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diff --git a/49540.txt b/49540.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ef54845..0000000 --- a/49540.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5717 +0,0 @@ - DAYS TO REMEMBER - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Days to Remember - The British Empire in the Great War -Author: John Buchan and Henry Newbolt -Release Date: July 28, 2017 [EBook #49540] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS TO REMEMBER *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - - *DAYS TO REMEMBER* - - THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN - THE GREAT WAR - - - BY - - JOHN BUCHAN - - AND - - HENRY NEWBOLT - - - - THOMAS NELSON AND SONS, LTD. - LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK - TORONTO, AND PARIS - - - - - First Impression 1922 - Second Impression 1923 - Third Impression 1925 - Fourth Impression 1925 - Fifth Impression 1928 - Sixth Impression 1935 - Seventh Impression 1937 - - - - - *CONTENTS* - - - PART I. - - INTRODUCTORY. - -CHAPTER - - I. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR - II. A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE WAR - III. THE TURN AT THE MARNE - - - PART II. - - IV. THE WORCESTERS AT THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES - V. THE CANADIANS AT THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES - VI. THE TAKING OF LOOS - VII. DELVILLE WOOD - VIII. THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES - IX. THE TANKS AT CAMBRAI - X. THE SOUTH AFRICANS AT MARRIERES WOOD - XI. THE BATTLE OF THE LYS - XII. THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE - XIII. THE BEGINNING OF THE END - XIV. THE AUSTRALIANS AT MONT ST. QUENTIN - XV. THE LAST BATTLE - - - PART III. - - THE "SIDE SHOWS". - - XVI. THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI - XVII. THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI (continued) - XVIII. THE DEPARTURE FROM GALLIPOLI - XIX. THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM - XX. ALLENBY'S GREAT DRIVE - - - PART IV. - - THE SILENT SERVICE. - - XXI. THE SILENT SERVICE - XXII. CORONEL - XXIII. THE FALKLANDS - XXIV. MYSTERY SHIPS - XXV. JUTLAND - XXVI. THE BRITISH SUBMARINE SERVICE - XXVII. THE BRITISH SUBMARINE SERVICE (continued) - XXVIII. THE MERCANTILE MARINE AND FISHING FLEETS - XXIX. ZEEBRUGGE - - - PART V. - - BEHIND THE LINES. - - XXX. BEHIND THE LINES AND AT HOME - - - PART VI. - - VICTORY. - - XXXI. THE LAST DAY - XXXII. LOOKING BACKWARD - - - - - *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS* - - - PORTRAITS. - -Field-Marshal Sir John French (Earl of Ypres) - -Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig (Earl Haig of Bemersyde) - -Marshal Foch - -Field-Marshal Sir Edmund Allenby (Viscount Allenby of Megiddo) - -Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa) - -Admiral Sir David Beatty (Earl Beatty of the North Sea) - -Field-Marshal Earl Kitchener - - - MAPS. - -The Critical Day in the First Battle of Ypres - -The Second Battle of Ypres - -Battle of Loos: Advance to Loos and Hill 70 - -Battle of the Somme: Longueval and Delville Wood - -Cambrai: the Advance of the Infantry Divisions - -The Second Battle of the Marne. - -First Stages of the last Allied Offensive - -The Landing Beaches at Gallipoli - -Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula - -Palestine: the Decisive Battle - -Battle of Coronel - -Battle of the Falkland Islands--First Phase - -Battle of the Falkland Islands--Second Phase - -Battle of the Falkland Islands--Last Phase - -Battle of Jutland: Track Chart - -Zeebrugge. - -The Front on the Eve of the Allied Offensive, and on the Day of the -Armistice - - - - - *PART I.* - - *INTRODUCTORY.* - - - *DAYS TO REMEMBER.* - - - *CHAPTER I.* - - *THE CAUSES OF THE WAR.* - - -It is never easy to fix upon one cause as the origin of a great war, and -the war of 1914 was the outcome of several causes combined. For twenty -years there had been growing up in Europe a sense of insecurity; the -great Powers had become restless and suspicious of one another, and one -Power, Germany, was seriously considering the possibility of some bold -stroke which would put her beyond the reach of rivalry. Germany, since -her victory over France in 1870, had become a very great and rich -nation; she had spread her commerce over the world; and she was anxious -to create an empire akin to those of Britain and France. But she began -the task too late in the day; she could succeed only at the expense of -her neighbours. The ambition of Germany was, therefore, one perpetual -source of danger. - -Another danger was her nervousness, which frequently accompanies -ambition. There was an alliance between France and Russia, and a -growing friendliness between Britain and France, and Germany feared that -her rivals were combining to hem her in and put a stop to what she -considered her natural development. Russia had fallen very low after -the war with Japan, but was rapidly recovering both in wealth and armed -strength. France was making strenuous efforts to increase her army, so -that she should not be at a disadvantage as compared with the far -greater population of Germany. Britain had no ambitions of conquest; -her aim was the peaceful development of her Empire. But that was an -oversea Empire, and she required a large navy; and the size of this navy -seemed to Germany to be a menace to her future. - -The result was that in the summer of 1914 the rulers of Germany had -decided that some great effort must soon be made; they must put their -land in such a position that for the future it would have no cause to -dread the aggression, or even the rivalry, of other Powers. If they -delayed too long they feared that the growing wealth of Russia and the -increased military strength of France would make such an effort for ever -impossible. - -On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the -Austrian throne, was murdered, along with his wife, in the little -Bosnian town of Serajevo. Austria had long been jealous of the movement -towards unity among the Slav peoples in the Balkans, with Serbia at -their head, and she believed, or pretended to believe, that the murder -had been connived at by the Serbian Government. Germany, for reasons of -her own, was equally desirous to see the power of the Balkan states -diminished. She had a grandiose design of extending her influence -eastward through Constantinople to the Persian Gulf, with Turkey as her -ally or her tool, and planting a German outpost on the flank of our -Indian Empire; and a strong Serbian kingdom, or a union of Slav peoples, -would effectually bar the way. With the approval of Germany, therefore, -Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia, demanding certain concessions which -would have made Serbia no longer a sovereign state. Serbia, while -willing to grant most of the demands, was compelled to refuse others, -and Austria promptly declared war. - -Russia now interfered in support of Serbia, and mobilized her armies on -her southern frontiers. Every attempt was made by the statesmen of -Western Europe, and notably by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward -Grey, to limit the quarrel and to persuade Austria to listen to reason. -Germany, however, had no desire for a peaceful settlement. She induced -Austria to refuse all mediation, and presently, after a peremptory -request to the Tsar to demobilize, she declared war upon Russia. Russia -and France were allies, and war with France followed naturally within -twenty-four hours. - -The position of Britain had become extremely difficult She had no formal -alliance with France, but in her own interests she could not allow her -nearest neighbour to be crushed, and the balance of power in Europe to -be entirely changed. Britain had never seriously considered the -possibility of a European war, and was extremely averse from interfering -in a quarrel in which she had no direct concern. She might well have -hesitated till it was too late to act with effect, or have blundered -into some foolish compromise with Germany. - -The situation was saved by Belgium. The German scheme of attack on -France was based upon a sudden invasion from the north, and for this a -march through Belgium was essential. The neutrality of Belgium had long -before been guaranteed by all the great Powers, but Germany argued that -her necessity must override the law of nations, and demanded a passage -through Belgium. This was refused. The invasion of Belgium accordingly -began on Sunday, the 2nd August, and this outrage determined the policy -of the British Government and the British people. - -On Monday, the 3rd August, Sir Edward Grey announced that the fleet and -the army had been mobilized, and that Britain proposed to defend with -the sword her treaty obligations to Belgium. That evening an ultimatum -was sent to Germany demanding her immediate withdrawal from Belgium; -next day we were at war with Germany. On the same afternoon the German -Imperial Chancellor made a speech defending his violation of Belgian -neutrality. "He who is threatened, as we are threatened, can have but -the one thought--how he is to hack his way through." The German -Government had believed to the last that Britain would remain neutral, -and her entry into the conflict for a moment dashed their zeal for war. -"The British change the whole situation," the Emperor told the United -States Ambassador. "An obstinate nation! They will keep up the war. -It cannot end soon." - -Britain had no great military force to throw into the balance, such as -the armies of France and Russia. Her small regular army was little more -than a garrison for her Oversea Dominions, and her Territorial Force was -intended for home defence. But Lord Haldane, when Secretary for War, -had foreseen the possibility of a Continental struggle, and had prepared -plans by which an Expeditionary Force of about 100,000 men could be -placed on the Continent of Europe in a very short time. This force was, -for its size, probably the most expert army in the world. It took its -place on the left of the French line, and, though small in comparison -with the mighty levy of France, it was fated to play a leading part in -the first decisive battles. - -Behind the regular army was our second line of defence, the -Territorials, nominally 300,000 strong. But it was very certain that as -soon as war was declared the whole manhood of Britain would be called -upon, and that many hundreds of thousands of young men would be eager to -serve. Lord Kitchener was appointed Secretary for War, and under his -direction recruiting began. Before Christmas nearly two millions of our -men were under arms. - -But Britain's main weapon was her navy, which was by far the strongest -in the world. After that came her wealth and her great manufacturing -capacity, by which she could supply the munitions of war required both -for her own forces and for those of her allies. If her navy could -dominate the seas, then her commerce would go on as before, while that -of Germany would cease, and her troops and those of her allies could be -moved about the world at her pleasure. "He who commands the sea," as -Francis Bacon said long ago, "hath great freedom." - -Germany was prepared for a war which she had always foreseen, and had -the greater strength; but if the Allies did not suffer an early defeat, -their strength was certain to grow with every month, while that of -Germany must decline. But if the Allies were thus to grow in power they -must be able to maintain free communications with the outer world and -with one another, and for this they must rely on the supremacy of the -British fleet. - -In the very first days of war events happened which proved that the -German Emperor was right in dreading the entry of Britain into the -struggle. The British Empire overseas awoke to action like a strong man -from slumber, and there began an epic of service which was to grow in -power and majesty up to the last hour of the campaign. No man can read -without emotion the tale of those early days in August, when from every -quarter of the globe there poured in appeals for the right to share in -Britain's struggle. - -The great free nations of the Empire--Canada, South Africa, Australia, -and New Zealand--prepared to raise and send troops, and the smallest -Crown colonies made their contributions in money or supplies. India, -whom Germany believed to be disloyal, at once agreed to send two -infantry divisions and one cavalry brigade, and all the native rulers -and princes placed their resources at the King-Emperor's call. Almost -every Indian chief offered personal service in the field. - -This rally of the Empire aroused a sense of an immense new comradeship -which stirred the least emotional. The British Commonwealth had -revealed itself as that wonderful thing for which its makers had striven -and prayed--a union based not upon laws and governors, but upon the -deepest feelings of the human spirit. The effect of the muster was not -less profound upon our ally across the Channel. No longer, as in 1870, -did France stand alone. The German armies might be thundering at her -gates, but the ends of the earth were hastening to her aid, and the -avenger was drawing nigh. - - - - - *CHAPTER II.* - - *A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE WAR.* - - -Germany had foreseen and prepared for just such a conflict as now began, -and was able to put into the field in the West larger forces than those -of France and Britain combined. These forces were also better trained -and better supplied with transport, artillery, and machine-guns. Her -plan was to defeat France and Britain in the first month, and then to -turn her main armies against Russia, for she assumed that Russia would -be slow to mobilize her gigantic numbers. But if the first attack on -France should fail the situation would be changed, and Germany would be -compelled to fight on two fronts at once, the East and the West. - -If the conflict was protracted Germany would lose the advantage of -numbers, for then the greater united manpower of the Allies could be -trained for the field, and if the British navy continued to rule the -seas those new armies could be supplied and moved at the Allies' will. -Moreover, though Germany could produce most of the necessaries of life -and the apparatus of war within her own borders, yet the Allied control -of the sea would cut her off from certain vital kinds of war material. - -The Great War falls therefore into three stages. At the start Germany, -with the advantage of surprise and long preparation, embarked on a war -of movement in the hope of immediate victory. She failed in this, and -the campaign then became a siege in which the Allies sat round her -entrenched stronghold. That vast stronghold embraced half of Europe and -part of Asia; it could produce most things that it needed, and carry on -its normal life. Brilliant sallies were made, which more than once -nearly dispersed the besiegers; but, nevertheless, for three and a half -years the Teutonic Powers were as the garrison of a beleaguered city. -Then came the short, last stage, when the outworks of the fortress -crumbled, and the Allies pressed in and forced the garrison to -surrender. - -Germany began the war with Austria as her ally. Within three months she -had been joined by Turkey, and by the end of the first year of war -Bulgaria mustered on her side. The Allies at the start were France, -Britain, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, and Japan; in May 1915 Italy joined -them, and in August 1916 Rumania. Before the end Portugal and Greece, -among the European Powers, were added; the United States of America -joined in April 1917; and in the last year of the war there were -altogether eleven Powers in Europe, Asia, and America on their side. -The main battles were fought on the Continent of Europe, and the main -belligerents, from start to finish, were the European nations. The -accession of America, however, was vital for the Allied victory, as it -counterbalanced the failure of Russia, which, after the revolution in -March 1917, rapidly went to pieces and dropped out of the fighting line. - -Before telling of any special incidents of the great struggle it is -desirable to have before our minds a general bird's-eye view of the -whole war. Germany's first plan of an immediate conquest was defeated -by France and Britain at the First Battle of the Marne in September -1914. She made a second attempt upon the shores of the English Channel, -which was foiled before Ypres in November of the same year. After that -her policy was to stand on the defensive in the West and to aim at the -destruction of Russia. In this, during 1915, she nearly succeeded. The -Russian armies were driven out of Poland, but they established their -line during the autumn, and Germany's ambitious strategy had once more -failed. - -In 1916 the Allies were ready for a combined advance, Germany was aware -of their policy, and tried to anticipate it by her great attack on -Verdun in February of that year--a battle which was fiercely contested -for months, and finally ebbed away about midsummer. By that time -Austria's attack on Italy had also failed and the Allied advance begun. -The Russians won great successes in Galicia, and the British and French -on the Somme dealt the German armies a blow from which they never really -recovered. In Rumania, on the other hand, Germany had a temporary -success; but by the close of 1916 it was clear to her commanders that -unless some miracle happened the war would end with an Allied victory -during the following year. - -That miracle happened, in the form of the Russian revolution in the -spring of 1917. Thereafter Germany was able to get rid of the war on -her eastern frontier and to throw all her strength against the West. -During that spring and summer she staved off the French and British -attacks at Arras, at Ypres, and on the Aisne, and in the autumn of 1917 -she was ready to begin her own offensive. Her first blow was directed -against Italy, whom she drove back fifty miles from the Isonzo to the -Piave, with immense losses. In March 1918 she struck her great blow in -the West. With a large superiority in men and guns, she attacked the -British at St. Quentin, and forced them to retreat almost to the gates -of Amiens. - -It was a success, but only a limited success, and with this last stroke -her energy began to ebb. Foch was now Commander-in-Chief of the Allies, -and with great skill he maintained a stubborn defensive till such time -as he had gathered strength for a counter-attack. Meantime the new -armies of America were arriving in France at the rate of 10,000 a day. -In July Germany struck her last blow on the Marne in a frantic effort to -reach Paris. That blow was likewise warded off, and three days later -the Allied counter-offensive began. - -Then in a series of great attacks all the prepared German defences were -broken down. By the early days of October Turkey and Bulgaria had been -defeated in the East, and the surrender of Austria followed before the -end of the month. Finally, on November 11, 1918, Germany herself was -forced to sue for an armistice in order to save her armies from -destruction. An armistice was granted, but its terms involved an -unconditional surrender to the will of the Allies. - -The episodes contained in the following chapters have been chosen as -examples of the achievements of Britain and her Oversea Dominions in the -Great War. They are notable episodes, which stand out from the -day-to-day routine of the fighting. They are exploits, each of which -materially contributed to Germany's defeat. But the qualities which -they reveal in the men who shared in them were not confined to those -men; they are typical qualities, and were possessed in no less degree by -hundreds of thousands of men who fought in obscurity, but whose -unrecorded service was equally the cause of victory. A war is won not -only by the shining deeds of the few, but also by the faithfulness of -the many, though it is the brilliant deeds which stand out most clearly -in the world's memory and become the symbols and memorials of all the -unrecorded faithfulness. - -Most of the chapters belong to the attacks during the time of siege -warfare, for it was by those attacks that the heart was taken out of the -enemy. But we must not pass over the marvellous story of how Germany -was reduced to a state of beleaguerment, and why she did not succeed in -her first plan and win in a war of movement. The reason of this was a -great battle, in which France played the chief part, but in which the -small British army had also an honourable share. Before we begin our -record, then, let us look at the stand on the Marne which wrecked the -first hope of a German victory in the war. - - - - - *CHAPTER III.* - - *THE TURN AT THE MARNE.* - - -Germany, as we have seen, began the war in the West with larger forces -than those of France and Britain. She had also prepared definite plans -of action, most of which she had managed to conceal from her opponents. -General Joffre, the French Commander-in-Chief, was aware of her main -intention--to outflank the French left wing by a drive through Belgium; -but he did not guess how strong the enemy right wing would be, or how -wide its wheel. His own plan was to strike first, and to attack the -enemy's left and centre in Lorraine and in the Ardennes, where he -supposed the German front would be relatively weak. - -He was wrong, for he had under-estimated the number of trained divisions -which Germany could place at once in the field. His attacks were -repulsed both in Lorraine and in the Ardennes. At the same moment he -found that the German right wing, sweeping round through Belgium, was -double the strength he had expected. He hurried up troops to meet it, -but at Charleroi his Fifth Army was beaten, and the British on its left -were compelled to retreat along with it. The result was that on Monday, -August 24, 1914, all the armies of the Allies were falling back from the -northern frontiers. The men did not know what had happened; but, weary -and bewildered, they kept their discipline. That the retirement was -achieved without serious losses was a proof of the stoutheartedness of -the armies of France and Britain. - -Joffre was now compelled to make a new plan. He had to find reserves, -and these would take time to collect; he could not get reinforcements -brought up to his armies in time, so the armies must fall back to the -reinforcements. For nearly a fortnight the retreat went on. Notable -exploits were performed by every army, and the record of the retreat -from Mons contains the fine defensive battle fought by the British at Le -Cateau. The Allies lost heavily in the retirement, but it enabled them -to reach their supports, while the enemy had weakened his strength by -his long advance. On the 4th September the Allies, who at the start had -been outnumbered, were now slightly more numerous than the Germans. - -On that day, the 4th September, Joffre halted the retreat. He was now -ready to turn and strike back. The enemy forces lay in a huge arc 200 -miles wide and 30 deep--from the eastern skirts of Paris to Verdun. On -the German right was Kluck, who had led the great wheel through Belgium, -and next to him in order towards the east were the armies under Buelow, -Hausen, the Duke of Wurtemberg, and the Imperial Crown Prince. Beyond -the Meuse lay the detached German left wing, under the Crown Prince of -Bavaria, threatening Nancy. The German plan was for Kluck to turn the -left, and Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria the right, of the French line, -while their centre broke the French centre in Champagne. - -[Illustration: FIELD-MARSHAL SIR JOHN FRENCH -(EARL OF YPRES).] - -The Allies had been forced into a difficult position. From the south of -the Marne their line extended to Verdun, consisting of the British Army -under Sir John French, and the armies of Franchet d'Esperey, Foch, -Langle de Gary, and Sarrail; while facing the Bavarians at Nancy were -the armies of Castelnau and Dubail. In the meantime a new French army, -the Sixth, had been formed, and this, under Maunoury, lay on the extreme -left, covering Paris, and was thus in a position to threaten Kluck's -right flank and rear. Joffre's new plan was to strike hard with his -left, on the flank of the invader, and for this purpose he had gravely -thinned the rest of his front so as to strengthen the forces of Maunoury -and Franchet d'Esperey. It was a great hazard, for if the Bavarians -forced the gate of Nancy the French right would be turned, and if the -German centre broke through the weak French centre the battle would be -lost, whatever happened on the French left. - -It was one of the moments of crisis on which the world's history -depends. The captains who were to win the war for the Allies were all -in the field--Foch with an army, Haig with a corps, Petain and Mangin -and Allenby with divisions. Joffre told his men that on the coming -fight depended the salvation of their country, and every private in the -ranks felt the gravity of the hour. France was fighting on the old -ground where, long centuries before, the Hun invasion had been rolled -back by Theodoric the Visigoth, and the spirit of her men was kindled to -a flame. - -The First Battle of the Marne was won not, as many believed, by any -single exploit, but by the faithful performance of its duty by each -section of the long-drawn line. Let us look first at the French right -flank in Lorraine. There the battle began on the 4th September, and -three days later came the crisis when, by the slenderest margin, the -enemy failed to break Castelnau on the ridge called the Grand-Couronne. -The Kaiser himself was a spectator of the fight, for Germany had counted -on forcing the pass; but by the 8th she had failed, and by the 9th -Castelnau had firmly barred the gate. - -The French centre, under Foch, Langle de Gary, and Sarrail, had a longer -period of trial. Sarrail, at Verdun, was all but broken on the 8th, and -was compelled to fall back to the west bank of the Meuse. All through -the 9th and 10th the desperate struggle continued, and by the evening of -the last day the French general was preparing for retreat. Suddenly, -however, he found the attack ebbing, and by the 12th the enemy was -mysteriously withdrawing. Farther west Langle de Gary had his worst -moment on the 8th; on the 9th he received reinforcements which eased his -position, and on the 10th he too felt the strange weakening of the -enemy. The left centre under Foch had the sternest fight of all. He -had against him the bulk of Buelow's and Hausen's armies, and on the 8th -he found his flanks turned and his whole front split into gaps. -Nevertheless he prepared to attack on the 9th with his last ounce of -strength. All that day his centre and right were falling back before -the enemy's thrust, but he still persevered in his purpose and marched -the single division he could muster to the point where he thought he -could strike with the greatest effect. The blow was never delivered, -for on the evening of the 9th the apparently triumphant advance halted -and ebbed. Like Sarrail and Langle de Gary, Foch, having resisted to -the limit of human endurance, discovered that the enemy was miraculously -disappearing. - -The cause of the miracle was the doings of the French left wing. Joffre -had hurled Maunoury on Kluck's flank and rear, while Sir John French and -Franchet d'Esperey attacked in front. Kluck met the threat with vigour -and resolution. He formed front to flank, as the phrase goes--that is, -he faced round to what had been his wing--and in the three days' -fighting all but defeated Maunoury. On the night of the 7th the -outflanking French left found itself outflanked in turn, and its attack -turned into a desperate defence. But on the 9th came salvation. -Kluck's manoeuvre had left a gap of 30 miles between himself and Buelow, -and into this gap were pouring the British force and that of Franchet -d'Esperey. Suddenly Maunoury discovered that certain villages in front -of him were evacuated, and his airmen told him of enemy convoys moving -to the north. At 1 p.m. that day Buelow began his retreat, and Kluck -was forced to follow suit. Sir John French and Franchet d'Esperey had -pierced the enemy front, and the retreat of the German right caused the -retreat of all the German armies. They fell back to a line along the -Aisne, through Champagne, and down the east bank of the Meuse--a strong -line, which for four years was never really broken. But, none the less, -it was a retreat. - -The First Battle of the Marne may well rank as the greatest, because the -most critical, contest of the war. It was decisive in the sense that it -defeated Germany's first plan of campaign. She had hoped for a "battle -without a morrow"; but the battle had been fought and the morrow was -come. She was now compelled to accept the slow war of entrenchments, -and to see every week bringing her nearer to the condition of a -beleaguered city. The immediate cause of victory was Maunoury's flank -attack, which opened the way for the British and Franchet d'Esperey. -But without the daring strategy of Foch and the stubborn endurance of -Langle de Gary and Sarrail--above all, without Castelnau's epic -resistance at Nancy--the chance in the West could not have been seized, -and the Marne might have realized Germany's hopes. It was in a sense the -last battle of the old regime of war, a battle of movement and surprise -and quick decisions; it was fought and won not by the army as a military -machine but by the human quality of the soldier. In the last resort the -source of victory was the ancient and unconquerable spirit of France. - - - - - *PART II.* - - *THE WESTERN FRONT.* - - - *CHAPTER IV.* - - *THE WORCESTERS AT THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES.* - - -The Battle of the Marne defeated the great plan of the Germans, and -their next object was to hold what they had won. The line to which they -had retired was open to attack on the west, as was also that of the -French, and hence there came a period of rapid movement on both sides, -each attempting to outflank the other. It became a "race for the sea," -and ended only when the entrenched lines on either side reached the -Belgian coast. The enemy then attempted to break through the left of -the Allied front, and to seize the Channel ports, so as to threaten the -British lines of communication. He transferred large numbers of his best -troops to the north; between Armentieres and the sea he had a total of -402 battalions of infantry and an immense superiority of guns. Two -hundred and sixty-seven battalions were all that the Allies could fling -into the gap, and their cavalry were outnumbered by two to one. - -Germany struck at various points; but being checked at Arras and on the -sea-coast, she made her main effort in the last week of October against -the British Army, which held the salient east of the city of Ypres. The -battle, which is known as the First Battle of Ypres, began on the 21st -of the month, and the crisis came on the 29th, when General von Fabeck -attacked with a "storm group" of specially selected regiments. - -On Saturday, the 31st October, after a furious bombardment, it seemed -that the end had come. For eleven days our little army had been holding -its own against impossible odds. At the point of the Salient, north of -the Menin road, lay the 2nd and 1st British Divisions, and south of them -the 7th Division and Byng's cavalry. The men were very weary and their -ranks terribly thinned. The 7th Division had fought for nearly two days -on a front of 8 miles against forces of four times their number. The -desperate character of the fighting was only fully known when the losses -came to be reckoned up. That division had 44 officers left out of 400, -and 2,336 men out of 12,000. The 1st Brigade of the 1st Division had 8 -officers left out of 153, and 500 men out of 5,000. The 2nd Royal Scots -Fusiliers, to take one battalion, was reduced to 70 men commanded by a -junior subaltern. That is the price which must be paid for fighting one -against four. Major Bellenden in _Old Mortality_ considered one to -three the utmost possible odds, and "never knew any one who cared to -take that except old Corporal Raddlebanes." At the First Battle of -Ypres the British Army would have welcomed the Major's odds as a relief. - -On that Saturday morning things had grown very desperate. The 1st and -3rd Brigades of the 1st Division were driven out of Gheluvelt, our line -gave way, and soon after midday we were back among the woods towards -Veldhoek. This retirement uncovered the left of the 7th Division, which -was then slowly bent back towards the Klein Zillebeke ridge. The enemy -was beginning to pour through the Gheluvelt gap, and at the same time -pressed hard on the whole arc of the Salient. We had no reserves except -an odd battalion or two and some regiments of cavalry, all of which had -already been sorely tried during the past days. Sir John French sent an -urgent message to General Foch for reinforcements and was refused. At -the end of the battle he learned the reason. Foch had none to send, and -his own losses had been greater than ours. - -[Illustration: The Critical Day in the First Battle of Ypres.] - -Between 2 and 2.30 p.m. Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the 1st Corps, was -on the Menin road watching the situation. It seemed impossible to stop -the gap, though on its northern side some South Wales Borderers were -gallantly holding a sunken road and galling the flank of the German -advance. He gave orders to retire to a line a little west of Hooge and -stand there, though he well knew that no stand, however heroic, could -save the town. He considered that a further retirement west of Ypres -might be necessary, and with this Sir John French agreed. - -The news grew worse. The headquarters of the 1st and 2nd Divisions at -Hooge Chateau had been shelled. The two commanders had been badly -wounded and six of the Staff killed. Brigadiers took charge of -divisions, and during that terrible afternoon officers were commanding -any troops that happened to be near. It looked as if fate had designed -to lay every conceivable burden on our breaking defences. - -And then suddenly out of the mad confusion came a strange story. A -breathless Staff officer reported that something odd was happening north -of the Menin road. The enemy advance had halted. Then came word that -our 1st Division was re-forming. The anxious generals could scarcely -believe their ears, for it sounded a sheer miracle; but presently came -the proof, though it was not for months that the full tale was known. - -This is what had happened. Brigadier-General the Hon. Charles -FitzClarence, V.C., commanding the 1st (Guards) Brigade in the 1st -Division, had sent in his last reserves, and had failed to fill the gap -in our line. He then rode off to the headquarters of the 1st Division -to explain how desperate was the position. But on the way, at the -south-west corner of the Polygon Wood, he stumbled upon a battalion -waiting in support. It was the 2nd Worcesters, who were part of the -right brigade of the 2nd Division. FitzClarence saw in them his last -chance. They belonged to another division, but it was no time to stand -on ceremony. Major Hankey, who commanded them, at once put them under -FitzClarence's orders. - -The rain had begun and the dull wet haze of a Flanders autumn lay over -the sour fields and broken spinneys between Hooge and Gheluvelt. The -Worcesters, under very heavy artillery fire, advanced in a series of -short rushes for about 1,000 yards between the right of the South Wales -Borderers and the northern edge of Gheluvelt. There they dug themselves -in, broke up the German advance into bunches, opened a heavy flank fire, -and brought it to a standstill. This allowed the 7th Division to get -back to its old line, and the 6th Cavalry Brigade to fill the gap -between the 7th and 1st Divisions. Before night fell the German advance -west of Gheluvelt was stayed, and the British front was out of immediate -danger. - -That great performance of an historic English county regiment is one of -the few instances in any campaign where the prompt decision of a -subordinate commander and the prowess of one battalion have turned the -tide of a great battle. It was the crucial moment of the First Battle -of Ypres. Gheluvelt was lost, but the gap was closed, and the crisis was -past. Eleven days later FitzClarence fell in the last spasm of the -action--the fight with the Prussian Guard. He had done his work. Ypres -was soon a heap of rubble, and for four years the Salient was a cockpit -of war, but up to the last hour of the campaign no German entered the -ruins of the little city except as a prisoner. - - - - - *CHAPTER V.* - - *THE CANADIANS AT THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES.* - - -The Salient of Ypres was to be a second time the scene of a heroic stand -against hopeless odds. In April 1915 the front of the Salient was held -by the French on the left, the Canadian Division and the British 28th -Division in the centre, and the 27th Division on the right. On the 20th -the Germans suddenly began the bombardment of the town with heavy -shells. It was a warning to the British Command, for all their roads of -supply for the lines of the Salient ran through Ypres, and such a -bombardment must herald an attack on some part of their front. - -The evening of Thursday, the 22nd, was calm and pleasant, with a light, -steady wind blowing from the north-east. About 6.30 our artillery -observers reported that a strange green vapour was moving over the -French trenches. Then, as the April night closed in and the great -shells still rained upon Ypres, there were strange and ghastly scenes on -the left between the canal and the Pilkem road. Back through the dusk -came a stream of French soldiers, blinded and coughing, and wild with -terror. Some black horror had come upon them, and they had broken -before a more than human fear. Behind them they had left hundreds of -their comrades stricken or dead, with horrible blue faces and froth on -their lips. - -The rout surged over the canal, and the roads to the west were choked -with broken infantry and galloping gun teams lacking their guns. Most -of the French were coloured troops from Africa, and in the early -darkness they stumbled upon the Canadian reserve battalions. With -amazement the Canadians saw the wild dark faces, the heaving chests, and -the lips speechless with agony. Then they too sniffed something in the -breeze--something which caught at their throats and affected them with a -deadly sickness. - -[Illustration: The Second Battle of Ypres.] - -The immediate result of the stampede was a 5-mile breach in the Allied -line. The remnants of the French troops were thrown back on the canal, -where they were being pushed across by the German attack, and between -them and the left of the Canadians were five miles of undefended -country. Through this gap the enemy was pouring, preceded by the -poisonous fumes of the gas, and supported by heavy artillery fire. - -The Canadian front was held at the moment by the 3rd Brigade under -General Turner on the left and the 2nd Brigade under General Currie on -the right. The 1st Brigade was in reserve. The 3rd Brigade, on which -the chief blow fell, had suffered from the gas, but to a less degree -than the French. With his flank exposed General Turner was forced to -draw back his left wing. Under the pressure of the four German -divisions the brigade bent backwards till its left rested on the wood -east of the hamlet of St. Julien. Beyond it, however, there was still a -gap, and the Germans were working round its flank. - -In that wood there was a battery of British guns, and the Canadians -counter-attacked to save the guns and find some point of defence for -their endangered flank. Assisted by two battalions from the 1st Brigade -they carried the wood. A wilder struggle has rarely been seen than the -battle of that April night. The British reserves at Ypres, shelled out -of the town, marched to the sound of the firing, with the strange sickly -odour of the gas blowing down upon them. The roads were congested with -the usual supply trains for our troops in the Salient. All along our -front the cannonade was severe, while the Canadian left, bent back -almost at right angles, was struggling to entrench itself under cover of -counter-attacks. In some cases they found French reserve trenches to -occupy, but more often they had to dig themselves in where they could. -The right of the German assault was already in several places beyond the -canal. - -The Canadians were for the most part citizen soldiers without previous -experience of battle. Among their officers were men from every kind of -occupation--lawyers, professors, lumbermen, ranchers, merchants. To -their eternal honour they did not break. Overwhelmed by superior -numbers of men and guns, and sick to death with the poisonous fumes, -they did all that men could do to stem the tide. All night long with an -exposed flank they maintained the gossamer line of the British front. - -Very early in the small hours of Friday morning the first British -reinforcements arrived in the gap. They were a strange mixture of -units, commanded by Colonel Geddes of the Buffs--to be ever afterwards -gloriously known as Geddes's Detachment. But our concern for the moment -is with the Canadians. The reinforcements from the 1st Brigade -counter-attacked, along with Geddes's Detachment, early on the Friday -morning. Meantime the Canadian 3rd Brigade was in desperate straits. -Its losses had been huge, and its survivors were still weak from the -effects of the gas. No food could reach it for twenty-four hours. -Holding an acute salient, it was under fire from three sides, and by -evening was driven to a new line through St. Julien. The enemy had -succeeded in working round its left, and even getting their machine-guns -behind it. - -About 3 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 24th, a violent -bombardment began. At 3.30 there came a second gas attack. The gas, -pumped from cylinders, rose in a cloud which at its greatest was 7 feet -high. It was thickest close to the ground, and filled every cranny of -the trenches. Instinct taught some of the men what to do. A wet -handkerchief wrapped round the mouth gave a little relief, and it was -obviously fatal to run back, for in that case a man followed the gas -zone. Its effect was to produce acute bronchitis. Those smitten by it -suffered horribly, gasping and struggling for breath, and in many cases -becoming temporarily blind. Even 1,000 yards from the place of emission -troops were afflicted with violent sickness and giddiness. Beyond that -distance it dissipated itself, and only the blanched herbage marked its -track. - -That day, the 24th, saw the height of the Canadians' battle. The -much-tried 3rd Brigade, now gassed for the second time, could no longer -keep its place. Its left fell back well to the south-west of St. -Julien. Gaps were opened in its front, and General Currie's 2nd Brigade -was now left in much the same position as that of the 3rd Brigade on the -Thursday evening. About midday a great German attack developed against -the village of St. Julien. The remnants of the 13th and 14th -battalions--the Royal Highlanders of Montreal and the Royal Montreal -Regiment--could not be withdrawn in time, and remained--a few hundred -men--in the St. Julien line, fighting till far on in the night their -hopeless battle with a gallantry which has shed eternal lustre on their -motherland. Not less fine was the stand of the 8th Battalion (the 90th -Winnipeg Rifles) in the 2nd Brigade at the very point of the Salient. -With its left in the air it held out against crazy odds till -reinforcements arrived. - -The battle was now passing from the Canadians' hands. On the Saturday -the 3rd Brigade was withdrawn, and the 2nd followed on the Sunday -evening. But on the Monday the latter, now less than 1,000 strong, was -ordered back to the line, and to the credit of their discipline the men -went cheerfully. They had to take up a position in daylight and cross -the zone of shell-fire--no light task for those who had lived through -the past shattering days. That night they were relieved, and on -Thursday, the 29th, the whole division was withdrawn from the Salient, -after such a week of fighting as has rarely fallen to the lot of any -troops of the Empire. - -The Canadian Division was to grow into an Army, and to win many famous -triumphs before the end of the war. But in the hectic three days -between Thursday, the 22nd April, and Monday, the 26th, when the Second -Battle of Ypres was decided, the soldiers of Canada performed an exploit -which no later achievement could excel. Three battalion commanders -died; from the 5th Battalion only ten officers survived; five from the -7th; seven from the 8th; eight from the 10th. Of the machine-gun men of -the 13th Battalion thirteen were left out of fifty-eight, and in the 7th -Battalion only one. Attacked and outflanked by four divisions, -stupefied by a poison of which they had never dreamed and which they did -not understand, with no heavy artillery to support them, they endured -till reinforcements came, and they did more than endure. After days and -nights of tension they had the vitality to counter-attack, and when -called upon they cheerfully returned to the inferno which they had left. -If the Salient of Ypres will be for all time the classic battle-ground -of Britain, that blood-stained segment between the Poelcappelle and -Zonnebeke roads will remain the holy land of Canadian arms. - -With the Canadians must rank the men of Geddes's Detachment. They were -eight battalions, picked out from anywhere in the line--the 2nd Buffs, -half of the 3rd Middlesex, half of the 2nd Shropshires, the 1st York and -Lancaster, the 5th Royal Lancaster, the 4th Rifle Brigade, the 9th Royal -Scots, and the 2nd Cornwalls. Their instructions were to hold the gap -on the Canadian left and bluff the enemy. The leading half-battalions -were thrown in in twos and threes into the gap, and had to keep up the -appearance of an offensive, while the other half of each battalion dug a -new line. The duty of the attacking halves was to get as far forward as -possible before they fell, and to try not to fall before evening. - -All the day of Friday, the 23rd, without guns and without supports, -about 2,000 men covered a gap 8,000 yards wide and held up the -victorious Germans. Behind them the remaining 2,000 dug the new line, -which was to hold fast till the end of the war. Of the half-battalions -concerned in this marvellous bluff but little was left. One company of -the Buffs entirely disappeared. The men of the 1st York and Lancaster -lay all day in their firing lines--immovable, for every one was dead or -wounded. The Cornwalls lost all their officers but one, and all their -men but ninety-five. - -But they succeeded. Colonel Geddes was killed by shellfire on the 28th -April, when he was withdrawing his men, but he died knowing that his -task had been accomplished. The Second Battle of Ypres lasted far on -into May, but the enemy failed on that day, Friday, the 23rd--St. -George's Day--when the road to Ypres was barred by two Canadian Brigades -and a handful of British regulars and Territorials. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI.* - - *THE TAKING OF LOOS.* - - -The battle of Loos, which began on Saturday, September 25, 1915, was -part of the first combined Allied offensive. It was remarkable among -other things because it saw the first appearance in a great battle of -the troops of the New Armies raised in response to Lord Kitchener's -appeal, and in it more than one new division gained a reputation which -made their names become household words. - -The battle, though it won much ground for the Allies, failed to break -the German front. But it shook that front to its foundations, and -indeed at one point came very near to being a decisive victory. It is -the story of that point with which this chapter is concerned--the attack -of the Scottish 15th Division against the village of Loos. The 15th was -a division remarkable for physique and spirit, but as yet untried in -war, for it had only been some three months in France. The men were of -every trade, rank, and profession, and drawn from all Scotland, both -Lowlands and Highlands. On its left was an old regular division, the -1st, and on its right the 47th--a London Territorial Division. The -orders of the 15th were to take Loos and the height beyond, known as -Hill 70, which looked down upon the northern suburbs of Lens. - -Saturday, the 25th, was a drizzling morning, with low clouds and a light -wind from the south-west. The attack of the division was made by the -44th Brigade on the right and the 46th on the left, with the 45th -Brigade in reserve. At ten minutes to six gas was discharged from our -front, but the breeze caused it to eddy back from the hollow round Loos -and trouble the left brigade. There Piper Laidlaw of the King's Own -Scottish Borderers mounted the parapet and piped his men forward to the -tune of "Blue Bonnets over the Border." - -[Illustration: Battle of Loos.--Advance to Loos and Hill 70.] - -At 6.30 whistles blew and the leading battalions left the trenches. We -are concerned particularly with the attack of the 44th Brigade, which -had the 9th Black Watch and the 8th Seaforths in front, the 7th Camerons -in support, and the 10th Gordons following. A wild rush carried the -Highlanders through the whole German front line. Below in the hollow -lay Loos with the gaunt Colossus of the mining headgear, which our men -called the Tower Bridge, striding above it. In front of the village was -the German second line, about 200 yards distant from the crest of the -slope. Its defences were strong, and the barbed wire, deep and heavy, -had been untouched by our artillery, except in a few places. - -After winning the first line the attack was rapidly reorganized, and our -men went hurtling down the slope. They had a long distance to cover, -and all the time they were exposed to the direct fire of the German -machine-guns; but without wavering the line pressed on till it reached -the wire. With bleeding faces and limbs and torn kilts and tunics the -Highlanders forced their way through it. These decent law-abiding -ex-civilians charged like men possessed, singing and cheering. One -grave sergeant is said to have rebuked the profanity of his men. "Keep -your breath, lads," he cried. "The next stop's Potsdam." - -At 7.30 the second line was theirs, and a few minutes later the 44th -Brigade was surging through the streets of Loos. Here they had the 47th -Londoners on their right, and on their left their own 46th Brigade, and -they proceeded to clear up the place as well as the confusion of units -permitted. - -But the Highlanders had not finished their task. It was not yet 9 -o'clock, Loos was in their hands, but Hill 70, the gently sloping rise -to the east of the village, was still to be won. The attacking line -re-formed--what was left of the Black Watch and Seaforths leading, with -the 7th Camerons and 10th Gordons. Now, the original plan had been for -the attack to proceed beyond Hill 70 should circumstances be favourable, -and though this plan had been modified on the eve of the battle, the -change had not been explained to all the troops, and the leading -battalions were in doubt about their final objective. The Highlanders -streamed up the hill like hounds, with all battalion formation gone, the -red tartans of the Camerons and the green of the Gordons mingling in one -resistless wave. All the time they were under enfilading fire from both -south and north; but with the bayonet they went through the defences, -and by 9 o'clock were on the summit of the hill. - -On the top, just below the northern crest, was a strong redoubt, -destined to become famous in succeeding days. The garrison -surrendered--they seemed scarcely to have resisted--but the Highlanders -did not wait to secure the place. They poured down the eastern side, -now only a few hundreds strong, losing direction as they went. They had -reached a district which was one nest of German fortifications. The -Highlanders were far in advance of the British line, with no supports on -south or north; in three hours they had advanced nearly four miles, and -had reached the skirts of the village called Cite St. Auguste. - -The colonel of a Cameron battalion took command on Hill 70, now strewn -with the remnants of the two brigades, and attempted to recall the -pursuit, which was lost in the fog and smoke of the eastern slopes, and -to entrench himself on the summit. But very few of the Highlanders -returned. All down the slopes towards Lens lay the tartans--Gordon and -Black Watch, Seaforth and Cameron--like the drift left on the shore when -the tide has ebbed, marking out a salient of the dead which, under -happier auspices, might have been a living spear-point thrust into the -enemy's heart. - -The rest of the doings of the 15th Division--how they held the line of -Hill 70 for forty-eight hours longer till they were relieved by the -Guards--does not belong to this story. Our concern is with that wild -charge which from the beginning was foredoomed to failure, for the -Highlanders had no supports except the divisional reserves. The Guards -were then 11 miles away, and the two New Army divisions which were -brought up--divisions which later on won great glory--were then only raw -recruits. The brilliant advance was not war, but a wild berserk -adventure--a magnificent but a barren feat of courage. - -And yet, looking back from the vantage ground of four years of -campaigning, that madness of attack had in it the seeds of the Allies' -future success. It was the very plan which Ludendorff used against them -with such fatal effect in March 1918. Of what did those German tactics -consist? Highly-trained troops attacked various sections of the front, -found weak spots, summoned their reserves by special signals, and forced -their way through. In this way the front was not only pierced, but -crumbled in long lengths. The Highlanders at Loos were the first to -employ this deadly process, which the French called "infiltration." -They were picked troops beyond question; but there was no serious plan -to follow up their success, and no support provided. Yet, even as it -was, that lonely charge struck fear into the heart of the whole German -line from Douai to Lille. There was no prophetic eye among us which -could see what was implied by it, and it was set down as a glorious -failure. Four years later, when we had learned all that the enemy could -teach us, the same method was applied by the master hand of Foch to -break down in turn each of the German defences. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII.* - - *DELVILLE WOOD.* - - -The Battle of the Somme was the first great British attack to be made -with ample supplies of guns and shells, and continued, not for days or -weeks, but for months. Slowly we pressed forward to the crest of the -ridges between the Somme and the Ancre, and we know from Ludendorff's -own confession that we then dealt a blow at Germany's strength from -which she never recovered. The third stage of that great battle, which -won many miles of the German second position, began on July 14, 1916. -The one serious check was on the right wing, where it was necessary to -carry the village of Longueval and the wood called Delville in order to -secure our right flank. There the South African Brigade entered for the -first time into the battle-line of the West, and there they won -conspicuous renown. - -The place was the most awkward on the battle-front. It was a salient, -and, therefore, the British attack was made under fire from three sides. -The ground, too, was most intricate. The land sloped upwards to -Longueval village, a cluster of houses among gardens and orchards around -the junction of two roads. East and north-east of this hamlet stretched -Delville Wood, in the shape of a blunt equilateral triangle, with an -apex pointing north-westwards. The place, like most French woods, had -been seamed with grassy rides, partly obscured by scrub, and along and -athwart these the Germans had dug lines of trenches. The wood had been -for some days a target for our guns, and was now a maze of splintered -tree trunks, matted undergrowth, and shell-holes. North, north-east, and -south-east, at a distance of from 50 to 200 yards from its edges, lay -the main German positions, strongly protected by machine-guns. -Longueval could not be firmly held unless Delville was also taken, for -the northern part was commanded by the wood. - -On the 14th July two Scottish brigades of the 9th Division attacked -Longueval, and won most of the place; but they found that the whole -village could not be held until Delville Wood was cleared. Accordingly, -the South Africans--the remaining brigade of the division--were ordered -to occupy the wood on the following morning. The South African Brigade, -under General Lukin, had been raised a year before among the white -inhabitants of South Africa. At the start about 15 per cent. were Dutch, -but the proportion rose to something like 30 per cent. before the end of -the campaign. Men fought in its ranks who had striven against Britain -in the Boer War. Few units were better supplied with men of the right -kind of experience, and none showed a better physical standard or a -higher level of education and breeding. - -Two hours before dawn on the 15th July the brigade advanced from -Montauban towards the shadow which was Delville Wood, and the jumbled -masonry, now spouting fire like a volcano, which had been Longueval. -Lieutenant-Colonel Tanner of the 2nd South African Regiment was in -command of the attack. By 2.40 that afternoon Tanner reported to -General Lukin that he had won the whole wood with the exception of -certain strong points in the north-west, abutting on Longueval and the -northern orchards. - -But the problem of Delville was not so much to carry the wood as to hold -it. The German counter-attacks began about 3 o'clock, and the men who -were holding the fringe of the wood suffered heavy casualties. As the -sun went down the enemy activity increased, and their shells and liquid -fire turned the darkness of night into a feverish and blazing noon; -often as many as 400 shells were fired in a minute. The position that -evening was that the north-west corner of the wood remained with the -enemy, but that all the rest was held by South Africans strung out very -thin along its edge. Twelve infantry companies, now gravely weakened, -were defending a wood a little less than a square mile in area--a wood -on which every German battery was accurately ranged, and which was -commanded at close quarters by a semicircle of German trenches. -Moreover, since the enemy had the north-west corner, he had a covered -way of approach into the place. - -All through the furious night of the 15th the South Africans worked for -dear life at entrenchments. In that hard soil, pitted by unceasing -shell-fire, and cumbered with a twisted mass of tree trunks, roots, and -wire, the spade could make little way. Nevertheless, when the morning -of Sunday, the 16th, dawned, a good deal of cover had been provided. At -10 a.m. an attempt was made by the South Africans and a battalion of -Royal Scots to capture the northern entrance to the wood. The attempt -failed, and the attacking troops had to fall back to their trenches, and -for the rest of the day had to endure a steady, concentrated fire. It -was hot, dusty weather, and the enemy's curtain of shells made it almost -impossible to bring up food and water or to remove the wounded. The -situation was rapidly becoming desperate. Longueval and Delville had -proved to be far too strongly held to be over-run at the first attack by -one division. At the same time, until these were taken the object of -the battle of the 14th had not been achieved, and the safety of the -whole right wing of the new front was endangered. Longueval could not -be won and held without Delville; Delville could not be won and held -without Longueval. Fresh troops could not yet be spared to complete the -work, and it must be attempted again by the same wearied and depleted -battalions. What strength remained to the 9th Division must be divided -between two simultaneous objectives. - -That Sunday evening it was decided to make another attempt against the -north-west corner. The attempt was made shortly before dawn on Monday, -the 17th July, but failed. All that morning there was no change in the -situation; but on the morning of Tuesday, the 18th, an attempt was made -to the eastward. The Germans, however, in a counter-attack, managed to -penetrate far into the southern half of the wood. The troops in -Longueval had also suffered misfortunes, with the result that the enemy -entered the wood on the exposed South African left. - -[Illustration: Battle of the Somme.--Longueval and Delville Wood.] - -At 2.30 that afternoon the position was very serious. Lieutenant-Colonel -Thackeray, of the 3rd South African Regiment, now commanding in the -wood, held no more than the south-west corner. In the other parts the -garrisons had been utterly destroyed. The trenches were filled with -wounded whom it was impossible to move, since most of the -stretcher-bearers had themselves been killed or wounded. - -That evening came the welcome news that the South Africans would be -relieved at night by another brigade. But relief under such conditions -was a slow and difficult business. By midnight the work had been -partially carried out, and portions of the 3rd and 4th South African -regiments had been withdrawn. - -But as at Flodden, when - - "they left the darkening heath - More desperate grew the strife of death." - -The enemy had brought up a new division, and made repeated attacks -against the South African line. For two days and two nights the little -remnant under Thackeray still clung to the south-west corner of the wood -against impossible odds, and did not break. The German method of -assault was to push forward bombers and snipers, and then to advance in -mass formation from the north, north-east, and north-west -simultaneously. - -Three attacks on the night of Tuesday, the 18th, were repelled with -heavy losses to the enemy; but in the last of them the South Africans -were assaulted on three sides. All through Wednesday, the 19th, the -gallant handful suffered incessant shelling and sniping, the latter now -from very close. It was the same on Thursday, the 20th; but still relief -tarried. At last, at 6 o'clock that evening, troops of a fresh division -were able to take over what was left to us of Longueval and the little -segment of Delville Wood. Thackeray marched out with two officers, both -wounded, and 140 other ranks, gathered from all the regiments of the -South African Brigade. - -The six days and five nights during which the South African Brigade held -the most difficult post on the British front--a corner of death on which -the enemy fire was concentrated from three sides at all hours, and into -which fresh German troops, vastly superior in numbers, made periodic -incursions, only to be broken and driven back--constituted an epoch of -terror and glory scarcely equalled in the campaign. There were other -positions as difficult, but they were not held so long; there were cases -of as protracted a defence, but the assault was not so violent and -continuous. - -Let us measure it by the stern test of losses. At midnight on the 14th -July, when Lukin received his orders, the brigade numbered 121 officers -and 3,032 men. When Thackeray marched out on the 20th he had a remnant -of 143, and the total ultimately assembled was about 750. Of the -officers, 23 were killed or died of wounds, 47 were wounded, and 15 were -missing. But the price was not paid in vain. The brigade did what it -was ordered to do, and did not yield until it was withdrawn. - -There is no more solemn moment in war than the parade of men after a -battle. The few hundred haggard survivors in the bright sunshine behind -the lines were too weary and broken to realize how great a thing they -had done. Sir Douglas Haig sent his congratulations. The Commander of -the Fourth Army, Sir Henry Rawlinson, wrote that "In the capture of -Delville Wood the gallantry, perseverance, and determination of the -South African Brigade deserves the highest commendation." They had -earned the praise of their own intrepid commanding officers, who had -gone through the worst side by side with their men. "Each individual," -said Tanner's report, "was firm in the knowledge of his confidence in -his comrades, and was, therefore, able to fight with that power which -good discipline alone can produce. A finer record of this spirit could -not be found than the line of silent bodies along the Strand,[#] over -which the enemy had not dared to tread." But the most impressive -tribute was that of their Brigadier. When the remnant of his brigade -paraded before him, Lukin took the salute with uncovered head and eyes -not free from tears. - - -[#] The name of one of the rides in the wood. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII.* - - *THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES.* - - -The Third Battle of Ypres was in many ways the sternest battle ever -fought by British troops. It was not a defence, like the two other -actions fought at Ypres, but an attack. It was an attack against the -success of which the very stars in their courses seemed to fight. -Everything--weather, landscape, events elsewhere on the front--conspired -to frustrate its purpose. It was undertaken too late and continued too -long; but both errors were unavoidable. All the latter part of it was a -struggle without hope, carried on for the sake of our Allies at other -parts of the line. To those who fought in it, the Third Battle of Ypres -will always remain a memory of misery and horror. - -The British scheme for the summer of 1917 was an offensive against the -enemy in Flanders, in order to clear the Belgian coast and turn the -German right flank in the West. It was a scheme which, if successful, -promised the most far-reaching results; but to be successful a beginning -must be made as early as possible in the summer, when the waterlogged -soil of Flanders became reasonably dry. But the whole plan was altered -for the worse at the beginning of the year. The first stage, the Battle -of Arras, began too late and, through no fault of the British Command, -lasted too long. It was not till June that Sir Douglas Haig was able to -begin operations in Flanders and make his preliminary attack upon -Messines, and it was not till the end of July that the great battle was -begun in the Ypres Salient. By that time the revolution which began in -Petrograd in March had broken up the Russian armies and prepared the way -for the triumph of Bolshevism; Russia was in ruins, and Germany was -moving her troops rapidly from the East to the West. The battle was, -therefore, a struggle against time--against the coming of enemy reserves -and of the autumn rains. - -The famous Salient of Ypres had, during three years, been drawn back -till the enemy front was now less than two miles from the town. For -twelve months that front had been all but stationary, and the Germans -had spent infinite ingenuity and labour on perfecting their defences. In -the half-moon of hills round the town they had view-points which -commanded the whole countryside, and especially the British lines within -the Salient. Any preparations for attack would therefore be conducted -under their watchful eyes. Moreover, the heavy waterlogged clay of the -flats where our front lay was terribly at the mercy of the weather, and -in rain became a bottomless swamp. Lastly, the enemy was acutely -conscious of the importance of holding his position, and there was no -chance of taking him by surprise. - -[Illustration: FIELD-MARSHAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG -(EARL HAIG OF BEMERSYDE).] - -If the British were to succeed at all they must succeed quickly. The -high ground east of the Salient must be won in a fortnight if they were -to move against the German bases in West Flanders and clear the coast. -This meant a gamble against the weather, for the Salient was, after -Verdun, the most tortured of the Western battlefields. Constant -shelling of the low ground west of the ridges had blocked the streams -and the natural drainage, and turned it into a sodden wilderness. -Weather such as had been experienced the year before on the Somme would -make of it a morass where transport could scarcely move, and troops -would be exposed to the last degree of misery. Moreover, the "tanks," -which had been first used on the Somme the year before, and had done -wonders at Arras in breaking through barbed wire and silencing -machine-guns, could not be used in deep mud. Whatever might be the -strength and skill of the enemy, it was less formidable than the -obstacles which nature herself might place in the British path. - -But the German commanders were no despicable antagonists. In Flanders -the nature of the ground did not permit of the kind of defence which -they had built on the Somme. Deep dug-outs and concrete trenches were -impossible because of the waterlogged soil, and they were compelled to -employ new tactics. Their solution was the "pill-box." This was a -small concrete fort situated among the ruins of a farm or in some piece -of shell-torn woodland, often raised only a yard or two above the -ground-level, and bristling with machine-guns. The low entrance was at -the rear of the pill-box, which held from eight to forty men. Such forts -were easy to make, for the wooden or steel framework could be brought up -on any dark night and filled with concrete. They were placed with great -skill, and in the barbed-wire defences alleys were left so that an -unwary advance would be trapped and exposed to enfilading fire. Their -small size made them a difficult mark for heavy guns, and since they -were protected by concrete at least 3 feet thick they were impregnable -to ordinary field artillery. - -The enemy's plan was to hold his first line--which was often a mere -string of shell craters--with few men, who would fall back before an -assault. He had his guns well behind, so that they would not be -captured in the first rush, and would be available for a barrage if his -opponents became entangled in the pill-box zone. Lastly, he had his -reserves in the second line, ready for the counterstroke before the -attack could secure its position. Such tactics were admirably suited to -the exposed and contorted ground of the Salient. Any attack would be -allowed to make some advance; but if the German plan worked well this -advance would be short-lived, and would be dearly paid for. Instead of -the cast-iron front of the rest of the battleground, the Flanders line -would be highly elastic, but after pressure it would spring back into -position with a deadly rebound. - -The action began on 31st July, and resulted at first in a brilliant -success. But with the attack the weather broke, and so made impossible -the series of blows which we had planned. For a fortnight we were -compelled to hold our hand; till the countryside grew drier, advance was -a stark impossibility. - -The second stage began on 16th August, and everywhere fell short of its -main objective. The ground was sloppy and tangled; broken woods impeded -our advance; and the whole front was dotted with pill-boxes, against -which we had not yet discovered the proper weapon. The result was a -serious British check. Fine brigades had been hurled in succession -against a solid wall, and had been sorely battered. They felt that they -were being sacrificed blindly; that every fight was a soldier's and not -a general's fight; and that such sledge-hammer tactics could never solve -the problem. For a moment there was a real wave of disheartenment in -the British ranks. - -Sir Douglas Haig took time to reorganize his front and prepare a new -plan. Sir Herbert Plumer was brought farther north, and patiently -grappled with the "pill-box" problem. He had them carefully -reconnoitred, and by directing gun fire on each side enabled his troops -to get round their undefended rear. Early in September the weather -improved, the mud of the Salient hardened, and the streams became -streams again, and not lagoons. - -On 20th September the third attack was launched, and everywhere -succeeded. It broke through the German defence in the Salient, and won -the southern pivot, on which the security of the main Passchendaele -Ridge depended. Few struggles in the campaign were more desperate or -carried out on a more gruesome battlefield. The maze of quagmires, -splintered woods, ruined husks of pill-boxes, water-filled shell-holes -and foul creeks, which made up the land on both sides of the Menin road, -was a sight which to most men must seem in the retrospect a fevered -nightmare. The elements had blended with each other to make of it a -limbo outside mortal experience and almost beyond human imagining. - -But successful though the advance was, not even the first stage of the -British plan had been reached. During the rest of September and -October, however, attack followed attack, though the main objective was -now out of the question. It was necessary to continue the battle for -the sake of our Allies, who at the moment were hard pressed in other -areas; and, in any case, it was desirable to complete the capture of the -Passchendaele Ridge so as to give us a good winter position. - -The last stages of this Third Battle of Ypres were probably the muddiest -combats ever known in the history of war. It rained incessantly, -sometimes quieting to a drizzle or a Scots mist, but relapsing into a -downpour on any day fixed for our attack. The British movements became -a barometer. Whenever it was more than usually tempestuous it was safe -to assume that some hour of advance was near. The few rare hours of -watery sunshine had no effect upon the irreclaimable bog. "You might as -well," wrote one observer, "try to empty a bath by holding lighted -matches over it." - -On the 30th October our line was sufficiently far advanced for the -attack on Passchendaele itself. On that day the Canadians, assisted by -the Royal Naval Division and London Territorials, carried much of the -Ridge, and won their way into the outskirts of Passchendaele village. -Some days of dry weather followed, and early in the morning of 6th -November the Canadians swept forward again and carried the whole main -ridge of West Flanders. By this achievement the Salient, where for -three years we had been at the mercy of the German guns, was no longer -dominated by the enemy position. - -The Third Battle of Ypres was strategically a British failure; we did -not come within measurable distance of our main purpose. But that was -due to no fault of generalship or fighting qualities, but to the -malevolence of the weather in a country where the weather was all in -all. We reckoned upon a normal August, and we did not get it. The sea -of mud which lay around the Salient was the true defence of the enemy. - -Ypres was to Britain what Verdun was to France--hallowed soil, which -called forth the highest qualities of her people. It was a battleground -where there could be no retreat without loss of honour. The armies -which fought there in the Third Battle were very different from the few -divisions which had held the fort during the earlier struggles. But -there were links of connection. The Guards, by more than one fine -advance, were recompensed for the awful tension of October 1914, when -some of their best battalions had been destroyed; and it fell to Canada, -by the victory of Passchendaele, to avenge the gas attack of April 1915. -when only her dauntless two brigades stood between Ypres and the enemy. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX.* - - *THE TANKS AT CAMBRAI.* - - -During the Battle of the Somme a new weapon had appeared on the Allied -side. This was the Tank (so called because some unrevealing name had to -be found for a device developed in secret). It was a machine shaped -like a monstrous toad, which mounted machine-guns and light artillery, -and could force its way through wire and parapets and walls, and go -anywhere except in deep mud. Its main tactical use was to break down -wire entanglements and to clear out redoubts and nests of machine-guns. -When first used at the Somme the Tanks won a modified success, and in -the following spring at Arras they fully justified themselves. -Presently they began to develop into two types, one remaining heavy and -slow and the other becoming a "whippet," a type which was easy to handle -and attained a fair speed. Ultimately, as we shall see, they were to -become the chief Allied weapon in breaking the enemy front, and also to -perform the historic task of cavalry and go through the gaps which the -infantry had made. In September 1917, while two British Armies were -fighting desperately in the Ypres Salient for the Passchendaele Ridge, -Sir Julian Byng's Third Army, on the chalky plateau of Picardy, was -almost idle. An observer might have noticed that General Hugh Elles, -the commander of the Tank Corps, was a frequent visitor to Sir Julian's -headquarters at Albert. The same observer might have detected a curious -self-consciousness during the following weeks at Tanks headquarters. -Tanks officers, disguised in non-committal steel helmets and -waterproofs, frequented the forward areas of the Third Army. Tanks -motor-cars seemed suddenly to shed all distinguishing badges, and their -drivers told lengthy and mendacious tales about their doings. Staff -officers of the Tanks were never seen at any headquarters, but -constantly in front-line trenches, where, when questioned, they found -some difficulty in explaining their business. At the headquarters of -one Tanks brigade there was a locked room, with "No Admittance" over the -door, and inside--for the eye of the possible enemy spy--a quantity of -carefully marked bogus maps. Some mystery was being hatched, but, -though many hundreds suspected it, only a few knew the truth. - -On the 20th October it had been decided to make a surprise attack -towards Cambrai, and to prepare the way for the infantry by Tanks -instead of guns. The Third Battle of Ypres had brought the reputation -of these machines very low. They had been used in the bottomless mud of -the Salient, where they had no chance of being successful, and the -generals in command had reported adversely on their merits. It was -argued that they could not negotiate bad ground, that the ground on a -battlefield must always be bad, and that, consequently, they were of no -use on the battlefield. The first statement was doubtful, and the -second false; but certainly if all battles had been like the Third -Battle of Ypres the conclusion would have been justified. - -At Cambrai the Tanks were on their trial. It was their special "show," -and if they failed now they would fail for good. Their commander, -General Elles, took no chances. With three brigades of Tanks he was to -break through the enemy's wire, cross the broad trenches of the -Hindenburg Line, and open the way towards Cambrai for the two Army Corps -following. The enemy defences were the strongest in the West. There -were three trench lines, each of a width extending to 15 feet, and with -an outpost line thrown forward as a screen. In front of the main line -lay barbed wire at least 50 yards wide, which sometimes jutted out in -bold salients flanked by machine-guns. It was calculated that to cut -that wire with artillery would have taken five weeks and cost twenty -millions of money. The trenches were too wide for an ordinary Tank, so -immense bundles of brushwood were made up, which a Tank carried on its -nose and dropped into the trench to make a crossing. Each bundle, or -"fascine," weighed a ton and a half, and it took twenty Chinese coolies -to roll one of them through the mud. - -The attack was to be a surprise, and therefore there was to be no -preliminary bombardment. Secrecy was so vital, and the chances of -discovery so numerous, that the commanders spent anxious days prior to -the 20th November. Flotillas of Tanks were assembled in every possible -place which afforded cover, notably in Havrincourt Wood. The Tank is -not a noiseless machine, and it says much for the ingenuity of the Third -Army that the enemy had no inkling of our business. A single enemy -aeroplane over Havrincourt might have wrecked the plan. On the night of -the 18th an enemy raid took some of our men prisoners, but they must -have been very staunch, or the German Intelligence Service very obtuse, -for little appears to have been learned from them. The weather favoured -Sir Julian Byng. The days before the assault had the low grey skies and -the clinging mists of late November. - -In the dark of the evening of the 19th the Tanks nosed their way from -their lairs towards the point of departure, going across country, since -the roads were crowded, and running dead slow to avoid noise. That -evening General Hugh Elles issued a special order announcing that he -proposed to lead the attack of the centre division in person, like an -admiral in his flagship. At 4.30 on the morning of the 20th a burst of -German fire suggested that the enemy had discovered the secret, but to -the relief of the British commanders it died away, and the hour before -the attack opened was dead quiet. - -[Illustration: Cambrai--the Advance of the Infantry Divisions on -November 20.] - -Day dawned with heavy clouds that promised rain before evening. At 6 -o'clock a solitary gun broke the silence. It was the signal, and from -just north of the Bapaume road to the hamlet of Gonnelieu in the south, -a stupendous barrage crashed from the British line. The whole horizon -was aflame, and volcanoes of earth spouted from the German lines. -Wakened suddenly from sleep, and dazed with the gun-fire, the enemy sent -up star shell after star shell in appeal to his artillery; but, as he -strove to man his trenches, out of the fog of dawn came something more -terrible than shells--the blunt noses of 350 Tanks tearing and snapping -the wire and grinding down the parapets. The instant result was panic. -In a few minutes the German outposts fell; presently the main Hindenburg -Line followed, and the fighting reached the tunnels of the reserve line. -By half-past 10 that also had vanished, and the British infantry, with -cavalry close behind, was advancing in open country. - -General Elles, in his flagship "Hilda," was first in the advance, and it -was reported that he did much of his observing with his head thrust -through the hatch in the roof, using his feet on the gunner's ribs to -indicate the direction of targets. The "Hilda" flew the flag of the -Tank Corps; that flag was several times hit, but not brought down. -Comedy was not absent from that wild day. One member of a Tank crew -lost his wig as his head emerged from the man-hole, and the official -mind was racked for months with the problem whether this came under the -head of loss of field equipment, of a limb, or clothing. Nor was -heroism wanting on the enemy's side. The British official dispatch -records one instance. "Many of the hits upon our defences at Flesquieres -were obtained by a German artillery officer who, remaining alone at his -battery, served a field-gun single-handed until killed at his gun. The -great bravery of this officer aroused the admiration of all ranks." - -The trial of the Tanks was over. The Battle of Cambrai did not realize -to the full the expectations of the British Command. Great successes -were won, but our reserves were too scanty to maintain them, and before -the battle died away we lost much of the ground we had gained. But of -the success of the Tanks there was no question. They stood forth as the -most valuable tactical discovery of the campaigns, the weapon which -enabled a commander-in-chief to obtain the advantage of surprise and to -attack swiftly and secretly on new fronts. It was this weapon which, in -the hand of Foch, was destined to break in turn each section of the -German defences, and within a year from Cambrai to give the Allies -victory. - - - - - *CHAPTER X.* - - *THE SOUTH AFRICANS AT MARRIERES WOOD.* - - -In the spring of 1918, owing to the Russian Revolution, the Germans were -able to concentrate all their strength in the West. Their aim was to -break the Allied front by separating the French and the British before -the United States of America could send her armies to the field. The -attempt came very near success. The first blow fell on Thursday, 21st -March; by the Saturday evening Sir Hubert Gough's Fifth Army was in -retreat, and it seemed as if nothing could save Amiens. - -The South African Brigade was part of the 9th Division, on the extreme -left of the Fifth Army. It was in action from the first hour of the -battle, and for two days, at the cost of some 900 casualties, it -prevented a breach opening up at the worst danger-point--the junction of -the armies of Byng and Gough. On the Saturday it was given a short time -in reserve, but that afternoon it was again called into the fight. That -evening General Tudor, commanding the 9th Division, visited its -Brigadier, General Dawson. The 9th Division was holding an impossibly -long line, and both its flanks were in the air. The South Africans were -instructed to withdraw after dark to a position just west of the -Arras-Peronne road and the village of Bouchavesnes. The orders were that -this line was to be held "_at all costs._" Dawson accordingly began to -withdraw his men about 9.45, and by 3 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, the -24th, the brigade was in position in the new line. - -When the Sunday dawned the two regiments of South Africans were holding -a patch of front which, along with Delville Wood, is the most famous -spot in all their annals. The ground sloped eastward, and then rose -again to another ridge about a thousand yards distant--a ridge which -gave the enemy excellent posts for observation and machine-gun -positions. There were one good trench and several bad ones, and the -whole area was dotted with shell-holes. Dawson took up his headquarters -in a support trench some three hundred yards in rear of the front line. -The strength of the brigade was about five hundred in all. Dawson's -only means of communication with divisional headquarters was by runners, -and he had long lost touch with the divisional artillery. - -It was a weary and broken little company which waited on that hilltop in -the fog of dawn. During three days the five hundred had fought a score -of battles. Giddy with lack of sleep, grey with fatigue, poisoned by -gas and tortured by the ceaseless bombardment, officers and men had -faced the new perils which each hour brought forth with a fortitude -beyond all human praise. But wars are fought with the body as well as -with the spirit, and the body was breaking. Since the 20th of March, -while the men had received rations, they had had no hot food or tea. -Neither they nor their officers had any guess at what was happening -elsewhere. They seemed to be isolated in a campaign of their own, shut -out from all knowledge of their fellows and beyond the hope of mortal -aid. - -Soon after daylight had struggled through the fog the enemy was seen -massing his troops on the ridge to the east, and about 9 o'clock he -deployed for the attack, opening with machine-gun fire, and afterwards -with artillery. Dawson, divining what was coming, sent a messenger back -to the rear with the brigade records. He had already been round every -part of the position, and had disposed his scanty forces to the best -advantage. At 10 o'clock some British guns opened an accurate fire, not -upon the enemy, but upon the South African lines, especially on the -trench where brigade headquarters were situated. Dawson was compelled -to move to a neighbouring shell-hole. He sent a man on his last horse, -followed by two runners, to tell the batteries what was happening, but -the messengers do not seem to have reached their goal, and the fire -continued for more than an hour, though happily with few casualties. -After that it ceased, because the guns had retired. One of our heavies -continued to fire on Bouchavesnes, and presently that, too, became -silent. - -It was the last the brigade heard of the British artillery. - -Meantime the enemy gun-fire had become intense, and the whole position -was smothered in dust and fumes. Men could not keep their rifles clean -because of the debris filling the air. The Germans were now some 750 -yards from our front, but did not attempt for the moment to approach -closer, fearing the accuracy of the South African marksmanship. The -firing was mostly done at this time by Lewis guns, for the ammunition -had to be husbanded, and the men were ordered not to use their rifles -till the enemy was within 400 yards. The Germans attempted to bring a -field-gun into action at a range of 1,000 yards, but a Lewis gunner of -the 1st Regiment knocked out the team before the gun could be fired. A -little later another attempt was made, and a field-gun was brought -forward at a gallop. Once again the fire of the same Lewis gunner -proved its undoing. The team got out of hand, and men and horses went -down in a struggling mass. - -This sight cheered the thin ranks of the defence, and about noon came -news which exalted every heart. General Tudor sent word that the 35th -Division had arrived at Bray-sur-Somme, and had been ordered to take up -position 1,000 yards in rear of the brigade. For a moment it seemed as -if they still might make good their stand. But the 35th Division was a -vain dream; it was never during that day within miles of the South -Africans. Dawson sent back a report on the situation to General Tudor. - -It was the last communication of the brigade with the outer world. - -At midday the frontal attack had been held, an attack on the south had -been beaten off, and also a very dangerous movement in the north. The -grass was as dry as tinder. The enemy had set fire to it, and, moving -behind the smoke as a screen, managed to work his way to within 200 -yards of our position in the north. There, however, he was again -checked. But by this time the German thrust elsewhere on the front was -having successes. Already the enemy was in Combles on the north, and at -Peronne and Clery on the south. The 21st Division on the right had -gone, and the other brigades of the 9th Division on the South African -left were being forced back. At about 2.30 an officer, with some 30 -men, began to withdraw on that flank, under the impression that a -general retirement had been ordered. As they passed headquarters, Major -Cochran and Captain Beverley, with Regimental Sergeant-Major Keith of -the 4th Regiment, went out under a concentrated machine-gun fire to stop -them. The party at once returned to the firing line, and were put into -shell-holes on the north flank. Unhappily Cochran was hit in the neck by -a machine-gun bullet and died within three minutes. - -Early in the afternoon Dawson attempted to adjust his remnant. The -enemy now was about 200 yards from his front, and far in on his flank -and rear. Major Ormiston took out some 25 men as a flank-guard for the -left, in doing which he was dangerously wounded. All wounded men who -could hold a rifle were stopped on their way to the dressing-station and -sent back to the front line, and in no single instance did they show any -reluctance to return. Ammunition was conserved with noble parsimony, -and the last round was collected from those who had fallen. But it was -now clear that the enemy was well to the west of the brigade, for -snipers' fire began to come from the rear. Unless the miracle of -miracles happened, the limit of endurance must be reckoned not in hours -but in minutes. For the moment the most dangerous quarter seemed to be -the north, and Lieutenant Cooper of the 2nd Regiment, with 20 men, was -sent out to make a flank-guard in shell-holes 100 yards from brigade -headquarters. The little detachment did excellent work, but their -casualties were heavy, and frequent reinforcements had to be sent out to -them. Lieutenant Cooper himself was killed by a fragment of shell. - -As it drew towards 3 o'clock there came a last flicker of hope. The -enemy in the north seemed to be retiring. The cry got up, "We can see -the Germans surrendering," and at the same time the enemy artillery -lengthened their range and put down a heavy barrage 700 yards to the -west of the brigade. It looked as if the 35th Division had arrived, and -for a little there was that violent revulsion of feeling which comes to -those who see an unlooked-for light in darkness. The hope was -short-lived. All that had happened was that the enemy machine-guns and -snipers to the west of the brigade were causing casualties to his own -troops to the east. He therefore assumed that they were British -reinforcements. - -About this time Lieutenant-Colonel Heal, commanding the 1st Regiment, -was killed. He had already been twice wounded in the action, but -insisted on remaining with his men. He had in the highest degree every -quality which makes a fine soldier. I quote from a letter of one of his -officers: "By this time it was evident to all that we were bound to go -under, but even then Colonel Heal refused to be depressed. God knows -how he kept so cheery all through that hell; but right up to when I last -saw him, about five minutes before he was killed, he had a smile on his -face and a pleasant word for us all." - -All afternoon the shell-fire had been terrific. A number of light -trench-mortars were also firing against the north-east corner of our -front and causing heavy losses. The casualties had been so high that -the whole line was now held only by a few isolated groups, and control -was impossible. About 4 o'clock Christian made his way to Dawson and -told him that he feared his men could not hold out much longer. Every -machine-gun and Lewis gun was out of action, the ammunition was nearly -gone, the rifles were choked, and the breaking-point of human endurance -had been reached. The spirit was still unconquered, but the body was -fainting. - -Dawson had still the shadow of a hope that he might maintain his ground -until dark, and then fight his way out. Like all good soldiers in such -circumstances, he was harassed by doubts. The brigade was doomed; even -if the struggle could be protracted till dusk, only a fragment could -escape. Had he wished to withdraw he must have begun in the early -morning, as soon as the enemy appeared, for once the battle was joined -the position was a death trap. He had orders from the division to hold -his ground "at all costs"--a phrase often given a vague meaning in war, -but in this case taken literally. He wondered whether the stand might -be of value to the British front, or whether it was not a useless -sacrifice. He could only fall back for comfort on his instructions. He -wrote thus in his diary: "I cannot see that under the circumstances I -had any option but to remain till the end. Far better go down fighting -against heavy odds than that it should be said we failed to carry out -our orders. To retire would be against all the traditions of the -Service." - -Some time after 4.15, enemy masses appeared to the north-east of brigade -headquarters. It was the final attack, for which three fresh battalions -had been brought up, and the assault was delivered in close formation. -There were now only 100 South Africans, some of them already wounded. -There was not a cartridge left in the front line, and very few anywhere -except in the pistols of the officers. Had they had ammunition they -might have held even this last attack; as it was, it could be met only -by a few scattered shots. The South Africans had resisted to the last -moment when resistance was possible; and now they had no weapon. The -Germans surged down upon a few knots of unarmed men. Dawson, with -Christian and Beverley, walked out in front of a group which had -gathered round them, and was greeted by the Germans with shouts of "Why -have you killed so many of us?" and "Why did you not surrender sooner?" -One man said, "Now we shall soon have peace," at which Dawson shook his -head. Before he went eastward into captivity he was allowed to find -Cochran's body and rescue his papers. - -In all that amazing retreat, when our gossamer front refused to be -broken by the most overwhelming odds, no British division did more nobly -than the 9th. It held a crucial position in the line, and only by its -stubborn endurance was a breach between Gough and Byng prevented. Among -the brigades of the 9th, the chief brunt was borne by the South African. - -Let us take the testimony of the enemy. During the German advance, -Captain Peirson, the brigade major of another division, was taken -prisoner. When he was examined at German headquarters an officer asked -him if he knew the 9th Division; for, said he, "we consider that the -fight put up by that division was one of the best on the whole of your -front, especially the last stand of the South African Brigade, which we -can only call magnificent." In the course of his journey to Le Cateau -Captain Peirson was spoken to by many German officers, all of whom -mentioned the wonderful resistance of the South Africans. There is a -still more striking tribute. On the road to Le Cateau a party of -British officers was stopped by the Emperor, who asked if any one -present belonged to the 9th Division. "I want to see a man of that -division," he said, "for if all divisions had fought as well as the 9th -I would not have had any troops left to carry on the attack." - -It was no piece of fruitless gallantry. Dawson, as he was tramping -eastwards, saw a sight which told him that his decision had been right, -and that his work had not been in vain. The whole road for miles east -of Bouchavesnes was blocked by a continuous double line of transport and -guns, which proved that the South Africans had for over seven hours held -up not only a mass of German infantry, but all the artillery and -transport advancing on the Bouchavesnes-Combles highway. Indeed, it is -not too much to say that on that feverish Sabbath the stand of the -brigade saved the British front. It was the hour of Von der Marwitz's -most deadly thrust. While Gough was struggling at the Somme crossings, -the Third Army had been forced west of Morval and Bapaume, far over our -old battle-ground of the First Battle of the Somme. The breach between -the two armies was hourly widening. But for the self-sacrifice of the -brigade at Marrieres Wood and the delay in the German advance at its -most critical point, it is doubtful whether Byng could ever have -established that line on which, before the end of March, he held the -enemy. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI.* - - *THE BATTLE OF THE LYS.* - - -By 6th April 1918 the great German thrust towards Amiens had failed, and -for the moment the gate of the Somme was closed. The city was under -fire, the enemy was before its gates, but his strength was exhausted and -he could not advance. Therefore his chief plan--of separating the French -and the British--had come to nought. Brought to a standstill, he cast -about for a diversion, for he could not permit the battle to decline -into a stalemate, since he was fighting against time. His main purpose -remained the same, but he sought to achieve it by a new method. He -would attack the British elsewhere, on some part of the front where they -were notoriously weak, and compel Foch to use up his reserves in its -defence. Then, when the Allied resources had shrunk, he would strike -again at the weakened door of Amiens. On the German side the operation -was meant to be merely subsidiary, designed to prepare the way for the -accomplishment of the main task farther south. They proposed to choose -a battle-ground where even a small force might obtain important results. -But so stoutly did the meagre British divisions resist that the enemy -was compelled to extend the battle well into May, to squander -thirty-five of his fresh divisions, and to forfeit for good his chance -of final victory. - -The new battle-ground was the area on both sides of the river Lys, -between the La Bassee Canal and the Wytschaete Ridge. The German Staff -knew that our front line had already been thinned to supply ten -divisions for the struggle in the south, and at the moment it was weakly -held, mainly by troops exhausted in the Somme battle. The enemy Staff -chose their ground well. They had the great city of Lille behind them -to screen the assembly. Certain key-points, such as Bethune and -Hazebrouck, lay at no great distance behind the British front. The -British communications were poor, while the German were all but perfect. -If the enemy could break through at once between La Bassee and -Armentieres and capture Bethune, he could swing north-westward and take -Hazebrouck and the hills beyond Bailleul, and so threaten the Channel -Ports, on which the British armies depended for supplies. - -The attack began on Tuesday, 9th April. A Portuguese division south of -the Lys was driven in at the first thrust, and through the gap the enemy -streamed in. At a quarter-past ten that morning he was more than a mile -to the rear of the division holding the left of the gap, which was -accordingly compelled to retreat. On the right of the gap, covering -Bethune, lay the 55th West Lancashire Division. The story of the Lys is -a story of the successful defence of key-points against critical odds, -and Givenchy, where the men of West Lancashire stood, was most vital, -for unless it fell Bethune could not be taken, and unless Bethune were -captured at once the enemy attack would be cramped into too narrow a -gate. The 55th Division did not yield though outnumbered by four to -one. They moved back their left flank but they still covered Bethune, -and their right at Givenchy stood like a rock. By noon the enemy was in -the ruins of Givenchy; in the afternoon the Lancashire men had recovered -them; in the evening they were again lost, and in the night retaken. -This splendid defence was the deciding event in the first stage of the -battle. It was due, said the official report, "in great measure to the -courage and determination displayed by our advance posts. Among the -many gallant deeds recorded of them, one instance is known of a -machine-gun which was kept in action although the German infantry had -entered the rear compartment of the pill-box from which it was firing, -the gun team holding up the enemy by revolver fire from the inner -compartment." - -Next day, 10th April, a new German army attacked north of the Lys, -captured Messines, and was pouring over the Wytschaete crest. But at -Wytschaete stood the 9th Division, which we have previously seen in -action on the Somme at Marrieres Wood. There its South African Brigade -had been completely destroyed, but a new one had been got together, and -this second showed all the heroism of the first. That night they retook -Messines, and during the evening cleared the Wytschaete Ridge. That -stand saved the British northern flank and gave its commander time to -adjust his front. For thirty hours the Germans were held up on that -ridge, and when they finally advanced the worst danger was past. - -The situation was still most critical. The French were sending troops, -but with all possible resources utilized we were still gravely -outnumbered, and the majority of the men were desperately weary from the -Somme battle. On the 11th Sir Douglas Haig issued an Order of the Day, -in which he appealed to his men to endure to the last. "There is no -other course open to us than to fight it out. Every position must be -held to the last man; there must be no retirement. With our backs to the -wall and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must -fight on to the end." Not less solemn was Sir Arthur Currie's charge to -the Canadian Corps before they entered the battle. "Under the orders of -your devoted officers in the coming battle you will advance or fall -where you stand, facing the enemy. To those who fall I say, 'You will -not die, but will step into immortality. Your mothers will not lament -your fate, but will be proud to have borne such sons. Your names will -be revered for ever and ever by your grateful country, and God will take -you unto Himself.'" It is a charge which has the noble eloquence of -Cromwell or Lincoln. - -Within a week it seemed as if the enemy had succeeded. On the evening of -15th April the Germans entered Bailleul, and the next day we withdrew -from the ground won in the Third Battle of Ypres to a position a mile -east of that town. By the 17th the enemy was in both Meteren and -Wytschaete, and this meant that the northern pillar of our defence had -gone. The next step for the Germans was to seize Mont Kemmel, the -highest ground between them and the Channel, and a position which would -presently give them Hazebrouck. - -The 17th and 18th of April were perhaps the most critical days of the -whole battle. The enemy had reached his greatest strength, and the -British troops were not yet reinforced at any point within sight of -security. On the 17th the Germans had failed in an attack on the -Belgians north of Ypres, and next day they failed no less conclusively -in a movement on Bethune. This gave us a breathing space, and by the -morning of Sunday, the 21st, French troops had taken over the defence of -Mont Kemmel, and we had been able to relieve some of the divisions which -had suffered most heavily. - -That day saw the end of the main crisis of the battle. Mont Kemmel was -lost and regained more than once, but the enemy was quickly becoming -exhausted, and his gains, even when he made them, had no longer any -strategic value. By the end of April he had employed in that one area of -the line thirty-five fresh divisions, and nine which had been already in -action. These troops were the cream of his army, and could not be -replaced. Moreover, an odd feature had appeared in the last stages of -the Lys battle. In March the enemy had succeeded in piercing and -dislocating the British front by a new tactical method applied with -masterly boldness and precision, the method which has been described as -"infiltration."[#] But as the Lys battle dragged on the Germans seemed -to have forgotten these new tactics, and to have fallen back upon their -old methods of mass and shock. The reason was that the new tactics -could only be used with specially trained troops, and with fresh troops; -they put too great a strain on weary divisions and raw levies; -therefore, as the enemy's losses grew, his tactics would deteriorate in -the same proportion. - - -[#] See p. 36. - - -If we take 5th May as marking the close of the Battle of the Lys, we may -pause to reflect upon the marvels of the forty-five preceding days, -since the enemy torrent first broke west of St. Quentin. More history -had been crowded into their span than into many a year of campaigning. -They had seen the great German thrust for Amiens checked in the very -moment of success. They had seen the last bold push for the Channel -Ports held up for days by weak divisions which bent but did not break, -and finally die away with its purpose still far from achievement. In -those forty-five days divisions and brigades had been more than once -destroyed as units, and always their sacrifice had been the salvation of -the British front. The survivors had behind them such a record of -fruitful service as the whole history of the war could scarcely -parallel. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII.* - - *THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE.* - - -The First Battle of the Marne meant the frustration of Germany's main -battle purpose, and the disappearance for ever of her hope of a complete -and decisive victory. The Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918 was -the beginning of Germany's defeat. In both battles the armies of -Britain contributed to victory, but in both battles, as was right and -proper, the main work was done by the French, and with them lies the -chief glory. - -In March Haig had been forced back to the gate of Amiens, and Foch, at -last appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the Allies, had for nearly a -month looked into the eyes of defeat. But slowly the tide ebbed. Foch -was able not only to repel the German assaults but to nurse and -strengthen his own reserves. In spite of the desperate crises on the -Lys and the Aisne midsummer found him rapidly growing in strength. And -as the Allies grew, so the enemy declined. - -[Illustration: MARSHAL FOCH.] - -For the first time Foch had the advantage of numbers, and by June there -were more than half a million Americans in France. Moreover, he had -devised an answer to the German tactics, and in his new light tanks he -had a weapon which would give him the advantage of surprise. But like a -great and wary commander, he waited till the enemy had struck yet again, -so that he might catch him on the rebound. Germany still maintained her -confidence. Her press announced that unless the American army could -swim or fly it would never arrive in Europe--that at the best the men of -the United States were like the soldiers of a child's game, made of -paper cuttings. The battle staged for July was to bring the Germans to -Paris. One army was to strike east of Rheims and cut the railway from -Paris to Nancy. Another was to press across the Marne. When Foch had -hurried all his forces to the danger points a third army would break -through at Amiens and descend on the capital from the north. Then the -British would be finally cut off from the French, the French would be -broken in two, and victory, complete and indubitable, would follow. - -The enemy was so confident that he made no secret of his plans, and from -deserters and prisoners Foch learned the main details long before the -assault was launched. The French general resolved to play a bold game. -He borrowed a British corps from Haig, and he thinned the Amiens section -so that it was dangerously weak. His aim was to entice the enemy south -of the Marne, and then in the moment of his weakness to strike at his -undefended flank. - -At midnight on Sunday, 14th July, Paris was awakened by the sound of -great guns, and knew that the battle had begun. At 4 a.m. on the 15th -the Germans crossed their parapets. The thrust beyond the Marne was at -once successful, for it was no part of Foch's plan to resist too -doggedly at the apex of the salient. On a front of 22 miles the Germans -advanced nearly three. But the attack east of Rheims was an utter -failure. Gouraud's counter-bombardment dislocated the attack before it -began, and with trifling losses to himself he held the advance in his -battle zone, not losing a single gun. In the west the Americans stood -firm, so that the enemy salient could not be widened. These were the -troops which, according to the German belief, could not land in Europe -unless they became fishes or birds. The inconceivable had been brought -to pass--"Birnam Wood had come to Dunsinane." - -In two days the German advance had reached its limit--a long narrow -salient south of the Marne, representing a progress at the most of 6 -miles from the old battle-front. The time had now come for Foch's -counterstroke. He had resolved to thrust with all his available -reserves against the weak enemy flank from Soissons southward. There, -in the shelter of the woods of Villers-Cotterets, lay the army of -Mangin, who first won fame at Verdun. - -The morning of the 18th dawned after a night of thunderstorms and -furious winds. There was no gunfire on the French side, but at 4.30, -out from the shelter of the woods came a great fleet of French light -tanks, and behind them on a front of 35 miles the French and American -infantry crossed the parapets. Before the puzzled enemy could realize -his danger they were through his first defences. - -The advance of the 18th was like a great bound forward. The chief work -was done by Mangin's left wing, which at half-past 10 in the morning -held the crown of the Montagne de Paris, on the edge of Soissons. All -down the line the Allies succeeded. Sixteen thousand prisoners fell to -them and some 50 guns, and at one point Mangin had advanced as much as 8 -miles. Foch had narrowed the German salient, crumpled its western -flank, and destroyed its communications. He had wrested the initiative -from the Germans and brought their last offensive to a dismal close. - -He had done more, though at the time no eye could pierce the future and -read the full implications of his victory. Moments of high crisis slip -past unnoticed. It is only the historian in later years who can point -to a half-hour in a crowded day and say that then was decided the fate -of a cause or a people. As the wounded trickled back through the -tossing woods of Villers-Cotterets, spectators noted a strange -exaltation in their faces. When the news reached Paris the city -breathed a relief which was scarcely justified with the enemy still so -strongly posted at her gates. But the instinct was right. The decisive -blow had been struck. When the Allies breasted the Montagne de Paris -that July morning they had, without knowing it, won the Second Battle of -the Marne, and with it the war. Four months earlier Ludendorff had -stood as the apparent dictator of Europe; four months later he and his -master were fleeing to a foreign exile. - -[Illustration: The Second Battle of the Marne.] - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII.* - - *THE BEGINNING OF THE END.* - - -The attack on the German flank on the morning of 18th July had put an -end to the enemy's hope of an advance on Paris, and had forced him to -assume the defensive. But in this he still persevered. His plan now -was to defend the line of the Aisne, in the hope that the French would -break their teeth on it, and that the battle would then decline into a -fruitless struggle for a few miles of trench, like the other actions of -the long siege warfare. He hoped in vain. Foch had no mind to waste a -single hour in operations which were not vital. As early as 23rd July -the Allies' great scheme for the autumn battles was framed, and on -Thursday, 8th August, Sir Douglas Haig opened the attack. - -Foch's plan was to give the enemy no rest. He was like a swordsman who -avoids his antagonist's sledge-hammer blows, who with lithe blade pinks -him again and again and draws much blood, who baffles and confuses him, -till the crushing weight of his opponent has been worn down by his own -trained and elastic strength. It was his business to wear down the -enemy continuously and methodically by a series of attacks on limited -fronts, aiming at strictly limited objectives, and to keep him -ceaselessly harassed over the whole battle-ground. The campaign had -developed like a masterly game of chess. From 21st March to 18th July -Foch had stood patiently on the defensive. From 18th July to 8th August -he had won back his freedom of action, cleared his main communications, -and hopelessly dislocated the German plan. From 8th August to 26th -September it was his task to crumble the enemy's front, destroy the last -remnant of his reserves, force him beyond all his prepared defences, and -make ready for the final battle which would give victory. - -On 8th August Haig's striking force was the British Fourth Army, under -Sir Henry Rawlinson, and part of the French First Army, under General -Debeney. The front of attack was east of Amiens, astride the valleys of -the Avre, the Luce, and the Somme. Haig's immediate aim was to free his -communications--that is, to push the enemy out of range of the main -railways behind his front--as the French had done on the Marne, and to -this end the enemy must be driven out of range of Amiens. - -The preparations for the attack were most cunningly concealed, and -infinite pains were taken to make the surprise complete. By an -elaborate piece of "camouflage" the enemy was induced to believe that an -attack in Flanders was preparing. The Canadians, who, along with the -Australians, were the principal British attacking troops, had been -secretly brought down from the north a few days before, and only came -into line just before the battle. For the action Sir Douglas Haig had -accumulated not less than 400 Tanks, many of the light "whippet" type -and most of the newest pattern. He was to employ Foch's tactics in their -purest form. There was to be no artillery bombardment except just at -the moment of advance; the ground had been perfectly reconnoitred from -the air; the objectives to be secured were ambitious but strictly -defined; and the troops to be used were among the _corps d'elite_ of the -army. - -In the first week of August much rain fell, and on the night of the 7th -a heavy mist hung over the ground. Just before daybreak on Thursday the -8th an intense bombardment was opened, so intense that the enemy's -defences disappeared as if wiped out by a sponge. Four minutes later -the bombardment stopped, and the Tanks and infantry moved forward. -Rawlinson advanced at 4.20 a.m.; Debeney some twenty minutes later. - -Success was immediate and continuous. The Canadians and Australians, -pressing along the two great Roman highways to St. Quentin and Roye, -marched steadily towards their final objectives, and these they reached -long before noon. The enemy was completely surprised. At one place the -Tanks captured an entire regimental mess at breakfast. At another the -whole staff of a division was seized. In some villages the Germans were -taken in their billets before they knew what had happened, and parties -of the enemy were actually made prisoners while working in the harvest -field. The Canadian cavalry passed through the infantry and captured a -train on the railway line near Chaulnes. Indeed, that day the whole -British cavalry performed miracles, advancing 23 miles from their point -of concentration. - -[Illustration: Map showing the ground regained and the New Front reached -in the -First Stages of the last Allied Offensive.] - -This success at the beginning of the last battle of the war was due -partly to the brilliant tactical surprise, partly to the high efficiency -of the new Tanks, and also in some degree to the evident deterioration -in the quality of the German infantry in that part of the front. The -enemy machine-gunners did not display their old tenacity. The Allied -casualties were extraordinarily small, one Canadian division, which was -in the heart of the battle, losing only 100 men. It was very clear that -the fortitude of the German line was ebbing, and this more than any -other fact disturbed the minds of its commanders. Ludendorff has -recorded in his Memoirs that after the battle of 8th August he realized -that Germany was beaten. - -The Tanks played a brilliant and dramatic part in the day's success. -One Tank captured a village single-handed, and its wary commander -solemnly demanded a receipt for the village before he handed it over to -the Australians. But the chief performance of the day was that of the -"whippet" Tank "Musical Box," commanded by Lieutenant C. B. Arnold, and -carrying as crew Gunner Ribbans and Driver Carney. This Tank started off -at 4.20 a.m. in company with the others, and when she had advanced the -better part of 2 miles discovered herself to be the leading machine, all -the others having been ditched. She came under direct shell-fire from a -German field battery, and turned off to the left, ran diagonally across -the front of the battery at a distance of 600 yards, and fired at it -with both her guns. The battery replied with eight rounds, fortunately -all misses, and the Tank now managed to get to the battery's rear under -cover of a belt of trees. The gunners attempted to get away, but -"Musical Box" accounted for them all. - -If a Tank can be said to go mad, this Tank now performed that feat. She -started off due east straight for Germany, shooting down Germans -whenever she saw them. The Australian infantry were following her, and -for some time she was also in touch with two British cavalry patrols. -Seeing a party of the enemy in a field of corn, she charged down upon -them, killing three or four. She found a patrol of our cavalry -dismounted and in trouble with some Germans on a railway bridge, so she -made for the bridge and dispersed the Germans. She moved still farther -east, and approached a small valley marked on Lieutenant Arnold's map as -containing German hutments. As she entered the valley the Germans were -seen packing their kits and beginning to move, and "Musical Box" opened -fire. There was a general flight, but this did not prevent her guns -from accounting for a considerable number. She now turned a little to -the left across open country, firing at retreating German infantry at -ranges of from 200 to 600 yards, and being heavily fired on by rifles -and machine-guns in reply. Unfortunately she was carrying petrol tins -on her roof, and these were perforated by the hail of bullets, so that -the petrol ran all over the cab. The great heat from her engines and -guns, which had been in action for nine or ten hours, made it necessary -at this point for the crew to breathe through their box-respirators. - -It was now about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and "Musical Box" was still -moving east, shooting at anything she could see, from motor transport to -marching infantry, and getting heavily peppered in return. At last -Lieutenant Arnold was compelled to withdraw the forward gun. The fumes -and the heat were stifling, but the crew managed to endure it till -suddenly the gallant "Musical Box" was struck by two heavy shells -following close one upon the other, and the cab burst into flames. -Carney and Ribbans reached the door and collapsed. Lieutenant Arnold -was almost overcome, but managed to get the door open and fall out upon -the ground. He was then able to drag out the other two men. Burning -petrol was running on to the ground where they were lying, and the -clothing of all three was on fire. They struggled to get away from the -petrol, and while doing so Carney received his death wound. The enemy -were now approaching from all quarters, and, having been thoroughly -scared, they not unnaturally treated the two survivors somewhat roughly. - -Lieutenant Arnold and Gunner Ribbans, badly burned, incredibly dirty, -half-suffocated, and fainting with fatigue, were led off into captivity, -after having completed such an Odyssey of devastation as perhaps befell -no other two men in the war. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV.* - - *THE AUSTRALIANS AT MONT ST. QUENTIN.* - - -Close to the spot where the South Africans made their great stand in the -retreat of March 1918, it fell to the lot of troops from another of our -Dominions to perform an almost miraculous exploit in the advance -eastward to victory. By 30th August, as we have seen, the tide had -fully turned. All the British armies were pressing back the enemy over -the old Somme battlefield, and that enemy was struggling desperately to -hold on to key positions long enough to enable him to retire in good -order to the Hindenburg Line, where he hoped to stand on the defence -over the winter. But these key positions were now being rushed too fast -to permit of an orderly retreat, and so the Hindenburg defences proved -of no avail, and before the end of October the Germans were a defeated -army. - -Of all the key positions the strongest was that of Mont St. Quentin, -which commanded the old town of Peronne on the north. Peronne, as -readers of Sir Walter Scott will remember, was the scene of some of the -adventures of Quentin Durward. It had fallen into British hands in -March 1917, when the Germans first retired to the Hindenburg Line. It -had been lost in the great enemy onslaught of the following March. It -was a very strong place, defended on the south and west by the links of -the marshy Somme, and on the north by the low ridge called Mont St. -Quentin, which provided superb gun positions. The place was held by one -of the best of the German Divisions brought up from the reserve, the 2nd -Prussian Guards. Their orders were to maintain it at all costs, for -unless Mont St. Quentin was held, Peronne would fall, and if Peronne -fell it would be a very battered remnant that would struggle back to the -main Hindenburg Line. - -Sir Henry Rawlinson, the commander of the British Fourth Army, believed -that the fight for Peronne would be long and difficult, and he entrusted -it to the Australian Corps, who were unsurpassed for their fighting -quality by any army in the world. This corps now performed the -impossible, and in a single day's fighting, and with few losses, swept -the enemy from Mont St. Quentin, took Peronne, and shook the German II. -Army to its foundations. Sir Henry Rawlinson has described their -exploit as the finest single action in the war. - -No man who once saw the Australians in action could ever forget them. -In the famous landing at Gallipoli, in a dozen desperate fights in that -peninsula, in the fight for Pozieres during the First Battle of the -Somme, at the Third Battle of Ypres, and in the action at -Villers-Bretonneux just before the final advance, they had shown -themselves incomparable in their fury of assault and in reckless -personal valour. They had more than gallantry; they had a perfect -discipline and a perfect coolness. As types of physical perfection they -have probably not been matched since the time of the ancient -Greeks--these long, lean men, with their slow, quiet voices, and often -the shadows of great fatigue around the deep-set, far-sighted eyes. - -Their first task was to cross the Somme--no easy task, since Mont St. -Quentin commanded every reach of it. Sir John Monash, the Australian -commander, decided not to attempt to force the river south of the town; -but in the darkness of night a brigade of the 2nd Australian Division -managed to cross and seize the German trenches at Clery. This placed two -of the three Australian Divisions of attack on the east of the river, -directly under the ridge of St. Quentin. General Rawlinson visited the -Australian headquarters that evening, and whetted their keenness by -frankly expressing his disbelief in their success on the morrow. "You -think you are going to take Mont St. Quentin with three battalions! What -presumption! However, I don't think I ought to stop you. Go ahead and -try." - -Very early on the morning of 31st August the Australian 2nd Division lay -just under the ridge, with the 3rd Division on its left, and on its -right the 5th Division south of the Somme. The plan was that the 2nd -Division should take Mont St. Quentin, while the 3rd Division completed -the capture of the high ground towards Bouchavesnes on the north, and -the 5th Division passed troops across the river for the assault on -Peronne. There were no Tanks to assist the infantry, and very few heavy -guns, for the men had marched far ahead of the artillery. - -At 5 a.m. on the 31st, while the morning was still quite dark, the 5th -Brigade of the 2nd Division opened the attack. It advanced straight up -the hill with the bayonet, and at 8 a.m. Sir John Monash was able to -report to General Rawlinson that his men had obtained a footing on Mont -St. Quentin. All day the heroic brigade beat off desperate -counter-attacks, and by nightfall it still maintained its position. - -Meantime the 14th Brigade from the 5th Division crossed the Somme, and -passed through the 2nd Division area for the assault on Peronne, for -Monash had determined that the right course was to take the defences of -the town by a rush while they were still being organized by the enemy. -The 14th Brigade had a march of 7 miles before it could be in position -to deploy for the attack. It was ten hours on the road, and reached its -jumping-off ground in the darkness of the night. There it had on its -left the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Division, whose business was to complete -the capture of Mont St. Quentin. - -The final success came on 1st September. The 6th Brigade advanced well -over the crest of Mont St. Quentin, and that fortress was now wholly in -British hands. The 14th Brigade took Peronne. Ever since the attack of -8th August it had been the misfortune of that brigade to be the reserve -unit of its Division, and therefore it had not shared in any serious -fighting; but this day it made up for lost opportunities. "You see," -said one company commander, "we had been trying to buy a fight off the -other fellows for a matter of three weeks, and that day we got what we -had been looking for, so we made the most of it." - -Meantime the 3rd Division, on the left, completed the capture of the -Bouchavesnes spur. By 3rd September the whole of the Peronne area was -in British hands, and the enemy was in headlong retreat. It was clear -that he could find no resting-place short of the main Hindenburg Line, -and a month later Sir Douglas Haig proved that not even in that position -was there an abiding sanctuary. - -The actual capture of Mont St. Quentin was achieved by two brigades. It -was a straightforward fight with the bayonet--the cream of the British -Army against the cream of the enemy. For so resounding a success it was -singularly economical of human life; on the hill itself nearly 2,000 -prisoners were taken at the expense of some 200 Australian casualties. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV.* - - *THE LAST BATTLE.* - - -By the 25th of September the German armies were back on the great line -devised by Hindenburg in the autumn of 1916. The one chance left to them -was to hold out there during the winter, in the hope that they might be -able to bargain with the Allies. If the Allies attacked, there were two -sections which Ludendorff viewed with anxiety. One was his left wing on -the Meuse, where, if the Allies broke through, the Hindenburg Line would -be turned on its flank. The other was the German centre from Douai to -St. Quentin, the main Hindenburg Line, which was not only the fortress -where he hoped to pass the winter, but the one protection of the great -railway from Lille by Valenciennes to Mezieres, on which his whole -position depended. He therefore laboured to keep his left and centre as -strong as possible; for, in spite of his experience in August and -September, he could not conceive the possibility of an assault on every -section. - -For Foch this was to be the crowning battle of the war. If he could -break through the German centre, and at the same time turn the German -left, defeat would stare the enemy in the face, and there would be -victory long before Christmas. If the Americans on the Meuse succeeded, -they would make retreat imperative; but if Haig in the centre succeeded, -he would make retreat impossible, and disaster must follow. The British -were assigned the most difficult part. They had to attack in the area -where the enemy defences were most highly organized and his forces -strongest. If the Hindenburg Line held, the German courage might yet -recover, and a new era of resistance begin. Haig's armies had already -borne the heaviest share of the summer fighting, and every division had -been sorely tried. Yet the attempt must be made, for it was the -essential part of the whole strategy, and the measure of difficulty was -the measure of the honour in which Foch held the fighting qualities of -his British allies. - -In deciding to make the attack, and to break the Hindenburg Line at one -blow, Sir Douglas Haig stood alone. So difficult seemed the operation -that the British Government were in the gravest doubts, and left the -burden of responsibility upon the Commander-in-Chief. Even the French -generals hesitated. The movement was undertaken on Sir Douglas Haig's -initiative; he bore the whole burden of it; and therefore to him belongs -the main credit of what was destined to be one of the decisive actions -of the war. - -Foch began on his right flank, and on 26th September the American army -attacked on the Meuse. Next day, the 27th, Haig struck towards Cambrai. -The two main defences of the Hindenburg Line were the Canal du Nord, -and, behind it, the Scheldt Canal, the latter forming the outwork of the -system. The principal German trenches were on the east bank; but on the -west bank lay advanced posts, skilfully placed. In one section the -canal passed through a tunnel 6,000 yards long, connected by shafts with -the trenches above. In another part it lay in a deep cutting, the sides -of which were honeycombed with dug-outs. The fortified zone was from 5 -to 7 miles wide, and culminated on the east in what was known as the -Beaurevoir Line, strongly wired double-trench lines of the same type as -those on the western side. - -On the 27th the Third Army under Byng, and the First Army under Horne, -attacked on the left, crossed the Canal du Nord, and by the evening had -reached the edge of the Scheldt Canal. Next day that canal had been -partially crossed, and Cambrai was menaced from two sides. These events -roused acute apprehension in the mind of the German Staff. The crossing -of the Canal du Nord by Tanks on the backs of Tanks, and the passing of -the Scheldt Canal at its northern end, had shaken their confidence in -the outer Hindenburg defences. Next day, the 29th, came Haig's crowning -blow. He struck at the strongest part, and it crumbled before him. - -The attack was made by Rawlinson's Fourth Army. For two days his guns -had not been silent; the enemy's garrisons were forced into tunnels and -deep dug-outs, and the transport of food and ammunition was made all but -impossible. The Germans were, therefore, in a state of confusion and -fatigue when Haig attacked at 10 minutes to 6 on the morning of Sunday, -the 29th. - -This action was one of the greatest of the campaign, whether we regard -the difficulties to be faced or the strategic value of the gains. -Ludendorff was fighting for his last hope, and he had warned his men -accordingly. One captured order reminded his troops that "Our present -position is our winter position." Another ran: "There can be no -question of going back a single step further. We must show the British, -French, and Americans that any further attacks on the Hindenburg Line -will be utterly broken, and that that Line is an impregnable rampart, -with the result that the Entente Powers will condescend to consider the -terms of peace which it is absolutely necessary for us to have before we -can end the war." Germany was already busy with peace proposals, and -she had nothing to bargain with except these defences in the West. - -The key of the position was the angle of the Scheldt Canal where it bent -east, with the village of Bellenglise in its bend, for if the canal were -forced there the defences on either side would be turned. The work was -entrusted to the 46th Division of North Midland Territorials, which had -a long and brilliant record in the war. Theirs was an amazing -performance. The canal before them was some 50 to 60 feet wide, the -water in some parts being as much as 10 feet deep. and in others a mere -trickle. It was a morning of thick fog when behind the tornado of the -barrage the Midlanders, carrying life-belts and mats and rafts, advanced -to the attack. Since parts of the canal were impassable, the crossing -had to be made on a narrow front. Swimming or wading, and in some cases -using foot-bridges which the enemy had left undestroyed, they passed the -canal west and north of Bellenglise, swarmed up the farther bank, and -took the German trenches beyond. Then, fanning out, they attacked in -rear the positions to the south, capturing many batteries still in -action. That day this one Division took over 4,000 prisoners and 70 -guns. - -It was the same everywhere else on the British front. The main -Hindenburg defences had been breached, and all next day the Fourth Army -pressed through the gap. The greatest battle of the war was now -approaching its climax, and the whole 250 miles of front, from the Meuse -to the sea, were ablaze. Ludendorff could not have withdrawn even if he -had wished it. By 7th October Haig had broken through all the front -Hindenburg Line, and was pressing upon the last defences. The time was -therefore ripe for a great movement on the broadest possible front, -which would destroy the whole zone. For, in the words of the official -dispatch, "Nothing but the natural obstacles of a wooded and -well-watered country lay between our armies and Maubeuge." - -The great movement was begun by Haig early on Tuesday, 8th October. It -was a wild, wet, autumn morning when Byng at 4.30 and Rawlinson at 5.10 -attacked on a 17-mile front, while a French army extended the battle 4 -miles farther south. The enemy resisted desperately, but nothing could -stay the rush of the Allied infantry and the deadly penetration of their -Tanks. By the evening Haig had advanced between 3 and 4 miles, and the -Hindenburg zone was no more. The enemy was falling back to the Oise and -the Selle, and for the moment his organization had been broken. Every -road converging on Le Cateau was blocked with transport and troops, and -our cavalry were galloping eastward to confuse the retreat. - -Sir Douglas Haig's battle, which ended on the 10th October, may be -considered the determining action in the campaign, and it has been -described by Foch as "a classic example of military art." It had no -defect either of plan or of execution. The enemy was fairly and clearly -defeated in a field action. Foch had played on the whole front a -crescendo of deadly music, and the enemy's strategic position was now so -desperate that no local stand could save him. There was talk at the time -of a German retreat to the Meuse. but it was an idle dream. Long before -her broken divisions could reach that river Germany would be upon her -knees. - - - - - *PART III.* - - *THE "SIDE SHOWS."* - - - *CHAPTER XVI.* - - *THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI.* - - -Early in 1915 it seemed to the British Government that, since there were -no longer any flanks to be turned on the Western front, the lines in -France and Flanders were settling down to a siege and a war of -positions. They therefore looked elsewhere for some more promising area -of battle, since, if the front door of a fortress is barred, there may -be an entrance by a back door. The place which promised best was the -narrow straits called the Dardanelles, which led from the AEgean into -the Sea of Marmora, and so to Constantinople. There full use could be -made of the British fleet. The capture of the Straits would involve the -fall of the capital, and this might drive Turkey out of the war. -Success there would bring over to our side the hesitating Balkan neutral -states. It would open the road for Russia to import munitions of war, -and to export her accumulated supplies of wheat. Lastly, Russia was -being hard pressed, and had appealed to the Western Allies for aid, and -her request could not be refused. - -Accordingly, it was decided to make an attempt upon the Dardanelles. -The first effort was made by ships alone. But the Turks had powerful -forts on both sides of the straits which could not be destroyed by naval -guns. It was clear that the Dardanelles could not be opened until the -Gallipoli Peninsula on the north side was captured. Unfortunately, the -naval attack had forewarned the enemy, and he had enormously -strengthened his position on the Gallipoli heights. - -The forces put at Sir Ian Hamilton's disposal for the enterprise were -the 29th Division of regulars and Territorials, two divisions from -Australia and New Zealand, the Royal Naval Division, and a French -brigade. Of these troops only the 29th Division had had any experience -in war. Sir Ian Hamilton decided that the only possible landing-places -were the beaches at the south-west end of the Peninsula, and another -beach at Gaba Tepe, some distance up the northern side. His aim was, by -landing at the point, to fight his way to Krithia village, and carry the -Achi Baba ridge, while the Australians from Gaba Tepe could turn the -right wing of the Turkish defence. Once the Achi Baba heights were -captured the Straits would be ours. - -The day originally fixed for the attempt was 23rd April. But on the 20th -a storm rose which for forty-eight hours lashed the AEgean. On the 23rd -it abated, and that afternoon the first of the black transports began to -move out of Mudros harbour. Next day the rest of the force followed, -all in wild spirits for this venture into the unknown. They recalled to -one spectator the Athenians departing for the Sicilian expedition, when -the galleys out of sheer light-heartedness raced each other to AEgina. - -The morning of Sunday, the 25th, was one of those which delight the -traveller in April in the AEgean. A light mist fills the air before -dawn, but it disappears with the sun, and all day there are clear skies, -still seas, and the fresh, invigorating warmth of spring. At the butt -end of Gallipoli there are five little beaches, originally nameless, but -now for all time to be known by the letters affixed to them on the war -maps of the British Army. Beginning from the left, there is Beach Y, -and, a little south of it, Beach X. Rounding Cape Tekke, we reach Beach -W, where a narrow valley opens between the headlands of Tekke and -Helles. Here there is a broad semicircular stretch of sand. South of -Helles is Beach V, a place of the same configuration as Beach W, but -unpleasantly commanded by the castle and village of Sedd-el-Bahr at its -southern end. Lastly, inside the Straits, on the east side of Morto -Bay, is Beach S, close to the point of Eski Hissarlik. The landing at -Gaba Tepe, on the north side of the peninsula, was entrusted to the -Australian and New Zealand troops; that at the Helles beaches to the -29th Division, with some units of the Naval Division. It was arranged -that simultaneously the French should land on the Asiatic shore at Kum -Kale, to prevent the Turkish batteries from being brought into action -against our men at Beaches V and S. - -Let us assume that an aeroplane enabled us to move up and down the -shores of the peninsula and observe the progress of the different -landings. About one in the morning the ships arrive at a point 5 miles -from the Gallipoli shores. At 1.20 boats are lowered, and the troops -line up on the decks. Then they embark in the flotillas, and steam -pinnaces begin to tow them shorewards in the hazy half-light before -dawn. The Australians destined for Gaba Tepe are carried in destroyers -which take them close in to the shore. - -The operations are timed so that the troops reach the beaches at -daybreak. Slowly and very quietly the boats and destroyers steal -towards the land. A little before 5 an enemy's searchlight flares out. -The boats are now in shallow water under the Gaba Tepe cliffs, and the -men are leaping ashore. Then comes a blaze of rifle-fire from the -Turkish trenches on the beach, and the men who have landed charge them -with the bayonet. The whole cliff seems to leap into light, for -everywhere trenches and caverns have been dug in the slopes. The fire -falls most heavily on the men still in the boats, who have the difficult -task of waiting as the slow minutes bring them shoreward. - -The Australians do not linger. They carry the lines on the beach with -cold steel, and find themselves looking up at a steep cliff a hundred -feet high. In open order they dive into the scrub, and scramble up the -loose yellow rocks. By a fortunate accident their landing is farther -north than was intended, just under the cliffs of Sari Bair. At Gaba -Tepe the long slope would have given the enemy a great advantage in -defence; but here there is only the 40-foot beach and then the cliffs. -He who knows the AEgean in April will remember those fringed sea walls -and bare brown slopes. From a distance they look as arid as the Syrian -desert, but when the traveller draws near he finds a paradise of curious -and beautiful flowers--anemone, grape hyacinth, rock rose, asphodel, and -amaryllis. Up this rock garden the Australians race, among the purple -cistus and the matted creepers and the thickets of myrtle. They have -left their packs at the foot, and scale the bluffs like chamois. It is -an achievement to rank with Wolfe's escalade of the Heights of Abraham. -Presently they are at the top, and come under the main Turkish fire. -But the ground gives good cover, and they set about entrenching the -crest of the cliffs to cover the boats' landing. This is the position -at Sari Bair at 7 a.m. - -As we journey down the coast we come next to Beach Y. There at 7 a.m. -all is going well. The 1st King's Own Scottish Borderers and the -Plymouth battalion of the Naval Division, landing at a place which the -enemy thought wholly impracticable, have without difficulty reached the -top of the cliffs. At Beach X things are even better. The _Swiftsure_ -has plastered the high ground with shells, and the landing ship, the -_Implacable_, has anchored close to the shore in six fathoms of water. -With scarcely a casualty the 2nd Royal Fusiliers have gained the cliff -line. - -[Illustration: The Landing Beaches at Gallipoli.] - -There has been a harder fight at Beach W, between Tekke and Helles, -where the sands are broader. The shore has been trenched throughout, -and wired and mined almost to the water's edge, and in the scrub behind -are hidden the Turkish snipers. Though our ships have bombarded the -shore for three-quarters of an hour, they cannot clear out the enemy, -and do not seem to have made much impression on the wire entanglements. -The first troops have landed to the right under the cliffs of Cape -Helles, and have reached the top, while a party on the left has scaled -Cape Tekke. But the men of the 1st Lancashire Fusiliers who landed on -the shore itself have had a fiery trial. They suffered heavily while -still on the water, and on landing came up against unbroken lines of -wire, while snipers and concealed machine-guns rained death on them. -Here we have had heavy losses, and at 7 a.m. the landing has not yet -succeeded. - -The case is more desperate still at Beach V, under Sedd-el-Bahr. Here, -as at Beach W, there are a stretch of sand, a scrubby valley, and -flanking cliffs. It is the strongest of the Turkish positions, and -troops landing in boats are exposed to every type of converging fire. A -curious expedient has been tried. A collier, the _River Clyde_, with -2,000 men of the 2nd Hampshires, 1st Dublin Fusiliers, and 1st Munster -Fusiliers on board, and eight boat-loads towed by steam pinnaces, -approached close to the shore. The boat-loads--the rest of the Dublin -Fusiliers--suffered horribly, for when they dashed through the shallows -to the beach they were pinned to the ground by fire. Three lines of -wire entanglements had to be forced, and a network of trenches. A bank -of sand, 5 or 6 feet high, runs at the back, and under its cover the -survivors have taken shelter. In the steel side of the ship doors have -been cut, which open and disgorge men into the lighters alongside, like -some new Horse of Troy. But a tornado of shot and shell rained on her, -and of the gallant men who leaped from the lighters to the reef and from -the reef to the sea, very few reached the land. Those who did have -joined their fellows lying flat under the sand-bank on that beach of -death. At Beach S, in Morto Bay, all has gone well. Seven hundred men -of the 2nd South Wales Borderers have been landed from trawlers, and -have established themselves on the cliff tops at the place called De -Totts Battery. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII.* - - *THE LANDING AT GALLIPOLI (*_*continued*_*).* - - -Let us go back to Sari Bair and look at the position at noonday. We are -prospering there, for more than 10,000 men are now ashore, and the work -of disembarking guns and stores goes on steadily, though the fire from -inland is still deadly. We see a proof of it in a boat full of dead men -which rocks idly in the surf. The great warships from the sea send -their heavy shells against the Turkish lines, sea-planes are "spotting" -for them, and wireless stations are being erected on the beach. Firing -from the ships is not easy, for the morning sun shines right in the eyes -of the gunners. The Royal Engineers are making roads up the cliff, and -supplies are climbing steadily to our firing line. On the turf of the -cliff top our men are entrenched, and are working their way forward. - -Unfortunately the zeal of the Australians has outrun their discretion, -and some of them have pushed on too far. They have crossed three ridges, -and have got to a fourth ridge within sight of the Straits. In that -broken country such an advance is certain death, and the rash attack has -been checked with heavy losses. The wounded are being brought in, and -it is no light task getting them down the cliffs on stretchers, and -across the beach and the bullet-splashed sea to the warships. Remember -that we are holding a position which is terribly conspicuous to the -enemy, and all our ammunition and water and food have to be dragged up -these breakneck cliffs. Still, the first round has been won, Indian -troops are being landed in support, and we are firmly placed at Sari -Bair. - -As we move down the coast we find that all goes well at Beach X, and -that the troops there are working their way forward, but that at Beach Y -the Scottish Borderers are being heavily counter-attacked and are making -little progress. The _Implacable_ has knocked out of action a Turkish -battery at Krithia which gave much annoyance to our men at Beach X. At -Beach W we have improved our position. We have cleared the beach and -driven the Turks out of the scrub at the valley foot, and the work of -disembarking men and stores is proceeding. Our right wing--the 4th -Worcesters--is working round by the cliffs above Cape Helles to enfilade -the enemy who are holding Beach V, where our men are still in deadly -jeopardy. - -The scene at Beach V is strange and terrible. From the deep water the -_Cornwallis_ and the _Albion_ are bombarding the enemy at Sedd-el-Bahr, -and the 15-inch shells from the _Queen Elizabeth_ are screaming -overhead. The Trojan Horse is still lying bow on against the reefs, -with her men unable to move, and the Turkish howitzers playing on her. -If a man shows his head he is picked off by sharpshooters. The troops -we have landed lie flat on the beach under cover of the sand ridge, -unable to advance or retreat, and under a steady tornado of fire. At -Beach S things are satisfactory. - -Meantime the French landing at Kum Kale has achieved its purpose. -Originally timed for 6 a.m., it did not take place till 9.30. They had -a skirmish with the Turks, partly on the height at Kum Kale, and partly -on the Trojan plain. Then they advanced along the swell of ground near -the coast as far as Yeni Shehr. Next evening they re-embarked and -joined our right wing at Beach S. They took 500 prisoners, and could -have taken more had there been room for them in the boats. The Turk, -who showed himself a dauntless fighter, surrendered with great -good-humour when the game was up. He had no crusading zeal in the -business. - -As darkness fell on that loud Sabbath, the minds of the Allied Staff may -well have been anxious. We had gained a footing, but no more, and it -was but a precarious lodgment. The complexity and strength of the -enemy's defence far surpassed our expectation. He had tunnelled the -cliffs, and created a wonderful and intricate trench system, which took -full advantage of the natural strength of the ground. The fire from our -leviathans on the deep was no more effective against his entrenched -positions than it had been against the forts of the Straits. - -Let us resume our tour of the beaches about 10 o'clock on the morning of -the 26th. At Sari Bair the Australians are facing a counter-attack. It -lasts for two hours, and is met by a great bombardment from our ships. -The end comes when, about noon, the Australians and New Zealanders -advance with the bayonet, and drive back the enemy. But all that day -there is no rest for our troops, who are perfecting their trenches under -a deluge of shrapnel. Their flanks are indifferently secured, and they -have but the one landing-place behind them, from which their front line -is scarcely 1,000 yards distant. They are still clinging precariously -to the coast scarp. - -At Beach Y things have gone badly. Our men there had advanced during -the Sunday afternoon, and had been outflanked and driven back to the -cliff edge. The Scottish Borderers lost their commanding officer and -more than half their men. It was decided to re-embark and move the -troops to Beach X, and as we pass the retreat is going on successfully -under cover of the ship's fire. At Beach X there has been a hard -struggle. Last night we were strongly attacked there, and driven to the -very edge of the cliffs, where we hung on in rough shelter trenches. -This morning we are advancing again, and making some way. - -At Beach W, too, there has been a counter-attack. Yesterday afternoon -our right wing there, which tried to relieve the position on Beach V by -an enfilading attack on the enemy, got among wire, and was driven back. -During the night the Turks came on in force, and we were compelled to -fling our beach parties into the firing line, bluejackets and sappers -armed with whatever weapons they could find. This morning the situation -is easier, we have landed more troops, and are preparing to move -forward. - -At Beach V the landing is still in its first stage. Men are still -sheltering on the deadly beach behind the sandbank. We have gained some -positions among the ruins which were once Sedd-el-Bahr, but not enough -to allow us to proceed. Even as we look a final effort is beginning, in -which the Dublin Fusiliers and the Munster Fusiliers distinguish -themselves, though it is hard to select any for special praise among the -splendid battalions of the 29th Division. It continues all morning, -most gallantly directed till he fell by Lieutenant-Colonel Doughty-Wylie -of the Headquarters Staff, and about 2 p.m. it is successful. The main -Turkish trenches are carried, the debris of the castle and village are -cleared, and the enemy is in retreat. The landing can now go forward, -and the men, who for thirty-two hours have been huddled behind the -sandbank, enduring torments of thirst and a nerve-racking fire, can move -their cramped limbs and join their comrades. - -By the morning of Tuesday, the 27th, all the beaches--except Beach Y, -which had been relinquished--were in working order, and the advance -could proceed. Next morning it began, and by the evening of the 28th we -had securely won the butt of the peninsula, and our front ran from 3 -miles north-west of Cape Tekke to a mile north of Eski Hissarlik. - -So ended the opening stage of the Gallipoli campaign--the Battle of the -Landing. It was a fight without a precedent. There had been -landings--such as Abercromby's at Aboukir and Wolfe's at the cove west -of Louisburg--fiercely contested landings, in our history, but none on a -scale like this. Sixty thousand men, backed by the most powerful navy -in the world, attacked a shore which nature seemed to have made -impregnable, and which was held by not inferior numbers of the enemy, in -positions prepared for months, and supported by the latest modern -artillery. The mere problem of transport was sufficient to deter the -boldest. Every rule of war was set at nought. On paper the thing was -impossible, as the Turkish army orders announced. According to the -text-books no man should have left the beaches alive. We were fighting -against a gallant enemy who was at his best in defence and in this -unorthodox type of battle. That our audacity succeeded was due to the -unsurpassable fighting quality of our men--the Regulars and Territorials -of the 29th Division, the Naval Division, and not least to the dash and -doggedness of the Australasian corps. The Gallipoli campaign was to end -in failure, but, whatever be our judgment on its policy or its -consequences, the Battle of the Landing must be acclaimed as a -marvellous, an unparalleled feat of arms. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII.* - - *THE DEPARTURE FROM GALLIPOLI.* - - -By September 1915 it was clear that the Gallipoli expedition could not -succeed. All summer the hopeless struggle had continued for the heights -of the peninsula. In July reinforcements arrived, and in August these -new divisions, together with the Anzacs,[#] made an attack, that of the -left wing at Suvla Bay being designed to turn the enemy flank. This -supreme effort failed. There was no chance of further reserves, for the -entry of Bulgaria into the war meant that the Allies must send troops to -Salonika to help Serbia if possible, and in any case to protect the -northern frontier of Greece. Only one course was possible--to get off -the peninsula as best we could. - - -[#] So called from the initial letters of the first Australasian -Corps--"Australian and New Zealand Army Corps." - - -After much discussion it was decided to evacuate the positions at Suvla -and Anzac, and to retain those at Cape Helles. Nearly everybody -concerned in the matter assumed that this would entail a heavy loss. -Many estimated it at 15 per cent., and the most hopeful were prepared -for the loss of at least one division. An embarkation in the face of -the enemy had always meant a stiff rearguard fight and many casualties. - -On the 8th December Sir Charles Monro, who was then in command of the -British troops in the AEgean, issued orders for evacuation. The -difficulties were enormous. It was a question of embarking not a -division or two, but three army corps; it was impossible to move them -all at once with the available transports; there must be a gap between -the operations, and this meant that the enemy would probably be -forewarned of the later movements. Moreover, a lengthy embarkation put -us terribly at the mercy of the winter weather. Even a mild wind from -the south or south-west raised a swell that made communication with the -beaches precarious. - -The plan was to move the war material, including the heavy guns, by -instalments during a period of ten days, working only at night. A large -portion of the troops would also be got off during these days, certain -picked battalions being left to the last. Everything was to be kept -normal during the daylight, and every morning before daybreak the -results of the night's work must be hidden. Success depended upon two -things mainly--fine weather and secrecy. - -From the 8th December onward the troops, night after night, watched the -shrinkage of their numbers. There was a generous rivalry as to who -should stay till the last--a proof of spirit, when we remember that -every man believed that the rearguard was doomed to death or capture. -Soon only those in the prime of health and strength were left; all the -weak and sickly had gone aboard the transports, which nightly stole in -and out of the moonlit bays. Soon the heavy batteries had gone. Then -the field guns began to disappear, leaving only enough to keep up the -daily pretence of bombardment. It was an eerie business for the last -battalions as they heard their protecting guns rumbling shoreward in the -darkness. Then the horses and motor-cars were also shipped, and by -Friday, the 17th December, very few guns were left. To the Turkish -observers the piles of boxes on the beaches looked as if fresh supplies -had been landed and we were preparing to hold the place indefinitely. - -The weather was warm and clement, with light moist winds and a -low-hanging screen of cloud. Coming in the midst of an AEgean winter it -seemed to our men a direct interposition of Providence. It was like the -land beyond the North Wind, which Elizabethan mariners believed in, -where he who pierced the outer crust of the Polar snows found a country -of roses and eternal summer. No fisherman ever studied the weather -signs more anxiously than did the British commanders during these days. -Hearts sank when the wind looked like moving to the west. But the -weather held, and when the days fixed for the final embarkation arrived, -the wind was still favourable, skies were clear, and the moon was -approaching its full. Nature had joined the daring conspiracy. - -On Saturday, the 18th December, only a few picked battalions held the -Suvla front. The final embarkation had been fixed for the two -succeeding nights. The evening fell in a perfect calm. The sea was -still as a mill-pond, and scarcely a breath of wind blew in the sky. -Moreover, a light blue mist clothed all the plain of Suvla, and a haze -shrouded the moon. At 6 p.m. the crews of the warships went to action -stations, and in the darkness the transports stole into the bay. Not a -shot was fired. In dead quiet, showing no lights, the transports moved -in and out. Every unit found its proper place. By 1 a.m. on the -morning of Sunday, the 19th, the bay lay empty in the moonlight. - -That Sunday was one of the most curious in the war. Our lines looked -exactly as they had done during the past four months. We kept up our -usual fire and received the Turkish answer, but had any body of the -enemy chosen to attack they would have found the trenches held by a mere -handful. There were 20,000 Turks on the Suvla and Anzac fronts, and -60,000 in immediate reserve. Had they known it, they had before them -the grand opportunity of the campaign. Night again fell with the same -halcyon weather. The transports--destroyers, trawlers, picket boats, -every kind of craft--slipped once again into the bay, and before -midnight the last guns had been got on board. By 3.30 a.m. the last of -the troops were on the beach, and long before the dawn broke all were -aboard. One man had been hit in the thigh by a bullet, but that was the -only casualty. - -[Illustration: Evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula.] - -The operations at Anzac were conducted on the same lines. The beaches -at Suvla were 5 miles from the enemy and open to observation; at Anzac, -in places they were less than 2 miles distant, but were concealed from -view under the steep seaward bluffs. Some of our gun positions there -were on dizzy heights, down which a gun could only be brought part by -part. The work was brilliantly performed. On the Saturday night -three-fifths of the entire force were got on board the transports. On -Sunday night the rest were embarked, with two men wounded as the total -casualties. By 5.30 a.m. on Monday morning the last transports moved -away from the coast, leaving the warships to follow. - -Then on the 12 miles of beach, from Suvla Burnu to Gaba Tepe, there was -seen one of the strangest spectacles of the campaign. The useless -stores left behind had been piled in great heaps on the shores and -drenched with petrol. Before the last men left parties of Royal -Engineers set time fuses. About 4 a.m. on the Monday morning the fires -were alight, blazing most fiercely near Suvla Point. As the beach fires -flared up, the enemy, thinking some disaster had befallen us, shelled -the place to prevent us extinguishing the flames. The warships shelled -back, and all along that broken coast great pillars of fire flared to -heaven like giant beacons in some strife of the Immortals. Up to 8 -o'clock picket boats were still collecting stragglers; by 9 a.m. all was -over, and the last warship steamed away from the coast which had been -the grave of so many high hopes and so many gallant men. - -We were just in time. That night the weather broke, and a furious gale -blew from the south which would have made embarkation impossible. Rain -fell in sheets and quenched the fires, and soon every trench at Suvla -and Anzac was a torrent. Great seas washed away the landing stages. -The puzzled enemy sat still and waited. He saw that we had gone, but he -distrusted the evidence of his eyes. History does not tell what fate -befell the first Turks who penetrated into our empty trenches, or what -heel first tried conclusions with the hidden mines. - -The success--the amazing success--of the Suvla and Anzac evacuation made -the position at Cape Helles more difficult. No one believed that a -similar performance would be possible there after the enemy had been so -fully warned; but on the 27th December it was decided to evacuate -Helles, and the work went on during the last days of the month and the -first week of the new year. On Friday, January 7, 1916, there was a -Turkish attack, which the few men remaining managed to repel. Next day, -Saturday, the 8th, was calm and fine, and all was ready for the final -effort. - -About 4 o'clock in the afternoon the weather changed. A strong -south-westerly wind blew up; by 11 p.m. it increased to a gale of 35 -miles an hour. This storm covered our movements from the enemy, but it -nearly made retirement impossible. On some beaches the piers were -washed away and no troops could be embarked. Nevertheless by 3.30 the -last men were on board. - -All night the Turks gave no sign, but when the transports had moved off -the stores left behind were fired simultaneously by time fuses. Red -lights instantly burned along the enemy lines, and a bombardment began -which continued till sunrise. The Turks proclaimed that the retreat had -been attended with desperate losses and great captures of guns. The -claim was an absurd falsehood. We blew up and left behind the ruins of -seventeen old worn-out pieces. Our total casualties at Helles amounted -to one man wounded. - -To avoid the disastrous consequences of a defeat is, as a military -operation, usually more difficult than to win a victory. There is less -chance of the high spirit of the attack, for such is the generosity of -the human spirit that safety is less of an incentive to effort than the -hope of victory. To embark so great an army secretly and without loss -in mid-winter was an extraordinary achievement. It was made possible -only by an almost miraculous series of favourable chances, and by the -perfect organization and discipline of our men. We had failed at -Gallipoli, but we had escaped the worst costs of failure. We had -defeated the calculations of the enemy and upset every precedent. - -Across the ribbon of the Dardanelles, on the green plain of Troy, the -most famous war of the ancient world had been fought. The European -shores had now become a no less classic ground of arms. If the banks of -Scamander had seen men strive desperately with fate, so had the heights -of Achi Baba and the loud beaches of Helles. Had the fashion continued -of linking the gods with the strife of mankind, what strange myth might -not have sprung from this rescue of the British troops in the teeth of -winter gales and uncertain seas I It would have been rumoured, as of old -at Troy, that Poseidon had done battle for his children. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX.* - - *THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.* - - -At the outset of the war the conquest of Egypt was an important aim of -the Turkish Government and their German masters. But early in 1915 the -Turkish invasion was scattered on the banks of the Suez Canal, and hopes -of an easy victory were shattered. Nevertheless, the defence of Egypt -remained an anxious problem for Britain. That country was the base both -for Gallipoli and for Mesopotamia, and moreover, as Moltke pointed out -long before, was the key of Britain's Eastern possessions. It was soon -realized that Egypt could not be properly defended on the Canal, but -only on the Palestine frontier, beyond the Sinai Desert. - -During 1915 and 1916 Turkey and Germany projected many schemes for an -Egyptian invasion, and the British generals in Egypt were no less busy. -If the war was to be carried into Palestine railways and water pipes -must be laid across the desert. Slowly the British front crept -eastward. The Turks were defeated in various desert battles, and in the -spring of 1917 the British army crossed the frontier of Palestine. - -The British purpose had somewhat changed. The offensive had been -substituted for the defensive. So far as possible it was desired to do -in Palestine what Sir Stanley Maude was doing in Mesopotamia--to pin -down large Turkish forces, and so alarm Turkey about the safety of -certain key points in her territory that she would demand aid from -Germany and thus confuse the plans of the German General Staff. - -The land from the Wadi el Arish--the ancient "River of Egypt"--to the -Philistian Plain had for 2,600 years been a cockpit of war. Sometimes a -conqueror from the north or the south met the enemy in Egypt or in -Syria, but more often the decisive fight was fought in the gates. Up -and down the strip of seaward levels marched the great armies of Egypt -and Assyria, while the Jews looked fearfully down from their barren -hills. In the Philistian Plain Sennacherib smote the Egyptian hosts in -the days of King Hezekiah, only to see his army melt away under the -stroke of the "angel of the Lord." At Rafa Esarhaddon defeated Pharaoh, -and added Egypt and Ethiopia to his kingdoms. At Megiddo, or -Armageddon, Josiah was vanquished by Pharaoh Necho, who in turn was -routed by Nebuchadnezzar. At Ascalon, during the Crusades, Godfrey of -Bouillon defeated the Egyptians, and 150 years later that town fell to -the Mameluke Sultan after the battle of Gaza. In this gate of ancient -feuds it now fell to Turkey's lot to speak with her enemies. - -But at first the British advance was checked. In March and April 1917 -two battles were fought at Gaza--two frontal attacks which failed. -During the summer Sir Edmund Allenby was appointed to the chief command, -and slowly and patiently he perfected his plans. He saw that a direct -attack on Gaza was likely to fail, but far to the east he observed a -weak point in the enemy front where the town of Beersheba constituted a -detached and separate defensive system. If Beersheba could be taken, -the whole Gaza position could be turned on the flank. - -Beersheba was duly taken at the end of October 1917, and on the 7th -November Gaza followed. The enemy suffered severely, and was in full -retreat, almost in flight. Sir Edmund Allenby's objective was now -Jerusalem, and his problem was less one of manoeuvres than of supply. -His troops would advance just as fast as water and food could be brought -up behind them. - -[Illustration: FIELD-MARSHAL SIR EDMUND ALLENBY -(VISCOUNT ALLENBY OF MEGIDDO).] - -The advance was made in two main directions--one from Hebron due north -towards Bethlehem; the other by the coastal plain, aiming at the -junction where the Jerusalem railway joined the main line to Damascus. -The Turkish army was split into two parts, retreating in different -directions. Though Enver came from Constantinople and Falkenhayn from -Aleppo it was difficult for them to devise a defence. Allenby seized -Jaffa, and then swung eastward into the Judaean highlands. Now the -progress became slow, while squalid little villages, whose names are -famous throughout the whole Christian world, fell to the British troops. -On the 30th November the British line had the shape of a sickle, with -the centre of the curve flung far forward towards Jerusalem, and it was -necessary to bring up the handle, which consisted of the cavalry and -infantry which were at Hebron. By the 7th these had taken Bethlehem, and -by the 8th British troops were before Jerusalem on the south and west, -and within a mile and a half of its walls. - -The Turkish garrison did not await the attack. In the night preceding -Sunday, the 9th December, the day of the festival of the Hanookah, which -commemorates the recapture of the Temple by Judas Maccabaeus, -detachments of broken Turkish soldiers poured in at the western or Jaffa -Gate, while an outgoing stream flowed eastward across the valley of -Jehoshaphat. Early in the morning the enemy sent out a white flag of -surrender, and before noon British patrols were in the city. - -Two days later Sir Edmund Allenby entered by the Jaffa Gate. Close by -was the breach made in the walls to admit the German Emperor when he -made his foolish pilgrimage in 1898. Far different was the entry of the -British general. It was a clear, bright day, and the streets and -housetops were thronged with black-coated, tarbushed Syrians and -Levantines, picturesquely-clad peasants from the near villages, and -Arabs from the fringes of the desert. There was no display of bunting -and no bell-ringing or firing of salutes. On foot, accompanied only by -his Staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detachments, and the -military attaches of France, Italy, and the United States, he was -received by the newly appointed Military Governor of the city, and a -guard representing all the nationalities engaged in the campaign. He -turned to the right into the Mount Zion quarter, and at the Citadel, at -the base of the ancient Tower of David, his proclamation was read to the -people. - -Then he quietly left the city. Yet no conqueror had ever entered it -with more prestige. For centuries there had been current an Arab -prophecy that a deliverer should come from the West, and in 1898 the -people of Palestine had asked if the Kaiser was indeed the man. But the -prophecy foretold that such would not be the manner of his coming, for -the true saviour would bear the name of a Prophet of God, and would -enter Jerusalem on foot, and that he would not appear till the Nile -flowed into Palestine. To the peasants of Judaea the prophecy now -seemed to be fulfilled, for the name of the English general was in -Arabic "the Prophet," and his men had come into the land bringing with -them the waters of Egypt. - - - - - *CHAPTER XX.* - - *ALLENBY'S GREAT DRIVE.* - - -The capture of Jerusalem on December 9, 1917, left a curious military -situation. The Turkish army was split into two parts, with its right -wing north-east of Jaffa and its left to the north and east of -Jerusalem, and between these lay a patch of rocky country without -communications. Clearly the next step for Allenby was to cross to the -east of the Jordan and cut the Hedjaz railway, with the assistance of -the Arab army from the south. If traffic on this railway were -interrupted the Turkish forces in Arabia would be at his mercy. - -But first he had to secure his advanced bases at Jaffa and Jerusalem. -This work was done before the close of the year. He then turned his -attention to safeguarding his right flank by driving the enemy beyond -the Jordan. Jericho fell to the Australians on the 1st February, and -the move eastward across the river began. It proved, however, -unexpectedly difficult. The promised Arab assistance was not -forthcoming in time, and early in May the British troops, except for a -bridge-head garrison, were again on the west side of Jordan. Allenby for -a time was compelled to hold his hand. The grave situation in France -made it necessary for him to reorganize his forces, for all white troops -that could be spared were ordered to the Western front. In their place -he received cavalry and infantry from Mesopotamia and India. - -We come now to what must rank as one of the most dramatic tales in the -whole campaign--an exploit undertaken at the precise moment when its -chances were brightest and its influence on the general strategy of the -war most vital--an exploit, moreover, which was perfectly planned, -perfectly executed, and overwhelming in its success. The little -campaign which began three years before on the banks of the Suez Canal -had grown slowly to a major operation. In face of every difficulty the -Allies had crept forward, first across the Sinai Desert, then, after -long delays, through the Turkish defences of the south, and then in a -bold sweep to the gates of the Holy City. - -This campaign had always been fought with only the margin of strength -which could be spared from the greater contests in the West. But it had -moved patiently to its appointed end, for it was carried on in the true -tradition of those dogged earlier wars of Britain which had created her -Empire. Our feet might be stayed for a season, or even retire, but in -the long run they always moved forward. The Last Crusade was now -approaching its climax, and the Crusaders were such as would have -startled the souls of St. Louis and Raymond and Richard of England, -could they have beheld that amazing army. For only a modest portion of -it was drawn from the Western peoples. Algerian and Indian Moslems, -Arab tribesmen, men of the thousand creeds of Hindustan, African -negroes, and Jewish battalions were among the liberators of the sacred -land of Christendom. - -In September 1918 the Turkish armies of Syria held a front from the -coast north of Jaffa through the hills of Ephraim to a point half-way -between Nablus and Jerusalem, and thence to the Jordan, and down its -eastern bank to the Dead Sea. On the right lay the VIIIth Turkish Army, -in the centre the VIIth, and east of Jordan the IVth. Far on their left -flank they were threatened by the Arabs under Sherif Feisal and Colonel -T. E. Lawrence. Allenby's plan was to defeat the enemy west of Jordan, -and so either to isolate or compel the retreat of the IVth Army. The -communications of the Turkish centre and right wing were poor, and if -their front could be broken and our cavalry sent through, it was -possible that these might be cut. Allenby therefore thinned his front -elsewhere, and concentrated his main energies on breaking up the VIIIth -Army in the Plain of Sharon, and thus opening the route for his cavalry. - -At 4.30 on the morning of the 19th September British cavalry attacked -and won an immediate victory, sweeping through the enemy's defences in -the Plain of Sharon. The VIIIth Army was in utter rout, pouring along -the northern roads, while the main body of our cavalry was riding for -Esdraelon to cut them off. That night the VIIth Turkish Army was also -pressed back in the centre. By noon that day the leading troops of our -cavalry were 18 miles north of their old front line; that afternoon they -were through the barrier of the Samarian hills; and early next morning -they reached Nazareth, and all but captured the German -commander-in-chief. On the night of the 20th one cavalry division -reached Beisan, 80 miles from their starting point, and so shut the last -outlet from the south. In thirty-six hours the trap had been closed. -Every track and road was choked with the rout. Camps and depots were in -flames, and our airmen steadily bombarded each section of the retreat. - -There now remained only the IVth Army, east of the Jordan. Till the -third day of the battle it had shown no signs of moving, but on the -morning of the 23rd it began a leisurely retreat. Meantime the British -had joined hands with Feisal's Arabs, and pressed the fugitives along -the Hedjaz railway. The game was now wholly in Allenby's hands. His -next step was to move on Damascus, and so intercept what was left of the -IVth Army in its northward flight. On the afternoon of the 25th, the -4th Cavalry Division moved out of Beisan on its 120 miles' ride, and the -Australian Mounted Division followed next day by the northern route. On -the 30th British cavalry lay 12 miles south-west of Damascus, and all -the northern and north-western exits had been closed. At 6 o'clock on -the morning of the 1st October the British and Arabs entered the city. - -[Illustration: Palestine--the Decisive Battle.] - -It was the twelfth day from the opening of the attack. Three Turkish -armies had melted away, over 60,000 prisoners and between 300 and 400 -guns were in Allenby's hands, and the dash for Damascus had destroyed -the faintest possibility of an enemy stand. All that remained was a mob -of 17,000 Turks and Germans, fleeing north without discipline or -purpose. - -Of the many brilliant episodes of those marvellous twelve days, perhaps -the most brilliant was the converging movement of the British Desert -Corps and Feisal's Arabs on the most ancient of the world's cities. -Damascus had been an emporium when Tyre was young, and she was still a -mighty city centuries after Tyre had become a shadow. Rich in holy -places, she had one shrine of peculiar interest for this last crusade. -Within her walls lay the tomb of Saladin, the greatest of those who -fought in Palestine in the battle of Asia against Europe. One of -Feisal's first acts was to remove the tawdry bronze wreath with which -the German Emperor in 1898 had seen fit to adorn the sleeping-place of -the great Sultan. - -Allenby did not rest upon his laurels. On the 8th he was in Beirut, on -the 11th in Baalbek. The next and last stage was Aleppo, that mart -through which in the Middle Ages the wealth of Asia flowed to Venice and -the West. A cavalry division went forward, and on the 26th October -entered the town. Patrols advanced 15 miles farther, and occupied -Muslimie railway junction. This last was a fitting conclusion to a -great exploit, for it meant the cutting of the Bagdad railway, the line -which was to link Berlin with the Persian Gulf and threaten our Indian -Empire. Four days later Turkey signed the Armistice which was her -surrender. Bulgaria had already laid down her arms, Austria was on the -eve of collapse, and Germany was left without allies, and with her front -crumbling before Foch and Haig. - - - - - *PART IV.* - - *THE SILENT SERVICE.* - - - *CHAPTER XXI.* - - *THE SILENT SERVICE.* - - -The British Navy earned during the war the title of "The Silent -Service," and the phrase needs a word of comment, for it is full of -meaning. There has always been a feeling in the Service that sea-power -is the one thing vitally necessary to the safety of the Empire, and that -so long as this is being maintained the less talk about it the better; -for where the life of nations is daily and hourly in trust, all -advertisement is unworthy and all description inadequate. Then the -Great War came, and the landsmen, who form the bulk of our people all -over the world, naturally wished to know how the Sea Service was -handling the affair; but the rule of silence still held. For the Navy, -besides their old tradition, had now the reason of policy on their side; -operations at sea can be, and must be, kept secret to a degree which is -not possible in a land campaign. To inform the public at home would be -to take the chance of being overheard by the enemy. - -Moreover the work of the Navy is so multifarious, so technical, and so -far-sighted in its aims, that by far the greater part of it would always -be difficult to grasp. The ordinary news-reading citizen must be -content to judge of it by its results, and he is not always capable of -doing even that. Neither in this country, nor in the Dominions overseas, -still less in the outer world, has the supreme importance or the -decisive achievement of our naval Service been realized. Yet to those -who understand, the influence of sea-power on history has never been so -conclusively demonstrated. In this war, as in the war of a hundred -years before, it was from first to last our ships that lay between a -military despot and the domination of the world. - -To prove this it is only necessary to make a plain statement of the -tasks which the British Navy had to undertake in August 1914, to mark -the fact that a failure in any one of them would have involved the ruin -of the Allied cause; and to remember that no such failure occurred. The -gigantic scope of the effort may then be seen; but even then only by -those whose vision is wide enough to survey the whole world at once as -one vast field of conflict. - -First, then, our Fleet undertook to blockade the enemy; to drive his -commerce from the seas; to stop his sea-borne supplies, especially -foodstuffs, cotton--the raw material of explosives--and munitions of all -kinds; also to disable his credit by the stoppage of his export trade. - -Secondly, the protection of our own commerce necessitated the control of -all the seas of the world. The Atlantic was our main avenue of supply, -but we had also to maintain and guard the routes to and from Australia, -New Zealand, India, and China; and a Northern Patrol was necessary to -ensure the passage from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the north of -Russia. - -Thirdly, the enemy's main naval force had to be put out of action: that -is to say, the North Sea must be effectively controlled by a Grand Fleet -capable of dealing with the German High Sea Fleet. - -Fourthly, the transfer of enemy troops across the sea must be made -impossible; and, in particular, strong flotillas and secondary fleets -must be maintained on our own coasts as a guard against possible -attempts at invasion. - -[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR JOHN JELLICOE -(VISCOUNT JELLICOE OF SCAPA).] - -Fifthly, the transport of our own troops and of those of our Allies must -be covered from attack. Under this head alone there were included -before the end a number of simultaneous operations entirely beyond -example in the history of war. An army of some six millions was passed -oversea from the British Isles, from India, from Australia, and New -Zealand (and at last more millions from America) to France, to India, to -Africa (East and West), to Egypt and Palestine, to Gallipoli and -Salonika. - -Sixthly, the supplies to all these forces, and to most of them -simultaneously, had to be maintained for more than four full years and -on a scale hitherto unimagined. - -Seventhly, in several campaigns the Navy had to co-operate in the -military operations, notably in Gallipoli, in battles near the Belgian -coast, and in the attack on the fortified harbour of Zeebrugge. - -These seven heads cover every recognized department of naval war; but it -must be added that when this latest war changed its character and became -an unrestricted submarine campaign, new developments were necessary and -were immediately carried out. Under the second and third of the above -headings, an entirely new fleet of mine-sweepers, trawlers, and -anti-submarine patrols had to be provided, manned, and equipped, to -secure the safety both of our ships of war and of our mercantile marine. - -It will be seen that these tasks, taken altogether, formed a work of -which only one Power in the world was capable; while taken separately -they appear plainly as seven threads upon every one of which the fate of -the common cause depended absolutely. The effort of the Allies in this -war was distinguished first by the early heroism of the Belgian, -Serbian, and Russian troops; then by the long and desperate endurance of -the French, British, and Italian armies; finally, it was reinforced by -the large contingent of late-comers from America, and carried to victory -by the supreme genius of Foch. But behind and beneath all these lay -another force, scarcely thought of at the time, and since almost -forgotten, though to it they all owed the very possibility of their -military existence. During those four years the British Fleet never -ceased to carry great armies over sea; to sweep every ocean clean, and -guard the territories along their shores; to shut up the hostile Empire -within an impassable barrier. In a word, it retained every day and -every night, from the first hour of the war to the last, that control -which was the most vital condition of success. - -In so doing it suffered some losses and achieved stirring successes, of -which one or two are related in the pages which follow. But it must -always be remembered that these are but incidents; the business of the -British Navy is the right use of the sea, and not conquest or display. -For it, therefore, victory is not the affair of a day here or a day -there, however rousing to the blood: it lies rather in what is neither -spectacular nor resounding--in the monotonous but manifold perfection of -an indispensable service. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII.* - - *CORONEL.* - - -The battle of Coronel will always have a peculiar interest for us: there -is a mystery about it which can never be finally cleared up. At the -outbreak of war a British admiral, Sir Christopher Cradock, was in -charge of a large and important area off the coast of South America. It -was his business to keep this area clear of the enemy squadron under -Admiral Graf von Spee, which was much stronger than his own, but was -believed to be scattered on the trade routes. In the end Cradock found -the enemy squadron united and in much superior force. He instantly -attacked, and went down in the action, with two of his ships. - -The problem is to ascertain what were his motives for this swift -decision to fight against overwhelming odds. Not a man in the flagship -survived, and we must do the best with what evidence we have before us. -We know the admiral's general idea of the work he had to do; we know -what his instructions were, what force he asked for and what was given -him; we know the speed and gun-power of the enemy ships, and what he as -an experienced commander must have thought of them. Finally, we know -the nature of the choice which was open to him; and in face of all this -the mystery remains. - -The key to it probably lies in the character of the man who had to make -the decision; and from this point of view the story is a fine one. -While every one is free to form an opinion on the facts, the judgment of -those who knew Cradock best is the simplest and the most favourable one. -A certain margin of discretion must be allowed to every admiral in time -of war; and at the moment of crisis a man of powerful character and -vision may go even further, and take the great responsibility of -departing from the line of strict obedience to orders. To Cradock's -friends it seems clear that he saw himself and his squadron as -representing the prestige of his country in combat with a superior force -which might be disabled, if it could not be destroyed; he saw that duty -might be fulfilled, and honour and success attained, though victory -should be impossible. So he hunted his great enemy both skilfully and -fearlessly, but relied at a pinch rather on courage than on caution. - -From the outbreak of war the German China Squadron, as we now know, was -never wholly dispersed: Spee detached ships from time to time to the -coast of South America, but remained himself with the strongest part of -his force in the Pacific, where he was heard of only at intervals. He -might possibly be intending to go westwards and raid the Indian Ocean, -as the _Emden_ actually did. He moved, in fact, on Samoa, but when he -arrived there on September 14, 1914, he found Apia already safe in the -hands of the New Zealanders, and not a ship in the harbour. He left -again for Suvarov Island, coaled in the Society Islands, bombarded the -French capital Papiete on the 22nd September, and appeared to be making -for South America; he might be thinking of a dash through the Magellan -Straits to attack our trade on the eastern coast. - -The British Admiralty knew the danger of this. Spee's two principal -ships--the _Scharnhorst_ and the _Gneisenau_--were fast ships and well -armed, with prize gunnery crews. To hunt them satisfactorily a pair of -battle-cruisers were required, and these could not well be spared from -the Grand Fleet. The _Indefatigable_ was therefore ordered out from the -Mediterranean, with the fast cruiser _Defence_; but the Cabinet refused -to spare the _Indefatigable_, and the _Canopus_, an old and slow -battleship, with 12-inch guns, was sent, with the _Defence_ to follow. -Admiral Cradock was ordered to concentrate meanwhile at the Falkland -Islands, with his flagship, the _Good Hope_, the cruisers _Monmouth_ and -_Glasgow_, and some ships of inferior armament. - -The _Canopus_ was a whole week late in arriving. Cradock was most -anxious to prevent Spee from coming round the Horn to raid the east -coast, and he feared that if he kept the old 12-knot battleship with him -he might be too late to bar the enemy's passage. In this crisis he took -his first great risk: he sent the _Canopus_ by the shorter way, through -Magellan's Straits, and took the weaker ships boldly round the Horn. -Spee, however, was not in the south; he had spent six days in -concentrating at Easter Island, and was at this moment making for the -island of Mas-a-Fuera, 500 miles west of Valparaiso. - -Cradock now had the _Canopus_ with him again. His instructions were -that he was not expected to act without her; but her slow speed -continued to hamper him in carrying out his definite orders to search -for the enemy and destroy them. He accordingly ordered the _Defence_ to -join him from the east coast, where she had been sent by the Admiralty, -and went north in the meantime to find the cruiser _Leipzig_, which was -believed to be in front of him, operating alone. Unfortunately the -_Canopus_ was once more in need of repairs, and had to be left behind -for twenty-four hours. - -[Illustration: Battle of Coronel.] - -The two squadrons, British and German, were now, without knowing it, in -the act of converging upon one another. Each admiral believed himself to -be in pursuit of a single ship, for, while Cradock was after the -_Leipzig_, Spee was in chase of the _Glasgow_ (Captain Luce), who had -been sent on to Coronel on the west coast with a message. The force of -the opponents was as follows: Admiral von Spee had two powerful ships, -the _Scharnhorst_ (flagship) and the _Gneisenau_, each of 11,420 tons, -armed with eight 8-inch and six 6-inch guns; and their gunners were of -high repute. His other ships, the _Leipzig_, _Dresden_, and -_Nuernberg_, were light cruisers, each carrying ten 4-inch guns. -Against these Cradock had the _Good Hope_, a twelve-year-old cruiser of -14,000 tons, armed with two 9.2-inch guns; the cruiser _Monmouth_, with -6-inch guns only; the _Glasgow_, a light fast cruiser, with two 6-inch -and ten 4-inch guns, and the auxiliary cruiser _Otranto_, which was not -sufficiently armed to take part in an action. He knew, as well as any -one living, what was the meaning of these figures, and he must have been -hoping that the _Canopus_, with her 12-inch guns, would rejoin him -before he met his enemy. - -The _Glasgow_ despatched her message from Coronel, and at 2.30 p.m. on -the 1st November she rejoined her squadron. Cradock was still steaming -north when, at 4.40, she sighted and reported to him the _Scharnhorst_, -_Gneisenau_, and _Leipzig_, visible to the east. He had found the ship -he was chasing, but he had found her in company with her powerful -consorts; and the _Dresden_ and the _Nuernberg_ were, in fact, also -present, though they were not yet in sight. - -Cradock had but a few minutes in which to make his decision. Was he to -fight or run? Even the three enemy ships which were in sight were more -than a match for his own. His two big guns might make a few lucky hits, -but they could not keep down the fire of eight times their number, laid -by prize gunners with the choice of range and position. To fight was -highly dangerous; yet the alternative evidently looked to him still less -attractive. The enemy was nearly due east; the _Canopus_ was coming up -slowly from the south, 250 miles away; if he were to turn and run he -might be able to join her in nine hours or even in eight. But Spee had -the position of advantage inshore; he would be racing down the shorter -side of the triangle, and with his 23 knots could overtake the -_Monmouth_ for certain, and possibly cut in between the others and the -_Canopus_. During the chase he would have a fighting light for three -hours, and after that a moonlight equally to his advantage. - -We cannot tell whether Cradock weighed these considerations anxiously, -or whether he instinctively felt that the tradition of the Navy would be -more injured by his flight than by his own defeat and death. He does -not seem to have hesitated. At 5.10 p.m. he signalled to his squadron -to concentrate on the _Glasgow_--the ship nearest the enemy--and -attempted to cross Spee's line so as to gain the inshore position. The -German admiral, however, kept away successfully, and at 6.18 Cradock -made a wireless signal to the _Canopus_, giving his position, and -adding, "I am going to attack enemy now." - -At 7 o'clock the sun set, and Spee, having now every advantage of light, -opened fire at 12,000 yards. The _Good Hope_ in reply made a hit or -two, but her forward 9.2 gun was soon knocked out, and the ship set on -fire. The _Monmouth_ was also burning within three minutes. The -_Glasgow_ was engaged by both the _Leipzig_ and the _Dresden_, but was -saved by the German smoke which drifted towards her. With the sunset -glow behind them, our ships were a fair target, while the British -gunners could no longer see anything but the flash of the enemy's guns. -Both the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ were continually on fire, and at -7.45 the flagship blew up with an explosion which sent up flames 200 -feet high. By 8 o'clock the _Monmouth_ too was silenced and sinking in -the heavy seas; as the moon rose the German ships could just be seen -closing on her. - -Captain Luce, left alone with the _Glasgow_ and the _Otranto_, had now -to face the most painful duty of his life. His ship had been hit by -only five shells out of the six hundred aimed at her, and he was in a -position to make use of her superior speed by going to warn the -_Canopus_ of the danger towards which she was heading. He steered -north-west into the darkness, intending to turn south as soon as he was -out of sight. The _Monmouth's_ men were all crowded on her quarterdeck, -and they cheered the _Glasgow_ as they saw her going away--a cheer that -should never be forgotten when the tale is told. At 9.20 firing was -heard again, and from the _Glasgow_ seventy-five flashes were -counted--"No doubt," says Captain Luce, "the final attack on the -_Monmouth_." She went down, like the _Good Hope_, with all hands. - -So ended Cradock's forlorn hope, and the mystery of it will remain with -us. One thing is certain, that whatever was the motive for his -decision, it could not have been a discreditable one--a man does not -fling away his command, his professional chances, and his own life out -of sheer recklessness. We may safely infer, then, that Cradock was -attempting the best that was possible for his country at the hazard of -everything that he valued most. For this he took the final -responsibility of disobeying his orders; and for this he paid the full -price. It is difficult to think him wrong, and not difficult to hold -him justified. He gave something to the enemy, but far more to his own -Service. When darkness fell on Coronel, Spee's triumph had but -thirty-seven days to run. The tradition of Cradock's unflinching -devotion will last as long as the British Navy; and it is by such -traditions that sea power is built and sustained. Naval supremacy will -never be won or kept by the consistent refusal of unequal fights. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII.* - - *THE FALKLANDS.* - - -News of Coronel was received by the Admiralty on the 4th November; it -was given to the public unofficially on the 5th and officially on the -17th. By that time the counterstroke had been not only prepared, but -launched. Speed and secrecy were an urgent necessity, for the Falkland -Islands, a valuable coaling-station with a wireless installation and a -fine double harbour, were certain to be in danger from the victorious -enemy. The population numbered only 2,000, mostly Scottish shepherds, -and the inhabitants of the capital, Port Stanley, proposed to abandon -the town and take refuge on the moors. But on the 8th November the -_Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_ ran in on their way north, and on the 12th -the _Canopus_ returned with orders to remain and defend the -coaling-station. Captain Grant grounded his ship on the harbour mud, -disguised her by dazzle-painting, and made her into a fort. The work -took three weeks. - -In the meantime the new Board of Admiralty were taking action on the -plan originally proposed by their predecessors. The Grand Fleet had now -been reinforced, and could spare the battle-cruisers _Invincible_ and -_Inflexible_. These two ships came round to Devonport on the 8th -November for repairs. On the 9th Admiral Sturdee was appointed -Commander-in-Chief in the South Atlantic and Pacific--from Pernambuco to -China. The service in hand demanded perfect secrecy and perfect -efficiency: a sudden and irresistible counterstroke was to be delivered, -and the two principal ships were to be returned immediately with -unimpaired fighting value. It was a mission offering unique powers and -responsibilities. - -The admiral had all the qualities necessary for success and one gift -more--that of complete and invariable good fortune. He was to -concentrate either off the Panama Canal or the islets known as the -Abrolhos Rocks far down towards Rio, according as he could best guess at -Spee's intentions. He guessed right, and chose the latter rendezvous, -where, on the 26th, he met Admiral Stoddart with the _Carnarvon_, -_Cornwall_, _Defence_, _Kent_, _Bristol_, and _Orama_. - -[Illustration: Battle of the Falkland Islands--December 8. -First Phase--8 a.m.] - -On the same day, as it happened, Spee was moving south from St. Quentin -Bay for an attack upon the Falklands, and Sturdee was receiving final -orders to base himself upon the Falklands and search for Spee round the -Horn. The meeting was therefore certain; but the fate of Port Stanley -depended on the race between the two opposing squadrons. Fortune again -favoured Sturdee: he was delayed at first by false reports, but Spee -lost four full days in capturing and plundering a British collier. When -he appeared off the Falklands in the early morning of the 8th December, -Sturdee had already been nearly eighteen hours in harbour, and his ships -had been busily coaling all night. - -When Spee was sighted from Port Stanley his arrival was a surprise to -the British squadron. The battle-cruisers had not yet received their -full supply of coal. But their oil supply was untouched, and by the -admiral's foresight steam had been ordered at half an hour's notice for -the _Kent_ and the _Inflexible_, and at two hours' for the rest. The -signal to prepare to weigh and to raise steam was made at 8.14 a.m. The -_Gneisenau_ and the _Nuernberg_, after sheering off at a couple of -salvos from the _Canopus_, came on again at 9.30 to attack the _Kent_ -and the _Glasgow_, who were already on guard outside the harbour. The -German ships were immediately recalled--their admiral may not have known -yet that the battle-cruisers were there; but the report he received -convinced him that he was in the presence of a superior force, and must -therefore avoid action if possible, in accordance with German naval -orders or tradition. He was a brave and chivalrous commander, and it -was his misfortune that he was not at liberty to stand in to the harbour -mouth and fight his enemy at close range while the squadron was coming -out ship by ship. His own armour was superior to that of the -battle-cruisers, and his guns were effective up to 13,000 yards; he -could not have avoided destruction, but he could certainly have -inflicted serious damage. - -Instead of acting thus, he signalled to raise steam and steer east with -all speed. The battle-cruisers were now out of harbour, and visible to -him; the _Glasgow_ and the _Kent_ were ahead, keeping touch, and Admiral -Sturdee made the signal for "General Chase." The five German ships were -hull down on the horizon, but the sky was clear; there was a light -breeze and a calm sea; visibility was at its maximum: a combination -fatal for the pursued. More fatal still was the character of the -pursuer: a scientific seaman and tactician, a commander spirited and -self-confident, cool and decisive. There would be difficulties from wind -and smoke, and from the differences in the speed of his ships; but -Admiral Sturdee had his chance before him, complete though not perfect, -and he would grasp it with no uncertain hand. - -[Illustration: Battle of the Falkland Islands--December 8. -Second Phase--11 a.m.] - -He began by taking the battle-cruisers ahead at 26-1/2 knots; then -slowed down, cleared for action, and piped the men to dinner at 11.30 as -usual; changing course at the same time to converge upon the enemy. At -12.20 he increased to 25 knots, and opened fire on the _Leipzig_, now -within 15,000 yards. She was soon on fire, and at 1.20 turned away -south-west with the _Nuernberg_ and the _Dresden_. Admiral von Spee was -dividing his squadron, in hope of saving some part of it. But Admiral -Sturdee had foreseen this move. Without any fresh signal, the -_Glasgow_, the _Kent_, and the _Cornwall_ at once followed the light -cruisers; Captain Luce was to have the honour of a separate action to -himself, while the battle-cruisers and the _Carnarvon_ held on after -Spee. - -The main action began with an experimental stage; the German ships -concentrated their fire on the _Invincible_, but could not reach her. -On the other hand, her smoke was smothering the _Inflexible_. At 2.5 -Sturdee began to close, and Spee, covered by his own smoke, turned to -starboard, and went off at full speed after his light cruisers. By 2.45 -he was again overtaken. He then turned to port, and reduced the range; -he had decided that the time was come to do what damage he could before -the inevitable end. - -He opened fire with every gun he had; but here, as in the fight of the -_Sydney_ against the _Emden_, and afterwards at Jutland, the German -gunners, though highly trained, could not long keep their accuracy under -British fire. The duel was practically decided in the first ten -minutes: the _Gneisenau_ was badly hit by the _Inflexible_, the -_Scharnhorst_ was set on fire and lost a funnel; both were staggering -and smoking desperately. Sturdee seized his advantage, turned eighteen -points, and crossed their wake; under his raking fire the _Gneisenau_ -listed till her 6-inch guns could no longer fire, the _Scharnhorst_ lost -all her funnels and all her port guns. Spee turned gallantly to bring -his fresh broadside to bear, but at 4.0 his flagship ceased fire -suddenly, and lay down on her beam ends; soon she heeled over, her stern -rose steeply, and she went down head foremost. Admiral Sturdee's -chivalrous dispatch records that Admiral von Spee's flag was flying to -the last. - -None of the sinking crew could be saved, for the _Gneisenau_ was still -fighting. The three British ships concentrated on her from three sides; -at 5.8 her forward funnel fell, and her fire slackened; at 5.15 she hit -the _Invincible_ with a single shell; at 5.30 she turned round and -stopped dead. At 5.40 she ceased firing, and hauled down one of her two -flags; at 5.50, while her three enemies were rushing in at 20 knots to -save life, she lay down on her beam ends very suddenly and plunged. Of -her complement of 800, some 200 were still alive, and nearly all of -these were rescued: 166 recovered; 14 who died of exhaustion were buried -next day with full military honours. - -Sturdee's next thought was for Captain Luce and his ships. He gave them -his own news by wireless, and asked for theirs. The _Glasgow_ replied -that she and the _Cornwall_ were over 70 miles to the south, and the -_Kent_ out of sight and hearing of them. It seemed not impossible that -the _Nuernberg_ had disposed of her by throwing mines overboard during -the chase. But this was not so; Sturdee's good fortune was not to be -broken. The _Dresden_, it is true, evaded him, but only because her -superior speed and 12 miles' start enabled her to abandon her squadron -when she pleased. The other two light cruisers fought gallantly, but -failed to escape destruction. In their flight they separated, and the -two defeats must be separately described. - -When the _Dresden_ decided to run out of action at 27 knots, after the -first turn away, Captain Luce wasted no time in chasing her, but laid -himself alongside of the _Leipzig_, the rear ship, in hope of tempting -her consorts to fall back to her support. His manoeuvre was to close -her repeatedly, engaging with his forward 6-inch gun, and forcing her to -turn her broadside to reply. Each time she did so, the _Kent_ and the -_Cornwall_ drew nearer, till at 3.36 they could attack the _Nuernberg_ -and the _Leipzig_ respectively. The _Dresden_ refused to turn back: she -disappeared into the mist, not to be seen again till March 1915, when -she surrendered and blew up after a five minutes' action with the _Kent_ -and the _Glasgow_, who had caught her at anchor. - -The _Nuernberg_ now turned away east, pursued by the _Kent_; the -_Cornwall_ began to hit the _Leipzig_, who was already engaged with the -Glasgow. Captain Luce, having here the superior speed, turned right -round and passed under his enemy's stern, raking her with his fresh -broadside; then circled round the _Cornwall_, and came again into action -ahead of her. At 6.0, after nearly two hours of such tactics, he gave -the order to close; at 6.35 he received the admiral's wireless message -of victory; at 7.17 he saw his own opponent silenced and burning -furiously. He waited half an hour for her surrender, and then opened -fire again. At that she burned green lights, and he at once lowered his -boats. Five officers and thirteen men had been rescued, when the -blazing _Leipzig_ turned over to port and sank. - -[Illustration: Battle of the Falkland Islands--December 8. -Last Phase.] - -The _Kent's_ success was of a different kind. Normally she had but -23-1/2 knots of speed to the _Nuernberg's_ 25; but her engine-room -department by consummate skill and energy forced their lame duck to a -speed which at the end of nearly four hours brought her within 12,000 -yards of her enemy. Both ships opened fire, the _Kent_ receiving one hit -and making two. The _Nuernberg_ then burst two of her boilers, and -dropped to 19 knots, turned eight points to port, and engaged with her -broadside. Captain Allen accepted the challenge, ran on, and placed the -_Kent_ before her beam at 6,000 yards. By 6.10 he had her burning and -almost silenced; he ran on again, and raked her at 3,500 yards, -destroying all her guns forward. At 6.30 she was silent and motionless. -A few more shots, and she hauled down her flag. Captain Allen hastily -repaired and lowered two of his damaged boats; but before they could -reach her the _Nuernberg_ turned over and sank. Twelve of her men were -found, but only seven survived. - -Commander Wharton of the _Kent_ has memorably described the final scene. -"It was strange and weird, all this aftermath, the wind rapidly arising -from the westward, darkness closing in, one ship heaving to the swell, -well battered, the foretop-gallant mast gone. Of the other, nothing to -be seen but floating wreckage, with here and there a man clinging, and -the 'molly hawks' (vultures of the sea) swooping by. The wind moaned, -and death was in the air. Then see! Out of the mist loomed a great -four-masted barque under full canvas. A great ghost-ship she seemed. -Slowly, majestically, she sailed by, and vanished in the night." The -battle-cruisers' fight had been visited, earlier in the day, by the same -ghost-ship; manned, it might easily be imagined, by phantom seamen of -the Nelsonian age. - -Not since that age, and seldom even then, had so impressive a victory -been won at sea: it was not a defeat of the enemy, it was his -annihilation. Admiral Sturdee had seized all his opportunities, -surmounted all his difficulties, and attained all his objects; he was -even able to return his most valuable ships to the Grand Fleet -practically intact and in the shortest possible time. It may be added -that in a fine dispatch he showed once more how a British admiral writes -of his enemy's fate and of his own achievement. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV.* - - *MYSTERY SHIPS.* - - -It was towards the end of 1914 that the German Admiralty conceived the -idea of blockading the British Isles by means of a submarine fleet. The -enterprise was a difficult one; for the pursuit and capture of commerce -a submarine is very ill fitted. A frail boat with a small crew cannot -afford to hold up and examine a ship on the surface; still less to put a -prize crew on board and send the captured vessel into port. It was -therefore decided that to carry out the blockade merchant ships must be -sunk without examination and without warning. If crews, passengers, or -even neutrals perished in this process, the "blame," says Admiral -Scheer, "would attach to those who despised our warnings." No civilized -power had ever before threatened to kill non-combatants on logical -principles of this kind, and as soon as it was seen that the German -Admiralty were attempting to carry out their murderous intentions it -became necessary to devise means of destroying their U-boats wherever -they could be found. - -They were accordingly hunted by destroyers, by trawlers, by submarines, -and by airships and seaplanes; they were destroyed by gun fire, by -mines, by nets, by torpedoes, and by depth charges, and all these were -used with the greatest skill and success. Of all the hunting methods, -perhaps the most attractive to the English sporting instinct was that of -the Mystery Ships, or Q-boats. This was at first merely the use of a -simple trap, but was developed by the genius of a single man into an -entirely novel campaign of the most heroic kind. - -The Special Service ship or Q-boat of 1915 was a tramp or collier with a -concealed armament for the decoying and destruction of submarines. The -first success was achieved on July 25, 1915, when one of them, the -_Prince Charles_ (Lieutenant W. P. Mark-Wardlaw), was pursued and -shelled by U36, near North Rona Island. Her crew abandoned ship, -leaving their gunners concealed on board. The U-boat thereupon closed; -but when she was within five hundred yards of her apparently helpless -prey, the British guns were suddenly unmasked, and the submarine sank -under their fire, leaving fifteen of her crew to be rescued by the -victors. - -It was about this same time that a young lieutenant-commander named -Gordon Campbell put to sea in charge of the Special Service ship -_Farnborough_, formerly a collier, and now manned from the Mercantile -Marine and Royal Naval Reserve. For six months the cruise was -unsuccessful, but in the spring of 1916 the _Farnborough's_ look-out at -last sighted a U-boat, which, after firing a torpedo at her, broke -surface within 1,000 yards, and summoned the supposed tramp with a shot -across her bows. Lieutenant-Commander Campbell, who had trained his -crew to a perfect knowledge of the game they had to play, stopped the -ship, blew off steam ostentatiously, and ordered a "panic abandon ship." -The U-boat came nearer, and reopened fire. Lieutenant-Commander -Campbell, who was still concealed aboard his ship, then hoisted the -white ensign and unmasked his guns. With twenty-one shots from her -12-pounders the _Farnborough_ drove the U-boat under water, then steamed -full speed towards her with depth charges, and when she reappeared -mortally wounded, sent her to the bottom with five more rounds at -point-blank range. - -Three weeks afterwards the _Farnborough_ had the good fortune to be -attacked by another U-boat, with whom she fought a surface action at a -range of nearly 1,000 yards, disabling her at the second shot, and -finally blowing her up. - -The Germans quickly perceived the deadliness of this new method, which -made every attack on a merchant vessel a possible disaster for the -U-boat, and their press was instructed to complain of the -unscrupulousness of an enemy who used disguised ships and took the -attacker by surprise. Commanders of U-boats were instructed to use -greater caution in approaching their victims, and it soon became evident -to Commander Campbell that they would no longer venture to come near a -live ship. He determined to tempt them with a wounded one. - -When his new ship, Q5, was attacked by a U-boat early in 1917, he -manoeuvred intentionally to get her torpedoed. The crew then abandoned -ship as before, while Commander Campbell and his gunners lay hidden in -the water-logged vessel, watching until the timid enemy should venture -to the surface to finish her off. It took the U-boat twenty minutes to -make up her mind. She then came up within 300 yards, and approached to -fire a second torpedo, with her captain visible on his conning-tower. -The first shot fired from Q5 took off his head, and the boat was then -completely shattered; one officer and one man were picked up alive. Q5, -with water in her engine-room, boiler-rooms, and holds, then signalled -for help, and was taken in tow by Lieutenant-Commander W. W. Hallwright -of the _Laburnum_, with the assistance of the _Narwhal_, the -_Buttercup_, and the trawler _Luneta_; after a night of heroic exertions -and great danger she was brought safely into port. Commander Campbell -received the Victoria Cross. Of his officers and crew he wrote: "They -may almost be said to have passed through the supreme test of -discipline. The chief engineer and the engine-room watch remained at -their posts and kept the dynamos going until driven out by water. They -then had to hide on top of the engine-room. The guns' crews had to -remain concealed in their gun-houses for nearly half an hour, where we -could feel the ship going down by the stern. At that time it appeared -touch and go whether the ship would sink before we sank the enemy." - -Four months afterwards Campbell and his men were out again, in the -Special Service ship _Pargust_, and were again successful in being -torpedoed. This time the U-boat, after some hesitation, came within 50 -yards, and was so much injured by the _Pargust's_ fire as to be -incapable of submerging. Her crew made tokens of surrender, but when -Commander Campbell ceased fire, attempted to make away upon the surface. -The _Pargust_, of course, could not follow, but by a lucky shot she -exploded a torpedo aboard the U-boat and destroyed her, saving only two -of her crew. She was then herself towed into port by the _Crocus_. -This time the Victoria Cross was given to Lieutenant R. N. Stuart, -D.S.O., R.N.R., and to Seaman William Williams, D.S.M., R.N.R., to be -worn on behalf of the whole ship's company. - -Captain Campbell's next command was the Special Service ship _Dunraven_, -disguised as an armed British merchant vessel. She was zigzagging at -eight knots in rough water, when a U-boat opened fire upon her at 5,000 -yards. Captain Campbell ran up the white ensign, and returned the fire -with a 2-1/2-pounder, intentionally firing short, and making terrified -signals for the U-boat's benefit. Then, as the shells fell closer, he -let off a cloud of steam to indicate boiler trouble, and ordered a -"panic abandon ship." The Germans now became more confident, and began -to make hits; one shell exploded a depth charge on the _Dunraven's_ -poop, and blew Lieutenant Charles Bonner, D.S.C., R.N.R., out of his -control station. The U-boat then ceased fire, and came past within 500 -yards; but she was partly hidden by the smoke from the _Dunraven's_ -burning poop, and though Captain Campbell knew that his magazine and -depth charges must explode sooner or later, he decided to trust his men -and wait until the enemy gave him a better chance. - -The U-boat kept him waiting just too long. She was passing the -_Dunraven's_ stern, when the poop blew up, hurling the 4-inch gun and -the gun's crew into the air, and starting the "open fire" buzzers at the -guns. The U-boat was hit, but not fatally, and at once submerged. -Captain Campbell hastily collected his wounded, turned hoses on to the -burning poop, where the magazine was still intact, and signalled to an -approaching warship to keep away and deflect traffic, as his action was -not yet ended. The second stage was begun by the enemy torpedoing the -_Dunraven_ abaft the engine-room. Captain Campbell at once ordered a "Q -abandon ship"--that is, he left his guns visible and pretended that the -concealed gunners were now leaving after being detected. The ship -continued to burn, and the submarine circled cautiously round, shelling -her for forty minutes, then submerged again. - -Captain Campbell had still two torpedoes left, and both of these he -fired at the submarine. One just missed her head, and the other passed -two feet abaft her periscope. He had now lost his last chance of a -kill, and signalled urgently for assistance, preparing at the same time -for a last fight with a single gun. The American vessel _Noma_ came up -immediately, followed by the _Attack_ and the _Christopher_. The U-boat -was driven off, the fire extinguished, and the ship taken in tow by the -_Christopher_. During the night it was found necessary to take off her -crew and her wounded, and the _Dunraven_ was sunk at last by a British -gunshot. - -In reporting this action Captain Campbell brought specially to notice -the extreme bravery of Lieutenant Bonner, who received the Victoria -Cross, and the 4-inch gun's crew, to whom the same honour was given. -"Lieutenant Bonner, having been blown out of his control by the first -explosion, crawled into the gun hatch with the crew. They there -remained at their posts with a fire raging in the poop below, and the -deck getting red hot. One man tore up his shirt to give pieces to the -gun's crew to stop the fumes getting into their throats; others lifted -the boxes of cordite off the deck to keep it from exploding; and all the -time they knew that they must be blown up, as the secondary supply and -magazine was immediately below. They told me afterwards that -communication with the main control was cut off, and although they knew -they would be blown up, they also knew that they would spoil the show if -they moved, so they remained until actually blown up with their gun. -Then when, as wounded men, they were ordered to remain quiet in various -places during the second action, they had to lie there unattended and -bleeding, with explosions continually going an aboard, and splinters -from the enemy's shell-fire penetrating their quarters. Lieutenant -Bonner, himself wounded, did what he could for two who were with him in -the wardroom. When I visited them after the action they thought little -of their wounds, but only expressed their disgust that the enemy had not -been sunk. Surely such bravery is hard to equal." - -It may be added that such bravery is still harder to defeat. The -discipline and devotion which the genius of this commander had imparted -to his ship's company, when added to the long-descended seamanship and -enterprise of our Service, proved too much for the unscrupulous courage -and mechanical skill of the enemy. It cannot be doubted that in any -imaginable war at sea the same qualities would produce the same result; -for the mystery, after all, lay rather in the men than in the ships. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXV.* - - *JUTLAND.* - - -On May 30, 1916, the Grand Fleet put to sea for one of its periodical -sweeps. Admiral Jellicoe had information which gave him some hope that -the enemy might at last be caught in the North Sea; and in fact, on the -morning of the 31st, the German High Sea Fleet did come out, in -ignorance of Jellicoe's move, but in "hope of meeting with separate -enemy divisions." Admiral Scheer had with him the Battle Fleet of -fifteen dreadnoughts and six older ships, with three divisions of -cruisers, seven torpedo flotillas, and ten zeppelins; and in advance of -these was a squadron of five battle-cruisers, under Admiral Hipper, with -his own cruisers and destroyers. Advancing towards Hipper was the -British Battle-Cruiser Fleet under Admiral Beatty--the _Lion_, _Princess -Royal_, _Tiger_, _Queen Mary_, _Indefatigable_, and _New Zealand_--with -the Fifth Battle Squadron under Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas--the _Barham_, -_Valiant_, _Malaya_, and _Warspite_; and in front of these were three -light-cruiser squadrons under Commodore Goodenough, with four destroyer -flotillas. Behind, and at a considerable distance, to avoid alarming -the enemy too soon, came Admiral Jellicoe with the main -fleet--twenty-four dreadnoughts in six divisions abreast of each other, -and each in line ahead. He had with him also the Third Battle-Cruiser -Squadron, three squadrons of cruisers, and three destroyer flotillas. - -The light cruiser _Galatea_ first sighted enemy ships at 2.20 p.m. Soon -she reported the smoke of a fleet, and at 3.31 Beatty sighted Hipper and -formed his line of battle. At 3.48 the action began at 18,500 yards, -Hipper racing back towards his fleet and Beatty pursuing. The firing on -both sides was rapid and accurate; in twelve minutes the leading ships -on both sides had been seriously hit; six minutes more and a salvo, -which reached her magazine, destroyed the _Indefatigable_. - -The Fifth Battle Squadron now drew up and came into action. Immediately -afterwards the enemy sent fifteen destroyers and a light cruiser to -attack with torpedoes. They were met by our twelve destroyers, who -fought with them a most gallant battle within the main battle, repulsing -them and forcing their battle-cruisers to turn. The _Nestor_, the -_Nomad_, and two enemy destroyers were sunk; the battle-cruisers swept -on, and the action was resumed. - -The enemy's gunners now seemed to be losing their first accuracy, and at -4.18 the third ship of the German line was burning. But a few minutes -later a salvo struck the _Queen Mary_ in a vital part abreast of a -turret; in one minute the ship was gone, and the _Tiger_, her next -astern, passed over the place where she had been, without seeing any -sign of her but smoke and falling debris. Admiral Beatty had lost two -of his six battle-cruisers, and his flagship was damaged; but his -tactics and his fighting spirit were in no way disturbed. - -Twelve minutes later he was cheered by Commodore Goodenough reporting -the German Battle Fleet. He had found the enemy at last in the open, -and his business now was to draw them on towards the Grand Fleet. He -recalled his destroyers and turned his whole force northward. Hipper, -still steering south, fought him for a few minutes as they passed one -another on opposite courses, and then turned north to follow him. The -whole German fleet was now in line; but Beatty, having the superior -speed, was able to overlap their head and keep their tail out of action. -He engaged their five battle-cruisers with his own four, supported by -the _Barham_ and the _New Zealand_, while the _Malaya_ and the -_Warspite_ were hammering their leading battleships. - -[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY -(EARL BEATTY OF THE NORTH SEA).] - -The Grand Fleet was now rapidly approaching, and Admiral Jellicoe had to -prepare for the extremely difficult manoeuvre of joining battle with an -enemy of whose position he was not fully informed. Gun-flashes were -reported at 6.5 on the starboard bow, but the only ships visible were -the _Lion_ and other battle-cruisers steering east in thick mist. The -admiral lost no time; at 6.8 he ordered two torpedo flotillas to his -port front and one to starboard; then, after receiving a further report -from Admiral Beatty, at 6.16 he ordered his six divisions of battleships -to deploy eastwards, forming on the port wing column. He thus -threatened to cut off the enemy from his base, and in order to close him -the more quickly the deployment was made by divisions instead of in -succession. The movement was entirely successful. At the same time the -battle-cruisers were getting clear to the south and east, and Admiral -Evan-Thomas's four ships were forming astern of the fleet. They did -this under fire, but without serious interference; the _Warspite_, whose -helm jammed, was for a few moments carried over towards the enemy, but -the German gunnery was no longer steady enough to hit her. - -[Illustration: Battle of Jutland.--Track Chart.] - -For the Germans the horizon was now filled with an unending line of -British ships, and the sight, as their own officers said, "took the -heart out of the men." They were already "utterly crushed" by the -masterly way in which Admiral Jellicoe had brought his huge fleet into -action, and they saw that Admiral Beatty was outflanking them by "a -model manoeuvre, a performance of the highest order."[#] Their line bent -away, first to the east, and then to the south, suffering heavily as it -turned, and making not a hit in return. - - -[#] Captain von Hase. - - -They had, however, inflicted some losses on the British cruisers while -the battleships were deploying. Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, who -had chased the light cruiser _Wiesbaden_ (with the _Defence_, _Warrior_, -and _Black Prince_) and crippled her between the lines, came under fire -from two German battle-cruisers, and was blown up with the _Defence_, -while the _Warrior_ and the _Black Prince_ were badly hit. Rear-Admiral -Hood, too, met his fate; he had been scouting far to the south with the -_Invincible_, _Inflexible_, and _Indomitable_, and was returning north -to take station at the head of Beatty's line. He executed this -manoeuvre in grand style, and at once engaged the gigantic -_Derfflinger_, hitting her repeatedly; but after two minutes of hard -pounding a big shell blew up the _Invincible's_ magazine, and she sank -with her admiral. - -But by this time the action between the main fleets had been virtually -lost and won. The German battleships at the head of Admiral Scheer's -line had suffered severely under the fire of the British rear divisions -and were turning away south, while their battle-cruisers were in even -worse plight. Two minutes after the _Invincible_ sank, the _Lutzow_ was -no longer able to keep station, and Admiral Hipper was compelled to -transfer his flag. But his difficulty was to find a sound ship; his -next astern, the _Derfflinger_, had lost her wireless and was gaping -with a hole 20 feet square in her bows; the _Seydlitz_ had also lost her -wireless, and had shipped several thousand tons of water. After being -some time in a destroyer, the admiral went aboard the _Moltke_, and sent -the _Derfflinger_ to lead the line, with only the _Von der Tann_ to -follow. - -Half dead though these three remaining ships were, their hardest task -was yet before them. Admiral Scheer was in a desperate position, -outmanoeuvred and outfought, with the Grand Fleet in the act of forming -line between him and his base; and he is entitled to all credit for the -plan which he adopted to secure his escape from total destruction. At -7.12 he ordered Hipper to attack Beatty in hope of breaking his -encircling movement, and three minutes afterwards sent his destroyers to -hold Jellicoe's line with a torpedo attack, while he got away his -crumpled battle fleet to the westward. These tactics cost him dear, but -he was successful in increasing his distance and withdrawing his -battleships from the fire which must speedily have overwhelmed them. - -In the torpedo attack not less than twenty of his torpedoes were seen to -cross the British line. All were avoided, for Admiral Jellicoe, acting -on principles adopted by the Admiralty some time before, ordered his -ships to turn away two or more points as soon as the attack was seen. -When it was over they at once turned back towards the enemy, but Admiral -Scheer had by that time disappeared westward into the mist. Of his -twenty-one battleships twelve had been seriously damaged, and their -united fire had made but a single hit on the twenty-six British -battleships which engaged them--a hit which wounded three men in the -_Colossus_. - -The gallant Hipper suffered even more severely. He had no sooner -started his attack on Beatty when the _Derfflinger_ met more than her -match in the _Lion_. In eight minutes she is reported by her chief -gunnery officer, Captain von Hase, to have received twenty 15-inch -shells, which destroyed turret after turret, carried away her fire -control and chart-house, and set her on fire fore and aft. With only -two heavy guns left, she drew off and went after her fleet, followed by -the _Von der Tann_ only. The _Seydlitz_ and the _Moltke_ had already -left the line under cover of the smoke from the burning _Lutzow_. The -light was now failing fast; the _Lion_ was still hunting, but could no -longer find her prey. In spite of some heavy hits, her admiral and his -command were insatiable, and even disappointed. But they had, in fact, -achieved a day's fighting which is without a parallel--a battle-cruiser -victory complete in itself. - -Touch was now lost between the two fleets, and Admiral Jellicoe had to -consider his dispositions for the night. He had completely succeeded in -interposing between the enemy and their base, and his object was to bar -their retreat and secure a final action next day. He therefore placed -his battleships to the south in four columns a mile apart, his -destroyers 5 miles to their rear, with the battle-cruisers and cruisers -to the west, and two light-cruiser squadrons farther north and south. -Finally, at 9.30, he sent the mine-laying flotilla leader, _Abdiel_, to -lay a minefield towards the Horn Reef--a precaution which resulted in -several explosions among enemy ships during the night. - -The German commander-in-chief was well aware that in a daylight action -he could expect nothing but destruction. He resolved on a rush for home -in the dark, and here again he has the credit of a right decision and a -right method. He sent his ships to make their way through in -detachments. Some three or four light cruisers first ran into our -destroyers, slightly damaged the _Castor_, received a torpedo hit, and -vanished. Another group of cruisers attacked our Second Light Cruiser -Squadron at very short range, inflicted heavy casualties on the _Dublin_ -and the _Southampton_, and disappeared, but with the loss of the light -cruiser _Frauenlob_. The destroyer _Sparrowhawk_ was sunk in action -with a third group of cruisers, and a little later the _Tipperary_. At -midnight some battleships passed near the same flotilla, and one, the -_Pommern_, was torpedoed and sunk. Another battleship squadron followed -soon after, and sank the destroyer _Ardent_. - -At 1.46 a.m. the Twelfth Flotilla, farther north, sighted six Kaiser -battleships and attacked them. Captain Stirling, in the _Faulkner_, -torpedoed one, and some time later Commander Champion, in the _Nomad_, -hit another; but the Germans claim that both the wounded ships reached -port. The Ninth Flotilla lost the _Turbulent_, rammed by a large -unknown vessel; but at 2.35 the destroyer _Moresby_, of the Thirteenth -Flotilla, attacked four _Deutschland_ battleships and torpedoed one. -Lastly, it is believed that the _Black Prince_, who had been crippled -hours before, was seen for a moment under the searchlights and guns of a -number of enemy ships, who sank her at once. All this battle by night -was fought under the most desperate conditions, the horror of darkness -and the glare and crash of sudden death alternating for five hours; but -it was far more ruinous to the German fleet than to the British. - -When day broke, Admiral Jellicoe formed his fleet in line ahead and -turned north; at 5.15 he called in the battle-cruisers; at 6 a.m. he -sighted his cruisers, and at 9 the destroyers rejoined. He had now all -his force in hand, except the Sixth Division of six battleships under -Admiral Burney, whose flagship, the _Marlborough_, had been hit by a -torpedo and was now being sent home under escort to be repaired. This, -however, was no cause for delay, and Admiral Jellicoe patrolled the -battle area till noon, in search of the enemy, moving first north, then -south-west, and finally north by west. - -It was clear that Admiral Scheer had no intention of further fighting. -He had a zeppelin out scouting, and admits that she reported to him the -position of the British fleet. But he was in no condition to move. He -had inflicted on us a loss of three battle-cruisers, three armoured -cruisers, and eight destroyers; while of his own ships one battleship, -one battle-cruiser, four light cruisers, and five destroyers had been -sunk. But his effective force had been diminished out of all proportion -to ours; his battle-cruisers were in no condition to fight; he had -discovered that the whole squadron of pre-dreadnoughts were unable to -lie in a modern line of battle, while six of the remaining fifteen were -unfit to be anywhere but in dock; of his eleven light cruisers ten had -been hit, and four of them sunk. He had, in short, no fleet to make a -fight with; whereas Admiral Jellicoe had available twenty-six powerful -battleships, all but four of them untouched, six battle-cruisers out of -nine, and all his light forces, except three cruisers sunk and three -hard hit. - -More fatal still, then and for ever, was the injury to the moral stamina -and tradition of the German fleet. In that one day they passed from the -militant to the mutinous state of mind, and their commander knew it. As -Captain Persius wrote afterwards in the _Berliner Tageblatt_: "The -losses sustained by our fleet were enormous, in spite of the fact that -luck was on our side; and on June 1, 1916, it was clear to every one of -intelligence that this fight would be, and must be, the only one to take -place. Those in authority have often admitted this openly." The Kaiser -did his best to shout our victory down, and he was seconded, though more -feebly, by German admirals who knew better. But the High Sea Fleet had -failed completely to challenge the control of the sea, and henceforth -degenerated towards the final surrender. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVI.* - - *THE BRITISH SUBMARINE SERVICE.* - - -The war record of the British submarine service is unique; the -difficulties and dangers which our men faced and overcame were such as -no other navy has attempted. The patrol of the shallow Belgian coast -and the hunting down of U-boats was a very different task from -torpedoing merchant vessels or hospital ships without warning; and the -campaigns in the Marmora and the Baltic were conducted under conditions -which had no parallel elsewhere. - -A glance at the map will show that the Marmora was not only distant from -the British naval base, but that the only line of approach was of an -uncommonly formidable character. The channel of the Dardanelles is -narrow and winding, with a strong tide perpetually racing down it, and -setting strongly into its many bays. It was, moreover, protected by -forts with powerful guns and searchlights and torpedo tubes, and by -barrages of thick wire and netting; it was also patrolled constantly by -armed ships. Yet all these defences were evaded or broken through with -marvellous courage and ingenuity; for nearly a year a succession of -brilliant commanders took their boats regularly up and down the passage, -and made the transport of Turkish troops and munitions first hazardous -and finally impracticable. Two battleships, a destroyer, and five -gunboats fell to them, besides over thirty steamers, many of which were -armed, nine transports, seven ammunition and store ships, and no less -than 188 sailing ships and dhows with supplies. It is hardly necessary -to add that in no case was violence done to neutrals or non-combatants. - -The first officer to take a British submarine up the Dardanelles was -Lieutenant Norman Holbrook. It was in December 1914 that his attempt -was made, and after equipping his boat, B11, with ingenious devices for -jumping obstacles, and running several preliminary trials, he trimmed -and dived for Sedd-el-Bahr at the moment when the searchlights were -extinguished at dawn. Rather more than four hours after his start he -had passed the Straits and was at last able to put his periscope above -water. He found his fortune at the same moment. There, on his -starboard beam, was a large two-funnelled vessel, painted grey, and -flying the Turkish ensign. At 600 yards he fired his starboard torpedo, -and dipped for a few seconds. An explosion was heard. B11 came quietly -to observation depth again of her own motion, and her commander, still -at his periscope, saw the grey ship firing a number of guns. His boat -dipped again, but he got her up once more, and this time saw his enemy, -the battleship _Messudiyeh_, silent, and sinking slowly by the stern. -He turned for home, dived into the channel, and ran along the bottom at -full speed; came up to take his bearings, dived again, and by 2 p.m. had -cleared the exit. In ten hours he had proved all the possibilities of a -novel campaign. He had forced the strongly-barred channel, surprised -and sunk a battleship in broad daylight, and returned to report, though -he had gone up without information and come down with a damaged compass. -Of the boats which followed in the spring and summer of 1915, the most -famous were E14 (Lieutenant-Commander E. Courtney Boyle); E11 -(Lieutenant-Commander M. E. Nasmith); E12 (Lieutenant-Commander K. M. -Bruce); E7 (Lieutenant-Commander Cochrane); E2 (Commander David Stocks); -and K1 (Lieutenant Wilfred Pirie). In efficiency all these surpassed -everything which had been thought possible of submarines. Their cruises -lasted from a fortnight at first to thirty days later, and finally to -forty and even forty-eight. During this time they would run 2,000 miles -and more, with no resources for supply or repairs beyond what they -carried on board. When Commander Boyle brought E14 back to her base in -August after her third cruise, she had done over 12,000 miles since -leaving England, and had never been out of running order--a record for -which her chief engine-room artificer, James Hollier Hague, was promoted -to warrant rank. - -It is impossible to relate here the adventures, the ingenuities, and the -brilliant service which these seven commanders reported in the bald and -convincing style of the British Navy. One example only can be given--a -typical and not an exceptional one. Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith took -E11 up for the first time in May 1915, in succession to Commander -Courtney Boyle, who had just returned, leaving the Turks under the -belief that the Marmora was infested by a whole flotilla of submarines. -By a curious combination of activity and accident, Lieutenant-Commander -Nasmith at once confirmed this legend. - -On his second day out he "dived unobserved into Constantinople," and -torpedoed a Turkish gunboat; five hours later he stopped a small -steamer, whose crew did a "panic abandon ship," capsizing all their -boats as they were put out. An American gentleman then appeared on the -upper deck and conversed amicably, after which he was sent ashore, and -the ship, being found to contain a Krupp gun and ammunition, was cleared -and sent to the bottom. Two heavily laden store-ships were then -attacked. One was sunk and the other driven ashore. Under a hurricane -of fire from the shore batteries, the submarine dived and got away -towards the Bosphorus. At Galata there was a panic; all shops were -closed, troops were disembarked from transports, re-embarked, and again -landed. The effect was redoubled next day when the American gentleman -returned to tell his story. Probably he had inquired the number of the -British submarines on the ground, and had been misunderstood to be -asking for the number of the boat he was aboard; for he reported--and -the news ran through Constantinople--that there were eleven of our boats -in the Marmora, holding up all ships going to the Dardanelles. And E11 -did in fact achieve this result. Transports lay idle in the Golden -Horn, and as the one real boat and her ten imaginary consorts patrolled -the Marmora, Turks and Americans wondered where they had their base, and -how it had been prepared in hostile waters. - -In August E11 was on duty once more, hunting in couples with E14. -Commanders Boyle and Nasmith rendezvoused on the 6th, and concerted a -plan for shelling troops next day on the land route to Gallipoli. This -operation was very successful; in less than three hours E11's 12-pounder -twice broke up columns on the coast road. On the following day -Commander Boyle destroyed a 5,000 ton supply steamer with torpedo and -gun-fire, while Commander Nasmith sank the battleship _Haireddin -Barbarossa_. This ship was passing north-east of Gallipoli, escorted by -a destroyer. E11 was skilfully brought into position on her starboard -beam, and two torpedoes got home amidships. The _Barbarossa_ -immediately took a list to starboard, altered course towards the shore, -and opened a heavy fire. But within twenty minutes a large flash burst -from her fore part, and she rolled over and sank. - -The Turks attempted to conceal the details of this catastrophe; but they -confided to Mr. Einstein of the American Embassy that a gunboat perished -with _Barbarossa_, and one of two transports which she was convoying, -while the other ran aground. They added that the attack was made by six -submarines, who completely surrounded the battleship and her convoy. -Commander Nasmith afterwards sank a large collier and two more -transports, and then turned his attention again to cutting the enemy's -communications by land. - -His lieutenant, D'Oyly Hughes, volunteered to take the most dangerous -part in an attack on the Ismid railway. A raft was put together behind -Kalolimno Island, capable of supporting one man, and carrying his -equipment and a charge of explosives. With this Lieutenant D'Oyly -Hughes was to reach the shore, and blow up the railway line, or, if -possible, the viaduct. The risk involved not only the volunteer but E11 -herself, for so long as he had still a chance of returning, she could -not quit the neighbourhood, or even conceal herself by submerging. - -At 2 a.m. Commander Nasmith took the boat inshore till her nose just -grounded, within three feet of the rocks, where there were cliffs on -each side high enough to prevent her conning-tower from being seen. -Lieutenant D'Oyly Hughes dropped into the water and swam off, pushing -his raft towards a spot about 60 yards to the left. Besides his -demolition charge he had only a revolver, a bayonet, an electric torch, -and a whistle. He found a landing place, scaled the cliff, and prowled -along the railway with his heavy charge till he was brought up by the -sound of voices; three Turks were sitting by the side of the line. He -laid down his guncotton, and made a wide detour to inspect the viaduct, -roused a small farmyard on his way, and was again stopped by finding a -number of men working a stationary engine at the near end of the -viaduct. - -He crept back to his gun-cotton, and decided to blow up a low brickwork -support over a small hollow, only 150 yards from the men, but a spot -where real damage could be inflicted. He muffled the pistol for firing -the fuse, but on so still a night it made a very loud noise. The three -Turks heard it, and instantly started to chase their enemy down the -line. Lieutenant Hughes had but one chance--to find his way to the -shore and swim off. To gain time, he turned and fired at his pursuers; -they stopped to return his fire, and he distanced them, gained the -shore, and plunged into the water. As he did so he heard with joy the -sound of a heavy explosion, with the crash of fragments hurled into the -sea. The railway line was effectively cut; but he was three-quarters of -a mile from the bay where E11 was lying hid. - -He swam out to sea, and after going some 500 yards blew a long blast on -his whistle; but the boat failed to hear him. Day was breaking--the -time of waiting for him must be short. He swam ashore again, rested on -the rocks, and plunged in once more. One by one he had to throw away -pistol, torch, and bayonet. At last he rounded the point and his -whistle was heard; but at the same moment shouts and rifle fire came -from the cliffs above. The boat backed out towards him, determined to -save him at any cost. - -But now came the most trying part of his adventure. In the early morning -mist the bow, the gun, and the conning-tower of the submarine appeared -to the distressed swimmer to be three small rowing-boats advancing -towards him, and manned, of course, by enemies. He turned back, swam -ashore, and tried to hide himself under the cliffs. But he was still -cool and clear-headed, and after climbing a few feet looked back and -realized his mistake. One last swim of 40 yards, and he was picked up -almost exhausted. He had run hard for his life and swum a mile in his -clothes. "5.5 a.m.," says E11's log, "dived out of rifle fire, and -proceeded out of the Gulf of Ismid." - -She ended her cruise with a brilliant week's work; fought an action with -three armed tugs, a dhow, and a destroyer, evading the destroyer, and -sinking two of the other ships by gun-fire; torpedoed two large -transports; bombarded the magazine and railway station at Mudania; -battered the viaduct for an hour; and on her return down the Dardanelles -passed the obstacles without assistance or misadventure. Her final -cruise was in November and December, when she was out forty-eight days, -and sank forty-six enemy ships. Her last companion, E2, was recalled two -days later, and the campaign was over. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVII.* - - *THE BRITISH SUBMARINE SERVICE (*_*continued*_*).* - - -The first of our submarine voyagers in the Baltic was -Lieutenant-Commander Max Horton, in E9. He distinguished himself in the -early months of the war by sinking a German light cruiser and a -destroyer in the North Sea. In January 1915 he entered the Baltic, sank -a destroyer on the 29th, a transport on 11th May, and on 5th June -another transport and another destroyer. On 2nd July he torpedoed the -_Pommern_, a 13,000 ton battleship, with 11-inch guns. He was then -joined by E1 (Commander N. F. Laurence), and on 22nd August by E8, whose -log contains the best account of the long, intricate, and dangerous -voyage out. - -Commander Goodhart started in E8 on 18th August, with 1,500 miles of -adventure between him and his new base at Reval. He passed warily up -the Skagerrack, avoiding the central line of traffic, and diving once -under a whole fleet of steam trawlers. At 7 p.m. he came to the surface -again, rounded the Skaw at full speed, and entered the Kattegat. In the -fading light several merchantmen were seen going north; the shore and -island beacons began to twinkle one by one--Hamnskau, Vinga, Skaw, -Trindelen, Anholt. But the night was short; by 3 a.m. he must dive -again and lie on shoal ground while traffic passed above him. At 5.25 he -ventured up, but was put down quickly by a steamer; to be seen might -rouse a hunt. At 7 he came up again and did a survey of l-1/2 hours in -a friendly mist, then down again, to crawl at 3 knots till 1 p.m., when -he was off the entrance to the Sound. - -Here he must choose between going forward submerged, or waiting for -darkness and attempting the channel on the surface. He decided to -continue his dive into the Sound and wait for night inside. He went in -at 50 feet, came up to 21 feet to verify his position, down again to 50, -and altered course to pass through the northern narrows. At 4.10 p.m. -he was east of Helsingor Light; at 5.20, after another observation, he -went to bottom in 11 fathoms, to wait for darkness. At 8.15 p.m. he rose -to the surface; the Danish shore was bright with many lights, the -Swedish shore all dark. He steered south-westward on the surface, -altering course to avoid being seen by two destroyers which were going -north along the Danish shore at a great pace; but now one of them -suddenly turned south and stopped. E8 ran on, but into still more -dangerous waters. The lights of Copenhagen were bright, and a -searchlight was working from Middle Ground Fort; now and again it swept -across the submarine. Then came several fishing boats, then two red -lights moving south, close over to the Danish shore. There was nothing -to show that E8 had been seen, and she headed boldly for Flint Channel. - -Off Malmo the shorelights were dazzling, and it was extremely hard to -fix a position. There were also many fishing boats about, each carrying -two bright lights. Commander Goodhart ordered the boat to be trimmed -down, with upper deck awash, and proceeded with one engine only, at 7 -knots. He steadied his course through Flint Channel, passing at least -twenty vessels with white lights, and one making searchlight signals in -the air. No sooner had these been avoided by changing course than a -tramp came along, showing first a green light and then three white ones. -She seemed to have anchored; but now two other vessels had to be dodged, -and then the ship with the searchlight. Immediately afterwards, when -just north-east of the lightship's three vertical red lights, E8 was -viewed at last; a small torpedo boat sighted her as she was creeping by -within 200 yards. - -The hunt was up; the enemy showed red and green flares, and altered -course to chase. E8 dived, and struck "very strong bottom" at 19 feet, -and immediately afterwards at 14 feet. A succession of bumps brought -her to a stop. It was 11.40 p.m. After an anxious quarter of an hour -Commander Goodhart decided to rise to the surface. On his starboard -quarter was the Drogden lightship, ahead of him a large destroyer or -small cruiser--the ship which had been signalling with searchlight. She -was only 200 yards away, but the commander trimmed his boat deep, and -stole past. This took four minutes, and he then found another destroyer -right ahead, and within 100 yards. He could but dive; the boat struck -bottom at 16 feet heavily, carrying away all blades of the starboard -propeller. The pursuers could be heard overhead. - -Life was now a matter of minutes and feet. The boat was still moving; -at 12.15 a.m. she was at 18 feet, and bumping badly; at 12.19 the -commander stopped her and came silently to the surface. The destroyer -was still close on his starboard beam, and in one minute he had dived -again as slowly as he dared; mercifully the water deepened as E8 glided -away. She seemed to be escaping; but at 2.10 a.m. she struck bottom -again, and when she ventured up after an hour, there again was the -destroyer on her port beam. Happily this time she got down without -being seen, and when she came up again at 7.15 there was nothing in -sight. - -But the danger was not over yet. E8 was nearly out of breath; her -battery was running very low. After diving again to avoid a steamer and -afterwards a destroyer, Commander Goodhart decided to find a good depth, -and lie at the bottom till darkness gave him a chance of recharging. For -eight long hours E8 lay like a stone in 23 fathoms. When she came up -three or four vessels were patrolling close by, and the moon was too -bright. She tried again, but was again put down by a shadowy destroyer -to the southward. At last, ten minutes before midnight, she found a bit -of quiet sea where she could take breath. - -But only for two hours; daylight comes early in northern waters. At 2 -a.m. Commander Goodhart dived again, and lay long in 17 fathoms, -spending his time in studying the chart. He was now well out of the -Sound, and clear of the Swedish coast. Right ahead was the island of -Bornholm, and if that could be passed successfully, the Baltic lay open -beyond, a long voyage still, but a less crowded thoroughfare. - -At 9 a.m. he came to the surface for three hours. By noon he was not -far west of Ronne, and as he wished to make sure of getting past -Bornholm unobserved, he decided to remain on the bottom till dark, then -slip by and recharge his batteries for a long run north by daylight. By -7 p.m. he was on his way; by sunrise on the 21st he was passing the east -coast of the great island of Gotland. At 9.2 p.m. he dived for a light -cruiser, which passed over him; at 10 he returned to the surface and ran -past the entrance to the Gulf of Riga and the island of Oesel. By 1 -a.m. on August 22nd he had to dive for daylight, but at 3 he came up -again, and ran ahead at full speed. At 8.30 a.m. on August 23rd he -sighted Dagerort ahead, and joined Commander Max Horton in E9, passed -with her and a Russian destroyer into the Gulf of Finland, and by 9 p.m. -secured E8 in Reval harbour. Within twenty-four hours he had docked and -overhauled her, replaced her broken propeller, and reported her ready -for sea. - -Of the warships sunk by E8 and her consorts, and of their blockade of -the German traffic in the Baltic, there is no need to speak. Their -feats of war, brilliant as they were, formed only a minor part of the -glory of their intricate and perilous voyages in a hostile sea. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVIII.* - - *THE MERCANTILE MARINE AND FISHING FLEETS.* - - -Among the great deeds of the war there is one which, though hardly to be -described in detail, ranks in truth among the greatest of all. It is a -collective deed: the conduct of the whole British Mercantile Marine and -the Fishing Fleet--Services not less worthy than the professional Navy -and Army to represent the "decent and dauntless people" of these -islands. It had been prophesied before the war that after three ships -had been sunk by enemy submarines no merchantman would put to sea. The -prophet, though himself a naval man, can have known little of the -resourcefulness of his own Service, and still less of the temper of his -fellow-countrymen. - -During the four years of the war, British commerce was never held up by -any unwillingness of our seamen to face gun-fire or torpedo: skippers, -engineers, and deck hands who had had three, four, or five ships sunk -under them were constantly asking to be employed again before their -clothes were dry. Seventeen thousand of them died in the 9,000,000 tons -of shipping that we lost; yet not a man among the survivors drew back. -On the contrary, it must be recorded that the enemy owed much of his -success to the habitual and imperturbable confidence of the British -skipper in his own ship and his own judgment. The men of the Mercantile -Marine and Fishing Fleets also took their full share in the work of -defending our coasts and hunting down their lawless and cruel enemies; -and in this work they showed every quality of a great Service. It was -in no empty form of words that the King honoured the memory of "that -great company of our men, who, though trained only to the peaceful -traffic of the sea, yet in the hour of national danger gave themselves, -with the ancient skill and endurance of their breed, to face new perils -and new cruelties of war, and in a right cause served fearlessly to the -end." Of this skill, endurance, and fearlessness, recorded in a -thousand terse and unpretentious logs, an example or two may be picked -almost at random. - -In 1915, when the U-boat war was still a new experience, a sharp little -double action was fought by two armed smacks, the _Boy Alfred_ and the -_I'll Try_, against two German submarines. The British boats were -commanded by Skipper Walter S. Wharton and Skipper Thomas Crisp, and -were out in the North Sea, when they sighted a pair of U-boats coming -straight towards them on the surface. The first came within 300 yards -of the _Boy Alfred_ and stopped. Then followed an extraordinary piece -of work, intelligible only to the German mind. The U-boat signalled -with a flag to the _Boy Alfred_ to come nearer, and at the same time -opened fire upon her with rifles or a machine-gun, hitting her in many -places, though by mere chance not a single casualty resulted. - -Skipper Wharton's time had not yet come; he was neither for submission -nor for a duel at long range; he risked all for a close fight. He first -threw out his small boat, and by this encouraged the U-boat to approach -nearer. She submerged and immediately reappeared within a hundred -yards. A man then came out of the conning-tower and hailed the _Boy -Alfred_, giving the order to abandon ship, as he intended to torpedo. -But Skipper Wharton had now the range he desired--the hundred yards -hammer and tongs range so dear to Nelson's gunners--and instead of -"Abandon ship" he gave the order "Open fire." His man at the 12-pounder -did not fail him; the first round was just short, and the second just -over, but having straddled his target, the gunner put his third shot -into the submarine's hull, just before the conning-tower, where it burst -on contact. The fourth shot was better still: it pierced the -conning-tower and burst inside. The U-boat, with her torpedo unfired, -sank like a stone, and a significant wide-spreading patch of oil marked -her grave. - -In the meantime the second enemy had gone to the east of the _I'll Try_, -who was herself east of the _Boy Alfred_. He was still more cautious -than his companion, and remained submerged for some time, cruising -around the _I'll Try_ with only a periscope showing. Skipper Crisp, -having a motor fitted to his smack, was too handy for the German, and -kept altering course so as to bring the periscope ahead of him, whenever -it was visible. The enemy disappeared entirely no less than six times, -but at last summoned up courage to break surface. His hesitation was -fatal to him--he had given the smack time to make every preparation with -perfect order and coolness. When he appeared suddenly at last, his -upper deck and conning-tower were no sooner clearly exposed than Skipper -Crisp put his helm hard over, brought the enemy on to his broadside, and -opened fire with his 13-pounder gun. At this moment a torpedo passed -under the smack's stern, missing only by 2 feet, then coming to the -surface and running along past the _Boy Alfred_. It was the U-boat's -first and last effort; in the same instant, the _I'll Try_ fired her -only shot. The shell struck the base of the conning-tower and exploded, -blowing pieces of the submarine into the water on all sides. - -The U-boat immediately took a list to starboard and plunged bows first; -she disappeared so rapidly that the smack's gunner had not even time for -a second blow. The _I'll Try_ hurried to the spot, and there saw large -bubbles of air coming up, and a wide and increasing patch of oil. She -marked the position with a Dan buoy and stood by with the _Boy Alfred_ -for three-quarters of an hour. Finally, as the enemy gave no sign of -life, the two smacks returned together to harbour. Their skippers were -both rewarded for their excellent work; Skipper Wharton, who had already -killed two U-boats and had received the D.S.C. and the D.S.M. with a -bar, was now given a bar to the D.S.C. Skipper Crisp already had the -D.S.M., and now received the D.S.C. - -In another of these fishermen's fights it was the trawl itself which -actually brought on the battle at close quarters and made victory -possible. One day in February 1915 the trawler _Rosetta_, Skipper G. A. -Novo, had gone out to fish, but she had on deck a 6-pounder gun -ingeniously concealed. She joined a small fleet of four smacks and two -steam trawlers some 45 miles out, and fished with them all night. -Before dawn a voice was heard shouting out of the twilight: it came from -one of the steam trawlers. "Cut your gear away, there's a submarine -three-quarters of a mile away; he's sunk a smack and I have the crew on -board." "All right, thank you," said Skipper Novo; but to get away from -the enemy was precisely what he did not want to do. For some fifteen -minutes he went on towing his trawl, in hope of being attacked; but as -nothing happened, he thought he was too far away from the smacks, and -began to haul up his trawl. He was bringing his boat round before the -wind, and had all but the last twenty fathoms of the trawl in, when the -winch suddenly refused to heave any more, and the warp ran out again -about ten fathoms--a thing beyond all experience. "Hullo!" said the -skipper, "there's something funny." He jumped down off the bridge and -asked the mate what was the reason of the winch running back. "I don't -know, skipper; the stop-valve is opened out full." The skipper tried it -himself; then went to the engine-man and asked him if full steam was on. -"The steam's all right." "Then reverse winch!" said the skipper, and -went to give a hand himself, as was his custom in a difficulty; the -hauling went on this time, all but to the end. - -Suddenly the mate gripped him by the arm. "Skipper, a submarine on -board us." And there the enemy was, a bare hundred yards off on the -starboard quarter. "Hard a-starboard, and a tick ahead!" shouted the -skipper, and rushed for the gun, with the crew following. The gun was -properly in charge of the mate, and he got to it first; but the brief -dialogue which followed robbed him of his glory. "Right, skipper," he -said, meaning thereby "This is my job." But in the same breath the -skipper said "All right, Jack, I got him! you run on bridge and keep him -astern." The _Rosetta's_ discipline was good; the mate went like a man, -and the skipper laid the gun. - -He was justified by his success. The enemy was very quickly put out of -action, being apparently left altogether behind by the hurricane energy -of Skipper Novo. From the moment of breaking surface less than sixty -seconds had gone by when the _Rosetta's_ gun found the target. The -U-boat was 250 feet long and only 300 feet away; every shot was a hit. -The fourth caused an explosion, and flames shot up 4 or 5 feet above the -submarine. Evidently she could no longer submerge, and she attempted to -make off on the surface. But Skipper Novo was right in his estimate of -his own chance--he had "got him." His fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth -shots were all direct hits on the receding target, and at the eighth the -enemy sank outright. - -The _Rosetta_ then spoke the smack _Noel_, which had been close to her -during the action, and now confirmed all her observations. There was no -doubt that the U-boat had been the obstruction which was tangled in the -trawl. She had carried it all away, and in order to get clear had been -obliged to come to the surface, without knowing where she might find -herself, and there she had met her appropriate fate. - -A third of these fights was a miniature fleet action, with an epic sound -about it. In the Downs, and in the first twilight of a November -morning, three of his Majesty's armed drifters--the _Present Help_, the -_Paramount_, and the _Majesty_--were beginning their daily sweep for -mines, when Skipper Thomas Lane of the _Present Help_, which was spare -ship at the moment, sighted an object a mile distant to the eastward. -As day was breaking, she was quickly marked for a German submarine--a -huge one, with two big guns mounted on deck, one a 4-inch and one a -22-pounder. Nevertheless the _Present Help_, the _Paramount_, and the -_Majesty_ opened fire at once with their 6-pounders, not standing off, -but closing their enemy, and continuing to close her under heavy fire, -until they were hitting her with their own light guns. Even our history -can hardly show a grander line of battle than those three tiny ships -bearing down upon their great antagonist; and although U48 did not fall -to their fire, her surrender was due in the first instance to their -determined onset. - -It was the _Paramount_ who took and gave the first knocks; her -searchlight was shot away, and in reply she succeeded in putting one of -the enemy's guns out of action. In the meantime, and none too soon, the -_Present Help_ had sent up the red rocket. It was seen by two other -armed drifters, the _Acceptable_ and the _Feasible_, who were less than -2 miles off, and by H.M.S. _Gipsy_, who was 4 miles away. Skipper Lee, -of the _Acceptable_, immediately sang out "Action," and both boats -blazed away at 3,000 yards range, getting in at least one hit on the -enemy's conning-tower. At the same moment came the sound of the -_Gipsy's_ 12-pounder, as she rushed in at full speed. - -The U-boat had started with an enormous and apparently overwhelming -advantage of gun-power. She ought to have been a match, twice over, for -all six of our little ships, but she was on dangerous ground, and the -astounding resolution of the attack drove her off her course. In ten -minutes the drifters had actually pushed her ashore on the Goodwin -Sands--the _Paramount_ had closed to 30 yards. Drake himself was hardly -nearer to the Spanish galleons. Then came the _Gipsy_, equally -determined. Her first two shots fell short, the third was doubtful, but -after that she got on to the target, and the enemy's bigger remaining -gun was no match for her 12-pounder. After two hits with common pointed -shell, she put on eight out of nine lyddite shells, smashed the German's -last gun and set him on fire forward. Thereupon the U-boat's crew -surrendered and jumped overboard. - -It was now 7.20 and broad daylight. Lieutenant-Commander Frederick -Robinson, of the _Gipsy_, gave the signal to cease fire, and the five -drifters set to work to save their drowning enemies. The _Paramount_, -who was nearest, got thirteen, the _Feasible_ one, and the _Acceptable_ -two. The _Gipsy's_ whaler was got away, and her crew, under Lieutenant -Gilbertson, R.N.R., tried for an hour to make headway against the sea, -but could not go further than half a mile, the tide and weather being -heavily against them. They brought back one dead man, and one prisoner -in a very exhausted condition; afterwards they went off again and -collected the prisoners from the other ships. Later came the procession -back to port--a quiet and unobtrusive return, but as glorious as any -that the Goodwins have ever seen. Full rewards followed, and the due -decorations for Skippers Thomas Lane, Edward Kemp, and Richard William -Barker. But their greatest honour was already their own--they had -commanded in victorious action his Majesty's armed drifters the _Present -Help_, the _Paramount_, and the _Majesty_. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIX.* - - *ZEEBRUGGE.* - - -During the years 1916 and 1917 the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend -had become more and more important to the Germans as a base for their -submarines. Their loss would be, as Admiral Scheer said, "a very -disagreeable blow to the U-boat campaign." It was in November 1917 that -the British Admiralty first planned a blow against these ports, but the -favourable opportunity did not present itself until April 23, 1918. In -the meantime, the Allies had succeeded in bringing the last German -offensive to a standstill, and there was much anxiety as to its possible -renewal. The blow struck by the Navy on St. George's Day was therefore -a most timely one, for it not only increased Admiral Scheer's -difficulties but resounded over the world as a daring feat of arms and a -proof of unbroken national spirit. - -The difficulties of the proposed attack were enormous, and real -imagination was needed to cope with them. The coast was defended by -batteries containing in all 120 heavy guns, some of them of 15-inch -calibre. A battery of these was emplaced upon the Mole at Zeebrugge--a -solid stone breakwater more than a mile long, which held also a railway -terminus, a seaplane station, a number of large sheds for personnel and -material, and, at the extreme seaward end, a lighthouse with searchlight -and range-finder. The attacking force would also have to reckon with -the batteries on shore, the troops who would reinforce the defenders on -the Mole, and the destroyers which were lying in the harbour. It was -not, of course, proposed to take and hold works so strongly defended; -but an attack was indispensable, for the enemy's attention must be -diverted from the block-ships, which were to arrive during the fight off -both ports and sink themselves in such a position as to impede the -passage of U-boats. - -The offensive then was directed against Zeebrugge, and the plan of -attack was to be the seizure of the Mole by a landing party. They must -be strong enough to overrun it, capture the big guns, and keep off enemy -reinforcements by destroying the railway viaduct which connected it with -the shore. Then, when the block-ships had been sunk, the men must be -re-embarked and brought away. - -For the fighting itself there was little need to be over-anxious; the -real problem was concerned with the difficulty of approaching, throwing -the men ashore, and getting them away again without the transports being -sunk by the enemy's fire. Nothing could be left to luck or the -inspiration of the moment, and the conditions of success were extremely -severe. First, the attacking ships must effect a complete surprise, and -reach the Mole before the guns of the defence could be brought to bear -upon them. The enemy searchlights must therefore be blinded, as far as -possible, by an artificial fog or smoke-screen; but again this must not -be dense enough to obscure the approach entirely. Secondly, the work -must be done in very short time, and to the minute, for though the -attack might be a surprise, the return voyage must be made under fire. -The shore batteries were known to have a destructive range of 16 miles; -to get clear of the danger zone would take the flotilla two hours. -Daylight would begin by 3.30 a.m.; it was therefore necessary to leave -the Mole by 1.30; and as, for similar reasons, it was impossible to -arrive before midnight, an hour and a half was all that the time-table -could allow for fighting, blocking, and re-embarking. To do things as -exactly as this, a night must be chosen when wind, weather, and tide -would all be favourable. The difficulty of finding so precise an -opportunity caused four months' delay--the expedition had in fact twice -started and been compelled to put back: once it had actually come within -15 miles of the Mole. - -The attack was conducted by Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes, commanding at -Dover; the force employed was a large and composite one, and required -masterly handling. The Ostend expedition, though highly difficult and -dangerous, was an affair of blocking only, and was comparatively simple; -but for Zeebrugge there were needed, besides the principal ships, a -fleet of smoke-boats for making fog, motor launches for showing flares -and bringing off men in difficulties, monitors for engaging the -batteries, and destroyers for looking after the enemy ships in harbour; -lastly, there was an old submarine, C3, to be used as a self-propelling -mine for the destruction of the viaduct. The landing on the Mole was to -be made from the _Vindictive_ (Captain A. Carpenter), an old light -cruiser of 5,720 tons, and she was to be accompanied by two old -ferry-boats from the Mersey, the _Daffodil_ and the _Iris_; the three -destroyers were the _North Star_ (Lieutenant-Commander K. C. Helyar), -the _Phoebe_ (Lieutenant-Commander H. E. Gore-Langton), and the -_Warwick_, flying the Admiral's flag. - -The success which resulted was due not to fortune but to foresight, and -to the accurate timing of the work of the various units employed. As -the flotilla advanced the smoke-screen craft and motor-boats dashed -ahead, laid their screens, drove in the enemy ships, and made it -possible for the transports to approach the Mole. The Ostend force -parted company at the agreed point, and the monitors opened fire on the -shore batteries. Precisely at midnight the _Sirius_ and the _Brilliant_ -arrived at Ostend, and at Zeebrugge the _Vindictive_, emerging from the -thick fog of smoke into the brilliant light of German flares, saw the -end of the Mole within 400 yards of her. She ran alongside at full -speed, and returned the fire of the big guns with her 6-inch and -12-pound armament. - -[Illustration: Zeebrugge.] - -To grapple the Mole was very difficult; the outer wall was high and -there was a heavy swell rolling the ships. The _Iris_ was ahead; but -the _Daffodil_, being close astern of the _Vindictive_, was able to push -her into place with her bows and hold her there most gallantly. The -_Vindictive_ ran out the "brows" or high gangways with which she was -specially fitted, and the storming parties were ready to land. At this -moment a shell fell among them and killed Colonel Bertram Elliot of the -Marines, while Captain Henry Halanem, who was commanding the -bluejackets, fell to machine-gun fire. But their men were unchecked. -They rushed upon the brows, which were tossing and crashing on the wall, -and with all their heavy accoutrements, bombs, and Lewis guns, cleared -the leap down the steep fall to the floor of the Mole, and began -fighting their way along it under cover of a barrage from the ship's -howitzers. The _Iris_ meantime was grappling the Mole farther ahead, -with dearly bought success; the _Daffodil's_ men jumped across to the -_Vindictive_ and joined her storming party. - -The charge was irresistible; the batteries were taken, the dug-outs -cleared, the hangars fired, the store-sheds blown up, and those of the -enemy who escaped into a destroyer were sent to the bottom in her by a -bombing attack from the parapet. All this was done in fifteen minutes; -then followed a tremendous explosion at the shore end of the Mole. The -C3, manned by half a dozen officers and men under Lieutenant R. D. -Sandford, R.N., had made straight for the piles of the viaduct under the -searchlights of the enemy, who seem to have thought that she was bent on -passing through to attack the ships in the harbour, and was therefore -sure to be trapped among the struts and piles. Then, when they saw her -crew reappear in a tiny motor-boat they opened fire with machine-guns; -but they had only wounded and not disabled their quarry, for immediately -C 3 exploded and destroyed the viaduct and all upon it, cutting off the -Mole from communication with the shore. Lieutenant R. D. Sandford, with -his five companions, was picked up by a steam pinnace commanded by his -brother, Lieutenant-Commander Sandford, and brought away safely. Both -as tactics and as a moral reinforcement their exploit was of the highest -value. - -Ten minutes afterwards the block-ships, the _Thetis_ (Commander R. S. -Sneyd), the _Intrepid_ (Lieutenant Stuart Bonham-Carter), and the -_Iphigenia_ (Lieutenant V. W. Billyard-Leake), were seen rounding the -lighthouse and heading for the entrance of the canal. The _Thetis_ was -leading, and received the concentrated fire of the enemy; she ran -aground on the edge of the channel and was sunk partially across it, -signalling to her consorts, as she went down, to avoid the nets which -had fouled her own propeller. The _Intrepid_ and the _Iphigenia_ -thereupon passed straight up the canal to a point at which they were two -or three hundred yards inside the shore lines and actually behind the -German guns on the Mole. They were then blown up and sunk across the -channel, and their crews took to the boats and got away out to sea, -where they were eventually taken on board the destroyers. - -An hour had now passed and the work was done. Even the lighthouse had -been sacked, for Wing-Commander Brock, who was in charge of the -smoke-screen operations, had not only led the charge into the big gun -battery, but had made a special objective of the range-finder in the -lighthouse top and came down laden with an armful of spoil. He was last -seen lying desperately wounded under the parapet wall of the Mole; but -this was not reported until afterwards, and his fate remained uncertain. -The siren was shrieking the recall, half drowned by the noise of -gun-fire; it was twenty minutes before the word could be given to cast -off. - -The _Vindictive_, the _Iris_, and the _Daffodil_ got away at full speed, -and the German salvos followed them with remarkable regularity, but -always a few yards behind; the ships were soon covered too by their own -smoke. Of the three destroyers two came safely off; the third, the -_North Star_, was sunk by gun-fire near the block-ships, but her men -were brought away by the _Phoebe_. Of the motor-boats (under command of -Captain R. Collins) many performed feats of incredible audacity at -point-blank range, and all but two returned. The co-operation of all -forces was from first to last beyond expectation and beyond praise; a -mortal enterprise could hardly come nearer to perfection, whether of -foresight, daring, or execution. - -During the Zeebrugge attack the wind shifted and blew the smoke off -shore. This helped to cover the retirement, but at Ostend it caused a -partial failure of the blocking operations. Commodore Hubert Lynes -successfully laid his smoke screen, and sent in the _Sirius_ and the -_Brilliant_ to be sunk between the piers of the harbour mouth. But the -enemy sighted and sunk the motor-boats and their guide lights; the -block-ships missed the entrance and were blown up 2,000 yards to the -east. The Germans, to guard against a renewal of the attempt, removed -the buoy at the entrance and kept a patrol of nine destroyers in the -harbour. But on the night of 9th May, Commodore Lynes took in a larger -flotilla, and this time the _Vindictive_ herself was the block-ship. In -spite of fog and darkness her commander (Godsal, late of the -_Brilliant_), piloted by Acting-Lieutenant Cockburn in a motor-boat, ran -her 200 yards up the channel and then ordered her to be sunk. He died -in the act, but the work was completed by Lieutenant Crutchley and -Engineer-Lieutenant Bury. The losses were heavy, for the Germans had a -fair target; but even when day broke the nine destroyers made no attempt -at a counterstroke, and the expedition returned triumphant. - -This whole attack was a legitimate enterprise planned only for a -definite and practical purpose, but in the result it proved a greater -affair than had been foreseen: the moral effect of so splendid a feat of -arms came as a timely gift from the Navy to the Allied cause. - - - - - *PART V.* - - *BEHIND THE LINES.* - - - *CHAPTER XXX.* - - *BEHIND THE LINES AND AT HOME.* - - -"We are fighting," said Lord Curzon in July 1918, "seven distinct -campaigns ourselves--in France, Italy, Salonika, Palestine, Mesopotamia, -Persia, and Egypt, and we have raised 7,000,000 men. We have been the -feeder, clothier, baker, armourer, and universal provider of the -Allies." - -The achievement of Britain in the war cannot be judged only from her -successes in the field. In 1914 she set herself resolutely to prepare a -great fighting-machine which would not only be superior to that of -Germany, but which would also serve the needs of all the Powers who -fought by her side. It was the perfection of this machine, built up -through four patient and laborious years, which enabled her in the final -war of movement to deliver the succession of blows which led to victory. - -Take first the numbers of enlisted men. In August 1914 the British land -forces were made up of 250,000 Regulars, 200,000 trained Reserves, and -250,000 partly-trained Territorials. Lord Kitchener asked for 100,000 -volunteers, and these were enrolled in less than a fortnight. In one -day 30,000 enlisted. By July 1915 there were 2,000,000 men in arms. In -May 1916 the King announced that over 5,000,000 men had enrolled -voluntarily in the army and the navy. In August 1918, 8,500,000 men -were enrolled in the armed forces of the Crown. - -The navy, in August 1914, had 145,000 officers and men and a tonnage of -2,500,000. Four years later the figures were 450,000 men and 8,000,000 -tons. In one month in the year 1918 British warships travelled -1,000,000 sea miles in home waters alone, and in the same period -auxiliary vessels travelled 6,000,000 miles, or 250 times the circuit of -the globe. During the war the British navy transported 20,000,000 men, -of whom only 2,700 were lost by enemy action; 2,000,000 horses and -mules, 25,000,000 tons of explosives, 51,000,000 tons of oil and fuel, -and 130,000,000 tons of food and other materials. All this was done -while fighting a constant warfare against enemy submarines. - -The work of the British people at home in supplying munitions was one of -the main factors in the enemy's defeat. The Ministry of Munitions was -formed in June 1915, and soon became the largest of the Government -departments, controlling the iron, steel, engineering, and chemical -trades, and employing 2,500,000 men and 1,000,000 women. Over 10,000 -firms worked for it, and Government factories increased from three in -1914 to 200 in 1918. In 1918 the figure of the first year of war in the -production of certain classes of ammunition was multiplied four hundred -times, and in the production of guns forty times. During the Battle of -the Somme in 1916, Britain issued every week to her armies in France an -amount of ammunition equal to the entire stock available for her land -service at the outbreak of war; and during the last battles of 1918 the -volume of shells fired was more than double that expended in the Battle -of the Somme. All the railways of Britain were taken over by the State, -and from October 1916 materials for thousands of miles of track, over -1,000 locomotives, and many thousands of wagons were shipped to various -theatres of war, in spite of the fact that more than 170,000 railwaymen -had been released for service with the army. - -[Illustration: FIELD-MARSHAL EARL KITCHENER.] - -The business of an army in the field is not merely to fight, or rather, -its chief task, fighting, is only possible if there is a first-class -organization behind the lines. How brilliant and complete that -organization was towards the close of the struggle would take a volume -to expound. In France, for example, the British Army had its own -Forestry Department, and produced from French forests over 2,000,000 -tons of timber. It was its own farmer, and in 1918 it saved the crops -of 18,000 French acres, harvesting them at night. It did its own -tailoring and boot-making. It did all its mending of every kind, and it -saved broken and derelict material to be remade in the factories at -home. It did its own catering, and there never was a war in which men -and horses were better fed--a remarkable feat when we remember that -provision had to be made for men of different races and tastes--curry -for the Indians, nut-oil for the Chinese, and coffee for the American -soldiers. It did its own banking, insurance, and printing. Its -transport service was a miracle. In 1914 the Expeditionary Force landed -in France with 40,000 horses and a few hundred lorries, while its -railway transport was managed by the French. In 1918 it ran its own -railways, and it had 500,000 horses and mules, 33,500 lorries, 1,400 -tractors, and 15,800 motor-cars. It did the business of almost all the -trades on earth, and did it with exactness, economy, and an amazing -flexibility, so that whenever a new call was necessitated by the -strategy of the generals, it was fully and promptly met. - -The war was therefore a united effort of the whole British people. In -Cromwell's day the start of one battle was delayed because it got mixed -up with a fox hunt. Even in the Napoleonic wars there were thousands of -families in England which lived remote from the struggle, and readers of -Jane Austen's novels would not gather from their placid narrative that -her country was involved in a European campaign. But between 1914 and -1918 every aspect of national life and every branch of national thought -was organized for the purposes of the war. Hospitals sprang up in every -town and in hundreds of country districts. Articles of food were -controlled to release shipping for war purposes. The country enormously -increased its own food supply, and some 4,000,000 acres of pasture were -brought under tillage. The whole nation was rationed, so that rich and -poor alike shared in the sacrifice. Schoolboys spent their holidays -working on the land, and the women of Britain, in munition factories, in -land work, and in a thousand other employments, made noble contribution -to the common cause. In 1918 there were at least 1,500,000 more women -working than before the war, and the tasks on which they were engaged -were those which had hitherto been regarded as work which could only be -performed by men. - - - - - *PART VI.* - - *VICTORY.* - - - *CHAPTER XXXI.* - - *THE LAST DAY.* - - -By the first days of November 1918 the war was won. In October both -Turkey and Bulgaria had been beaten to the ground. On the 4th of -November Austria capitulated. Ludendorff had resigned, the German -Emperor had sought refuge at Army Headquarters from the troubles of his -capital, the German navy had mutinied, and a revolution was beginning in -Berlin. Foch was on the eve of his last step in the West. The -Americans were moving on Sedan. Haig was in the position of Wellington -on the eve of Waterloo, when he raised his hat as a signal for -"Everything to go in." - -On 1st November Valenciennes fell. On 4th November Haig attacked on the -30 miles between that city and the Sambre. Twenty British divisions -scattered thirty-two German divisions, taking 19,000 prisoners and more -than 450 guns. That day broke the enemy's resistance. Henceforth he -was not in retreat but in flight, and the two wings of his armies were -separated for ever. There remained only the 50 miles between Avesnes -and Mezieres as an avenue of escape for all the German forces of the -south, and Foch was preparing to swing his right wing north of Metz to -close the last bolt-hole. If a negotiated armistice did not come within -a week there would be a compulsory armistice of complete collapse and -universal surrender. That day Germany appointed delegates to sue for -peace. - -On the 8th, Rawlinson occupied Avesnes and Byng reached the skirts of -Maubeuge. The first week of that month of November the weather was wet -and chilly, very different from the bright August when British troops -had last fought in that region. The old regular forces which in 1914 -had then borne the shock of Germany's first fury had mostly disappeared. -Many were dead, or prisoners, or crippled for life, and the rest had -been dispersed through the whole British army. The famous first five -divisions, which had made the Retreat from Mons, were in the main -composed of new men. But there were some who had fought steadily from -the Sambre to the Marne and back again to the Aisne, and then for four -years in bitter trench battles, and had now returned, after our patient -fashion, to their old campaigning ground. Even the slow imagination of -the British soldier must have been stirred by that strange revisiting. -Then he had been marching south in stout-hearted bewilderment, with the -German cavalry pricking at his flanks. Now he was sweeping to the -north-east on the road to Germany, and far ahead his own cavalry and -cyclists were harassing the enemy rout, while on all the eastern roads -his aircraft were scattering death. - -On the 7th the line of the Scheldt broke. On the 8th Conde fell, and on -the 9th the British Guards entered Maubeuge. On the 7th Pershing and -the Americans had reached Sedan. On the 10th the British left was -approaching Mons, and the centre was close on the Belgian frontier. -These were feverish days both for victors and vanquished. Surrender hung -in the air, and there was a generous rivalry among the Allies to get as -far forward as possible before it came. Take, for example, the 8th -Division of the British First Army. On the 10th November one of its -battalions, the 2nd Middlesex, travelled for seven hours in buses, and -then marched 27 miles, pushing the enemy before them. They wanted to -reach the spot near Mons where some of them had fired some of the first -British shots in the war; and it is pleasant to record that they -succeeded. - -[Illustration: The Front in July on the eve of the Allied Offensive, and -on the day -of the Armistice, November 11, 1918.] - -Meantime, in Germany, the revolution had begun. On Saturday the 9th, a -republic was declared in Berlin, and throughout the country, in every -State, the dynasties fell. On Sunday the 10th, the Emperor left the Army -Headquarters at Spa, crossed the Dutch frontier, and sought refuge in a -friend's house at Amerongen. The Imperial Crown Prince, like his -father, found sanctuary in Holland. The German delegates left Berlin on -the afternoon of Wednesday the 6th, and on the 8th met Foch and -petitioned for an armistice. They received his terms, and communicated -them to Spa and Berlin. On the night of Sunday, 10th November, the -terms were accepted, and at 5 o'clock on the morning of Monday, 11th -November, the armistice was signed. The acceptance of the terms meant -the surrender of Germany to the will of the Allies, for they stripped -from her the power of continuing or renewing the war. It was an -admission of her utter defeat in the field. - -The morning of Monday, 11th November, was cold and foggy, such weather -as the year before had been seen at Cambrai. The Allied front was for -the most part quiet, only cavalry patrols moving eastwards in touch with -the retreat. But at two points there was some activity. The Americans -on the Meuse were advancing, and the day opened for them with all the -accompaniment of a field action. At Mons, on the Sunday night, the -Canadians were in position round the place, fighting continued during -the night, and at dawn the 3rd Canadian Division entered the streets and -established a line east of the town, while the carillons of the belfries -played "Tipperary." For Britain the circle was now complete. In three -months her armies had gained seven victories, each greater than any in -her old wars; they had taken some 190,000 prisoners and 3,000 guns, and -they had broken the heart of their enemy. To their great sweep from -Amiens to Mons was due especially the triumph which Foch had won, and on -that grey November morning their worn ranks could await the final hour -with thankfulness and pride. - -The minutes passed slowly along the front. An occasional shell, an -occasional burst of fire, told that peace was not yet, but there were -long spells of quiet, save in the American area. Officers had their -watches in their hands, and the troops waited with the same grave -composure with which they had fought. Men were too weary for their -imaginations to rise to the great moment, for it is not at the time of a -crisis, but long afterwards, that the human mind grasps the drama. -Suddenly, as the watch-hands touched 11, there came a second of -expectant silence, and then a curious rippling sound which observers, -far behind the front, likened to the noise of a great wind. It was the -sound of men cheering from the Vosges to the sea. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXXII.* - - *LOOKING BACKWARD.* - - -The greatness of the contest is not easy to realize, for it was so much -the hugest war ever fought in the history of humanity that comparative -tests fail us. During its four years it took from the world a far -heavier toll of life and wealth than a century of the old Barbarian -invasions had done. More than 8,000,000 men died in battle, and the -casualties on all fronts were over 30,000,000. If we add deaths from -disease and famine it cannot have cost the population of the globe less -than 20,000,000 dead, and as many more maimed and weakened for life. At -least 40,000 millions sterling of money were spent by the nations in the -direct business of war. Let it be remembered that this devastation was -wrought not in the loose society of an elder world, but in one where -each state was a highly-developed thing, and depended for some -necessaries upon its neighbour, and where myriads of human souls could -only support life so long as the machine of civilization performed its -functions smoothly and securely. - -We can best grasp the immensity of the struggle by attempting to grasp -the immensity of the battleground. Such a task is for the imagination -only, for the soldier saw only his little area, and no man's first-hand -experience could cover all the many fields. An observer on some -altitude in the north, like the Hill of Cassel, on some evening in -September 1918, could look east and note the great arc from the dunes at -Nieuport to the coalfields about Lens lit with the flashes of guns and -the glare of star-shells, and loud with the mutter of battle. That was -a line of 50 miles--far greater than any battlefield in the old wars. -Had he moved south to the ridge of Vimy he would have looked on another -50 miles of an intenser strife. South, again, to Bapaume, he would have -marked the wicked glow from Cambrai to the Oise. Still journeying, from -some little height between the Oise and the Aisne he would have scanned -the long front which was now creeping round the shattered woods of St. -Gobain to where Laon sat on its hill. From the mounts about Rheims he -might have seen Gouraud's battle-line among the bleak Champagne downs, -and from a point in the Argonne the trenches of the Americans on both -sides of the Meuse, running into the dim wooded country where the -Moselle flowed towards Metz. Past the Gap of Nancy, and southward along -the scarp of the Vosges, went the flicker of fire and the murmur of -combat, till the French lines stretched into the plain of Alsace, and -exchanged greetings with the sentinels on the Swiss frontier. Such a -battle-ground might well have seemed beyond the dream of mortals, and -yet it was but part of the whole. - -A celestial intelligence, with sight unlimited by distance, would have -looked eastward, and, beyond the tangle of the Alps, witnessed a strange -sight. From the Stelvio Pass in the Alps to the Adriatic ran another -front, continuous through glacier-camps and rock-eyries and trenches on -the edge of the eternal snows, to the foothills of the Lombard plain, -and thence, by the gravel beds of the Piave, to the lagoons of Venice. -Beyond the Adriatic it ran, through the sombre hills of Albania, past -the great lakes, where the wild-fowl wheeled at the unfamiliar sound of -guns, beyond the Tcherna and Vardar and Struma valleys to the AEgean -shores. It began again, when the Anatolian peninsula was left behind, -and curved from the Palestine coast in a great loop north of Jerusalem -across Jordan to the hills of Moab. Gazing over the deserts, he would -have marked the flicker which told of mortal war passing beyond the -ancient valleys of Euphrates and Tigris, up into the wild Persian -ranges. And scattered flickers to the north would have led him to the -Caspian shores, and beyond them to that tableland running to the Hindu -Kush which was the cradle of all the warring races. Still farther -north, his eyes would have seen the lights of the Allies from the -Pacific coast westward to the Urals and the Volga, and little clusters -far away on the shore of the Arctic Sea. - -Had the vision of our celestial spectator been unhindered by time as -well as by space, it would have embraced still stranger sights. It -would have beheld the old Allied Eastern front, from the Baltic to the -Danube, pressing westward, checking, and falling east; breaking in -parts, gathering strength, and again advancing; and at last dying like a -lingering sunset into darkness. Behind would have appeared a murderous -glow, which was the flame of revolution. Turning to Africa, it would -have noted the slow movement of little armies in west, and east, and -south--handfuls of men creeping in wide circles among the Cameroons -forests till the land was theirs; converging lines of mounted troopers -among the barrens of the German South-West territory, closing in upon -the tin shanties of Windhoek; troops of all races advancing through the -mountain glens and dark green forests of German East Africa, till, after -months and years, the enemy strength had become a batch of exiles beyond -the southern frontier. And farther off still, among the isles of the -Pacific and on the Chinese coast, it would have seen men toiling under -the same lash of war. - -Had the spectator looked seaward, the sight would have been not less -marvellous. On every ocean of the world he would have observed the -merchantmen of the Allies bringing supplies for battle. But in the -North Atlantic, in the Mediterranean, and in the English Channel and the -North Sea he would have seen uncanny things. Vessels would disappear as -if by magic, and little warships would hurry about like some fishing -fleet when shoals are moving. The merchantmen would huddle into packs, -with destroyers like lean dogs at their sides. He would have seen in -the Scottish firths and among the isles of the Orkneys a mighty navy -waiting, and ships from it scouring the waters of the North Sea, while -inside the fences of Heligoland lay the decaying monsters of the German -fleet. And in the air, over land and sea would have been a perpetual -coming and going of aircraft like flies above the pool of war. - -The observer, wherever on the globe his eyes were turned, would have -found no area immune from the effects of the contest. Every factory in -Europe and America was humming by night and day to prepare the material -of strife. The economic problems of five continents had been -transformed. The life of the remotest villages had suffered a strange -transformation. Far-away English hamlets were darkened because of air -raids; little farms in Touraine, in the Scottish Highlands, in the -Apennines, were untilled because there were no men; Armenia had lost -half her people; the folk of North Syria were dying of famine; Indian -villages and African tribes had been blotted out by plague; whole -countries had ceased for the moment to exist, except as geographical -names. Such were but a few of the consequences of the kindling of war -in a world grown too expert in destruction, a world where all nations -were part one of another. - - -The war was an Allied victory, but let us be very clear what that means. -It delivered the world's freedom from a deadly danger, and, though the -price was colossal, the cause was worthy. But its positive fruits must -be sought elsewhere--in that impulse to international brotherhood caused -by the revulsion from the horrors of international strife, and the war's -vindication of the essential greatness of our common humanity. Its hero -was the ordinary man. Victory was won less by genius in the few than by -faithfulness in the many. - -The horrors of the four years sickened the world of war, and made -thinking men realize that some other way than this monstrous folly must -be found of settling disputes between peoples. A League of Nations was -one of the first articles of peace, and the League then founded has -already, in spite of hindrances and setbacks, and the opposition of an -all too narrow patriotism, made itself a power in the world. If -civilization is to endure the League must prosper, for the world cannot -stand another such carnival of destruction. The League means the -enforcement of law throughout the globe, so that the nations as regards -each other shall live in that state of orderly liberty which a civilized -power ensures for its citizens. That purpose, as we have learned from -bitter experience, is not a dream of idealism, but the first mandate of -common-sense. - -No honest sacrifice can be made in vain. In war sacrifice is mainly of -the innocent and the young. This was true of every side. Most men who -fell died for honourable things. They were inspired by the eternal -sanctities--love of country and home, comradeship, loyalty to manly -virtues, the indomitable questing of youth. Against such a spirit the -gates of death cannot prevail. We may dare to hope that the seed sown -in sacrifice and pain will yet quicken and bear fruit to the purifying -of the world, and in this confidence await the decrees of that -Omnipotence to whom a thousand years are as one day. - - - - THE END. - - - - PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT - THE PRESS OF THE PUBLISHERS. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAYS TO REMEMBER *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49540 - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so -the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and -trademark. 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