and
+intensity. The rattle of musketry was now absolutely continuous. As I
+ran out of the house into the street, I was nearly carried off my feet
+by the rush of a battalion that was pouring down Cromwell Hill at the
+double. Hardly knowing what I did, I followed in their wake. The glare
+in front got brighter and brighter. A few steps, and I could see the
+cause of it. The whole of Heybridge appeared to be on fire, the flames
+roaring skywards from a dozen different conflagrations."
+
+England halted breathless. Fighting had commenced in real earnest.
+
+The greatest consternation was caused by the publication in the "Times"
+of the description of the operations in Essex, written by Mr. Henry
+Bentley, the distinguished war correspondent, who had served that
+journal in every campaign since Kitchener had entered Khartum.
+
+All other papers, without exception, contained various accounts of the
+British defence at the point nearest London, but they were mostly of the
+scrappy and sensational order, based more on report than upon actual
+fact. The "Times" account, however, had been written with calm
+impartiality by one of the most experienced correspondents at the front.
+Whether he had been afforded any special facilities was not apparent,
+but, in any case, it was the most complete and truthful account of the
+gallant attempt on the part of our soldiers to check the advance from
+Essex westward.
+
+During the whole of that hot, stifling day it was known that a battle
+was raging, and the excitement everywhere was intense.
+
+The public were in anxious terror as the hours crept by, until the first
+authentic news of the result of the operations was printed in a special
+evening edition of the "Times," as follows:
+
+    "(From our War Correspondent.)
+
+    "DANBURY, ESSEX, _September 8_.
+
+"To-day has been a momentous one for England. The great battle has raged
+since dawn, and though just at present there seems to be a lull, during
+which the opposing forces are, so to speak, regaining their breath, it
+can be by no means over.
+
+"Dead and living alike will lie out on the battlefield the whole night
+through, for we must hold on to the positions so hardly won, and be
+ready to press forward at the first glimmer of daylight. Our gallant
+troops, Regular and Volunteers alike, have nobly vindicated the
+traditions of our race, and have fought as desperately as ever did their
+forebears at Agincourt, Albuera, or Waterloo. But while a considerable
+success--paid for, alas! by the loss of thousands of gallant lives--has
+been achieved, it will take at least another day's hard fighting before
+victory is in our grasp. Nowadays a soldier need not expect to be
+either victorious or finally defeated by nightfall, and although this
+battle, fought as it is between much smaller forces, and extending over
+a much more limited area, than the great engagement between the Russians
+and Japanese at Liaoyang, will not take quite so long a time to decide,
+the end is not yet in sight. I wrote this after a hard day's travelling
+backwards and forwards behind our advancing line of battle.
+
+"I took my cycle with me in my motor-car, and whenever opportunity
+offered mounted it, and pushed forward as near to the fighting as I
+could get. Frequently I had to leave the cycle also, and crawl forward
+on hands and knees, sheltering in some depression in the ground, while
+the enemy's bullets whined and whistled overhead. As reported in a
+previous issue, the Army which had assembled at Brentwood moved forward
+on the 5th.
+
+"During the afternoon the advanced troops succeeded in driving the enemy
+out of South Hanningfield, and before sundown they were also in full
+retreat from the positions they had held at East Hanningfield and
+Danbury. There was some stiff fighting at the latter place, but after a
+pounding from the artillery, who brought several batteries into action
+on the high ground north-west of East Hanningfield, the Germans were
+unable to withstand the attack of the Argyll and Sutherlands and the
+London Scottish, who worked their way through Danbury Park and Hall Wood
+right into their position, driving them from their entrenchments by a
+dashing bayonet charge. Everything north and east of the enemy's main
+position, which is now known to lie north and south, between Maldon and
+the river Crouch, was now in our hands, but his troops still showed a
+stout front at Wickford, and were also reported to be at Rayleigh,
+Hockley, and Canewdon, several miles to the eastward. All preparations
+were made to assault the German position at Wickford at daybreak to-day,
+but our scouts found that the place had been evacuated. The news that
+Rayleigh and Hockley had also been abandoned by the enemy came in
+shortly afterwards. The German invaders had evidently completed their
+arrangements for the defence of their main position, and now said, in
+effect, 'Come on, and turn us out if you can.'
+
+"It was no easy task that lay before our gallant defenders. Maldon,
+perched on a high knoll, with a network of river and canal protecting it
+from assault from the northward, fairly bristles with guns, many of
+them heavy field howitzers, and has, as we know to our cost, already
+repulsed one attack by our troops. Farther south there are said to be
+many guns on the knolls about Purleigh. Great Canney Hill, standing
+boldly up like an immense redoubt, is reported to be seamed with
+entrenchments mounting many heavy guns. The railway embankment south of
+Maldon forms a perfect natural rampart along part of the enemy's
+position, while the woods and enclosures south-west of Great Canney
+conceal thousands of sharpshooters. A sort of advanced position was
+occupied by the enemy at Edwin Hall, a mile east of Woodham Ferrers,
+where a pair of high kopjes a quarter of a mile apart offered command
+and cover to some of their field batteries.
+
+"Our scouts have discovered also that an elaborate system of wire
+entanglements and other military obstacles protects almost the whole
+front of the somewhat extensive German position. On its extreme left
+their line is said to be thrown back at an angle, so that any attempt to
+outflank it would not only entail crossing the river Crouch, but would
+come under the fire of batteries placed on the high ground overlooking
+it. Altogether, it is a very tough nut to crack, and the force at our
+disposal none too strong for the work that lies before it.
+
+"Further detail regarding our strength would be inadvisable for obvious
+reasons, but when I point out that the Germans are supposed to be
+between thirty and forty thousand strong, and that it is laid down by
+competent military authorities that to attack troops in an entrenched
+position a superiority of six to one is advisable, my readers can draw
+their own conclusions.
+
+"The repairs to the railway line between Brentwood and Chelmsford, that
+had been damaged by the enemy's cavalry on their first landing, were
+completed yesterday, and all night reinforcements had been coming in by
+way of Chelmsford and Billericay. The general headquarters had been
+established at Danbury, and, thither I made my way as fast as my car
+could get along the roads, blocked as they were by marching horse, foot,
+and artillery. I had spent the night at South Hanningfield, so as to be
+on the spot for the expected attack on Wickford; but as soon as I found
+it was not to come off, I considered that at Danbury would be the best
+chance of finding out what our next move was to be.
+
+"Nor was I mistaken. As I ran up to the village I found the roads full
+of troops under arms, and everything denoted action of some kind. I was
+lucky enough to come across a friend of mine on the staff--Captain
+B----, I will call him--who spared a moment to give me the tip that a
+general move forward was commencing, and that a big battle was imminent.
+Danbury is situated on the highest ground for many miles round, and as
+it bid fair to be a fine, clear day, I thought I could not do better
+than try and get a general look round from the summit of the church
+tower before proceeding farther. But I was informed that the General was
+up there with some of his staff and a signalling party, so that I could
+not ascend.
+
+"My pass, however, eventually procured me admission to the little
+platform, which, by the way, the General left a moment after my arrival.
+It was now eight o'clock, the sun was fairly high in the heavens, and
+the light mists that hung about the low ground in the vicinity of Maldon
+were fast fading into nothingness. The old town was plainly
+distinguishable as a dark silhouette against the morning light, which,
+while it illumined the panorama spread out before me, yet rendered
+observation somewhat difficult, since it shone almost directly into my
+eyes. However, by the aid of my glasses I was able to see something of
+the first moves on the fatal chess-board where so many thousands of
+lives are staked on the bloody game of war.
+
+"I noticed among other things that the lessons of the recent war in the
+East had not passed unobserved, for in all the open spaces on the
+eastern slope of the hill, where the roads were not screened by trees or
+coppices, lofty erections of hurdles and greenery had been placed
+overnight to hide the preliminary movements of our troops from the
+glasses of the enemy. Under cover of these, regiment after regiment of
+khaki-clad soldiers, batteries of artillery and ammunition carts, were
+proceeding to their allotted posts down the network of roads and lanes
+leading to the lower ground towards the south-east. Two battalions stood
+in quarter column behind Thrift Wood. They were kilted corps, probably
+the Argylls and the London Scottish. Several field batteries moved off
+to the left towards Woodham Walter. Other battalions took up their
+position behind Hyde Woods, farther away to the right, the last of them,
+the Grenadier Guards, I fancy, passing behind them and marching still
+farther southward.
+
+"Finally, two strong battalions, easily recognised as marines by their
+blue war-kit, marched rapidly down the main road and halted presently
+behind Woodham Mortimer Place. All this time there was neither sight nor
+sound of the enemy. The birds carolled gaily in the old elms round my
+eyrie, the sparrows and martins piped and twittered in the eaves of the
+old church, and the sun shone genially on hill and valley, field and
+wood. To all appearance, peace reigned over the countryside, though the
+dun masses of troops in the shadows of the woodlands were suggestive of
+the autumn manoeuvres. But for all this the 'Real Thing' was upon us. As
+I looked, first one, then another long and widely scattered line of
+crouching men in khaki issued from the cover of Hyde Woods and began
+slowly to move away towards the east. Then, and not till then, a vivid
+violet-white flash blazed out on the dim grey upland five miles away to
+the south-east, which had been pointed out to me as Great Canney, and
+almost at once a spout of earth and smoke sprang up a little way ahead
+of the advancing British. A dull boom floated up on the breeze, but was
+drowned in an ear-splitting crash somewhere close to me. I felt the old
+tower rock under the concussion, which I presently discovered came from
+a battery of at least six big 4.7 guns established just outside the
+churchyard.
+
+"They were manned by a party of bluejackets, who had brought them over
+from Chatham. The movement I saw developing below me was the first step
+towards what I eventually discovered was our main objective--Purleigh.
+
+"Could we succeed in establishing ourselves there, we should be beyond
+effective range from Maldon, and should also take Great Canney in
+reverse, as well as the positions on the refused left flank of the
+enemy. Maldon, too, would be isolated. Purleigh, therefore, was the key
+of the position. Our first move was in this direction. The scouts were
+picked men from the Line battalions, but the firing lines were composed
+of Volunteers and, in some cases, Militiamen. It was considered more
+politic to reserve the Regulars for the later stages of the attack. The
+firing from Canney, and afterwards from Purleigh, was at first at rather
+too long a range to be effective, even from the heavy guns that were in
+use, and later on the heavy long-range fire from 'Bloody Mary' and her
+sisters at Danbury, and other heavy guns and howitzers in the
+neighbourhood of East Hanningfield, kept it down considerably, although
+the big, high-explosive shells were now and again most terribly
+destructive to the advancing British.
+
+"When, however, the firing line--which as yet had not been near enough
+to fire a shot in reply--arrived in the neighbourhood of Loddard's Hill,
+its left came under a terrible rifle fire from Hazeleigh Wood, while its
+right and centre were all but destroyed by a tornado of shrapnel from
+some German field batteries to the north of Purleigh. Though dazed and
+staggered under the appalling sleet of projectiles, the Volunteers stuck
+doggedly to their ground, though unable to advance. Line after line was
+pushed forward, the men stumbling and falling over the thickly-scattered
+bodies of their fallen comrades.
+
+"It was a perfect holocaust. Some other card must be played at once, or
+the attack must fail."
+
+The second of Mr. Henry Bentley's descriptive articles in the "Times"
+told a terrible truth, and was as follows:
+
+    "(From our War Correspondent.)
+
+    "CHELMSFORD, _September 7_.
+
+"When I sent off my despatch by motor-car last night, it was with very
+different feelings to those with which I take my pen in hand this
+evening, in the Saracen's Head Hotel, which is the headquarters of my
+colleagues, the correspondents.
+
+"Last night, despite the hard fighting and the heavy losses we had
+sustained, the promise of the morrow was distinctly a good one. But now
+I have little heart with which to commence the difficult and unpleasant
+task of chronicling the downfall of all our high hopes, the repulse--ay,
+and the defeat--it is no use mincing matters--of our heroic and sorely
+tried Army.
+
+"Yes, our gallant soldiers have sustained a reverse which, but for their
+stubborn fighting qualities and a somewhat inexplicable holding back on
+the part of the Germans, might very easily have culminated in disaster.
+Defeat although it undoubtedly is, the darkness of the gloomy outlook is
+illuminated by the brilliancy of the conduct of our troops.
+
+"From General down to the youngest Volunteer drummer boy, our brave
+soldiers did all, and more, than could be humanly expected of them, and
+on none of them can be laid the blame of our ill-success. The plan of
+attack is agreed on all hands to have been as good a one as could have
+been evolved; the officers led well, their men fought well, and there
+was no running short of ammunition at any period of the engagement.
+
+"'Who, then, was responsible?' it may well be asked. The answer is
+simple. The British public, which, in its apathetic attitude towards
+military efficiency, aided and abetted by the soothing theories of the
+extremists of the 'Blue Water' school, had, as usual, neglected to
+provide an Army fitted to cope in numbers and efficiency with those of
+our Continental neighbours. Had we had a sufficiency of troops, more
+especially of regular troops, there is not the slightest doubt that the
+victory would have been ours. As it was, our General was obliged to
+attack the enemy's position with a force whose numbers, even if they had
+been all regular soldiers, were below those judged necessary by military
+experts for the task in hand.
+
+"Having broken through the German lines, success was in his grasp had he
+had sufficient reinforcements to have established him in the position he
+had won, and to beat back the inevitable counter-attack. But it is best
+that I should continue my account of the fighting from the point at
+which I closed my letter of yesterday. I had arrived at the checking of
+our advance near Loddard's Hill by the blast of shrapnel from the German
+field batteries. It was plain that the Volunteer Brigade, though it held
+its ground, could not advance farther. But, unnoticed by them, the
+General had been preparing for this eventuality.
+
+"On the left the two battalions of Marines that I noticed drawn up
+behind Woodham Mortimer Place suddenly debouched on Loddard's Hill, and,
+carrying forward with them the debris of the Volunteer firing line,
+hurled themselves into Hazeleigh Wood. There was a sanguinary
+hand-to-hand struggle on the wire-entangled border, but the newcomers
+were not to be denied, and, after a quarter of an hour's desperate
+melee, which filled the sylvan glades with moaning and writhing wounded
+and stark dead bodies, we remained masters of the wood, and even
+obtained a footing on the railway line where it adjoins it.
+
+"Simultaneously a long line of our field batteries came into action near
+Woodham Mortimer, some trying to beat down the fire of the German guns
+opposite, while others replied to a battery which had been established
+near West Maldon Station to flank the railway, and which was now
+beginning to open on Hazeleigh Wood. The latter were assisted by a
+battery of 4.7 guns manned by Volunteers, which took up a position
+behind Woodham Walter. The firing on Great Canney from our batteries at
+East Hanningfield redoubled, the whole summit of the hill being at times
+obscured by the clouds of smoke and debris from the explosions of the
+big, high-explosive projectiles.
+
+"The main firing line, continually fed from the rear, now began slowly
+to gain ground, and when the Grenadiers and the Irish Guards, who had
+managed to work up through the series of plantations that run eastwards
+for nearly two miles from Woodham Hall without drawing any particular
+attention from the busily engaged enemy, came into action on the right,
+there was a distinct move forward. But the defence was too stubborn, and
+about midday the whole line again came to a standstill, its left still
+in Hazeleigh Wood, its right at Prentice Farm. Orders were passed that
+the men should try to entrench themselves as best they could, and spades
+and other tools were sent forward to those corps who were not provided
+with them already.
+
+"Here we must leave the main attack to notice what was going on
+elsewhere. On the north the Colchester Garrison again brought their
+heavy artillery into action on the slopes south of Wickham Bishops,
+while others of our troops made a show of advancing against Maldon from
+the west. These movements were, however, merely intended to keep the
+German garrison occupied. But on the right a rather important flanking
+movement was in progress.
+
+"We had a considerable body of troops at East Hanningfield, which lies
+in a hollow between two little ridges, both running from south-west to
+north-east, and about a mile apart. The most easterly ridge is very
+narrow for the most part, and behind it were stationed several batteries
+of our field howitzers, which fired over it at Great Canney at a range
+of about 5,000 yards. A number of 4.7-inch guns, scattered over the
+western hill, were also concentrated on the same target. Although the
+range was an extremely long one, there is no doubt that they made a
+certain number of effective hits, since Great Canney offered a
+conspicuous and considerable target. But beyond this the flashes of
+their discharges drew off all attention from the howitzer batteries in
+front of them, and served to conceal their presence from the enemy.
+Otherwise, although invisible, their presence would have been guessed
+at. As it was, not a single German projectile came anywhere near them.
+
+"When the fighting began, those troops who were not intended to be held
+in reserve or to co-operate with the right of the main attack moved off
+in the direction of Woodham Ferrers, and made a feint of attacking the
+German position astride the two kopjes at Edwin's Hall, their field guns
+coming into action on the high ground north of Rettendon, and engaging
+those of the enemy at long range. But the real attack on this salient of
+the German position came from a very different quarter.
+
+"The troops detailed for this movement were those who had advanced
+against Wickford at daybreak, and had found it abandoned by the enemy.
+They consisted of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, the Honourable
+Artillery Company, and the Inns of Court Volunteers, together with their
+own and three or four other machine-gun detachments, their Maxims being
+mounted on detachable legs instead of carriages. Co-operating with them
+were the Essex and the East Kent Yeomanry, who were scouting in the
+direction of Hockley.
+
+"The troops had a long, wearisome march before them, the design being to
+take advantage of the time of low tide, and to move along out of sight
+of the enemy behind the northern bank of the river Crouch, as it had
+been discovered that the German line of defence turned back to the
+eastward at a mile or two north of the river at the point aimed at. Its
+guns still commanded it, and might be trusted to render abortive any
+attempt to throw a bridge across it. The Yeomanry had the task of
+occupying the attention of the enemy at Canewdon, and of preventing the
+passage of boats from the German warships. This part of our operations
+succeeded admirably. The long creeping lines of the Oxfordshires and the
+machine-gun detachments in their khaki uniforms were almost
+indistinguishable against the steep mud banks at any distance, and they
+escaped observation both from the German main lines and from their
+outpost at Canewdon until they had reached the entrances of the two
+branch creeks for which they were making.
+
+"Then, and not till then, came the sound of artillery from the left rear
+of the German position. But it was too late. The Oxford companies pushed
+forward at the double. Five companies lined the embankments of Stow
+Creek, the easternmost of the two, while the remainder, ensconced in
+Clementsgreen Creek, aligned the whole of their machine-guns on the
+southern of the two kopjes against which the manoeuvre had been
+directed. Their fire, which, coming from a little to the rear of the
+left flank of the southern kopje, completely enfiladed it, created such
+slaughter and confusion that the Honourable Artillery Company and the
+Inns of Court, who had been working up the railway line from Battle
+Bridge, had little difficulty in establishing themselves at Woodham
+Ferrers Station and in an adjacent farm. Being almost immediately
+afterwards reinforced by the arrival of two regular battalions who had
+been pushed forward from Rettendon, a determined assault was made on the
+southern kopje. Its defenders, demoralised by the pelting shower of lead
+from the machine-gun battery, and threatened also by the advance from
+Woodham Ferrers village, gave way, and our people, forcing their way
+over every obstacle, seized the position amid frantic cheering.
+
+"Meanwhile the Oxfordshires had been subjected to a determined
+counter-attack from North Frambridge. Preceded by a pounding from the
+guns on Kit's Hill, but aided by the fire of the Yeomanry on the south
+bank of the river, who galloped up and lined the embankment, thus
+flanking the defenders of Stow Creek, it was beaten back with
+considerable loss. The machine-guns were transferred to the
+neighbourhood of South Kopje, and used with such effect that its
+defenders, after repulsing several counter-attacks from the adjoining
+German entrenchment, were able to make themselves masters of the North
+Kopje also.
+
+"Elsewhere the fighting still continued strenuous and deadly. The main
+attack had contrived to make some little shelter for itself; but though
+three several attempts were made to advance from this, all ended in
+failure, one nearly in disaster. This was the last of the three, when
+the advancing line was charged by a mass of cavalry which suddenly
+appeared from behind Great Canney Hill. I myself was a witness of this
+attack, the most picturesque incident of the day's fighting.
+
+"I was watching the progress of the engagement through my glasses from
+the high ground about Wickham's Farm, when I saw line after line of the
+German horsemen in their sky-blue tunics and glittering helmets trot out
+into the open, canter, and one after another break into a mad gallop, as
+they bore down upon the advancing lines of our citizen soldiers.
+Staunchly as these had withstood the murderous fire which for hours had
+been directed upon them, this whirlwind of lance and sabre, the thunder
+of thousands of hoofs, and the hoarse cries of the riders, were rather
+more than such partially trained soldiers could stand. A scattering
+discharge from their rifles was followed by something very much
+approaching a _sauve qui peut_.
+
+"A large number of Volunteers, however, sought shelter among the ruined
+houses of Cock Clarke's hamlet, from whence they opened a heavy fire on
+the adventurous horsemen. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who
+were by this time in Mosklyns Copse, and the Guards and other troops on
+the right, also opened a rapid and sustained fire on the German cavalry,
+which seconded by the shrapnel from our guns on Loddard's Hill, caused
+them to turn and ride back for their lives. There was a tremendous
+outburst of firing from both sides after this, followed by quite a lull.
+One could well imagine that all the combatants were exhausted by the
+prolonged effort of the day. It was now between five and six in the
+evening. It was at this time that the news of the capture of the two
+kopjes reached me, and I made for Danbury to write my despatches.
+
+"Shortly after my arrival I heard of the capture of Spar Hill, a
+detached knoll about 1,200 yards to the north-west of Purleigh. The
+Marines from Hazeleigh Wood and the Highlanders from Mosklyns Copse had
+suddenly and simultaneously assaulted it from opposite sides, and were
+now entrenching themselves upon it. What wonder, then, that I reported
+satisfactory progress, and reckoned--too confidently, as it proved--on a
+victory for the morrow?
+
+"I spent a great part of that night under the stars on the hilltop near
+East Hanningfield, watching the weird play of the searchlights which
+swept over the country from a score of different positions, and
+listening to the crash of artillery and clatter of rifle fire which now
+and again told of some attempted movement under cover of the darkness.
+Just before daylight the continuous roar of battle began again, and when
+light dawned I found that our troops had cut right through the German
+lines, and had penetrated as far as Cop Kitchen's Farm, on the
+Maldon-Mundon road. Reinforcements were being hurried up, and an attack
+was being pushed towards the rear of Purleigh and Great Canney, which
+was being heavily bombarded by some of our large guns, which had been
+mounted during the night on the two kopjes.
+
+"But the reinforcements were not enough. The Germans held fast to
+Purleigh and to some reserve positions they had established about
+Mundon. After two or three hours of desperate effort, costing the lives
+of thousands, our attack was at a standstill. At this critical moment a
+powerful counter-attack was made from Maldon, and, outnumbered and
+almost surrounded, our gallant warriors had to give ground. But they
+fell back as doggedly as they had advanced, the Argylls, Marines, and
+Grenadiers covering the retreat on Danbury.
+
+"The guns at East Hanningfield and the two kopjes checked the pursuit to
+a great extent, and the Germans seemed unwilling to go far from their
+works. The kopjes had to be abandoned later in the day, and we now
+occupy our former line from Danbury to Billericay, and are busily
+engaged in entrenching ourselves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEFENCE AT LAST.
+
+
+Late on Wednesday night came tardy news of the measures we were taking
+to mobilise.
+
+The Aldershot Army Corps, so complete in the "Army List," consisted, as
+all the world knew, of three divisions, but of these only two existed,
+the other being found to be on paper. The division in question, located
+at Bordon, was to be formed on mobilisation, and this measure was now
+being proceeded with. The train service was practically suspended, owing
+to the damage done to the various lines south of London by the enemy's
+emissaries. Several of these men had been detected, and, being in plain
+clothes, were promptly shot out of hand. However, their work had,
+unfortunately for us, been accomplished, and trains could only run as
+far as the destroyed bridges, so men on their way to join their
+respective corps were greatly delayed in consequence.
+
+All was confusion at Bordon, where men were arriving in hundreds on foot
+and by the service of motor omnibuses, which the War Office had on the
+day before established between Charing Cross and Aldershot. Perspiring
+staff officers strove diligently, without much avail, to sort out into
+their respective units this ever-increasing mass of reservists.
+
+There was perfect chaos.
+
+Before the chief constituent parts of the division--that is to say,
+regiments who were stationed elsewhere--had arrived little could be done
+with the reservists. The regiments in question were in many cases
+stationed at considerable distance, and although they had received
+orders to start, were prevented from arriving owing to the universal
+interruptions of the railway traffic south. By this, whole valuable days
+were lost--days when at any hour the invaders might make a sudden swoop
+on London.
+
+Reports were alarming and conflicting. Some said that the enemy meant to
+strike a blow upon the capital just as suddenly as they had landed,
+while others reassured the alarmists that the German plans were not yet
+complete, and that they had not sufficient stores to pursue the
+campaign.
+
+Reservists, with starvation staring them in the face, went eagerly south
+to join their regiments, knowing that at least they would be fed with
+regularity; while, in addition, the true patriotic spirit of the
+Englishman had been roused against the aggressive Teuton, and everyone,
+officer and man, was eager to bear his part in driving the invader into
+the sea.
+
+The public were held breathless. What would happen?
+
+Arrivals at Aldershot, however, found the whole arrangements in such a
+complete muddle that Army Service Corps men, who ought to have been at
+Woolwich, were presenting themselves for enrolment at Bordon, and
+infantry of the line were conducted into the camp of the Dragoons. The
+Motor Volunteer Corps were at this moment of very great use. The cars
+were filled with staff officers and other exalted officials, who were
+settling themselves in various offices, and passing out again to make
+necessary arrangements for dealing with such a large influx of men.
+
+There were activity and excitement everywhere. Men were rapidly drawing
+their clothing, or as much of it as they could get, and civilians were
+quickly becoming soldiers on every hand. Officers of the Reserve were
+driving up in motor-cars and cabs, many of them with their old battered
+uniform cases, that had seen service in the field in distant parts of
+the globe. Men from the "Junior" and the "Senior" wrung each other's
+hands on returning to active duty with their old regiments, and at once
+settled down into the routine work they knew so well.
+
+The rumour, however, had now got about that a position in the
+neighbourhood of Cambridge had been selected by the General Staff as
+being the most suitable theatre of action where an effective stand
+could, with any hope of success, be made. It was evident that the German
+tactics were to strike a swift and rapid blow at London. Indeed, nothing
+at present stood in their way except the gallant little garrison at
+Colchester, who had been so constantly driven back by the enemy's
+cavalry on attempting to make any reconnaissance, and who might be swept
+out of existence at any hour.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During Tuesday and Wednesday large gangs of workmen had been busy
+repairing the damaged lines. The first regiment complete for the field
+was the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Fusiliers, who carried upon their
+colours the names of a score of battles, ranging from Corunna and
+Badajoz, all through the Peninsula, Afghanistan, and Egypt, down to the
+Modder River. This regiment left by train for London on Tuesday evening,
+and was that same night followed by the 2nd Battalion King's Liverpool
+Regiment and the 1st King's Shropshire Light Infantry, while the
+Manchester Regiment got away soon after midnight.
+
+These formed the second infantry brigade of the 1st Division, and were
+commanded by Brigadier-General Sir John Money. They were several hours
+getting up to London, whence from Clapham Junction their trains circled
+London on to the Great Eastern system to Braintree, where the Horn Hotel
+was made the headquarters. By other trains in the small hours of the
+morning the last of the Guards Brigade under Colonel (temporary
+Brigadier-General) Lord Wansford departed, and duly arrived at Saffron
+Walden, to join their comrades on the line of defence.
+
+The divisional troops were also on the move early on Wednesday. Six
+batteries of artillery and the field company of Royal Engineers left by
+road. There was a balloon section accompanying this, and searchlights,
+wireless instruments, and cables for field-telegraphy were carried in
+the waggons.
+
+The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General Morgan, C.B., was also
+active. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, commanded by Major-General Fortescue,
+composed of 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, the 2nd
+Bedfordshire, the 1st Princess of Wales' Own, and the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, were preparing, but had not yet moved. The 4th Infantry
+Brigade of the same division, consisting of the 3rd and 4th Battalions
+King's Royal Rifle Corps, the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, and the 2nd South
+Lancashire, with the usual smartness of those distinguished regiments,
+were quick and ready, now as ever, to go to the front. They were
+entrained to Baldock, slightly east of Hitchin, where they marched out
+on the Icknield Way. These were followed by Fortescue's Brigade, who
+were also bound for Baldock and the neighbourhood.
+
+The bulk of the cavalry and field artillery of both divisions, together
+with the divisional troops, were compelled to set out by march-route
+from Aldershot for the line of defences. The single and all-sufficient
+reason of this delay in sending out the cavalry and artillery was owing
+to the totally inadequate accommodation on the railways for the
+transport of so many horses and guns. The troop-trains, which were of
+course, necessary to transport the infantry, were not forthcoming in
+sufficient numbers, this owing to the fact that at several points the
+lines to London were still interrupted.
+
+The orders to the cavalry who went by march-route were to get up to the
+line proposed to be taken up by the infantry as quickly as possible,
+and to operate in front of it to the east and north-east in screening
+and reconnoitring duties. The temporary deficiency of cavalry, who
+ought, of course, to have been the first to arrive at the scene, was
+made good as far as possible by the general employment of hordes of
+motor-cyclists, who scoured the country in large armed groups, in order
+to ascertain, if possible, the dispositions of the enemy. This they did,
+and very soon after their arrival reported the result of their
+investigations to the general officers commanding the 1st and 2nd
+Divisions.
+
+Meanwhile both cavalry and artillery in great bodies, and strings of
+motor omnibuses filled with troops, were upon the white, dusty roads
+passing through Staines to Hounslow and Brentford, thence to London, St.
+Albans, _en route_ to their respective divisions. Roughly, the distance
+was over fifty miles, therefore those marching were compelled to halt
+the night on the way, while those in the motor omnibuses got through to
+their destination.
+
+The sight of British troops hurrying to the front swelled the hearts of
+the villagers and townsfolk with renewed patriotism, and everywhere,
+through the blazing, dusty day, the men were offered refreshment by even
+the poorest and humblest cottagers. In Bagshot, in Staines, and in
+Hounslow the people went frantic with excitement, as squadron after
+squadron rapidly passed along, with its guns, waggons, and ambulances
+rumbling noisily over the stones in the rear.
+
+Following these came pontoon troops with their long grey waggons and
+mysterious-looking bridging apparatus, telegraph troops, balloon
+sections, supply columns, field bakery, and field hospitals, the
+last-named packed in waggons marked with the well-known red cross of the
+Geneva Convention.
+
+No sooner was Aldershot denuded of its army corps, however, than
+battalions began to arrive from Portsmouth on their way north, while
+troops from the great camp on Salisbury Plain were rapidly being pushed
+to the front, which, roughly speaking, extended through Hitchin,
+Royston, to Saffron Walden, across to Braintree, and also the high
+ground commanding the valley of the Colne to Colchester.
+
+The line chosen by the General Staff was the natural chain of hills
+which presented the first obstacle to the enemy advancing on London
+from the wide plain stretching eastward beyond Cambridge to the sea.
+
+If this could be held strongly, as was intended, by practically the
+whole of the British forces located in the South of England, including
+the Yeomanry, Militia, and Volunteers--who were now all massing in every
+direction--then the deadly peril threatening England might be averted.
+
+But could it be held?
+
+This was the appalling question on every one's tongue all over the
+country, for it now became generally known that upon this line of
+defence four complete and perfectly equipped German army corps were
+ready to advance at any moment, in addition to the right flank being
+exposed to the attack of the XIIth Saxon Corps, entrenched on the Essex
+coast.
+
+It was estimated that no fewer than two hundred thousand Germans were
+already upon English soil!
+
+The outlook grew blacker every hour.
+
+London was in a state of absolute stagnation and chaos. In the City,
+business was now at an entire standstill. The credit system had received
+a fatal blow, and nobody wanted to buy securities. Had people kept level
+heads in the crisis there would have been a moratorium, but, as it was,
+a panic had been created that nothing could allay. Even Consols were now
+unsaleable. Some of the smaller banks were known to have failed, and
+traders and manufacturers all over the country had been ruined on
+account of credit, the foundation of all trade, having been swept away.
+Only persons of the highest financial standing could have dealt with the
+banks, even if they had remained open.
+
+The opinion held in banking circles was that if the invasion should
+unfortunately prove disastrous to England, and Germany demand a huge
+indemnity, there was still hope, however small. The experience of the
+Franco-German war had proved that, though in such circumstances the
+Bank, for a considerable period, might not be able to resume cash
+payments, yet, with sound finance, there was no reason that the currency
+should greatly depreciate. During the period of suspension of cash
+payments by the Bank of France, the premium on gold never went above 1.5
+per cent., and during most of the period was 5, 4, or even less per
+mille. Therefore what the French by sound banking had been able to do,
+there was no reason why English bankers could not also do.
+
+
+    WE, WILHELM,
+
+    GIVE NOTICE to the inhabitants of those provinces occupied by
+    the German Imperial Army, that--
+
+    I MAKE WAR upon the soldiers, and not upon English citizens.
+    Consequently, it is my wish to give the latter and their
+    property entire security, and as long as they do not embark upon
+    hostile enterprise against the German troops they have a right
+    to my protection.
+
+    GENERALS COMMANDING the various corps in the various districts
+    in England are ordered to place before the public the stringent
+    measures which I have ordered to be adopted against towns,
+    villages, and persons who act in contradiction to the usages of
+    war. They are to regulate in the same manner all the operations
+    necessary for the well-being of our troops, to fix the
+    difference between the English and German rate of exchange, and
+    to facilitate in every manner possible the individual
+    transactions between our Army and the inhabitants of England.
+
+    =WILHELM.=
+
+    Given at POTSDAM, _September 4th, 1910_.
+
+    [Illustration: The above is a copy of the German Imperial
+    Decree, printed in English, which was posted by unknown German
+    agents in London, and which appeared everywhere throughout East
+    Anglia and in that portion of the Midlands held by the enemy.]
+
+
+At the outbreak of the war of 1870, on August 1, French Three per Cent.
+Rentes were at 60.85, and Four and a Half per Cent. at 98. On the
+memorable day of Sedan, September 2, they were at 50.80 and 88.50
+respectively, and on January 2, 1871, Three per Cents. were down to
+50.95. At the commencement of the Commune, on March 18, they were at
+51.50 and 76.25, and on the 30th of that month down to 50.60 and 76.25
+respectively.
+
+With so little money in England as there now was, securities had fallen
+to the value at which holders would as soon not sell as sell at such a
+great discount. High rates and the heavy fall in the value of securities
+had brought business in every quarter all over London to a standstill.
+Firms all over the country were now hard put to in order to find the
+necessary money to carry on their various trades. Instantly after the
+report of the reverse at Sheffield, there was a wild rush to obtain
+gold, and securities dropped even a few more points.
+
+Therefore there was little or nothing for the banks to do, and Lombard
+Street, Lothbury, and the other banking centres were closed, as though
+it had been Sunday or Bank Holiday. Despair was, alas! everywhere, and
+the streets presented strange scenes.
+
+Most of the motor omnibuses had been taken off the road and pressed into
+the service of the military. The walls bore a dozen different broadsides
+and proclamations, which were read by the gaping, hungry crowds.
+
+The Royal Standard was flying from St. Stephen's Tower, for Parliament
+had now met, and all members who were not abroad for their summer
+vacation had taken their places at the heated debates now hourly in
+progress. Over Buckingham Palace the Royal Standard also flew proudly,
+while upon every public building was displayed a Union Jack or a white
+ensign, many of which had done duty at the coronation of His Majesty
+King Edward. The Admiralty flew its own flag, and upon the War Office,
+the India Office, the Foreign Office, and all the dark, sombre
+Government buildings in Whitehall was bunting displayed.
+
+The wild enthusiasm of Sunday and Monday, however, had given place to a
+dark, hopeless apprehension. The great mobs now thronging all the
+principal thoroughfares in London were already half-famished. Food was
+daily rising in price, and the East End was already starving. Bands of
+lawless men and women from the slums of Whitechapel were parading the
+West End streets and squares, and were camping out in Hyde Park and St.
+James's Park.
+
+The days were stifling, for it was an unusually hot September following
+upon a blazing August, and as each breathless evening the sun sank, it
+shed its blood-red afterglow over the giant metropolis, grimly
+precursory of the ruin so surely imminent.
+
+Supplies were still reaching London from the country, but there had been
+immediate panic in the corn and provision markets, with the result that
+prices had instantly jumped up beyond the means of the average Londoner.
+The poorer ones were eagerly collecting the refuse in Covent Garden
+Market and boiling it down to make soup in lieu of anything else, while
+wise fathers of families went to the shops themselves and made meagre
+purchases daily of just sufficient food to keep body and soul together.
+
+For the present there was no fear of London being absolutely starved, at
+least the middle class and wealthier portion of it. At present it was
+the poor--the toiling millions now unemployed--who were the first to
+feel the pinch of hunger and its consequent despair. They filled the
+main arteries of London--Holborn, Oxford Street, the Strand, Regent
+Street, Piccadilly, the Haymarket, St. James's Street, Park Lane,
+Victoria Street, and Knightsbridge, overflowing northward into
+Grosvenor, Berkeley, Portman, and Cavendish Squares, Portland Place, and
+to the terraces around Regent's Park. The centre of London became
+congested. Day and night it was the same. There was no sleep. From
+across the river and from the East End the famished poor came in their
+bewildering thousands, the majority of them honest workers, indignant
+that by the foolish policy of the Government they now found themselves
+breadless.
+
+Before the Houses of Parliament, before the fine new War Office and the
+Admiralty, before Downing Street, and before the houses of known members
+of the Government, constant demonstrations were being made, the hungry
+crowds groaning at the authorities, and singing "God Save the King."
+Though starving and in despair, they were nevertheless loyal, still
+confident that by the personal effort of His Majesty some amicable
+arrangement would be arrived at. The French _entente cordiale_ was
+remembered, and our Sovereign had long ago been declared to be the first
+diplomat in Europe. Every Londoner believed in him, and loved him.
+
+Many houses of the wealthy, especially those of foreigners, had their
+windows broken. In Park Lane, in Piccadilly, and in Grosvenor Square
+more particularly, the houses seemed to excite the ire of the crowds,
+who, notwithstanding special constables having been sworn in, were now
+quite beyond the control of the police. The German Ambassador had
+presented his letters of recall on Sunday evening, and together with the
+whole staff had been accorded a safe conduct to Dover, whence they had
+left for the Continent. The Embassy in Carlton House Terrace, and also
+the Consulate-General in Finsbury Square, had, however, suffered
+severely at the hands of the angry crowd, notwithstanding that both
+premises were under police protection.
+
+All the German waiters employed at the Cecil, the Savoy, the Carlton,
+the Metropole, the Victoria, the Grand, and the other big London hotels,
+had already fled for their lives out into the country, anywhere from the
+vengeance of the London mob. Hundreds of them were trying to make their
+way within the German lines in Essex and Suffolk, and it was believed
+that many had succeeded--those, most probably, who had previously acted
+as spies. Others, it was reported, had been set upon by the excited
+populace, and more than one had lost his life.
+
+Pandemonium reigned in London. Every class and every person in every
+walk of life was affected. German interests were being looked after by
+the Russian Ambassador, and this very fact caused a serious
+demonstration before Chesham House, the big mansion where lives the
+representative of the Czar. Audacious spies had, in secret, in the night
+actually posted copies of Von Kronhelm's proclamation upon the Griffin
+at Temple Bar, upon the Marble Arch, and upon the Mansion House. But
+these had been quickly torn down, and if the hand that had placed them
+there had been known, it would certainly have meant death to the one who
+had thus insulted the citizens of London.
+
+Yet the truth was, alas! too plain. Spread out across Essex and Suffolk,
+making leisurely preparations and laughing at our futile defence, lay
+over one hundred thousand well-equipped, well-fed Germans, ready, when
+their plans were completed, to advance upon and crush the complex city
+which is the pride and home of every Englishman--London.
+
+On Friday night an official communication from the War Office was issued
+to the Press, showing the exact position of the invaders. It was roughly
+this:
+
+"The IXth German Corps, which had effected a landing at Lowestoft, had,
+after moving along the most easterly route, including the road through
+Saxmundham and Ipswich, at length arrived at a position where their
+infantry outposts had occupied the higher slopes of the rising ground
+overlooking the river Stour, near Manningtree, which town, as well as
+Ipswich, was held by them.
+
+"The left flank of this corps rested on the river Stour itself, so that
+it was secure from any turning movement. Its front was opposed to and
+directly threatened Colchester, while its outposts, to say nothing of
+its independent cavalry, reached out in a northerly direction towards
+Stowmarket, where they joined hands with the left flank of the Xth
+Corps--those under Von Wilburg, who had landed at Yarmouth--whose
+headquarters were now at Bury St. Edmunds, their outposts being disposed
+south, overlooking the valley of the upper reaches of the Stour."
+
+Nor was this all. From Newmarket there came information that the enemy
+who had landed at Weybourne and Cromer--viz., the IVth Corps under Von
+Kleppen--were now encamping on the racecourse and being billeted in the
+town and villages about, including Exning, Ashley, Moulton, and
+Kentford. Froelich's cavalry brigade had penetrated south, covering the
+advance, and had now scoured the country, sweeping away the futile
+resistance of the British Yeomanry, and scattering cavalry squadrons
+which they found opposed to them, all the time maintaining communication
+with the Xth Corps on their left, and the flower of the German Army, the
+Guards Corps, from King's Lynn, on their right. Throughout the advance
+from Holt, Von Dorndorf's motorists had been of the greatest utility.
+They had taken constantly companies of infantry hither and thither. At
+any threatened point, so soon as the sound of firing was heard in any
+cavalry skirmish or little engagement of outposts, the smart motor
+infantry were on the spot with the promptness of a fire brigade
+proceeding to a call. For this reason the field artillery, who were
+largely armed with quick-firing guns, capable of pouring in a hail of
+shrapnel on any exposed point, were enabled to push on much further than
+would have been otherwise possible. They were always adequately
+supported by a sufficient escort of these up-to-date troops, who,
+although infantry, moved with greater rapidity than cavalry itself, and
+who, moreover, brought with them their Maxims, which dealt havoc far and
+near.
+
+The magnificent troops of the Duke of Mannheim, in their service
+uniforms, who had landed at King's Lynn, had come across the wide, level
+roads, some by way of Downham Market, Littleport, and Ely, and arrived
+at Cambridge. The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General von Kasten,
+protecting the exposed flanks, had marched _via_ Wisbech, March,
+Chatteris, and St. Ives, while the masses of the cavalry of the Guard,
+including the famous White Cuirassiers, had been acting independently
+around the flat fen country, Spalding and Peterborough, and away to
+quaint old Huntingdon, striking terror into the inhabitants, and
+effectively checking any possible offensive movement of the British that
+might have been directed upon the great German Army during its ruthless
+advance.
+
+Beyond this, worse remained. It was known that the VIIth Corps, under
+Von Bristram, had landed at Goole, and that General Graf Haeseler had
+landed at Hull, New Holland, and Grimsby. This revealed what the real
+strategy of the Generalissimo had been. Their function seemed twofold.
+First and foremost their presence, as a glance at the map will show,
+effectually prevented any attack from the British troops gathered from
+the north and elsewhere, and who were, as shown, concentrated near
+Sheffield and Birmingham, until these two corps had themselves been
+attacked and repulsed, which we were, alas! utterly unable to
+accomplish.
+
+These were two fine German army corps, complete to the proverbial last
+button, splendidly equipped, well fed, and led by officers who had had
+life-long training and were perfectly well acquainted with every mile of
+the country they occupied, by reason of years of careful study given to
+maps of England. It was now entirely plain that the function of these
+two corps was to paralyse our trade in Yorkshire and Lancashire, to
+commit havoc in the big cities, to terrify the people, and to strike a
+crushing blow at our industrial centres, leaving the siege of London to
+the four other corps now so rapidly advancing upon the metropolis.
+
+Events meanwhile were marching quickly in the North.
+
+The town of Sheffield throughout Tuesday and Wednesday was the scene of
+the greatest activity. Day and night the streets were filled with an
+excited populace, and hour by hour the terror increased.
+
+Every train arriving from the North was crowded with Volunteers and
+troops of the line from all stations in the Northern Command. The 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment had joined the Yorkshire Light Infantry,
+who were already stationed in Sheffield, as had also the 19th Hussars,
+and from every regimental district and depot came battalions of Militia
+and Volunteers. From Carlisle came the Reservists of the Border
+Regiment, from Richmond those of the Yorkshire Regiment, from Newcastle
+came what was left of the Reservists of the Durham Light Infantry, and
+the Northumberland Fusiliers, from Lancaster the Royal Lancashires,
+while field artillery came from Seaforth and Preston, and small bodies
+of Reservists of the Liverpool and the South Lancashire Regiments came
+from Warrington. Contingents of the East and North Lancashire Regiments
+arrived from Preston. The Militia, including battalions of the Liverpool
+Regiment, the South Lancashire Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, and
+other regiments in the command, were hurried to the scene of action
+outside Sheffield. From every big town in the whole of the North of
+England and South of Scotland came straggling units of Volunteers. The
+mounted troops were almost entirely Yeomanry, and included the Duke of
+Lancaster's Own Imperial Yeomanry, the East Riding of Yorks, the
+Lancashire Hussars, Northumberland Yeomanry, Westmorland and Cumberland
+Yeomanry, the Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons, and the York Hussars.
+
+These troops, with their ambulances, their baggage, and all their
+impedimenta, created the utmost confusion at both railway stations. The
+great concourse of idlers cheered and cheered again, the utmost
+enthusiasm being displayed when each battalion forming up was marched
+away out of the town to the position chosen for the defence, which now
+reached from Woodhouse on the south, overlooking and commanding the
+whole valley of the river Rother, through Catcliffe, Brinsworth, and
+Tinsley, previously alluded to, skirting Greasborough to the high ground
+north of Wentworth, also commanding the river Don and all approaches to
+it through Mexborough, and over the various bridges which spanned this
+stream--a total of about eight miles.
+
+The south flank was thrown back another four miles to Norton, in an
+endeavour to prevent the whole position being turned, should the Germans
+elect to deliver their threatened blow from a more southerly point than
+was anticipated.
+
+The total line, then, to be occupied by the defenders was about twelve
+miles, and into this front was crowded the heterogeneous mass of troops
+of all arms. The post of honour was at Catcliffe, the dominating key to
+the whole position, which was occupied by the sturdy soldiers of the 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light
+Infantry, while commanding every bridge crossing the rivers which lay
+between Sheffield and the invaders were concentrated the guns of the 7th
+Brigade Royal Horse Artillery, and of the Field Artillery, the 2nd, the
+30th, the 37th, and 38th Brigades, the latter having hurriedly arrived
+from Bradford.
+
+All along the crests of these slopes which formed the defence of
+Sheffield, rising steeply from the river at times up to five hundred
+feet, were assembled the Volunteers, all now by daybreak on Thursday
+morning busily engaged in throwing up shelter-trenches and making hasty
+earthwork defences for the guns. The superintendence of this force had
+merged itself into that of the Northern Command, which nominally had its
+headquarters in York, but which had now been transferred to Sheffield
+itself, for the best of reasons--that it was of no value at York, and
+was badly wanted farther south. General Sir George Woolmer, who so
+distinguished himself in South Africa, had therefore shifted his
+headquarters to the Town Hall in Sheffield, but as soon as he had begun
+to get the line of defence completed, he, with his staff, moved on to
+Handsworth, which was centrally situated.
+
+In the command were to be found roughly twenty-three battalions of
+Militia and forty-eight of Volunteers; but, owing to the supineness and
+neglect of the Government, the former regiments now found themselves, at
+the moment when wanted, greatly denuded of officers, and, owing to any
+lack of encouragement to enlist, largely depleted in men. As regards the
+Volunteers, matters were even worse, only about fifteen thousand having
+responded to the call to arms. And upon these heroic men, utterly
+insufficient in point of numbers, Sheffield had to rely for its defence.
+
+Away to the eastward of Sheffield--exactly where was yet unknown--sixty
+thousand perfectly equipped and thoroughly trained German horse, foot,
+and artillery, were ready at any moment to advance westward into our
+manufacturing districts!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+BRITISH SUCCESS AT ROYSTON.
+
+
+Arrests of alleged spies were reported from Manchester and other large
+towns. Most of the prisoners were, however, able to prove themselves
+naturalised British subjects; but several were detained pending
+investigation and examination of correspondence found at their homes. In
+Manchester, where there are always a number of Germans, it is known that
+many slipped away on Sunday night after the publication of the news of
+the invasion.
+
+In most of the larger Midland towns notices had been issued by the
+mayors deprecating hostility towards residents of foreign origin, and
+stating that all suspicious cases were already receiving the attention
+of the police.
+
+In Stafford the boot factories were idle. In the Potteries all work was
+at a standstill. At Stoke-on-Trent, at Hanley, at Burslem, Tunstall, and
+Congleton all was chaos, and thousands upon thousands were already
+wanting bread. The silk-thread industry at Leek was ruined, so was the
+silk industry at Macclesfield; the great breweries at Burton were idle,
+while the hosiery factories of Leicester and the boot factories of
+Northampton were all shut.
+
+With the German troops threatening Sheffield, Nottingham was in a state
+of intense alarm. The lace and hosiery factories had with one accord
+closed on Tuesday, and the great Market Place was now filled day and
+night by thousands upon thousands of unemployed mill-hands of both
+sexes. On Friday, however, came the news of how Sheffield had built
+barricades against the enemy, and there ensued a frantic attempt at
+defence on the part of thousands of terrified and hungry men and women.
+In their frenzy they sacked houses in order to obtain material to
+construct the barricades, which were, however, built just where the
+fancy took the crowd.
+
+The white, interminable North Road, that runs so straight from London
+through York and Berwick to Edinburgh, was, with its by-roads in the
+Midlands, now being patrolled by British cavalry, and here and there
+telegraphists around a telegraph post showed that those many wires at
+the roadside were being used for military communication.
+
+At several points along the road between Wansford Bridge and Retford the
+wires had been cut and tangled by the enemy's agents, but by Friday all
+had been restored again. In one spot, between Weston and
+Sutton-on-Trent, eight miles south of Newark, a trench had actually been
+dug during the night, the tube containing the subterranean telegraph
+lines discovered, and the whole system to the North disorganised.
+Similar damage had been done by German spies to the line between London
+and Birmingham, two miles south of Shipston-on-Stour; and again the line
+between Loughborough and Nottingham had been similarly destroyed.
+
+The Post Office linesmen had, however, quickly made good the damage
+everywhere in the country not already occupied by the enemy, and
+telegraph and telephone communication North and South was now
+practically again in its normal state.
+
+Through Lincolnshire the enemy's advance patrols had spread South over
+every road between the Humber and the Wash, and in the city of Lincoln
+itself a tremendous sensation was caused when on Wednesday, market-day,
+several bodies of German motor-cyclists swept into the Stonebow and
+dismounted at the Saracen's Head, amid the crowd of farmers and dealers
+who had assembled there, not, alas! to do business, but to discuss the
+situation. In a moment the city was panic-stricken. From mouth to mouth
+the dread truth spread, that the Germans were upon them, and people ran
+indoors and barricaded themselves within their houses.
+
+A body of Uhlans came galloping proudly through the Stonebow a quarter
+of an hour later, and halted in High Street as though awaiting orders.
+Then in rapid succession troops seemed to arrive from all quarters, many
+halting in the Cathedral Close and by Exchequer Gate, and others riding
+through the streets in order to terrify the inhabitants.
+
+Von Kronhelm's famous proclamation was posted by German soldiers upon
+the police station, upon the Stonebow, and upon the door of the grand
+old Cathedral itself, and before noon a German officer accompanied by
+his staff called upon the Mayor, and warned him that Lincoln was
+occupied by the German troops, and that any armed resistance would be
+punished by death, as the Generalissimo's proclamation stated. An
+indemnity was demanded, and then the powerless people saw upon the
+Cathedral and upon several of the public buildings the German flag rise
+and float out upon the summer wind.
+
+Boston was full of German infantry, and officers had taken up temporary
+quarters in the Peacock and other hotels in the market-place, while upon
+the "Stump" the enemy's colours were flying.
+
+No news came from London. People in Norwich, Ipswich, Yarmouth, and
+other places heard vaguely of the invasion in the North, and of fighting
+in which the Germans were careful to report that they were always
+successful. They saw the magnificently equipped army of the Kaiser, and,
+comparing it with our mere apology for military force, regarded the
+issue as hopeless from the very first. In every town the German colours
+were displayed, and all kinds of placards in German and in English made
+their appearance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The "Daily Chronicle," on September 10, published the following despatch
+from one of its war correspondents:
+
+    "ROYSTON, _September_ 9.
+
+"Victory at last. A victory due not only to the bravery and exertion of
+our troops, regular and auxiliary, but also to the genius of
+Field-Marshal Lord Byfield, our Commander-in-Chief, ably seconded by the
+energy and resource with which Sir William Packington, in command of
+the IVth Army Corps at Baldock, carried out that part of the programme
+entrusted to him.
+
+"But though in this success we may hope that we are seeing the first
+glimmerings of dawn--of deliverance from the nightmare of German
+invasion that is now oppressing our dear old England--we must not be led
+into foolishly sanguine hopes. The snake has been scotched, and pretty
+badly into the bargain, but he is far from being killed. The German IVth
+Army Corps, under the famous General Von Kleppen, their magnificent
+Garde Corps commanded by the Duke of Mannheim, and Froelich's fine
+Cavalry Division, have been repulsed in their attack on our positions
+near Royston and Saffron Walden, and driven back with great loss and
+confusion. But we are too weak to follow up our victory as it should be
+followed up.
+
+"The menace of the IXth and Xth Corps on our right flank ties us to our
+selected position, and the bulk of our forces being composed of
+indifferently trained Volunteers and Militia, is much more formidable
+behind entrenchments than when attempting to manoeuvre in a difficult
+and intricate country such as it is about here. But, on the other hand,
+we have given pause to the invaders, and have certainly gained a few
+days' time, which will be invaluable to us.
+
+"We shall be able to get on with the line of fortifications that are
+being constructed to bar the approaches to London, and behind which it
+will be necessary for us to make our final stand. I do not conceive that
+it is possible for such an agglomeration of amateur troops as ours are
+in the main to defeat in the open field such formidable and well-trained
+forces as the Germans have succeeded in throwing into this country. But
+when our Navy has regained command of the sea, we hope that we may,
+before very long, place our unwelcome visitors 'between the devil and
+the deep sea'--the part of the devil being played by our brave troops
+finally concentrated behind the strong defences of the metropolis. In
+short, that the Germans may run out of ammunition and provisions. For if
+communication with the Fatherland is effectively cut, they must starve,
+unless they have previously compelled our submission; for it is
+impossible for an army of the size that has invaded us to live on the
+country.
+
+"No doubt hundreds, nay thousands, of our non-militant countrymen--and,
+alas! women and children--will starve before the German troops are
+conquered by famine, that most terrible of enemies; but this issue seems
+to be the only possible one that will save the country.
+
+"But enough of these considerations of the future. It is time that I
+should relate what I can of the glorious victory which our gallant
+defenders have torn from the enemy. I do not think that I am giving any
+information away if I state that the British position lay mainly between
+Saffron Walden and Royston, the headquarters respectively of the IInd
+and IIIrd Army Corps. The IVth Corps was at Baldock, thrown back to
+cover the left flank and protect our communications by the Great
+Northern Railway. A detached force, from what command supplied it is not
+necessary or advisable to say, was strongly entrenched on the high
+ground north-west of Helions Bumpstead, serving to strengthen our right.
+Our main line of defence--very thinly held in some parts--began a little
+to the south-east of Saffron Walden, and ran westwards along a range of
+high ground through Elmdon and Chrishall to Heydon. Here it turned south
+through Great Chrishall to Little Chrishall, where it again turned west,
+and occupied the high range south of Royston on which stands the village
+of Therfield.
+
+"The night before the battle we knew that the greater portion of the
+German IVth and Garde Corps were concentrated, the former at Newmarket,
+the 1st Division of the latter at Cambridge, the 2nd on this side of St.
+Ives, while Froelich's Cavalry Division had been in constant contact with
+our outposts the greater part of the day previous. The Garde Cavalry
+Brigade was reported to be well away to the westward towards Kettering,
+as we suppose, on account of the reports which have been going about of
+a concentration of Yeomanry and Militia in the hilly country near
+Northampton. Our Intelligence Department, which appears to have been
+very well served by its spies, obtained early knowledge of the intention
+of the Germans to make an attack on our position. In fact, they talked
+openly of it, and stated at Cambridge and Newmarket that they would not
+manoeuvre at all, and only hoped that we should hold on long enough to
+our position to enable them to smash up our IInd and IIIrd Corps by a
+frontal attack, and so clear the road to London. The main roads lent
+themselves admirably to such strategy, which rendered the reports of
+their intentions the more probable, for they all converged on our
+position from their main points of concentration.
+
+"The letter 'W' will exactly serve to show the positions of the
+contending forces. St. Ives is at the top of the first stroke, Cambridge
+at the junction of the two shorter centre ones, Newmarket at the top of
+the last stroke, while the British positions at Royston and Saffron
+Walden are at the junctions of all four strokes at the bottom of the
+letter. The strokes also represent the roads, except that from Cambridge
+three good roads lead towards each of the British positions. The
+prisoners taken from the Germans in the various preliminary skirmishes
+also made no bones of boasting that a direct attack was imminent, and
+our Commander-in-Chief eventually, and rightly as it proved, determined
+to take the risk of all this information having been specially
+promulgated by the German Staff to cover totally different intentions,
+as was indeed quite probable, and to accept it as true. Having made up
+his mind, he lost no time in taking action. He ordered the IVth Corps
+under Sir William Packington to move on Potton, twelve miles to the
+north-west, as soon as it was dark. As many cavalry and mounted infantry
+as could possibly be spared from Royston were placed at his disposal.
+
+"It ought to be stated that while the auxiliary troops had been busily
+employed ever since their arrival in entrenching the British position,
+the greater part of the regular troops had been occupying an advanced
+line two or three miles to the northward on the lower spurs of the
+hills, and every possible indication of a determination to hold this as
+long as possible was afforded to the German reconnoitrers. During the
+night these troops fell back to the position which had been prepared,
+the outposts following just before daylight. About 6 a.m. the enemy were
+reported to be advancing in force along the Icknield Way from Newmarket,
+and also by the roads running on either bank of the river Cam. Twenty
+minutes later considerable bodies of German troops were reported at
+Fowlmere and Melbourn on the two parallel Royston-Cambridge roads. They
+must have followed very close on the heels of our retiring outposts. It
+was a very misty morning--down in the low ground over which the enemy
+were advancing especially so--but about seven a gust of wind from the
+westward dispelled the white fog-wreaths that hung about our left front,
+and enabled our lookouts to get a glimpse along the famous Ermine
+Street, which runs straight as an arrow from Royston for twenty or
+thirty miles to the N.N.W.
+
+"Along this ancient Roman way, far as the eye could reach, poured a
+steady stream of marching men, horse, foot, and artillery. The wind
+dropped, the mists gathered again, and once more enveloped the invaders
+in an impenetrable screen. But by this time the whole British line was
+on the _qui vive_. Regulars, Militia, and Volunteers were marching down
+to their chin-deep trenches, while those who were already there busied
+themselves in improving their loopholes and strengthening their head
+cover. Behind the ridges of the hills the gunners stood grouped about
+their 'Long Toms' and heavy howitzers, while the field batteries waited,
+ready horsed, for orders to gallop under cover of the ridge to whichever
+set of emplacements should first require to be manned and armed. We had
+not enough to distribute before the movements of the enemy should, to a
+certain extent, show his hand.
+
+"About seven o'clock a series of crackling reports from the outskirts of
+Royston announced that the detachment of Mounted Infantry, who now alone
+held it, was exchanging shots with the advancing enemy, and in a few
+minutes, as the morning mistiness cleared off, the General and his
+staff, who were established at the northern edge of the village of
+Therfield, three or four hundred feet higher up than the German
+skirmishers, were able to see the opening of the battle spread like a
+panorama before them. A thick firing line of drab-costumed Germans
+extended right across from Holland Hall to the Coach and Horses on the
+Fowlmere Road. On their left moved two or three compact masses of
+cavalry, while the infantry reserves were easily apparent in front of
+the village of Melbourn. Our Mounted Infantry in the village were
+indistinguishable, but away on the spur to the north-east of Royston a
+couple of batteries of Horse Artillery were unlimbered and were pushing
+their guns up to the brow of the hill by hand. In two minutes they were
+in action, and hard at work.
+
+"Through the glasses the shrapnel could be seen bursting, half a dozen
+together, in front of the advancing Germans, who began to fall fast.
+But almost at once came an overwhelming reply from somewhere out of
+sight behind Melbourn. The whole hilltop around our guns was like a
+spouting volcano. Evidently big high-explosive shells were being fired
+from the German field-howitzers. In accordance with previous orders, our
+horse-gunners at once ran down their guns, limbered up, and started to
+gallop back towards our main position. Simultaneously a mass of German
+cavalry deployed into attack formation near the Coach and Horses, and
+swept down in their direction with the evident intention of cutting off
+and capturing them. But they reckoned without their escort of Mounted
+Infantry, who had been lying low behind the long, narrow line of copse
+north of Lowerfield Farm. Safely ensconced behind this--to
+cavalry--impassable barrier, the company, all good shots, opened a
+terrible magazine fire on the charging squadrons as they passed at close
+range. A Maxim they had with them also swept horses and men away in
+swathes. The charge was checked, and the guns saved, but we had not
+finished with the German reiters. Away to the north-east a battery of
+our 4.7 guns opened on the disorganised cavalry, firing at a range of
+four thousand yards. Their big shells turned the momentary check into a
+rout, both the attacking cavalry and their supports galloping towards
+Fowlmere to get out of range. We had scored the first trick!
+
+"The attacking lines of German Infantry still pressed on, however, and
+after a final discharge the Mounted Infantry in Royston sprang on their
+horses and galloped back over Whitely Hill, leaving the town to be
+occupied by the enemy. To the eastward the thunder of heavy cannon,
+gradually growing in intensity, proclaimed that the IInd Corps was
+heavily attacked. Covered by a long strip of plantation, the German IVth
+Corps contrived to mass an enormous number of guns on a hill about two
+miles north of the village of Elmdon, and a terrific artillery duel
+began between them and our artillery entrenched along the Elmdon-Heydon
+ridge. Under cover of this the enemy began to work his infantry up
+towards Elmdon, obtaining a certain amount of shelter from the spurs
+which ran out towards the north-east of our line. Other German troops
+with guns put in an appearance on the high ground to the north-east of
+Saffron Walden, near Chesterton Park.
+
+"To describe the fortunes of this fiercely contested battle, which
+spread along a front of nearly twenty miles, counting from the detached
+garrison of the hill at Helions Bumpstead--which, by the way, succeeded
+in holding its ground all day, despite two or three most determined
+assaults by the enemy--to Kelshall on the left of the British position,
+would be an impossibility in the space at my disposal. The whole morning
+it raged all along the northern slopes of the upland held by our gallant
+troops. The fiercest fighting was, perhaps, in the neighbourhood of
+Elmdon, where our trenches were more than once captured by the Magdeburg
+battalions, only to be themselves hurled out again by the rush of the
+1st Coldstream Guards, who had been held in reserve near the threatened
+point. By noon the magnificent old palace at Audley End was in flames.
+Art treasures which were of inestimable value and absolutely
+unreplaceable perished in this shocking conflagration. Desperate
+fighting was going on in the streets of the little town of Saffron
+Walden, where a mingled mass of Volunteers and Militia strove hard to
+arrest the advance of a portion of the German Army which was
+endeavouring to work round the right of our position.
+
+"On our left the Foot Guards and Fusiliers of the 1st German Guard
+Division, after receiving a terrible pounding from our guns when they
+poured into Royston at the heels of our Mounted Infantry, had fought
+their way up the heights to within fifteen hundred yards of our trenches
+on the upper slopes of the ridge. Farther than that they had been unable
+to advance. Their close formations offered an excellent target to the
+rifles of the Volunteers and Militia lining our entrenchments. The
+attackers had lost men in thousands, and were now endeavouring to dig
+themselves in as best they could under the hail of projectiles that
+continually swept the hillside. About noon, too, the 2nd Division of the
+Garde Corps, after some skirmishing with the Mounted Infantry away on
+our left front, got into attack formation along the line of the Hitchin
+and Cambridge Railway, and after pouring a deluge of projectiles from
+field guns and howitzers upon our position, advanced upon Therfield with
+the greatest bravery and determination. They had succeeded by 2 p.m. in
+driving our men from the end of the spur running northward near
+Therfield Heath, and managed to get a number of their howitzers up
+there, and at once opened fire from the cover afforded by several copses
+out of which our men had been driven.
+
+"In short, things were beginning to look very bad for Old England, and
+the watchers on the Therfield heights turned their glasses anxiously
+northward in search of General Sir William Packington's force from
+Potton. They had not long to wait. At 2.15 the winking flash of a
+heliograph away near Wendy Place, about eight miles up Ermine Street,
+announced that the advance guard, consisting of the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, was already at Bassingbourn, and that the main body was close
+behind, having escaped detection by all the enemy's patrols and flank
+guards. They were now directly in the rear of the right of the German
+reserves, who had been pushed forward into the neighbourhood of Royston
+to support the attack of their main body on the British position. A few
+minutes later it was evident that the enemy had also become aware of
+their advent. Two or three regiments hurriedly issued from Royston and
+deployed to the north-west. But the guns of the Baldock Corps turned
+such a 'rafale' fire upon them that they hesitated and were lost.
+
+"Every long-range gun in the British entrenchments that would bear was
+also turned upon them, leaving the infantry and field guns to deal with
+the troops assaulting their position. The three battalions, as well as a
+fourth that was sent to their assistance, were simply swept out of
+existence by this terrible cross-fire. Their remnants streamed away, a
+disorganised crowd of scattered stragglers, towards Melbourn; while,
+still holding on to Bassingbourn, the Baldock force moved down on
+Royston, driving everything before it.
+
+"The most advanced German troops made a final effort to capture our
+position when they saw what was going on behind them, but it was
+half-hearted; they were brought to a standstill, and our men, fixing
+bayonets, sprang from their trenches and charged down upon them with
+cheers, which were taken up all along the line for miles. The Germans
+here and there made a partial stand, but in half an hour they were down
+on the low ground, falling back towards the north-east in the greatest
+confusion, losing men in thousands from the converging fire of our guns.
+Their cavalry made a gallant attempt to save the day by charging our
+troops to the north of Royston. It was a magnificent sight to see their
+enormous masses sweeping over the ground with an impetus which looked
+capable of carrying everything before it, but our men, clustering behind
+the hedges of Ermine Street, mowed them down squadrons at a time. Not
+one of them reached the roadway. The magnificent Garde Corps was routed.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF ROYSTON SUNDAY SEPT. 9TH.]
+
+"The combined IIIrd and IVth Corps now advanced on the exposed right
+flank of the German IVth Corps, which, fighting gallantly, fell back,
+doing its best to cover the retreat of its comrades, who, on their part,
+very much hampered its movements. By nightfall there was no unwounded
+German south of Whittlesford, except as a prisoner. By this time, too,
+we were falling back on our original position."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BRITISH ABANDON COLCHESTER.
+
+
+On Tuesday, 10th September, the "Daily News" published the following
+telegram from its war correspondent, Mr. Edgar Hamilton:
+
+    "CHELMSFORD, _Monday, Sept._ 9.
+
+"I sit down, after a sleepless night, to indite the account of our
+latest move. We hear that Sheffield has fallen, and our troops are in
+flight. As, by the time this appears in print, the enemy will of
+necessity be aware of our abandonment of Colchester, the censor will
+not, I imagine, prevent the despatch of my letter.
+
+"For our move has been made one of a retrograde nature, and I do not
+doubt that the cavalry of the German IXth Corps are close behind us and
+in touch with our own. But I must not, in using the word 'retrograde,'
+be supposed to criticise in any way the strategy of our generals. For
+every one here is, I am sure, fully persuaded of the wisdom of the step.
+Colchester, with its plucky little garrison, was altogether too much 'in
+the air,' and stood a great risk of being isolated by a converging
+advance of the IXth and Xth Corps of the German invaders, to say nothing
+of the XIIth (Saxon) Corps at Maldon, which since the unfortunate battle
+of Purleigh has shown itself very active to the north and east.
+
+"The Saxons have refrained from attacking our Vth Corps since its
+repulse, and it has been left almost in peace to entrench its position
+from Danbury to the southward; but, on the other hand, while not
+neglecting to further strengthen their already formidable defences
+between the Blackwater and the Crouch, their cavalry have scoured the
+country up to the very gates of Colchester. Yesterday morning the 16th
+Lancers and the 17th Hussars--who had fallen back from Norwich--together
+with some of the local Yeomanry, moved out by the Tolleshunt d'Arcy and
+Great Totham roads, and drove in their patrols with some loss. At
+Tiptree Heath there was a sharp cavalry engagement between our red
+Lancers and several squadrons of a sky-blue hussar regiment. Our people
+routed them, but in the pursuit that followed would have fared badly, as
+they fell in with the four remaining squadrons supported by another
+complete regiment, had it not been for the opportune arrival of the
+Household Cavalry Brigade, which had moved north-east from Danbury to
+co-operate. This completely changed the aspect of affairs. The Germans
+were soundly beaten, with the loss of a large number of prisoners, and
+galloped back to Maldon in confusion. In the meantime, the 2nd King's
+Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and the 5th Battery R.F. Artillery had been
+sent down to Witham by train, whence they marched up to the high ground
+near Wickham Bishops. They and the Yeomanry were left there in a
+position to cover the main London Road and the Great Eastern Railway,
+and at the same time threaten any movement of the enemy by the Great
+Totham Road. When the news of our success reached Colchester, soon after
+midday, we were all very jubilant. In fact, I fear that a great many
+people spent the afternoon in a species of fool's paradise. And when
+towards the evening the announcement of our splendid victory at Royston
+was posted up on the red walls of the fine town hall, and outside the
+Cups, there was an incipient outbreak of that un-English excitement
+known as 'Mafficking.'
+
+"But this exultation was fated to be but short-lived, even though the
+Mayor appeared on the balcony of the Town Hall and addressed the crowd,
+while the latest news was posted outside the offices of the 'Essex
+Telegraph,' opposite the post office. The wind was in the north, and
+about 5.45 in the afternoon the sound of a heavy explosion was heard
+from the direction of Manningtree. I was in the Cups Hotel at the time
+arranging for an early dinner, and ran out into the street. As I emerged
+from the archway of the hotel I distinctly heard a second detonation
+from the same direction. A sudden silence, ominous and unnatural, seemed
+to fall on the yelping jingoes in the street, in the midst of which the
+rumble of yet another explosion rolled down on the wind, this time from
+a more westerly direction. Men asked their neighbours breathlessly as to
+what all this portended. I myself knew no more than the most ignorant of
+the crowd, till in an officer who rushed hastily by me in Head Street,
+on his way into the hotel, I recognised my friend Captain Burton, of the
+Artillery.
+
+"I buttonholed him at once.
+
+"'Do I know what those explosions were?' repeated he in answer to my
+inquiry. 'Well, I don't know, but I'm open to bet you five to one that
+it's the sappers blowing up the bridges over the Stour at Manningtree
+and Stratford St. Mary.'
+
+"'Then the Germans will have arrived there?' I queried.
+
+"'Most probably. And look here,' he continued, taking me aside by the
+arm, and lowering his voice, 'you take my tip. We shall be out of this
+to-night. So you'd best pack up your traps and get into marching order.'
+
+"'Do you know this?' said I.
+
+"'Not officially, or I shouldn't tell you anything about it. But I can
+put two and two together. We all knew that the General wouldn't be fool
+enough to try and defend an open town of this size with such a small
+garrison against a whole army corps, or perhaps more. It would serve no
+good purpose, and expose the place to destruction and bring all sorts of
+disaster on the civil population. You could have seen that for yourself,
+for no attempt whatever has been made to erect defences of any kind,
+neither have we received any reinforcements at all. If they had meant to
+defend it they could certainly have contrived to send us some Volunteers
+and guns at any rate. No, the few troops we have here have done their
+best in assisting the Danbury Force against the Saxons, and are much too
+valuable to be left here to be cut off without being able to do much to
+check the advance of the enemy. If we had been going to try anything of
+that kind, we should have now been holding the line of the river Stour;
+but I know we have only small detachments at the various bridges,
+sufficient only to drive off the enemy's cavalry patrols. By now, having
+blown up the bridges, I expect they are falling back as fast as they can
+get. Besides, look here,' he added, 'what do you think that battalion
+was sent to Wickham Bishops for this morning?'
+
+"I told him my theories as set forth above.
+
+"'Oh, yes, that's all right,' he answered. 'But you may bet your boots
+that there's more in it than that. In my opinion, the General has had
+orders to clear out as soon as the enemy are preparing to cross the
+Stour, and the Lancasters are planted there to protect our left flank
+from an attack from Maldon while we are retreating on Chelmsford.'
+
+"'But we might fall back on Braintree?' I hazarded.
+
+"'Don't you believe it. We're not wanted there--at least, I mean, not
+so much as elsewhere. Where we shall come in is to help to fill the gap
+between Braintree and Danbury. I think, myself, we might just as well
+have done it before. We have been sending back stores by rail for the
+last two days. Well, good-bye,' he said, holding out his hand. 'Keep all
+this to yourself, and mark my words, we'll be off at dusk.'
+
+"Away he went, and convinced that his prognostications were correct--as,
+indeed, in the main they proved--I hastened to eat my dinner, pay my
+bill, and get my portmanteau packed and stowed away in my motor. As soon
+as the evening began to close in I started and made for the barracks,
+going easy. The streets were still full of people, but they were very
+quiet, and mostly talking together in scattered groups. A shadow seemed
+to have fallen on the jubilant crowd of the afternoon, though, as far as
+I could ascertain, there were no definite rumours of the departure of
+the troops and the close advent of the enemy.
+
+"When I arrived at the barracks, I saw at once that there was something
+in the wind, and pulled up alongside the barrack railings, determined to
+watch the progress of events. I had not long to wait. In about ten
+minutes a bugle sounded, and the scattered assemblage of men on the
+barrack-square closed together and solidified into a series of quarter
+columns. At the same time the Volunteer battalion moved across from the
+other side of the road and joined the Regular troops. I heard a sharp
+clatter and jingling behind me, and, looking round, saw the General and
+his staff with a squad of cavalry canter up the road. They turned into
+the barrack gate, greeted by a sharp word of command and the rattle of
+arms from the assembled battalions. As far as I could make out, the
+General made them some kind of address, after which I heard another word
+of command, upon which the regiment nearest to the gate formed fours and
+marched out.
+
+"It was the 2nd Dorsetshire. I watched anxiously to see which way they
+turned. As I more than expected, they turned in the direction of the
+London Road. My friend had been right so far, but till the troops
+arrived at Mark's Tey, where the road forked, I could not be certain
+whether they were going towards Braintree or Chelmsford. The Volunteers
+followed; then the Leicestershires, then a long train of artillery,
+field batteries, big 4.7 guns, and howitzers. The King's Own Scottish
+Borderers formed the rearguard. With them marched the General and his
+staff; I saw no cavalry. I discovered afterwards that the General,
+foreseeing that a retirement was imminent, had ordered the 16th Lancers
+and the 7th Hussars, after their successful morning performance, to
+remain till further orders at Kelvedon and Tiptree respectively, so that
+their horses were resting during the afternoon.
+
+"During the night march the former came back and formed a screen behind
+the retiring column, while the latter were in a position to observe and
+check any movement northwards that might be made by the Saxons, at the
+same time protecting its flank and rear from a possible advance by the
+cavalry of Von Kronhelm's Army, should they succeed in crossing the
+river Stour soon enough to be able to press after us in pursuit by
+either of the two eastern roads leading from Colchester to Maldon. After
+the last of the departing soldiers had tramped away into the gathering
+darkness through the mud, which after yesterday's downpour still lay
+thick upon the roads, I bethought me that I might as well run down to
+the railway station to see if anything was going on there. I was just in
+time.
+
+"The electric light disclosed a bustling scene as the last of the
+ammunition and a certain proportion of stores were being hurried into a
+long train that stood with steam up ready to be off. The police allowed
+none of the general public to enter the station, but my correspondent's
+pass obtained me admission to the departure platform. There I saw
+several detachments of the Royal Engineers, the Mounted Infantry--minus
+their horses, which had been already sent on--and some of the
+Leicestershire Regiment. Many of the men had their arms, legs, or heads
+bandaged, and bore evident traces of having been in action. I got into
+conversation with a colour-sergeant of the Engineers, and learned these
+were the detachments who had been stationed at the bridges over the
+Stour. It appears there was some sharp skirmishing with the German
+advance troops before the officers in command had decided that they were
+in sufficient force to justify them in blowing up the bridges. In fact,
+at the one at which my informant was stationed, and that the most
+important one of all, over which the main road from Ipswich passed at
+Stratford St. Mary, the officer in charge delayed just too long, so
+that a party of the enemy's cavalry actually secured the bridge, and
+succeeded in cutting the wires leading to the charges which had been
+placed in readiness to blow it up. Luckily, the various detachments
+present rose like one man to the occasion, and, despite a heavy fire,
+hurled themselves upon the intruders with the bayonet with such
+determination and impetus, that the bridge was swept clear in a moment.
+The wires were reconnected, and the bridge cleared of our men just as
+the Germans, reinforced by several of their supporting squadrons, who
+had come up at a gallop, dashed upon it in pursuit. The firing key was
+pressed at this critical moment, and, with a stunning report, a whole
+troop was blown into the air, the remaining horses, mad with fright,
+stampeding despite all that their riders could do. The road was cut, and
+the German advance temporarily checked, while the British detachment
+made off as fast as it could for Colchester.
+
+"I asked the sergeant how long he thought it would be before the Germans
+succeeded in crossing it. 'Bless you, sir, I expect they're over by
+now,' he answered. 'They would be sure to have their bridging companies
+somewhere close up, and it would not take them more than an hour or two
+to throw a bridge over that place.' The bridges at Boxted Mill and
+Nayland had been destroyed previously.
+
+"The railway bridge and the other one at Manningtree were blown up
+before the Germans could get a footing, and their defenders had come in
+by rail. But my conversation was cut short, the whistle sounded, the men
+were hustled on board the train, and it moved slowly out of the station.
+As for me, I hurried out to my car, and, putting on speed, was soon
+clear of the town, and spinning along for Mark's Tey. It is about five
+miles, and shortly before I got there I overtook the marching column.
+The men were halted, and in the act of putting on their greatcoats. I
+was stopped here by the rearguard, who took charge of me, and would not
+let me proceed until permission was obtained from the General.
+
+"Eventually this officer ordered me to be brought to him, I presented my
+pass; but he said, 'I am afraid that I shall have to ask you either to
+turn back or to slow down and keep pace with us. In fact, you had
+better do the latter. I might, indeed, have to exercise my powers and
+impress your motor, should the exigencies of the Service require it.' I
+saw that it was best to make virtue of necessity, and replied that it
+was very much at his service, and that I was very well content to
+accompany the column. In point of fact, the latter was strictly true,
+for I wanted to see what was to be seen, and there were no points about
+going along with no definite idea of where I wanted to get to, with a
+possible chance of falling into the hands of the Saxons into the
+bargain. So a Staff officer, who was suffering from a slight wound, was
+placed alongside me, and the column, having muffled itself in its
+greatcoats, once more began to plug along through the thickening mire.
+My position was just in front of the guns, which kept up a monotonous
+rumble behind me. My companion was talkative, and afforded me a good
+deal of incidental and welcome information. Thus, just after we started,
+and were turning to the left at Mark's Tey, a bright glare followed by a
+loudish report came from the right of the road. 'What's that?' I
+naturally ejaculated. 'Oh, that will be the sappers destroying the
+junction with the Sudbury line,' he replied. 'There's the train waiting
+for them just beyond.'
+
+"So it was. The train that I had seen leaving had evidently stopped
+after passing the junction, while the line was broken behind it. 'They
+will do the same after passing the cross line at Witham,' volunteered
+he.
+
+"A mile or two further on we passed between two lines of horsemen, their
+faces set northwards and muffled to the eyes in their long cloaks.
+'That's some of the 16th,' he said, 'going to cover our rear.'
+
+"So we moved on all night through the darkness and rain, and with the
+first glimmer of dawn halted at Witham. We had about nine miles still to
+go to reach Chelmsford, which I learned was our immediate destination,
+and it was decided to rest here for an hour, while the men made the best
+breakfast they could from the contents of their haversacks. But the
+villagers brought out hot tea and coffee, and did the best they could
+for us, so we did not fare so badly after all. As for me, I got
+permission to go on, taking with me my friend the Staff officer, who had
+despatches to forward from Chelmsford. I pushed on at full speed. We
+were there in a very short space of time, and during the morning I
+learned that the Braintree Army was falling back on Dunmow, and that the
+Colchester garrison was to assist in holding the line of the river
+Chelmer."
+
+
+    NOTICE.
+
+    CONCERNING WOUNDED BRITISH SOLDIERS.
+
+    In compliance with an order of the Commander-in-Chief
+    of the German Imperial Army, the Governor-General
+    of East Anglia decrees as follows:--
+
+    (1) Every inhabitant of the counties of Norfolk,
+    Suffolk, Essex, Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire,
+    Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, Rutland,
+    Huntingdon, and Hertford, who gives asylum to or
+    lodges one or more ill or wounded British soldier, is
+    obliged to make a declaration to the mayor of the town
+    or to the local police within 24 hours, stating name,
+    grade, place of birth, and nature of illness or injury.
+
+    Every change of domicile of the wounded is also to
+    be notified within 24 hours.
+
+    In absence of masters, servants are ordered to make
+    the necessary declarations.
+
+    The same order applies to the directors of hospitals,
+    surgeries, or ambulance stations, who receive the
+    British wounded within our jurisdiction.
+
+    (2) All mayors are ordered to prepare lists of the
+    British wounded, showing the number, with their
+    names, grade, and place of birth in each district.
+
+    (3) The mayor, or the superintendent of police, must
+    send on the 1st and 15th of each month a copy of
+    his lists to the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief.
+    The first list must be sent on the 15th September.
+
+    (4) Any person failing to comply with this order
+    will, in addition to being placed under arrest for
+    harbouring British troops, be fined a sum not exceeding
+    L20.
+
+    (5) This decree is to be published in all towns and
+    villages in the Province of East Anglia.
+
+    =Count VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,
+    Lieutenant-General,
+    Governor of German East Anglia.=
+    IPSWICH, _September_ 6, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: COPY OF ONE OF THE ENEMY'S PROCLAMATIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD.
+
+
+A despatch from Mr. Edgar Hamilton to the "Daily News," as follows, was
+published on Saturday, 15th September:
+
+"At Little Waltham I found myself close to the scene of action. About a
+mile ahead of me the hamlet of Howe Street was in flames and burning
+furiously. I could see the shells bursting in and all over it in perfect
+coveys. I could not make out where they were coming from, but an officer
+I met said he thought the enemy must have several batteries in action on
+the high ground about Littley Green, a mile and a half to the north on
+the opposite side of the river. I crossed over myself, and got up on the
+knoll where the Leicestershires and Dorsets had been stationed, together
+with a number of the 4.7-inch guns brought from Colchester.
+
+"This piece of elevated ground is about two miles long, running almost
+north and south, and at the top of it I got an extensive view to the
+eastward right away to beyond Witham, as the ground fell all the way.
+The country was well wooded, and a perfect maze of trees and hedgerows.
+If there were any Germans down there in this plain they were lying very
+low indeed, for my glasses did not discover the least indication of
+their presence. Due east my view was bounded by the high wooded ground
+about Wickham Bishops and Tiptree Heath, which lay a long blue hummock
+on the horizon, while to the south-east Danbury Hill, with our big
+war-balloon floating overhead, was plainly discernible.
+
+"While I gazed on the apparently peaceful landscape I was startled by a
+nasty, sharp hissing sound, which came momentarily nearer. It seemed to
+pass over my head, and was followed by a loud bang in the air, where now
+hung a ring of white smoke. It was a shell from the enemy. Just ahead
+of me was a somewhat extensive wood; and, urged by some insane impulse
+of seeking shelter, I left the car, which I ordered my chauffeur to take
+back for a mile and wait, and made for the close-standing trees. If I
+had stopped to think I should have realised that the wood gave me
+actually no protection whatever, and I had not gone far when the
+crashing of timber and noise of the bursting projectiles overhead and in
+the undergrowth around made me understand clearly that the Germans were
+making a special target of the wood, which, I imagine, they thought
+might conceal some of our troops. I wished heartily that I was seated
+beside my chauffeur in his fast-receding car.
+
+"However, my first object was to get clear of the wood again, and after
+some little time I emerged on the west side, right in the middle of a
+dressing station for the wounded, which had been established in a little
+hollow. Two surgeons, with their assistants, were already busily engaged
+with a number of wounded men, most of whom were badly hit by shrapnel
+bullets about the upper part of the body. I gathered from one or two of
+the few most slightly wounded men that our people had been, and were,
+very hardly put to it to hold their own. 'I reckon,' said one of them, a
+bombardier of artillery, 'that the enemy must have got more than a
+hundred guns firing at us, and at Howe Street village. If we could only
+make out where the foreign devils were,' continued my informant, 'our
+chaps could have knocked a good many of them out with our
+four-point-sevens, especially if we could have got a go at them before
+they got within range themselves. But they must have somehow contrived
+to get them into position during the night, for we saw nothing of them
+coming up. They are somewhere about Chatley, Fairstead Lodge, and Little
+Leighs, but as we can't locate them exactly, and only have ten guns up
+here, it don't give us much chance, does it?' Later I saw an officer of
+the Dorsets, who confirmed the gunner's story, but added that our people
+were well entrenched and the guns well concealed, so that none of the
+latter had been put out of action, and he thought we should be able to
+hold on to the hill all right. I regained my car without further
+adventure, bar several narrow escapes from stray shell, and made my way
+back as quickly as possible to Chelmsford.
+
+"The firing went on all day, not only to the northward, but also away to
+the southward, where the Saxons, while not making any determined attack,
+kept the Vth Corps continually on the alert, and there was an almost
+continuous duel between the heavy pieces. As it appeared certain that
+the knoll I had visited in the forenoon was the main objective of the
+enemy's attack, reinforcements had been more than once sent up there,
+but the German shell fire was so heavy that they found it almost
+impossible to construct the additional cover required. Several batteries
+of artillery were despatched to Pleshy and Rolphy Green to keep down, if
+possible, the fire of the Germans, but it seemed to increase rather than
+diminish. They must have had more guns in action than they had at first.
+Just at dusk their infantry had made the first openly offensive
+movement.
+
+"Several lines of skirmishers suddenly appeared in the valley between
+Little Leighs and Chatley, and advanced towards Lyonshall Wood, at the
+north end of the knoll east of Little Waltham. They were at first
+invisible from the British gun positions on the other side of the
+Chelmer, and when they cleared the spur on which Hyde Hall stands they
+were hardly discernible in the gathering darkness. The Dorsetshire and
+the other battalions garrisoning the knoll manned their breastworks as
+they got within rifle range, and opened fire, but they were still
+subjected to the infernal rafale from the Hanoverian guns on the hills
+to the northward, and to make matters worse at this critical moment the
+Xth Corps brought a long line of guns into action between Flacks Green
+and Great Leighs Wood, in which position none of the British guns except
+a few on the knoll itself could reach them. Under this cross hurricane
+of projectiles the British fire was quite beaten down, and the Germans
+followed up their skirmishers by almost solid masses, which advanced
+with all but impunity save for the fire of the few British long-range
+guns at Pleshy Mount. There they were firing almost at random, as the
+gunners could not be certain of the exact whereabouts of their
+objectives. There was a searchlight on the knoll, but at the first sweep
+of its ray it was absolutely demolished by a blizzard of shrapnel. Every
+German gun was turned upon it. The Hanoverian battalions now swarmed to
+the assault, disregarding the gaps made in their ranks by the magazine
+fire of the defenders as soon as their close advance masked the fire of
+their own cannon.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.
+Position on the Evening of September 11.]
+
+"The British fought desperately. Three several times they hurled back at
+the attackers, but, alas! we were overborne by sheer weight of numbers.
+Reinforcements summoned by telephone, as soon as the determined nature
+of the attack was apparent, were hurried up from every available source,
+but they only arrived in time to be carried down the hill again in the
+rush of its defeated defenders, and to share with them the storm of
+projectiles from the quick-firers of General von Kronhelm's artillery,
+which had been pushed forward during the assault. It was with the
+greatest difficulty that the shattered and disorganised troops were got
+over the river at Little Waltham. As it was, hundreds were drowned in
+the little stream, and hundreds of others killed and wounded by the fire
+of the Germans. They had won the first trick. This was indisputable, and
+as ill news travels apace, a feeling of gloom fell upon our whole force,
+for it was realised that the possession of the captured knoll would
+enable the enemy to mass troops almost within effective rifle range of
+our river line of defence. I believe that it was proposed by some
+officers on the staff that we should wheel back our left and take up a
+fresh position during the night. This was overruled, as it was
+recognised that to do so would enable the enemy to push in between the
+Dunmow force and our own, and so cut our general line in half. All that
+could be done was to get up every available gun and bombard the hill
+during the night in order to hamper the enemy in his preparations for
+further forward movement and in his entrenching operations.
+
+"Had we more men at our disposal I suppose there is little doubt that a
+strong counter-attack would have been made on the knoll almost
+immediately; but in the face of the enormous numbers opposed to us, I
+imagine that General Blennerhasset did not feel justified in denuding
+any portion of our position of its defenders. So all through the dark
+hours the thunder of the great guns went on. In spite of the cannonade
+the Germans turned on no less than three searchlights from the southern
+end of the knoll about midnight. Two were at once put out by our fire,
+but the third managed to exist for over half an hour, and enabled the
+Germans to see how hard we were working to improve our defences along
+the river bank. I am afraid that they were by this means able to make
+themselves acquainted with the positions of a great number of our
+trenches. During the night our patrols reported being unable to
+penetrate beyond Pratt's Farm, Mount Maskell, and Porter's Farm on the
+Colchester Road. Everywhere they were forced back by superior numbers.
+The enemy were fast closing in upon us. It was a terrible night in
+Chelmsford.
+
+"There was panic on every hand. A man mounted the Tindal statue and
+harangued the crowd, urging the people to rise and compel the Government
+to stop the war. A few young men endeavoured to load the old Crimean
+cannon in front of the Shire Hall, but found it clogged with rust and
+useless. People fled from the villa residences in Brentwood Road into
+the town for safety, now that the enemy were upon them. The banks in
+High Street were being barricaded, and the stores still remaining in the
+various grocers' shops, Luckin Smith's, Martin's, Cramphorn's, and
+Pearke's, were rapidly being concealed from the invaders. All the
+ambulance waggons entering the town were filled with wounded, although
+as many as possible were sent south by train. By one o'clock in the
+morning, however, most of the civilian inhabitants had fled. The streets
+were empty, but for the bivouacking troops and the never-ending
+procession of wounded men. The General and his staff were deliberating
+to a late hour in the Shire Hall, at which he had established his
+headquarters. The booming of the guns waxed and waned till dawn, when a
+furious outburst announced that the second act of the tragedy was about
+to open.
+
+
+    DECREE
+
+    CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR.
+
+    WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA, in virtue of the powers
+    conferred upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor,
+    Commander-in-Chief of the German Armies, order, for the
+    maintenance of the internal and external security of the
+    counties of the Government-General:--
+
+    ARTICLE I.--Any individual guilty of incendiarism or of wilful
+    inundation, of attack, or of resistance with violence against
+    the Government-General or the agents of the civil or military
+    authorities, of sedition, of pillage, of theft with violence, of
+    assisting prisoners to escape, or of exciting soldiers to
+    treasonable acts, shall be PUNISHED BY DEATH.
+
+    In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be
+    sent to penal servitude with hard labour for twenty years.
+
+    ARTICLE II.--Any person provoking or inciting an individual to
+    commit the crimes mentioned in Article I. will be sent to penal
+    servitude with hard labour for ten years.
+
+    ARTICLE III.--Any person propagating false reports relative to
+    the operations of war or political events will be imprisoned for
+    one year, and fined up to L100.
+
+    In any case where the affirmation or propagation may cause
+    prejudice against the German Army, or against any authorities or
+    functionaries established by it, the culprit will be sent to
+    hard labour for ten years.
+
+    ARTICLE IV.--Any person usurping a public office, or who commits
+    any act or issues any order in the name of a public functionary,
+    will be imprisoned for five years, and fined L150.
+
+    ARTICLE V.--Any person who voluntarily destroys or abstracts any
+    documents, registers, archives, or public documents deposited in
+    public offices, or passing through their hands in virtue of
+    their functions as government or civic officials, will be
+    imprisoned for two years, and fined L150.
+
+    ARTICLE VI.--Any person obliterating, damaging, or tearing down
+    official notices, orders, or proclamations of any sort issued by
+    the German authorities will be imprisoned for six months, and
+    fined L80.
+
+    ARTICLE VII.--Any resistance or disobedience of any order given
+    in the interests of public security by military commanders and
+    other authorities, or any provocation or incitement to commit
+    such disobedience, will be punished by one year's imprisonment,
+    or a fine of not less than L150.
+
+    ARTICLE VIII.--All offences enumerated in Articles I.--VII. are
+    within the jurisdiction of the Councils of War.
+
+    ARTICLE IX.--It is within the competence of Councils of War to
+    adjudicate upon all other crimes and offences against the
+    internal and external security of the English provinces occupied
+    by the German Army, and also upon all crimes against the
+    military or civil authorities, or their agents, as well as
+    murder, the fabrication of false money, of blackmail, and all
+    other serious offences.
+
+    Article X.--Independent of the above, the military jurisdiction
+    already proclaimed will remain in force regarding all actions
+    tending to imperil the security of the German troops, to damage
+    their interests, or to render assistance to the Army of the
+    British Government.
+
+    Consequently, there will be PUNISHED BY DEATH, and we expressly
+    repeat this, all persons who are not British soldiers and--
+
+    (a) Who serve the British Army or the Government as spies, or
+    receive British spies, or give them assistance or asylum.
+
+    (b) Who serve as guides to British troops, or mislead the German
+    troops when charged to act as guides.
+
+    (c) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German soldier or officer.
+
+    (d) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt railways or
+    telegraph lines, render roads impassable, burn munitions of war,
+    provisions, or quarters of the troops.
+
+    (e) Who take arms against the German troops.
+
+    ARTICLE XI.--The organisation of Councils of War mentioned in
+    Articles VIII. and IX. of the Law of May 2, 1870, and their
+    procedure are regulated by special laws which are the same as
+    the summary jurisdiction of military tribunals. In the case of
+    Article X. there remains in force the Law of July 21, 1867,
+    concerning the military jurisdiction applicable to foreigners.
+
+    ARTICLE XII.--The present order is proclaimed and put into
+    execution on the morrow of the day upon which it is affixed in
+    the public places of each town and village, The Governor-General
+    of East Anglia,
+
+    =COUNT VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBERG, Lieutenant-General.=
+
+    NORWICH, _September 7th_, 1910.
+
+
+"I had betaken myself at once to the round tower of the church, next the
+Stone Bridge, from which I had an excellent view both east and north.
+The first thing that attracted my eye was the myriad flashings of rifle
+fire in the dimness of the breaking day. They reached in a continuous
+line of coruscations from Boreham Hall, opposite my right hand, to the
+knoll by Little Waltham, a distance of three or four miles, I should
+say. The enemy were driving in all our outlying and advanced troops by
+sheer weight of numbers. Presently the heavy batteries at Danbury began
+pitching shell over in the direction of the firing, but as the German
+line still advanced, it had not apparently any very great effect. The
+next thing that happened was a determined attack on the village of Howe
+Street made from the direction of Hyde Hall. This is about two miles
+north of Little Waltham. In spite of our incessant fire, the Germans had
+contrived to mass a tremendous number of guns and howitzers on and
+behind the knoll they captured last night, and there was any quantity
+more on the ridge above Hyde Hall. All these terrible weapons
+concentrated their fire for a few moments on the blackened ruins of Howe
+Street. Not a mouse could have lived there. The little place was simply
+pulverised.
+
+"Our guns at Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, aided by a number of field
+batteries, in vain endeavoured to make head against them. They were
+outnumbered by six to one. Under cover of this tornado of iron and
+fire, the enemy pushed several battalions over the river, making use of
+the ruins of the many bridges about there which had been hastily
+destroyed, and which they repaired with planks and other materials they
+brought along with them. They lost a large number of men in the process,
+but they persevered, and by ten o'clock were in complete possession of
+Howe Street, Langley's Park, and Great Waltham, and moving in fighting
+formation against Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, their guns covering
+their advance with a perfectly awful discharge of shrapnel. Our cannon
+on the ridge at Partridge Green took the attackers in flank, and for a
+time checked their advance, but, drawing upon themselves the attention
+of the German artillery, on the south end of the knoll, were all but
+silenced.
+
+"As soon as this was effected another strong column of Germans followed
+in the footsteps of the first, and deploying to the left, secured the
+bridge at Little Waltham, and advanced against the gun positions on
+Partridge Green. This move turned all our river bank entrenchments right
+down to Chelmsford. Their defenders were now treated to the enfilade
+fire of a number of Hanoverian batteries that galloped down to Little
+Waltham. They stuck to their trenches gallantly, but presently when the
+enemy obtained a footing on Partridge Green they were taken in reverse,
+and compelled to fall back, suffering terrible losses as they did so.
+The whole of the infantry of the Xth Corps, supported--as we
+understand--by a division which had joined them from Maldon, now moved
+down on Chelmsford. In fact, there was a general advance of the three
+combined armies stretching from Partridge Green on the west to the
+railway line on the east. The defenders of the trenches facing east were
+hastily withdrawn, and thrown back on Writtle. The Germans followed
+closely with both infantry and guns, though they were for a time checked
+near Scot's Green by a dashing charge of our cavalry brigade, consisting
+of the 16th Lancers and the 7th, 14th, and 20th Hussars, and the Essex
+and Middlesex Yeomanry. We saw nothing of their cavalry, for a reason
+that will be apparent later. By one o'clock fierce fighting was going on
+all round the town, the German hordes enveloping it on all sides but
+one. We had lost a great number of our guns, or at any rate had been
+cut off from them by the German successes around Pleshy Mount, and in
+all their assaults on the town they had been careful to keep out of
+effective range of the heavy batteries on Danbury Hill. These, by the
+way, had their own work cut out for them, as the Saxon artillery were
+heavily bombarding the hill with their howitzers. The British forces
+were in a critical situation. Reinforcements--such as could be
+spared--were hurried up from the Vth Army Corps, but they were not very
+many in numbers, as it was necessary to provide against an attack by the
+Saxon Corps. By three o'clock the greater part of the town was in the
+hands of the Germans, despite the gallant way in which our men fought
+them from street to street, and house to house. A dozen fires were
+spreading in every direction, and fierce fighting was going on at
+Writtle. The overpowering numbers of the Germans, combined with their
+better organisation, and the number of properly trained officers at
+their disposal, bore the British mixed Regular and Irregular forces
+back, and back again.
+
+"Fearful of being cut off from his line of retreat, General
+Blennerhasset, on hearing from Writtle soon after three that the
+Hanoverians were pressing his left very hard, and endeavouring to work
+round it, reluctantly gave orders for the troops in Chelmsford to fall
+back on Widford and Moulsham. There was a lull in the fighting for about
+half an hour, though firing was going on both at Writtle and Danbury.
+Soon after four a terrible rumour spread consternation on every side.
+According to this, an enormous force of cavalry and motor infantry was
+about to attack us in the rear. What had actually happened was not quite
+so bad as this, but quite bad enough. It seems, according to our latest
+information, that almost the whole of the cavalry belonging to the three
+German Army Corps with whom we were engaged--something like a dozen
+regiments, with a proportion of horse artillery and all available
+motorists, having with them several of the new armoured motors carrying
+light, quick-firing and machine guns--had been massed during the last
+thirty-six hours behind the Saxon lines extending from Maldon to the
+River Crouch. During the day they had worked round to the southward, and
+at the time the rumour reached us were actually attacking Billericay,
+which was held by a portion of the reserves of our Vth Corps. By the
+time this news was confirmed the Germans were assaulting Great Baddow,
+and moving on Danbury from east, north, and west, at the same time
+resuming the offensive all along the line. The troops at Danbury must be
+withdrawn or they would be isolated. This difficult manoeuvre was
+executed by way of West Hanningfield. The rest of the Vth Corps
+conformed to the movement, the Guards Brigade at East Hanningfield
+forming the rearguard, and fighting fiercely all night through with the
+Saxon troops, who moved out on the left flank of our retreat. The wreck
+of the first Corps and the Colchester garrison was now also in full
+retirement. Ten miles lay between it and the lines at Brentwood, and had
+the Germans been able to employ cavalry in pursuit, this retreat would
+have been even more like a rout than it was. Luckily for us the
+Billericay troops mauled the German cavalry pretty severely, and they
+were beset in the close country in that neighbourhood by Volunteers,
+motorists, and every one that the officer commanding at Brentwood could
+get together in this emergency.
+
+"Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat, but were driven off
+by our advance guard; others came across the head of the retiring Vth
+Corps, but the terrain was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most
+of them had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows that
+covered the countryside. Had it not been for this we should probably
+have been absolutely smashed. As it was, rather more than half our
+original numbers of men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early
+morning, worn out and dead-beat."
+
+Reports from Sheffield also showed the position to be critical.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II.
+
+THE SIEGE OF LONDON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE LINES OF LONDON.
+
+
+The German successes were continued in the North and Midlands, and
+notwithstanding the gallant defence of Sir George Woolmer before
+Manchester and Sir Henry Hibbard before Birmingham, both cities were
+captured and occupied by the enemy after terrible losses. London,
+however, was the chief objective of Von Kronhelm, and towards the
+Metropolis he now turned his attention.
+
+After the defeat of the British at Chelmsford on that fateful Wednesday,
+Lord Byfield decided to evacuate his position at Royston and fall back
+on the northern section of the London defence line, which had been under
+construction for the last ten days. These hasty entrenchments, which
+would have been impossible to construct but for the ready assistance of
+thousands of all classes of the citizens of London and the suburbs,
+extended from Tilbury on the east to Bushey on the west, passing by the
+Laindon Hills, Brentwood, Kelvedon, North Weald, Epping, Waltham Abbey,
+Cheshunt, Enfield Chase, Chipping Barnet, and Elstree. They were more or
+less continuous, consisting for the most part of trenches for infantry,
+generally following the lines of existing hedgerows or banks, which
+often required but little improvement to transform them into
+well-protected and formidable cover for the defending troops. Where it
+was necessary to cross open ground they were dug deep and winding, after
+the fashion adopted by the Boers in the South African War, so that it
+would be difficult, if not impossible, to enfilade them.
+
+Special bomb-proof covers for the local reserves were also constructed
+at various points, and the ground in front ruthlessly cleared of houses,
+barns, trees, hedges, and everything that might afford shelter to an
+advancing enemy. Every possible military obstacle was placed in front of
+the lines that time permitted, abattis, military pits, wire
+entanglements, and small ground mines. At the more important points
+along the fifty miles of entrenchments, field works and redoubts for
+infantry were built, most of them being armed with 4.7 or even 6 and 7.5
+in. guns, which had been brought from Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth, and
+Devonport, and mounted on whatever carriages could be adapted or
+improvised for the occasion.
+
+The preparation of the London lines was a stupendous undertaking, but
+the growing scarceness and dearness of provisions assisted in a degree,
+as no free rations were issued to any able-bodied man unless he went out
+to work at the fortifications. All workers were placed under military
+law. There were any number of willing workers who proffered their
+services in this time of peril. Thousands of men came forward asking to
+be enlisted and armed. The difficulty was to find enough weapons and
+ammunition for them, to say nothing of the question of uniform and
+equipment, which loomed very large indeed. The attitude of the Germans,
+as set forth in Von Kronhelm's proclamations, precluded the employment
+of fighting men dressed in civilian garb, and their attitude was a
+perfectly natural and justifiable one by all the laws and customs of
+war.
+
+It became necessary, therefore, that all men sent to the front should be
+dressed as soldiers in some way or another. In addition to that splendid
+corps, the Legion of Frontiersmen, many new armed organisations had
+sprung into being, some bearing the most fantastic names, such as the
+"Whitechapel War-to-the-Knives," the "Kensington Cowboys," the
+"Bayswater Braves," and the "Southwark Scalphunters." All the available
+khaki and blue serge was used up in no time; even though those who were
+already in possession of ordinary lounge suits of the latter material
+were encouraged to have them altered into uniforms by the addition of
+stand-up collars and facings of various colours, according to their
+regiments and corps.
+
+Only the time during which these men were waiting for their uniforms was
+spent in drill in the open spaces of the Metropolis. As soon as they
+were clothed, they were despatched to that portion of the entrenchments
+to which their corps had been allocated, and there, in the intervals of
+their clearing and digging operations, they were hustled through a brief
+musketry course, which consisted for the most part in firing. The
+question of the provision of officers and N.C.O.'s was an almost
+insuperable one. Retired men came forward on every side, but the supply
+was by no means equal to the demand, and they themselves in many
+instances were absolutely out of date as far as knowledge of modern arms
+and conditions were concerned. However, every one, with but very few
+exceptions, did his utmost, and by the 11th or 12th of the month the
+entrenchments were practically completed, and manned by upwards of
+150,000 "men with muskets" of stout heart and full of patriotism, but in
+reality nothing but an army _pour rire_ so far as efficiency was
+concerned.
+
+The greater part of the guns were also placed in position, especially on
+the north and eastern portions of the lines, and the remainder were
+being mounted as fast as it was practicable. They were well manned by
+Volunteer and Militia Artillerymen, drawn from every district which the
+invaders had left accessible. By the 13th the eastern section of the
+fortifications was strengthened by the arrival of the remnants of the
+Ist and Vth Army Corps, which had been so badly defeated at Chelmsford,
+and no time was lost in reorganising them and distributing them along
+the lines, thereby, to a certain extent, leavening the unbaked mass of
+their improvised defenders. It was generally expected that the enemy
+would follow up the success by an immediate attack on Brentwood, the
+main barrier between Von Kronhelm and his objective--our great
+Metropolis. But, as it turned out, he had a totally different scheme in
+hand. The orders to Lord Byfield to evacuate the position he had
+maintained with such credit against the German Garde and IVth Corps have
+already been referred to. Their reason was obvious. Now that there was
+no organised resistance on his right, he stood in danger of being cut
+off from London, the defences of which were now in pressing need of his
+men. A large amount of rolling stock was at once despatched to Saffron
+Walden and Buntingford by the G.E.R. and to Baldock by the G.N.R., to
+facilitate the withdrawal of his troops and stores, and he was given an
+absolutely free hand as to how these were to be used, all lines being
+kept clear and additional trains kept at his disposal at their London
+termini.
+
+[Illustration:
+THE LINES OF LONDON
+Rough sketch showing approximately the lines of entrenchments
+constructed for the defence of the Metropolis.]
+
+September 13 proved a memorable date in the history of England.
+
+The evacuation of the Baldock-Saffron Walden position could not possibly
+have been carried out in good order on such short notice, had not Lord
+Byfield previously worked the whole thing out in readiness. He could not
+help feeling that, despite his glorious victory on the ninth, a turn of
+Fortune's wheel might necessitate a retirement on London sooner or
+later, and, like the good General that he was, he made every preparation
+both for this, and other eventualities. Among other details, he had
+arranged that the mounted infantry should be provided with plenty of
+strong light wire. This was intended for the express benefit of
+Froelich's formidable cavalry brigade, which he foresaw would be most
+dangerous to his command in the event of a retreat. As soon, therefore,
+as the retrograde movement commenced, the mounted infantry began to
+stretch their wires across every road, lane and byway leading to the
+north and north-east. Some wires were laid low, within a foot of the
+ground, others high up, where they could catch a rider about the neck or
+breast. This operation they carried out again and again, after the
+troops had passed, at various points on the route of the retreat. Thanks
+to the darkness, this device well fulfilled its purpose. Froelich's
+brigade was on the heels of the retreating British soon after midnight,
+but as it was impossible for them to move over the enclosed country at
+night, his riders were confined to the roads, and the accidents and
+delays occasioned by the wires were so numerous and disconcerting that
+their advance had to be conducted with such caution that as a pursuit it
+was of no use at all. Even the infantry and heavy guns of the retiring
+British got over the ground nearly twice as fast. After two or three
+hours of this, only varied by occasional volleys from detachments of our
+mounted infantry, who sometimes waited in rear of their snares to let
+fly at the German cavalry before galloping back to lay others, the enemy
+recognised the fact, and, withdrawing their cavalry till daylight,
+replaced them by infantry, but so much time had been lost, that the
+British had got several miles' start.
+
+As has been elsewhere chronicled, the brigade of four regular battalions
+with their guns, and a company of Engineers which were to secure the
+passage of the Stort and protect the left flank of the retirement, left
+Saffron Walden somewhere about 10.30 p.m. The line was clear, and they
+arrived at Sawbridgeworth in four long trains in a little under an hour.
+Their advent did not arouse the sleeping village, as the station lies
+nearly three-quarters of a mile distant on the further side of the
+river. It may be noted in passing that while the Stort is but a small
+stream, easily fordable in most places, yet it was important, if
+possible, to secure the bridges to prevent delay in getting over the
+heavy guns and waggons of the retiring British. A delay and congestion
+at the points selected for passage might, with a close pursuit, easily
+lead to disaster. Moreover, the Great Eastern Railway crossed the river
+by a wooden bridge just north of the village of Sawbridgeworth, and it
+was necessary to ensure the safe passage of the last trains over it
+before destroying it to preclude the use of the railway by the enemy.
+
+There were two road bridges on the Great Eastern Railway near the
+village of Sawbridgeworth, which might be required by the Dunmow force,
+which was detailed to protect the same flank rather more to the
+northward. The most important bridge, that over which the main body of
+the Saffron Walden force was to retire, with all the impedimenta it had
+had time to bring away with it, was between Sawbridgeworth and Harlow,
+about a mile north of the latter village, but much nearer its station.
+Thither, then, proceeded the leading train with the Grenadiers, four 4.7
+guns, and half a company of Royal Engineers with bridging materials.
+Their task was to construct a second bridge to relieve the traffic over
+the permanent one. The Grenadiers left one company at the railway
+station, two in Harlow village, which they at once commenced to place in
+a state of defence, much to the consternation of the villagers, who had
+not realised how close to them were trending the red footsteps of war.
+The remaining five companies with the other four guns turned northward,
+and after marching another mile or so occupied the enclosures round
+Durrington House and the higher ground to its north. Here the guns were
+halted on the road. It was too dark to select the best position for
+them, for it was now only about half an hour after midnight. The three
+other regiments which detrained at Sawbridgeworth were disposed as
+follows, continuing the line of the Grenadiers to the northward. The
+Rifles occupied Hyde Hall, formerly the seat of the Earls of Roden,
+covering the operations of the Engineers, who were preparing the railway
+bridge for destruction, and the copses about Little Hyde Hall on the
+higher ground to the eastward.
+
+The Scots Guards with four guns were between them and the Grenadiers,
+and distributed between Sheering village and Gladwyns House, from the
+neighbourhood of which it was expected that the guns would be able to
+command the Chelmsford Road for a considerable distance. The Seaforth
+Highlanders for the time being were stationed on a road running parallel
+to the railway, from which branch roads led to both the right, left, and
+centre of the position. An advanced party of the Rifle Brigade was
+pushed forward to Hatfield Heath with instructions to patrol towards the
+front and flanks, and, if possible, establish communication with the
+troops expected from Dunmow. By the time all this was completed it was
+getting on for 3 a.m. on the 13th. At this hour the advanced guard of
+the Germans coming from Chelmsford was midway between Leaden Roding and
+White Roding, while the main body was crossing the small River Roding by
+the shallow ford near the latter village. Their few cavalry scouts were,
+however, exploring the roads and lanes some little way ahead. A
+collision was imminent. The Dunmow force had not been able to move
+before midnight, and, with the exception of one regular battalion, the
+1st Leinsters, which was left behind to the last and crowded into the
+only train available, had only just arrived at the northern edge of
+Hatfield Forest, some four miles directly north of Hatfield Heath. The
+Leinsters, who left Dunmow by train half an hour later, had detrained at
+this point at one o'clock, and just about three had met the patrols of
+the Rifles. A Yeomanry corps from Dunmow was also not far off, as it
+turned to its left at the cross-roads east of Takely, and was by this
+time in the neighbourhood of Hatfield Broad Oak. In short, all three
+forces were converging, but the bulk of the Dunmow force was four miles
+away from the point of convergence.
+
+It was still profoundly dark when the Rifles at Hatfield Heath heard a
+dozen shots cracking through the darkness to their left front. Almost
+immediately other reports resounded from due east. Nothing could be seen
+beyond a very few yards, and the men of the advanced company drawn up at
+the cross-roads in front of the village inn fancied they now and again
+saw figures dodging about in obscurity, but were cautioned not to fire
+till their patrols had come in, for it was impossible to distinguish
+friend from foe. Shots still rattled out here and there to the front.
+About ten minutes later the captain in command, having got in his
+patrols, gave the order to fire at a black blur that seemed to be moving
+towards them on the Chelmsford Road. There was no mistake this time. The
+momentary glare of the discharge flashed on the shiny "pickel-haubes" of
+a detachment of German infantry, who charged forward with a loud "Hoch!"
+The Riflemen, who already had their bayonets fixed, rushed to meet them,
+and for a few moments there was a fierce stabbing affray in the
+blackness of the night. The Germans, who were but few in number, were
+overpowered, and beat a retreat, having lost several of their men. The
+Rifles, according to their orders, having made sure of the immediate
+proximity of the enemy, now fell back to the rest of their battalion at
+Little Hyde Hall, and all along the banks and hedges which covered the
+British front, our men, rifle in hand, peered eagerly into the darkness
+ahead of them.
+
+Nothing happened for quite half an hour, and the anxious watchers were
+losing some of their alertness, when a heavy outburst of firing
+re-echoed from Hatfield Heath. To explain this we must return to the
+Germans. Von der Rudesheim, on obtaining touch with the British, at once
+reinforced his advanced troops, and they, a whole battalion strong,
+advanced into the hamlet meeting with no resistance. Almost
+simultaneously two companies of the Leinsters entered it from the
+northward. There was a sudden and unexpected collision on the open
+green, and a terrible fire was exchanged at close quarters, both sides
+losing very heavily. The British, however, were borne back by sheer
+weight of numbers, and, through one of those unfortunate mistakes that
+insist on occurring in warfare, were charged as they fell back by the
+leading squadrons of the Yeomanry who were coming up from Hatfield Broad
+Oak. The officer commanding the Leinsters decided to wait till it was a
+little lighter before again attacking the village. He considered that,
+as he had no idea of the strength of the enemy, he had best wait till
+the arrival of the troops now marching through Hatfield Forest. Von der
+Rudesheim, on his part, mindful of his instructions, determined to try
+to hold the few scattered houses on the north side of the heath which
+constituted the village, with the battalion already in it, and push
+forward with the remainder of his force towards Harlow. His first essay
+along the direct road _via_ Sheering was repulsed by the fire of the
+Scots Guards lining the copses about Gladwyns. He now began to have some
+idea of the British position, and made his preparations to assault it at
+daybreak.
+
+To this end he sent forward two of his batteries into Hatfield Heath,
+cautiously moved the rest of his force away to the left, arranged his
+battalions in the valley of the Pincey Brook ready for attacking
+Sheering and Gladwyns, placed one battalion in reserve at Down Hall, and
+stationed his remaining battery near Newman's End. By this time there
+was beginning to be a faint glimmer of daylight in the east, and, as the
+growing dawn began to render vague outlines of the nearer objects dimly
+discernible, hell broke loose along the peaceful countryside. A star
+shell fired from the battery at Newman's End burst and hung out a
+brilliant white blaze that fell slowly over Sheering village, lighting
+up its walls and roofs and the hedges along which lay its defenders,
+was the signal for the Devil's Dance to begin. Twelve guns opened with a
+crash from Hatfield Heath, raking the Gladwyns enclosures and the end of
+Sheering village with a deluge of shrapnel, whilst an almost solid
+firing line advanced rapidly against it, firing heavily.
+
+[Illustration:
+BATTLE OF HARLOW
+1^{ST} PHASE
+about 5 a m Sept 13^{th}]
+
+The British replied lustily with gun, rifle, and maxim, the big
+high-explosive shells bursting amid the advancing Germans and among the
+houses of Hatfield Heath with telling effect. But the German assaulting
+lines had but six or seven hundred yards to go. They had been trained
+above all things to ignore losses and to push on at all hazards. The
+necessity for this had not been confused in their minds by maxims about
+the importance of cover, so the south side of the village street was
+taken at a rush. Von der Rudesheim continued to pile on his men, and,
+fighting desperately, the Guardsmen were driven from house to house and
+from fence to fence. All this time the German battery at Newman's End
+continued to fire star shells with rhythmical regularity, lighting up
+the inflamed countenances of the living combatants, and the pale
+up-turned faces of the dead turned to heaven as if calling for vengeance
+on their slayers. In the midst of this desperate fighting the Leinsters,
+supported by a Volunteer and a Militia regiment, which had just come up,
+assaulted Hatfield Heath. The Germans were driven out of it with the
+loss of a couple of their guns, but hung on to the little church, around
+which such a desperate conflict was waged that the dead above ground in
+that diminutive God's acre outnumbered the "rude forefathers of the
+hamlet" who slept below.
+
+It was now past five o'clock in the morning, and by this time strong
+reinforcements might have been expected from Dunmow, but, with the
+exception of the Militia and Volunteer battalions just referred to, who
+had pushed on at the sound of the firing, none were seen coming up. The
+fact was that they had been told off to certain positions in the line of
+defence they had been ordered to take up, and had been slowly and
+carefully installing themselves therein. Their commanding officer, Sir
+Jacob Stellenbosch, thought that he must carry out the exact letter of
+the orders he had received from Lord Byfield, and paid little attention
+to the firing except to hustle his battalion commanders, to try to get
+them into their places as soon as possible. He was a pig-headed man into
+the bargain, and would listen to no remonstrance. The two battalions
+which had arrived so opportunely had been at the head of the column, and
+had pushed forward "on their own" before he could prevent them. At this
+time the position was as follows: One German battalion was hanging
+obstinately on to the outskirts of Hatfield Heath; two were in
+possession of the copses about Gladwyns; two were in Sheering village,
+or close up to it, and the sixth was still in reserve at Down Hall. On
+the British side the Rifles were in their original position at Little
+Hyde Hall where also were three guns, which had been got away from
+Gladwyns. The Seaforths had come up, and were now firing from about
+Quickbury, while the Scots Guards, after suffering fearful losses, were
+scattered, some with the Highlanders, others with the five companies of
+the Grenadiers, who with their four guns still fought gallantly on
+between Sheering and Durrington House.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+REPULSE OF THE GERMANS.
+
+
+The terrible fire of the swarms of Germans who now lined the edges of
+Sheering village became too much for the four 4.7 guns on the open
+ground to the south.
+
+Their gunners were shot down as fast as they touched their weapons, and
+when the German field battery at Newman's End, which had been advanced
+several hundred yards, suddenly opened a flanking fire of shrapnel upon
+them, it was found absolutely impossible to serve them. A gallant
+attempt was made to withdraw them by the Harlow Road, but their teams
+were shot down as soon as they appeared. This enfilade fire, too,
+decimated the Grenadiers and the remnant of the Scots, though they
+fought on to the death, and a converging attack of a battalion from Down
+Hall and another from Sheering drove them down into the grounds of
+Durrington House, where fighting still went on savagely for some time
+afterwards.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had all but attained a portion of his object, which
+was to establish his guns in such a position that they could fire on the
+main body of the British troops when they entered Sawbridgeworth by the
+Cambridge Road. The place where the four guns with the Grenadiers had
+been stationed was within 3,000 yards of any part of that road between
+Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. But this spot was still exposed to the rifle
+fire of the Seaforths who held Quickbury. Von der Rudesheim therefore
+determined to swing forward his left, and either drive them back down
+the hill towards the river, or at least to so occupy them that he could
+bring up his field-guns to their chosen position without losing too many
+of his gunners.
+
+By six o'clock, thanks to his enormous local superiority in numbers, he
+had contrived to do this, and now the opposing forces with the exception
+of the British Grenadiers, who still fought with a German battalion
+between Durrington House and Harlow, faced each other north and south,
+instead of east and west, as they were at the beginning of the fight.
+Brigadier-General Lane-Edgeworth, who was in command of the British, had
+been sending urgent messages for reinforcements to the Dunmow Force, but
+when its commanding officer finally decided to turn his full strength in
+the direction of the firing, it took so long to assemble and form up the
+Volunteer regiments who composed the bulk of his command, that it was
+past seven before the leading battalion had deployed to assist in the
+attack which it was decided to make against the German right. Meantime,
+other important events had transpired.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had found that the battalion which was engaged with
+the Grenadiers could not get near Harlow village, or either the river or
+railway bridge at that place, both of which he wished to destroy. But
+his scouts had reported a lock and wooden footbridge immediately to the
+westward between Harlow and Sawbridgeworth, just abreast of the large
+wooded park surrounding Pishobury House on the farther side. He
+determined to send two companies over by this, their movements being
+hidden from the English by the trees. After crossing, they found
+themselves confronted by a backwater, but, trained in crossing rivers,
+they managed to ford and swim over, and advanced through the park
+towards Harlow Bridge. While this was in progress, a large force was
+reported marching south on the Cambridge Road.
+
+While Von der Rudesheim, who was at the western end of Sheering hamlet,
+was looking through his glasses at the new arrivals on the scene of
+action--who were without doubt the main body of the Royston command,
+which was retiring under the personal supervision of Lord Byfield--a
+puff of white smoke rose above the trees about Hyde Hall, and at top
+speed four heavily loaded trains shot into sight going south. These were
+the same ones that had brought down the Regular British troops, with
+whom he was now engaged. They had gone north again, and picked up a
+number of Volunteer battalions belonging to the retreating force just
+beyond Bishop's Stortford. But so long a time had been taken in
+entraining the troops in the darkness and confusion of the retreat, that
+their comrades who had kept to the road, arrived almost simultaneously.
+Von der Rudesheim signalled, and sent urgent orders for his guns to be
+brought up to open fire on them, but by the time the first team had
+reached him the last of the trains had disappeared from sight into the
+cutting at Harlow Station. But even now it was not too late to open fire
+on the troops entering Sawbridgeworth.
+
+Things were beginning to look somewhat bad for Von der Rudesheim's
+little force. The pressure from the north was increasing every moment,
+his attack on the retreating troops had failed, he had not so far been
+able to destroy the bridges at Harlow, and every minute the likelihood
+of his being able to do so grew more remote. To crown all, word was
+brought him that the trains which had just slipped by were disgorging
+men in hundreds along the railway west of Harlow Station, and that these
+troops were beginning to move forward as if to support the British
+Grenadiers, who had been driven back towards Harlow. In fact, he saw
+that there was even a possibility of his being surrounded. But he had no
+intention of discontinuing the fight. He knew he could rely on the
+discipline and mobility of his well-trained men under almost any
+conditions, and he trusted, moreover, that the promised reinforcements
+would not be very long in turning up. But he could not hold on just
+where he was. He accordingly, by various adroit manoeuvres, threw back
+his right to Down Hall, whose copses and plantations afforded a good
+deal of cover, and, using this as a pivot, gradually wheeled back his
+left till he had taken up a position running north and south from Down
+Hall to Matching Tye. He had not effected this difficult manoeuvre
+without considerable loss, but he experienced less difficulty in
+extricating his left than he had anticipated, since the newly arrived
+British troops at Harlow, instead of pressing forward against him, had
+been engaged in moving into a position between Harlow and the hamlet of
+Foster Street, on the somewhat elevated ground to the south of Matching,
+which would enable them to cover the further march of the main body of
+the retreating troops to Epping.
+
+But he had totally lost the two companies he had sent across the river
+to attack Harlow Bridge. Unfortunately for them, their arrival on the
+Harlow-Sawbridgeworth Road synchronised with that of the advanced guard
+of Lord Byfield's command. Some hot skirmishing took place in and out
+among the trees of Pishobury, and finally the Germans were driven to
+earth in the big square block of the red-brick mansion itself.
+
+Here they made a desperate stand, fighting hard as they were driven from
+one storey to another. The staircases ran with blood, the woodwork
+smouldered and threatened to burst into flame in a dozen places. At
+length the arrival of a battery of field guns, which unlimbered at close
+range, induced the survivors to surrender, and they were disarmed and
+carried off as prisoners with the retreating army.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+By the time Von der Rudesheim had succeeded in taking up his new
+position it was past ten o'clock, and he had been informed by despatches
+carried by motor-cyclists that he might expect assistance in another
+hour and a half.
+
+The right column, consisting of the 39th Infantry Brigade of five
+battalions, six batteries, and a squadron of Dragoons, came into
+collision with the left flank of the Dunmow force, which was engaged in
+attacking Von der Rudesheim's right at Down Hall, and endeavouring to
+surround it. Sir Jacob Stellenbosch, who was in command, in vain tried
+to change front to meet the advancing enemy. His troops were nearly all
+Volunteers, who were incapable of quickly manoeuvring under difficult
+circumstances; they were crumpled up and driven back in confusion
+towards Hatfield Heath. Had Von Kronhelm been able to get in the bulk of
+his cavalry from their luckless pursuit of the Ist and Vth British Army
+Corps, who had been driven back on Brentwood the evening previous, and
+so send a proportion with the 20th Division, few would have escaped to
+tell the tale. As it was, the unfortunate volunteers were shot down in
+scores by the "feu d'enfer" with which the artillery followed them up,
+and lay in twos and threes and larger groups all over the fields,
+victims of a selfish nation that accepted these poor fellows' gratuitous
+services merely in order that its citizens should not be obliged to
+carry out what in every other European country was regarded as the first
+duty of citizenship--that of learning to bear arms in the defence of the
+Fatherland.
+
+By this time the greater portion of the retreating British Army, with
+all its baggage, guns and impedimenta, was crawling slowly along the
+road from Harlow to Epping. Unaccustomed as they were to marching, the
+poor Volunteers who had already covered eighteen or twenty miles of
+road, were now toiling slowly and painfully along the highway. The
+regular troops, who had been engaged since early morning, and who were
+now mostly in the neighbourhood of Moor Hall, east of Harlow, firing at
+long ranges on Von der Rudesheim's men to keep them in their places
+while Sir Jacob Stellenbosch attacked their right, were now hurriedly
+withdrawn and started to march south by a track running parallel to the
+main Epping Road, between it and that along which the covering force of
+Volunteers, who had come in by train, were now established in position.
+The 1st and 2nd Coldstreamers, who had formed Lord Byfield's rearguard
+during the night, were halted in Harlow village.
+
+Immediately upon the success obtained by his right column, General
+Richel von Sieberg, who commanded the 20th Hanoverian Division, ordered
+his two centre and left columns, consisting respectively of the three
+battalions 77th Infantry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, then at
+Matching Green, and the three battalions 92nd Infantry, 10th Pioneer
+Battalion, and five batteries Field Artillery, then between High Laver
+and Tilegate Green, to turn to their left and advance in fighting
+formation in a south-westerly direction, with the object of attacking
+the sorely-harassed troops of Lord Byfield on their way to Epping.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The final phase of this memorable retreat is best told in the words of
+the special war correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," who arrived on
+the scene at about one o'clock in the afternoon:
+
+    "EPPING, 5 P.M., _September 9_.
+
+"Thanks to the secrecy preserved by the military authorities, it was not
+known that Lord Byfield was falling back from the Royston-Saffron Walden
+position till seven this morning. By eight, I was off in my car for the
+scene of action, for rumours of fighting near Harlow had already begun
+to come in. I started out by way of Tottenham and Edmonton, expecting to
+reach Harlow by 9.30 or 10. But I reckoned without the numerous military
+officials with whom I came in contact, who constantly stopped me and
+sent me out of my way on one pretext or another. I am sure I hope that
+the nation has benefited by their proceedings. In the end it was close
+on one before I pulled up at the Cock Inn, Epping, in search of
+additional information, because for some time I had been aware of the
+rumbling growl of heavy artillery from the eastward, and wondered what
+it might portend. I found that General Sir Stapleton Forsyth, who
+commanded the Northern section of the defences, had made the inn his
+headquarters, and there was a constant coming and going of orderlies and
+staff-officers at its portals. Opposite, the men of one of the new
+irregular corps, dressed in dark green corduroy, blue flannel cricketing
+caps, and red cummerbunds, sat or reclined in two long lines on either
+side of their piled arms on the left of the wide street. On inquiry I
+heard that the enemy were said to be bombarding Kelvedon Hatch, and also
+that the head of our retreating columns was only three or four miles
+distant.
+
+"I pushed on, and, after the usual interrogations from an officer in
+charge of a picket, where the road ran through the entrenchments about a
+mile farther on, found myself spinning along through the country in the
+direction of Harlow. As I began to ascend the rising ground towards
+Potter Street I could hear a continuous roll of artillery away to my
+right. I could not distinguish anything except the smoke of shells
+bursting here and there in the distance, on account of the scattered
+trees which lined the maze of hedgerows on every side. Close to Potter
+Street I met the head of the retreating army. Very tired, heated and
+footsore looked the hundreds of poor fellows as they dragged themselves
+along through the heat. It was a sultry afternoon, and the roads inches
+deep in dust.
+
+"Turning to the right of Harlow Common, I met another column of men. I
+noticed that these were all Regulars, Grenadiers, Scots Guards, a
+battalion of Highlanders, another of Riflemen, and, lastly, two
+battalions of the Coldstreamers. These troops stepped along with rather
+more life than the citizen soldiers I had met previously, but still
+showed traces of their hard marching and fighting. Many of them were
+wearing bandages, but all the more seriously wounded had been left
+behind to be looked after by the Germans. All this time the firing was
+still resounding heavy and constant from the north-east, and from one
+person and another whom I questioned I ascertained that the enemy were
+advancing upon us from that direction. Half a mile farther on I ran into
+the middle of the fighting. The road ran along the top of a kind of flat
+ridge or upland, whence I could see to a considerable distance on either
+hand.
+
+"Partially sheltered from the view by its hedges and the scattered
+cottages forming the hamlet of Foster Street was a long, irregular line
+of guns facing nearly east. Beyond them were yet others directed north.
+There were field batteries and big 4.7's. All were hard at work, their
+gunners working like men possessed, and the crash of their constant
+discharge was ear-splitting. I had hardly taken this in when 'Bang!
+Bang! Bang! Bang!'--four dazzling flashes opened in the air overhead,
+and shrapnel bullets rattled on earth, walls, and roofs with a sound as
+of handfuls of pebbles thrown on a marble pavement. But the hardness
+with which they struck was beyond anything in my experience.
+
+"It was not pleasant to be here, but I ran my car behind a little
+public-house that stood by the wayside, and, dismounting, unslung my
+glasses and determined to get what view of the proceedings I could from
+the corner of the house. All around khaki-clad Volunteers lined every
+hedge and sheltered behind every cottage, while farther off, in the
+lower ground, from a mile to a mile and a half away I could distinguish
+the closely-packed firing lines of the Germans advancing slowly but
+steadily, despite the gaps made in their ranks by the fire of our guns.
+Their own guns, I fancied, I could make out near Tilegate Green to the
+north-east. Neither side had as yet opened rifle fire. Getting into my
+car I motored back to the main road, but it was so blocked by the
+procession of waggons and troops of the retreating army that I could not
+turn into it. Wheeling round I made my way back to a parallel lane I had
+noticed, and turning to the left again at a smithy, found myself in a
+road bordered by cottages and enclosures. Here I found the Regular
+troops I had lately met lining every hedgerow and fence, while I could
+see others on a knoll further to their left. There was a little church
+here, and, mounting to the roof, I got a comparatively extensive view.
+To my right the long dusty column of men and waggons still toiled along
+the Epping Road. In front, nearly three miles off, an apparently solid
+line of woods stretched along the horizon, surmounting a long, gradual
+and open slope. This was the position of our lines near Epping, and the
+haven for which Lord Byfield's tired soldiery were making. To the left
+the serried masses of drab-clad German infantry still pushed
+aggressively forward, their guns firing heavily over their heads.
+
+[Illustration:
+BATTLE OF HARLOW
+FINAL PHASE]
+
+"As I watched them three tremendous explosions took place in their
+midst, killing dozens of them. Fire, smoke, and dust rose up twenty feet
+in the air, while three ear-splitting reports rose even above the
+rolling thunder of the gunfire. More followed. I looked again towards
+the woodland. Here I saw blaze after blaze of fire among the dark masses
+of trees. Our big guns in the fortifications had got to work, and were
+punishing the Germans most severely, taking their attack in flank with
+the big 6-inch and 7.5-inch projectiles. Cheers arose all along our
+lines, as shell after shell, fired by gunners who knew to an inch the
+distances to every house and conspicuous tree, burst among the German
+ranks, killing and maiming the invaders by hundreds. The advance paused,
+faltered and, being hurriedly reinforced from the rear, once more went
+forward.
+
+"But the big high explosive projectiles continued to fall with such
+accuracy and persistence that the attackers fell sullenly back, losing
+heavily as they did so. The enemy's artillery now came in for attention,
+and also was driven out of range with loss. The last stage in the
+retreat of Lord Byfield's command was now secured. The extended troops
+and guns gradually drew off from their positions, still keeping a
+watchful eye on the foe, and by 4.30 all were within the Epping
+entrenchments. All, that is to say, but the numerous killed and wounded
+during the running fight that had extended along the last seven or eight
+miles of the retreat, and the bulk of the Dunmow force under Sir Jacob
+Stellenbosch, which with its commander, had, it was believed, been made
+prisoners. They had been caught between the 39th German Infantry Brigade
+and several regiments of cavalry, that it was said had arrived from the
+northward soon after they were beaten at Hatfield Heath. Probably these
+were the advanced troops of General Froelich's Cavalry Brigade."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+BATTLE OF EPPING.
+
+
+The following is extracted from the "Times" of 15th September:
+
+    "EPPING, _14th September_, _Evening_.
+
+"I have spent a busy day, but have no very important news to record.
+After the repulse of the German troops attacking Lord Byfield's
+retreating army and the arrival of our sorely harassed troops behind the
+Epping entrenchments, we saw no more of the enemy that evening. All
+through the night, however, there was the sound of occasional heavy gun
+firing from the eastward. I have taken up my quarters at the Bell, an
+inn at the south end of the village, from the back of which I can get a
+good view to the north-west for from two to four miles. Beyond that
+distance the high ridge known as Epping Upland limits the prospect. The
+whole terrain is cut up into fields of various sizes and dotted all over
+with trees. Close by is a lofty red brick water-tower, which has been
+utilised by Sir Stapleton Forsyth as a signal station. Away about a mile
+to my left front as I look from the back of the Bell a big block of
+buildings stands prominently out on a grassy spur of high ground. This
+is Copped Hall and Little Copped Hall.
+
+"Both mansions have been transformed into fortresses, which, while
+offering little or no resistance to artillery fire, will yet form a
+tough nut for the Germans to crack, should they succeed in getting
+through our entrenchments at that point. Beyond, I can just see a corner
+of a big earthwork that has been built to strengthen the defence line,
+and which has been christened Fort Obelisk from a farm of that name,
+near which it is situated. There is another smaller redoubt on the slope
+just below this hostelry, and I can see the gunners busy about the three
+big khaki-painted guns which are mounted in it. There are a 6-inch and
+two 4.7-inch guns I believe. This morning our cavalry, consisting of a
+regiment of yeomanry and some mounted infantry, who had formed a portion
+of Lord Byfield's force, went out to reconnoitre towards the north and
+east. They were not away long, as they were driven back in every
+direction in which they attempted to advance, by superior forces of the
+enemy's cavalry, who seemed to swarm everywhere.
+
+"Later on, I believe, some of the German reiters became so venturesome
+that several squadrons exposed themselves to the fire of the big guns in
+the fort at Skip's Corner, and suffered pretty severely for their
+temerity. The firing continued throughout the morning away to eastward.
+At noon I thought I would run down and see if I could find anything out
+about it. I therefore mounted my car and ran off in that direction. I
+found that there was a regular duel going on between our guns at
+Kelvedon Hatch and some heavy siege guns or howitzers that the enemy had
+got in the neighbourhood of the high ground about Norton Heath, only
+about 3,000 yards distant from our entrenchments. They did not appear to
+have done us much damage, but neither, in all probability, did we hurt
+them very much, since our gunners were unable to exactly locate the
+hostile guns.
+
+"When I got back to Epping, about three o'clock, I found the wide single
+street full of troops. They were those who had come in the previous
+afternoon with Lord Byfield, and who, having been allowed to rest till
+midday after their long fighting march, were now being told off to their
+various sections of the defence line. The Guard regiments were allocated
+to the northernmost position between Fort Royston and Fort Skips. The
+rifles were to go to Copped Hall, and the Seaforths to form the nucleus
+of a central reserve of Militia and Volunteers, which was being
+established just north of Gaynes Park. Epping itself and the contiguous
+entrenchments were confided to the Leinster Regiment, which alone of Sir
+Jacob Stellenbosch's brigade had escaped capture, supported by two
+Militia battalions. The field batteries were distributed under shelter
+of the woods on the south, east, and north-east of the town.
+
+"During the afternoon the welcome news arrived that the remainder of
+Lord Byfield's command from Baldock, Royston, and Elmdon had safely
+arrived within our entrenchments at Enfield and New Barnet. We may now
+hope that what with Regulars, Militia, Volunteers, and the new levies,
+our lines are fully and effectively manned, and will suffice to stay the
+further advance of even such a formidable host as is that at the
+disposal of the renowned Von Kronhelm. It is reported too, from
+Brentwood, that great progress has already been made in reorganising and
+distributing the broken remnants of the 1st and 5th Armies that got back
+to that town after the great and disastrous battle of Chelmsford.
+Victorious as they were, the Germans must also have suffered severely,
+which may give us some breathing time before their next onslaught."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following are extracts from the diary picked up by a "Daily
+Telegraph" correspondent, lying near the body of a German officer after
+the fighting in the neighbourhood of Enfield Chase. It is presumed that
+the officer in question was Major Splittberger, of the Kaiser Franz
+Garde Grenadier Regiment, since that was the name written inside the
+cover of the diary.
+
+From enquiries that have since been instituted, it is probable that the
+deceased officer was employed on the staff of the General commanding the
+IVth Corps of the invading Army, though it would seem from the contents
+of his diary that he saw also a good deal of the operations of the Xth
+Corps. Our readers will be able to gather from it the general course of
+the enemy's strategy and tactics during the time immediately preceding
+the most recent disasters which have befallen our brave defenders. The
+first extract is dated September 15, and was written somewhere north of
+Epping:
+
+"_Sept. 15._--So far the bold strategy of our Commander-in-Chief, in
+pushing the greater part of the Xth Corps directly to the west
+immediately after our victory at Chelmsford, has been amply justified by
+results. Although we just missed cutting off Lord Byfield and a large
+portion of his command at Harlow, we gained a good foothold inside the
+British defences north of Epping, and I don't think it will be long
+before we have very much improved our position here. The IVth Corps
+arrived at Harlow about midday yesterday in splendid condition, after
+their long march from Newmarket, and the residue of the Xth joined us at
+about the same time. As there is nothing like keeping the enemy on the
+move, no time was lost in preparing to attack him at the very earliest
+opportunity. As soon as it was dark the IVth Corps got its heavy guns
+and howitzers into position along the ridge above Epping Upland, and
+sent the greater portion of its field batteries forward to a position
+from which they were within effective range of the British
+fortifications at Skip's Corner.
+
+"The IXth Corps, which had arrived from Chelmsford that evening, also
+placed its field artillery in a similar position, from which its fire
+crossed that of the IVth Corps. This Corps also provided the assaulting
+troops. The Xth Corps, which had been engaged all day on Thursday, was
+held in reserve. The howitzers on Epping Upland opened fire with petrol
+shell on the belt of woods that lies immediately in rear of the position
+to be attacked, and with the assistance of a strong westerly wind
+succeeded in setting them on fire and cutting off the most northerly
+section of the British defences from reinforcement. This was soon after
+midnight. The conflagration not only did us this service, but it is
+supposed so attracted the attention of the partially-trained soldiers of
+the enemy that they did not observe the IXth Corps massing for the
+assault.
+
+"We then plastered their trenches with shrapnel to such an extent that
+they did not dare to show a finger above them, and finally carried the
+northern corner by assault. To give the enemy their due, they fought
+well, but we outnumbered them five to one, and it was impossible for
+them to resist the onslaught of our well-trained soldiers. News came
+to-day that the Saxons have been making a demonstration before Brentwood
+with a view of keeping the British employed down there so that they
+cannot send any reinforcements up here. At the same time they have been
+steadily bombarding Kelvedon Hatch from Norton Heath.
+
+"We hear, too, that the Garde Corps have got down south, and that their
+front stretches from Broxbourne to Little Berkhamsted, while Froelich's
+Cavalry Division is in front of them, spread all over the country, from
+the River Lea away to the westward, having driven the whole of the
+British outlying troops and patrols under the shelter of their
+entrenchments. Once we succeed in rolling up the enemy's troops in this
+quarter, it will not be long before we are entering London."
+
+"_Sept. 16._--Fighting went on all yesterday in the neighbourhood of
+Skip's Corner. We have taken the redoubt at North Weald Basset and
+driven the English back into the belt of burnt woodland, which they now
+hold along its northern edge. All day long, too, our big guns, hidden
+away behind the groves and woods above Epping Upland, poured their heavy
+projectiles on Epping and its defences. We set the village on fire three
+times, but the British contrived to extinguish the blaze on each
+occasion.
+
+"I fancy Epping itself will be our next point of attack."
+
+"_Sept. 17._--We are still progressing, fighting is now all but
+continuous. How long it may last I have no idea. Probably there will be
+no suspension of the struggle until we are actually masters of the
+Metropolis. We took advantage of the darkness to push forward our men to
+within three thousand yards of the enemy's line, placing them as far as
+possible under cover of the numerous copses, plantations, and hedgerows
+which cover the face of this fertile country. At 4 a.m. the General
+ordered his staff to assemble at Latton Park, where he had established
+his headquarters. He unfolded to us the general outline of the attack,
+which, he now announced, was to commence at six precisely.
+
+"I thought myself that it was a somewhat inopportune time, as we should
+have the rising sun right in our eyes; but I imagine that the idea was
+to have as much daylight as possible before us. For although we had
+employed a night attack against Skip's Corner, and successfully too, yet
+the general feeling in our Army has always been opposed to operations of
+this kind. The possible gain is, I think, in no way commensurable with
+the probable risks of panic and disorder. The principal objective was
+the village of Epping itself; but simultaneous attacks were to be
+carried out against Copped Hall, Fort Obelisk, to the west of it, and
+Fort Royston, about a mile north of the village. The IXth Corps was to
+co-operate by a determined attempt to break through the English lining
+the burnt strip of woodland and to assault the latter fort in rear. It
+was necessary to carry out both these flanking attacks in order to
+prevent the main attack from being enfiladed from right and left. At
+5.30 we mounted, and rode off to Rye Hill about a couple of miles
+distant, from which the General intended to watch the progress of the
+operations. The first rays of the rising sun were filling the eastern
+sky with a pale light as we cantered off, the long wooded ridge on which
+the enemy had his position standing up in a misty silhouette against the
+growing day.
+
+[Illustration:
+GERMAN ATTACK ON
+THE LINES OF LONDON]
+
+"As we topped Rye Hill I could see the thickly-massed lines of our
+infantry crouching behind every hedge, bank, or ridge, their
+rifle-barrels here and there twinkling in the feeble rays of the early
+sun, their shadows long and attenuated behind them. Epping with its
+lofty red water-tower was distinctly visible on the opposite side of the
+valley, and it is probable that the movement of the General's cavalcade
+of officers, with the escort, attracted the attention of the enemy's
+lookouts, for half-way down the hillside on their side of the valley a
+blinding violet-white flash blazed out, and a big shell came screaming
+along just over our heads, the loud boom of a heavy gun following fast
+on its heels. Almost simultaneously another big projectile hurtled up
+from the direction of Fort Obelisk, and burst among our escort of Uhlans
+with a deluge of livid flame and thick volumes of greenish brown smoke.
+It was a telling shot, for no fewer than six horses and their riders
+lay in a shattered heap on the ground.
+
+"At six precisely our guns fired a salvo directed on Epping village.
+This was the preconcerted signal for attack, and before the echoes of
+the thunderous discharge had finished reverberating over the hills and
+forest, our front lines had sprung to their feet and were moving at a
+racing pace towards the enemy. For a moment the British seemed stupefied
+by the suddenness of the advance. A few rifle shots crackled out here
+and there, but our men had thrown themselves to the ground after their
+first rush before the enemy seemed to wake up. But there was no mistake
+about it when they did. Seldom have I seen such a concentrated fire.
+Gun, pom-pom, machine gun, and rifle blazed out from right to left along
+more than three miles of entrenchments. A continuous lightning-like line
+of fire poured forth from the British trenches, which still lay in
+shadow. I could see the bullets raising perfect sand-storms in places,
+the little pom-pom shells sparkling about all over our prostrate men,
+and the shrapnel bursting all along their front, producing perfect
+swathes of white smoke, which hung low down in the still air in the
+valley.
+
+"But our artillery was not idle. The field guns, pushed well forward,
+showered shrapnel upon the British position, the howitzer shells hurtled
+over our heads on their way to the enemy in constantly increasing
+numbers as the ranges were verified by the trial shots, while a terrible
+and unceasing reverberation from the north-east told of the supporting
+attack made by the IXth and Xth Corps upon the blackened woods held by
+the English. The concussion of the terrific cannonade that now resounded
+from every quarter was deafening; the air seemed to pulse within one's
+ears, and it was difficult to hear one's nearest neighbour speak. Down
+in the valley our men appeared to be suffering severely. Every forward
+move of the attacking lines left a perfect litter of prostrate forms
+behind it, and for some time I felt very doubtful in my own mind if the
+attack would succeed. Glancing to the right, however, I was encouraged
+to see the progress that had been made by the troops detailed for the
+assault on Copped Hall and Obelisk Fort, and seeing this, it occurred to
+me that it was not intended to push the central attack on Epping home
+before its flank had been secured from molestation from this direction.
+Copped Hall itself stood out on a bare down almost like some mediaeval
+castle, backed by the dark masses of forest, while to the west of it the
+slopes of Fort Obelisk could barely be distinguished, so flat were they
+and so well screened by greenery.
+
+"But its position was clearly defined by the clouds of dust, smoke, and
+debris constantly thrown up by our heavy high-explosive shells, while
+ever and anon there came a dazzling flash from it, followed by a
+detonation that made itself heard even above the rolling of the
+cannonade, as one of its big 7.5 guns was discharged. The roar of their
+huge projectiles, too, as they tore through the air, was easily
+distinguishable. None of our epaulments were proof against them, and
+they did our heavy batteries a great deal of damage before they could be
+silenced.
+
+"To cut a long story short, we captured Epping after a tough fight, and
+by noon were in possession of everything north of the Forest, including
+the war-scarred ruins that now represented the mansion of Copped Hall,
+and from which our pom-poms and machine guns were firing into Fort
+Obelisk. But our losses had been awful. As for the enemy, they could
+hardly have suffered less severely, for though partially protected by
+their entrenchments, our artillery fire must have been utterly
+annihilating."
+
+"_Sept. 18._--Fighting went on all last night, the English holding
+desperately on to the edge of the Forest, our people pressing them
+close, and working round their right flank. When day broke the general
+situation was pretty much like this. On our left the IXth Corps were in
+possession of the Fort at Toothill, and a redoubt that lay between it
+and Skip's Fort. Two batteries were bombarding a redoubt lower down in
+the direction of Stanford Rivers, which was also subjected to a cross
+fire from their howitzers near Ongar.
+
+"As for the English, their position was an unenviable one. From Copped
+Hall--as soon as we have cleared the edge of the Forest of the enemy's
+sharpshooters--we shall be able to take their entrenchments in reverse
+all the way to Waltham Abbey. They have, on the other hand, an outlying
+fort about a mile or two north of the latter place, which gave us some
+trouble with its heavy guns yesterday, and which it is most important
+that we should gain possession of before we advance further. The Garde
+Corps on the western side of the River Lea is now, I hear, in sight of
+the enemy's lines, and is keeping them busily employed, though without
+pushing its attack home for the present.
+
+"At daybreak this morning I was in Epping and saw the beginning of the
+attack on the Forest. It is rumoured that large reinforcements have
+reached the enemy from London, but as these must be merely scratch
+soldiers they will do them more harm than good in their cramped
+position. The Xth Corps had got a dozen batteries in position a little
+to the eastward of the village, and at six o'clock these guns opened a
+tremendous fire upon the north-east corner of the Forest, under cover of
+which their infantry deployed down in the low ground about Coopersale,
+and advanced to the attack. Petrol shells were not used against the
+Forest, as Von Kronhelm had given orders that it was not to be burned if
+it could possibly be avoided. The shrapnel was very successful in
+keeping down the fire from the edge of the trees, but our troops
+received a good deal of damage from infantry and guns that were posted
+to the east of the Forest on a hill near Theydon Bois. But about seven
+o'clock these troops were driven from their position by a sudden flank
+attack made by the IXth Corps from Theydon Mount. Von Kleppen followed
+this up by putting some of his own guns up there, which were able to
+fire on the edge of the Forest after those of the Xth Corps had been
+masked by the close advance of their infantry. To make a long story
+short, by ten the whole of the Forest, east of the London Road, as far
+south as the cross roads near Jack's Hill, was in our hands. In the
+meantime the IVth Corps had made itself master of Fort Obelisk, and our
+gunners were hard at work mounting guns in it with which to fire on the
+outlying fort at Monkham's Hall. Von Kleppen was at Copped Hall about
+this time, and with him I found General Von Wilberg, commanding the Xth
+Corps, in close consultation. The once fine mansion had been almost
+completely shot away down to its lower storey. A large portion of this,
+however, was still fairly intact, having been protected to a certain
+extent by the masses of masonry that had fallen all around it, and also
+by the thick ramparts of earth that the English had built up against its
+exposed side.
+
+"Our men were still firing from its loopholes at the edge of the woods,
+which were only about 1,200 yards distant, and from which bullets were
+continually whistling in by every window. Two of our battalions had dug
+themselves in in the wooded park surrounding the house, and were also
+exchanging fire with the English at comparatively close ranges. They
+had, I was told, made more than one attempt to rush the edge of the
+Forest, but had been repulsed by rifle fire on each occasion. Away to
+the west I could see for miles, and even distinguish our shells bursting
+all over the enemy's fort at Monkham's Hall, which was being subjected
+to a heavy bombardment by our guns on the high ground to the north of
+it. About eleven Froelich's Cavalry Brigade, whose presence was no longer
+required in front of the Garde Corps, passed through Epping, going
+south-east. It is generally supposed that it is either to attack the
+British at Brentwood in the rear, or, which I think is more probable, to
+intimidate the raw levies by its presence between them and London, and
+to attack them in flank should they attempt to retreat.
+
+"Just after eleven another battalion arrived at Copped Hall from Epping,
+and orders were given that the English position along the edge of the
+Forest was to be taken at all cost. Just before the attack began there
+was a great deal of firing somewhere in the interior of the Forest,
+presumably between the British and the advanced troops of the Xth Corps.
+However this may have been, it was evident that the enemy were holding
+our part of the Forest much less strongly and our assault was entirely
+successful, with but small loss of men. Once in the woods, the superior
+training and discipline of our men told heavily in their favour. While
+the mingled mass of Volunteers and raw free-shooters, of which the bulk
+of their garrison was composed, got utterly disorganised and out of hand
+under the severe strain on them that was imposed by the difficulties of
+wood fighting, and hindered and broke up the regular units, our people
+were easily kept well in hand, and drove the enemy steadily before them
+without a single check. The rattle of rifle and machine gun was
+continuous through all the leafy dells and glades of the wood, but by
+two o'clock practically the whole Forest was in the hands of our Xth
+Corps. It was then the turn of the IVth Corps, who in the meantime, far
+from being idle, had massed a large number of their guns at Copped Hall,
+from which, aided by the fire from Fort Obelisk, the enemy's lines were
+subjected to a bombardment that rendered them absolutely untenable, and
+we could see company after company making their way to Waltham Abbey.
+
+"At three the order for a general advance on Waltham Abbey was issued.
+As the enemy seemed to have few, if any, guns at this place, it was
+determined to make use of some of the new armoured motors that
+accompanied the Army. Von Kronhelm, who was personally directing the
+operations from Copped Hall, had caused each Corps to send its own
+motors to Epping, so that we had something like thirty at our disposal.
+These quaint, grey monsters came down through the Forest and advanced on
+Epping by two parallel roads, one passing by the south of Warlies Park,
+the other being the main road from Epping. It was a weird sight to see
+these shore-going armour-clads flying down upon the enemy. They got
+within 800 yards of the houses, but the enemy contrived to block their
+further advance by various obstacles which they placed on the roads.
+
+"There was about an hour's desperate fighting in the village. The old
+Abbey Church was set on fire by a stray shell, the conflagration
+spreading to the neighbouring houses, and both British and Germans being
+too busy killing each other to put it out, the whole village was shortly
+in flames. The British were finally driven out of it, and across the
+river by five o'clock. In the meantime every heavy gun that could be got
+to bear was directed on the fort at Monkham's Hall, which, during the
+afternoon, was also made the target for the guns of the Garde Corps,
+which co-operated with us by attacking the lines at Cheshunt, and
+assisting us with its artillery fire from the opposite side of the
+river. By nightfall the fort was a mass of smoking earth, over which
+fluttered our black cross flag, and the front of the IVth Corps
+stretched from this to Gillwell Park, four miles nearer London.
+
+"The Xth Corps was in support in the Forest behind us, and forming also
+a front to cover our flank, reaching from Chingford to Buckhurst Hill.
+The enemy was quite demoralised in this direction, and showed no
+indication of resuming the engagement. As for the IXth Corps, its
+advanced troops were at Lamboume End, in close communication with
+General Froelich, who had established his headquarters at
+Havering-atte-Bower. We have driven a formidable wedge right into the
+middle of the carefully elaborated system of defence arranged by the
+English generals, and it will now be a miracle if they can prevent our
+entry into the capital.
+
+"We had not, of course, effected this without great loss in killed and
+wounded, but you can't make puddings without breaking eggs, and in the
+end a bold and forward policy is more economical of life and limb than
+attempting to avoid necessary losses, as our present opponents did in
+South Africa, thereby prolonging the war to an almost indefinite period,
+and losing many more men by sickness and in driblets than would have
+been the case if they had followed a more determined line in their
+strategy and tactics. Just before the sun sank behind the masses of new
+houses which the monster city spreads out to the northward I got orders
+to carry a despatch to General von Wilberg, who was stated to be at
+Chingford, on our extreme left. I went by the Forest road, as the
+parallel one near the river was in most parts under fire from the
+opposite bank.
+
+"He had established his headquarters at the Foresters' Inn, which stands
+high up on a wooded mound, and from which he could see a considerable
+distance and keep in touch with his various signal stations. He took my
+despatch, telling me that I should have a reply to take back later on.
+'In the meanwhile,' said he, 'if you will fall in with my staff you will
+have an opportunity of seeing the first shots fired into the biggest
+city in the world.' So saying, he went out to his horse, which was
+waiting outside, and we started off down the hill with a great clatter.
+After winding about through a somewhat intricate network of roads and
+by-lanes we arrived at Old Chingford Church, which stands upon a species
+of headland, rising boldly up above the flat and, in some places, marshy
+land to the westward.
+
+"Close to the church was a battery of four big howitzers, the gunners
+grouped around them silhouetted darkly against the blood-red sky. From
+up here the vast city, spreading out to the south and west, lay like a
+grey, sprawling octopus spreading out ray-like to the northward, every
+rise and ridge being topped with a bristle of spires and chimney-pots.
+An ominous silence seemed to brood over the teeming landscape, broken
+only at intervals by the dull booming of guns from the northward. Long
+swathes of cloud and smoke lay athwart the dull, furnace-like glow of
+the sunset, and lights were beginning to sparkle out all over the vast
+expanse which lay before us mirrored here and there in the canals and
+rivers that ran almost at our feet. 'Now,' said Von Wilberg at length,
+'commence fire.' One of the big guns gave tongue with a roar that seemed
+to make the church tower quiver above us. Another and another followed
+in succession, their big projectiles hurtling and humming through the
+quiet evening air on their errands of death and destruction in I know
+not what quarter of the crowded suburbs. It seemed to me a cruel and
+needless thing to do, but I am told that it was done with the set
+purpose of arousing such a feeling of alarm and insecurity in the East
+End that the mob might try to interfere with any further measures for
+defence that the British military authorities might undertake. I got my
+despatch soon afterwards and returned with it to the General, who was
+spending the night at Copped Hall. There, too, I got myself a shakedown
+and slumbered soundly till the morning."
+
+"_Sept. 19._--To-day we have, I think, finally broken down all organised
+military opposition in the field, though we may expect a considerable
+amount of street fighting before reaping the whole fruits of our
+victories. At daybreak we began by turning a heavy fire from every
+possible quarter on the wooded island formed by the river and various
+back-waters just north of Waltham Abbey. The poplar-clad islet, which
+was full of the enemy's troops, became absolutely untenable under this
+concentrated fire, and they were compelled to fall back over the river.
+Our Engineers soon began their bridging operations behind the wood, and
+our infantry, crossing over, got close up to a redoubt on the further
+side and took it by storm. Again we were able to take a considerable
+section of the enemy's lines in reverse, and as they were driven out by
+our fire, against which they had no protection, the Garde Corps
+advanced, and by ten were in possession of Cheshunt.
+
+"In the meanwhile, covered by the fire of the guns belonging to the IXth
+and Xth Corps, other bridges had been thrown across the Lea at various
+points between Waltham and Chingford, and in another hour the crossing
+began. The enemy had no good positions for his guns, and seemed to have
+very few of them. He had pinned his faith upon the big weapons he had
+placed in his entrenchments, and those were now of no further use to
+him. He had lost a number of his field guns, either from damage or
+capture, and with our more numerous artillery firing from the high
+ground on the eastern bank of the river we were always able to beat down
+any attempt he made to reply to their fire.
+
+"We had a day of fierce fighting before us. There was no manoeuvring. We
+were in a wilderness of scattered houses and occasional streets, in
+which the enemy contested our progress foot by foot. Edmonton, Enfield
+Wash, and Waltham Cross were quickly captured; our artillery commanded
+them too well to allow the British to make a successful defence; but
+Enfield itself, lying along a steepish ridge, on which the British had
+assembled what artillery they could scrape together, cost us dearly. The
+streets of this not too lovely suburban town literally ran with blood
+when at last we made our way into it. A large part of it was burnt to
+ashes, including unfortunately the ancient palace of Queen Elizabeth,
+and the venerable and enormous cedar-tree that overhung it.
+
+"The British fell back to a second position they had apparently prepared
+along a parallel ridge farther to the westward, their left being between
+us and New Barnet and their right at Southgate.
+
+"We did not attempt to advance farther to-day, but contented ourselves
+in reorganising our forces and preparing against a possible
+counter-attack, by barricading and entrenching the farther edge of
+Enfield Ridge."
+
+"_Sept. 20._--We are falling in immediately, as it has been decided to
+attack the British position at once. Already the artillery duel is in
+progress. I must continue to-night, as my horse is at the door."
+
+The writer, however, never lived to complete his diary, having been shot
+half-way up the green slope he had observed the day previous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON.
+
+
+Day broke. The faint flush of violet away eastward beyond Temple Bar
+gradually turned rose, heralding the sun's coming, and by degrees the
+streets, filled by excited Londoners, grew lighter with the dawn.
+Fevered night thus gave place to day--a day that was, alas! destined to
+be one of bitter memory for the British Empire.
+
+Alarming news had spread that Uhlans had been seen reconnoitring in
+Snaresbrook and Wanstead, had ridden along Forest Road and Ferry Lane at
+Walthamstow, through Tottenham High Cross, up High Street, Hornsey,
+Priory Road, and Muswell Hill. The Germans were actually upon London!
+
+The northern suburbs were staggered. In Fortis Green, North End,
+Highgate, Crouch End, Hampstead, Stamford Hill, and Leyton the quiet
+suburban houses were threatened, and many people, in fear of their
+lives, had now fled southward into central London. Thus the huge
+population of greater London was practically huddled together in the
+comparatively small area from Kensington to Fleet Street, and from
+Oxford Street to the Thames Embankment.
+
+People of Fulham, Putney, Walham Green, Hammersmith, and Kew had, for
+the most part, fled away to the open country across Hounslow Heath to
+Bedfont and Staines; while Tooting, Balham, Dulwich, Streatham, Norwood,
+and Catford had retreated farther south into Surrey and Kent.
+
+For the past three days thousands of willing helpers had followed the
+example of Sheffield and Birmingham, and constructed enormous
+barricades, obstructing at various points the chief roads leading from
+the north and east into London. Detachments of Engineers had blown up
+several of the bridges carrying the main roads out eastwards--for
+instance, the bridge at the end of Commercial Road, East, crossing the
+Limehouse Canal, while the six other smaller bridges spanning the canal
+between that point and the Bow Road were also destroyed. The bridge at
+the end of Bow Road itself was shattered, and those over the Hackney Cut
+at Marshall Hill and Hackney Wick were also rendered impassable.
+
+Most of the bridges across the Regent's Canal were also destroyed,
+notably those in Mare Street, Hackney, the Kingsland Road, and New North
+Road, while a similar demolition took place in Edgware Road and the
+Harrow Road. Londoners were frantic, now that the enemy were really upon
+them. The accounts of the battles in the newspapers had, of course, been
+merely fragmentary, and they had not yet realised what war actually
+meant. They knew that all business was at a standstill, that the City
+was in an uproar, that there was no work, and that food was at famine
+prices. But not until German cavalry were actually seen scouring the
+northern suburbs did it become impressed upon them that they were really
+helpless and defenceless.
+
+London was to be besieged!
+
+This report having got about, the people began building barricades in
+many of the principal thoroughfares north of the Thames. One huge
+obstruction, built mostly of paving stones from the footways, overturned
+tramcars, waggons, railway trollies, and barbed wire, rose in the
+Holloway Road, just beyond Highbury Station. Another blocked the
+Caledonian Road a few yards north of the police-station, while another
+very large and strong pile of miscellaneous goods, bales of wool and
+cotton stuffs, building material, and stones brought from the Great
+Northern Railway depot, obstructed the Camden Road at the south corner
+of Hilldrop Crescent. Across High Street, Camden Town, at the junction
+of the Kentish Town and other roads, five hundred men worked with a
+will, piling together every kind of ponderous object they could pillage
+from the neighbouring shops--pianos, iron bedsteads, wardrobes, pieces
+of calico and flannel, dress stuffs, rolls of carpets, floorboards, even
+the very doors wrenched from their hinges--until, when it reached to the
+second storey window and was considered of sufficient height, a pole was
+planted on top, and from it hung limply a small Union Jack.
+
+The Finchley Road, opposite Swiss Cottage Station; in Shoot Up-hill,
+where Mill Lane runs into it; across Willesden Lane where it joins the
+High Road in Kilburn; the Harrow Road close to Willesden Junction
+Station; at the junction of the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads; across the
+Hammersmith Road in front of the Hospital, other similar obstructions
+were placed with a view to preventing the enemy from entering London. At
+a hundred other points, in the narrower and more obscure thoroughfares,
+all along the north of London, busy workers were constructing similar
+defences, houses and shops being ruthlessly broken open and cleared of
+their contents by the frantic and terrified populace.
+
+London was in a ferment. Almost without exception the gunmakers' shops
+had been pillaged, and every rifle, sporting gun, and revolver seized.
+The armouries at the Tower of London, at the various barracks, and the
+factory out at Enfield had long ago all been cleared of their contents;
+for now, in this last stand, every one was desperate, and all who could
+obtain a gun did so. Many, however, had guns but no ammunition; others
+had sporting ammunition for service rifles, and others cartridges, but
+no gun.
+
+Those, however, who had guns and ammunition complete mounted guard at
+the barricades, being assisted at some points by Volunteers who had been
+driven in from Essex. Upon more than one barricade in North London a
+Maxim had been mounted, and was now pointed, ready to sweep away the
+enemy should they advance.
+
+Other thoroughfares barricaded, beside those mentioned, were the Stroud
+Green Road, where it joins Hanley Road; the railway bridge in the
+Oakfield Road in the same neighbourhood; the Wightman Road, opposite
+Harringay Station, the junction of Archway Road and Highgate Hill; the
+High Road, Tottenham, at its junction with West Green Road, and various
+roads around the New River reservoirs, which were believed to be one of
+the objectives of the enemy. These latter were very strongly held by
+thousands of brave and patriotic citizens, though the East London
+reservoirs across at Walthamstow could not be defended, situated so
+openly as they were. The people of Leytonstone threw up a barricade
+opposite the schools in the High Road, while in Wanstead a
+hastily-constructed, but perfectly useless, obstruction was piled across
+Cambridge Park, where it joins the Blake Road.
+
+Of course, all the women and children in the northern suburbs had now
+been sent south. Half the houses in those quiet, newly-built roads were
+locked up, and their owners gone; for as soon as the report spread of
+the result of the final battle before London, and our crushing defeat,
+people living in Highgate, Hampstead, Crouch End, Hornsey, Tottenham,
+Finsbury Park, Muswell Hill, Hendon, and Hampstead saw that they must
+fly southward, now the Germans were upon them.
+
+Think what it meant to those suburban families of City men! The ruthless
+destruction of their pretty, long-cherished homes, flight into the
+turbulent, noisy, distracted, hungry city, and the loss of everything
+they possessed. In most cases the husband was already bearing his part
+in the defence of the Metropolis with gun or with spade, or helping to
+move heavy masses of material for the construction of the barricades.
+The wife, however, was compelled to take a last look at all those
+possessions that she had so fondly called "home," lock her front door,
+and, with her children, join in those long mournful processions moving
+ever southward into London, tramping on and on--whither she knew not
+where.
+
+Touching sights were to be seen everywhere in the streets that day.
+
+Homeless women, many of them with two or three little ones, were
+wandering through the less frequented streets, avoiding the main roads
+with all their crush, excitement, and barricade-building, but making
+their way westward, beyond Kensington and Hammersmith, which was now
+become the outlet of the Metropolis.
+
+All trains from Charing Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge, Victoria, and
+Paddington had for the past three days been crowded to excess. Anxious
+fathers struggled fiercely to obtain places for their wives, mothers,
+and daughters--sending them away anywhere out of the city which must in
+a few hours be crushed beneath the iron heel.
+
+The South Western and Great Western systems carried thousands upon
+thousands of the wealthier away to Devonshire and Cornwall--as far as
+possible from the theatre of war; the South Eastern and Chatham took
+people into the already crowded Kentish towns and villages, and the
+Brighton line carried others into rural Sussex. London overflowed
+southward and westward until every village and every town within fifty
+miles was so full that beds were at a premium, and in various places,
+notably at Chartham, near Canterbury, at Willesborough, near Ashford, at
+Lewes, at Robertsbridge, at Goodwood Park, and at Horsham, huge camps
+were formed, shelter being afforded by poles and rick cloths. Every
+house, every barn, every school, indeed every place where people could
+obtain shelter for the night, was crowded to excess, mostly by women and
+children sent south, away from the horrors that it was known must come.
+
+Central London grew more turbulent with each hour that passed. There
+were all sorts of wild rumours, but, fortunately, the Press still
+preserved a dignified calm. The Cabinet were holding a meeting at
+Bristol, whither the Houses of Commons and Lords had moved, and all
+depended upon its issue. It was said that Ministers were divided in
+their opinions whether we should sue for an ignominious peace, or
+whether the conflict should be continued to the bitter end.
+
+Disaster had followed disaster, and iron-throated orators in Hyde and
+St. James's Parks were now shouting "Stop the war! Stop the war!" The
+cry was taken up but faintly, however, for the blood of Londoners, slow
+to rise, had now been stirred by seeing their country slowly yet
+completely crushed by Germany. All the patriotism latent within them was
+now displayed. The national flag was shown everywhere, and at every
+point one heard "God save the King" sung lustily.
+
+Two gunmakers' shops in the Strand, which had hitherto escaped notice,
+were shortly after noon broken open, and every available arm and all the
+ammunition seized. One man, unable to obtain a revolver, snatched half a
+dozen pairs of steel handcuffs, and cried with grim humour as he held
+them up: "If I can't shoot any of the sausage-eaters, I can at least bag
+a prisoner or two!"
+
+The banks, the great jewellers, the diamond merchants, the safe-deposit
+offices, and all who had valuables in their keeping, were extremely
+anxious as to what might happen. Below those dark buildings in Lothbury
+and Lombard Street, behind the black walls of the Bank of England, and
+below every branch bank all over London, were millions in gold and
+notes, the wealth of the greatest city the world has ever known. The
+strong rooms were, for the most part, the strongest that modern
+engineering could devise, some with various arrangements by which all
+access was debarred by an inrush of water, but, alas! dynamite is a
+great leveller, and it was felt that not a single strong room in the
+whole of London could withstand an organised attack by German engineers.
+
+A single charge of dynamite would certainly make a breach in concrete
+upon which a thief might hammer and chip day and night for a month
+without making much impression. Steel doors must give to blasting force,
+while the strongest and most complicated locks would also fly to
+pieces.
+
+The directors of most of the banks had met and an endeavour had been
+made to co-operate and form a corps of special guards for the principal
+offices. In fact, a small armed corps was formed, and were on duty day
+and night in Lothbury, Lombard Street, and the vicinity. Yet what could
+they do if the Germans swept into London? There was but little to fear
+from the excited populace themselves, because matters had assumed such a
+crisis that money was of little use, as there was practically very
+little to buy. But little food was reaching London from the open ports
+on the west. It was the enemy that the banks feared, for they knew that
+the Germans intended to enter and sack the Metropolis, just as they had
+sacked the other towns that had refused to pay the indemnity demanded.
+
+Small jewellers had, days ago, removed their stock from their windows
+and carried it away in unsuspicious-looking bags to safe hiding in the
+southern and western suburbs, where people for the most part hid their
+valuable plate, jewellery, etc., beneath a floor-board, or buried them
+in some marked spot in their small gardens.
+
+The hospitals were already full of wounded from the various engagements
+of the past week. The London, St. Thomas', Charing Cross, St. George's,
+Guy's, and Bartholomew's were overflowing; and the surgeons, with
+patriotic self-denial, were working day and night in an endeavour to
+cope with the ever-arriving crowd of suffering humanity. The field
+hospitals away to the northward were also reported full.
+
+The exact whereabouts of the enemy was not known. They were, it seemed,
+everywhere. They had practically over-run the whole country, and the
+reports from the Midlands and the North showed that the majority of the
+principal towns had now been occupied.
+
+The latest reverses outside London, full and graphic details of which
+were now being published hourly by the papers, had created an immense
+sensation. Everywhere people were regretting that Lord Roberts' solemn
+warnings in 1906 had been unheeded, for had we adopted his scheme for
+universal service such dire catastrophe could never have occurred. Many
+had, alas! declared it to be synonymous with conscription, which it
+certainly was not, and by that foolish argument had prevented the public
+at large from accepting it as the only means for our salvation as a
+nation. The repeated warnings had been disregarded, and we had,
+unhappily, lived in a fool's paradise, in the self-satisfied belief that
+England could not be successfully invaded.
+
+Now, alas! the country had realised the truth when too late.
+
+That memorable day, September 20, witnessed exasperated struggles in the
+northern suburbs of London, passionate and bloody collisions, an
+infantry fire of the defenders overwhelming every attempted assault; and
+a decisive action of the artillery, with regard to which arm the
+superiority of the Germans, due to their perfect training, was apparent.
+
+A last desperate stand had, it appears, been made by the defenders on
+the high ridge north-west of New Barnet, from Southgate to near Potter's
+Bar, where a terrible fight had taken place. But from the very first it
+was utterly hopeless. The British had fought valiantly in defence of
+London, but here again they were outnumbered, and after one of the most
+desperate conflicts in the whole campaign--in which our losses were
+terrible--the Germans at length had succeeded in entering Chipping
+Barnet. It was a difficult movement, and a fierce contest, rendered the
+more terrible by the burning houses, ensued in the streets and away
+across the low hills southward--a struggle full of vicissitudes and
+alternating successes, until at last the fire of the defenders was
+silenced, and hundreds of prisoners fell into the German hands.
+
+Thus the last organised defence of London had been broken, and the
+barricades alone remained.
+
+The work of the German troops on the lines of communication in Essex had
+for the past week been fraught with danger. Through want of cavalry the
+British had been unable to make cavalry raids; but, on the other hand,
+the difficulty was enhanced by the bands of sharpshooters--men of all
+classes from London who possessed a gun and who could shoot. In one or
+two of the London clubs the suggestion had first been mooted a couple of
+days after the outbreak of hostilities, and it had been quickly taken up
+by men who were in the habit of shooting game, but had not had a
+military training.
+
+Within three days about two thousand men had formed themselves into
+bands to take part in the struggle and assist in the defence of London.
+They were practically similar to the Francs-tireurs of the Franco-German
+War, for they went forth in companies and waged a guerilla warfare,
+partly before the front and at the flanks of the different armies, and
+partly at the communications at the rear of the Germans. Their position
+was one of constant peril in face of Von Kronhelm's proclamation, yet
+the work they did was excellent, and only proved that if Lord Roberts'
+scheme for universal training had been adopted the enemy would never
+have reached the gates of London with success.
+
+These brave adventurous spirits, together with "The Legion of
+Frontiersmen," made their attacks by surprise from hiding-places or from
+ambushes. Their adventures were constantly thrilling ones. Scattered all
+over the theatre of war in Essex and Suffolk, and all along the German
+lines of communication, the "Frontiersmen" rarely ventured on an open
+conflict, and frequently changed scene and point of attack. Within one
+week their numbers rose to over 8,000, and, being well served by the
+villagers, who acted as scouts and spies for them, the Germans found
+them very difficult to get at. Usually they kept their arms concealed in
+thickets and woods, where they would lie in wait for the Germans. They
+never came to close quarters, but fired at a distance. Many a smart
+Uhlan fell by their bullets, and many a sentry dropped, shot by an
+unknown hand.
+
+Thus they harassed the enemy everywhere. At need they concealed their
+arms and assumed the appearance of inoffensive non-combatants. But when
+caught red-handed the Germans gave them "short shrift," as the bodies
+now swinging from telegraph poles on various high-roads in Essex
+testified.
+
+In an attempt to put a stop to the daring actions of the "Frontiersmen,"
+the German authorities and troops along the lines of communication
+punished the parishes where German soldiers were shot, or where the
+destruction of railways and telegraphs had occurred, by levying money
+contributions, or by burning the villages.
+
+The guerilla war was especially fierce along from Edgware up to
+Hertford, and from Chelmsford down to the Thames. In fact, once
+commenced, it never ceased. Attacks were always being made upon small
+patrols, travelling detachments, mails of the field post-office, posts
+or patrols at stations on the lines of communication, while
+field-telegraphs, telephones, and railways were everywhere destroyed.
+
+In consequence of the railway being cut at Pitsea, the villages of
+Pitsea, Bowers Gifford, and Vange had been burned. Because a German
+patrol had been attacked and destroyed near Orsett, the parish was
+compelled to pay a heavy indemnity. Upminster, near Romford, Theydon
+Bois, and Fyfield, near High Ongar, had all been burned by the Germans
+for the same reason; while at the Cherrytree Inn, near Rainham, five
+"Frontiersmen" being discovered by Uhlans in a hayloft asleep, were
+locked in and there burned alive. Dozens were, of course, shot at sight,
+and dozens more hanged without trial. But they were not to be deterred.
+They were fighting in defence of London, and around the northern suburbs
+the patriotic members of the "Legion" were specially active, though they
+never showed themselves in large bands.
+
+Within London every man who could shoot game was now anxious to join in
+the fray, and on the day that the news of the last disaster reached the
+Metropolis, hundreds left for the open country out beyond Hendon.
+
+The enemy having broken down the defence at Enfield and cleared the
+defenders out of the fortified houses, had advanced and occupied the
+northern ridges of London in a line stretching roughly from Pole Hill, a
+little to the north of Chingford, across Upper Edmonton, through
+Tottenham, Hornsey, Highgate, Hampstead, and Willesden, to Twyford
+Abbey. All the positions had been well reconnoitred, for at grey of dawn
+the rumbling of artillery had been heard in the streets of those places
+already mentioned, and soon after sunrise strong batteries were
+established upon all the available points commanding London.
+
+These were at Chingford Green, on the left-hand side of the road
+opposite the inn at Chingford; on Devonshire Hill, Tottenham; on the
+hill at Wood Green; in the grounds of the Alexandra Palace; on the high
+ground about Churchyard Bottom Wood; on the edge of Bishop's Wood,
+Highgate; on Parliament Hill, at a spot close to the Oaks on the Hendon
+road; at Dollis Hill, and at a point a little north of Wormwood Scrubs,
+and at Neasden, near the railway works.
+
+The enemy's chief object was to establish their artillery as near London
+as possible, for it was known that the range of their guns even from
+Hampstead--the highest point, 441 feet above London--would not reach
+into the actual city itself. Meanwhile, at dawn, the German cavalry,
+infantry, motor-infantry, and armoured motor-cars--the latter mostly
+35-40 h.p. Opel-Darracqs, with three quick-firing guns mounted in each,
+and bearing the Imperial German arms in black--advanced up the various
+roads leading into London from the north, being met, of course, with a
+desperate resistance at the barricades.
+
+[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT and DEFENCES of
+LONDON
+on Sept. 20^{th} & 21^{st}]
+
+On Haverstock Hill, the three Maxims, mounted upon the huge construction
+across the road, played havoc with the Germans, who were at once
+compelled to fall back, leaving piles of dead and dying in the roadway,
+for the terrible hail of lead poured out upon the invaders could not be
+withstood. Two of the German armoured motor-cars were presently brought
+into action by the Germans, who replied with a rapid fire, this being
+continued for a full quarter of an hour without result on either side.
+Then the Germans, finding the defence too strong, again retired into
+Hampstead, amid the ringing cheers of the valiant men holding that gate
+of London. The losses of the enemy had been serious, for the whole
+roadway was now strewn with dead; while behind the huge wall of
+paving-stones, overturned carts, and furniture, only two men had been
+killed and one wounded.
+
+Across in the Finchley Road a struggle equally as fierce was in
+progress; but a detachment of the enemy, evidently led by some German
+who had knowledge of the intricate side-roads, suddenly appeared in the
+rear of the barricade, and a fierce and bloody hand-to-hand conflict
+ensued. The defenders, however, stood their ground, and with the aid of
+some petrol bombs which they held in readiness, they destroyed the
+venturesome detachment almost to a man, though a number of houses in the
+vicinity were set on fire, causing a huge conflagration.
+
+In Highgate Road the attack was a desperate one, the enraged Londoners
+fighting valiantly, the men with arms being assisted by the populace
+themselves. Here again deadly petrol bombs had been distributed, and men
+and women hurled them against the Germans. Petrol was actually poured
+from windows upon the heads of the enemy, and tow soaked in paraffin and
+lit flung in among them, when in an instant whole areas of the streets
+were ablaze, and the soldiers of the Fatherland perished in the roaring
+flames.
+
+Every device to drive back the invader was tried. Though thousands upon
+thousands had left the northern suburbs, many thousands still remained
+bent on defending their homes as long as they had breath. The crackle of
+rifles was incessant, and ever and anon the dull roar of a heavy field
+gun and the sharp rattle of a Maxim mingled with the cheers, yells, and
+shrieks of victors and vanquished.
+
+The scene on every side was awful. Men were fighting for their lives in
+desperation.
+
+Around the barricade in Holloway Road the street ran with blood; while
+in Kingsland, in Clapton, in West Ham, and Canning Town the enemy were
+making an equally desperate attack, and were being repulsed everywhere.
+London's enraged millions, the Germans were well aware, constituted a
+grave danger. Any detachments who carried a barricade by assault--as,
+for instance, they did one in the Hornsey Road near the station--were
+quickly set upon by the angry mob and simply wiped out of existence.
+
+Until nearly noon desperate conflicts at the barricades continued. The
+defence was even more effectual than was expected; yet, had it not been
+that Von Kronhelm, the German generalissimo, had given orders that the
+troops were not to attempt to advance into London before the populace
+were cowed, there was no doubt that each barricade could have been taken
+in the rear by companies avoiding the main roads and proceeding by the
+side streets.
+
+Just before noon, however, it was apparent to Von Kronhelm that to storm
+the barricades would entail enormous losses, so strong were they. The
+men holding them had now been reinforced in many cases by regular
+troops, who had come in in flight, and a good many guns were now manned
+by artillerymen.
+
+Von Kronhelm had established his headquarters at Jack Straw's Castle,
+from which he could survey the giant city through his field-glasses.
+Below lay the great plain of roofs, spires, and domes, stretching away
+into the grey mystic distance, where afar rose the twin towers and
+double arches of the Crystal Palace roof.
+
+London--the great London--the capital of the world--lay at his mercy at
+his feet.
+
+The tall, thin-faced General, with the grizzled moustache and the
+glittering cross at his throat, standing apart from his staff, gazed
+away in silence and in thought. It was his first sight of London, and
+its gigantic proportions amazed even him. Again he swept the horizon
+with his glass, and knit his grey brows. He remembered the parting words
+of his Emperor as he backed out of that plainly-furnished little private
+cabinet at Potsdam--
+
+"You must bombard London and sack it. The pride of those English must be
+broken at all costs. Go, Kronhelm--go--and may the best of fortune go
+with you!"
+
+The sun was at the noon causing the glass roof of the distant Crystal
+Palace to gleam. Far down in the grey haze stood Big Ben, the Campanile,
+and a thousand church spires, all tiny and, from that distance,
+insignificant. From where he stood the sound of crackling fire at the
+barricades reached him, and a little behind him a member of his staff
+was kneeling on the grass with his ear bent to the field telephone.
+Reports were coming in fast of the desperate resistance in the streets,
+and these were duly handed to him.
+
+He glanced at them, gave a final look at the outstretched city that was
+the metropolis of the world, and then gave rapid orders for the
+withdrawal of the troops from the assault of the barricades, and the
+bombardment of London.
+
+In a moment the field-telegraphs were clicking, the telephone bell was
+ringing, orders were shouted in German in all directions, and next
+second, with a deafening roar, one of the howitzers of the battery in
+the close vicinity to him gave tongue and threw its deadly shell
+somewhere into St. John's Wood.
+
+The rain of death had opened! London was surrounded by a semi-circle of
+fire.
+
+The great gun was followed by a hundred others as, at all the batteries
+along the northern heights, the orders were received. Then in a few
+minutes, from the whole line from Chingford to Willesden, roughly about
+twelve miles, came a hail of the most deadly of modern projectiles
+directed upon the most populous parts of the metropolis.
+
+Though the Germans trained their guns to carry as far as was possible,
+the zone of fire did not at first it seemed extend farther south than a
+line roughly taken from Notting Hill through Bayswater, past Paddington
+Station, along the Marylebone and Euston Roads, then up to Highbury,
+Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Walthamstow.
+
+When, however, the great shells began to burst in Holloway, Kentish
+Town, Camden Town, Kilburn, Kensal Green, and other places lying within
+the area under fire, a frightful panic ensued. Whole streets were
+shattered by explosions, and fires were breaking out, the dark clouds of
+smoke obscuring the sunlit sky. Roaring flame shot up everywhere,
+unfortunate men, women, and children were being blown to atoms by the
+awful projectiles, while others distracted, sought shelter in any cellar
+or underground place they could find, while their houses fell about them
+like packs of cards.
+
+The scenes within that zone of terror were indescribable.
+
+When Paris had been bombarded years ago, artillery was not at the
+perfection it now was, and there had been no such high explosive known
+as in the present day. The great shells that were falling everywhere, on
+bursting filled the air with poisonous fumes, as well as with deadly
+fragments. One bursting in a street would wreck the rows of houses on
+either side, and tear a great hole in the ground at the same moment. The
+fronts of the houses were torn out like paper, the iron railings twisted
+as though they were wire, and paving-stones hurled into the air like
+straws.
+
+Anything and everything offering a mark to the enemy's guns was
+shattered. St. John's Wood and the houses about Regent's Park suffered
+seriously. A shell from Hampstead, falling into the roof of one of the
+houses near the centre of Sussex Place, burst and shattered nearly all
+the houses in the row; while another fell in Cumberland Terrace and
+wrecked a dozen houses in the vicinity. In both cases the houses were
+mostly empty, for owners and servants had fled southward across the
+river as soon as it became apparent that the Germans actually intended
+to bombard.
+
+At many parts in Maida Vale shells burst with appalling effect. Several
+of the houses in Elgin Avenue had their fronts torn out, and in one, a
+block of flats, there was considerable loss of life in the fire that
+broke out, escape being cut off owing to the stairs having been
+demolished by the explosion. Abbey Road, St. John's Wood Road, Acacia
+Road, and Wellington Road, were quickly wrecked.
+
+In Chalk Farm Road, near the Adelaide, a terrified woman was dashing
+across the street to seek shelter with a neighbour, when a shell burst
+right in front of her, blowing her to fragments; while in the early
+stage of the bombardment a shell bursting in the Midland Hotel at St.
+Pancras caused a fire which in half an hour resulted in the whole hotel
+and railway terminus being a veritable furnace of flame. Through the
+roof of King's Cross Station several shells fell, and burst close to the
+departure platform. The whole glass roof was shattered, but beyond that
+little other material damage resulted.
+
+Shots were now falling everywhere, and Londoners were staggered. In
+dense, excited crowds they were flying southwards towards the Thames.
+Some were caught in the streets in their flight, and were flung down,
+maimed and dying. The most awful sights were to be witnessed in the open
+streets; men and women blown out of recognition, with their clothes
+singed and torn to shreds, and helpless, innocent children lying white
+and dead, their limbs torn away and missing.
+
+Euston Station had shared the same fate as St. Pancras, and was blazing
+furiously, sending up a great column of black smoke that could be seen
+by all London. So many were the conflagrations now breaking out that it
+seemed as though the enemy were sending into London shells filled with
+petrol, in order to set the streets aflame. This, indeed, was proved by
+an eye-witness, who saw a shell fall in Liverpool Road, close to the
+Angel. It burst with a bright red flash, and next second the whole of
+the roadway and neighbouring houses were blazing furiously.
+
+Thus the air became black with smoke and dust, and the light of day
+obscured in Northern London. And through that obscurity came those
+whizzing shells in an incessant hissing stream, each one, bursting in
+these narrow, thickly populated streets, causing havoc indescribable,
+and a loss of life impossible to accurately calculate. Hundreds of
+people were blown to pieces in the open but hundreds more were buried
+beneath the _debris_ of their own cherished homes, now being so
+ruthlessly destroyed and demolished.
+
+On every side was heard the cry: "Stop the war--stop the war!"
+
+But it was, alas! too late--too late.
+
+Never in the history of the civilised world were there such scenes of
+reckless slaughter of the innocent and peace-loving as on that
+never-to-be-forgotten day when Von Kronhelm carried out the orders of
+his Imperial master, and struck terror into the heart of London's
+millions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RAIN OF DEATH.
+
+
+Through the whole afternoon the heavy German artillery roared, belching
+forth their fiery vengeance upon London.
+
+Hour after hour they pounded away, until St. Pancras Church was a heap
+of ruins and the Foundling Hospital a veritable furnace, as well as the
+Parcel Post Offices and the University College in Gower Street. In
+Hampstead Road many of the shops were shattered, and in Tottenham Court
+Road both Maple's and Shoolbred's suffered severely, for shells bursting
+in the centre of the roadway had smashed every pane of glass in the
+fronts of both buildings.
+
+The quiet squares of Bloomsbury were in some cases great yawning
+ruins--houses with their fronts torn out revealing the shattered
+furniture within. Streets were indeed, filled with tiles, chimney pots,
+fallen telegraph wires, and _debris_ of furniture, stone steps, paving
+stones, and fallen masonry. Many of the thoroughfares, such as the
+Pentonville Road, Copenhagen Street, and Holloway Road, were, at points,
+quite impassable on account of the ruins that blocked them. Into the
+Northern Hospital, in the Holloway Road, a shell fell, shattering one of
+the wards, and killing or maiming every one of the patients in the ward
+in question, while the church in Tufnell Park Road was burning fiercely.
+Upper Holloway, Stoke Newington, Highbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney,
+Clapton, and Stamford Hill were being swept at long range by the guns on
+Muswell Hill and Churchyard Bottom Hill, and the terror caused in those
+densely populated districts was awful. Hundreds upon hundreds lost their
+lives, or else had a hand, an arm, a leg blown away, as those fatal
+shells fell in never-ceasing monotony, especially in Stoke Newington and
+Kingsland. The many side roads lying between Holloway Road and Finsbury
+Park, such as Hornsey Road, Tollington Park, Andover, Durham,
+Palmerston, Campbell, and Forthill Roads, Seven Sisters Road, and
+Isledon Road were all devastated, for the guns for a full hour seemed to
+be trained upon them.
+
+The German gunners in all probability neither knew nor cared where their
+shells fell. From their position, now that the smoke of the hundreds of
+fires was now rising, they could probably discern but little. Therefore
+the batteries at Hampstead Heath, Muswell Hill, Wood Green, Cricklewood,
+and other places simply sent their shells as far distant south as
+possible into the panic-stricken city below. In Mountgrove and
+Riversdale Roads, Highbury Vale, a number of people were killed, while a
+frightful disaster occurred in the church at the corner of Park Lane and
+Milton Road, Stoke Newington. Here a number of people had entered,
+attending a special service for the success of the British arms, when a
+shell exploded on the roof, bringing it down upon them and killing over
+fifty of the congregation, mostly women.
+
+The air, poisoned by the fumes of the deadly explosives and full of
+smoke from the burning buildings, was ever and anon rent by explosions
+as projectiles frequently burst in mid-air. The distant roar was
+incessant, like the noise of thunder, while on every hand could be heard
+the shrieks of defenceless women and children, or the muttered curses of
+some man who saw his home and all he possessed swept away with a flash
+and a cloud of dust. Nothing could withstand that awful cannonade.
+Walthamstow had been rendered untenable in the first half-hour of the
+bombardment, while in Tottenham the loss of life had been very enormous,
+the German gunners at Wood Green having apparently turned their first
+attention upon that place. Churches, the larger buildings, the railway
+station, in fact, anything offering a mark, was promptly shattered,
+being assisted by the converging fire from the batteries at Chingford.
+
+On the opposite side of London, Notting Hill, Shepherd's Bush, and
+Starch Green, were being reduced to ruins by the heavy batteries above
+Park Royal Station, which, firing across Wormwood Scrubs, put their
+shots into Notting Hill, and especially into Holland Park, where
+widespread damage was quickly wrought.
+
+A couple of shells falling into the generating station of the Central
+London Railway, or "Tube," as Londoners usually call it, unfortunately
+caused a disaster and loss of life which were appalling. At the first
+sign of the bombardment many thousands of people descended into the
+"Tube" as a safe hiding-place from the rain of shell. At first the
+railway officials closed the doors to prevent the inrush, but the
+terrified populace in Shepherd's Bush, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and
+Holborn, in fact, all along the subterranean line, broke open the doors
+and descending by the lifts and stairs found themselves in a place which
+at least gave them security against the enemy's fire.
+
+The trains had long ago ceased running, and every station was crowded to
+excess, while many were forced upon the line itself, and actually into
+the tunnels. For hours they waited there in eager breathlessness,
+longing to be able to ascend and find the conflict over. Men and women
+in all stations of life were huddled together, while children clung to
+their parents in wonder; yet as hour after hour went by, the report from
+above was still the same--the Germans had not ceased.
+
+Of a sudden, however, the light failed. The electric current had been
+cut off by the explosion of the shells in the generating station at
+Shepherd's Bush, and the lifts were useless! The thousands who, in
+defiance of the orders of the company, had gone below at Shepherd's Bush
+for shelter, found themselves caught like rats in a hole. True, there
+was the faint glimmer of an oil light here and there, but, alas! that
+did not prevent an awful panic.
+
+Somebody shouted that the Germans were above and had put out the lights,
+and when it was found that the lifts were useless a panic ensued that
+was indescribable. The people could not ascend the stairs, as they were
+blocked by the dense crowd, therefore they pressed into the narrow
+semi-circular tunnels in an eager endeavour to reach the next station,
+where they hoped they might escape; but once in there women and children
+were quickly crushed to death, or thrown down and trampled upon by the
+press behind.
+
+In the darkness they fought with each other, pressing on and becoming
+jammed so tightly that many were held against the sloping walls until
+life was extinct. Between Shepherd's Bush and Holland Park Stations the
+loss of life was worst, for being within the zone of the German fire the
+people had crushed in frantically in thousands, and with one accord a
+move had unfortunately been made into the tunnels, on account of the
+foolish cry that the German were waiting above.
+
+The railway officials were powerless. They had done their best to
+prevent any one going below, but the public had insisted, therefore no
+blame could be laid upon them for the catastrophe.
+
+At Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, and Tottenham Court Road Stations, a
+similar scene was enacted, and dozens upon dozens, alas! lost their
+lives in the panic. Ladies and gentlemen from Park Lane, Grosvenor
+Square, and Mayfair had sought shelter at the Marble Arch Station,
+rubbing shoulders with labourers' wives and costerwomen from the back
+streets of Marylebone. When the lights failed, a rush had been made into
+the tunnel to reach Oxford Circus, all exit by the stairs being
+blocked, as at Shepherd's Bush, on account of the hundreds struggling
+to get down.
+
+As at Holland Park, the terrified crowd fighting with each other became
+jammed and suffocated in the narrow space. The catastrophe was a
+frightful one, for it was afterwards proved that over four hundred and
+twenty persons, mostly weak women and children, lost their lives in
+those twenty minutes of darkness before the mains at the generating
+station, wrecked by the explosions, could be repaired.
+
+Then, when the current came up again, the lights revealed the frightful
+mishap, and people struggled to emerge from the burrows wherein they had
+so narrowly escaped death.
+
+Upon the Baker Street and Waterloo and other "Tubes," every station had
+also been besieged. The whole of the first-mentioned line from north to
+south was the refuge of thousands, who saw in it a safe place for
+retreat. The tunnels of the District Railway, too, were filled with
+terror-stricken multitudes, who descended at every station and walked
+away into a subterranean place of safety. No trains had been running for
+several days, therefore there was no danger from that cause.
+
+Meanwhile the bombardment continued with unceasing activity.
+
+The Marylebone Station of the Great Central Railway, and the Great
+Central Hotel, which seemed to be only just within the line of fire,
+were wrecked, and about four o'clock it was seen that the hotel, like
+that at St. Pancras, was well alight, though no effort could be made to
+save it. At the first two or three alarms of fire the Metropolitan Fire
+Brigade had turned out, but now that fresh alarms were reaching the
+chief station every moment, the brigade saw themselves utterly powerless
+to even attempt to save the hundred buildings, great and small, now
+furiously blazing.
+
+Gasometers, especially those of the Gas Light and Coke Company at Kensal
+Green, were marked by the German gunners, who sent them into the air;
+while a well-directed petrol bomb at Wormwood Scrubs Prison set one
+great wing of the place alight, and the prisoners were therefore
+released. The rear of Kensington Palace, and the fronts of a number of
+houses in Kensington Palace Gardens were badly damaged, while in the
+dome of the Albert Hall was a great, ugly hole.
+
+Shortly after five o'clock occurred a disaster which was of national
+consequence. It could only have been a mishap on the part of the
+Germans, for they would certainly never have done such irreparable
+damage willingly, as they destroyed what would otherwise have been most
+valuable of loot.
+
+Shots suddenly began to fall fast in Bloomsbury, several of them badly
+damaging the Hotel Russell and the houses near, and it was therefore
+apparent that one of the batteries which had been firing from near Jack
+Straw's Castle had been moved across to Parliament Hill, or even to some
+point south of it, which gave a wider range to the fire.
+
+Presently a shell came high through the air and fell full upon the
+British Museum, striking it nearly in the centre of the front, and in
+exploding carried away the Grecian-Ionic ornament, and shattered a
+number of the fine stone columns of the dark facade. Ere people in the
+vicinity had realised that the national collection of antiques was
+within range of the enemy's destructive projectiles, a second shell
+crashed into the rear of the building, making a great gap in the walls.
+Then, as though all the guns of that particular battery had converged in
+order to destroy our treasure-house of art and antiquity, shell after
+shell crashed into the place in rapid succession. Before ten minutes had
+passed, grey smoke began to roll out from beneath the long colonnade in
+front, and growing denser, told its own tale. The British Museum was on
+fire.
+
+Nor was that all. As though to complete the disaster--although it was
+certain that the Germans were in ignorance--there came one of those
+terrible shells filled with petrol, which, bursting inside the
+manuscript room, set the whole place ablaze. In a dozen different places
+the building seemed to be now alight, especially the library, and thus
+the finest collection of books, manuscripts, Greek and Roman and
+Egyptian antiques, coins, medals, and prehistoric relics, lay at the
+mercy of the flames.
+
+The fire brigade was at once alarmed, and at imminent risk of their
+lives, for shells were still falling in the vicinity, they, with the
+Salvage Corps and the assistance of many willing helpers--some of whom,
+unfortunately, lost their lives in the flames--saved whatever could be
+saved, throwing the objects out into the railed-off quadrangle in
+front.
+
+The left wing of the Museum, however, could not be entered, although,
+after most valiant efforts on the part of the firemen, the
+conflagrations that had broken out in other parts of the building were
+at length subdued. The damage was, however, irreparable, for many unique
+collections, including all the prints and drawings, and many of the
+mediaeval and historic manuscripts had already been consumed.
+
+Shots now began to fall as far south as Oxford Street, and all along
+that thoroughfare from Holborn as far as Oxford Circus, widespread havoc
+was being wrought. People fled for their lives back towards Charing
+Cross and the Strand. The Oxford Music Hall was a hopeless ruin, while a
+shell crashing through the roof of Frascati's restaurant carried away a
+portion of the gallery and utterly wrecked the whole place. Many of the
+shops in Oxford Street had their roofs damaged or their fronts blown
+out, while a huge block of flats in Great Russell Street was practically
+demolished by three shells striking in rapid succession.
+
+Then, to the alarm of all who realised it, shots were seen to be passing
+high over Bloomsbury, south towards the Thames. The range had been
+increased, for, as was afterwards known, some heavier guns had now been
+mounted upon Muswell Hill and Hampstead Heath, which, carrying to a
+distance of from six to seven miles, placed the City, the Strand, and
+Westminster within the zone of fire. The zone in question stretched
+roughly from Victoria Park through Bethnal Green and Whitechapel, across
+to Southwark, the Borough, Lambeth, and Westminster to Kensington, and
+while the fire upon the northern suburbs slackened, great shells now
+came flying through the air into the very heart of London.
+
+The German gunners at Muswell Hill took the dome of St. Paul's as a
+mark, for shells fell constantly in Ludgate Hill, in Cheapside, in
+Newgate Street, and in the Churchyard itself. One falling upon the steps
+of the Cathedral tore out two of the columns of the front, while
+another, striking the clock tower just below the face, brought down much
+of the masonry and one of the huge bells, with a deafening crash,
+blocking the road with _debris_. Time after time the great shells went
+over the splendid Cathedral, which the enemy seemed bent upon
+destroying, but the dome remained uninjured, though about ten feet of
+the top of the second tower was carried away.
+
+On the Cannon Street side of St. Paul's a great block of drapery
+warehouses had caught fire, and was burning fiercely, while the drapers
+and other shops on the Paternoster Row side all had their windows
+shattered by the constant detonations. Within the Cathedral two shells
+that had fallen through the roof had wrought havoc with the beautiful
+reredos and the choir-stalls, many of the fine windows being also
+wrecked by the explosions.
+
+Whole rows of houses in Cheapside suffered, while both the Mansion
+House, where the London flag was flying, and the Royal Exchange were
+severely damaged by a number of shells which fell in the vicinity. The
+equestrian statue in front of the Exchange had been overturned, while
+the Exchange itself showed a great yawning hole in the corner of the
+facade next Cornhill. At the Bank of England a fire had occurred, but
+had fortunately been extinguished by the strong force of Guards in
+charge, though they gallantly risked their lives in so doing. Lothbury,
+Gresham Street, Old Broad Street, Lombard Street, Gracechurch Street,
+and Leadenhall Street were all more or less scenes of fire, havoc, and
+destruction. The loss of life was not great in this neighbourhood, for
+most people had crossed the river or gone westward, but the high
+explosives used by the Germans were falling upon shops and warehouses
+with appalling effect.
+
+Masonry was torn about like paper, ironwork twisted like wax, woodwork
+shattered to a thousand splinters as, time after time, a great
+projectile hissed in the air and effected its errand of destruction. A
+number of the wharves on each side of the river were soon alight, and
+both Upper and Lower Thames Streets were soon impassable on account of
+huge conflagrations. A few shells fell in Shoreditch, Houndsditch, and
+Whitechapel, and these, in most cases, caused loss of life in those
+densely populated districts.
+
+Westward, however, as the hours went on, the howitzers at Hampstead
+began to drop high explosive shells into the Strand, around Charing
+Cross, and in Westminster. This weapon had a calibre of 4.14 inches, and
+threw a projectile of 35 lbs. The tower of St. Clement Dane's Church
+crashed to the ground and blocked the roadway opposite Milford Lane; the
+pointed roof of the clock-tower of the Law Courts was blown away, and
+the granite fronts of the two banks opposite the Law Courts entrance
+were torn out by a shell which exploded in the footpath before them.
+
+Shells fell time after time, in and about the Law Courts themselves,
+committing immense damage to the interior, while a shell bursting upon
+the roof of Charing Cross Station, rendered it a ruin as picturesque as
+it had been in December, 1905. The National Liberal Club was burning
+furiously; the Hotel Cecil and the Savoy did not escape, but no material
+damage was done to them. The Garrick Theatre had caught fire; a shot
+carried away the globe above the Coliseum, and the Shot Tower beside the
+Thames crashed into the river.
+
+The front of the Grand Hotel in Trafalgar Square showed, in several
+places, great holes where the shell had struck, and a shell bursting at
+the foot of Nelson's Monument turned over one of the lions--overthrowing
+the emblem of Britain's might!
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were, in one or two instances, wrecked, notably
+the Reform, the Junior Carlton, and the Athenaeum, into each of which
+shells fell through the roof and exploded within.
+
+From the number of projectiles that fell in the vicinity of the Houses
+of Parliament, it was apparent that the German gunners could see the
+Royal Standard flying from the Victoria Tower, and were making it their
+mark. In the west front of Westminster Abbey several shots crashed,
+doing enormous damage to the grand old pile. The hospital opposite was
+set alight, while the Westminster Palace Hotel was severely damaged, and
+two shells falling into St. Thomas's Hospital created a scene of
+indescribable terror in one of the overcrowded casualty wards.
+
+Suddenly one of the German high explosive shells burst on the top of the
+Victoria Tower, blowing away all four of the pinnacles, and bringing
+down the flagstaff. Big Ben served as another mark for the artillery at
+Muswell Hill and several shots struck it, tearing out one of the huge
+clock faces and blowing away the pointed apex of the tower. Suddenly,
+however, two great shells struck it right in the centre, almost
+simultaneously, near the base, and made such a hole in the huge pile of
+masonry that it was soon seen to have been rendered unsafe, though it
+did not fall.
+
+Shot after shot struck other portions of the Houses of Parliament,
+breaking the windows and carrying away pinnacles.
+
+One of the twin towers of Westminster Abbey fell a few moments later,
+and another shell, crashing into the choir, completely wrecked Edward
+the Confessor's shrine, the Coronation Chair, and all the objects of
+antiquity in the vicinity.
+
+The old Horse Guards escaped injury, but one of the cupolas of the new
+War Office opposite was blown away, while shortly afterwards a fire
+broke out in the new Local Government Board and Education Offices.
+Number 10, Downing Street, the chief centre of the Government, had its
+windows all blown in--a grim accident, no doubt--the same explosion
+shattering several windows in the Foreign Office.
+
+Many shells fell in St. James's and Hyde Parks, exploding harmlessly,
+but others, passing across St. James's Park, crashed into that high
+building, Queen Anne's Mansions, causing fearful havoc. Somerset House,
+Covent Garden Market, Drury Lane Theatre, and the Gaiety Theatre and
+Restaurant all suffered more or less, and two of the bronze footguards
+guarding the Wellington Statue at Hyde Park Corner were blown many yards
+away. Around Holborn Circus immense damage was being caused, and several
+shells bursting on the Viaduct itself blew great holes in the bridge.
+
+So widespread, indeed, was the havoc, that it is impossible to give a
+detailed account of the day's terrors. If the public buildings suffered,
+the damage to property of householders and the ruthless wrecking of
+quiet English homes may well be imagined. The people had been driven out
+from the zone of fire, and had left their possessions to the mercy of
+the invaders.
+
+South of the Thames very little damage was done. The German howitzers
+and long-range guns could not reach so far. One or two shots fell in
+York Road, Lambeth, and in the Waterloo and Westminster Bridge Roads,
+but they did little damage beyond breaking all the windows in the
+vicinity.
+
+When would it end? Where would it end?
+
+Half the population of London had fled across the bridges, and from
+Denmark Hill, Champion Hill, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace they could
+see the smoke issuing from the hundred fires.
+
+London was cowed. These northern barricades, still held by bodies of
+valiant men, were making a last desperate stand, though the streets ran
+with blood. Every man fought well and bravely for his country, though he
+went to his death. A thousand acts of gallant heroism on the part of
+Englishmen were done that day, but alas! all to no purpose. The Germans
+were at our gates, and were not to be denied.
+
+As daylight commenced to fade the dust and smoke became suffocating. And
+yet the guns pounded away with a monotonous regularity that appalled the
+helpless populace. Overhead there was a quick whizzing in the air, a
+deafening explosion, and as the masonry came crashing down the
+atmosphere was filled with poisonous fumes that half asphyxiated all
+those in the vicinity.
+
+Hitherto the enemy had treated us, on the whole, humanely, but finding
+that desperate resistance in the northern suburbs, Von Kronhelm was
+carrying out the Emperor's parting injunction. He was breaking the pride
+of our own dear London, even at the sacrifice of thousands of innocent
+lives.
+
+The scenes in the streets within that zone of awful fire baffled
+description. They were too sudden, too dramatic, too appalling. Death
+and destruction were everywhere, and the people of London now realised
+for the first time what the horrors of war really meant.
+
+Dusk was falling. Above the pall of smoke from burning buildings the sun
+was setting with a blood-red light. From the London streets, however,
+this evening sky was darkened by the clouds of smoke and dust. Yet the
+cannonade continued, each shell that came hurtling through the air
+exploding with deadly effect and spreading destruction on all hands.
+
+Meanwhile the barricades at the north had not escaped Von Kronhelm's
+attention. About four o'clock he gave orders by field telegraph for
+certain batteries to move down and attack them.
+
+This was done soon after five o'clock, and when the German guns began to
+pour their deadly rain of shell into those hastily improvised defences
+there commenced a slaughter of the gallant defenders that was horrible.
+At each of the barricades shell after shell was directed, and very
+quickly breaches were made. Then upon the defenders themselves the fire
+was directed--a withering, awful fire from quick-firing guns which none
+could withstand. The streets, with their barricades swept away, were
+strewn with mutilated corpses. Hundreds upon hundreds had attempted to
+make a last stand, rallied by the Union Jack they waved above, but a
+shell exploding in their midst had sent them to instant eternity.
+
+Many a gallant deed was done that day by patriotic Londoners in defence
+of their homes and loved ones--many a deed that should have earned the
+V.C.--but in nearly all cases the patriot who had stood up and faced the
+foe had gone to straight and certain death.
+
+Till seven o'clock the dull roar of the guns in the north continued, and
+people across the Thames knew that London was still being destroyed,
+nay, pulverised. Then with accord came a silence--the first silence
+since the hot noon.
+
+Von Kronhelm's field telegraph at Jack Straw's Castle had ticked the
+order to cease firing.
+
+All the barricades had been broken.
+
+London lay burning--at the mercy of the German eagle.
+
+And as the darkness fell the German Commander-in-Chief looked again
+through his glasses, and saw the red flames leaping up in dozens of
+places, where whole blocks of shops and buildings, public institutions,
+whole streets in some cases, were being consumed.
+
+London--the proud capital of the world, the "home" of the
+Englishman--was at last ground beneath the iron heel of Germany!
+
+And all, alas! due to one cause alone--the careless insular apathy of
+the Englishman himself!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+FALL OF LONDON.
+
+
+Outside London the September night had settled down on the blood-stained
+field of battle. With a pale light the moon had risen, partly hidden by
+chasing clouds, her white rays mingling with the lurid glare of the
+fires down in the great terrified Metropolis below. Northward, from
+Hampstead across to Barnet--indeed, over that wide district where the
+final battle had been so hotly fought--the moonbeams shone upon the
+pallid faces of the fallen.
+
+Along the German line of investment there had now followed upon the roar
+of battle an uncanny silence.
+
+Away to the west, however, there was still heard the growling of distant
+conflict, now mounting into a low crackling of musketry fire, and again
+dying away in muffled sounds. The last remnant of the British Army was
+being hotly pursued in the direction of Staines.
+
+London was invested and bombarded, but not yet taken.
+
+For a long time the German Field Marshal had stood alone upon Hampstead
+Heath apart from his staff, watching the great tongues of flame leaping
+up here and there in the distant darkness. His grey, shaggy brows were
+contracted, his thin aquiline face thoughtful, his hard mouth twitching
+nervously, unable to fully conceal the strain of his own feelings as
+conqueror of the English. Von Kronhelm's taciturnity had long ago been
+proverbial. The Kaiser had likened him to Moltke, and had declared that
+"he could be silent in seven languages." His gaze was one of musing, and
+yet he was the most active of men, and perhaps the cleverest strategist
+in all Europe. Often during the campaign he had astonished his
+aides-de-camp by his untiring energy, for sometimes he would even visit
+the outposts in person. On many occasions he had actually crept up to
+the most advanced posts at great personal risk to himself, so anxious
+had he been to see with his own eyes. Such visits from the Field Marshal
+himself were not always welcome to the German outposts, who, as soon as
+they showed the least sign of commotion consequent upon the visit, were
+at once swept by a withering English fire.
+
+Yet he now stood there the conqueror. And while many of his officers
+were installing themselves in comfortable quarters in houses about North
+End, North Hill, South Hill, Muswell Hill, Roslyn Hill, Fitzjohn's
+Avenue, Netherhall, and Maresfield Gardens, and other roads in that
+vicinity, the great Commander was still alone upon the Heath, having
+taken nothing save a nip from his flask since his coffee at dawn.
+
+Time after time telegraphic despatches were handed to him from Germany,
+and telephonic reports from his various positions around London, but he
+received them all without comment. He read, he listened, but he said
+nothing.
+
+For a full hour he remained there, strolling up and down alone in quick
+impatience. Then, as though suddenly making up his mind, he called three
+members of his staff, and gave orders for an entry into London.
+
+This, as he knew, was the signal for a terrible and bloody encounter.
+Bugles sounded. Men and officers, who had believed that the storm and
+stress of the day were over, and that they were entitled to rest, found
+themselves called upon to fight their way into the city that they knew
+would be defended by an irate and antagonistic populace.
+
+Still, the order had been given, and it must be obeyed. They had
+expected that the advance would be at least made at dawn, but evidently
+Von Kronhelm feared that six hours' delay might necessitate more
+desperate fighting. He intended, now that London was cowed, that she
+should be entirely crushed. The orders of his master the Kaiser were to
+that effect.
+
+Therefore, shortly before nine o'clock the first detachments of German
+infantry marched along Spaniards Road, and down Roslyn Hill to
+Haverstock Hill, where they were at once fired upon from behind the
+_debris_ of the great barricade across the junction of Prince of Wales
+Road and Haverstock Hill. This place was held strongly by British
+Infantry, many members of the Legion of Frontiersmen--distinguished only
+by the little bronze badge in their buttonholes--and also by hundreds of
+citizens armed with rifles.
+
+Twenty Germans dropped at the first volley, and next instant a Maxim,
+concealed in the first floor of a neighbouring house, spat forth its
+fire upon the invaders with deadly effect. The German bugle sounded the
+"Advance rapidly," and the men emulously ran forward, shouting loud
+hurrahs. Major van Wittich, who had distinguished himself very
+conspicuously in the fighting round Enfield Chase, fell, being shot
+through the lung when just within a few yards of the half-ruined
+barricade. Londoners were fighting desperately, shouting and cheering.
+The standard-bearer of the 4th Battalion of the Brunswick Infantry
+Regiment, No. 92, fell severely wounded, and the standard was instantly
+snatched from him in the awful hand-to-hand fighting which that moment
+ensued.
+
+Five minutes later the streets were running with blood, for hundreds,
+both Germans and British, lay dead and dying. Every Londoner struggled
+valiantly until shot down; yet the enemy, always reinforced, pressed
+forward, until ten minutes later, the defenders were driven out of their
+position, and the house from which the Maxim was sending forth its
+deadly hail had been entered and the gun captured. Volley after volley
+was still, however, poured out on the heads of the storming party, but
+already the pioneers were at work clearing a way for the advance, and
+very soon the Germans had surmounted the obstruction and were within
+London.
+
+For a short time the Germans halted, then, at a signal from their
+officers, they moved along both roads, again being fired upon from every
+house in the vicinity, many of the defenders having retired to continue
+their defence from the windows. The enemy therefore turned their
+attention to these houses, and after desperate struggles house after
+house was taken, those of the defenders not wearing uniform being shot
+down without mercy. To such no quarter was given.
+
+The contest now became a most furious one. Britons and Germans fought
+hand to hand. A battalion of the Brunswick Infantry with some riflemen
+of the Guard took several houses by rush in Chalk Farm Road; but in many
+cases the Germans were shot by their own comrades. Quite a number of the
+enemy's officers were picked off by the Frontiersmen, those brave
+fellows who had seen service in every corner of the world, and who were
+now in the windows and upon roofs. Thus the furious fight from house to
+house proceeded.
+
+This exciting conflict was practically characteristic of what was at
+that moment happening in fifty other spots along the suburbs of North
+London. The obstinate resistance which we made against the Germans was
+met with equally obstinate aggression. There was no surrender. Londoners
+fell and died fighting to the very last.
+
+Against those well-trained Teutons in such overwhelming masses we,
+however, could have no hope of success. The rushes of the infantry and
+rifles of the Guards were made skilfully, and slowly but surely broke
+down all opposition.
+
+The barricade in the Kentish Town Road was defended with valiant
+heroism. The Germans were, as in Chalk Farm Road, compelled to fight
+their way foot by foot, losing heavily all the time. But here, at
+length, as at other points, the barricade was taken, and the defenders
+chased, and either taken prisoner or else ruthlessly shot down. A body
+of citizens armed with rifles were, after the storming of the barricades
+in question, driven back into Park Street, and there, being caught
+between two bodies of Germans, slaughtered to a man. Through those unlit
+side streets between the Kentish Town and Camden Roads--namely, the
+Lawford, Bartholomew, Rochester, Caversham, and Leighton Roads--there
+was much skirmishing, and many on both sides fell in the bloody
+encounter. A thousand deeds of bravery were done that night, but were
+unrecorded. Before the barricade in Holloway Road--which had been
+strongly repaired after the breach made in it by the German shells--the
+enemy lost very heavily, for the three Maxims which had there been
+mounted did awful execution. The invaders, however, seeing the strong
+defence, fell back for full twenty minutes, and then, making another
+rush, hurled petrol bombs into the midst of our men.
+
+A frightful holocaust was the result. Fully a hundred of the poor
+fellows were literally burned alive; while the neighbouring houses,
+being set in flames, compelled the citizen free-shooters to quickly
+evacuate their position. Against such terrible missiles even the best
+trained troops cannot stand, therefore no wonder that all opposition at
+that point was soon afterwards swept away, and the pioneers quickly
+opened the road for the victorious legions of the Kaiser.
+
+And so in that prosaic thoroughfare, the Holloway Road, brave men fought
+gallantly and died, while a Scotch piper paced the pavement sharply,
+backwards and forwards, with his colours flying. Then, alas! came the
+red flash, the loud explosions in rapid succession, and the next instant
+the whole street burst into a veritable sea of flame.
+
+High Street, Kingsland, was also the scene of several fierce conflicts;
+but here the Germans decidedly got the worst of it. The whole infuriated
+population seemed to emerge suddenly from the side streets of the
+Kingsland Road on the appearance of the detachment of the enemy, and the
+latter were practically overwhelmed, notwithstanding the desperate fight
+they made. Then ringing cheers went up from the defenders.
+
+The Germans were given no quarter by the populace, all of whom were
+armed with knives or guns, the women mostly with hatchets, crowbars, or
+edged tools.
+
+Many of the Germans fled through the side streets towards Mare Street,
+and were hotly pursued, the majority of them being done to death by the
+maddened mob. The streets in this vicinity were literally a
+slaughterhouse.
+
+The barricades in Finchley Road, and in High Road, Kilburn, were also
+very strongly held, and at the first-named it was quite an hour before
+the enemy's pioneers were able to make a breach. Indeed, then only after
+a most hotly contested conflict, in which there were frightful losses on
+both sides. Petrol bombs were here also used by the enemy with appalling
+effect, the road being afterwards cleared by a couple of Maxims.
+
+Farther towards Regent's Park the houses were, however, full of
+sharpshooters, and before these could be dislodged the enemy had again
+suffered severely. The entry into London was both difficult and
+perilous, and the enemy suffered great losses everywhere.
+
+After the breaking down of the defences in High Road, Kilburn, the men
+who had held them retired to the Town Hall, opposite Kilburn Station,
+and from the windows fired at the passing battalions, doing much
+execution. All efforts to dislodge them proved unavailing, until the
+place was taken by storm, and a fearful hand to hand fight was the
+outcome. Eventually the Town Hall was taken, after a most desperate
+resistance, and ten minutes later wilfully set fire to and burned.
+
+In the Harrow Road and those cross streets between Kensal Green and
+Maida Vale the advancing Germans shared much the same fate as about
+Hackney. Surrounded by the armed populace, hundreds upon hundreds of
+them were killed, struck down by hatchets, stabbed by knives, or shot
+with revolvers, the crowd shouting, "Down with the Germans! Kill them!
+Kill them!"
+
+Many of the London women now became perfect furies. So incensed were
+they at the wreck of their homes and the death of their loved ones that
+they rushed wildly into the fray with no thought of peril, only of
+bitter revenge. A German whenever caught was at once killed. In those
+bloody street fights the Teutons got separated from their comrades and
+were quickly surrounded and done to death.
+
+[Illustration: LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT.]
+
+Across the whole of the northern suburbs the scenes of bloodshed that
+night were full of horror, as men fought in the ruined streets, climbing
+over the smouldering _debris_, over the bodies of their comrades, and
+shooting from behind ruined walls. As Von Kronhelm had anticipated, his
+Army was compelled to fight its way into London.
+
+The streets all along the line of the enemy's advance were now strewn
+with dead and dying. London was doomed.
+
+The Germans now coming on in increasing, nay, unceasing numbers, were
+leaving behind them everywhere the trail of blood. Shattered London
+stood staggered.
+
+Though the resistance had been long and desperate, the enemy had again
+triumphed by reason of his sheer weight of numbers.
+
+Yet, even though he were actually in our own dear London, our people did
+not mean that he should establish himself without any further
+opposition. Therefore, though the barricades had been taken, the Germans
+found in every unexpected corner men who shot at them, and Maxims which
+spat forth their leaden showers beneath which hundreds upon hundreds of
+Teutons fell.
+
+Yet they advanced, still fighting. The scenes of carnage were awful and
+indescribable, no quarter being given to any armed citizens not in
+uniform, be they men, women, or children.
+
+The German Army was carrying out the famous proclamation of Field
+Marshal von Kronhelm to the letter!
+
+They were marching on to the sack of the wealthiest city of the world.
+
+It wanted still an hour of midnight. London was a city of shadow, of
+fire, of death. The silent streets, whence all the inhabitants had fled
+in panic, echoed to the heavy tread of German infantry, the clank of
+arms, and the ominous rumble of guns. Ever and anon an order was shouted
+in German as the Kaiser's legions went forward to occupy the proud
+capital of the world. The enemy's plans appeared to have been carefully
+prepared. The majority of the troops coming from the direction of
+Hampstead and Finchley entered Regent's Park, whence preparations were
+at once commenced for encampment; while the remainder, together with
+those who came down the Camden, Caledonian, and Holloway Roads, turned
+along Euston Road and Oxford Street to Hyde Park, where a huge camp was
+formed, stretching from the Marble Arch right along the Park Lane side
+away to Knightsbridge.
+
+Officers were very soon billeted in the best houses in Park Lane and
+about Mayfair--houses full of works of art and other valuables that had
+only that morning been left to the mercy of the invaders. From the
+windows and balconies of their quarters in Park Lane they could overlook
+the encampment--a position which had evidently been purposely chosen.
+
+Other troops who came in never-ending procession by the Bow Road, Roman
+Road, East India Dock Road, Victoria Park Road, Mare Street, and
+Kingsland Road all converged into the City itself, except those who had
+come from Edmonton down the Kingsland Road, and who, passing along Old
+Street and Clerkenwell, occupied the Charing Cross and Westminster
+districts.
+
+At midnight a dramatic scene was enacted when, in the blood-red glare of
+some blazing buildings in the vicinity, a large body of Prince Louis
+Ferdinand of Prussia's 2nd Magdeburg Regiment suddenly swept up
+Threadneedle Street into the great open space before the Mansion House,
+whereon the London flag was still flying aloft in the smoke-laden air.
+They halted across the junction of Cheapside with Queen Victoria Street
+when, at the same moment, another huge body of the Uhlans of Altmark and
+Magdeburg Hussars came clattering along Cornhill, followed a moment
+later by battalion after battalion of the 4th and 8th Thuringen Infantry
+out of Moorgate Street, whose uniforms showed plain traces of the
+desperate encounters of the past week.
+
+The great body of Germans had halted before the Mansion House, when
+General von Kleppen, the commander of the IVth Army Corps--who,
+it will be remembered, had landed at Weybourne--accompanied by
+Lieutenant-General von Mirbach, of the 8th Division, and Froelich,
+commander of the cavalry brigade, ascended the steps of the Mansion
+House and entered.
+
+Within, Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, who wore his robes and
+jewel of office, received them in that great, sombre room wherein so
+many momentous questions concerning the welfare of the British Empire
+had been discussed. The representative of the City of London, a short,
+stout, gray-haired man, was pale and agitated. He bowed, but he could
+not speak.
+
+Von Kleppen, however, a smart, soldierly figure in his service uniform
+and many ribbons, bowed in response, and in very fair English said:--
+
+"I regret, my Lord Mayor, that it is necessary for us to thus disturb
+you, but as you are aware, the British Army has been defeated, and the
+German Army has entered London. I have orders from Field Marshal von
+Kronhelm to place you under arrest, and to hold you as hostage for the
+good behaviour of the City during the progress of the negotiations for
+peace."
+
+"Arrest!" gasped the Lord Mayor. "You intend to arrest me?"
+
+"It will not be irksome, I assure you," smiled the German commander
+grimly. "At least, we shall make it as comfortable as possible. I shall
+place a guard here, and the only restriction I place upon you is that
+you shall neither go out nor hold any communication with any one outside
+these walls."
+
+"But my wife?"
+
+"If her ladyship is here I would advise that she leave the place. It is
+better that, for the present, she should be out of London."
+
+The civic officials, who had all assembled for the dramatic ceremonial,
+looked at each other in blank amazement. The Lord Mayor was a prisoner!
+
+Sir Claude divested himself of his jewel of office, and handed it to his
+servant to replace in safe keeping. Then he took off his robe, and
+having done so, advanced closer to the German officers, who, treating
+him with every courtesy, consulted with him, expressing regret at the
+terrible loss of life that had been occasioned by the gallant defence of
+the barricades.
+
+Von Kleppen gave the Lord Mayor a message from Von Kronhelm, and urged
+him to issue a proclamation forbidding any further opposition on the
+part of the populace of London. With the three officers Sir Claude
+talked for a quarter of an hour, while into the Mansion House there
+entered a strong guard of men of the 2nd Magdeburg, who quickly
+established themselves in the most comfortable quarters. German double
+sentries stood at every exit and in every corridor, and when a few
+minutes later the flag was hauled down and the German Imperial Standard
+run up, wild shouts of triumph rang from every throat of the densely
+packed body of troops assembled outside.
+
+The joyous "hurrahs!" reached the Lord Mayor, still in conversation with
+Von Kleppen, Von Mirbach, and Froelich, and in an instant he knew the
+truth. The Teutons were saluting their own standard. The civic flag had,
+either accidentally or purposely, been flung down into the roadway
+below, and was trampled in the dust. A hundred enthusiastic Germans,
+disregarding the shouts of their officers, fought for the flag, and it
+was instantly torn to shreds, and little pieces preserved as souvenirs.
+
+Shout after shout in German went up from the wildly excited troops of
+the Kaiser when the light wind caused their own flag to flutter out, and
+then, as with one voice, the whole body of troops united in singing the
+German National Hymn.
+
+The scene was weird and most impressive. London had fallen.
+
+Around were the wrecked buildings, some still smouldering, some emitting
+flame. Behind lay the Bank of England with untold wealth locked within:
+to the right the damaged facade of the Royal Exchange was illuminated
+by a flickering light, which also shone upon the piled arms of the
+enemy's troops, causing them to flash and gleam.
+
+In those silent, narrow City streets not an Englishman was to be seen.
+Every one save the Lord Mayor and his official attendants had fled.
+
+The Government Offices in Whitehall were all in the hands of the enemy.
+In the Foreign Office, the India Office, the War Office, the Colonial
+Office, the Admiralty, and other minor offices were German guards.
+Sentries stood at the shattered door of the famous No. 10, Downing
+Street, and all up Whitehall was lined with infantry.
+
+German officers were in charge of all our public offices, and all
+officials who had remained on duty were firmly requested to leave.
+Sentries were stationed to guard the archives of every department, and
+precautions were taken to guard against any further outbreaks of fire.
+
+Across at the Houses of Parliament, with their damaged towers, the whole
+great pile of buildings was surrounded by triumphant troops, while
+across at the fine old Abbey of Westminster was, alas! a different
+scene. The interior had been turned into a temporary hospital, and upon
+mattresses placed upon the floor were hundreds of poor maimed creatures,
+some groaning, some ghastly pale in the last moments of agony, some
+silent, their white lips moving in prayer.
+
+On one side in the dim light lay the men, some in uniform, others
+inoffensive citizens, who had been struck by cruel shells or falling
+_debris_; on the other side lay the women, some mere girls, and even
+children.
+
+Flitting everywhere in the half light were nurses, charitable ladies,
+and female helpers, with numbers of doctors, all doing their best to
+alleviate the terrible sufferings of that crowded place, the walls of
+which showed plain traces of the severe bombardment. In places the roof
+was open to the angry sky, while many of the windows were gaunt and
+shattered.
+
+A clergyman's voice somewhere was repeating a prayer in a low, distinct
+voice, so that all could hear, yet above all were the sighs and groans
+of the sufferers, and as one walked through that prostrate assembly of
+victims more than one was seen to have already gone to that land that
+lies beyond the human ken.
+
+The horrors of war were never more forcibly illustrated than in
+Westminster Abbey that night, for the grim hand of death was there, and
+men and women lying with their faces to the roof looked into Eternity.
+
+Every hospital in London was full, therefore the overflow had been
+placed in the various churches. From the battlefields along the northern
+defences, Epping, Edmonton, Barnet, Enfield, and other places where the
+last desperate stand had been made, and from the barricades in the
+northern suburbs ambulance waggons were continually arriving full of
+wounded, all of whom were placed in the churches and in any large public
+buildings which had remained undamaged by the bombardment.
+
+St. George's, Hanover Square, once the scene of many smart weddings, was
+now packed with unfortunate wounded soldiers, British and German lying
+side by side, while in the Westminster Cathedral and the Oratory at
+Brompton the Roman Catholic priests made hundreds of poor fellows as
+comfortable as they could, many members of the religious sisterhoods
+acting as nurses. St. James's Church in Piccadilly, St. Pancras Church,
+Shoreditch Church, and St. Mary Abbotts', Kensington, were all
+improvised hospitals, and many grim and terrible scenes of agony were
+witnessed during that long eventful night.
+
+The light was dim everywhere, for there were only paraffin lamps, and by
+their feeble illumination many a difficult operation had to be performed
+by those London surgeons who one and all had come forward, and were now
+working unceasingly. Renowned specialists from Harley Street, Cavendish
+Square, Queen Ann Street, and the vicinity were directing the work in
+all the improvised hospitals, men whose names were world-famous kneeling
+and performing operations upon poor unfortunate private soldiers or upon
+some labourer who had taken up a gun in defence of his home.
+
+Of lady helpers there were hundreds. From Mayfair and Belgravia, from
+Kensington and Bayswater, ladies had come forward offering their
+services, and their devotion to the wounded was everywhere apparent. In
+St. Andrew's, Wells Street, St. Peter's, Eaton Square, in the Scottish
+Church in Crown Court, Covent Garden, in the Temple Church, in the Union
+Chapel in Upper Street, in the Chapel Royal, Savoy, in St. Clement Danes
+in the Strand, and in St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, there were wounded in
+greater or less numbers, but the difficulties of treating them were
+enormous owing to the lack of necessaries for the performance of
+operations.
+
+Weird and striking were the scenes within those hallowed places, as, in
+the half darkness with the long, deep shadows, men struggled for life or
+gave to the women kneeling at their side their name, their address, or a
+last dying message to one they loved.
+
+London that night was a city of shattered homes, of shattered hopes, of
+shattered lives.
+
+The silence of death had fallen everywhere. The only sounds that broke
+the quiet within those churches were the sighs, groans, and faint
+murmurings of the dying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+GERMANS SACKING THE BANKS.
+
+
+Day dawned dismally and wet on September the 21st.
+
+Over London the sky was still obscured by the smoke-pall, though as the
+night passed many of the raging fires had spent themselves.
+
+Trafalgar Square was filled with troops who had piled arms and were
+standing at their ease. The men were laughing and smoking, enjoying a
+rest after the last forward movement and the street fighting of that
+night of horrors.
+
+The losses on both sides during the past three days had been enormous;
+of the number of London citizens killed and wounded it was impossible to
+calculate. There had, in the northern suburbs, been wholesale butchery
+everywhere, so gallantly had the barricades been defended.
+
+Great camps had now been formed in Hyde Park, in the Green Park between
+Constitution Hill and Piccadilly, and in St. James's Park. The Magdeburg
+Fusiliers were being formed up on the Horse Guards Parade, and from the
+flagstaff there now fluttered the ensign of the commander of an army
+corps, in place of the British flag. A large number of Uhlans and
+Cuirassiers were encamped at the west end of the Park, opposite
+Buckingham Palace, and both the Wellington Barracks and the Cavalry
+Barracks at Knightsbridge were occupied by Germans.
+
+Many officers were already billeted in the Savoy, the Cecil, the
+Carlton, the Grand, and Victoria hotels, while the British Museum, the
+National Gallery, the South Kensington Museum, the Tower, and a number
+of other collections of pictures and antiques were all guarded strongly
+by German sentries. The enemy had thus seized our national treasures.
+
+London awoke to find herself a German city.
+
+In the streets lounging groups of travel-worn sons of the Fatherland
+were everywhere, and German was heard on every hand. Every ounce of
+foodstuff was being rapidly commandeered by hundreds of foraging
+parties, who went to each grocer's, baker's, or provision shop in the
+various districts, seized all they could find, valued it, and gave
+official receipts for it.
+
+The price of food in London that morning was absolutely prohibitive, as
+much as two shillings being asked for a twopenny loaf. The Germans had,
+it was afterwards discovered, been all the time, since the Sunday when
+they landed, running over large cargoes of supplies of all sorts to the
+Essex, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk coasts, where they had established huge
+supply bases, well knowing that there was not sufficient food in the
+country to feed their armed hordes in addition to the population.
+
+Shops in Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Edgware Road, Oxford Street,
+Camden Road, and Harrow Road were systematically visited by the foraging
+parties, who commenced their work at dawn. Those places that were closed
+and their owners absent were at once broken open, and everything seized
+and carted to either Hyde Park or St. James's Park, for though Londoners
+might starve, the Kaiser's troops intended to be fed.
+
+In some cases a patriotic shopkeeper attempted to resist. Indeed, in
+more than one case a tradesman wilfully set his shop on fire rather than
+its contents should fall into the enemy's hands. In other cases the
+tradesmen who received the official German receipts burned them in
+contempt before the officer's eyes.
+
+The guidance of these foraging parties was, in very many cases, in the
+hands of Germans in civilian clothes, and it was now seen how complete
+and helpful the enemy's system of espionage had been in London. Most of
+these men were Germans who, having served in the army, had come over to
+England and obtained employment as waiters, clerks, bakers,
+hairdressers, and private servants, and being bound by their oath to the
+Fatherland had served their country as spies. Each man, when obeying the
+Imperial command to join the German arms, had placed in the lapel of his
+coat a button of a peculiar shape, with which he had long ago been
+provided, and by which he was instantly recognised as a loyal subject of
+the Kaiser.
+
+This huge body of German soldiers, who for years had passed in England
+as civilians, was, of course, of enormous use to Von Kronhelm, for they
+acted as guides not only on the march and during the entry to London,
+but materially assisted in the victorious advance in the Midlands.
+Indeed, the Germans had for years kept a civilian army in England, and
+yet we had, ostrich-like, buried our heads in the sand, and refused to
+turn our eyes to the grave peril that had for so long threatened.
+
+Systematically, the Germans were visiting every shop and warehouse in
+the shopping districts, and seizing everything eatable they could
+discover. The enemy were taking the food from the mouths of the poor in
+East and South London, and as they went southward across the river, so
+the populace retired, leaving their homes at the mercy of the ruthless
+invader.
+
+Upon all the bridges across the Thames stood German guards, and none
+were allowed to cross without permits.
+
+Soon after dawn Von Kronhelm and his staff rode down Haverstock Hill
+with a large body of cavalry, and made his formal entry into London,
+first having an interview with the Lord Mayor, and an hour afterwards
+establishing his headquarters at the new War Office in Whitehall, over
+which he hoisted his special flag as Commander-in-Chief. It was found
+that, though a good deal of damage had been done externally to the
+building, the interior had practically escaped, save one or two rooms.
+Therefore the Field Marshal installed himself in the private room of the
+War Minister, and telegraphic and telephonic communication was quickly
+established, while a wireless telegraph apparatus was placed upon the
+ruined summit of Big Ben for the purpose of communicating with Germany,
+in case the cables were interrupted by being cut at sea.
+
+The day after the landing a similar apparatus had been erected on the
+Monument at Yarmouth, and it had been daily in communication with the
+one at Bremen. The German left nothing to chance.
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were now being used by German officers, who
+lounged in easy chairs, smoking and taking their ease, German soldiers
+being on guard outside. North of the Thames seemed practically deserted,
+save for the invaders who swarmed everywhere. South of the Thames the
+cowed and terrified populace were asking what the end was to be. What
+was the Government doing? It had fled to Bristol and left London to its
+fate, they complained.
+
+What the German demands were was not known until the "Daily Telegraph"
+published an interview with Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, which
+gave authentic details of them.
+
+They were as follows:--
+
+    1. Indemnity of L300,000,000, paid in ten annual instalments.
+
+    2. Until this indemnity is paid in full, German troops to occupy
+    Edinburgh, Rosyth, Chatham, Dover, Portsmouth, Devonport,
+    Pembroke, Yarmouth, Hull.
+
+    3. Cession to Germany of the Shetlands, Orkneys, Bantry Bay,
+    Malta, Gibraltar, and Tasmania.
+
+    4. India, north of a line drawn from Calcutta to Baroda, to be
+    ceded to Russia.
+
+    5. The independence of Ireland to be recognised.
+
+Of the claim of L300,000,000, fifty millions was demanded from London,
+the sum in question to be paid within twelve hours.
+
+The Lord Mayor had, it appeared, sent his secretary to the Prime
+Minister at Bristol bearing the original document in the handwriting of
+Von Kronhelm. The Prime Minister had acknowledged its receipt by
+telegraph both to the Lord Mayor and to the German Field Marshal, but
+there the matter had ended.
+
+The twelve hours' grace was nearly up, and the German Commander, seated
+in Whitehall, had received no reply.
+
+In the corner of the large, pleasant, well-carpeted room sat a German
+telegraph engineer with a portable instrument, in direct communication
+with the Emperor's private cabinet at Potsdam, and over that wire
+messages were continually passing and repassing.
+
+The grizzled old soldier paced the room impatiently. His Emperor had
+only an hour ago sent him a message of warm congratulation, and had
+privately informed him of the high honours he intended to bestow upon
+him. The German Eagle was victorious, and London--the great
+unconquerable London--lay crushed, torn, and broken.
+
+The marble clock upon the mantelpiece shelf chimed eleven upon its
+silvery bells, causing Von Kronhelm to turn from the window to glance at
+his own watch.
+
+"Tell His Majesty that it is eleven o'clock, and that there is no reply
+to hand," he said sharply in German to the man in uniform seated at the
+table in the corner.
+
+The instrument clicked rapidly, and a silence followed.
+
+The German Commander waited anxiously. He stood bending slightly over
+the green tape in order to read the Imperial order the instant it
+flashed from beneath the sea.
+
+Five minutes--ten minutes passed. The shouting of military commands in
+German came up from Whitehall below. Nothing else broke the quiet.
+
+Von Kronhelm, his face more furrowed and more serious, again paced the
+carpet.
+
+Suddenly the little instrument whirred, and clicked as its thin green
+tape rolled out.
+
+In an instant the Generalissimo of the Kaiser's army sprang to the
+telegraphist's side and read the Imperial command.
+
+For a moment he held the piece of tape between his fingers, then crushed
+it in his hand and stood motionless.
+
+He had received orders which, though against his desire, he was
+compelled to obey.
+
+Summoning several members of his staff who had installed themselves in
+other comfortable rooms in the vicinity, he held a long consultation
+with them.
+
+In the meantime telegraphic despatches were received from Sheffield,
+Manchester, Birmingham, and other German headquarters, all telling the
+same story--the complete investment and occupation of the big cities and
+the pacification of the inhabitants.
+
+One hour's grace was, however, allowed to London--till noon.
+
+Then orders were issued, bugles rang out across the parks, and in the
+main thoroughfares, where arms were piled, causing the troops to fall
+in, and within a quarter of an hour large bodies of infantry and
+engineers were moving along the Strand, in the direction of the City.
+
+At first the reason of all this was a mystery, but very shortly it was
+realised what was intended when a detachment of the 5th Hanover Regiment
+advanced to the gate of the Bank of England opposite the Exchange, and,
+after some difficulty, broke it open and entered, followed by some
+engineers of Von Mirbach's Division. The building was very soon
+occupied, and, under the direction of General Von Kleppen himself, an
+attempt was made to open the strong rooms, wherein was stored that vast
+hoard of England's wealth. What actually occurred at that spot can only
+be imagined, as the commander of the IVth Army Corps and one or two
+officers and men were the only persons present. It is surmised, however,
+that the strength of the vaults was far greater than they had imagined,
+and that, though they worked for hours, all was in vain.
+
+While this was in progress, however, parties of engineers were making
+organised raids upon the banks in Lombard Street, Lothbury, Moorgate
+Street, and Broad Street, as well as upon branch banks in Oxford Street,
+the Strand, and other places in the West End.
+
+At one bank on the left-hand side of Lombard Street, dynamite being used
+to force the strong room, the first bullion was seized, while at nearly
+all the banks sooner or later the vaults were opened, and great bags and
+boxes of gold coin were taken out and conveyed in carefully guarded
+carts to the Bank of England, now in the possession of Germany.
+
+In some banks--those of more modern construction--the greatest
+resistance was offered by the huge steel doors and concrete and steel
+walls and other devices for security. But nothing could, alas! resist
+the high explosives used, and in the end breaches were made, in all
+cases, and wealth uncounted and untold extracted and conveyed to
+Threadneedle Street for safe keeping.
+
+Engineers and infantry handled those heavy boxes and those big bundles
+of securities gleefully, officers carefully counting each box or bag or
+packet as it was taken out to be carted or carried away by hand.
+
+German soldiers under guard struggled along Lothbury beneath great
+burdens of gold, and carts, requisitioned out of the East End, rumbled
+heavily all the afternoon, escorted by soldiers. Hammersmith,
+Camberwell, Hampstead, and Willesden yielded up their quota of the
+great wealth of London; but though soon after four o'clock a breach was
+made in the strong rooms of the Bank of England by means of explosives,
+nothing in the vaults was touched. The Germans simply entered there and
+formally took possession.
+
+The coin collected from other banks was carefully kept, each separate
+from another, and placed in various rooms under strong guards, for it
+seemed to be their intention simply to hold London's wealth as security.
+
+That afternoon very few banks--except the German ones--escaped notice.
+Of course, there were a few small branches in the suburbs which remained
+unvisited, yet by six o'clock Von Kronhelm was in possession of enormous
+quantities of gold.
+
+In one or two quarters there had been opposition on the part of the
+armed guards established by the banks at the first news of the invasion.
+But any such resistance had, of course, been futile, and the man who had
+dared to fire upon the German soldiers had in every case been shot down.
+
+Thus, when darkness fell, Von Kronhelm, from the corner of his room in
+the War Office, was able to report to his Imperial Master that not only
+had he occupied London, but that, receiving no reply to his demand for
+indemnity, he had sacked it and taken possession not only of the Bank of
+England, but of the cash deposits in most of the other banks in the
+metropolis.
+
+That night the evening papers described the wild happenings of the
+afternoon, and London saw herself not only shattered, but ruined. The
+frightened populace across the river stood breathless. What was now to
+happen?
+
+Though London lay crushed and occupied by the enemy, though the Lord
+Mayor was a prisoner of war and the banks in the hands of the Germans,
+though the metropolis had been wrecked and more than half its
+inhabitants had fled southward and westward into the country, yet the
+enemy received no reply to their demand for an indemnity and the cession
+of British territory.
+
+Von Kronhelm, ignorant of what had occurred in the House of Commons at
+Bristol, sat in Whitehall and wondered. He knew well that the English
+were no fools, and their silence, therefore, caused him considerable
+uneasiness. He had lost in the various engagements over 50,000 men, yet
+nearly 200,000 still remained. His army of invasion was a no mean
+responsibility, especially when at any moment the British might regain
+command of the sea. His supplies and reinforcements would then be at
+once cut off. It was impossible for him to live upon the country, and
+his food bases in Suffolk and Essex were not sufficiently extensive to
+enable him to make a prolonged campaign. Indeed, the whole scheme of
+operations which had been so long discussed and perfected in secret in
+Berlin was more of the nature of a raid than a prolonged siege.
+
+
+    CITY OF LONDON.
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    WE, the GENERAL COMMANDING the German Imperial Army occupying
+    London, give notice that:
+
+    (1) THE STATE OF WAR AND OF SIEGE continues to exist, and all
+    categories of crime, more especially the contravention of all
+    orders already issued, will be judged by Councils of War, and
+    punished in conformity with martial law.
+
+    (2) THE INHABITANTS OF LONDON and its suburbs are ordered to
+    instantly deliver up all arms and ammunition of whatever kind
+    they possess. The term arms includes firearms, sabres, swords,
+    daggers, revolvers, and sword-canes. Landlords and occupiers of
+    houses are charged to see that this order is carried out, but in
+    the case of their absence the municipal authorities and
+    officials of the London County Council are charged to make
+    domiciliary visits, minute and searching, being accompanied by a
+    military guard.
+
+    (3) ALL NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS, GAZETTES, AND PROCLAMATIONS, of
+    whatever description, are hereby prohibited, and until further
+    notice nothing further must be printed, except documents issued
+    publicly by the military commander.
+
+    (4) ANY PRIVATE PERSON OR PERSONS taking arms against the German
+    troops after this notice will be EXECUTED.
+
+    (5) ON THE CONTRARY, the Imperial German troops will respect
+    private property, and no requisition will be allowed to be made
+    unless it bears the authorisation of the Commander-in-Chief.
+
+    (6) ALL PUBLIC PLACES are to be closed at 8 P.M. All persons
+    found in the streets of London after 8 P.M. will be arrested by
+    the patrols. There is no exception to this rule except in the
+    case of German Officers, and also in the case of doctors
+    visiting their patients. Municipal officials will also be
+    allowed out, providing they obtain a permit from the German
+    headquarters.
+
+    (7) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST provide for the lighting of the
+    streets. In cases where this is impossible, each householder
+    must hang a lantern outside his house from nightfall until 8
+    A.M.
+
+    (8) AFTER TO-MORROW morning, at 10 o'clock, the women and
+    children of the population of London will be allowed to pass
+    without hindrance.
+
+    (9) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST, with as little delay as
+    possible, provide accommodation for the German troops in private
+    dwellings, in fire-stations, barracks, hotels, and houses that
+    are still habitable.
+
+    =VON KRONHELM,
+    Commander-in-Chief.=
+
+    GERMAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS,
+    WHITEHALL, LONDON, _September_ 21, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: VON KRONHELM'S PROCLAMATION TO THE
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON.]
+
+
+The German Field Marshal sat alone and reflected. Had he been aware of
+the true state of affairs he would certainly have had considerable cause
+for alarm. True, though Lord Byfield had made such a magnificent stand,
+considering the weakness of the force at his disposal, and London was
+occupied, yet England was not conquered.
+
+No news had leaked out from Bristol. Indeed, Parliament had taken every
+precaution that its deliberations were in secret.
+
+The truth, however, may be briefly related. On the previous day the
+House had met at noon in the Colston Hall--a memorable sitting, indeed.
+The Secretary of State for War had, after prayers, risen in the hall and
+read an official despatch he had just received from Lord Byfield, giving
+the news of the last stand made by the British north of Enfield, and the
+utter hopelessness of the situation. It was received by the assembled
+House in ominous silence.
+
+During the past week through that great hall the Minister's deep voice,
+shaken by emotion, had been daily heard as he was compelled to report
+defeat after defeat of the British arms. Both sides of the House had,
+after the first few days, been forced to recognise Germany's superiority
+in numbers, in training, in organisation--in fact in everything
+appertaining to military power. Von Kronhelm's strategy had been
+perfect. He knew more of Eastern England than the British Commander
+himself, and his marvellous system of spies and advance agents--Germans
+who had lived for years in England--had assisted him forward, until he
+had now occupied London, the city declared to be impregnable.
+
+Through the whole of September 20 the Minister constantly received
+despatches from the British Field Marshal and from London itself, yet
+each telegram communicated to the House seemed more hopeless than its
+predecessor.
+
+The debate, however, proceeded through the afternoon. The Opposition
+were bitterly attacking the Government and the Blue Water School for its
+gross negligence in the past, and demanding to know the whereabouts of
+the remnant of the British Navy. The First Lord of the Admiralty flatly
+refused to make any statement. The whereabouts of our Navy at that
+moment was, he said, a secret, which must, at all hazards, be withheld
+from our enemy. The Admiralty were not asleep, as the country believed,
+but were fully alive to the seriousness of the crisis. He urged the
+House to remain patient, saying that as soon as he dared he would make a
+statement.
+
+This was greeted by loud jeers from the Opposition, from whose benches,
+members, one after another, rose, and, using hard epithets, blamed the
+Government for the terrible disaster. The cutting down of our defences,
+the meagre naval programmes, the discouragement of the Volunteers and of
+recruiting, and the disregard of Lord Roberts' scheme in 1906 for
+universal military training were, they declared, responsible for what
+had occurred. The Government had been culpably negligent, and Mr.
+Haldane's scheme had been all insufficient. Indeed, it had been nothing
+short of criminal to mislead the Empire into a false sense of security
+which did not exist.
+
+For the past three years Germany, while sapping our industries, had sent
+spies into our midst, and laughed at us for our foolish insular
+superiority. She had turned her attention from France to ourselves,
+notwithstanding the _entente cordiale_. She remembered how the
+much-talked-of Franco-Russian alliance had fallen to pieces, and relied
+upon a similar outcome of the friendship between France and Great
+Britain.
+
+The aspect of the House, too, was strange; the Speaker in his robes
+looked out of place in his big uncomfortable chair, and members sat on
+cane-bottomed chairs instead of their comfortable benches at
+Westminster. As far as possible the usual arrangement of the House was
+adhered to, except that the Press were now excluded, official reports
+being furnished to them at midnight.
+
+The clerks' table was a large plain one of stained wood, but upon it was
+the usual array of despatches, while the Serjeant-at-Arms, in his
+picturesque dress, was still one of the most prominent figures. The lack
+of committee rooms, of an adequate lobby, and of a refreshment
+department caused much inconvenience, though a temporary post and
+telegraph office had been established within the building, and a
+separate line connected the Prime Minister's room with Downing Street.
+
+If the Government were denounced in unmeasured terms, its defence was
+equally vigorous. Thus, through that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon the
+sitting continued past the dinner hour on to late in the evening.
+
+Time after time the despatches from London were placed in the hands of
+the War Minister, but, contrary to the expectation of the House, he
+vouchsafed no further statement. It was noticed that just before ten
+o'clock he consulted in an earnest undertone with the Prime Minister,
+the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Home Secretary, and that a
+quarter of an hour later all four went out and were closeted in one of
+the smaller rooms with other members of the Cabinet for nearly half an
+hour.
+
+Then the Secretary of State for War re-entered the House and resumed his
+seat in silence.
+
+A few minutes afterwards Mr. Thomas Askern, member of one of the
+Metropolitan boroughs, and a well-known newspaper proprietor, who had
+himself received several private despatches, rose and received leave to
+put a question to the War Minister.
+
+"I would like to ask the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for
+War," he said, "whether it is not a fact that soon after noon to-day the
+enemy, having moved his heavy artillery to certain positions commanding
+North London, and finding the capital strongly barricaded, proceeded to
+bombard it? Whether that bombardment, according to the latest
+despatches, is not still continuing at this moment; whether it is not a
+fact that enormous damage has already been done to many of the principal
+buildings of the metropolis, including the Government Offices at
+Whitehall, and whether great loss of life has not been occasioned?"
+
+The question produced the utmost sensation. The House during the whole
+afternoon had been in breathless anxiety as to what was actually
+happening in London; but the Government held the telegraphs and
+telephone, and the only private despatches that had come to Bristol were
+the two received by some roundabout route known only to the ingenious
+journalists who had despatched them. Indeed, the despatches had been
+conveyed the greater portion of the way by motor-car.
+
+A complete silence fell. Every face was turned towards the War
+Minister, who, seated with outstretched legs, was holding a fresh
+despatch he had just received.
+
+He rose, and, in his deep bass voice, said:--
+
+"In reply to the honourable member for South-East Brixton, the statement
+he makes appears, from information which has just reached me, to be
+correct. The Germans are, unfortunately, bombarding London. Von
+Kronhelm, it is reported, is at Hampstead, and the zone of the enemy's
+artillery reaches, in some cases, as far south as the Thames itself. It
+is true, as the honourable member asserts, an enormous amount of damage
+has already been done to various buildings, and there has undoubtedly
+been great loss of life. My latest information is that the non-combatant
+inhabitants--old persons, women, and children--are in flight across the
+Thames, and that the barricades in the principal roads leading in from
+the north are held strongly by the armed populace, driven back into
+London."
+
+He sat down without further word.
+
+A tall, thin, white-moustached man rose at that moment from the
+Opposition side of the House. Colonel Farquhar, late of the Royal
+Marines, was a well-known military critic, and represented West Bude.
+
+"And this," he said, "is the only hope of England! The defence of London
+by an armed mob, pitted against the most perfectly equipped and armed
+force in the world! Londoners are patriotic, I grant. They will die
+fighting for their homes, as every Englishman will when the moment
+comes; yet, what can we hope, when patriotism is ranged against modern
+military science? There surely is patriotism in the savage negro races
+of Central Africa, a love of country perhaps as deep as in the white
+man's heart; yet a little strategy, a few Maxims, and all defence is
+quickly at an end. And so it must inevitably be with London. I contend,
+Mr. Speaker," he went on, "that by the ill-advised action of the
+Government from the first hour of their coming into power, we now find
+ourselves conquered. It only remains for them now to make terms of peace
+as honourable to themselves as the unfortunate circumstances will admit.
+Let the country itself judge their actions in the light of events of
+to-day, and let the blood of the poor murdered women and children of
+London be upon their heads. (Shame.) To resist further is useless. Our
+military organisation is in chaos, our miserably weak army is defeated
+and in flight. I declare to this House that we should sue at this very
+moment for peace--a dishonourable peace though it be; but the bitter
+truth is too plain--England is conquered!"
+
+As he sat down amid the "hear, hears," and the loud applause of the
+Opposition there rose a keen-faced, dark-haired, clean-shaven man of
+thirty-seven or so. He was Gerald Graham, younger son of an aristocratic
+house, the Yorkshire Grahams, who sat for North-East Rutland. He was a
+man of brilliant attainments at Oxford, a splendid orator, a
+distinguished writer and traveller, whose keen brown eye, lithe upright
+figure, quick activity, and smart appearance, rendered him a born leader
+of men. For the past five years he had been marked out as a "coming
+man."
+
+As a soldier he had seen hard service in the Boer War, being mentioned
+twice in despatches; as an explorer he had led a party through the heart
+of the Congo and fought his way back to civilisation through an
+unexplored land with valiant bravery that had saved the lives of his
+companions. He was a man who never sought notoriety. He hated to be
+lionised in society, refused the shoals of cards of invitation which
+poured in upon him, and stuck to his Parliamentary duties, and keeping
+faith with his constituents to the very letter.
+
+As he stood up silent for a moment, gazing around him fearlessly, he
+presented a striking figure and in his navy serge suit he possessed the
+unmistakable cut of the smart, well-groomed Englishman who was also a
+man of note.
+
+The House always listened to him, for he never spoke without he had
+something of importance to say. And the instant he was up a silence
+fell.
+
+"Mr. Speaker," he said, in a clear, ringing voice, "I entirely disagree
+with my honourable friend the member for West Bude. England is not
+conquered! She is not beaten!"
+
+The great hall rang with loud and vociferous cheers.
+
+"London may be invested and bombarded. She may even be sacked, but
+Englishmen will still fight for their homes and fight valiantly. If we
+have a demand for indemnity let us refuse to pay it. Let us
+civilians--let the civilians in every corner of England--arm themselves
+and unite to drive out the invader! (Loud cheers.) I contend, Mr.
+Speaker, that there are millions of able-bodied men in this country
+who, if properly organised, will be able to gradually exterminate the
+enemy. Organisation is all that is required. Our vast population will
+rise against the Germans, and before the tide of popular indignation and
+desperate resistance the power of the invader must soon be swept away.
+Do not let us sit calmly here in security, and acknowledge that we are
+beaten. Remember, we have at this moment to uphold the ancient tradition
+of the British race, the honour of our forefathers, who have never been
+conquered. Shall we acknowledge ourselves conquered in this the
+twentieth century?"
+
+"No!" rose from hundreds of voices, for the House was now carried away
+by young Graham's enthusiasm.
+
+"Then let us organise!" he urged. "Let us fight on. Let every man who
+can use a sword or gun come forward, and we will commence hostilities
+against the Kaiser's forces that shall either result in their total
+extermination or in the power of England being extinguished. Englishmen
+will die hard. I myself will, with the consent of this House, head the
+movement, for I know that in the country we have millions who will
+follow me and will be equally ready to die for our country if necessary.
+Let us withdraw this statement that we are conquered. The real, earnest
+fight is now to commence," he shouted, his voice ringing clearly through
+the hall. "Let us bear our part, each one of us. If we organise and
+unite, we shall drive the Kaiser's hordes into the sea. They shall sue
+us for peace, and be made to pay us an indemnity, instead of us paying
+one to them. I will lead!" he shouted; "who will follow me?"
+
+In London the Lord Mayor's patriotic proclamations were now obliterated
+by a huge bill bearing the German Imperial arms, the text of which told
+its own grim tale.
+
+In the meantime the news of the fall of London was being circulated by
+the Germans to every town throughout the kingdom, their despatches being
+embellished by lurid descriptions of the appalling losses inflicted upon
+the English. In Manchester, a great poster, headed by the German
+Imperial arms, was posted up on the Town Hall, the exchange, and other
+places, in which Von Kronhelm announced the occupation of London; while
+in Leeds, Bradford, Stockport, and Sheffield similarly worded official
+announcements were also posted. The Press in all towns occupied by the
+Germans had been suppressed, papers only appearing in order to publish
+the enemy's orders. Therefore this official intelligence was circulated
+by proclamation, calculated to impress upon the inhabitants of the
+country how utterly powerless they were.
+
+    NOTICE AND ADVICE.
+
+    TO THE CITIZENS OF LONDON.
+
+    I ADDRESS YOU SERIOUSLY.
+
+    We are neighbours, and in time of peace cordial relations have
+    always existed between us. I therefore address you from my heart
+    in the cause of humanity.
+
+    Germany is at war with England. We have been forced to penetrate
+    into your country.
+
+    But each human life spared, and all property saved, we regard as
+    in the interests of both religion and humanity.
+
+    We are at war, and both sides have fought a loyal fight.
+
+    Our desire is, however, to spare disarmed citizens and the
+    inhabitants of all towns and villages.
+
+    We maintain a severe discipline, and we wish to have it known
+    that punishment of the severest character will be inflicted upon
+    any who are guilty of hostility to the Imperial German arms,
+    either open or in secret.
+
+    To our regret any incitements, cruelties, or brutalities we must
+    judge with equal severity.
+
+    I therefore call upon all local mayors, magistrates, clergy, and
+    schoolmasters to urge upon the populace, and upon the heads of
+    families, to urge upon those under their protection, and upon
+    their domestics, to refrain from committing any act of hostility
+    whatsoever against my soldiers.
+
+    All misery avoided is a good work in the eye of our Sovereign
+    Judge, who sees all men.
+
+    I earnestly urge you to heed this advice, and I trust in you.
+
+    Take notice!
+
+    =VON KRONHELM,
+    Commanding the Imperial German Army.=
+
+    GERMAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS,
+    WHITEHALL, LONDON, _September_ 20, 1910.
+
+
+While Von Kronhelm sat in that large sombre room in the War Office, with
+his telegraph instrument to Potsdam ever ticking, and the wireless
+telegraphy constantly in operation, he wondered, and still wondered, why
+the English made no response to his demands. He was in London. He had
+carried out his Emperor's instructions to the letter, he had received
+the Imperial thanks, and he held all the gold coin he could discover in
+London as security. Yet, without some reply from the British Government,
+his position was an insecure one. Even his thousand and one spies who
+had served him so well ever since he had placed foot upon English soil
+could tell him nothing. The deliberations of the House of Commons at
+Bristol were a secret.
+
+In Bristol the hot, fevered night had given place to a gloriously sunny
+morning with a blue and cloudless sky. Above Leigh Woods the lark rose
+high in the sky, trilling his song, and the bells of Bristol rang out as
+merrily as they ever did, and above the Colston Hall still floated the
+Royal Standard--a sign that the House had not yet adjourned.
+
+While Von Kronhelm held London, Lord Byfield and the remnant of the
+British Army, who had suffered such defeat in Essex and north of London,
+had, four days later, retreated to Chichester and Salisbury, where
+reorganisation was in rapid progress. One division of the defeated
+troops had encamped at Horsham. The survivors of those who had fought
+the battle of Charnwood Forest, and had acted so gallantly in the
+defence of Birmingham, were now encamped on the Malvern Hills, while the
+defenders of Manchester were at Shrewsbury. Speaking roughly, therefore,
+our vanquished troops were massing at four points, in an endeavour to
+make a last attack upon the invader. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord
+Byfield, was near Salisbury, and at any hour he knew that the German
+legions might push westward from London to meet him and to complete the
+_coup_.
+
+The League of Defenders formed by Gerald Graham and his friends was,
+however, working independently. The wealthier classes, who, driven out
+of London, were now living in cottages and tents in various parts of
+Berks, Wilts, and Hants, worked unceasingly on behalf of the League,
+while into Plymouth, Exmouth, Swanage, Bristol, and Southampton more
+than one ship had already managed to enter laden with arms and
+ammunition of all kinds, sent across by the agents of the League in
+France. The cargoes were of a very miscellaneous character, from modern
+Maxims to old-fashioned rifles that had seen service in the war of 1870.
+There were hundreds of modern rifles, sporting guns, revolvers,
+swords--in fact, every weapon imaginable, modern and old-fashioned.
+These were at once taken charge of by the local branches of the League,
+and to those men who presented their tickets of identification the arms
+were served out, and practice conducted in the open fields. Three
+shiploads of rifles were known to have been captured by German warships,
+one off Start Point, another a few miles outside Padstow, and a third
+within sight of the coastguard at Selsey Bill. Two other ships were
+blown up in the Channel by drifting mines. The running of arms across
+from France and Spain was a very risky proceeding; yet the British
+skipper is nothing if not patriotic, and every man who crossed the
+Channel on those dangerous errands took his life in his hand.
+
+Into Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Milford weapons were also coming over
+from Ireland, even though several German cruisers, who had been up to
+Lamlash to cripple the Glasgow trade, had now come south, and were
+believed still to be in the Irish Sea.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON.
+
+
+Preparations were being continued night and day to place the
+working-class districts in Southwark and Lambeth in a state of strong
+defence, and the constant meetings convened in public halls and chapels
+by the newly-formed League of Defenders incited the people to their
+work. Everybody lent a willing hand, rich and poor alike. People who had
+hitherto lived in comfort in Regent's Park, Hampstead, or one or other
+of the better-class northern suburbs, now found themselves herded among
+all sorts and conditions of men and women, and living as best they could
+in those dull, drab streets of Lambeth, Walworth, Battersea, and
+Kennington. It was, indeed, a strange experience for them. In the sudden
+flight from the north, parents had become separated from their children
+and husbands from their wives, so that in many cases haggard and forlorn
+mothers were in frantic search of their little ones, fearing that they
+might have already died of starvation or been trampled underfoot by the
+panic-stricken multitudes. The dense population of South London had
+already been trebled. They were penned in by the barricades in many
+instances, for each district seemed to be now placing itself in a state
+of defence, independent of any other.
+
+[Illustration:
+THE DEFENCES OF
+SOUTH LONDON
+on Sept 26^{th}
+]
+
+Kennington, for instance, was practically surrounded by barricades, tons
+upon tons of earth being dug from the "Oval" and the "Park." Besides the
+barricades in Harleyford Road and Kennington Lane, all the streets
+converging on the "Oval" were blocked up, a huge defence arm just being
+completed across the junction of Kennington and Kennington Park Roads,
+and all the streets running into the latter thoroughfare from that
+point to the big obstruction at the "Elephant" were blocked by
+paving-stones, bags of sand, barrels of cement, bricks, and such-like
+odds and ends impervious to bullets. In addition to this, there was a
+double fortification in Lambeth Road--a veritable redoubt--as well as
+the barricade at Lambeth Bridge, while all the roads leading from
+Kennington into the Lambeth Road, such as St. George's Road, Kennington
+Road, High Street, and the rest, had been rendered impassable and the
+neighbouring houses placed in a state of defence. Thus the whole
+district of Kennington became therefore a fortress in itself.
+
+This was only a typical instance of the scientific methods of defence
+now resorted to. Mistakes made in North London were not now repeated.
+Day and night every able-bodied man, and woman too, worked on with
+increasing zeal and patriotism. The defences in Haverstock Hill,
+Holloway Road, and Edgware Road, which had been composed of overturned
+tramcars, motor 'buses, household furniture, etc., had been riddled by
+the enemy's bullets. The lesson had been heeded, and now earth, sand,
+tiles, paving-stones, and bricks were used.
+
+From nearly all the principal thoroughfares south of the river the
+paving-stones were being rapidly torn up by great gangs of men, and
+whenever the artillery brought up a fresh Maxim or field-gun the wildest
+demonstrations were made. The clergy held special services in churches
+and chapels, and prayer meetings for the emancipation of London were
+held twice daily in the Metropolitan Tabernacle at Newington. In
+Kennington Park, Camberwell Green, the Oval, Vauxhall Park, Lambeth
+Palace Gardens, Camberwell Park, Peckham Rye and Southwark Park a
+division of Lord Byfield's army was encamped. They held the Waterloo
+terminus of the South-Western Railway strongly, the Chatham Railway from
+the Borough Road Station--now the terminus--the South-Eastern from
+Bricklayers' Arms, which had been converted into another terminus, as
+well as the Brighton line, at Battersea Park and York Road.
+
+The lines destroyed by the enemy's spies in the early moments of the
+invasion had long ago been repaired, and up to the present railway and
+telegraphic communication south and west remained uninterrupted. The
+"Daily Telegraph" had managed to transfer some of its staff to the
+offices of a certain printer's in Southwark, and there, under
+difficulties, published several editions daily despite the German
+censorship. While northern London was without any news except that
+supplied from German sources, South London was still open to the world,
+the cables from the south coast being, as yet, in the hands of the
+British, and the telegraphs intact to Bristol and to all places in the
+West.
+
+Thus, during those stifling and exciting days following the occupation,
+while London was preparing for its great uprising, the "South London
+Mirror," though a queer, unusual-looking sheet, still continued to
+appear, and was read with avidity by the gallant men at the barricades.
+
+Contrary to expectation, Von Kronhelm was leaving South London severely
+alone. He was, no doubt, wise. Full well he knew that his men, once
+within those narrow, tortuous streets beyond the river, would have no
+opportunity to manoeuvre, and would, as in the case of the assault of
+Waterloo Bridge, be slaughtered to a man. His spies reported that each
+hour that passed rendered the populace the stronger, yet he did nothing,
+devoting his whole time, energy, and attention to matters in that half
+of London he was now occupying.
+
+Everywhere the walls of South London were placarded with manifestoes of
+the League of Defenders. Day after day fresh posters appeared, urging
+patience and courage, and reporting upon the progress of the League. The
+name of Graham was now upon every one's lips. He had, it seemed, arisen
+as saviour of our beloved country. Every word of his inspired
+enthusiasm, and this was well illustrated at the mass meeting on Peckham
+Rye, when, beneath the huge flag of St. George, the white banner with
+the red cross--the ancient standard of England--which the League had
+adopted as theirs, he made a brilliant and impassioned appeal to every
+Londoner and every Englishman.
+
+Report had it that the Germans had set a price upon his head, and that
+he was pursued everywhere by German spies--mercenaries who would kill
+him in secret if they could. Therefore he was compelled to go about with
+an armed police guard, who arrested any suspected person in his
+vicinity. The Government, who had at first laughed Graham's enthusiasm
+to scorn, now believed in him. Even Lord Byfield, after a long council,
+declared that his efforts to inspire enthusiasm had been amazingly
+successful, and it was now well known that the "Defenders" and the Army
+had agreed to act in unison towards one common end--the emancipation of
+England from the German thraldom.
+
+Some men of the Osnabrueck Regiment, holding Canning Town and Limehouse,
+managed one night, by strategy, to force their way through the Blackwall
+Tunnel and break down its defences on the Surrey side in an attempt to
+blow up the South Metropolitan Gas Works.
+
+The men holding the tunnel were completely overwhelmed by the number
+that pressed on, and were compelled to fall back, twenty of their number
+being killed. The assault was a victorious one, and it was seen that the
+enemy were pouring out, when, of a sudden, there was a dull, heavy roar,
+followed by wild shouts and terrified screams, as there rose from the
+centre of the river a great column of water, and next instant the tunnel
+was flooded, hundreds of the enemy being drowned like rats in a hole.
+
+The men of the Royal Engineers had, on the very day previous, made
+preparations for destroying the tunnel if necessary, and had done so ere
+the Germans were aware of their intention. The exact loss of life is
+unknown, but it is estimated that over 400 men must have perished in
+that single instant, while those who had made the sudden dash towards
+the Gas Works were all taken prisoners, and their explosives
+confiscated.
+
+The evident intention of the enemy being thus seen, General Sir Francis
+Bamford, from his headquarters at the Crystal Palace, gave orders for
+the tunnels at Rotherhithe and that across Greenwich Reach, as well as
+the several "tube" tunnels and subways, to be destroyed, a work which
+was executed without delay, and was witnessed by thousands, who watched
+for the great disturbances and upheavals in the bed of the river.
+
+In the Old Kent Road the bridge over the canal, as well as the bridges
+in Wells Street, Sumner Road, Glengall Road, and Canterbury Road, were
+all prepared for demolition in case of necessity, the canal from the
+Camberwell Road to the Surrey Dock forming a moat behind which the
+defenders might, if necessary, retire. Clapham Common and Brockwell Park
+were covered with tents, for General Bamford's force, consisting mostly
+of auxiliaries, were daily awaiting reinforcements.
+
+Lord Byfield, now at Windsor, was in constant communication by wireless
+telegraphy with the London headquarters at the Crystal Palace, as well
+as with Hibbard on the Malvern Hills and Woolmer at Shrewsbury. To
+General Bamford at Sydenham came constant news of the rapid spread of
+the national movement of defiance, and Lord Byfield, as was afterwards
+known, urged the London commander to remain patient, and invite no
+attack until the League were strong enough to act on the offensive.
+
+Affairs of outpost were, of course, constantly recurring along the river
+bank between Windsor and Egham, and the British Free-shooters and
+Frontiersmen were ever harassing the Saxons.
+
+Very soon Von Kronhelm became aware of Lord Byfield's intentions, but
+his weakness was apparent when he made no counter-move. The fact was
+that the various great cities he now held required all his attention and
+all his troops. From Manchester, from Birmingham, from Leeds, Bradford,
+Sheffield, and Hull came similar replies. Any withdrawal of troops from
+either city would be the signal for a general rising of the inhabitants.
+Therefore, having gained possession, he could only now sit tight and
+watch.
+
+From all over Middlesex, and more especially from the London area, came
+sensational reports of the drastic measures adopted by the Germans to
+repress any sign of revolt. In secret, the agents of the League of
+Defenders were at work, going from house to house, enrolling men,
+arranging for secret meeting-places, and explaining in confidence the
+programme as put forward by the Bristol committee. Now and then,
+however, these agents were betrayed, and their betrayal was in every
+case followed by a court-martial at Bow Street, death outside in the
+yard of the police station, and the publication in the papers of their
+names, their offence, and the hour of the execution.
+
+Yet, undaunted and defiantly, the giant organisation grew as no other
+society had ever grown, and its agents and members quickly developed
+into fearless patriots. It being reported that the Saxons were facing
+Lord Byfield with the Thames between them, the people of West London
+began in frantic haste to construct barricades. The building of
+obstructions had, indeed, now become a mania north of the river as well
+as south. The people, fearing that there was to be more fighting in the
+streets of London, began to build huge defences all across West London.
+The chief were across King Street, Hammersmith, where it joins Goldhawk
+Road, across the junction of Goldhawk and Uxbridge Roads, in the Harrow
+Road where it joins Admiral Road, and Willesden Lane, close to the
+Paddington Cemetery, and the Latimer Road opposite St. Quintin Park
+Station. All the side streets leading into the Goldhawk Road, Latimer
+Road, and Ladbroke Grove Road were also blocked up, and hundreds of
+houses placed in a state of strong defence.
+
+With all this Von Kronhelm did not interfere. The building of such
+obstructions acted as a safety-valve to the excited populace, therefore
+he rather encouraged than discountenanced it. The barricades might, he
+thought, be of service to his army if Lord Byfield really risked an
+attack upon London from that direction.
+
+Crafty and cunning though he was, he was entirely unaware that those
+barricades were being constructed at the secret orders of the League of
+Defenders, and he never dreamed that they had actually been instigated
+by the British Commander-in-Chief himself.
+
+Thus the Day of Reckoning hourly approached, and London, though crushed
+and starving, waited in patient vigilance.
+
+At Enfield Chase was a great camp of British prisoners in the hands of
+the Germans, amounting to several thousands. Contrary to report, both
+officers and men were fairly well treated by the Germans, though with
+his limited supplies Von Kronhelm was already beginning to contemplate
+releasing them. Many of the higher-grade officers who had fallen into
+the hands of the enemy, together with the Lord Mayor of London, the
+Mayors of Hull, Goole, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich, and the Lord Mayors of
+Manchester and Birmingham, had been sent across to Germany, where,
+according to their own reports, they were being detained in Hamburg and
+treated with every consideration. Nevertheless, all this greatly
+incensed Englishmen. Lord Byfield, with Hibbard and Woolmer, was leaving
+no stone unturned in order to reform our shattered Army, and again
+oppose the invaders. All three gallant officers had been to Bristol,
+where they held long consultation with the members of the Cabinet, with
+the result that the Government still refused to entertain any idea of
+paying the indemnity. The Admiralty were confident now that the command
+of the sea had been regained, and in Parliament itself a little
+confidence was also restored.
+
+Yet we had to face the hard facts that nearly two hundred thousand
+Germans were upon British soil, and that London was held by them.
+Already parties of German commissioners had visited the National
+Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the Tate Gallery, and the British and
+South Kensington Museums, deciding upon and placing aside certain art
+treasures and priceless antiques ready for shipment to Germany. The
+Raphaels, the Titians, the Rubenses, the Fra Angelicos, the Velasquezes,
+the Elgin Marbles, the best of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Roman
+antiques, the Rosetta Stone, the early Biblical and classical
+manuscripts, the historic charters of England, and such-like treasures
+which could never be replaced, were all catalogued and prepared for
+removal. The people of London knew this; for though there had been no
+newspapers, information ran rapidly from mouth to mouth. German sentries
+guarded our world-famous collections, which were now indeed entirely in
+the enemy's hands, and which the Kaiser intended should enrich the
+German galleries and museums.
+
+One vessel flying the British flag had left the Thames laden with spoil,
+in an endeavour to reach Hamburg, but off Harwich she had been sighted
+and overhauled by a British cruiser, with the result that she had been
+steered to Dover. Therefore our cruisers and destroyers, having thus
+obtained knowledge of the enemy's intentions, were keeping a sharp
+lookout about the coast for any vessels attempting to leave for German
+ports.
+
+Accounts of fierce engagements in the Channel between British and German
+ships went the rounds, but all were vague and unconvincing. The only
+solid facts were that the Germans held the great cities of England, and
+that the millions of Great Britain were slowly but surely preparing to
+rise in an attempt to burst asunder the fetters that now held them.
+
+Government, Army, Navy, and Parliament had all proved rotten reeds. It
+was now every man for himself--to free himself and his loved ones--or to
+die in the attempt.
+
+Through the south and west of England Graham's clear, manly voice was
+raised everywhere, and the whole population were now fast assembling
+beneath the banner of the Defenders, in readiness to bear their part in
+the most bloody and desperate encounter of the whole war.
+
+The swift and secret death being meted out to the German sentries--or,
+in fact, to any German caught alone in a side street--having been
+reported to Von Kronhelm, he issued another of his now famous
+proclamations, which was posted upon half the hoardings in London; but
+the populace at once amused themselves by tearing it down wherever it
+was discovered. Von Kronhelm was the arch-enemy of London, and it is
+believed that there were at that moment no fewer than five separate
+conspiracies to encompass his death. Londoners detested the Germans, but
+with a hatred twenty times the more intense did they regard those men
+who, having engaged in commercial pursuits in England, had joined the
+colours and were now acting as spies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+REVOLTS IN SHOREDITCH AND ISLINGTON.
+
+
+On the night of September 27, a very serious conflict, entailing much
+loss of life on both the London civilian and German side, occurred at
+the point where Kingsland Road joins Old Street, Hackney Road, and High
+Street. Across both Hackney and Kingsland Roads the barricades built
+before the bombardment still remained in a half-ruined state, any
+attempt at clearing them away being repulsed by the angry inhabitants.
+Dalston, Kingsland, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch were notably
+antagonistic to the invaders, and several sharp encounters had taken
+place. Indeed, those districts were discovered by the enemy to be very
+unsafe.
+
+The conflict in question, however, commenced at the corner of Old Street
+at about 9.30 in the evening, by three German tailors from Cambridge
+Road being insulted by two men, English labourers. The tailors appealed
+in German to four Westphalian infantrymen who chanced to be passing, and
+who subsequently fired and killed one of the Englishmen. This was the
+signal for a local uprising. The alarm given, hundreds of men and women
+rushed from their houses, many of them armed with rifles and knives,
+and, taking cover behind the ruined barricades, opened fire upon a body
+of fifty Germans, who very quickly ran up. The fire was returned, when
+from the neighbouring houses a perfect hail of lead was suddenly rained
+upon the Germans, who were then forced to retire down High Street
+towards Liverpool Street Station, leaving many dead.
+
+Very quickly news was sent over the telephone, which the Germans had now
+established in many quarters of London, and large reinforcements were
+soon upon the scene. The men of Shoreditch had, however, obtained two
+Maxim guns, which had been secreted ever since the entry of the Germans
+into the Metropolis, and as the enemy endeavoured to storm their
+position they swept the street with a deadly fire. Quickly the situation
+became desperate, but the fight lasted over an hour. The sound of firing
+brought hundreds upon hundreds of Londoners upon the scene. All these
+took arms against the Germans, who, after many fruitless attempts to
+storm the defences, and being fired upon from every side, were compelled
+to fall back again.
+
+They were followed along High Street into Bethnal Green Road, up Great
+Eastern Street into Hoxton Square and Pitfield Street, and there cut up,
+being given no quarter at the hands of the furious populace. In those
+narrow thoroughfares they were powerless, and were therefore simply
+exterminated.
+
+The victory for the men of Shoreditch was complete, over three hundred
+and fifty Germans being killed, while our losses were only about fifty.
+
+The conflict was at once reported to Von Kronhelm, and the very fact
+that he did not send exemplary punishment into that quarter was
+sufficient to show that he feared to arouse further the hornets' nest in
+which he was living, and more especially that portion of the populace
+north of the City.
+
+News of the attack, quickly spreading, inspired courage in every other
+part of the oppressed Metropolis.
+
+The successful uprising against the Germans in Shoreditch incited
+Londoners to rebel, and in various other parts of the Metropolis there
+occurred outbreaks.
+
+Von Kronhelm had found to his cost that London was not to be so easily
+cowed after all. The size and population of the Metropolis had not been
+sufficiently calculated upon. It was as a country in itself, while the
+intricacies of its by-ways formed a refuge for the conspirators, who
+were gradually completing their preparations to rise _en masse_ and
+strike down the Germans wherever found. In the open country his great
+army could march, manoeuvre, and use strategy, but here in the maze of
+narrow London streets it was impossible to know in one thoroughfare what
+was taking place in the next.
+
+Supplies, too, were now running very short. The distress among our
+vanquished populace was most severe; while Von Kronhelm's own army was
+put on meagre rations. The increasing price of food and consequent
+starvation had not served to improve the relations between the invaders
+and the citizens of London, who, though they were assured by various
+proclamations that they would be happier and more prosperous under
+German rule, now discovered that they were being slowly starved to
+death.
+
+Their only hope, therefore, was in the efforts of that now gigantic
+organisation, the League of Defenders.
+
+A revolt occurred in Pentonville Road, opposite King's Cross Underground
+Station, which ended in a fierce and terrible fray. A company of the
+Bremen Infantry Regiment No. 75, belonging to the IXth Corps, were
+marching from the City Road towards Regent's Park, when several shots
+were fired at them from windows of shops almost opposite the station.
+Five Germans fell dead, including one lieutenant, a very gorgeous person
+who wore a monocle. Another volley rang out before the infantrymen could
+realise what was happening, and then it was seen that the half-ruined
+shops had been placed in such a state of defence as to constitute a
+veritable fortress.
+
+The fire was returned, but a few moments later a Maxim spat its deadly
+fire from a small hole in a wall, and a couple of dozen of the enemy
+fell upon the granite setts of the thoroughfare. The rattle of musketry
+quickly brought forth the whole of that populous neighbourhood--or all,
+indeed, that remained of them--the working-class district between
+Pentonville Road and Copenhagen Street.
+
+Quickly the fight became general. The men of Bremen endeavoured to take
+the place by assault, but found that it was impossible. The strength of
+the defences was amazing, and showed only too plainly that Londoners
+were in secret preparing for the great uprising that was being planned.
+In such a position were the houses held by the Londoners, that their
+fire commanded both the Pentonville and King's Cross Roads; but very
+soon the Germans were reinforced by another company of the same
+regiment, and these being attacked in the rear from Rodney Street,
+Cumming Street, Weston Street, York Street, Winchester Street, and other
+narrow turnings leading into the Pentonville Road, the fighting quickly
+became general.
+
+The populace came forth in swarms, men and women, armed with any weapon
+or article upon which they could lay their hands, and all fired with the
+same desire.
+
+Hundreds of men who came forth were armed with rifles which had been
+carefully secreted on the entry of the enemy into the Metropolis. The
+greater part of those men, indeed, had fought at the barricades in North
+London, and had subsequently taken part in the street fighting as the
+enemy advanced. Some of the arms had come from the League of Defenders,
+smuggled into the Metropolis nobody exactly knew how.
+
+Up and down the King's Cross, Pentonville, and Caledonian Roads the
+crowd swayed and fought. The Germans against that overwhelming mass of
+angry civilians seemed powerless. Small bodies of the troops were
+cornered in the narrow by-streets, and then given no quarter.
+Brave-hearted Londoners, though they knew well what dire punishment they
+must inevitably draw upon themselves, had taken the law into their own
+hands, and were shooting or stabbing every German who fell into their
+hands.
+
+The scene of carnage in that hour of fighting was awful. The "Daily
+Chronicle" described it as one of the most fiercely contested encounters
+in the whole history of the siege. Shoreditch had given courage to
+King's Cross, for, unknown to Von Kronhelm, houses in all quarters were
+being put in a state of defence, their position being carefully chosen
+by those directing the secret operations of the League of Defenders.
+
+For over an hour the houses in question gallantly held out, sweeping the
+streets constantly with their Maxim. Presently, however, on further
+reinforcements arriving, the German colonel directed his men to enter
+the houses opposite. In an instant a door was broken in, and presently
+glass came tumbling down as muzzles of rifles were poked through the
+panes, and soon sharp crackling showed that the Germans had settled
+down to their work.
+
+The defence of the Londoners was most obstinate. In the streets,
+Londoners attacked the enemy with utter disregard for the risks they
+ran. Women, among them many young girls, joined in the fray, armed with
+pistols and knives.
+
+After a while a great body of reinforcements appeared in the Euston
+Road, having been sent hurriedly along from Regent's Park. Then the
+option was given to those occupying the fortified house to surrender,
+the colonel promising to spare their lives. The Londoners peremptorily
+refused. Everywhere the fighting became more desperate and spread all
+through the streets leading out of St. Pancras, York, and Caledonian
+Roads, until the whole of that great neighbourhood became the scene of a
+fierce conflict, in which both sides lost heavily. Right across
+Islington the street fighting spread, and many were the fatal traps set
+for the unwary German who found himself cut off in that maze of narrow
+streets between York Road and the Angel. The enemy, on the other hand,
+were shooting down women and girls as well as the men, even the
+non-combatants--those who came out of their homes to ascertain what was
+going on--being promptly fired at and killed.
+
+In the midst of all this somebody ignited some petrol in a house a few
+doors from the chapel in Pentonville Road, and in a few moments the
+whole row of buildings were blazing furiously, belching forth black
+smoke and adding to the terror and confusion of those exciting moments.
+Even that large body of Germans now upon the scene were experiencing
+great difficulty in defending themselves. A perfect rain of bullets
+seemed directed upon them on every hand, and to-day's experience
+certainly proves that Londoners are patriotic and brave, and in their
+own districts they possess a superiority over the trained troops of the
+Kaiser.
+
+At length, after a most sanguinary struggle, the Londoners' position was
+carried, the houses were entered, and twenty-two brave patriots, mostly
+of the working-class, taken prisoners. The populace now realising that
+the Germans had, after all, overpowered their comrades, in their
+fortress, fell back; but being pursued northward towards the railway
+line between Highbury and Barnsbury stations, many of them were
+despatched on the spot.
+
+What followed was indeed terrible. The anger of the Germans now became
+uncontrollable. Having in view Von Kronhelm's proclamation--which
+sentenced to death all who, not being in uniform, fired upon German
+troops--they decided to teach the unfortunate populace a lesson. As a
+matter of fact, they feared that such revolts might be repeated in other
+quarters.
+
+So they seized dozens of prisoners, men and women, and shot them down.
+Many of these summary executions took place against the wall of the St.
+Pancras Station at the corner of Euston Road. Men and women were
+pitilessly sent to death. Wives, daughters, fathers, sons were ranged up
+against that wall, and, at signal from the colonel, fell forward with
+bullets through them.
+
+Of the men who so gallantly held the fortified house not a single one
+escaped. Strings of men and women were hurried to their doom in one day,
+for the troops were savage with the lust of blood, and Von Kronhelm,
+though he was aware of it by telephone, lifted not a finger to stop
+those arbitrary executions.
+
+But enough of such details. Suffice it to say that the stones of
+Islington were stained with the blood of innocent Londoners, and that
+those who survived took a fierce vow of vengeance. Von Kronhelm's
+legions had the upper hand for the moment, yet the conflict and its
+bloody sequel had the effect of arousing the fiercest anger within the
+heart of every Briton in the metropolis.
+
+What was in store for us none could tell. We were conquered, oppressed,
+starved; yet hope was still within us. The League of Defenders were not
+idle, while South London was hourly completing her strength.
+
+It seems that after quelling the revolt at King's Cross wholesale
+arrests were made in Islington. The guilt or innocence of the prisoners
+did not seem to matter. Von Kronhelm dealing out to them summary
+punishment.
+
+Terror reigns in London. One newspaper correspondent--whose account is
+published this morning in South London, having been sent across the
+Thames by carrier pigeon, many of which were now being employed by the
+newspapers--had an opportunity of witnessing the wholesale executions
+which took place yesterday afternoon outside Dorchester House, where Von
+Kleppen has established his quarters. Von Kleppen seems to be the most
+pitiless of the superior officers. The prisoners, ranged up for
+inspection in front of the big mansion, were mostly men from Islington,
+all of whom knew only too well the fate in store for them. Walking
+slowly along and eyeing the ranks of these unfortunate wretches, the
+German General stopped here and there, tapping a man on the shoulder or
+beckoning him out of the rear ranks. In most cases, without further
+word, the individual thus selected was marched into the Park at Stanhope
+Gate, where a small supplementary column was soon formed.
+
+    LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS
+
+    DAILY BULLETIN
+
+    The League of Defenders of the British Empire publicly announce
+    to Englishmen, although the North of London is held by the
+    enemy:
+
+    (1) That England will soon entirely regain command of the sea,
+    and that a rigorous blockade of the German ports will be
+    established.
+
+    (2) That three of the vessels of the North German Lloyd
+    Transatlantic passenger service have been captured, together
+    with a number of minor German ships in the Channel and
+    Mediterranean.
+
+    (3) That four German cruisers and two destroyers have fallen
+    into the hands of the British.
+
+    (4) That
+
+    ENGLAND'S MILLIONS ARE READY
+    TO RISE!
+    Therefore
+    WE ARE NOT YET BEATEN!
+    BE PREPARED, AND WAIT.
+
+    League of Defenders.
+
+    Central Office: Bristol.
+
+    [Illustration: COPY OF THE "DAILY BULLETIN" OF THE
+    LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.]
+
+Those chosen knew that their last hour had come. Some clasped their
+hands and fell upon their knees, imploring pity, while others remained
+silent and stubborn patriots. One man, his face covered with blood and
+his arm broken, sat down and howled in anguish, and others wept in
+silence. Some women--wives and daughters of the condemned men--tried to
+get within the Park to bid them adieu and to urge courage, but the
+soldiers beat them back with their rifles. Some of the men laughed
+defiantly, others met death with a stony stare. The eye-witness saw the
+newly-dug pit that served as common grave, and he stood by and saw them
+shot and their corpses afterwards flung into it.
+
+One young fair-haired woman, condemned by Von Kleppen, rushed forward to
+that officer, threw herself upon her knees, imploring mercy, and
+protested her innocence wildly. But the officer, callous and pitiless,
+simply motioned to a couple of soldiers to take her within the Park,
+where she shared the same fate as the men.
+
+How long will this awful state of affairs last? We must die, or conquer.
+London is in the hands of a legion of assassins--Bavarians, Saxons,
+Wuertembergers, Hessians, Badeners--all now bent upon prolonging the
+reign of terror, and thus preventing the uprising that they know is,
+sooner or later, inevitable.
+
+Terrible accounts are reaching us of how the Germans are treating their
+prisoners on Hounslow Heath, at Enfield, and other places; of the awful
+sufferings of the poor unfortunate fellows, of hunger, of thirst, and of
+inhuman disregard for either their comfort or their lives.
+
+At present we are powerless, hemmed in by our barricades. Behind us,
+upon Sydenham Hill, General Bamford is in a strong position, and his
+great batteries are already defending any attack upon London from the
+south. From the terrace in front of the Crystal Palace his guns can
+sweep the whole range of southern suburbs. Through Dulwich, Herne Hill,
+Champion Hill, and Denmark Hill are riding British cavalry, all of whom
+show evident traces of the hard and fierce campaign. We see from
+Sydenham constant messages being heliographed, for General Bamford and
+Lord Byfield are in hourly communication by wireless telegraphy or by
+other means.
+
+What is transpiring at Windsor is not known, save that every night there
+are affairs of outposts with the Saxons, who on several occasions have
+attempted to cross the river by pontoons, and have on each occasion been
+driven back.
+
+It was reported to Parliament at its sitting at Bristol yesterday that
+the Cabinet had refused to entertain any idea of paying the indemnity
+demanded by Germany, and that their reply to Von Kronhelm is one of open
+defiance. The brief summary of the speeches published shows that the
+Government are hopeful, notwithstanding the present black outlook. They
+believe that when the hour comes for the revenge, London will rise as a
+man, and that Socialists, Nonconformists, Labour agitators, Anarchists,
+and demagogues will unite with us in one great national patriotic effort
+to exterminate our conquerors as we would exterminate vermin.
+
+Mr. Gerald Graham has made another great speech in the House, in which
+he reported the progress of the League of Defenders and its wide-spread
+ramifications. He told the Government that there were over seven
+millions of able-bodied men in the country ready to revolt the instant
+the word went forth. That there would be terrible bloodshed he warned
+them, but that the British would eventually prove the victors he was
+assured. He gave no details of the organisation, for to a great measure
+it was a secret one, and Von Kronhelm was already taking active steps to
+combat its intentions; but he declared that there was still a strong
+spirit of patriotism in the country, and explained how sturdy Scots were
+daily making their way south, and how men from Wales were already
+massing in Oxford.
+
+The speech was received on both sides of the House with ringing cheers
+when, in conclusion, he promised them that, within a few days, the fiat
+would go forth, and the enemy would find himself crushed and powerless.
+
+"South London," he declared, "is our stronghold, our fortress. To-day it
+is impregnable, defended by a million British patriots, and I defy Von
+Kronhelm--indeed, I dare him to attack it!"
+
+Von Kronhelm was, of course, well aware of the formation of the
+Defenders, but treated the League with contempt. If there was any
+attempt at a rising, he would shoot down the people like dogs. He
+declared this openly and publicly, and he also issued a warning to the
+English people in the German official "Gazette," a daily periodical
+printed in one of the newspaper offices in Fleet Street in both German
+and English.
+
+The German commander fully believed that England was crushed; yet, as
+the days went on, he was puzzled that he received no response to his
+demand for indemnity. Twice he had sent special despatch-bearers to
+Bristol, but on both occasions the result was the same.
+
+Diplomatic representations had been made in Berlin through the Russian
+Ambassador, who was now in charge of British interests in Germany, but
+all to no purpose. Our Foreign Minister simply acknowledged receipt of
+the various despatches. On the Continent the keenest interest was
+manifested at what was apparently a deadlock. The British had, it was
+known, regained command of the sea. Von Kronhelm's supplies were already
+cut off. The cables in direct communication between England and Germany
+had been severed, and the Continental Press, especially the Paris
+journals, gleefully recounted how two large Hamburg-American liners
+attempting to reach Hamburg by passing north of Scotland had been
+captured by British cruisers.
+
+    =ENGLISHMEN!=
+
+    Your Homes are Desecrated!
+    Your Children are Starving!
+    Your Loved Ones are Dead!
+
+    WILL YOU REMAIN IN COWARDLY INACTIVITY?
+
+    The German Eagle flies over London. Hull, Newcastle and
+    Birmingham are in ruins. Manchester is a German City. Norfolk,
+    Essex, and Suffolk form a German colony.
+
+    The Kaiser's troops have brought death, ruin, and starvation
+    upon you.
+
+    WILL YOU BECOME GERMANS?
+
+    =NO!=
+
+    Join THE DEFENDERS and fight for England.
+
+    You have England's Millions beside you.
+
+    =LET US RISE!=
+
+    Let us drive back the Kaiser's men.
+
+    Let us shoot them at sight.
+
+    Let us exterminate every single man who has desecrated English
+    soil.
+
+    Join the New League of Defenders.
+
+    Fight for your homes. Fight for your wives. Fight for England.
+
+    FIGHT FOR YOUR KING!
+
+    The National League of Defenders' Head Offices.
+    Bristol, September 21st, 1910.
+
+    [Illustration: A COPY OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE OF
+    DEFENDERS ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1910.]
+
+
+In the Channel, too, a number of German vessels had been seized, and one
+that showed fight off the North Foreland was fired upon and sunk. The
+public at home, however, were more interested in supremacy on land. It
+was all very well to have command of the sea, they argued, but it did
+not appear to alleviate perceptibly the hunger and privations on land.
+The Germans occupied London, and while they did so all freedom in
+England was at an end.
+
+A great poster headed "Englishmen," here reproduced, was seen
+everywhere. The whole country was flooded with it, and thousands upon
+thousands of heroic Britons, from the poorest to the wealthiest,
+clamoured to enrol themselves. The movement was an absolutely national
+one in every sense of the word. The name of Gerald Graham, the new
+champion of England's power, was upon every one's tongue. Daily he spoke
+in the various towns in the West of England, in Plymouth, Taunton,
+Cardiff, Portsmouth, and Southampton, and, assisted by the influential
+committee among whom were many brilliant speakers and men whose names
+were as household words, he aroused the country to the highest pitch of
+hatred against the enemy. The defenders, as they drilled in various
+centres through the whole of the West of England, were a strange and
+incongruous body. Grey-bearded Army pensioners ranged side by side with
+keen, enthusiastic youths, advised them and gave them the benefit of
+their expert knowledge. Volunteer officers in many cases assumed
+command, together with retired drill sergeants. The digging of trenches
+and the making of fortifications were assigned to navvies, bricklayers,
+platelayers, and agricultural labourers, large bodies of whom were under
+railway gangers, and were ready to perform any excavation work.
+
+The Maxims and other machine guns were mostly manned by Volunteer
+artillery; but instruction in the working of the Maxim was given to
+select classes in Plymouth, Bristol, Portsmouth, and Cardiff. Time was
+of utmost value, therefore the drilling was pushed forward day and
+night. It was known that Von Kronhelm was already watchful of the
+movements of the League, and was aware daily of its growth.
+
+In London, with the greatest secrecy, the defenders were banding
+together. In face of the German proclamation posted upon the walls,
+Londoners were holding meetings in secret and enrolling themselves.
+
+Though the German eagle flew in Whitehall and from the summit of St.
+Stephen's Tower, and though the heavy tramp of German sentries echoed in
+Trafalgar Square, in the quiet, trafficless streets in the vicinity,
+England was not yet vanquished.
+
+The valiant men of London were still determined to sell their liberty
+dearly, and to lay down their lives for the freedom of their country and
+honour of their King.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III.
+
+THE REVENGE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A BLOW FOR FREEDOM.
+
+
+    "'DAILY TELEGRAPH' OFFICE.
+    "_Oct._ 1, 2 P.M.
+
+"Three days have passed since the revolt at King's Cross, and each day,
+both on the Horse Guards' Parade and in the Park, opposite Dorchester
+House, there have been summary executions. Von Kronhelm is in evident
+fear of the excited London populace, and is endeavouring to cow them by
+his plain-spoken and threatening proclamations, and by these wholesale
+executions of any person found with arms in his or her possession. But
+the word of command does not abolish the responsibility of conscience,
+and we are now awaiting breathlessly for the word to strike the blow in
+revenge.
+
+"The other newspapers are reappearing, but all that is printed each
+morning is first subjected to a rigorous censorship, and nothing is
+allowed to be printed before it is passed and initialled by the two
+gold-spectacled censors who sit and smoke their pipes in an office to
+themselves. Below, we have German sentries on guard, for our journal is
+one of the official organs of Von Kronhelm, and what now appears in it
+is surely sufficient to cause our blood to boil."
+
+"To-day, there are everywhere signs of rapidly increasing unrest.
+Londoners are starving, and are now refusing to remain patient any
+longer. The "Daily Bulletin" of the League of Defenders, though the
+posting of it is punishable by imprisonment, and it is everywhere torn
+down where discovered by the Germans, still gives daily brief news of
+what is in progress, and still urges the people to wait in patience,
+for 'the action of the Government,' as it is sarcastically put.
+
+"Soon after eleven o'clock this morning a sudden and clearly
+premeditated attack was made upon a body of the Bremen infantry, who
+were passing along Oxford Street from Holborn to the Marble Arch. The
+soldiers were suddenly fired upon from windows of a row of shops between
+Newman Street and Rathbone Place, and before they could halt and return
+the fire they found themselves surrounded by a great armed rabble, who
+were emerging from all the streets leading into Oxford Street.
+
+"While the Germans were manoeuvring, some unknown hand launched from a
+window a bomb into the centre of them. Next second there was a red
+flash, a loud report, and twenty-five of the enemy were blown to atoms.
+For a few moments the soldiers were demoralised, but orders were shouted
+loudly by their officers, and they began a most vigorous defence. In a
+few seconds the fight was as fierce as that at King's Cross; for out of
+every street in that working-class district lying between the Tottenham
+Court Road and Great Portland Street on the north, and out of Soho on
+the South, poured thousands upon thousands of fierce Londoners, all bent
+upon doing their utmost to kill their oppressors. From almost every
+window along Oxford Street a rain of lead was now being poured upon the
+troops, who vainly strove to keep their ground. Gradually, however, they
+were, by slow degrees, forced back into the narrow side-turnings up
+Newman Street, and Rathbone Place into Mortimer Street, Foley Street,
+Goodge Street, and Charlotte Street; and there they were slaughtered
+almost to a man.
+
+"Two officers were captured by the armed mob in Tottenham Street and,
+after being beaten, were stood up and shot in cold blood as vengeance
+for those shot during the past three days at Von Kleppen's orders at
+Dorchester House.
+
+"The fierce fight lasted quite an hour; and though reinforcements were
+sent for, yet curiously none arrived.
+
+"The great mob, however, were well aware that very soon the iron hand of
+Germany would fall heavily upon them; therefore, in frantic haste, they
+began soon after noon to build barricades and block up the narrow
+streets in every direction. At the end of Rathbone Place, Newman Street,
+Berners Street, Wells Street, and Great Tichfield Street, huge
+obstructions soon appeared, while on the east all by-streets leading
+into Tottenham Court Road were blocked up, and the same on the west in
+Great Portland Street, and on the north where the district was flanked
+by the Euston Road. So that by two o'clock the populous neighbourhood
+bounded by the four great thoroughfares was rendered a fortress in
+itself.
+
+"Within that area were thousands of armed men and women from Soho,
+Bloomsbury, Marylebone, and even from Camden Town. There they remained
+in defiance of Von Kronhelm's newest proclamation, which stared one in
+the face from every wall."
+
+    "_Later._
+
+"The enemy were unaware of the grave significance of the position of
+affairs, because Londoners betrayed no outward sign of the truth. Now,
+however, nearly every man and woman wore pinned upon their breasts a
+small piece of silk about two inches square, printed as a miniature
+Union Jack--the badge adopted by the League of Defenders. Though Von
+Kronhelm was unaware of it, Lord Byfield, in council with Greatorex and
+Bamford, had decided that, in order to demoralise the enemy and give him
+plenty of work to do, a number of local uprisings should take place
+north of the Thames. These would occupy Von Kronhelm, who would
+experience great difficulty in quelling them, and would no doubt
+eventually recall the Saxons from West Middlesex to assist. If the
+latter retired upon London they would find the barricades held by
+Londoners in their rear and Lord Byfield in their front, and be thus
+caught between two fires.
+
+"In each district of London there is a chief of the Defenders, and to
+each chief these orders had been conveyed in strictest confidence.
+Therefore, to-day, while the outbreak occurred in Oxford Street, there
+were fully a dozen others in various parts of the metropolis, each of a
+more or less serious character. Every district has already prepared its
+own secret defences, its fortified houses, and its barricades in hidden
+by-ways. Besides the quantity of arms smuggled into London, every dead
+German has had his rifle, pistol, and ammunition stolen from him.
+Hundreds of the enemy have been surreptitiously killed for that very
+reason. Lawlessness is everywhere, Government and Army have failed them,
+and Londoners are now taking the law into their own hands.
+
+"In King Street, Hammersmith; in Notting Dale, in Forest Road, Dalston;
+in Wick Road, Hackney; in Commercial Road East, near Stepney Station;
+and in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, the League of Defenders this
+morning--at about the same hour--first made their organisation public by
+displaying our national emblem, together with the white flags, with the
+scarlet St. George's Cross, the ancient battle flag of England.
+
+"For that reason, then, no reinforcements were sent to Oxford Street.
+Von Kronhelm was far too busy in other quarters. In Kentish Town, it is
+reported, the Germans gained a complete and decisive victory, for the
+people had not barricaded themselves strongly; besides, there were large
+reinforcements of Germans ready in Regent's Park, and these came upon
+the scene before the Defenders were sufficiently prepared. The flag was
+captured from the barricade in Prince of Wales Road, and the men of
+Kentish Town lost over four hundred killed and wounded.
+
+"At Stepney, the result was the reverse. The enemy, believing it to be a
+mere local disturbance and easily quelled, sent but a small body of men
+to suppress it. But very quickly, in the intricate by-streets off
+Commercial Road, these were wiped out, not one single man surviving. A
+second and third body were sent, but so fiercely was the ground
+contested that they were at length compelled to fall back and leave the
+men of Stepney masters of their own district. In Hammersmith and in
+Notting Dale the enemy also lost heavily, though in Hackney they were
+successful after hard fighting.
+
+"Every one declares that this secret order issued by the League means
+that England is again prepared to give battle, and that London is
+commencing by her strategic movement of local rebellions. The gravity of
+the situation cannot now, for one moment, be concealed. London north of
+the Thames is destined to be the scene of the fiercest and most bloody
+warfare ever known in the history of the civilised world. The Germans
+will, of course, fight for their lives, while we shall fight for our
+homes and for our liberty. But right is on our side, and right will win.
+
+"Reports from all over the metropolis tell the same tale. London is
+alert and impatient. At a word she will rise to a man, and then woe
+betide the invader! Surely Von Kronhelm's position is not a very
+enviable one. Our two censors in the office are smoking their pipes
+very gravely. Not a word of the street fighting is to be published. They
+will write their own account of it.
+
+    "10 P.M.
+
+"There has been a most frightful encounter at the Oxford Street and
+Tottenham Court Road barricades--a most stubborn resistance and gallant
+defence on the part of the men of Marylebone and Bloomsbury.
+
+"From the lips of one of our correspondents who was within the barricade
+I have just learned the details. It appears that just about four o'clock
+General Von Wilberg sent from the City a large force of the 19th
+Division under Lieutenant General Frankenfeld, and part of these,
+advancing through the squares of Bloomsbury into Gower Street, attacked
+the Defenders' position from the Tottenham Court Road, while others
+coming up Holborn and New Oxford Street entered Soho from Charing Cross
+Road and threw up counter-barricades at the end of Dean Street, Wardour
+Street, Berwick, Poland, Argyll, and the other streets, all of which
+were opposite the defences of the populace. In Great Portland Street,
+too, they adopted a similar line, and without much ado the fight,
+commenced in a desultory fashion, soon became a battle.
+
+"Within the barricades was a dense body of armed and angry citizens,
+each with his little badge, and every single one of them was ready to
+fight to the death. There is no false patriotism now, no mere bravado.
+Men make declarations, and carry them out. The gallant Londoners, with
+their several Maxims, wrought havoc among the invaders, especially in
+the Tottenham Court Road, where hundreds were maimed or killed.
+
+"In Oxford Street, the enemy being under cover of their
+counter-barricades, little damage could be done on either side. The
+wide, open, deserted thoroughfare was every moment swept by a hail of
+bullets, but no one was injured. On the Great Portland Street side the
+populace made a feint of giving way at the Mortimer Street barricade,
+and a body of the enemy rushed in, taking the obstruction by storm. But
+next moment they regretted it, for they were set upon by a thousand
+armed men and wild haired women, so that every man paid for his courage
+with his life. The women, seizing the weapons and ammunition of the dead
+Germans, now returned to the barricade to use them.
+
+"The Mortimer Street defences were at once repaired, and it was resolved
+to relay the fatal trap at some other point. Indeed, it was repeated at
+the end of Percy Street, where about fifty more Germans, who thought
+themselves victorious, were set upon and exterminated.
+
+"Until dusk the fight lasted. The Germans, finding their attack futile,
+began to hurl petrol bombs over the barricades and these caused
+frightful destruction among our gallant men, several houses in the
+vicinity being set on fire. Fortunately, there was still water in the
+street hydrants, and two fire engines had already been brought within
+the beleaguered area in case of necessity.
+
+"At last, about seven o'clock, the enemy, having lost very heavily in
+attempting to take the well-chosen position by storm, brought down
+several light field-guns from Regent's Park; and, placing them at their
+counter-barricades--where, by the way, they had lost many men in the
+earlier part of the conflict while piling up their shelters--suddenly
+opened fire with shell at the huge obstructions before them.
+
+"At first they made but little impression upon the flagstones, etc., of
+which the barricades were mainly composed. But before long their
+bombardment began to tell; for slowly, here and there, exploding shells
+made great breaches in the defences that had been so heroically manned.
+More than once a high explosive shell burst right among the crowd of
+riflemen behind a barricade, sweeping dozens into eternity in a single
+instant. Against the fortified houses each side of the barricades the
+German artillery trained their guns, and very quickly reduced many of
+those buildings to ruins. The air now became thick with dust and smoke;
+and mingled with the roar of artillery at such close quarters came the
+screams of the injured and the groans of the dying. The picture drawn by
+the eye-witness who described this was a truly appalling one. Gradually
+the Londoners were being overwhelmed, but they were selling their lives
+dearly, fully proving themselves worthy sons of grand old England.
+
+"At last the fire from the Newman Street barricade of the Defenders was
+silenced, and ten minutes later, a rush being made across from Dean
+Street, it was taken by storm. Then ensued fierce and bloody
+hand-to-hand fighting right up to Cleveland Street, while almost at the
+same moment the enemy broke in from Great Portland Street.
+
+"A scene followed that is impossible to describe. Through all those
+narrow, crooked streets the fighting became general, and on either side
+hundreds fell. The Defenders in places cornered the Germans, cut them
+off, and killed them. Though it was felt that now the barricades had
+been broken the day was lost, yet every man kept courage, and fought
+with all his strength.
+
+"For half an hour the Germans met with no success. On the contrary, they
+found themselves entrapped amid thousands of furious citizens, all
+wearing their silken badges, and all sworn to fight to the death.
+
+"While the Defenders still struggled on, loud and ringing cheers were
+suddenly raised from Tottenham Court Road. The people from Clerkenwell,
+joined by those in Bloomsbury, had arrived to assist them. They had
+risen, and were attacking the Germans in the rear.
+
+"Fighting was now general right across from Tottenham Court Road to
+Gray's Inn Road, and by nine o'clock, though Von Wilberg sent
+reinforcements, a victory was gained by the Defenders. Over two thousand
+Germans are lying dead and wounded about the streets and squares of
+Bloomsbury and Marylebone. The League had struck its first blow for
+Freedom.
+
+"What will the morrow bring us? Dire punishment--or desperate victory?"
+
+    "'DAILY CHRONICLE' OFFICE,
+    "_Oct._ 4, 6 P.M.
+
+"The final struggle for the possession of London is about to commence.
+Through all last night there were desultory conflicts between the
+soldiers and the people, in which many lives have, alas! been
+sacrificed.
+
+"Von Wilberg still holds the City proper, with the Mansion House as his
+headquarters. Within the area already shown upon the map there are no
+English, all the inhabitants having been long ago expelled. The great
+wealth of London is in German hands, it is true, but it is Dead Sea
+fruit. They are unable either to make use of it or to deport it to
+Germany. Much has been taken away to the base at Southminster and other
+bases in Essex, but the greater part of the bullion still remains in the
+Bank of England.
+
+"The most exciting stories have been reaching us during the last
+twenty-four hours, none of which, however, have passed the censor. For
+that reason I, one of the sub-editors, am keeping this diary, as a brief
+record of events during the present dreadful times.
+
+"After the terrific struggle in Marylebone three days ago, Von Kronhelm
+saw plainly that if London were to rise _en masse_ she would at once
+assume the upper hand. The German Commander-in-Chief had far too many
+points to guard. On the west of London he was threatened by Lord Byfield
+and hosts of auxiliaries, mostly sworn members of the National League of
+Defenders; on the south, across the river, Southwark, Lambeth, and
+Battersea formed an impregnable fortress, containing over a million
+eager patriots ready to burst forth and sweep away the vain, victorious
+army; while within central London itself the people were ready to rise.
+
+    =LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.=
+
+    CITIZENS OF LONDON AND LOYAL PATRIOTS.
+
+    The hour has come to show your strength, and to wreak your
+    vengeance.
+
+    TO-NIGHT, OCT. 4, AT 10 P.M., rise, and strike your blow for
+    freedom.
+
+    A MILLION MEN are with Lord Byfield, already within striking
+    distance of London; a million follow them, and yet another
+    million are ready in South London.
+
+    RISE, FEARLESS AND STERN. Let "England for Englishmen" be your
+    battle-cry, and avenge the blood of your wives and your
+    children.
+
+    AVENGE THIS INSULT TO YOUR
+    NATION.
+
+    REMEMBER: TEN O'CLOCK TO-NIGHT!
+
+
+"Reports reaching us to-day from Lord Byfield's headquarters at Windsor
+are numerous, but conflicting. As far as can be gathered, the authentic
+facts are as follows: Great bodies of the Defenders, including many
+women, all armed, are massing at Reading, Sonning, Wokingham, and
+Maidenhead. Thousands have arrived, and are hourly arriving by train,
+from Portsmouth, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Gloucester, and, in fact,
+all the chief centres of the West of England, where Gerald Graham's
+campaign has been so marvellously successful. Sturdy Welsh colliers are
+marching shoulder to shoulder with agricultural labourers from Dorset
+and Devon, and clerks and citizens from the towns of Somerset, Cornwall,
+Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire are taking arms beside the riff-raff of
+their own neighbourhoods. Peer and peasant, professional man and pauper,
+all are now united with one common object--to drive back the invader,
+and to save our dear old England.
+
+"Oxford has, it seems, been one of the chief points of concentration,
+and the undergraduates who re-assembled there to defend their colleges
+now form an advance-guard of a huge body of Defenders on the march, by
+way of Henley and Maidenhead, to follow in the rear of Lord Byfield. The
+latter holds Eton and the country across to High Wycombe, while the
+Saxon headquarters are still at Staines. Froelich's Cavalry Division are
+holding the country across from Pinner through Stanmore and Chipping
+Barnet to the prison camp at Enfield Chase. These are the only German
+troops outside West London, the Saxons being now barred from entering by
+the huge barricades which the populace of West London have during the
+past few days been constructing. Every road leading into London from
+West Middlesex is now either strongly barricaded or entirely blocked up.
+Kew, Richmond, and Kingston Bridges have been destroyed, and Lord
+Byfield, with General Bamford at the Crystal Palace, remains practically
+in possession of the whole of the south of the Thames.
+
+"The conflict which is now about to begin will be one to the death.
+While, on the one hand, the Germans are bottled up among us, the fact
+must not be overlooked that their arms are superior, and that they are
+trained soldiers. Yet the two or three local risings of yesterday and
+the day previous have given us courage, for they show that the enemy
+cannot manoeuvre in the narrow streets, and soon become demoralised. In
+London we fail because we have so few riflemen. If every man who now
+carries a gun could shoot, we could compel the Germans to fly a flag of
+truce within twenty-four hours. Indeed, if Lord Roberts' scheme of
+universal training in 1906 had been adopted, the enemy would certainly
+never have been suffered to approach our capital.
+
+"Alas! apathy has resulted in this terrible and crushing disaster, and
+we have only now to bear our part, each one of us, in the blow to avenge
+this desecration of our homes and the massacre of our loved ones.
+
+"To-day I have seen the white banners with the red cross--the ensign of
+the Defenders--everywhere. Till yesterday it was not openly displayed,
+but to-day it is actually hung from windows or flown defiantly from
+flagstaffs in full view of the Germans.
+
+"In Kilburn, or, to be more exact, in the district lying between the
+Harrow Road and the High Road, Kilburn, there was another conflict this
+morning between some of the German Garde Corps and the populace. The
+outbreak commenced by the arrest of some men who were found practising
+with rifles in Paddington Recreation Ground. One man who resisted was
+shot on the spot, whereupon the crowd who assembled attacked the German
+picket, and eventually killed them to a man. This was the signal for a
+general outbreak in the neighbourhood, and half an hour later, when a
+force was sent to quell the revolt, fierce fighting became general all
+through the narrow streets of Kensal Green, especially at the big
+barricade that blocks the Harrow Road where it is joined by Admiral
+Road. Here the bridges over the Grand Junction Canal have already been
+destroyed, for the barricades and defences have been scientifically
+constructed under the instruction of military engineers.
+
+"From an early hour to-day it has been apparent that all these risings
+were purposely ordered by the League of Defenders to cause Von
+Kronhelm's confusion. Indeed, while the outbreak at Kensal Green was in
+progress, we had another reported from Dalston, a third from Limehouse,
+and a fourth from Homerton. Therefore, it is quite certain that the
+various centres of the League are acting in unison upon secret orders
+from headquarters.
+
+"Indeed, South London also took part in the fray this morning, for the
+Defenders at the barricade at London Bridge have now mounted several
+field guns, and have started shelling Von Wilberg's position in the
+City. It is said that the Mansion House, where the General had usurped
+the apartments of the deported Lord Mayor, has already been half reduced
+to ruins. This action is, no doubt, only to harass the enemy, for surely
+General Bamford has no desire to destroy the City proper any more than
+it has already been destroyed. Lower Thames Street, King William Street,
+Gracechurch Street, and Cannon Street have at any rate, been found
+untenable by the enemy, upon whom some losses have been inflicted.
+
+"South London is every moment anxious to know the truth. Two days after
+the bombardment we succeeded at night in sinking a light telegraph cable
+in the river across from the Embankment at the bottom of Temple Avenue,
+and are in communication with our temporary office in Southwark Street.
+
+"An hour ago there came, through secret sources, information of another
+naval victory to our credit, several German warships being sunk and
+captured. Here we dare not print it, so I have just wired it across to
+the other side, where they are issuing a special edition.
+
+"Almost simultaneously with the report of the British victory, namely,
+at five o'clock, the truth--the great and all-important truth--became
+revealed. The mandate has gone forth from the headquarters of the League
+of Defenders that London is to rise in her might at ten o'clock
+to-night, and that a million men are ready to assist us. Placards and
+bills on red paper are everywhere.
+
+"Frantic efforts are being made by the Germans all over London to
+suppress both posters and handbills.
+
+"It is now six o'clock. In four hours it is believed that London will be
+one huge seething conflict. Night has been chosen, I suppose, in order
+to give the populace the advantage. The by-streets are for the most part
+still unlit, save for oil-lamps, for neither gas nor electric light are
+yet in proper working order after the terrible dislocation of
+everything. The scheme of the Defenders is, as already proved, to lure
+the Germans into the narrower thoroughfares, and then exterminate them.
+Surely in the history of the world there has never been such a bitter
+vengeance as that which is now inevitable. London, the greatest city
+ever known, is about to rise!
+
+    "_Midnight._
+
+"London has risen! How can I describe the awful scenes of panic,
+bloodshed, patriotism, brutality, and vengeance that are at this moment
+in progress? As I write, through the open window I can hear the roar of
+voices, the continual crackling of rifles, and the heavy booming of
+guns. I walked along Fleet Street at nine o'clock, and I found, utterly
+disregarding the order that no unauthorised persons are to be abroad
+after nightfall, hundreds upon hundreds of all classes, all wearing
+their little silk Union Jack badges pinned to their coats, on the way to
+join in their particular districts. Some carried rifles, others
+revolvers, while others were unarmed. Yet not a German did I see in the
+streets. It seemed as though, for the moment, the enemy had vanished.
+There was only the strong cordon across the bottom of Ludgate Hill, men
+who looked on in wonder, but without bestirring themselves.
+
+"Is it possible that Von Kronhelm's strategy is to remain inactive, and
+refuse to fight?
+
+"The first shot I heard fired, just after ten o'clock, was at the Strand
+end of Fleet Street, at the corner of Chancery Lane. There, I afterwards
+discovered, a party of forty German infantrymen had been attacked, and
+all of them killed. Quickly following this, I heard the distant booming
+of artillery, and then the rattle of musketry and pom-poms became
+general, but not in the neighbourhood where I was. For nearly half an
+hour I remained at the corner of Aldwych; then, on going farther along
+the Strand, I found that the defenders from the Waterloo Road had made a
+wild sortie into the Strand, but could find no Germans there.
+
+"The men who had for a fortnight held that barricade at the bridge were
+more like demons than human beings; therefore I retired, and in the
+crush made my way back to the office to await reports.
+
+"They were not long in arriving. I can only give a very brief _resume_
+at the moment, for they are so numerous as to be bewildering.
+
+"Speaking generally, the whole of London has obeyed the mandate of the
+League, and, rising, are attacking the Germans at every point. In the
+majority of cases, however, the enemy hold strong positions, and are
+defending themselves, inflicting terrible losses upon the unorganised
+populace. Every Londoner is fighting for himself, without regard for
+orders or consequences. In Bethnal Green the Germans, lured into the
+maze of by-streets, have suffered great losses, and again in
+Clerkenwell, St. Luke's, Kingsland, Hackney and Old Ford. Whitechapel
+too, devoid of its alien population, who have escaped into Essex, has
+held its own, and the enemy have had some great losses in the streets
+off Cable and Leman Streets.
+
+"With the exception of the sortie across Waterloo Bridge, South London
+is, as yet, remaining in patience, acting under the orders of General
+Bamford.
+
+"News has come in ten minutes ago of a fierce and sudden attack upon the
+Saxons by Lord Byfield from Windsor, but there are, as yet, no details.
+
+"From the office across the river I am being constantly asked for
+details of the fight, and how it is progressing. In Southwark the
+excitement is evidently most intense, and it requires all the energy of
+the local commanders of the Defenders to repress another sortie across
+that bridge.
+
+"There has just occurred an explosion so terrific that the whole of this
+building has been shaken as though by an earthquake.
+
+"London has struck her first blow of revenge. What will be its sequel?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SCENES AT WATERLOO BRIDGE.
+
+
+The following is the personal narrative of a young chauffeur named John
+Burgess, who assisted in the defence of the barricade at Waterloo
+Bridge.
+
+The statement was made to a reporter at noon on October 5, while he was
+lying on a mattress in the Church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, so
+badly wounded in the chest that the surgeons had given him up.
+
+He related his story in the form of a farewell letter to his sister. The
+reporter chanced to be passing, and, hearing him asking for some one to
+write for him, volunteered to do so.
+
+"We all did our best," he said, "every one of us. Myself, I was at the
+barricade for thirteen days--thirteen days of semi-starvation,
+sleeplessness, and constant tension, for we knew not, from one moment to
+another, when a sudden attack might be made upon us. At first our
+obstruction was a mere ill-built pile of miscellaneous articles, half of
+which would not stop bullets; but on the third day our men,
+superintended by several non-commissioned officers in uniform, began to
+put the position in a proper state of defence, to mount Maxims in the
+neighbouring houses, and to place explosives in the crown of two of the
+arches of the bridge, so that we could instantly demolish it if
+necessity arose.
+
+"Fully a thousand men were holding the position, but unfortunately few
+of them had ever handled a rifle. As regards myself, I had learned to
+shoot rooks when a boy in Shropshire, and now that I had obtained a gun
+I was anxious to try my skill. When the League of Defenders was started,
+and a local secretary came to us, we all eagerly joined, each receiving,
+after he had taken his oath and signed his name, a small silk Union
+Jack, the badge of the League, not to be worn till the word went forth
+to rise.
+
+"Then came a period--long, dreary, shadeless days of waiting--when the
+sun beat down upon us mercilessly and our vigilance was required to be
+constant both night and day. So uncertain were the movements of the
+enemy opposite us that we scarcely dared to leave our positions for a
+moment. Night after night I spent sleeping in a neighbouring doorway,
+with an occasional stretch upon somebody's bed in some house in the
+vicinity. Now and then, whenever we saw Germans moving in Wellington
+Street, we sent a volley into them, in return receiving a sharp reply
+from their pom-poms. Constantly our sentries were on the alert along the
+wharves, and in the riverside warehouses, watching for the approach of
+the enemy's spies in boats. Almost nightly some adventurous spirits
+among the Germans would try and cross. On one occasion, while doing
+sentry duty in a warehouse backing on Commercial Road, I was sitting
+with a comrade at a window overlooking the river. The moon was shining,
+for the night was a balmy and beautiful one, and all was quiet. It was
+about two o'clock in the morning, and as we sat smoking our pipes, with
+our eyes fixed upon the glittering water, we suddenly saw a small boat
+containing three men stealing slowly along in the shadow.
+
+"For a moment the rowers rested upon their oars, as if undecided, then
+pulled forward again in search of a landing-place. As they passed below
+our window I shouted a challenge. At first there was no response. Again
+I repeated it, when I heard a muttered imprecation in German.
+
+"'Spies!' I cried to my comrade, and with one accord we raised our
+rifles and fired. Ere the echo of the first shot had died away I saw one
+man fall into the water, while at the next shot a second man half rose
+from his seat, threw up his hands, and staggered back wounded.
+
+"The firing gave the alarm at the barricade, and ere the boat could
+approach the bridge, though the survivor pulled for dear life, a Maxim
+spat forth its red fire, and both boat and oarsman were literally
+riddled.
+
+"Almost every night similar incidents were reported. The enemy were
+doing all in their power to learn the exact strength of our defences,
+but I do not think their efforts were very successful. The surface of
+the river, every inch of it, was under the careful scrutiny of a
+thousand watchful eyes.
+
+"Each day the 'Bulletin' of our national association brought us tidings
+of what was happening outside.
+
+"At last, however, the welcome word came to us on the morning of October
+4, that at ten that night we were to make a concerted attack upon the
+Germans. A scarlet bill was thrust into my hand, and as soon as the
+report was known we were all highly excited, and through the day
+prepared ourselves for the struggle.
+
+"A gun sounded from the direction of Westminster. We looked at our
+watches, and found it was ten o'clock. Our bugles sounded and we sprang
+to our positions, as we had done dozens, nay, hundreds of times before.
+I felt faint, for I had only had half a pint of weak soup all day, for
+the bread did not go round. Nevertheless, the knowledge that we were
+about to strike the blow inspired me with fresh life and strength. Our
+officer shouted a brief word of command, and next moment we opened a
+withering fire upon the enemy's barricade in Wellington Street.
+
+"In a moment a hundred rifles and several Maxims spat their red fire at
+us, but as usual the bullets flattened themselves harmlessly before us.
+Then the battery of artillery which Sir Francis Bamford had sent us
+three days before got into position, and in a few moments began hurling
+great shells upon the German defences.
+
+"Behind us was a great armed multitude ready and eager to get at the
+foe, a huge, unorganised body of fierce, irate Londoners, determined
+upon having blood for blood. From over the river the sound of battle was
+rising, a great roaring like the sound of a distant sea, with ever and
+anon the crackling of rifles and the boom of guns, while above the night
+sky grew a dark blood-red with the glare of a distant conflagration.
+
+"For half an hour we pounded away at the barricade in Wellington Street
+with our siege guns, Maxims, and rifles, until a well-directed shell
+exploded beneath the centre of the obstruction, blowing open a great gap
+and sending fragments high into the air. Then it seemed that all
+resistance suddenly ceased. At first we were surprised at this; but on
+further scrutiny we found that it was not our fire that had routed the
+enemy, but that they were being attacked in their rear by hosts of armed
+citizens surging down from Kingsway and the Strand.
+
+"We could plainly discern that the Germans were fighting for their
+lives. Into the midst of them we sent one or two shells; but fearing to
+cause casualties among our own comrades, we were compelled to cease
+firing.
+
+"The armed crowd behind us, finding that we were again inactive, at once
+demanded that our barricade should be opened, so that they might cross
+the bridge and assist their comrades by taking the Germans in the rear.
+For ten minutes our officer in charge refused, for the order of General
+Greatorex, Commander-in-Chief of the League, was that no sortie was to
+be made at present. However, the South Londoners became so infuriated
+that our commander was absolutely forced to give way, though he knew not
+into what trap we might fall, as he had no idea of the strength of the
+enemy in the neighbourhood of the Strand. A way was quickly opened in
+the obstruction, and two minutes later we were pouring across Waterloo
+Bridge in thousands, shouting and yelling in triumph as we passed the
+ruins of the enemy's barricade, and fell upon him with merciless
+revenge. With us were many women, who were, perhaps, fiercer and more
+unrelenting than the men. Indeed, many a woman that night killed a
+German with her own hands, firing revolvers in their faces, striking
+with knives, or even blinding them with vitriol.
+
+"The scene was both exciting and ghastly. At the spot where I first
+fought--on the pavement outside the Savoy--we simply slaughtered the
+Germans in cold blood. Men cried for mercy, but we gave them no quarter.
+London had risen in its might, and as our comrades fought all along the
+Strand and around Aldwych, we gradually exterminated every man in German
+uniform. Soon the roadways of the Strand, Wellington Street, Aldwych,
+Burleigh Street, Southampton Street, Bedford Street, and right along to
+Trafalgar Square, were covered with dead and dying. The wounded of both
+nationalities were trodden underfoot and killed by the swaying,
+struggling thousands. The enemy's loss must have been severe in our
+particular quarter, for of the great body of men from Hamburg and Luebeck
+holding their end of Waterloo Bridge I do not believe a single one was
+spared, even though they fought for their lives like veritable devils.
+
+"Our success intoxicated us, I think. That we were victorious at that
+point cannot be doubted, but with foolish disregard for our own safety,
+we pressed forward into Trafalgar Square, in the belief that our
+comrades were similarly making an attack upon the enemy there. The error
+was, alas! a fatal one for many of us. To fight an organised force in
+narrow streets is one thing, but to meet him in a large open space with
+many inlets, like Trafalgar Square, is another.
+
+"The enemy were no doubt awaiting us, for as we poured out from the
+Strand at Charing Cross we were met with a devastating fire from German
+Maxims on the opposite side of the square. They were holding
+Whitehall--to protect Von Kronhelm's headquarters--the entrances to
+Spring Gardens, Cockspur Street, and Pall Mall East, and their fire was
+converged upon the great armed multitude which, being pressed on from
+behind, came out into the open square only to fall in heaps beneath the
+sweeping hail of German lead.
+
+"The error was one that could not be rectified. We all saw it when too
+late. There was no turning back now, I struggled to get into the small
+side-street that runs down by the bar of the Grand Hotel, but it was
+blocked with people already in refuge there.
+
+"Another instant and I was lifted from my legs by the great throng
+going to their doom, and carried right in the forefront to the square.
+Women screamed when they found themselves facing the enemy's fire.
+
+"The scene was awful--a massacre, nothing more or less. For every
+German's life we had taken, a dozen of our own were now being
+sacrificed.
+
+"A woman was pushed close to me, her grey hair streaming down her back,
+her eyes starting wildly from her head, her bony hands smeared with
+blood. Suddenly she realised that right before her red fire was spitting
+from the German guns.
+
+"Screaming in despair, she clung frantically to me.
+
+"I felt next second a sharp burning pain in my chest.... We fell forward
+together upon the bodies of our comrades.... When I came to myself I
+found myself here, in this church, close to where I fell."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On that same night desperate sorties were made from the London,
+Southwark, and Blackfriars Bridges, and terrible havoc was committed by
+the Defenders.
+
+The German losses were enormous, for the South Londoners fought like
+demons and gave no quarter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+GREAT BRITISH VICTORY.
+
+
+The following despatch from the war correspondent of the "Times" with
+Lord Byfield was received on the morning of October 5, but was not
+published in that journal till some days later, owing to the German
+censorship, which necessitated its being kept secret:--
+
+    "WILLESDEN, _October_ 4 (Evening).
+
+"After a bloody but successful combat lasting from early dawn till late
+in the afternoon, the country to the immediate west of the metropolis
+has been swept clear of the hated invaders, and the masses of the
+'League of Defenders' can be poured into the West of London without let
+or hindrance. In the desperate street fighting which is now going on
+they will be much more formidable than they were ever likely to be in
+the open field, where they were absolutely incapable of manoeuvring. As
+for the Saxons--what is left of them--and Froelich's Cavalry Division,
+with whom we have been engaged all day, they have now fallen back on
+Harrow and Hendon, it is said; but it is currently reported that a
+constant movement towards the high ground near Hampstead is going on.
+These rumours come by way of London, since the enemy's enormous force of
+cavalry is still strong enough to prevent us getting any first-hand
+intelligence of his movements.
+
+"As has been previously reported, the XIIth Saxon Corps, under the
+command of Prince Henry of Wuertemberg, had taken up a position intended
+to cover the metropolis from the hordes of 'Defenders' which, supported
+by a small leaven of Regulars, with a proportion of cavalry and guns,
+were known to be slowly rolling up from the west and south. Their front,
+facing west, extended from Staines on the south, to Pinner on the north,
+passing through Stanwell, West Drayton, and Uxbridge. In addition they
+had a strong reserve in the neighbourhood of Hounslow, whose business it
+was to cover their left flank by keeping watch along the line of the
+Thames. They had destroyed all bridges over the river between Staines
+and Hammersmith. Putney Bridge, however, was still intact, as all
+attacks on it had been repulsed by the British holding it on the south
+side. Such was the general state of affairs when Lord Byfield, who had
+established his headquarters at Windsor, formed his plan of attack.
+
+"As far as I have been able to ascertain, its general idea was to hold
+the Saxons to their position by the threat of 300,000 Defenders that
+were assembled and were continually increasing along a roughly parallel
+line to that occupied by the enemy at about ten miles' distance from it,
+while he attacked their left flank with what Regular and Militia
+regiments he could rapidly get together near Esher and Kingston. By this
+time the southern lines in the neighbourhood of London were all in
+working order, the damage that had been done here and there by small
+parties of the enemy who had made raids across the river having been
+repaired. It was, therefore, not a very difficult matter to assemble
+troops from Windsor and various points on the South of London at very
+short notice.
+
+"General Bamford, to whom had been entrusted the defence of South
+London, and who had established his headquarters at the Crystal Palace,
+also contributed every man he could spare from the remnant of the
+Regular troops under his command.
+
+"It was considered quite safe now that the Germans in the City were so
+hardly pressed to leave the defence of the Thames bridges to the masses
+of Irregulars who had all along formed the bulk of their defenders. The
+risk that Prince Henry of Wuertemberg would take the bull by the horns,
+and by a sudden forward move attack and scatter the inert and
+invertebrate mass of 'Defenders' who were in his immediate front had, of
+course, to be taken; but it was considered that in the present state of
+affairs in London he would hardly dare to increase the distance between
+the Saxon Corps and the rest of the German Army. Events proved the
+correctness of this surmise; but owing to unforeseen circumstances, the
+course of the battle was somewhat different from that which had been
+anticipated.
+
+"Despite the vigilance of the German spies our plans were kept secret
+till the very end, and it is believed that the great convergence of
+Regular troops that began as soon as it was dark from Windsor and from
+along the line occupied by the Army of the League on the west, right
+round to Greenwich on the east, went on without any news of the movement
+being carried to the enemy.
+
+"Before dawn this morning every unit was in the position to which it had
+been previously detailed, and, everything being in readiness, the Royal
+Engineers began to throw a pontoon bridge over the Thames at the point
+where it makes a bend to the south just above the site of Walton Bridge.
+The enemy's patrols and pickets in the immediate neighbourhood at once
+opened a heavy fire on the workers, but it was beaten down by that which
+was poured upon them from the houses in Walton-on-Thames, which had been
+quietly occupied during the night. The enemy in vain tried to reinforce
+them, but in order to do this their troops had to advance into a narrow
+peninsula which was swept by a cross-fire of shells from batteries which
+had been placed in position on the south side of the river for this very
+purpose.
+
+"By seven o'clock the bridge was completed, and the troops were
+beginning to cross over covered by the fire of the artillery and by an
+advance guard which had been pushed over in boats. Simultaneously very
+much the same thing had been going on at Long Ditton, and fierce
+fighting was going on in the avenues and gardens round Hampton Court.
+Success here, too, attended the British arms. As a matter of fact, a
+determined attempt to cross the river in force had not at all been
+anticipated by the Germans. They had not credited their opponents with
+the power of so rapidly assembling an army and assuming an effective and
+vigorous offensive so soon after their terrible series of disasters.
+
+"What they had probably looked for was an attempt to overwhelm them by
+sheer force of numbers. They doubtless calculated that Lord Byfield
+would stiffen his flabby masses of 'Defenders' with what trained troops
+he could muster, and endeavour to attack their lines along their whole
+length, overlapping them on the flank.
+
+"They realised that to do this he would have to sacrifice his men in
+thousands upon thousands, but they knew that to do so would be his only
+possible chance of success in this eventuality, since the bulk of his
+men could neither manoeuvre nor deploy. Still they reckoned that in the
+desperate situation of the British, he would make up his mind to do
+this.
+
+"On their part, although they fully realised the possibility of being
+overwhelmed by such tactics, they felt pretty confident that, posted as
+they were behind a perfect network of small rivers and streams which ran
+down to join the Thames, they would at least succeed in beating off the
+attack with heavy loss, and stood no bad chance of turning the repulse
+into a rout by skilful use of Froelich's Cavalry Division, which would be
+irresistible when attacking totally untrained troops after they had been
+shattered and disorganised by artillery fire. This, at least, is the
+view of those experts with whom I have spoken.
+
+"What, perhaps, tended rather to confirm them in their theories as to
+the action of the British was the rifle firing that went on along the
+whole of their front all night through. The officers in charge of the
+various units which conglomerated together formed the forces facing the
+Saxons, had picked out the few men under their command who really had
+some little idea of using a rifle, and, supplied with plenty of
+ammunition, had sent them forward in numerous small parties with general
+orders to approach as near the enemy's picket line as possible, and as
+soon as fired on to lie down and open fire in return. So a species of
+sniping engagement went on from dark to dawn. Several parties got
+captured or cut up by the German outlying troops and many others got
+shot by neighbouring parties of snipers. But, although they did not in
+all probability do the enemy much damage, yet they kept them on the
+alert all night, and led them to expect an attack in the morning. One
+way and another luck was entirely on the side of the patriots that
+morning.
+
+"When daylight came the British massed to the westward of Staines had
+such a threatening appearance from their immense numbers, and their fire
+from their batteries of heavy guns and howitzers on the south side of
+the river, which took the German left flank in, was so heavy that Prince
+Henry, who was there in person, judged an attack to be imminent, and
+would not spare a man to reinforce his troops at Shepperton and
+Halliford, who were, numerically, totally inadequate to resist the
+advance of the British once they got across the river.
+
+"He turned a deaf ear to the most imploring requests for assistance, but
+ordered the officer in command at Hounslow to move down at once and
+drive the British into the river. So it has been reported by our
+prisoners. Unluckily for him this officer had his hands quite full
+enough at this time; for the British, who had crossed at Long Ditton,
+had now made themselves masters of everything east of the Thames Valley
+branch of the London and South-Western Railway, were being continually
+reinforced, and were fast pushing their right along the western bank of
+the river.
+
+"Their left was reported to be at Kempton Park, where they joined hands
+with those who had effected a crossing near Walton-on-Thames. More
+bridges were being built at Platt's Eyot, Tagg's Eyot, and Sunbury Lock,
+while boats and wherries in shoals appeared from all creeks and
+backwaters and hiding-places as soon as both banks were in the hands of
+the British.
+
+"Regulars, Militia, and, lastly, Volunteers, were now pouring across in
+thousands. Forward was still the word. About noon a strong force of
+Saxons was reported to be retreating along the road from Staines to
+Brentford. They had guns with them, which engaged the field batteries
+which were at once pushed forward by the British to attack them. These
+troops, eventually joining hands with those at Hounslow, opposed a more
+determined resistance to our advance than we had hitherto encountered.
+
+"According to what we learned subsequently from prisoners and others,
+they were commanded by Prince Henry of Wuertemberg in person. He had
+quitted his position at Staines, leaving only a single battalion and a
+few guns as a rearguard to oppose the masses of the 'Defenders' who
+threatened him in that direction, and had placed his troops in the best
+position he could to cover the retreat of the rest of his corps from the
+line they had been occupying. He had, it would appear, soon after the
+fighting began, received the most urgent orders from Von Kronhelm to
+fall back on London and assist him in the street fighting that had now
+been going on without intermission for the best part of two days. Von
+Kronhelm probably thought that he would be able to draw off some of his
+numerous foes to the westward. But the message was received too late.
+Prince Henry did his best to obey it, but by this time the very
+existence of the XIIth Corps was at stake on account of the totally
+unexpected attack on his left rear by the British regular troops.
+
+"He opposed such a stout resistance with the troops under his immediate
+command that he brought the British advance to a temporary standstill,
+while in his rear every road leading Londonward was crowded with the
+rest of his army as they fell back from West Drayton, Uxbridge, Ruislip
+and Pinner. Had they been facing trained soldiers they would have found
+it most difficult, if not impossible, to do this; but as it was the
+undisciplined and untrained masses of the League of Defenders lost a
+long time in advancing, and still longer in getting over a series of
+streams and dykes that lay between them and the abandoned Saxon
+position.
+
+"They lost heavily, too, from the fire of the small rearguards that had
+been left at the most likely crossing-places. The Saxons were therefore
+able to get quite well away from them, and when some attempt was being
+made to form up the thousands of men who presently found themselves
+congregated on the heath east of Uxbridge, before advancing farther, a
+whole brigade of Froelich's heavy cavalry suddenly swept down upon them
+from behind Ickenham village. The _debacle_ that followed was frightful.
+The unwieldy mass of 'Leaguers' swayed this way and that for a moment
+in the panic occasioned by the sudden apparition of the serried masses
+of charging cavalry that were rushing down on them with a thunder of
+hoofs that shook the earth. A few scattered shots were fired, without
+any perceptible effect, and before they could either form up or fly the
+German Reiters were upon them. It was a perfect massacre. The 'Leaguers'
+could oppose no resistance whatever. They were ridden down and
+slaughtered with no more difficulty than if they had been a flock of
+sheep. Swinging their long, straight swords, the cavalrymen cut them
+down in hundreds and drove thousands into the river. The 'Defenders'
+were absolutely pulverised and fled westwards in a huge scattered crowd.
+But if the Germans had the satisfaction of scoring a local victory in
+this quarter, things were by no means rosy for them elsewhere. Prince
+Henry, by desperate efforts, contrived to hold on long enough in his
+covering position to enable the Saxons from the central portion of his
+abandoned line to pass through Hounslow and move along the London road,
+through Brentford.
+
+"Here disaster befell them. A battery of 4.7 guns was suddenly unmasked
+on Richmond Hill, and, firing at a range of 5,000 yards, played havoc
+with the marching column. The head of it also suffered severe loss from
+riflemen concealed in Kew Gardens, and the whole force had to extend and
+fall back for some distance in a northerly direction. Near Ealing they
+met the Uxbridge brigade, and a certain delay and confusion occurred.
+However, trained soldiers such as these are not difficult to reorganise,
+and while the latter continued its march along the main road the
+remainder moved in several small parallel columns through Acton and
+Turnham Green. Before another half-hour had elapsed there came a sound
+of firing from the advanced guard. Orders to halt followed, then orders
+to send forward reinforcements.
+
+"During all this time the rattle of rifle fire waxed heavier and
+heavier. It soon became apparent that every road and street leading into
+London was barricaded and that the houses on either side were crammed
+with riflemen. Before any set plan of action could be determined on, the
+retiring Saxons found themselves committed to a very nasty bout of
+street fighting. Their guns were almost useless, since they could not be
+placed in positions from which they could fire on the barricades except
+so close as to be under effective rifle fire. They made several
+desperate assaults, most of which were repulsed. In Goldhawk Road a
+Jaegar battalion contrived to rush a big rampart of paving-stones which
+had been improvised by the British; but, once over, they were decimated
+by the fire from the houses on either side of the street. Big high
+explosive shells from Richmond Hill, too, began to drop among the
+Saxons. Though the range was long, the gunners were evidently well
+informed of the whereabouts of the Saxon troops and made wonderfully
+lucky shooting.
+
+"For some time the distant rumble of the firing to the south-west had
+been growing more distinct in their ears, and about four o'clock it
+suddenly broke out comparatively near by. Then came an order from Prince
+Henry to fall back on Ealing at once. What had happened? It will not
+take long to relate this. Prince Henry's covering position had lain
+roughly between East Bedfont and Hounslow, facing south-east. He had
+contrived to hold on to the latter place long enough to allow his right
+to pivot on it and fall back to Cranford Bridge. Here they were, to a
+certain extent, relieved from the close pressure they had been subjected
+to by the constantly advancing British troops, by the able and
+determined action of Froelich's Cavalry Brigade.
+
+"But in the meantime his enemies on the left, constantly reinforced from
+across the river--while never desisting from their so far unsuccessful
+attack on Hounslow--worked round through Twickenham and Isleworth till
+they began to menace his rear. He must abandon Hounslow, or be cut off.
+With consummate generalship he withdrew his left along the line of the
+Metropolitan and District Railway, and sent word to the troops on his
+right to retire and take up a second position at Southall Green.
+Unluckily for him, there was a delay in transmission, resulting in a
+considerable number of these troops being cut off and captured.
+Froelich's cavalry were unable to aid them at this juncture, having their
+attention drawn away by the masses of 'Leaguers' who had managed to get
+over the Colne and were congregating near Harmondsworth.
+
+"They cut these up and dispersed them, but afterwards found that they
+were separated from the Saxons by a strong force of British regular
+troops who occupied Harlington and opened a fire on the Reiters that
+emptied numerous saddles. They, therefore, made off to the northward.
+From this forward nothing could check the steady advance of the English,
+though fierce fighting went on till dark all through Hanwell, Ealing,
+Perivale, and Wembley, the Saxons struggling gamely to the last, but
+getting more and more disorganised. Had it not been for Froelich's
+division on their right they would have been surrounded. As it was, they
+must have lost half their strength in casualties and prisoners.
+
+"At dark, however, Lord Byfield ordered a general halt of his tired
+though triumphant troops, and bivouacked and billeted them along a line
+reaching from Willesden on the right through Wembley to Greenford. He
+established his headquarters at Wembley.
+
+"I have heard some critics say that he ought to have pushed on his
+freshest troops towards Hendon to prevent the remnant of our opponents
+from re-entering London; but others, with reason, urge that he is right
+to let them into the metropolis, which they will now find to be merely a
+trap."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Extracts from the diary of General Von Kleppen, Commander of the IVth
+German Army Corps, occupying London:--
+
+    "DORCHESTER HOUSE, PARK LANE, _Oct._ 6.
+
+"We are completely deceived. Our position, much as we are attempting to
+conceal it, is a very grave one. We believed that if we reached London
+the British spirit would be broken. Yet the more drastic our rule, the
+fiercer becomes the opposition. How it will end I fear to contemplate.
+The British are dull and apathetic, but, once roused, they fight like
+fiends.
+
+"Last night we had an example of it. This League of Defenders, which Von
+Kronhelm has always treated with ridicule, is, we have discovered too
+late, practically the whole of England. Von Bistram, commanding the
+VIIth Corps, and Von Haeslen, of the VIIIth Corps, have constantly been
+reporting its spread through Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield,
+Birmingham and the other great towns we now occupy; but our
+Commander-in-Chief has treated the matter lightly, declaring it to be a
+kind of offshoot of some organisation they have in England, called the
+Primrose League....
+
+"Yesterday, at the Council of War, however, he was compelled to
+acknowledge his error when I handed him a scarlet handbill calling upon
+the British to make a concerted attack upon us at ten o'clock.
+Fortunately, we were prepared for the assault, otherwise I verily
+believe that the honours would have rested with the populace in London.
+As it is, we suffered considerable reverses in various districts, where
+our men were lured into the narrow side-streets and cut up. I confess I
+am greatly surprised at the valiant stand made everywhere by the
+Londoners. Last night they fought to the very end. A disaster to our
+arms in the Strand was followed by a victory in Trafalgar Square, where
+Von Wilberg had established defences for the purpose of preventing the
+joining of the people of the East End with those of the West...."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MASSACRE OF GERMANS IN LONDON.
+
+
+    "'DAILY TELEGRAPH' OFFICE,
+    "_Oct._ 12, 6 P.M.
+
+"Through the whole of last week the Germans occupying London suffered
+great losses. They are now hemmed in on every side.
+
+"At three o'clock this morning, Von Kronhelm, having withdrawn the
+greater part of the troops from the defence of the bridges, in an
+attempt to occupy defensive positions in North London, the South
+Londoners, impatient with long waiting, broke forth and came across the
+river in enormous multitudes, every man bent upon killing a German
+wherever seen.
+
+"The night air was rent everywhere by the hoarse, exultant shouts as
+London--the giant, all-powerful city--fell upon the audacious invader.
+Through our office windows came the dull roar of London's millions
+swelled by the 'Defenders' from the west and south of England, and by
+the gallant men from Canada, India, the Cape, and other British colonies
+who had come forward to fight for the Mother Country as soon as her
+position was known to be critical.
+
+"In the streets are to be seen Colonial uniforms side by side with the
+costermonger from Whitechapel or Walworth, and dark-faced Indians in
+turbans are fighting out in Fleet Street and the Strand. In the great
+struggle now taking place many of our reporters and correspondents have
+unfortunately been wounded, and, alas! four of them killed.
+
+"In these terrible days a man's life is not safe from one moment to
+another. Both sides seem to have now lost their heads completely. Among
+the Germans all semblance of order has apparently been thrown to the
+winds. It is known that London has risen to a man, and the enemy are
+therefore fully aware of their imminent peril. Already they are beaten.
+True, Von Kronhelm still sits in the War Office directing
+operations--operations he knows too well are foredoomed to failure.
+
+"The Germans have, it must be admitted, carried on the war in a
+chivalrous spirit, until those drastic executions exasperated the
+people. Then neither side gave quarter, and now to-day, all through
+Islington, Hoxton, Kingsland, and Dalston, right out eastwards to
+Homerton, a perfect massacre of Germans is in progress.
+
+"Lord Byfield has issued two urgent proclamations, threatening the
+people of London with all sorts of penalties if they kill instead of
+taking an enemy prisoner, but they seem to have no effect. London is
+starved and angered to such a pitch, that her hatred knows no bounds,
+and only blood will atone for the wholesale slaughter of the innocent
+since the bombardment of the metropolis began.
+
+"The Kaiser has, we hear, left the 'Belvedere,' at Scarborough, where he
+has been living incognito. A confidential report, apparently well
+founded, has reached us that he embarked upon the steam-trawler _Morning
+Star_ at Scarborough yesterday, and set out across the Dogger, with
+Germany, of course, as his destination. Surely he must now regret his
+ill-advised policy of making an attack upon England. He had gauged our
+military weakness very accurately, but he had not counted upon the
+patriotic spirit of our Empire. It may be that he has already given
+orders to Von Kronhelm, but it is nevertheless a very significant fact
+that the German wireless telegraph apparatus on the summit of Big Ben is
+in constant use by the German Commander-in-Chief. He is probably in
+hourly communication with Bremen, or with the Emperor himself upon the
+trawler _Morning Star_.
+
+"Near Highbury Fields about noon to-day some British cavalry surprised a
+party of Germans, and attempted to take them prisoners. The latter
+showed fight, whereupon they were shot down to a man. The British held
+as prisoners by the Germans near Enfield have now been released, and are
+rejoining their comrades along the northern heights. Many believe that
+another and final battle will be fought north of London, but military
+men declare that the German power is already broken. Whether Von
+Kronhelm will still continue to lose his men at the rate he is now
+doing, or whether he will sue for peace, is an open question.
+Personally, he was against the bombardment of London from the very
+first, yet he was compelled to carry out the orders of his Imperial
+master. The invasion, the landing, and the successes in the north were,
+in his opinion, quite sufficient to have paralysed British trade and
+caused such panic that an indemnity would have been paid. To attack
+London was, in his opinion, a proceeding far too dangerous, and his
+estimate is now proved to have been the correct one. Now that they have
+lost command of the sea, and are cut off from their bases in Essex, the
+enemy's situation is hopeless. They may struggle on, but assuredly the
+end can only be an ignominious one.
+
+"Yet the German eagle still flies proudly over the War Office, over St.
+Stephen's, and upon many other public buildings, while upon others
+British Royal Standards and Union Jacks are commencing to appear, each
+one being cheered by the excited Londoners, whose hearts are now full of
+hope. Germany shall be made to bite the dust. That is the war-cry
+everywhere. Many a proud Uhlan and Cuirassier has to-day ridden to his
+death amid the dense mobs, mad with the lust of blood. Some of the more
+unfortunate of the enemy have been lynched, and torn limb from limb,
+while others have died deaths too horrible to here describe in detail.
+
+"Each hour brings to us further news showing how, by slow degrees, the
+German army of occupation is being wiped out. People are jeering at the
+audacious claim for indemnity presented to the British Government when
+the enemy entered London, and are asking whether we will not now present
+a claim to Germany. Von Kronhelm is not blamed so much as his Emperor.
+He has been the cat's paw, and has burned his fingers in endeavouring to
+snatch the chestnuts from the fire.
+
+"As a commander, he has acted justly, fully observing the international
+laws concerning war. It was only when faced by the problem of a national
+uprising that he countenanced anything bordering upon capital
+punishment. An hour ago our censors were withdrawn. They came and shook
+hands with many members of the staff, and retired. This surely is a
+significant fact that Von Kronhelm hopes to regain the confidence of
+London by appearing to treat her with a fatherly solicitude. Or is it
+that he intends to sue for peace at any price?
+
+"An hour ago another desperate attempt was made on the part of the men
+of South London, aided by a large body of British regulars, to regain
+possession of the War Office. Whitehall was once more the scene of a
+bloody fight, but so strongly does Von Kronhelm hold the place and all
+the adjacent thoroughfares--he apparently regarding it as his own
+fortress--that the attack was repulsed with heavy loss on our side.
+
+"All the bridges are now open, the barricades are in most cases being
+blown up, and people are passing and repassing freely for the first time
+since the day following the memorable bombardment. London streets are,
+however, in a most deplorable condition. On every hand is ruin and
+devastation. Whole streets of houses rendered gaunt and windowless by
+the now spent fires meet the eye everywhere. In certain places the ruins
+were still smouldering, and in one or two districts the conflagrations
+spread over an enormous area. Even if peace be declared, can London ever
+recover from this present wreck? Paris recovered, and quickly too.
+Therefore we place our faith in British wealth, British industry, and
+British patriotism.
+
+"Yes. The tide has turned. The great revenge now in progress is truly a
+mad and bloody one. In Kilburn this afternoon there was a wholesale
+killing of a company of German infantry, who, while marching along the
+High Road, were set upon by the armed mob, and practically exterminated.
+The smaller thoroughfares, Brondesbury Road, Victoria Road, Glendall
+Road, and Priory Park Road, across to Paddington Cemetery, were the
+scene of a frightful slaughter. The Germans died hard, but in the end
+were completely wiped out. German-baiting is now, indeed, the Londoner's
+pastime, and on this dark and rainy afternoon hundreds of men of the
+Fatherland have died upon the wet roads.
+
+"Sitting here, in a newspaper office, as we do, and having fresh reports
+constantly before us, we are able to review the whole situation
+impartially. Every moment, through the various news-agencies and our own
+correspondents and contributors, we are receiving fresh facts--facts
+which all combine to show that Von Kronhelm cannot hold out much longer.
+Surely the Commander-in-Chief of a civilised army will not allow his men
+to be massacred as they are now being! The enemy's troops, mixed up in
+the maze of London streets as they are, are utterly unable to cope with
+the oncoming multitudes, some armed with rifles, and others with
+anything they can lay their hands upon.
+
+"Women--wild, infuriated women--have now made their reappearance north
+of the Thames. In more than one instance, where German soldiers have
+attempted to take refuge in houses, these women have obtained petrol,
+and, with screams of fiendish delight, set the houses in question on
+fire. Awful dramas are being enacted in every part of the metropolis.
+The history of to-day is written in German blood.
+
+"Lord Byfield has established temporary headquarters at Jack Straw's
+Castle, where Von Kronhelm was during the bombardment, and last night we
+could see the signals exchanged between Hampstead and Sydenham Hill,
+from whence General Bamford has not yet moved. Our cavalry in Essex are,
+it is said, doing excellent work. Lord Byfield has also sent a body of
+troops across from Gravesend to Tilbury, and these have regained Maldon
+and Southminster after some hard fighting. Advices from Gravesend state
+that further reinforcements are being sent across the river to operate
+against the East of London and hem in the Germans on that side.
+
+"So confident is London of success that several of the railways are
+commencing to reorganise their traffic. A train left Willesden this
+afternoon for Birmingham, the first since the bombardment--while another
+has left Finsbury Park for Peterborough, to continue to York if
+possible. So wrecked are the London termini, however, that it must be
+some weeks before trains can arrive or be despatched from either Euston,
+King's Cross, Paddington, Marylebone, or St. Pancras. In many instances
+the line just north of the terminus is interrupted by a blown-up tunnel
+or a fallen bridge, therefore the termination of traffic must, for the
+present, be at some distance north on the outskirts of London.
+
+"Shops are also opening in South London, though they have but little to
+sell. Nevertheless, this may be regarded as a sign of renewed
+confidence. Besides, supplies of provisions are now arriving, and the
+London County Council and the Salvation Army are distributing free soup
+and food in the lower-class districts. Private charity, everywhere
+abundant during the trying days of dark despair, is doing inestimable
+good among every class. The hard, grasping employer and the smug
+financier, who had hitherto kept scrupulous accounts, and have been
+noteworthy on account of their uncharitableness, have now, in the hour
+of need, come forward and subscribed liberally to the great Mansion
+House Fund, opened yesterday by the Deputy Lord Mayor of London. The
+subscription list occupies six columns of the issue of to-morrow's
+paper, and this, in itself, speaks well for the openheartedness of the
+moneyed classes of Great Britain.
+
+"No movement has yet been made in the financial world. Bankers still
+remain with closed doors. The bullion seized at Southminster and other
+places is now under strong British guard, and will, it is supposed, be
+returned to the Bank immediately. Only a comparatively small sum has yet
+been sent across to Germany. Therefore all Von Kronhelm's strategy has
+utterly failed. By the invasion, Germany has, up to the present moment,
+gained nothing. She has made huge demands at which we can afford to
+jeer. True, she has wrecked London, but have we not sent the greater
+part of her fleet to the bottom of the North Sea, and have we not
+created havoc in German ports?
+
+"The leave-taking of our two gold-spectacled censors was almost
+pathetic. We had come to regard them as necessities to puzzle and to
+play practical jokes of language upon. To-day for the first time we have
+received none of those official notices in German, with English
+translations, which of late have appeared so prominently in our columns.
+The German Eagle is gradually disentangling his talons from London, and
+means to escape us--if he can."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    10.30 P.M.
+
+"Private information has just reached us from a most reliable source
+that a conference has been arranged between Von Kronhelm and Lord
+Byfield. This evening the German Field Marshal sent a messenger to the
+British headquarters at Hampstead under a flag of truce. He bore a
+despatch from the German Commander asking that hostilities should be
+suspended for twenty-four hours, and that they should make an
+appointment for a meeting during that period.
+
+"Von Kronhelm has left the time and place of meeting to Lord Byfield,
+and has informed the British Commander that he has sent telegraphic
+instruction to the German military governors of Birmingham, Sheffield,
+Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Northampton, Stafford, Oldham, Wigan,
+Bolton, and other places, giving notice of his suggestion to the
+British, and ordering that for the present hostilities on the part of
+the Germans shall be suspended.
+
+"It seems more than likely that the German Field Marshal has received
+these very definite instructions by wireless telegraph from the Emperor
+at Bremen or Potsdam.
+
+"We understand that Lord Byfield, after a brief consultation by
+telegraph with the Government at Bristol, has sent a reply. Of its
+nature, however, nothing is known, and at the moment of writing
+hostilities are still in progress.
+
+"In an hour's time we shall probably know whether the war is to
+continue, or a truce is to be proclaimed."
+
+    "Midnight.
+
+"Lord Byfield has granted a truce, and hostilities have now been
+suspended.
+
+"London has gone mad with delight, for the German yoke is cast off.
+Further information which has just reached us from private sources
+states that thousands of prisoners have been taken by Lord Byfield
+to-day, and that Von Kronhelm has acknowledged his position to be
+absolutely hopeless.
+
+"The great German Army has been defeated by our British patriots, who
+have fought so valiantly and so well. It is not likely that the war will
+be resumed. Von Kronhelm received a number of British officers at the
+War Office half an hour ago, and it is said that he is already making
+preparations to vacate the post he has usurped.
+
+"Lord Byfield has issued a reassuring message to London, which we have
+just received with instructions to print. It declares that although for
+the moment only a truce is proclaimed, yet this means the absolute
+cessation of all hostilities.
+
+"The naval news of the past few days may be briefly summarised. The
+British main fleet entered the North Sea, and our submarines did most
+excellent work in the neighbourhood of the Maas Lightship. Prince
+Stahlberger had concentrated practically the whole of his naval force
+off Lowestoft, but a desperate battle was fought about seventy miles
+from the Texel, full details of which are not yet to hand. All that is
+known is that, having now regained command of the sea, we were enabled
+to inflict a crushing defeat upon the Germans, in which the German
+flagship was sunk. In the end sixty-one British ships were concentrated
+against seventeen German, with the result that the German fleet has
+practically been wiped out, there being 19,000 of the enemy's officers
+and men on the casualty list, the greatest recorded in any naval battle.
+
+"Whatever may be the demands for indemnity on either side, one thing is
+absolutely certain, namely, that the invincible German Army and Navy are
+completely vanquished. The Eagle's wings are trailing in the dust."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+HOW THE WAR ENDED.
+
+
+Days passed--weary, waiting, anxious days. A whole month went by. What
+had really happened at sea was unknown. After the truce, London very
+gradually began to resume her normal life, though the gaunt state of the
+streets was indescribably weird.
+
+Shops began to open, and as each day passed, food became more plentiful
+and consequently less dear. The truce meant the end of the war,
+therefore thanksgiving services were held in every town and village
+throughout the country.
+
+There were great prison-camps of Germans at Hounslow, Brentwood, and
+Barnet, while Von Kronhelm and his chief officers were also held as
+prisoners until some decision through diplomatic channels could be
+arrived at. Meanwhile a little business began to be done; thousands
+began to resume their employment, bankers reopened their doors, and
+within a week the distress and suffering of the poor became perceptibly
+alleviated. The task of burying the dead after the terrible massacre of
+the Germans in the London streets had been a stupendous one, but so
+quickly had it been accomplished that an epidemic was happily averted.
+
+Parliament moved back to Westminster, and daily meetings of the Cabinet
+were being held in Downing Street. These resulted in the resignation of
+the Ministry, and with a fresh Cabinet, in which Mr. Gerald Graham, the
+organiser of the Defenders, was given a seat, a settlement was at last
+arrived at.
+
+To further describe the chaotic state of England occasioned by the
+terrible and bloody war would serve no purpose. The loss and suffering
+which it had caused the country had been incalculable; statisticians
+estimated that in one month of hostilities it had amounted to
+L500,000,000, a part of which represented money transferred from British
+pockets to German, as the enemy had carried off some of the securities
+upon which the German troops had laid their hands in London.
+
+Let us for a moment take a retrospective glance. Consols were at 50;
+bread was still 1_s._ 6_d._ per loaf; and the ravages of the German
+commerce-destroyers had sent up the cost of insurance on British
+shipping sky-high. Money was almost unprocurable; except for the
+manufacture of war material, there was no industry; and the suffering
+and distress among the poor could not be exaggerated. In all directions
+men, women, and children had been starving.
+
+The mercantile community were loud in their outcry for "peace at any
+price," and the pro-German and Stop-the-War Party were equally vehement
+in demanding a cessation of the war. They found excuses for the enemy,
+and forgot the frightful devastation and loss which the invasion had
+caused to the country.
+
+They insisted that the working class gained nothing, even though the
+British fleet was closely blockading the German coast, and their outcry
+was strengthened when a few days after the blockade of the Elbe had
+begun, two British battleships were so unfortunate as to strike German
+mines, and sink with a large part of their crews. The difficulty of
+borrowing money for the prosecution of the war was a grave obstacle in
+the way of the party of action, and preyed upon the mind of the British
+Government.
+
+Socialism, with its creed of "Thou shalt have no other god but Thyself,"
+and its doctrine, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," had
+replaced the religious beliefs of a generation of Englishmen taught to
+suffer and to die sooner than surrender to wrong. In the hour of trial,
+amidst smoking ruins, among the holocausts of dead which marked the
+prolonged, bloody, and terrible battles on land and at sea, the spirit
+of the nation quailed, and there was really no great leader to recall it
+to ways of honour and duty.
+
+The wholesale destruction of food, and particularly of wheat and meat,
+removed from the world's market a large part of its supplies, and had
+immediately sent up the cost of food everywhere, outside the United
+Kingdom as well as in it. At the same time, the attacks upon shipping
+laden with food increased the cost of insurance to prohibitive prices
+upon vessels freighted for the United Kingdom. The underwriters after
+the first few captures by the enemy would not insure at all except for
+fabulous rates.
+
+The withdrawal of all the larger British cruisers for the purpose of
+defeating the main German fleets in the North Sea left the
+commerce-destroyers a free hand, and there was no force to meet them.
+The British liners commissioned as commerce-protectors were too few and
+too slow to be able to hold their adversaries in check.
+
+Neutral shipping was molested by the German cruisers.
+
+Whenever raw cotton or food of any kind was discovered upon a neutral
+vessel bound for British ports, the vessel was seized and sent into one
+or other of the German harbours on the West Coast of Africa.
+
+The United Kingdom, indeed, might have been reduced to absolute
+starvation had it not been for the fact that the Canadian Government
+interfered in Canada to prevent similar German tactics from succeeding,
+and held the German contracts for the cornering of Canadian wheat,
+contrary to public policy.
+
+The want of food, the high price of bread and meat in England, and the
+greatly increased cost of the supplies of raw material sent up the
+expenditure upon poor relief to enormous figures. Millions of men were
+out of employment, and in need of assistance. Mills and factories in
+all directions had closed down, either because of the military danger
+from the operations of the German armies, or because of the want of
+orders, or, again, because raw materials were not procurable.
+
+Unfortunately, when the invasion began, many rich foreigners who had
+lived in England collected what portable property they possessed and
+retired abroad to Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. Their
+example was followed by large numbers of British subjects who had
+invested abroad, and now, in the hour of distress, were able to place
+their securities in a handbag and withdraw them to happier countries.
+
+They may justly be blamed for this want of patriotism, but their reply
+was that they had been unjustly and mercilessly taxed by men who derided
+patriotism, misused power, and neglected the real interests of the
+nation in the desire to pander to the mob. Moreover, with the income-tax
+at 3_s._ 6_d._ in the pound, and with the cost of living enormously
+enhanced, they declared that it was a positive impossibility to live in
+England, while into the bargain their lives were exposed to danger from
+the enemy.
+
+As a result of this wholesale emigration, in London and the country the
+number of empty houses inordinately increased, and there were few
+well-to-do people left to pay the rates and taxes. The fearful burden of
+the extravagant debts which the British municipalities had heaped up was
+cruelly felt, since the nation had to repudiate the responsibility which
+it had incurred for the payment of interest on the local debts. The
+Socialist dream, in fact, might almost be said to have been realised.
+There were few rich left, but the consequences to the poor, instead of
+being beneficial, were utterly disastrous.
+
+Under the pressure of public opinion, constrained by hunger and
+financial necessities, and with thousands of German prisoners in their
+hands, the British Government acceded to the suggested conference to
+secure peace.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Peace was finally signed on January 13, 1911. The British Empire emerged
+from the conflict outwardly intact, but internally so weakened that only
+the most resolute reforms accomplished by the ablest and boldest
+statesmen, could have restored it to its old position.
+
+Germany, on the other hand, emerged with an additional 21,000 miles of
+European territory, with an extended seaboard on the North Sea, fronting
+the United Kingdom at Rotterdam and the Texel, and, it was calculated,
+with a slight pecuniary advantage. Practically the entire cost of the
+war had been borne by England.
+
+As is always the case, the poor suffered most. The Socialists, who had
+declared against armaments, were faithless friends of those whom they
+professed to champion. Their dream of a golden age proved utterly
+delusive. But the true authors of England's misfortunes escaped blame
+for the moment, and the Army and Navy were made the scapegoats of the
+great catastrophe.
+
+When success did come, it came too late, and could not be utilised
+without a great British Army capable of carrying the war into the
+enemy's country, and thus compelling a satisfactory peace.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note
+
+Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
+
+Hyphens removed: "hill[-]side" (page 152), "look[-]out" (page 221),
+"mid[-]day" (page 149), "night[-]fall" (page 157), "rear[-]guard" (page
+142), "sharp[-]shooters" (page 191), "wide[-]spread (page 230).
+
+Hyphen added: "by[-]ways" (page 224).
+
+The following words appear both with and without hyphens and have not
+been changed: "back[-]waters", "motor[-]omnibuses", "pickel[-]haubes".
+
+Page 43: the double quotation mark after "Well, Mr. Mayor," was changed
+to a single quotation mark.
+
+Page 50: "communciation" changed to "communication" (established direct
+communication).
+
+Page 60: "to" changed to "the" (came the VIIth Army Corps).
+
+Page 76: "thei" changed to "their" (some of their field batteries).
+
+Page 85: "Aryglls" changed to "Argylls".
+
+Page 89: "squardon" changed to "squadron" (squadron after squadron).
+
+Page 143: "fellow" changed to "fellows" (hundreds of poor fellows).
+
+Page 166: "fo" changed to "for" (for our salvation).
+
+Page 178: "Shepheard's Bush" changed to "Shepherd's Bush".
+
+Page 187: "Rosyln Hill" changed to "Roslyn Hill".
+
+Page 253: added "as" (and as soon as fired on).
+
+
+
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