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diff --git a/51905-0.txt b/51905-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..89d8433 --- /dev/null +++ b/51905-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18547 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Invasion of 1910, by William le Queux
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: The Invasion of 1910
+ with a full account of the siege of London
+
+Author: William le Queux
+
+Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51905]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INVASION OF 1910 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Brian Coe, Chuck Greif and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE INVASION OF 1910
+
+
+
+
+ THE INVASION OF
+ 1910
+
+ WITH A FULL ACCOUNT OF
+ THE SIEGE OF LONDON
+
+ BY
+
+ WILLIAM LE QUEUX
+
+ NAVAL CHAPTERS BY H. W. WILSON
+
+ INTRODUCTORY LETTER BY
+ FIELD-MARSHAL EARL ROBERTS, K.G., K.P., ETC.
+
+ Toronto
+ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED
+ 1906
+
+ _All rights reserved_
+
+[Illustration: letter]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+“_I sometimes despair of the country ever becoming alive to the danger
+of the unpreparedness of our present position until too late to prevent
+some fatal catastrophe._”
+
+This was the keynote of a solemn warning made in the House of Lords on
+July 10th of the present year by Earl Roberts. His lordship, while
+drawing attention to our present inadequate forces, strongly urged that
+action should be taken in accordance with the recommendations of the
+Elgin Commission that “no military system could be considered
+satisfactory which did not contain powers of expansion outside the limit
+of the regular forces of the Crown.”
+
+“_The lessons of the late war appear to have been completely forgotten._
+The one prevailing idea seems to be,” said Earl Roberts, “to cut down
+our military expenditure without reference to our increased
+responsibilities and our largely augmented revenue. History tells us in
+the plainest terms that an Empire which cannot defend its own
+possessions must inevitably perish.” And with this view both Lord Milner
+and the Marquis of Lansdowne concurred. But surely this is not enough.
+If we are to retain our position as the first nation in the world we
+must be prepared to defend any raid made upon our shores.
+
+The object of this book is to illustrate our utter unpreparedness for
+war, to show how, under certain conditions which may easily occur,
+England can be successfully invaded by Germany, and to present a picture
+of the ruin which must inevitably fall upon us on the evening of that
+not far-distant day.
+
+Ever since Lord Roberts formulated his plans for the establishment of
+rifle-clubs I have been deeply interested in the movement; and after a
+conversation with that distinguished soldier the idea occurred to me to
+write a forecast, based upon all the available military and naval
+knowledge--which would bring home to the British public vividly and
+forcibly what really would occur were an enemy suddenly to appear in our
+midst. At the outset it was declared by the strategists I consulted to
+be impossible. No such book could ever be written, for, according to
+them, the mass of technical detail was far too great to digest and
+present in an intelligible manner to the public.
+
+Lord Roberts, however, gave me encouragement. The skeleton scheme of the
+manner in which England could be invaded by Germany was submitted to a
+number of the highest authorities on strategy, whose names, however, I
+am not permitted to divulge, and after many consultations, much
+criticism, and considerable difference of opinion, the “general idea,”
+with amendment after amendment, was finally adopted.
+
+That, however, was only a mere preliminary. Upon questions of tactics
+each tactician consulted held a different view, and each criticised
+adversely the other’s suggestions. With the invaluable assistance of my
+friend Mr. H. W. Wilson, we had decided upon the naval portion of the
+campaign; but when it came to the operations on land, I found a wide
+divergence of opinion everywhere.
+
+One way alone remained open--namely, to take the facts exactly as they
+stood, add the additional strength of the opposing nations as they will
+be in 1910, and then draw logical conclusions. This, aided by experts,
+was done; and after many days of argument with the various authorities,
+we succeeded at last in getting them in accord as to the general
+practicability of an invasion.
+
+Before putting pen to paper it was necessary to reconnoitre carefully
+the whole of England from the Thames to the Tyne. This I did by means of
+a motor-car, travelling 10,000 miles of all kinds of roads, and making a
+tour extending over four months. Each town, all the points of vantage,
+military positions, all the available landing-places on the coast, all
+railway connections, and telephone and telegraph communications, were
+carefully noted for future reference. With the assistance of certain
+well-known military experts, the battlefields were carefully gone over
+and the positions marked upon the Ordnance map. Thus, through four
+months we pushed on day by day collecting information and material,
+sometimes in the big cities, sometimes in the quietest and remotest
+hamlets, all of which was carefully tabulated for use.
+
+Whatever critics may say, and however their opinions may differ, it can
+only be pointed out, first, that the “general idea” of the scheme is in
+accordance with the expressed and published opinions of the first
+strategists of to-day, and that, as far as the forecast of events is
+concerned, it has been written from a first-hand knowledge of the local
+colour of each of the scenes described. The enemy’s Proclamations
+reproduced are practically copies of those issued by the Germans during
+the war of 1870.
+
+That the experts and myself will probably be condemned as alarmists and
+denounced for revealing information likely to be of assistance to an
+enemy goes without saying. Indeed, on March 15th last, an attempt was
+made in the House of Commons to suppress its publication altogether. Mr.
+R. C. Lehmann, who asked a question of the Prime Minister, declared that
+it was “calculated to prejudice our relations with the other Powers,”
+while Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, in a subsequent letter apologising to
+me for condemning in the House a work he had not read, repeated that it
+was likely to “produce irritation abroad and might conceivably alarm the
+more ignorant public at home.”
+
+Such a reflection, cast by the Prime Minister upon the British nation,
+is, to say the least, curious, yet it only confirms the truth that the
+Government are strenuously seeking to conceal from our people the
+appalling military weakness and the consequent danger to which the
+country is constantly open.
+
+Mr. Haldane’s new scheme has a number of points about it which, at first
+sight, will perhaps commend themselves to the general public, and in
+some cases to a proportion of military men. Foremost among these are the
+provision made for training the Militia Artillery in the use of
+comparatively modern field-guns, and the institution of the County
+Associations for the administration of the Volunteers and the
+encouragement of the local military spirit. Could an ideal Association
+of this kind be evolved there is little doubt that it would be capable
+of doing an immense amount of good, since administration by a central
+staff, ignorant of the widely differing local conditions which affect
+the several Volunteer corps, has already militated against getting the
+best work possible out of their members. But under our twentieth-century
+social system, which has unfortunately displaced so many influential and
+respected county families--every one of which had military or naval
+members, relations or ancestors--by wealthy tradesmen, speculators, and
+the like, any efficient County Association will be very hard to create.
+Mr. Haldane’s scheme is a bold and masterly sketch, but he will find it
+very hard to fill in the details satisfactorily. Unfortunately, the
+losses the Army must sustain by the reduction of so many fine battalions
+are very real and tangible, while the promised gains in efficiency would
+appear to be somewhat shadowy and uncertain.
+
+To be weak is to invite war; to be strong is to prevent it.
+
+To arouse our country to a sense of its own lamentable insecurity is
+the object of this volume, and that other nations besides ourselves are
+interested in England’s grave peril is proved by the fact that it has
+already been published in the German, French, Spanish, Danish, Russian,
+Italian, and even Japanese languages.
+
+WILLIAM LE QUEUX.
+
+LONDON, _July 26, 1906_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+CHAP. PAGE
+
+I. THE SURPRISE 3
+
+II. EFFECT IN THE CITY 20
+
+III. NEWS OF THE ENEMY 30
+
+IV. A PROPHECY FULFILLED 48
+
+V. OUR FLEET TAKEN UNAWARES 60
+
+VI. FIERCE CRUISER BATTLE 77
+
+VII. CONTINUATION OF THE STRUGGLE AT SEA 94
+
+VIII. SITUATION IN THE NORTH 108
+
+IX. STATE OF SIEGE DECLARED 118
+
+X. HOW THE ENEMY DEALT THE BLOW 131
+
+XI. GERMANS LANDING AT HULL AND GOOLE 154
+
+XII. DESPERATE FIGHTING IN ESSEX 171
+
+XIII. DEFENCE AT LAST 202
+
+XIV. BRITISH SUCCESS AT ROYSTON 221
+
+XV. BRITISH ABANDON COLCHESTER 235
+
+XVI. FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD 255
+
+XVII. IN THE ENEMY’S HANDS 266
+
+XVIII. THE FEELING IN LONDON 279
+
+BOOK II
+
+I. THE LINES OF LONDON 287
+
+II. REPULSE OF THE GERMANS 299
+
+III. BATTLE OF EPPING 310
+
+IV. BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON 326
+
+V. THE RAIN OF DEATH 344
+
+VI. FALL OF LONDON 357
+
+VII. TWO PERSONAL NARRATIVES 372
+
+VIII. GERMANS SACKING THE BANKS 393
+
+IX. WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT SEA 413
+
+X. SITUATION SOUTH OF THE THAMES 444
+
+XI. DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON 456
+
+XII. DAILY LIFE OF THE BELEAGUERED 466
+
+XIII. REVOLTS IN SHOREDITCH AND ISLINGTON 477
+
+
+BOOK III
+
+I. A BLOW FOR FREEDOM 495
+
+II. SCENES AT WATERLOO BRIDGE 511
+
+III. GREAT BRITISH VICTORY 520
+
+IV. MASSACRE OF GERMANS IN LONDON 531
+
+V. HOW THE WAR ENDED 540
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+ PAGE
+
+POSITION OF THE IVTH GERMAN ARMY CORPS TWELVE
+HOURS AFTER LANDING AT WEYBOURNE, NORFOLK 57
+
+POSITION OF THE SAXON CORPS TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
+AFTER LANDING IN ESSEX 148
+
+POSITION OF THE GERMAN FORCES TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
+AFTER LANDING AT GOOLE 157
+
+GERMANY’S POINTS OF EMBARKATION 167
+
+BATTLE OF PURLEIGH, 6TH SEPTEMBER 193
+
+BATTLE OF SHEFFIELD 218
+
+POSITIONS OF OPPOSING FORCES, 8TH SEPTEMBER 227
+
+BATTLE OF ROYSTON, SUNDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER 232
+
+BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD. POSITION ON THE EVENING OF 11TH SEPTEMBER 258
+
+THE DEFENCE OF SHEFFIELD 268
+
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE LINES OF LONDON 288
+
+BATTLE OF HARLOW--FIRST PHASE 296
+
+BATTLE OF HARLOW--FINAL PHASE 307
+
+GERMAN ATTACK ON THE LINES OF LONDON 315
+
+THE BOMBARDMENT AND DEFENCES OF LONDON ON 20TH AND 21ST SEPTEMBER 337
+
+LONDON AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT 365
+
+DAMAGE DONE IN THE CITY BY THE BOMBARDMENT 369
+
+DAMAGE DONE IN WESTMINSTER BY THE BOMBARDMENT 384
+
+SHETLAND ISLANDS 433
+
+THE DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON ON 26TH SEPTEMBER 457
+
+SCENE OF THE STREET FIGHTING IN SHOREDITCH ON 27TH SEPTEMBER 478
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I
+
+THE ATTACK
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE SURPRISE
+
+
+Two of the myriad of London’s night-workers were walking down Fleet
+Street together soon after dawn on Sunday morning, 2nd September.
+
+The sun had not yet risen. That main artery of London traffic, with its
+irregular rows of closed shops and newspaper offices, was quiet and
+pleasant in the calm, mystic light before the falling of the smoke-pall.
+
+Only at early morning does the dear old City look its best; in that one
+quiet, sweet hour when the night’s toil has ended and the day’s has not
+yet begun. Only in that brief interval at the birth of day, when the
+rose tints of the sky glow slowly into gold, does the giant metropolis
+repose--at least, as far as its business streets are concerned--for at
+five o’clock the toiling millions begin to again pour in from all points
+of the compass, and the stress and storm of London life at once
+recommences.
+
+And in that hour of silent charm the two grey-bearded sub-editors,
+though engaged in offices of rival newspapers, were making their way
+homeward to Dulwich to spend Sunday in a well-earned rest, and were
+chatting “shop” as Press men do.
+
+“I suppose you had the same trouble to get that Yarmouth story through?”
+asked Fergusson, the news-editor of the _Weekly Dispatch_, as they
+crossed Whitefriars Street. “We got about half a column, and then the
+wire shut down.”
+
+“Telegraph or telephone?” inquired Baines, who was four or five years
+younger than his friend.
+
+“We were using both--to make sure.”
+
+“So were we. It was a rattling good story--the robbery was mysterious,
+to say the least--but we didn’t get more than half of it. Something’s
+wrong with the line, evidently,” Baines said. “If it were not such a
+perfect autumn morning, I should be inclined to think there’d been a
+storm somewhere.”
+
+“Yes--funny, wasn’t it?” remarked the other. “A shame we haven’t the
+whole story, for it was a first-class one, and we wanted something. Did
+you put it on the contents-bill?”
+
+“No, because we couldn’t get the finish. I tried in every way--rang up
+the Central News, P.A., Exchange Telegraph Company, tried to get through
+to Yarmouth on the trunk, and spent half an hour or so pottering about,
+but the reply from all the agencies, from everywhere in fact, was the
+same--the line was interrupted.”
+
+“Just our case. I telephoned to the Post Office, but the reply came back
+that the lines were evidently down.”
+
+“Well, it certainly looks as though there’d been a storm, but----” and
+Baines glanced at the bright, clear sky overhead, just flushed by the
+bursting sun--“there are certainly no traces of it.”
+
+“There’s often a storm on the coast when it’s quite still in London, my
+dear fellow,” remarked his friend wisely.
+
+“That’s all very well. But when all communication with a big place like
+Yarmouth is suddenly cut off, as it has been, I can’t help suspecting
+that something has happened which we ought to know.”
+
+“You’re perhaps right after all,” Fergusson said. “I wonder if anything
+_has_ happened. We don’t want to be called back to the office, either of
+us. My assistant, Henderson, whom I’ve left in charge, rings me up over
+any mare’s nest. The trunk telephones all come into the Post Office
+exchange up in Carter Lane. Why not look in there before we go home? It
+won’t take us a quarter of an hour, and we have several trains home from
+Ludgate Hill.”
+
+Baines looked at his watch. Like his companion, he had no desire to be
+called back to his office after getting out to Dulwich, and yet he was
+in no mood to go making reporter’s inquiries.
+
+“I don’t think I’ll go. It’s sure to be nothing, my dear fellow,” he
+said. “Besides, I have a beastly headache. I had a heavy night’s work.
+One of my men is away ill.”
+
+“Well, at any rate, I think I’ll go,” Fergusson said. “Don’t blame me if
+you get called back for a special edition with a terrible storm, great
+loss of life, and all that sort of thing. So long.” And, smiling, he
+waved his hand and parted from his friend in the booking-office of
+Ludgate Hill Station.
+
+Quickening his pace, he hurried through the office and, passing out by
+the back, ascended the steep, narrow street until he reached the Post
+Office telephone exchange in Carter Lane, where, presenting his card, he
+asked to see the superintendent-in-charge.
+
+Without much delay he was shown upstairs into a small private office,
+into which came a short, dapper, fair-moustached man with the bustle of
+a person in a great hurry.
+
+“I’ve called,” the sub-editor explained, “to know whether you can tell
+me anything regarding the cause of the interruption of the line to
+Yarmouth a short time ago. We had some important news coming through,
+but were cut off just in the midst of it, and then we received
+information that all the telephone and telegraph lines to Yarmouth were
+interrupted.”
+
+“Well, that’s just the very point which is puzzling us at this moment,”
+was the night-superintendent’s reply. “It is quite unaccountable. Our
+trunk going to Yarmouth seems to be down, as well as the telegraphs.
+Yarmouth, Lowestoft, and beyond Beccles seem all to have been suddenly
+cut off. About eighteen minutes to four the operators noticed something
+wrong, switched the trunks through to the testers, and the latter
+reported to me in due course.”
+
+“That’s strange! Did they all break down together?”
+
+“No. The first that failed was the one that runs through Chelmsford,
+Colchester, and Ipswich up to Lowestoft and Yarmouth. The operator found
+that he could get through to Ipswich and Beccles. Ipswich knew nothing,
+except that something was wrong. They could still ring up Beccles, but
+not beyond.”
+
+As they were speaking, there was a tap at the door, and the assistant
+night-superintendent entered, saying--
+
+“The Norwich line through Scole and Long Stratton has now failed, sir.
+About half-past four Norwich reported a fault somewhere north, between
+there and Cromer. But the operator now says that the line is apparently
+broken, and so are all the telegraphs from there to Cromer, Sheringham,
+and Holt.”
+
+“Another line has gone, then!” exclaimed the superintendent-in-charge,
+utterly astounded. “Have you tried to get on to Cromer by the other
+routes--through Nottingham and King’s Lynn, or through Cambridge?”
+
+“The testers have tried every route, but there’s no response.”
+
+“You could get through to some of the places--Yarmouth, for instance--by
+telegraphing to the Continent, I suppose?” asked Fergusson.
+
+“We are already trying,” responded the assistant superintendent.
+
+“What cables run out from the east coast in that neighbourhood?”
+inquired the sub-editor quickly.
+
+“There are five between Southwold and Cromer--three run to Germany, and
+two to Holland,” replied the assistant. “There’s the cable from Yarmouth
+to Barkum, in the Frisian Islands; from Happisburg, near Mundesley, to
+Barkum; from Yarmouth to Emden; from Lowestoft to Haarlem, and from
+Kessingland, near Southwold, to Zandyport.”
+
+“And you are trying all the routes?” asked his superior.
+
+“I spoke to Paris myself an hour ago and asked them to cable by all five
+routes to Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Kessingland, and Happisburg,” was the
+assistant’s reply. “I also asked Liverpool Street Station and King’s
+Cross to wire down to some of their stations on the coast, but the reply
+was that they were in the same predicament as ourselves--their lines
+were down north of Beccles, Wymondham, East Dereham, and also south of
+Lynn. I’ll just run along and see if there’s any reply from Paris. They
+ought to be through by this time, as it’s Sunday morning, and no
+traffic.” And he went out hurriedly.
+
+“There’s certainly something very peculiar,” remarked the
+superintendent-in-charge to the sub-editor. “If there’s been an
+earthquake or an electrical disturbance, then it is a most extraordinary
+one. Every single line reaching to the coast seems interrupted.”
+
+“Yes. It’s uncommonly funny,” Fergusson remarked. “I wonder what could
+have happened. You’ve never had a complete breakdown like this before?”
+
+“Never. But I think----”
+
+The sentence remained unfinished, for his assistant returned with a slip
+of paper in his hand, saying--
+
+“This message has just come in from Paris. I’ll read it. ‘Superintendent
+Telephones, Paris, to Superintendent Telephones, London.--Have obtained
+direct telegraphic communication with operators of all five cables to
+England. Haarlem, Zandyport, Barkum, and Emden all report that cables
+are interrupted. They can get no reply from England, and tests show that
+cables are damaged somewhere near English shore.’”
+
+“Is that all?” asked Fergusson.
+
+“That’s all. Paris knows no more than we do,” was the assistant’s
+response.
+
+“Then the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts are completely isolated--cut off
+from post office, railways, telephones, and cables!” exclaimed the
+superintendent. “It’s mysterious--most mysterious!” And, taking up the
+instrument upon his table, he placed a plug in one of the holes down the
+front of the table itself, and a moment later was in conversation with
+the official in charge of the traffic at Liverpool Street, repeating the
+report from Paris, and urging him to send light engines north from
+Wymondham or Beccles into the zone of mystery.
+
+The reply came back that he had already done so, but a telegram had
+reached him from Wymondham to the effect that the road-bridges between
+Kimberley and Hardingham had apparently fallen in, and the line was
+blocked by débris. Interruption was also reported beyond Swaffham, at a
+place called Little Dunham.
+
+“Then even the railways themselves are broken!” cried Fergusson. “Is it
+possible that there’s been a great earthquake?”
+
+“An earthquake couldn’t very well destroy all five cables from the
+Continent,” remarked the superintendent gravely.
+
+The latter had scarcely placed the receiver upon the hook when a third
+man entered--an operator who, addressing him, said--
+
+“Will you please come to the switchboard, sir? There’s a man in the
+Ipswich call office who has just told me a most extraordinary story. He
+says that he started in his motor-car alone from Lowestoft to London at
+half-past three this morning, and just as it was getting light he was
+passing along the edge of Henham Park, between Wangford village and
+Blythburgh, when he saw three men apparently repairing the telegraph
+wires. One was up the pole, and the other two were standing below. As he
+passed he saw a flash, for, to his surprise, one of the men fired
+point-blank at him with a revolver. Fortunately, the shot went wide, and
+he at once put on a move and got down into Blythburgh village, even
+though one of his tyres went down. It had probably been pierced by the
+bullet fired at him, as the puncture was unlike any he had ever had
+before. At Blythburgh he informed the police of the outrage, and the
+constable, in turn, woke up the postmaster, who tried to telegraph back
+to the police at Wrentham, but found that the line was interrupted. Was
+it possible that the men were cutting the wires, instead of repairing
+them? He says that after repairing the puncture he took the village
+constable and three other men on his car and went back to the spot,
+where, although the trio had escaped, they saw that wholesale havoc had
+been wrought with the telegraphs. The lines had been severed in four or
+five places, and whole lengths tangled up into great masses. A number of
+poles had been sawn down, and were lying about the roadside. Seeing that
+nothing could be done, the gentleman remounted his car, came on to
+Ipswich, and reported the damage at our call office.”
+
+“And is he still there?” exclaimed the superintendent quickly, amazed at
+the motorist’s statement.
+
+“Yes. I asked him to wait for a few moments in order to speak to you,
+sir.”
+
+“Good. I’ll go at once. Perhaps you’d like to come also, Mr. Fergusson?”
+
+And all four ran up to the gallery, where the huge switchboards were
+ranged around, and where the night operators, with the receivers
+attached to one ear, were still at work.
+
+In a moment the superintendent had taken the operator’s seat, adjusted
+the ear-piece, and was in conversation with Ipswich. A second later he
+was speaking with the man who had actually witnessed the cutting of the
+trunk line.
+
+While he was thus engaged an operator at the farther end of the
+switchboard suddenly gave vent to a cry of surprise and disbelief.
+
+“What do you say, Beccles? Repeat it,” he asked excitedly.
+
+Then a moment later he shouted aloud--
+
+“Beccles says that German soldiers--hundreds of them--are pouring into
+the place! The Germans have landed at Lowestoft, they think.”
+
+All who heard those ominous words sprang up dumbfounded, staring at each
+other.
+
+The assistant-superintendent dashed to the operator’s side and seized
+his apparatus.
+
+“Halloa--halloa, Beccles! Halloa--halloa--halloa!”
+
+The response was some gruff words in German, and the sound of scuffling
+could distinctly be heard. Then all was silent.
+
+Time after time he rang up the small Suffolk town, but in vain. Then he
+switched through to the testers, and quickly the truth was plain.
+
+The second trunk line to Norwich, running from Ipswich by Harleston and
+Beccles, had been cut farther towards London.
+
+But what held everyone breathless in the trunk telephone headquarters
+was that the Germans had actually effected the surprise landing that had
+so often in recent years been predicted by military critics; that
+England on that quiet September Sunday morning had been attacked.
+England was actually invaded. It was incredible!
+
+Yet London’s millions in their Sunday morning lethargy were in utter
+ignorance of the grim disaster that had suddenly fallen upon the land.
+
+Fergusson was for rushing at once back to the _Weekly Dispatch_ office
+to get out an extraordinary edition, but the superintendent, who was
+still in conversation with the motorist, urged judicious forethought.
+
+“For the present, let us wait. Don’t let us alarm the public
+unnecessarily. We want corroboration. Let us have the motorist up here,”
+he suggested.
+
+“Yes,” cried the sub-editor. “Let me speak to him.”
+
+Over the wire Fergusson begged the stranger to come at once to London
+and give his story, declaring that the military authorities would
+require it. Then, just as the man who had been shot at by German advance
+spies--for such they had undoubtedly been--in order to prevent the truth
+leaking out, gave his promise to come to town at once, there came over
+the line from the coastguard at Southwold a vague, incoherent telephone
+message regarding strange ships having been seen to the northward, and
+asking for connection with Harwich; while King’s Cross and Liverpool
+Street Stations both rang up almost simultaneously, reporting the
+receipt of extraordinary messages from King’s Lynn, Diss, Harleston,
+Halesworth, and other places. All declared that German soldiers were
+swarming over the north, that Lowestoft and Beccles had been seized, and
+that Yarmouth and Cromer were isolated.
+
+Various stationmasters reported that the enemy had blown up bridges,
+taken up rails, and effectually blocked all communication with the
+coast. Certain important junctions were already held by the enemy’s
+outposts.
+
+Such was the amazing news received in that high-up room in Carter Lane,
+City, on that sweet, sunny morning when all the great world of London
+was at peace, either still slumbering or week-ending.
+
+Fergusson remained for a full hour and a half at the Telephone Exchange,
+anxiously awaiting any further corroboration. Many wild stories came
+over the wires telling how panic-stricken people were fleeing inland
+away from the enemy’s outposts. Then he took a hansom to the _Weekly
+Dispatch_ office, and proceeded to prepare a special edition of his
+paper--an edition containing surely the most amazing news that had ever
+startled London.
+
+Fearing to create undue panic, he decided not to go to press until the
+arrival of the motorist from Ipswich. He wanted the story of the man who
+had actually seen the cutting of the wires. He paced his room excitedly,
+wondering what effect the news would have upon the world. In the rival
+newspaper offices the report was, as yet, unknown. With journalistic
+forethought he had arranged that at present the bewildering truth should
+not leak out to his rivals, either from the railway termini or from the
+telephone exchange. His only fear was that some local correspondent
+might telegraph from some village or town nearer the metropolis which
+was still in communication with the central office.
+
+Time passed very slowly. Each moment increased his anxiety. He had sent
+out the one reporter who remained on duty to the house of Colonel Sir
+James Taylor, the Permanent Under-Secretary for War. Halting before the
+open window, he looked up and down the street for the arriving
+motor-car. But all was quiet.
+
+Eight o’clock had just boomed from Big Ben, and London still remained in
+her Sunday morning peace. The street, bright in the warm sunshine, was
+quite empty, save for a couple of motor-omnibuses and a sprinkling of
+gaily dressed holiday-makers on their way to the day excursion trains.
+
+In that centre of London--the hub of the world--all was comparatively
+silent, the welcome rest after the busy turmoil that through six days in
+the week is unceasing, that fevered throbbing of the heart of the
+world’s great capital.
+
+Of a sudden, however, came the whirr-r of an approaching car, as a
+thin-faced, travel-stained man tore along from the direction of the
+Strand and pulled up before the office. The fine car, a six-cylinder
+“Napier,” was grey with the mud of country roads, while the motorist
+himself was smothered until his goggles had been almost entirely
+covered.
+
+Fergusson rushed out to him, and a few moments later the pair were in
+the upstairs room, the sub-editor swiftly taking down the motorist’s
+story, which differed very little from what he had already spoken over
+the telephone.
+
+Then, just as Big Ben chimed the half-hour, the echoes of the
+half-deserted Strand were suddenly awakened by the loud, strident
+voices of the newsboys shouting--
+
+“_Weekly Dispatch_, spe-shall! Invasion of England this morning! Germans
+in Suffolk! Terrible panic! Spe-shall! _Weekly Dispatch_, Spe-shall!”
+
+As soon as the paper had gone to press Fergusson urged the
+motorist--whose name was Horton, and who lived at Richmond--to go with
+him to the War Office and report. Therefore, both men entered the car,
+and in a few moments drew up before the new War Office in Whitehall.
+
+“I want to see somebody in authority at once!” cried Fergusson excitedly
+to the sentry as he sprang out.
+
+“You’ll find the caretaker, if you ring at the side entrance--on the
+right, there,” responded the man, who then marched on.
+
+“The caretaker!” echoed the excited sub-editor bitterly. “And England
+invaded by the Germans!”
+
+He, however, dashed towards the door indicated and rang the bell. At
+first there was no response. But presently there were sounds of a slow
+unbolting of the door, which opened at last, revealing a tall, elderly
+man in slippers, a retired soldier.
+
+“I must see somebody at once!” exclaimed the journalist. “Not a moment
+must be lost. What permanent officials are here?”
+
+“There’s nobody ’ere, sir,” responded the man in some surprise at the
+request. “It’s Sunday morning, you know.”
+
+“Sunday! I know that, but I must see someone. Whom can I see?”
+
+“Nobody, until to-morrow morning. Come then.” And the old soldier was
+about to close the door when the journalist prevented him, asking--
+
+“Where’s the clerk-in-residence?”
+
+“How should I know? Gone up the river, perhaps. It’s a nice mornin’.”
+
+“Well, where does he live?”
+
+“Sometimes ’ere--sometimes in ’is chambers in Ebury Street,” and the
+man mentioned the number.
+
+“Better come to-morrow, sir, about eleven. Somebody’ll be sure to see
+you then.”
+
+“To-morrow!” cried the other. “To-morrow! You don’t know what you’re
+saying, man! To-morrow will be too late. Perhaps it’s too late now. The
+Germans have landed in England!”
+
+“Oh, ’ave they?” exclaimed the caretaker, regarding both men with
+considerable suspicion. “Our people will be glad to know that, I’m
+sure--to-morrow.”
+
+“But haven’t you got telephones, private telegraphs, or something here,
+so that I can communicate with the authorities? Can’t you ring up the
+Secretary of State, the Permanent Secretary, or somebody?”
+
+The caretaker hesitated a moment, his incredulous gaze fixed upon the
+pale, agitated faces of the two men.
+
+“Well, just wait a minute, and I’ll see,” he said, disappearing into a
+long cavernous passage.
+
+In a few moments he reappeared with a constable whose duty it was to
+patrol the building.
+
+The officer looked the strangers up and down, and then asked--
+
+“What’s this extraordinary story? Germans landed in England--eh? That’s
+fresh, certainly!”
+
+“Yes. Can’t you hear what the newsboys are crying? Listen!” exclaimed
+the motorist.
+
+“H’m. Well, you’re not the first gentleman who’s been here with a scare,
+you know. If I were you I’d wait till to-morrow,” and he glanced
+significantly at the caretaker.
+
+“I won’t wait till to-morrow!” cried Fergusson. “The country is in
+peril, and you refuse to assist me on your own responsibility--you
+understand?”
+
+“All right, my dear sir,” replied the officer, leisurely hooking his
+thumbs in his belt. “You’d better drive home, and call again in the
+morning.”
+
+“So this is the way the safety of the country is neglected!” cried the
+motorist bitterly, turning away. “Everyone away, and this great place,
+built merely to gull the public, I suppose, empty and its machinery
+useless. What will England say when she learns the truth?”
+
+As they were walking in disgust out from the portico towards the car, a
+man jumped from a hansom in breathless haste. He was the reporter whom
+Fergusson had sent out to Sir James Taylor’s house in Cleveland Square,
+Hyde Park.
+
+“They thought Sir James spent the night with his brother up at
+Hampstead,” he exclaimed. “I’ve been there, but find that he’s away for
+the week-end at Chilham Hall, near Buckden.”
+
+“Buckden! That’s on the Great North Road!” cried Horton. “We’ll go at
+once and find him. Sixty miles from London. We can be there under two
+hours!”
+
+And a few minutes later the pair were tearing due north in the direction
+of Finchley, disregarding the signs from police constables to stop,
+Horton wiping the dried mud from his goggles and pulling them over his
+half-closed eyes.
+
+They had given the alarm in London, and the _Weekly Dispatch_ was
+spreading the amazing news everywhere. People read it eagerly, gasped
+for a moment, and then smiled in utter disbelief. But the two men were
+on their way to reveal the appalling truth to the man who was one of the
+heads of that complicated machinery of inefficient defence which we so
+proudly term our Army.
+
+Bursting with the astounding information, they bent their heads to the
+wind as the car shot onward through Barnet and Hatfield, then, entering
+Hitchin, they were compelled to slow down in the narrow street as they
+passed the old Sun Inn, and afterwards out again upon the broad highway
+with its many telegraph lines, through Biggleswade, Tempsford, and Eaton
+Socon, until, in Buckden, Horton pulled up to inquire of a farm labourer
+for Chilham Hall.
+
+“Oop yon road to the left, sir. ’Bout a mile Huntingdon way,” was the
+man’s reply.
+
+Then away they sped, turning a few minutes later into the handsome
+lodge-gates of Chilham Park, and running up the great elm avenue, drew
+up before the main door of the ancient hall, a quaint many-gabled old
+place of grey stone.
+
+“Is Sir James Taylor in?” Fergusson shouted to the liveried man who
+opened the door.
+
+“He’s gone across the home farm with his lordship and the keepers,” was
+the reply.
+
+“Then take me to him at once. I haven’t a second to lose. I must see him
+this instant.”
+
+Thus urged, the servant conducted the pair across the park and through
+several fields to the edge of a small wood, where two elderly men were
+walking with a couple of keepers and several dogs about them.
+
+“The tall gentleman is Sir James. The other is his lordship,” the
+servant explained to Fergusson; and a few moments later the breathless
+journalist, hurrying up, faced the Permanent Under-Secretary with the
+news that England was invaded--that the Germans had actually effected a
+surprise landing on the east coast.
+
+Sir James and his host stood speechless. Like others, they at first
+believed the pale-faced, bearded sub-editor to be a lunatic, but a few
+moments later, when Horton briefly repeated the story, they saw that
+whatever might have occurred, the two men were at least in deadly
+earnest.
+
+“Impossible!” cried Sir James. “We should surely have heard something of
+it if such were actually the case! The coastguard would have telephoned
+the news instantly. Besides, where is our fleet?”
+
+“The Germans evidently laid their plans with great cleverness. Their
+spies, already in England, cut the wires at a pre-arranged hour last
+night,” declared Fergusson. “They sought to prevent this gentleman from
+giving the alarm by shooting him. All the railways to London are already
+either cut, or held by the enemy. One thing, however, is clear--fleet or
+no fleet, the east coast is entirely at their mercy.”
+
+Host and guest exchanged dark glances.
+
+“Well, if what you say is the actual truth,” exclaimed Sir James,
+“to-day is surely the blackest day that England has ever known.”
+
+“Yes, thanks to the pro-German policy of the Government and the false
+assurances of the Blue Water School. They should have listened to Lord
+Roberts,” snapped his lordship. “I suppose you’ll go at once, Taylor,
+and make inquiries?”
+
+“Of course,” responded the Permanent Secretary. And a quarter of an hour
+later, accepting Horton’s offer, he was sitting in the car as it headed
+back towards London.
+
+Could the journalist’s story be true? As he sat there, with his head
+bent against the wind and the mud splashing into his face, Sir James
+recollected too well the repeated warnings of the past five years,
+serious warnings by men who knew our shortcomings, but to which no
+attention had been paid. Both the Government and the public had remained
+apathetic, the idea of peril had been laughed to scorn, and the country
+had, ostrich-like, buried its head in the sand, and allowed Continental
+nations to supersede us in business, in armaments, in everything.
+
+The danger of invasion had always been ridiculed as a mere alarmist’s
+fiction; those responsible for the defence of the country had smiled,
+the Navy had been reduced, and the Army had remained in contented
+inefficiency.
+
+If the blow had really been struck by Germany? If she had risked three
+or four, out of her twenty-three, army corps, and had aimed at the heart
+of the British Empire? What then? Ay! what then?
+
+As the car swept down Regent Street into Pall Mall and towards
+Whitehall, Sir James saw on every side crowds discussing the vague but
+astounding reports now published in special editions of all the Sunday
+papers, and shouted wildly everywhere.
+
+Boys bearing sheets fresh from the Fleet Street presses were seized,
+and bundles torn from them by excited Londoners eager to learn the
+latest intelligence.
+
+Around both War Office and Admiralty great surging crowds were
+clamouring loudly for the truth. Was it the truth, or was it only a
+hoax? Half London disbelieved it. Yet from every quarter, from the north
+and from across the bridges, thousands were pouring in to ascertain what
+had really occurred, and the police had the greatest difficulty in
+keeping order.
+
+In Trafalgar Square, where the fountains were plashing so calmly in the
+autumn sunlight, a shock-headed man mounted the back of one of the lions
+and harangued the crowd with much gesticulation, denouncing the
+Government in the most violent terms; but the orator was ruthlessly
+pulled down by the police in the midst of his fierce attack.
+
+It was half-past two o’clock in the afternoon. The Germans had already
+been on English soil ten hours, yet London was in ignorance of where
+they had actually landed, and utterly helpless.
+
+All sorts of wild rumours were afloat, rumours that spread everywhere
+throughout the metropolis, from Hampstead to Tooting, from Barking to
+Hounslow, from Willesden to Woolwich. The Germans were in England!
+
+But in those first moments of the astounding revelation the excitement
+centred in Trafalgar Square and its vicinity. Men shouted and
+threatened, women shrieked and wrung their hands, while wild-haired
+orators addressed groups at the street corners.
+
+Where was our Navy? they asked. Where was our “command of the sea” of
+which the papers had always talked so much? If we possessed that, then
+surely no invader could ever have landed? Where was our Army--that brave
+British Army that had fought triumphantly a hundred campaigns, and which
+we had been assured by the Government was always ready for any
+emergency? When would it face the invader and drive him back into the
+sea?
+
+When?
+
+And the wild, shouting crowds looked up at the many windows of the
+Admiralty and the War Office, ignorant that both those huge buildings
+only held terrified caretakers and a double watch of police constables.
+
+Was England invaded? Were foreign legions actually overrunning Norfolk
+and Suffolk, and were we really helpless beneath the iron heel of the
+enemy?
+
+It was impossible--incredible! England was on the most friendly terms
+with Germany. Yet the blow had fallen, and London--or that portion of
+her that was not enjoying its Sunday afternoon nap in the smug
+respectability of the suburbs--stood amazed and breathless, in
+incredulous wonder.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+EFFECT IN THE CITY
+
+
+Monday, 3rd September 1910, was indeed Black Monday for London.
+
+By midnight on Sunday the appalling news had spread everywhere. Though
+the full details of the terrible naval disasters were not yet to hand,
+yet it was vaguely known that our ships had been defeated in the North
+Sea, and many of them sunk.
+
+Before 7 a.m. on Monday, however, telegrams reaching London by the
+subterranean lines from the north gave thrilling stories of frightful
+disasters we had, while all unconscious, suffered at the hands of the
+German fleet.
+
+With London, the great cities of the north, Liverpool, Manchester,
+Sheffield, and Birmingham, awoke utterly dazed. It seemed incredible.
+And yet the enemy had, by his sudden and stealthy blow, secured command
+of the sea and actually landed.
+
+The public wondered why a formal declaration of war had not previously
+been made, ignorant of the fact that the declaration preceding the
+Franco-German War was the first made by any civilised nation prior to
+the commencement of hostilities for one hundred and seventy years. The
+peril of the nation was now recognised on every hand.
+
+Eager millions poured into the City by every train from the suburbs and
+towns in the vicinity of the metropolis, anxious to ascertain the truth
+for themselves, pale with terror, wild with excitement, indignant that
+our land forces were not already mobilised and ready to move eastward to
+meet the invader.
+
+As soon as the banks were opened there was a run on them, but by noon
+the Bank of England had suspended all specie payments. The other banks,
+being thus unable to meet their engagements, simply closed the doors,
+bringing business to an abrupt standstill. Consols stood at 90 on
+Saturday, but by noon on Monday were down to 42--lower even than they
+were in 1798, when they stood at 47¼. Numbers of foreigners tried to
+speculate heavily, but were unable to do so, for banking being suspended
+they could not obtain transfers.
+
+On the Stock Exchange the panic in the afternoon was indescribable.
+Securities of every sort went entirely to pieces, and there were no
+buyers. Financiers were surprised that no warning in London had betrayed
+the position of affairs, London being the money centre of the world.
+Prior to 1870 Paris shared with London the honour of being the pivot of
+the money market, but on the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of
+France during the Franco-German War, Paris lost that position. Had it
+not been that the milliards comprising the French War indemnity were
+intact in golden louis in the fortress of Spandau, Germany could never
+have hoped to wage sudden war with Great Britain before she had made
+Berlin independent of London in a money sense, or, at any rate, to
+accumulate sufficient gold to carry on the war for at least twelve
+months. The only way in which she could have done this was to raise her
+rate so as to offer better terms than London. Yet directly the Bank of
+England discovered the rate of exchange going against her, and her stock
+of gold diminishing, she would have responded by raising the English
+bank-rate in order to check the flow. Thus competition would have gone
+on until the rates became so high that all business would be checked,
+and people would have realised their securities to obtain the necessary
+money to carry on their affairs. Thus, no doubt, the coming war would
+have been forecasted had it not been for Germany’s already prepared
+war-chest, which the majority of persons have nowadays overlooked. Its
+possession had enabled Germany to strike her sudden blow, and now the
+Bank of England, which is the final reserve of gold in the United
+Kingdom, found that as notes were cashed so the stock of gold diminished
+until it was in a few hours compelled to obtain from the Government
+suspension of the Bank Charter. This enabled the Bank to suspend cash
+payment, and issue notes without a corresponding deposit of the
+equivalent in gold.
+
+The suspension, contrary to increasing the panic, had, curiously enough,
+the immediate effect of somewhat allaying it. Plenty of people in the
+City were confident that the blow aimed could not prove an effective
+one, and that the Germans, however many might have landed, would quickly
+be sent back again. Thus many level-headed business men regarded the
+position calmly, believing that when our command of the sea was again
+re-established, as it must be in a day or two, the enemy would soon be
+non-existent.
+
+Business outside the money market was, of course, utterly demoralised.
+The buying of necessities was now uppermost in everyone’s mind. Excited
+crowds in the streets caused most of the shops in the City and West End
+to close, while around the Admiralty were great crowds of eager men and
+women of all classes, tearful wives of bluejackets jostling with
+officers’ ladies from Mayfair and Belgravia, demanding news of their
+loved ones--inquiries which, alas! the casualty office were unable to
+satisfy. The scene of grief, terror, and suspense was heartrending.
+Certain ships were known to have been sunk with all on board after
+making a gallant fight, and those who had husbands, brothers, lovers, or
+fathers on board wept loudly, calling upon the Government to avenge the
+ruthless murder of their loved ones.
+
+In Manchester, in Liverpool, indeed all through the great manufacturing
+centres of the north, the excitement of London was reflected.
+
+In Manchester there was a panic “on ’Change,” and the crowd in Deansgate
+coming into collision with a force of mounted police, some rioting
+occurred, and a number of shop windows broken, while several agitators
+who attempted to speak in front of the Infirmary were at once arrested.
+
+Liverpool was the scene of intense anxiety and excitement, when a report
+was spread that German cruisers were about the estuary of the Mersey. It
+was known that the coal staithes, cranes, and petroleum tanks at
+Penarth, Cardiff, Barry, and Llanelly had been destroyed; that Aberdeen
+had been bombarded; and there were rumours that notwithstanding the
+mines and defences of the Mersey, the city of Liverpool, with all its
+crowd of valuable shipping, was to share the same fate.
+
+The whole place was in a ferment. By eleven o’clock the stations were
+crowded by women and children sent by the men away into the
+country--anywhere from the doomed and defenceless city. The Lord Mayor
+vainly endeavoured to inspire confidence, but telegrams from London
+announcing the complete financial collapse, only increased the panic. In
+the Old Hay Market and up Dale Street to the landing-stages, around the
+Exchange, the Town Hall, and the Custom House, the excited throng
+surged, talking eagerly, terrified at the awful blow that was
+prophesied. At any moment the grey hulls of those death-dealing cruisers
+might appear in the river; at any moment the first shell might fall and
+burst in their midst.
+
+Some--the wiseacres--declared that the Germans would never shell a city
+without first demanding an indemnity, but the majority argued that as
+they had already disregarded the law of nations in attacking our fleet
+without provocation, they would bombard Liverpool, destroy the shipping,
+and show no quarter.
+
+Thus during the whole of the day Liverpool existed in hourly terror of
+destruction.
+
+London remained breathless, wondering what was about to happen. Every
+hour the morning newspapers continued to issue special editions,
+containing all the latest facts procurable regarding the great naval
+disaster. The telegraphs and telephones to the north were constantly at
+work, and survivors of a destroyer who had landed at St. Abb’s, north of
+Berwick, gave thrilling and terrible narratives.
+
+A shilling a copy was no unusual price to be paid in Cornhill, Moorgate
+Street, Lombard Street, or Ludgate Hill for a halfpenny paper, and the
+newsboys reaped rich harvests, except when, as so often happened, they
+were set upon by the excited crowd, and their papers torn from them.
+
+Fleet Street was entirely blocked, and the traffic stopped by crowds
+standing before the newspaper offices waiting for the summary of each
+telegram to be posted up upon the windows. And as each despatch was
+read, sighs, groans, and curses were heard on every hand.
+
+The Government--the sleek-mannered, soft-spoken, self-confident Blue
+Water School--were responsible for it all, was declared on every hand.
+They should have placed the Army upon a firm and proper footing; they
+should have encouraged the establishment of rifle clubs to teach every
+young man how to defend his home; they should have pondered over the
+thousand and one warnings uttered during the past ten years by eminent
+men, statesmen, soldiers, and writers: they should have listened to
+those forcible and eloquent appeals of Earl Roberts, England’s military
+hero, who, having left the service, had no axe to grind. He spoke the
+truth in the House of Lords in 1906 fearlessly, from patriotic motives,
+because he loved his country and foresaw its doom. And yet the
+Government and the public had disregarded his ominous words.
+
+And now the blow he prophesied had fallen. It was too late--too late!
+The Germans were upon English soil.
+
+What would the Government now do? What, indeed, could it do?
+
+There were some who shouted in bravado that when mobilised the British
+troops would drive the invader into the sea; but such men were unaware
+of the length of time necessary to mobilise our Army for home
+defence--or of the many ridiculous regulations which appear to be laid
+down for the purpose of hindering rather than accelerating the
+concentration of forces.
+
+All through the morning, amid the chaos of business in the City, the
+excitement had been steadily growing, until shortly after three o’clock
+the _Daily Mail_ issued a special edition containing a copy of a German
+proclamation which, it was said, was now posted everywhere in East
+Norfolk, East Suffolk, and in Maldon in Essex, already occupied by the
+enemy.
+
+The original proclamation had been found pasted by some unknown hand
+upon a barn door near the town of Billericay, and had been detached and
+brought to London in a motor-car by the _Mail’s_ correspondent.
+
+It showed plainly the German intention was to deal a hard and crushing
+blow, and it struck terror into the heart of London, for it read as will
+be seen on next page.
+
+Upon the walls of the Mansion House, the Guildhall, outside the Bank of
+England, the Royal Exchange, and upon the various public buildings
+within the City wards a proclamation by the Lord Mayor quickly appeared.
+Even upon the smoke-blackened walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral, where, at
+that moment, a special service was being held, big posters were being
+posted and read by the assembled thousands.
+
+There was a sullen gloom everywhere as the hours went slowly by, and the
+sun sank into the smoke haze, shedding over the giant city a blood-red
+afterglow--a light that was ominous in those breathless moments of
+suspense and terror.
+
+Westward beyond Temple Bar proclamations were being posted. Indeed, upon
+all the hoardings in Greater London appeared various broadsheets side by
+side. One by the Chief Commissioner of Police, regulating the traffic in
+the streets, and appealing to the public to assist in the preservation
+of order; another by the Mayor
+
+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =PROCLAMATION.= |
+ | |
+ | =WE, GENERAL COMMANDING THE 3rd GERMAN ARMY,= |
+ | |
+ | HAVING SEEN the proclamation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor |
+ | William, King of Prussia, Chief of the Army, which authorises the |
+ | generals commanding the different German Army Corps to establish special |
+ | measures against all municipalities and persons acting in contradiction |
+ | to the usages of war, and to take what steps they consider necessary for |
+ | the well-being of the troops, |
+ | |
+ | HEREBY GIVE PUBLIC NOTICE: |
+ | |
+ | (1) THE MILITARY JURISDICTION is hereby established. It applies to all |
+ | territory of Great Britain occupied by the German Army, and to every |
+ | action endangering the security of the troops by rendering assistance to |
+ | the enemy. The Military Jurisdiction will be announced and placed |
+ | vigorously in force in every parish by the issue of this present |
+ | proclamation. |
+ | |
+ | (2) ANY PERSON OR PERSONS NOT BEING BRITISH SOLDIERS, or not showing by |
+ | their dress that they are soldiers: |
+ | |
+ | (_a_) SERVING THE ENEMY as spies; |
+ | |
+ | (_b_) MISLEADING THE GERMAN TROOPS when charged to serve as guides; |
+ | |
+ | (_c_) SHOOTING, INJURING, OR ROBBING any person belonging to the German |
+ | Army, or forming part of its personnel; |
+ | |
+ | (_d_) DESTROYING BRIDGES OR CANALS, damaging telegraphs, telephones, |
+ | electric light wires, gasometers, or railways, interfering with roads, |
+ | setting fire to munitions of war, provisions, or quarters established by |
+ | German troops; |
+ | |
+ | (_e_) TAKING ARMS against the German troops, |
+ | |
+ | =WILL BE PUNISHED BY DEATH.= |
+ | |
+ | IN EACH CASE the officer presiding at the Council of War will be charged |
+ | with the trial, and pronounce judgment. Councils of War may not |
+ | pronounce ANY OTHER CONDEMNATION SAVE THAT OF DEATH. |
+ | |
+ | THE JUDGMENT WILL BE IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED. |
+ | |
+ | (3) TOWNS OR VILLAGES in the territory in which the contravention takes |
+ | place will be compelled to pay indemnity equal to one year’s revenue. |
+ | |
+ | (4) THE INHABITANTS MUST FURNISH necessaries for the German troops daily |
+ | as follows:-- |
+ | |
+ | 1 lb. 10 oz. bread. 1 oz. tea. 1½ pints beer, or 1 |
+ | 13 oz. meat. 1½ oz. tobacco or 5 cigars. wine-glassful of |
+ | 3 lb. potatoes. ½ pint wine. brandy or whisky. |
+ | |
+ | The ration for each horse:-- |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | 13 lb. oats. 3 lb. 6 oz. hay. 3 lb. 6 oz. straw. |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | (ALL PERSONS WHO PREFER to pay an indemnity in money may do so at the |
+ | rate of 2s. per day per man.) |
+ | |
+ | (5) COMMANDERS OF DETACHED corps have the right to requisition all that |
+ | they consider necessary for the well-being of their men, and will |
+ | deliver to the inhabitants official receipts for goods so supplied. |
+ | |
+ | WE HOPE IN CONSEQUENCE that the inhabitants of Great Britain will make |
+ | no difficulty in furnishing all that may be considered necessary. |
+ | |
+ | (6) AS REGARDS the individual transactions between the troops and the |
+ | inhabitants, we give notice that one German mark shall be considered the |
+ | equivalent to one English shilling. |
+ | |
+ | =The General Commanding the Ninth German Army Corps, |
+ | VON KRONHELM.= |
+ | |
+ | BECCLES, _September the Third, 1910_. |
+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+of Westminster, couched in similar terms to that of the Lord Mayor; and
+a Royal Proclamation, brief but noble, urging every Briton to do his
+duty, to take his part in the defence of King and country, and to unfurl
+the banner of the British Empire that had hitherto carried peace and
+civilisation in every quarter of the world. Germany, whose independence
+had been respected, had attacked us without provocation; therefore
+hostilities were, alas, inevitable.
+
+When the great poster printed in big capitals and headed by the Royal
+Arms made its appearance it was greeted with wild cheering.
+
+It was a message of love from King to people--a message to the highest
+and to the lowest. Posted in Whitechapel at the same hour as in
+Whitehall, the throngs crowded eagerly about it and sang “God Save our
+Gracious King,” for if they had but little confidence in the War Office
+and Admiralty, they placed their trust in their Sovereign, the first
+diplomat in Europe. Therefore the loyalty was spontaneous, as it always
+is. They read the royal message, and cheered and cheered again.
+
+As evening closed in yet another poster made its appearance in every
+city, town, and village in the country, a poster issued by military and
+police officers and naval officers in charge of dockyards--the order for
+mobilisation.
+
+The public, however, little dreamed of the hopeless confusion in the War
+Office, in the various regimental dépôts throughout the country, at
+headquarters everywhere, and in every barracks in the kingdom. The armed
+forces of England were passing from a peace to a war footing; but the
+mobilisation of the various units--namely, its completion in men,
+horses, and material--was utterly impossible in the face of the
+extraordinary regulations which, kept a strict secret by the Council of
+Defence until this moment, revealed a hopeless state of things.
+
+The disorder was frightful. Not a regiment was found fully equipped and
+ready to march. There was a dearth of officers, equipment, horses,
+provisions, of, indeed, everything. Some regiments simply existed in
+the pages of the Army List, but when they came to appear on parade they
+were mere paper phantoms. Since the Boer War the Government had, with
+culpable negligence, disregarded the needs of the Army, even though they
+had the object-lesson of the struggle between Russia and Japan before
+their eyes.
+
+In many cases the well-meaning efforts on the part of volunteers proved
+merely a ludicrous farce. Volunteers from Glasgow found themselves due
+to proceed to Dorking, in Surrey; those from Aberdeen were expected at
+Caterham, while those from Carlisle made a start for Reading, and found
+themselves in the quiet old city of Durham. And in a hundred cases it
+was the same. Muddle, confusion, and a chain of useless regulations at
+Aldershot, Colchester, and York all tended to hinder the movement of
+troops to their points of concentration, bringing home to the
+authorities at last the ominous warnings of the unheeded critics of the
+past.
+
+In that hour of England’s deadly peril, when not a moment should have
+been lost in facing the invader, nothing was ready. Men had guns without
+ammunition; cavalry and artillery were without horses; engineers only
+half-equipped; volunteers with no transport whatever; balloon sections
+without balloons, and searchlight units vainly trying to obtain the
+necessary instruments.
+
+Horses were being requisitioned everywhere. The few horses that, in the
+age of motor-cars, now remained on the roads in London were quickly
+taken for draught, and all horses fit to ride were commandeered for the
+cavalry.
+
+During the turmoil daring German spies were actively at work south of
+London. The Southampton line of the London and South-Western Railway was
+destroyed--with explosives placed by unknown hands--by the bridge over
+the Wey, near Weybridge, being blown up, and again that over the Mole,
+between Walton and Esher, while the Reading line was cut by the great
+bridge over the Thames at Staines being destroyed. The line, too,
+between Guildford and Waterloo was also rendered impassable by the
+wreck of the midnight train, which was blown up half-way between
+Wansborough and Guildford, while in several other places nearer London
+bridges were rendered unstable by dynamite, the favourite method
+apparently being to blow the crown out of an arch.
+
+The well-laid plans of the enemy were thus quickly revealed. Among the
+thousands of Germans working in London, the hundred or so spies, all
+trusted soldiers, had passed unnoticed, but, working in unison, each
+little group of two or three had been allotted its task, and had
+previously thoroughly reconnoitred the position and studied the most
+rapid or effective means.
+
+The railways to the east and north-east coasts all reported wholesale
+damage done on Sunday night by the advance agents of the enemy, and now
+this was continued on the night of Monday in the south, the objective
+being to hinder troops from moving north from Aldershot. This was,
+indeed, effectual, for only by a long _détour_ could the troops be moved
+to the northern defences of London, and while many were on Tuesday
+entrained, others were conveyed to London by the motor-omnibuses sent
+down for that purpose.
+
+Everywhere through London and its vicinity, as well as in Manchester,
+Birmingham, Sheffield, Coventry, Leeds, and Liverpool, motor-cars and
+motor-omnibuses from dealers and private owners were being requisitioned
+by the military authorities, for they would, it was believed, replace
+cavalry to a very large extent.
+
+Wild and extraordinary reports were circulated regarding the disasters
+in the north. Hull, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth had, it was
+believed, been bombarded and sacked. The shipping in the Tyne was
+burning, and the Elswick works were held by the enemy. Details were,
+however, very vague, as the Germans were taking every precaution to
+prevent information reaching London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+NEWS OF THE ENEMY
+
+
+Terror and excitement reigned everywhere. The wildest rumours were
+hourly afloat. London was a seething stream of breathless multitudes of
+every class.
+
+On Monday morning the newspapers throughout the kingdom had devoted
+greater part of their space to the extraordinary intelligence from
+Norfolk and Suffolk and Essex and other places.
+
+That we were actually invaded was plain, but most of the newspapers
+happily preserved a calm, dignified tone, and made no attempt at
+sensationalism. The situation was far too serious.
+
+Like the public, however, the Press had been taken entirely by surprise.
+The blow had been so sudden and so staggering that half the alarming
+reports were discredited.
+
+In addition to the details of the enemy’s operations, as far as could as
+yet be ascertained, the _Morning Post_ on Monday contained an account of
+a mysterious occurrence at Chatham, which read as follows:--
+
+
+“Chatham, _Sept. 1_ (11.30 p.m.).
+
+ “An extraordinary accident took place on the Medway about eight
+ o’clock this evening. The steamer _Pole Star_, 1200 tons register,
+ with a cargo of cement from Frindsbury, was leaving for Hamburg and
+ came into collision with the _Frauenlob_, of Bremen, a somewhat
+ larger boat, which was inward bound, in a narrow part of the
+ channel about half-way between Chatham and Sheerness. Various
+ accounts of the mishap are current, but whichever of the vessels
+ was responsible for the bad steering or neglect of the ordinary
+ rules of the road, it is certain that the _Frauenlob_ was cut into
+ by the stem of the _Pole Star_ on her port bow, and sank almost
+ across the channel. The _Pole Star_ swung alongside her after the
+ collision, and very soon afterwards sank in an almost parallel
+ position. Tugs and steamboats carrying a number of naval officers
+ and the port authorities are about to proceed to the scene of the
+ accident, and if, as seems probable, there is no chance of raising
+ the vessels, steps will be at once taken to blow them up. In the
+ present state of our foreign relations such an obstruction directly
+ across the entrance to one of our principal warports is a national
+ danger, and will not be allowed to remain a moment longer than can
+ be helped.”
+
+
+“_Sept. 2._
+
+ “An extraordinary _dénoûement_ has followed the collision in the
+ Medway reported in my telegram of last night, which renders it
+ impossible to draw any other conclusion than that the affair is
+ anything but an accident. Everything now goes to prove that the
+ whole business was premeditated and was the result of an organised
+ plot with the object of ‘bottling up’ the numerous men-of-war that
+ are now being hurriedly equipped for service in Chatham Dockyard.
+ In the words of Scripture, ‘An enemy hath done this,’ and there can
+ be very little doubt as to the quarter from which the outrage was
+ engineered. It is nothing less than an outrage to perpetrate what
+ is in reality an overt act of hostility in a time of profound
+ peace, however much the political horizon may be darkened by
+ lowering warclouds. We are living under a Government whose leader
+ lost no time in announcing that no fear of being sneered at as a
+ ‘Little Englander’ would deter him from seeking peace and ensuring
+ it by a reduction of our naval and military armaments, even at
+ that time known to be inadequate to the demands likely to be made
+ upon them if our Empire is to be maintained. We trust, however,
+ that even this parochially minded statesman will lose no time in
+ probing the conspiracy to its depths, and in seeking instant
+ satisfaction from those personages, however highly placed and
+ powerful, who have committed this outrage on the laws of
+ civilisation.
+
+ “As soon as the news of the collision reached the dockyard the
+ senior officer at Kethole Reach was ordered by wire to take steps
+ to prevent any vessel from going up the river, and he at once
+ despatched several picket-boats to the entrance to warn in-coming
+ ships of the blocking of the channel, while a couple of other boats
+ were sent up to within a short distance of the obstruction to make
+ assurance doubly sure. The harbour signals ordering ‘suspension of
+ all movings,’ were also hoisted at Garrison Point.
+
+ “Among other ships which were stopped in consequence of these
+ measures was the _Van Gysen_, a big steamer hailing from Rotterdam,
+ laden, it was stated, with steel rails for the London, Chatham, and
+ Dover Railway, which were to be landed at Port Victoria. She was
+ accordingly allowed to proceed, and anchored, or appeared to
+ anchor, just off the railway pier at that place. Ten minutes later
+ the officer of the watch on board H.M.S. _Medici_ reported that he
+ thought she was getting under way again. It was then pretty dark.
+ An electric searchlight being switched on, the _Van Gysen_ was
+ discovered steaming up the river at a considerable speed. The
+ _Medici_ flashed the news to the flagship, which at once fired a
+ gun, hoisted the recall, and the _Van Gysen’s_ number in the
+ international code, and despatched her steam pinnace, with orders
+ to overhaul the Dutchman and stop him at whatever cost. A number of
+ the marines on guard were sent in her with their rifles.
+
+ “The _Van Gysen_ seemed well acquainted with the channel, and
+ continually increased her speed as she went up the river, so that
+ she was within half a mile of the scene of the accident before the
+ steamboat came up with her. The officer in charge called to the
+ skipper through his megaphone to stop his engines and to throw him
+ a rope, as he wanted to come on board. After pretending for some
+ time not to understand him, the skipper slowed his engines and
+ said, ‘Ver vel, come ‘longside gangway.’ As the pinnace hooked on
+ at the gangway, a heavy iron cylinder cover was dropped into her
+ from the height of the _Van Gysen’s_ deck. It knocked the bowman
+ overboard and crashed into the fore part of the boat, knocking a
+ big hole in the port side forward. She swung off at an angle and
+ stopped to pick up the man overboard. Her crew succeeded in
+ rescuing him, but she was making water fast, and there was nothing
+ for it but to run her into the bank. The lieutenant in charge
+ ordered a rifle to be fired at the _Van Gysen_ to bring her to, but
+ she paid not the smallest attention, as might have been expected,
+ and went on her way with gathering speed.
+
+ “The report, however, served to attract the attention of the two
+ picket-boats which were patrolling up the river. As she turned a
+ bend in the stream they both shot up alongside out of the darkness,
+ and ordered her peremptorily to stop. But the only answer they
+ received was the sudden extinction of all lights in the steamer.
+ They kept alongside, or rather one of them did, but they were quite
+ helpless to stay the progress of the big wall-sided steamer. The
+ faster of the picket-boats shot ahead with the object of warning
+ those who were busy examining the wrecks. But the _Van Gysen_,
+ going all she knew, was close behind, an indistinguishable black
+ blur in the darkness, and hardly had the officer in the picket-boat
+ delivered his warning before she was heard close at hand. Within a
+ couple of hundred yards of the two wrecks she slowed down, for fear
+ of running right over them. On she came, inevitable as Fate. There
+ was a crash as she came into collision with the central
+ deck-houses of the _Frauenlob_ and as her bows scraped past the
+ funnel of the _Pole Star_. Then followed no fewer than half a dozen
+ muffled reports. Her engines went astern for a moment, and down she
+ settled athwart the other two steamers, heeling over to port as she
+ did so. All was turmoil and confusion. None of the dockyard and
+ naval craft present were equipped with searchlights. The
+ harbourmaster, the captain of the yard, even the admiral
+ superintendent, who had just come down in his steam launch, all
+ bawled out orders.
+
+ “Lights were flashed and lanterns swung up and down in the vain
+ endeavour to see more of what had happened. Two simultaneous shouts
+ of ‘Man overboard!’ came from tugs and boats at opposite sides of
+ the river. When a certain amount of order was restored it was
+ discovered that a big dockyard tug was settling down by the head.
+ It seems she had been grazed by the _Van Gysen_ as she came over
+ the obstruction, and forced against some portion of one of the
+ foundered vessels, which had pierced a hole in her below the
+ water-line.
+
+ “In the general excitement the damage had not been discovered, and
+ now she was sinking fast. Hawsers were made fast to her with the
+ utmost expedition possible in order to tow her clear of the
+ piled-up wreckage, but it was too late. There was only just time to
+ rescue her crew before she, too, added herself to the under-water
+ barricade. As for the crew of the _Van Gysen_, it is thought that
+ all must have gone down in her, as no trace of them has as yet been
+ discovered, despite a most diligent search, for it was considered
+ that, in an affair which had been so carefully planned as this
+ certainly must have been, some provision must surely have been made
+ for the escape of the crew. Those who have been down at the scene
+ of the disaster report that it will be impossible to clear the
+ channel in less than a week or ten days, using every resource of
+ the dockyard.
+
+ “A little later I thought I would go down to the dockyard on the
+ off-chance of picking up any further information. The Metropolitan
+ policemen at the gate would on no account allow me to pass at that
+ hour, and I was just turning away when by a great piece of good
+ fortune I ran up against Commander Shelley.
+
+ “I was on board his ship as correspondent during the manœuvres
+ of the year before last. ‘And what are you doing down here?’ was
+ his very natural inquiry after we had shaken hands. I told him that
+ I had been down in Chatham for a week past as special
+ correspondent, reporting on the half-hearted preparations being
+ made for the possible mobilisation, and took the opportunity of
+ asking him if he could give me any further information about the
+ collision between the three steamers in the Medway. ‘Well,’ said
+ he, ‘the best thing you can do is to come right along with me. I
+ have just been hawked out of bed to superintend the diving
+ operations which will begin the moment there is a gleam of
+ daylight.’ Needless to say, this just suited me, and I hastened to
+ thank him and to accept his kind offer. ‘All right,’ he said, ‘but
+ I shall have to make one small condition.’
+
+ “‘And that is?’ I queried.
+
+ “‘Merely to let me “censor” your telegrams before you send them,’
+ he returned. ‘You see, the Admiralty might not like to have too
+ much said about this business, and I don’t want to find myself in
+ the dirt-tub.’
+
+ “The stipulation was a most reasonable one, and however I disliked
+ the notion of having probably my best paragraphs eliminated, I
+ could not but assent to my friend’s proposition. So away we marched
+ down the echoing spaces of the almost deserted dockyard till we
+ arrived at the _Thunderbolt_ pontoon. Here lay a pinnace with steam
+ up, and, lighted down the sloping side of the old ironclad by the
+ lantern of the policeman on duty, we stepped on board and shot out
+ into the centre of the stream. We blew our whistles and the
+ coxswain waved a lantern, whereupon a small tug that had a couple
+ of dockyard lighters attached gave a hoarse ‘toot’ in response, and
+ followed us down the river. We sped along in the darkness against a
+ strong tide that was making up-stream, past Upnor Castle, that
+ quaint old Tudor fortress with its long line of modern powder
+ magazines, and along under the deeper shadows beneath Hoo Woods
+ till we came abreast of the medley of mud flats and grass-grown
+ islets just beyond them. Here, above the thud of the engines and
+ the plash of the water, a thin, long-drawn-out cry wavered through
+ the night. ‘Someone hailing the boat, sir,’ reported the lookout
+ forward. We had all heard it. ‘Ease down,’ ordered Shelley, and
+ hardly moving against the rushing tideway we listened for its
+ repetition. Again the voice was raised in quavering supplication.
+ ‘What the dickens does he say?’ queried the commander. ‘It’s
+ German,’ I answered. ‘I know that language well. I think he’s
+ asking for help. May I answer him?’
+
+ “‘By all means. Perhaps he belongs to one of those steamers.’ The
+ same thought was in my own mind. I hailed in return, asking where
+ he was and what he wanted. The answer came back that he was a
+ shipwrecked seaman, who was cold, wet, and miserable, and implored
+ to be taken off from the islet where he found himself, cut off from
+ everywhere by water and darkness. We ran the boat’s nose into the
+ bank, and presently succeeded in hauling on board a miserable
+ object, wet through, and plastered from head to foot with black
+ Medway mud. The broken remains of a cork life-belt hung from his
+ shoulders. A dram of whisky somewhat revived him. ‘And now,’ said
+ Shelley, ‘you’d better cross-examine him. We may get something out
+ of the fellow.’ The foreigner, crouched down shivering in the
+ stern-sheets half covered with a yellow oilskin that some
+ charitable bluejacket had thrown over him, appeared to me in the
+ light of the lantern that stood on the deck before him to be not
+ only suffering from cold, but from terror. A few moments’
+ conversation with him confirmed my suspicions. I turned to Shelley
+ and exclaimed, ‘He says he’ll tell us everything if we spare his
+ life,’ I explained. ‘I’m sure I don’t want to shoot the chap,’
+ replied the commander. ‘I suppose he’s implicated in this “bottling
+ up” affair. If he is, he jolly well deserves it, but I don’t
+ suppose anything will be done to him. Anyway, his information may
+ be valuable, and so you may tell him that he is all right as far as
+ I’m concerned, and I will do my best for him with the Admiral. I
+ daresay that will satisfy him. If not, you might threaten him a
+ bit. Tell him anything you like if you think it will make him
+ speak.’ To cut a long story short, I found the damp Dutchman
+ amenable to reason, and the following is the substance of what I
+ elicited from him.
+
+ “He had been a deck hand on board the _Van Gysen_. When she left
+ Rotterdam he did not know that the trip was anything out of the
+ way. There was a new skipper whom he had not seen before, and there
+ were also two new mates with a new chief engineer. Another steamer
+ followed them all the way till they arrived at the Nore. On the way
+ over he and several other seamen were sent for by the captain and
+ asked if they would volunteer for a dangerous job, promising them
+ £50 a-piece if it came off all right. He and five others agreed, as
+ did two or three stokers, and were then ordered to remain aft and
+ not communicate with any others of the crew. Off the Nore all the
+ remainder were transferred to the following steamer, which steamed
+ off to the eastward. After they were gone the selected men were
+ told that the officers all belonged to the Imperial German Navy,
+ and by orders of the Kaiser were about to attempt to block up the
+ Medway.
+
+ “A collision between two other ships had been arranged for, one of
+ which was loaded with a mass of old steel rails into which liquid
+ cement had been run, so that her hold contained a solid
+ impenetrable block. The _Van Gysen_ carried a similar cargo, and
+ was provided with an arrangement for blowing holes in her bottom.
+ The crew were provided with life-belts and the half of the money
+ promised, and all except the captain, the engineer, and the two
+ mates dropped overboard just before arriving at the sunken vessels.
+ They were advised to make their way to Gravesend, and then to shift
+ for themselves as best they could. He had found himself on a small
+ island, and could not muster up courage to plunge into the cold
+ water again in the darkness.
+
+ “‘By Jove! This means war with Germany, man!--War!’ was Shelley’s
+ comment. At two o’clock this afternoon we knew that it did, for the
+ news of the enemy’s landing in Norfolk was signalled down from the
+ dockyard. We also knew from the divers that the cargo of the sunken
+ steamers was what the rescued seaman had stated it to be. Our
+ bottle has been fairly well corked.”
+
+This amazing revelation showed how cleverly contrived was the German
+plan of hostilities. All our splendid ships at Chatham had, in that
+brief half-hour, been bottled up and rendered utterly useless. Yet the
+authorities were not blameless in the matter, for in November 1905 a
+foreign warship actually came up the Medway in broad daylight, and was
+not noticed until she began to bang away her salutes, much to the utter
+consternation of everyone!
+
+This incident, however, was but one of the many illustrations of
+Germany’s craft and cunning. The whole scheme had been years in careful
+preparation.
+
+She intended to invade us, and regarded every stratagem as allowable in
+her sudden dash upon England, an expedition which promised to result in
+the most desperate war of modern times.
+
+At that moment the _Globe_ reproduced those plain, prophetic words of
+Lord Overstone, written some years before to the Royal Defence
+Commission: “Negligence alone can bring about the calamity under
+discussion. Unless we suffer ourselves to be surprised we cannot be
+invaded with success. It is useless to discuss what will occur or what
+can be done after London has fallen into the hands of an invading foe.
+The apathy which may render the occurrence of such a catastrophe
+possible will not afterwards enable the country, enfeebled, dispirited,
+and disorganised by the loss of its capital, to redeem the fatal error.”
+
+Was that prophecy to be fulfilled?
+
+Some highly interesting information was given by Lieutenant Charles
+Hammerton, 1st Volunteer Battalion Suffolk Regiment, of Ipswich, who
+with his company of Volunteer cyclists reconnoitred the enemy’s position
+in East Suffolk during Monday night. Interviewed by the Ipswich
+correspondent of the Central News, he said:
+
+“We left Ipswich at eight o’clock in order to reconnoitre all the roads
+and by-roads in the direction of Lowestoft. For the first twelve miles,
+as far as Wickham Market, we knew that the country was clear of the
+enemy, but on cautiously entering Saxmundham--it now being quite
+dark--we pulled up before Gobbett’s shop in the High Street, and there
+learnt from a group of terrified men and women that a German
+reconnoitring patrol consisting of a group of about ten Uhlans under a
+sergeant, and supported by other groups all across the country to
+Framlingham and Tannington, had been in the town all day, holding the
+main road to Lowestoft, and watching in the direction of Ipswich. For
+hours they had patrolled the south end opposite Waller’s, upon whose
+wall they posted a copy of Von Kronhelm’s proclamation.
+
+“They threatened to shoot any person attempting to move southward out of
+the town. Three other Germans were on the old church tower all day
+making signals northward at intervals. Then, as night closed in, the
+Uhlans refreshed themselves at the Bell, and with their black and white
+pennants fluttering
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | PROCLAMATION. |
+ | |
+ | CITIZENS OF LONDON. |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | THE NEWS OF THE BOMBARDMENT of the |
+ | City of Newcastle and the landing of the German Army |
+ | at Hull, Weybourne, Yarmouth, and other places along |
+ | the East Coast is unfortunately confirmed. |
+ | |
+ | THE ENEMY’S INTENTION is to march upon |
+ | the City of London, which must be resolutely defended. |
+ | |
+ | THE BRITISH NATION and the Citizens of |
+ | London, in face of these great events, must be energetic |
+ | in order to vanquish the invader. |
+ | |
+ | The ADVANCE must be CHALLENGED FOOT |
+ | BY FOOT. The people must fight for King and |
+ | Country. |
+ | |
+ | Great Britain is not yet dead, for indeed, the more |
+ | serious her danger, the stronger will be her unanimous |
+ | patriotism. |
+ | |
+ | GOD SAVE THE KING. |
+ | |
+ | HARRISON, _Lord Mayor_. |
+ | |
+ | Mansion House, |
+ | London, _September 3rd, 1910_. |
+ | |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ THE LORD MAYOR’S APPEAL TO LONDON.
+
+from their lances, clattered backward in the direction of Yoxford.
+
+“I had sent scouts off the main road from Woodbridge, through
+Framlingham, Tannington, and Wilby, with orders to push on if possible
+to Hoxne, to join the main road to Harleston, which I judged must be on
+the enemy’s flank. Each man knew those difficult crossroads well, which
+was necessary, we having to travel noiselessly without lights.
+
+“In the bar-parlour of the Bell at Saxmundham we held consultation with
+a sergeant of police and a couple of constables, from whom we gathered
+some further information, and then decided to push cautiously north and
+ascertain into what positions the Uhlans had retired for the night, and,
+if possible, the whereabouts of the enemy’s march outposts. I had with
+me twelve men. Nine of us were in uniform, including myself, but the
+other four preferred to go in mufti, though warned of the risk that they
+might be treated as spies.
+
+“Carefully, and in silence, we got past the crossroad, to Kelsale, on
+past the Red House, and down into Yoxford village, without meeting a
+soul. We were told in Yoxford by the excited villagers that there were
+foreign soldiers and motor-cyclists constantly passing and repassing all
+day, but that soon after seven o’clock they had all suddenly retired by
+the road leading back to Haw Wood. Whether they had gone to the right to
+Blythburgh, or to the left to Halesworth, was, however, unknown. Our
+expedition was a most risky one. We knew that we carried our lives in
+our hands, and yet the War Office and the whole country were anxiously
+waiting for the information which we hoped to gain. Should we push on? I
+put it to my companions--brave fellows every one of them, even though
+the Volunteers have so often been sneered at--and the decision was
+unanimous that we should reconnoitre at all costs.
+
+“Therefore, again in silence, we went forward, determining to take the
+Lowestoft high road. Where the enemy’s outposts were, we had no idea.
+Quietly we skirted Thorington Park, and were just ascending the bridge
+over the Blyth, before entering Blythburgh, when of a sudden we saw
+silhouetted on the slope against the star-lit sky a small group of
+heavily-accoutred German infantry, who had their arms piled beside the
+road, while two were acting as sentries close at hand.
+
+“At once we were challenged in German. In an instant we flung ourselves
+from our machines, and took shelter in a hedge opposite. Several times
+was the gruff challenge repeated, and as I saw no possibility of
+crossing the bridge, we stealthily turned our cycles round and prepared
+to mount. Of a sudden we were evidently perceived, and next second shots
+whistled about us, and poor Maitland, a private, fell forward upon his
+face in the road--dead. We heard loud shouting in German, which we could
+not understand, and in a moment the place seemed alive with the
+foreigners, while we only just had time to mount and tear away in the
+direction we had come. At Haw Wood I decided to pass the river by a
+by-road I knew at Wissett, avoiding Halesworth on the right. As far as
+Chediston Green all was quiet, but on turning northward to Wissett at
+the cross-roads outside the inn we perceived three men lurking in the
+shadow beneath the wall.
+
+“With one of my men I abandoned my machine, and crept softly in their
+direction, not knowing whether they were farm labourers or the enemy’s
+outposts. Slowly, and with great caution, we moved forward until, on
+listening intently, I heard them in conversation. They were speaking in
+German! On my return to my section, Plunkett, one of the privates in
+mufti, volunteered to creep past without his machine, get to Aldous
+Corner, and so reconnoitre the country towards the enemy’s headquarters,
+which, from Von Kronhelm’s proclamation, we knew to be at Beccles.
+
+“Under our breath we wished him God-speed, and a moment later he
+disappeared in the darkness. What afterwards happened we can only
+surmise. All we know is that he probably stumbled over a length of
+barbed wire stretched across the road, for of a sudden the three lurking
+Germans ran across in his direction. There was a sound of muffled oaths
+and curses, a quick shuffling of struggling feet, and the triumphant
+shout in German as a prisoner was secured.
+
+“The truth held us breathless. Poor Plunkett was captured as a spy!
+
+“We could do nothing to save him, for to reveal ourselves meant capture
+or death. Therefore we were compelled to again retire. We then slipped
+along the by-roads until we reached Rumburgh, narrowly avoiding
+detection by sentries stationed at the fork leading to Redisham.
+Rumburgh was the native place of one of my men named Wheeler, and
+fortunately he knew every hedge, wall, ditch, and field in the vicinity.
+Acting as our guide, he left the main road, and by a series of footpaths
+took us to the main Bungay Road at St. Lawrence. Continuing again by
+circuitous footpaths, he took us to the edge of Redisham Park, where we
+discovered a considerable number of German infantry encamped, evidently
+forming supports to the advance line of outposts. It then became
+difficult how to act, but this dilemma was quickly solved by Wheeler
+suggesting that he being in mufti should take the other two
+plain-clothes men and push on to Beccles, we having now safely passed
+the outposts and being actually within the enemy’s lines. No doubt we
+had penetrated the advance line of outposts when we struck off from
+Rumburgh, therefore there only remained for us to turn back and make
+good our escape, which we did by crossroads in the direction of Bungay.
+Wheeler and his two brave companions had hidden their cycles and rifles
+in the ditch outside the park, and had gone forward with whispered
+good-byes.
+
+“Presently we found ourselves at Methingham Castle, where we again saw
+groups of Germans waiting for the dawn, while squadrons of cavalry and
+motor-cyclists were apparently preparing to move out along Stone Street
+to scour all the country to the south-west. These we at once gave a wide
+berth, and succeeded at last in getting down to the Waveney and crossing
+it, little the worse, save for a wetting. Near Harleston, four miles to
+the south-west, we came across two of our men whom we had left at
+Woodbridge, and from them learnt that we were at last free of the enemy.
+Therefore, by three o’clock we were back again in Ipswich, and
+immediately made report to the adjutant of our regiment, who was
+anxiously awaiting our return to headquarters. The scene during the
+night in Ipswich was one of terror and disorder, the worst fears being
+increased by our report.
+
+“Would Wheeler return? That was the crucial question. If he got to
+Beccles he might learn the German movements and the disposition of their
+troops. Yet it was a terribly risky proceeding, death being the only
+penalty for spies.
+
+“Hour after hour we remained in eager suspense for news of the three
+gallant fellows who had risked their lives for their country, until
+shortly after eight I heard shouts outside in the street, and, covered
+with mud and perspiration, and bleeding from a nasty cut on his
+forehead, the result of a spill, Wheeler burst triumphantly in.
+
+“Of the others he had seen nothing since leaving them in the
+market-place at Beccles, but when afterwards he secured his own cycle,
+the two other cycles were still hidden in the ditch. Travelling by paths
+across the fields, however, he joined the road south of Wissett, and
+there in the grey morning was horrified to see the body of poor Plunkett
+suspended from a telegraph pole. The unfortunate fellow had, no doubt,
+been tried at a drum-head court-martial and sentenced to be hanged as a
+warning to others!
+
+“During the two and a half hours Wheeler was in Beccles, he made good
+use of eyes and ears, and his report--based upon information given him
+by a carter whom the enemy had compelled to haul supplies from
+Lowestoft--was full of deepest interest and most valuable.
+
+“From my own observations, combined with Wheeler’s information, I was
+enabled to draw up a pretty comprehensive report, and point out on the
+map the exact position of the German Army Corps which had landed at
+Lowestoft.
+
+“Repeated briefly, it is as follows:--
+
+“Shortly before three o’clock on Sunday morning the coastguard at
+Lowestoft, Corton, and Beach End discovered that their telephonic
+communication was interrupted, and half an hour later, to the surprise
+of everyone, a miscellaneous collection of mysterious craft were seen
+approaching the harbour; and within an hour many of them were high and
+dry on the beach, while others were lashed alongside the old dock, the
+new fish-docks of the Great Eastern Railway, and the wharves,
+disembarking a huge force of German infantry, cavalry, motor-infantry,
+and artillery. The town, awakened from its slumbers, was utterly
+paralysed, the more so when it was discovered that the railway to London
+was already interrupted, and the telegraph lines all cut. On landing,
+the enemy commandeered all provisions, including the stock at Kent’s,
+Sennett’s, and Lipton’s, in the London Road, all motor-cars they could
+discover, horses and forage, while the banks were seized, and the
+infantry falling in, marched up Old Nelson Street into High Street and
+out upon the Beccles Road. The first care of the invaders was to prevent
+the people of Lowestoft damaging the Swing Bridge, a strong guard being
+instantly mounted upon it, and so quietly and orderly was the landing
+effected that it was plain the German plans of invasion were absolutely
+perfect in every detail.
+
+“Few hitches seemed to occur. The mayor was summoned at six o’clock by
+General von Kronhelm, the generalissimo of the German Army, and briefly
+informed that the town of Lowestoft was occupied, and that all armed
+resistance would be punished by death. Then, ten minutes later, when the
+German war-flag was flying from several flagstaffs in various parts of
+the town, the people realised their utter helplessness.
+
+“The Germans, of course, knew that irrespective of the weather, a
+landing could be effected at Lowestoft, where the fish docks and
+wharves, with their many cranes, were capable of dealing with a large
+amount of stores. The Denes, that flat, sandy plain between the upper
+town and the sea, they turned into a camping-ground, and large numbers
+were billeted in various quarters of the town itself, in the
+better-class houses along Marine Parade, in the Royal, the Empire, and
+Harbour hotels, and especially in those long rows of private houses in
+London Road South.
+
+“The people were terror-stricken. To appeal to London for help was
+impossible, as the place had been cut entirely off, and around it a
+strong chain of outposts had already been thrown, preventing anyone from
+escaping. The town had, in a moment, as it seemed, fallen at the mercy
+of the foreigners. Even the important-looking police constables of
+Lowestoft, with their little canes, were crestfallen, sullen, and
+inactive.
+
+“While the landing was continuing during all Sunday the advance guard
+moved rapidly over Mutford Bridge, along the Beccles Road, occupying a
+strong position on the west side of the high ground east of Lowestoft.
+Beccles, where Von Kronhelm established his headquarters, resting as it
+does on the River Waveney, is strongly held. The enemy’s main position
+appears to run from Windle Hill, one mile north-east of Gillingham,
+thence north-west through Bull’s Green, Herringfleet Hill, over to Grove
+Farm and Hill House to Ravingham, whence it turns easterly to Haddiscoe,
+which is at present its northern limit. The total front from Beccles
+Bridge north is about five miles, and commands the whole of the flat
+plain west towards Norwich. It has its south flank resting on the River
+Waveney, and to the north on Thorpe Marshes. The chief artillery
+position is at Toft Monks--the highest point. Upon the high tower of
+Beccles Church is established a signal station, communication being made
+constantly with Lowestoft by helio by day, and acetylene lamps by night.
+
+“The enemy’s position has been most carefully chosen, for it is
+naturally strong, and, being well held to protect Lowestoft from any
+attack from the west, the landing can continue uninterruptedly, for
+Lowestoft beach and docks are now entirely out of the line of any
+British fire.
+
+“March outposts are at Blythburgh, Wenhaston, Holton, Halesworth,
+Wissett, Rumburgh, Homersfield, and Bungay, and then north to Haddiscoe,
+while cavalry patrols watch by day, the line roughly being from Leiston
+through Saxmundham, Framlingham, and Tannington, to Hoxne.
+
+“The estimate, gleaned from various sources in Lowestoft and Beccles, is
+that up to Monday at midday nearly a whole Army Corps, with stores,
+guns, ammunition, etc., had already landed, while there are also reports
+of a further landing at Yarmouth, and at a spot still farther north, but
+at present there are no details.
+
+“The enemy,” he concluded, “are at present in a position of absolute
+security.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A PROPHECY FULFILLED
+
+
+This authentic news of the position of the enemy, combined with the
+vague rumours of other landings at Yarmouth, along the coast at some
+unknown point north of Cromer, at King’s Lynn, and other places,
+produced an enormous sensation in London, while the Central News
+interview, circulated to all the papers in the Midlands and Lancashire,
+increased the panic in the manufacturing districts.
+
+The special edition of the _Evening News_, issued about six o’clock on
+Tuesday evening, contained another remarkable story which threw some
+further light upon the German movements. It was, of course, known that
+practically the whole of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast was already held
+by the enemy, but with the exception of the fact that the enemy’s
+cavalry vedettes and reconnoitring patrols were out everywhere at a
+distance about twenty miles from the shore, England was entirely in the
+dark as to what had occurred anywhere else but at Lowestoft. Attempts
+similar to that of the Ipswich cyclist volunteers had been made to
+penetrate the cavalry screen at various points, but in vain. What was in
+progress was carefully kept a secret by the enemy. The veil was,
+however, now lifted. The story which the _Evening News_ had obtained
+exclusively, and which was eagerly read everywhere, had been related by
+a man named Scotney, a lobster-fisherman, of Sheringham, in Norfolk, who
+had made the following statement to the chief officer of coastguard at
+Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire:--
+
+ “Just before dawn on Sunday morning I was in the boat with my son
+ Ted off the Robin Friend taking up the lobster pots, when we
+ suddenly saw about three miles offshore a mixed lot of
+ curious-looking craft strung out right across the horizon, and
+ heading apparently for Cromer. There were steamers big and little,
+ many of them towing queer flat-bottomed kind of boats, lighters,
+ and barges, which, on approaching nearer, we could distinctly see
+ were filled to their utmost capacity with men and horses.
+
+ “Both Ted and I stood staring at the unusual sight, wondering
+ whatever it meant. They came on very quickly, however--so quickly,
+ indeed, that we thought it best to move on. The biggest ships went
+ along to Weybourne Gap, where they moored in the twenty-five feet
+ of water that runs in close to the shore, while some smaller
+ steamers and the flats were run up high and dry on the hard
+ shingle. Before this I noticed that there were quite a number of
+ foreign warships in the offing, with several destroyers far away in
+ the distance, both to east and west.
+
+ “From the larger steamships all sorts of boats were lowered,
+ including apparently many collapsible whale-boats, and into these
+ in a most orderly manner, from every gangway and
+ accommodation-ladder, troops--Germans we afterwards discovered them
+ to be to our utter astonishment--began to descend.
+
+ “These boats were at once taken charge of by steam pinnaces and
+ cutters and towed to the beach. When we saw this we were utterly
+ dumbfounded. Indeed, at first I believed it to be a dream, for ever
+ since I was a lad I had heard the ancient rhyme my old father was
+ so fond of repeating:
+
+ “‘_He who would old England win,_
+ _Must at Weybourne Hoop begin._’
+
+ “As everybody knows, nature has provided at that lonely spot every
+ advantage for the landing of hostile forces, and when the Spanish
+ Armada was expected, and again when Napoleon threatened an
+ invasion, the place was constantly watched. Yet nowadays, except
+ for the coastguard, it has been utterly unprotected and neglected.
+
+ “The very first soldiers who landed formed up quickly, and under
+ the charge of an officer ran up the low hill to the coastguard
+ station, I suppose in order to prevent them signalling a warning.
+ The funny thing was, however, that the coastguards had already been
+ held up by several well-dressed men--spies of the Germans, I
+ suppose. I could distinctly see one man holding one of the guards
+ with his back to the wall, and threatening him with a revolver.
+
+ “Ted and I had somehow been surrounded by the crowd of odd craft
+ which dodged about everywhere, and the foreigners now and then
+ shouted to me words that unfortunately I could not understand.
+
+ “Meanwhile, from all the boats strung out along the beach, from
+ Sheringham right across to the Rocket House at Salthouse, swarms of
+ drab-coated soldiers were disembarking, the boats immediately
+ returning to the steamers for more. They must have been packed as
+ tightly as herrings in a barrel; but they all seemed to know where
+ to go to, because all along at various places little flags were
+ held by men, and each regiment appeared to march across and
+ assemble at its own flag.
+
+ “Ted and I sat there as if we were watching a play. Suddenly we saw
+ from some of the ships and bigger barges, horses being lowered into
+ the water and allowed to swim ashore. Hundreds seemed to gain the
+ beach even as we were looking at them. Then, after the first lot of
+ horses had gone, boats full of saddles followed them. It seemed as
+ though the foreigners were too busy to notice us, and we--not
+ wanting to share the fate of Mr. Gunter, the coastguard, and his
+ mates--just sat tight and watched.
+
+ “From the steamers there continued to pour hundreds upon hundreds
+ of soldiers who were towed to land, and then formed up in solid
+ squares, which got bigger and bigger. Horses innumerable--quite a
+ thousand I should reckon--were slung overboard from some of the
+ smaller steamers which had been run high and dry on the beach, and
+ as the tide had now begun to run down they landed only knee-deep in
+ water. Those steamers, it seemed to me, had big bilge keels, for as
+ the tide ebbed they did not heel over. They had, no doubt, been
+ specially fitted for the purpose. Out of some they began to hoist
+ all sorts of things, wagons, guns, motor-cars, large bales of
+ fodder, clothing, ambulances with big red crosses on them,
+ flat-looking boats--pontoons I think they call them--and great
+ piles of cooking pots and pans, square boxes of stores, or perhaps
+ ammunition, and as soon as anything was landed it was hauled up
+ above high-water mark.
+
+ “In the meantime lots of men had mounted on horseback and ridden
+ off up the lane which leads into Weybourne village. At first half a
+ dozen started at a time; then, as far as I could judge, about fifty
+ more started. Then larger bodies went forward, but more and more
+ horses kept going ashore, as though their number was never-ending.
+ They must have been stowed mighty close, and many of the ships must
+ have been specially fitted up for them.
+
+ “Very soon I saw cavalry swarming up over Muckleburgh, Warborough,
+ and Telegraph Hills, while a good many trotted away in the
+ direction of Runton and Sheringham. Then, soon after they had
+ gone--that is, in about an hour and a half from their first
+ arrival--the infantry began to move off, and as far as I could see,
+ they marched inland by every road, some in the direction of Kelling
+ Street and Holt, others over Weybourne Heath towards Bodham, and
+ still others skirting the woods over to Upper Sheringham. Large
+ masses of infantry marched along the Sheringham Road, and seemed to
+ have a lot of officers on horseback with them, while up on
+ Muckleburgh Hill I saw frantic signalling in progress.
+
+ “By this time they had a quantity of carts and wagons landed, and a
+ large number of motor-cars. The latter were soon started, and,
+ manned by infantry, moved swiftly in procession after the troops.
+ The great idea of the Germans was apparently to get the beach clear
+ of everything as soon as landed, for all stores, equipment, and
+ other tackle were pushed inland as soon as disembarked.
+
+ “The enemy kept on landing. Thousands of soldiers got ashore
+ without any check, and all proceeding orderly and without the
+ slightest confusion, as though the plans were absolutely perfect.
+ Everybody seemed to know exactly what to do. From where we were we
+ could see the coastguards held prisoners in their station, with
+ German sentries mounted around; and as the tide was now setting
+ strong to the westward, Ted and I first let our anchor off the
+ ground and allowed ourselves to drift. It occurred to me that
+ perhaps I might be able to give the alarm at some other coastguard
+ station if I could only drift away unnoticed in the busy scene now
+ in progress.
+
+ “That the Germans had actually landed in England was now apparent;
+ yet we wondered what our own fleet could be doing, and pictured to
+ ourselves the jolly good drubbing that our cruisers would give the
+ audacious foreigner when they did haul in sight. It was for us, at
+ all costs, to give the alarm, so gradually we drifted off to the
+ nor’-westward, in fear every moment lest we should be noticed and
+ fired at. At last we got around Blakeney Point successfully, and
+ breathed more freely; then hoisting our sail, we headed for
+ Hunstanton, but seeing numbers of ships entering the Wash, and
+ believing them to be also Germans, we put our helm down and ran
+ across into Wainfleet Swatchway to Gibraltar Point, where I saw the
+ chief officer of coastguard, and told him all the extraordinary
+ events of that memorable morning.”
+
+The report added that the officer of coastguard in question had, three
+hours before, noticed strange vessels coming up the Wash, and had
+already tried to report by telegraph to his divisional inspecting
+officer at Harwich, but could obtain no communication. An hour later,
+however, it had become apparent that a still further landing was being
+effected on the south side of the Wash, in all probability at King’s
+Lynn.
+
+The fisherman Scotney’s statement had been sent by special messenger
+from Wainfleet on Sunday evening, but owing to the dislocation of the
+railway traffic north of London, the messenger was unable to reach the
+offices of the coastguard in Victoria Street, Westminster, until Monday.
+The report received by the Admiralty had been treated as confidential
+until corroborated, lest undue public alarm should be caused.
+
+It had then been given to the Press as revealing the truth of what had
+actually happened.
+
+The enemy had entered by the back door of England, and the sensation it
+caused everywhere was little short of panic.
+
+Some further very valuable information was also received by the
+Intelligence Department of the War Office, revealing the military
+position of the invaders who had landed at Weybourne Hoop.
+
+It appears that Colonel Charles Macdonald, a retired officer of the
+Black Watch, who lived in the “Boulevard” at Sheringham, making up his
+mind to take the risk, had carefully noted all that was in progress
+during the landing, had drawn up a clear description of it, and had,
+after some narrow escapes, succeeded in getting through the German lines
+to Melton Constable, and thence to London. He had, before his
+retirement, served as military attaché at Berlin, and, being thoroughly
+acquainted with the appearance of German uniforms, was able to include
+in his report even the names of the regiments, and in some cases their
+commanders.
+
+From his observations it was plain that the whole of the IVth German
+Army Corps, about 38,000 men, had been landed at Weybourne, Sheringham,
+and Cromer. It consisted of the 7th and 8th Divisions complete,
+commanded respectively by Major-General Dickmann and Lieutenant-General
+von Mirbach. The 7th Division comprised the 13th and 14th Infantry
+Brigades, consisting of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau’s 1st Magdeburg
+Regiment, the 3rd Magdeburg Infantry Regiment, Prince Louis Ferdinand
+von Preussen’s 2nd Magdeburg Regiment, and the 5th Hanover Infantry
+Regiment. Attached to this division were the Magdeburg Hussars No. 10,
+and the Uhlan Regiment of Altmärk No. 16.
+
+In the 8th Division were the 15th and 16th Brigades, comprising a
+Magdeburg Fusilier Regiment, an Anhalt Infantry Regiment, the 4th and
+8th Thuringen Infantry, with the Magdeburg Cuirassiers, and a regiment
+of Thuringen Hussars. The cavalry were commanded by Colonel Frölich,
+while General von Kleppen was in supreme command of the whole corps.
+
+Careful reconnaissance of the occupied area showed that immediately on
+landing, the German position extended from the little town of Holt, on
+the west, eastward, along the main Cromer Road, as far as Gibbet Lane,
+slightly south of Cromer, a distance of about five miles. This
+constituted a naturally strong position; indeed, nature seemed to have
+provided it specially to suit the necessities of a foreign invader. The
+ground for miles to the south sloped gently away down to the plain,
+while the rear was completely protected, so that the landing could
+proceed until every detail had been completed.
+
+Artillery were massed on both flanks, namely, at Holt and on the high
+ground near Felbrigg, immediately south of Cromer. This last-named
+artillery was adequately supported by the detached infantry close at
+hand. The whole force was covered by a strong line of outposts. Their
+advanced sentries were to be found along a line starting from Thornage
+village, through Hunworth, Edgefield, Barningham Green, Squallham,
+Aldborough, Hanworth, to Roughton. In rear of them lay their picquets,
+which were disposed in advantageous situations. The general line of
+these latter were at North Street, Pondhills to Plumstead, thence over
+to Matlash Hall, Aldborough Hall, and the rising ground north of
+Hanworth. These, in their turn, were adequately supplemented by the
+supports, which were near Hempstead Green, Baconsthorpe, North
+Narningham, Bessingham, Sustead, and Melton.
+
+In case of sudden attack, reserves were at Bodham, West Beckham, East
+Beckham, and Aylmerton, but orders had been issued by Von Kleppen, who
+had established his headquarters at Upper Sheringham, that the line of
+resistance was to be as already indicated--namely, that having the
+Holt-Cromer Road for its crest. Cuirassiers, hussars, and some
+motorists--commanded by Colonel von Dorndorf--were acting independently
+some fifteen miles to the south, scouring the whole country, terrifying
+the villagers, commandeering all supplies, and posting Von Kronhelm’s
+proclamation, which has already been reproduced.
+
+From Colonel Macdonald’s inquiries it was shown that on the night of the
+invasion six men, now known to have been advance agents of the enemy,
+arrived at the Ship Inn, at Weybourne. Three of them took accommodation
+for the night, while their companions slept elsewhere. At two o’clock
+the trio let themselves out quietly, were joined by six other men, and
+just as the enemy’s ships hove in sight nine of them seized the
+coastguards and cut the wires, while the other three broke into the
+Weybourne Stores, and, drawing revolvers, obtained possession of the
+telegraph instrument to Sheringham and Cromer until they could hand it
+over to the Germans.
+
+The panic in both Sheringham and Cromer when the astounded populace
+found the enemy billeted on them was intense. There were still many
+holiday-makers in the Grand and Burlington Hotels in Sheringham, as also
+in the Metropole, Grand, and Paris at Cromer, and these, on that
+memorable Sunday morning, experienced a rude awakening from their
+slumbers.
+
+At Cromer the enemy, as soon as they landed, took possession of the post
+office, commandeered all the stores at shops, including the West-End
+Supply Stores and Rust’s; occupied the railway station on the hill, with
+all its coal and rolling stock, and made prisoners of the coastguards,
+the four wires, as at Weybourne, having already been cut by advance
+agents, who had likewise seized the post office wires. A German naval
+party occupied the coastguard station, and hoisting the German flag at
+the peak of the staff in place of the white ensign, began to make rapid
+signals with the semaphore and their own coloured bunting instead of our
+coastguard flags.
+
+In the clean, red-brick little town of Sheringham all the grocers and
+provision-dealers were given notice not to sell food to anyone, as it
+was now in possession of the invaders, while a number of motor-cars
+belonging to private persons were seized. Every lodging-house, every
+hotel, and every boarding-house was quickly crowded by the German
+officers, who remained to superintend the landing. Many machine guns
+were landed on the pier at Cromer, while the heavier ordnance were
+brought ashore at the gap and hauled up the fishermen’s slope.
+
+Colonel Macdonald, who had carefully marked a cycling road-map of the
+district with his observations driving in his own dog-cart from one
+point to the other, met with a number of exciting adventures.
+
+While in Holt on Monday evening--after a long day of constant
+observation--he suddenly came face to face with Colonel Frölich,
+commanding the enemy’s cavalry brigade, and was recognised. Frölich had
+been aide-de-camp to the Emperor at the time when Macdonald was attaché
+at the British Embassy, and both men were intimate friends.
+
+They stopped and spoke, Frölich expressing surprise and also regret that
+they should meet as enemies after their long friendship. Macdonald,
+annoyed at being thus recognised, took the matter philosophically as the
+fortunes of war, and learnt from his whilom friend a number of valuable
+details regarding the German position.
+
+The retired attaché, however, pushed his inquiries rather too far, and
+unfortunately aroused the suspicions of the German cavalry commander,
+with the result that the Englishman’s movements were afterwards very
+closely watched. He then found himself unable to make any further
+reconnaisance, and was compelled to hide his map under a heap of stones
+near the Thornage Road, and there leave it for some hours, fearing lest
+he should be searched and the incriminating plan found upon him.
+
+[Illustration: POSITION OF THE IVTH GERMAN ARMY CORPS TWELVE HOURS AFTER
+LANDING AT WEYBOURNE, NORFOLK
+
+GEORGE PHILIP & SON L^{TD}.]
+
+At night, however, he returned cautiously to the spot, regained
+possession of his treasure, and abandoning his dog-cart and horse in a
+by-road near North Barningham, succeeded in getting over to Edgefield.
+Here, however, he was discovered and challenged by the sentries. He
+succeeded, nevertheless, in convincing them that he was not endeavouring
+to escape; otherwise he would undoubtedly have been shot there and then,
+as quite a dozen unfortunate persons had been at various points along
+the German line.
+
+To obtain information of the enemy’s position this brave old officer had
+risked his life, yet concealed in his golf-cap was the map which would
+condemn him as a spy. He knew the peril, but faced it boldly, as an
+English soldier should face it.
+
+His meeting with Frölich had been most unfortunate, for he knew that he
+was now a marked man.
+
+At first the sentries disbelieved him, but, speaking German fluently, he
+argued with them, and was at last allowed to go free. His one object was
+to get the map into the hands of the Intelligence Department, but the
+difficulties were, he soon saw, almost insurmountable. Picquets and
+sentries held every road and every bridge, while the railway line
+between Fakenham and Aylsham had been destroyed in several places, as
+well as that between Melton Constable and Norwich.
+
+Through the whole night he wandered on, hoping to find some weak point
+in the cordon about Weybourne, but in vain. The Germans were everywhere
+keeping a sharp vigil to prevent anyone getting out with information,
+and taking prisoners all upon whom rested the slightest suspicion.
+
+Near dawn, however, he found his opportunity, for at the junction of the
+three roads near the little hamlet of Stody, a mile south of Hunworth,
+he came upon a sleeping Uhlan, whose companions had evidently gone
+forward into Briningham village. The horse was grazing quietly at the
+roadside, and the man, tired out, lay stretched upon the bank, his
+helmet by his side, his sabre still at his belt.
+
+Macdonald crept up slowly. If the man woke and discovered him he would
+be again challenged. Should he take the man’s big revolver and shoot him
+as he lay?
+
+No. That was a coward’s action, an unjustifiable murder, he decided.
+
+He would take the horse, and risk it by making a dash for life.
+
+Therefore, on tiptoe he crept up, passing the prostrate man, till he
+approached the horse, and in a second, old though he was, he was
+nevertheless in the saddle. But none too soon. The jingle of the bit
+awakened the Uhlan suddenly, and he sprang up in time to see the
+stranger mount.
+
+In an instant he took in the situation, and before the colonel could
+settle himself in the saddle he raised his revolver and fired.
+
+The ball struck the colonel in the left shoulder, shattering it, but the
+gallant man who was risking his life for his country only winced, cursed
+his luck beneath his breath, set his teeth, and with the blood pouring
+from the wound, made a dash for life, and succeeded in getting clean
+away ere the alarm could be raised.
+
+Twelve hours later the valuable information the colonel had so valiantly
+gained at such risk was in the hands of the Intelligence Department at
+Whitehall, and had been transmitted back to Norwich and Colchester.
+
+That the Fourth German Army Corps were in a position as strong as those
+who had landed at Lowestoft could not be denied, and the military
+authorities could not disguise from themselves the extreme gravity of
+the situation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+OUR FLEET TAKEN UNAWARES
+
+
+The first news of the great naval battle, as generally happens in war,
+was confused and distorted. It did not clearly show how the victory had
+been gained by the one side, or what had brought defeat upon the other.
+Only gradually did the true facts appear. The following account,
+however, of the sudden attack made by the Germans upon the British Fleet
+represents as near an approach as can ever be made, writing after
+events, to the real truth:
+
+On the fateful evening of September 1, it appears that the North Sea
+Fleet lay peacefully at anchor off Rosyth, in the Firth of Forth. It
+mustered sixteen battleships, four of them of the famous Dreadnought
+class, and all powerful vessels. With it, and attached to it, was a
+squadron of armoured cruisers eight ships strong, but no destroyers, as
+its torpedo flotilla was taking part in the torpedo manœuvres in the
+Irish Sea. Some excitement had been caused in the fleet by orders
+received on the previous day, directing it to remain under steam ready
+to put to sea at an hour’s notice. Officers and men had read the reports
+in the papers announcing some friction with Germany, and had recalled
+with ironical amusement certain speeches of the Premier, in which he had
+declared that since his advent to power war was impossible between
+civilised nations. On the morning of the First, however, the orders to
+hold the fleet in readiness were cancelled, and Admiral Lord Ebbfleet
+was instructed to wait at his anchorage the arrival of reinforcements
+from the reserve divisions at the great naval ports. The Admiral had
+reported some shortage of coal and ammunition, and had asked for further
+supplies of both. A promise was made him that more coal should be sent
+to Rosyth, but ammunition, he was told, it would be inconvenient and
+unnecessary to forward at this juncture. There was no reason for
+precipitation or alarm, a cipher telegram from Whitehall ran: Any sign
+of either would irritate Germany and endanger the situation. He was
+peremptorily enjoined to refrain from any act of preparation for war.
+The estimates could not be exceeded without good reason, and the
+necessary economies of the Admiralty had left no margin for unexpected
+expenses. Even the commissioning of the reserve ships, he was told, was
+not to be considered in any sense as pointing to the imminence of war;
+it was merely a test of the readiness of the fleet.
+
+This remarkable despatch and the series of telegrams which accompanied
+it were produced at the Parliamentary investigation after the war, and
+caused simple stupefaction. There was not a hint in them of the peril
+which menaced the North Sea Fleet. Not the safety of England, but the
+feelings of the enemy, were considered. And yet the same utter absence
+of precautions had characterised the policy of the Government during the
+Fashoda crisis, when Mr. Goschen indignantly denied to an approving
+House of Commons the suggestion that the dockyards had been busy or that
+special efforts to prepare for war had been needed. In the North Sea
+crisis again, the safety of England had been left to chance, and the
+British fleets carefully withdrawn from the waters of the North Sea, or
+placed in a position of such weakness that their defeat was a
+probability.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet, the Admiral, however, was wiser than the Admiralty. There
+were too many busybodies about, and the ships were too plainly under
+observation, to make the full battle toilet. But all that afternoon his
+crews were active in removing the woodwork, which could not,
+unfortunately, be sent ashore or thrown into the water--that would have
+caused excessive suspicion. He would personally have preferred to weigh
+anchor and proceed to sea, but his instructions forbade this. A great
+admiral at such a juncture might have disobeyed, and acted on his own
+responsibility; but Lord Ebbfleet, though brave and capable, was not a
+Nelson. Still, as well as he could, he made ready for war, and far into
+the night the crews worked with a will.
+
+Torpedo-nets were got out in all the large ships; the guns were loaded;
+the watch manned and armed ship; the ships’ torpedo boats were hoisted
+out and patrolled the neighbouring waters; all ships had steam up ready
+to proceed to sea, though the Admiralty had repeatedly censured Lord
+Ebbfleet for the heinous offence of wasting coal. Unhappily, the
+fortifications on the Firth of Forth were practically unmanned and
+dismantled. Many of the guns had been sold in 1906 to effect economies.
+In accordance with the policy of trusting to luck and the kindness of
+the Germans, in fear, also, of provoking Germany, no steps had been
+taken to mobilise their garrisons. Under the latest scheme of defence
+which the experts in London had produced, it had been settled that
+fortifications were not needed to protect the bases used by the fleet.
+The garrison artillery had gone--sacrificed to the demand for economy.
+It was considered amply sufficient to man the works with mobilised
+Volunteers when the need arose. That the enemy might come like a thief
+in the night had seemingly not occurred to the Government, the House of
+Commons, or the Army reformers.
+
+Thus the Admiral had to trust entirely to his own ships and guns. The
+very searchlights on the coast defences were not manned; everything
+after the usual English fashion was left to luck and the last minute.
+And, truth to tell, the pacific assurances of the Ministerial Press had
+lulled anxiety to rest everywhere, save, perhaps, in the endangered
+fleet. The nation wished to slumber, and it welcomed the leading
+articles which told it that all disquietude was ridiculous.
+
+It was equally disastrous that no destroyers accompanied the fleet. The
+three North Sea flotillas of twenty-four boats were conducting exercises
+in the Irish Sea, whither they had been despatched after the grand naval
+manœuvres were over. No flotilla of destroyers, and not even a single
+one of those worn-out, broken-down torpedo boats which the Admiralty had
+persisted in maintaining as a sham defence for the British coast, was
+stationed in the Forth. For patrol work the Admiral had nothing but his
+armoured cruisers and the little launches carried in his warships, which
+were practically useless for the work of meeting destroyers. The mine
+defences on the coast had been abolished in 1905, with the promise that
+torpedo boats and submarines should take their place. Unluckily, the
+Admiralty had sold off the stock of mines for what it would fetch,
+before it had provided either the torpedo boats or the submarines, and
+now five years after this act of supreme wisdom and economy there was
+still no mobile defence permanently stationed north of Harwich.
+
+At nightfall six of the battleships’ steam torpedo boats were stationed
+outside the Forth Bridge, east of the anchorage, to keep a vigilant
+watch, while farther out to sea was the fast cruiser _Leicestershire_
+with all lights out, in mid-channel, just under the island of Inchkeith.
+Abreast of her and close inshore, where the approach of hostile torpedo
+craft was most to be feared, were three small ships’ torpedo boats to
+the north and another three to the south, so that, in all, twelve
+torpedo boats and one cruiser were in the outpost line, to prevent any
+such surprise as that of the Russian fleet at Port Arthur on the night
+of February 8, 1904. Thus began this most eventful night in the annals
+of the British Navy.
+
+Hour after hour passed, while the lieutenants in charge of the torpedo
+boats incessantly swept the horizon with night glasses; and on the
+bridge of the _Leicestershire_ a small group of officers and signalmen
+directed their telescopes and glasses out to sea. The great cruiser in
+the darkness showed not a glimmer of light; gently her engines moved her
+to and fro upon her beat; she looked through the blackness like a
+monstrous destroyer herself; and as she went to and fro her guns were
+always kept trained out seawards, with the watch ready. Towards 2 a.m.
+the tide began to set strongly into the Forth, and at the same time the
+weather became misty. Captain Cornwall, noting with uneasiness that the
+horizon was becoming obscured, and that the field of vision was
+narrowing, exclaimed to his fellow-watchers on the bridge that it was an
+ideal night for destroyers--if they should come.
+
+Barely had he spoken thus when he was called aft to the wireless
+telegraphy instruments. Out of the night Hertzian waves were coming in.
+The mysterious message was not in the British code; it was not in the
+international code; and it bore no intelligible meaning. It was in no
+language that could be recognised--was evidently a cipher. For two or
+three minutes the recorder rattled off dots and dashes, and then the
+aërial impulse ceased. Immediately, with a noise like the rattle of
+pistol shots, the _Leicestershire’s_ transmitters began to send the news
+of this strange signal back to the flagship at the anchorage. The
+special tuning of the British instruments kept for fleet work would
+prevent a stranger taking in her news.
+
+While the _Leicestershire’s_ wireless instruments were signalling, a
+steamer was made out approaching Inchkeith. From her build she was a
+tramp; she carried the usual lights, and seemed to be heading for
+Queensferry. A flashlight signal was made to her to ask her name and
+nationality, and to direct her not to approach, as manœuvres were in
+progress. She made not the faintest response to these signals--a by no
+means unusual case with British and foreign merchant steamers. In the
+dim light she looked to be of about 2500 tons displacement as she
+steered straight for the _Leicestershire_. Captain Cornwall ordered one
+of the inshore torpedo boats to proceed to her, and examine her, and
+direct her, if she was not British, to go into Leith, thus taking upon
+his shoulders the considerable responsibility of interfering with a
+foreign ship in time of peace. But she paid no attention to the torpedo
+boat. She was about 3000 yards off the _Leicestershire_ when the order
+to the boat was given, and she had now approached within 1500 yards.
+Disquieted by her proceedings, Captain Cornwall ordered one of the
+3-pounders to fire a shot across her bow, and then, as this did not stop
+her, followed it up with two shots from a 3-pounder directed against her
+hull.
+
+At the first shot across her bows she swung round, now little more than
+a thousand yards away from the British cruiser, bringing her broadside
+to bear. There was the noise of a dull report like the discharge of
+torpedo tubes, as an instant later the 3-pounder shells struck her hull.
+Immediately, at Captain Cornwall’s order, the _Leicestershire_ opened
+fire with all her guns that would bear. Through the water came two
+streaks of bubbles and foam, moving with lightning speed. One passed
+right ahead of the _Leicestershire_; the other swept towards the British
+cruiser’s stern; there was a heavy explosion; the whole hull of the
+cruiser was violently shaken and lifted perceptibly up in the water; a
+spout of water and smoke rose up astern, and the engines ceased to work.
+The _Leicestershire_ had been torpedoed by the stranger.
+
+The stranger caught the cruiser’s fire and reeled under it. The British
+gunners took their revenge. The searchlights came on; four 7.5’s, in
+less time than it takes to tell, planted shell after shell upon her
+waterline, and the steamer began slowly to founder. Clouds of smoke and
+steam rose from her; her engine was apparently disabled, and the British
+launches closed about her to seize those of her crew that survived. In
+ten minutes all was over. The steamer had disappeared, her side torn
+open by a dozen 7.5-in. shells charged with lyddite. But the
+_Leicestershire_ was in serious plight. The damage done by the German
+torpedo was of the gravest nature. The British cruiser was heavily down
+by the stern; her port engine and propeller would no longer revolve; two
+compartments on the port quarter had filled, and water was leaking into
+the port engine-room. Very slowly, with the help of the starboard
+engine, Captain Cornwall took her in towards Leith and beached his ship
+on the shoals near the new harbour.
+
+The opening act had been cleverly thought out by the German staff. While
+the torpedo boats were picking up the crew of the steamer, three
+divisions of German torpedo craft, each six boats strong, had passed
+into the Forth under the shadow of the northern coast. They glided like
+shadows through the darkness, and they do not seem to have been seen by
+the British vessels off Inchkeith, whose crews’ attention was riveted
+upon the _Leicestershire_. A fourth division, moving rapidly in the
+shadow of the southern coast, was seen by the _Leicestershire_ and by
+the British launches about her and with her, and at once she opened fire
+upon the dim forms. But, bereft of motive power, she could not use her
+battery to advantage, and though it was thought that one of the
+destroyers disappeared in the water, the others sped up the estuary,
+towards the British fleet.
+
+Warned by wireless telegraphy that destroyers had been sighted, the
+British crews were on the _qui vive_. There was not time at this
+eleventh hour to weigh and put out to sea; the only possible course was
+to meet the attack at anchorage. The fleet was anchored off Rosyth, the
+battleships in two lines ahead, headed by the flagships _Vanguard_ and
+_Captain_. The _Vanguard_ and _Captain_, the leading ships in the
+starboard and port lines respectively, were just abreast of the Beamer
+Rock and Port Edgar. The seven armoured cruisers were moored in the St.
+Margaret’s Hope Anchorage. To torpedo craft coming from the sea and
+passing under the Forth Bridge, the fleet thus offered a narrow front,
+and comparatively few of its guns would bear.
+
+About 2.30 a.m. on Sunday morning, the lookout of the _Vanguard_
+detected white foam, as from the bows of a destroyer, just under Battery
+Point; a few seconds later, the same sign was seen to the south of
+Inchgarvie, and as the bugles sounded and the 12-in. guns in the three
+forward turrets of the British flagship opened, and the searchlights
+played their steady glare upon the dark waters just under the Forth
+Bridge, the forms of destroyers or torpedo boats fast approaching were
+unmistakably seen.
+
+In a moment the air trembled with the concussion of heavy guns; the
+quick-firers of the fleet opened a terrific fire; and straight at the
+battleships came eighteen German destroyers and large torpedo boats,
+keeping perfect station, at impetuous speed. The sea boiled about them;
+the night seemed ablaze with the flashing of the great guns and the
+brilliant flame of exploding shells. Now one destroyer careened and
+disappeared; now another flew into splinters, as the gunners sent home
+their huge projectiles. Above all the din and tumult could be heard the
+rapid hammering of the pom-poms, as they beat from the bridges with
+their steady stream of projectiles upon the approaching craft.
+
+Four destroyers went to the bottom in that furious onrush; ten entered
+the British lines, and passed down them with the great ships on either
+side, not more than 200 yards away, and every gun depressed as much as
+it could be, vomiting flame and steel upon the enemy; the others turned
+back. The thud of torpedo firing followed; but the boats amid that
+tempest of projectiles, with the blinding glare of the searchlights in
+their gunners’ eyes, aimed uncertainly. Clear and unforgettable the
+figures of officers and men stood out of the blackness, as the
+searchlights caught the boats. Some could be seen heaving heavy weights
+overboard; others were busy at the torpedo tubes; but in the blaze of
+light the pom-poms mowed them down, and tore the upper works of the
+destroyers to flinders. Funnels were cut off and vanished into space; a
+conning-tower was blown visibly away by a 12-in. shell which caught it
+fairly, and as the smitten boat sank there was a series of terrific
+explosions.
+
+Fifth ship in the starboard British line from the _Vanguard_ lay the
+great battleship _Indefatigable_, after the four “Dreadnoughts” one of
+the four powerful units in the fleet. Four torpedoes were fired at her
+by the German destroyers; three of the four missed her, two of them only
+by a hair’s breadth, but the fourth cut through the steel net and caught
+her fairly abreast of the port engine-room, about the level of the
+platform deck. The Germans were using their very powerful 17.7-in.
+Schwartzkopf torpedo, fitted with net-cutters, and carrying a charge of
+265 lb. of gun-cotton, the heaviest employed in any navy, and nearly a
+hundred pounds heavier than that of the largest British torpedo.
+
+The effect of the explosion was terrific. Though the _Indefatigable_ had
+been specially constructed to resist torpedo attack, her bulkheads were
+not designed to withstand so great a mass of explosive, and the torpedo
+breached the plating of the wing compartments, the wing passage, and the
+coal-bunker, which lay immediately behind it. The whole structure of the
+ship was shaken and much injured in the neighbourhood of the explosion,
+and water began to pour through the shattered bulkheads into the port
+engine-room.
+
+The pumps got to work, but could not keep the inrush down; the ship
+rapidly listed to the port side, and though “out collision mat” was
+ordered at once, and a mat got over the huge, gaping hole in the
+battleship’s side, the water continued to gain. Slipping her anchors, at
+the order of the Admiral, the _Indefatigable_ proceeded a few hundred
+yards with her starboard screw to the shelving, sandy beach of Society
+Bank, where she dropped aground. Had the harbour works at Rosyth been
+complete, the value of them to the nation at this moment would have been
+inestimable, for there would have been plenty of time to get her into
+the dock which was under construction there. But in the desire to effect
+apparent economies the works since 1905 had been languidly pushed.
+
+The calamities of the British fleet did not end with the torpedoing of
+the _Indefatigable_. A few seconds later some object drifting in the
+water, probably a mine--though in the confusion it was impossible to say
+what exactly happened--struck the _Resistance_ just forward of the fore
+barbette. It must have drifted down inside the torpedo nets, between the
+hull and the network. There was an explosion of terrific violence, which
+rent a great breach in the side of the ship near the starboard fore
+torpedo tube, caused an irresistible inrush of water, and compelled her
+captain also to slip his anchors and beach his ship.
+
+Two of the British battle squadron were out of action in the space of
+less than five minutes from the opening of fire.
+
+Already the shattered remnants of the German torpedo flotilla were
+retiring; a single boat was steaming off as fast as she had come, but
+astern of her four wrecks lay in the midst of the British fleet devoid
+of motive power, mere helpless targets for the guns.
+
+As they floated in the glare of the searchlights with the water
+sputtering about them, in the hail of projectiles, first one and then
+another, and finally all four, raised the white flag. Four German boats
+had surrendered; four more had been seen to sink in the midst of the
+fleet; one was limping slowly off under a rain of shells from the
+smaller guns of the _Vanguard_.
+
+The British cruiser _Londonderry_ was ordered to slip and give chase to
+her, and steamed off in pursuit down the Forth. A caution to “beware of
+mines” was flashed by the Admiral, and was needed. The German destroyers
+must have carried with them, and thrown overboard in their approach, a
+large number of these deadly agents, which were floating in all
+directions, greatly hampering the _Londonderry_ in her chase.
+
+But with the help of her searchlights she picked her way past some
+half-dozen mines which were seen on the surface, and she was so
+fortunate as not to strike any of those which had been anchored in the
+channel. Gathering speed, she overhauled the damaged destroyer. The crew
+could offer little resistance to the guns of a powerful cruiser.
+
+A few shots from the three-pounders and a single shell from one of the
+_Londonderry’s_ 7.5’s did the work. The German torpedo boat began to
+sink by the stern; her engines stopped; her rudder was driven by the
+explosion of the big projectile over to starboard, and the impulse of
+the speed at which she was travelling brought her head round towards the
+British vessel. The boat was almost flush with the water as one of her
+crew raised the white flag, and the fifth German boat surrendered.
+
+The prisoners were rescued from the water with shaken nerves and quaking
+limbs, as men who had passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
+who had endured the hail of shells and faced the danger of drowning.
+
+So soon as the survivors of that most daring and gallant attack had been
+recovered from the water, and possession had been taken of the battered
+hulls in which they had made their onset, the Admiral ordered his
+torpedo launches to drag the channel for mines.
+
+And while the dragging was proceeding, the prisoners were taken on board
+the flagship and interrogated. They would disclose little other than the
+fact that, according to them, war had been already declared. The ship
+which had attacked the _Leicestershire_, they said, was a tramp fitted
+for mine-laying and equipped with three torpedo tubes. Half of them were
+more or less seriously wounded; all admitted that the slaughter on board
+their boats caused by the British fire had been terrific. One lieutenant
+stated that all the men at one of his torpedo tubes had been mown down
+twice by the hail of small shells from the pom-poms, while a 12-in.
+shell which had hit the stern of his boat had blown it completely away.
+Yet the remnant of the boat had still floated.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet surveyed the scene with rueful eyes. The _Indefatigable_
+and _Resistance_, two of his powerful battleships, were out of action,
+and could take no more part in operations for weeks. The
+_Leicestershire_ was in the same plight. From sixteen battleships his
+force had fallen to fourteen; his armoured cruiser squadron was reduced
+from eight ships to seven. To remain in the anchorage without destroyers
+and torpedo boats to keep a lookout would be to court further torpedo
+attacks, and perhaps the even more insidious danger from German
+submarines, and might well imperil the safety of the British reserve
+ships. Only one course remained--to weigh and proceed to sea,
+endeavouring to pass south to meet the reserve ships.
+
+Efforts to communicate his intention to the Admiralty failed. The roar
+of firing had awakened Leith and Edinburgh; people were pouring into the
+streets to know what this strange and sudden commotion meant, and what
+was the cause of the storm.
+
+The windows at Queensferry had been shattered; the place was shaken as
+by a great earthquake. The three heavy bursts of firing, the continuous
+disquieting flashes of the searchlights, and the great hull of the
+_Leicestershire_ ashore off Leith, indicated that something untoward had
+befallen the fleet.
+
+For a moment it was thought that the Admiral had fallen to manœuvres
+at a most unseasonable hour, or that some accident had occurred on board
+the injured cruiser. Then suddenly the truth dawned upon the people. The
+crowd ashore, constantly increasing, as it gazed in alarm towards the
+anchorage, realised that war had begun, and that for the first time
+since the Dutch sailed up the Medway, more than two hundred years
+before, the sanctity of a British anchorage had been invaded by an
+enemy.
+
+The coastguardsmen, who had been placed under the control of the civil
+authorities as the result of one of the numerous reforms effected in the
+interests of economy, had for the most part forgotten the art of quick
+signalling or quick reading of naval signals, else they might have
+interpreted to the crowd the history of that night, as it was flashed to
+the wireless station at Rosyth, for transmission to London.
+
+But, as has been said, the attempt to despatch the news to headquarters
+failed. The private wire from the dockyard to Whitehall would not work,
+and though the post office wires were tried no answer could be obtained.
+It appeared that, as on the famous night of the North Sea outrage, there
+was no one at the Admiralty--not even a clerk. It was, therefore,
+impossible to obtain definite information.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet had meantime received a report from his torpedo launches
+that a precarious passage had been cleared through the mines in the
+channel, and about four o’clock on Sunday morning he ordered the
+armoured cruiser squadron to put to sea and ascertain whether the coast
+was clear, preceding the battle squadron, which, minus the two damaged
+battleships, was to follow at six.
+
+The interval of two hours was required to take on board ammunition from
+the damaged ships, to land woodwork and all the impedimenta that could
+possibly be discarded before battle, and also to complete the
+preparations for action.
+
+It was now almost certain that a German fleet would be encountered, but,
+as has been said, the risk of remaining in the Forth was even greater
+than that of proceeding to sea, while the Commander-in-Chief realised
+the full gravity of the fact that upon his fleet and its activity would
+depend the safety of England from invasion.
+
+He knew that the other main fleets were far distant; that the reserve
+ships were much too weak by themselves to meet the force of the German
+Navy, and that the best chance of averting a fresh disaster to them was
+to effect as speedily as possible a junction with them. Where exactly
+they were or whether they had moved from the Nore he was not yet aware;
+the absence of information from the Admiralty left him in the dark as to
+these two important points.
+
+The armoured cruisers were ordered, if they encountered the German
+cruisers in approximately equal or inferior force, to drive them off and
+push through them, to ascertain the strength and whereabouts of the
+German battle fleet; if, however, the Germans were in much superior
+force, the British squadron was to fall back on the battle fleet. One by
+one the armoured cruisers steamed off, first the _Polyphemus_, with the
+Rear-Admiral’s flag, then the _Olympia_, _Achates_, _Imperieuse_,
+_Aurora_, and _Londonderry_, and last of all the _Gloucester_ bringing
+up the rear.
+
+Upon these seven ships the duty of breaking through the enemy’s screen
+was to devolve. As they went out they jettisoned their woodwork and
+formed a line ahead, in which formation they were to fight.
+
+Unfortunately, the shooting of the squadron was very uneven. Three of
+its ships had done superbly at battle practice and in the gun-layers’
+test; but two others had performed indifferently, and two could scarcely
+be trusted to hit the target.
+
+For years the uneven shooting of the fleet had been noted as a source of
+weakness; but what was needed to bring the bad ships up to the mark was
+a lavish expenditure of ammunition, and ammunition cost money. Therefore
+ammunition had to be stinted.
+
+In the German Navy, on the other hand, a contrary course had been
+followed. For the two months before the war, as was afterwards disclosed
+by the German Staff History, the German ships had been kept constantly
+at practice, and if the best ships did not shoot quite so well as the
+best units in the British fleet, a far higher average level of gunnery
+had been attained.
+
+Increasing the number of revolutions till the speed reached 18 knots,
+the cruiser squadron sped seawards. The east was flushed with the glow
+of dawn as the ships passed Inchcolm, but a grey mist lay upon the
+surface of the gently heaving sea and veiled the horizon. Leaving
+Inchkeith and the Kinghorn Battery soon after the Leith clocks had
+struck the half-hour, and steaming on a generally easterly course, the
+lookout of the _Polyphemus_ saw right ahead and some ten or eleven miles
+away to the north-east the dark forms of ships upon the horizon. The
+British line turned slightly and headed towards these ships. All the
+telescopes on the _Polyphemus’s_ fore-bridge were directed upon the
+strangers, and the fact that they were men-of-war painted a muddy grey
+was ascertained as they drew nearer, and transmitted by wireless
+telegraphy to Lord Ebbfleet.
+
+They were coming on at a speed which seemed to be about 17 knots, and
+were formed in line ahead, in a line perfectly maintained, so that, as
+they were approaching on almost exactly the opposite course, their
+number could not be counted. In another minute or two, as the distance
+between the two squadrons rapidly diminished, it was clear from her
+curious girdermasts that the ship at the head of the line was either the
+large German armoured cruiser _Waldersee_, the first of the large type
+built by Germany, or some other ship of her class. At six miles distance
+several squadrons of destroyers were made out, also formed in line
+ahead, and steaming alongside the German line, abaft either beam.
+
+A battle was imminent; there was no time to issue elaborate orders, or
+make fresh dispositions.
+
+The British Admiral signalled that he would turn to starboard, to
+reconnoitre the strange fleet, and reserve fire till closer quarters. He
+turned five points, which altered his course to an east-south-easterly
+one. For a fractional period of time the Germans maintained their
+original course, steering for the rear of the British line. Then the
+German flagship or leader of the line turned to port, steering a course
+which would bring her directly across the bows of the British line.
+
+Simultaneously the two divisions of torpedo craft on the port beam of
+the German squadron increased speed, and, cutting across the loop,
+neared the head of the German line.
+
+The German squadron opened fire as it began to turn, the _Waldersee_
+beginning the duel with the two 11-in. guns in her fore-turret.
+
+A flash, a haze of smoke instantly dissipated, and a heavy shell passed
+screeching over the fore-turret of the _Polyphemus_.
+
+Another flash an instant later, and a shell struck the British cruiser’s
+third funnel, tearing a great hole in it, but failing to burst. Then
+every German gun followed, laid on the _Polyphemus_, which blew her
+steam siren and fired a 12-pounder, the prearranged signal to the
+British ships for opening, and an instant later, just after 5 a.m., both
+squadrons were exchanging the most furious fire at a distance which did
+not exceed 5000 yards.
+
+As the two lines turned, the British were able at last to make out the
+strength and numbers of their enemy. There were ten German armoured
+cruisers in line--at the head of the line the fast and new _Waldersee_,
+_Caprivi_, and _Moltke_, each of 16,000 tons, and armed with four 11-in.
+and ten 9.4-in. guns, with astern of them the _Manteuffel_, _York_,
+_Roon_, _Friedrich Karl_, _Prince Adalbert_, _Prince Heinrich_, and
+_Bismarck_.
+
+The last four did not follow the first six in the turn, but maintained
+their original course, and headed direct for the rear of the British
+line. Thus the position was this: One German squadron was manœuvring
+to pass across the head of the British line, and the other to cross the
+rear of that line. Each German squadron was attended by two torpedo
+divisions.
+
+Retreat for the British Admiral was already out of the question, even if
+he had wished to retire. But as he stood in the _Polyphemus’s_
+conning-tower and felt his great cruiser reel beneath him under the
+concussion of her heavy guns--as he saw the rush of splinters over her
+deck, and heard the officers at his side shouting down the telephones
+amid the deafening din caused by the crash of steel on steel, the
+violent explosion of the shells, the heavy roar of the great guns, and
+the ear-splitting crack and rattle of the 12-pounders and pom-poms--he
+realised that the German squadrons were manœuvring perfectly, and
+were trying a most daring move--one which it would need all his nerve
+and foresight to defeat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FIERCE CRUISER BATTLE
+
+
+Contrary to anticipation, in the interchange of fire the ships of the
+two combatants did not suffer any disabling injury. The armour on either
+side kept out the shells from the vitals, though great smoking gaps
+began to show where the unarmoured sides had been riven.
+
+The _Waldersee’s_ turrets flashed and smoked incessantly as she closed;
+the whole German squadron of six ships, which included her and followed
+her, turned its concentrated fire upon the _Polyphemus_, and the British
+cruisers to the rear of the British line were at some disadvantage,
+since their weapons could only fire at extreme range. The Germans aimed
+chiefly at the _Polyphemus’s_ conning-tower, wherein, they knew, dwelt
+the brain that directed the British force.
+
+Amidst the smoke and fumes of high-explosive shells, with the outlook
+obscured by the hail of splinters and the nerves shaken by the incessant
+blast of shells, it was difficult to keep a perfectly cool head.
+
+The next move of the British Admiral has been bitterly criticised by
+those who forget that the resolutions of naval war may have to be
+reached in two seconds, under a strain to which no General on land is
+subjected.
+
+Seeing that the main German squadron was gaining a position to execute
+the famous manœuvre of “crossing the T,” and unable to turn away to
+starboard for want of sea-room, the British Admiral signalled to his
+fleet to turn simultaneously to port, reversing the direction of his
+movement and inverting the order of his fleet. His van became his rear,
+his rear his van.
+
+Amidst all the uproar, the main German squadron replied with the same
+manœuvre, while the second German squadron instantly headed straight
+for the ships which had been to the rear of the British line, and now
+formed its van.
+
+Simultaneously two of the four divisions of German destroyers attacked,
+one the rear and the other the head, of the British line, and the German
+ships let go their long-range torpedoes.
+
+The range had fallen to a distance of not much over 3000 yards between
+the main German squadron and the _Polyphemus_. At the other extremity of
+the British line, as the four armoured cruisers forming the second
+German squadron closed on the British van, it rapidly decreased. The
+confusion was fearful on either side, and if the British had had
+destroyers with them the German official narrative acknowledges that it
+might have gone very hard with the German fleet. But here, as elsewhere,
+initial errors of disposition, in the famous words of the Archduke
+Charles, proved fatal beyond belief.
+
+The smaller guns on board all the ships of both sides had been in many
+cases put out of action; even the heavier weapons had suffered. Several
+of the turrets no longer flashed and revolved. Funnels and bridges had
+sunk; wreckage of steel yawned where decks had been; dense clouds of
+smoke poured from blazing paint or linoleum, and the fires were
+incessantly renewed by fresh shell explosions. Blood covered the decks,
+the scuppers ran red; inside the fore barbette of the _Imperieuse_,
+which had been pierced by an 11-in. shell, was a scene of indescribable
+horror. The barbette had suddenly ceased firing.
+
+An officer, sent to ascertain the cause, was unable to make his way in
+before he was swept away by a fresh projectile. Another volunteer
+climbed up through the top into the steel pent-house, for there was no
+other means of access--returned alive, and reported that the whole
+barbette crew were dead and that the place was like a charnel-house.
+There was no sign of disabling injury to the mechanism, but the problem
+was how to get a fresh crew of living men through the hail of shells to
+the guns.
+
+The four German armoured cruisers of the second division turned within
+1500 yards of the head of the British line, firing torpedoes and
+delivering and receiving a terrific shell fire. One torpedo boat
+followed each German cruiser closely, and as the four cruisers turned,
+the torpedo craft, instead of following them, charged home.
+
+The manœuvre was so unexpected and so hazardous that it was difficult
+to meet. At twenty-five knots speed the German boats passed like a flash
+through the British line. A great hump of water rose under the British
+cruiser _Londonderry_, second in the inverted order of the line, and she
+reeled and settled heavily in the water. A torpedo had struck her abaft
+the fore-turret.
+
+Almost at the same instant another German torpedo division attacked the
+rear of the British line, and a German torpedo boat made a hit upon the
+_Olympia_, last but one in the British line. She was struck abaft the
+starboard engine-room, and she too listed, and settled in the water.
+
+As the German boats attempted to escape to the south they caught the
+fire of the British squadron’s port broadsides, which sent two to the
+bottom and left two others in a sinking condition. Both the damaged
+British ships turned out of the British line and headed for the coast to
+the south. The only chance of saving the ships and crews was to beach
+the vessels and effect repairs. As they steered out of the battle, the
+tumult behind them increased, and their crews could see great tongues of
+flame shooting upwards from the _Bismarck_, which was held unmercifully
+by the British 9.2-in. shells. She was badly damaged and in sore
+trouble, but the rest of the German ships still appeared to be going
+well. The British torpedoes, fired from the cruisers’ tubes, seemed to
+have made no hits.
+
+The Germans offered no hindrance to the withdrawal of the injured ships.
+They closed on the remnant of the British force, now reduced to five
+ships, all much damaged. On their side, without the _Bismarck_, which
+had fallen out of the line, they had nine ships in action and two intact
+flotillas of torpedo craft to bring to bear.
+
+The second German squadron had wheeled to join the other division, which
+was now steering a generally parallel course, though well astern of the
+British ships. The two fleets had drawn apart after the short but fierce
+torpedo action, and the British were now heading north. A fierce cruiser
+battle ensued.
+
+In this sharp encounter at close quarters, at a range which did not
+exceed 2000 yards, a grave catastrophe had befallen the _Polyphemus_. As
+the Admiral was giving orders for his squadron to turn, two heavy
+projectiles in quick succession struck the conning-tower, inside which
+he was standing with the captain, a midshipman, a petty officer, and two
+boys at his side. The first shell struck the base of the conning-tower,
+causing a most violent shock, and filling the interior of the tower with
+smoke and fumes.
+
+The Admiral leant against the side of the tower and strove to ascertain
+through the narrow opening in the steel wall what had happened, when the
+second shell hit the armour outside, and exploded against it with
+terrific violence. Admiral Hardy was instantly killed by the shock or by
+the bolts and splinters which the explosion or impact of the projectile
+drove into the conning-tower. The flag-captain was mortally wounded; the
+petty officer received an insignificant contusion. The midshipman and
+the two boys escaped without a scratch, though stunned and much shaken
+by the terrific blow.
+
+For some seconds the ship passed out of control; then, dazed and
+bewildered, the midshipman took charge, and shouted to the chamber
+below, where the steering gear was placed with the voice-pipes and all
+other appliances,--an improvement introduced after the war in the Far
+East,--orders to communicate the death of the Admiral and disablement of
+the captain to the commander. For some minutes the British squadron was
+without a chief, though under the system of “follow my leader,” which
+had been adopted for the cruiser squadron, the captain of the
+_Gloucester_ which led the line was controlling the battle.
+
+Some confusion resulted, and the opportunity of finishing off the
+_Bismarck_ which undoubtedly offered at this moment was lost. Captain
+Connor, of the _Gloucester_, increased speed to eighteen knots, heading
+northward, to draw the German squadron away from the damaged British
+ships, and attempted to work across the head of the German line. The
+fleets now fought broadside to broadside, exchanging a steady fire,
+until Captain Connor, finding himself getting too close to the north
+coast, and with insufficient manœuvring room, turned southward,
+inverting the British line, and bringing the _Polyphemus_ once more to
+its head.
+
+The British squadron, after turning, steamed towards the _Bismarck_,
+which was crawling off eastwards, with a division of German torpedo
+boats near at hand to give her succour. The German squadrons had now
+formed up into one compact line, in which two of the ships appeared to
+be in serious difficulties. They copied the British manœuvre and
+steered a parallel course to the British cruisers, holding a position a
+little ahead of them. Simultaneously, their other intact torpedo
+division took station to leeward of their line near its rear, and the
+six remaining boats of the two divisions, which had executed the first
+attack, took station to leeward near the head of the line. The two
+fleets steamed 3500 yards apart, gradually closing, and fought an
+artillery battle, in which the greater gunpower, of the Germans, who had
+nine ships in action to the British five, speedily began to tell.
+
+The _Gloucester_ lost two of her four funnels; one of her masts fell
+with a resounding crash. The _Olympia_ had a slight list; the _Aurora’s_
+forward works were shot away; the _Achates_ had lost one of her funnels.
+
+In the German line the _Waldersee’s_ forward military mast tottered and
+could be seen swaying at each instant, the network of steel girders had
+been badly damaged. The _Caprivi_ was on fire amidships, and smoke was
+pouring up from the fire. The _Moltke_ was without one of her four
+funnels. The _Manteuffel’s_ stern had been wrecked till the structure of
+the ship above the armour looked like a tangle of battered girders. The
+_York_ and _Roon_ were less shattered, but gaping wounds could be seen
+in their sides. The _Friedrich Karl_ had lost the upper portion of her
+after military mast. The _Prince Heinrich_ was slightly down by the bow,
+and was drooping astern.
+
+Sparks and splinters flew upwards from the steel sides of the great
+ships as the projectiles went home; the din was indescribable; mingled
+with the dull note of the heavy guns was the crackling of the smaller
+guns and the beating of the pom-poms, playing a devil’s tattoo in this
+furious encounter of the mastodons.
+
+The German Admiral saw that the two fleets were steadily nearing the
+_Bismarck_, and essayed once more the manœuvre which he had already
+tried, a manœuvre studiously practised in the German Navy, which had
+for ten years been daily experimenting with battle-evolutions, and
+testing its captains’ nerves till they were of steel. In these difficult
+and desperate manœuvres, it was remarked then--and it has since been
+proved by experience--the Germans surpassed their British rivals, not
+because the German officer was braver or more capable, but because he
+was younger taught to display initiative to a higher degree than the
+personnel of the British fleet, and better trained for actual battle.
+
+The four last cruisers in the German line suddenly altered course and
+steered straight at the British line, while behind them, as before,
+followed six torpedo boats. Through the intervals at the head of the
+German line came the other six boats--an evolution which they had
+constantly rehearsed in peace, and which they carried out with admirable
+precision and dash in the crisis of battle--and charged the head of the
+British line. The rest of the German squadron maintained its original
+course, and covered the attack with a terrific fire, all its guns
+accelerating the rapidity of their discharge till the air hummed with
+projectiles.
+
+The attack was suddenly and vigorously delivered. The British ships at
+the rear of the line met it and countered it with success by turning
+together south and steaming away, so that the German effort in this
+quarter ended with a blow to the air.
+
+But the flagship at the head of the line was not so alert; the death of
+the Admiral was at this critical moment severely felt, and the
+_Polyphemus_, though she eluded three torpedoes which were fired at her
+at about 3000 yards by the German battleships, found two torpedo boats
+closing in upon her from right ahead. She charged one with the ram;
+there was no time for thinking, and she caught the boat fair under her
+steel prow, which cut through the thin plating of the boat like a knife
+through matchwood. Her huge hull passed with a slight shudder over the
+boat, which instantly foundered with a violent explosion.
+
+The other boat, however, passed her only a hundred yards away in the
+spray of shells and projectiles which seemed as if by enchantment just
+to miss it. Her crew had a vision of wild-looking officers and men busy
+at the boat’s torpedo tubes; the flash of two torpedoes glinted in the
+sun as they leaped from the tubes into the water; then a great shell
+caught the boat and sent her reeling and sinking, but too late. The
+mischief had been done. One of the German torpedoes struck the
+_Polyphemus_ full on the starboard engine-room, and, exploding with
+devastating effect, blew in the side and bulkheads. The engine-room
+filled at once, and bereft of half her power the great cruiser broke
+from the British line and headed for the shore with a heavy list. Almost
+at the same moment the fire on board the _Caprivi_ blazed up so fiercely
+under the impact of the British shells that she, too, had to leave the
+line of battle.
+
+The British line re-formed, heading east, now only four ships strong,
+faced by eight German ships. For some minutes both fleets steamed on a
+parallel course 4500 yards apart, the Germans, who had, on the whole,
+suffered less damage, since their injuries were distributed over a
+larger number of ships, steaming a little faster. Once more the German
+Admiral essayed a surprise. Suddenly the eight German ships made each
+simultaneously a quarter-turn, which brought them into line abreast.
+They stood in towards the four British survivors, to deal the
+culminating blow. End-on they caught the full vehemence of the British
+fire. But with forces so weakened, the British senior officer could not
+run the risk of a mêlée, and to avoid his antagonists he, too, turned
+away from the Germans in a line abreast, and at the same moment the
+_Achates_, _Imperieuse_, and _Aurora_ fired their stern torpedo tubes.
+Realising the danger of pressing too closely in the course of a retiring
+fleet, the Germans again altered course to line ahead, and steered to
+cut the British ships off from their line of retreat up the Forth.
+
+The four British cruisers now headed up the Forth, perceiving that
+victory was impossible and flight the only course. They again received
+the German fire, steering on a parallel course. At this juncture the
+_Gloucester_, the last ship in the British line, dropped far astern; she
+had received in quick succession half a dozen heavy German shells on her
+6-in. armour and had sprung a serious leak. The German ships closed on
+her, coming in to less than 2000 yards, when their guns battered her
+with ever-increasing effect. She sank deeper in the water, heading for
+the coast, with the Germans in hot pursuit firing continuously at her.
+The other three cruisers were preparing to turn and go to her aid--a
+course which would certainly have involved the annihilation of the First
+Cruiser Squadron--when welcome help appeared.
+
+To the west a column of great ships was made out coming up at impetuous
+speed from the Upper Forth. The new-comers were the British battleships
+steering to the scene of action.
+
+At their approach the German cruisers wheeled and stood seaward, making
+off at a speed which did not exceed 16 knots, and leaving the
+_Gloucester_ to beach herself. They were now in peril, in imminent
+danger of destruction--as it seemed to the British officers. Actually,
+however, the risk for them had not been great. Within touch of them the
+main German battle-fleet had waited off the Forth, linked to them by a
+chain of smaller cruisers and torpedo boats. It would have shown itself
+before, but for its commander’s fear that its premature appearance might
+have broken off the battle and led to the retreat of the British
+squadron. As the British fleet came up, the German cruiser _Bismarck_,
+which had been for an hour in the gravest trouble, dropped astern of the
+other German ships, and it could be seen that one other German ship had
+been taken in tow and was falling astern.
+
+Thus the preliminary cruiser action between the fleets had ended all to
+the disadvantage of the British, who had fought for two hours, and in
+that brief space lost four ships disabled. From seven ships on that
+disastrous morning, the British strength had been reduced to three.
+Impartial posterity will not blame the officers and men of the armoured
+cruiser squadron, who made a most gallant fight under the most
+unfavourable conditions.
+
+The real criminals were the British Ministers, who neglected
+precautions, permitted the British fleet to be surprised, and compelled
+the British Admiral to play the most hazardous of games while they had
+left the coast without torpedo stations, and England without any
+military force capable of resisting an invading army.
+
+Had there been a national army, even a national militia, the
+Commander-in-Chief could have calmly awaited the concentration of the
+remaining British fleets, which would have given the British Navy an
+overwhelming superiority. Had there been a fair number of destroyers
+always attached to his force, again, it is morally certain that he would
+have suffered no loss from the German torpedo attacks, while a number of
+torpedo stations disposed along the North Sea coast would have enabled
+him to call up torpedo divisions to his assistance, even if he had had
+none attached to his fleet.
+
+Foresight would have provided for all the perils which menaced the
+British Navy on this eventful night; foresight had urged the rapid
+completion of the harbour at Rosyth, without which further strengthening
+of the North Sea fleet was difficult; foresight had pointed out the
+danger of neglecting the strengthening of the torpedo flotilla;
+foresight had called for a strong navy, and a nation trained to defend
+the fatherland.
+
+It was the cry of the people and the politician for all manner of
+“reforms” at the expense of national security; the demand for old-age
+pensions, for feeding of children, for State work at preposterous wages
+for the work-shy; the general selfishness which asked everything of the
+State and refused to make the smallest sacrifice for it; the degenerate
+slackness of the Public and the Press, who refused to concern themselves
+with these tremendous interests, and riveted all their attention upon
+the trivialities of the football and cricket field, that worked the doom
+of England.
+
+The nation was careless and apathetic; it had taken but little interest
+in its Fleet. Always it had assumed that the navy was perfect, that one
+British ship was a match for any two enemies. And now in a few hours it
+had been proved that the German Navy was as efficient; that its younger
+officers were better trained for war and more enterprising than the
+older British personnel; that its staff had perfectly thought out and
+prepared every move; and that much of the old advantage possessed by the
+British Navy had been lost by the too general introduction of short
+service.
+
+The shooting of the British ships, it is true, had on the whole been
+good, and even the cruisers, which in battle practice had done badly, in
+action had improved their marksmanship to a remarkable degree. But it
+was in the art of battle manœuvring and in the scientific employment
+of their weapons that the British had failed.
+
+The three surviving cruisers of the British squadron had all suffered
+much damage from the German fire, and had exhausted so much of their
+ammunition in the two hours’ fight that they were practically incapable
+of taking further part in the operations. They had to proceed to Rosyth
+to effect hasty repairs and ship any further ammunition that might with
+luck be found in the insignificant magazines at that place.
+
+The _Olympia_ had been struck three times on her fore barbette, but
+though one of the 9.2-in. guns which it contained had been put out of
+action by splinters, the barbette still worked well. Twice almost the
+entire crew of the barbette had been put out of action and had been
+renewed. The scenes within the barbette were appalling. Two of her
+7.5-in. barbettes had been jammed by the fire; her funnels were so much
+damaged that the draught had fallen and the coal consumption enormously
+increased. Below the armour deck, however, the vitals of the ship were
+intact.
+
+The _Impérieuse_ and _Aurora_ had serious hits on the water-line astern,
+and each of them was taking on board a good deal of water. They, too,
+were much mauled about their funnels and upper works. As for the four
+beached cruisers, they were in a parlous condition, and it would take
+weeks to effect repairs. The losses in men of the cruisers had not been
+very heavy; the officers in the conning-towers had suffered most, as
+upon the conning-towers the Germans had directed their heaviest fire.
+
+Most serious and trying in all the ships had been the outbreaks of fire.
+Wherever the shells struck they appeared to cause conflagrations, and
+this, though the hoses were spouting water and the decks drowned before
+the action began. Once a fire broke out, to get it under was no easy
+task. Projectiles came thick upon the fire-parties, working in the
+choking smoke. Shell-splinters cut down the bluejackets and tore the
+hoses. The difficulty of maintaining communications within the ships was
+stupendous; telephones were inaudible in the terrible din; voice-pipes
+were severed; mechanical indicators worked indifferently.
+
+The battle-fleet had spent its respite at the anchorage in getting on
+board the intact ships much of the ammunition from the _Indefatigable_
+and _Triumph_, and stripping away all remaining impedimenta; in rigging
+mantlets and completing the work of preparation.
+
+While thus engaged at five a.m. the heavy boom of distant firing came in
+towards it from the sea--the continuous thundering of a hundred large
+guns, a dull, sinister note, which alternately froze and warmed the
+blood. Orders were instantly issued to make ready for sea with all
+possible speed, and hoist in the boats. Meantime the ships’ torpedo and
+picket boats had dragged carefully for mines, as Lord Ebbfleet dared to
+leave nothing to chance. Numerous mines were found floating on the water
+or moored in the channel, and it seemed a miracle that so many ships of
+the cruiser squadron had passed out to sea in safety.
+
+Ten minutes later, at 5.10 a.m., Lord Ebbfleet signalled to weigh
+anchor, and the battle-fleet got under way and headed out to sea, its
+ships in a single line ahead, proceeding with the utmost caution. As it
+cleared the zone of danger, speed was increased to sixteen knots, and
+off Inchcolm the formation was modified.
+
+Wishing to use to the utmost the high speed and enormous batteries of
+his four battleships of the “Dreadnought “class, Lord Ebbfleet had
+determined to manœuvre with them independently. They steamed three
+knots faster than the rest of his fleet; their armour and armament
+fitted them to play a decisive part in the approaching action. They took
+station to starboard, and to port steamed the other ten battleships,
+headed by the _Captain_, under Sir Louis Parker, the second in command,
+who was given full authority to control his division. Behind the
+_Captain_ steamed the _Sultan_, _Defiance_, _Active_, _Redoubtable_,
+_Malta_, _Excellence_, _Courageous_, _Valiant_, and _Glasgow_--a
+magnificent array of two-funnelled, grey-painted monsters, keeping
+perfect station, with their crews at quarters, guns loaded, and
+battle-flags flying. To starboard were the enormous hulls of the four
+“Dreadnoughts,” the _Vanguard_ leading, with astern of her the
+_Thunderer_, _Devastation_, and _Bellerophon_. The great turrets, each
+with its pair of giant 45 ft. long 12-in. guns, caught the eye
+instantly; the three squat funnels in each ship emitted only a faint
+haze of smoke; on the lofty bridges high above the water stood
+white-capped officers, looking out anxiously to sea. Nearer and nearer
+came the roll of the firing; presently the four “Dreadnoughts” increased
+speed and drew fast ahead of the other line, while the spray flew from
+under their bows as the revolutions of the turbines rose and the speed
+went up to nineteen knots.
+
+The other ten battleships maintained their speed, and fell fast astern.
+Off Leith a vast crowd gathered, watching the far-off fighting, and
+listening in disquietude to the roar of the firing of the cruiser
+battle, and cheered the great procession as it swiftly passed and
+receded from view, leaving behind it only a faint haze of smoke. A few
+minutes before 7 a.m. the group of officers on the _Vanguard’s_ bridge
+saw ahead of them three cruisers, evidently British, steaming towards
+them, and far away yet another British cruiser low in the water, smoking
+under the impact of shells, with about her a great fleet of armoured
+cruisers. The cruisers, as they approached, signalled the terrible news
+that Admiral Hardy was dead, three British cruisers out of action, and
+the _Gloucester_ in desperate straits.
+
+The battleships were just in time to effect the rescue. At 11,000 yards
+the _Vanguard’s_ fore-turret fired the first shot of the battleship
+encounter, and as the scream of the projectile filled the air, the
+German cruisers drew away from their prey. The “Dreadnoughts” were now
+two miles ahead of the main squadron. Steaming fast towards the
+_Bismarck_, which had been abandoned by her consorts, the _Vanguard_
+fired six shells at her from her fore and starboard 12-in. turrets. All
+the six 12-in. shells went home; with a violent explosion the German
+cruiser sank instantly, taking with her to the bottom most of her crew.
+Yet there was no time to think of saving men, for on the horizon ahead
+of the British Fleet, out to sea, could be seen a dense cloud of smoke,
+betokening the presence of a great assemblage of ships. Towards this
+cloud the German cruisers were steaming at their best pace.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet reduced speed to permit his other battleships to complete
+their formation and take up their positions for battle. The ten
+battleships of the second division simultaneously increased speed from
+fifteen to sixteen knots, which was as much as their engines could be
+trusted to make without serious strain.
+
+About 7.15 a.m. the British Fleet had resumed its original order, and
+was abreast of North Berwick, now fast nearing the cloud of smoke which
+indicated the enemy’s presence, and rose from behind the cliffs of the
+Island of May.
+
+The British admirals interchanged signals as the fleet steamed seaward,
+and Lord Ebbfleet instructed Vice-Admiral Parker and Rear-Admiral
+Merrilees to be prepared for the sudden charges of German torpedo craft.
+
+That there would be many with the German Fleet was certain, for,
+although about twenty-four destroyers and torpedo boats had been sunk,
+damaged, or left without torpedoes as the result of the previous attacks
+during the night and early morning, the German torpedo flotilla had been
+enormously increased in the four years before the war, till it mustered
+144 destroyers and forty large torpedo boats.
+
+Even ruling thirty out of action and allowing for detachments, something
+like a hundred might have to be encountered.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet was not one of those officers who expect the enemy to do
+the foolish thing, and he had no doubt but that the Germans would follow
+a policy of rigid concentration. They would bring all their force to
+bear against his fleet and strive to deal it a deadly blow.
+
+Five minutes passed, and the smoke increased, while now at last the
+forms of ships could be made out far away. Rapidly approaching each
+other at the rate of some thirty knots an hour, the head ships of the
+two fleets were at 7.25 a.m. about nine miles apart. It could be seen
+that the German ships were in three distinct lines ahead, the starboard
+or right German line markedly in advance of the others, which were
+almost abreast. The German lines had wide intervals between them.
+
+In the British ships the ranges were now coming down to the guns from
+the fire-control stations aloft: “18,000 yards!” “17,000 yards!” “16,000
+yards!” “15,000 yards!” “14,000 yards!” followed in quick succession;
+the sights were quietly adjusted, and the tension of the crews grew
+almost unendurable. The hoses were all spouting water to wet the decks;
+every eye was turned upon the enemy. Far away to the south the Bass Rock
+and the cliffs near Tantallon Castle rose out of a heaving sea, and
+behind them loomed the upland country south of Dunbar, so famous in
+Scottish story. To the north showed the rocky coast of Fife. The sun was
+in the eyes of the British gunners.
+
+The guns of the _Vanguard_, and, indeed, of all the British battleships,
+were kept trained upon the leading German. It could now be seen that she
+was of the “Kaiser” class, and that five others of the same class
+followed her. Her tier on tier of turrets showed against the sun; the
+grim brownish-grey hulls produced an impression of resolute force.
+
+In the centre German line appeared to be stationed several ships of the
+“Braunschweig” and “Deutschland” classes--how many the British officers
+could not as yet make out, owing to the perfect order of the German
+line, and the fact that it was approaching on exactly the opposite
+course to the British Fleet.
+
+The port or left German line was headed by one of the new monster
+battleships, built to reply to the _Dreadnought_, and of even greater
+size and heavier battery than that famous ship. It was, in fact, the
+_Sachsen_, flying Admiral Helmann’s flag, armed with twelve of the new
+pattern 46 ft. long 11-in. guns, twenty-four 4-in. quick-firers, and ten
+pom-poms.
+
+The monster German battleship could be plainly distinguished by the
+Eiffel Tower-like structure of her masts, each with its two platforms
+carried on an elaborate system of light steel girders, which rendered
+them less liable to be shot away. End-on she showed her four 11-in.
+turrets, each bristling with a pair of muzzles. She brought two more
+heavy guns to bear ahead and on the broadside than did the
+_Dreadnought_, while her stern fire was incomparably more powerful,
+delivered from eight 11-in. guns.
+
+It was the completion of two ships of this class that had caused Lord
+Ebbfleet so much anxiety for his position. Yet there were four of the
+class in the German line of battle, two of which did not appear in the
+official lists as ready for sea, but were given out to be only
+completing.
+
+The range-finders in the fire-control stations in the British flagship
+were still sending down the distance. “13,000 yards!” “12,000 yards!”
+and the tension augmented. The centre and port German columns of ships
+slowed and turned slightly in succession, while the starboard line
+increased speed and maintained its original course. By this manœuvre
+the German Fleet looked to be formed in one enormous irregular line,
+covering four miles of sea.
+
+The numbers of the enemy could at last be counted; the British Fleet of
+fourteen battleships had twenty-two battleships against it, and of those
+twenty-two, four were as good ships as the _Vanguard_. The British Fleet
+turned a little to starboard to bring its batteries to bear with the
+best effect, and take advantage, as Lord Ebbfleet intended, of the
+dispersion of the German formation. “11,000 yards!” “10,000 yards!” came
+down to the barbettes. The _Vanguard_ fired a 12-pounder, and as the
+flash was seen both Fleets opened with sighting shots, and the great
+battle began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CONTINUATION OF THE STRUGGLE AT SEA
+
+
+But the German Admiral had anticipated the British move, and as the two
+fleets closed, replied with a daring and hazardous blow. His irregular
+line dissolved once more into its elements as the flashes came from
+every heavy gun that would bear in his twenty-two battleships. The
+Germans, as they drew abreast of the British Fleet, steaming on an
+opposite course, broke into three columns in three lines ahead, one of
+which steered straight for the British rear, one for the centre, and one
+for the van.
+
+The _Vanguard_ and the other three large battleships with Lord Ebbfleet
+had increased speed, and moved ahead of their original station till
+their broadsides bore and they practically belonged the British line.
+They circled at full battle speed of nineteen knots to pass across the
+German rear. Sheltering under the lee of the German battleships several
+destroyers or torpedo-boats could be discerned, and there were other
+destroyer or torpedo-boat divisions away to the north-east, moving
+gently apart and aloof from the battle out at sea.
+
+The fire on either side had now become intense and accurate; the range
+varied from minute to minute, but it constantly fell. The tumult was
+indescribable. The German third division of six “Kaisers” passed round
+the rear of the main British division, executing against it the
+manœuvre of “crossing the T,” but receiving serious injury in the
+process.
+
+A stunning succession of blows rained upon the _Glasgow_, the sternmost
+battleship in the British line, and her excessively thin belt was
+pierced by three German 9.4-in. shells, one of which burst with dreadful
+effect inside the citadel, denting the armoured deck, driving bolts and
+splinters down into the boiler and engine-rooms, and for some instants
+rendering the ship uncontrollable. A great fire broke out where the
+shell had burst.
+
+Almost at the same instant the _Glasgow’s_ fore barbette put two shells
+in succession home just above the upper level of the _Zahringen’s_
+armour-belt amidships, and one of these shells bursting, wrecked and
+brought down the German battleship’s after-funnel, besides putting two
+of her Schultz boilers out of action. The _Zahringen_ took fire, but the
+flames were quickly got under; she carried no wood and nothing
+inflammable.
+
+Dense clouds of smoke from funnels, from bursting shells, from burning
+ships, began to settle over the water, and the air was acrid with the
+taint of burnt cordite and nitrous fumes from the German powder. In the
+twilight of smoke the dim forms of monster ships marched and
+countermarched, aglow with red flame.
+
+The four “Dreadnoughts” passed round the first German division
+containing the four battleships of the “Sachsen” class, interchanging
+with them a terrific fire at about 5000 yards. Each side made many hits,
+and some damage was done to unarmoured portions of the huge hulls. An
+11-in. shell struck the _Thunderer’s_ centre 12-in. barbette, and jammed
+it for a few minutes; the _Vanguard_, at the head of the British
+division, received a concentrated fire, seven 11-in. shells striking her
+forward of her centre barbette. Several of her armour-plates were
+cracked; her port anchor gear was shot away, and her fore-funnel much
+shattered. Her whole structure vibrated under the terrific blows.
+Splinters swept her fore-bridge, and a hail of small projectiles from
+the German 40-pounder guns beat upon her conning-tower, rendering
+control of the battle exceedingly difficult.
+
+The noise and concussion were terrible; the blast of the great 12-in.
+guns, when they fired ahead, shook the occupants of the tower, and
+extreme caution was needed to avoid serious injury. Lord Ebbfleet
+triumphantly achieved the manœuvre of “crossing the T,” or passing
+across the head of the German line and raking it with all his ships,
+against the Germans, though the enormous bow-fire of the _Sachsen_
+served her well at this point.
+
+But the German Admiral diminished the effectiveness of the manœuvre
+by turning away a little, and then, when the danger had passed, resuming
+his original course. The second German division rapidly came up on the
+port beam of the British main division, its head ships receiving a
+fearful fire from the British line. Closing upon the first German
+division, it formed up astern of it into one long line, and attacked the
+British rear.
+
+Thus the Germans had surrounded the British ten battleships under Sir
+Louis Parker, and had concentrated against them twenty-two battleships.
+The fire of this great host of German ships told heavily upon the weak
+armour of the “Defiance” and “Valiant” classes. The “Sachsens,” at about
+4000 yards, put shot after shot from their 11-in. guns into the hull of
+the _Glasgow_, the last ship in the British line, and clouds of smoke
+and tongues of flame leapt up from her. She was now steaming slowly, and
+in evident distress.
+
+The four “Dreadnoughts” worked to the north of the Germans, maintaining
+with them a long-range action, and firing with great effect. But seeing
+the German concentration against the other division of his fleet, Lord
+Ebbfleet turned and stood towards it, while at the same time Admiral
+Parker began to turn in succession and move to meet the “Dreadnoughts.”
+As his line turned, the rearward ships received further injuries.
+
+Outside the armour the structure of many ships on both sides was fast
+being reduced to a tangle of shattered beams and twisted and rent
+plating. Most of the smaller guns were out of action, though the 6-in.
+guns in the casemates of the British ships were still for the most part
+intact. The _Sultan’s_ 7.5’s were firing with great effect; while the
+_Captain_, which headed the British main division, had resisted the
+battering superbly, and inflicted great injury on the _Preussen_ by her
+fire. At moments, however, her guns were blanketed by the ships behind
+her, from the fact that the German columns were well astern. It was to
+bring his guns to bear as well as to rejoin his Commander-in-Chief that
+the British Vice-Admiral altered course and steamed south-westward.
+
+The Germans now practised a masterly stroke.
+
+Their third division of six “Kaisers” headed direct for the van of the
+British line, closing rapidly upon a generally opposite course. At the
+same time their other two divisions steered to prevent the British ships
+from making a countermarch and avoiding the charge which was now
+imminent.
+
+Lord Ebbfleet saw the danger, and increased speed, closing on the
+“Kaisers,” well astern of them, and plying them with a terrific fire
+from the three 12-in. turrets which bore ahead in his flagship. Smoke
+and sparks flew upwards from the _Friedrich III._, the last ship in the
+division. Her after-turret was out of action; her after-military mast
+fell amidst a rain of splinters; her stern sank slightly in the water.
+
+At the same time the “Kaisers” began to catch the full fire of the other
+British division, and they were doubled upon. The head of their line was
+being raked by Sir Louis Parker; the _Captain_ put shell after shell
+into the bows of the _Wilhelm II._; her 9.2’s and 12-in. guns played
+with a steady stream of projectiles upon the German battleship, until,
+at 2000 yards, the _Wilhelm’s_ upper works appeared to be dissolving in
+smoke and flame as before some irresistible acid.
+
+The bows of the German battleship sank a little, but she turned, brought
+her broadside to bear, and the five ships behind her did the same. The
+range was short; the position favourable for torpedoes; and the six
+Germans fired, first their bow tubes as they came round, and then twice
+in quick succession their two broadside tubes at the British line. The
+thirty torpedoes sped through the sea; the British replied with the two
+broadside tubes in each ship, as those tubes bore.
+
+There was amidst all the din and turmoil and shooting flame a distinct
+pause in the battle as the crews of both fleets, or all those who could
+see what was happening, watched spell-bound the issue of this attack and
+counter-attack. They had not long to wait. One of the huge German
+torpedoes caught the _Excellent_ right astern and wrecked her rudder and
+propellers. Another struck the _Sultan_ almost amidships, inflicting
+upon her terrible injury, so that she listed heavily. The _Wilhelm II._
+was struck by a British torpedo right on her bows, and as she was
+already low in the water, began to fill and sink.
+
+The scene at this point was one of appalling horror. One battleship, the
+_Wilhelm II._, was sinking fast, with none to rescue her crew; the men
+were rushing up on deck; the fire from her guns had ceased; she lay on
+the sea a shattered wreck, riddled with shell, and smoking with the
+fires which still burnt fiercely amidst the débris of her upper works.
+
+Not far from her lay the _Excellent_, completely disabled, but still
+firing. Near the _Excellent_, again, moving very slowly, and clearly in
+a sinking condition, but still maintaining gallantly the battle, was the
+_Glasgow_, in a dense cloud of smoke caused by the bursting shell from
+the guns of sixteen enemies and the blazing fires on board.
+
+Making off to the south to beach herself was the _Sultan_, in lamentable
+plight, with a heavy list. It was 8.40 a.m., or little more than an hour
+since the joining of battle, and the German Admiral at this moment
+signalled that victory was his.
+
+The news was sent by wireless telegraphy to the German cruisers out at
+sea, and by them transmitted to Emden and Berlin.
+
+At 11 that morning newspapers were selling in the streets of the German
+capital with the news that the British Fleet was beaten, and that
+Britain had lost the command of the sea. Five British battleships, it
+was added, in the brief wireless message, had been already sunk or put
+out of action.
+
+ +--------------------------------------+
+ | Berlin um Eins! Berlin um Eins! |
+ | |
+ | Das Kleine Journal |
+ | |
+ | Mittags-Ausgaße. |
+ | |
+ | Berlin, Montag, den 3 September 1910 |
+ | |
+ | Triumph der |
+ | Deutschen |
+ | Waffen. |
+ | |
+ | Vernichtung der |
+ | Englischen |
+ | Flotte. |
+ | |
+ | Von Kronhelm Auf |
+ | Dem Vormarsche |
+ | Nach London. |
+ +--------------------------------------+
+
+ THE FIRST NEWS IN BERLIN OF THE
+ GERMAN VICTORY.
+
+The German lines closed upon the two injured British ships, _Exmouth_
+and _Glory_, showering shells upon them. At once the two British
+Admirals turned and moved to the rescue, through the clouds of smoke
+which had settled on the sea, and which were rendering shooting at long
+range more than ever difficult. Through the smoke German torpedo-boats
+could be made out on the move, but they did not attempt as yet to close
+on the intact battleships, and kept well out of the range of the British
+guns. The first and most powerful German battleship division covered the
+other German ships in their attack upon the disabled British
+battleships, and encountered the fire of the eleven British battleships
+which still remained in action. Meantime the other thirteen German
+battleships closed to about 1000 yards of the injured British ships. The
+11-in. shells from the German turrets at this distance inflicted
+terrible injury. The German guns were firing three shots in two minutes,
+and under their fire and the storm of 6-in. and 6.7-in. shells which
+their smaller guns delivered it was impossible for the British gunners
+to shoot with any effect. Great explosions occurred on board the
+_Glory_; an 11-in. shell struck her fore barbette, where the plating had
+already been damaged by a previous hit, and, perforating, burst inside
+with fearful effect, blowing the crew of the barbette to pieces, and
+sending a blast of fire and gas down into the loading chamber under the
+barbette, where it exploded a cordite charge. Another shell struck the
+conning-tower, and disabled or killed all inside it. The funnels fell;
+both the masts, which were already tottering, came down; the ship lay
+upon the water a formless, smoking hulk. Yet still her crew fought on, a
+hopeless battle. Then several heavy shells caught her waterline, as the
+Germans closed a little, and must have driven in the armour or pierced
+it. More explosions followed; from the centre of the ship rose a column
+of smoke and flame and fragments of wreckage; the centre lifted visibly,
+and the ends dropped into the sea. The _Glory_ parted amidships, and
+went to the bottom still firing her after barbette in that supreme
+moment, having proved herself worthy of her proud name. Several German
+torpedo-boats steamed towards the bubbles in the water, and fell to work
+to rescue the crew. Others had drawn near the _Wilhelm II._, and in
+neither case were they molested by the fire of the British fleet.
+
+A scene as terrible took place on board the _Exmouth_. To save her was
+impossible, for only a few brief minutes were needed to complete the
+torpedo’s work, and no respite was given by the German officers. They
+poured in a heavy fire from all their guns that remained battle-worthy
+upon the _Exmouth’s_ barbettes and conning-tower, raining such a shower
+of projectiles upon the ship that, as in the case of the _Glory_, it was
+impossible for the British crew to fight her with effect. Her 7-in.
+armour did not keep out the German 11-in. projectiles at short range,
+and the citadel of the ship became a perfect charnel-house.
+
+Amid the tangled steel-work, amid the blaze of the fires which could no
+longer be kept under, amid the hail of splinters, in the choking fumes
+of smoke from burning wood and linoleum and exploding shells, officers
+and men clung manfully to their posts, while under them the hull sank
+lower and lower in the water. Then the _Braunschweig_ headed in to 500
+yards, and at this range fired her bow torpedo at the British ship
+amidships. The torpedo struck the British battleship and did its
+dreadful work. Exploding about the base of the after-funnel, it blew in
+the side, and immediately the British ship listed sharply, showed her
+deck to her enemy, and with a rattle of objects sliding across the deck
+and a rush of blue figures, capsized amid a cloud of steam.
+
+While the two disabled battleships were being destroyed, and the
+_Swiftsure_ was crawling off to the south in the hope of reaching the
+shore and beaching herself, the fight between the rest of the British
+Fleet and the German divisions had reached its full intensity. For some
+minutes, indeed, both fleets had been compelled by the smoke to cease
+fire, but the heavy thunder of the firing never altogether stopped. The
+four big German battleships were still seemingly undamaged in any vital
+respect, though all showed minor injuries. The four British
+“Dreadnoughts” had stood the stern test as well.
+
+But the other battleships had all suffered grievously. The _Duncan_ and
+_Russell_ had lost, one both her funnels and the other both her masts,
+and the speed of the _Duncan_ could scarcely be maintained in
+consequence. The _Montagu_ had one of her barbettes out of action, and
+one of the _Albemarle’s_ 12-in. guns had either blown off its muzzle or
+else had it shot away. The _Albemarle_ had received a shell forward
+below the waterline, and had a compartment full of water. In the German
+line the _Lothringen_ was on fire amidships, had lost her fore and
+centre funnels, and was low in the water, but her heavy guns were still
+in action. On her the British line now concentrated most of its fire,
+while the Germans plied with shell the _Duncan_ and _Russell_. The
+second and third German divisions used their port batteries against the
+British main fleet, while their starboard batteries were destroying the
+_Exmouth_ and _Glory_.
+
+At this juncture the _Duncan_ fell astern and left the British line, and
+almost at the same moment the _Lothringen_ quitted the German line. The
+British Admiral turned all his ships eight points simultaneously,
+inverting the order of his line, to rescue his injured vessel. To
+attempt an attack upon the _Lothringen_ would have meant forcing his way
+through the German line, and with the ever-growing disparity of numbers
+he did not dare to risk so hazardous a venture. But before he could
+effect his purpose, the German Admiral closed on the _Duncan_, and from
+the _Sachsen’s_ and _Grosser Kurfuerst’s_ 11-in. turrets poured in upon
+her a broadside of twenty 11-in. shells, which struck her almost
+simultaneously--the range was now too short for the gunners to miss--and
+caused fearful slaughter and damage on board her. Two of the
+projectiles, which were alternately steel shell and capped
+armour-piercing shell, perforated her side-armour; two more hit her fore
+barbette; one exploded against the conning-tower; the others hulled her
+amidships; and when the smoke about her lifted for an instant in a puff
+of the wind, she was seen to be slowly sinking and motionless. One of
+her barbettes was still firing, but she was out of the battle and
+doomed. Four British battleships had gone and two German, though one of
+these was still afloat and moving slowly off to the north-east, towards
+two divisions of German destroyers, which waited the moment to close and
+deal a final blow against the British Fleet.
+
+It was now about 10 a.m., and both fleets drew apart for some minutes.
+Another German battleship, the _Westfalien_, quitted the German line,
+and followed the _Lothringen_ away from the fight. Her two turrets had
+been jammed temporarily by the British 12-in. shells, while most of her
+smaller guns had been put out of action by the _Agamemnon’s_ 9.2-in.
+weapons, which had directed upon her a merciless fire. The Germans could
+be seen re-forming their divisions, and one of the battleships moved
+from the second to the first division. With seven battleships in each of
+these two divisions and five in the third, the Germans once more
+approached the British line, which had also re-formed, the _Agamemnon_
+taking station to the rear. The battle was renewed off Dunbar. Astern of
+the Germans, now that the smoke had cleared away, could be seen fifteen
+or twenty torpedo craft. Other destroyer and torpedo divisions were
+farther away to sea.
+
+The German battleships steamed direct towards the British battleships,
+repeating the manœuvre which they had employed at the opening of the
+battle, and forming their two first divisions in one line, which moved
+upon the port bow of the British, while the other division, the third,
+advanced against the starboard bow. Both fleets reopened fire, and to
+avoid passing between the two German lines, Lord Ebbfleet turned towards
+the main German force, hoping, at even this eleventh hour, to retrieve
+the fortunes of the disastrous day by the use of his big ships’
+batteries. Turning in succession in the attempt to cross his enemy’s
+bows, his ships received a very heavy fire from both German lines;
+simultaneously the conning-towers of the _Vanguard_ and the _Sachsen_
+were struck by several shells. Two British 12-in. projectiles caught the
+_Sachsen’s_ tower in succession; the first weakened the structure and
+probably killed every one inside, among them Admiral Helmann; the second
+practically demolished it, leaving it a complete wreck.
+
+The blow of the German 11-in. shell upon the _Vanguard’s_ tower was
+equally fatal. Lord Ebbfleet was killed by a splinter, and his
+chief-of-the-staff received mortal injuries. Not a man in the tower
+escaped untouched. The brains of both fleets were paralysed, and the
+_Vanguard_ steered wildly. The German destroyers saw their opportunity,
+and rushed in. Four boats came straight at the huge hull of the British
+flagship from ahead, and before she could be got under control, a
+torpedo fired from one of them hit her right forward, breaching two
+compartments and admitting a great quantity of water. Her bows sank in
+the sea somewhat, but she clung to her place in the line for some
+minutes, then dropped out, and, in manifest difficulty, headed for the
+shore, which was close at hand to the south. Another division of four
+destroyers charged on her, but her great turrets were still intact, and
+received them with a murderous fire of 12-in. shrapnel.
+
+Two of the six guns made hits and wrecked two boats past recognition;
+the other four missed the swiftly moving targets, and two boats survived
+the first discharge and closed, one to port, and one to starboard. Her
+smaller guns were out of action, or unable to stop the boats with their
+fire. Both boats discharged two torpedoes; three torpedoes missed, but
+the fourth struck the flagship under the fore-turret. She took in so
+much water that she grounded, east of Dunbar, and lay there submerged up
+to the level of her main deck, and unable to use her big guns lest the
+concussion should shake her in this position to pieces. The Germans
+detached the battleship _Preussen_ to wreck her with its fire. With the
+rest of their fleet they followed the remaining British ships, which
+were now heading seawards. Admiral Parker had determined to make a
+vigorous effort to escape to the south-east along the British coast, and
+surviving, to fight again on a less disastrous day, with the odds more
+even. Nothing could be achieved with nine ships against eighteen, even
+though many of the eighteen were much damaged. Moreover, on board some
+of the British ships ammunition was beginning to run low.
+
+The seventeen German ships formed into a single line and pursued the
+British, steering a parallel course, the head of the German line
+somewhat overlapping the head of the British line, so that the four
+German battleships of the “Sachsen” class could bring their entire fire
+to bear upon the three remaining “Dreadnoughts.” The other fourteen
+German battleships pounded the six older and weaker British battleships
+in the line. The distance between the two fleets was from 4500 to 6000
+yards, and the fire of each fleet was slow, as the want of ammunition
+was beginning to be felt. For nearly five hours the two fleets had
+fought; it was now 11.30 a.m. Well out to sea, and some distance to
+leeward of the German battleships, the British captains could discern
+several German armoured cruisers, which, after having effected hasty
+repairs and shipped further ammunition from a store-ship in the offing,
+were closing once more. With them were at least four or five divisions
+of torpedo craft, shadowing and following the movements of the two
+fleets, prepared to rush in if a favourable opportunity offered. Both
+fleets were making about thirteen knots, for the worst damaged of the
+British battleships were not good for much more.
+
+The fire of the _Thunderer’s_ 12-in. guns, concentrated on the hull of
+the _Sachsen_, at last began to produce some effect. The conning-tower
+had already been wrecked by the _Vanguard’s_ guns, which rendered the
+control and direction of the ship a matter of great difficulty. Two of
+her 11-in. turrets were also out of action, jammed by shells or
+completely disabled. She turned northward out of the German line, about
+twelve, leaving the _Bayern_ at its head. About the same time the
+_Albemarle_ signalled that she was in extreme difficulty; a great fire
+was raging on board her, her funnels were much damaged, both her masts
+were down, two compartments were full, and but few of her guns could
+fire. Looking down the British line from the battered afterbridge of
+the _Thunderer_, it was evident that other ships were finding difficulty
+in keeping station. Strange changes and transformations had been worked
+in their outward appearance. Funnels and cowls were gone, masts had been
+levelled, heaps of wreckage appeared in place of the trim lines of the
+grey-painted steel-work. The sea was red with the blood that poured from
+the scuppers. Great rents gaped everywhere in the unarmoured works.
+
+In the German line the conditions were much the same. Certain ships were
+dropping from their stations and receding to the rear of the long
+procession; many of the German battleships had been grievously mauled;
+all showed evident traces of the British gunners’ handiwork. The huge
+steel superstructures of the “Deutschland” class were wrecked beyond
+recognition. The _Braunschweig_, as the result of receiving a
+concentrated broadside from the _Bellerophon_, which caught her near the
+foot of her foremast, had an immense opening in the hull extending from
+the fore-turret to the foremast 6.7-in. gun turret, and her fore-funnel
+and foremast were completely shot away; her conning-tower, with its
+armoured support, stood up out of the gap, from which poured volumes of
+smoke and steam. She was clearly in a parlous condition, and only her
+after-turret still fired.
+
+About 1 p.m. the _Albemarle_ could keep up with the British line no
+longer. Admiral Parker signalled to her, with extreme difficulty, for
+most of his signalling appliances were shot away, and his message had to
+be conveyed by “flag-wagging,” to beach herself if possible on the coast
+to the south. To have turned with his fleet to protect her would have
+meant annihilation of the rest of his force. She stood away to the
+south, and as the rest of the British fleet, now only six ships strong,
+increased speed to about fifteen knots, two German battleships were seen
+to follow her, shell her, and then rejoin the German fleet. The remnant
+of the British fleet, with the _Agamemnon_ at the rear in the place of
+honour, began slowly to draw out of range, though still to the north the
+German torpedo craft followed in a sinister manner, and caused the more
+anxiety because, in view of the large quantity of ammunition that had
+been expended, and the great damage that had been done to all the
+smaller guns in the surviving British ships, their attacks would be
+extremely difficult to resist with success.
+
+About 2 p.m. the German Admiral fired the last shot of the great battle
+of North Berwick at a range of 10,000 yards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SITUATION IN THE NORTH
+
+
+Meanwhile let us turn to the state of affairs on land. When the
+intelligence of the invasion was received, Lancashire and Yorkshire were
+in a state of utter panic.
+
+The first news, which reached Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool,
+and the other great centres of commerce, about four o’clock on Sunday
+afternoon, was at once discredited.
+
+Everyone declared the story to be a huge hoax. As the people assembled
+in the places of worship that evening, the amazing rumour was eagerly
+discussed; and later on, when the Sunday evening crowds promenaded the
+principal thoroughfares--Briggate in Leeds, Market Street in Manchester,
+Corporation Street in Birmingham, Cheapside in Barnsley, and the
+principal streets of Chester, Liverpool, Halifax, Huddersfield,
+Rochdale, Bolton, and Wigan--wild reports of the dash upon our east
+coast were upon everyone’s tongue.
+
+There was, however, no authentic news, and the newspapers in the various
+towns all hesitated to issue special editions--first because it was
+Sunday night, and secondly because the editors had no desire to spread a
+wider panic than that already created.
+
+Upon the windows of the _Yorkshire Post_ office in Leeds some of the
+telegrams were posted and read by large crowds, while the _Manchester
+Courier_, in Manchester, and the _Birmingham Daily Post_, in Birmingham,
+followed a similar example.
+
+The telegrams were brief and conflicting, some from the London
+correspondents, and others from the Central News, the Press Association,
+and the Exchange Telegraph Company. Most of the news, however, in that
+early stage of the alarm was culled from the exclusive information
+obtained by the enterprise of the sub-editor of the _Weekly Dispatch_.
+
+Leeds, the first city in Yorkshire, was the centre of most intense
+excitement on that hot, stifling Sunday night. The startling report
+spread like wildfire, first from the office of the _Yorkshire Post_
+among the crowds that were idling away their Sunday evening gossiping in
+Boar Lane, Briggate, and the Hunslett Road, and quickly the whole city
+from Burton Head to Chapel Town, and from Burmantofts to Armley Park,
+was in a ferment.
+
+The sun sank with a misty, angry afterglow precursory of rain, and by
+the time the big clock in the tower of the Royal Exchange showed
+half-past seven the scene in the main streets was already an animated
+one. The whole city was agog. The astounding news, carried everywhere by
+eager, breathless people, had reached to even the remotest suburbs, and
+thousands of alarmed mill-hands and workers came flocking into town to
+ascertain the actual truth.
+
+As at Leeds, so all through Lancashire and Yorkshire, Volunteers were
+assembling in breathless eagerness for the order to mobilise. But
+there was the same cry of unpreparedness everywhere. The Volunteer
+battalions of the Manchester Regiment at Patricroft, at Hulme, at
+Ashton-under-Lyne, at Manchester, and at Oldham; those of the Liverpool
+Regiment at Prince’s Park, at St. Anne’s, at Shaw Street, at Everton
+Brow, at Everton Road, and at Southport; those of the Lancashire
+Fusiliers at Bury, Rochdale, and Salford; the Hallamshire Volunteers at
+Sheffield; the York and Lancasters at Doncaster; the King’s Own Light
+Infantry at Wakefield; the battalions of the Yorkshires at Northallerton
+and Scarborough, that of the East Yorkshires at Beverley, and those of
+the West Yorkshires at York and Bradford.
+
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =BY THE KING.= |
+ | |
+ | =PROCLAMATION= |
+ | |
+ | =FOR CALLING OUT= |
+ | =THE ARMY RESERVE. = |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | EDWARD R. |
+ | |
+ | WHEREAS by the Reserve Forces Act, 1882, it is amongst other things |
+ | enacted that in case of imminent national danger or of great emergency, |
+ | it shall be lawful for Us, by Proclamation, the occasion being declared |
+ | in Council and notified by the Proclamation, if Parliament be not then |
+ | sitting, to order that the Army Reserve shall be called out on permanent |
+ | service; and by any such Proclamation to order a Secretary of State from |
+ | time to time to give, and when given, to revoke or vary such directions |
+ | as may seem necessary or proper for calling out the forces or force |
+ | mentioned in the Proclamation, or all or any of the men belonging |
+ | thereto: |
+ | |
+ | AND WHEREAS Parliament is not sitting, and whereas WE have declared in |
+ | Council and hereby notify the present state of Public Affairs and the |
+ | extent of the demands on our Military Forces for the protection of the |
+ | interests of the Empire constitute a case of great emergency within the |
+ | meaning of the said Act: |
+ | |
+ | NOW THEREFORE We do in pursuance of the said Act hereby order that Our |
+ | Army Reserve be called out on permanent service, and We do hereby order |
+ | the Right Honourable Charles Leonard Spencer Cotterell, one of our |
+ | Principal Secretaries of State, from time to time to give, and when |
+ | given, to revoke or vary such directions as may seem necessary or proper |
+ | for calling out Our Army Reserve, or all or any of the men belonging |
+ | thereto, and such men shall proceed to and attend at such places and at |
+ | such times as may be respectively appointed by him to serve as part of |
+ | Our Army until their services are no longer required. |
+ | |
+ | Given at our Court at James’, this fourth day of September, in the |
+ | year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and ten, and in the |
+ | tenth year of Our Reign. |
+ | |
+ | =GOD SAVE THE KING.= |
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+In Halifax great crowds assembled around the office of the _Yorkshire
+Daily Observer_, at the top of Russell Street, where the news received
+by telephone from Bradford was being constantly posted up. Huddersfield,
+with its cloth and woollen factories, was paralysed by the astounding
+intelligence. The electric trams brought in crowds from Cliff End, Oakes
+Fartown, Mold Green, and Lockwood, while telephone messages from
+Dewsbury, Elland, Mirfield, Wyke, Cleckheaton, Overdon, Thornton, and
+the other towns in the vicinity all spoke of the alarm and excitement
+that had so suddenly spread over the West Riding.
+
+The mills would shut down. That was prophesied by everyone. And, if so,
+then before many days wives and families would most certainly be crying
+for food. Masters and operatives alike recognised the extreme gravity of
+the situation, and quickly the panic spread to every home throughout
+that densely populated industrial area.
+
+The city of Bradford was, as may well be imagined, in a state of
+ferment. In the red, dusky sunset a Union Jack was flying from the staff
+above Watson’s shop at the corner of Market Street, and the excited
+throngs, seeing it, cheered lustily. Outside the _Bradford Daily
+Telegraph_ and the _Yorkshire Daily Observer_ offices the latest
+intelligence was posted, the streets being blocked by the eager people
+who had come in by car from Manningham, Heaton, Tyersall, Dudley Hill,
+Eccleshill, Idle, Thackley, and other places.
+
+Bolton, like the neighbouring towns, was ruled by Manchester, and the
+masters eagerly went there on Monday to go on ’Change and ascertain the
+exact situation. They knew, alas! that the alarm must have a disastrous
+effect upon the cotton trade, and more than one spinner when the
+astounding news had been told him on the previous night, knew well that
+he could not possibly meet his engagements, and that only bankruptcy was
+before him.
+
+In every home, rich and poor, not only in Bolton but out at Farnworth,
+Kearsley, Over Hulton, Sharples, and Heaton the terrible catastrophe was
+viewed with abject terror. The mills would eventually close, without a
+doubt; if Manchester sent forth its mandate, then for the thousands of
+toilers it meant absolute starvation.
+
+Those not at work assembled in groups in the vicinity of the Town Hall,
+and in Cheapside, Moor Street, Newport Street, Bridge Street, and the
+various central thoroughfares, eagerly discussing the situation, while
+outside Messrs. Tillotson’s, the _Evening News_ office in Mealhouse
+Lane, the latest telegrams from London and Manchester were posted, being
+read by a great crowd, which entirely blocked the thoroughfare. The
+_Evening News_, with characteristic smartness, was being published
+hourly, and copies were sold as fast as the great presses could print
+them, while a special meeting of the Town Council was summoned and met
+at twelve o’clock to discuss what steps should be taken in case the
+mills really did close and the great populace were thrown on the town in
+anger and idleness.
+
+The cotton trade was already feeling the effect of the sudden crisis,
+for by noon startling reports were reaching Bolton from Manchester of
+unprecedented scenes on ’Change and of the utter collapse of business.
+
+Most mill-owners were already in Manchester. All who were near enough at
+once took train--from Southport, Blackpool, Morecambe, and other
+places--and went on ’Change to learn what was intended. Meanwhile,
+through the whole of Monday authentic reports of the enemy’s movements
+in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and East Yorkshire were being printed by the
+_Evening News_, each edition increasing the panic in that level-headed,
+hard-working Lancashire town.
+
+Across at smoky Wigan similar alarm and unrest reigned. On that Monday
+morning, bright and sunny, everyone re-started work, hoping for the
+best. Pearson and Knowles’ and the Pemberton Collieries were running
+full time; Ryland’s mills and Ekersley’s spinning mills were also full
+up with work, for there was an era of as great a prosperity in Wigan as
+in Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, and other Lancashire towns. Never for the
+past ten years had the cotton and iron industries been so prosperous;
+yet in one single day--nay, in a few brief hours--the blow had fallen,
+and trade had become paralysed.
+
+Spy mania was rife everywhere. In Oldham an innocent German, agent of a
+well-known firm in Chemnitz, while walking along Manchester Street about
+one o’clock, was detected as a foreigner and compelled to seek
+protection inside a shop. From Chadderton to Lees, from Royton to
+Hollinwood, the crisis was on everyone’s lips. Here again was the
+crucial question: Would the mills close?
+
+Meanwhile, across at Liverpool, the wildest scenes were also taking
+place on ’Change. News over the wires from London became hourly more
+alarming, and this, combined with the rumour that German warships were
+cruising off the Mersey estuary, created a perfect panic in the city.
+The port was already closed, for the mouth of the river had been blocked
+by mines; yet the report quickly got abroad that the Germans would send
+in merchant ships to explode them and enter the Mersey after thus
+clearing away the deadly obstacles.
+
+Liverpool knew too well the ridiculously weak state of her defences,
+which had so long been a reproach to the authorities, and if the German
+ships that had done such damage at Penarth, Cardiff, and Barry were now
+cruising north, as reported, it seemed quite within the bounds of
+probability that a demonstration would really be made before Liverpool.
+
+Outside and within the great Exchange the excitement was at fever heat.
+The Bank Charter was suspended, and the banks had closed with one
+accord. Upon the “flags” the cotton-brokers were shouting excitedly, and
+many a ruined man knew that that would be his last appearance there.
+Every moment over the telephones came news from Manchester, each record
+more disastrous than the last. Hot, perspiring men who had lived, and
+lived well, by speculation in cotton for years, surged around the great
+pediment adorned by its allegorical group of sculpture, and saw each
+moment their fortunes falling away like ice in the sunshine.
+
+Thus trade in Lancashire--cotton, wool, iron, and corn--was, in the
+course of one single morning, utterly paralysed, all awaiting the
+decision of Manchester.
+
+Thousands were already face to face with financial disaster, even in
+those first moments of the alarm.
+
+The hours passed slowly. What was Manchester doing? Her decision was now
+awaited with bated breath throughout the whole of Lancashire and
+Yorkshire.
+
+In Manchester, the _Courier_, the _Daily Mail_, and the several other
+journals kept publishing edition after edition, not only through the
+day, but also through the night. Presses were running unceasingly, and
+hour after hour were printed accounts of the calm and orderly way in
+which the enemy were completing their unopposed landing at Goole,
+Grimsby, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, King’s Lynn, and on the Blackwater.
+
+Some British destroyers had interfered with the German plans at the
+latter place, and two German warships had been sunk, the _Courier_
+reported. But full details were not yet forthcoming.
+
+There had been a good deal of skirmishing in the neighbourhood of
+Maldon, and again near Harleston, on the Suffolk border. The town of
+Grimsby had been half destroyed by fire, and the damage at Hull had been
+enormous. From a timber-yard there the wind had, it seemed, carried the
+flames across to the Alexandra Dock, where some stores had ignited and a
+quantity of valuable shipping in the dock had been destroyed at their
+moorings. The Paragon station and hotel had also been burned--probably
+by people of Hull themselves, in order to drive the German commander
+from his headquarters.
+
+From Newcastle, Gateshead, and Tynemouth came harrowing details of
+bombardment, and the frightful result of those awful petrol bombs. Fire
+and destruction had been spread broadcast everywhere.
+
+On the Manchester Exchange on Tuesday there was no longer any reason to
+doubt the accuracy of Sunday’s report, and the feeling on ’Change became
+“panicky.” It seemed as though the whole of the ten thousand members had
+made up their minds to be present. The main entrance in Cross Street was
+blocked for the greater part of the afternoon, and late comers dodged
+round to the two entrances in Market Street, and the third in Bank
+Street, in the hope of squeezing through into the vibrating mass of
+humanity that filled the floors, the corridors, and the telephone,
+reading, and writing rooms. The attendants found they had an impossible
+task set them to make their way to the many lanterns around the vast
+hall, there to affix the latest messages, recording astounding
+fluctuations of prices, and now and again some news of the invasion. The
+master and secretary in the end told the attendants to give up the
+struggle, and he made his way with difficulty to the topmost balcony,
+where, above the murmurings of the crowd below, he read the latest
+bulletins of commercial and general intelligence as they arrived.
+
+But there were no efforts made to do business; and had any of the
+members felt so inclined, the crush and stress were so great that any
+attempt to book orders would have ended in failure. In the swaying of
+the crowd hats were lost and trampled under foot; men whose appearance
+on ’Change had always been immaculate were to be seen with torn collars
+and disarranged neckwear. Never before had such a scene been witnessed.
+Lancashire men had often heard of such a state of things having occurred
+in the “pit” of the New York Exchange, when wild speculation in cotton
+was indulged in, but they prided themselves that they were never guilty
+of such conduct. No matter how the market jumped, they invariably kept
+their heads, and waited until it assumed its normal condition, and
+became settled. It had often been said that nothing short of an
+earthquake would unnerve the Manchester commercial man; those who were
+responsible for the statement had evidently not turned a thought to a
+German invasion. That had done it completely.
+
+In the cafés and the hotels, where the master-spinners and the
+manufacturers had been wont to forgather after high ’Change, there were
+the usual gatherings, but there was little or no discussion on business
+matters, except this: there was a common agreement that it would, in
+present circumstances, be inadvisable to keep the mills running. Work
+must be, and it was, completely suspended. The shippers, who had the
+manufacturers under contract to supply certain quantities of goods for
+transportation to their markets in India, China, and the Colonies,
+trembled at the very contemplation of the financial losses they would
+inevitably sustain by the non-delivery of the bales of cloth to their
+customers abroad; but, on the other hand, they also paid heed to the
+great danger of the vessels in which the goods were placed falling into
+the hands of the enemy when at sea. The whole question was full of grim
+perplexities, and even the most impatient among the shippers and the
+merchants had to admit that a policy of do-nothing seemed the safest
+course of procedure.
+
+The chaotic scenes on ’Change in the afternoon were reproduced in the
+streets in the evening, and the Lord Mayor, towards eight o’clock,
+fearful of rioting, sent special messengers to the headquarters of three
+Volunteer corps for assistance in regulating street traffic. The
+officers in command immediately responded to the call. The 2nd V.B.M.R.
+took charge of Piccadilly and Market Street; the 4th were stationed in
+Cross Street and Albert Square; and the 5th lined Deansgate from St.
+Mary’s Gate to Peter Street. Mounted constabulary, by the exercise of
+tact and good temper, kept the crowds on the move, and towards midnight
+the pressure became so light that the officers felt perfectly justified
+in withdrawing the Volunteers, who spent that night at their respective
+headquarters.
+
+It was Wednesday, however, before Manchester people could thoroughly
+realise that the distressing news was absolutely true, and on the top of
+the confirmation came the startling report that the Fleet had been
+crippled, and immense troops of Germans were landing at Hull, Lowestoft,
+Yarmouth, Goole, and other places on the east, with the object of
+sweeping the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+STATE OF SIEGE DECLARED
+
+
+The authentic account of a further landing in Essex--somewhere near
+Maldon--was now published. The statement had been dictated by Mr. Henry
+Alexander, J.P.,--the Mayor of Maldon, who had succeeded in escaping
+from the town,--to Captain Wilfred Quare, of the Intelligence Department
+of the War Office. This Department had, in turn, given it to the
+newspapers for publication.
+
+It read as follows:--
+
+ * * * * *
+
+“On Sunday morning, September 2, I had arranged to play a round of golf
+with my friend Somers, of Beeleigh, before church. I met him at the Golf
+Hut about 8.30. We played one round, and were at the last hole but three
+in a second round when we both thought we heard the sound of shots fired
+somewhere in the town. We couldn’t make anything at all of it, and as we
+had so nearly finished the round, we thought we would do so before going
+up to inquire about it. I was making my approach to the final hole when
+an exclamation from Somers spoilt my stroke. I felt annoyed, but as I
+looked round--doubtless somewhat irritably--my eyes turned in the
+direction in which I now saw my friend was pointing with every
+expression of astonishment in his countenance.
+
+“‘Who on earth are those fellows?’ he asked. As for me, I was too
+dumbfounded to reply. Galloping over the links from the direction of the
+town came three men in uniform--soldiers, evidently. I had often been
+in Germany, and recognised the squat pickel-haubes and general get-up of
+the rapidly approaching horsemen at a glance.
+
+“‘I didn’t know the Yeomanry were out!’ was what my friend said.
+
+“‘Yeomanry be hanged! They’re Germans, or I’m a Dutchman!’ I answered;
+‘and what the dickens can they be doing here?’
+
+“They were upon us almost as I spoke, pulling up their horses with a
+great spattering up of grass and mud, quite ruining one of our best
+greens. All three of them pointed big, ugly repeating pistols at us, and
+the leader, a conceited-looking ass in staff uniform, required us to
+‘surrender’ in quite a pompous manner, but in very good English.
+
+“‘Do we look so very dangerous, Herr Lieutenant?’ inquired I in German.
+
+“He dropped a little of his frills when he heard me speak in his native
+language, asked which of us was the Mayor, and condescended to explain
+that I was required in Maldon by the officer at present in command of
+His Imperial Majesty the Kaiser’s forces occupying that place.
+
+“I was absolutely staggered.
+
+“When I left my house a couple of hours back I had just as much
+expectation of finding the Chinese there on my return as the Germans. I
+looked at my captor in complete bewilderment. Could he be some fellow
+trying to take a rise out of me by masquerading as a German officer? But
+no, I recognised at once that he was the genuine article. Everything
+about him, from the badly-cut riding-boots to the sprouting moustache
+curled up in feeble imitation of the Emperor’s characteristic adornment,
+bore witness to his identity. If anything were wanting, it was supplied
+by his aggressive manner.
+
+“I suggested that he might point his pistol some other way. I added that
+if he wanted to try his skill as marksman it would be more sporting to
+aim at the flag at the Long Hole near Beeleigh Lock.
+
+“He took my banter in good part, but demanded my parole, which I made no
+difficulty about giving, since I did not see any way of escape, and in
+any case was only too anxious to get back to town to see how things
+were.
+
+“‘But you don’t want my friend, do you--he lives out the other way?’ I
+queried.
+
+“‘I don’t want him, but he will have to come all the same,’ rejoined the
+German. ‘It isn’t likely we’re going to let him get away to give the
+alarm in Colchester, is it?’
+
+“Obviously it was not, and without more ado we started off at a sharp
+walk, holding on to the stirrup leathers of the horsemen.
+
+“As we entered the town there was, on the bridge over the river, a small
+picket of blue-coated German infantry. The whole thing was a perfect
+nightmare. It was past belief.
+
+“‘How on earth did you get here?’ I couldn’t help asking. ‘Did you come
+down from town in an excursion train or by balloon?’
+
+“My German officer laughed.
+
+“‘By water,’ he answered shortly, pointing down the river as he spoke,
+where I was still further astonished--if it were possible after such a
+morning--to see several steam pinnaces and boats flying the black and
+white German ensign.
+
+“I was conducted straight to the Moot Hall. He already knew his way
+about, this German, it seemed. There I found a grizzled veteran waiting
+on the steps, who turned round and entered the building as we came up.
+We followed him inside, and I was introduced to him. He appeared to be a
+truculent old ruffian.
+
+“‘Well, Mr. Mayor,’ he said, pulling viciously at his white moustache,
+‘do you know that I’ve a great mind to take you out into the street and
+have you shot?’
+
+“I was not at all inclined to be browbeaten.
+
+“‘Indeed, Herr Hauptman?’ I answered. ‘And may I inquire in what way I
+have incurred the displeasure of the Hochwohlgeboren officer?’
+
+“‘Don’t trifle with me, sir. Why do you allow your miserable Volunteers
+to come out and shoot my men?’
+
+“‘My Volunteers? I am afraid I don’t understand what you mean,’ I said.
+‘I’m not a Volunteer officer. Even if I were, I should have no
+cognisance of anything that has happened within the last two hours, as I
+have been down on the golf course. This officer will bear me out,’ I
+added, turning to my captor. He admitted that he had found me there.
+
+“‘But, anyway, you are the Mayor,’ persisted my interrogator. ‘Why did
+you allow the Volunteers to come out?’
+
+“‘If you had been good enough to inform us of your visit, we might have
+made better arrangements,’ I answered, ‘but in any case you must
+understand that a mayor has little or no authority in this country. His
+job is to head subscription-lists, eat a dinner or two, and make
+speeches on public occasions.’
+
+“He seemed to have some difficulty in swallowing this, but as another
+officer who was there, writing at a table, and who, it appears, had
+lived at some period in England, corroborated my statement, the choleric
+colonel seemed to be a little mollified, and contented himself with
+demanding my parole not to leave Maldon until he had reported the matter
+to the General for decision. I gave it without more ado, and then asked
+if he would be good enough to tell me what had happened. From what he
+told me, and what I heard afterwards, it seems that the Germans must
+have landed a few of their men about half an hour before I left home,
+down near the Marine Lake. They had not entered the town at once, as
+their object was to work round outside and occupy all the entrances, to
+prevent anyone getting away with the news of their presence. They had
+not noticed the little lane leading to the golf course, and so I had
+gone down without meeting any of them, although they had actually got a
+picket just beyond the railway arch at that time. They had completed
+their cordon before there was any general alarm in the town, but at the
+first reliable rumour it seems that young Shand, of the Essex
+Volunteers, had contrived to get together twenty or thirty of his men in
+their uniforms and foolishly opened fire on a German picket down by St.
+Mary’s Church. They fell back, but were almost instantly reinforced by a
+whole company that had just landed, and our men, rushing forward, had
+been ridden into by some cavalry that came up a side street. They were
+dispersed, a couple of them were killed and several wounded, among them
+poor Shand, who was hit in the right lung. They had bagged four Germans,
+however, and their commanding officer was furious. It was a pity that it
+happened, as it could not possibly have been of any use. But it seems
+that Shand had no idea that it was more than a very small detachment
+that had landed from a gunboat that someone said they had seen down the
+river. Some of the Volunteers were captured afterwards and sent off as
+prisoners, and the Germans posted up a notice that all Volunteers were
+forthwith to surrender either themselves or their arms and uniforms,
+under pain of death. Most of them did the latter. They could do nothing
+after it was found that the Germans had a perfect army somewhere between
+Maldon and the sea, and were pouring troops into the town as fast as
+they could.
+
+“That very morning a Saxon rifle battalion arrived from the direction of
+Mundon, and just afterwards a lot of spike-helmeted gentlemen came in by
+train from Wickford way. So it went on all day, until the whole town was
+in a perfect uproar. Another rifle battalion, then some sky-blue hussars
+and some artillery, then three more battalions of a regiment called the
+101st Grenadiers, I believe. The infantry were billeted in the town, but
+the cavalry and guns crossed the river and canal at Heybridge, and went
+off in the direction of Witham. Later on, another infantry regiment
+came in by train and marched out after them.
+
+“Maldon is built on a hill that slopes gradually towards the east and
+south, but rises somewhat abruptly on the west and north, humping up a
+shoulder, as it were, to the north-west. At this corner they started to
+dig entrenchments just after one o’clock, and soon officers and
+orderlies were busy all round the town, plotting, measuring, and setting
+up marks of one kind and another. Other troops appeared to be busy down
+in Heybridge, but what they were doing I could not tell, as no one was
+allowed to cross the bridge over the river.
+
+“The German officer who had surprised me down on the golf course did not
+turn out to be a bad kind of youth on further acquaintance. He was a
+Captain von Hildebrandt, of the Guard Fusilier Regiment, who was
+employed on the Staff, though in what capacity he did not say. Thinking
+it was just as well to make the best of a bad job, I invited him to
+lunch. He said he had to be off. He, however, introduced me to three
+friends of his in the 101st Grenadiers, who, he suggested, should be
+billeted on me. I thought the idea a fairly good one, and Von
+Hildebrandt, having apparently arranged this with the billeting officer
+without any difficulty, I took them home with me to lunch.
+
+“I found my wife and family in a great state of mind, both on account of
+the untoward happenings of the morning and my non-return from golf at
+the expected time. They had imagined all sorts of things which might
+have befallen me, but luckily seemed not to have heard of my adventure
+with the choleric colonel. Our three foreigners soon made themselves
+very much at home, but as they were undeniably gentlemen, they contrived
+to be about as agreeable as could be expected under the circumstances.
+Indeed, their presence was to a great extent a safeguard against
+annoyance, as the stable and back premises were stuffed full of
+soldiers, who might have been very troublesome had they not been there
+to keep them in order.
+
+“Of what was happening up in London we knew nothing. Being Sunday, all
+the shops were shut; but I went out and contrived to lay in a
+considerable stock of provisions one way and another, and it was just as
+well I did, for I only just anticipated the Germans, who commandeered
+everything in the town and put everybody on an allowance of rations.
+They paid for them with bills on the British Government, which were by
+no means acceptable to the shopkeepers. However, it was ‘Hobson’s
+choice’--that or nothing. The Germans soothed them by saying that the
+British Army would be smashed in a couple of weeks, and the defrayment
+of such bills would be among the conditions of peace. The troops
+generally seemed to be well-behaved, and treated those inhabitants with
+whom they came in contact in an unexceptionable manner. They did not see
+very much of them, however, as they were kept hard at work all day with
+their entrenchments and were not allowed out of their billets after
+eight o’clock that evening. No one, in fact, was allowed to be about the
+streets after that hour. On the other hand, a couple of poor young
+fellows in the Volunteers who had concealed their connection with the
+force and were trying to slip out of the town with their rifles after
+dark, were caught, and the next morning stood up against the
+three-cornered tower of All Saints’ Church and shot without mercy. Two
+or three other people were shot by the sentries as they tried to break
+out in one direction or the other. These affairs produced a feeling of
+horror and indignation in the town, as Englishmen, having such a long
+experience of peace in their own country, have always refused to realise
+what war really means.
+
+“The German fortifications went on at a rapid rate. Trenches were dug
+all round the northern and western sides of the town before dark on the
+first evening, and the following morning I woke up to find three huge
+gun-pits yawning in my garden, which looked to the northward. One was
+right in the middle of the lawn--or rather of where the lawn had been,
+for all the grass that had not been displaced in the digging had been
+cut up in sods to build up the insides of their parapets. During
+breakfast there was a great rattling and rumbling in the street without,
+and presently three big field howitzers were dragged in and planted in
+the pits. There they stood, their ugly snouts pointing skyward in the
+midst of the wreck of flowers and fruit.
+
+“Afterwards I went out and found that other guns and howitzers were
+being put in position all along the north side of Beeleigh Road, and
+round the corner by the Old Barracks. The high tower of the disused
+Church of St. Peter’s, now utilised for the safe custody of Dr. Plume’s
+library, had been equipped as a lookout and signal station.”
+
+Such was the condition of affairs in the town of Maldon on Monday
+morning.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The excitement in London, and indeed all over the country, on Tuesday
+night was intense. Scotney’s story of the landing at Weybourne was
+eagerly read everywhere.
+
+As the sun sank blood-red into the smoke haze behind Nelson’s Monument
+in Trafalgar Square, it was an ominous sign to the panic-stricken crowds
+that day and night were now assembled there.
+
+The bronze lions facing the four points of the compass were now mere
+mocking emblems of England’s departed greatness. The mobilisation muddle
+was known; for, according to the papers, hardly any troops had, as yet,
+assembled at their places of concentration. The whole of the East of
+England was helplessly in the invader’s hands. From Newcastle had come
+terrible reports of the bombardment. Half the city was in flames, the
+Elswick works were held by the enemy, and whole streets in Newcastle,
+Gateshead, Sunderland, and Tynemouth were still burning fiercely.
+
+The Tynemouth fort had proved of little or no use against the enemy’s
+guns. The Germans had, it appeared, used petrol bombs with appalling
+results, spreading fire, disaster, and death everywhere. The
+inhabitants, compelled to fly with only the clothes they wore, had
+scattered all over Northumberland and Durham, while the enemy had seized
+a quantity of valuable shipping that had been in the Tyne, hoisted the
+German flag, and converted the vessels to their own uses.
+
+Many had already been sent across to Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Bremerhaven,
+and other places to act as transports, while the Elswick works--which
+surely ought to have been properly protected--supplied the Germans with
+quantities of valuable material.
+
+Panic and confusion were everywhere. All over the country the railway
+system was utterly disorganised, business everywhere was at a complete
+deadlock, for in every town and city all over the kingdom the banks were
+closed.
+
+Lombard Street, Lothbury, and other banking centres in the City had all
+day on Monday been the scene of absolute panic. There, as well as at
+every branch bank all over the metropolis, had occurred a wild rush to
+withdraw deposits by people who foresaw disaster. Many, indeed, intended
+to fly with their families away from the country.
+
+The price of the necessities of life had risen further, and in the East
+End and poorer districts of Southwark the whole population were already
+in a state of semi-starvation. But worst of all, the awful truth with
+which London was now face to face was that the metropolis was absolutely
+defenceless.
+
+Would not some effort be made to repel the invaders? Surely if we had
+lost our command of the sea the War Office could, by some means,
+assemble sufficient men to at least protect London? This was the cry of
+the wild, turbulent crowd surging through the City and West End, as the
+blood-red sun sank into the west, flooding London in its warm
+afterglow--a light in the sky that was prophetic of red ruin and of
+death to those wildly excited millions.
+
+ +--------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =NOTICE.= |
+ | |
+ | =TO ALL GERMAN SUBJECTS RESIDENT |
+ | IN ENGLAND.= |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | WILHELM. |
+ | |
+ | To all OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS, |
+ | GREETING. |
+ | |
+ | We hereby COMMAND and enjoin that all |
+ | persons born within the German Empire, or |
+ | being German subjects, whether liable to |
+ | military service or not, shall join our arms at |
+ | any headquarters of either of our Army Corps |
+ | in England within 24 hours of the date of this |
+ | proclamation. |
+ | |
+ | Any German subject failing to obey this our |
+ | Command will be treated as an enemy. |
+ | |
+ | By the EMPEROR’S Command. |
+ | |
+ | Given at Beccles, Sept. 3rd, 1910. |
+ | |
+ | =VON KRONHELM,= |
+ | Commanding the Imperial German Army in England. |
+ +--------------------------------------------------+
+
+ FACSIMILE OF A PROCLAMATION POSTED BY UNKNOWN
+ HANDS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
+
+Every hour the papers were appearing with fresh details of the invasion,
+for reports were so rapidly coming in from every hand that the Press had
+difficulty in dealing with them.
+
+Hull and Goole were known to be in the hands of the invaders, and
+Grimsby, where the Mayor had been unable to pay the indemnity demanded,
+had been sacked. But details were not yet forthcoming.
+
+Londoners, however, learnt late that night more authentic news from the
+invaded zone, of which Beccles was the centre, and it was to the effect
+that those who had landed at Lowestoft were the IXth German Army Corps,
+with General von Kronhelm, the Generalissimo of the German Army. This
+Army Corps, consisting of about 40,000 men, was divided into the 17th
+Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Hocker, and the 18th by
+Lieutenant-General von Rauch. The cavalry was under the command of
+Major-General von Heyden, and the motor infantry under Colonel
+Reichardt.
+
+According to official information which had reached the War Office and
+been given to the Press, the 17th Division was made up of the Bremen and
+Hamburg Infantry Regiments, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg’s Grenadiers,
+the Grand Duke’s Fusiliers, the Lübeck Regiment No. 162, the
+Schleswig-Holstein Regiment No. 163, while the cavalry brigade consisted
+of the 17th and 18th Grand Duke of Mecklenburg’s Dragoons.
+
+The 18th Division consisted of the Schleswig Regiment No. 84, and the
+Schleswig Fusiliers No. 86, the Thuringen Regiment, and the Duke of
+Holstein’s Regiment, the two latter regiments being billeted in
+Lowestoft, while the cavalry brigade forming the screen across from
+Leiston by Wilby to Castle Hill were Queen Wilhelmina’s Hanover Hussars
+and the Emperor of Austria’s Schleswig-Holstein Hussars No. 16. These,
+with the smart motor infantry, held every communication in the direction
+of London.
+
+As far as could be gathered, the German commander had established his
+headquarters in Beccles, and had not moved. It now became apparent that
+the telegraph cables between the East Coast and Holland and Germany,
+already described in the first chapter, had never been cut at all. They
+had simply been held by the enemy’s advance agents until the landing had
+been effected. And now Von Kronhelm had actually established direct
+communication between Beccles and Emden, and on to Berlin.
+
+Reports from the North Sea spoke of the enemy’s transports returning to
+the German coast, escorted by cruisers; therefore the plan was
+undoubtedly not to move until a very much larger force had been landed.
+
+Could England regain her command of the sea in time to prevent the
+completion of the blow?
+
+The _Eastminster Gazette_, and similar papers of the Blue Water School,
+assured the public that there was but very little danger. Germany had
+made a false move, and would, in the course of a few days, be made to
+pay very dearly for it.
+
+But the British public viewed the situation for itself. It was tired of
+these self-satisfied reassurances, and threw the blame upon the
+political party who had so often said that armed hostilities had been
+abolished in the twentieth century. Recollecting the Czar’s proposals
+for universal peace, and the Russo-Japanese sequel, they had no further
+faith in the pro-German party or in its organs. It was they, cried the
+orators in the streets, that had prevented the critics having a hearing;
+they who were culpably responsible for the inefficient state of our
+defences; they who had ridiculed clever men, the soldiers, sailors, and
+writers who had dared to tell the plain, honest, but unpalatable truth.
+
+We were at war, and if we were not careful the war would spell ruin for
+our dear old England.
+
+That night the London streets presented a scene of panic indescribable.
+The theatres opened, but closed their doors again, as nobody would see
+plays while in that excited state. Every shop was closed, and every
+railway station was filled to overflowing with the exodus of terrified
+people fleeing to the country westward, or reserves on their way to join
+the colours.
+
+The incredulous manner in which the country first received the news had
+now been succeeded by wild terror and despair. On that bright Sunday
+afternoon they laughed at the report as a mere journalistic sensation,
+but ere the sun set the hard, terrible truth was forced upon them, and
+now, on Tuesday night, the whole country, from Brighton to Carlisle,
+from Yarmouth to Aberystwyth, was utterly disorganised and in a state of
+terrified anxiety.
+
+The Eastern counties were already beneath the iron heel of the invader,
+whose objective was the world’s great capital--London.
+
+Would they reach it? That was the serious question upon everyone’s
+tongue that fevered, breathless night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+HOW THE ENEMY DEALT THE BLOW
+
+
+The morning of Wednesday, September 5, dawned brightly, with warm sun
+and cloudless sky, a perfect day of English early autumn, yet over the
+land was a gloom and depression--the silence of a great terror. The fate
+of the greatest nation the world had ever known was now trembling in the
+balance.
+
+When the first flush of dawn showed, the public clamoured for
+information as to what the War Office were doing to repel the audacious
+Teutons. Was London to be left at their mercy without a shot being
+fired? Was the whole of our military machinery a mere gold-braided
+farce?
+
+Londoners expected that, ere this, British troops would have faced the
+foe, and displayed that dogged courage and grand heroism that had kept
+their reputation through centuries as the best soldiers in the world.
+
+The Press, too, were loud in their demands that something should at once
+be done, but the authorities still remained silent, although they were
+in ceaseless activity.
+
+They were making the best they could out of the mobilisation muddle.
+
+So suddenly had the blow been struck that no preparation had been made
+for it. Although the printed forms and broadsides were, of course, in
+their dusty pigeon-holes ready to be filled up, yet where were the men?
+Many had read the proclamation which called them up for duty with their
+own corps, and in numberless cases, with commendable alacrity, they set
+out on a long and tiresome journey to join their respective units,
+which were stationed, as is the case in peace-time, all over the
+country.
+
+A sturdy Scot, working in Whitechapel, was endeavouring to work his way
+up to Edinburgh; a broad-speaking Lancastrian from Oldham was struggling
+to get to his regiment down at Plymouth; while an easygoing Irishman,
+who had conducted an omnibus in London, gaily left for the Curragh, were
+a few examples of the hopeless confusion now in progress.
+
+With the disorganised train and postal services, and with the railway
+line cut in various places by the enemy, how was it possible for these
+men to carry out the orders they received?
+
+Meanwhile, the greatest activity was in progress in the regimental
+depôts in the Eastern counties, Norwich, Bury St. Edmunds, Bedford,
+Warley, Northampton, and Mill Hill. In London, at Wellington Barracks,
+Chelsea Barracks, and the Tower of London, were witnessed many stirring
+scenes. Veterans were rejoining, greeting their old comrades--many of
+whom had now become non-commissioned officers since they themselves left
+the ranks--while excited crowds pressed round the barrack squares,
+wildly cheering, and singing “God save the King.”
+
+There was bustle and movement on every hand, for the sight of English
+uniforms aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the mob, who, having never
+been trained to arms themselves, now realised their own incompetency to
+defend their homes and loved ones.
+
+Farther afield in the Home counties, the Regimental depôts at Guildford,
+Canterbury, Hounslow, Kingston, Chichester, and Maidstone were filling
+up quickly with surplus infantry, reservists, and non-efficients of all
+descriptions. At Guildford the Royal West Surrey Regiment were at
+Stoughton; at Canterbury were the old “Buffs”; at Hounslow the Royal
+Fusiliers; at Kingston the East Surrey Regiment; at Chichester the Royal
+Sussex, and at Maidstone the Royal West Kent.
+
+Cavalry were assembling at the riding establishments, while veteran
+gunners and Army Service Corps men were making the best of their way by
+steamer, rail, and road to Woolwich.
+
+Horses for both cavalry and artillery were urgently required, but owing
+to the substitution of the motor-omnibus for the horse-drawn vehicle in
+the London streets, there was no longer that supply of animals which
+held us in such good stead during the South African War.
+
+At the depôts feverish excitement prevailed, now that every man was
+ordered on active service. All officers and men who had been on leave
+were recalled, and medical inspection of all ranks at once commenced.
+Rations and bedding, stores and equipment were drawn, but there was a
+great lack of uniforms. Unlike the German Army, where every soldier’s
+equipment is complete even to the last button on the proverbial gaiter,
+and stowed away where the owner knows where to obtain it, our officers
+commanding depôts commenced indenting for clothing on the Royal Army
+Clothing Department, and the Army Corps Clothing Department.
+
+A large percentage of men were, of course, found medically unfit to
+serve, and were discharged to swell the mobs of hungry idlers. The plain
+clothes of the reservists coming in were disposed of, no man daring to
+appear in the ranks unless in uniform, Von Kronhelm’s proclamation
+having forbidden the tactics of the Boers of putting mere armed citizens
+into the field.
+
+Horse-collecting parties went out all over the country, taking with them
+head-collars, head-ropes, bits, reins, surcingles, numnahs,
+horse-blankets, and nose-bags. These scoured every county in search of
+likely animals. Every farm, every livery stable, every hunting-box, all
+hound-kennels, and private stables were visited, and a choice made. All
+this, however, took time. Precious hours were thus being wasted while
+the enemy were calmly completing their arrangements for the
+long-contemplated blow at the heart of the British Empire.
+
+While the War Office refused any information, special editions of the
+papers during Wednesday printed sensational reports of the ruthless
+completion of the impenetrable screen covering the operations of the
+enemy on the whole of the East Coast.
+
+News had, by some means, filtered through from Yarmouth that a similar
+landing to those at Lowestoft and Weybourne had been effected. Protected
+as such an operation was, by its flanks being supported by the IVth and
+IXth Army Corps landing on either side, the Xth Army Corps under General
+von Wilburg had seized Yarmouth, with its many miles of wharves and
+docks, which were now crowded by the lighters’ craft of flotilla from
+the Frisian Islands.
+
+It was known that the landing had been effected simultaneously with that
+at Lowestoft. The large number of cranes at the fish-docks were of
+invaluable use to the enemy, for there they landed guns, animals, and
+stores, while the provisions they found at the various ship’s chandlers,
+and in such shops as Blagg’s and the International Stores in King
+Street, Peter Brown’s, Doughty’s, Lipton’s, Penny’s, and Barnes’s, were
+at once commandeered. Great stores of flour were seized in Clarke’s and
+Press’s mills, while the horse-provender mills in the vicinity supplied
+them with valuable forage.
+
+The hotels in the Market Place--the Bull, the Angel, the Cambridge, and
+Foulsham’s--were full of men billeted, while officers occupied the Star,
+the Crown and Anchor, and Cromwell House, as well as the Queen’s
+opposite the Britannia Pier, and the many boarding-houses along Marine
+Parade. And over all the effigy of Nelson looked down in silent
+contemplation!
+
+Many men, it appeared, had also been landed at the red-brick little port
+of Gorleston, the Cliff and Pier Hotels being also occupied by officers
+remaining there to superintend the landing on that side of the Yare
+estuary.
+
+Beyond these few details, as far as regarded the fate of Yarmouth
+nothing further was at present known.
+
+The British division at Colchester, which comprised all the regular
+troops north of the Thames in the eastern command, was, no doubt, in a
+critical position, threatened so closely north and south by the enemy.
+None of the regiments, the Norfolks, the Leicestershire, and the King’s
+Own Scottish Borderers of the 11th Infantry Brigade, were up to their
+strength. The 12th Infantry Brigade, which also belonged to the
+division, possessed only skeleton regiments stationed at Hounslow and
+Warley. Of the 4th Cavalry Brigade, some were at Norwich, the 21st
+Lancers were at Hounslow, while only the 16th Lancers were at
+Colchester. Other cavalry regiments were as far away as Canterbury,
+Shorncliffe, and Brighton, and although there were three batteries of
+artillery at Colchester, some were at Ipswich, others at Shorncliffe,
+and others at Woolwich.
+
+Therefore it was quite evident to the authorities in London that unless
+both Colchester and Norwich were instantly strongly supported, they
+would soon be simply swept out of existence by the enormous masses of
+German troops now dominating the whole eastern coast, bent upon
+occupying London.
+
+Helpless though they felt themselves to be, the garrison at Colchester
+did all they could. All available cavalry had been pushed out past
+Ipswich, north to Wickham Market, Stowmarket, and across to Bury St.
+Edmunds, only to find on Wednesday morning that they were covering the
+hasty retreat of the small body of cavalry who had been stationed at
+Norwich. They, gallantly led by their officers, had done everything
+possible to reconnoitre and attempt to pierce the enemy’s huge cavalry
+screen, but in every instance entirely in vain. They had been
+outnumbered by the squadrons of independent cavalry operating in front
+of the Germans, and had, alas! left numbers of their gallant comrades
+upon the roads, killed and wounded.
+
+Norwich had, therefore, on Wednesday morning, fallen into the hands of
+the German cavalry, utterly defenceless. Reports of the retiring
+troopers told a grim story of how the grand old city had fallen. From
+
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =CITY OF NORWICH.= |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | CITIZENS-- |
+ | |
+ | AS IS WELL KNOWN, a hostile army has landed |
+ | upon the coast of Norfolk, and has already occupied |
+ | Yarmouth and Lowestoft, establishing their headquarters |
+ | at Beccles. |
+ | |
+ | IN THESE GRAVE CIRCUMSTANCES our only |
+ | thought is for England, and our duty as citizens and |
+ | officials is to remain at our post and bear our part in |
+ | the defence of Norwich, our capital now threatened. |
+ | |
+ | YOUR PATRIOTISM, of which you have on so many |
+ | occasions in recent wars given proof, will, I have no |
+ | doubt, again be shown. By your resistance you will |
+ | obtain the honour and respect of your enemies, and by |
+ | the individual energy of each one of you the honour and |
+ | glory of England may be saved. |
+ | |
+ | CITIZENS OF NORWICH, I appeal to you to view |
+ | the catastrophe calmly, and bear your part bravely in the |
+ | coming struggle. |
+ | |
+ | CHARLES CARRINGTON, |
+ | _Mayor_. |
+ | |
+ | NORWICH, _September 4, 1910_. |
+ +-----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ APPEAL ISSUED BY THE MAYOR OF NORWICH.
+
+the Castle the German flag was now flying, the Britannia Barracks were
+being used by the enemy, food had all been seized, the streets were in a
+state of chaos, and a complete reign of terror had been created when a
+company of British infantry, having fired at some Uhlans, were
+ruthlessly shot down in the street close by the Maid’s Head Hotel.
+
+An attempt at a barricade had been erected at the top of Prince of
+Wales’s Road, but the enemy, who came down the Aylsham Road, had soon
+cleared it. Many motor cars were seized from Howe’s garage, and the
+Norfolk Imperial Yeomanry, who were assembled at their headquarters in
+Tombland, were quickly discovered, disarmed, and dispersed. Green &
+Wright’s wholesale provision stores in Upper King Street, as well as
+Chandler’s in Prince of Wales’s Road, Wood’s in London Street, and many
+other grocers and provision-dealers were seized, the telegraph lines at
+the post-office were taken over by Germans, while, by reason of a shot
+fired from a window upon a German soldier who was passing, the whole
+block of buildings from the _East Anglia Daily Press_ office, with
+Singer’s and the railway receiving office, was deliberately set on fire,
+and produced an alarming state of things.
+
+In addition to this, the Mayor of Norwich was taken prisoner, lodged in
+the Castle, and held as surety for the well-behaviour of the town.
+
+Everywhere Von Kronhelm’s famous proclamation was posted, and as the
+invaders poured into the city the inhabitants looked on in sullen
+silence, knowing that they were now under German military discipline,
+the most rigorous and drastic in the whole world.
+
+The nation had, unfortunately, passed by unheeded the serious warnings
+of 1905-6. The authorities had remained impotent, and Mr. Haldane’s Army
+Scheme had proved useless. The War Office had only one power within it,
+that of the man who represented the Cabinet. The rest were mere
+instruments.
+
+There were many reports of sharp brushes between our cavalry vedettes
+and those of the enemy. The latter belonged to the corps who had
+established their headquarters in Maldon, and among those killed was an
+officer named Von Pabst, who was a prisoner, and who was shot while
+escaping, and in whose pocket was found a letter addressed to a friend,
+a certain Captain Neuhaus, of Lothringen Pioneer Battalion, stationed at
+Darmstadt.
+
+It was interesting, for it threw some light upon the manner that
+particular corps of the invaders had embarked at Antwerp, and had
+apparently been hurriedly written in the intervals of the writer’s
+duties with Prince Henry of Würtemburg’s staff. Having been secured, it
+was sent to London, and was as follows:--
+
+“MALDON, ENGLAND,
+“_Wednesday, September 5_.
+
+“MY DEAR NEUHAUS,--Behold me, here at last in the ‘tight little island,’
+by the English so greatly boasted! So far, we have had absolutely our
+own way, and have hardly seen an enemy. But you will be glad to have
+some account of my experience in this never-to-be-forgotten expedition.
+I was, of course, overjoyed to find myself appointed to the staff of His
+Highness Prince Henry of Würtemburg, and having obtained leave to quit
+my garrison, started for Treves without a moment’s delay. Our troops
+were to enter Belgium ostensibly to quell the riots in Brussels. But the
+line was so continually blocked by troop-trains going west, that on
+arrival I found that he had gone with his army corps to Antwerp. There
+at last I was able to report myself--only just in time. My train got in
+at noon, and we sailed the same night.
+
+“Antwerp might have been a German city. It was simply crammed with our
+troops. The Parc, the Pépinière, the Jardin Zoologique, the Parc du
+Palais de l’Industrie, the Boulevards, and every open space, was
+utilised as a bivouac. Prince Henry had his quarters in a very nice
+house on the Place Vert, opposite the Cathedral, and in the Place
+itself were picketed the horses belonging to the squadron of Jäegers zu
+Pferde, attached to the XIIth Corps. I rode round with the Prince in the
+afternoon, and saw the various regiments in the bivouacs, and the
+green-coated artillery, and the train in their sky-blue tunics hard at
+work all along the quays, getting their guns and waggons on board. The
+larger steamers lay two and three moored abreast alongside the quays,
+and astern of each a dozen flats or barges in two lots of six, each
+lashed together with a planked gangway leading to the outer ones. More
+barges, and the Rhine and other river steamers, and tugs to tow the
+lighters, lay outside in midstream. How all this had been arranged in
+the short time that had elapsed is more than I can imagine. Of course,
+our people had taken good care that no news should reach England by any
+of the many telegraph routes; the arrangements for that were most
+elaborate. There was no appearance of enthusiasm among the men. The
+gunners were too busy, and the infantry and cavalry destined for the
+expedition were not allowed to leave their bivouacs, and did not know
+that they were in for a sea voyage. The Belgian troops have all been
+disarmed and encamped on the other side of the river, between the older
+fortifications known as the Tête de Flandre and the outer lines. The
+populace for the most part have a sulky appearance, but as there is a
+very large German colony we found plenty of friends. The Burgomaster
+himself is a Bavarian, and most of the Councillors are also Germans, so
+that in the evening Prince Henry and his staff were entertained right
+royally at the Hôtel de Ville. I assure you, my friend, that I did
+justice to the civic hospitality. But the banquet was all too short.
+
+“At eight o’clock we had to be on board. The steamer told off for us was
+the _Dresden_, which, with many other British vessels, had been
+commandeered that day. She lay alongside the pontoon, near the Steen
+Museum. As soon as she cast off, a gun was fired from the Citadel,
+followed by three rockets, which shot up into the darkness from the Tête
+de Flandre. This was the signal for the flotilla to start, and in
+succession one steamer after another slid out into the stream from the
+shadows of the quays, and, followed by her train of tugs and barges,
+began to glide down the Scheldt. Our arrangements had been perfected,
+and everything went without a hitch.
+
+“The _Dresden_ went dead slow along under the farther bank for a time,
+and we watched the head of the procession of transports pass down the
+river. It was an inspiring sight to see the densely-packed steamers and
+barges carrying their thousands of stout German hearts on their way to
+humble the pride of overbearing and threatening Albion. It brought to
+mind the highly prophetic utterance of our Emperor: ‘Our Future lies on
+the Water.’ The whole flotilla was off Flushing shortly before midnight,
+and after forming in four parallel columns, stood away to the
+north-west. It was a quiet night, not very dark, and the surface of the
+water, a shining, grey sheet, was visible for a considerable distance
+from the ship. The steamers carried the usual steaming lights, and the
+barges and lighters white lights at bow and stern. The scuttles were all
+screened, so that no other lights might confuse those who were
+responsible for the safe conduct of the armada. I had no inclination to
+turn in.
+
+“The general excitement of the occasion, the fascination I found in
+watching the dim shades of the swarm of craft on all sides, the lines of
+red, white, and green lights slowly moving side by side with their
+flickering reflections in the gently-heaving waters, held me spellbound
+and wakeful as I leaned over the taffrail. Most of my comrades on the
+staff remained on deck, also muffled in their long cloaks, and talking
+for the most part in undertones. Prince Henry paced the bridge with the
+officer in command of the vessel. All of us, I think, were impressed
+with the magnitude of the venture on which our Fatherland had embarked,
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =GOD SAVE THE KING.= |
+ | |
+ | =PROCLAMATION.= |
+ | |
+ | TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. |
+ | |
+ | In regard to the Decree of September 3rd of the present |
+ | year, declaring a state of siege in the Counties of Norfolk |
+ | and Suffolk. |
+ | |
+ | In regard to the Decree of August 10th, 1906, regulating |
+ | the public administration of all theatres of war and military |
+ | servitude; |
+ | |
+ | Upon the proposition of the Commander-in-Chief |
+ | |
+ | IT IS DECREED AS FOLLOWS: |
+ | |
+ | (1) There are in a state of war: |
+ | |
+ | 1st. In the Eastern Command, the counties of Northamptonshire,|
+ | Rutlandshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, |
+ | Suffolk, Essex, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, |
+ | and Middlesex (except that portion included in the |
+ | London Military District). |
+ | |
+ | 2nd. In the Northern Command, the counties of Northumberland, |
+ | Durham, Cumberland, and Yorkshire, with |
+ | the southern shore of the estuary of the Humber. |
+ | |
+ | (2) I, Charles Leonard Spencer Cotterell, his Majesty’s |
+ | Principal Secretary of State for War, am charged with the |
+ | execution of this Decree. |
+ | |
+ | WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL, |
+ | _September the Fourth, 1910_. |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ This proclamation was posted outside the War Office in London at
+ noon on Wednesday, and was read by thousands. It was also posted
+ upon the Town Hall of every city and town throughout the country.
+
+
+
+and although we felt that things had been so carefully thought out and
+so splendidly arranged that the chances were almost all in our favour,
+yet we could not but wonder what would be the end of it all. As Von der
+Bendt--whom you will doubtless remember when he was in the 3rd Horse
+Grenadiers at Bromberg, and who is also on the Prince’s staff--said that
+night as he walked the deck, ‘Where would we be if, despite our
+precautions, the English had contrived to get wind of our intentions,
+and half a dozen destroyers came tearing up out of the darkness, and in
+among our flotilla? Our own particular future would then probably lie
+under the water instead of on it.’ I laughed at his croakings, but I
+confess I looked rather more intently at our somewhat limited horizon.
+
+“About two in the morning the moon rose. Her light was but fitful and
+partial on account of a very cloudy sky, but I received rather a shock
+when her first rays revealed a long grey line of warships with all
+lights out, and with the darker forms of their attendant destroyers
+moving on their flanks, slowly crossing our course at right angles. As
+it turned out, they were only our own escorts, ordered to meet us at
+this point, and to convoy us and the other portions of the XIIth Corps,
+which were coming out from Rotterdam and other Dutch ports to join us.
+In a few minutes after meeting the ironclads, a galaxy of sparkling
+points of light approaching from the northward heralded their arrival,
+and by three o’clock the whole fleet was steaming due west in many
+parallel lines. Four battleships moved in line ahead on each flank, the
+destroyers seemed to be constantly coming and going in all directions,
+like dogs shepherding a flock of sheep, and I fancy there were several
+other men-o’-war ahead of us. The crossing proved entirely uneventful.
+We saw nothing of the much-to-be-dreaded British warships, nor indeed of
+any ships at all, with the exception of a few fishing-boats and the
+Harwich-Antwerp boat, which, ablaze with lights, ran through the rear
+portion of our flotilla, luckily without colliding with any of our
+flats or lighters. What her crew and passengers must have thought of
+meeting such an array of shipping in mid-Channel can only be surmised.
+In any case, it was of no consequence, for by the time they arrived in
+Antwerp all our cards would be on the table.
+
+“Towards morning I got very drowsy, and eventually fell asleep on a
+bench behind the after deck-house. I seemed hardly to have closed my
+eyes when Von der Bendt woke me up to inform me that land was in sight.
+It was just dawn. A wan light was creeping up out of the east, bringing
+with it a cold air that made one shiver. There was but little light in
+the west, but there right ahead a long black line was just discernible
+on the horizon. It was England!
+
+“Our half of the fleet now altered course a few points to the southward,
+the remainder taking a more northerly course, and by five o’clock we
+were passing the Swin Lightship, and stood in the mouth of the river
+Crouch, doubtless to the amazement of a few fishermen who gazed
+open-mouthed from their boats at the apparition of our grey warships,
+with their bristle of guns and the vast concourse of shipping that
+followed them. By six we were at Burnham-on-Crouch, a quaint little
+town, evidently a yachting centre, for the river was absolutely covered
+with craft--small cutters, yawls, and the like, and hundreds upon
+hundreds of boats of all sizes. Many large, flat-bottomed barges, with
+tanned sails, lay alongside the almost continuous wooden quay that
+bordered the river. The boats of the squadron carrying a number of
+sailors and detachments from the 2nd Marine Battalion that formed part
+of the expedition had evidently preceded us, as the German ensign was
+hoisted over the coastguard station, which was occupied by our men.
+Several of our steam pinnaces were busily engaged in collecting the
+boats and small craft that were scattered all over the estuary, while
+others were hauling and towing some of the barges into position beside
+the quays to serve as landing-places. The method employed was to lash
+one outside the other till the uttermost one was outside the position of
+low-water mark. Our lighter craft, at any rate, could then go alongside
+and disembark their men and stores at any time.
+
+“The first men I saw land were the residue of the Marine Battalion, who
+were in the next transport to us. As soon as they were ashore, Prince
+Henry and his staff followed. We landed at a little iron pier, the
+planking of which was so rotten that it had given way in many places,
+and as the remainder of the flooring threatened to follow suit if one
+placed one’s weight on it, we all marched gingerly along the edge,
+clutching tight hold of the railings. The carpenter’s crew from one of
+the warships was, however, already at work on its repair. As we landed,
+I saw the _Odin_, followed by a steamer, towing several flats containing
+the 1st Battalion of the 177th Infantry, and a battery of artillery
+landing farther up the river. She did not go far, but anchored stem and
+stern. The steamer cast off her lighters close to the southern bank, and
+they ran themselves ashore, some on the river bank, and others in a
+little creek that here ran into the main stream. This detachment, I was
+informed, was to entrench itself in the little village of Canewdon,
+supposed to have been the site of Canute’s camp, and situated on an
+eminence about three miles west of us, and about a mile south of the
+river. As it is the only high ground on that side the river within a
+radius of several miles of Burnham, its importance to us will be
+evident.
+
+“While we were waiting for our horses to be landed, I took a turn
+through the village. It consists of one street, fairly wide in the
+central portion, with a curious red tower on arches belonging to the
+local Rath-haus on one side of it. At the western exit of the town is a
+red-brick drill hall for the Volunteers. Our Marines were in possession,
+and I noticed several of them studying with much amusement a
+gaudily-coloured recruiting poster on the post-office opposite, headed:
+‘Wanted, recruits for His Majesty’s Army.’ One of their number, who
+apparently understood English, was translating the letterpress, setting
+forth the joys and emoluments which awaited the difficult-to-find
+Englishman patriotic enough to become a soldier. As if such a system of
+raising an army could ever produce an efficient machine! Was it not the
+famous Admiral Coligny who perished in the massacre of St. Bartholomew
+who said, ‘Rather than lead again an army of voluntaries, I would die a
+thousand times.’
+
+“By this time our horses, and those of a couple of troops of the Jäegers
+zu Pferde had been put on shore. Then having seen that all the exits of
+the village were occupied, the Mayor secured, and the usual notices
+posted threatening death to any civilian who obstructed our operations,
+directly or indirectly, we started off for the high ground to the
+northward, where we hoped to get into touch with the Division which
+should now be landing at Bradwell, on the Blackwater. With us went as
+escort a troop of the Jäegers in their soft grey-green uniforms--for the
+descent being a surprise one we were in our ordinary uniforms--and a
+number of mounted signallers.
+
+“The villagers were beginning to congregate as we left Burnham. They
+scowled at us, but said nothing. For the most part they appeared to be
+completely dumbfounded. Such an event as a real invasion by a real army
+of foreigners had never found any place in their limited outlook on life
+and the world in general. There were some good-looking girls here and
+there, with fresh, apple-red cheeks, who did not look altogether askance
+at our prancing horses and our gay uniforms. It was now about half-past
+eight, and the morning mists, which had been somewhat prevalent down by
+the river and the low-lying land on either bank, had thinned and drifted
+away under the watery beams of a feeble sun that hardly pierced the
+cloudy canopy above us. This, I suppose, is the English summer day of
+which we hear so much! It is not hot, certainly. The horses were fresh,
+delighted to escape from their cramped quarters on shipboard, and,
+trotting and cantering through the many turns of the muddy lanes, we
+soon skirted the village of Southminster, and began to mount the high
+ground between it and a little place called Steeple.
+
+“Here, just north of a steading known as Batt’s Farm, is the highest
+point on the peninsula formed by the Blackwater and Crouch Rivers.
+Though it is only 132 ft. above sea-level, the surrounding ground is so
+flat that a perfect panorama was spread before us. We could not
+distinguish Burnham, which was six miles or more to the southward, and
+hidden by slight folds of the ground and the many trees which topped the
+hedgerows, but the Blackwater and its creeks were in full view, and
+about seven miles to the north-west the towers and spires of Maldon, our
+principal objective in the first instance, stood up like grey
+pencillings on the sky-line. Our signallers soon got to work, and in a
+very few minutes picked up those of the Northern Division, who had
+established a station on a church tower about two miles to our
+north-east, at St. Lawrence. They reported a successful landing at
+Bradwell, and that the _Ægir_ had gone up in the direction of Maldon
+with the 3rd Marine Battalion, who were being towed up in their flats by
+steam pinnaces.
+
+“I think, my dear Neuhaus, that it would be as well if I now gave you
+some general idea of our scheme of operations, so far as it is known to
+me, in order that you may be the better able to follow my further
+experiences by the aid of the one-inch English ordnance map which you
+will have no difficulty in procuring from Berlin.
+
+“As I have already said, Maldon is our first objective. It is situated
+at the head of the navigable portion of the Blackwater, and in
+itself--situated as it is on rising grounds suitable for defence, and
+surrounded to the north and north-west with a network of river and
+canal--offers a suitable position to check the preliminary attack that
+we may surely expect from the Colchester garrison. It is intended, then,
+to occupy this as quickly as possible, and place it in a state of
+defence. Our next move will be to entrench ourselves along a line
+extending southward from Maldon to the river Crouch, which has already
+been reconnoitred by our Intelligence Department, and the general
+positions selected and planned. Prince Henry will, of course, be able to
+make any modifications in the original design that he may consider
+called for by circumstances. The total length of our front will be
+nearly seven miles, rather long for the number of troops we have at our
+disposal, but as the English reckon that to attack troops in position a
+six-to-one force is required, and as they will be fully occupied
+elsewhere, I expect we shall be amply sufficient to deal with any attack
+they can make on us. The right half of the line--with the exception of
+Maldon itself--is very flat, and offers no very advantageous positions
+for defence, especially as the ground slopes upwards in the direction of
+the enemy’s attack. It is, however, but a gradual slope. Towards the
+left, though, there is higher ground, affording fairly good gun
+positions, and this we must hold on to at all hazards. This, in fact,
+will be the real key of the position. Holding this, even if we are
+beaten out of Maldon and forced to abandon our defences in the flat
+ground to the south of the town, we can use it as a pivot, and fall back
+on a second position along a line of low hills that run in a north-east
+direction across the peninsula to St. Lawrence, which will quite well
+cover our landing-places. In order to further protect us from surprise,
+the three battalions of the 108th Sharpshooter Regiment belonging to the
+32nd Division left Flushing somewhat in advance of us under convoy of
+some of the older battleships in three or four average-sized steamers
+that could get alongside the long pier at Southend, and have been
+ordered to occupy Hockley, Rayleigh, and Wickford, forming as it were a
+chain of outposts covering us from any early interruption by troops sent
+over from Chatham, or coming from London
+
+[Illustration: Position of the Saxon Corps Twenty-Four Hours after
+Landing in Essex.
+
+GEORGE PHILIP & SON L^{TD}.]
+
+by either the southern branch of the Great Eastern Railway or the
+London, Tilbury, and Southend line. They took nothing with them but
+their iron ration, the ammunition in their pouches, and that usually
+carried in the company ammunition waggons (57.6 rounds per man). For the
+transport of this they were to impress carts and horses at Southend, and
+to move by a forced march to their positions. As soon as we are able, we
+also shall push forward advanced troops to South Hanningfield, East
+Hanningfield, Danebury, and Wickham Bishops, covering us in a similar
+manner to the west and north. Our flanks are well protected by the two
+rivers, which are tidal, very wide in parts, and difficult to cross,
+except at one or two places on the Crouch, which we shall make special
+arrangements to defend. Moreover--with the exception of Canewdon, which
+we have already occupied--there is no elevated ground within miles of
+them which would offer good positions from which the enemy might fire
+into the ground we occupy between them.
+
+“So much for the military portion of our programme. Now for the part
+allotted to the Navy. As I have told you, we had eight warships as our
+convoy, not counting destroyers, etc. These were the eight little
+armour-clads of the “Ægir” class, drawing only 18 ft. of water and
+carrying three 9.4 guns apiece, besides smaller ones. The _Ægir_ and
+_Odin_ are operating in the rivers on our flanks as far as they are
+able. The remaining six are busy, three at the entrance of each river,
+laying down mine-fields and other obstacles to protect us from any
+inroad on the part of the British Navy, and arranging for passing
+through the store-ships, which we expect to-night or to-morrow morning
+from various German and Dutch ports, with the provisions, stores, and
+ammunition for the use of the Northern Army Corps, when they have
+penetrated sufficiently far to the south to get into touch with us.
+Except by these rivers, I do not think that the English naval commanders
+can get at us.
+
+“What are known as the Dengie Flats extend for three miles seaward, all
+along the coast between the mouths of the two rivers, and broken marshy
+land extends for three miles more inland. Their big ships would have to
+lie at least seven or eight miles distant from our headquarters and
+store depôt, which we intend to establish at Southminster, and even if
+they were so foolish as to waste their ammunition in trying to damage us
+with their big guns firing at high elevations, they would never succeed
+in doing us any harm. I believe that the squadron of older battleships
+that escorted the 108th to Southend have orders to mine the mouth of the
+Thames, cover the mine-field with their guns as long as they can before
+being overpowered, and incidentally to try and capture Shoeburyness and
+destroy or bring off what guns they may find there. But this is not
+really in our particular section of the operations.
+
+“But to return to my own experiences. I told you that Prince Henry and
+his staff had arrived at Steeple Hill, and that the signallers had got
+through to the other division that had landed at Bradwell. This was soon
+after nine o’clock. Not long afterwards the advanced guard of one of the
+Jäeger battalions, with their smart glazed shakoes, having the black
+plumes tied back over the left ear, and looking very workmanlike in
+their green red-piped tunics, came swinging along the road between St.
+Lawrence and the village of Steeple. They had some of their war-dogs
+with them in leashes. They were on their way to reinforce the 3rd Marine
+Battalion, which by this time we trusted had occupied Maldon and cut off
+all communication with the interior. They had a good nine miles before
+them. The Prince looked at his watch. ‘If they’re there before noon it’s
+as much as we can expect,’ he said. ‘Go and see if they are coming up
+from Burnham now,’ he added, turning sharply to me. Away I went at a
+gallop till I struck the main road out of Southminster. Here I just
+headed off the 1st Battalion of the 101st Grenadiers. Its Colonel
+informed me that the whole regiment was ashore and that the other two
+battalions were following close behind. When they left Burnham the three
+battalions of the 100th Body Grenadiers had nearly completed their
+disembarkation, and the horses of the Garde Reiter Regiment and the 17th
+Uhlans were being hoisted out by means of the big spritsail yards of the
+barges lying alongside the quays. The landing pontoons had been greatly
+augmented and improved during the last hour or two, and the
+disembarkation was proceeding more and more quickly. They had got two of
+the batteries of the 1st Brigade Division landed as well as the guns
+belonging to the Horse Artillery, but they were waiting for the horses.
+The Prince signalled to the officer superintending the disembarkation at
+Burnham to send forward the cavalry and horse artillery by batteries and
+squadrons as soon as they could be mounted.
+
+“Nothing could be done in the meantime but trust that the marines had
+been successful in occupying Maldon and in stopping any news of our
+presence from leaking out to Colchester. Presently, however, the
+signallers reported communication with a new signal station established
+by the Jäegers zu Pferde on Kit’s Hill, an eminence about six miles to
+the south-west. The officer in command of the troop reported: ‘Have cut
+line at Wickham Ferrers. Captured train of eight coaches coming from
+Maldon, and have shunted it on to line to Burnham.’ Prince Henry
+signalled back: ‘Despatch train to Burnham’; and then also signalled to
+O.C. 23 Division at Burnham: ‘Expect train of eight coaches at once.
+Entrain as many infantry as it will hold, and send them to Maldon with
+the utmost despatch.’
+
+“While these signals were passing, I was employed in taking a careful
+survey with my glasses. This is what I saw, looking from right to left.
+The green and white lance pennons of a detachment of the hussars
+belonging to the 32nd Division came fluttering round the shoulder of the
+hill topped by the grey tower of St. Lawrence. Immediately below us a
+Jäeger battalion was winding through Steeple Village like a dark green
+snake. Away to my left front the helmets of the 101st Grenadier Regiment
+twinkled over the black masses of its three battalions as they wound
+downhill towards the village of Latchingdon, lying in a tree-shrouded
+hollow. Maldon was more distinct now, but there was nothing to indicate
+the presence of our men, though not so very far down the river the
+lofty mast of the _Ægir_, with its three military tops, was
+distinguishable over a line of willows. As I lowered my field-glasses
+the Prince beckoned me. ‘Von Pabst,’ ordered he, as I raised my hand to
+the salute, ‘take half a dozen troopers, ride to Maldon, and report to
+me the situation there. I shall be at Latchingdon,’ added he, indicating
+its position on the map, ‘or possibly on the road between that and
+Maldon.’
+
+“Followed by my six Jäegers in their big copper helmets, I dashed away
+on my mission, and before long was nearing my destination. Maldon
+perched on its knoll, with its three church towers and gabled houses,
+brought to my mind one of the old engravings of sixteenth-century cities
+by Merian. Nothing indicated the approach of war till we were challenged
+by a sentry, who stepped from behind a house at the entrance to a
+straggling street. We trotted on till just about to turn in the main
+street, when ‘bang’ went a straggling volley from the right. Shot after
+shot replied, and this told me that our marines had arrived. Then a
+score of khaki-clad men ran across the entrance of the side street up
+which we were approaching. ‘The English at last!’ thought I. It was too
+late to turn back. One or two of the enemy had caught sight of us as
+they rushed by, though most of them were too busily engaged in front to
+observe us. So with a shout of ‘Vorwarts!’ I stuck in my spurs, and with
+my six troopers charged into the middle of them, though I had no idea of
+how many there might be up the street. There was a tremendous clatter
+and banging of rifles. I cut down one fellow who ran his bayonet into my
+wallet. At the same time I heard a loud German ‘Hoch!’ from our right,
+and caught sight of a body of marines coming up the street at the
+double. It was all over in a moment. There were not more than thirty
+‘khakis’ all told. Half a dozen lay dead or wounded on the ground, some
+disappeared up side alleys, and others were made prisoners by the
+marines. It appeared afterwards that on the first boat-load landing,
+about an hour previously, the alarm had reached a local Volunteer
+officer, who had managed to collect some of his men and get them into
+uniform. He then made the foolish attack on our troops which had ended
+in so unsatisfactory a manner for him. He, poor fellow, lay spitting
+blood on the kerbstone. The colonel of marines appeared a moment later,
+and at once gave orders for the Mayor of Maldon to be brought before
+him.”
+
+The letter ended abruptly, the German officer’s intention being no doubt
+to give some further details of the operations before despatching it to
+his friend in Darmstadt. But it remained unfinished, for its writer lay
+already in his grave.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+GERMANS LANDING AT HULL AND GOOLE
+
+
+A special issue of the _Times_ in the evening of 3rd September contained
+the following vivid account--the first published--of the happenings in
+the town of Goole, in Yorkshire:--
+
+“GOOLE, _September 3_.
+
+“Shortly before five o’clock on Sunday morning the night operator of the
+telephone call-office here discovered an interruption on the trunk-line,
+and on trying the telegraphs was surprised to find that there was no
+communication in any direction. The railway station, being rung up,
+replied that their wires were also down.
+
+“Almost immediately afterwards a well-known North Sea pilot rushed into
+the post-office and breathlessly asked that he might telephone to
+Lloyd’s. When told that all communication was cut off he wildly shouted
+that a most extraordinary sight was to be seen in the river Ouse, up
+which was approaching a continuous procession of tugs, towing flats, and
+barges filled with German soldiers.
+
+“This was proved to be an actual fact, and the inhabitants of Goole,
+awakened from their Sunday morning slumbers by the shouts of alarm in
+the streets, found to their abject amazement foreign soldiers swarming
+everywhere. On the quay they found activity everywhere, German being
+spoken on all hands. They watched a body of cavalry consisting of the
+1st Westphalian Hussars and the Westphalian Cuirassiers land with order
+and ease at the Victoria Pier, whence, after being formed up on the
+quay, they advanced at a sharp trot up Victoria Street, Ouse Street, and
+North Street to the railway stations, where, as is generally known,
+there are large sidings of the North-East Lancashire and Yorkshire lines
+in direct communication both with London and the great cities of the
+north. The enemy here found great quantities of engines and rolling
+stock, all of which was at once seized, together with huge stacks of
+coal at the new sidings.
+
+“Before long the first of the infantry of the 13th Division, which was
+commanded by Lieutenant-General Doppschutz, marched up to the stations.
+They consisted of the 13th and 56th Westphalian Regiments, and the
+cavalry on being relieved advanced out of the town, crossing the Dutch
+River by the railway bridge, and pushed on as far as Thorne and Hensall,
+near which they at once strongly held the several important railway
+junctions.
+
+“Meanwhile cavalry of the 14th Brigade, consisting of Westphalian
+Hussars and Uhlans, were rapidly disembarking at Old Goole, and,
+advancing southwards over the open country of Goole Moors and Thorne
+Waste, occupied Crowle. Both cavalry brigades were acting independently
+of the main body, and by their vigorous action both south and west they
+were entirely screening what was happening in the port of Goole.
+
+“Infantry continued to pour into the town from flats and barges,
+arriving in endless procession. Doppschutz’s Division landed at Aldan
+Dock, Railway Dock, and Ship Dock; the 14th Division at the Jetty and
+Basin, also in the Barge Dock and at the mouth of the Dutch River; while
+some, following the cavalry brigade, landed at Old Goole and Swinefleet.
+
+“As far as can be ascertained, the whole of the VIIth German Army Corps
+have landed, at any rate as far as the men are concerned. The troops,
+who are under the supreme command of General Baron von Bistram, appear
+to consist almost entirely of Westphalians, and include Prince Frederick
+of the Netherlands’ 2nd Westphalians; Count Bulow von Dennewitz’s 6th
+Westphalians; but one infantry brigade, the 79th, consisted of men from
+Lorraine.
+
+“Through the whole day the disembarkation proceeded, the townsmen
+standing there helpless to lift a finger and watching the enemy’s
+arrival. The Victoria Pleasure Grounds were occupied by parked
+artillery, which towards afternoon began to rumble through the streets.
+The German gunners, with folded arms, sat unconcernedly upon the
+ammunition boxes as the guns were drawn up to their positions. Horses
+were seized wherever found, the proclamation of Von Kronhelm was nailed
+upon the church doors, and the terrified populace read the grim threat
+of the German field-marshal.
+
+“The wagons, of which there were hundreds, were put ashore mostly at
+Goole, but others up the river at Hook and Swinefleet. When the cavalry
+advance was complete, as it was soon after midday, and when reports had
+come in to Von Bistram that the country was clear of the British, the
+German infantry advance began. By nightfall they had pushed forward,
+some by road, some by rail, and others in the numerous motor-wagons that
+had accompanied the force, until march-outposts were established south
+of Thorne, Askern, and Crowle, straddling the main road to Bawtry. These
+places, including Fishlake and the country between them, were at once
+strongly held, while ammunition and stores were pushed up by railway to
+both Thorne and Askern.
+
+“The independent cavalry advance continued through Doncaster until dusk,
+when Rotherham was reached, during which advance scattered bodies of
+British Imperial Yeomanry were met and compelled to retreat, a dozen or
+so lives being lost. It appears that late in the afternoon of Sunday
+news was brought into Sheffield of what was in progress, and a squadron
+of Yeomanry donned their uniforms and rode forward to reconnoitre, with
+the disastrous results already mentioned.
+
+“The sensation caused in Sheffield when it became known that German
+cavalry were so close as Rotherham was enormous, and the scenes in the
+streets soon approached a panic; for it was wildly declared that that
+night the enemy intended to occupy the town. The Mayor telegraphed to
+the War Office appealing for additional defensive force, but no response
+was received to the telegram. The small force of military in the town,
+which consisted of the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light Infantry, some
+Royal Artillery, and the local Volunteers, were soon assembled, and
+going out occupied the strong position above Sheffield between Catcliffe
+and Tinsley, overlooking the valley of the Rother to the east.
+
+[Illustration: Position of the German Forces Twenty-Four Hours after
+Landing at Goole.
+
+GEORGE PHILIP & SON L^{TD}.]
+
+“The expectation that the Germans intended an immediate descent on
+Sheffield was not realised because the German tactics were merely to
+reconnoitre and report on the defences of Sheffield if any existed. This
+they did by remaining to the eastward of the river Rother, whence the
+high ground rising before Sheffield could be easily observed.
+
+“Before dusk one or two squadrons of Cuirassiers were seen to be
+examining the river to find fords and ascertain the capacity of the
+bridges, while others appeared to be comparing the natural features of
+the ground with the maps with which they all appeared to be provided.
+
+“As night fell, however, the cavalry retired towards Doncaster, which
+town was occupied, the Angel being the cavalry headquarters. The reason
+the Germans could not advance at once upon Sheffield was that the
+cavalry was not strongly enough supported by infantry from their base,
+the distance from Goole being too great to be covered in a single day.
+That the arrangements for landing were in every detail perfect could not
+be doubted, but owing to the narrow channel of the Ouse time was
+necessary, and it is considered probable that fully three days must
+elapse from Sunday before the Germans are absolutely established.
+
+“An attempt has been made by the Yorkshire Light Infantry and the York
+and Lancaster Regiment, with three battalions of Volunteers stationed at
+Pontefract, to discover the enemy’s strength and position between Askern
+and Snaith, but so far without avail, the cavalry screen across the
+whole country being impenetrable.
+
+“The people of the West Riding, and especially the inhabitants of
+Sheffield, are stupefied that they have received no assistance--not even
+a reply to the Mayor’s telegram. This fact has leaked out, and has
+caused the greatest dissatisfaction. An enemy is upon us, yet we are in
+ignorance of what steps, if any, the authorities are taking for our
+protection.
+
+“There are wild rumours here that the enemy have burned Grimsby, but
+these are generally discredited, for telegraphic and telephonic
+communication has been cut off, and at present we are completely
+isolated. It has been gathered from the invaders that the VIIIth Army
+Corps of the Germans have landed and seized Hull, but at present this is
+not confirmed. There is, alas! no communication with the place,
+therefore the report may possibly be true.
+
+“Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Selby are all intensely excited
+over the sudden appearance of German soldiers, and were at first
+inclined to unite to stem their progress. But the German proclamation
+showing the individual peril of any citizen taking arms against the
+invaders having been posted everywhere, has held everyone scared and in
+silent inactivity.
+
+“‘Where is our Army?’ everyone is asking. The whole country has run riot
+in a single hour, now that the Germans are upon us. On every hand it is
+asked: ‘What will London do?’”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The following account, written by a reporter of the _Hull Daily Mail_,
+appeared in the _London Evening News_ on Wednesday evening, and was the
+first authentic news of what had happened on the Humber on Sunday:--
+
+“HULL, _Monday Night_.
+
+“A great disaster has occurred here, and the town is in the hands of the
+Germans. The totally unexpected appearance in the river at dawn on
+Sunday of an extraordinary flotilla of all kinds of craft, filled with
+troops and being towed towards Goole, created the greatest alarm. Loud
+shouting in the street just before five o’clock awakened me, and I
+opened my window. Shouting to a seaman running past, I asked what was
+the matter, when the man’s astounding reply was: ‘The whole river is
+swarming with Germans!’ Dressing hastily, I mounted my bicycle and ran
+along the Beverley road through Prospect Street to the dock office,
+where around the Wilberforce monument the excited crowd now already
+collected was impassable, and I was compelled to dismount.
+
+“On eager inquiry I learnt that half an hour before men at work in the
+Alexandra Dock were amazed to discern through the grey mists still
+hanging across the Humber an extraordinary sight. Scores of ocean-going
+tugs, each laboriously towing great Dutch barges and lighters, came into
+sight, and telescopes being quickly borrowed revealed every boat in
+question to be literally crammed with grey-coated men, evidently
+soldiers. At first it was believed that they were about to enter Hull,
+but they kept out in the channel, on the New Holland side, and were
+accompanied, it was seen, by a quantity of tramp steamers of small
+tonnage, evidently of such capacity as might get up to the port of
+Goole. It was at once patent that Goole was their objective.
+
+“The alarm was at once raised in the town. The police ran down to the
+quays and the Victoria Pier, while the townspeople hastily dressed and
+joined them to witness the amazing spectacle.
+
+“Somebody at the pier who had a powerful glass recognised the grey
+uniforms and declared them to be Germans, and then like wildfire the
+alarming news spread into every quarter of the town that the Germans
+were upon us.
+
+“The police ran to the telegraph office in order to give the alarm, but
+it was at once discovered that both telegraph and telephone systems had
+suddenly been interrupted. Repeated calls elicited no reply, for the
+wires running out of Hull in every direction had been cut.
+
+“In endless procession the strange medley of queer-looking craft came up
+out of the morning mist only to be quickly lost again in the westward,
+while the onlookers, including myself--for I had cycled to the Victoria
+Pier--gazed at them in utter bewilderment.
+
+“At the first moment of alarm the East Yorkshire Volunteers hurried on
+their uniforms and assembled at their regimental headquarters for
+orders. There were, of course, no regular troops in the town, but the
+Volunteers soon obtained their arms and ammunition, and after being
+formed, marched down Heddon road to the Alexandra Dock.
+
+“On every side was the greatest commotion, already bordering upon panic.
+Along Spring Bank, the Hessle road, the Anlaby road, and all the
+thoroughfares converging into Queen Victoria Square, came crowds of all
+classes eager to see for themselves and learn the truth of the startling
+rumour. The whole riverside was soon black with the excited populace,
+but to the astonishment of everyone the motley craft sailed on, taking
+no notice of us and becoming fewer and fewer, until ships appeared
+through the grey bank of fog only at intervals.
+
+“One thing was entirely clear. The enemy, whoever they might be, had
+destroyed all our means of appealing for help, for we could not
+telephone to the military at York, Pontefract, Richmond, or even to the
+regimental district headquarters at Beverley. They had gone on to Goole,
+but would they turn back and attack us?
+
+“The cry was that if they meant to seize Goole they would also seize
+Hull! Then the terrified crowd commenced to collect timber and iron from
+the yards, furniture from neighbouring houses, tramway-cars, omnibuses,
+cabs; in fact, anything they could lay their hands upon to form
+barricades in the streets for their own protection.
+
+“I witnessed the frantic efforts of the people as they built one huge
+obstacle at the corner of Queen Street, facing the pier. Houses were
+ruthlessly entered, great pieces of heavy furniture--wardrobes, pianos,
+and sideboards--were piled anyhow upon each other. Men got coils of
+barbed wire, and lashed the various objects together with seamanlike
+alacrity. Even paving-stones were prised up with pickaxes and crowbars,
+and placed in position. The women, in deadly terror of the Germans,
+helped the men in this hastily improvised barrier, which even as I
+watched grew higher across the street until it reached the height of the
+first-storey windows in one great heterogeneous mass of every article
+conceivable--almost like a huge rubbish heap.
+
+“This was only one of many similar barricades. There were others in the
+narrow Pier Street, in Wellington Street, Castle Street, south of
+Prince’s Dock, in St. John’s Street, between Queen’s Dock and Prince’s
+Dock, while the bridges over the river Hull were all defended by
+hastily improvised obstructions. In Jennings Street, on Sculcoates
+Bridge, and also the two railway bridges of the Hull and Barnsley and
+North-Eastern Railways were similarly treated. Thus the whole of the
+town west of the river Hull was at any rate temporarily protected from
+any landing eastward.
+
+“The whole town now seemed in a perfect ferment. Wildest rumours were
+afloat everywhere, and the streets by six o’clock that morning were so
+crowded that it was almost impossible to move.
+
+“Hundreds found themselves outside the barriers; indeed, the people in
+the Southcoates, Drypool, and Alexandra Wards were in the threatened
+zone, and promptly began to force their way into the town by escalading
+the huge barricades and scrambling over their crests.
+
+“Foreigners--sailors and others--had a rough time of it, many of them
+being thrust back and threatened by the indignant townspeople. Each time
+a foreigner was discovered there was a cry of ‘spy,’ and many innocent
+men had fortunate escapes.
+
+“The river seemed clear, when about seven o’clock there suddenly loomed
+up from seaward a great, ugly, grey-hulled warship flying the German
+flag. The fear was realised. Her sight caused absolute panic, for with a
+sudden swerve she calmly moored opposite the Alexandra Dock.
+
+“Eager-eyed seamen, some of them Naval Reservists, recognised that she
+was cleared for action, and even while we were looking, two more similar
+vessels anchored in positions from which their guns could completely
+dominate the town.
+
+“No sooner had these swung to their anchors than, from the now sunlit
+horizon, there rose the distant smoke of many steamers, and as the
+moments of terror dragged by, there came slowly into the offing a
+perfect fleet of all sizes of steamers, escorted by cruisers and
+destroyers.
+
+“Standing behind the barricade in Queen Street I could overlook the
+Victoria Pier, and the next half-hour was the most exciting one in my
+whole life. Three dirty-looking steamers of, as far as I could judge,
+about 2500 tons each, anchored in a line almost midstream. From my coign
+of vantage I could hear the rattle of the cables in the hawse-pipes as
+many other vessels of about the same size followed their example farther
+down the river. No sooner had the anchors touched the bottom than boats
+were hoisted out, lowered from all the davits, and brought alongside,
+while into them poured hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers, all in a
+uniform dusky grey. Steam pinnaces quickly took these in charge, towing
+some of them to the Victoria Pier near where I stood, and others to the
+various wharves.
+
+“Armed and accoutred, the men sprang ashore, formed up, and were quickly
+told off by their officers in guttural accents, when, from our
+barricade, close beside me, a Volunteer officer gave the order to fire,
+and a ragged volley rang sharply out.
+
+“A young German infantry officer standing in Nelson Street, in the act
+of drawing his revolver from its pouch, pitched heavily forward upon his
+face with a British bullet through his heart. There were also several
+gaps in the German ranks. Almost instantly the order for advance was
+given. The defence was an ill-advised and injudicious one, having in
+view the swarm of invaders. Hundreds of boats were now approaching every
+possible landing-place right along the river front, and men were
+swarming upon every wharf and quay.
+
+“Shots sounded in every direction. Then, quite suddenly, some
+unintelligible order was given in German, and the crowd of the enemy who
+had landed at our pier extended, and, advancing at the double, came
+straight for our barricade, endeavouring to take it by assault. It was
+an exciting moment. Our Volunteers poured volleys into them, and for a
+time were able to check them, although the Germans kept up a withering
+fire, and I found myself, a non-combatant, with bullets whistling about
+me everywhere, in unpleasant proximity.
+
+“They were breathless moments. Men were continually falling on both
+sides, and one fierce-faced, black-haired woman, evidently a sailor’s
+wife, who had helped to build the barricade, fell dead at my side, shot
+through the throat. From the very beginning our defence at this point
+seemed utterly hopeless. The Volunteers--many of them friends of
+mine--very gallantly endeavoured to do what they could in the
+circumstances, but they themselves recognised the utter futility of
+fighting against what seemed to be a veritable army. They did their
+utmost, but the sudden rush of an enormous number of supports to
+strengthen the enemy’s advanced parties proved too much for them, and
+ten minutes later bearded Teutons came clambering over the barricades,
+ruthlessly putting to death all men in uniform who did not at once throw
+down their arms.
+
+“As soon as I saw the great peril of the situation I confess that I
+fled, when behind me I heard a loud crash as a breach was at last made
+in the obstruction. I ran up Queen Street to Drypool Bridge, where at
+the barricade there I found desperate fighting in progress. The scene
+was terrible. The few Volunteers were bravely trying to defend us. Many
+civilians, in their frantic efforts to guard their homes, were lying
+upon the pavement dead and dying. Women, too, had been struck by the
+hail of German bullets, and the enemy, bent upon taking the town, fought
+with the utmost determination. From the ceaseless rattle of musketry
+which stunned the ears on every side it was evident that the town was
+being taken by assault.
+
+“For five minutes or so I remained in Salthouse Lane, but so thick came
+the bullets that I managed to slip round to Whitefriargate, and into
+Victoria Square.
+
+“I was standing at the corner of King Edward Street when the air was of
+a sudden rent by a crash that seemed to shake the town to its very
+foundations, and one of the black cupolas of the dock office was carried
+away, evidently by a high explosive shell.
+
+“A second report, no doubt from one of the cruisers lying in the river,
+was followed by a great jet of flame springing up from the base of one
+of the new shops on the left side of King Edward Street--caused, as I
+afterwards ascertained, by one of those new petrol shells, of which we
+had heard so much in the newspapers, but the practicability of which our
+unprogressive Government had so frequently refused to entertain.
+
+“In a flash three shops were well alight, and even while I watched the
+whole block from Tyler’s to the corner was furiously ablaze, the petrol
+spreading fire and destruction on every hand.
+
+“Surely there is no more deadly engine in modern warfare than the
+terrible petrol bomb, as was now proved upon our unfortunate town.
+Within ten minutes came a veritable rain of fire. In all directions the
+houses began to flare and burn. The explosions were terrific, rapidly
+succeeding one another, while helpless men stood frightened and aghast,
+no man knowing that the next moment might not be his last.
+
+“In those never-to-be-forgotten moments we realised for the first time
+what the awful horror of War really meant.
+
+“The scene was frightful. Hull had resisted, and in retaliation the
+enemy were now spreading death and destruction everywhere among us.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Reports now reached London that the VIIth German Army Corps had landed
+at Hull and Goole, and taking possession of those towns, were moving
+upon Sheffield in order to paralyse our trade in the Midlands. Hull had
+been bombarded, and was in flames! Terrible scenes were taking place at
+that port.
+
+The disaster was, alas! of our own seeking.
+
+Lord Roberts, who certainly could not be called an alarmist, had in 1905
+resigned his place on the Committee of National Defence in order to be
+free to speak his own mind. He had told us plainly in 1906 that we were
+in no better position than we were five or six years previous. Behind
+the Regular Army we had no practicable reserve, while military training
+was more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The outlook was
+alarming, and the reasons for reform absolutely imperative.
+
+He had pointed out to the London Chamber of Commerce in December 1905
+that it was most important that our present unpreparedness for war
+should not be allowed to continue. We should use every endeavour to
+prevent the feeling of anxiety as to our unpreparedness from cooling
+down. England’s military hero, the man who had dragged us out of the
+South African muddle, had urged most strongly that a committee of the
+leading men of London should be formed to take the matter into their
+earnest consideration. The voice of London upon a question of such vital
+importance could not fail to carry great weight throughout the country.
+
+A “citizen army,” he had declared, was needed as well as the Regular
+Army. The only way by which a sufficient amount of training could be
+given--short of adopting the Continental practice--was by giving boys
+and youths such an amount of drill and practice in rifle shooting as was
+possible while they were at school, and by some system of universal
+training after they reached manhood. And that Lord Roberts had urged
+most strongly.
+
+Yet what had been done? Ay, what?
+
+A deaf ear had been turned to every appeal. And now, alas! the long
+prophesied blow had fallen.
+
+On that memorable Sunday, when a descent had been made upon our shores,
+there were in German ports on the North Sea nearly a million tons gross
+of German shipping. Normally, in peace time, half a million tons is
+always to be found there, the second half having been quietly collected
+by ships putting in unobserved into such ports as Emden, Bremen,
+Bremerhaven, and Geestemunde, where there are at least ten miles of
+deep-sea wharves, with ample railway access. The arrival of these crafts
+caused no particular comment, but they had already been secretly
+prepared for the transport of men and horses while at sea.
+
+Under the cover of the Frisian Islands, from every canal, river, and
+creek had been assembled a huge multitude of flats and barges, ready to
+be towed by tugs alongside the wharves and filled with troops. Of a
+sudden, in a single hour it seemed, Hamburg, Altona, Cuxhaven, and
+Wilhelmshaven were in excited activity, and almost before the
+inhabitants themselves realised what was really in progress the
+embarkation had well commenced.
+
+At Emden, with its direct cables to the theatre of war in England, was
+concentrated the brain of the whole movement. Beneath the lee of the
+covering screen of Frisian Islands, Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Langebog,
+and the others, the preparations for the descent upon England rapidly
+matured.
+
+[Illustration: Germany’s points of embarkation]
+
+Troop-trains from every part of the Fatherland arrived with the
+punctuality of clockwork. From Düsseldorf came the VIIth Army Corps, the
+VIIIth from Coblenz, the IXth were already assembled at their
+headquarters at Altona, while many of them being stationed at Bremen
+embarked from there, the Xth came up from Hanover, the XIVth from
+Magdeburg, and the Corps of German Guards, the pride and flower of the
+Kaiser’s troops, arrived eagerly at Hamburg from Berlin and Potsdam,
+among the first to embark.
+
+Each army corps consisted of about 38,000 officers and men, 11,000
+horses, 144 guns, and about 2000 motor-cars, wagons, and carts. But for
+this campaign--which was more of the nature of a raid than of any
+protracted campaign--the supply of wheeled transport, with the exception
+of motor-cars, had been somewhat reduced.
+
+Each cavalry brigade attached to an army corps consisted of 1400 horses
+and men, with some thirty-five light machine-guns and wagons. The German
+calculation--which proved pretty correct--was that each army corps could
+come over to England in 100,000 tons gross of shipping, bringing with
+them supplies for twenty-seven days in another 3000 tons gross.
+Therefore about 618,000 tons gross conveyed the whole of the six corps,
+leaving an ample margin still in German ports for any emergencies. Half
+this tonnage consisted of about 100 steamers, averaging 3000 tons each,
+the remainder being the boats, flats, lighters, barges, and tugs
+previously alluded to.
+
+The Saxons who, disregarding the neutrality of Belgium, had embarked at
+Antwerp, had seized the whole of the flat-bottomed craft in the Scheldt
+and the numerous canals, as well as the merchant ships in the port,
+finding no difficulty in commandeering the amount of tonnage necessary
+to convey them to the Blackwater and the Crouch.
+
+As hour succeeded hour, the panic increased.
+
+It was now also known that, in addition to the various corps who had
+effected a landing, the German Guards had, by a sudden swoop into the
+Wash, got ashore at King’s Lynn, seized the town, and united their
+forces with Von Kleppen’s corps, who, having landed at Weybourne, were
+now spread right across Norfolk. This picked corps of Guards was under
+the command of that distinguished officer the Duke of Mannheim, while
+the infantry divisions were under Lieutenant-Generals von Castein and
+Von Der Decken.
+
+The landing at King’s Lynn on Sunday morning had been quite a simple
+affair. There was nothing whatever to repel them, and they disembarked
+on the quays and in the docks, watched by the astonished populace. All
+provisions were seized at shops, including the King’s Lynn and County
+Stores, the Star Supply Stores, Ladyman’s and Lipton’s in the High
+Street, while headquarters were established at the municipal buildings,
+and the German flag hoisted upon the old church, the tower of which was
+at once used as a signal station.
+
+Old-fashioned people of Lynn peered out of their quiet, respectable
+houses in King Street in utter amazement, but soon, when the German
+proclamation was posted, the terrible truth was plain.
+
+In half an hour, even before they could realise it, they had been
+transferred from the protection of the British flag to the militarism of
+the German.
+
+The Tuesday Market Place, opposite the Globe Hotel, was one of the
+points of assembly, and from there and from other open spaces troops of
+cavalry were constantly riding out of town by the Downham Market and
+Swaffham Roads. The intention of this commander was evidently to join
+hands with Von Kleppen as soon as possible. Indeed, by that same evening
+the Guards and IVth Corps had actually shaken hands at East Dereham.
+
+A few cavalry, mostly Cuirassiers and troopers of the Gardes du Corps,
+were pushed out across the flat, desolate country over Sutton Bridge to
+Holbeach and Spalding, while others, moving south-easterly, came past
+the old Abbey of Crowland, and even to within sight of the square
+cathedral tower of Peterborough. Others went south to Ely.
+
+Ere sundown on Sunday, stalwart, grey-coated sentries of the Guards
+Fusiliers from Potsdam and the Grenadiers from Berlin were holding the
+roads at Gayton, East Walton, Narborough, Markham, Fincham, Stradsett,
+and Stow Bardolph. Therefore on Sunday night, from Spalding on the east,
+Peterborough, Chatteris, Littleport, Thetford, Diss, and Halesworth were
+faced by a huge cavalry screen protecting the landing and repose of the
+great German Army behind it.
+
+Slowly but carefully the enemy were maturing their plans for the defeat
+of our defenders and the sack of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+DESPERATE FIGHTING IN ESSEX
+
+
+London was at a standstill. Trade was entirely stopped. Shopkeepers
+feared to open their doors on account of the fierce, hungry mobs
+parading the streets. Orators were haranguing the crowds in almost every
+open space. The police were either powerless, or feared to come into
+collision with the assembled populace. Terror and blank despair were
+everywhere.
+
+There was unrest night and day. The banks, head offices and branches,
+unable to withstand the run upon them when everyone demanded to be paid
+in gold, had, by mutual arrangement, shut their doors, leaving excited
+and furious crowds of customers outside unpaid. Financial ruin stared
+everyone in the face. Those who were fortunate enough to realise their
+securities on Monday were fleeing from London south or westward. Day and
+night the most extraordinary scenes of frantic fear were witnessed at
+Paddington, Victoria, Waterloo, and London Bridge. The southern railways
+were badly disorganised by the cutting of the lines by the enemy, but
+the Great Western system was, up to the present, intact, and carried
+thousands upon thousands to Wales, to Devonshire, and to Cornwall.
+
+In those three hot, breathless days the Red Hand of Ruin spread out upon
+London.
+
+The starving East met the terrified West, but in those moments the bonds
+of terror united class with mass. Restaurants and theatres were closed,
+there was but little vehicular traffic in the streets, for of horses
+there were none, while the majority of the motor ’buses had been
+requisitioned, and the transit of goods had been abandoned. “The City,”
+that great army of daily workers, both male and female, was out of
+employment, and swelled the idlers and gossips, whose temper and opinion
+were swayed each half-hour by the papers now constantly appearing night
+and day without cessation.
+
+Cabinet Councils had been held every day, but their decisions, of
+course, never leaked out to the public. The King also held Privy
+Councils, and various measures were decided upon. Parliament, which had
+been hurriedly summoned, was due to meet, and everyone speculated as to
+the political crisis that must now ensue.
+
+In St. James’s Park, in Hyde Park, in Victoria Park, on Hampstead Heath,
+in Greenwich Park, in fact, in each of the “lungs of London,” great mass
+meetings were held, at which resolutions were passed condemning the
+Administration and eulogising those who, at the first alarm, had so
+gallantly died in defence of their country.
+
+It was declared that by the culpable negligence of the War Office and
+the National Defence Committee we had laid ourselves open to complete
+ruin, both financially and as a nation.
+
+The man-in-the-street already felt the strain, for the lack of
+employment and the sudden rise in the price of everything had brought
+him up short. Wives and families were crying for food, and those without
+savings and with only a few pounds put by looked grimly into the future
+and at the mystery it presented.
+
+Most of the papers published the continuation of the important story of
+Mr. Alexander, the Mayor of Maldon, which revealed the extent of the
+enemy’s operations in Essex and the strong position they occupied.
+
+It ran as below:--
+
+“Of the events of the early hours of the morning I have no very clear
+recollection. I was bewildered, staggered, dumbfounded by the sights and
+sounds which beset me. Of what modern war meant I had till then truly
+but a very faint idea. To witness its horrid realities enacted in this
+quiet, out-of-the-way spot where I had pitched my tent for so many
+years, brought them home to me literally, as well as metaphorically. And
+to think that all this wanton destruction of property and loss of life
+was directly due to our apathy as a nation! The Germans had been the
+aggressors without a doubt, but as for us we had gone out of our way to
+invite attack. We had piled up riches and made no provision to prevent a
+stronger nation from gathering them. We had seen every other European
+nation, and even far-distant Japan, arm their whole populations and
+perfect their preparedness for the eventualities of war, but we had been
+content to scrape along with an apology for a military system--which was
+really no system at all--comforting ourselves with the excuse that
+nothing could possibly evade or compete with our magnificent navy. Such
+things as fogs, false intelligence, and the interruption of telegraphic
+and telephonic communication were not taken into account, and were
+pooh-poohed if any person, not content with living in a fool’s paradise,
+ventured to draw attention to the possibility of such contingencies.
+
+“So foolhardy had we become in the end, that we were content to see an
+immense and threatening increase in the German shipbuilding programme
+without immediately ‘going one better.’ The specious plea that our
+greater rapidity in construction would always enable us to catch up our
+rivals in the race was received with acclamation, especially as the
+argument was adorned with gilt lettering in the shape of promised
+Admiralty economies.
+
+“As might have been foreseen, Germany attacked us at the psychological
+moment when her rapidly increasing fleet had driven even our _laissez
+faire_ politicians to lay down new ships with the laudable idea of
+keeping our naval pre-eminence by the rapidity of our construction. Our
+wide-awake enemy, seeing that should these be allowed to attain
+completion the place he had gained in the race would be lost, allowed
+them to be half finished and then suddenly attacked us.
+
+“But to return to my personal experiences on this never-to-be-forgotten
+day. I had run down Cromwell Hill, and seeing the flames of Heybridge,
+was impelled to get nearer, if possible, to discover more particularly
+the state of affairs in that direction. But I was reckoning without the
+Germans. When I got to the bridge over the river at the foot of the
+hill, the officer in charge there absolutely prevented my crossing.
+Beyond the soldiers standing or kneeling behind whatever cover was
+offered by the walls and buildings abutting on the riverside, and a
+couple of machine guns placed so as to command the bridge and the road
+beyond, there was nothing much to see. A number of Germans were,
+however, very busy in the big mill just across the river, but what they
+were doing I could not make out. As I turned to retrace my steps, the
+glare of the conflagration grew suddenly more and more intense. A mass
+of dark figures came running down the brightly-illuminated road towards
+the bridge, while the rifle fire became louder, nearer, and heavier than
+ever. Every now and again the air became alive with, as it were, the
+hiss and buzz of flying insects. The English must have fought their way
+through Heybridge, and these must be the bullets from their rifles. It
+was dangerous to stay down there any longer, so I took to my heels. As I
+ran I heard a thundering explosion behind me, the shock of which nearly
+threw me to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the Germans
+had blown up the mill at the farther end of the bridge, and were now
+pushing carts from either side in order to barricade it. The two Maxims,
+too, began to pump lead with their hammering reports, and the men near
+them commenced to fall in twos and threes. I made off to the left, and
+passed into the High Street by the end of St. Peter’s Church, now
+disused. At the corner I ran against Mr. Clydesdale, the optician, who
+looks after the library which now occupies the old building. He pointed
+to the tower, which stood darkly up against the blood-red sky.
+
+“‘Look at those infernal Germans!’ he said. ‘They can’t even keep out of
+that old place. I wish we could have got the books out before they
+came.’
+
+“I could not see any of our invaders where he was pointing, but
+presently I became aware of a little winking, blinking light at the very
+summit of the tower.
+
+“‘That’s them,’ said Clydesdale. ‘They’re making signals, I think. My
+boy says he saw the same thing on Purleigh Church tower last night. I
+wish it would come down with them, that I do. It’s pretty shaky,
+anyway.’
+
+“The street was fairly full of people. The Germans, it is true, had
+ordered that no one should be out of doors between eight in the evening
+and six in the morning; but just now they appeared to have their hands
+pretty full elsewhere, and if any of the few soldiers that were about
+knew of or thought anything of the interdiction, they said nothing. Wat
+Miller, the postman, came up and touched his cap.
+
+“‘Terrible times, sir,’ he said, ‘ain’t they? There was a mort of people
+killed this afternoon by them shells. There was poor old Missis Reece in
+the London Road. Bed-ridden, she were, this dozen years. Well, sir,
+there ain’t so much as the head on her left. A fair mash up she were,
+poor old lady! Then there was Jones the carpenter’s three kids, as was
+left behind when their mother took the baby to Mundon with the rest of
+the women. The house was struck and come down atop of ’em. They got two
+out, but they were dead, poor souls! and they’re still looking for the
+other one.’
+
+“The crash of a salvo of heavy guns from the direction of my own house
+interrupted the tale of horrors.
+
+“‘That’ll be the guns in my garden,’ I said.
+
+“‘Yes, sir; and they’ve got three monstrous great ones in the opening
+between the houses just behind the church there,’ said Clydesdale.
+
+“As he spoke the guns in question bellowed out, one after the other.
+
+“‘Look--look at the tower!’ cried the postman.
+
+“The light at the top had disappeared, and the lofty edifice was swaying
+slowly, slowly, over to the left.
+
+“‘She’s gone at last!’ exclaimed Clydesdale.
+
+“It was true. Down came the old steeple that had pointed heavenward for
+so many generations, with a mighty crash and concussion that swallowed
+up even the noise of the battle, though cannon of all sorts and sizes
+were now joining in the hellish concert, and shell from the English
+batteries began to roar over the town. The vibration and shock of the
+heavy guns had been too much for the old tower, which, for years in a
+tottery condition, had been patched up so often.
+
+“As soon as the cloud of dust cleared off we all three ran towards the
+huge pile of débris that filled the little churchyard. Several other
+people followed. It was very dark down there, in the shadow of the trees
+and houses, despite the firelight overhead, and we began striking
+matches as we looked about among the heaps of bricks and beams to see if
+there were any of the German signal party among them. Why we should have
+taken the trouble under the circumstances I do not quite know. It was an
+instinctive movement of humanity on my part, and that of most of the
+others, I suppose. Miller, the postman, was, however, logical. ‘I ’opes
+as they’re all dead!’ was what he said.
+
+“I caught sight of an arm in a light blue sleeve protruding from the
+débris, and took hold of it in a futile attempt to remove some of the
+bricks and rubbish which I thought were covering the body of its owner.
+To my horror, it came away in my hand. The body to which it belonged
+might be buried yards away in the immense heap of ruins. I dropped it
+with a cry, and fled from the spot.
+
+“Dawn was now breaking. I do not exactly remember where I wandered to
+after the fall of St. Peter’s Tower, but it must have been between
+half-past five and six when I found myself on the high ground at the
+north-western corner of the town, overlooking the golf links, where I
+had spent so many pleasant hours in that recent past that now seemed so
+far away. All around me were batteries, trenches, and gun-pits. But
+though the firing was still going on somewhere away to the right, where
+Heybridge poured black smoke skyward like a volcano, gun and howitzer
+were silent, and their attendant artillerymen, instead of being in cover
+behind their earthen parapets, were clustered on the top watching
+intently something that was passing in the valley below them. So
+absorbed were they that I was able to creep up behind them, and also get
+a sight of what was taking place. And this is what I saw:--
+
+“Over the railway bridge which spanned the river a little to the left
+were hurrying battalion after battalion of green and blue clad German
+infantry. They moved down the embankment after crossing, and continued
+their march behind it. Where the railway curved to the right and left,
+about half a mile beyond the bridge, the top of the embankment was lined
+with dark figures lying down and apparently firing, while over the golf
+course from the direction of Beeleigh trotted squadron after squadron of
+sky-blue riders, their green and white lance pennons fluttering in the
+breeze. They crossed the Blackwater and Chelmer Canal, and cantered off
+in the direction of Langford Rectory.
+
+“At the same time I saw line after line of the Germans massed behind the
+embankment spring over it and advance rapidly towards the lower portion
+of the town, just across the river. Hundreds fell under the fire from
+the houses, which must have been full of Englishmen, but one line after
+another reached the buildings. The firing was now heavier than
+ever--absolutely incessant and continuous--though, except for an
+occasional discharge from beyond Heybridge, the artillery was silent.
+
+“I have but little knowledge of military matters, but it was abundantly
+evident, even to me, that what I had just seen was a very formidable
+counter-attack on the part of the Germans, who had brought up fresh
+troops either from the rear of the town or from farther inland, and
+launched them against the English under cover of the railway embankment.
+I was not able to see the end of the encounter, but bad news flies
+apace, and it soon became common knowledge in the town that our troops
+from Colchester had not only failed to cross the river at any point, but
+had been driven helter-skelter out of the lower town near the station
+and from the smoking ruins of Heybridge with great loss, and were now in
+full retreat.
+
+“Indeed, some hundreds of our khaki-clad fellow-countrymen were marched
+through the town an hour or two later as prisoners, to say nothing of
+the numbers of wounded who, together with those belonging to the
+Germans, soon began to crowd every available building suitable for use
+as an hospital. The wounded prisoners with their escort went off towards
+Mundon, and are reported to have gone in the direction of Steeple. It
+was altogether a disastrous day, and our hopes, which had begun to rise
+when the British had penetrated into the northern part of the town, now
+fell below zero.
+
+“It was a black day for us, and for England. During the morning the same
+officer who had captured me on the golf course came whirling into Maldon
+on a 24-h.p. Mercedes car. He drove straight up to my house, and
+informed me that he had orders to conduct me to Prince Henry, who was to
+be at Purleigh early in the afternoon.
+
+“‘Was it in connection with the skirmish with the Volunteers?’ I asked.
+
+“‘I don’t know,’ was the reply. ‘But I don’t fancy so. In the meantime,
+could I write here for an hour or two?’ he asked politely. ‘I have much
+to write to my friends in Germany, and have not had a minute up to
+now.’
+
+“I was very glad to be able to oblige the young man in such a small way,
+and left him in my study till midday, very busy with pens, ink, and
+paper.
+
+“After a makeshift of a lunch, the car came round, and we got into the
+back seat. In front sat his orderly and the chauffeur, a fierce-looking
+personage in a semi-military uniform. We ran swiftly down the High
+Street, and in a few minutes were spinning along the Purleigh Road,
+where I saw much that amazed me. I then for the first time realised how
+absolutely complete were the German plans.”
+
+“TUESDAY, _September 4_.
+
+“About six o’clock this morning I awoke rather suddenly. The wind had
+gone round to the northward, and I was certain that heavy firing was
+going on somewhere in that direction. I opened the window and looked
+out. The ‘thud’ and rumble of a cannonade, with the accompaniment of an
+occasional burst of musketry, came clearly and loudly on the wind from
+the hills by Wickham Bishops village. The church spire was in plain
+view, and little faint puffs and rings of grey smoke were just visible
+in its vicinity every now and again, sometimes high up in the air, at
+others among the trees at its base. They were exploding shells; I had no
+doubt of that. What was going on it was impossible to say, but I
+conjectured that some of our troops from Colchester had come into
+collision with the Germans, who had gone out in that direction the day
+of their arrival. The firing continued for about an hour, and then died
+away.
+
+“Soon after eight Count von Ohrendorff, the general officer commanding
+the 32nd Division, who appeared to be the supreme authority here, sent
+for me, and suggested that I should take steps to arrange for the
+manufacture of lint and bandages by the ladies living in the town. I
+could see no reason for objecting to this, and so promised to carry out
+his suggestion. I set about the matter at once, and, with the assistance
+of my wife, soon had a couple of score of more or less willing workers
+busily engaged in the National Schoolroom. In the meantime, the roll of
+a terrible cannonade had burst forth again from Wickham Bishops. It
+seemed louder and more insistent than ever. As soon as I got away from
+the schools I hurried home and climbed out on the roof. The top of the
+Moot Hall, the tower of St. Peter’s, and other better coigns of vantage
+had all been occupied by the Germans. However, with the aid of a pair of
+field-glasses I was able to see a good bit. Black smoke was now pouring
+from Wickham Bishops in clouds, and every now and again I fancied I
+could see the forked tongues of flame shooting up above the surrounding
+trees. A series of scattered black dots now came out on the open ground
+to the south of the church. The trees of Eastland Wood soon hid them
+from my sight, but others followed, mingled with little moving black
+blocks, which I took to be formed bodies of troops. After them came four
+or five guns, driven at breakneck pace towards the road that passes
+between Eastland and Captain’s Woods, then more black dots, also in a
+desperate hurry. Several of these last tumbled, and lay still here and
+there all over the slope.
+
+“Other dots followed at their heels. They were not quite so distinct. I
+looked harder. Hurrah! They were men in khaki. We were hustling these
+Germans at last. They also disappeared behind the woods. Then from the
+fringe of trees about Wickham half a dozen big brilliant flashes,
+followed after an interval by the loud detonation of heavy cannon. I
+could not distinguish much more, though the rattle of battle went on for
+some time longer. Soon after eleven four German guns galloped in from
+Heybridge. These were followed by a procession of maimed and limping
+humanity. Some managed to get along unaided, though with considerable
+difficulty. Others were supported by a comrade, some carried between two
+men, and others borne along on stretchers. A couple of ambulance carts
+trotted out and picked up more wounded. Our bandages and lint had not
+long to wait before being required. After this there was a cessation of
+firing.
+
+“About one o’clock the German general sent word to me that he thought an
+attack quite possible during the afternoon, and that he strongly advised
+me to get all the women and children out of the town--for the time
+being, at any rate. This was evidently well meant, but it was a pretty
+difficult matter to arrange for, to say nothing of raising a panic among
+the inhabitants. However, in an hour and a half’s time I had contrived
+to marshal several hundred of them together, and to get them out on to
+the road to Mundon. The weather was warm for the time of year, and I
+thought, if the worst came to the worst, they could spend the night in
+the old church. I left the sad little column of exiles--old, bent women
+helped along by their daughters, tiny children dragged along through the
+dust, clutching their mothers’ skirts, infants in arms, and other older
+and sturdier children staggering beneath the weight of the most precious
+home adornments--and made the best of my way back to arrange for the
+forwarding to them of their rations.
+
+“At every step on my homeward way I expected to hear the cannonade begin
+again. But beyond the twittering of the birds in the trees and
+hedgerows, the creak and rumble of a passing cart, and the rush of a
+train along the railway on my left--just the usual sounds of the
+countryside--nothing broke the stillness. As I stepped out on the
+familiar highway I could almost bring myself to believe that the events
+of the past twenty-four hours were but the phantasmagoria of a dream.
+After interviewing some of the town councillors who were going to
+undertake the transport of provisions to the women and children at
+Mundon, I walked round to my own house.
+
+“My wife and family had driven over to Purleigh on the first alarm, and
+had arranged to stay the night with some friends, on whatever shakedowns
+could be improvised, since every house in the peninsula harboured some
+of the ubiquitous German officers and men. I wandered through the
+familiar rooms, and came out into the garden--or rather what had been
+the garden. There I saw that the Saxon gunners were all standing to
+their pieces, and one of my none too welcome guests accosted me as I
+left the house.
+
+“‘If you’ll take my advice, sare, you’ll get away out of this,’ he said
+in broken English.
+
+“‘What! are you going to fire?’ I asked.
+
+“‘I don’t fancy so. It wouldn’t hurt you if we were. But I think your
+English friends from Colchester are about to see if they can draw us.’
+
+“As he spoke I became aware of a sharp, hissing noise like a train
+letting off steam. It grew louder and nearer, passed over our heads, and
+was almost instantly followed by a terrible crash somewhere behind the
+house. A deeper and more muffled report came up from the valley beyond
+Heybridge.
+
+“‘Well, they’ve begun now, and the best thing you can do is to get down
+into that gun epaulment there,’ said the German officer.
+
+“I thought his advice was good, and I lost no time in following it.
+
+“‘Here comes another!’ cried he, as he jumped down into the pit beside
+me. ‘We’ll have plenty of them now.’
+
+“So we did. Shell after shell came hissing and screaming at us over the
+tree-tops in the gardens lower down the hill. Each one of them sounded
+to me as if it were coming directly at my head, but one after another
+passed over us to burst beyond. The gunners all crouched close to the
+earthen parapet--and so did I. I am not ashamed to say so. My German
+officer, however, occasionally climbed to the top of the embankment and
+studied the prospect through his field-glasses. At length there was a
+loud detonation, and a column of dirt and smoke in the garden next below
+us. Then two shells struck the parapet of the gun-pit on our left
+almost simultaneously. Their explosion was deafening, and we were
+covered with the dust and stones they threw up.
+
+“Immediately afterwards another shell passed so close over our heads
+that I felt my hair lift. It just cleared the parapet and plunged into
+the side of my house. A big hole appeared just to the right of the
+dining-room window, and through it came instantaneously the loud bang of
+the explosion. The glass was shattered in all the windows, and thick
+smoke, white and black, came curling from every one of them.
+
+“‘The house is on fire!’ I shouted, and sprang madly from the pit.
+Heedless of the bombardment, I rushed into the building. Another crash
+sounded overhead as I entered, and a blaze of light shone down the
+stairway for an instant. Another projectile had found a billet in my
+home. I tried to make my way to my study, but found the passage blocked
+with fallen beams and ceiling. What with the smoke and dust, and the
+blocking of some of the windows, it was very dark in the hall, and I got
+quite a shock when, as I looked about me to find my way, I saw two red,
+glittering specks shining over the top of a heap of débris. But the howl
+that followed told me that they were nothing but the eyes of miserable
+Tim, the cat, who, left behind, had been nearly frightened out of his
+senses by the noise and concussion of the bursting shell. As I gazed at
+him another projectile struck the house quite close to us. Tim was
+simply smashed by a flying fragment. I was thrown down, and half buried
+under a shower of bricks and mortar. I think I must have lost
+consciousness for a time.
+
+“The next thing I recollect was being dragged out into the garden by a
+couple of Saxons. I had a splitting headache, and was very glad of a
+glass of water that one of them handed me. Their officer, who appeared
+to be quite a decent fellow, offered me his flask.
+
+“‘The house is all right,’ he said, with his strong accent. ‘It caught
+fire once, but we managed to get it under. Your friends have cleared
+off--at any rate for the present. They got too bold at last, and pushed
+their guns down till they got taken in flank by the warship in the
+river. They had two of their pieces knocked to bits, and then cleared
+out. Best thing you can do is to do the same.’
+
+“I was in two minds. I could not save the house by staying, and might
+just as well join my people at Purleigh Rectory. On the other hand, I
+felt that it would better become me, as Mayor, to stick to the town.
+Duty triumphed, and I decided to remain where I was--at least for the
+present. All was now quiet, and after an early supper I turned in, and,
+despite the excitement of the day and my aching head, was asleep the
+moment I touched the pillow.”
+
+“WEDNESDAY, _September 5_.
+
+“It must have been about three in the morning when I awoke. My head was
+much better, and for a minute or two I lay comfortably in the darkness,
+without any recollection of the events of the preceding day. Then I saw
+a bright reflection pass rapidly over the ceiling. I wondered vaguely
+what it was. Presently it came back again, paused a moment, and
+disappeared. By this time I was wide awake. I went to the window and
+looked out. It was quite dark, but from somewhere over beyond Heybridge
+a long white ray was sweeping all along this side of Maldon. Now the
+foliage of a tree in the garden below would stand out in pale green
+radiance against the blackness; now the wall of a house half a mile away
+would reflect back the moving beam, shining white as a sheet of
+notepaper.
+
+“Presently another ray shone out, and the two of them moving backwards
+and forwards made the whole of our hillside caper in a dizzy dance. From
+somewhere far away to my right another stronger beam now streamed
+through the obscurity, directed apparently at the sources of the other
+two, and almost simultaneously came the crack of a rifle from the
+direction of Heybridge, sharp and ominous in the quiet darkness of the
+night. Half a dozen scattered shots followed; then a faint cheer. More
+and more rifles joined in, and presently the burring tap-tap-tap of a
+Maxim. I hurried on my clothes. The firing increased in volume and
+rapidity; bugles rang out here, there, and everywhere through the
+sleeping town, and above the rolling, rattling clamour of the drums I
+could distinguish the hurried tramp of hundreds of feet.
+
+“I cast one glance from the window as I quitted the room. The electric
+searchlights had increased to at least half a dozen. Some reached out
+long, steady fingers into the vague spaces of the night, while others
+wandered restlessly up and down, hither and thither. Low down over the
+trees of the garden a dull red glare slowly increased in extent and
+intensity. The rattle of musketry was now absolutely continuous. As I
+ran out of the house into the street I was nearly carried off my feet by
+the rush of a battalion that was pouring down Cromwell Hill at the
+double. Hardly knowing what I did, I followed in their wake. The glare
+in front got brighter and brighter. A few steps, and I could see the
+cause of it. The whole of Heybridge appeared to be on fire, the flames
+roaring skywards from a dozen different conflagrations.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+England halted breathless. Fighting had commenced in real earnest.
+
+The greatest consternation was caused by the publication in the _Times_
+of the description of the operations in Essex, written by Mr. Henry
+Bentley, the distinguished war correspondent, who had served that
+journal in every campaign since Kitchener had entered Khartum.
+
+All other papers, without exception, contained various accounts of the
+British defence at the point nearest London, but they were mostly of the
+scrappy and sensational order, based more on report than upon actual
+fact. The _Times_ account, however, had been written with calm
+impartiality by one of the most experienced correspondents at the
+front. Whether he had been afforded any special facilities was not
+apparent, but, in any case, it was the most complete and truthful
+account of the gallant attempt on the part of our soldiers to check the
+advance from Essex westward.
+
+During the whole of that hot, stifling day it was known that a battle
+was raging, and the excitement everywhere was intense.
+
+The public were in anxious terror as the hours crept by until the first
+authentic news of the result of the operations was printed in a special
+evening edition of the _Times_ as follows:--
+
+ “(_From our War Correspondent._)
+
+“DANBURY, ESSEX, _September 8_.
+
+“To-day has been a momentous one for England. The great battle has raged
+since dawn, and though just at present there seems to be a lull, during
+which the opposing forces are, so to speak, regaining their breath, it
+can be by no means over.
+
+“Dead and living alike will lie out on the battlefield the whole night
+through, for we must hold on to the positions so hardly won, and be
+ready to press forward at the first glimmer of daylight. Our gallant
+troops, Regular and Volunteer alike, have nobly vindicated the
+traditions of our race, and have fought as desperately as ever did their
+forebears at Agincourt, Albuera, or Waterloo. But while a considerable
+success--paid for, alas! by the loss of thousands of gallant lives--has
+been achieved, it will take at least another day’s hard fighting before
+victory is in our grasp. Nowadays a soldier need not expect to be either
+victorious or finally defeated by nightfall, and although this battle,
+fought as it is between much smaller forces and extending over a much
+more limited area than the great engagement between the Russians and
+Japanese at Liaoyang, will not take quite so long a time to decide, the
+end is not yet in sight. I write this after a hard day’s travelling
+backwards and forwards behind our advancing line of battle.
+
+“I took my cycle with me in my motor-car, and whenever opportunity
+offered mounted it, and pushed forward as near to the fighting as I
+could get. Frequently I had to leave the cycle also, and crawl forward
+on hands and knees, sheltering in some depression in the ground, while
+the enemy’s bullets whined and whistled overhead. As reported in a
+previous issue, the Army which had assembled at Brentwood moved forward
+early on the 5th.
+
+“During the afternoon the advanced troops succeeded in driving the enemy
+out of South Hanningfield, and before sundown they were also in full
+retreat from the positions they had held at East Hanningfield and
+Danbury. There was some stiff fighting at the latter place, but after a
+pounding from the artillery, who brought several batteries into action
+on the high ground north-west of East Hanningfield, the Germans were
+unable to withstand the attack of the Argyll and Sutherlands and the
+London Scottish, who worked their way through Danbury Park and Hall Wood
+right into their position, driving them from their entrenchments by a
+dashing bayonet charge. Everything north and east of the enemy’s main
+position, which is now known to lie north and south, between Maldon and
+the river Crouch, was now in our hands, but his troops still showed a
+stout front at Wickford, and were also reported to be at Rayleigh,
+Hockley, and Canewdon, several miles to the eastward. All preparations
+were made to assault the German position at Wickford at daybreak to-day,
+but our scouts found that the place had been evacuated. The news that
+Rayleigh and Hockley had also been abandoned by the enemy came in
+shortly afterwards. The German invaders had evidently completed their
+arrangements for the defence of their main position, and now said, in
+effect, ‘Come on, and turn us out if you can.’
+
+“It was no easy task that lay before our gallant defenders. Maldon,
+perched on a high knoll, with a network of river and canal protecting it
+from assault from the northward, fairly bristles with guns, many of
+them heavy field howitzers, and has, as we know to our cost, already
+repulsed one attack by our troops. Farther south there are said to be
+many guns on the knolls about Purleigh. This little out-of-the-way
+hamlet, by the way, is noteworthy as having had as its Rector from
+1632-1643 the great-great-grandfather of the famous George Washington,
+and the father of the first Washingtons who emigrated to Virginia. Great
+Canney Hill, standing boldly up like an immense redoubt, is reported to
+be seamed with entrenchments mounting many heavy guns. The railway
+embankment south of Maldon forms a perfect natural rampart along part of
+the enemy’s position, while the woods and enclosures south-west of Great
+Canney conceal thousands of sharpshooters. A sort of advanced position
+was occupied by the enemy at Edwin Hall, a mile east of Woodham Ferrers,
+where a pair of high kopjes a quarter of a mile apart offered command
+and cover to some of their field batteries.
+
+“Our scouts have discovered also that an elaborate system of wire
+entanglements and other military obstacles protects almost the whole
+front of the somewhat extensive German position. On its extreme left
+their line is said to be thrown back at an angle, so that any attempt to
+outflank it would not only entail crossing the river Crouch, but would
+come under the fire of batteries placed on the high ground overlooking
+it. Altogether, it is a very tough nut to crack, and the force at our
+disposal none too strong for the work that lies before it.
+
+“Further detail regarding our strength would be inadvisable for obvious
+reasons, but when I point out that the Germans are supposed to be
+between thirty and forty thousand strong, and that it is laid down by
+competent military authorities that to attack troops in an entrenched
+position a superiority of six to one is advisable, my readers can draw
+their own conclusions. For the same reason, I will not enumerate all the
+regiments and corps that go to compose our Army in Essex. At the same
+time there can be no harm in mentioning some of them which have
+particularly distinguished themselves in the hard fighting of the past
+twelve hours.
+
+“Among these are the Grenadier and Irish Guards, the Inns of Court
+Volunteers, and the Honourable Artillery Company from London, and the
+Oxfordshire and two battalions of the Royal Marines from Chatham, which,
+with other troops from that place, crossed over at Tilbury and joined
+our forces. The last-mentioned are the most veteran troops we have here,
+as, besides belonging to a long-service corps, they have in their ranks
+a number of their Reservists who had joined at a day’s notice. The
+Marines are in reality, though not nominally, the most territorial of
+our troops, since the greater number of their Reserve men settle down in
+the immediate neighbourhood of their headquarters. It is this fact which
+enabled them to mobilise so much quicker than the rest of our regiments.
+The Oxfordshire, for instance, coming from the same garrison, has very
+few Reservists as yet, while most of the others are in the same plight.
+And yet the fiat has gone forth that the Marine Corps, despite its past
+record, the excellence of its men, and its constant readiness for active
+service, is to lose its military status. Would that we had a few more of
+its battalions with us to-day. But to return to the story of the great
+battle.
+
+“The repairs to the railway line between Brentwood and Chelmsford, that
+had been damaged by the enemy’s cavalry on their first landing, were
+completed yesterday, and all night reinforcements had been coming in by
+way of Chelmsford and Billericay. The general headquarters had been
+established at Danbury, and thither I made my way as fast as my car
+could get along the roads, blocked as they were by marching horse, foot,
+and artillery. I had spent the night at South Hanningfield, so as to be
+on the spot for the expected attack on Wickford; but as soon as I found
+it was not to come off, I considered that at Danbury would be the best
+chance of finding out what our next move was to be.
+
+“Nor was I mistaken. As I ran up to the village I found the roads full
+of troops under arms, and everything denoted action of some kind. I was
+lucky enough to come across a friend of mine on the staff--Captain
+B----, I will call him--who spared a moment to give me the tip that a
+general move forward was commencing, and that a big battle was imminent.
+Danbury is situated on the highest ground for many miles round, and as
+it bid fair to be a fine, clear day, I thought I could not do better
+than try and get a general look round from the summit of the church
+tower before proceeding farther. But I was informed that the General was
+up there with some of his staff and a signalling party, so that I could
+not ascend.
+
+“However, no other newspaper correspondents were in the immediate
+vicinity, and as there was thus no fear of my case being quoted as a
+precedent, my pass eventually procured me admission to the little
+platform, which, by the way, the General left a moment after my arrival.
+It was now eight o’clock, the sun was fairly high in the heavens, and
+the light mists that hung about the low ground in the vicinity of Maldon
+were fast fading into nothingness. The old town was plainly
+distinguishable as a dark silhouette against the morning light, which,
+while it illumined the panorama spread out before me, yet rendered
+observation somewhat difficult, since it shone almost directly into my
+eyes. However, by the aid of my glasses I was able to see something of
+the first moves on the fatal chess-board where so many thousands of
+lives are staked on the bloody game of war.
+
+“I noticed among other things that the lessons of the recent war in the
+East had not passed unobserved, for in all the open spaces on the
+eastern slope of the hill, where the roads were not screened by trees or
+coppices, lofty erections of hurdles and greenery had been placed
+overnight to hide the preliminary movements of our troops from the
+glasses of the enemy. Under cover of these regiment after regiment of
+khaki-clad soldiers, batteries of artillery, and ammunition carts, were
+proceeding to their allotted posts down the network of roads and lanes
+leading to the lower ground towards the south-east. Two battalions stood
+in quarter column behind Thrift Wood. They were kilted corps, probably
+the Argylls and the London Scottish. Several field batteries moved off
+to the left towards Woodham Walter. Other battalions took up their
+position behind Hyde Woods, farther away to the right, the last of them,
+the Grenadier Guards, I fancy, passing behind them and marching still
+farther southward.
+
+“Finally two strong battalions, easily recognised as marines by their
+blue war-kit, marched rapidly down the main road and halted presently
+behind Woodham Mortimer Place. All this time there was neither sight nor
+sound of the enemy. The birds carrolled gaily in the old elms round my
+eyrie, the sparrows and martins piped and twittered in the eaves of the
+old church, and the sun shone genially on hill and valley, field and
+wood. To all appearance, peace reigned over the countryside, though the
+dun masses of troops in the shadows of the woodlands were suggestive of
+the autumn manœuvres. But for all this, the ‘Real Thing’ was upon us.
+As I looked, first one then another long and widely scattered line of
+crouching men in khaki issued from the cover of Hyde Woods and began
+slowly to move away towards the east. Then, and not till then, a vivid
+violet-white flash blazed out on the dim grey upland five miles away to
+the south-east, which had been pointed out to me as Great Canney, and
+almost at once a spout of earth and smoke sprang up a little way ahead
+of the advancing British. A dull boom floated up on the breeze, but was
+drowned in an ear-splitting crash somewhere close to me. I felt the old
+tower rock under the concussion, which I presently discovered came from
+a battery of big 4.7 guns established just outside the churchyard.
+
+“There were at least six of them, and as one after another gave tongue,
+I descended from my rickety perch and went down to look at them. They
+were manned by a party of Bluejackets, who had brought them over from
+Chatham, and among the guns I found some of my acquaintances in the
+Boer War, ‘Joe Chamberlain’ and ‘Bloody Mary,’ to wit. But I must leave
+my own personal experiences, at least for the present, and endeavour to
+give a general account of the day’s operations so far as I was able to
+follow them by observation and inquiry. The movement I saw developing
+below me was the first step towards what I eventually discovered was our
+main objective--Purleigh. The open ground, flat as a billiard-table to
+the north of this towards Maldon, presented the weakest front to our
+attack, but it was considered that if we penetrated there we should in a
+very short time be decimated and swept away by the cross fire from
+Maldon and Purleigh, to say nothing of that from other positions we
+might certainly assume the enemy had prepared in rear.
+
+“Could we succeed in establishing ourselves at Purleigh, however, we
+should be beyond effective range from Maldon, and should also take Great
+Canney in reverse, as well as the positions on the refused left flank of
+the enemy. Maldon, too, would be isolated. Purleigh, therefore, was the
+key of the position. We have not got it yet, but have made a good stride
+in its direction, and if it is true that ‘fortune favours the brave,’
+ought certainly to be in possession of it by to-morrow evening. Our
+first move was in this direction, as I have already indicated. The
+scouts were picked men from the Line battalions, but the firing lines
+were composed of Volunteers and, in some cases, Militiamen. It was
+considered more politic to reserve the Regulars for the later stages of
+the attack. The firing from Canney, and afterwards from Purleigh, was at
+first at rather too long a range to be effective, even from the heavy
+guns that were in use, and later on the heavy long-range fire from
+‘Bloody Mary’ and her sisters at Danbury, and other heavy guns and
+howitzers in the neighbourhood of East Hanningfield, kept it down
+considerably, although the big, high-explosive shells were now and again
+most terribly destructive to the advancing British.
+
+“When, however, the firing line--which as yet had
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF PURLEIGH, 6TH SEPTEMBER.]
+
+not been near enough to fire a shot in reply--arrived in the
+neighbourhood of Loddard’s Hill, its left came under a terrible rifle
+fire from Hazeleigh Wood, while its right and centre were all but
+destroyed by a tornado of shrapnel from some German field batteries to
+the north of Purleigh. Though dazed and staggered under the appalling
+sleet of projectiles, the Volunteers stuck doggedly to their ground,
+though unable to advance. They were intelligent men; and even if they
+had the inclination to fall back, they knew that there was no safety
+that way. Line after line was pushed forward, the men stumbling and
+falling over the thickly scattered bodies of their fallen comrades.
+
+“It was a perfect holocaust. Some other card must be played at once, or
+the attack must fail.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The second of Mr. Henry Bentley’s descriptive articles in the _Times_
+told a terrible truth, and was as follows:--
+
+
+ “(_From our War Correspondent._)
+
+“CHELMSFORD, _September 7_.
+
+ “When I sent off my despatch by motor-car last night it was with
+ very different feelings to those with which I take my pen in hand
+ this evening, in the Saracen’s Head Hotel, which is the
+ headquarters of my colleagues, the correspondents.
+
+ “Last night, despite the hard fighting and the heavy losses we had
+ sustained, the promise of the morrow was distinctly a good one. But
+ now I have little heart with which to commence the difficult and
+ unpleasant task of chronicling the downfall of all our high hopes,
+ the repulse--ay, and the defeat--it is no use mincing matters--of
+ our heroic and sorely tried Army.
+
+ “Yes, our gallant soldiers have sustained a reverse which, but for
+ their stubborn fighting qualities and a somewhat inexplicable
+ holding back on the part of the Germans, might very easily have
+ culminated in disaster. Defeat although it undoubtedly is, the
+ darkness of the gloomy outlook is illuminated by the brilliancy of
+ the conduct of our troops.
+
+ “From General down to the youngest Volunteer drummer boy, our brave
+ soldiers did all, and more, than could be humanly expected of them,
+ and on none of them can be laid the blame of our ill-success. The
+ plan of attack is agreed on all hands to have been as good a one as
+ could have been evolved; the officers led well, their men fought
+ well, and there was no running short of ammunition at any period of
+ the engagement.
+
+ “‘Who, then, was responsible?’ it may well be asked. The answer is
+ simple. The British public, which, in its apathetic attitude
+ towards military efficiency, aided and abetted by the soothing
+ theories of the extremists of the ‘Blue Water’ school, had, as
+ usual, neglected to provide an Army fitted to cope in numbers and
+ efficiency with those of our Continental neighbours. Had we had a
+ sufficiency of troops, more especially of regular troops, there is
+ not the slightest doubt that the victory would have been ours. As
+ it was, our General was obliged to attack the enemy’s position with
+ a force whose numbers, even if they had been all regular soldiers,
+ were below those judged necessary by military experts for the task
+ in hand.
+
+ “Having broken through the German lines, success was in his grasp,
+ had he had sufficient reinforcements to have established him in the
+ position he had won and to beat back the inevitable counter-attack.
+ But it is best that I should continue my account of the fighting
+ from the point at which I closed my letter of yesterday. I had
+ arrived at the checking of our advance near Loddard’s Hill by the
+ blast of shrapnel from the German field batteries. It was plain
+ that the Volunteer Brigade, though it held its ground, could not
+ advance farther. But, unnoticed by them, the General had been
+ preparing for this eventuality.
+
+ “On the left the two battalions of Marines that I noticed drawn up
+ behind Woodham Mortimer Place suddenly debouched on Loddard’s Hill,
+ and, carrying forward with them the débris of the Volunteer firing
+ line, hurled themselves into Hazeleigh Wood. There was a sanguinary
+ hand-to-hand struggle on the wire-entangled border, but the
+ new-comers were not to be denied, and after a quarter of an hour’s
+ desperate mêlée, which filled the sylvan glades with moaning and
+ writhing wounded and stark dead bodies, we remained masters of the
+ wood, and even obtained a footing on the railway line where it
+ adjoins it.
+
+ “Simultaneously a long line of our field batteries came into
+ action near Woodham Mortimer, some trying to beat down the fire of
+ the German guns opposite, while others replied to a battery that
+ had been established near West Maldon Station to flank the railway,
+ and which was now beginning to open on Hazeleigh Wood. The latter
+ were assisted by a battery of 4.7 guns manned by Volunteers, which
+ took up a position behind Woodham Walter. The firing on Great
+ Canney from our batteries at East Hanningfield redoubled, the whole
+ summit of the hill being at times obscured by the clouds of smoke
+ and débris from the explosions of the big, high-explosive
+ projectiles.
+
+ “The main firing line, continually fed from the rear, now began
+ slowly to gain ground, and when the Grenadiers and the Irish
+ Guards, who had managed to work up through the series of
+ plantations that run eastwards for nearly two miles from Woodham
+ Hall without drawing any particular attention from the busily
+ engaged enemy, came into action on the right, there was a distinct
+ move forward. But the defence was too stubborn, and about midday
+ the whole line again came to a standstill, its left still in
+ Hazeleigh Wood, its right at Prentice Farm. Orders were passed that
+ the men should try to entrench themselves as best they could, and
+ spades and other tools were sent forward to those corps who were
+ not provided with them already.
+
+ “Here we must leave the main attack to notice what was going on
+ elsewhere. On the north the Colchester Garrison again brought their
+ heavy artillery into action on the slopes south of Wickham Bishops,
+ while others of our troops made a show of advancing against Maldon
+ from the west. These movements were, however, merely intended to
+ keep the German garrison occupied. But on the right a rather
+ important flanking movement was in progress.
+
+ “We had a considerable body of troops at East Hanningfield, which
+ lies in a hollow between two little ridges, both running from
+ south-west to north-east, and about a mile apart. The most easterly
+ ridge is very narrow for the most part, and behind it were
+ stationed several batteries of our field howitzers, which fired
+ over it at Great Canney at a range of about 5000 yards. A number of
+ 4.7-inch guns, scattered over the western hill, were also
+ concentrated on the same target. Although the range was an
+ extremely long one, there is no doubt that they made a certain
+ number of effective hits, since Great Canney offered a conspicuous
+ and considerable target. But beyond this the flashes of their
+ discharges drew off all attention from the howitzer batteries in
+ front of them, and served to conceal their presence from the enemy.
+ Otherwise, although invisible, their presence would have been
+ guessed at. As it was, not a single German projectile came anywhere
+ near them.
+
+ “When the fighting began, those troops who were not intended to be
+ held in reserve or to co-operate with the right of the main attack
+ moved off in the direction of Woodham Ferrers, and made a feint of
+ attacking the German position astride the two kopjes at Edwin’s
+ Hall, their field guns coming into action on the high ground north
+ of Rettendon, and engaging those of the enemy at long range. But
+ the real attack on this salient of the German position came from a
+ very different quarter.
+
+ “The troops detailed for this movement were those who had advanced
+ against Wickford at daybreak, and had found it abandoned by the
+ enemy. They consisted of the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, the
+ Honourable Artillery Company, and the Inns of Court Volunteers,
+ together with their own and three or four other machine-gun
+ detachments, their Maxims being mounted on detachable legs instead
+ of carriages. Co-operating with them were the Essex and the East
+ Kent Yeomanry, who were scouting in the direction of Hockley.
+
+ “The troops had a long, wearisome march before them, the design
+ being to take advantage of the time of low tide, and to move along
+ out of sight of the enemy behind the northern bank of the river
+ Crouch, as it had been discovered that the German line of defence
+ turned back to the eastward at a mile or two north of the river at
+ the point aimed at. Its guns still commanded it, and might be
+ trusted to render abortive any attempt to throw a bridge across it.
+ The Yeomanry had the task of occupying the attention of the enemy
+ at Canewdon, and of preventing the passage of boats from the German
+ warships. This part of our operations succeeded admirably. The long
+ creeping lines of the Oxfordshires and the machine-gun detachments
+ in their khaki uniforms were almost indistinguishable against the
+ steep mud banks at any distance, and they escaped observation both
+ from the German main lines and from their outpost at Canewdon until
+ they had reached the entrances of the two branch creeks for which
+ they were making.
+
+ “Then, and not till then, came the sound of artillery from the left
+ rear of the German position. But it was too late. The Oxford
+ companies pushed forward at the double. Five companies lined the
+ embankments of Stow Creek, the easternmost of the two, while the
+ remainder, ensconced in Clementsgreen Creek, aligned the whole of
+ their machine-guns on the southern of the two kopjes against which
+ the manœuvre had been directed. Their fire, which, coming from a
+ little to the rear of the left flank of the southern kopje,
+ completely enfiladed it, created such slaughter and confusion that
+ the Honourable Artillery Company and the Inns of Court, who had
+ been working up the railway line from Battle Bridge, had little
+ difficulty in establishing themselves at Woodham Ferrers Station
+ and in an adjacent farm. Being almost immediately afterwards
+ reinforced by the arrival of two regular battalions who had been
+ pushed forward from Rettendon, a determined assault was made on the
+ southern kopje. Its defenders, demoralised by the pelting shower of
+ lead from the machine-gun battery, and threatened also by the
+ advance from Woodham Ferrers village, gave way, and our people,
+ forcing their way over every obstacle, seized the position amid
+ frantic cheering.
+
+ “Meanwhile the Oxfordshires had been subjected to a determined
+ counter-attack from North Frambridge. Preceded by a pounding from
+ the guns on Kit’s Hill, but aided by the fire of the Yeomanry on
+ the south bank of the river, who galloped up and lined the
+ embankment, thus flanking the defenders of Stow Creek, it was
+ beaten back with considerable loss. The machine-guns were
+ transferred to the neighbourhood of South Kopje, and used with such
+ effect that its defenders, after repulsing several counter-attacks
+ from the adjoining German entrenchment, were able to make
+ themselves masters of the North Kopje also.
+
+ “Elsewhere the fighting still continued strenuous and deadly. The
+ main attack had contrived to make some little shelter for itself;
+ but though three several attempts were made to advance from this,
+ all ended in failure, one nearly in disaster. This was the last of
+ the three, when the advancing line was charged by a mass of cavalry
+ which suddenly appeared from behind Great Canney Hill. I myself was
+ a witness of this attack, the most picturesque incident of the
+ day’s fighting.
+
+ “I was watching the progress of the engagement through my glasses
+ from the high ground about Wickhams Farm, when I saw line after
+ line of the German horsemen in their sky-blue tunics and glittering
+ helmets trot out into the open, canter, and one after another break
+ into a mad gallop as they bore down upon the advancing lines of our
+ citizen soldiers. Staunchly as these had withstood the murderous
+ fire which for hours had been directed upon them, this whirlwind of
+ lance and sabre, the thunder of thousands of hoofs, and the hoarse
+ cries of the riders, were rather more than such partially trained
+ soldiers could stand. A scattering discharge from their rifles was
+ followed by something very much approaching a _sauve qui peut_.
+
+ “A large number of the Volunteers, however, sought shelter among
+ the ruined houses of Cock Clarke’s hamlet, from whence they opened
+ a heavy fire on the adventurous horsemen. The Argyll and Sutherland
+ Highlanders, who were by this time in Mosklyns Copse, and the
+ Guards and other troops on the right, also opened a rapid and
+ sustained fire on the German cavalry, which, seconded by the
+ shrapnel from our guns on Loddard’s Hill, caused them to turn and
+ ride back for their lives. There was a tremendous outburst of
+ firing from both sides after this, followed by quite a lull. One
+ could well imagine that all the combatants were exhausted by the
+ prolonged effort of the day. It was now between five and six in the
+ evening. It was at this time that the news of the capture of the
+ two kopjes reached me, and I made for Danbury to write my
+ despatches.
+
+ “Shortly after my arrival I heard of the capture of Spar Hill, a
+ detached knoll about 12,000 yards to the north-west of Purleigh.
+ The Marines from Hazeleigh Wood and the Highlanders from Mosklyns
+ Copse had suddenly and simultaneously assaulted it from opposite
+ sides, and were now entrenching themselves upon it. What wonder,
+ then, that I reported satisfactory progress, and reckoned--too
+ confidently, as it proved--on a victory for the morrow?
+
+ “I spent a great part of that night under the stars on the hilltop
+ near East Hanningfield, watching the weird play of the searchlights
+ which swept over the country from a score of different positions,
+ and listening to the crash of artillery and clatter of rifle fire
+ which now and again told of some attempted movement under cover of
+ the darkness. Just before daylight the continuous roar of battle
+ began again, and when light dawned I found that our troops had cut
+ right through the German lines, and had penetrated as far as Cop
+ Kitchen’s farm, on the Maldon-Mundon road. Reinforcements were
+ being hurried up, and an attack was being pushed towards the rear
+ of Purleigh and Great Canney, which was being heavily bombarded by
+ some of our large guns, which had been mounted during the night on
+ the two kopjes.
+
+ “But the reinforcements were not enough. The Germans held fast to
+ Purleigh and to some reserve positions they had established about
+ Mundon. After two or three hours of desperate effort, costing the
+ lives of thousands, our attack was at a standstill. At this
+ critical moment a powerful counter-attack was made from Maldon,
+ and, outnumbered and almost surrounded, our gallant warriors had to
+ give ground. But they fell back as doggedly as they had advanced,
+ the Argylls, Marines, and Grenadiers covering the retreat on
+ Danbury.
+
+ “The guns at East Hanningfield and the two kopjes checked the
+ pursuit to a great extent, and the Germans seemed unwilling to go
+ far from their works. The kopjes had to be abandoned later in the
+ day, and we now occupy our former line from Danbury to Billericay,
+ and are busily engaged in entrenching ourselves.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+DEFENCE AT LAST
+
+
+Late on Wednesday night came tardy news of the measures we were taking
+to mobilise.
+
+The Aldershot Army Corps, so complete in the “Army List,” consisted, as
+all the world knew, of three divisions, but of these only two existed,
+the other being found to be on paper. The division in question, located
+at Bordon, was to be formed on mobilisation, and this measure was now
+being proceeded with. The train service was practically suspended, owing
+to the damage done to the various lines south of London by the enemy’s
+emissaries. Several of these men had been detected, and being in plain
+clothes were promptly shot out of hand. However, their work had,
+unfortunately for us, been accomplished, and trains could only run as
+far as the destroyed bridges, so men on their way to join their
+respective corps were greatly delayed in consequence.
+
+In one instance, at about four o’clock in the morning, three men were
+seen by a constable acting suspiciously beneath the iron girder bridge
+of the South-Western Railway spanning the road on the London side of
+Surbiton Station. Of a sudden the men bolted, and a few moments later,
+with a terrific explosion, the great bridge crashed into the road.
+
+The constable raised the alarm that the fugitives were German spies,
+whereupon a few unemployed workmen, rushing down Effingham Gardens,
+caught two of the men in Malpas Road. In the hands of these irate
+bricklayers the Germans were given short shrift, and, notwithstanding
+the protests of the constable, the two spies were dragged along the
+Portsmouth Road, pitched headlong into the Thames almost immediately
+opposite the water-works, and drowned.
+
+All was confusion at Bordon, where men were arriving in hundreds on
+foot, and by the service of motor-omnibuses, which the War Office had on
+the day before established between Charing Cross and Aldershot.
+Perspiring staff officers strove diligently, without much avail, to sort
+out into their respective units this ever-increasing mass of reservists.
+
+There was perfect chaos.
+
+Before the chief constituent parts of the division--that is to say,
+regiments who were stationed elsewhere--had arrived little could be done
+with the reservists. The regiments in question were in many cases
+stationed at considerable distance, and although they had received
+orders to start, were prevented from arriving owing to the universal
+interruptions of the railway traffic south. By this, whole valuable days
+were lost--days when at any hour the invaders might make a sudden swoop
+on London.
+
+Reports were alarming and conflicting. Some said that the enemy meant to
+strike a blow upon the capital just as suddenly as they had landed,
+while others reassured the alarmists that the German plans were not yet
+complete, and that they had not sufficient stores to pursue the
+campaign.
+
+Reservists, with starvation staring them in the face, went eagerly south
+to join their regiments, knowing that at least they would be fed with
+regularity; while, in addition, the true patriotic spirit of the
+Englishman had been roused against the aggressive Teuton, and everyone,
+officer and man, was eager to bear his part in driving the invader into
+the sea.
+
+The public were held breathless. What would happen?
+
+Arrivals at Aldershot, however, found the whole arrangements in such a
+complete muddle that Army Service Corps men, who ought to have been at
+Woolwich, were presenting themselves for enrolment at Bordon, and
+infantry of the line were conducted into the camp of the Dragoons. The
+Motor Volunteer Corps were at this moment of very great use. The cars
+were filled with staff officers and other exalted officials, who were
+settling themselves in various offices, and passing out again to make
+necessary arrangements for dealing with such a large influx of men.
+
+There were activity and excitement everywhere. Men were rapidly drawing
+their clothing, or as much of it as they could get, and civilians were
+quickly becoming soldiers on every hand. Officers of the Reserve were
+driving up in motor-cars and cabs, many of them with their old battered
+uniform-cases, that had seen service in the field in distant parts of
+the globe. Men from the “Junior” and the “Senior” wrung each other’s
+hands on returning to active duty with their old regiments, and at once
+settled down into the routine work they knew so well.
+
+The rumour, however, had now got about that a position in the
+neighbourhood of Cambridge had been selected by the General Staff as
+being the most suitable theatre of action where an effective stand
+could, with any hope of success, be made. It was evident that the German
+tactics were to strike a swift and rapid blow at London. Indeed, nothing
+at present stood in their way except the gallant little garrison at
+Colchester, who had been so constantly driven back by the enemy’s
+cavalry on attempting to make any reconnaissance, and who might be swept
+out of existence at any hour.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+During Tuesday and Wednesday large gangs of workmen had been busy
+repairing the damaged lines. The first regiment complete for the field
+was the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Fusiliers, who carried upon their
+colours the names of a score of battles, ranging from Corunna and
+Badajoz, all through the Peninsula, Afghanistan, and Egypt, down to the
+Modder River. This regiment left by train for London on Tuesday
+evening, and was that same night followed by the 2nd Battalion King’s
+Liverpool Regiment and the 1st King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, while
+the Manchester Regiment got away soon after midnight.
+
+These formed the second infantry brigade of the 1st Division, and were
+commanded by Brigadier-General Sir John Money. They were several hours
+getting up to London, whence from Clapham Junction their trains circled
+London on to the Great Eastern system to Braintree, where the Horn Hotel
+was made the headquarters. By other trains in the small hours of the
+morning the last of the Guards Brigade under Colonel (temporary
+Brigadier-General) Lord Wansford departed, and duly arrived at Saffron
+Walden, to join their comrades on the line of defence.
+
+The divisional troops were also on the move early on Wednesday. Six
+batteries of artillery and the field company of Royal Engineers left by
+road. There was a balloon section accompanying this, and searchlights,
+wireless instruments, and cables for field-telegraphy were carried in
+the waggons.
+
+The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General Morgan, C.B., was also
+active. The 3rd Infantry Brigade, commanded by Major-General Fortescue,
+composed of 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment, the 2nd
+Bedfordshire, the 1st Princess of Wales’ Own, and the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, were preparing, but had not yet moved. The 4th Infantry
+Brigade of the same division, consisting of the 3rd and 4th Battalions
+King’s Royal Rifle Corps, the 2nd Sherwood Foresters, and the 2nd South
+Lancashire, with the usual smartness of those distinguished regiments,
+were quick and ready, now as ever, to go to the front. They were
+entrained to Baldock, slightly east of Hitchin, where they marched out
+on the Icknield Way. These were followed by Fortescue’s Brigade, who
+were also bound for Baldock and the neighbourhood.
+
+The bulk of the cavalry and field artillery of both divisions, together
+with the divisional troops, were compelled to set out by march-route
+from Aldershot for the line of defences. The single and all-sufficient
+reason of this delay in sending out the cavalry and artillery was owing
+to the totally inadequate accommodation on the railways for the
+transport of so many horses and guns. The troop-trains, which were, of
+course, necessary to transport the infantry, were not forthcoming in
+sufficient numbers, this owing to the fact that at several points the
+lines to London were still interrupted.
+
+The orders to the cavalry who went by march-route were to get up to the
+line proposed to be taken up by the infantry as quickly as possible, and
+to operate in front of it to the east and north-east in screening and
+reconnoitring duties. The temporary deficiency of cavalry, who ought, of
+course, to have been the first to arrive at the scene, was made good as
+far as possible by the general employment of hordes of motor-cyclists,
+who scoured the country in large armed groups in order to ascertain, if
+possible, the dispositions of the enemy. This they did, and very soon
+after their arrival reported the result of their investigations to the
+general officers commanding the 1st and 2nd Divisions.
+
+Meanwhile both cavalry and artillery in great bodies, and strings of
+motor-omnibuses filled with troops, were upon the white, dusty roads
+passing through Staines to Hounslow and Brentford, thence to London, St.
+Albans, _en route_ to their respective divisions. Roughly, the distance
+was over fifty miles, therefore those marching were compelled to halt
+the night on the way, while those in the motor-omnibuses got through to
+their destination.
+
+To cavalry, thirty-five miles is a long day’s march, and in view of the
+heavy work before them, stringent orders had been given them to spare
+the horses as much as possible. The heads of the columns did not,
+therefore, pass beyond Hounslow on the first night, and in that
+neighbourhood the thousands of all ranks made themselves as comfortable
+as circumstances would permit. The majority of the men were fed and
+billeted by the all-too-willing inhabitants, and upon their hot march
+they met with ovations everywhere.
+
+At last we were defending ourselves! The sight of British troops
+hurrying to the front swelled the hearts of the villagers and townsfolk
+with renewed patriotism, and everywhere, through the blazing, dusty day,
+the men were offered refreshment by even the poorest and humblest
+cottagers. In Bagshot, in Staines, and in Hounslow the people went
+frantic with excitement, as squadron after squadron rapidly passed
+along, with its guns, wagons, and ambulances rumbling noisily over the
+stones, in the rear.
+
+Following these came pontoon troops with their long grey wagons and
+mysterious-looking bridging apparatus, telegraph troops, balloon
+sections, supply columns, field bakery, and field hospitals, the
+last-named packed in wagons marked with the well-known red cross of the
+Geneva Convention.
+
+No sooner was Aldershot denuded of its army corps, however, than
+battalions began to arrive from Portsmouth on their way north, while
+troops from the great camp on Salisbury Plain were rapidly being pushed
+to the front, which, roughly speaking, extended through Hitchin,
+Royston, to Saffron Walden, across to Braintree, and also the high
+ground commanding the valley of the Colne to Colchester.
+
+The line chosen by the General Staff was the natural chain of hills
+which presented the first obstacle to the enemy advancing on London from
+the wide plain stretching eastward beyond Cambridge to the sea.
+
+If this could be held strongly, as was intended, by practically the
+whole of the British forces located in the South of England, including
+the Yeomanry, Militia, and Volunteers--who were now all massing in every
+direction--then the deadly peril threatening England might be averted.
+
+But could it be held?
+
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =WE, WILHELM,= |
+ | |
+ | =GIVE NOTICE to the inhabitants of those provinces occupied |
+ | by the German Imperial Army, that--= |
+ | |
+ | I MAKE WAR upon the soldiers, and not upon English |
+ | citizens. Consequently, it is my wish to give the latter and |
+ | their property entire security, and as long as they do not |
+ | embark upon hostile enterprise against the German troops |
+ | they have a right to my protection. |
+ | |
+ | GENERALS COMMANDING the various corps in the |
+ | various districts in England are ordered to place before the |
+ | public the stringent measures which I have ordered to be |
+ | adopted against towns, villages, and persons who act in |
+ | contradiction to the usages of war. They are to regulate |
+ | in the same manner all the operations necessary for the |
+ | well-being of our troops, to fix the difference between the |
+ | English and German rate of exchange, and to facilitate in |
+ | every manner possible the individual transactions between |
+ | our Army and the inhabitants of England. |
+ | |
+ | =WILHELM.= |
+ | |
+ | Given at POTSDAM, _September 4th, 1910_. |
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ The above is a copy of the German Imperial Decree, printed in
+ English, which was posted by unknown German agents in London, and
+ which appeared everywhere throughout East Anglia and in that
+ portion of the Midlands held by the enemy.
+
+
+This was the appalling question on everyone’s tongue all over the
+country, for it now became generally known that upon this line of
+defence four complete and perfectly equipped German army corps were
+ready to advance at any moment, in addition to the right flank being
+exposed to the attack of the XIIth Saxon Corps, entrenched on the Essex
+coast.
+
+It was estimated that no fewer than two hundred thousand Germans were
+already upon English soil!
+
+The outlook grew blacker every hour.
+
+London was in a state of absolute stagnation and chaos. In the City,
+business was now at an entire standstill. The credit system had received
+a fatal blow, and nobody wanted to buy securities. Had people kept level
+heads in the crisis there would have been a moratorium, but, as it was,
+a panic had been created that nothing could allay. Even Consols were now
+unsaleable. Some of the smaller banks were known to have failed, and
+traders and manufacturers all over the country had been ruined on
+account of credit, the foundation of all trade, having been swept away.
+Only persons of the highest financial standing could have dealt with the
+banks, even if they had remained open.
+
+The opinion held in banking circles was that if the invasion should
+unfortunately prove disastrous to England, and Germany demand a huge
+indemnity, there was still hope, however small. The experience of the
+Franco-German War had proved that though in such circumstances the Bank,
+for a considerable period, might not be able to resume cash payments,
+yet, with sound finance, there was no reason that the currency should
+greatly depreciate. During the period of suspension of cash payments by
+the Bank of France the premium on gold never went above 1.5 per cent.,
+and during most of the period was 5, 4, or even less per mille.
+Therefore what the French by sound banking had been able to do, there
+was no reason why English bankers could not also do.
+
+At the outbreak of the war of 1870, on August 1 French Three per Cent.
+Rentes were at 60.85, and Four and a Half per Cents. at 98. On the
+memorable day of Sedan, September 2, they were at 50.80 and 88.50
+respectively, and on January 2, 1871, Three per Cents. were down to
+50.95. At the commencement of the Commune, on March 18, they were at
+51.50 and 76.25, and on the 30th of that month down to 50.60 and 76.25
+respectively.
+
+With so little money in England as there now was, securities had fallen
+to the value at which holders would as soon not sell as sell at such a
+great discount. High rates and the heavy fall in the value of securities
+had brought business in every quarter all over London to a standstill.
+Firms all over the country were now hard put to it in order to find the
+necessary money to carry on their various trades. Instantly, after the
+report of the reverse at Sheffield, there was a wild rush to obtain
+gold, and securities dropped even a few more points.
+
+Therefore, there was little or nothing for the banks to do, and Lombard
+Street, Lothbury, and the other banking centres were closed, as though
+it had been Sunday or Bank Holiday. Despair was, alas! everywhere, and
+the streets presented strange scenes.
+
+Most of the motor-omnibuses had been taken off the road and pressed into
+the service of the military. The walls bore a dozen different broadsides
+and proclamations, which were read by the gaping, hungry crowds.
+
+The Royal Standard was flying from St. Stephen’s Tower, for Parliament
+had now met, and all members who were not abroad for their summer
+vacation had taken their places at the heated debates now hourly in
+progress. Over Buckingham Palace the Royal Standard also flew proudly,
+while upon every public building was displayed a Union Jack or a white
+ensign, many of which had done duty at the coronation of His Majesty
+King Edward. The Admiralty flew its own flag, and upon the War Office,
+the India Office, the Foreign Office, and all the dark, sombre
+Government buildings in Whitehall was bunting displayed.
+
+The wild enthusiasm of Sunday and Monday, however, had given place to a
+dark, hopeless apprehension. The great mobs now thronging all the
+principal thoroughfares in London were already half-famished. Food was
+daily rising in price, and the East End was already starving. Bands of
+lawless men and women from the slums of Whitechapel were parading the
+West End streets and squares, and were camping out in Hyde Park and St.
+James’s Park.
+
+The days were stifling, for it was an unusually hot September following
+upon a blazing August, and as each breathless evening the sun sank, it
+shed its blood-red afterglow over the giant metropolis, grimly
+precursory of the ruin so surely imminent.
+
+Supplies were still reaching London from the country, but there had been
+immediate panic in the corn and provision markets, with the result that
+prices had instantly jumped up beyond the means of the average Londoner.
+The poorer ones were eagerly collecting the refuse in Covent Garden
+Market and boiling it down to make soup in lieu of anything else, while
+wise fathers of families went to the shops themselves and made meagre
+purchases daily of just sufficient food to keep body and soul together.
+
+For the present there was no fear of London being absolutely starved, at
+least the middle class and wealthier portion of it. At present it was
+the poor--the toiling millions now unemployed--who were the first to
+feel the pinch of hunger and its consequent despair. They filled the
+main arteries of London--Holborn, Oxford Street, the Strand, Regent
+Street, Piccadilly, the Haymarket, St. James’s Street, Park Lane,
+Victoria Street, and Knightsbridge, overflowing northward into
+Grosvenor, Berkeley, Portman, and Cavendish Squares, Portland Place, and
+to the terraces around Regent’s Park. The centre of London became
+congested. Day and night it was the same. There was no sleep. From
+across the river and from the East End the famished poor came in their
+bewildering thousands, the majority of them honest workers, indignant
+that by the foolish policy of the Government they now found themselves
+breadless.
+
+Before the Houses of Parliament, before the fine new War Office, and the
+Admiralty, before Downing Street, and before the houses of known members
+of the Government, constant demonstrations were being made, the hungry
+crowds groaning at the authorities, and singing “God save the King.”
+Though starving and in despair, they were nevertheless loyal, still
+confident that by the personal effort of His Majesty some amicable
+settlement would be arrived at. The French _entente cordiale_ was
+remembered, and our Sovereign had long ago been declared to be the first
+diplomat in Europe. Every Londoner believed in him, and loved him.
+
+Many houses of the wealthy, especially those of foreigners, had their
+windows broken. In Park Lane, in Piccadilly, and in Grosvenor Square,
+more particularly, the houses seemed to excite the ire of the crowds,
+who, notwithstanding special constables having been sworn in, were now
+quite beyond the control of the police. The German Ambassador had
+presented his letters of recall on Sunday evening, and together with the
+whole staff had been accorded a safe conduct to Dover, whence they had
+left for the Continent. The Embassy in Carlton House Terrace, and also
+the Consulate-General in Finsbury Square, had, however, suffered
+severely at the hands of the angry crowd, notwithstanding that both
+premises were under police protection.
+
+All the German waiters employed at the Cecil, the Savoy, the Carlton,
+the Métropole, the Victoria, the Grand, and the other big London hotels,
+had already fled for their lives out into the country, anywhere from the
+vengeance of the London mob. Hundreds of them were trying to make their
+way within the German lines in Essex and Suffolk, and it was believed
+that many had succeeded--those, most probably, who had previously acted
+as spies. Others, it was reported, had been set upon by the excited
+populace, and more than one had lost his life.
+
+Pandemonium reigned in London. Every class and every person in every
+walk of life was affected. German interests were being looked after by
+the Russian Ambassador, and this very fact caused a serious
+demonstration before Chesham House, the big mansion where lives the
+representative of the Czar. Audacious spies had, in secret, in the night
+actually posted copies of Von Kronhelm’s proclamation upon the Griffin
+at Temple Bar, upon the Marble Arch, and upon the Mansion House. But
+these had been quickly torn down, and if the hand that had placed them
+there had been known, it would certainly have meant death to the one who
+had thus insulted the citizens of London.
+
+Yet the truth was, alas! too plain. Spread out across Essex and Suffolk,
+making leisurely preparations and laughing at our futile defence, lay
+over one hundred thousand well-equipped, well-fed Germans, ready, when
+their plans were completed, to advance upon and crush the complex city
+which is the pride and home of every Englishman--London.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On Friday night an official communication from the War Office was issued
+to the Press, showing the exact position of the invaders. It was roughly
+this:--
+
+“The IXth German Corps, which had effected a landing at Lowestoft, had,
+after moving along the most easterly route, including the road through
+Saxmundham and Ipswich, at length arrived at a position where their
+infantry outposts had occupied the higher slopes of the rising ground
+overlooking the river Stour, near Manningtree, which town, as well as
+Ipswich, was held by them.
+
+“The left flank of this corps rested on the river Stour itself, so that
+it was secure from any turning movement. Its front was opposed to and
+directly threatened Colchester, while its outposts, to say nothing of
+its independent cavalry, reached out in a northerly direction towards
+Stowmarket, where they joined hands with the left flank of the Xth
+Corps--those under Von Wilburg, who had landed at Yarmouth--whose
+headquarters were now at Bury St. Edmund’s, their outposts being
+disposed south, overlooking the valley of the upper reaches of the
+Stour.”
+
+Nor was this all. From Newmarket there came information that the enemy
+who had landed at Weybourne and Cromer--viz., the IVth Corps under Von
+Kleppen--were now encamping on the racecourse and being billeted in the
+town and villages about, including Exning, Ashley, Moulton, and
+Kentford. Frölich’s cavalry brigade had penetrated South, covering the
+advance, and had now scoured the country, sweeping away the futile
+resistance of the British Yeomanry, and scattering cavalry squadrons
+which they found opposed to them, all the time maintaining communication
+with the Xth Corps on their left, and the flower of the German Army, the
+Guards Corps, from King’s Lynn, on their right. Throughout the advance
+from Holt, Von Dorndorf’s motorists had been of the greatest utility.
+They had taken constantly companies of infantry hither and thither. At
+any threatened point, so soon as the sound of firing was heard in any
+cavalry skirmish or little engagement of outposts, the smart motor
+infantry were on the spot with the promptness of a fire brigade
+proceeding to a call. For this reason the field artillery, who were
+largely armed with quick-firing guns, capable of pouring in a hail of
+shrapnel on any exposed point, were enabled to push on much farther than
+would have been otherwise possible. They were always adequately
+supported by a sufficient escort of these up-to-date troops, who,
+although infantry, moved with greater rapidity than cavalry itself, and
+who, moreover, brought with them their Maxims, which dealt havoc far and
+near.
+
+The magnificent troops of the Duke of Mannheim in their service
+uniforms, who had landed at King’s Lynn, had come across the wide, level
+roads, some by way of Downham Market, Littleport, and Ely, and arrived
+at Cambridge. The 2nd Division, under Lieutenant-General von Kasten,
+protecting the exposed flanks, had marched _viâ_ Wisbech, March,
+Chatteris, and St. Ives, while the masses of the cavalry of the Guard,
+including the famous White Cuirassiers, had been acting independently
+around the flat fen country, Spalding and Peterborough, and away to
+quaint old Huntingdon, striking terror into the inhabitants, and
+effectively checking any possible offensive movement of the British that
+might have been directed upon the great German Army during its ruthless
+advance.
+
+Beyond this, worse remained. It was known that the VIIth Corps, under
+Von Bristram, had landed at Goole, and that General Graf Haeseler had
+landed at Hull, New Holland, and Grimsby. This revealed what the real
+strategy of the Generalissimo had been. Their function seemed twofold.
+First and foremost their presence, as a glance at the map will show,
+effectually prevented any attack from the British troops gathered from
+the north and elsewhere, and who were, as shown, concentrated near
+Sheffield and Birmingham, until these two corps had themselves been
+attacked and repulsed, which we were, alas! utterly unable to
+accomplish.
+
+These were two fine German army corps, complete to the proverbial last
+button, splendidly equipped, well fed, and led by officers who had had
+lifelong training, and were perfectly well acquainted with every mile of
+the country they occupied, by reason of years of careful study given to
+maps of England. It was now entirely plain that the function of these
+two corps was to paralyse our trade in Yorkshire and Lancashire, to
+commit havoc in the big cities, to terrify the people, and to strike a
+crushing blow at our industrial centres, leaving the siege of London to
+the four other corps now so rapidly advancing upon the metropolis.
+
+Events meanwhile were marching quickly in the North.
+
+The town of Sheffield throughout Tuesday and Wednesday was the scene of
+the greatest activity. Day and night the streets were filled with an
+excited populace, and hour by hour the terror increased.
+
+Every train arriving from the North was crowded with Volunteers and
+troops of the line from all stations in the Northern Command. The 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment had joined the Yorkshire Light Infantry,
+who were already stationed in Sheffield, as had also the 19th Hussars,
+and from every regimental district and depot, including Scarborough,
+Richmond, Carlisle, Seaforth, Beverley, Halifax, Lancaster, Preston,
+Bolton, Warrington, Bury, Ashton-under-Lyne, came battalions of Militia
+and Volunteers. From Carlisle came the Reservists of the Border
+Regiment, from Richmond those of the Yorkshire Regiment, from Newcastle
+came what was left of the Reservists of the Durham Light Infantry, and
+the Northumberland Fusiliers, from Lancaster the Royal Lancashires,
+while field artillery came from Seaforth and Preston, and small bodies
+of Reservists of the Liverpool and the South Lancashire Regiments came
+from Warrington. Contingents of the East and North Lancashire Regiments
+arrived from Preston. The Militia, including battalions of the Liverpool
+Regiment, the South Lancashire Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers, and
+other regiments in the command, were hurried to the scene of action
+outside Sheffield. From every big town in the whole of the North of
+England and South of Scotland came straggling units of Volunteers. The
+mounted troops were almost entirely Yeomanry, and included the Duke of
+Lancaster’s Own Imperial Yeomanry, the East Riding of Yorks, the
+Lancashire Hussars, Northumberland Yeomanry, Westmorland and Cumberland
+Yeomanry, the Queen’s Own Yorkshire Dragoons, and the York Hussars.
+
+These troops, with their ambulances, their baggage, and all their
+impedimenta, created the utmost confusion at both railway stations. The
+great concourse of idlers cheered and cheered again, the utmost
+enthusiasm being displayed when each battalion forming up was marched
+away out of the town to the position chosen for the defence, which now
+reached from Woodhouse on the south, overlooking and commanding the
+whole valley of the river Rother, through Catcliffe, Brinsworth, and
+Tinsley, previously alluded to, skirting Greasborough to the high ground
+north of Wentworth, also commanding the river Don and all approaches to
+it through Mexborough, and over the various bridges which spanned this
+stream--a total of about eight miles.
+
+The south flank was thrown back another four miles to Norton, in an
+endeavour to prevent the whole position being turned, should the Germans
+elect to deliver their threatened blow from a more southerly point than
+was anticipated.
+
+The total line then to be occupied by the defenders was about twelve
+miles, and into this front was crowded the heterogeneous mass of troops
+of all arms. The post of honour was at Catcliffe, the dominating key to
+the whole position, which was occupied by the sturdy soldiers of the 1st
+Battalion West Riding Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Light
+Infantry, while commanding every bridge crossing the rivers which lay
+between Sheffield and the invaders were concentrated the guns of the 7th
+Brigade Royal Horse Artillery, and of the Field Artillery, the 2nd, the
+30th, the 37th, and 38th Brigades, the latter having hurriedly arrived
+from Bradford.
+
+All along the crests of these slopes which formed the defence of
+Sheffield, rising steeply from the river at times up to five hundred
+feet, were assembled the Volunteers, all now by daybreak on Thursday
+morning busily engaged in throwing up shelter-trenches and making hasty
+earthwork defences for the guns. The superintendence of this force had
+merged itself into that of the Northern Command, which nominally had
+
+[Illustration: Battle of Sheffield]
+
+its headquarters in York, but which had now been transferred to
+Sheffield itself, for the best of reasons--that it was of no value at
+York, and was badly wanted farther south. General Sir George Woolmer,
+who so distinguished himself in South Africa, had therefore shifted his
+headquarters to the Town Hall in Sheffield, but as soon as he had begun
+to get the line of defence completed, he, with his staff, moved on to
+Handsworth, which was centrally situated.
+
+In the command were to be found roughly twenty-three battalions of
+Militia and forty-eight of Volunteers; but owing to the supineness and
+neglect of the Government the former regiments now found themselves, at
+the moment when wanted, greatly denuded of officers, and, owing to any
+lack of encouragement to enlist, largely depleted in men. As regards the
+Volunteers, matters were even worse. During the past five years as much
+cold water as possible had been thrown upon all voluntary and patriotic
+military endeavour by the “antimilitant” Cabinets which had so long met
+at No. 10 Downing Street. The Volunteers, as a body, were sick to death
+of the slights and slurs cast upon their well-meaning efforts. Their
+“paper” organisation, like many other things, remained intact, but for a
+long time wholesale resignations of officers and men had been taking
+place. Instead, therefore, of a muster of about twenty-five thousand
+auxiliaries being available in this command, as the country would have
+anticipated, if the official tabulated statements had been any guide, it
+was found that only about fifteen thousand had responded to the call to
+arms. And upon these heroic men, utterly insufficient in point of
+numbers, Sheffield had to rely for its defence.
+
+It might reasonably have been anticipated that in the majority of
+Volunteer regiments furnished by big manufacturing towns, a battalion
+would have consisted of at least five hundred efficient soldiers; but
+owing to the causes alluded to, in many cases it was found that from one
+hundred to two hundred only could “pass the doctor,” after having
+trained themselves to the use of arms. The catchword phrase, “Peace,
+retrenchment, and reform,” so long dinned into the ears of the
+electorate by the pro-German Party and by every socialistic demagogue,
+had sunk deeply into the minds of the people. Patriotism had been jeered
+at, and solemn warnings laughed to scorn, even when uttered by
+responsible and far-seeing statesmen. Yet the day of awakening had
+dawned--a rude awakening indeed!
+
+Away to the eastward of Sheffield--exactly where was yet unknown--sixty
+thousand perfectly-equipped and thoroughly-trained German horse, foot
+and artillery, were ready at any moment to advance westward into our
+manufacturing districts!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+BRITISH SUCCESS AT ROYSTON
+
+
+Arrests of alleged spies were reported from Manchester, Birmingham,
+Liverpool, Sheffield, and other large towns. Most of the prisoners were,
+however, able to prove themselves naturalised British subjects; but
+several men in Manchester, Birmingham, and Sheffield were detained
+pending investigation and examination of correspondence found at their
+homes. In Manchester, where there are always a number of Germans, it is
+known that many slipped away on Sunday night after the publication of
+the news of the invasion. Several houses in Eccles and Patricroft,
+outside Manchester, a house in Brown Street in the City itself, one in
+Gough Street, Birmingham, and another in Sandon Place, Sheffield, were
+all searched, and from the reports received by Scotland Yard it was
+believed that certain important correspondence had been seized,
+correspondence which had betrayed a widespread system of German
+espionage in this country. Details were wanting, as the police
+authorities withheld the truth, for fear, it was supposed, of increasing
+the public alarm. At the house in Sheffield, where lived a young German
+who had come to England ostensibly as pupil at one of the large
+steelworks, an accumulation of newspaper cuttings was discovered,
+together with a quantity of topographical information concerning the
+country over which the enemy was now advancing from Goole.
+
+In most of the larger Midland towns notices had been issued by the
+mayors deprecating hostility towards residents of foreign origin, and
+stating that all suspicious cases were already receiving the attention
+of the police.
+
+In Stafford the boot factories were idle, and thousands of despairing
+men were lounging about in Greengate, Eastgate, and other thoroughfares.
+In the Potteries all work was at a standstill. At Stoke-on-Trent, at
+Hanley, at Burslem, Tunstall, and Congleton all was chaos. Minton’s,
+Copeland’s, Doulton’s, and Brown Westhead’s were closed, and thousands
+upon thousands were already wanting bread. The silk-thread industry at
+Leek was ruined, so was the silk industry at Macclesfield; the great
+breweries at Burton were idle, while the hosiery factories of Leicester
+and the boot factories of Northampton were all shut.
+
+With the German troops threatening Sheffield, Nottingham was in a state
+of intense alarm. The lace and hosiery factories had with one accord
+closed on Tuesday, and the great Market Place was now filled day and
+night by thousands upon thousands of unemployed mill-hands of both
+sexes. On Friday, however, came the news of how Sheffield had built
+barricades against the enemy, and there ensued a frantic attempt at
+defence on the part of thousands of terrified and hungry men and women.
+In their frenzy they sacked houses in order to obtain material to
+construct the barricades, which were, however, built just where the
+fancy took the crowd. One was constructed in Clumber Street, near the
+Lion Hotel; another at Lister Gate; and a third, a much larger one, in
+Radford Road. Near the Carrington Station, on the road to Arnold, a huge
+structure soon rose, another at Basford, while the road in from Carlton
+and the bridges leading in from West Bridgford and Wilford were also
+effectually blocked.
+
+The white, interminable North Road, that runs so straight from London
+through York and Berwick to Edinburgh, was, with its by-roads in the
+Midlands, now being patrolled by British cavalry, and here and there
+telegraphists around a telegraph post showed that those many wires at
+the roadside were being used for military communication.
+
+At several points along the road between Wansford Bridge and Retford the
+wires had been cut and tangled by the enemy’s agents, but by Friday all
+had been restored again. In one spot, between Weston and
+Sutton-on-Trent, eight miles south of Newark, a trench had actually been
+dug during the night, the tube containing the subterranean telegraph
+lines discovered, and the whole system to the North disorganised.
+Similar damage had been done by German spies to the line between London
+and Birmingham, two miles south of Shipston-on-Stour, and again the line
+between Loughborough and Nottingham had been similarly destroyed.
+
+The Post Office linesmen had, however, quickly made good the damage
+everywhere in the country not already occupied by the enemy, and
+telegraph and telephone communication North and South was now
+practically again in its normal state.
+
+Through Lincolnshire the enemy’s advance patrols had spread South over
+every road between the Humber and the Wash, and in the city of Lincoln
+itself a tremendous sensation was caused when on Wednesday, market-day,
+several bodies of German motor-cyclists swept into the Stonebow and
+dismounted at the Saracen’s Head amid the crowd of farmers and dealers
+who had assembled there, not, alas! to do business, but to discuss the
+situation. In a moment the city was panic-stricken. From mouth to mouth
+the dread truth spread that the Germans were upon them, and people ran
+indoors and barricaded themselves within their houses.
+
+A body of Uhlans came galloping proudly through the Stonebow a quarter
+of an hour later, and halted in High Street, opposite Wyatt’s clothing
+shop, as though awaiting orders. Then in rapid succession troops seemed
+to arrive from all quarters, many halting in the Cathedral Close and by
+Exchequer Gate, and others riding through the streets in order to
+terrify the inhabitants.
+
+Von Kronhelm’s famous proclamation was posted by German soldiers upon
+the police station, upon the Stonebow, and upon the door of the grand
+old Cathedral itself, and before noon a German officer accompanied by
+his staff called upon the Mayor and warned him that Lincoln was occupied
+by the German troops, and that any armed resistance would be punished by
+death, as the Generalissimo’s proclamation stated. An indemnity was
+demanded, and then the powerless people saw upon the Cathedral and upon
+several of the public buildings the German flag rise and float out upon
+the summer wind.
+
+Boston was full of German infantry, and officers had taken up temporary
+quarters in the Peacock and the other hotels in the market-place, while
+upon the “stump” the enemy’s colours were flying.
+
+No news came from London. People in Norwich, Ipswich, Yarmouth, and
+other places heard vaguely of the invasion in the North, and of fighting
+in which the Germans were careful to report that they were always
+successful. They saw the magnificently equipped army of the Kaiser, and,
+comparing it with our mere apology for military force, regarded the
+issue as hopeless from the very first. In every town the German colours
+were displayed, and all kinds of placards in German and in English made
+their appearance.
+
+ The _Daily Mail_, on September 10, published the following despatch
+ from one of its war correspondents, Mr. Henry Mackenzie:--
+
+“ROYSTON, _September 9_.
+
+“Victory at last. A victory due not only to the bravery and exertion of
+our troops, regular and auxiliary, but also to the genius of
+Field-Marshal Lord Byfield, our Commander-in-Chief, ably seconded by the
+energy and resource with which Sir William Packington, in command of
+the IVth Army Corps at Baldock, carried out that part of the programme
+entrusted to him.
+
+“But though in this success we may hope that we are seeing the first
+glimmerings of dawn,--of deliverance from the nightmare of German
+invasion that is now oppressing our dear old England,--we must not be
+led into foolishly sanguine hopes. The snake has been scotched, and
+pretty badly into the bargain, but he is far from being killed. The
+German IVth Army Corps under the famous General Von Kleppen, their
+magnificent Garde Corps commanded by the Duke of Mannheim, and Frölich’s
+fine Cavalry Division, have been repulsed in their attack on our
+positions near Royston and Saffron Walden, and driven back with great
+loss and confusion. But we are too weak to follow up our victory as it
+should be followed up.
+
+“The menace of the IXth and Xth Corps on our right flank ties us to our
+selected position, and the bulk of our forces being composed of
+indifferently trained Volunteers and Militia, is much more formidable
+behind entrenchments than when attempting to manœuvre in a difficult
+and intricate country such as it is about here. But, on the other hand,
+we have given pause to the invaders, and have certainly gained a few
+days’ time, which will be invaluable to us.
+
+“We shall be able to get on with the line of fortifications that are
+being constructed to bar the approaches to London, and behind which it
+will be necessary for us to make our final stand. I do not conceive that
+it is possible for such an agglomeration of amateur troops as ours are
+in the main, to defeat in the open field such formidable and
+well-trained forces as the Germans have succeeded in throwing into this
+country. But when our Navy has regained command of the sea we hope that
+we may, before very long, place our unwelcome visitors ‘between the
+devil and the deep sea’--the part of the devil being played by our brave
+troops finally concentrated behind the strong defences of the
+metropolis. In short, that the Germans may run out of ammunition and
+provisions. For if communication with the Fatherland is effectively cut,
+they must starve, unless they have previously compelled our submission,
+for it is impossible for an army of the size that has invaded us to live
+on the country.
+
+“No doubt hundreds, nay thousands, of our non-militant countrymen--and,
+alas! women and children--will starve before the German troops are
+conquered by famine, that most terrible of enemies; but this issue seems
+to be the only possible one that will save the country.
+
+“But enough of these considerations of the future. It is time that I
+should relate what I can of the glorious victory which our gallant
+defenders have torn from the enemy. I do not think that I am giving any
+information away if I state that the British position lay mainly between
+Saffron Walden and Royston, the headquarters respectively of the IInd
+and IIIrd Army Corps. The IVth Corps was at Baldock, thrown back to
+cover the left flank, and protect our communications by the Great
+Northern Railway. A detached force, from what command supplied it is not
+necessary or advisable to say, was strongly entrenched on the high
+ground north-west of Helions Bumpstead, serving to strengthen our right.
+Our main line of defence--very thinly held in some parts--began a little
+to the south-east of Saffron Walden, and ran westwards along a range of
+high ground through Elmdon and Chrishall to Heydon. Here it turned south
+through Great Chrishall to Little Chrishall, where it again turned west,
+and occupied the high range south of Royston, on which stands the
+village of Therfield.
+
+“The night before the battle we knew that the greater portion of the
+German IVth and Garde Corps were concentrated, the former at Newmarket,
+the 1st Division of the latter at Cambridge, the 2nd on this side of St.
+Ives, while Frölich’s Cavalry Division had been in constant contact with
+our outposts the greater part of the day previous. The Garde Cavalry
+Brigade was reported
+
+[Illustration: Positions of Opposing Forces Sept. 8th]
+
+to be well away to the westward towards Kettering, as we suppose, on
+account of the reports which have been going about of a concentration of
+Yeomanry and Militia in the hilly country near Northampton. Our
+Intelligence Department, which appears to have been very well served by
+its spies, obtained early knowledge of the intention of the Germans to
+make an attack on our position. In fact, they talked openly of it, and
+stated at Cambridge and Newmarket that they would not manœuvre at
+all, and only hoped that we should hold on long enough to our position
+to enable them to smash up our IInd and IIIrd Corps by a frontal attack,
+and so clear the road to London. The main roads lent themselves
+admirably to such strategy, which rendered the reports of their
+intentions the more probable, for they all converged on our position
+from their main points of concentration.
+
+“The letter ‘W’ will exactly serve to show the positions of the
+contending forces. St. Ives is at the top of the first stroke, Cambridge
+at the junction of the two shorter centre ones, Newmarket at the top of
+the last stroke, while the British positions at Royston and Saffron
+Walden are at the junctions of all four strokes at the bottom of the
+letter. The strokes also represent the roads, except that from Cambridge
+three good roads lead towards each of the British positions. The
+prisoners taken from the Germans in the various preliminary skirmishes
+also made no bones of boasting that a direct attack was imminent, and
+our Commander-in-Chief eventually, and rightly as it proved, determined
+to take the risk of all this information having been specially
+promulgated by the German Staff to cover totally different intentions,
+as was indeed quite probable, and to accept it as true. Having made up
+his mind, he lost no time in taking action. He ordered the IVth Corps
+under Sir William Packington to move on Potton, twelve miles to the
+north-west, as soon as it was dark. As many cavalry and mounted infantry
+as could possibly be spared from Royston were placed at his disposal.
+
+“It ought to be stated that while the auxiliary troops had been busily
+employed ever since their arrival in entrenching the British position,
+the greater part of the regular troops had been occupying an advanced
+line two or three miles to the northward on the lower spurs of the
+hills, and every possible indication of a determination to hold this as
+long as possible was afforded to the German reconnoitrers. During the
+night these troops fell back to the position which had been prepared,
+the outposts following just before daylight. About 6 a.m. the enemy were
+reported to be advancing in force along the Icknield Way from Newmarket,
+and also by the roads running on either bank of the river Cam. Twenty
+minutes later considerable bodies of German troops were reported at
+Fowlmere and Melbourn on the two parallel Royston-Cambridge roads. They
+must have followed very close on the heels of our retiring outposts. It
+was a very misty morning,--down in the low ground over which the enemy
+were advancing especially so,--but about seven a gust of wind from the
+westward dispelled the white fog-wreaths that hung about our left front
+and enabled our look-outs to get a glimpse along the famous Ermine
+Street, which runs straight as an arrow from Royston for twenty or
+thirty miles to the N.N.W.
+
+“Along this ancient Roman way, far as the eye could reach, poured a
+steady stream of marching men, horse, foot, and artillery. The wind
+dropped, the mists gathered again, and once more enveloped the invaders
+in an impenetrable screen. But by this time the whole British line was
+on the _qui vive_. Regulars, Militia, and Volunteers were marching down
+to their chin-deep trenches, while those who were already there busied
+themselves in improving their loopholes and strengthening their head
+cover. Behind the ridges of the hills the gunners stood grouped about
+their ‘Long Toms’ and heavy howitzers, while the field batteries waited,
+ready horsed, for orders to gallop under cover of the ridge to whichever
+set of emplacements should first require to be manned and armed. We had
+not enough to distribute before the movements of the enemy should, to a
+certain extent, show his hand.
+
+“About seven o’clock a series of crackling reports from the outskirts of
+Royston announced that the detachment of Mounted Infantry, who now alone
+held it, was exchanging shots with the advancing enemy, and in a few
+minutes, as the morning mistiness cleared off, the General and his
+staff, who were established at the northern edge of the village of
+Therfield, three or four hundred feet higher up than the German
+skirmishers, were able to see the opening of the battle spread like a
+panorama before them. A thick firing line of drab-costumed Germans
+extended right across from Holland Hall to the Coach and Horses on the
+Fowlmere Road. On their left moved two or three compact masses of
+cavalry, while the infantry reserves were easily apparent in front of
+the village of Melbourn. Our Mounted Infantry in the village were
+indistinguishable, but away on the spur to the north-east of Royston a
+couple of batteries of Horse Artillery were unlimbered and were pushing
+their guns up to the brow of the hill by hand. In two minutes they were
+in action, and hard at work.
+
+“Through the glasses the shrapnel could be seen bursting, half a dozen
+together, in front of the advancing Germans, who began to fall fast. But
+almost at once came an overwhelming reply from somewhere out of sight
+behind Melbourn. The whole hilltop around our guns was like a spouting
+volcano. Evidently big high-explosive shells were being fired from the
+German field-howitzers. In accordance with previous orders, our
+horse-gunners at once ran down their guns, limbered up, and started to
+gallop back towards our main position. Simultaneously a mass of German
+cavalry deployed into attack formation near the Coach and Horses, and
+swept down in their direction with the evident intention of cutting off
+and capturing them. But they reckoned without their escort of Mounted
+Infantry, who had been lying low behind the long, narrow line of copse
+north of Lowerfield Farm. Safely ensconced behind this--to
+cavalry--impassable barrier, the company, all good shots, opened a
+terrible magazine fire on the charging squadrons as they passed at close
+range. A Maxim they had with them also swept horses and men away in
+swathes. The charge was checked, and the guns saved, but we had not
+finished with the German reiters. Away to the north-east a battery of
+our 4.7 guns opened on the disorganised cavalry, firing at a range of
+four thousand yards. Their big shells turned the momentary check into a
+rout, both the attacking cavalry and their supports galloping towards
+Fowlmere to get out of range. We had scored the first trick!
+
+“The attacking lines of German Infantry still pressed on, however, and
+after a final discharge the Mounted Infantry in Royston sprang on their
+horses and galloped back over Whitely Hill, leaving the town to be
+occupied by the enemy. To the eastward the thunder of heavy cannon,
+gradually growing in intensity, proclaimed that the IInd Corps was
+heavily attacked. Covered by a long strip of plantation, the German IVth
+Corps contrived to mass an enormous number of guns on a hill about two
+miles north of the village of Elmdon, and a terrific artillery duel
+began between them and our artillery entrenched along the Elmdon-Heydon
+ridge. Under cover of this the enemy began to work his infantry up
+towards Elmdon, obtaining a certain amount of shelter from the spurs
+which ran out towards the north-east of our line. Other German troops
+with guns put in an appearance on the high ground to the north-east of
+Saffron Walden, near Chesterton Park.
+
+“To describe the fortunes of this fiercely-contested battle, which
+spread along a front of nearly twenty miles, counting from the detached
+garrison of the hill at Helions Bumpstead--which, by the way, succeeded
+in holding its ground all day, despite two or three most determined
+assaults by the enemy--to Kelshall on the left of the British position,
+would be an impossibility in the space at my disposal. The whole morning
+it raged all along the northern slopes of the upland held by our gallant
+troops. The fiercest fighting was, perhaps, in the neighbourhood of
+Elmdon, where our trenches were more than once captured by the Magdeburg
+battalions, only to be themselves hurled out again by the rush of the
+1st Coldstream Guards, who had been held in reserve near the threatened
+point. By noon the magnificent old palace at Audley End was in flames.
+Art treasures which were of inestimable value and absolutely
+unreplaceable perished in this shocking conflagration. Desperate
+fighting was going on in the streets of the little town of Saffron
+Walden, where a mingled mass of Volunteers and Militia strove hard to
+arrest the advance of a portion of the German Army which was
+endeavouring to work round the right of our position.
+
+[Illustration: Battle of Royston]
+
+“On our left the Foot Guards and Fusiliers of the 1st German Guard
+Division, after receiving a terrible pounding from our guns when they
+poured into Royston at the heels of our Mounted Infantry, had fought
+their way up the heights to within fifteen hundred yards of our trenches
+on the upper slopes of the ridge. Farther than that they had been unable
+to advance. Their close formations offered an excellent target to the
+rifles of the Volunteers and Militia lining our entrenchments. The
+attackers had lost men in thousands, and were now endeavouring to dig
+themselves in as best they could under the hail of projectiles that
+continually swept the hillside. About noon, too, the 2nd Division of the
+Garde Corps, after some skirmishing with the Mounted Infantry away on
+our left front, got into attack formation along the line of the Hitchin
+and Cambridge Railway, and after pouring a deluge of projectiles from
+field guns and howitzers upon our position, advanced upon Therfield with
+the greatest bravery and determination. They had succeeded by 2 p.m. in
+driving our men from the end of the spur running northward near
+Therfield Heath, and managed to get a number of their howitzers up
+there, and at once opened fire from the cover afforded by several copses
+out of which our men had been driven.
+
+“In short, things were beginning to look very bad for old England, and
+the watchers on the Therfield heights turned their glasses anxiously
+northward in search of General Sir William Packington’s force from
+Potton. They had not long to wait. At 2.15 the winking flash of a
+heliograph away near Wendy Place, about eight miles up Ermine Street,
+announced that the advance guard, consisting of the 1st Royal Welsh
+Fusiliers, was already at Bassingbourn, and that the main body was close
+behind, having escaped detection by all the enemy’s patrols and flank
+guards. They were now directly in the rear of the right of the German
+reserves, who had been pushed forward into the neighbourhood of Royston
+to support the attack of their main body on the British position. A few
+minutes later it was evident that the enemy had also become aware of
+their advent. Two or three regiments hurriedly issued from Royston and
+deployed to the north-west. But the guns of the Baldock Corps turned
+such a ‘rafale’ fire upon them that they hesitated and were lost.
+
+“Every long-range gun in the British entrenchments that would bear was
+also turned upon them, leaving the infantry and field guns to deal with
+the troops assaulting their position. The three battalions, as well as
+a fourth that was sent to their assistance, were simply swept out of
+existence by this terrible cross-fire. Their remnants streamed away, a
+disorganised crowd of scattered stragglers, towards Melbourn; while,
+still holding on to Bassingbourn, the Baldock force moved down on
+Royston, driving everything before it.
+
+“The most advanced German troops made a final effort to capture our
+position when they saw what was going on behind them, but it was
+half-hearted; they were brought to a standstill, and our men, fixing
+bayonets, sprang from their trenches and charged down upon them with
+cheers, which were taken up all along the line for miles. The Germans
+here and there made a partial stand, but in half an hour they were down
+on the low ground, falling back towards the north-east in the greatest
+confusion, losing men in thousands from the converging fire of our guns.
+Their cavalry made a gallant attempt to save the day by charging our
+troops to the north of Royston. It was a magnificent sight to see their
+enormous masses sweeping over the ground with an impetus which looked
+capable of carrying everything before it, but our men, clustering behind
+the hedges of Ermine Street, mowed them down squadrons at a time. Not
+one of them reached the roadway. The magnificent Garde Corps was routed.
+
+“The combined IIIrd and IVth Corps now advanced on the exposed right
+flank of the German IVth Corps, which, fighting gallantly, fell back,
+doing its best to cover the retreat of its comrades, who, on their part,
+very much hampered its movements. By nightfall there was no unwounded
+German south of Whittlesford, except as a prisoner. By this time, too,
+we were falling back on our original position.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+BRITISH ABANDON COLCHESTER
+
+
+On Tuesday, 10th September, the _Tribune_ published the following
+telegram from its war correspondent, Mr. Edgar Hamilton:--
+
+“CHELMSFORD, _Monday, September 9_.
+
+“I sit down, after a sleepless night, to indite the account of our
+latest move. We hear that Sheffield has fallen, and our troops are in
+flight. As, by the time this appears in print, the enemy will of
+necessity be aware of our abandonment of Colchester, the censor will
+not, I imagine, prevent the despatch of my letter.
+
+“For our move has been one of a retrograde nature, and I do not doubt
+that the cavalry of the German IXth Corps are close behind us and in
+touch with our own. But I must not, in using the word ‘retrograde,’ be
+supposed to criticise in any way the strategy of our generals. For
+everyone here is, I am sure, fully persuaded of the wisdom of the step.
+Colchester, with its plucky little garrison, was altogether too much ‘in
+the air,’ and stood a great risk of being isolated by a converging
+advance of the IXth and Xth Corps of the German invaders, to say nothing
+of the XIIth (Saxon) Corps at Maldon, which since the unfortunate battle
+of Purleigh has shown itself very active to the north and east.
+
+“The Saxons have refrained from attacking our Vth Corps since its
+repulse, and it has been left almost in peace to entrench its position
+from Danbury to the southward; but, on the other hand, while not
+neglecting to further strengthen their already formidable defences
+between the Blackwater and the Crouch, their cavalry have scoured the
+country up to the very gates of Colchester. Yesterday morning the 16th
+Lancers and the 17th Hussars--who had fallen back from Norwich--together
+with some of the local Yeomanry, moved out by the Tolleshunt d’Arcy and
+Great Totham roads, and drove in their patrols with some loss. At
+Tiptree Heath there was a sharp cavalry engagement between our red
+Lancers and several squadrons of a sky-blue hussar regiment. Our people
+routed them, but in the pursuit that followed would have fared badly, as
+they fell in with the four remaining squadrons supported by another
+complete regiment, had it not been for the opportune arrival of the
+Household Cavalry Brigade, which had moved north-east from Danbury to
+co-operate. This completely changed the aspect of affairs. The Germans
+were soundly beaten, with the loss of a large number of prisoners, and
+galloped back to Maldon in confusion. In the meantime the 2nd King’s Own
+Royal Lancaster Regiment and the 5th Battery R.F. Artillery had been
+sent down to Witham by train, whence they marched up to the high ground
+near Wickham Bishops. They and the Yeomanry were left there in a
+position to cover the main London road and the Great Eastern Railway,
+and at the same time threaten any movement of the enemy by the Great
+Totham road. When the news of our success reached Colchester soon after
+midday, we were all very jubilant. In fact, I fear that a great many
+people spent the afternoon in a species of fool’s paradise. And when
+towards the evening the announcement of our splendid victory at Royston
+was posted up on the red walls of the fine town hall, and outside the
+Cups, there was an incipient outbreak of that un-English excitement
+known as ‘Mafficking.’ Gangs of youths paraded the High Street, Head
+Street, and the principal thoroughfares, shouting, yelling, and
+hustling passers-by, and even respectable members of society seemed
+bitten by the desire to throw up their hats and make idiots of
+themselves.
+
+“The hotels, the Lamb, the Red Lion, and other places, did a roaring
+trade, and altogether the town was more or less demoralised. But all
+this exultation was fated to be but short-lived, even though the Mayor
+appeared on the balcony of the town hall and addressed the crowd, while
+the latest news was posted outside the offices of the _Essex Telegraph_,
+opposite the post-office. The wind was in the north, and about 5.45 in
+the afternoon the sound of a heavy explosion was heard from the
+direction of Manningtree. I was in the Cups Hotel at the time arranging
+for an early dinner, and ran out into the street. As I emerged from the
+archway of the hotel I distinctly heard a second detonation from the
+same direction. A sudden silence, ominous and unnatural, seemed to fall
+on the yelping jingoes in the street, in the midst of which the rumble
+of yet another explosion rolled down on the wind, this time from a more
+westerly direction. Men asked their neighbours breathlessly as to what
+all this portended. I myself knew no more than the most ignorant of the
+crowd, till in an officer who rushed hastily by me in Head Street, on
+his way into the hotel, I recognised my friend Captain Burton, of the
+Artillery.
+
+“I buttonholed him at once.
+
+“‘Do I know what those explosions were?’ repeated he in answer to my
+inquiry. ‘Well, I don’t _know_, but I’m open to bet you five to one that
+it’s the sappers blowing up the bridges over the Stour at Manningtree
+and Stratford St. Mary.’
+
+“‘Then the Germans will have arrived there?’ I queried.
+
+“‘Most probably. And look here,’ he continued, taking me aside by the
+arm, and lowering his voice, ‘you take my tip. We shall be out of this
+to-night. So you’d best pack up your traps and get into marching
+order.’
+
+“‘Do you know this?’ said I.
+
+“‘Not officially, or I shouldn’t tell you anything about it. But I can
+put two and two together. We all knew that the General wouldn’t be fool
+enough to try and defend an open town of this size with such a small
+garrison against a whole army corps, or perhaps more. It would serve no
+good purpose, and expose the place to destruction and bring all sorts of
+disaster on the civil population. You could have seen that for yourself,
+for no attempt whatever has been made to erect defences of any kind,
+neither have we received any reinforcements at all. If they had meant to
+defend it they would certainly have contrived to send us some Volunteers
+and guns at any rate. No, the few troops we have here have done their
+best in assisting the Danbury Force against the Saxons, and are much too
+valuable to be left here to be cut off without being able to do much to
+check the advance of the enemy. If we had been going to try anything of
+that kind, we should have now been holding the line of the river Stour;
+but I know we have only small detachments at the various bridges,
+sufficient only to drive off the enemy’s cavalry patrols. By now, having
+blown up the bridges, I expect they are falling back as fast as they can
+get. Besides, look here,’ he added, ‘what do you think that battalion
+was sent to Wickham Bishops for this morning?’
+
+“I told him my theories as set forth above.
+
+“‘Oh yes, that’s all right,’ he answered. ‘But you may bet your boots
+that there’s more in it than that. In my opinion, the General has had
+orders to clear out as soon as the enemy are preparing to cross the
+Stour, and the Lancasters are planted there to protect our left flank
+from an attack from Maldon while we are retreating on Chelmsford.’
+
+“‘But we might fall back on Braintree?’ I hazarded.
+
+“‘Don’t you believe it. We’re not wanted there--at least, I mean, not so
+much as elsewhere. Where we shall come in is to help to fill the gap
+between Braintree and Danbury. I think, myself, we might just as well
+have done it before. We have been sending back stores by rail for the
+last two days. Well, goodbye,’ he said, holding out his hand. ‘Keep all
+this to yourself, and mark my words, we’ll be off at dusk.’
+
+“Away he went, and convinced that his prognostications were correct--as,
+indeed, in the main they proved--I hastened to eat my dinner, pay my
+bill, and get my portmanteau packed and stowed away in my motor. As soon
+as the evening began to close in I started and made for the barracks,
+going easy. The streets were still full of people, but they were very
+quiet, and mostly talking together in scattered groups. A shadow seemed
+to have fallen on the jubilant crowd of the afternoon, though, as far as
+I could ascertain, there were no definite rumours of the departure of
+the troops and the close advent of the enemy. Turning out of the main
+street, I had a very narrow escape of running over a drunken man.
+Indeed, I regret to say that there were a good many intoxicated people
+about, who had celebrated the day’s victory ‘not wisely but too well.’
+
+“When I arrived at the barracks, I saw at once that there was something
+in the wind, for there was a great coming and going of orderlies; all
+the men I could see were in marching order, and the Volunteers, who had
+been encamped on the drill-ground since the outbreak of hostilities,
+were falling in, surrounded by an agitated crowd of their relations and
+friends. I pulled up alongside the barrack railings, and determined to
+watch the progress of events. I had not long to wait. In about ten
+minutes a bugle sounded, and the scattered assemblage of men on the
+barrack-square closed together and solidified into a series of quarter
+columns. At the same time, the Volunteer battalion moved across from the
+other side of the road and joined the Regular troops. I heard a sharp
+clatter and jingling behind me, and looking round, saw the General and
+his staff with a squad of cavalry canter up the road. They turned into
+the barrack gate, greeted by a sharp word of command and the rattle of
+arms from the assembled battalions. As far as I could make out, the
+General made them some kind of address, after which I heard another word
+of command, upon which the regiment nearest to the gate formed fours and
+marched out.
+
+“It was the 2nd Dorsetshire. I watched anxiously to see which way they
+turned. As I more than expected, they turned in the direction of the
+London road. My friend had been right so far, but till the troops
+arrived at Mark’s Tey, where the road forked, I could not be certain
+whether they were going towards Braintree or Chelmsford. The Volunteers
+followed; then the Leicestershires, then a long train of artillery,
+field batteries, big 4.7 guns, and howitzers. The King’s Own Scottish
+Borderers formed the rearguard. With them marched the General and his
+staff. I saw no cavalry. I discovered afterwards that the General,
+foreseeing that a retirement was imminent, had ordered the 16th Lancers
+and the 7th Hussars, after their successful morning performance, to
+remain till further orders at Kelvedon and Tiptree respectively, so that
+their horses were resting during the afternoon.
+
+“During the night march the former came back and formed a screen behind
+the retiring column, while the latter were in a position to observe and
+check any movement northwards that might be made by the Saxons, at the
+same time protecting its flank and rear from a possible advance by the
+cavalry of Von Kronhelm’s Army, should they succeed in crossing the
+river Stour soon enough to be able to press after us in pursuit by
+either of the two eastern roads leading from Colchester to Maldon. After
+the last of the departing soldiers had tramped away into the gathering
+darkness through the mud, which after yesterday’s downpour still lay
+thick upon the roads, I bethought me that I might as well run down to
+the railway station to see if anything was going on there. I was just in
+time.
+
+“The electric lights disclosed a bustling scene as the last of the
+ammunition and a certain proportion of stores were being hurried into a
+long train that stood with steam up ready to be off. The police allowed
+none of the general public to enter the station, but my correspondent’s
+pass obtained me admission to the departure platform. There I saw
+several detachments of the Royal Engineers, the Mounted Infantry--minus
+their horses, which had been already sent on--and some of the
+Leicestershire Regiment. Many of the men had their arms, legs, or heads
+bandaged, and bore evident traces of having been in action. I got into
+conversation with a colour-sergeant of the Engineers, and learned these
+were the detachments who had been stationed at the bridges over the
+Stour. It appears that there was some sharp skirmishing with the German
+advanced troops before the officers in command had decided that they
+were in sufficient force to justify them in blowing up the bridges. In
+fact, at the one at which my informant was stationed, and that the most
+important one of all, over which the main road from Ipswich passed at
+Stratford St. Mary, the officer in charge delayed just too long, so that
+a party of the enemy’s cavalry actually secured the bridge, and
+succeeded in cutting the wires leading to the charges which had been
+placed in readiness to blow it up. Luckily, the various detachments
+present rose like one man to the occasion, and despite a heavy fire,
+hurled themselves upon the intruders with the bayonet with such
+determination and impetus that the bridge was swept clear in a moment.
+The wires were reconnected, and the bridge cleared of our men just as
+the Germans, reinforced by several of their supporting squadrons, who
+had come up at a gallop, dashed upon it in pursuit. The firing key was
+pressed at this critical moment, and, with a stunning report, a whole
+troop was blown into the air, the remaining horses, mad with fright,
+stampeding despite all that their riders could do. The road was cut, and
+the German advance temporarily checked, while the British detachment
+made off as fast as it could for Colchester.
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =NOTICE.= |
+ | |
+ | =CONCERNING WOUNDED BRITISH SOLDIERS.= |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | In compliance with an order of the Commander-in-Chief of the |
+ |German Imperial Army, the Governor-General of East Anglia decrees |
+ |as follows:-- |
+ | |
+ | (1) Every inhabitant of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, |
+ |Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, |
+ |Northampton, Rutland, Huntingdon, and Hertford, who gives asylum |
+ |to or lodges one or more ill or wounded British soldier, is obliged to |
+ |make a declaration to the mayor of the town or to the local police |
+ |within 24 hours, stating name, grade, place of birth, and nature of |
+ |illness or injury. |
+ | |
+ | Every change of domicile of the wounded is also to be notified |
+ |within 24 hours. |
+ | |
+ | In absence of masters, servants are ordered to make the necessary |
+ |declarations. |
+ | |
+ | The same order applies to the directors of hospitals, surgeries, or |
+ |ambulance stations, who receive the British wounded within our |
+ |jurisdiction. |
+ | |
+ | (2) All mayors are ordered to prepare lists of the British wounded, |
+ |showing the number, with their names, grade, and place of birth in |
+ |each district. |
+ | |
+ | (3) The mayor, or the superintendent of police, must send on the |
+ |1st and 15th of each month a copy of his lists to the headquarters of |
+ |the Commander-in-Chief. The first list must be sent on the 15th |
+ |September. |
+ | |
+ | (4) Any person failing to comply with this order will, in addition to|
+ |being placed under arrest for harbouring British troops, be fined a sum |
+ |not exceeding £20. |
+ | |
+ | (5) This decree is to be published in all towns and villages in the |
+ |Province of East Anglia. |
+ | |
+ | =Count VON SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,= |
+ | =Lieutenant-General,= |
+ | =Governor of German East Anglia.= |
+ | |
+ | IPSWICH, _September 6, 1910_. |
+ +------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ COPY OF ONE OF THE ENEMY’S PROCLAMATIONS.
+
+“I asked the sergeant how long he thought it would be before the Germans
+succeeded in crossing it. ‘Bless you, sir, I expect they’re over by
+now,’ he answered. ‘They would be sure to have their bridging companies
+somewhere close up, and it would not take them more than an hour or two
+to throw a bridge over that place.’ The bridges at Boxted Mill and
+Nayland had been destroyed previously.
+
+“The railway bridge and the other one at Manningtree were blown up
+before the Germans could get a footing, and their defenders had come in
+by rail. But my conversation was cut short, the whistle sounded, the men
+were hustled on board the train, and it moved slowly out of the station.
+As for me, I hurried out to my car. As I came out I noticed that it had
+begun to rain. However, I was fully equipped for it, and, except for the
+chance of skidding and the splashing of the flying mud, did not mind it.
+But I could not help thinking of the poor soldiers trudging along on
+their night march over the weary miles that lay before them. I
+determined to follow in their steps, and putting on speed, was soon
+clear of the town, and spinning along for Mark’s Tey. It is about five
+miles, and shortly before I got there I overtook the marching column.
+The men were halted, and in the act of putting on their greatcoats. I
+was stopped here by the rearguard, who took charge of me, and would not
+let me proceed until permission was obtained from the General.
+
+“Eventually this officer ordered me to be brought to him. I presented my
+pass; but he said, ‘I am afraid that I shall have to ask you either to
+turn back, or to slow down and keep pace with us. In fact, you had
+better do the latter. I might, indeed, have to exercise my powers and
+impress your motor, should the exigencies of the Service require it.’ I
+saw that it was best to make a virtue of necessity, and replied that it
+was very much at his service, and that I was very well content to
+accompany the column. In point of fact, the latter was strictly true,
+for I wanted to see what was to be seen, and there were no points about
+going along with no definite idea of where I wanted to get to, with a
+possible chance of falling into the hands of the Saxons into the
+bargain. So a Staff officer, who was suffering from a slight wound, was
+placed alongside me, and the column, having muffled itself in its
+greatcoats, once more began to plug along through the thickening mire.
+My position was just in front of the guns, which kept up a monotonous
+rumble behind me. My companion was talkative, and afforded me a good
+deal of incidental and welcome information. Thus, just after we started,
+and were turning to the left at Mark’s Tey, a bright glare followed by a
+loudish report came from the right of the road. ‘What’s that?’ I
+naturally ejaculated. ‘Oh, that will be the sappers destroying the
+junction with the Sudbury line,’ he replied. ‘There’s the train waiting
+for them just beyond.’
+
+“So it was. The train that I had seen leaving had evidently stopped
+after passing the junction, while the line was broken behind it. ‘They
+will do the same after passing the cross line at Witham,’ volunteered
+he.
+
+“A mile or two farther on we passed between two lines of horsemen, their
+faces set northwards, and muffled to the eyes in their long cloaks,
+‘That’s some of the 16th,’ he said, ‘going to cover our rear.’
+
+“So we moved on all night through the darkness and rain. The slow,
+endless progress of the long column of men and horses seemed like a
+nightmare. We passed through the long street of Kelvedon, scaring the
+inhabitants, who rushed to their windows to see what was happening, and
+with the first glimmer of dawn halted at Witham. We had about nine miles
+still to go to reach Chelmsford, which I learned was our immediate
+destination, and it was decided to rest here for an hour, while the men
+made the best breakfast they could from the contents of their
+haversacks. But the villagers brought out hot tea and coffee, and did
+the best they could for us, so we did not fare so badly after all. As
+for me, I got permission to go on, taking with me my friend the Staff
+officer, who had despatches to forward from Chelmsford. I pushed on at
+full speed. We were there in a very short space of time, and during the
+morning I learned that the Braintree Army was falling back on Dunmow,
+and that the Colchester garrison was to assist in holding the line of
+the river Chelmer.”
+
+ Another despatch from Mr. Edgar Hamilton, of the _Tribune_, was
+ published in that journal on Friday, the 14th September:--
+
+
+“BRENTWOOD, _Thursday, September 13, 1910_.
+
+ “The events of the last three days have been so tremendous, so
+ involved, and so disastrous to us as a nation, that I hardly know
+ how to deal with them. It is no news now that we have again been
+ beaten, and beaten badly. The whole right of our line of defence
+ has been driven back in disorder, and we are now practically at the
+ ‘last ditch.’ The remnants of that fine force which has, up to now,
+ not only been able to hold the Saxon Army in check, but even to be
+ within an ace of beating it at the memorable battle of Purleigh,
+ less than a week ago, is now occupying the entrenchments which have
+ been under construction ever since the landing of the Germans, and
+ which form a section of the works that have been planned for the
+ defence of the metropolis.
+
+ “Here, too, are portions of the Braintree Army Corps and some of
+ the troops lately constituting the garrison of Colchester, whom I
+ accompanied on their night march out of that city when it had been
+ decided to abandon it. We have only the vaguest rumours as to what
+ has happened to the other portion of the 1st Army Corps that was
+ occupying Dunmow and the upper part of the river Chelmer. We can
+ only hope that these troops, or at any rate a considerable portion
+ of them, have been able to gain the shelter of the defensive
+ enceinte to the north-westward. It is to be feared this reverse
+ will necessitate the retreat of the Second, Third, and Fourth
+ Armies from Saffron Walden, Royston, and Baldock, that position
+ which they so gallantly defended against the flower of the German
+ Army, emerging victorious from the glorious battle of Royston. For
+ to stay where they are, in the face of the combined forward
+ movement of the IXth, Xth, and XIIth Corps of the invaders, and the
+ rumoured resumption of the offensive by the two corps defeated
+ before Royston, would be to court being outflanked and cut off from
+ the rest of our forces at a time when every single soldier is
+ urgently required to man the northern portion of the defences of
+ London.
+
+ “But to return to the relation of our latest and most disastrous
+ defeat, which I must preface by saying that my readers must not be
+ deceived by the words ‘Army Corps’ as applied to the various
+ assemblages of our troops. As a matter of fact, ‘Divisions,’ or
+ even ‘Brigades,’ would be nearer the mark. The ‘Army Corps’ at
+ Braintree had only four, or perhaps later six, regular infantry
+ regiments, with a very small force of cavalry and not too many
+ guns. Compare that with the Xth German Army Corps under General von
+ Wilberg, which was more immediately opposed to it. This formidable
+ fighting unit may be taken as a representative one, observing that
+ the Garde Corps is yet stronger. Von Wilberg’s Corps is a
+ Hanoverian one, and comprises no less than twenty-three battalions
+ of infantry, four regiments of cavalry, twenty-five batteries of
+ artillery, a train battalion, and a pioneer battalion. What chance
+ has a so-called army corps of half a dozen regular infantry
+ battalions, perhaps a dozen Volunteer and Militia Corps, a scratch
+ lot of cavalry, and half the number of guns, against such a
+ powerful, well-organised, and well-trained force as this?
+
+ “In the recent fighting about Chelmsford we have had at the outside
+ thirty regular battalions to oppose the onslaught of three complete
+ German Army Corps such as that described above. We have had a
+ number of auxiliary troops in addition, as well as a preponderance
+ in heavy long-ranging artillery, but the former cannot be
+ manœuvred in the same way as regular soldiers, however brave and
+ devoted they may be; while, if weaker in big guns, the enemy
+ outnumbered our mobile horse and field artillery by five or six to
+ one. So it must be understood that while a defeat is deplorable and
+ heartbreaking, yet a victory against such odds would have been
+ little less than a miracle. No blame can be attached either to our
+ officers or their men. All did as much, or more, than could be
+ humanly expected of them. The long and short of it is that since
+ we, as a nation, have not chosen to have a sufficient and
+ up-to-date Army, we must take the rub when an invasion comes.
+
+ “We knew well enough--though most of us pretended ignorance--that
+ we could not afford to pay for such an Army at a rate comparable to
+ the current labour market rates, even if we had been twice as rich,
+ and if shoals of recruits had been forthcoming. We were aware, in
+ consequence, that some form of universal service was the only
+ possible method of raising a real Army, but we shrank from making
+ the personal sacrifices required. We were too indolent, too
+ careless, too unpatriotic. Now we have got to pay for the pleasures
+ of living in a fool’s paradise, and pay through the nose into the
+ bargain. We have no right to grumble, whatever may be the outcome,
+ and God only knows what the bitter end of this war may be, what
+ final defeat may mean for our future as a nation. But I must quit
+ moralising and betake myself to my narrative.
+
+ “In my letter of the 9th I left the Colchester garrison making
+ their breakfast at Witham. I had understood that they were coming
+ on to Chelmsford, but, as it turned out, the Leicestershires and
+ Dorsets got orders to turn off to the right just before reaching
+ Boreham, and to take up a position on the high ground east of
+ Little Waltham, which is about four miles due north of Chelmsford.
+ With them went a number of the heavy 4.7-inch guns we brought away
+ with us. The Volunteers, Scottish Borderers, and the
+ Lancasters--the latter of whom had been covering the flank of the
+ retreat at Wickham Bishops--came in to Chelmsford, and during the
+ evening were marched out and billeted in the houses thickly
+ scattered along the Braintree road. The cavalry, after some slight
+ skirmishing with the advanced patrols of Von Kronhelm’s Army, who
+ came up with them near Hatfield Peverell, turned up in the
+ afternoon.
+
+ “In Chelmsford, when I halted at the Saracen’s Head, I found there
+ were the 2nd Lincolnshire and the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers, who
+ had come up from Salisbury Plain, the 1st Hampshire and the 1st
+ Royal Fusiliers from Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The 2nd
+ South Wales Borderers from Tidworth and the 1st Border Regiment
+ from Bordon Camp arrived in the afternoon, and were marched out to
+ Great Baddow, half-way to Danbury. The 14th Hussars from
+ Shorncliffe and the 20th from Brighton had also come in the day
+ previously, and they at once moved out to the front to relieve the
+ 16th Lancers and 7th Hussars, who had been covering the retiral
+ from Colchester. The town was crowded with Volunteers in khaki,
+ green, red, blue--all the colours of the rainbow--and I noticed two
+ very smart corps of Yeomanry marching out to support the two
+ regular cavalry regiments. Everyone seemed in good spirits on
+ account of the news from Royston and the successful issue of the
+ cavalry skirmish of the morning before. As Chelmsford lies in a
+ kind of hollow, I could not see much from there, so in the
+ afternoon I thought I would run out to the high ground near Danbury
+ and see if I could get any idea of what was going on.
+
+ “As I passed Danbury Place I heard the deafening report of heavy
+ guns close at hand. I found that the firing came from some of the
+ Bluejackets’ 4.7’s near the church, where I had seen them at work
+ at the opening of Purleigh Battle. I got out of my car and went up
+ to the officer in charge, whom I met on that occasion. I asked him
+ at what he was firing. ‘Look over there,’ he said, pointing towards
+ Maldon. I saw nothing at first. ‘Look higher,’ said the sailor. I
+ raised my eyes, and there, floating hundreds of feet over and on
+ this side of the old town, a great yellow sausage-like something
+ glistened in the sunlight. I recognised it at once from the
+ photographs I had seen of the German manœuvres. It was their
+ great military balloon, known as the ‘Wurst,’ or sausage, from its
+ elongated shape. Its occupants were doubtless hard at work
+ reconnoitring our position.
+
+ “Another gun gave tongue with an ear-splitting report, and then a
+ second one, its long chase sticking up into the air like a monster
+ telescope. They were firing high explosive shell at the balloon,
+ hoping that the detonation would tear it if near enough. I saw the
+ big shell explode apparently close to their target, but the
+ distance was deceptive, and no apparent injury was done. After
+ another round, however, it began slowly to descend, and soon
+ disappeared behind the huddled roofs of the town. ‘Might have got
+ her,’ remarked Akers, the commander in charge of the guns, ‘but I
+ fancy not. But I reckon they thought it too warm to stay up. We had
+ our balloon up this morning,’ he continued, ‘and I expect she’ll go
+ up again before dark. They had a few slaps at her, but didn’t get
+ within a mile of her. She’s in a field behind the woods at Twitty
+ Fee, about half a mile over there, if you want to see her.’
+
+ “I thanked him and motored slowly off in the direction indicated. I
+ noticed great changes on Danbury Hill since my last visit.
+ Entrenchments and batteries had sprung up on every side, and men
+ were still as busy as bees improving and adding to them. I found
+ the balloon, filled with gas and swaying about behind a mass of
+ woodland that effectually concealed it from the enemy, but as I was
+ informed that there would be no ascent before half-past five, I
+ continued my tour round the summit of the hill. When I arrived at
+ the northern end I found that fresh defences were being
+ constructed right away round to the westward side. The northern
+ edge of Blake’s Wood had been felled and made into a formidable
+ abattis, the sharpened branches of the felled trees being connected
+ together with a perfect web of barbed wire.
+
+ “The same process was being carried out in the woods and copses at
+ Great Graces. New Lodge had been placed in a state of defence. The
+ windows, deprived of glass and sashes, were being built up with
+ sand bags; the flower garden was trampled into a chaos; the grand
+ piano stood in the back yard, forming a platform for a Maxim gun
+ that peered over the wall. The walls were disfigured with
+ loop-holes. Behind the house were piled the arms of a Volunteer
+ Battalion who, under the direction of a few officers and N.C.O.’s
+ of the Royal Engineers, were labouring to turn the pretty country
+ house into a scarred and hideous fortress. Their cooks had dug a
+ Broad Arrow kitchen in the midst of the tennis lawn, and were
+ busied about the big black kettles preparing tea for the workers.
+ New Lodge was the most suggestive picture of the change brought
+ about by the war that I had yet seen. From the corner of Great
+ Graces Wood I could see through my glasses that the outskirts of
+ Great Baddow were also alive with men preparing it for defence. I
+ got back to the balloon just in time to see it rising majestically
+ above the trees. Either on account of their failure to reach it in
+ the morning, or for some other reason, the enemy did not fire at
+ it, and the occupants of the car were able to make their
+ observations in peace, telephoning them to a non-commissioned
+ officer at the winding engine below, who jotted them down in
+ shorthand. From what I afterwards heard, it seems that a long
+ procession of carts was seen moving northwards from Maldon by way
+ of Heybridge.
+
+ “It was presumed that these contained provisions and stores for the
+ IXth and Xth Corps from the big depôt which it had been discovered
+ that the Saxons had established near Southminster. A few
+ long-range shots were fired at the convoy from the big guns, but
+ without any appreciable effect. The procession stopped though. No
+ more carts came from the town, and those already out disappeared
+ behind the woods about Langford Park. I understand that, apprised
+ of this by signal from the balloon, the 14th Hussars made a gallant
+ effort to attack the convoy, but they found the country east of the
+ Maldon-Witham Railway to be full of the enemy, both infantry and
+ cavalry, came under a heavy fire from concealed troops, and
+ sustained considerable loss without being able to effect anything.
+ It is believed that the movement of stores continued after dark,
+ for our most advanced outposts and patrols reported that the rumble
+ of either artillery or wagons was heard coming from the direction
+ of the roads leading north out of Maldon almost the whole night
+ through.
+
+ “On my return to Chelmsford I visited Springfield, where I found
+ the Scots Fusiliers, a Militia, and a Volunteer Regiment
+ entrenching themselves astride the railway.
+
+ “I dined with three brother newspaper men at the Red Lion Hotel.
+ One of them had come from Dunmow, and reported that the First Army
+ was busily entrenching itself on a long ridge a couple of miles to
+ eastward of the town. He said he had heard also that the high
+ ground about Thaxted had been occupied by some troops who had come
+ up from the South on Sunday night, though he could not say what
+ regiments they were. They had detrained at Elsenham, and marched
+ the rest of the way by road. If his information is correct, the
+ British Army on Monday night occupied an almost continuous line
+ stretching from Baldock on the west to South Hanningfield, or
+ perhaps Billericay on the south. A very extensive front, but
+ necessary to be held if the forward march of the five German Army
+ Corps operating in the Eastern Counties was to be checked. For
+ though it would, of course, have been desirable to take the
+ offensive and attack the Xth Corps during the temporary
+ discomfiture of the Garde and IVth Corps, we were compelled in the
+ main to adopt the tactics pursued by the Boers in South Africa and
+ act almost entirely on the defensive on account of the poor quality
+ of the bulk of our forces. There was this exception, however, that
+ the few regular battalions were as far as possible placed in such
+ positions that they would be available for local counter-attacks
+ and offensive action. Our generals could not be altogether guided
+ by the generally-accepted rules of tactics and strategy, but had to
+ do the best they could with the heterogeneous material at their
+ disposal.
+
+ “As to what the enemy were doing during this day we had no
+ information worth speaking of, although there was a rumour going
+ about late in the afternoon that Braintree had been occupied by the
+ Hanoverians, and that the head of General Von Kronhelm’s Army Corps
+ had arrived at Witham. However this may have been, we neither saw
+ nor heard anything of them during the night, and I much enjoyed my
+ slumbers after the fatigues of the last twenty-four hours. But this
+ was but the lull before the storm. About ten a.m. the low growl of
+ artillery rolled up from the south-east, and it began to be bruited
+ about that the Saxons were attacking South Hanningfield in force,
+ doubtless with the object of turning our right flank. I ordered out
+ my motor, thinking I would run down to the high ground at Stock,
+ five miles to the southward, and see if I could get an inkling of
+ how matters were progressing. That heavy fighting was in progress I
+ felt certain, for the cannonade grew momentarily louder and
+ heavier. Hardly had I cleared the town, when a fresh outburst of
+ firing boomed out from a northerly direction. I stopped irresolute.
+
+ “Should I go on or turn back and set my face towards Dunmow? I
+ eventually decided to go on, and arrived at Stock about eleven. I
+ could not get much information there, or see what was going on, so
+ I decided to make for South Hanningfield. At the foot of the hill
+ leading up to Harrow Farm I came across a battalion of infantry
+ lying down in quarter column behind the woods on the left of the
+ road. From some of the officers I ascertained that it was the 1st
+ Buffs, and that they were in support of two Militia battalions who
+ were holding the ridge above. The Saxons, they said, had come up
+ from the direction of Woodham Ferris in considerable force, but had
+ not been able to advance beyond the Rettendon-Battles-Bridge Road
+ on account of the heavy fire of our artillery, which comprised
+ several heavy guns, protected both from fire and sight, and to
+ which their field batteries in the open ground below could make no
+ effective reply.
+
+ “I had noticed for some little time that the firing had slackened,
+ so I thought I might as well get to the top of the hill and get a
+ view of the enemy. I did not see much of them. By the aid of my
+ glass I fancied I could distinguish green uniforms moving about
+ near the copses in front of Rettendon Hall, but that was about all.
+ I looked towards Danbury and saw our big balloon go up, and I also
+ observed the big German sausage wobbling about over Purleigh. But
+ there was no sign of military movement on either side. All the
+ time, however, I was conscious of the distant rumble of guns away
+ to the northward, and as there was apparently nothing more to be
+ seen at South Hanningfield for the present, I regained my car and
+ started back for Chelmsford. I found the town buzzing like a hive
+ of bees.
+
+ “The troops were falling in under arms, the station was full of
+ people trying to get away by train, while the inhabitants were
+ tramping away in crowds by the Brentwood and Ongar roads. The
+ booming of the still distant guns sounded louder and faster, and
+ rumour had it that the Hanoverians were trying to force the passage
+ of the river at Ford Mill. I replenished my flask and luncheon
+ basket, and started off in the direction of the firing.
+
+ “All along the road to Little Waltham I caught glimpses of khaki
+ uniforms in the trenches that zig-zagged about on the river slopes,
+ while I passed two or three regiments stepping northwards as fast
+ as they could get over the ground. There was a grim, set look on
+ the men’s faces that betokened both anger and determination.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+FIERCE FIGHTING AT CHELMSFORD
+
+
+The continuation of the despatch from Brentwood, as follows, was
+published on Saturday, 15th September:
+
+“At Little Waltham I found myself close to the scene of action. About a
+mile ahead of me the hamlet of Howe Street was in flames and burning
+furiously. I could see the shells bursting in and all over it in perfect
+coveys. I could not make out where they were coming from, but an officer
+I met said he thought the enemy must have several batteries in action on
+the high ground about Littley Green, a mile and a half to the north on
+the opposite side of the river. I crossed over myself, and got up on the
+knoll where the Leicestershires and Dorsets had been stationed, together
+with a number of the 4.7-inch guns brought from Colchester.
+
+“This piece of elevated ground is about two miles long, running almost
+north and south, and at the top of it I got an extensive view to the
+eastward right away to beyond Witham, as the ground fell all the way.
+The country was well wooded, and a perfect maze of trees and hedgerows.
+If there were any Germans down there in this plain they were lying very
+low indeed, for my glasses did not discover the least indication of
+their presence. Due east my view was bounded by the high wooded ground
+about Wickham Bishops and Tiptree Heath, which lay a long blue hummock
+on the horizon, while to the south-east Danbury Hill, with our big
+war-balloon floating overhead, was plainly discernible.
+
+“While I gazed on the apparently peaceful landscape I was startled by a
+nasty sharp, hissing sound, which came momentarily nearer. It seemed to
+pass over my head, and was followed by a loud bang in the air, where now
+hung a ring of white smoke. It was a shell from the enemy. Just ahead of
+me was a somewhat extensive wood; and, urged by some insane impulse of
+seeking shelter, I left the car, which I ordered my chauffeur to take
+back for a mile and wait, and made for the close-standing trees. If I
+had stopped to think I should have realised that the wood gave me
+actually no protection whatever, and I had not gone far when the
+crashing of timber and noise of the bursting projectiles overhead and in
+the undergrowth around made me understand clearly that the Germans were
+making a special target of the wood, which, I imagine, they thought
+might conceal some of our troops. I wished heartily that I was seated
+beside my chauffeur in his fast-receding car.
+
+“However, my first object was to get clear of the wood again, and after
+some little time I emerged on the west side, right in the middle of a
+dressing station for the wounded, which had been established in a little
+hollow. Two surgeons, with their assistants, were already busily engaged
+with a number of wounded men, most of whom were badly hit by shrapnel
+bullets about the upper part of the body. I gathered from one or two of
+the few most slightly wounded men that our people had been, and were,
+very hardly put to it to hold their own. ‘I reckon,’ said one of them, a
+bombardier of artillery, ‘that the enemy must have got more than a
+hundred guns firing at us, and at Howe Street village. If we could only
+make out where the foreign devils were,’ continued my informant, ‘our
+chaps could have knocked a good many of them out with our
+four-point-sevens, especially if we could have got a go at them before
+they got within range themselves. But they must have somehow contrived
+to get them into position during the night, for we saw nothing of them
+coming up. They are somewhere about Chatley, Fairstead Lodge, and
+Little Leighs, but as we can’t locate them exactly and only have ten
+guns up here, it don’t give us much chance, does it?’ Later I saw an
+officer of the Dorsets, who confirmed the gunner’s story, but added that
+our people were well entrenched and the guns well concealed, so that
+none of the latter had been put out of action, and he thought we should
+be able to hold on to the hill all right. I regained my car without
+further adventure, bar several narrow escapes from stray shell, and made
+my way back as quickly as possible to Chelmsford.
+
+“The firing went on all day, not only to the northward, but also away to
+the southward, where the Saxons, while not making any determined attack,
+kept the Vth Corps continually on the alert, and there was an almost
+continuous duel between the heavy pieces. As it appeared certain that
+the knoll I had visited in the forenoon was the main objective of the
+enemy’s attack, reinforcements had been more than once sent up there,
+but the German shell fire was so heavy that they found it almost
+impossible to construct the additional cover required. Several batteries
+of artillery were despatched to Pleshy and Rolphy Green to keep down, if
+possible, the fire of the Germans, but it seemed to increase rather than
+diminish. They must have had more guns in action than they had at first.
+Just at dusk their infantry made the first openly offensive movement.
+
+“Several lines of skirmishers suddenly appeared in the valley between
+Little Leighs and Chatley, and advanced towards Lyonshall Wood, at the
+north end of the knoll east of Little Waltham. They were at first
+invisible from the British gun positions on the other side of the
+Chelmer, and when they cleared the spur on which Hyde Hall stands they
+were hardly discernible in the gathering darkness. The Dorsetshire and
+the other battalions garrisoning the knoll manned their breastworks as
+they got within rifle range, and opened fire, but they were still
+subjected to the infernal rafale from the Hanoverian guns on the hills
+to the northward, and to make matters worse at this critical moment the
+Xth Corps brought a long line of guns into action between Flacks Green
+and Great Leighs Wood, in which position none of the British guns except
+a few on the knoll itself
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHELMSFORD.
+
+POSITION ON THE EVENING OF SEPTEMBER 11.]
+
+could reach them. Under this cross hurricane of projectiles the British
+fire was quite beaten down, and the Germans followed up their
+skirmishers by almost solid masses, which advanced with all but impunity
+save for the fire of the few British long-range guns at Pleshy Mount.
+There they were firing almost at random, as the gunners could not be
+certain of the exact whereabouts of their objectives. There was a
+searchlight on the knoll, but at the first sweep of its ray it was
+absolutely demolished by a blizzard of shrapnel. Every German gun was
+turned upon it. The Hanoverian battalions now swarmed to the assault,
+disregarding the gaps made in their ranks by the magazine fire of the
+defenders as soon as their close advance masked the fire of their own
+cannon.
+
+“The British fought desperately. Three several times they hurled back at
+the attackers, but, alas! we were overborne by sheer weight of numbers.
+Reinforcements summoned by telephone, as soon as the determined nature
+of the attack was apparent, were hurried up from every available source,
+but they only arrived in time to be carried down the hill again in the
+rush of its defeated defenders, and to share with them the storm of
+projectiles from the quick-firers of General Von Kronhelm’s artillery,
+which had been pushed forward during the assault. It was with the
+greatest difficulty that the shattered and disorganised troops were got
+over the river at Little Waltham. As it was, hundreds were drowned in
+the little stream, and hundreds of others killed and wounded by the fire
+of the Germans. They had won the first trick. This was indisputable, and
+as ill news travels apace, a feeling of gloom fell upon our whole force,
+for it was realised that the possession of the captured knoll would
+enable the enemy to mass troops almost within effective rifle range of
+our river line of defence. I believe that it was proposed by some
+officers on the staff that we should wheel back our left and take up a
+fresh position during the night. This was overruled, as it was
+recognised that to do so would enable the enemy to push in between the
+Dunmow force and our own, and so cut our general line in half. All that
+could be done was to get up every available gun and bombard the hill
+during the night, in order to hamper the enemy in his preparations for
+further forward movement and in his entrenching operations.
+
+“Had we more men at our disposal I suppose there is little doubt that a
+strong counter attack would have been made on the knoll almost
+immediately; but in the face of the enormous numbers opposed to us, I
+imagine that General Blennerhasset did not feel justified in denuding
+any portion of our position of its defenders. So all through the dark
+hours the thunder of the great guns went on. In spite of the cannonade
+the Germans turned on no less than three searchlights from the southern
+end of the knoll about midnight. Two were at once put out by our fire,
+but the third managed to exist for over half an hour, and enabled the
+Germans to see how hard we were working to improve our defences along
+the river bank. I am afraid that they were by this means able to make
+themselves acquainted with the positions of a great number of our
+trenches. During the night our patrols reported being unable to
+penetrate beyond Pratt’s Farm, Mount Maskell, and Porter’s Farm on the
+Colchester Road. Everywhere they were forced back by superior numbers.
+The enemy were fast closing in upon us. It was a terrible night in
+Chelmsford.
+
+“There was a panic on every hand. A man mounted the Tindal statue and
+harangued the crowd, urging the people to rise and compel the Government
+to stop the war. A few young men endeavoured to load the old Crimean
+cannon in front of the Shire Hall, but found it clogged with rust and
+useless. People fled from the villa residences in Brentwood Road into
+the town for safety, now that the enemy were upon them. The banks in
+High Street were being barricaded, and the stores still remaining in the
+various grocers’ shops, Luckin Smith’s, Martin’s, Cramphorn’s, and
+Pearke’s, were rapidly being concealed from the invaders. All the
+ambulance wagons entering the town were filled with wounded, although as
+many as possible were sent south by train. By one o’clock in the
+morning, however, most of the civilian inhabitants had fled. The streets
+were empty, but for the bivouacking troops and the never-ending
+procession of wounded men. The General and his Staff were deliberating
+to a late hour in the Shire Hall, at which he had established his
+headquarters. The booming of the guns waxed and waned till dawn, when a
+furious outburst announced that the second act of the tragedy was about
+to open.
+
+“I had betaken myself at once to the round tower of the church, next the
+Stone-bridge, from which I had an excellent view both east and north.
+The first thing that attracted my eye was the myriad flashings of rifle
+fire in the dimness of the breaking day. They reached in a continuous
+line of coruscations from Boreham Hall, opposite my right hand, to the
+knoll by Little Waltham, a distance of three or four miles, I should
+say. The enemy were driving in all our outlying and advanced troops by
+sheer weight of numbers. Presently the heavy batteries at Danbury began
+pitching shell over in the direction of the firing, but as the German
+line still advanced, it had not apparently any very great effect. The
+next thing that happened was a determined attack on the village of Howe
+Street made from the direction of Hyde Hall. This is about two miles
+north of Little Waltham. In spite of our incessant fire, the Germans had
+contrived to mass a tremendous number of guns and howitzers on and
+behind the knoll they captured last night, and there were any quantity
+more on the ridge above Hyde Hall. All these terrible weapons
+concentrated their fire for a few moments on the blackened ruins of Howe
+Street. Not a mouse could have lived there. The little place was simply
+pulverised.
+
+“Our guns at Pleshy Mount and Rolphy Green, aided by a number of field
+batteries, in vain endeavoured to make head against them. They were
+outnumbered by six to one. Under cover of this tornado of iron and fire,
+the enemy pushed several battalions over the river, making use of the
+ruins of the many bridges about
+
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =DECREE= |
+ | |
+ | =CONCERNING THE POWER OF COUNCILS OF WAR.= |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | WE, GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF EAST ANGLIA, in virtue of the powers conferred |
+ | upon us by His Imperial Majesty the German Emperor, Commander-in-Chief |
+ | of the German Armies, order, for the maintenance of the internal and |
+ | external security of the counties of the Government-General:-- |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE I.--Any individual guilty of incendiarism or of wilful |
+ | inundation, of attack, or of resistance with violence against the |
+ | Government-General or the agents of the civil or military authorities, |
+ | of sedition, of pillage, of theft with violence, of assisting prisoners |
+ | to escape, or of exciting soldiers to treasonable acts, shall be |
+ | PUNISHED BY DEATH. |
+ | |
+ | In the case of any extenuating circumstances, the culprit may be sent to |
+ | penal servitude with hard labour for twenty years. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE II.--Any person provoking or inciting an individual to commit |
+ | the crimes mentioned in Article I. will be sent to penal servitude with |
+ | hard labour for ten years. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE III.--Any person propagating false reports relative to the |
+ | operations of war or political events will be imprisoned for one year, |
+ | and fined up to £100. |
+ | |
+ | In any case where the affirmation or propagation may cause prejudice |
+ | against the German army, or against any authorities or functionaries |
+ | established by it, the culprit will be sent to hard labour for ten |
+ | years. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE IV.--Any person usurping a public office, or who commit |
+ | any act or issues any order in the name of a public functionary, will be |
+ | imprisoned for five years, and fined £150. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE V.--Any person who voluntarily destroys or abstracts any |
+ | documents, registers, archives, or public documents deposited in public |
+ | offices, or passing through their hands in virtue of their functions as |
+ | government or civic officials, will be imprisoned for two years, and |
+ | fined £150. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE VI.--Any person obliterating, damaging, or tearing down |
+ | official notices, orders, or proclamations of any sort issued by the |
+ | German authorities will be imprisoned for six months, and fined £80. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE VII.--Any resistance or disobedience of any order given in the |
+ | interests of public security by military commanders and other |
+ | authorities, or any provocation or incitement to commit such |
+ | disobedience, will be punished by one year’s imprisonment, or a fine of |
+ | not less than £150. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE VIII.--All offences enumerated in Articles I.-VII. are within |
+ | the jurisdiction of the Councils of War. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE IX.--It is within the competence of Councils of War to |
+ | adjudicate upon all other crimes and offences against the internal and |
+ | external security of the English provinces occupied by the German Army, |
+ | and also upon all crimes against the military or civil authorities, or |
+ | their agents, as well as murder, the fabrication of false money, of |
+ | blackmail, and all other serious offences. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE X.--Independent of the above, the military jurisdiction already |
+ | proclaimed will remain in force regarding all actions tending to imperil |
+ | the security of the German troops, to damage their interests, or to |
+ | render assistance to the Army of the British Government. |
+ | |
+ | Consequently, there will be PUNISHED BY DEATH, and we expressly repeat |
+ | this, all persons who are not British soldiers and-- |
+ | |
+ | (_a_) Who serve the British Army or the Government as spies, or receive |
+ | British spies, or give them assistance or asylum. |
+ | |
+ | (_b_) Who serve as guides to British troops, or mislead the German |
+ | troops when charged to act as guides. |
+ | |
+ | (_c_) Who shoot, injure, or assault any German soldier or officer. |
+ | |
+ | (_d_) Who destroy bridges or canals, interrupt railways or telegraph |
+ | lines, render roads impassable, burn munitions of war, provisions, or |
+ | quarters of the troops. |
+ | |
+ | (_e_) Who take arms against the German troops. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE XI.--The organisation of Councils of War mentioned in Articles |
+ | VIII. and IX. of the Law of May 2, 1870, and their procedure are |
+ | regulated by special laws which are the same as the summary jurisdiction |
+ | of military tribunals. In the case of Article X. there remains in force |
+ | the Law of July 21, 1867, concerning the military jurisdiction |
+ | applicable to foreigners. |
+ | |
+ | ARTICLE XII.--The present order is proclaimed and put into execution on |
+ | the morrow of the day upon which it is affixed in the public places of |
+ | each town and village. |
+ | |
+ | The Governor-General of East Anglia, |
+ | |
+ | =COUNT von SCHONBURG-WALDENBURG,= |
+ | =Lieutenant-General.= |
+ | |
+ | NORWICH, _September 7th, 1910_. |
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+there which had been hastily destroyed, and which they repaired with
+planks and other materials they brought along with them. They lost a
+large number of men in the process, but they persevered, and by ten
+o’clock were in complete possession of Howe Street, Langley’s Park, and
+Great Waltham, and moving in fighting formation against Pleshy Mount and
+Rolphy Green, their guns covering their advance with a perfectly awful
+discharge of shrapnel. Our cannon on the ridge at Partridge Green took
+the attackers in flank, and for a time checked their advance, but,
+drawing upon themselves the attention of the German artillery, on the
+south end of the knoll, were all but silenced.
+
+“As soon as this was effected another strong column of Germans followed
+in the footsteps of the first, and deploying to the left, secured the
+bridge at Little Waltham, and advanced against the gun positions on
+Partridge Green. This move turned all our river bank entrenchments right
+down to Chelmsford. Their defenders were now treated to the enfilade
+fire of a number of Hanoverian batteries that galloped down to Little
+Waltham. They stuck to their trenches gallantly, but presently when the
+enemy obtained a footing on Partridge Green they were taken in reverse,
+and compelled to fall back, suffering terrible losses as they did so.
+The whole of the infantry of the Xth Corps, supported--as we
+understand--by a division which had joined them from Maldon, now moved
+down on Chelmsford. In fact, there was a general advance of the three
+combined armies stretching from Partridge Green on the west to the
+railway line on the east. The defenders of the trenches facing east were
+hastily withdrawn, and thrown back on Writtle. The Germans followed
+closely with both infantry and guns, though they were for a time checked
+near Scot’s Green by a dashing charge of our cavalry brigade, consisting
+of the 16th Lancers and the 7th, 14th, and 20th Hussars, and the Essex
+and Middlesex Yeomanry. We saw nothing of their cavalry, for a reason
+that will be apparent later. By one o’clock fierce fighting was going
+on all round the town, the German hordes enveloping it on all sides but
+one. We had lost a great number of our guns, or at anyrate had been cut
+off from them by the German successes around Pleshy Mount, and in all
+their assaults on the town they had been careful to keep out of
+effective range of the heavy batteries on Danbury Hill. These, by the
+way, had their own work cut out for them, as the Saxon artillery were
+heavily bombarding the hill with their howitzers. The British forces
+were in a critical situation. Reinforcements--such as could be
+spared--were hurried up from the Vth Army Corps, but they were not very
+many in numbers, as it was necessary to provide against an attack by the
+Saxon Corps. By three o’clock the greater part of the town was in the
+hands of the Germans, despite the gallant way in which our men fought
+them from street to street, and house to house. A dozen fires were
+spreading in every direction, and fierce fighting was going on at
+Writtle. The overpowering numbers of the Germans, combined with their
+better organisation, and the number of properly trained officers at
+their disposal, bore the British mixed Regular and Irregular forces
+back, and back again.
+
+“Fearful of being cut off from his line of retreat, General
+Blennerhasset, on hearing from Writtle soon after three that the
+Hanoverians were pressing his left very hard, and endeavouring to work
+round it, reluctantly gave orders for the troops in Chelmsford to fall
+back on Widford and Moulsham. There was a lull in the fighting for about
+half an hour, though firing was going on both at Writtle and Danbury.
+Soon after four a terrible rumour spread consternation on every side.
+According to this, an enormous force of cavalry and motor infantry was
+about to attack us in the rear. What had actually happened was not quite
+so bad as this, but quite bad enough. It seems, according to our latest
+information, that almost the whole of the cavalry belonging to the three
+German Army Corps with whom we were engaged--something like a dozen
+regiments, with a proportion of horse artillery and all available
+motorists, having with them several of the new armoured motors carrying
+light, quick-firing and machine guns--had been massed during the last
+thirty-six hours behind the Saxon lines extending from Maldon to the
+River Crouch. During the day they had worked round to the southward, and
+at the time the rumour reached us were actually attacking Billericay,
+which was held by a portion of the reserves of our Vth Corps. By the
+time this news was confirmed the Germans were assaulting Great Baddow,
+and moving on Danbury from east, north, and west, at the same time
+resuming the offensive all along the line. The troops at Danbury must be
+withdrawn, or they would be isolated. This difficult manœuvre was
+executed by way of West Hanningfield. The rest of the Vth Corps
+conformed to the movement, the Guards Brigade at East Hanningfield
+forming the rearguard, and fighting fiercely all night through with the
+Saxon troops, who moved out on the left flank of our retreat. The wreck
+of the Ist Corps and the Colchester Garrison was now also in full
+retirement. Ten miles lay between it and the lines at Brentwood, and had
+the Germans been able to employ cavalry in pursuit, this retreat would
+have been even more like a rout than it was. Luckily for us the
+Billericay troops mauled the German cavalry pretty severely, and they
+were beset in the close country in that neighbourhood by Volunteers,
+motorists and every one that the officer commanding at Brentwood could
+get together in this emergency.
+
+“Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat, but were driven off
+by our advance guard; others came across the head of the retiring Vth
+Corps, but the terrain was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most
+of them had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows that
+covered the countryside. Had it not been for this we should probably
+have been absolutely smashed. As it was, rather more than half our
+original numbers of men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early
+morning, worn out and dead-beat.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+IN THE ENEMY’S HANDS
+
+
+We must now turn to the position of Sheffield on Saturday, September 8.
+It was truly critical.
+
+It was known that Lincoln had been occupied without opposition by
+General Graf Haesler, who was in command of the VIIIth Corps, which had
+landed at New Holland and Grimsby. The enemy’s headquarters had been
+established in the old cathedral city, and it was reported in Sheffield
+that the whole of this force was on the move westward. In fact, on
+Saturday afternoon the head of the advance-guard coming by way of
+Saxilby and Tuxford had arrived at East Retford, and during the night
+the rest of the main body, following closely on its heels, disposed
+itself for bivouac in rear of that sloping ground which reaches from
+Clarborough, through Grove and Askham, to Tuxford, on the south.
+
+In advance was Major-General von Briefen’s splendid cavalry brigade,
+who, during the march, had scoured the county almost as far west as the
+River Rother itself. Chesterfield, with its crooked spire, had been
+approached by the 7th Westphalian Dragoons, supported by the Grand Duke
+of Baden’s Hussars and a company of smart motor infantry. Finding,
+however, that no resistance was offered, they had extended, forming a
+screen from that place to Worksop, examining and reconnoitring every
+road, farmstead, and hamlet, in order that the advance of the main body
+behind them could not be interfered with.
+
+The cavalry brigade of the other division, the Cuirassiers of the Rhine
+No. 8, and the 7th Rhine Hussars, scouted along to the northward as far
+as Bawtry, where they were able to effect a junction with their comrades
+of the VIIth Corps, who, it will be remembered, had landed at Goole, and
+had now pushed on.
+
+During Saturday afternoon a squadron of British Yeomanry had been pushed
+out from Rotherham as far as the high ground at Maltby, and hearing from
+the contact patrols that nothing appeared to be in front of them, moved
+on to Tickhill, a small village four miles west of Bawtry. Unknown to
+them, however, a force of Westphalian Dragoons, having had information
+of their presence, crept up by the lower road through Blythe and
+Oldcoats, effectively taking them in rear, passing as they did through
+the grounds of Sandbeck Hall.
+
+The Yeomanry, at the alarm, pulled up, and, dismounting under cover,
+poured in a rattling volley upon the invaders, emptying more than one
+Westphalian saddle. Next instant the Germans, making a dash, got between
+them and their line of retreat on Maltby. It was palpable to the officer
+in charge of the Yeomanry that he must get back to Sheffield some other
+way. It would not do to stay and fight where he was, as there was every
+prospect of his small troop being annihilated, nor did he desire himself
+to be taken prisoner. His business was to report what he had seen. This
+latter he was bound to accomplish at all risks. So, hastily leaping into
+his saddle in the middle of a perfect hail of bullets--the result of
+which was that several horses went down and left their riders at the
+mercy of the invaders--the little band set off to regain their camp
+outside Rotherham, by the cross-country roads through Stainton and
+Braithwell. Here again they narrowly escaped falling into the hands of
+some cavalry, who evidently belonged to the VIIth Corps, and who had
+come down from the direction of Goole and Doncaster.
+
+Eventually, however, they crossed the River Don at Aldwark, and brought
+in the first definite news which General Sir George Woolmer at Sheffield
+had yet received. It was thus proved that the German cavalry were now
+within the sphere of operations, and that in all probability they formed
+a screen covering the advance of the two great German corps, which it
+was quite certain now intended to make an attack upon the position he
+had selected for defence.
+
+Night fell. On every road British yeomanry, cavalry, motor-cyclists,
+motor-infantry, and independent groups of infantry were endeavouring to
+penetrate the secret of the exact whereabouts of the enemy. Yet they
+found every road, lane, and pathway, no matter how carefully approached,
+held by Germans. Ever and anon, as they crept near the line of German
+outposts, came the low, guttural demand as sentries challenged the
+intruder.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEFENCE OF SHEFFIELD.
+
+GEORGE PHILIP & SON L^{TD.}]
+
+Here and there in the hot night shots rang out, and some daring spirit
+fell dead, while more than once a dying scream was heard as a German
+bayonet ended the career of some too inquisitive patriot.
+
+Away in Sheffield the town awaited, in breathless tension and hot
+unrest, what was felt by everyone to be the coming onslaught. Through
+the night the heavy clouds that had gathered after sunset culminated in
+a terrific thunderstorm. The heavens seemed rent asunder by the vivid
+lightning, the thunder crashed and rolled, and rain fell in torrents
+upon the excited populace, who, through the dark hours, crowded around
+the barricades in the Sheffield streets. In the murky dawn, grey and
+dismal, portentous events were impending.
+
+Information from the enemy’s camp--which was subsequently made
+public--showed that well before daylight the advance of the VIIth German
+Corps had begun from Doncaster, while along the main road through
+Warmsworth and Conisborough sturdily tramped the 13th Division, all
+Westphalians, formed into three infantry brigades and commanded by
+Lieut.-General Doppschutz. The 14th Division, under Lieut.-General von
+Kehler, moving through Balby and Wadworth, prolonged the flank to the
+south. The advance of both divisions was thus steadily continued
+south-westward parallel to the River Rother, which lay between
+themselves and the British. It was therefore plain that the plan of the
+senior officer--General Baron von Bistram, commanding the VIIth
+Corps--was that the attack should be carried out mainly by that corps
+itself, and that strong support should be given to it by the VIIIth
+Corps, which was coming, as has already been shown, from East Retford,
+and which could effectively assist either to strike the final blow
+against our Army, or, keeping well to the south, could threaten
+Sheffield from the direction of Staveley.
+
+No one knew what resistance the British were prepared to offer. Full of
+courage and patriotism, they were dominated by the proud traditions of
+English soldiers; still, it was to be remembered that they consisted
+mainly of raw levies, and that they were opposed by a force whose
+training and equipment were unequalled in the world, and who outnumbered
+them in proportion of about four to one.
+
+What was to be expected? Sheffield knew this--and was breathless and
+terrified.
+
+The great thunderstorm of the night helped to swell the Rivers Don and
+Rother, and as the invaders would have to cross them, doubtless under a
+terrific fire, the battle must result in enormous casualties.
+
+Early on Sunday morning it was evident that the all-important blow, so
+long threatened, was about to be struck. During the night great masses
+of German artillery had been pushed up to the front, and these now
+occupied most of the dominating hills, commanding not only all
+approaches to the British position over the River Rother, but they were
+even within effective range of the key of the British position itself.
+
+Hundreds of guns--many of them coming under the head of
+siege-artillery--were concentrated a little to the east of Whiston,
+whence they were able to pour in an oblique fire upon the defences. This
+artillery belonged evidently to the VIIth German Corps, and had, with
+great labour and difficulty, been hauled by all available horses, and
+even by traction-engines, right across the country to where they were
+now placed. The heaviest metal of all had been posted on Bricks Hill, an
+eminence of some four hundred feet, immediately above the Rother, and
+about six thousand yards from Catcliffe, already referred to as the key
+of our defences.
+
+Suddenly, at sunrise, a low boom was heard from this point. This was the
+opening German gun of the artillery preparation for the attack, which
+was now evidently developing, and although the distance was nearly six
+thousand yards, yet the bursts of the huge shells were seen to have been
+well timed. Another and another followed, and presently these huge
+projectiles, hurtling through the air and bursting with a
+greenish-yellow smoke, showed that they were charged with some high
+explosive. No sooner had this terrific tornado of destruction opened in
+real earnest from the enemy, than the field artillery, massed as has
+already been described, commenced their long-distance fire at a range of
+about three thousand five hundred yards, and for a period, that seemed
+hours, but yet was in reality only about fifty minutes, the awful
+cannonade continued.
+
+The British guns had already come into action, and intermittent firing
+of shrapnel and other projectiles was now directed against the German
+batteries.
+
+These latter, however, were mostly carefully concealed, effective
+cover having, by means of hard spade-work, been thrown up during
+the night. The British guns were mostly served by Volunteers and
+Militia-Artillerymen, who, although burning with patriotism, were--owing
+to the little real practice they had had in actually firing live shell,
+having mostly been drilled with dummy guns--utterly incompetent to make
+any impression upon the enemy’s lines of concealed artillery.
+
+It was plain, then, that the Germans had adopted the principle of
+massing the bulk of the guns of their two divisions of the VIIth Corps
+at such a point that they might strike the heaviest blow possible at the
+defence, under cover of which, when resistance had been somewhat beaten
+down, the infantry might advance to the attack. This was now being done.
+But away to the south was heard the distant roar of other artillery, no
+doubt that of Haesler’s Corps, which had apparently crossed the river
+somewhere in the neighbourhood of Renishaw, and advancing via Eckington
+had established themselves on the high ground, about five hundred and
+twenty feet in altitude, just north of Ridgeway, whence they were able
+to pour in an enfilading fire all along the British position from its
+centre at Woodhouse almost to Catcliffe itself. This rendered our
+position serious, and although the German guns had opposed to them the
+southernmost flank from Woodhouse to Norton Woodseats, yet it was plain
+that the main portion of the British defence was in process of being
+“turned.”
+
+The heavy firing continued, and at last, under cover of it, the rear
+attack now began some two hours after the opening of the fight.
+
+The 13th Division, under Doppschutz, were evidently advancing by the
+main Doncaster road. Their advance guard, which had already occupied
+Rotherham, had also seized the bridge which the invaders had neither
+time nor material to demolish, and now swept on across it, although
+exposed to a heavy onslaught from that line of the British position
+between Tinsley and Brinsworth. Those sturdy, stolid Westphalians and
+bearded men of Lorraine still kept on. Numbers dropped, and the bridge
+was quickly strewn with dead and dying. Yet nothing checked the steady
+advance of that irresistible wave of humanity.
+
+Down the River Rother, at Kanklow Bridge, a similar scene was being
+enacted. The railway bridge at Catcliffe was also taken by storm, and at
+Woodhouse Mill the 14th Division, under Von Kehler, made a terrific and
+successful dash, as they also did at Beighton.
+
+The river itself was about an average distance of a mile in front of the
+British position, and although as heavy a fire as possible was directed
+upon all approaches to it, yet the Germans were not to be denied.
+Utterly indifferent to any losses, they still swept on in an
+overwhelming tide, leaving at the most not more than ten per cent. of
+casualties to be dealt with by the perfectly equipped ambulances in
+their rear. So, for the most part, the various regiments constituting
+the divisions of the two German commanders found themselves shaken, but
+by no means thwarted. On the west bank of the river, the steep slopes
+rising from Beighton to Woodhouse gave a certain amount of dead ground,
+under cover of which the foreign legions took refuge, in order to
+dispose themselves for the final assault.
+
+A similar state of things had taken place to the south. General Graf
+Haesler had flung both his divisions across the river, with but little
+opposition. The 15th, composed mainly of men of the Rhine, under Von
+Kluser, crossed at Killamarsh and Metherthorpe Station, while the 16th,
+under Lieut.-General Stolz, crossed at Renishaw, and, striking
+north-easterly in the direction of Ridgeway, closed in as they advanced,
+till at length they were enabled to be within effective reach of their
+comrades on the right.
+
+The German attack had now developed into an almost crescent-shaped
+formation, and about noon Von Bistram, the commander-in-chief, issued
+his final orders for the assault.
+
+The cavalry of the VIIth German Corps under Major-General von Landsberg,
+commanding the 13th Cavalry Brigade, and the 14th Cavalry Brigade,
+consisting of Westphalian Hussars and Uhlans, under Major-General von
+Weder, were massed in the neighbourhood of Greasborough, whence it might
+be expected that at the critical stage of the engagement if the British
+defences gave way they might be launched upon the retiring Englishmen.
+Similarly in the valley over by Middle Handley, a little south of
+Eckington, were found the 15th and 16th Cavalry Brigades of the VIIIth
+Corps, consisting of the 15th of Cuirassiers and Hussars of the Rhine,
+and the 16th of Westphalians, and the Grand Duke of Baden’s Hussars,
+under that well-known soldier, Major-General von Briefen. All these were
+equally ready to advance in a northerly direction to strike the crushing
+blow at the first of the many important cities which was their
+objective.
+
+Unless the scheme of von Bistram, the German generalissimo in the North,
+was ill-conceived, then it was plain, even to the defenders, that
+Sheffield must eventually give way before the overpowering force opposed
+to it.
+
+Within the city of Sheffield the excitement now rose to fever-heat.
+
+It was known that the enemy had closed in upon the defences, and were
+now across the river, ready at any moment to continue their advance,
+which, as a matter of fact, had developed steadily without intermission,
+notwithstanding the heroic efforts of the defenders.
+
+In these days of smokeless powder it was hard for the Germans to see
+where the British lines of defence were actually located, but the heavy
+pounding of the artillery duel, which had been going on since early
+morning, was now beginning to weaken as the German infantry, company by
+company, regiment by regiment, and brigade by brigade, were calmly
+launched to the attack. They were themselves masking the fire of the
+cannon of their own comrades as, by desperate rushes, they gradually
+ascended the slopes before them.
+
+The objective of the VIIth Corps seemed to be the strongpoint which has
+already been referred to as dominating the position a little west of
+Catcliffe, and the VIIIth Corps were clearly directing their energies on
+the salient angle of the defence which was to be found a little south of
+Woodhouse. From this latter point the general line of the British
+position from Woodhouse north to Tinsley would then be turned.
+
+The British stood their ground with the fearless valour of Englishmen.
+Though effective defence seemed from the very first futile, steady and
+unshaken volleys rang out from every knoll, hillock, and shelter-trench
+in that long line manned by the sturdy Yorkshire heroes. Machine-guns
+rattled and spat fire, and pom-poms worked with regularity, hurling
+their little shells in a ceaseless stream into the invaders, but all,
+alas! to no purpose. Where one German fell, at least three appeared to
+take his place. The enemy seemed to rise from the very ground. The more
+stubborn the defence, the more numerous the Germans seemed to become,
+gaps in their fighting line being reinforced in that ruthless manner
+which is such a well-known principle in German tactics--namely, that the
+commander must not be sparing in his men, but fling forward
+reinforcements at whatever cost.
+
+Thus up the storm-swept glacis reaching from the Rother struggled
+thousands of Germans in a tide that could not be stemmed, halting and
+firing as they advanced, until it became clear that an actual
+hand-to-hand combat was imminent.
+
+The British had done all that men could. There was no question of
+surrender. They were simply swept away as straws before a storm. Dead
+and dying were on every hand, ambulances were full, and groaning men
+were being carried by hundreds to the rear. General Woolmer saw that the
+day was lost, and at last, with choking emotion, he was compelled to
+give that order which no officer can ever give unless to save useless
+bloodshed--“Retire!--Retire upon Sheffield itself!”
+
+Bugles rang out, and the whistles of the officers pierced the air. Then
+in as orderly a manner as was possible in the circumstances, and amid
+the victorious shouts from thousands of German throats, the struggling
+units fell back upon the city.
+
+The outlook was surely black enough. Worse was, however, yet to follow.
+In the line of retreat all roads were blocked with endless masses of
+wagons and ambulances, and in order to fall back at all men had to take
+to the open fields and clamber over hedges, so that all semblance of
+order was very quickly lost.
+
+Thus the retreat became little short of a rout.
+
+Presently a shout rang out. “The cavalry! The cavalry!”
+
+And then was seen a swarm of big Uhlans riding down from the north at a
+hand-gallop, evidently prepared to cut off the routed army.
+
+By Tinsley Park a body of Volunteers were retreating in an orderly
+manner, when the alarm of the cavalry advance reached their ears. Their
+colonel, a red-faced, bearded old gentleman, wearing the green ribbon of
+the V.D., and who in private life was a brewery’s manager at Tadcaster,
+rose in his stirrups and, turning round towards the croup of his
+somewhat weedy steed, ejaculated the words in a hoarse and raucous
+bellow: “Soaky Poo!”
+
+His men wondered what he meant. Some halted, believing it to be a new
+order which demanded further attention, until a smart young subaltern,
+smiling behind his hand, shouted out, “Sauve qui peut--Every man for
+himself!”
+
+And at this there was a helter-skelter flight on the part of the whole
+battalion.
+
+The Uhlans, however, were not to be denied, and, circling round through
+Attercliffe, and thence south towards Richmond Park, they effectively
+placed themselves across the line of retreat of many of the fugitives.
+
+The latter practically ran straight into the lines of the Germans, who
+called to them to lay down their arms, and in half an hour along the
+cordon over two thousand five hundred British of all arms found
+themselves prisoners in the hands of Von Landsberg, upon whose brigade
+the brunt of this attack had fallen.
+
+General von Wedel, of the 14th Cavalry Brigade, was not inactive. He
+pursued the flying columns along all the roads and country north-east of
+the city. From the south came news of the cavalry of the VIIIth Corps,
+which had circled through Dronfield, Woodhouse, Totley, along Abbey
+Dale, till they made an unresisted entry into Sheffield from the south.
+
+Within the town it was quickly seen that the day was lost. All
+resistance had been beaten down by the victorious invaders, and now, at
+the Town Hall, the British flag was hauled down, and the German ensign
+replaced it. From every street leading out of the city to the west
+poured a flying mob of disorganised British troops, evidently bent upon
+making the best of their way into the hilly district of the Peak of
+Derbyshire, where, in the course of time, they might hope to reorganise
+and re-establish themselves.
+
+The German pursuit, although very strenuous on the part of the cavalry
+as far as effecting the occupation of the city was concerned, did not
+extend very much beyond it. Clearly the invaders did not want to be
+burdened with a large number of British prisoners whom they had no means
+of interning, and whom it would be difficult to place on parole. What
+they wanted was to strike terror in the great cities of the north.
+
+Sheffield was now theirs. Nearly all the ammunition and stores of the
+defenders had fallen into their hands, and they were enabled to view,
+with apparent equanimity, the spectacle of retreating masses of British
+infantry, yeomanry, and artillery. Westwards along the network of roads
+leading in the direction of the High Peak, Derwent Dale, Bradfield,
+Buxton, and on to Glossop, the British were fast retreating, evidently
+making Manchester their objective.
+
+Sheffield was utterly dumbfounded. The barricades had been broken down
+and swept away. The troops, of whom they had hoped so much, had been
+simply swept away, and now the streets were full of burly foreigners.
+George Street swarmed with Westphalian infantry and men of Lorraine; in
+Church Street a squadron of Uhlans were drawn up opposite the Sheffield
+and Hallamshire Bank, while the sidewalk was occupied by piled arms of
+the 39th Fusilier Regiment. In the space around the Town Hall the 6th
+Infantry Regiment of the Rhine and a regiment of Cuirassiers were
+standing at ease. Many of the stalwart sons of the Fatherland were seen
+to light their pipes and stolidly enjoy a smoke, while officers in small
+groups stood here and there discussing the events of the victorious day.
+
+The saddest scenes were to be witnessed at the Royal Infirmary, in
+Infirmary Road, at the Royal Hospital in West Street, and even in some
+of the vacant wards in the Jessop Hospital for Women in Victoria Street,
+which had to be requisitioned for the accommodation of the crowds of
+wounded of both nations, so constantly being brought in by carts,
+carriages, motor-cars, and even cabs.
+
+The St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, with many ladies, were doing all they
+could to render aid, while the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for
+Nurses was called upon for all available help. Every place where sick
+could be accommodated, including the well-known George Woofindin
+Convalescent Home, was crowded to overflowing with sufferers, while
+every doctor in Sheffield bore his part in unceasing surgical work. But
+the number of dead on both sides it was impossible to estimate.
+
+At the Town Hall the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and councillors assembled,
+and met the German General, who sternly and abruptly demanded the
+payment of half a million pounds sterling in gold as an indemnity,
+together with the production of all stores that the German Army should
+require in order that they could re-victual.
+
+In reply the Lord Mayor, after consulting with the Council, stated that
+he would call a meeting of all bank managers and heads of the great
+manufacturing firms in order that the demand might be, as far as
+possible, complied with. This answer was promised at five p.m.
+
+Meanwhile, on the notice-board outside the Town Hall, a proclamation was
+affixed by the Chief of the German Staff, a sentry being posted on
+either side of it to prevent it being torn down.
+
+Copies were sent to the offices of the local newspapers, and within half
+an hour its tenor was known in every part of the city. Throughout the
+night German cavalry patrolled all the main streets, most of the
+infantry being now reassembled into their brigades, divisions, and army
+corps on the southern outskirts of the city, and in Norton, Coal Aston,
+Dronfield, and Whittington were being established the headquarters of
+the four different divisions of which the VII. and VIII. Corps
+respectively were composed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE FEELING IN LONDON
+
+
+Reports from Sheffield stated that on Sunday the gallant defence of the
+town by General Sir George Woolmer had been broken. We had suffered a
+terrible reverse. The British were in full flight, and the two
+victorious Corps now had the way open to advance to the metropolis of
+the Midlands, for they knew that they had left behind them only a
+shattered remnant of what the day before had been the British Army of
+the North.
+
+In both Houses of Parliament, hastily summoned, there had been memorable
+scenes. In the Commons, the Government had endeavoured to justify its
+suicidal actions of the past, but such speeches were howled down, and
+even the Government organs themselves were now compelled to admit that
+the party had committed very grave errors of judgment.
+
+Each night the House had sat until early morning, every member who had
+been in England on the previous Sunday being in his place. In response
+to the ever-repeated questions put to the War Minister, the reply was
+each day the same. All that could be done was being done.
+
+Was there any hope of victory? That was the question eagerly asked on
+every hand--both in Parliament and out of it. At present there seemed
+none. Reports from the theatres of war in different parts of the country
+reaching the House each hour were ever the same--the British driven back
+by the enemy’s overwhelming numbers.
+
+The outlook was indeed a black one. The lobby was ever crowded by
+members eagerly discussing the situation. The enemy were at the gates of
+London. What was to be done?
+
+In the House on Friday, September 7, in view of the fact that London was
+undoubtedly the objective of the enemy, it was decided that Parliament
+should, on the following day, be transferred to Bristol, and there meet
+in the great Colston Hall. This change had actually been effected, and
+the whole of both Houses, with their staff, were hurriedly transferred
+to the west, the Great Western Railway system being still intact.
+
+The riff-raff from Whitechapel, those aliens whom we had so long
+welcomed and pampered in our midst--Russians, Poles, Austrians, Swedes,
+and even Germans--the latter, of course, now declared themselves to be
+Russians--had swarmed westward in lawless, hungry multitudes, and on
+Monday afternoon serious rioting occurred in Grosvenor Square and the
+neighbourhood, and also in Park Lane, where several houses were entered
+and pillaged by the alien mobs.
+
+The disorder commenced at a great mass meeting held in the Park, just
+behind the Marble Arch. Orators were denouncing the Government and
+abusing the Ministers in unmeasured terms, when someone, seeing the many
+aliens around, set up the cry that they were German spies. A free fight
+at once ensued, with the result that the mob, uncontrolled by the
+police, dashed across into Park Lane and wrecked three of the largest
+houses--one of which was deliberately set on fire by a can of petrol
+brought from a neighbouring garage. Other houses in Grosvenor Square
+shared the same fate.
+
+In every quarter of London shops containing groceries, provisions, or
+flour were broken open by the lawless bands and sacked. From Kingsland
+and Hoxton, Lambeth and Camberwell, Notting Dale and Chelsea, reports
+received by the police showed that the people were now becoming
+desperate. Not only were the aliens lawless, but the London unemployed
+and lower classes were now raising their voices. “Stop the war! Stop
+the war!” was the cry heard on every hand. Nearly all the shops
+containing provisions in Whitechapel Road, Commercial Road East, and
+Cable Street were, during Monday, ruthlessly broken open and ransacked.
+The police from Leman Street were utterly incompetent to hold back the
+rush of the infuriated thousands, who fought desperately with each other
+for the spoils, starving men, women, and children all joining in the
+fray.
+
+The East End had indeed become utterly lawless. The big warehouses in
+the vicinity of the docks were also attacked and most of them emptied of
+their contents, while two at Wapping, being defended by the police, were
+deliberately set on fire by the rioters, and quantities of wheat burned.
+
+Fierce men formed themselves into raiding bands and went westward that
+night, committing all sorts of depredations. The enemy were upon them,
+and they did not mean to starve, they declared. Southwark and
+Bermondsey, Walworth and Kennington had remained quiet and watchful all
+the week, but now, when the report spread of this latest disaster to our
+troops at Sheffield, and that the Germans were already approaching
+London, the whole populace arose, and the shopbreaking, once started in
+the Walworth and Old Kent Roads, spread everywhere throughout the whole
+of South London.
+
+In vain did the police good-humouredly cry to them to remain patient; in
+vain did the Lord Mayor address the multitude from the steps of the
+Royal Exchange; in vain did the newspapers, inspired from headquarters,
+with one accord urge the public to remain calm, and allow the
+authorities to direct their whole attention towards repelling the
+invaders. It was all useless. The public had made up its mind.
+
+At last the bitter truth was being forced home upon the public, and in
+every quarter of the metropolis those very speakers who, only a couple
+of years before, were crying down the naval and military critics who
+had dared to raise their voices in alarm, were now admitting that the
+country should have listened and heeded.
+
+London, it was plain, had already abandoned hope. The British successes
+had been so slight. The command of the sea was still in German hands,
+although in the House the Admiralty had reassured the country that in a
+few days we should regain the supremacy.
+
+A few days! In a few days London might be invested by the enemy, and
+then would begin a reign of terror unequalled by any in the history of
+the civilised world.
+
+By day the streets of the city presented a scene of turmoil and
+activity, for it seemed as though City workers clung to their old habit
+of going there each morning, even though their workshops, offices, and
+warehouses were closed. By night the West End, Pall Mall, Piccadilly,
+Oxford Street, Regent Street, Portland Place, Leicester Square,
+Whitehall, Victoria Street, and around Victoria Station were filled with
+idle, excited crowds of men, women, and children, hungry, despairing,
+wondering.
+
+At every corner men and boys shouted the latest editions of the
+newspapers. “’Nother great Battle! ’Nother British Defeat! Fall of
+Sheffield!” rose above the excited chatter of the multitude. The cries
+fell upon the ears of defenceless Londoners, darkening the outlook as
+hour after hour wore on.
+
+The heat was stifling, the dust suffocating, now that the roads were
+no longer cleaned. The theatres were closed. Only the churches and
+chapels remained open--and the public-houses, crowded to overflowing.
+In Westminster Abbey, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, in St.
+Martin’s-in-the-Fields, and in Westminster Cathedral special prayers
+were that night being offered for the success of the British arms. The
+services were crowded by all sorts and conditions of persons, from the
+poor, pinched woman in a shawl from a Westminster slum, to the lady of
+title who ventured out in her electric brougham. Men from the clubs
+stood next half-starved working men, and more than one of the more
+fortunate slipped money unseen into the hand of his less-favoured
+brother in adversity.
+
+War is a great leveller. The wealthy classes were, in proportion, losing
+as much as the workers. It was only the grip of hunger that they did not
+feel, only the cry of starving children that did not reach their ears.
+For the rest, their interests were equal.
+
+Meanwhile, from every hand rose the strident cries of the newsboys:
+
+“‘Nother great Battle! British routed at Sheffield! Extrur
+spe-shall!--spe’shall!”
+
+British routed! It had been the same ominous cry the whole week through.
+
+Was London really doomed?
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II
+
+THE SIEGE OF LONDON
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE LINES OF LONDON
+
+
+The German successes were continued in the North and Midlands, and
+notwithstanding the gallant defence of Sir George Woolmer before
+Manchester and Sir Henry Hibbard before Birmingham, both cities were
+captured and occupied by the enemy after terrible losses. London,
+however, was the chief objective of Von Kronhelm, and towards the
+Metropolis he now turned his attention.
+
+After the defeat of the British at Chelmsford on that fateful Wednesday
+Lord Byfield decided to evacuate his position at Royston and fall back
+on the northern section of the London defence line, which had been under
+construction for the last ten days. These hasty entrenchments, which
+would have been impossible to construct but for the ready assistance of
+thousands of all classes of the citizens of London and the suburbs,
+extended from Tilbury on the east to Bushey on the west, passing by the
+Laindon Hills, Brentwood, Kelvedon, North Weald, Epping, Waltham Abbey,
+Cheshunt, Enfield Chase, Chipping Barnet, and Elstree. They were more or
+less continuous, consisting for the most part of trenches for infantry,
+generally following the lines of existing hedgerows or banks, which
+often required but little improvement to transform them into
+well-protected and formidable cover for the defending troops. Where it
+was necessary to cross open ground they were dug deep and winding, after
+the fashion adopted by the Boers in the South African War, so that it
+would be difficult, if not impossible, to enfilade them.
+
+Special bomb-proof covers for the local reserves were also constructed
+at various points, and the ground in front ruthlessly cleared of houses,
+barns, trees, hedges, and everything that might afford shelter to an
+advancing enemy. Every possible military obstacle was placed in front of
+the lines that time permitted, abattis, military pits, wire
+entanglements, and small ground mines. At the more important points
+along the fifty miles of entrenchments field-works and redoubts for
+infantry and guns were built, most of them being armed with 4.7 or even
+6 and 7.5 in. guns, which had been brought from Woolwich, Chatham,
+Portsmouth, and Devonport, and mounted on whatever carriages could be
+adapted or improvised for the occasion.
+
+[Illustration: The Lines of London]
+
+The preparation of the London lines was a stupendous undertaking, but
+the growing scarceness and dearness of provisions assisted in a degree,
+as no free rations were issued to any able-bodied man unless he went out
+to work at the fortifications. All workers were placed under military
+law. There were any number of willing workers who proffered their
+services in this time of peril. Thousands of men came forward asking to
+be enlisted and armed. The difficulty was to find enough weapons and
+ammunition for them, to say nothing of the question of uniform and
+equipment, which loomed very large indeed. The attitude of the Germans,
+as set forth in Von Kronhelm’s proclamations, precluded the employment
+of fighting men dressed in civilian garb, and their attitude was a
+perfectly natural and justifiable one by all the laws and customs of
+war.
+
+It became necessary, therefore, that all men sent to the front should be
+dressed as soldiers in some way or another. In addition to that splendid
+corps, the Legion of Frontiersmen, many new armed organisations had
+sprung into being, some bearing the most fantastic names, such as the
+“Whitechapel War-to-the-Knifes,” the “Kensington Cowboys,” the
+“Bayswater Braves,” and the “Southwark Scalphunters.” All the available
+khaki and blue serge was used up in no time; even though those who were
+already in possession of ordinary lounge suits of the latter material
+were encouraged to have them altered into uniform by the addition of
+stand-up collars and facings of various colours, according to their
+regiments and corps.
+
+Only the time during which these men were waiting for their uniforms was
+spent in drill in the open spaces of the metropolis. As soon as they
+were clothed, they were despatched to that portion of the entrenchments
+to which their corps had been allocated, and there, in the intervals of
+their clearing and digging operations, they were hustled through a brief
+musketry course, which consisted for the most part in firing. The
+question of the provision of officers and N.C.O.s was an almost
+insuperable one. Retired men came forward on every side, but the supply
+was by no means equal to the demand, and they themselves in many
+instances were absolutely out of date as far as knowledge of modern arms
+and conditions were concerned. However, every one, with but very few
+exceptions, did his utmost, and by the 11th or 12th of the month the
+entrenchments were practically completed, and manned by upwards of
+150,000 “men with muskets” of stout heart and full of patriotism, but
+in reality nothing but an army “pour rire” so far as efficiency was
+concerned.
+
+The greater part of the guns were also placed in position, especially on
+the north and eastern portions of the lines, and the remainder were
+being mounted as fast as it was practicable. They were well manned by
+Volunteer and Militia artillerymen, drawn from every district which the
+invaders had left accessible. By the 13th the eastern section of the
+fortifications was strengthened by the arrival of the remnants of the
+Ist and Vth Army Corps, which had been so badly defeated at Chelmsford,
+and no time was lost in reorganising them and distributing them along
+the lines, thereby, to a certain extent, leavening the unbaked mass of
+their improvised defenders. It was generally expected that the enemy
+would follow up the success by an immediate attack on Brentwood, the
+main barrier between Von Kronhelm and his objective--our great
+metropolis. But, as it turned out, he had a totally different scheme in
+hand. The orders to Lord Byfield to evacuate the position he had
+maintained with such credit against the German Garde and IVth Corps have
+already been referred to. Their reason was obvious. Now that there was
+no organised resistance on his right, he stood in danger of being cut
+off from London, the defences of which were now in pressing need of his
+men. A large amount of rolling stock was at once despatched to Saffron
+Walden and Buntingford by the G.E.R., and to Baldock by the G.N.R., to
+facilitate the withdrawal of his troops and stores, and he was given an
+absolutely free hand as to how these were to be used, all lines being
+kept clear and additional trains kept waiting at his disposal at their
+London termini.
+
+The 13th of September proved a memorable date in the history of England.
+
+The evacuation of the Baldock-Saffron Walden position could not possibly
+have been carried out in good order on such short notice, had not Lord
+Byfield previously worked the whole thing out in readiness. He could
+not help feeling that, despite his glorious victory on the ninth, a turn
+of Fortune’s wheel might necessitate a retirement on London sooner or
+later, and, like the good General that he was, he made every preparation
+both for this, and other eventualities. Among other details, he had
+arranged that the mounted infantry should be provided with plenty of
+strong light wire. This was intended for the express benefit of
+Frölich’s formidable cavalry brigade, which he foresaw would be most
+dangerous to his command in the event of a retreat. As soon, therefore,
+as the retrograde movement commenced, the mounted infantry began to
+stretch their wires across every road, lane, and byway leading to the
+north and north-east. Some wires were laid low, within a foot of the
+ground, others high up where they could catch a rider about the neck or
+breast. This operation they carried out again and again, after the
+troops had passed, at various points on the route of the retreat. Thanks
+to the darkness, this device well fulfilled its purpose. Frölich’s
+brigade was on the heels of the retreating British soon after midnight,
+but as it was impossible for them to move over the enclosed country at
+night his riders were confined to the roads, and the accidents and
+delays occasioned by the wires were so numerous and disconcerting, that
+their advance had to be conducted with such caution that as a pursuit it
+was of no use at all. Even the infantry and heavy guns of the retiring
+British got over the ground nearly twice as fast. After two or three
+hours of this, only varied by occasional volleys from detachments of our
+mounted infantry, who sometimes waited in rear of their snares to let
+fly at the German cavalry before galloping back to lay others, the enemy
+recognised the fact, and, withdrawing their cavalry till daylight,
+replaced them by infantry, but so much time had been lost that the
+British had got several miles’ start.
+
+As has been elsewhere chronicled, the brigade of four regular battalions
+with their guns, and a company of Engineers, which were to secure the
+passage of the Stort and protect the left flank of the retirement, left
+Saffron Walden somewhere about 10.30 p.m. The line was clear, and they
+arrived at Sawbridgeworth in four long trains in a little under an hour.
+Their advent did not arouse the sleeping village, as the station lies
+nearly three-quarters of a mile distant on the further side of the
+river. It may be noted in passing that while the Stort is but a small
+stream, easily fordable in most places, yet it was important, if
+possible, to secure the bridges to prevent delay in getting over the
+heavy guns and wagons of the retiring British. A delay and congestion at
+the points selected for passage might, with a close pursuit, easily lead
+to disaster. Moreover, the Great Eastern Railway crossed the river by a
+wooden bridge just north of the village of Sawbridgeworth, and it was
+necessary to ensure the safe passage of the last trains over it before
+destroying it to preclude the use of the railway by the enemy.
+
+There were two road bridges on the Great Eastern Railway near the
+village of Sawbridgeworth, which might be required by the Dunmow force,
+which was detailed to protect the same flank rather more to the
+northward. The most important bridge, that over which the main body of
+the Saffron Walden force was to retire, with all the impedimenta it had
+had time to bring away with it, was between Sawbridgeworth and Harlow,
+about a mile north of the latter village, but much nearer its station.
+Thither, then, proceeded the leading train with the Grenadiers, four 4.7
+guns, and half a company of Royal Engineers with bridging materials.
+Their task was to construct a second bridge to relieve the traffic over
+the permanent one. The Grenadiers left one company at the railway
+station, two in Harlow village, which they at once commenced to place in
+a state of defence, much to the consternation of the villagers, who had
+not realised how close to them were trending the red footsteps of war.
+The remaining five companies with the other four guns turned northward,
+and after marching another mile or so occupied the enclosures round
+Durrington House and the higher ground to its north. Here the guns were
+halted on the road. It was too dark to select the best position for
+them, for it was now only about half an hour after midnight. The three
+other regiments which detrained at Sawbridgeworth were disposed as
+follows, continuing the line of the Grenadiers to the northward. The
+Rifles occupied Hyde Hall, formerly the seat of the Earls of Roden,
+covering the operations of the Engineers, who were preparing the railway
+bridge for destruction, and the copses about Little Hyde Hall on the
+higher ground to the eastward.
+
+The Scots Guards with four guns were between them and the Grenadiers,
+and distributed between Sheering village and Gladwyns House, from the
+neighbourhood of which it was expected that the guns would be able to
+command the Chelmsford Road for a considerable distance. The Seaforth
+Highlanders for the time being were stationed on a road running parallel
+to the railway, from which branch roads led to both the right, left, and
+centre of the position. An advanced party of the Rifle Brigade was
+pushed forward to Hatfield Heath with instructions to patrol towards the
+front and flanks, and, if possible, establish communication with the
+troops expected from Dunmow. By the time all this was completed it was
+getting on for 3 a.m. on the 13th. At this hour the advanced guard of
+the Germans coming from Chelmsford was midway between Leaden Roding and
+White Roding, while the main body was crossing the small River Roding by
+the shallow ford near the latter village. Their few cavalry scouts were,
+however, exploring the roads and lanes some little way ahead. A
+collision was imminent. The Dunmow force had not been able to move
+before midnight, and, with the exception of one regular battalion, the
+1st Leinsters, which was left behind to the last and crowded into the
+only train available, had only just arrived at the northern edge of
+Hatfield Forest, some four miles directly north of Hatfield Heath. The
+Leinsters, who left Dunmow by train half an hour later, had detrained at
+this point at one o’clock, and just about three had met the patrols of
+the Rifles. A Yeomanry corps from Dunmow was also not far off, as it had
+turned to its left at the crossroads east of Takely, and was by this
+time in the neighbourhood of Hatfield Broad Oak. In short, all three
+forces were converging, but the bulk of the Dunmow force was four miles
+away from the point of convergence.
+
+It was still profoundly dark when the Rifles at Hatfield Heath heard a
+dozen shots cracking through the darkness to their left front. Almost
+immediately other reports resounded from due east. Nothing could be seen
+beyond a very few yards, and the men of the advanced company drawn up at
+the crossroads in front of the village inn fancied they now and again
+saw figures dodging about in the obscurity, but were cautioned not to
+fire till their patrols had come in, for it was impossible to
+distinguish friend from foe. Shots still rattled out here and there to
+the front. About ten minutes later the captain in command, having got in
+his patrols, gave the order to fire at a black blur that seemed to be
+moving towards them on the Chelmsford Road. There was no mistake this
+time. The momentary glare of the discharge flashed on the shiny
+“pickel-haubes” of a detachment of German infantry, who charged forward
+with a loud “Hoch!” The Riflemen, who already had their bayonets fixed,
+rushed to meet them, and for a few moments there was a fierce stabbing
+affray in the blackness of the night. The Germans, who were but few in
+number, were overpowered, and beat a retreat, having lost several of
+their men. The Rifles, according to their orders, having made sure of
+the immediate proximity of the enemy, now fell back to the rest of their
+battalion at Little Hyde Hall, and all along the banks and hedges which
+covered the British front, our men, rifle in hand, peered eagerly into
+the darkness ahead of them.
+
+Nothing happened for quite half an hour, and the anxious watchers were
+losing some of their alertness, when a heavy outburst of firing
+re-echoed from Hatfield Heath. To explain this we must return to the
+Germans. Von der Rudesheim, on obtaining touch with the British, at once
+reinforced his advanced troops, and they, a whole battalion strong,
+advanced into the hamlet, meeting with no resistance. Almost
+simultaneously two companies of the Leinsters entered it from the
+northward. There was a sudden and unexpected collision on the open
+green, and a terrible fire was exchanged at close quarters, both sides
+losing very heavily. The British, however, were borne back by sheer
+weight of numbers, and, through one of those unfortunate mistakes that
+insist on occurring in warfare, were charged as they fell back by the
+leading squadrons of the Yeomanry who were coming up from Hatfield Broad
+Oak. The officer commanding the Leinsters decided to wait till it was a
+little lighter before again attacking the village. He considered that,
+as he had no idea of the strength of the enemy, he had best wait till
+the arrival of the troops now marching through Hatfield Forest. Von der
+Rudesheim, on his part, mindful of his instructions, determined to try
+to hold the few scattered houses on the north side of the heath which
+constituted the village, with the battalion already in it, and push
+forward with the remainder of his force towards Harlow. His first essay
+along the direct road viâ Sheering, was repulsed by the fire of the
+Scots Guards lining the copses about Gladwyns. He now began to have some
+idea of the British position, and made his preparations to assault it at
+daybreak.
+
+To this end he sent forward two of his batteries into Hatfield Heath,
+cautiously moved the rest of his force away to the left, arranged his
+battalions in the valley of the Pincey Brook ready for attacking
+Sheering and Gladwyns, placed one battalion in reserve at
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF HARLOW]
+
+Down Hall, and stationed his remaining battery near Newman’s End. By
+this time there was beginning to be a faint glimmer of daylight in the
+east, and, as the growing dawn began to render vague outlines of the
+nearer objects dimly discernible, hell broke loose along the peaceful
+countryside. A star shell fired from the battery at Newman’s End burst
+and hung out a brilliant white blaze that fell slowly over Sheering
+village, lighting up its walls and roofs and the hedges along which lay
+its defenders, was the signal for the Devil’s Dance to begin. Twelve
+guns opened with a crash from Hatfield Heath, raking the Gladwyns
+enclosures and the end of Sheering village with a deluge of shrapnel,
+while an almost solid firing line advanced rapidly against it, firing
+heavily. The British replied lustily with gun, rifle, and maxim, the
+big, high-explosive shells bursting amid the advancing Germans and among
+the houses of Hatfield Heath with telling effect. But the German
+assaulting lines had but six or seven hundred yards to go. They had been
+trained above all things to ignore losses and to push on at all hazards.
+The necessity for this had not been confused in their minds by maxims
+about the importance of cover, so the south side of the village street
+was taken at a rush. Von der Rudesheim continued to pile on his men,
+and, fighting desperately, the Guardsmen were driven from house to house
+and from fence to fence. All this time the German battery at Newman’s
+End continued to fire star shells with rhythmical regularity, lighting
+up the inflamed countenances of the living combatants, and the pale
+upturned faces of the dead turned to heaven as if calling for vengeance
+on their slayers. In the midst of this desperate fighting the Leinsters,
+supported by a Volunteer and a Militia regiment, which had just come up,
+assaulted Hatfield Heath. The Germans were driven out of it with the
+loss of a couple of their guns, but hung on to the little church, around
+which such a desperate conflict was waged that the dead above ground in
+that diminutive God’s acre outnumbered the “rude forefathers of the
+hamlet” who slept below.
+
+It was now past five o’clock in the morning, and by this time strong
+reinforcements might have been expected from Dunmow, but, with the
+exception of the Militia and Volunteer battalions just referred to, who
+had pushed on at the sound of the firing, none were seen coming up. The
+fact was that they had been told off to certain positions in the line of
+defence they had been ordered to take up, and had been slowly and
+carefully installing themselves therein. Their commanding officer, Sir
+Jacob Stellenbosch, thought that he must carry out the exact letter of
+the orders he had received from Lord Byfield, and paid little attention
+to the firing except to hustle his battalion commanders, to try to get
+them into their places as soon as possible. He was a pig-headed man into
+the bargain, and would listen to no remonstrance. The two battalions
+which had arrived so opportunely had been at the head of the column, and
+had pushed forward “on their own” before he could prevent them. At this
+time the position was as follows: One German battalion was hanging
+obstinately on to the outskirts of Hatfield Heath; two were in
+possession of the copses about Gladwyns; two were in Sheering village,
+or close up to it, and the sixth was still in reserve at Down Hall. On
+the British side the Rifles were in their original position at Little
+Hyde Hall, where also were three guns, which had been got away from
+Gladwyns. The Seaforths had come up, and were now firing from about
+Quickbury, while the Scots Guards, after suffering fearful losses, were
+scattered, some with the Highlanders, others with the five companies of
+the Grenadiers, who with their four guns still fought gallantly on
+between Sheering and Durrington House.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+REPULSE OF THE GERMANS
+
+
+The terrible fire of the swarms of Germans who now lined the edges of
+Sheering village became too much for the four 4.7 guns on the open
+ground to the south.
+
+Their gunners were shot down as fast as they touched their weapons, and
+when the German field battery at Newman’s End, which had been advanced
+several hundred yards, suddenly opened a flanking fire of shrapnel upon
+them, it was found absolutely impossible to serve them. A gallant
+attempt was made to withdraw them by the Harlow Road, but their teams
+were shot down as soon as they appeared. This enfilade fire, too,
+decimated the Grenadiers and the remnant of the Scots, though they
+fought on to the death, and a converging attack of a battalion from Down
+Hall and another from Sheering drove them down into the grounds of
+Durrington House, where fighting still went on savagely for some time
+afterwards.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had all but attained a portion of his object, which
+was to establish his guns in such a position that they could fire on the
+main body of the British troops when they entered Sawbridgeworth by the
+Cambridge Road. The place where the four guns with the Grenadiers had
+been stationed was within 3000 yards of any part of that road between
+Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. But this spot was still exposed to the rifle
+fire of the Seaforths who held Quickbury. Von der Rudesheim therefore
+determined to swing forward his left, and either drive them back down
+the hill towards the river, or at least to so occupy them that he could
+bring up his field-guns to their chosen position without losing too many
+of his gunners.
+
+By six o’clock, thanks to his enormous local superiority in numbers, he
+had contrived to do this, and now the opposing forces with the exception
+of the British Grenadiers, who still fought with a German battalion
+between Durrington House and Harlow, faced each other north and south,
+instead of east and west, as they were at the beginning of the fight.
+Brigadier-General Lane-Edgeworth, who was in command of the British, had
+been sending urgent messages for reinforcements to the Dunmow Force, but
+when its commanding officer finally decided to turn his full strength in
+the direction of the firing, it took so long to assemble and form up the
+Volunteer regiments who composed the bulk of his command, that it was
+past seven before the leading battalion had deployed to assist in the
+attack which it was decided to make against the German right. Meantime,
+other important events had transpired.
+
+Von der Rudesheim had found that the battalion which was engaged with
+the Grenadiers could not get near Harlow village, or either the river or
+railway bridge at that place, both of which he wished to destroy. But
+his scouts had reported a lock and wooden footbridge immediately to the
+westward between Harlow and Sawbridgeworth, just abreast of the large
+wooded park surrounding Pishobury House on the farther side. He
+determined to send two companies over by this, their movements being
+hidden from the English by the trees. After crossing, they found
+themselves confronted by a backwater, but, trained in crossing rivers,
+they managed to ford and swim over, and advanced through the park
+towards Harlow Bridge. While this was in progress, a large force was
+reported marching south on the Cambridge Road.
+
+While Von der Rudesheim, who was at the western end of Sheering hamlet,
+was looking through his glasses at the new arrivals on the scene of
+action--who were without doubt the main body of the Royston command,
+which was retiring under the personal supervision of Lord Byfield--a
+puff of white smoke rose above the trees about Hyde Hall, and at top
+speed four heavily loaded trains shot into sight going south. These were
+the same ones that had brought down the Regular British troops, with
+whom he was now engaged. They had gone north again, and picked up a
+number of Volunteer battalions belonging to the retreating force just
+beyond Bishop’s Stortford. But so long a time had been taken in
+entraining the troops in the darkness and confusion of the retreat, that
+their comrades who had kept to the road arrived almost simultaneously.
+Von der Rudesheim signalled, and sent urgent orders for his guns to be
+brought up to open fire on them, but by the time the first team had
+reached him the last of the trains had disappeared from sight into the
+cutting at Harlow Station. But even now it was not too late to open fire
+on the troops entering Sawbridgeworth.
+
+Things were beginning to look somewhat bad for Von der Rudesheim’s
+little force. The pressure from the north was increasing every moment,
+his attack on the retreating troops had failed, he had not so far been
+able to destroy the bridges at Harlow, and every minute the likelihood
+of his being able to do so grew more remote. To crown all, word was
+brought him that the trains which had just slipped by were disgorging
+men in hundreds along the railway west of Harlow Station, and that these
+troops were beginning to move forward as if to support the British
+Grenadiers, who had been driven back towards Harlow. In fact, he saw
+that there was even a possibility of his being surrounded. But he had no
+intention of discontinuing the fight. He knew he could rely on the
+discipline and mobility of his well-trained men under almost any
+conditions, and he trusted, moreover, that the promised reinforcements
+would not be very long in turning up. But he could not hold on just
+where he was. He accordingly, by various adroit manœuvres, threw
+back his right to Down Hall, whose copses and plantations afforded a
+good deal of cover, and, using this as a pivot, gradually wheeled back
+his left till he had taken up a position running north and south from
+Down Hall to Matching Tye. He had not effected this difficult
+manœuvre without considerable loss, but he experienced less
+difficulty in extricating his left than he had anticipated, since the
+newly arrived British troops at Harlow, instead of pressing forward
+against him, had been engaged in moving into a position between Harlow
+and the hamlet of Foster Street, on the somewhat elevated ground to the
+south of Matching, which would enable them to cover the further march of
+the main body of the retreating troops to Epping.
+
+But he had totally lost the two companies he had sent across the river
+to attack Harlow Bridge. Unfortunately for them, their arrival on the
+Harlow-Sawbridgeworth Road synchronised with that of the advanced guard
+of Lord Byfield’s command. Some hot skirmishing took place in and out
+among the trees of Pishobury, and finally the Germans were driven to
+earth in the big square block of the red-brick mansion itself.
+
+Here they made a desperate stand, fighting hard as they were driven from
+one storey to another. The staircases ran with blood, the woodwork
+smouldered and threatened to burst into flame in a dozen places. At
+length the arrival of a battery of field guns, which, unlimbered at
+close range, induced the survivors to surrender, and they were disarmed
+and carried off as prisoners with the retreating army.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+By the time Von der Rudesheim had succeeded in taking up his new
+position it was past ten o’clock, and he had been informed by despatches
+carried by motor-cyclists that he might expect assistance in another
+hour and a half.
+
+The right column, consisting of the 39th Infantry Brigade of five
+battalions, six batteries, and a squadron of Dragoons, came into
+collision with the left flank of the Dunmow force, which was engaged in
+attacking Von der Rudesheim’s right at Down Hall, and endeavouring to
+surround it. Sir Jacob Stellenbosch, who was in command, in vain tried
+to change front to meet the advancing enemy. His troops were nearly all
+Volunteers, who were incapable of quickly manœuvring under difficult
+circumstances; they were crumpled up and driven back in confusion
+towards Hatfield Heath. Had Von Kronhelm been able to get in the bulk of
+his cavalry from their luckless pursuit of the Ist and Vth British Army
+Corps, who had been driven back on Brentwood the evening previous, and
+so send a proportion with the 20th Division, few would have escaped to
+tell the tale. As it was, the unfortunate Volunteers were shot down in
+scores by the “feu d’enfer” with which the artillery followed them up,
+and lay in twos and threes and larger groups all over the fields,
+victims of a selfish nation that accepted these poor fellows’ gratuitous
+services merely in order that its citizens should not be obliged to
+carry out what in every other European country was regarded as the first
+duty of citizenship--that of learning to bear arms in the defence of the
+Fatherland.
+
+By this time the greater portion of the retreating British Army, with
+all its baggage, guns, and impedimenta, was crawling slowly along the
+road from Harlow to Epping. Unaccustomed as they were to marching, the
+poor Volunteers, who had already covered eighteen or twenty miles of
+road, were now toiling slowly and painfully along the highway. The
+regular troops, who had been engaged since early morning, and who were
+now mostly in the neighbourhood of Moor Hall, east of Harlow, firing at
+long ranges on Von der Rudesheim’s men to keep them in their places
+while Sir Jacob Stellenbosch attacked their right, were now hurriedly
+withdrawn and started to march south by a track running parallel to the
+main Epping Road, between it and that along which the covering force of
+Volunteers, who had come in by train, were now established in position.
+The 1st and 2nd Coldstreamers, who had formed Lord Byfield’s rear-guard
+during the night, were halted in Harlow village.
+
+Immediately upon the success obtained by his right column, General
+Richel von Sieberg, who commanded the 20th Hanoverian Division, ordered
+his two centre and left columns, consisting respectively of the three
+battalions 77th Infantry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, then at
+Matching Green, and the three battalions 92nd Infantry, 10th Pioneer
+Battalion, and five batteries Field Artillery, then between High Laver
+and Tilegate Green, to turn to their left and advance in fighting
+formation in a south-westerly direction, with the object of attacking
+the sorely harassed troops of Lord Byfield on their way to Epping.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The final phase of this memorable retreat is best told in the words of
+the special war correspondent of the _Daily Telegraph_, who arrived on
+the scene at about one o’clock in the afternoon:
+
+“EPPING, 5 p.m., _September 9_.
+
+“Thanks to the secrecy preserved by the military authorities, it was not
+known that Lord Byfield was falling back from the Royston-Saffron Walden
+position till seven this morning. By eight, I was off in my car for the
+scene of action, for rumours of fighting near Harlow had already begun
+to come in. I started out by way of Tottenham and Edmonton, expecting to
+reach Harlow by 9.30 or 10. But I reckoned without the numerous military
+officials with whom I came in contact, who constantly stopped me and
+sent me out of my way on one pretext or another. I am sure I hope that
+the nation has benefited by their proceedings. In the end it was close
+on one before I pulled up at the Cock Inn, Epping, in search of
+additional information, because for some time I had been aware of the
+rumbling growl of heavy artillery from the eastward, and wondered what
+it might portend. I found that General Sir Stapleton Forsyth, who
+commanded the Northern section of the defences, had made the inn his
+headquarters, and there was a constant coming and going of orderlies and
+staff-officers at its portals. Opposite, the men of one of the new
+irregular corps, dressed in dark green corduroy, blue flannel cricketing
+caps, and red cummerbunds, sat or reclined in two long lines on either
+side of their piled arms on the left of the wide street. On inquiry I
+heard that the enemy were said to be bombarding Kelvedon Hatch, and also
+that the head of our retreating columns was only three or four miles
+distant.
+
+“I pushed on, and, after the usual interrogations from an officer in
+charge of a picket, where the road ran through the entrenchments about a
+mile farther on, found myself spinning along through the country in the
+direction of Harlow. As I began to ascend the rising ground towards
+Potter Street I could hear a continuous roll of artillery away to my
+right. I could not distinguish anything except the smoke of shells
+bursting here and there in the distance, on account of the scattered
+trees which lined the maze of hedgerows on every side. Close to Potter
+Street I met the head of the retreating army. Very tired, heated, and
+footsore looked the hundreds of poor fellows as they dragged themselves
+along through the heat. It was a sultry afternoon and the roads inches
+deep in dust.
+
+“Turning to the right over Harlow Common, I met another column of men. I
+noticed that these were all Regulars, Grenadiers, Scots Guards, a
+battalion of Highlanders, another of Riflemen, and, lastly, two
+battalions of the Coldstreamers. These troops stepped along with rather
+more life than the citizen soldiers I had met previously, but still
+showed traces of their hard marching and fighting. Many of them were
+wearing bandages, but all the more seriously wounded had been left
+behind to be looked after by the Germans. All this time the firing was
+still resounding heavy and constant from the north-east, and from one
+person and another whom I questioned I ascertained that the enemy were
+advancing upon us from that direction. Half a mile farther on I ran into
+the middle of the fighting. The road ran along the top of a kind of flat
+ridge or upland, whence I could see to a considerable distance on either
+hand.
+
+“Partially sheltered from view by its hedges and the scattered cottages
+forming the hamlet of Foster Street was a long, irregular line of guns
+facing nearly east. Beyond them were yet others directed north. There
+were field batteries and big 4·7’s. All were hard at work, their gunners
+working like men possessed, and the crash of their constant discharge
+was ear-splitting. I had hardly taken this in when “Bang! Bang! Bang!
+Bang!”--four dazzling flashes opened in the air overhead, and shrapnel
+bullets rattled on earth, walls, and roofs, with a sound as of handfuls
+of pebbles thrown on a marble pavement. But the hardness with which they
+struck was beyond anything in my experience.
+
+“It was not pleasant to be here, but I ran my car behind a little
+public-house that stood by the wayside, and, dismounting, unslung my
+glasses and determined to get what view of the proceedings I could from
+the corner of the house. All round khaki-clad Volunteers lined every
+hedge and sheltered behind every cottage, while farther off, in the
+lower ground, from a mile to a mile and a half away I could distinguish
+the closely packed firing lines of the Germans advancing slowly but
+steadily, despite the gaps made in their ranks by the fire of our guns.
+Their own guns, I fancied I could make out near Tilegate Green, to the
+north-east. Neither side had as yet opened rifle fire. Getting into my
+car I motored back to the main road, but it was so blocked by the
+procession of wagons and troops of the retreating army that I could not
+turn into it. Wheeling round I made my way back to a parallel lane I had
+noticed, and
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF HARLOW
+
+FINAL PHASE]
+
+turning to the left again at a smithy, found myself in a road bordered
+by cottages and enclosures. Here I found the Regular troops I had lately
+met lining every hedgerow and fence, while I could see others on a knoll
+further to their left. There was a little church here, and, mounting to
+the roof, I got a comparatively extensive view. To my right the long,
+dusty column of men and wagons still toiled along the Epping Road. In
+front, nearly three miles off, an apparently solid line of woods
+stretched along the horizon, surmounting a long, gradual, and open
+slope. This was the position of our lines near Epping, and the haven for
+which Lord Byfield’s tired soldiery were making. To the left the serried
+masses of drab-clad German infantry still pushed aggressively forward,
+their guns firing heavily over their heads.
+
+“As I watched them three tremendous explosions took place in their
+midst, killing dozens of them. Fire, smoke, and dust rose up twenty feet
+in the air, while three ear-splitting reports rose even above the
+rolling thunder of the gunfire. More followed. I looked again towards
+the woodland. Here I saw blaze after blaze of fire among the dark masses
+of trees. Our big guns in the fortifications had got to work, and were
+punishing the Germans most severely, taking their attack in flank with
+their big 6-inch and 7·5-inch projectiles. Cheers arose all along our
+lines, as shell after shell, fired by gunners who knew to an inch the
+distances to every house and conspicuous tree, burst among the German
+ranks, killing and maiming the invaders by hundreds. The advance paused,
+faltered, and, being hurriedly reinforced from the rear, once more went
+forward.
+
+“But the big high explosive projectiles continued to fall with such
+accuracy and persistence that the attackers fell sullenly back, losing
+heavily as they did so. The enemy’s artillery now came in for attention,
+and also was driven out of range with loss. The last stage in the
+retreat of Lord Byfield’s command was now secured. The extended troops
+and guns gradually drew off from their positions, still keeping a
+watchful eye on the foe, and by 4·30 all were within the Epping
+entrenchments. All, that is to say, but the numerous killed and wounded
+during the running fight that had extended along the last seven or eight
+miles of the retreat, and the bulk of the Dunmow force under Sir Jacob
+Stellenbosch, which, with its commander, had, it was believed, been made
+prisoners. They had been caught between the 39th German Infantry Brigade
+and several regiments of cavalry, that it was said had arrived from the
+northward soon after they were beaten at Hatfield Heath. Probably these
+were the advanced troops of General Frölich’s Cavalry Brigade.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+BATTLE OF EPPING
+
+
+The following is extracted from the _Times_ of 15th September:--
+
+“EPPING, _14th September, Evening_.
+
+“I have spent a busy day, but have no very important news to record.
+After the repulse of the German troops attacking Lord Byfield’s
+retreating army and the arrival of our sorely harassed troops behind the
+Epping entrenchments, we saw no more of the enemy that evening. All
+through the night, however, there was the sound of occasional heavy gun
+firing from the eastward. I have taken up my quarters at the Bell, an
+inn at the south end of the village, from the back of which I can get a
+good view to the north-west for from two to four miles. Beyond that
+distance the high ridge known as Epping Upland limits the prospect. The
+whole terrain is cut up into fields of various sizes and dotted all over
+with trees. Close by is a lofty red brick water-tower, which has been
+utilised by Sir Stapleton Forsyth as a signal station. Away about a mile
+to my left front as I look from the back of the Bell a big block of
+buildings stands prominently out on a grassy spur of high ground. This
+is Copped Hall and Little Copped Hall.
+
+“Both mansions have been transformed into fortresses, which, while
+offering little or no resistance to artillery fire, will yet form a
+tough nut for the Germans to crack, should they succeed in getting
+through our entrenchments at that point. Beyond, I can just see a corner
+of a big earthwork that has been built to strengthen the defence line,
+and which has been christened Fort Obelisk, from a farm of that name,
+near which it is situated. There is another smaller redoubt on the slope
+just below this hostelry, and I can see the gunners busy about the three
+big khaki-painted guns which are mounted in it. There are a 6-inch and
+two 4·7-inch guns, I believe. This morning our cavalry, consisting of a
+regiment of yeomanry and some mounted infantry, who had formed a portion
+of Lord Byfield’s force, went out to reconnoitre towards the north and
+east. They were not away long, as they were driven back in every
+direction in which they attempted to advance, by superior forces of the
+enemy’s cavalry, who seemed to swarm everywhere.
+
+“Later on, I believe, some of the German reiters became so venturesome
+that several squadrons exposed themselves to the fire of the big guns in
+the fort at Skip’s Corner, and suffered pretty severely for their
+temerity. The firing continued throughout the morning away to the
+eastward, and about noon I thought I would run down and see if I could
+find out anything about it. I therefore mounted my car and ran off in
+that direction. I found that there was a regular duel going on between
+our guns at Kelvedon Hatch and some heavy siege guns or howitzers that
+the enemy had got in the neighbourhood of the high ground about Norton
+Heath, only about 3000 yards distant from our entrenchments. They did
+not appear to have done us much damage, but neither, in all probability,
+did we hurt them very much, since our gunners were unable to exactly
+locate the hostile guns.
+
+“When I got back to Epping, about three o’clock, I found the wide single
+street full of troops. They were those who had come in the previous
+afternoon with Lord Byfield, and who, having been allowed to rest till
+midday after their long fighting march, were now being told off to their
+various sections of the defence line. The Guard regiments were allocated
+to the northernmost position between Fort Royston and Fort Skips. The
+rifles were to go to Copped Hall, and the Seaforths to form the nucleus
+of a central reserve of Militia and Volunteers, which was being
+established just north of Gaynes Park. Epping itself and the contiguous
+entrenchments were confided to the Leinster Regiment, which alone of Sir
+Jacobs Stellenbosch’s brigade had escaped capture, supported by two
+Militia battalions. The field batteries were distributed under shelter
+of the woods on the south, east, and north-east of the town.
+
+“During the afternoon the welcome news arrived that the remainder of
+Lord Byfield’s command from Baldock, Royston, and Elmdon had safely
+arrived within our entrenchments at Enfield and New Barnet. We may now
+hope that what with Regulars, Militia, Volunteers, and the new levies,
+our lines are fully and effectively manned, and will suffice to stay the
+further advance of even such a formidable host as is that at the
+disposal of the renowned Von Kronhelm. It is reported, too, from
+Brentwood that great progress has already been made in reorganising and
+distributing the broken remnants of the 1st and 5th Armies that got back
+to that town after the great and disastrous battle of Chelmsford.
+Victorious as they were, the Germans must also have suffered severely,
+which may give us some breathing time before their next onslaught.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The following are extracts from a diary picked up by a _Daily Mirror_
+correspondent, lying near the body of a German officer after the
+fighting in the neighbourhood of Enfield Chase. It is presumed that the
+officer in question was Major Splittberger, of the Kaiser Franz Garde
+Grenadier Regiment, since that was the name written inside the cover of
+the diary.
+
+From inquiries that have since been instituted, it is probable that the
+deceased officer was employed on the staff of the General commanding the
+IVth Corps of the invading Army, though it would seem from the contents
+of his diary that he saw also a good deal of the operations of the Xth
+Corps. Our readers will be able to gather from it the general course of
+the enemy’s strategy and tactics during the time immediately preceding
+the most recent disasters which have befallen our brave defenders. The
+first extract is dated September 15, and was written somewhere north of
+Epping:
+
+“_Sept. 15._--So far the bold strategy of our Commander-in-Chief, in
+pushing the greater part of the Xth Corps directly to the west
+immediately after our victory at Chelmsford, has been amply justified by
+results. Although we just missed cutting off Lord Byfield and a large
+portion of his command at Harlow, we gained a good foothold inside the
+British defences north of Epping, and I don’t think it will be long
+before we have very much improved our position there. The IVth Corps
+arrived at Harlow about midday yesterday in splendid condition, after
+their long march from Newmarket, and the residue of the Xth joined us
+about the same time. As there is nothing like keeping the enemy on the
+move, no time was lost in preparing to attack him at the very earliest
+opportunity. As soon as it was dark the IVth Corps got its heavy guns
+and howitzers into position along the ridge above Epping Upland, and
+sent the greater portion of its field batteries forward to a position
+from which they were within effective range of the British
+fortifications at Skip’s Corner.
+
+“The IXth Corps, which had arrived from Chelmsford that evening, also
+placed its field artillery in a similar position, from which its fire
+crossed that of the IVth Corps. This corps also provided the assaulting
+troops. The Xth Corps, which had been engaged all day on Thursday, was
+held in reserve. The howitzers on Epping Upland opened fire with petrol
+shell on the belt of woods that lies immediately in rear of the position
+to be attacked, and with the assistance of a strong westerly wind
+succeeded in setting them on fire and cutting off the most northerly
+section of the British defences from reinforcement. This was soon after
+midnight. The conflagration not only did us this service, but it is
+supposed so attracted the attention of the partially trained soldiers of
+the enemy that they did not observe the IXth Corps massing for the
+assault.
+
+“We then plastered their trenches with shrapnel to such an extent that
+they did not dare to show a finger above them, and finally carried the
+northern corner by assault. To give the enemy their due, they fought
+well, but we outnumbered them five to one, and it was impossible for
+them to resist the onslaught of our well-trained soldiers. News came
+to-day that the Saxons have been making a demonstration before Brentwood
+with a view of keeping the British employed down there so that they
+cannot send any reinforcements up here. At the same time they have been
+steadily bombarding Kelvedon Hatch from Norton Heath.
+
+“We hear, too, that the Garde Corps have got down south, and that their
+front stretches from Broxbourne to Little Berkhamsted, while Frölich’s
+Cavalry Division is in front of them, spread all over the country, from
+the River Lea away to the westward, having driven the whole of the
+British outlying troops and patrols under the shelter of their
+entrenchments. Once we succeed in rolling up the enemy’s troops in this
+quarter, it will not be long before we are entering London.”
+
+“_Sept. 16._--Fighting went on all yesterday in the neighbourhood of
+Skip’s Corner. We have taken the redoubt at North Weald Basset and
+driven the English back into the belt of burnt woodland, which they now
+hold along its northern edge. All day long, too, our big guns, hidden
+away behind the groves and woods above Epping Upland, poured their heavy
+projectiles on Epping and its defences. We set the village on fire three
+times, but the British contrived to extinguish the blaze on each
+occasion.
+
+“I fancy Epping itself will be our next point of attack.
+
+“_Sept. 17._--We are still progressing, fighting is now all but
+continuous. How long it may last I have no idea. Probably there will be
+no suspension of the struggle until we are actually masters of the
+metropolis. We took advantage of the darkness to push forward our men to
+within three thousand yards of the enemy’s lines, placing them as far as
+possible under cover of the numerous copses, plantations, and hedgerows
+which cover the face of this fertile country. At 4 a.m. the General
+ordered his staff to assemble at Latton Park, where he had established
+his headquarters. He unfolded to us the general outline of the attack,
+which, he now announced, was to commence at six precisely.
+
+[Illustration: GERMAN ATTACK ON THE LINES OF LONDON]
+
+“I thought myself that it was a somewhat inopportune time, as we should
+have the rising sun right in our eyes; but I imagine that the idea was
+to have as much daylight as possible before us. For although we had
+employed a night attack against Skip’s Corner, and successfully too, yet
+the general feeling in our Army has always been opposed to operations of
+this kind. The possible gain is, I think, in no way commensurable with
+the probable risks of panic and disorder. The principal objective was
+the village of Epping itself; but simultaneous attacks were to be
+carried out against Copped Hall, Fort Obelisk, to the west of it, and
+Fort Royston, about a mile north of the village. The IXth Corps was to
+co-operate by a determined attempt to break through the English lining
+the burnt strip of woodland and to assault the latter fort in rear. It
+was necessary to carry out both these flanking attacks in order to
+prevent the main attack from being enfiladed from right and left. At
+5.30 we mounted, and rode off to Rye Hill about a couple of miles
+distant, from which the General intended to watch the progress of the
+operations. The first rays of the rising sun were filling the eastern
+sky with a pale light as we cantered off, the long wooded ridge on which
+the enemy had his position standing up in a misty silhouette against the
+growing day.
+
+“As we topped Rye Hill I could see the thickly-massed lines of our
+infantry crouching behind every hedge, bank, or ridge, their
+rifle-barrels here and there twinkling in the feeble rays of the early
+sun, their shadows long and attenuated behind them. Epping with its
+lofty red water-tower was distinctly visible on the opposite side of the
+valley, and it is probable that the movement of the General’s cavalcade
+of officers, with the escort, attracted the attention of the enemy’s
+lookouts, for half-way down the hillside on their side of the valley a
+blinding violet-white flash blazed out, and a big shell came screaming
+along just over our heads, the loud boom of a heavy gun following fast
+on its heels. Almost simultaneously another big projectile hurtled up
+from the direction of Fort Obelisk, and burst among our escort of Uhlans
+with a deluge of livid flame and thick volumes of greenish brown smoke.
+It was a telling shot, for no fewer than six horses and their riders lay
+in a shattered heap on the ground.
+
+“At six precisely our guns fired a salvo directed on Epping village.
+This was the preconcerted signal for attack, and before the echoes of
+the thunderous discharge had finished reverberating over the hills and
+forest our front lines had sprung to their feet and were moving at a
+racing pace towards the enemy. For a moment the British seemed stupefied
+by the suddenness of the advance. A few rifle shots crackled out here
+and there, but our men had thrown themselves to the ground after their
+first rush before the enemy seemed to wake up. But there was no mistake
+about it when they did. Seldom have I seen such a concentrated fire.
+Gun, pom-pom, machine gun, and rifle blazed out from right to left along
+more than three miles of entrenchments. A continuous lightning-like line
+of fire poured forth from the British trenches, which still lay in
+shadow. I could see the bullets raising perfect sand-storms in places,
+the little pom-pom shells sparkling about all over our prostrate men,
+and the shrapnel bursting all along their front, producing perfect
+swathes of white smoke, which hung low down in the still air in the
+valley.
+
+“But our artillery was not idle. The field guns, pushed well forward,
+showered shrapnel upon the British position, the howitzer shells hurtled
+over our heads on their way to the enemy in constantly increasing
+numbers as the ranges were verified by the trial shots, while a terrible
+and unceasing reverberation from the north-east told of the supporting
+attack made by the IXth and Xth Corps upon the blackened woods held by
+the English. The concussion of the terrific cannonade that now resounded
+from every quarter was deafening; the air seemed to pulse within one’s
+ears, and it was difficult to hear one’s nearest neighbour speak. Down
+in the valley our men appeared to be suffering severely. Every forward
+move of the attacking lines left a perfect litter of prostrate forms
+behind it, and for some time I felt very doubtful in my own mind if the
+attack would succeed. Glancing to the right, however, I was encouraged
+to see the progress that had been made by the troops detailed for the
+assault on Copped Hall and Obelisk Fort, and, seeing this, it occurred
+to me that it was not intended to push the central attack on Epping home
+before its flank had been secured from molestation from this direction.
+Copped Hall itself stood out on a bare down almost like some mediæval
+castle, backed by the dark masses of forest, while to the west of it the
+slopes of Fort Obelisk could barely be distinguished, so flat were they
+and so well screened by greenery.
+
+“But its position was clearly defined by the clouds of dust, smoke, and
+débris constantly thrown up by our heavy high-explosive shells, while
+ever and anon there came a dazzling flash from it, followed by a
+detonation that made itself heard even above the rolling of the
+cannonade, as one of its big 7·5-in. guns was discharged. The roar of
+their huge projectiles, too, as they tore through the air, was easily
+distinguishable. None of our epaulments were proof against them, and
+they did our heavy batteries a great deal of damage before they could be
+silenced.
+
+“To cut a long story short, we captured Epping after a tough fight, and
+by noon were in possession of everything north of the Forest, including
+the war-scarred ruins that now represented the mansion of Copped Hall,
+and from which our pom-poms and machine guns were firing into Fort
+Obelisk. But our losses had been awful. As for the enemy, they could
+hardly have suffered less severely, for though partially protected by
+their entrenchments, our artillery fire must have been utterly
+annihilating.”
+
+“_Sept. 18._--Fighting went on all last night, the English holding
+desperately on to the edge of the Forest, our people pressing them
+close, and working round their right flank. When day broke the general
+situation was pretty much like this. On our left the IXth Corps were in
+possession of the Fort at Toothill, and a redoubt that lay between it
+and Skip’s Fort. Two batteries were bombarding a redoubt lower down in
+the direction of Stanford Rivers, which was also subjected to a cross
+fire from their howitzers near Ongar.
+
+“As for the English, their position was an unenviable one. From Copped
+Hall--as soon as we have cleared the edge of the Forest of the enemy’s
+sharp-shooters--we shall be able to take their entrenchments in reverse
+all the way to Waltham Abbey. They have, on the other hand, an outlying
+fort about a mile or two north of the latter place, which gave us some
+trouble with its heavy guns yesterday, and which it is most important
+that we should gain possession of before we advance further. The Garde
+Corps on the western side of the River Lea is now, I hear, in sight of
+the enemy’s lines, and is keeping them busily employed, though without
+pushing its attack home for the present.
+
+“At daybreak this morning I was in Epping and saw the beginning of the
+attack on the Forest. It is rumoured that large reinforcements have
+reached the enemy from London, but as these must be merely scratch
+soldiers they will do them more harm than good in their cramped
+position. The Xth Corps had got a dozen batteries in position a little
+to the eastward of the village, and at six o’clock these guns opened a
+tremendous fire upon the north-east corner of the Forest, under cover of
+which their infantry deployed down in the low ground about Coopersale,
+and advanced to the attack. Petrol shells were not used against the
+Forest, as Von Kronhelm had given orders that it was not to be burned if
+it could possibly be avoided. The shrapnel was very successful in
+keeping down the fire from the edge of the trees, but our troops
+received a good deal of damage from infantry and guns that were posted
+to the east of the Forest on a hill near Theydon Bois. But about seven
+o’clock these troops were driven from their position by a sudden flank
+attack made by the IXth Corps from Theydon Mount. Von Kleppen followed
+this up by putting some of his own guns up there, which were able to
+fire on the edge of the Forest after those of the Xth Corps had been
+masked by the close advance of their infantry. To make a long story
+short, by ten the whole of the Forest east of the London Road, as far
+south as the cross roads near Jack’s Hill, was in our hands. In the
+meantime the IVth Corps had made itself master of Fort Obelisk, and our
+gunners were hard at work mounting guns in it with which to fire on the
+outlying fort at Monkham’s Hall. Von Kleppen was at Copped Hall about
+this time, and with him I found General Von Wilberg, commanding the Xth
+Corps, in close consultation. The once fine mansion had been almost
+completely shot away down to its lower storey. A large portion of this,
+however, was still fairly intact, having been protected to a certain
+extent by the masses of masonry that had fallen all around it, and also
+by the thick ramparts of earth that the English had built up against its
+exposed side.
+
+“Our men were still firing from its loopholes at the edge of the woods,
+which were only about 1200 yards distant, and from which bullets were
+continually whistling in by every window. Two of our battalions had dug
+themselves in in the wooded park surrounding the house, and were also
+exchanging fire with the English at comparatively close ranges. They
+had, I was told, made more than one attempt to rush the edge of the
+Forest, but had been repulsed by rifle fire on each occasion. Away to
+the west I could see for miles, and even distinguish our shells bursting
+all over the enemy’s fort at Monkham’s Hall, which was being subjected
+to a heavy bombardment by our guns on the high ground to the north of
+it. About eleven Frölich’s Cavalry Brigade, whose presence was no longer
+required in front of the Garde Corps, passed through Epping, going
+south-east. It is generally supposed that it is either to attack the
+British at Brentwood in the rear, or, which I think is more probable, to
+intimidate the raw levies by its presence between them and London, and
+to attack them in flank should they attempt to retreat.
+
+“Just after eleven another battalion arrived at Copped Hall from
+Epping, and orders were given that the English position along the edge
+of the Forest was to be taken at all cost. Just before the attack began
+there was a great deal of firing somewhere in the interior of the
+Forest, presumably between the British and the advanced troops of the
+Xth Corps. However this may have been, it was evident that the enemy
+were holding our part of the Forest much less strongly, and our assault
+was entirely successful, with but small loss of men. Once in the woods,
+the superior training and discipline of our men told heavily in their
+favour. While the mingled mass of Volunteers and raw free-shooters, of
+which the bulk of their garrison was composed, got utterly disorganised
+and out of hand under the severe strain on them that was imposed by the
+difficulties of wood fighting, and hindered and broke up the regular
+units, our people were easily kept well in hand, and drove the enemy
+steadily before them without a single check. The rattle of rifle and
+machine gun was continuous through all the leafy dells and glades of the
+wood, but by two o’clock practically the whole Forest was in the hands
+of our Xth Corps. It was then the turn of the IVth Corps, who in the
+meantime, far from being idle, had massed a large number of their guns
+at Copped Hall, from which, aided by the fire from Fort Obelisk, the
+enemy’s lines were subjected to a bombardment that rendered them
+absolutely untenable, and we could see company after company making
+their way to Waltham Abbey.
+
+“At three the order for a general advance on Waltham Abbey was issued.
+As the enemy seemed to have few, if any, guns at this place, it was
+determined to make use of some of the new armoured motors that
+accompanied the Army. Von Kronhelm, who was personally directing the
+operations from Copped Hall, had caused each corps to send its motors to
+Epping, so that we had something like thirty at our disposal. These
+quaint, grey monsters came down through the Forest and advanced on
+Epping by two parallel roads, one passing by the south of Warlies Park,
+the other being the main road from Epping. It was a weird sight to see
+these shore-going armour-clads flying down upon the enemy. They got
+within 800 yards of the houses, but the enemy contrived to block their
+further advance by various obstacles which they placed on the roads.
+
+“There was about an hour’s desperate fighting in the village. The old
+Abbey Church was set on fire by a stray shell, the conflagration
+spreading to the neighbouring houses, and both British and Germans being
+too busy killing each other to put it out, the whole village was shortly
+in flames. The British were finally driven out of it, and across the
+river by five o’clock. In the meantime every heavy gun that could be got
+to bear was directed on the fort at Monkham’s Hall, which, during the
+afternoon, was also made the target for the guns of the Garde Corps,
+which co-operated with us by attacking the lines at Cheshunt, and
+assisting us with its artillery fire from the opposite side of the
+river. By nightfall the fort was a mass of smoking earth, over which
+fluttered our black cross flag, and the front of the IVth Corps
+stretched from this to Gillwell Park, four miles nearer London.
+
+“The Xth Corps was in support in the Forest behind us, and forming also
+a front to cover our flank, reaching from Chingford to Buckhurst Hill.
+The enemy was quite demoralised in this direction, and showed no
+indication of resuming the engagement. As for the IXth Corps, its
+advanced troops were at Lambourne End, in close communication with
+General Frölich, who had established his headquarters at
+Haveringatte-Bower. We have driven a formidable wedge right into the
+middle of the carefully elaborated system of defence arranged by the
+English Generals, and it will now be a miracle if they can prevent our
+entry into the capital.
+
+“We had not, of course, effected this without great loss in killed and
+wounded, but you can’t make puddings without breaking eggs, and in the
+end a bold and forward policy is more economical of life and limb than
+attempting to avoid necessary losses as our present opponents did in
+South Africa, thereby prolonging the war to an almost indefinite period,
+and losing many more men by sickness and in driblets than would have
+been the case if they had followed a more determined line in their
+strategy and tactics. Just before the sun sank behind the masses of new
+houses which the monster city spreads out to the northward I got orders
+to carry a despatch to General von Wilberg, who was stated to be at
+Chingford, on our extreme left. I went by the Forest road, as the
+parallel one near the river was in most parts under fire from the
+opposite bank.
+
+“He had established his headquarters at the Foresters’ Inn, which stands
+high up on a wooded mound, and from which he could see a considerable
+distance and keep in touch with his various signal stations. He took my
+despatch, telling me that I should have a reply to take back later on.
+‘In the meanwhile,’ said he, ‘if you will fall in with my staff you will
+have an opportunity of seeing the first shots fired into the biggest
+city in the world.’ So saying, he went out to his horse, which was
+waiting outside, and we started off down the hill with a great clatter.
+After winding about through a somewhat intricate network of roads and
+by-lanes we arrived at Old Chingford Church, which stands upon a species
+of headland, rising boldly up above the flat and, in some places, marshy
+land to the westward.
+
+“Close to the church was a battery of four big howitzers, the gunners
+grouped around them silhouetted darkly against the blood-red sky. From
+up here the vast city, spreading out to the south and west, lay like a
+grey, sprawling octopus spreading out ray-like to the northward, every
+rise and ridge being topped with a bristle of spires and chimney-pots.
+An ominous silence seemed to brood over the teeming landscape, broken
+only at intervals by the dull booming of guns from the northward. Long
+swathes of cloud and smoke lay athwart the dull, furnace-like glow of
+the sunset, and lights were beginning to sparkle out all over the vast
+expanse which lay before us mirrored here and there in the canals and
+rivers that ran almost at our feet. ‘Now,’ said Von Wilberg at length,
+‘commence fire.’ One of the big guns gave tongue with a roar that seemed
+to make the church tower quiver above us. Another and another followed
+in succession, their big projectiles hurtling and humming through the
+quiet evening air on their errands of death and destruction in I know
+not what quarter of the crowded suburbs. It seemed to me a cruel and
+needless thing to do, but I am told that it was done with the set
+purpose of arousing such a feeling of alarm and insecurity in the East
+End that the mob might try to interfere with any further measures for
+defence that the British military authorities might undertake. I got my
+despatch soon afterwards and returned with it to the General, who was
+spending the night at Copped Hall. There, too, I got myself a shakedown
+and slumbered soundly till the morning.
+
+“_Sept. 19._--To-day we have, I think, finally broken down all organised
+military opposition in the field, though we may expect a considerable
+amount of street fighting before reaping the whole fruits of our
+victories. At daybreak we began by turning a heavy fire from every
+possible quarter on the wooded island formed by the river and various
+back-waters just north of Waltham Abbey. The poplar-clad islet, which
+was full of the enemy’s troops, became absolutely untenable under this
+concentrated fire, and they were compelled to fall back over the river.
+Our Engineers soon began their bridging operations behind the wood, and
+our infantry, crossing over, got close up to a redoubt on the further
+side and took it by storm. Again we were able to take a considerable
+section of the enemy’s lines in reverse, and as they were driven out by
+our fire, against which they had no protection, the Garde Corps
+advanced, and by ten were in possession of Cheshunt.
+
+“In the meanwhile, covered by the fire of the guns belonging to the IXth
+and Xth Corps, other bridges had been thrown across the Lea at various
+points between Waltham and Chingford, and in another hour the crossing
+began. The enemy had no good positions for his guns, and seemed to have
+very few of them. He had pinned his faith upon the big weapons he had
+placed in his entrenchments, and these were now of no further use to
+him. He had lost a number of his field guns, either from damage or
+capture, and with our more numerous artillery firing from the high
+ground on the eastern bank of the river we were always able to beat down
+any attempt he made to reply to their fire.
+
+“We had a day of fierce fighting before us. There was no manœuvring.
+We were in a wilderness of scattered houses and occasional streets, in
+which the enemy contested our progress foot by foot. Edmonton, Enfield
+Wash, and Waltham Cross were quickly captured; our artillery commanded
+them too well to allow the British to make a successful defence; but
+Enfield itself, lying along a steepish ridge, on which the British had
+assembled what artillery they could scrape together, cost us dearly. The
+streets of this not too lovely suburban town literally ran with blood
+when at last we made our way into it. A large part of it was burnt to
+ashes, including unfortunately the ancient palace of Queen Elizabeth,
+and the venerable and enormous cedar tree that overhung it.
+
+“The British fell back to a second position they had apparently prepared
+along a parallel ridge further to the westward, their left being between
+us and New Barnet and their right at Southgate.
+
+“We did not attempt to advance further to-day, but contented ourselves
+in reorganising our forces and preparing against a possible
+counter-attack, by barricading and entrenching the further edge of
+Enfield Ridge.
+
+“_Sept. 20._--We are falling in immediately, as it has been decided to
+attack the British position at once. Already the artillery duel is in
+progress. I must continue to-night, as my horse is at the door.”
+
+The writer, however, never lived to complete his diary, having been shot
+half-way up the green slope he had observed the day previous.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BOMBARDMENT OF LONDON
+
+
+Day broke. The faint flush of violet away eastward beyond Temple Bar
+gradually turned rose, heralding the sun’s coming, and by degrees the
+streets, filled by excited Londoners, grew lighter with the dawn.
+Fevered night thus gave place to day--a day that was, alas! destined to
+be one of bitter memory for the British Empire.
+
+Alarming news had spread that Uhlans had been seen reconnoitring in
+Snaresbrook and Wanstead, had ridden along Forest Road and Ferry Lane at
+Walthamstow, through Tottenham High Cross, up High Street, Hornsey,
+Priory Road, and Muswell Hill. The Germans were actually upon London!
+
+The northern suburbs were staggered. In Fortis Green, North End,
+Highgate, Crouch End, Hampstead, Stamford Hill, and Leyton the quiet
+suburban houses were threatened, and many people, in fear of their
+lives, had now fled southward into central London. Thus the huge
+population of greater London was practically huddled together in the
+comparatively small area from Kensington to Fleet Street, and from
+Oxford Street to the Thames Embankment.
+
+People of Fulham, Putney, Walham Green, Hammersmith, and Kew had, for
+the most part, fled away to the open country across Hounslow Heath to
+Bedfont and Staines; while Tooting, Balham, Dulwich, Streatham, Norwood,
+and Catford had retreated farther south into Surrey and Kent.
+
+For the past three days thousands of willing helpers had followed the
+example of Sheffield and Birmingham, and constructed enormous
+barricades, obstructing at various points the chief roads leading from
+the north and east into London. Detachments of Engineers had blown up
+several of the bridges carrying the main roads out eastwards--for
+instance, the bridge at the end of Commercial Road, East, crossing the
+Limehouse Canal, while the six other smaller bridges spanning the canal
+between that point and the Bow Road were also destroyed. The bridge at
+the end of Bow Road itself was shattered, and those over the Hackney Cut
+at Marshall Hill and Hackney Wick were also rendered impassable.
+
+Most of the bridges across the Regent’s Canal were also destroyed,
+notably those in Mare Street, Hackney, the Kingsland Road, and New North
+Road, while a similar demolition took place in Edgware Road and the
+Harrow Road. Londoners were frantic, now that the enemy were really upon
+them. The accounts of the battles in the newspapers had, of course, been
+merely fragmentary, and they had not yet realised what war actually
+meant. They knew that all business was at a standstill, that the City
+was in an uproar, that there was no work, and that food was at famine
+prices. But not until German cavalry were actually seen scouring the
+northern suburbs did it become impressed upon them that they were really
+helpless and defenceless.
+
+London was to be besieged!
+
+This report having got about, the people began building barricades in
+many of the principal thoroughfares north of the Thames. One huge
+obstruction, built mostly of paving-stones from the footways, overturned
+tramcars, wagons, railway trollies, and barbed wire, rose in the
+Holloway Road, just beyond Highbury Station. Another blocked the
+Caledonian Road a few yards north of the police-station, while another
+very large and strong pile of miscellaneous goods, bales of wool and
+cotton stuffs, building material, and stones brought from the Great
+Northern Railway depôt, obstructed the Camden Road at the south corner
+of Hildrop Crescent. Across High Street, Camden Town, at the junction of
+the Kentish Town and other roads, five hundred men worked with a will,
+piling together every kind of ponderous object they could pillage from
+the neighbouring shops--pianos, iron bedsteads, wardrobes, pieces of
+calico and flannel, dress stuffs, rolls of carpets, floorboards, even
+the very doors wrenched from their hinges--until, when it reached to the
+second storey window and was considered of sufficient height, a pole was
+planted on top, and from it hung limply a small Union Jack.
+
+The Finchley Road, opposite Swiss Cottage Station, in Shoot Up-hill,
+where Mill Lane runs into it; across Willesden Lane, where it joins the
+High Road in Kilburn; the Harrow Road close to Willesden Junction
+Station; at the junction of the Goldhawk and Uxbridge roads; across the
+Hammersmith Road in front of the Hospital, other similar obstructions
+were placed with a view to preventing the enemy from entering London. At
+a hundred other points, in the narrower and more obscure thoroughfares,
+all along the north of London, busy workers were constructing similar
+defences, houses and shops being ruthlessly broken open and cleared of
+their contents by the frantic and terrified populace.
+
+London was in a ferment. Almost without exception the gunmakers’ shops
+had been pillaged, and every rifle, sporting gun, and revolver seized.
+The armouries at the Tower of London, at the various barracks, and the
+factory out at Enfield had long ago all been cleared of their contents;
+for now, in this last stand, every one was desperate, and all who could
+obtain a gun, did so. Many, however, had guns but no ammunition; others
+had sporting ammunition for service rifles, and others cartridges, but
+no gun.
+
+Those, however, who had guns and ammunition complete mounted guard at
+the barricades, being assisted at some points by Volunteers who had been
+driven in from Essex. Upon more than one barricade in North London a
+Maxim had been mounted, and was now pointed, ready to sweep away the
+enemy should they advance.
+
+Other thoroughfares barricaded, beside those mentioned, were the Stroud
+Green Road, where it joins Hanley Road; the railway bridge in the
+Oakfield Road in the same neighbourhood; the Wightman Road, opposite
+Harringay Station, the junction of Archway Road and Highgate Hill; the
+High Road, Tottenham, at its junction with West Green Road, and various
+roads around the New River reservoirs, which were believed to be one of
+the objectives of the enemy. These latter were very strongly held by
+thousands of brave and patriotic citizens, though the East London
+reservoirs across at Walthamstow could not be defended, situated so
+openly as they were. The people of Leytonstone threw up a barricade
+opposite the schools in the High Road, while in Wanstead a hastily
+constructed but perfectly useless obstruction was piled across Cambridge
+Park, where it joins the Blake Road.
+
+Of course, all the women and children in the northern suburbs had now
+been sent south. Half the houses in those quiet, newly-built roads were
+locked up, and their owners gone; for as soon as the report spread of
+the result of the final battle before London and our crushing defeat,
+people living in Highgate, Hampstead, Crouch End, Hornsey, Tottenham,
+Finsbury Park, Muswell Hill, Hendon, and Hampstead saw that they must
+fly southward, now the Germans were upon them.
+
+Think what it meant to those suburban families of City men! The ruthless
+destruction of their pretty, long-cherished homes, flight into the
+turbulent, noisy, distracted, hungry city, and the loss of everything
+they possessed. In most cases the husband was already bearing his part
+in the defence of the metropolis with gun or with spade, or helping to
+move heavy masses of material for the construction of the barricades.
+The wife, however, was compelled to take a last look at all those
+possessions that she had so fondly called “home,” lock her front door,
+and with her children join in those long mournful processions moving
+ever southward into London, tramping on and on--whither she knew not
+where.
+
+Touching sights were to be seen everywhere in the streets that day.
+
+Homeless women, many of them with two or three little ones, were
+wandering through the less frequented streets, avoiding the main roads
+with all their crush, excitement, and barricade-building, but making
+their way westward, beyond Kensington and Hammersmith, which was now
+become the outlet of the metropolis.
+
+All trains from Charing Cross, Waterloo, London Bridge, Victoria, and
+Paddington had for the past three days been crowded to excess. Anxious
+fathers struggled fiercely to obtain places for their wives, mothers,
+and daughters--sending them away anywhere out of the city which must in
+a few hours be crushed beneath the iron heel.
+
+The South-Western and Great Western systems carried thousands upon
+thousands of the wealthier away to Devonshire and Cornwall--as far as
+possible from the theatre of war; the South-Eastern and Chatham took
+people into the already crowded Kentish towns and villages, and the
+Brighton line carried others into rural Sussex. London overflowed
+southward and westward until every village and every town within fifty
+miles was so full that beds were at a premium, and in various places,
+notably at Chartham, near Canterbury, at Willesborough, near Ashford, at
+Lewes, at Robertsbridge, at Goodwood Park, and at Horsham, huge camps
+were formed, shelter being afforded by poles and rick-cloths. Every
+house, every barn, every school, indeed every place where people could
+obtain shelter for the night, was crowded to excess, mostly by women and
+children sent south, away from the horrors that it was known must come.
+
+Central London grew more turbulent with each hour that passed. There
+were all sorts of wild rumours, but, fortunately the Press still
+preserved a dignified calm. The Cabinet were holding a meeting at
+Bristol, whither the Houses of Commons and Lords had moved, and all
+depended upon its issue. It was said that Ministers were divided in
+their opinions whether we should sue for an ignominious peace, or
+whether the conflict should be continued to the bitter end.
+
+Disaster had followed disaster, and iron-throated orators in Hyde and
+St. James’s Parks were now shouting “Stop the war! Stop the war!” The
+cry was taken up but faintly, however, for the blood of Londoners, slow
+to rise, had now been stirred by seeing their country slowly, yet
+completely, crushed by Germany. All the patriotism latent within them
+was now displayed. The national flag was shown everywhere, and at every
+point one heard “God Save the King!” sung lustily.
+
+Two gunmakers’ shops in the Strand, which had hitherto escaped notice,
+were shortly after noon broken open, and every available arm and all the
+ammunition seized. One man, unable to obtain a revolver, snatched half a
+dozen pairs of steel handcuffs, and cried with grim humour as he held
+them up: “If I can’t shoot any of the sausage-eaters, I can at least bag
+a prisoner or two!”
+
+The banks, the great jewellers, the diamond merchants, the safe-deposit
+offices, and all who had valuables in their keeping, were extremely
+anxious as to what might happen. Below those dark buildings in Lothbury
+and Lombard Street, behind the black walls of the Bank of England, and
+below every branch bank all over London, were millions in gold and
+notes, the wealth of the greatest city the world has ever known. The
+strong rooms were, for the most part, the strongest that modern
+engineering could devise, some with various arrangements by which all
+access was debarred by an inrush of water; but, alas! dynamite is a
+great leveller, and it was felt that not a single strong room in the
+whole of London could withstand an organised attack by German
+engineers.
+
+A single charge of dynamite would certainly make a breach in concrete
+upon which a thief might hammer and chip day and night for a month
+without making much impression. Steel doors must give to blasting force,
+while the strongest and most complicated locks would also fly to pieces.
+
+The directors of most of the banks had met, and an endeavour had been
+made to co-operate and form a corps of special guards for the principal
+offices. In fact, a small armed corps was formed, and were on duty day
+and night in Lothbury, Lombard Street, and the vicinity. Yet what could
+they do if the Germans swept into London? There was but little to fear
+from the excited populace themselves, because matters had assumed such a
+crisis that money was of little use, as there was practically very
+little to buy. But little food was reaching London from the open ports
+on the west. It was the enemy that the banks feared, for they knew that
+the Germans intended to enter and sack the metropolis, just as they had
+sacked the other towns that had refused to pay the indemnity demanded.
+
+Small jewellers had, days ago, removed their stock from their windows
+and carried it away in unsuspicious-looking bags to safe hiding in the
+southern and western suburbs, where people for the most part hid their
+valuable plate, jewellery, etc., beneath a floor-board, or buried them
+in some marked spot in their small gardens.
+
+The hospitals were already full of wounded from the various engagements
+of the past week. The London, St. Thomas’s, Charing Cross, St. George’s,
+Guy’s, and Bartholemew’s were overflowing; and the surgeons, with
+patriotic self-denial, were working day and night in an endeavour to
+cope with the ever-arriving crowd of suffering humanity. The field
+hospitals away to the northward were also reported full.
+
+The exact whereabouts of the enemy was not known. They were, it seemed,
+everywhere. They had practically overrun the whole country, and the
+reports from the Midlands and the North showed that the majority of the
+principal towns had now been occupied.
+
+The latest reverses outside London, full and graphic details of which
+were now being published hourly by the papers, had created an immense
+sensation. Everywhere people were regretting that Lord Roberts’ solemn
+warnings in 1906 had been unheeded, for had we adopted his scheme for
+universal service such dire catastrophe could never have occurred. Many
+had, alas! declared it to be synonymous with conscription, which it
+certainly was not, and by that foolish argument had prevented the public
+at large from accepting it as the only means of our salvation as a
+nation. The repeated warnings had been disregarded, and we had,
+unhappily, lived in a fool’s paradise, in the self-satisfied belief that
+England could not be successfully invaded.
+
+Now, alas! the country had realised the truth when too late.
+
+That memorable day, September 20, witnessed exasperated struggles in the
+northern suburbs of London, passionate and bloody collisions, an
+infantry fire of the defenders overwhelming every attempted assault; and
+a decisive action of the artillery, with regard to which arm the
+superiority of the Germans, due to their perfect training, was apparent.
+
+A last desperate stand had, it appears, been made by the defenders on
+the high ridge north-west of New Barnet, from Southgate to near Potter’s
+Bar, where a terrible fight had taken place. But from the very first it
+was utterly hopeless. The British had fought valiantly in defence of
+London, but here again they were outnumbered, and after one of the most
+desperate conflicts in the whole campaign--in which our losses were
+terrible--the Germans at length had succeeded in entering Chipping
+Barnet. It was a difficult movement, and a fierce contest, rendered the
+more terrible by the burning houses, ensued in the streets and away
+across the low hills southward--a struggle full of vicissitudes and
+alternating successes, until at last the fire of the defenders was
+silenced, and hundreds of prisoners fell into the German hands.
+
+Thus the last organised defence of London had been broken, and the
+barricades alone remained.
+
+The work of the German troops on the lines of communication in Essex had
+for the past week been fraught with danger. Through want of cavalry the
+British had been unable to make cavalry raids; but, on the other hand,
+the difficulty was enhanced by the bands of sharpshooters--men of all
+classes from London who possessed a gun and who could shoot. In one or
+two of the London clubs the suggestion had first been mooted a couple of
+days after the outbreak of hostilities, and it had been quickly taken up
+by men who were in the habit of shooting game, but had not had a
+military training.
+
+Within three days about two thousand men had formed themselves into
+bands to take part in the struggle and assist in the defence of London.
+They were practically similar to the Francs-tireurs of the Franco-German
+War, for they went forth in companies and waged a guerilla warfare,
+partly before the front and at the flanks of the different armies, and
+partly at the communications at the rear of the Germans. Their position
+was one of constant peril in face of Von Kronhelm’s proclamation, yet
+the work they did was excellent, and only proved that if Lord Roberts’
+scheme for universal training had been adopted the enemy would never
+have reached the gates of London with success.
+
+These brave, adventurous spirits, together with “The Legion of
+Frontiersmen,” made their attacks by surprise from hiding-places or from
+ambushes. Their adventures were constantly thrilling ones. Scattered all
+over the theatre of war in Essex and Suffolk, and all along the German
+lines of communication, the “Frontiersmen” rarely ventured on an open
+conflict, and frequently changed scene and point of attack. Within one
+week their numbers rose to over 8000, and, being well served by the
+villagers, who acted as scouts and spies for them, the Germans found
+them very difficult to get at. Usually they kept their arms concealed in
+thickets and woods, where they would lie in wait for the Germans. They
+never came to close quarters, but fired at a distance. Many a smart
+Uhlan fell by their bullets, and many a sentry dropped, shot by an
+unknown hand.
+
+Thus they harassed the enemy everywhere. At need they concealed their
+arms and assumed the appearance of inoffensive non-combatants. But when
+caught red-handed, the Germans gave them “short shrift”, as the bodies
+now swinging from telegraph poles on various high roads in Essex
+testified.
+
+In an attempt to put a stop to the daring actions of the “Frontiersmen”,
+the German authorities and troops along the lines of communication
+punished the parishes where German soldiers were shot, or where the
+destruction of railways and telegraphs had occurred, by levying money
+contributions, or by burning the villages.
+
+The guerilla war was especially fierce along from Edgware up to
+Hertford, and from Chelmsford down to the Thames. In fact, once
+commenced, it never ceased. Attacks were always being made upon small
+patrols, travelling detachments, mails of the field post-office, posts
+or patrols at stations on the lines of communication, while
+field-telegraphs, telephones, and railways were everywhere destroyed.
+
+In consequence of the railway being cut at Pitsea, the villages of
+Pitsea, Bowers Gifford, and Vange had been burned. Because a German
+patrol had been attacked and destroyed near Orsett, the parish were
+compelled to pay a heavy indemnity. Upminster near Romford, Theydon
+Bois, and Fyfield, near High Ongar, had all been burned by the Germans
+for the same reason; while at the Cherrytree Inn, near Rainham, five
+“Frontiersmen” being discovered by Uhlans in a hay loft asleep, were
+locked in and there burned alive. Dozens were, of course, shot at sight,
+and dozens more hanged without trial. But they were not to be deterred.
+They were fighting in defence of London, and around the northern suburbs
+the patriotic members of the “Legion” were specially active, though they
+never showed themselves in large bands.
+
+Within London every man who could shoot game was now anxious to join in
+the fray, and on the day that the news of the last disaster reached the
+metropolis, hundreds left for the open country out beyond Hendon.
+
+The enemy, having broken down the defence at Enfield and cleared the
+defenders out of the fortified houses, had advanced and occupied the
+northern ridges of London in a line stretching roughly from Pole Hill, a
+little to the north of Chingford, across Upper Edmonton, through
+Tottenham, Hornsey, Highgate, Hampstead, and Willesden, to Twyford
+Abbey. All the positions had been well reconnoitred, for at grey of dawn
+the rumbling of artillery had been heard in the streets of those places
+already mentioned, and soon after sunrise strong batteries were
+established upon all the available points commanding London.
+
+These were at Chingford Green, on the left-hand side of the road
+opposite the inn at Chingford; on Devonshire Hill, Tottenham; on the
+hill at Wood Green; in the grounds of the Alexandra Palace; on the high
+ground above Churchyard Bottom Wood; on the edge of Bishop’s Wood,
+Highgate; on Parliament Hill, at a spot close to the Oaks on the Hendon
+road; at Dollis Hill, and at a point a little north of Wormwood Scrubs,
+and at Neasden, near the railway works.
+
+The enemy’s chief object was to establish their artillery as near London
+as possible, for it was known that the range of their guns even from
+Hampstead--the highest point, 441 feet above London--would not reach
+into the actual city itself. Meanwhile, at dawn the German cavalry,
+infantry, motor-infantry, and armoured motor-cars--the latter mostly
+35-40 h.p. Opel-Darracqs, with three quick-firing guns mounted in each,
+and bearing the Imperial German arms in black--advanced up the various
+roads leading into London from the north, being met, of course, with a
+desperate resistance at the barricades.
+
+[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT AND DEFENCES OF LONDON on Sept. 20th &
+21st]
+
+On Haverstock Hill, the three Maxims, mounted upon the huge obstruction
+across the road, played havoc with the Germans, who were at once
+compelled to fall back, leaving piles of dead and dying in the roadway,
+for the terrible hail of lead poured out upon the invaders could not be
+withstood. Two of the German armoured motor-cars were presently brought
+into action by the Germans, who replied with a rapid fire, this being
+continued for a full quarter of an hour without result on either side.
+Then the Germans, finding the defence too strong, again retired into
+Hampstead, amid the ringing cheers of the valiant men holding that gate
+of London. The losses of the enemy had been serious, for the whole
+roadway was now strewn with dead; while behind the huge wall of
+paving-stones, overturned carts, and furniture, only two men had been
+killed and one wounded.
+
+Across in the Finchley Road a struggle equally as fierce was in
+progress; but a detachment of the enemy, evidently led by some German
+who had knowledge of the intricate side-roads, suddenly appeared in the
+rear of the barricade, and a fierce and bloody hand-to-hand conflict
+ensued. The defenders, however, stood their ground, and with the aid of
+some petrol bombs which they held in readiness, they destroyed the
+venturesome detachment almost to a man, though a number of houses in the
+vicinity were set on fire, causing a huge conflagration.
+
+In Highgate Road the attack was a desperate one, the enraged Londoners
+fighting valiantly, the men with arms being assisted by the populace
+themselves. Here again deadly petrol bombs had been distributed, and men
+and women hurled them against the Germans. Petrol was actually poured
+from windows upon the heads of the enemy, and tow soaked in paraffin and
+lit flung in among them, when in an instant whole areas of the streets
+were ablaze, and the soldiers of the Fatherland perished in the roaring
+flames.
+
+Every device to drive back the invader was tried. Though thousands upon
+thousands had left the northern suburbs, many thousands still remained
+bent on defending their homes as long as they had breath. The crackle of
+rifles was incessant, and ever and anon the dull roar of a heavy field
+gun and the sharp rattle of a Maxim mingled with the cheers, yells, and
+shrieks of victors and of vanquished.
+
+The scene on every side was awful. Men were fighting for their lives in
+desperation.
+
+Around the barricade in Holloway Road the street ran with blood; while
+in Kingsland, in Clapton, in West Ham, and Canning Town the enemy were
+making an equally desperate attack, and were being repulsed everywhere.
+London’s enraged millions, the Germans were well aware, constituted a
+grave danger. Any detachments who carried a barricade by assault--as,
+for instance, they did one in the Hornsey Road near the station--were
+quickly set upon by the angry mob and simply wiped out of existence.
+
+Until nearly noon desperate conflicts at the barricades continued. The
+defence was even more effectual than was expected; yet, had it not been
+that Von Kronhelm, the German generalissimo, had given orders that the
+troops were not to attempt to advance into London before the populace
+were cowed, there was no doubt that each barricade could have been taken
+in the rear by companies avoiding the main roads and proceeding by the
+side streets.
+
+Just before noon, however, it was apparent to Von Kronhelm that to storm
+the barricades would entail enormous losses, so strong were they. The
+men holding them had now been reinforced in many cases by regular
+troops, who had come in in flight, and a good many guns were now manned
+by artillerymen.
+
+Von Kronhelm had established his headquarters at Jack Straw’s Castle,
+from which he could survey the giant city through his field-glasses.
+Below lay the great plain of roofs, spires, and domes, stretching away
+into the grey mystic distance, where afar rose the twin towers and
+double arches of the Crystal Palace roof.
+
+London--the great London--the capital of the world--lay at his mercy at
+his feet.
+
+The tall, thin-faced General, with the grizzled moustache and the
+glittering cross at his throat, standing apart from his staff, gazed
+away in silence and in thought. It was his first sight of London, and
+its gigantic proportions amazed even him. Again he swept the horizon
+with his glass, and knit his grey brows. He remembered the parting woods
+of his Emperor as he backed out of that plainly--furnished little
+private cabinet at Potsdam:
+
+“You must bombard London, and sack it. The pride of those English must
+be broken at all costs. Go, Kronhelm--go--and may the best of fortune go
+with you!”
+
+The sun was at the noon causing the glass roof of the distant Crystal
+Palace to gleam. Far down in the grey haze stood Big Ben, the Campanile,
+and a thousand church spires, all tiny and, from that distance,
+insignificant. From where he stood the sound of crackling fire at the
+barricades reached him, and a little behind him a member of his staff
+was kneeling on the grass with his ear bent to the field telephone.
+Reports were coming in fast of the desperate resistance in the streets,
+and these were duly handed to him.
+
+He glanced at them, gave a final look at the outstretched city that was
+the metropolis of the world, and then gave rapid orders for the
+withdrawal of the troops from the assault of the barricades, and the
+bombardment of London.
+
+In a moment the field-telegraphs were clicking, the telephone bell was
+ringing, orders were shouted in German in all directions, and next
+second, with a deafening roar, one of the howitzers of the battery in
+the close vicinity to him gave tongue and threw its deadly shell
+somewhere into St. John’s Wood.
+
+The rain of death had opened! London was surrounded by a semicircle of
+fire.
+
+The great gun was followed by a hundred others as, at all the batteries
+along the northern heights, the orders were received. Then in a few
+minutes, from the whole line from Chingford to Willesden, roughly about
+twelve miles, came a hail of the most deadly of modern projectiles
+directed upon the most populous parts of the metropolis.
+
+Though the Germans trained their guns to carry as far as was possible,
+the zone of fire did not at first, it seemed, extend farther south than
+a line roughly taken from Notting Hill through Bayswater, past
+Paddington Station, along the Marylebone and Euston Roads, then up to
+Highbury, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill, and Walthamstow.
+
+When, however, the great shells began to burst in Holloway, Kentish
+Town, Camden Town, Kilburn, Kensal Green, and other places lying within
+the area under fire, a frightful panic ensued. Whole streets were
+shattered by explosions, and fires were breaking out, the dark clouds of
+smoke obscuring the sunlit sky. Roaring flames shot up everywhere,
+unfortunate men, women, and children were being blown to atoms by the
+awful projectiles, while others distracted sought shelter in any cellar
+or underground place they could find, while their houses fell about them
+like packs of cards.
+
+The scenes within that zone of terror were indescribable.
+
+When Paris had been bombarded years ago, artillery was not at the
+perfection it now was, and there had been no such high explosive known
+as in the present day. The great shells that were falling everywhere, on
+bursting filled the air with poisonous fumes, as well as with deadly
+fragments. One bursting in a street would wreck the rows of houses on
+either side, and tear a great hole in the ground at the same moment. The
+fronts of the houses were torn out like paper, the iron railings twisted
+as though they were wire, and paving-stones hurled into the air like
+straws.
+
+Anything and everything offering a mark to the enemy’s guns was
+shattered. St. John’s Wood and the houses about Regent’s Park suffered
+seriously. A shell from Hampstead, falling into the roof of one of the
+houses near the centre of Sussex Place, burst and shattered nearly all
+the houses in the row; while another fell in Cumberland Terrace, and
+wrecked a dozen houses in the vicinity. In both cases the houses were
+mostly empty, for owners and servants had fled southward across the
+river as soon as it became apparent that the Germans actually intended
+to bombard.
+
+At many parts in Maida Vale shells burst with appalling effect. Several
+of the houses in Elgin Avenue had their fronts torn out, and in one, a
+block of flats, there was considerable loss of life in the fire that
+broke out, escape being cut off owing to the stairs having been
+demolished by the explosion. Abbey Road, St. John’s Wood Road, Acacia
+Road, and Wellington Road were quickly wrecked.
+
+In Chalk Farm Road, near the Adelaide, a terrified woman was dashing
+across the street to seek shelter with a neighbour when a shell burst
+right in front of her, blowing her to fragments; while in the early
+stage of the bombardment a shell bursting in the Midland Hotel at St.
+Pancras caused a fire which in half an hour resulted in the whole hotel
+and railway terminus being a veritable furnace of flame. Through the
+roof of King’s Cross Station several shells fell, and burst close to the
+departure platform. The whole glass roof was shattered, but beyond that
+little other material damage resulted.
+
+Shots were now falling everywhere, and Londoners were staggered. In
+dense, excited crowds they were flying southward towards the Thames.
+Some were caught in the streets in their flight, and were flung down,
+maimed and dying. The most awful sights were to be witnessed in the open
+streets: men and women blown out of recognition, with their clothes
+singed and torn to shreds, and helpless, innocent children lying white
+and dead, their limbs torn away and missing.
+
+Euston Station had shared the same fate as St. Pancras, and was blazing
+furiously, sending up a great column of black smoke that could be seen
+by all London. So many were the conflagrations now breaking out that it
+seemed as though the enemy were sending into London shells filled with
+petrol, in order to set the streets aflame. This, indeed, was proved by
+an eye-witness, who saw a shell fall in Liverpool Road, close to the
+Angel. It burst with a bright red flash, and next second the whole of
+the roadway and neighbouring houses were blazing furiously.
+
+Thus the air became black with smoke and dust, and the light of day
+obscured in Northern London. And through that obscurity came those
+whizzing shells in an incessant hissing stream, each one, bursting in
+these narrow, thickly-populated streets, causing havoc indescribable,
+and a loss of life impossible to accurately calculate. Hundreds of
+people were blown to pieces in the open, but hundreds more were buried
+beneath the débris of their own cherished homes, now being so ruthlessly
+destroyed and demolished.
+
+On every side was heard the cry: “Stop the war--stop the war!”
+
+But it was, alas! too late--too late.
+
+Never in the history of the civilised world were there such scenes of
+reckless slaughter of the innocent and peace-loving as on that
+never-to-be-forgotten day when Von Kronhelm carried out the orders of
+his Imperial master, and struck terror into the heart of London’s
+millions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE RAIN OF DEATH
+
+
+Through the whole afternoon the heavy German artillery roared, belching
+forth their fiery vengeance upon London.
+
+Hour after hour they pounded away, until St. Pancras Church was a heap
+of ruins, and the Foundling Hospital a veritable furnace, as well as the
+Parcel Post offices and the University College in Gower Street. In
+Hampstead Road many of the shops were shattered, and in Tottenham Court
+Road both Maple’s and Shoolbred’s suffered severely, for shells bursting
+in the centre of the roadway had smashed every pane of glass in the
+fronts of both buildings.
+
+The quiet squares of Bloomsbury were, in some cases, great yawning
+ruins--houses with their fronts torn out revealing the shattered
+furniture within. Streets were, indeed, filled with tiles, chimney pots,
+fallen telegraph wires, debris of furniture, stone steps, paving stones,
+and fallen masonry. Many of the thoroughfares, such as the Pentonville
+Road, Copenhagen Street, and Holloway Road, were, at points, quite
+impassable on account of the ruins that blocked them. Into the Northern
+Hospital, in the Holloway Road, a shell fell, shattering one of the
+wards, and killing or maiming every one of the patients in the ward in
+question, while the church in Tufnell Park Road was burning fiercely.
+Upper Holloway, Stoke Newington, Highbury, Kingsland, Dalston, Hackney,
+Clapton, and Stamford Hill were being swept at long range by the guns on
+Muswell Hill and Churchyard Bottom Hill, and the terror caused in those
+densely populated districts was awful. Hundreds upon hundreds lost their
+lives, or else had a hand, an arm, a leg blown away, as those fatal
+shells fell in never-ceasing monotony, especially in Stoke Newington and
+Kingsland. The many side roads lying between Holloway Road and Finsbury
+Park, such as Hornsey Road, Tollington Park, Andover, Durham,
+Palmerston, Campbell, and Forthill Roads, Seven Sisters Road, and
+Isledon Road were all devastated, for the guns for a full hour seemed to
+be trained upon them.
+
+The German gunners in all probability neither knew nor cared where their
+shells fell. From their position, now that the smoke of the hundreds of
+fires was now rising, they could probably discern but little. Therefore
+the batteries at Hampstead Heath, Muswell Hill, Wood Green, Cricklewood,
+and other places simply sent their shells as far distant south as
+possible into the panic-stricken city below. In Mountgrove and
+Riversdale Roads, Highbury Vale, a number of people were killed, while a
+frightful disaster occurred in the church at the corner of Park Lane and
+Milton Road, Stoke Newington. Here a number of people had entered,
+attending a special service for the success of the British arms, when a
+shell exploded on the roof, bringing it down upon them and killing over
+fifty of the congregation, mostly women.
+
+The air, poisoned by the fumes of the deadly explosives and full of
+smoke from the burning buildings, was ever and anon rent by explosions
+as projectiles frequently burst in mid-air. The distant roar was
+incessant, like the noise of thunder, while on every hand could be heard
+the shrieks of defenceless women and children, or the muttered curses of
+some man who saw his home and all he possessed swept away with a flash
+and a cloud of dust. Nothing could withstand that awful cannonade.
+Walthamstow had been rendered untenable in the first half-hour of the
+bombardment, while in Tottenham the loss of life had been very enormous,
+the German gunners at Wood Green having apparently turned their first
+attention upon that place. Churches, the larger buildings, the railway
+station, in fact anything offering a mark, was promptly shattered, being
+assisted by the converging fire from the batteries at Chingford.
+
+On the opposite side of London, Notting Hill, Shepherd’s Bush, and
+Starch Green were being reduced to ruins by the heavy batteries above
+Park Royal Station, which, firing across Wormwood Scrubs, put their
+shots into Notting Hill, and especially into Holland Park, where
+widespread damage was quickly wrought.
+
+A couple of shells falling into the generating station of the Central
+London Railway, or “Tube”, as Londoners usually call it, unfortunately
+caused a disaster and loss of life which were appalling. At the first
+sign of the bombardment many thousands of persons descended into the
+“tube” as a safe hiding-place from the rain of shell. At first the
+railway officials closed the doors to prevent the inrush, but the
+terrified populace in Shepherd’s Bush, Bayswater, Oxford Street, and
+Holborn, in fact, all along the subterranean line, broke open the doors,
+and descending by the lifts and stairs found themselves in a place which
+at least gave them security against the enemy’s fire.
+
+The trains had long ago ceased running, and every station was crowded to
+excess, while many were forced upon the line itself and actually into
+the tunnels. For hours they waited there in eager breathlessness,
+longing to be able to ascend and find the conflict over. Men and women
+in all stations of life were huddled together, while children clung to
+their parents in wonder; yet as hour after hour went by, the report from
+above was still the same--the Germans had not ceased.
+
+Of a sudden, however, the light failed. The electric current had been
+cut off by the explosion of the shells in the generating station at
+Shepherd’s Bush, and the lifts were useless! The thousands who, in
+defiance of the orders of the company, had gone below at Shepherd’s Bush
+for shelter, found themselves caught like rats in a hole. True, there
+was the faint glimmer of an oil light here and there, but, alas! that
+did not prevent an awful panic.
+
+Somebody shouted that the Germans were above and had put out the lights,
+and when it was found that the lifts were useless a panic ensued that
+was indescribable. The people could not ascend by the stairs, as they
+were blocked by the dense crowd, therefore they pressed into the narrow
+semi-circular tunnels in an eager endeavour to reach the next station,
+where they hoped they might escape; but once in there women and children
+were quickly crushed to death, or thrown down and trampled upon by the
+press behind.
+
+In the darkness they fought with each other, pressing on and becoming
+jammed so tightly that many were held against the sloping walls until
+life was extinct. Between Shepherd’s Bush and Holland Park Stations the
+loss of life was worst, for being within the zone of the German fire the
+people had crushed in frantically in thousands, and with one accord a
+move had unfortunately been made into the tunnels, on account of the
+foolish cry that the Germans were waiting above.
+
+The railway officials were powerless. They had done their best to
+prevent anyone going below, but the public had insisted, therefore no
+blame could be laid upon them for the catastrophe.
+
+At Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, and Tottenham Court Road Stations, a
+similar scene was enacted, and dozens upon dozens, alas! lost their
+lives in the panic. Ladies and gentlemen from Park Lane, Grosvenor
+Square, and Mayfair had sought shelter at Marble Arch Station rubbing
+shoulders with labourers’ wives and costerwomen from the back streets of
+Marylebone. When the lights failed, a rush had been made into the tunnel
+to reach Oxford Circus, all exit by the stairs being blocked, as at
+Shepherd’s Bush, on account of the hundreds struggling to get down.
+
+As at Holland Park, the terrified crowd fighting with each other became
+jammed and suffocated in the narrow space. The catastrophe was a
+frightful one, for it was afterwards proved that over four hundred and
+twenty persons, mostly weak women and children, lost their lives in
+those twenty minutes of darkness before the mains at the generating
+station, wrecked by the explosions, could be repaired.
+
+Then, when the current came up again, the lights revealed the frightful
+mishap, and people struggled to emerge from the burrows wherein they had
+so narrowly escaped death.
+
+Upon the Baker Street and Waterloo and other “tubes” every station had
+also been beseiged. The whole of the first-mentioned line from north to
+south was the refuge of thousands, who saw in it a safe place for
+retreat. The tunnels of the District Railway, too, were filled with
+terror-stricken multitudes, who descended at every station and walked
+away into a subterranean place of safety. No trains had been running for
+several days, therefore there was no danger from that cause.
+
+Meanwhile the bombardment continued with unceasing activity.
+
+The Marylebone station of the Great Central Railway, and the Great
+Central Hotel, which seemed to be only just within the line of fire,
+were wrecked, and about four o’clock it was seen that the hotel, like
+that at St. Pancras, was well alight, though no effort could be made to
+save it. At the first two or three alarms of fire the Metropolitan Fire
+Brigade had turned out, but now that fresh alarms were reaching the
+chief station every moment, the brigade saw themselves utterly powerless
+to even attempt to save the hundred buildings, great and small, now
+furiously blazing.
+
+Gasometers, especially those of the Gas Light and Coke Company at Kensal
+Green, were marked by the German gunners, who sent them into the air;
+while a well-directed petrol bomb at Wormwood Scrubs Prison set one
+great wing of the place alight, and the prisoners were therefore
+released. The rear of Kensington Palace, and the fronts of a number of
+houses in Kensington Palace Gardens were badly damaged, while in the
+dome of the Albert Hall was a great, ugly hole.
+
+Shortly after five o’clock occurred a disaster which was of national
+consequence. It could only have been a mishap on the part of the
+Germans, for they would certainly never have done such irreparable
+damage willingly, as they destroyed what would otherwise have been the
+most valuable of loot.
+
+Shots suddenly began to fall fast in Bloomsbury, several of them badly
+damaging the Hotel Russell and the houses near, and it was therefore
+apparent that one of the batteries which had been firing from near Jack
+Straw’s Castle had been moved across to Parliament Hill, or even to some
+point south of it, which gave a wider range to the fire.
+
+Presently a shell came high through the air and fell full upon the
+British Museum, striking it nearly in the centre of the front, and in
+exploding carried away the Grecian-Ionic ornament, and shattering a
+number of the fine stone columns of the dark façade. Ere people in the
+vicinity had realised that the national collection of antiques was
+within the range of the enemy’s destructive projectiles, a second shell
+crashed into the rear of the building, making a great gap in the walls.
+Then, as although all the guns of that particular battery had converged
+in order to destroy our treasure-house of art and antiquity, shell after
+shell crashed into the place in rapid succession. Before ten minutes had
+passed, grey smoke began to roll out from beneath the long colonnade in
+front, and growing denser, told its own tale. The British Museum was on
+fire.
+
+Nor was that all. As though to complete the disaster--although it was
+certain that the Germans were in ignorance--there came one of those
+terrible shells filled with petrol, which, bursting inside the
+manuscript room, set the whole place ablaze. In a dozen different places
+the building seemed to be now alight, especially the library, and thus
+the finest collection of books, manuscripts, Greek and Roman and
+Egyptian antiques, coins, medals, and prehistoric relics, lay at the
+mercy of the flames.
+
+The fire brigade was at once alarmed, and at imminent risk of their
+lives, for shells were still falling in the vicinity, they, with the
+Salvage Corps and the assistance of many willing helpers--some of whom
+unfortunately lost their lives in the flames--saved whatever could be
+saved, throwing the objects out into the railed-off quadrangle in front.
+
+The left wing of the Museum, however, could not be entered, although
+after most valiant efforts on the part of the firemen the conflagrations
+that had broken out in other parts of the building were at length
+subdued. The damage was, however, irreparable, for many unique
+collections, including all the prints and drawings, and many of the
+mediæval and historic manuscripts, had already been consumed.
+
+Shots now began to fall as far south as Oxford Street, and all along
+that thoroughfare from Holborn as far as Oxford Circus, widespread havoc
+was being wrought. People fled for their lives back towards Charing
+Cross and the Strand. The Oxford Music Hall was a hopeless ruin, while a
+shell crashing through the roof of Frascati’s restaurant, carried away a
+portion of the gallery and utterly wrecked the whole place. Many of the
+shops in Oxford Street had their roofs damaged or their fronts blown
+out, while a huge block of flats in Great Russell Street was practically
+demolished by three shells striking in rapid succession.
+
+Then, to the alarm of all who realised it, shots were seen to be passing
+high over Bloomsbury, south towards the Thames. The range had been
+increased, for, as was afterwards known, some heavier guns had now been
+mounted upon Muswell Hill and Hampstead Heath, which, carrying to a
+distance of from six to seven miles, placed the City, the Strand, and
+Westminster within the zone of fire. The zone in question stretched
+roughly from Victoria Park through Bethnal Green and Whitechapel,
+across to Southwark, the Borough, Lambeth, and Westminster to
+Kensington, and while the fire upon the northern suburbs slackened,
+great shells now came flying through the air into the very heart of
+London.
+
+The German gunners at Muswell Hill took the dome of St. Paul’s as a
+mark, for shells fell constantly in Ludgate Hill, in Cheapside, in
+Newgate Street, and in the churchyard itself. One falling upon the steps
+of the Cathedral tore out two of the columns of the front, while another
+striking the clock tower just below the face, brought down much of the
+masonry and one of the huge bells, with a deafening crash, blocking the
+road with débris. Time after time the great shells went over the
+splendid Cathedral, which the enemy seemed bent upon destroying, but the
+dome remained uninjured, though about ten feet of the top of the second
+tower was carried away.
+
+On the Cannon Street side of St. Paul’s a great block of drapery
+warehouses had caught fire, and was burning fiercely, while the drapers’
+and other shops on the Paternoster Row side all had their windows
+shattered by the constant detonations. Within the cathedral two shells
+that had fallen through the roof had wrought havoc with the beautiful
+reredos and choir-stalls, many of the fine windows being also wrecked by
+the explosions.
+
+Whole rows of houses in Cheapside suffered, while both the Mansion
+House, where the London flag was flying, and the Royal Exchange were
+severely damaged by a number of shells which fell in the vicinity. The
+equestrian statue in front of the Exchange had been overturned, while
+the Exchange itself showed a great yawning hole in the corner of the
+façade next Cornhill. At the Bank of England a fire had occurred, but
+had fortunately been extinguished by the strong force of Guards in
+charge, though they gallantly risked their lives in so doing. Lothbury,
+Gresham Street, Old Broad Street, Lombard Street, Gracechurch Street,
+and Leadenhall Street were all more or less scenes of fire, havoc, and
+destruction. The loss of life was not great in this neighbourhood, for
+most people had crossed the river or gone westward, but the high
+explosives used by the Germans were falling upon the shops and
+warehouses with appalling effect.
+
+Masonry was torn about like paper, ironwork twisted like wax, woodwork
+shattered to a thousand splinters as, time after time, a great
+projectile hissed in the air and effected its errand of destruction. A
+number of the wharves on each side of the river were soon alight, and
+both Upper and Lower Thames Streets were soon impassable on account of
+huge conflagrations. A few shells fell in Shoreditch, Houndsditch, and
+Whitechapel, and these, in most cases, caused loss of life in those
+densely populated districts.
+
+Westward, however, as the hours went on, the howitzers at Hampstead
+began to drop high explosive shells into the Strand, around Charing
+Cross, and in Westminster. This weapon had a calibre of 4·14 inches, and
+threw a projectile of 35 lb. The tower of St. Clement Dane’s Church
+crashed to the ground and blocked the roadway opposite Milford Lane; the
+pointed roof of the clock-tower of the Law Courts was blown away, and
+the granite fronts of the two banks opposite the Law Courts entrance
+were torn out by a shell which exploded in the footpath before them.
+
+Shells fell, time after time, in and about the Law Courts themselves,
+committing immense damage to the interior, while a shell bursting upon
+the roof of Charing Cross Station, rendered it a ruin as picturesque as
+it had been in December 1905. The National Liberal Club was burning
+furiously; the Hotel Cecil and the Savoy did not escape, but no material
+damage was done them. The Garrick Theatre had caught fire, a shot
+carried away the globe above the Coliseum, and the Shot Tower beside the
+Thames crashed into the river.
+
+The front of the Grand Hotel in Trafalgar Square showed, in several
+places, great holes where the shell had struck, and a shell bursting
+at the foot of Nelson’s monument turned over one of the
+lions--overthrowing the emblem of Britain’s might!
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were, in one or two instances, wrecked, notably
+the Reform, the Junior Carlton, and the Athenæum, into each of which
+shells fell through the roof and exploded within.
+
+From the number of projectiles that fell in the vicinity of the Houses
+of Parliament it was apparent that the German gunners could see the
+Royal Standard flying from the Victoria Tower, and were making it their
+mark. In the west front of Westminster Abbey several shots crashed,
+doing enormous damage to the grand old pile. The hospital opposite was
+set alight, while the Westminster Palace Hotel was severely damaged, and
+two shells falling into St. Thomas’s Hospital created a scene of
+indescribable terror in one of the overcrowded casualty wards.
+
+Suddenly one of the German high explosive shells burst on the top of the
+Victoria Tower, blowing away all four of the pinnacles, and bringing
+down the flagstaff. Big Ben served as another mark for the artillery at
+Muswell Hill, for several shots struck it, tearing out one of the huge
+clock faces and blowing away the pointed apex of the tower. Suddenly,
+however, two great shells struck it right in the centre, almost
+simultaneously, near the base, and made such a hole in the huge pile of
+masonry that it was soon seen to have been rendered unsafe, though it
+did not fall.
+
+Shot after shot struck other portions of the Houses of Parliament,
+breaking the windows and carrying away pinnacles.
+
+One of the twin towers of Westminster Abbey fell a few moments later,
+and another shell, crashing into the choir, completely wrecked Edward
+the Confessor’s shrine, the Coronation chair, and all the objects of
+antiquity in the vicinity.
+
+The old Horse Guards escaped injury, but one of the cupolas of the new
+War Office opposite was blown away, while shortly afterwards a fire
+broke out in the new Local Government Board and Education Offices.
+Number 10 Downing Street, the chief centre of the Government, had its
+windows all blown in--a grim accident, no doubt--the same explosion
+shattering several windows in the Foreign Office.
+
+Many shells fell in St. James’s and Hyde Parks, exploding harmlessly,
+but others, passing across St. James’s Park, crashed into that high
+building, Queen Anne’s Mansions, causing fearful havoc. Somerset House,
+Covent Garden Market, Drury Lane Theatre, and the Gaiety Theatre and
+Restaurant all suffered more or less, and two of the bronze footguards
+guarding the Wellington Statue at Hyde Park Corner were blown many yards
+away. Around Holborn Circus immense damage was being caused, and several
+shells bursting on the Viaduct itself blew great holes in the bridge.
+
+So widespread, indeed, was the havoc, that it is impossible to give a
+detailed account of the day’s terrors. If the public buildings suffered,
+the damage to property of householders and the ruthless wrecking of
+quiet English homes may well be imagined. The people had been driven out
+from the zone of fire, and had left their possessions to the mercy of
+the invaders.
+
+South of the Thames very little damage was done. The German howitzers
+and long-range guns could not reach so far. One or two shots fell in
+York Road, Lambeth, and in the Waterloo and Westminster Bridge Roads,
+but they did little damage beyond the breaking of all the windows in the
+vicinity.
+
+When would it end? Where would it end?
+
+Half the population of London had fled across the bridges, and from
+Denmark Hill, Champion Hill, Norwood, and the Crystal Palace they could
+see the smoke issuing from the hundred fires.
+
+London was cowed. Those northern barricades, still held by bodies of
+valiant men, were making a last desperate stand, though the streets ran
+with blood. Every man fought well and bravely for his country, though he
+went to his death. A thousand acts of gallant heroism on the part of
+Englishmen were done that day, but, alas! all to no purpose. The Germans
+were at our gates, and were not to be denied.
+
+As daylight commenced to fade the dust and smoke became suffocating. And
+yet the guns pounded away with a monotonous regularity that appalled the
+helpless populace. Overhead there was a quick whizzing in the air, a
+deafening explosion, and as masonry came crashing down the atmosphere
+was filled with poisonous fumes that half asphyxiated all those in the
+vicinity.
+
+Hitherto the enemy had treated us, on the whole, humanely, but finding
+that desperate resistance in the northern suburbs, Von Kronhelm was
+carrying out the Emperor’s parting injunction. He was breaking the pride
+of our own dear London, even at the sacrifice of thousands of innocent
+lives.
+
+The scenes in the streets within that zone of awful fire baffled
+description. They were too sudden, too dramatic, too appalling. Death
+and destruction were everywhere, and the people of London now realised
+for the first time what the horrors of war really meant.
+
+Dusk was falling. Above the pall of smoke from the burning buildings the
+sun was setting with a blood-red light. From the London streets,
+however, this evening sky was darkened by the clouds of smoke and dust.
+Yet the cannonade continued, each shell that came hurtling through the
+air exploding with deadly effect and spreading destruction on all hands.
+
+Meanwhile the barricades at the north had not escaped Von Kronhelm’s
+attention. About four o’clock he gave orders by field telegraph for
+certain batteries to move down and attack them.
+
+This was done soon after five o’clock, and when the German guns began to
+pour their deadly rain of shell into those hastily improvised defences
+there commenced a slaughter of the gallant defenders that was horrible.
+At each of the barricades shell after shell was directed, and very
+quickly breaches were made. Then upon the defenders themselves the fire
+was directed--a withering, awful fire from quick-firing guns which none
+could withstand. The streets, with their barricades swept away, were
+strewn with mutilated corpses. Hundreds upon hundreds had attempted to
+make a last stand, rallied by the Union Jack they waved above, but a
+shell exploding in their midst had sent them to instant eternity.
+
+Many a gallant deed was done that day by patriotic Londoners in defence
+of their homes and loved ones--many a deed that should have earned the
+V.C.--but in nearly all cases the patriot who had stood up and faced the
+foe had gone to straight and certain death.
+
+Till seven o’clock the dull roar of the guns in the north continued, and
+people across the Thames knew that London was still being destroyed, nay
+pulverised. Then with one accord came a silence--the first silence since
+the hot noon.
+
+Von Kronhelm’s field telegraph at Jack Straw’s Castle had ticked the
+order to cease firing.
+
+All the barricades had been broken.
+
+London lay burning--at the mercy of the German eagle.
+
+And as the darkness fell the German Commander-in-Chief looked again
+through his glasses, and saw the red flames leaping up in dozens of
+places, where whole blocks of shops and buildings, public institutions,
+whole streets in some cases, were being consumed.
+
+London--the proud capital of the world, the “home” of the
+Englishman--was at last ground beneath the iron heel of Germany!
+
+And all, alas! due to one cause alone--the careless insular apathy of
+the Englishman himself!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FALL OF LONDON
+
+
+Outside London the September night had settled down on the blood-stained
+field of battle. With a pale light the moon had risen, partly hidden by
+chasing clouds, her white rays mingling with the lurid glare of the
+fires down in the great terrified metropolis below. Northward, from
+Hampstead across to Barnet--indeed, over that wide district where the
+final battle had been so hotly fought--the moonbeams shone upon the
+pallid faces of the fallen.
+
+Along the German line of investment there had now followed upon the roar
+of battle an uncanny silence.
+
+Away to the west, however, there was still heard the growling of distant
+conflict, now mounting into a low crackling of musketry fire, and again
+dying away in muffled sounds. The last remnant of the British Army was
+being hotly pursued in the direction of Staines.
+
+London was invested and bombarded, but not yet taken.
+
+For a long time the German Field-Marshal had stood alone upon Hampstead
+Heath apart from his staff, watching the great tongues of flame leaping
+up here and there in the distant darkness. His grey, shaggy brows were
+contracted, his thin aquiline face thoughtful, his hard mouth twitching
+nervously, unable to fully conceal the strain of his own feelings as
+conqueror of the English. Von Kronhelm’s taciturnity had long ago been
+proverbial. The Kaiser had likened him to Moltke, and declared that “he
+could be silent in seven languages.” His gaze was one of musing, and yet
+he was the most active of men, and perhaps the cleverest strategist in
+all Europe. Often during the campaign he had astonished his
+aides-de-camp by his untiring energy, for sometimes he would even visit
+the outposts in person. On many occasions he had actually crept up to
+the most advanced posts at great personal risk to himself, so anxious
+had he been to see with his own eyes. Such visits from the Field-Marshal
+himself were not always exactly welcome to the German outposts, who, as
+soon as they showed the least sign of commotion consequent upon the
+visit, were at once swept by a withering English fire.
+
+Yet he now stood there--the conqueror. And while many of his officers
+were installing themselves in comfortable quarters in houses about North
+End, North Hill, South Hill, Muswell Hill, Roslyn Hill, Fitzjohn’s
+Avenue, Netherhall, and Maresfield Gardens, and other roads in that
+vicinity, the great Commander was still alone upon the Heath, having
+taken nothing save a nip from his flask since his coffee at dawn.
+
+Time after time telegraphic despatches were handed to him from Germany,
+and telephonic reports from his various positions around London, but he
+received them all without comment. He read, he listened, but he said
+nothing.
+
+For a full hour he remained there, strolling up and down alone in quick
+impatience. Then, as though suddenly making up his mind, he called three
+members of his staff, and gave orders for the entry into London.
+
+This, as he knew, was the signal for a terrible and bloody encounter.
+Bugles sounded. Men and officers, who had believed that the storm and
+stress of the day were over, and that they were entitled to rest, found
+themselves called upon to fight their way into the city that they knew
+would be defended by an irate and antagonistic populace.
+
+Still, the order had been given, and it must be obeyed. They had
+expected that the advance would be at least made at dawn, but evidently
+Von Kronhelm feared that six hours’ delay might necessitate more
+desperate fighting. He intended, now that London was cowed, that she
+should be entirely crushed. The orders of his master the Kaiser were to
+that effect.
+
+Therefore, shortly before nine o’clock the first detachments of German
+Infantry marched along Spaniards Road, and down Roslyn Hill to
+Haverstock Hill, where they were at once fired upon from behind the
+débris of the great barricade across the junction of Prince of Wales
+Road and Haverstock Hill. This place was held strongly by British
+Infantry, many members of the Legion of Frontiersmen,--distinguished
+only by the little bronze badge in their buttonholes,--and also by
+hundreds of citizens armed with rifles.
+
+Twenty Germans dropped at the first volley, and next instant a Maxim,
+concealed in the first floor of a neighbouring house, spat forth its
+fire upon the invaders with deadly effect. The German bugle sounded the
+“Advance rapidly,” and the men emulously ran forward, shouting loud
+hurrahs. Major von Wittich, who had distinguished himself very
+conspicuously in the fighting around Enfield Chase, fell, being shot
+through the lung when just within a few yards of the half-ruined
+barricade. Londoners were fighting desperately, shouting and cheering.
+The standard-bearer of the 4th Battalion of the Brunswick Infantry
+Regiment, No. 92, fell severely wounded, and the standard was instantly
+snatched from him in the awful hand-to-hand fighting which that moment
+ensued.
+
+Five minutes later the streets were running with blood, for hundreds,
+both Germans and British, lay dead and dying. Every Londoner struggled
+valiantly until shot down; yet the enemy, already reinforced, pressed
+forward, until ten minutes later the defenders were driven out of their
+position, and the house from which the Maxim was sending forth its
+deadly hail had been entered and the gun captured. Volley after volley
+was still, however, poured out on the heads of the storming party, but
+already the pioneers were at work clearing a way for the advance, and
+very soon the Germans had surmounted the obstruction and were within
+London.
+
+For a short time the Germans halted, then, at a signal from their
+officers, they moved forward along both roads, again being fired upon
+from every house in the vicinity, many of the defenders having retired
+to continue their defence from the windows. The enemy therefore turned
+their attention to these houses, and after desperate struggles house
+after house was taken, those of the defenders not wearing uniform being
+shot down without mercy. To such no quarter was given.
+
+The contest now became a most furious one. Britons and Germans fought
+hand to hand. A battalion of the Brunswick Infantry with some riflemen
+of the Guard took several houses by rush in Chalk Farm Road; but in many
+cases the Germans were shot by their own comrades. Quite a number of the
+enemy’s officers were picked off by the Frontiersmen, those brave
+fellows who had seen service in every corner of the world, and who were
+now in windows and upon roofs. Thus the furious fight from house to
+house proceeded.
+
+This exciting conflict was practically characteristic of what was at
+that moment happening in fifty other spots along the suburbs of North
+London. The obstinate resistance which we made against the Germans was
+met with equally obstinate aggression. There was no surrender. Londoners
+fell and died fighting to the very last.
+
+Against those well-trained Teutons in such overwhelming masses we,
+however, could have no hope of success. The rushes of the infantry and
+rifles of the Guards were made skilfully, and slowly but surely broke
+down all opposition.
+
+The barricade in the Kentish Town Road was defended with valiant
+heroism. The Germans were, as in Chalk Farm Road, compelled to fight
+their way foot by foot, losing heavily all the time. But here, at
+length, as at other points, the barricade was taken, and the defenders
+chased, and either taken prisoner or else ruthlessly shot down. A body
+of citizens armed with rifles were, after the storming of the barricades
+in question, driven back into Park Street, and there, being caught
+between two bodies of Germans, slaughtered to a man. Through those unlit
+side-streets between the Kentish Town and Camden Roads--namely, the
+Lawford, Bartholomew, Rochester, Caversham, and Leighton Roads, there
+was much skirmishing, and many on both sides fell in the bloody
+encounter. A thousand deeds of bravery were done that night, but were
+unrecorded. Before the barricade in the Holloway Road--which had been
+strongly repaired after the breach made in it by the German shells--the
+enemy lost very heavily, for the three Maxims which had there been
+mounted did awful execution. The invaders, however, seeing the strong
+defence, fell back for full twenty minutes, and then, making another
+rush, hurled petrol bombs into the midst of our men.
+
+A frightful holocaust was the result. Fully a hundred of the poor
+fellows were literally burned alive; while the neighbouring houses being
+set in flames, compelled the citizen free-shooters to quickly evacuate
+their position. Against such terrible missiles even the best-trained
+troops cannot stand, therefore no wonder that all opposition at that
+point was soon afterwards swept away, and the pioneers quickly opened
+the road for the victorious legions of the Kaiser.
+
+And so in that prosaic thoroughfare, the Holloway Road, brave men fought
+gallantly and died, while a Scotch piper paced the pavement sharply,
+backwards and forwards, with his colours flying. Then, alas! came the
+red flash, the loud explosions in rapid succession, and next instant the
+whole street burst into a veritable sea of flame.
+
+High Street, Kingsland, was also the scene of several fierce conflicts;
+but here the Germans decidedly got the worst of it. The whole infuriated
+population seemed to emerge suddenly from the side streets of the
+Kingsland Road on the appearance of the detachment of the enemy, and the
+latter were practically overwhelmed, notwithstanding the desperate fight
+they made. Then ringing cheers went up from the defenders.
+
+The Germans were given no quarter by the populace, all of whom were
+armed with knives or guns, the women mostly with hatchets, crowbars, or
+edged tools.
+
+Many of the Germans fled through the side streets towards Mare Street,
+and were hotly pursued, the majority of them being done to death by the
+maddened mob. The streets in this vicinity were literally a
+slaughter-house.
+
+The barricades in Finchley Road and in High Road, Kilburn were also very
+strongly held, and at the first named it was quite an hour before the
+enemy’s pioneers were able to make a breach. Indeed, then only after a
+most hotly contested conflict, in which there were frightful losses on
+both sides. Petrol bombs were here also used by the enemy with appalling
+effect, the road being afterwards cleared by a couple of Maxims.
+
+Farther towards Regent’s Park the houses were, however, full of
+sharpshooters, and before these could be dislodged the enemy had again
+suffered severely. The entry into London was both difficult and
+perilous, and the enemy suffered great losses everywhere.
+
+After the breaking down of the defences in High Road, Kilburn, the men
+who had held them retired to the Town Hall, opposite Kilburn Station,
+and from the windows fired at the passing battalions, doing much
+execution. All efforts to dislodge them proved unavailing, until the
+place was taken by storm, and a fearful hand-to-hand fight was the
+outcome. Eventually the Town Hall was taken, after a most desperate
+resistance, and ten minutes later wilfully set fire to and burned.
+
+In the Harrow Road and those cross streets between Kensal Green and
+Maida Vale the advancing Germans shared much the same fate as about
+Hackney. Surrounded by the armed populace, hundreds upon hundreds of
+them were killed, struck down by hatchets, stabbed by knives, or shot
+with revolvers, the crowd shouting, “Down with the Germans! Kill them!
+Kill them!”
+
+Many of the London women now became perfect furies. So incensed were
+they at the wreck of their homes and the death of their loved ones that
+they rushed wildly into the fray with no thought of peril, only of
+bitter revenge. A German, whenever caught, was at once killed. In those
+bloody street fights the Teutons got separated from their comrades and
+were quickly surrounded and done to death.
+
+Across the whole of the northern suburbs the scenes of bloodshed that
+night were full of horror, as men fought in the ruined streets, climbing
+over the smouldering débris, over the bodies of their comrades, and
+shooting from behind ruined walls. As Von Kronhelm had anticipated, his
+Army was compelled to fight its way into London.
+
+The streets all along the line of the enemy’s advance were now strewn
+with dead and dying. London was doomed.
+
+The Germans now coming on in increasing, nay, unceasing, numbers, were
+leaving behind them everywhere the trail of blood. Shattered London
+stood staggered.
+
+Though the resistance had been long and desperate, the enemy had again
+triumphed by reason of his sheer weight of numbers.
+
+Yet even though he were actually in our own dear London, our people did
+not mean that he should establish himself without any further
+opposition. Therefore, though the barricades had been taken, the Germans
+found in every unexpected corner men who shot at them, and Maxims which
+spat forth their leaden showers beneath which hundreds upon hundreds of
+Teutons fell.
+
+Yet they advanced, still fighting. The scenes of carnage were awful and
+indescribable, no quarter being given to any armed citizens not in
+uniform, be they men, women, or children.
+
+The German Army was carrying out the famous proclamation of
+Field-Marshal von Kronhelm to the very letter!
+
+They were marching on to the sack of the wealthiest city of the world.
+
+It wanted still an hour of midnight, London was a city of shadow, of
+fire, of death. The silent streets, whence all the inhabitants had fled
+in panic, echoed to the heavy tread of German infantry, the clank of
+arms, and the ominous rumble of guns. Ever and anon an order was shouted
+in German as the Kaiser’s legions went forward to occupy the proud
+capital of the world. The enemy’s plans appeared to have been carefully
+prepared. The majority of the troops coming from the direction of
+Hampstead and Finchley entered Regent’s Park, whence preparations were
+at once commenced for encampment; while the remainder, together with
+those who came down the Camden, Caledonian, and Holloway Roads turned
+along Euston Road and Oxford Street to Hyde Park, where a huge camp was
+formed, stretching from the Marble Arch right along the Park Lane side
+away to Knightsbridge.
+
+Officers were very soon billeted in the best houses in Park Lane and
+about Mayfair,--houses full of works of art and other valuables that had
+only that morning been left to the mercy of the invaders. From the
+windows and balconies of their quarters in Park Lane they could overlook
+the encampment--a position which had evidently been purposely chosen.
+
+Other troops who came in never-ending procession by Bow Road, Roman
+Road, East India Dock Road, Victoria Park Road, Mare Street, and
+Kingsland Road all converged into the City itself, except those who had
+come from Edmonton down the Kingsland Road, and who, passing along Old
+Street and Clerkenwell, occupied the Charing Cross and Westminster
+districts.
+
+At midnight a dramatic scene was enacted when, in the blood-red glare
+of some blazing buildings in the vicinity, a large body of Prince Louis
+Ferdinand of Prussia’s 2nd Magdeburg Regiment suddenly swept up
+Threadneedle Street into the great open space before the Mansion House,
+whereon the London flag was still flying aloft in the smoke-laden air.
+They halted across the junction of Cheapside with Queen Victoria Street
+when, at the same moment, another huge body of the Uhlans of Altmark and
+Magdeburg Hussars came clattering along Cornhill, followed a moment
+later by battalion after battalion of the 4th and 8th Thuringen Infantry
+out of Moorgate Street, whose uniforms showed plain traces of the
+desperate encounters of the past week.
+
+[Illustration: LONDON after the BOMBARDMENT.]
+
+The great body of Germans had halted before the Mansion House, when
+General von Kleppen, the commander of the IVth Army Corps--who,
+it will be remembered, had landed at Weybourne--accompanied by
+Lieutenant-General von Mirbach of the 8th Division, and Frölich,
+commander of the cavalry brigade, ascended the steps of the Mansion
+House and entered.
+
+Within, Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord Mayor, who wore his robes and
+jewel of office, received them in that great, sombre room wherein so
+many momentous questions concerning the welfare of the British Empire
+had been discussed. The representative of the City of London, a short,
+stout, grey-haired man, was pale and agitated. He bowed, but he could
+not speak.
+
+Von Kleppen, however, a smart, soldierly figure in his service uniform
+and many ribbons, bowed in response, and in very fair English said:
+
+“I regret, my Lord Mayor, that it is necessary for us to thus disturb
+you, but as you are aware, the British Army have been defeated, and the
+German Army has entered London. I have orders from Field-Marshal von
+Kronhelm to place you under arrest, and to hold you as hostage for the
+good behaviour of the City during the progress of the negotiations for
+peace.”
+
+“Arrest!” gasped the Lord Mayor. “You intend to arrest me?”
+
+“It will not be irksome, I assure you,” smiled the German commander
+grimly. “At least, we shall make it as comfortable as possible. I shall
+place a guard here, and the only restriction I place upon you is that
+you shall neither go out nor hold any communication with anyone outside
+these walls.”
+
+“But my wife?”
+
+“If her ladyship is here I would advise that she leave the place. It is
+better that, for the present, she should be out of London.”
+
+The civic officials, who had all assembled for the dramatic ceremonial,
+looked at each other in blank amazement.
+
+The Lord Mayor was a prisoner!
+
+Sir Claude divested himself of his jewel of office, and handed it to his
+servant to replace in safe keeping. Then he took off his robe, and
+having done so, advanced closer to the German officers, who, treating
+him with every courtesy, consulted with him, expressing regret at the
+terrible loss of life that had been occasioned by the gallant defence of
+the barricades.
+
+Von Kleppen gave the Lord Mayor a message from Von Kronhelm, and urged
+him to issue a proclamation forbidding any further opposition on the
+part of the populace of London. With the three officers Sir Claude
+talked for a quarter of an hour, while into the Mansion House there
+entered a strong guard of men of the 2nd Magdeburg, who quickly
+established themselves in the most comfortable quarters. German double
+sentries stood at every exit and in every corridor, and when a few
+minutes later the flag was hauled down and the German Imperial Standard
+run up, wild shouts of triumph rang from every throat of the densely
+packed body of troops assembled outside.
+
+The joyous “hurrahs!” reached the Lord Mayor, still in conversation with
+Von Kleppen, Von Mirbach, and Frölich, and in an instant he knew the
+truth. The Teutons were saluting their own standard. The civic flag had,
+either accidentally or purposely, been flung down into the roadway
+below, and was trampled in the dust. A hundred enthusiastic Germans,
+disregarding the shouts of their officers, fought for the flag, and it
+was instantly torn to shreds, and little pieces preserved as souvenirs.
+
+Shout after shout in German went up from the wildly excited troops of
+the Kaiser when the light wind caused their own flag to flutter out, and
+then as with one voice the whole body of troops united in singing the
+German National Hymn.
+
+The scene was weird and most impressive. London had fallen.
+
+Around were the wrecked buildings, some still smouldering, some emitting
+flame. Behind lay the Bank of England with untold wealth locked within;
+to the right, the damaged façade of the Royal Exchange was illuminated
+by the flickering light, which also shone upon the piled arms of the
+enemy’s troops, causing them to flash and gleam.
+
+In those silent, narrow City streets not an Englishman was to be seen.
+Everyone save the Lord Mayor and his official attendants had fled.
+
+The Government offices in Whitehall were all in the hands of the enemy.
+In the Foreign Office, the India Office, the War Office, the Colonial
+Office, the Admiralty and other minor offices were German guards.
+Sentries stood at the shattered door of the famous No. 10 Downing
+Street, and all up Whitehall was lined with infantry.
+
+German officers were in charge of all our public offices, and all
+officials who had remained on duty were firmly requested to leave.
+Sentries were stationed to guard the archives of every department, and
+precautions were taken to guard against any further outbreaks of fire.
+
+Across at the Houses of Parliament, with their damaged towers, the whole
+great pile of buildings was surrounded by triumphant troops, while
+across at the fine old Abbey of Westminster was, alas! a different
+scene. The interior had been turned into a temporary hospital, and upon
+matresses placed upon the floor were hundreds of poor maimed creatures,
+some groaning, some ghastly pale in the last moments of agony, some
+silent, their white lips moving in prayer.
+
+On one side in the dim light lay the men, some in uniform, others
+inoffensive citizens, who had been struck by cruel shells or falling
+débris; on the other side lay the women, some mere girls, and even
+children.
+
+Flitting everywhere in the half light were nurses, charitable ladies,
+and female helpers, with numbers of doctors, all doing their best to
+alleviate the terrible sufferings of that crowded place, the walls of
+which showed plain traces of the severe bombardment. In places the roof
+was open to the angry sky, while many of the windows were gaunt and
+shattered.
+
+A clergyman’s voice somewhere was repeating a prayer in a low, distinct
+voice, so that all could hear, yet above all were the sighs and groans
+of the sufferers, and as one walked through that prostrate assembly of
+victims more than one was seen to have already gone to that land that
+lies beyond the human ken.
+
+[Illustration: DAMAGE DONE IN THE CITY BY THE BOMBARDMENT.
+
+(_The shaded portions indicate houses or buildings injured by shells or
+fire._)]
+
+The horrors of war were never more forcibly illustrated than in
+Westminster Abbey that night, for the grim hand of Death was there, and
+men and women lying with their faces to the roof looked into Eternity.
+
+Every hospital in London was full, therefore the overflow had been
+placed in the various churches. From the battlefields along the northern
+defences, Epping, Edmonton, Barnet, Enfield, and other places where the
+last desperate stand had been made, and from the barricades in the
+northern suburbs ambulance wagons were continually arriving full of
+wounded, all of whom were placed in the churches and in any large public
+buildings which had remained undamaged by the bombardment.
+
+St. George’s, Hanover Square, once the scene of many smart weddings, was
+now packed with unfortunate wounded soldiers, British and Germans lying
+side by side, while in the Westminster Cathedral and the Oratory at
+Brompton the Roman Catholic priests made hundreds of poor fellows as
+comfortable as they could, many members of the religious sisterhoods
+acting as nurses. St. James’s Church in Piccadilly, St. Pancras Church,
+Shoreditch Church, and St. Mary Abbotts’, Kensington, were all
+improvised hospitals, and many grim and terrible scenes of agony were
+witnessed during that long eventful night.
+
+The light was dim everywhere, for there were only paraffin lamps, and by
+their feeble illumination many a difficult operation had to be performed
+by those London surgeons who one and all had come forward, and were now
+working unceasingly. Renowned specialists from Harley Street, Cavendish
+Square, Queen Anne Street, and the vicinity were directing the work in
+all the improvised hospitals, men whose names were world-famous kneeling
+and performing operations upon poor unfortunate private soldiers or upon
+some labourer who had taken up a gun in defence of his home.
+
+Of lady helpers there were hundreds. From Mayfair and Belgravia, from
+Kensington and Bayswater, ladies had come forward offering their
+services, and their devotion to the wounded was everywhere apparent. In
+St. Andrew’s, Wells Street, St. Peter’s, Eaton Square, in the Scottish
+Church in Crown Court, Covent Garden, in the Temple Church, in the Union
+Chapel in Upper Street, in the Chapel Royal, Savoy, in St. Clement Danes
+in the Strand, and in St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields there were wounded in
+greater or less numbers, but the difficulties of treating them were
+enormous owing to the lack of necessaries for the performance of
+operations.
+
+Weird and striking were the scenes within those hallowed places, as, in
+the half darkness with the long, deep shadows, men struggled for life or
+gave to the women kneeling at their side their name, their address, or a
+last dying message to one they loved.
+
+London that night was a city of shattered homes, of shattered hopes, of
+shattered lives.
+
+The silence of death had fallen everywhere. The only sounds that broke
+the quiet within those churches were the sighs, the groans, and the
+faint murmurings of the dying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+TWO PERSONAL NARRATIVES
+
+
+Some adequate idea of the individual efforts made by the citizens of
+London to defend their homes against the invader may be gathered from
+various personal narratives afterwards printed in certain newspapers.
+All of them were tragic, thrilling, and struck that strong note of
+patriotism which is ever latent in the breast of every Englishman, and
+more especially the Londoner.
+
+The story told to a reporter of the _Observer_ by a young man named
+Charles Dale, who in ordinary life was a clerk in the employ of the
+Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, in Moorgate Street, depicted, in
+graphic details, the frightful conflict. He said:
+
+“When the Hendon and Cricklewood Rifle Club was formed in 1906 I joined
+it, and in a month we had over 500 members. From that time the
+club--whose practices were held at the Normal Powder Company’s range, in
+Reuter’s Lane, Hendon--increased until it became one of the largest
+rifle clubs in the kingdom. As soon as news of the sudden invasion
+reached us, we all reported ourselves at headquarters, and out of four
+thousand of us there were only thirty-three absentees, all the latter
+being too far from London to return. We were formed into small parties,
+and, taking our rifles and ammunition, we donned our distinctive khaki
+tunics and peaked caps, and each company made its way into Essex
+independently, in order to assist the Legion of Frontiersmen and the
+Free-shooters to harass the Germans.
+
+“Three days after the enemy’s landing, I found myself, with seventeen of
+my comrades, at a village called Dedham, close to the Stour, where we
+opened our campaign by lying in ambush and picking off a number of
+German sentries. It was exciting and risky work, especially when, under
+cover of darkness, we crept up to the enemy’s outposts and attacked and
+harassed them. Assisted by a number of the Frontiersmen, we scoured the
+country across to Sudbury, and in that hot, exciting week that followed
+dozens of the enemy fell to our guns. We snatched sleep where we could,
+concealing ourselves in thickets and begging food from the cottagers,
+all of whom gave us whatever they could spare. One morning, when just
+outside Wormingford village, we were surprised by a party of Germans.
+Whereupon we retired to a barn, and held it strongly for an hour until
+the enemy were forced to retire, leaving ten of their number dead and
+eight wounded. Ours was a very narrow escape, and had not the enemy been
+compelled to fight in the open, we should certainly have been
+overwhelmed and exterminated. We were an irregular force, therefore the
+Germans would give us no quarter. We carried our lives in our hands
+always.
+
+“War brings with it strange companions. Many queer, adventurous spirits
+fought beside us in those breathless days of fire and blood, when Maldon
+was attacked by the Colchester garrison, and our gallant troops were
+forced back after the battle of Purleigh. Each day that went past
+brought out larger numbers of free-shooters from London, while the full
+force of the patriotic Legion of Frontiersmen had now concentrated until
+the whole country west of the line from Chelmsford to Saffron Walden
+seemed swarming with us, and we must have given the enemy great trouble
+everywhere. The day following the battle of Royston I had the most
+narrow escape. Lying in ambush with eight other men, all members of the
+Rifle Club, in College Wood, not far from Buntingford, I was asleep,
+being utterly worn out, when we were suddenly discovered by a large
+party of Uhlans. Two of my comrades were shot dead ere they could fire,
+while five others, including one of my best friends, Tom Martin, a clerk
+in the National Provincial Bank, who had started with me from Hendon,
+were taken prisoners. I managed to dodge the two big Uhlans who
+endeavoured to seize me, and into the face of one I fired my revolver,
+blowing half his bearded face away. In a moment a German bullet whistled
+past me; then another and another; but by marvellous good luck I was not
+hit, and managed to escape into the denser part of the wood, where I
+climbed a high tree, hiding among the branches, while the Germans below
+sought in vain for me. Those moments seemed hours. I could hear my own
+heart beat. I knew that they might easily discover me, for the foliage
+was not very thick. Indeed, twice one of the search parties passed right
+beneath me. Of my other comrade who had fled I had seen nothing. For
+three hours I remained concealed there. Once I heard loud shouts and
+then sounds of shots close by, and wondered whether any of our comrades,
+whom I knew were in the vicinity, had discovered the Germans. Then at
+last, just after sundown, I descended and carefully made my way out. For
+a long time I wandered about until the dusk was deepening into night,
+unable to discover my whereabouts. At last I found myself on the
+outskirts of the wood, but hardly had I gone a hundred yards in the open
+ere my eyes met a sight that froze my blood. Upon trees in close
+proximity to each other were hanging the dead bodies of my five
+comrades, including poor Tom Martin. They presented a grim, ghastly
+spectacle. The Uhlans had strung them to trees, and afterwards riddled
+them with bullets!
+
+“Gradually, we were driven back upon London. Desperately we fought, each
+one of us, and the personal risk of every member of our club, of any
+other of the rifle clubs, and of the Frontiersmen, for the matter of
+that, was very great. We were insufficient in numbers. Had we been more
+numerous, I maintain that we could have so harassed the enemy that we
+could have held him in check for many months. With the few thousands of
+men we have we made it extremely uncomfortable for Von Kronhelm and his
+forces. Had our number been greater we could have operated more in
+unison with the British regular arms, and formed a line of defence
+around London so complete that it could never have been broken. As it
+was, however, when driven in, we were compelled to take a stand in
+manning the forts and entrenchments of the London lines, I finding
+myself in a hastily constructed trench not far from Enfield. While
+engaged there with the enemy, a bullet took away the little finger of my
+left hand, causing me excruciating pain, but it fortunately did not
+place me hors-de-combat. Standing beside me was a costermonger from
+Leman Street, Whitechapel, who had once been in the Militia, while next
+him was a country squire from Hampshire, who was a good shot at grouse,
+but who had never before handled a military rifle. In that narrow trench
+in which we stood beneath the rain of German bullets we were of a verity
+a strange, incongruous crowd, dirty, unkempt, unshaven, more than one of
+us wearing hastily applied bandages upon places where we had received
+injury. I had never faced death like that before, and I tell you it was
+a weird and strange experience. Every man among us knit his brows,
+loaded and fired, without speaking a word, except, perhaps, to ejaculate
+a curse upon those who threatened to overwhelm us and capture our
+capital.
+
+“At last, though we fought valiantly--three men beside me having fallen
+dead through injudiciously showing themselves above the earthworks--we
+were compelled to evacuate our position. Then followed a terrible
+guerilla warfare as, driven in across by Southgate to Finchley, we fell
+back south upon London itself. The enemy, victorious, were following
+upon the heels of our routed army, and it was seen that our last stand
+must be made at the barricades, which, we heard, had in our absence
+been erected in all the main roads leading in from the Northern Heights.
+
+“On Hampstead Heath I found about a dozen or so of my comrades, whom I
+had not seen since I had left Hendon, and heard from them that they had
+been operating in Norfolk against the German Guards, who had landed at
+King’s Lynn. With them I went through Hampstead and down Haverstock Hill
+to the great barricade that had been erected across that thoroughfare
+and Prince of Wales Road. It was a huge, ugly structure, built of every
+conceivable article--overturned tramcars, furniture, paving stones,
+pianos, wardrobes, scaffold boards, in fact everything and anything that
+came handiest--while intertwined everywhere were hundreds of yards of
+barbed wire. A small space had been left at the junction of the two
+roads in order to allow people to enter, while on the top a big Union
+Jack waved in the light breeze. In all the neighbouring houses I saw men
+with rifles, while from one house pointed the menacing muzzle of a
+Maxim, commanding the greater part of Haverstock Hill. There seemed also
+to be other barricades in the smaller roads in the vicinity. But the one
+at which I had been stationed was certainly a most formidable obstacle.
+All sorts and conditions of men manned it. Women, too, were there,
+fierce-eyed, towsled-haired women, who in their fury seemed to have
+become half savage. Men shouted themselves hoarse, encouraging the armed
+citizens to fight till death. But from the determined look upon their
+faces no incentive was needed. They meant, every one of them, to bear
+their part bravely, when the moment came.
+
+“‘We’ve been here three whole days awaiting the enemy,’ one man said to
+me, a dark-haired, bearded City man in a serge suit, who carried his
+rifle slung upon his shoulder.
+
+“‘They’ll be ’ere soon enough now, cockie,’ remarked a Londoner of the
+lower class from Notting Dale. ‘There’ll be fightin’ ’ere before long,
+depend on’t. This
+
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =COUNTY OF LONDON.= |
+ | |
+ | =LOOTING, HOUSEBREAKING, AND= |
+ | =OTHER OFFENCES.= |
+ | |
+ | =TAKE NOTICE.= |
+ | |
+ | (1) That any person, whether soldier or civilian, who enters any |
+ | premises whatsoever for the purposes of loot; or is found with loot |
+ | in his possession; or who commits any theft within the meaning of |
+ | the Act; or is guilty of theft from the person, or robbery, with or |
+ | without violence; or wilfully damages property; or compels by threats |
+ | any person to disclose the whereabouts of valuables, or who demands |
+ | money by menaces; or enters upon any private premises, viz. house, |
+ | shop, warehouse, office, or factory, without just or reasonable cause, |
+ | will be at once arrested and tried by military court-martial, and be |
+ | liable to penal servitude for a period not to exceed twenty years. |
+ | |
+ | (2) That from this date all magistrates at the Metropolitan Police |
+ | Courts will be superseded by military officers empowered to deal and |
+ | adjudicate upon all offences in contravention to law. |
+ | |
+ | (3) That the chief Military Court-martial is established at the |
+ | Metropolitan Police Court at Bow Street. |
+ | |
+ | FRANCIS BAMFORD, General, |
+ | Military Governor of London. |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | Governor’s Headquarters, |
+ | New Scotland Yard, S.W., |
+ | _September 19th, 1910_. |
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ THE ABOVE PROCLAMATION WAS POSTED ALL OVER THE
+ METROPOLIS ON THE DAY PRIOR TO THE BOMBARDMENT.
+
+is more excitin’ sport than Kempton Park, ain’t it--eh?’
+
+“That man was right, for a few hours later, when Von Kronhelm appeared
+upon Hampstead Heath and launched his infantry upon London, our
+barricade became a perfect hell. I was on the roof of a house close by,
+lying full length behind a sheltering chimney-stack, and firing upon the
+advancing troops for all I was worth. From every window in the vicinity
+we poured forth a veritable rain of death upon the Germans, while our
+Maxim spat fire incessantly, and the men at the barricade kept up a
+splendid fusillade. Ere long Haverstock Hill became a perfect inferno.
+Perched up where I was, I commanded a wide view of all that was in
+progress. Again and again the Germans were launched to the assault, but
+such a withering fire did we keep up that we held them constantly in
+check. Our Maxim served us admirably, for ever and anon it cut a lane in
+the great wall of advancing troops, until the whole roadway was covered
+with dead and maimed Germans. To my own gun many fell, as to those of my
+valiant comrades, for every one of us had sworn that the enemy should
+never enter London if we could prevent it.
+
+“I saw a woman with her hair dishevelled deliberately mount to the top
+of the barricade and wave a small Union Jack; but next instant she paid
+for her folly with her life, and fell back dead upon the roadway below.
+If the enemy lost heavily, we did not altogether escape. At the
+barricade and in the houses in the immediate vicinity there were a
+number of dead and a quantity of wounded, the latter being carried away
+and tended to by a number of devoted ladies from Fitzjohn’s Avenue, and
+the more select thoroughfares in the neighbourhood. Local surgeons were
+also there, working unceasingly. For fully an hour the frightful
+conflict continued. The Germans were dogged in their perseverance, while
+we were equally active in our desperate resistance. The conflict was
+awful. The scenes in the streets below me now were beyond description.
+In High Street, Hampstead, a number of shops had been set on fire and
+were burning; while above the din, the shouts and the crackle of the
+rifles, there was now and then heard the deep boom of field guns away in
+the distance.
+
+“We had received information that Von Kronhelm himself was quite near
+us, up at Jack Straw’s Castle, and more than one of us only wished he
+would show himself in Haverstock Hill, and thus allow us a chance of
+taking a pot-shot at him.
+
+“Suddenly the enemy retreated back up Roslyn Hill, and we cheered loudly
+at what we thought was our victory. Alas! our triumph was not of long
+duration. I had descended from my position on the roof, and was walking
+at rear of the barricade, where the pavement and roadway were slippery
+with blood, when of a sudden the big guns, which it seemed had now been
+planted on Hampstead Heath, gave tongue, and a shot passed high above us
+far south into London. In a moment a dozen other guns roared, and within
+ten minutes we found ourselves beneath a perfect hail of high explosive
+projectiles, though being so near the guns we were comparatively safe.
+Most of us sought shelter in the neighbouring houses. No enemy was in
+sight, for they had now gathered up their wounded and retired back up to
+Hampstead. Their dead they left scattered over the roadway, a grim,
+awful sight on that bright, sunny morning.
+
+“‘They’re surely not going to bombard a defenceless city?’ cried a man
+to me--a man whom I recognised as a neighbour of mine at Hendon. ‘It’s
+against all the rules of war.’
+
+“‘They are bombarding London because of our defence,’ I said, and
+scarcely were those words out of my mouth when there was a bright red
+flash, a loud report, and the whole front of a neighbouring house was
+torn out into the roadway, while my friend and myself reeled by force of
+the terrific explosion. Two men standing near us had been blown to
+atoms.
+
+“Some of the women about us now became panic-stricken. But the men were
+mostly cool and determined, standing within the shelter walls of the
+houses, down areas, or in coal cellers beneath the street. Thus for over
+three hours we waited under fire, not knowing from one moment to another
+whether a shell might not fall among us.
+
+“Suddenly our fears were increased, when, soon after four o’clock, the
+Germans again appeared in Haverstock Hill, this time with artillery,
+which, notwithstanding the heavy fire we instantly directed upon them,
+they established in such a position as to completely command our
+hastily-constructed defences. The fire from Hampstead Heath was
+slackening when suddenly one of those guns before us on Haverstock Hill
+sent a shell right into the centre of our barricade. The explosion was
+awful. The whole front of the house in which I was fell out into the
+roadway, while a dozen heroic men were blown out of all recognition, and
+a great breach made in the obstruction. Another shell, another and
+another, struck in our midst, utterly disorganising our defence, and
+each time making great breaches in our huge barricade. Neither Maxim nor
+rifle was of any use against those awful shells.
+
+“I stood in the wrecked room covered with dust and blood, wondering what
+the end was to be. To fire my rifle in that moment was useless. Not only
+did the German artillery train their guns upon the barricade, but on the
+houses which we had placed in a state of defence. They pounded away at
+them, and in a few minutes had reduced several to ruins, burying in the
+débris the gallant Londoners defending them. The house upon the roof of
+which I had, earlier in the day, taken up my position, was struck by two
+shells in rapid succession, and simply demolished, over forty brave men
+losing their lives in the terrible catastrophe.
+
+“Again the enemy, after wrecking our defences, retired smartly up the
+hill as the terrible bombardment of London ceased. Our losses in the
+shelling of the barricade had been terrible. The roadway behind us was
+strewn with dead and dying, and with others I helped to bandage the
+wounded and remove them to private houses in the Adelaide and King
+Henry’s Roads, where the doctors were attending to their injuries. In
+Haverstock Hill lay the bodies of many women, more than one with a
+revolver still grasped in her stiffened hand. Ah! the scenes at that
+barricade defy description. They were awful. The pavements were like
+those of slaughter-houses and the whole road to beyond the Adelaide had
+been utterly wrecked, there being not a single house intact.
+
+“And yet we rallied. Reinforcements came up from the direction of
+Regent’s Park--a great, unorganised crowd of armed men and women, doubly
+enraged by the cruel bombardment and the burning of their homes. With
+these reinforcements we resolved to still hold the débris of our
+barricade--to still dispute the advance of the invader, knowing that one
+division must certainly come down that road. So we reorganised our force
+and waited--waited while the sun sank with its crimson afterglow and
+darkness crept on, watching the red fires of London reflected upon the
+night sky, and wondering each one of us what was to be our fate.
+
+“For hours we waited there, until the Kaiser’s legions came upon us,
+sweeping down Roslyn Hill to where we were still making a last stand.
+Though the street lamps were unlit, we saw them advancing by the angry
+glare of the fires of London, while we, too, were full in the light, and
+a mark for them. They fired upon us, and we returned their fusillade. We
+stood man to man, concealed behind the débris wherever we could get
+shelter from the rain of lead they poured upon us. They advanced by
+rushes, taking our position by storm. I was in the roadway, concealed
+behind an overturned tramcar, into the woodwork of which bullets were
+constantly imbedding themselves. The man next me fell backward--dead,
+without a word. But I kept on, well knowing that in the end we must give
+way. Those well-equipped hordes of the Kaiser I saw before me were, I
+knew, the conquerors of London. Yet we fought on valiantly for King and
+country--fought even when we came hand to hand. I shot a standard-bearer
+dead, but in an instant another took his place. For a second the German
+standard was trampled in the dust, but next moment it was aloft again,
+amid the ringing cheers of the conquerors. Again I fired, again, and yet
+again, as fast as I could reload, when of a sudden I knew that we were
+defeated, for our fire had slackened, and the Germans ran in past me. I
+turned, and as I did so I faced a big, burly fellow with a revolver. I
+put my hand to my own, but ere I could get it out a light flashed full
+in my face, and then I knew no more. When I recovered consciousness I
+found myself in the North-West London Hospital, in Kentish Town Road,
+with my head bandaged, and a nurse looking gravely into my face.
+
+“And that is very briefly my story of how I fared during the terrible
+siege of London. I could tell you of many and many horrible scenes, of
+ruthless loss of life, and of women and children the innocent victims of
+those bloody engagements. But why should I? The horrors of the war are
+surely known to you, alas, only too well--far too well.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Another narrative of great interest as showing the aspect of London
+immediately following its occupation by the Germans was that of a
+middle-aged linotype operator named James Jellicoe, employed on the
+_Weekly Dispatch_, who made the following statement to a reporter of the
+_Evening News_. It was published in the last edition of that journal
+prior to the suppression of the entire London Press by Von Kronhelm. He
+said:
+
+“When the barricades in North London had been stormed by the Germans,
+and they had fought their way down to Oxford Street and Holborn, I
+chanced to be in Farringdon Street. Right through the bombardment during
+the whole afternoon we compositors on the _Mail_, the _Evening News_,
+and the _Dispatch_ were compelled to work, and it had been a most
+exciting time, I can tell you. We didn’t know from one moment to another
+when a shell might fall through the roof among us. Two or three places
+in Whitefriars were struck, and _Answers’_ office in Tudor Street had
+been burned out. I had left work at eleven and gone to meet my boy
+Frank, who is on the _Star_ in Stonecutter Street, intending to take him
+home to Kennington Park Road, where I live, when I first caught sight of
+the Germans. They were passing over the Viaduct, marching towards the
+City, while some of them ran down the steps into the Farringdon Road,
+ranging themselves along beneath the Viaduct as guards, in order to
+protect it, I suppose. They seemed a tall, sturdy, well-equipped body of
+men, and entirely surprised me, as they did the other people about me,
+who now saw them for the first time. I had been setting up ‘copy’ about
+the enemy for the past ten days or so, but had never imagined them to be
+such a sturdy race as they really were. There was no disorder among
+them. They obeyed the German words of command just like machines, while
+up above them marched battalion after battalion of infantry, and troop
+after troop of clattering cavalry, away to Newgate Street and the City.
+
+“I heard it said that the Lord Mayor had already been taken a prisoner,
+and that the streets of the City proper were swarming with Germans. A
+quarter of an hour later I called for my boy, and together we made our
+way back along New Bridge Street to Blackfriars Bridge, when, to my
+amazement, I found such a great press of people flying south that many
+helpless women and children were being crushed to death. There was a
+frightful scene, illuminated by the red glare of the
+
+[Illustration: DAMAGE DONE IN WESTMINSTER BY THE BOMBARDMENT.
+
+_The shaded portions indicate houses or buildings injured by shells or
+fire._]
+
+flames devouring St. Paul’s Station. The railway bridge was thus cut
+off, otherwise it might have considerably relieved the frantic traffic.
+After half a dozen futile attempts to get across--for it seemed that
+there were two human tides meeting there, persons desirous of
+re-entering London after the bombardment, and those flying in terror
+from the enemy--I resolved to abandon it. Therefore, with my boy Frank,
+I walked along the Embankment until I got close to Waterloo Bridge,
+when, as I approached the great single arch that spans the roadway, I
+noticed a boat containing three men shoot out into the river from
+beneath the wall, close to where we were walking. It slipped silently
+beneath the shadow of the second arch, where there was some scaffolding,
+the fine old bridge being under repair.
+
+“The bridge above was just as crowded as that at Blackfriars, the throng
+struggling both ways, meeting and fighting among themselves for the
+mastery. In those frantic efforts to cross the river, men and women had
+their clothes literally torn from their backs. The men were demons in
+that hour of terror; the women became veritable furies. On the
+Embankment where I stood in the shadow, however, there were few persons.
+The great fires in the Strand threw their reflection upon the surface of
+the water, but the Savoy, Somerset House, and the Cecil also threw great
+black shadows. The mysterious movements of the three men beneath the
+bridge attracted me. They had rowed so suddenly out just as we passed
+that they startled me, and now my curiosity became aroused. Concealed in
+the deep shadow I leaned over the parapet, and watching saw them make
+fast the boat to the scaffold platform on a level with the water, and
+then one man, clinging to the ladder, clambered up into the centre of
+the arch beneath the roadway. I could not distinctly see what he was
+doing, for he was hidden among the scaffolding and in the darkness.
+
+“Presently a second man from the boat swung himself upon the ladder and
+ascended to his companion on the platform above. I could distinguish
+them standing together, apparently in consultation. Close to me was the
+pier of the Thames Police, and both of us slipped down there, but found
+nobody in charge. The police, Metropolitan, City, and Thames, were all
+engaged in the streets on that memorable night. Nevertheless, the trio
+beneath the bridge were acting suspiciously. What could we do? German
+secret agents had committed many outrages during the past ten days, more
+especially in blowing up bridges and wrecking public buildings with
+bombs, in order to disorganise any attempt at resistance, and strike
+terror into the hearts of Londoners. A bomb had been exploded on the
+terrace of the House of Commons two days before, causing great havoc,
+while the entrance hall of the Admiralty had also been wrecked. Penge
+tunnel had, by explosives, been rendered impassable, and an attempt in
+the tunnel at Merstham had very nearly been successful. Were these
+suspicious men engaged in the dastardly act of blowing up Waterloo
+Bridge?
+
+“It suddenly struck me that it might be part of Von Kronhelm’s scheme to
+blow up certain of the bridges in order to prevent those who had fled
+south from returning and harassing his troops, or else he wished to keep
+the inhabitants remaining north of the Thames, and prevent them from
+escaping. As I stood upon the police pier I saw the two men high upon
+the scaffold motion to the third man, still in the boat, when, after a
+few moments the last-named individual left the boat, carrying something
+very carefully, an object looking like a long iron cylinder, and slowly
+made his way up the perpendicular ladder to where the pair were standing
+right beneath the crown of the huge arch.
+
+“Then I knew that they were Germans, and realised their foul intention.
+A few feet above them hundreds were fighting and struggling, all
+unconscious of that frightful explosive they were affixing to the arch.
+What could I do? To warn the crowd above was impossible. I was far
+below, and my voice would not be heard above the din.
+
+“‘What are those fellows doing, do you think, father?’ inquired my boy,
+with curiosity.
+
+“‘Doing?’ I cried. ‘Why, they’re going to blow up the bridge! And we
+must save it. But how?’
+
+“I looked around, but there was unfortunately no one in the immediate
+vicinity. I had no weapon, but the fellows were no doubt armed and
+desperate. Into the dark police office I peered, but could see nothing.
+Then suddenly an idea occurred to me. If I raised the alarm at that
+moment, they would certainly escape. Both Frank and I could row,
+therefore I sprang into the police boat at the pier, unmoored her, and
+urged my son to take an oar with me. In less time than it takes to
+relate we had pulled across into the shadow of the big arch, and were
+alongside the empty boat of the conspirators.
+
+“‘Row away for your life!’ I cried to Frank, as I sprang into the other
+boat. Then taking out my knife I cut her adrift in an instant and pulled
+out hard with the tide towards Cleopatra’s Needle, while Frank, grasping
+my intention, shot away towards the Surrey bank. Scarce had I taken out
+my knife to sever the cord, however, than the three men above noticed me
+and shouted down in broken English. Indeed, as I pulled off there was
+the sharp crack of a revolver above me, and I think I narrowly escaped
+being winged. Nevertheless, I had caught the three blackguards in a
+trap. The explosive had already been fixed to the crown of the arch, but
+if they lit the fuse they must themselves be blown to atoms.
+
+“I could hear their shouts and curses from where I rested upon my oars,
+undecided how to act. If I could only have found at that moment a couple
+of those brave ‘Frontiersmen’ or ‘Britons,’ or members of rifle clubs,
+who had been such trouble to the enemy out in Essex! There were hundreds
+upon hundreds of them in London, but they were in the streets still
+harassing the Germans wherever they could. I rested on my oars in full
+view of the spies, but beyond revolver range, mounting guard upon them,
+as it were. They might, after all, decide to carry out their evil
+design, for if they were good swimmers they might ignite the fuse and
+then dive into the water, trusting to luck to get to the steps around
+Cleopatra’s Needle. Would they dare do this?
+
+“They kept shouting to me, waving their hands excitedly; but I could not
+distinguish what they said, so great was the din on the bridge above.
+Frank had disappeared. Whither he had gone I knew not. He had, however,
+seen the revolver fired at me, and recognising what was taking place
+would, I felt certain, seek assistance. One of the men descending the
+ladder to the water, shouted again to me, waving his hand frantically
+and pointing upward. From this I concluded that he intended to convey
+that the time-fuse was already ignited and they were begging for their
+lives to be saved. Such men are always cowards at the supreme moment
+when they must face death. I saw the fellow’s pale, black-bearded face
+in the shadow, and an evil, murderous countenance it was, I assure you.
+But to his shouts, his threats, his frantic appeals I made no response.
+I had caught all three of them, and paused there triumphant. Would Frank
+ever return? Suddenly, however, I saw a boat in the full light out in
+the centre of the river, crossing in my direction, and hailed it
+frantically. The answering shout was my boy’s, and as he drew nearer I
+saw that with him were four men armed with rifles. They were evidently
+four Freeshooters who had been in the roadway above to hold the bridge
+against the enemy’s advance!
+
+“With swift strokes of the oars Frank brought the police boat up
+alongside mine, and in a few brief sentences I explained the situation
+and pointed to the three conspirators.
+
+“‘Let’s shoot them from where we are!’ urged one of the men, who wore
+the little bronze badge of a Frontiersman, and without further word he
+raised his rifle and let fly at the man clinging to the ladder. The
+first shot went wide, but the second hit, for with a cry the fellow
+released his hold and fell back into the dark tide, his lifeless body
+being carried in our direction.
+
+“The other three men in the boat, members of the Southfields (Putney)
+Rifle Club, opened a hail of fire upon the pair hidden in the
+scaffolding above. It was a dangerous proceeding, for had a stray bullet
+struck that case full of explosives, we should have been all blown to
+atoms in an instant. Several times all four emptied their magazines into
+that semicircular opening, but to no effect. The fusilade from the river
+quickly attracted the attention of those above, to whom the affair was a
+complete mystery. One rifleman upon the bridge, thinking we were the
+enemy, actually opened fire upon us; but we shouted who we were, and
+that spies were concealed below, whereupon he at once desisted.
+
+“A dozen times our party fired, when at last one man’s dark body fell
+heavily into the stream with a loud splash; and about a minute later the
+third fell backwards, and the rolling river closed over him. All three
+had thus met with their well-merited deserts.
+
+“‘I wonder if they’ve lit the fuse?’ suggested one Frontiersman. ‘Let’s
+go nearer.’
+
+“We both rowed forward beneath the arch, when, to our horror, we all saw
+straight above us, right under the crown, a faint red glow. A fuse was
+burning there!
+
+“‘Quick!’ cried one of the sharpshooters. ‘There’s not an instant to
+spare. Land me at the ladder, and then row away for your lives. I’ll go
+and put it out if there’s yet time.’
+
+“In a moment Frank had turned the bow of the boat, and the gallant
+fellow had run nimbly up the ladder as he sheered off again. We saw him
+up upon the scaffolding. We watched him struggling to get the iron
+cylinder free from the wire with which it was bound against the stone.
+He tugged and tugged, but in vain. At any instant the thing might
+explode and cause the death of hundreds, including ourselves. At last,
+however, something suddenly fell with a big splash into the stream. Then
+we sent up a ringing cheer.
+
+“Waterloo Bridge was saved!
+
+“People on the bridge above shouted down to us, asking what we were
+doing, but we were too occupied to reply, and as the man who had so
+gallantly risked his life to save the grand old bridge from destruction
+regained the boat we pulled away back to the police pier. Hardly had we
+got ashore when we distinctly saw a bright red flash beneath the
+Hungerford railway bridge, followed by a terrific explosion, as part of
+the massive iron structure fell into the river, a tangled mass of
+girders. All of us chanced to have our faces turned towards Charing
+Cross at that moment, and so great was the explosion that we distinctly
+felt the concussion. The dastardly work was, like the attempt we had
+just foiled, that of German spies, acting under orders to cause a series
+of explosions at the time of the entry of the troops into London, thus
+to increase the terror in the hearts of the populace. But instead of
+terrifying them it only irritated them. Such wanton destruction was both
+unpardonable and inconceivable, for it seemed most probable that the
+Germans would now require the South-Eastern Railway for strategic
+purposes. And yet their spies had destroyed the bridge.
+
+“With the men who had shot the three Germans and my lad Frank I ascended
+to Waterloo Bridge by the steps from the Embankment, and there we fought
+our way through the entrance of the huge barricade that had been hastily
+erected. The riflemen who had so readily responded to Frank’s alarm
+explained to us that they and their companions, aided by a thousand
+armed civilians of all kinds, intended to hold the bridge in case the
+enemy attempted to come southward upon the Surrey side. They told us
+also that all the bridges were being similarly held by those who had
+survived the terrible onslaught upon the barricades in the northern
+suburbs. The Germans were already in the City, the Lord Mayor was a
+prisoner, and the German flag was flying in the smoke above the War
+Office, upon the National Gallery, and other buildings. Of all this we
+were aware, and from the aspect of those fierce, determined-looking men
+around us we knew that if the enemy’s hordes attempted to storm the
+bridges they would meet with a decidedly warm reception.
+
+“Behind the bridge the multitude pressed on both ways, so that we were
+stopped close behind the barricade, where I found myself held tightly
+beside a neat-looking little Maxim, manned by four men in different
+military uniforms--evidently survivors from the disaster at Epping or at
+Enfield. This was not the only machine gun, for there were, I saw, four
+others, so placed that they commanded the whole of Wellington Street,
+the entrances to the Strand and up to Bow Street. The great crowd in the
+open space before Somerset House were struggling to get upon the bridge;
+but news having been brought of bodies of the enemy moving along the
+Strand from Trafalgar Square, the narrow entrance was quickly blocked up
+by paving-stones and iron railings, torn up from before some houses in
+the vicinity.
+
+“We had not long to wait. The people left in Wellington Street, finding
+their retreat cut off, turned back into the Strand or descended the
+steps to the Embankment, and so had nearly all dispersed, when, of a
+sudden, a large body of the enemy’s infantry swept round from the
+Strand, and came full upon the barricade. Next second our Maxims spat
+their deadly fire with a loud rattle and din, and about me on every hand
+men were shooting. I waited to see the awful effect of our rain of lead
+upon the Germans. Hundreds dropped, but hundreds still seemed to take
+their place. I saw them place a field-gun in position at the corner of
+the Strand, and then I recognised their intention to shell us. So, being
+unarmed and a non-combatant, I fled with my son towards my own home in
+the Kennington Park Road. I had not, however, got across the bridge
+before shells began to explode against the barricade, blowing it and
+several of our gallant men to atoms. Once behind I glanced, and saw too
+plainly that the attempt to hold the bridge was utterly hopeless. There
+were not sufficient riflemen. Then we both ran on--to save our lives.
+And you know the rest--ruin, disaster, and death reigned in London that
+night. Our men fought for their lives and homes, but the Germans,
+angered at our resistance, gave no quarter to those not in uniform. Ah!
+the slaughter was awful.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+GERMANS SACKING THE BANKS
+
+
+Day dawned dismally and wet on September the 21st.
+
+Over London the sky was still obscured by the smoke-pall, though as the
+night passed many of the raging fires had spent themselves.
+
+Trafalgar Square was filled with troops, who had piled arms and were
+standing at their ease. The men were laughing and smoking, enjoying a
+rest after the last forward movement and the street fighting of that
+night of horrors.
+
+The losses on both sides during the past three days had been enormous;
+of the number of London citizens killed and wounded it was impossible to
+calculate. There had, in the northern suburbs, been wholesale butchery
+everywhere, so gallantly had the barricades been defended.
+
+Great camps had now been formed in Hyde Park, in the Green Park between
+Constitution Hill and Piccadilly, and in St. James’s Park. The Magdeburg
+Fusiliers were being formed up on the Horse Guards Parade, and from the
+flagstaff there now fluttered the ensign of the commander of an army
+corps in place of the British flag. A large number of Uhlans and
+Cuirassiers were encamped at the west end of the Park, opposite
+Buckingham Palace, and both the Wellington Barracks and the Cavalry
+Barracks at Knightsbridge were occupied by Germans.
+
+Many officers were already billeted in the Savoy, the Cecil, the
+Carlton, the Grand, and Victoria hotels, while the British Museum, the
+National Gallery, the South Kensington Museum, the Tower, and a number
+of other collections of pictures and antiques were all guarded strongly
+by German sentries. The enemy had thus seized our national treasures.
+
+London awoke to find herself a German city.
+
+In the streets lounging groups of travel-worn sons of the Fatherland
+were everywhere, and German was heard on every hand. Every ounce of
+foodstuff was being rapidly commandeered by hundreds of foraging
+parties, who went to each grocer’s, baker’s, or provision shop in the
+various districts, seized all they could find, valued it, and gave
+official receipts for it.
+
+The price of food in London that morning was absolutely prohibitive, as
+much as two shillings being asked for a twopenny loaf. The Germans had,
+it was afterwards discovered, been all the time, since the Sunday when
+they landed, running over large cargoes of supplies of all sorts to the
+Essex, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk coasts, where they had established huge
+supply bases, well knowing that there was not sufficient food in the
+country to feed their armed hordes in addition to the population.
+
+Shops in Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Edgeware Road, Oxford Street,
+Camden Road, and Harrow Road were systematically visited by the foraging
+parties, who commenced their work at dawn. Those places that were closed
+and their owners absent were at once broken open, and everything seized
+and carted to either Hyde Park or St. James’s Park, for though Londoners
+might starve, the Kaiser’s troops intended to be fed.
+
+In some cases a patriotic shopkeeper attempted to resist. Indeed, in
+more than one case a tradesman wilfully set his shop on fire rather than
+its contents should fall into the enemy’s hands. In other cases the
+tradesmen who received the official German receipts burned them in
+contempt before the officer’s eyes.
+
+The guidance of these foraging parties was, in very many cases, in the
+hands of Germans in civilian clothes, and it was now seen how complete
+and helpful the enemy’s system of espionage had been in London. Most of
+these men were Germans who, having served in the army, had come over to
+England and obtained employment as waiters, clerks, bakers,
+hairdressers, and private servants, and being bound by their oath to the
+Fatherland had served their country as spies. Each man, when obeying the
+Imperial command to join the German arms, had placed in the lapel of his
+coat a button of a peculiar shape, with which he had long ago been
+provided, and by which he was instantly recognised as a loyal subject of
+the Kaiser.
+
+This huge body of German solders, who for years had passed in England as
+civilians, was, of course, of enormous use to Von Kronhelm, for they
+acted as guides not only on the march and during the entry to London,
+but materially assisted in the victorious advance in the Midlands.
+Indeed, the Germans had for years kept a civilian army in England, and
+yet we had, ostrich-like, buried our heads in the sand and refused to
+turn our eyes to the grave peril that had for so long threatened.
+
+Systematically, the Germans were visiting every shop and warehouse in
+the shopping districts, and seizing everything eatable they could
+discover. The enemy were taking the food from the mouths of the poor in
+East and South London, and as they went southward across the river, so
+the populace retired, leaving their homes at the mercy of the ruthless
+invader.
+
+Upon all the bridges across the Thames stood German guards, and none
+were allowed to cross either way without permits.
+
+Soon after dawn Von Kronhelm and his staff rode down Haverstock Hill
+with a large body of cavalry, and made his formal entry into London,
+first having an interview with the Lord Mayor, and an hour afterwards
+establishing his headquarters at the new War Office in Whitehall, over
+which he hoisted his special flag as Commander-in-Chief. It was found
+that, though a good deal of damage had been done externally to the
+building, the interior had practically escaped, save one or two rooms.
+Therefore, the Field-Marshal installed himself in the private room of
+the War Minister, and telegraphic and telephonic communication was
+quickly established, while a wireless telegraph apparatus was placed
+upon the ruined summit of Big Ben for the purpose of communicating with
+Germany, in case the cables were interrupted by being cut at sea.
+
+The day after the landing a similar apparatus had been erected on the
+Monument at Yarmouth, and it had been daily in communication with the
+one at Bremen. The Germans left nothing to chance. They were always
+prepared for every emergency.
+
+The clubs in Pall Mall were now being used by German officers, who
+lounged in easy-chairs, smoking and taking their ease, German soldiers
+being on guard outside. North of the Thames seemed practically deserted,
+save for the invaders, who swarmed everywhere. South of the Thames the
+cowed and terrified populace were asking what the end was to be. What
+was the Government doing? It had fled to Bristol and left London to its
+fate, they complained.
+
+What the German demands were was not known until midday, when the
+_Evening News_ published an interview with Sir Claude Harrison, the Lord
+Mayor, which gave authentic details of them.
+
+They were as follows:--
+
+ 1. _Indemnity of £300,000,000, paid in ten annual instalments._
+
+ 2. _Until this indemnity is paid in full, German troops to occupy
+ Edinburgh, Rosyth, Chatham, Dover, Portsmouth, Devonport, Pembroke,
+ Yarmouth, Hull._
+
+ 3. _Cession to Germany of the Shetlands, Orkneys, Bantry Bay,
+ Malta, Gibraltar, and Tasmania._
+
+ 4. _India, north of a line drawn from Calcutta to Baroda, to be
+ ceded to Russia._
+
+ 5. _The independence of Ireland to be recognised._
+
+Of the claim of £300,000,000, fifty millions was demanded from London,
+the sum in question to be paid within twelve hours.
+
+The Lord Mayor had, it appeared, sent his secretary to the Prime
+Minister at Bristol bearing the original document in the handwriting of
+Von Kronhelm. The Prime Minister had acknowledged its receipt by
+telegraph both to the Lord Mayor and to the German Field-Marshal, but
+there the matter had ended.
+
+The twelve hours’ grace was nearly up, and the German Commander, seated
+in Whitehall, had received no reply.
+
+In the corner of the large, pleasant, well-carpeted room sat a German
+telegraph engineer with a portable instrument, in direct communication
+with the Emperor’s private cabinet at Potsdam, and over that wire,
+messages were continually passing and repassing.
+
+The grizzled old soldier paced the room impatiently. His Emperor had
+only an hour ago sent him a message of warm congratulation, and had
+privately informed him of the high honours he intended to bestow upon
+him. The German Eagle was victorious, and London--the great,
+unconquerable London--lay crushed, torn, and broken.
+
+The marble clock upon the mantelshelf chimed eleven upon its silvery
+bells, causing Von Kronhelm to turn from the window to glance at his own
+watch.
+
+“Tell His Majesty that it is eleven o’clock, and that there is no reply
+to hand,” he said sharply in German to the man in uniform seated at the
+table in the corner.
+
+The instrument clicked rapidly, and a silence followed.
+
+The German Commander waited anxiously. He stood bending slightly over
+the green tape in order to read the Imperial order the instant it
+flashed from beneath the sea.
+
+Five minutes--ten minutes passed. The shouting of military commands in
+German came up from Whitehall below. Nothing else broke the quiet.
+
+Von Kronhelm, his face more furrowed and more serious, again paced the
+carpet.
+
+Suddenly the little instrument whirred and clicked as its thin green
+tape rolled out.
+
+In an instant the Generalissimo of the Kaiser’s army sprang to the
+telegraphist’s side, and read the Imperial command.
+
+For a moment he held the piece of tape between his fingers, then crushed
+it in his hand and stood motionless.
+
+He had received orders which, though against his desire, he was
+compelled to obey.
+
+Summoning several members of his staff who had installed themselves in
+other comfortable rooms in the vicinity, he held a long consultation
+with them.
+
+In the meantime telegraphic despatches were received from Sheffield,
+Manchester, Birmingham, and other German headquarters, all telling the
+same story--the complete investment and occupation of the big cities and
+the pacification of the inhabitants.
+
+One hour’s grace was, however, allowed to London--till noon.
+
+Then orders were issued, bugles rang out across the parks, and in the
+main thoroughfares, where arms were piled, causing the troops to fall
+in, and within a quarter of an hour large bodies of infantry and
+engineers were moving along the Strand, in the direction of the City.
+
+At first the reason of all this was a mystery, but very shortly it was
+realised what was intended when a detachment of the 5th Hanover Regiment
+advanced to the gate of the Bank of England opposite the Exchange, and,
+after some difficulty, broke it open and entered, followed by some
+engineers of Von Mirbach’s Division. The building was very soon
+occupied, and, under the direction of General von Klepper himself, an
+attempt was made to open the strong-rooms, wherein was stored that vast
+hoard of England’s wealth. What actually occurred at that spot can only
+be imagined, as the commander of the IVth Army Corps and one or two
+officers and men were the only persons present. It is surmised,
+however, that the strength of the vaults was far greater than they had
+imagined, and that, though they worked for hours, all was in vain.
+
+While this was in progress, however, parties of engineers were making
+organised raids upon the banks in Lombard Street, Lothbury, Moorgate
+Street, and Broad Street, as well as upon branch banks in Oxford Street,
+the Strand, and other places in the West End.
+
+At one bank on the left-hand side of Lombard Street, dynamite being used
+to force the strong-room, the first bullion was seized, while at nearly
+all the banks sooner or later the vaults were opened, and great bags and
+boxes of gold coin were taken out and conveyed in carefully-guarded
+carts to the Bank of England, now in the possession of Germany.
+
+In some banks--those of more modern construction--the greatest
+resistance was offered by the huge steel doors and concrete and steel
+walls and other devices for security. But nothing could, alas! resist
+the high explosives used, and in the end breaches were made, in all
+cases, and wealth uncounted and untold extracted and conveyed to
+Threadneedle Street for safe keeping.
+
+Engineers and infantry handled those heavy boxes and those big bundles
+of securities gleefully, officers carefully counting each box or bag or
+packet as it was taken out to be carted or carried away by hand.
+
+German soldiers under guard struggled along Lothbury beneath great
+burdens of gold, and carts, requisitioned out of the East End, rumbled
+heavily all the afternoon, escorted by soldiers. Hammersmith,
+Camberwell, Hampstead, and Willesden yielded up their quota of the great
+wealth of London; but though soon after four o’clock a breach was made
+in the strong-rooms of the Bank of England by means of explosives,
+nothing in the vaults was touched. The Germans simply entered there and
+formally took possession.
+
+The coin collected from other banks was carefully kept, each separate
+from another, and placed in various rooms under strong guards, for it
+seemed to be the intention of Germany simply to hold London’s wealth as
+security.
+
+That afternoon very few banks--except the German ones--escaped notice.
+Of course, there were a few small branches in the suburbs which remained
+unvisited, yet by six o’clock Von Kronhelm was in possession of enormous
+quantities of gold.
+
+In one or two quarters there had been opposition on the part of the
+armed guards established by the banks at the first news of the invasion.
+But any such resistance had, of course, been futile, and the man who had
+dared to fire upon the German soldiers had in every case been shot down.
+
+Thus, when darkness fell, Von Kronhelm, from the corner of his room in
+the War Office, was able to report to his Imperial Master that not only
+had he occupied London, but that, receiving no reply to his demand for
+indemnity, he had sacked it and taken possession not only of the Bank of
+England, but of the cash deposits in most of the other banks in the
+metropolis.
+
+That night the evening papers described the wild happenings of the
+afternoon, and London saw herself not only shattered but ruined.
+
+The frightened populace across the river stood breathless.
+
+What was now to happen?
+
+Though London lay crushed and occupied by the enemy, though the Lord
+Mayor was a prisoner of war and the banks in the hands of the Germans,
+though the metropolis had been wrecked and more than half its
+inhabitants had fled southward and westward into the country, yet the
+enemy received no reply to their demand for an indemnity and the cession
+of British territory.
+
+Von Kronhelm, ignorant of what had occurred in the House of Commons at
+Bristol, sat in Whitehall and wondered. He knew well that the English
+were no fools, and their silence, therefore, caused him considerable
+uneasiness. He had lost in the various engagements over 50,000 men, yet
+nearly 200,000 still remained. His
+
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | CITY OF LONDON. |
+ | |
+ | =CITIZENS OF LONDON.= |
+ | |
+ | WE, the GENERAL COMMANDING the German Imperial Army occupying London, |
+ | give notice that: |
+ | |
+ | (1) THE STATE OF WAR AND OF SIEGE continues to exist, and all categories |
+ | of crime, more especially the contravention of all orders already |
+ | issued, will be judged by Councils of War, and punished in conformity |
+ | with martial law. |
+ | |
+ | (2) THE INHABITANTS OF LONDON and its suburbs are ordered to instantly |
+ | deliver up all arms and ammunition of whatever kind they possess. The |
+ | term arms includes firearms, sabres, swords, daggers, revolvers, and |
+ | sword-canes. Landlords and occupiers of houses are charged to see that |
+ | this order is carried out, but in the case of their absence the |
+ | municipal authorities and officials of the London County Council are |
+ | charged to make domiciliary visits, minute and searching, being |
+ | accompanied by a military guard. |
+ | |
+ | (3) ALL NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS, GAZETTES, AND PROCLAMATIONS, of whatever |
+ | description, are hereby prohibited, and until further notice nothing |
+ | further must be printed, except documents issued publicly by the |
+ | military commander. |
+ | |
+ | (4) ANY PRIVATE PERSON OR PERSONS taking arms against the German troops |
+ | after this notice will be EXECUTED. |
+ | |
+ | (5) ON THE CONTRARY, the Imperial German troops will respect private |
+ | property, and no requisition will be allowed to be made unless it bears |
+ | the authorisation of the Commander-in-Chief. |
+ | |
+ | (6) ALL PUBLIC PLACES are to be closed at 8 P.M. |
+ | All persons found in the streets of London after 8 P.M. |
+ | will be arrested by the patrols. There is no exception to this rule |
+ | except in the case of German Officers, and also in the case of doctors |
+ | visiting their patients. Municipal officials will also be allowed out, |
+ | providing they obtain a permit from the German headquarters. |
+ | |
+ | (7) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST provide for the lighting of the streets. |
+ | In cases where this is impossible, each householder must hang a lantern |
+ | outside his house from nightfall until 8 A.M. |
+ | |
+ | (8) AFTER TO-MORROW morning, at 10 o’clock, the women and children of |
+ | the population of London will be allowed to pass without hindrance. |
+ | |
+ | (9) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES MUST, with as little delay as possible, |
+ | provide accommodation for the German troops in private dwellings, in |
+ | fire-stations, barracks, hotels, and houses that are still habitable. |
+ | |
+ | =VON KRONHELM,= |
+ | |
+ | =Commander-in-Chief.= |
+ | GERMAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS, |
+ | WHITEHALL, LONDON, _September 21, 1910_. |
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ VON KRONHELM’S PROCLAMATION TO THE CITIZENS
+ OF LONDON.
+
+army of invasion was a no mean responsibility, especially when at any
+moment the British might regain command of the sea. His supplies and
+reinforcements would then be at once cut off. It was impossible for him
+to live upon the country, and his food bases in Suffolk and Essex were
+not sufficiently extensive to enable him to make a prolonged campaign.
+Indeed, the whole scheme of operations which had been so long discussed
+and perfected in secret in Berlin was more of the nature of a raid than
+a prolonged siege.
+
+The German Field-Marshal sat alone and reflected. Had he been aware of
+the true state of affairs he would certainly have had considerable cause
+for alarm. True, though Lord Byfield had made such a magnificent stand,
+considering the weakness of the force at his disposal, and London was
+occupied, yet England, even now, was not conquered.
+
+No news had leaked out from Bristol. Indeed, Parliament had taken every
+precaution that its deliberations were in secret.
+
+The truth, however, may be briefly related. On the previous day the
+House had met at noon in the Colston Hall--a memorable sitting, indeed.
+The Secretary of State for War had, after prayers, risen in the hall and
+read an official despatch he had just received from Lord Byfield, giving
+the news of the last stand made by the British north of Enfield, and the
+utter hopelessness of the situation.
+
+It was received by the assembled House in ominous silence.
+
+During the past week through that great hall the Minister’s deep voice,
+shaken by emotion, had been daily heard as he was compelled to report
+defeat after defeat of the British arms. Both sides of the House had,
+after the first few days, been forced to recognise Germany’s superiority
+in numbers, in training, in organisation--in fact, in everything
+appertaining to military power. Von Kronhelm’s strategy had been
+perfect. He knew more of Eastern England than the British Commander
+himself, and his marvellous system of spies and advance agents--Germans
+who had lived for years in England--had assisted him forward, until he
+had now occupied London, the city always declared to be impregnable.
+
+Through the whole of September 20 the Minister constantly received
+despatches from the British Field-Marshal and from London itself, yet
+each telegram communicated to the House seemed more hopeless than its
+predecessor.
+
+The debate, however, proceeded through the afternoon. The Opposition
+were bitterly attacking the Government and the Blue Water School for its
+gross negligence in the past, and demanding to know the whereabouts of
+the remnant of the British Navy. The First Lord of the Admiralty flatly
+refused to make any statement. The whereabouts of our Navy at that
+moment was, he said, a secret which must, at all hazards, be withheld
+from our enemy. The Admiralty were not asleep, as the country believed,
+but were fully alive to the seriousness of the crisis. He urged the
+House to remain patient, saying that as soon as he dared make a clear
+statement, he would do so.
+
+This was greeted by loud jeers from the Opposition, from whose benches,
+members, one after another, rose, and, using hard epithets, blamed the
+Government for the terrible disaster. The cutting down of our defences,
+the meagre naval programmes, the discouragement of the Volunteers and of
+recruiting, and the disregard of Lord Roberts’ scheme in 1906 for
+universal military training, were, they declared, responsible for what
+had occurred. The Government had been culpably negligent, and Mr.
+Haldane’s scheme had been all insufficient. Indeed, it had been nothing
+short of criminal to mislead the Empire into a false sense of security
+which did not exist.
+
+For the past three years Germany, while sapping our industries, had sent
+her spies into our midst, and laughed at us for our foolish insular
+superiority. She had turned her attention from France to ourselves,
+notwithstanding the _entente cordiale_. She remembered how the
+much-talked-of Franco-Russian alliance had fallen to pieces, and relied
+upon a similar outcome of the friendship between France and Great
+Britain.
+
+The aspect of the House, too, was strange; the Speaker in his robes
+looked out of place in his big uncomfortable chair, and members sat on
+cane-bottomed chairs instead of their comfortable benches at
+Westminster. As far as possible the usual arrangement of the House was
+adhered to, except that the Press were now excluded, official reports
+being furnished to them at midnight.
+
+The clerks’ table was a large plain one of stained wood, but upon it was
+the usual array of despatch-boxes, while the Serjeant-at-Arms, in his
+picturesque dress, was still one of the most prominent figures. The lack
+of committee rooms, of an adequate lobby, and of a refreshment
+department caused much inconvenience, though a temporary post and
+telegraph office had been established within the building, and a
+separate line connected the Prime Minister’s room with Downing Street.
+
+If the Government were denounced in unmeasured terms, its defence was
+equally vigorous. Thus, through that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon the
+sitting continued past the dinner hour on to late in the evening.
+
+Time after time the despatches from London were placed in the hands of
+the War Minister, but, contrary to the expectation of the House, he
+vouchsafed no further statement. It was noticed that just before ten
+o’clock he consulted in an earnest undertone with the Prime Minister,
+the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Home Secretary, and that a
+quarter of an hour later all four went out and were closeted in one of
+the smaller rooms with other members of the Cabinet for nearly half an
+hour.
+
+Then the Secretary of State for War re-entered the House and resumed his
+seat in silence.
+
+A few minutes afterwards, Mr. Thomas Askern, member for one of the
+metropolitan boroughs, and a well-known newspaper proprietor, who had
+himself received several private despatches, rose and received leave to
+put a question to the War Minister.
+
+“I would like to ask the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for
+War,” he said, “whether it is not a fact that soon after noon to-day the
+enemy, having moved his heavy artillery to certain positions commanding
+North London, and finding the capital strongly barricaded, proceeded to
+bombard it? Whether that bombardment, according to the latest
+despatches, is not still continuing at this moment; whether it is not a
+fact that enormous damage has already been done to many of the principal
+buildings of the metropolis, including the Government Offices at
+Whitehall, and whether great loss of life has not been occasioned?”
+
+The question produced the utmost sensation. The House during the whole
+afternoon had been in breathless anxiety as to what was actually
+happening in London; but the Government held the telegraphs and
+telephone, and the only private despatches that had come to Bristol were
+the two received by some roundabout route known only to the ingenious
+journalists who had despatched them. Indeed, the despatches had been
+conveyed the greater portion of the way by motor-car.
+
+A complete silence fell. Every face was turned towards the War Minister,
+who, seated with outstretched legs, was holding in his hand a fresh
+despatch he had just received.
+
+He rose, and, in his deep bass voice, said--
+
+“In reply to the honourable member for South-East Brixton, the statement
+he makes appears, from information which has just reached me, to be
+correct. The Germans are, unfortunately, bombarding London. Von
+Kronhelm, it is reported, is at Hampstead, and the zone of the enemy’s
+artillery reaches, in some cases, as far south as the Thames itself. It
+is true, as the honourable member asserts, an enormous amount of damage
+has already been done to various buildings, and there has undoubtedly
+been great loss of life. My latest information is that the non-combatant
+inhabitants--old persons, women, and children--are in flight across the
+Thames, and that the barricades in the principal roads leading in from
+the north are held strongly by the armed populace, driven back into
+London.”
+
+He sat down without further word.
+
+A tall, thin, white-moustached man rose at that moment from the
+Opposition side of the House. Colonel Farquhar, late of the Royal
+Marines, was a well-known military critic, and represented West Bude.
+
+“And this,” he said, “is the only hope of England! The defence of London
+by an armed mob, pitted against the most perfectly equipped and armed
+force in the world! Londoners are patriotic, I grant. They will die
+fighting for their homes, as every Englishman will when the moment
+comes; yet, what can we hope, when patriotism is ranged against modern
+military science? There surely is patriotism in the savage negro races
+of Central Africa, a love of country perhaps as deep as in the white
+man’s heart; yet a little strategy, a few Maxims, and all defence is
+quickly at an end. And so it must inevitably be with London. I contend,
+Mr. Speaker,” he went on, “that by the ill-advised action of the
+Government from the first hour of their coming into power, we now find
+ourselves conquered. It only remains for them now to make terms of peace
+as honourable to themselves as the unfortunate circumstances will admit.
+Let the country itself judge their actions in the light of events of
+to-day, and let the blood of the poor murdered women and children of
+London be upon their heads. (Shame.) To resist further is useless. Our
+military organisation is in chaos, our miserably weak army is defeated,
+and in flight. I declare to this House that we should sue at this very
+moment for peace--a dishonourable peace though it be; but the bitter
+truth is too plain--England is conquered!”
+
+As he sat down amid the “hear, hears” and loud applause of the
+Opposition there rose a keen-faced, dark-haired, clean-shaven man of
+thirty-seven or so. He was Gerald Graham, younger son of an aristocratic
+house, the Yorkshire Grahams, who sat for North-East Rutland. He was a
+man of brilliant attainments at Oxford, a splendid orator, a
+distinguished writer and traveller, whose keen brown eye, lithe upright
+figure, quick activity, and smart appearance rendered him a born leader
+of men. For the past five years he had been marked out as a “coming
+man.”
+
+As a soldier he had seen hard service in the Boer War, being mentioned
+twice in despatches; as an explorer he had led a party through the heart
+of the Congo and fought his way back to civilisation through an
+unexplored land with valiant bravery that had saved the lives of his
+companions. He was a man who never sought notoriety. He hated to be
+lionised in society, refused the shoals of cards of invitation which
+poured in upon him, and stuck to his Parliamentary duties, and keeping
+faith with his constituents to the very letter.
+
+As he stood up silent for a moment, gazing around him fearlessly, he
+presented a striking figure, and in his navy serge suit he possessed the
+unmistakable cut of the smart, well-groomed Englishman who was also a
+man of note.
+
+The House always listened to him, for he never spoke without he had
+something of importance to say. And the instant he was up a silence
+fell.
+
+“Mr. Speaker,” he said, in a clear, ringing voice, “I entirely disagree
+with my honourable friend the member for West Bude. England is not
+conquered! She is not beaten!”
+
+The great hall rang with loud and vociferous cheers from both sides of
+the House. Then, when quiet was restored by the Speaker’s stentorian
+“Order-r-r! Order!” he continued--
+
+“London may be invested and bombarded. She may even be sacked, but
+Englishmen will still fight for their homes, and fight valiantly. If we
+have a demand for indemnity, let us refuse to pay it. Let us
+civilians--let the civilians in every corner of England--arm themselves
+and unite to drive out the invader! (Loud cheers.) I contend, Mr.
+Speaker, that there are millions of able-bodied men in this country who,
+if properly organised, will be able to gradually exterminate the enemy.
+Organisation is all that is required. Our vast population will rise
+against the Germans, and before the tide of popular indignation and
+desperate resistance the power of the invader must soon be swept away.
+Do not let us sit calmly here in security, and acknowledge that we are
+beaten. Remember, we have at this moment to uphold the ancient tradition
+of the British race, the honour of our forefathers, who have never been
+conquered. Shall we acknowledge ourselves conquered in this the
+twentieth century?”
+
+“No!” rose from hundreds of voices, for the House was now carried away
+by young Graham’s enthusiasm.
+
+“Then let us organise!” he urged. “Let us fight on. Let every man who
+can use a sword or gun come forward, and we will commence hostilities
+against the Kaiser’s forces that shall either result in their total
+extermination or in the power of England being extinguished. Englishmen
+will die hard. I myself will, with the consent of this House, head the
+movement, for I know that in the country we have millions who will
+follow me and will be equally ready to die for our country if necessary.
+Let us withdraw this statement that we are conquered. The real, earnest
+fight is now to commence,” he shouted, his voice ringing clearly through
+the hall. “Let us bear our part, each one of us. If we organise and
+unite, we shall drive the Kaiser’s hordes into the sea. They shall sue
+us for peace, and be made to pay us an indemnity, instead of us paying
+one to them. I will lead!” he shouted; “who will follow me?”
+
+In London the Lord Mayor’s patriotic proclamations were now obliterated
+by a huge bill bearing the German Imperial arms, the text of which told
+its own grim tale. It is reproduced on next page, and at its side was
+printed a translation in German text.
+
+In the meantime the news of the fall of London was being circulated by
+the Germans to every town throughout the kingdom, their despatches being
+embellished by lurid descriptions of the appalling losses inflicted upon
+the English. In Manchester, a great poster, headed by the German
+Imperial arms, was posted up on the Town Hall, the Exchange, and other
+places, in which Von Kronhelm announced the occupation of London; while
+in Leeds, Bradford, Stockport, and Sheffield, similarly worded official
+announcements were also posted. The Press in all towns occupied by the
+Germans had been suppressed, papers only appearing in order to publish
+the enemy’s orders. Therefore, this official intelligence was circulated
+by proclamation, calculated to impress upon the inhabitants of the
+country how utterly powerless they were.
+
+While Von Kronhelm sat in that large sombre room in the War Office, with
+his telegraph instrument to Potsdam ever ticking, and the wireless
+telegraphy constantly in operation, he wondered, and still wondered, why
+the English made no response to his demands. He was in London. He had
+carried out his Emperor’s instructions to the letter, he had received
+the Imperial thanks, and he held all the gold coin he could discover in
+London as security. Yet, without some reply from the British Government,
+his position was an insecure one. Even his thousand and one spies who
+had served him so well ever since he had placed foot upon English soil
+could tell him nothing. The deliberations of the House of Commons at
+Bristol were a secret.
+
+In Bristol the hot, fevered night had given place to a gloriously sunny
+morning, with a blue and cloudless
+
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =NOTICE AND ADVICE.= |
+ | |
+ | =TO THE CITIZENS OF LONDON.= |
+ | |
+ | |
+ | I ADDRESS YOU SERIOUSLY. |
+ | |
+ | We are neighbours, and in time of peace cordial relations have always |
+ | existed between us. I therefore address you from my heart in the cause |
+ | of humanity. |
+ | |
+ | Germany is at war with England. We have been forced to penetrate |
+ | into your country. |
+ | |
+ | But each human life spared, and all property saved, we regard as in the |
+ | interests of both religion and humanity. |
+ | |
+ | We are at war, and both sides have fought a loyal fight. |
+ | |
+ | Our desire is, however, to spare disarmed citizens and the inhabitants |
+ | of all towns and villages. |
+ | |
+ | We maintain a severe discipline, and we wish to have it known that |
+ | punishment of the severest character will be inflicted upon any who are |
+ | guilty of hostility to the Imperial German arms, either open or in |
+ | secret. |
+ | |
+ | To our regret any incitements, cruelties, or brutalities we must judge |
+ | with equal severity. |
+ | |
+ | I therefore call upon all local mayors, magistrates, clergy, and |
+ | schoolmasters to urge upon the populace, and upon the heads of families, |
+ | to urge upon those under their protection, and upon their domestics, to |
+ | refrain from committing any act of hostility whatsoever against my |
+ | soldiers. |
+ | |
+ | All misery avoided is a good work in the eye of our Sovereign Judge, |
+ | who sees all men. |
+ | |
+ | I earnestly urge you to heed this advice, and I trust in you. |
+ | |
+ | Take notice! |
+ | |
+ | =VON KRONHELM,= |
+ | =Commanding the Imperial German Army.= |
+ | |
+ | German Military Headquarters, |
+ | Whitehall, London, _September 20, 1910_. |
+ +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+sky. Above Leigh Woods the lark rose high in the sky, trilling his song,
+and the bells of Bristol rang out as merrily as they ever did, and above
+the Colston Hall still floated the Royal Standard--a sign that the House
+had not yet adjourned.
+
+While Von Kronhelm held London, Lord Byfield and the remnant of the
+British Army, who had suffered such defeat in Essex and north of London,
+had, four days later, retreated to Chichester and Salisbury, where
+reorganisation was in rapid progress. One division of the defeated
+troops had encamped at Horsham. The survivors of those who had fought
+the battle of Charnwood Forest, and had acted so gallantly in the
+defence of Birmingham, were now encamped on the Malvern Hills, while the
+defenders of Manchester were at Shrewsbury. Speaking roughly, therefore,
+our vanquished troops were massing at four points, in an endeavour to
+make a last attack upon the invader. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord
+Byfield, was near Salisbury, and at any hour he knew that the German
+legions might push westward from London to meet him and to complete the
+_coup_.
+
+The League of Defenders formed by Gerald Graham and his friends was,
+however, working independently. The wealthier classes, who, driven out
+of London, were now living in cottages and tents in various parts of
+Berks, Wilts, and Hants, worked unceasingly on behalf of the League,
+while into Plymouth, Exmouth, Swanage, Bristol, and Southampton more
+than one ship had already managed to enter laden with arms and
+ammunition of all kinds, sent across by the agents of the League in
+France. The cargoes were of a very miscellaneous character, from modern
+Maxims to old-fashioned rifles that had seen service in the war of 1870.
+There were hundreds of modern rifles, sporting guns, revolvers,
+swords--in fact, every weapon imaginable, modern and old-fashioned.
+These were at once taken charge of by the local branches of the League,
+and to those men who presented their tickets of identification the arms
+were served out, and practice conducted in the open fields. Three
+shiploads of rifles were known to have been captured by German warships,
+one off Start Point, another a few miles outside Padstow, and a third
+within sight of the coastguard at Selsey Bill. Two other ships were
+blown up in the Channel by drifting mines. The running of arms across
+from France and Spain was a very risky proceeding; yet the British
+skipper is nothing if not patriotic, and every man who crossed the
+Channel on those dangerous errands took his life in his hand.
+
+Into Liverpool, Whitehaven, and Milford weapons were also coming over
+from Ireland, even though several German cruisers, who had been up at
+Lamlash to cripple the Glasgow trade, had now come south, and were
+believed still to be in the Irish Sea.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT SEA
+
+
+Our fleet, however, was not inactive. The Germans had mined the Straits
+of Dover, and one of the turbine Channel steamers had been sunk with
+great loss of life. They had bombarded Brighton, mined Portsmouth, and
+made a raid on the South Wales coal ports.
+
+How these raiders were pursued is best described in the official history
+of the invasion, as follows:--
+
+The Trevose wireless station signalled that the Germans were off Lundy
+about 2 p.m., steaming west with fourteen ships of all kinds, some
+moving very slowly. The _Lion_ and _Kincardineshire_ at once altered
+course to the north, so as to intercept them and draw across their line
+of retreat. At the same time they learnt that two British protected
+cruisers had arrived from Devonport off the Longships, and were holding
+the entrance to the English Channel, and moving slowly north behind
+them.
+
+About 3.30 the wireless waves came in so strongly from the north-east
+that the captain of the _Lion_, who was in charge of the cruiser
+division, became certain of the proximity of the German force. The
+signals could not be interpreted, as they were tuned on a different
+system from the British. The Germans must have also felt the British
+signals, since about this time they divided, the three fast liners
+increasing speed and heading west, while the rest of the detachment
+steered north-west. The older German vessels were delayed some fifteen
+minutes by the work of destroying the four colliers, which they had
+carried off forcibly with them from Cardiff, and removing their crews.
+Delay at such a moment was most dangerous.
+
+Soon after 3.45 p.m. the lookout on board the _Lion_ reported from the
+masthead, smoke on the horizon right ahead. The _Lion’s_ head was set
+towards the smoke, which could be only faintly seen, and her speed was
+increased to twenty-one knots. The _Kincardineshire_ altered course
+simultaneously--she was ten miles away on the port beam of the _Lion_,
+and in constant communication by wireless with the _Selkirk_, which was
+still farther out. Ten minutes later the _Selkirk_ signalled that she
+saw smoke, and that with the ten destroyers accompanying her she was
+steering towards it. Her message added that the Irish Sea destroyers
+were in sight, coming in very fast from the north, nine strong, with
+intervals of two miles between each boat, still keeping their speed of
+thirty knots.
+
+The cordon was now complete, and the whole force of twenty-two cruisers
+and torpedo craft turned in towards the spot where the enemy was
+located. At 4.5 the lookout on the _Lion_ reported a second cloud of
+smoke on the horizon, rather more to starboard than the one first seen,
+which had been for some minutes steadily moving west. This second cloud
+was moving very slowly north-westwards.
+
+The captain of the _Lion_ determined to proceed with his own ship
+towards this second cloud, and directed the _Kincardineshire_, which was
+slightly the faster cruiser, to follow the movements of the first-seen
+smoke and support the _Selkirk_ in attacking the ships from which it
+proceeded.
+
+The enemy’s fleet soon came into view several miles away. Three large
+steamers were racing off towards the Atlantic and the west; seven
+smaller ships were steaming slowly north-west. In the path of the three
+big liners were drawn up the _Selkirk_ and the ten destroyers of the
+Devonport flotilla, formed in line abreast, with intervals of two miles
+between each vessel, so as to cover as wide an extent of sea as
+possible. The _Kincardineshire_ was heading fast to support the
+_Selkirk_ and attack the three large German ships. Farther to the north,
+but as yet invisible to the _Lion_, and right in the path of the
+squadron of old German ships, were nine destroyers of the Irish Sea
+flotilla, vessels each of 800 tons and thirty-three knots, also drawn up
+in line abreast, with intervals of two miles to cover a wide stretch of
+water.
+
+The moment the Germans came into view the two protected cruisers at
+Land’s End were called up by wireless telegraphy, and ordered to steam
+at nineteen knots towards the _Selkirk_. The two Devonport battleships,
+which had now reached Land’s End, were warned of the presence of the
+enemy.
+
+Sighting the ten Devonport destroyers and the _Selkirk_ to the west of
+them, the three fast German liners, which were the _Deutschland_,
+_Kaiser Wilhelm II._, and _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, all three good for
+twenty-three knots in any weather, made a rush for the gap between the
+Devonport destroyers and the _Kincardineshire_. Perceiving their
+intention, the _Kincardineshire_ turned to cut them off, and the ten
+destroyers and the _Selkirk_ headed to engage them. In danger of all
+being brought to action and destroyed if they kept together, the German
+liners scattered at 4.15: the _Deutschland_ steered south-east to pass
+between the _Kincardineshire_ and the _Lion_; the _Kaiser Wilhelm_
+steered boldly for a destroyer which was closing in on her from the
+starboard bow; and the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ ran due north.
+
+The _Deutschland_, racing along at a tremendous speed, passed between
+the _Kincardineshire_ and the _Lion_. The _Lion_ at long range put three
+9.2-inch shells into her without stopping her; the _Kincardineshire_
+gave her a broadside from her 6-inch guns at about 5000 yards, and hit
+her several times. But the British fire did not bring her to, and she
+went off to the south-west at a great pace, going so fast that it was
+clear the armoured cruisers would stand little chance of overhauling
+her.
+
+The _Kaiser Wilhelm_ charged through the line of destroyers, receiving a
+heavy fire from the 6-inch weapons of the _Selkirk_ and
+_Kincardineshire_, and in her turn pouring a rapid fire upon two of the
+Devonport destroyers, which attempted to torpedo her, and missed her at
+about 900 yards. The _Selkirk_, however, was close astern of her, and
+with her engines going twenty-three knots, which was just a fraction
+less than what the German engineers were doing, concentrated upon her a
+very heavy fire from all her 6-inch guns that would bear.
+
+The fore-turret with its two 6-inch weapons in two minutes put twenty
+shells into the German stern. One of these projectiles must have hit the
+steering gear, for suddenly and unexpectedly the _Kaiser Wilhelm_ came
+round on a wide circle, and as she wheeled, the broadside of the British
+cruiser came into action with a loud crash, and at 3000 yards rained
+100-lb. and 12-lb. shells upon the liner. The beating of the pom-poms in
+the _Selkirk_ could be heard above the roar of the cannonade; and seeing
+that the liner was now doomed, the British destroyers drew off a little.
+
+Under the storm of shells the German crew could not get the steering
+gear in working order. The great ship was still turning round and round
+in a gigantic circle, when the _Lion_ came into action with her two
+9·2’s and her broadside of eight 6-inch weapons. Round after round from
+these was poured into the German ship. The British gunners shot for the
+water-line, and got it repeatedly. At 4.40, after a twenty minutes’
+fight, the white flag went up on board the _Kaiser Wilhelm_, and it was
+seen that she was sinking. Her engines had stopped, she was on fire in
+twenty places, and her decks were covered with the dying and the dead.
+The first of the raiders was accounted for.
+
+Meantime, the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ had with equal swiftness dashed north,
+receiving only a few shots from the _Selkirk_, as she passed her, 8000
+yards away. The British armoured cruiser _Kincardineshire_ followed in
+the German ship’s wake ten miles astern and quite out of range. The
+German liner was seen by the ocean-going destroyers of the Irish Sea
+flotilla, which headed after her, and four of them going thirty knots
+easily drew ahead of her. To attack such a vessel with the torpedo was
+an undertaking which had no promise of success.
+
+The British destroyer officers, however, were equal to the occasion.
+They employed skilful tactics to effect their object. The four big
+destroyers took station right ahead of the German ship and about 1500
+yards away from her. In this direction none of her guns would bear. From
+this position they opened on her bows with their sternmost 13-pounders,
+seeking to damage the bow of the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, breach the forward
+compartments, and so delay the ship. If she turned or yawed, her turn
+must give time for the _Kincardineshire_ to get at her.
+
+The gunners in the four destroyers shot magnificently. Their projectiles
+were small, but for fifteen minutes they made incessant hits upon the
+German ship’s bow. At last their punishment had the desired effect upon
+her. Angry at the attack of these puny little antagonists, the German
+captain turned to bring his broadside to bear. As he did so, the
+destroyers quickened to thirty knots, and altered course. Though the
+German guns maintained a rapid fire upon them, they were going so fast
+that they escaped out of effective range without any serious damage,
+regained their station on their enemy’s bow, and then reduced speed till
+they were within easy range for their little guns. But in the interval
+the _Kincardineshire_ had perceptibly gained on the German ship, and was
+now within extreme range. About 5.50 p.m. she fired a shot from her
+fore-turret, and, as it passed over the German ship, opened a slow but
+precise fire from all her 6-inch guns that would bear at about 9000
+yards range.
+
+The small shells of the destroyers were beginning to have some effect.
+The fore-compartment of the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ was riddled, and water
+was pouring into it at such a pace that the pumps could not keep the
+inrush down. The trim of the ship altered slightly, and with this
+alteration of trim her speed fell by nearly a knot. The
+_Kincardineshire_ began to gain visibly, and her fire to tell more and
+more. At 6.50 she was only 7000 yards off the German ship, and her
+6-inch guns began to make many hits on the enemy’s stern.
+
+To increase his speed to the utmost the captain of the _Kincardineshire_
+set all his spare hands at work to jettison coal, and flung overboard
+every bit of lumber. The spare water in his tanks shared the fate of his
+surplus fuel. At the same time the stokers in the engine-rooms were told
+that the ship was closing the enemy, and worked with a redoubled will.
+Large parties of bluejackets led by lieutenants were sent down to pass
+coal from the bunkers; in the engine-rooms the water was spouting from
+half a dozen hoses upon the bearings. The engineer-lieutenants, standing
+in a deluge of spray, kept the pointer of the stokehold telegraphs
+always at “more steam.” Smoke poured from the funnels, for no one now
+cared about the niceties of naval war.
+
+The ship seemed to bound forward, and with a satisfied smile the
+engineer-captain came down into the turmoil to tell his men that the
+cruiser was going twenty-four knots, her speed on her trials nearly six
+years before. Five minutes later the shock and heavy roar of firing from
+twenty guns told the men below that the broadside battery was coming
+into action, and that the race was won.
+
+At 7.25 the _Kincardineshire_ had closed the German ship within 5000
+yards. About this time the _Kronprinz Wilhelm’s_ speed seemed markedly
+to decline, and the big armoured cruiser gained upon her rapidly,
+spouting shell from all her guns that would bear.
+
+At 7.40 the British warship was only 3000 yards off, and slightly
+altered course to bring her enemy broader on the beam and get the
+broadside into battle. Five minutes later a succession of 6-inch hits
+from the British guns caused a great explosion in the German ship, and
+from under the base of her fourth funnel rose a dense cloud of steam,
+followed by the glow of fire through the gathering darkness.
+
+A minute later the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ stopped, and the chase was over.
+She hoisted the white flag, while her captain opened her sea-valves, to
+send her to the bottom. But the British destroyers were too quick for
+him; a boarding party dashed on board from the _Camelopard_, and closed
+the Kingston valves before enough water had been taken into the double
+bottom to endanger the liner.
+
+In this brief action between two very unequally matched ships, the
+Germans suffered very severely. They had fifty officers and men killed
+or wounded out of a crew of 500, while in the British cruiser and the
+destroyers only fifteen casualties were recorded. The _Kincardineshire_
+stood by her valuable prize to secure it and clear the vessel of the
+German crew. The _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ was on fire in two places, and was
+badly damaged by the British shells. One of her boilers had exploded,
+and her fore-compartment was full of water. But she was duly taken into
+Milford next morning, to be repaired at Pembroke Dockyard, and hoist the
+British flag.
+
+Meantime, the _Lion_ had been attending to the other German vessels.
+After taking part in the destruction of the _Kaiser Wilhelm_ she had
+turned north and chased them, aided by the _Selkirk_. Five of the
+ocean-going destroyers and the ten Devonport destroyers had already
+proceeded to keep them under observation and harry them to the utmost.
+
+They were still going north-west, and had obtained about twenty-five
+miles’ start of the two big British cruisers. But as they could only
+steam twelve or thirteen knots, while the British ships were good for
+twenty-one, they had little chance of escape, the less so as the
+14,000-ton-protected cruiser _Terrific_, the flagship of the torpedo
+flotilla, was fast coming up at twenty knots from Kingstown, and at 6
+p.m. had passed the Smalls, reporting herself by wireless telegraphy,
+and taking charge of the operations in virtue of the fact that she
+carried a rear-admiral’s flag.
+
+The approach of this new antagonist must have been known to the Germans
+by the indications which her wireless waves afforded. On the way she had
+received the news of a serious British defeat in the North Sea, and her
+Admiral was smarting to have some share in reversing that great
+calamity.
+
+Before dusk she was in sight of the seven German ships, with their
+attendant British destroyers. The Germans once more scattered. The
+_Gefion_, which was the only really fast ship, made off towards the
+west, but was promptly headed off by the _Terrific_ and driven back. The
+_Pfeil_ headed boldly towards Milford, and as the batteries at that
+place were not yet manned, caused some moments of great anxiety to the
+British. Two of the fast ocean-going destroyers were ordered to run in
+between her and the port and to torpedo her if she attempted to make her
+way in through the narrow entrance. Observing their manœuvre, the
+German captain once more turned south. The other five German ships kept
+in line, and attemped to pass between the Smalls and the Welsh coast.
+
+The _Terrific_ had now closed the _Gefion_ sufficiently to open fire
+with her 9·2’s and 6-inch guns. The fight was so unequal that it could
+not be long protracted. With every disadvantage of speed, protection,
+and armament, the German cruiser was shattered by a few broadsides, and,
+in a sinking condition, surrendered just after dark.
+
+The _Selkirk_ and _Lion_ passed her and fired a few shots at her just
+before she struck, but were ordered by the Rear-Admiral to attend to the
+other German ships. Five shots from the _Lion’s_ bow 9·2-inch gun
+settled the _Pfeil_, which beached herself in Freshwater Bay, where the
+crew blew up the ship, and were captured a few hours later. Thus four of
+the ten raiders were disposed of, and there now remained only five
+within reach of the British ships clearing the Bristol Channel.
+
+It was 9 p.m. before the _Lion_ and _Selkirk_ had closed on the remnant
+of the German squadron which had raided the South Wales ports
+sufficiently to engage it. The five German ships had passed through the
+dangerous passage between the Smalls and the mainland without
+misadventure, and were slightly to the north-west of St. David’s Head.
+
+Right ahead of them were the British destroyers, ready to co-operate in
+the attack as soon as the big cruisers came up; abreast of the German
+line were the two large British armoured cruisers; well astern of them
+was the _Terrific_, heading to cut off their retreat. The German ships
+were formed up with the _Cormoran_ at the head, and astern of her in
+line the _Sperber_, _Schwalbe_, _Meteor_, and _Falke_. None of these
+poor old vessels mounted anything larger than a 4-inch gun, and none of
+them could steam more than twelve knots. The only course remaining for
+them was to make some show of fight for the honour of the German flag,
+and to their credit be it said that they did this.
+
+The task of the British cruisers was a simple one. It was to destroy the
+German vessels with their powerful ordnance, keeping at such a distance
+that the German projectiles could do them no serious damage. At 9.10 the
+fight began, and the _Lion_ and _Selkirk_ opened with their entire
+broadsides upon the _Cormoran_ and _Falke_. The Germans gallantly
+replied to the two great cruisers, and for some minutes kept up a
+vigorous fire.
+
+Then the _Cormoran_ began to burn, and a few minutes later the _Falke_
+was seen to be sinking. The British ships turned all their guns upon the
+three remaining vessels. The _Meteor_ blew up with a terrific crash, and
+went to the bottom; the _Sperber_ and _Schwalbe_ immediately after this
+hoisted the white flag and made their surrender. The battle, if it
+could be called a battle, was over before ten, and the officers and men
+of the British ships set to work to rescue their enemies. The British
+casualties were again trifling, and the German list a heavy one. Of the
+officers and men in the five German cruisers over a hundred were
+drowned, killed, or wounded.
+
+Thus the British Navy had made a speedy end of the raiders in the
+Bristol Channel, and, owing to the vigorous initiative of the Devonport
+commander and the Rear-Admiral in charge of the torpedo flotilla, had
+practically wiped out a German squadron. Only the _Deutschland_ had got
+away to sea, but the Portsmouth armoured cruisers had been instructed to
+proceed in search of her, co-operating with the cruisers of the Channel
+Fleet.
+
+The Channel Cruiser Squadron during the afternoon of Sunday had been
+ordered to deflect its movement and steer for Queenstown, so as to get
+across the line of retreat of the German ships. Constant communication
+with it was maintained by the great long-distance naval wireless station
+at Devonport, one of the three such stations for which funds had been
+obtained with the utmost difficulty by the Admiralty from a reluctant
+Treasury. Its value at the present juncture was immense.
+
+As night came down, Rear-Admiral Hunter, in command of the Channel
+Cruiser Squadron, was informed that a large German liner had escaped
+from the Bristol Channel. His most advanced ship was now in touch with
+Queenstown, and about sixty miles from the place. The rest of his force
+was spaced at intervals of ten miles between each ship, covering eighty
+miles of sea.
+
+The two protected cruisers of the Devonport Reserve Squadron,
+_Andromache_ and _Sirius_, ships of 11,000 tons and about nineteen knots
+sea speed, had taken station to the north of the Scillies, with one of
+the battleships of the Devonport Reserve supporting them. The other
+battleship was posted between the Scillies and the Longships. Off Land’s
+End a powerful naval force was fast assembling, as ships and torpedo
+vessels came up one by one from Devonport as soon as they had mobilised.
+
+Ten more destroyers arrived at four on Sunday afternoon, and were at
+once extended north; at 8 p.m. the two fast Portsmouth armoured cruisers
+_Southampton_ and _Lincoln_ arrived, and steamed northwards to prolong
+the cordon formed by the ships to the north of the Scillies, and a few
+minutes later a third ship of the “County” class, hastily mobilised, the
+_Cardigan_, arrived, and placed herself under Rear-Admiral Armitage,
+commanding the Devonport Reserve. She was stationed just to the south of
+the Scillies.
+
+All the evening, wireless signals had been coming in from the Channel
+Cruiser Squadron, as it moved northwards far out at sea beyond the
+advanced guard about Land’s End. At 8.50 p.m. a signal from it announced
+that a large liner was in sight moving south-west, and that Admiral
+Hunter’s ships were in full chase of her. The British cruiser
+_Andromache_, off the Scillies, and the three ships of the “County”
+class off Land’s End, were at once directed upon the point where Admiral
+Hunter’s signals had reported the enemy. Thirteen British vessels thus
+were converging upon her, twelve of them good for twenty-three knots or
+more.
+
+The captain of the _Deutschland_, after dashing through the British
+cordon off Lundy Island, stood for several hours westwards at twenty
+knots, intending at dusk to turn and pass wide of the Scillies, and
+hoping to escape the British under cover of darkness. He was under no
+illusions as to the danger which threatened him. From every quarter
+British wireless signals were coming in--from the west, south, and
+north--while to the east of him was the _cul-de-sac_ of the Bristol
+Channel. All lights were screened on board his gigantic liner.
+
+About 8 p.m. his lookouts reported a large ship rapidly moving north,
+ten miles away. He slightly altered course, hoping that he had escaped
+observation, and stood more to the south. Two minutes later the
+lookouts reported another very large ship with four funnels passing
+right across the line of his advance.
+
+The strange ship, which was the British armoured cruiser _Iphigenia_,
+fired a gun and discharged two rockets in quick succession. Another
+half-minute and the beam of a searchlight from her rose skywards,
+signalling to her sister ships that here at last was the prey. Five
+other searchlight beams travelled swiftly over the water towards the
+_Deutschland_ and caught the liner in their glare. Forthwith from south
+and north came the flashing of searchlights and the heavy boom of guns,
+and the whole nine cruisers of the Channel Squadron over their front of
+eighty miles began to move in upon the German vessel.
+
+Her only chance was to make a dash through one of the wide gaps that
+parted each pair of British cruisers, and this was not a very hopeful
+course. The German captain had already recognised the British ships from
+their build, and knew that the two nearest were good for 23½ knots, and
+that they each carried four 12-inch and eight 9·2-inch guns. He steered
+between the _Iphigenia_ and _Intrepid_, fearful if he turned back that
+he would be cut off by the British cruisers behind him in the Bristol
+Channel.
+
+Observing his tactics, the two British ships closed up, steaming inwards
+till the gap narrowed to five miles. The _Deutschland_ turned once more,
+and endeavoured to pass south of the _Iphigenia_ and between her and the
+next vessel in the British line, the _Orion_; but her change of course
+enabled the _Iphigenia_ to close her within 7000 yards and to open fire
+from the forward 12-inch barbette. Five shots were fired with both
+vessels racing their fastest, the _Deutschland_ to escape and the
+_Iphigenia_ to cut her off, and the fifth shell caught the German vessel
+right amidships, exploding with great violence. The starboard 9·2-inch
+barbette simultaneously hit her three times astern, just between her
+fourth funnel and the mainmast, but all these shells seemed to pass
+right through the ship. The _Deutschland_ doubled yet again, to avoid
+the fire, but now found the _Orion_ coming up astern.
+
+The German vessel was going about twenty-four knots, but the _Orion_ put
+two 12-inch shells into her from the fore-barbette before she passed out
+of practical range. Just then the _Sirius_ came up from the east, and
+steering across the bows of the _Deutschland_ at about 5000 yards fired
+in a couple of minutes about 120 6-inch shells at her, hitting her
+repeatedly.
+
+The arrival of this new antagonist from the east compelled the German
+captain to alter course afresh and make one more bid for safety. The
+damage done to his ship by the British shells had been exceedingly
+serious; two fires had broken out amidships, and were gaining; one of
+the funnels was so riddled that the draught in the group of boilers
+which it served had fallen, and the speed of the ship had diminished by
+a full knot. The big British armoured cruisers, after being for a few
+minutes left astern, were fast gaining on her. Nevertheless she now
+stood towards them and endeavoured to pass between them.
+
+The desperate effort was doomed to fail. The _Orion_ and _Iphigenia_
+closed her, one on each beam, and opened fire with their tremendous
+broadsides. The end came quickly. Three 12-inch shells from the
+_Iphigenia_ caught her amidships, low down on the hull near the
+waterline, and amidst a series of explosions her engines stopped and she
+began to sink. The injury done to her was too extensive to save her, and
+at 9.50 p.m. the sea closed over the last of the German raiders in that
+vicinity.
+
+Those of the crew who survived were rescued by the _Orion_. Meantime the
+rest of the British cruisers had set to work to scout in the entrance to
+the Channel in order to capture the German ships which had appeared off
+Portsmouth. No trace, however, could be discovered of them, and at dawn
+on Monday the British Admiral reported that the Channel was thoroughly
+cleared. The _Sirius_ and _Andromache_ were then instructed to proceed
+to the west coast of Ireland, off which three German liners had
+appeared, damaged the Atlantic cables at Valentia, and captured a
+British steamer in sight of Cape Clear.
+
+After the hard work in the Channel, most of the cruisers needed coal.
+Detachments of the Fleet put into Falmouth, Portland, Milford, and
+Queenstown to fill their bunkers. Two of the “County” cruisers were sent
+north to watch off Cape Wrath for the approach of any German force from
+Lerwick. Two more of the same class were sent up the Channel and took
+station between Dungeness and Boulogne. Monday and Tuesday were quiet
+days from the naval point of view, as there was great delay in the
+coaling, owing to the damage done by the Germans in South Wales.
+
+For military reasons, the Admiralty, which had now at last been freed
+from hampering civilian control and granted a free hand, issued orders
+on the Sunday night that all news of the British successes should be
+suppressed. It was publicly given out in London that the raiders had
+escaped after a sharp action in the Channel, and that only one of them
+had been captured. The officers and men in the British ships engaged
+most loyally observed secrecy, and the large number of prisoners were
+sent north to the Isle of Man, control of which island and the telegraph
+cables leading to it the Admiralty had now taken over.
+
+It was strange and tragi-comic that, though the German ships which had
+made the raid were lying at the bottom of the sea or in British hands,
+the public furiously attacked the Navy for its failure to destroy them
+or prevent their attacks. The news had come during the afternoon of
+Sunday that heavy and continuous firing had been heard off the South
+Wales coast. From Newquay, reports had been telegraphed to much the same
+effect, of heavy gusts of cannonading during the afternoon and evening
+far out to sea, and had raised men’s hopes and expectations.
+
+No one was allowed to telegraph from Milford the news that a great
+German liner had arrived there under a British prize crew. The Press
+messages were accepted at the post-office and were quietly popped into
+the waste-paper basket by a lieutenant, who, with a file of marines, had
+been installed there to act as censor. The towns of Pembroke and Milford
+were placed under martial law by special proclamation, and on Sunday
+night a British general order appeared stating that any person found
+sending military or naval news would be shot by drum-head court-martial.
+
+On Monday similar proclamations were posted up in Portsmouth, Devonport,
+and Chatham, and caused quite a scurry of correspondents from these
+towns. The Government and the Admiralty were most furiously attacked for
+this interference with liberty, and, but for the terrible series of
+defeats and the rapid progress of the German invasion, the Government
+would probably have thrown the Admiralty over and surrendered to the
+cries of the mob.
+
+Most violent were the attacks upon the Admiralty for its foolish and
+unwise reductions in the Navy, for selling old ships which might in this
+emergency have done good service, for its failure to station torpedo
+craft along the east coast, and to instal wireless telegraph stations
+there. These attacks had reason behind them, and they greatly weakened
+the hand of the Admiralty at a dangerous moment. Fortunately, however,
+the young officers of the Navy had been taught fearlessness of all
+consequences, and they carried out with an iron hand the regulations
+which were essential for success in regaining the command of the sea.
+
+Nor were the Germans even on the east coast, where they were as yet left
+undisturbed, to have matters all their own way. Their cruisers, indeed,
+were stationed right up the coast, maintaining an effective blockade and
+transmitting wireless signals. At Lerwick was a considerable squadron;
+off Wick was the _Kaiserin Augusta_; off Aberdeen, the _Hansa_; off
+Newcastle, the _Vineta_; off Hull, the _Freya_; and farther south the
+whole massed force of the German Navy. They levied ransoms, intercepted
+shipping, and did what they liked beyond the range of the few coast
+batteries.
+
+But in the Straits of Dover they had one very serious misadventure.
+People on the cliffs of Dover on Tuesday morning, watching that stretch
+of water, which was now empty of all shipping but for the German torpedo
+vessels incessantly on the patrol, and but for the outlines of large
+German cruisers on the northern horizon, were certain that they saw one
+of the big German cruisers strike a mine.
+
+There was a great cloud of smoke, and a heavy boom came over the sea;
+then a big four-funnelled vessel was seen to be steering for the French
+coast with a very marked list. On the Wednesday it was known that the
+German armoured cruiser _Scharnhorst_ had struck one of the German mines
+adrift in the Straits of Dover, and had sustained such serious injury
+that she had been compelled to make for Dunkirk in a sinking condition.
+
+There she was immediately interned by the French authorities, and when
+the German Government remonstrated, the French Ministry pointed out that
+a precisely similar course had been taken by Germany at Kiaochau, during
+the Far Eastern war, with the Russian battleship _Tzarevitch_.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Very late on Monday night the battleships of the Channel Fleet passed
+the Lizard, having received orders to proceed up Channel and join the
+great fleet assembling at Portland. Already there were concentrated at
+that point eleven battleships of the Devonport and Portsmouth reserve
+squadrons, seven armoured cruisers, and fifty torpedo vessels of all
+kinds. At Chatham, where the activity shown had not been what was
+expected of the British Navy, the Commander-in-Chief had been removed on
+Monday morning and replaced, and a fresh officer had also been appointed
+to the command of the reserve squadron.
+
+The policy enjoined on him was, however, a waiting one; the vessels at
+Chatham, being exposed, if they ventured out, to attack by the whole
+force of the Germans, were to remain behind the guns of the forts, or
+such guns as had not been sold off by the War Office and the British
+Government in the general anxiety to effect retrenchments. The entire
+naval force was mobilised, though the mobilisation was not as yet quite
+complete.
+
+On Tuesday night the British Admiralty had available the following
+ships:--
+
+ AT PORTLAND--
+
+ Eleven battleships of the Channel Fleet.
+ Eleven battleships of the Reserve.
+ Seven armoured cruisers.
+ Twelve ocean-going destroyers.
+ Twelve coastal destroyers.
+ Ten submarines.
+ Twenty older destroyers.
+ Ten protected cruisers.
+
+ OFF DUNGENESS--
+
+ Two armoured cruisers.
+ Ten submarines.
+ Four sea-going destroyers.
+ Ten older destroyers.
+ Twelve coastal destroyers.
+
+ WEST COAST OF IRELAND--
+
+ Two large protected cruisers.
+
+ MILFORD HAVEN--
+
+ Nine armoured cruisers of the Channel Cruiser Squadron.
+ Eight ocean-going destroyers.
+
+ LAND’S END--
+
+ One large protected cruiser.
+ Ten older destroyers.
+
+ CAPE WRATH--
+
+ Two armoured cruisers.
+ Ten older destroyers.
+ Twelve ocean-going destroyers.
+
+And at various points along the south coast twelve coastal destroyers
+and a dozen old protected cruisers. The Chatham ships were not included
+in this force, and mustered eight battleships, four armoured cruisers,
+twelve coastal destroyers, twenty older destroyers, and twenty
+submarines, besides a number of smaller and older cruisers of doubtful
+value.
+
+On Tuesday evening the Admiralty ordered the Channel Armoured Cruiser
+Squadron to put to sea from Milford, proceed north round the coast of
+Scotland, picking up on its way the two armoured cruisers and torpedo
+flotilla off Cape Wrath, which had taken up their position at Loch
+Eriboll, and then to attack the German detachment at Lerwick, and clear
+the northern entrance to the North Sea. A large number of colliers were
+to accompany or follow the fleet, which was strictly ordered not to risk
+an engagement with the main German forces, but to retire if they
+appeared, falling back on the Irish Sea.
+
+The squadron at 6 p.m. that night, with bunkers full, weighed anchor and
+proceeded at 18 knots. It passed rapidly up the west coast of Scotland
+without communicating with the shore, and shortly before midnight on
+Wednesday joined the Loch Eriboll detachment, which was waiting its
+arrival, ready to proceed with it. At Loch Eriboll it refilled its
+bunkers from four colliers that had been sent in advance, and soon after
+daybreak on Thursday steamed out from that remote Scottish haven for the
+scene of action, leaving four destroyers to watch the harbour. Two more
+colliers arrived as it left.
+
+One of the armoured cruisers and eight ocean-going destroyers were
+instructed to wait till the afternoon, and then move towards the
+Pentland Firth. Six of the older destroyers were to follow them, and
+hold the waters of the Firth if the Germans were not in any great force.
+The other ten armoured cruisers, with four ocean-going destroyers, would
+make a wide sweep at full speed round the north of the Orkneys, so as to
+cut off any German vessels in the Pentland Firth. Strict orders were
+given that if the German battleships or armoured cruisers in any force
+were encountered a prompt retreat must be beaten, and that until the
+approach of the British Fleet had been detected by the enemy, wireless
+signalling was not to be used.
+
+The great expanse of ocean was troubled only by a heavy swell as the ten
+cruisers passed away from sight of land to the north-east. At 10 a.m.
+they passed to the north of Westray; at noon they rounded North
+Ronaldshay. Up to this point not a vessel had been seen, whether foe or
+friend or neutral. Now they steered south, keeping well out so as to
+come in upon the Orkneys, where the Germans were believed to have landed
+men, from the east. They were a little to the south of Fair Island when
+a large destroyer was seen running away fast to the north.
+
+Two of the four ocean-going destroyers with the cruisers at once started
+in pursuit, and the armoured cruiser _Lincoln_ followed in support. The
+rest of the British squadron continued towards the Pentland Skerries,
+and as it moved, felt the wireless signals of a strange force. Five
+minutes later a steamer was made out to the south, and, when the British
+cruisers neared her, was seen to be the _Bremen_, or one of her class.
+She fired guns, and stood away to the east.
+
+The _Orion_ at once gave chase to her, while the other eight British
+cruisers now divided, two making a wide sweep south for Wick, to look
+for the German cruiser reported off that place, and the remaining six
+steering for the Pentland Firth, in which, according to local reports,
+the German torpedo craft were constantly cruising. The _Orion_ was soon
+lost to view as she went off fast to the east after the German ship.
+
+Three hours after passing North Ronaldshay the six cruisers and their
+two destroyers drew in towards the Pentland Skerries from the east. The
+sound of shots from the Firth and from behind Stroma told that the
+co-operating division of the fleet was already at work. And presently
+through the Firth came racing, at top speed, two German torpedo boats,
+with eight British destroyers firing furiously at them, astern of them.
+
+The chase was over in a minute. Finding themselves surrounded and their
+escape cut off, with the much faster British destroyers astern of them
+and the Armoured Cruiser Squadron ahead of them, the two German boats
+turned and ran ashore close under John o’ Groats House, where their
+crews blew them up and surrendered.
+
+The Firth was cleared, and the co-operating squadron joined hands with
+the main force. A fresh detachment of two cruisers was sent off to steam
+direct for Aberdeen, and attack the German cruiser off that place, in
+case she had not already retired. If she had gone, the two cruisers were
+to move direct on Lerwick. But the arrival, two hours later, of the two
+cruisers which had been sent to look after the German ship at Wick, with
+the news that she had hurriedly left about the time when the _Bremen_
+was sighted, no doubt alarmed by the _Bremen’s_ wireless signals,
+suggested that there was little chance of catching the enemy at
+Aberdeen.
+
+The seven armoured cruisers and the ten big destroyers now steamed well
+out into the North Sea, going full speed to get upon the German line of
+retreat from Lerwick, before moving up along it on the Shetlands. For
+six hours they kept generally eastwards, and at 10 p.m. were extended
+over a front of about 100 miles, with six miles’ interval between each
+cruiser and destroyer. Two of the very fastest turbine destroyers, which
+could do 30 knots at sea, formed the north-eastern extremity of the
+line, to the east of the Bressay Bank.
+
+These skilful tactics were rewarded with a measure of success. The
+wireless signals of the _Bremen_ had alarmed the German squadron at
+Lerwick, about 1 p.m. on Thursday. Its division of fast cruisers put to
+sea without a moment’s delay. The older cruisers, _Irene_ and _Grief_,
+however, were coaling, and were delayed two hours in getting to sea,
+while the two gun-boats _Eber_ and _Panther_ had not got steam up, and
+had to be left to co-operate with the garrison.
+
+Two torpedo boats were also detached for the purpose of assisting the
+German land force, which had thrown up two batteries and mounted two
+5-in. howitzers and two 4-in. guns to protect the mine-fields laid in
+the entrances to the harbour. The Germans knew every point and feature
+in the island group, as the British Admiralty had permitted them to use
+it for their manœuvres in 1904.
+
+Of the German torpedo flotilla, one large destroyer had been cruising
+off the Orkneys, and had been seen and chased without success by the
+British Fleet. Two torpedo boats in the Pentland Firth had already been
+accounted for. Four large destroyers were lying with steam up at
+Lerwick, and put to sea with the fast German cruisers. Seven other
+destroyers, boats of 750 tons, were engaged in patrolling the waters
+eastwards from the Shetlands to the Norway coast, and were speedily
+warned.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The faster German vessels successfully escaped round the front of the
+British cordon of cruisers and destroyers. The _Irene_ and _Grief_ were
+less fortunate. They were sighted soon after 10 p.m., steaming due east,
+and were easily overtaken and destroyed with little more than a show of
+resistance. The British vessels which were innermost in the long line
+were near Lerwick a couple of hours later, and sent in three
+ocean-going destroyers to watch the port, waiting till daylight before
+attacking it.
+
+During the night the _Orion_ communicated by wireless signals the news
+that, after a long chase, she had overtaken and sunk the _Bremen_, which
+had made a gallant fight against overwhelming odds. The _Lincoln_, with
+her two destroyers, rejoined the fleet, reporting that the German
+destroyer which they had pursued had got away. A British destroyer was
+sent south to Fair Island to watch the channel between the Orkneys and
+Shetlands. Another destroyer was sent off to Loch Eriboll to bring up
+the rest of the older British destroyers and the colliers to Kirkwall,
+where the British vessels intended to establish an advanced base. The
+news of the successes gained was at once communicated to the Admiralty
+by cipher message.
+
+On Friday at daybreak one of the British ocean-going destroyers steamed
+into Lerwick under the white flag, with a demand from Rear-Admiral
+Hunter for the immediate surrender of the place. Failing surrender, the
+communication informed the German commandant that the British ships
+would shell the town, and would exact exemplary punishment from the
+German force. The commander of the destroyer was instructed, if the
+German commandant showed a bold front, to call upon him to clear the
+town of civilians and permit the British inhabitants to withdraw.
+
+The British destroyer which took in this communication was not permitted
+to approach the mine-field. One of the German torpedo boats came out and
+received the letter. If the demand for the surrender was acceded to the
+German commandant was instructed to hoist a white flag within twenty
+minutes.
+
+The officers of the destroyer could see that four large merchant
+steamers and some warships were inside Bressay Sound. Small guns could
+be made out on Fort Charlotte and the Wart of Bressay, and two heavy
+weapons in position near Lerwick behind newly-raised earthworks.
+
+The British note stated that operations would be at once commenced
+against the town, but the Admiral gave his ships orders not as yet to
+train their weapons on it, hoping to escape the cruel necessity of
+shelling a British seaport. At the expiration of twenty minutes the
+German flag still flew over the German works, and it became clear that
+the enemy did not intend to surrender. Signals were therefore made in
+the international code that a respite of three and a half hours would be
+allowed for the civilians, women and children, to quit Lerwick, but that
+the British warships would forthwith attack the German positions away
+from the harbour.
+
+Four of the smaller destroyers pushed carefully in under Hildesay,
+searching and sweeping for mines. They were fired upon from the shore,
+and replied with their 12-pounders, shelling the German works
+vigorously, but carefully avoiding the town. Apparently the Germans had
+not mined the waters to the west of the long and narrow peninsula upon
+which Lerwick stands. Mines were seen at both ends of Bressay Sound, but
+Deal’s Voe seemed to be clear.
+
+At noon the _Iphigenia_ steamed inside Hildesay to shell the town and
+works from the west. The _Orion_ closed in cautiously from the
+north-east upon Deal’s Voe. The other armoured cruisers took up a
+position about 8000 yards from Lerwick, to the south of the southern
+entrance to Bressay Sound. The destroyers were close at hand, and one of
+the large cruisers was stationed to the south-east to give timely notice
+in case any German naval force should appear.
+
+At 12.5 the first shot was fired by the _Iphigenia_, which trained her
+two forward 12-in. guns upon Fort Charlotte and fired them in
+succession. Both hit the target, and the two huge shells demolished the
+fort, putting the small German guns there out of action, and killing or
+wounding their gunners. Simultaneously the other cruisers had opened
+upon Lerwick and the German works on the Wart of Bressay, firing their
+12-in. and 9·2-in. guns slowly, with extreme accuracy and prodigious
+effect. A few shots silenced the four heavy German guns.
+
+The _Orion_ did magnificent shooting with her 9·2’s, which she chiefly
+used; these big guns tore down the German earthworks, and set the town
+on fire. The cruisers to the south directed several shells upon the
+German ships in the Sound, and sank one of the big steamers, setting
+another on fire, and badly damaging the gunboats _Eber_ and _Panther_.
+Both the German torpedo boats were hit and damaged.
+
+The German force was in a difficulty--indeed, a desperate position.
+Seemingly, the German Admiralty had not calculated upon such a rapid
+move of the British cruisers by the Irish Sea northward, but had rather
+expected them to come up the North Sea. Reports that a movement up the
+North Sea was intended had reached Berlin from the German secret agents
+in London late on Tuesday night, with the result that the German Fleet
+had concentrated off the Suffolk coast.
+
+The troops at Lerwick had not had time to fortify the position or to
+construct bomb-proofs and shelters. If the bulk of the garrison withdrew
+from the town, the British ships might land parties of Marines and seize
+it; if the Germans remained, they must face a terrific fire, which did
+great execution, and this though a good many of the British shells
+failed to explode.
+
+From time to time the British destroyers came in closer than the large
+ships, and, now that the German artillery was silenced, shelled the town
+and any troops that they saw with their 12-pounders and 3-pounders. They
+were also getting to work in the Sound to clear away the mines,
+exploding heavy charges in the minefield, and sweeping for mines under
+the guns of the big ships.
+
+They made so much progress that late in the afternoon the _Warspite_ was
+able to steam in to 4500 yards, at which range her 9·2-in. guns
+speedily completed the destruction of the war-vessels and shipping in
+the harbour. She was also able to fire with deadly effect upon the
+German earthworks. Her shells exploded a magazine of ammunition and set
+fire to a large depôt of food, consisting of boxes which had been
+hastily landed, and were lying ashore covered with tarpaulins.
+
+Her smaller guns at this short range were most effective; the 3-pounders
+played on the German works on the Wart of Bressay, and drove the remnant
+of the force holding them to flight. But as the troops endeavoured to
+make their escape they were caught by the fire of two of the destroyers,
+which turned their 12-pounders and rained shells upon them.
+
+At dusk the British cruisers to the east of Lerwick drew off, to avoid
+any mines that might have got adrift. The _Iphigenia_ remained to the
+west of the town, and fired several shots during the night, while the
+British destroyers were most active, firing their small guns whenever
+they saw any sign of movement.
+
+Early next day the attack was about to recommence, when the German
+colonel in command hoisted the white flag, and made his surrender. Owing
+to the destruction of his food depôt and the explosion of his magazine
+he was short both of ammunition and food. Thus, after a brief spell of
+German rule--for the place had been solemnly annexed to the German
+Empire by proclamation--the British took possession of a ruined town and
+captured a considerable German force, numbering about 1100 men.
+
+While the British cruisers were busy recovering control of the
+Shetlands, the Atlantic Fleet, four battleships strong, had arrived at
+Portland, and joined the imposing fleet which was assembling at that
+splendid harbour. The Mediterranean Fleet, four battleships strong, was
+following in its wake, detaching its two armoured cruisers for work off
+Gibraltar and the entrance to the Mediterranean, where German
+commerce-destroyers were reported to be busy.
+
+The British Admiralty had decided to evacuate the Mediterranean and
+leave Egypt to its fate. Orders were given to block the Suez Canal, and
+though this act was an obvious infraction of international law, it
+elicited only mild protests from the Powers, which anxiously hoped for a
+British victory in the war. The protests were formal, and it was
+intimated that there was no intention of supporting them by force,
+provided the British Government would defray the loss caused by its
+action to neutral shipping.
+
+A conflict between the military and civil authorities occurred on the
+Saturday following the outbreak of war. The Admiralty up to this point
+had succeeded in throwing a veil of silence over the British movements,
+and not even the striking successes of the British Fleet were generally
+known. But Ministers, and the First Lord of the Admiralty in particular,
+fearing for their own lives, and appalled by the furious outcry against
+themselves, on Saturday insisted upon issuing an official notice to the
+effect that the German Fleet which had raided South Wales had been
+completely annihilated, and Lerwick recaptured by the British Navy.
+Hundreds of German prisoners, added the proclamation, had been made.
+
+To such a degree had the public lost faith in the Government, that the
+news was received with scepticism. The official Press in Germany
+ridiculed the intelligence, though the German Government must have been
+aware of its truth. It was only with extreme difficulty that the
+civilian members of the Government were prevented from publishing the
+exact strength of the British naval force available for operations
+against the Germans, but a threat by the Sea Lords to take matters into
+their own hands and appeal to the nation, prevented such a crowning act
+of folly.
+
+Four armoured cruisers of the “County” class, exceedingly fast ships,
+had been pushed up behind the Channel cruisers, with instructions to
+carry on the work of harassing the Germans while the Channel cruisers
+coaled. The new cruiser detachment was to join the two ships of the
+“County” class already at Kirkwall, move cautiously south, with six
+ocean-going destroyers and six of the older destroyers, along the Scotch
+coast, establish its base at Aberdeen or Rosyth, and raid the German
+line of communications.
+
+It was to be known as the Northern Squadron, and was placed under the
+orders of Rear-Admiral Jeffries, an able and enterprising officer. In
+case the Germans moved against it in force, it was to retire northwards,
+but its commander was given to understand that on September 17 the main
+British Fleet would advance from the north and south into the North Sea
+and deliver its attack upon the massed force of the German Navy.
+
+Meanwhile, in preparation for the great movement, assiduous drill and
+target practice proceeded in the neighbourhood of Portland. The British
+battleships daily put to sea to fire and execute evolutions. The most
+serious difficulty, however, was to provide the ample supplies of
+ammunition needed, now that the Germans were in possession of so much of
+England, that the railway service was disorganised, and that an enormous
+consumption of cordite by the British land forces was taking place. The
+coal question was also serious, as the South Wales miners had struck for
+higher wages, and had only been induced to return to their work by the
+promise of great concessions. The officers and men of the Navy could not
+but be painfully struck by the strange want of zeal and national spirit
+in this great emergency shown by the British people.
+
+On the 11th two of the “County” cruisers steamed south from Dingwall to
+replace the two ships which had, earlier in the operations against the
+Shetlands, been despatched to Aberdeen, and which were now to rejoin the
+Channel cruisers and concentrate in the Dornoch Firth. They reported
+that the German cruiser off Aberdeen had made good her escape, and that
+they had scouted so far south as the entrance of the Forth without
+discovering any trace of German vessels.
+
+On the 12th the four other cruisers of the “County” class and the
+destroyers reached Aberdeen early in the morning, and the Rear-Admiral
+set to work with zeal and energy to disturb and harass his enemy to the
+utmost. The _Southampton_ and _Kincardine_, two of the fast cruisers,
+with two ocean-going destroyers, were instructed to steam direct for the
+German coast, and sink any vessel that they sighted. The _Selkirk_ and
+_Lincoln_, with the rest of the destroyers, under his own orders, would
+clear the Forth entrance and move cautiously southward towards
+Newcastle, if no enemy were encountered. Yet another pair of cruisers,
+the _Cardigan_ and _Montrose_, were to steam for the Dutch coast and
+there destroy German vessels and transports. Two of the older protected
+cruisers were brought to link up the advanced detachments by wireless
+telegraphy with the Forth, when the Germans were forced away from that
+point.
+
+About noon the Rear-Admiral, with his cruisers, appeared off the Forth,
+and learnt that for three days no German vessels had been reported off
+the coast, but that the entrance to the estuary was believed to have
+been mined afresh by the Germans and was exceedingly unsafe. The
+armoured cruiser _Impérieuse_, which had been damaged in the battle of
+North Berwick, had now been sufficiently repaired to take the sea again.
+She had coaled and received ammunition, and was at once ordered to join
+the Northern Squadron.
+
+The armoured cruisers _Olympia_ and _Aurora_, and the battleship
+_Resistance_, which had been badly damaged in the torpedo attack that
+opened the war, were also nearly ready for service, and could be counted
+on for work in forty-eight hours. It had been supposed at the time that
+they were permanently injured, but hundreds of skilled Glasgow artisans
+had been brought over by train and set to work upon them, and with such
+energy had they laboured that the damage had been almost made good. For
+security against any German attack, the ships lay with booms surrounding
+them behind a great mine-field, which had been placed by the naval
+authorities.
+
+The Rear-Admiral in command of the Northern Fleet ordered a passage
+through the German minefield to be cleared without delay, and the
+repaired ships to remain for the time being to guard the port, as their
+speed was not such as to enable them to run if the enemy appeared in
+force. Taking with him the _Impérieuse_, he moved down the coast towards
+Newcastle, steaming at 15 knots. At 8 p.m. he passed the mouth of the
+Tyne, and sighted the _Southampton_, one of the two cruisers which he
+had despatched to menace the German coast; they had chased and sunk a
+large German collier, apparently proceeding to Lerwick, and quite
+unaware of the sudden turn which the naval war had taken.
+
+The _Southampton_ had returned to report the fact that she
+had sighted three German destroyers, which went off very
+fast to the south, one now having rejoined the flag. The four
+British armoured cruisers--_Southampton_, _Selkirk_, _Lincoln_, and
+_Impérieuse_--extended in open order, with the four ocean-going
+destroyers in advance and the six older destroyers inshore, on the
+lookout for Germans.
+
+In this order the Admiral moved, with all lights out, towards the German
+line of communications. Steering wide of Flamborough Head, and clearing
+the sandbanks off the Wash, he passed down what was now an enemy’s
+coast, carefully refraining from using his ships’ long-distance wireless
+instruments, which might have given the alarm.
+
+At about 1 a.m. of the 13th the _Southampton_ sighted a large steamer
+proceeding slowly eastwards. She gave chase forthwith, and in fifteen
+minutes was alongside the stranger. The vessel proved to be a German
+transport returning from Hull empty. A small prize-crew was placed on
+board, the German seamen were transhipped to the British cruiser, and
+the vessel was sent back to Newcastle under escort of one of the older
+destroyers.
+
+At 3.30 a.m. the flagship _Selkirk_ sighted another large steamer
+proceeding west, towards the Wash. Chase was instantly given to her, and
+in ten minutes the fast cruiser, running 21 knots, was within easy
+range. As the steamer did not obey the order to stop, even when shotted
+guns were fired over her bow, the _Selkirk_ poured a broadside into her
+at 3000 yards. This brought her to, and two ocean-going destroyers were
+sent to overhaul her, while the _Lincoln_ and _Southampton_ steamed in
+towards her, with guns laid upon her to prevent any tricks.
+
+A few minutes later the destroyers signalled that the vessel was laden
+with German troops, reserve stores, ammunition, and supplies of all
+kinds. It would have been awkward to sink her and tranship the men, and
+remembering the humanity which the Germans had displayed in the battles
+at the opening of the war, the Admiral ordered the _Impérieuse_ to
+escort her to Newcastle, with instructions to sink her if she offered
+any resistance. A lieutenant and ten men were put on board her, to keep
+an eye on her crew and see that they obeyed the injunctions of the
+_Impérieuse_, which followed 300 yards astern with her 9·2-in. guns
+trained menacingly upon the transport.
+
+Scarcely had possession been taken of this vessel, which proved to be
+the 10,000-ton Hamburg-American cargo-vessel _Bulgaria_, when two more
+ships were sighted, and the sound of alarm guns hurriedly firing was
+heard from the _Leman_ lightship. To silence the lightship, which was
+known to be in German hands, a fast destroyer was despatched with orders
+to torpedo it and destroy it.
+
+As the enemy had undoubtedly taken the alarm, and might be expected any
+minute to put in an appearance, the British cruisers made ready to
+retire. The destroyers were sent off to the north; the three remaining
+armoured cruisers hovered waiting for the Germans to show, as they
+intended to draw them off towards the north-east, and thus take them
+away from the _Bulgaria_ and her escort.
+
+At 4.20 a.m. a big ship, evidently an armoured cruiser, accompanied by
+two or three destroyers, was seen approaching from the direction of
+Hull. Simultaneously wireless waves came in strong from the south, and
+from that quarter there came into sight another big armoured cruiser,
+accompanied by at least six destroyers and two smaller cruisers. They
+were the scouts of the German Fleet, and before them ran at 30 knots the
+British destroyer which had been charged with the destruction of the
+_Leman_ lightship, and which had accomplished her task only two or three
+minutes before the Germans appeared from the south.
+
+Noting that his enemy was in no great strength, and feeling minded to
+deal him a blow, if possible, the British Admiral now fell back
+north-eastward, without increasing speed sufficiently to draw away from
+the Germans. His ships, of the “County” class, with their weak 6-in.
+batteries, were no match for the German cruisers, but if he could entice
+the Germans within reach of the armoured vessels at Rosyth it would be
+another matter. Moreover, at any moment his detached armoured cruisers
+might rejoin the fleet.
+
+Both forces were keeping well together, the Germans not steaming more
+than 20 knots, so as not to draw away from their smaller cruisers, while
+the British cruisers and destroyers made their pace with perfect ease,
+and for hours maintained an interval of eight miles from the enemy.
+
+After two hours’ chase the British Admiral altered course slightly, and
+began to edge away to the north-east. The Germans followed, and at five
+in the afternoon of the 13th both squadrons were abreast of St. Abbs
+Head, far out to sea. About this time another German cruiser was noted,
+following to the support of the German vessels, and simultaneously the
+British Admiral opened up wireless communication with the powerful
+armoured ships at Rosyth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SITUATION SOUTH OF THE THAMES
+
+
+The enemy on land had operated rapidly and decisively upon a prearranged
+scheme that was perfect in every detail.
+
+By September 24th, three weeks after the first landing, England had,
+alas! learnt a bitter lesson by the shells showered down upon her open
+towns if they made a show of resistance. She had been taught it by her
+burning villages, scientifically fired with petrol, for having harboured
+Frontiersmen or Free-shooters, whom the German Staff did not choose to
+acknowledge as belligerents, by the great sacrifice of lives of innocent
+children and women, by war contributions, crushing requisitions, and the
+ruin and desolation that had marked every bivouac of the invading army.
+And now, while the Germans stood triumphant in London north of the
+Thames, South London was still held by the desperate populace, aided by
+many infantry and artillery, who, after their last stand on the northern
+heights, had made a detour to the south by crossing the river at
+Richmond Bridge and coming up to the Surrey shore by way of Wandsworth.
+By their aid the barricades were properly reconstructed with
+paving-stones, sacks of sand and sawdust, rolls of carpet, linoleum and
+linen--in fact, anything and everything that would stop bullets.
+
+The assault at Waterloo Bridge on the night of the enemy’s occupation
+had in the end proved disastrous to the Germans, for, once within, they
+found themselves surrounded by a huge armed mob in the Waterloo Road
+and in the vicinity of the South-Western terminus; notwithstanding their
+desperate defence, they were exterminated to a man, until the gutters
+beneath the railway bridges ran with blood. Meanwhile the breach in the
+barricade was repaired, and two guns and ammunition captured from the
+enemy mounted in defence. There was a similar incident on Vauxhall
+Bridge, the populace being victorious, and now the Germans were offering
+no further opposition, as they had quite sufficient to occupy them on
+the Middlesex side.
+
+The division of Lord Byfield’s army which had gone south to Horsham had
+moved north, and on the 24th were holding the country across from Epsom
+to Kingston-on-Thames, while patrols and motorists were out from Ewell,
+through Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Croydon, and Upper Norwood, to the
+high ground at the Crystal Palace. From Kingston to the Tower Bridge all
+approaches across the Thames were barricaded and held by desperate mobs,
+aided by artillerymen.
+
+In those early days after the occupation, military order had apparently
+disappeared in London, as far as the British were concerned. General Sir
+Francis Bamford had, on the proclamation of martial law in London, been
+appointed military governor, and had, on the advance of the Germans,
+retired to the Crystal Palace, where he had now established his
+headquarters in the palace itself, with a wireless telegraph apparatus
+placed upon the top of the left-hand tower, by means of which he was in
+constant communication with Lord Byfield at Windsor, where the apparatus
+had been hoisted upon the flagstaff of the Round Tower.
+
+The military tribunals established by the Proclamation of the 14th still
+existed in the police courts of South London, but those north of the
+Thames had already been replaced by German officers, and the British
+officers went across the bridges into the British lines. Von Kronhelm’s
+clever tactics, by which he had established an advisory board of British
+officials to assist in the government of London, seemed to have had the
+desired effect of reassurance in the case of London north of the
+Thames. But south of the river the vast population in that huge area
+from Gravesend, through Dartford, Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Merton,
+Wimbledon, and Kingston, lived still at the highest tension, while the
+defenders at the bridges and along the river-front kept up unceasing
+vigilance night and day, never knowing at what spot the Germans might
+throw across their pontoons. In peace time the enemy had for years
+practised the pontooning of the Rhine and the Elbe; therefore, they knew
+it to be an easy matter to cross the narrower reaches of the Thames if
+they so desired.
+
+On the 24th the rumour became current, too, that during the night German
+wagons had moved large quantities of specie from the Bank of England out
+to their base at Southminster; but, though it was most probable, the
+news was not confirmed. On this date the position as regards London,
+briefly reviewed, was as follows:--
+
+London north of the Thames, eastward to the sea, and the whole of the
+country east of a line drawn from the metropolis to Birmingham, was in
+the hands of the Germans. The enemy’s Guard Corps, under the Duke of
+Mannheim, who had landed at King’s Lynn, had established their
+headquarters at Hampstead, and held North London, with a big encampment
+in Regent’s Park. The Xth Corps, under Von Wilberg, from Yarmouth, were
+holding the City proper; the IXth Corps, from Lowestoft, were occupying
+the outskirts of East London, and keeping the lines of communication
+with Southminster; the IVth Corps, from Weybourne, under Von Kleppen,
+were in Hyde Park, and held Western London; while the Saxons had been
+pushed out from Shepperton through Staines to Colnbrook, as a safeguard
+from attack by Lord Byfield’s force, so rapidly being reorganised at
+Windsor. The remnants of the beaten army had gone to Chichester and
+Salisbury, but were now coming rapidly north, as the British
+Commander-in-Chief, had, it appeared, decided to give battle again,
+aided by the infuriated populace of Southern London.
+
+At no spot south of the Thames, except perhaps the reconnoitring parties
+who crossed at Egham, Thorpe, and Weybridge, and recrossed each night,
+were there any Germans. The ground was so vast and the population so
+great, that Von Kronhelm feared to spread out his troops over too great
+an area. The Saxons had orders simply to keep Lord Byfield in check, and
+see that he did not cross the river. Thus it became for the time a drawn
+game. The Germans held the north of the Thames, while the British were
+continually threatening and making demonstrations from the south.
+
+So great, however, was the population now assembled in South London that
+food was rising to absolutely famine prices. The estuary of the river
+had been so thickly mined by the Germans that no ships bearing food
+dared to come up. The Straits of Dover and the Solent were still
+dangerous on account of the floating mines, and it was only at places
+such as Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, and Folkestone that supplies
+could be landed at that moment. Trucks full of flour, coffee, rice,
+brandy, canned meats, boots, uniforms, arms, were daily run up to
+Deptford, Herne Hill, Croydon, and Wimbledon, but such supplies were
+very meagre for the millions now crowded along the river front, full of
+enthusiasm still to defy the enemy. At the first news of the invasion
+all the coal and coke in London had been expressly reserved for public
+purposes, small quantities only being issued to printing establishments
+and other branches of public necessity; but to private individuals they
+were rigorously denied. Wood, however, was sold without restriction, and
+a number of barges, old steamers of the County Council, and such-like
+craft were broken up for fuel.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Through the past ten days the darkness, gloom, and ever-deepening hunger
+had increased, and though London retained the same spirit with which it
+had received the news of the audacious invasion, that portion south of
+the Thames was starving. Between the 20th and 24th September the price
+of every article of food rose enormously. On the 24th Ostend rabbits
+were sold in the Walworth Road for a sovereign each, and a hare cost
+double. An apple cost 1s. 6d., a partridge 15s., a fresh egg 2s., while
+bacon was 6s. 6d. a pound, and butter £1 per pound. Shops in the Old
+Kent Road, Camberwell, Brixton, Kennington, Walworth, Waterloo, and
+London Roads, which had hitherto been perhaps the cheapest places in
+which to buy provisions in the whole of London, were now prohibitive in
+their prices to the poor, though ladies habitually living in the West
+End and driven there through force of circumstances readily paid the
+exorbitant charges demanded. Indeed, there was often a fight in those
+shops for a rabbit, a ham, or a tin of pressed beef, one person bidding
+against another for its possession. Tallow was often being used for the
+purposes of cookery, and is said to have answered well.
+
+If South London was in such a state of starvation, even though small
+quantities of food were daily coming in, Von Kronhelm’s position must
+have been one of extreme gravity when it is remembered that his food
+supply was now cut off. It was calculated that each of his five army
+corps operating upon London consumed in the space of twenty-four hours
+18,000 loaves weighing 3 lb. each, 120 cwt. of rice or pearl barley,
+seventy oxen or 120 cwt. of bacon, 18 cwt. of salt, 30 cwt. of coffee,
+12 cwt. of oats, 3 cwt. of hay, 3500 quarts of spirits and beer, with 60
+cwt. of tobacco, 1,100,000 ordinary cigars, and 50,000 officers’ cigars
+for every ten days.
+
+And yet all was provided for at Southminster, Grimsby, King’s Lynn,
+Norwich, and Goole. Huge food bases had been rapidly established from
+the first day of the invasion. The German Army, whatever might be said
+of it, was a splendid military machine, and we had been in every way
+incapable of coping with it. Yet it was impossible not to admire the
+courage and patriotism of the men under Byfield, Hibbard, and Woolmer
+in making the attempt, though from the first the game had been known to
+be hopeless.
+
+West of London the members of the Hendon and other rifle clubs, together
+with a big body of Frontiersmen and other free-shooters, were
+continually harassing the Saxon advanced posts between Shepperton and
+Colnbrook, towards Uxbridge. On the 24th a body of 1,500 riflemen and
+Frontiersmen attacked a company of Saxon Pioneers close to where the
+Great Western Railway crosses the River Crane, north of Cranford. The
+Germans, being outnumbered, were obliged to withdraw to Hayes with a
+loss of twenty killed and a large force of wounded. Shortly afterwards,
+on the following day, the Pioneers, having been reinforced, retraced
+their steps in order to clear the districts on the Crane of our
+irregular forces; and they announced that if, as reported, the people of
+Cranford and Southall had taken part in the attack, both places would be
+burned.
+
+That same night the railway bridges over the Crane and the Grand
+Junction Canal in the vicinity were blown up by the Frontiersmen. The
+fifty Saxons guarding each bridge were surprised by the British
+sharpshooters, and numbers of them shot. Three hours later, however,
+Cranford, Southall, and Hayes were burned with petrol, and it was stated
+by Colonel Meyer, of the Saxons, that this was to be the punishment of
+any place where railways were destroyed. Such was the system of
+terrorism by which the enemy hoped to terminate the struggle. Such
+proceedings--and this was but one of a dozen others in various outlying
+spots beyond the Metropolitan area--did not produce the effect of
+shortening the duration of hostilities. On the contrary, they only
+served to prolong the deadly contest by exciting a wild desire for
+revenge in many who might otherwise have been disposed towards an
+amicable settlement.
+
+With the dawn of the 25th September, a grey day with fine drizzling rain
+in London, the situation seemed still more hopeless. The rain, however,
+did not by any means damp the ardour of the defenders at the bridges.
+They sang patriotic songs, while barrel-organs and bands played about
+them night and day. Though hungry, their spirits never flagged. The
+newspapers printed across the river were brought over in small boats
+from the Surrey side, and eagerly seized and read by anxious thousands.
+The lists of British casualties were being published, and the populace
+were one and all anxious for news of missing friends.
+
+The chief item of news that morning, however, was a telegram from the
+Emperor William, in which he acknowledged the signal services rendered
+by Field-Marshal Von Kronhelm and his army. He had sent one hundred and
+fifty Orders of the Iron Cross for distribution among officers who had
+distinguished themselves, accompanied by the following telegraphic
+despatch, which every paper in London was ordered to print:--
+
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+ | =THE KAISER’S TELEGRAM.= |
+ | |
+ | POTSDAM, _Sept. 21st, 1910_. |
+ | |
+ | GENERAL VON KRONHELM,--Your heroic march, |
+ |your gallant struggle to reach London, your victorious |
+ |attack and your capture of the Capital of the British Empire, |
+ |is one of the greatest feats of arms in all history. |
+ | |
+ | I express my royal thanks, my deepest acknowledgments, |
+ |and bestow upon you the Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, |
+ |with the sword, as proof of this acknowledgment. |
+ | |
+ | Your grateful Emperor, |
+ | =WILHELM.= |
+ +--------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ THE TELEGRAM SENT BY THE GERMAN EMPEROR TO
+ FIELD-MARSHAL VON KRONHELM.
+
+The wharves and embankments of the Surrey shore of the Thames, from
+Erith to Kingston, were being patrolled day and night by armed men. Any
+boat crossing the river was at once challenged, and not allowed to
+approach unless under a flag of truce, or it was ascertained that its
+occupants were non-belligerents. Everywhere the greatest precaution was
+being taken against spies, and on the two or three occasions when the
+Germans had reconnoitered by means of balloons, sharpshooters had
+constantly fired at them.
+
+As may well be imagined, spy-mania was now rife in every quarter in
+South London, and any man bearing a foreign name, no matter of what
+nationality, or known to be a foreigner, was at once suspected, and
+often openly insulted, even though he might be a naturalised Englishman.
+It was very unsafe for any foreigner now to go abroad. One deplorable
+incident occurred that afternoon. A German baker, occupying a shop in
+Newington Butts, and who had lived in England twenty-five years and
+become a naturalised British subject, was walking along the Kennington
+Road with his wife, having come forth in curiosity to see what was in
+progress, when he was met by a man with whom he had had some business
+quarrel. The man in question, as he passed, cried out to the crowd that
+he was a German. “He’s one of Von Kronhelm’s spies!” he shouted.
+
+At the word “spy” the crowd all turned. They saw the unfortunate man had
+turned pale at this charge, which was tantamount to a sentence of death,
+and believed him to be guilty. Some wild and irrepressible men set up a
+loud cry of “Spy! Spy! Down with him! Down with the traitor!” and ere
+the unfortunate baker was aware of it he was seized by a hundred hands,
+and lynched.
+
+More than once real spies were discovered, and short shrift was meted
+out to them; but in several instances it is feared that gross mistakes
+were made, and men accused as spies out of venomous personal spite.
+There is little doubt that under cover of night a number of Von
+Kronhelm’s English-speaking agents were able to cross the river in boats
+and return on the following night, for it was apparent by the tone of
+the newspapers that the German generalissimo was fully aware of what was
+in progress south of the river.
+
+To keep a perfect watch upon a river-front of so many miles against
+watermen who knew every landing-place and every point of concealment,
+was utterly impossible. The defenders, brave men all, did their best,
+and they killed at sight every spy they captured; but it was certain
+that the enemy had established a pretty complete system of intelligence
+from the camp of the defiant Londoners.
+
+At the barricades was a quiet, calm enthusiasm. Now that it was seen
+that the enemy had no immediate intention of storming the defences at
+the bridges, those manning them rested, smoked, and, though ever
+vigilant, discussed the situation. Beneath every bridge men of the Royal
+Engineers had effected certain works which placed them in readiness for
+instant destruction. The explosives were there, and only by the pressing
+of the button the officer in command of any bridge could blow it into
+the air, or render it unsafe for the enemy to venture upon.
+
+The great League of Defenders was in course of rapid formation. Its
+proclamations were upon every wall. When the time was ripe, London would
+rise. The day of revenge was fast approaching.
+
+London, north of the Thames, though shattered and wrecked, began, by
+slow degrees, to grow more calm.
+
+One half of the populace seemed to have accepted the inevitable; the
+other half being still terrified and appalled at the havoc wrought on
+every hand. In the case of Paris, forty years before, when the Germans
+had bombarded the city, their shells had done but little damage. In
+those days neither guns nor ammunition were at such perfection as they
+now were, the enemy’s high-power explosives accounting for the fearful
+destruction caused.
+
+A very curious fact about the bombardment must here be noted. Londoners,
+though terrified beyond measure when the shells began to fall among them
+and explode, grew, in the space of a couple of hours, to be quite
+callous, and seemed to regard the cannonade in the light of a
+pyrotechnical display. They climbed to every point of vantage, and
+regarded the continuous flashes and explosions with the same
+open-mouthed wonder as they would exhibit at the Crystal Palace on a
+firework night.
+
+The City proper was still held by the Xth Corps under General von
+Wilburg, who had placed a strong cordon around it, no unauthorised
+person being allowed to enter or leave. In some of the main roads in
+Islington, Hoxton, Whitechapel, Clapton, and Kingsland, a few shops that
+had not been seized by the Germans had courageously opened their doors.
+Provision shops, bakers, greengrocers, dairies, and butchers were,
+however, for the most part closed, for in the Central Markets there was
+neither meat nor vegetables, every ounce of food having been
+commandeered by German foraging parties.
+
+As far as possible, however, the enemy were, with the aid of the English
+Advisory Board, endeavouring to calm the popular excitement and
+encourage trade in other branches. At certain points such as at Aldgate,
+at Oxford Circus, at Hyde Park Corner, in Vincent Square, Westminster,
+at St. James’s Park near Queen Anne’s Gate, and in front of Hackney
+Church, the German soldiers distributed soup once a day to all comers,
+Von Kronhelm being careful to pretend a parental regard for the
+metropolis he had occupied.
+
+The population north of the Thames was not, however, more than one
+quarter what it usually was, for most of the inhabitants had fled across
+the bridges during the bombardment, and there remained on the Surrey
+side in defiance of the invader.
+
+Night and day the barricade-builders were working at the bridges in
+order to make each defence a veritable redoubt. They did not intend that
+the disasters of the northern suburbs--where the bullets had cut through
+the overturned carts and household furniture as through butter--should
+be repeated. Therefore at each bridge, behind the first
+hastily-constructed defence, there were being thrown up huge walls of
+sacks filled with earth, and in some places where more earth was
+obtainable earthworks themselves with embrasures. Waterloo, Blackfriars,
+Southwark, London, and Cannon Street bridges were all defended by
+enormous earthworks, and by explosives already placed for instant use if
+necessary. Hungerford Bridge had, of course, been destroyed by the
+Germans themselves, huge iron girders having fallen into the river; but
+Vauxhall, Lambeth, Battersea, Hammersmith, and Kew and other bridges
+were equally strongly defended as those nearer the centre of London.
+Many other barricades had been constructed at various points in South
+London, such as across the Bridge End Road, Wandsworth, several across
+the converging roads at St. George’s Circus, and again at the Elephant
+and Castle, in Bankside, in Tooley Street, where it joins Bermondsey
+Street, at the approach to the Tower Bridge, in Waterloo Road at its
+junction with Lower Marsh, across the Westminster Bridge and Kennington
+Roads, across the Lambeth Road where it joins the Kennington Road, at
+the junction of Upper Kennington Lane with Harleyford Road, in Victoria
+Road at the approach to Chelsea Bridge, and in a hundred other smaller
+thoroughfares. Most of these barricades were being built for the
+protection of certain districts rather than for the general strategic
+defence of South London. In fact, most of the larger open spaces were
+barricaded, and points of entrance carefully blocked. In some places
+exposed barricades were connected with one another by a covered way, the
+neighbouring houses being crenellated and their windows protected with
+coal sacks filled with earth. Cannon now being brought in by Artillery
+from the south were being mounted everywhere, and as each hour went by
+the position of South London became strengthened by both men and guns.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON
+
+
+Preparations were being continued night and day to place the
+working-class districts in Southwark and Lambeth in a state of strong
+defence, and the constant meetings convened in public halls and chapels
+by the newly-formed League of Defenders incited the people to their
+work. Everybody lent a willing hand, rich and poor alike. People who had
+hitherto lived in comfort in Regent’s Park, Hampstead, or one or other
+of the better-class northern suburbs, now found themselves herded among
+all sorts and conditions of men and women, and living as best they could
+in those dull, drab streets of Lambeth, Walworth, Battersea, and
+Kennington. It was, indeed, a strange experience for them. In the sudden
+flight from the north parents had become separated from their children
+and husbands from their wives, so that in many cases haggard and forlorn
+mothers were in frantic search of their little ones, fearing that they
+might have already died of starvation or been trampled under foot by the
+panic-stricken multitudes. The dense population of South London had
+already been trebled. They were penned in by the barricades in many
+instances, for each district seemed to be now placing itself in a state
+of defence, independent of any other.
+
+Kennington, for instance, was practically surrounded by barricades, tons
+upon tons of earth being dug from the “Oval” and the “Park.” Besides the
+barricades in Harleyford Road and Kennington Lane, all the streets
+converging on the “Oval” were blocked up, a huge defence arm just being
+completed across the junction of Kennington and Kennington Park roads,
+and all the streets running into the latter thoroughfare from that point
+to the big obstruction at the “Elephant” were blocked by paving stones,
+bags of sand, barrels of cement, bricks, and such-like odds and ends
+impervious to bullets. In addition to this, there was a double
+fortification in Lambeth Road--a veritable redoubt--as well as the
+barricade at Lambeth Bridge, while all the roads leading from Kennington
+into the Lambeth Road, such as St. George’s Road, Kennington Road, High
+Street, and the rest, had been rendered impassable and the neighbouring
+houses placed in a state of defence. Thus the whole district of
+Kennington became therefore a fortress in itself.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEFENCES OF SOUTH LONDON
+
+on Sept 26th]
+
+This was only a typical instance of the scientific methods of defence
+now resorted to. Mistakes made in North London were not now repeated.
+Day and night every able-bodied man, and woman too, worked on with
+increasing zeal and patriotism. The defences in Haverstock Hill,
+Holloway Road, and Edgware Road, which had been composed of overturned
+tramcars, motor ’buses, household furniture, etc., had been riddled by
+the enemy’s bullets. The lesson had been heeded, and now earth, sand,
+tiles, paving stones, and bricks were very largely used.
+
+From nearly all the principal thoroughfares south of the river, the
+paving-stones were being rapidly torn up by great gangs of men, and
+whenever the artillery brought up a fresh Maxim or field-gun the wildest
+demonstrations were made. The clergy held special services in churches
+and chapels, and prayer-meetings for the emancipation of London were
+held twice daily in the Metropolitan Tabernacle at Newington. In
+Kennington Park, Camberwell Green, the Oval, Vauxhall Park, Lambeth
+Palace Gardens, Camberwell Park, Peckham Rye, and Southwark Park a
+division of Lord Byfield’s army was encamped. They held the Waterloo
+terminus of the South-Western Railway strongly, the Chatham Railway from
+the Borough Road Station--now the terminus--the South-Eastern from
+Bricklayers’ Arms, which had been converted into another terminus, as
+well as the Brighton line, both at Battersea Park and York Road.
+
+The lines destroyed by the enemy’s spies in the early moments of the
+invasion had long ago been repaired, and up to the present railway and
+telegraphic communication south and west remained uninterrupted. The
+_Daily Mail_ had managed to transfer some of its staff to the offices of
+a certain printer’s in Southwark, and there, under difficulties,
+published several editions daily despite the German censorship. While
+northern London was without any news except that supplied from German
+sources, South London was still open to the world, the cables from the
+south coast being, as yet, in the hands of the British, and the
+telegraphs intact to Bristol and to all places in the West.
+
+Thus, during those stifling and exciting days following the occupation,
+while London was preparing for its great uprising, the _South London
+Daily Mirror_, though a queer, unusual-looking sheet, still continued to
+appear, and was read with avidity by the gallant men at the barricades.
+
+Contrary to expectation, Von Kronhelm was leaving South London severely
+alone. He was, no doubt, wise. Full well he knew that his men, once
+within those narrow, tortuous streets beyond the river, would have no
+opportunity to manœuvre, and would, as in the case of the assault of
+Waterloo Bridge, be slaughtered to a man. His spies reported that each
+hour that passed rendered the populace the stronger, yet he did nothing,
+devoting his whole time, energy, and attention to matters in that half
+of London he was now occupying.
+
+Everywhere the walls of South London were placarded with manifestoes of
+the League of Defenders. Day after day fresh posters appeared, urging
+patience and courage, and reporting upon the progress of the League. The
+name of Graham was now upon everyone’s lips. He had, it seemed, arisen
+as saviour of our beloved country. Every word of his inspired
+enthusiasm, and this was well illustrated at the mass meeting on Peckham
+Rye, when, beneath the huge flag of St. George, the white banner with
+the red cross,--the ancient standard of England,--which the League had
+adopted as theirs, he made a brilliant and impassioned appeal to every
+Londoner and every Englishman.
+
+Report had it that the Germans had set a price upon his head, and that
+he was pursued everywhere by German spies--mercenaries who would kill
+him in secret if they could. Therefore he was compelled to go about with
+an armed police guard, who arrested any suspected person in his
+vicinity. The Government, who had at first laughed Graham’s enthusiasm
+to scorn, now believed in him. Even Lord Byfield, after a long council,
+declared that his efforts to inspire enthusiasm had been amazingly
+successful, and it was now well known that the “Defenders” and the Army
+had agreed to act in unison towards one common end--the emancipation of
+England from the German thraldom.
+
+Some men of the Osnabrück Regiment, holding Canning Town and Limehouse,
+managed one night, by strategy, to force their way through the Blackwall
+Tunnel and break down its defence on the Surrey side in an attempt to
+blow up the South Metropolitan Gas Works close by.
+
+The men holding the tunnel were completely overwhelmed by the numbers
+that pressed on, and were compelled to fall back, twenty of their number
+being killed. The assault was a victorious one, and it was seen that the
+enemy were pouring out, when, of a sudden, there was a dull, heavy roar,
+followed by wild shouts and terrified screams, as there rose from the
+centre of the river a great column of water, and next instant the tunnel
+was flooded, hundreds of the enemy being drowned like rats in a hole.
+
+The men of the Royal Engineers had, on the very day previous, made
+preparations for destroying the tunnel if necessary, and had done so ere
+the Germans were aware of their intention. The exact loss of life is
+unknown, but it is estimated that over 400 men must have perished in
+that single instant, while those who had made the sudden dash towards
+the Gas Works were all taken prisoners, and their explosives
+confiscated.
+
+The evident intention of the enemy being thus seen, General Sir Francis
+Bamford from his headquarters at the Crystal Palace gave orders for the
+tunnels at Rotherhithe and that across Greenwich Reach, as well as the
+several “tube” tunnels and subways, to be destroyed, a work which was
+executed without delay, and was witnessed by thousands, who watched for
+the great disturbances and upheavals in the bed of the river.
+
+In the Old Kent Road the bridge over the canal, as well as the bridges
+in Wells Street, Sumner Road, Glengall Road, and Canterbury Road, were
+all prepared for demolition in case of necessity, the canal from the
+Camberwell Road to the Surrey Docks forming a moat behind which the
+defenders might, if necessary, retire. Clapham Common and Brockwell Park
+were covered with tents, for General Bamford’s force, consisting mostly
+of auxiliaries, were daily awaiting reinforcements.
+
+Lord Byfield, now at Windsor, was in constant communication by wireless
+telegraphy with the London headquarters at the Crystal Palace, as well
+as with Hibbard on the Malvern Hills and Woolmer at Shrewsbury. To
+General Bamford at Sydenham came constant news of the rapid spread of
+the national movement of defiance, and Lord Byfield, as was afterwards
+known, urged the London commander to remain patient, and invite no
+attack until the League were strong enough to act upon the offensive.
+
+Affairs of outposts were, of course, constantly recurring along the
+river bank between Windsor and Egham, and the British free-shooters and
+Frontiersmen were ever harassing the Saxons.
+
+Very soon Von Kronhelm became aware of Lord Byfield’s intentions, but
+his weakness was apparent when he made no counter-move. The fact was
+that the various great cities he now held required all his attention and
+all his troops. From Manchester, from Birmingham, from Leeds, Bradford,
+Sheffield, and Hull came similar replies. Any withdrawal of troops from
+either city would be the signal for a general rising of the inhabitants.
+Therefore, having gained possession, he could only now sit tight and
+watch.
+
+From all over Middlesex, and more especially from the London area, came
+sensational reports of the drastic measures adopted by the Germans to
+repress any sign of revolt. In secret, the agents of the League of
+Defenders were at work going from house to house, enrolling men,
+arranging for secret meeting-places, and explaining in confidence the
+programme as put forward by the Bristol committee. Now and then,
+however, these agents were betrayed, and their betrayal was in every
+case followed by a court-martial at Bow Street, death outside in the
+yard of the police station, and the publication in the papers of their
+names, their offence, and the hour of the execution.
+
+Yet, undaunted and defiantly, the giant organisation grew as no other
+society had ever grown, and its agents and members quickly developed
+into fearless patriots. It being reported that the Saxons were facing
+Lord Byfield with the Thames between them, the people of West London
+began in frantic haste to construct barricades. The building of
+obstructions had, indeed, now become a mania north of the river as well
+as the south. The people, fearing that there was to be more fighting in
+the streets of London, began to build huge defences all across West
+London. The chief were across King Street, Hammersmith, where it joins
+Goldhawk Road, across the junction of Goldhawk and Uxbridge Roads, in
+Harrow Road where it joins Admiral Road, and Willesden Lane, close to
+the Paddington Cemetery, and the Latimer Road opposite St. Quintin Park
+Station. All the side streets leading into the Goldhawk Road, Latimer
+Road, and Ladbroke Grove Road, were also blocked up, and hundreds of
+houses placed in a state of strong defence.
+
+With all this Von Kronhelm did not interfere. The building of such
+obstructions acted as a safety-valve to the excited populace, therefore
+he rather encouraged than discountenanced it. The barricades might, he
+thought, be of service to his army if Lord Byfield really risked an
+attack upon London from that direction.
+
+Crafty and cunning though he was, he was entirely unaware that those
+barricades were being constructed at the secret orders of the League of
+Defenders, and he never dreamed that they had actually been instigated
+by the British Commander-in-chief himself.
+
+Thus the Day of Reckoning hourly approached, and London, though crushed
+and starving, waited in patient vigilance.
+
+At Enfield Chase was a great camp of British prisoners in the hands of
+the Germans, amounting to several thousands. Contrary to report, both
+officers and men were fairly well treated by the Germans, though with
+his limited supplies Von Kronhelm was already beginning to contemplate
+releasing them. Many of the higher grade officers who had fallen into
+the hands of the enemy, together with the Lord Mayor of London, the
+Mayors of Hull, Goole, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich, and the Lord Mayors of
+Manchester and Birmingham, had been sent across to Germany, where,
+according to their own reports, they were being detained in Hamburg and
+treated with every consideration. Nevertheless, all this greatly
+incensed Englishmen. Lord Byfield, with Hibbard and Woolmer, was leaving
+no stone unturned in order to reform our shattered Army, and again
+oppose the invaders. All three gallant officers had been to Bristol,
+where they held long consultation with the members of the Cabinet, with
+the result that the Government still refused to entertain any idea of
+paying the indemnity. The Admiralty were confident now that the command
+of the sea had been regained, and in Parliament itself a little
+confidence was also restored.
+
+Yet we had to face the hard facts that nearly two hundred thousand
+Germans were upon British soil, and that London was held by them.
+Already parties of German commissioners had visited the National
+Gallery, the Wallace Collection, the Tate Gallery, and the British and
+South Kensington Museums, deciding upon and placing aside certain art
+treasures and priceless antiques ready for shipment to Germany. The
+Raphaels, the Titians, the Rubenses, the Fra Angelicos, the Velasquezes,
+the Elgin Marbles, the best of the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Roman
+antiques, the Rosetta Stone, the early Biblical and classical
+manuscripts, the historic charters of England, and suchlike treasures
+which could never be replaced, were all catalogued and prepared for
+removal. The people of London knew this; for though there had been no
+newspapers, information ran rapidly from mouth to mouth. German
+sentries guarded our world-famous collections, which were now indeed
+entirely in the enemy’s hands, and which the Kaiser intended should
+enrich the German galleries and museums.
+
+One vessel flying the British flag had left the Thames laden with spoil,
+in an endeavour to reach Hamburg, but off Harwich she had been sighted
+and overhauled by a British cruiser, with the result that she had been
+steered to Dover. Therefore our cruisers and destroyers, having thus
+obtained knowledge of the enemy’s intentions, were keeping a sharp
+lookout along the coast for any vessels attempting to leave for German
+ports.
+
+Accounts of fierce engagements in the Channel between British and German
+ships went the rounds, but all were vague and unconvincing. The only
+solid facts were that the Germans held the great cities of England, and
+that the millions of Great Britain were slowly but surely preparing to
+rise in an attempt to burst asunder the fetters that now held them.
+
+Government, Army, Navy, and Parliament had all proved rotten reeds. It
+was now every man for himself--to free himself and his loved ones--or to
+die in the attempt.
+
+Through the south and west of England, Graham’s clear, manly voice was
+raised everywhere, and the whole population were now fast assembling
+beneath the banner of the Defenders, in readiness to bear their part in
+the most bloody and desperate encounter of the whole war--a fierce
+guerilla warfare, in which the Germans were to receive no quarter. The
+firm resolve now was to exterminate them.
+
+The swift and secret death being meted out to the German sentries, or,
+in fact, to any German caught alone in a side street, having been
+reported to Von Kronhelm, he issued another of his now famous
+proclamations, which was posted upon half the hoardings in London, but
+the populace at once amused themselves by tearing it down wherever it
+was discovered. Von Kronhelm was the arch-enemy of London, and it is
+believed that there were at that moment no fewer than five separate
+conspiracies to encompass his death. Londoners detested the Germans, but
+with a hatred twenty times the more intense did they regard those men
+who, having engaged in commercial pursuits in England, had joined the
+colours and were now acting as spies in the service of the enemy.
+
+Hundreds of extraordinary tales were told of Germans who, for years, had
+been regarded as inoffensive toilers in London, and yet who were now
+proved by their actions to be spies. It was declared, and was no doubt a
+fact, that without the great army of advance-agents--every man among
+them having been a soldier--Germany would never have effected the rapid
+coup she had done. The whole thing had been carefully thought out, and
+this invasion was the culmination of years of careful thought and most
+minute study.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+DAILY LIFE OF THE BELEAGUERED
+
+
+They were dark days in London--days of terror, starvation--death.
+
+Behind the barricades south of the Thames it was vaguely known that our
+Admiralty--whose chief offices had been removed to Portsmouth before the
+entry of the enemy into London--were keenly alive to the critical
+position. Reports of the capture of a number of German liners in the
+Atlantic, and of several ships laden with provisions, attempting to
+cross the North Sea were spread from mouth to mouth, but so severe was
+the censorship upon the Press that no word of such affairs was printed.
+
+The _London Gazette_, that journal which in ordinary circumstances the
+public never sees, was published each evening at six o’clock, but, alas,
+in German. It contained Von Kronhelm’s official orders to his army, and
+the various proclamations regarding the government of London. The _Daily
+Mail_, as the paper with the largest circulation, was also taken over as
+the German official organ.
+
+At the head of each newspaper office in and about Fleet Street was a
+German officer, whose duty was to read the proofs of everything before
+it appeared. He installed himself in the editorial chair, and the
+members of the staff all attempted to puzzle him and his assistants by
+the use of London slang. Sometimes this was passed by the officer in
+question, who did not wish to betray his ignorance, but more often it
+was promptly crossed out. Thus the papers were frequently ridiculous in
+their opinions and reports.
+
+The drawn game continued.
+
+On one side of the Thames the Germans held complete possession, while on
+the other the people of London were defiant behind their barricaded
+bridges. West London was occupied in building barricades in all quarters
+to prevent any further entry into London, while Von Kronhelm, with his
+inborn cunning, was allowing the work to proceed. In this, however, the
+German Commander-in-Chief did not display his usual caution, as will be
+seen in later chapters of this history.
+
+Once it was rumoured that the enemy intended to besiege the barricades
+at the bridges by bringing their field howitzers into play, but very
+soon it became apparent that Von Kronhelm, with discreet forbearance,
+feared to excite further the London populace.
+
+The fact that the Lord Mayor had been deported had rendered them
+irritable and viciously antagonistic, while the terms of the indemnity
+demanded, now known everywhere--as they had been published in papers at
+Brighton, Southampton, Bristol, and other places--had aroused within the
+hearts of Londoners a firm resolve to hold their own at no matter what
+cost.
+
+Beyond all this remained the knowledge of Gerald Graham’s movement--that
+gigantic association, the League of Defenders, which had for its object
+the freeing of England from the grip of the now detested eagle of
+Germany.
+
+Daily the League issued its bulletins, notices, manifestoes, and
+proclamations, all of which were circulated throughout South London.
+South Coast resorts were now crowded to excess by fugitive Londoners, as
+well as towns inland. Accommodation for them all was, of course,
+impossible, but everywhere were encampments over the Kentish hop fields
+and the Sussex pastures.
+
+Some further idea of life in South London at this time may be obtained
+from the personal narrative of Joseph Cane, a tram driver, in the employ
+of the London County Council, living at Creek Road, Battersea. His
+story, written by himself, and subsequently published in the _Daily
+Express_, was as follows:--
+
+“Five days have passed since the Germans bombarded us. I have been out
+of work since the seventh, when the Council suspended greater part of
+the tramway service, my line from Westminster Bridge included. I have a
+wife and four children dependent upon me, and, unfortunately, all of
+them are starving. We are waiting. The Defenders still urge us to wait.
+But this waiting is very wearisome. For nineteen days have I wandered
+about London in idleness. I have mixed with the crowds in the West End;
+I have listened to the orators in the parks; I helped to build the big
+barricade in the Caledonian Road; I watched the bombardment from the
+waterside at Wandsworth, and I saw, on the following day, German
+soldiers across on West Wharf.
+
+“Since that day we South Londoners have barricaded ourselves so strongly
+that it will, I am certain, take Von Kronhelm all his time to turn us
+out. Our defences are abundant and strong. Not only are there huge
+barricades everywhere, but hundreds of houses and buildings have been
+put in a state of defence, especially the positions commanding the main
+thoroughfares leading to the bridges. As a member of the League of
+Defenders, I have been served with a gun, and practise daily with
+thousands of others upon the new range in Battersea Park. My post,
+however, is at the barricade across Tarn’s Corner and Newington
+Causeway, opposite the Elephant and Castle.
+
+“Every road to the bridges at that converging point is blocked. The
+entrances to St. George’s Road, London Road, Walworth Road, and
+Newington Butts are all strongly barricaded, the great obstructions
+reaching up to the second storey windows. The New Kent Road remains
+open, as there is a barricade at the end of Great Dover Street. The
+houses all round are also fortified. From Tarn’s, quantities of goods,
+such as bales of calico, flannel, and dress materials, have been seized
+and utilised in our barriers. I assisted to construct the enormous wall
+of miscellaneous objects, and in its building we were directed by a
+number of Royal Engineers. Our object is to repel the invader should he
+succeed in breaking down the barrier at London Bridge.
+
+“All is in readiness, as far as we are concerned. Seven maxims are
+mounted on our defence, while inside Tarn’s are hundreds of
+Frontiersmen, sharpshooters, members of rifle clubs, and other men who
+can shoot. Yesterday some artillery men arrived with five field guns,
+and upon our barricade one has been mounted. The men say they have come
+across from Windsor, and that other batteries of artillery are on their
+way to strengthen us. Therefore, old Von Kronhelm, notwithstanding all
+his orders and daily proclamations about this and about that, has us
+Cockneys to deal with yet. And he’ll find the Elephant and Castle a
+tough nut to crack. Hundreds of the men in our tram service are at the
+barricades. We never thought, a month ago, when we used to drive up and
+down from the bridges, that we’d so soon all of us become soldiers.
+Life, however, is full of ups and downs. But nowadays London doesn’t
+somehow seem like London. There is no traffic, and the side streets all
+seem as silent as the grave. The main thoroughfares, such as the
+Walworth, Old Kent, Kennington Park, Clapham, and Wandsworth Roads, are
+crowded night and day by anxious, hungry people, eager for the revenge
+which is declared by the Defenders to be at hand. How soon it comes no
+one cares. There is still hope in Walworth and Kennington, and though
+our stomachs may be empty we have sworn not to capitulate.
+
+“Food is on its way to us, so it is said. We have regained command of
+the sea, therefore the ports are reopened, and in a day or two food will
+no longer be scarce.
+
+“I saw this morning a poster issued by the League of Defenders, the
+_Daily Bulletin_, it is called, declaring that relief is at hand. I hope
+it is, for the sake of my distracted wife and family. The County Council
+have been very good to us, but as money won’t buy anything, what is the
+good of it? The supply is growing daily more limited. Half a crown was
+paid yesterday by a man I know for a small loaf of bread at a shop in
+the Wandsworth Road.
+
+“Our daily life at the barricade is monotonous and very wearying. Now
+that the defences are complete and there is nothing to do, everyone is
+anxious to have a brush with the enemy, and longing that he may make an
+attack upon us. As newspapers are very difficult to get within the
+barricades, several new ones have sprung up in South London, most of
+them queer, ill-printed sheets, but very interesting on account of the
+news they give.
+
+“The one most in favour is called _The South London Mirror_. I think it
+is in connection with the _Daily Mail_. It now and then gives
+photographs, like the _Daily Mirror_. Yesterday it gave a good one of
+the barricade where I am stationed. The neighbourhood of the Elephant
+presents an unusual picture, for everywhere men are scrambling over the
+roofs, and windows of the houses are being half-covered with sheet iron,
+while here and there is seen protruding the muzzle of a Maxim.
+
+“I hear on the best authority that explosives are already in position
+under all the bridges, ready to blow them up at any moment. Yesterday I
+went along to Southwark Bridge to see the defences there. They are
+really splendid. Before they can be taken by assault the loss of life
+must be appalling to the enemy. There are mines laid in front by which
+the Germans could be blown to atoms. Certainly our first line of defence
+is at least a reliable one. Now that Londoners have taken the law into
+their own hands, we may perhaps hope for some success. Our Army, our
+Navy, our War Office, our Admiralty, have proved themselves utterly
+incompetent.
+
+“By day and by night we guard our barricades. The life is an idle one,
+now that there is no further work to do. Imagine a huge wall erected
+right across the road from Tarn’s front to the public-house opposite, an
+obstruction composed of every conceivable object that might resist the
+German bullets, and with loopholes here and there to admit of our fire.
+Everything, from paving-stones torn up from the footpath to iron
+coal-scuttles, has been used in its construction, together with
+thousands of yards of barbed wire. Roughly, I believe that fully a
+thousand men are holding my own particular defence, every one of them
+members of this new League, which, encouraged and aided by Government,
+is making such rapid progress in every direction. Every man who stands
+shoulder to shoulder with me has sworn allegiance to King and Country,
+and will fight and die in the defence of the city he loves. During the
+past four days I have only been home once. Alas! my clean little home is
+now one of suffering and desolation. I cannot bear to hear the children
+cry for bread, so I now remain at my post, bearing my own humble part in
+the defence of London. The wife bears up in patience, as so many
+thousands of the good wives of humble folk are now doing. She is
+pale-faced and dark-eyed, for privation is fast telling upon her. Yet
+she uttered no word of complaint. She only asked me simply when this
+cruel war would end.
+
+“When? Ay, when?
+
+“It will end when we have driven the Germans back into the sea--when we
+have had blood for blood--when we have avenged the lives of those
+innocent Englishmen and Englishwomen who have been killed in Suffolk,
+Norfolk, Essex, and Yorkshire. Then the war will end--with victory for
+our dear old England.
+
+“Of tobacco and drink there is still an abundance. Of the latter, alas,
+we see examples of its abuse every day. Men and women, deprived of food
+in many cases, have recourse to drink, with terrible effect. In every
+quarter, as one walks through South London, one sees riotous
+drunkenness, and often a lawlessness, which, if not put down by the
+people themselves, would quickly assume alarming proportions. There are
+no police now; but the Defenders act the part of officers of the law,
+and repress any acts of violence or riotous behaviour.
+
+“A certain section of the public are, of course, in favour of stopping
+the war at all costs, and towards that end are continually holding
+meetings, and have even gone the length of burning the barricade outside
+the police station in Kennington Road. This shameful act was committed
+last night, and one of its perpetrators was, I hear, caught and promptly
+lynched by the infuriated mob. The barricade is now in rapid process of
+re-building. On every hand, horses--or the few that now remain in South
+London--are being killed and used as food. Even such meat as that is at
+a price almost prohibitive. This afternoon a company of military
+telegraph engineers came to our barricade, and established telephonic
+communication between us and the similar obstructions at London Bridge,
+and on our right in Great Dover Street. From one hour to another we
+never know when Von Kronhelm may give the order to attack the bridges,
+therefore through the whole twenty-four hours we have to be alert and
+watchful, even though we may smoke and gossip around our stacks of piled
+arms. When the conflict comes it will be a long and bloody one, that is
+certain. Not a man in South London will shirk his duty to the Empire.
+The future, whether England shall still remain Mistress of the World,
+lies with us. It is that important all-present fact that the League of
+Defenders is impressing upon us from all the hoardings, and it is also
+the fact which stimulates each one of us to bear our part in the defence
+of our homes and our loved ones.
+
+“Germany shall yet rue the day when she launched her legions upon us.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Life in London north of the Thames at that moment was more exciting
+than that within the fortress of South London. In the latter, everyone
+was waiting in hunger and patience the march of events, while north of
+the river the ever-present Germans in foraging parties were a constant
+source of annoyance and anger.
+
+All roads leading into London from the west, right across from
+Hammersmith Bridge nearly to the Welsh Harp, were now heavily
+barricaded. More than once Von Kronhelm was inclined to forbid this, but
+the real fact was that he was pleased to allow the people some vent for
+their outraged feelings. Londoners declared that they would allow no
+more Germans to enter, and for that reason they were blocking the roads.
+
+Had it not been for the fact that the bulk of London’s millions had been
+driven south of the Thames by the bombardment and subsequent street
+fighting, Von Kronhelm, with his men now seriously reduced, would have
+found himself in a very queer position.
+
+As it was, London was, for him, a hornets’ nest.
+
+The disposition of his troops was as follows: Along the northern heights
+of London was spread Frölich’s cavalry division. The IXth Corps from
+Essex, who were still practically fresh, were guarding the lines of
+communication to Southminster and Harwich; the Xth Corps were occupying
+the City proper, the IVth Corps were encamped in Hyde Park and held West
+London, the Garde Corps were holding the Regent’s Park neighbourhood,
+while the Saxons were outside London at Staines. From this latter
+quarter constant brushes with the British and with bodies of auxiliaries
+were being reported, and Staines Bridge had at last been blown up by the
+Germans.
+
+Notwithstanding all Von Kronhelm’s cunning and diplomacy, London was
+nevertheless a city of growing unrest. Union Jacks still flew, though
+the Germans were on the alert everywhere, and the _Daily Bulletin_ of
+the Defenders, encouraging the people of London to hold out, made its
+appearance upon hoardings and walls in every quarter. Many homeless
+people were living in the ruins of houses, but, alas, hardly living,
+such was the acute state of affairs. Daily the enemy distributed soup,
+but only in meagre quantities, for, truth to tell, the portion of the
+Metropolis under German rule was quite as badly off for food as the huge
+fortress across the Thames.
+
+“Courage” was everywhere the Londoners’ watchword. A band of adventurous
+spirits, having captured a small party of German engineers in
+Pentonville Road as they were about to demolish some unsafe houses with
+explosives, seized the latter, and got safely away. The next day, the
+26th, with great daring they made an attempt to blow up Von Kronhelm’s
+apartments in the new War Office.
+
+The manner in which it was accomplished, it appears, was by two of the
+number obtaining German infantry uniforms--exactly how it is not stated,
+but probably from dead soldiers--of the regiment who were mounting guard
+in Whitehall. Thus disguised, they were enabled to pass the sentries,
+obtain access to the long corridor leading past the big room of the
+Commander-in-Chief, and there place the explosive already prepared in
+the form of a bomb fired by clockwork, just beside the door. They ran
+for their lives, and just succeeded in escaping when there was a
+terrific explosion, and the whole front behind those columns of the
+façade on the principal floor was blown, with its furniture, etc., out
+into Whitehall.
+
+Four German clerks and a secretary were killed; but Von Kronhelm
+himself, who was believed to have been at work there, had, half an hour
+before, gone across the road to the Horse Guards.
+
+The sensation caused among Londoners was enormous, for it was at first
+rumoured that Von Kronhelm had really been killed. Upon this there were
+wild demonstrations on the part of the more lawless section of the
+public, a section which was indeed increasing hourly. Even quiet,
+respectable citizens found their blood boiling when they gazed upon
+their wrecked homes and realised that their fortunes were ruined.
+
+The explosion at Whitehall resulted in a most vigorous inquiry. The
+German Field-Marshal’s headquarters were removed to another portion of
+the building, and within an hour of the outrage the telegraph
+instrument--which had been blown to atoms--was replaced by another, and
+communication with Berlin re-established.
+
+Most rigorous measures were now ordered to be taken for the preservation
+of law and order. That evening still another of those famous
+proclamations made its appearance, in which the regulations were
+repeated, and it was also ordered that in consequence of the outrage any
+person found in the possession of arms or of explosives was liable to be
+shot at sight and without any form of trial.
+
+The vagabond part of London was, however, to the fore in giving the
+Germans all the trouble they could. As the soldiers patrolled the
+streets they were closely scanned, pointed at, hooted, and assailed with
+slang that they could not understand. Often the people, in order to show
+their antagonism, would post themselves in great numbers across a
+street, say, in Piccadilly, Oxford Street, or the Strand, and refuse to
+move, so that the troops, to avoid a collision, were obliged to go round
+by the side streets, amid the loud jeers of the populace.
+
+Whenever a German flag was discovered, a piece of crape was tied to it,
+or it received some form of insult. The Germans went about with
+self-possession, even with bravado. In twos or threes they walked
+together, and seemed as safe as though they were in large numbers.
+Sometimes a mob of boys would follow, hooting, ridiculing them, and
+calling them by opprobrious epithets. Occasionally men and women formed
+around them in groups and engaged in conversation, while everywhere
+during that first week of the occupation the soldiers of the Kaiser were
+objects of great curiosity on the part of the alien rabble of the East
+End.
+
+Hundreds upon hundreds of German workers from Whitechapel fraternised
+with the enemy, but woe betide them when the angry bands of Londoners
+watched and caught them alone afterwards. In dozens of cases they paid
+for their friendliness with the enemy with their lives.
+
+From the confident tone of the Berlin Press, coupled with the actions of
+Von Kronhelm, it was quite plain to all the world that the German
+Emperor was now determined to take the utmost advantage of his success,
+and, having England in his power, to make her drink the cup of adversity
+to the very dregs.
+
+Many a ghastly tale was now reaching London from West Middlesex. A party
+of eleven Frontiersmen, captured by the Saxons five miles north of
+Staines, were obliged to dig their own graves, and were then shot as
+they stood before them. Another terrible incident reported by a reliable
+war correspondent was that, as punishment for an attack on a
+requisitioning party, the entire town of Feltham had been put to the
+sword, even the children. Eighty houses were also burnt down. At
+Bedfont, too, a whole row of houses had been burned, and a dozen men and
+women massacred, because of a shot fired at a German patrol.
+
+The German Army might possess many excellent qualities, but chivalry was
+certainly not among them. War with them was a business. When London fell
+there was no sentimental pity for it, but as much was to be made out of
+it as possible.
+
+This was apparent everywhere in London. As soon as a German was
+quartered in a room his methods were piratical. The enemy looted
+everywhere, notwithstanding Von Kronhelm’s orders.
+
+Gradually to the abyss of degradation was our country thus being
+brought. Where would it end?
+
+England’s down-trodden millions were awaiting in starvation and patience
+the dawn of the Day of Revenge.
+
+It now became known that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had
+sent to the British diplomatic agents abroad (with a view to its
+ultimate submittal to the various European Cabinets) a protest of the
+British Government against the bombardment of London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+REVOLTS IN SHOREDITCH AND ISLINGTON
+
+
+On the night of the 27th September, a very serious conflict, entailing
+much loss of life on both the London civilian and German side, occurred
+at the point where Kingsland Road joins Old Street, Hackney Road, and
+High Street. Across both Hackney and Kingsland Roads the barricades
+built before the bombardment still remained in a half-ruined state, any
+attempt at clearing them away being repulsed by the angry inhabitants.
+Dalston, Kingsland, Bethnal Green, and Shoreditch were notably
+antagonistic to the invaders, and several sharp encounters had taken
+place. Indeed, those districts were discovered by the enemy to be very
+unsafe.
+
+The conflict in question, however, commenced at the corner of Old Street
+at about 9.30 in the evening, by three German tailors from Cambridge
+Road being insulted by two men, English labourers. The tailors appealed
+in German to four Westphalian infantrymen who chanced to be passing, and
+who subsequently fired and killed one of the Englishmen. This was the
+signal for a local uprising. The alarm given, hundreds of men and women
+rushed from their houses, many of them armed with rifles and knives,
+and, taking cover behind the ruined barricades, opened fire upon a body
+of fifty Germans, who very quickly ran up. The fire was returned, when
+from the neighbouring houses a perfect hail of lead was suddenly rained
+upon the Germans, who were then forced to retire down High Street
+towards Liverpool Street Station, leaving many dead in the roadway.
+
+Very quickly news was sent over the telephone, which the Germans had now
+established in many quarters of London, and large reinforcements were
+soon upon the scene. The men of Shoreditch had, however, obtained two
+Maxim guns, which had been secreted ever since the entry of the Germans
+into the Metropolis, and as the enemy endeavoured to storm their
+position they swept the street with a deadly fire. Quickly the situation
+became desperate, but the fight lasted over an hour. The sound of firing
+brought hundreds upon hundreds of Londoners upon the scene. All these
+took arms against the Germans, who, after many fruitless attempts to
+storm the defences, and being fired upon from every side, were compelled
+to fall back again.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE OF THE STREET FIGHTING IN SHOREDITCH on Sept.
+27th]
+
+They were followed along High Street into Bethnal Green Road, up Great
+Eastern Street into Hoxton Square and Pitfield Street, and there cut up,
+being given no quarter at the hands of the furious populace. In those
+narrow thoroughfares they were powerless, and were therefore simply
+exterminated, until the streets ran with blood.
+
+The victory for the men of Shoreditch was complete, over three hundred
+and fifty Germans being killed, while our losses were only about fifty.
+
+The conflict was at once reported to Von Kronhelm, and the very fact
+that he did not send exemplary punishment into that quarter was quite
+sufficient to show that he feared to arouse further the hornets’ nest in
+which he was living, and more especially that portion of the populace
+north of the City.
+
+News of the attack, quickly spreading, inspired courage in every other
+part of the oppressed Metropolis.
+
+The successful uprising against the Germans in Shoreditch incited
+Londoners to rebel, and in various other parts of the Metropolis,
+especially in Westbourne Grove, in Notting Hill, in Marylebone Road, and
+in Kingsland, there occurred outbreaks of a more or less serious nature.
+
+Between invaders and defenders there was now constant warfare. Von
+Kronhelm had found to his cost that London was not to be so easily
+cowed, after all, notwithstanding his dastardly bombardment. The size
+and population of the Metropolis had not been sufficiently calculated
+upon. It was as a country in itself, while the intricacies of its
+by-ways formed a refuge for the conspirators, who were gradually
+completing their preparations to rise _en masse_ and strike down the
+Germans wherever found. In the open country his great army could march,
+manœuvre, and use strategy, but here in the maze of narrow London
+streets it was impossible to know in one thoroughfare what was taking
+place in the next.
+
+Supplies, too, were now running very short. The distress among our
+vanquished populace was most severe; while Von Kronhelm’s own army was
+put on meagre rations. The increasing price of food and consequent
+starvation had not served to improve the relations between the invaders
+and the citizens of London, who, though they were assured by various
+proclamations that they would be happier and more prosperous under
+German rule, now discovered that they were being slowly starved to
+death.
+
+Their only hope, therefore, was in the efforts of that now gigantic
+organisation, the League of Defenders.
+
+A revolt occurred in Pentonville Road, opposite King’s Cross Underground
+Station, which ended in a fierce and terrible fray. A company of the
+Bremen Infantry Regiment No. 75, belonging to the IXth Corps, were
+marching from the City Road towards Regent’s Park, when several shots
+were fired at them from windows of shops almost opposite the station.
+Five Germans fell dead, including one lieutenant, a very gorgeous person
+who wore a monocle. Another volley rang out before the infantrymen could
+realise what was happening, and then it was seen that the half-ruined
+shops had been placed in such a state of defence as to constitute a
+veritable fortress.
+
+The fire was returned, but a few moments later a Maxim spat its deadly
+fire from a small hole in a wall, and a couple of dozen of the enemy
+fell upon the granite setts of the thoroughfare. The rattle of musketry
+quickly brought forth the whole of that populous neighbourhood--or all,
+indeed, that remained of them--the working-class district between
+Pentonville Road and Copenhagen Street. Notwithstanding the wreck of
+London, many of the poorer classes still clung to their own districts,
+and did not migrate with the middle and upper classes across the Thames.
+
+Quickly the fight became general. The men of Bremen endeavoured to take
+the place by assault, but found that it was impossible. The strength of
+the defences was amazing, and showed only too plainly that Londoners
+were in secret preparing for the great uprising that was being planned.
+In such a position were the houses held by the Londoners, that their
+fire commanded both the Pentonville and King’s Cross Roads; but very
+soon the Germans were reinforced by another company of the same
+regiment, and these being attacked in the rear from Rodney Street,
+Cumming Street, Weston Street, York Street, Winchester Street, and other
+narrow turnings leading into the Pentonville Road, the fighting quickly
+became general.
+
+The populace came forth in swarms, men and women, armed with any weapon
+or article upon which they could lay their hands, and all fired with the
+same desire.
+
+And in many instances they succeeded, be it said. Hundreds of men who
+came forth were armed with rifles which had been carefully secreted on
+the entry of the enemy into the metropolis. The greater part of those
+men, indeed, had fought at the barricades in North London, and had
+subsequently taken part in the street fighting as the enemy advanced.
+Some of the arms had come from the League of Defenders, smuggled into
+the metropolis nobody exactly knew how. All that was known was that at
+the various secret headquarters of the League, rifles, revolvers, and
+ammunition were forthcoming, the majority of them being of foreign make,
+and some of them of a pattern almost obsolete.
+
+Up and down the King’s Cross, Pentonville, and Caledonian Roads the
+crowd swayed and fought. The Germans against that overwhelming mass of
+angry civilians seemed powerless. Small bodies of the troops were
+cornered in the narrow by-streets, and then given no quarter.
+Brave-hearted Londoners, though they knew well what dire punishment they
+must inevitably draw upon themselves, had taken the law into their own
+hands, and were shooting or stabbing every German who fell into their
+hands.
+
+The scene of carnage in that hour of fighting was awful. The _Daily
+Chronicle_ described it as one of the most fiercely-contested encounters
+in the whole history of the siege. Shoreditch had given courage to
+King’s Cross, for, unknown to Von Kronhelm, houses in all quarters were
+being put in a state of defence, their position being carefully chosen
+by those directing the secret operations of the League of Defenders.
+
+For over an hour the houses in question gallantly held out, sweeping the
+streets constantly with their Maxim. Presently, however, on further
+reinforcements arriving, the German colonel directed his men to enter
+the houses opposite. In an instant a door was broken in, and presently
+glass came tumbling down as muzzles of rifles were poked through the
+panes, and soon sharp crackling showed that the Germans had settled down
+to their work. The movements of the enemy throughout were characterised
+by their coolness and military common sense. They did the work before
+them in a quiet, business-like way, not shirking risk when it was
+necessary, but, on the other hand, not needlessly exposing themselves
+for the sake of swagger.
+
+The defence of the Londoners was most obstinate. In the streets,
+Londoners attacked the enemy with utter disregard for the risks they
+ran. Women, among them many young girls, joined in the fray, armed with
+pistols and knives.
+
+After a while a great body of reinforcements appeared in the Euston
+Road, having been sent hurriedly along from Regent’s Park. Then the
+option was given to those occupying the fortified house to surrender,
+the colonel promising to spare their lives. The Londoners peremptorily
+refused. Everywhere the fighting became more desperate, and spread all
+through the streets leading out of St. Pancras, York, and Caledonian
+Roads, until the whole of that great neighbourhood became the scene of a
+fierce conflict, in which both sides lost heavily. Right across
+Islington the street fighting spread, and many were the fatal traps set
+for the unwary German who found himself cut off in that maze of narrow
+streets between York Road and the Angel. The enemy, on the other hand,
+were shooting down women and girls as well as the men, even the
+non-combatants--those who came out of their houses to ascertain what was
+going on--being promptly fired at and killed.
+
+In the midst of all this somebody ignited some petrol in a house a few
+doors from the chapel in Pentonville Road, and in a few moments the
+whole row of buildings were blazing furiously, belching forth black
+smoke and adding to the terror and confusion of those exciting moments.
+Even that large body of Germans now upon the scene were experiencing
+great difficulty in defending themselves. A perfect rain of bullets
+seemed directed upon them on every hand, and to-day’s experience
+certainly proves that Londoners are patriotic and brave, and in their
+own districts they possess a superiority over the trained troops of the
+Kaiser.
+
+At length, after a most sanguinary struggle, the Londoners’ position was
+carried, the houses were entered, and twenty-two brave patriots, mostly
+of the working class, taken prisoners. The populace now realising that
+the Germans had, after all, overpowered their comrades in their
+fortress, fell back; but being pursued northward towards the railway
+line between Highbury and Barnsbury Stations, many of them were
+despatched on the spot.
+
+What followed was indeed terrible. The anger of the Germans now became
+uncontrollable. Having in view Von Kronhelm’s proclamation,--which
+sentenced to death all who, not being in uniform, fired upon German
+troops,--they decided to teach the unfortunate populace a lesson. As a
+matter of fact, they feared that such revolts might be repeated in other
+quarters.
+
+So they seized dozens of prisoners, men and women, and shot them down.
+Many of these summary executions took place against the wall of the St.
+Pancras Station at the corner of Euston Road. Men and women were
+pitilessly sent to death. Wives, daughters, fathers, sons were ranged up
+against that wall, and, at signal from the colonel, fell forward with
+German bullets through them.
+
+Of the men who had so gallantly held the fortified house, not a single
+one escaped. Strings of men and women were hurried to their doom in one
+day, for the troops were savage with the lust of blood, and Von
+Kronhelm, though he was aware of it by telephone, lifted not a finger to
+stop those arbitrary executions.
+
+But enough of such details. Suffice it to say that the stones of
+Islington were stained with the blood of innocent Londoners, and that
+those who survived took a fierce vow of vengeance. Von Kronhelm’s
+legions had the upper hand for the moment, yet the conflict and its
+bloody sequel had the effect of arousing the fiercest anger within the
+heart of every Briton in the metropolis.
+
+What was in store for us none could tell. We were conquered, oppressed,
+starved; yet hope was still within us. The League of Defenders were not
+idle, while South London was hourly completing her strength.
+
+When the day dawned for the great revenge--as it would ere long--then
+every man and woman in London would rise simultaneously, and the
+arrogant Germans would cry for quarter that certainly would never be
+given them.
+
+It seems that after quelling the revolt at King’s Cross wholesale
+arrests were made in Islington. The guilt or innocence of the prisoners
+did not seem to matter, Von Kronhelm dealing out to them exemplary and
+summary punishment. In all cases the charges were doubtful, and in many
+cases the innocent have, alas! paid the penalty with their lives.
+
+Terror reigns in London. One newspaper correspondent--whose account is
+published this morning in South London, having been sent across the
+Thames by carrier pigeon, many of which were now being employed by the
+newspapers--had an opportunity of witnessing the wholesale executions
+which took place yesterday afternoon outside Dorchester House, where Von
+Kleppen has established his quarters. Von Kleppen seems to be the most
+pitiless of the superior officers. The prisoners, ranged up for
+inspection in front of the big mansion, were mostly men from Islington,
+all of whom knew only too well the fate in store for them. Walking
+slowly along and eyeing the ranks of these unfortunate wretches, the
+German General stopped here and there, tapping a man on the shoulder or
+beckoning him out of the rear ranks. In most cases, without further
+word, the individual thus selected was marched into the Park at Stanhope
+Gate, where a small supplementary column was soon formed.
+
+Those chosen knew that their last hour had come. Some clasped their
+hands and fell upon their knees, imploring pity, while others remained
+silent and stubborn patriots. One man, his face covered with blood and
+his arm broken, sat down and howled in anguish, and others wept in
+silence. Some women--wives and daughters of the condemned men--tried to
+get within the Park to bid them adieu and to urge courage, but the
+soldiers beat them back with their rifles. Some of the men laughed
+defiantly, others met death with a stony stare. The eye-witness saw the
+newly-dug pit that served as common grave, and he stood by and saw them
+shot and their corpses afterwards flung into it.
+
+One young fair-haired woman, condemned by Von Kleppen, rushed forward to
+that officer, threw herself upon her knees, implored mercy, and
+protested her innocence wildly. But the officer, callous and pitiless,
+simply motioned to a couple of soldiers to take her within the Park,
+where she shared the same fate as the men.
+
+How long will this awful state of affairs last? We must die, or conquer.
+London is in the hands of a legion of assassins--Bavarians, Saxons,
+Würtembergers, Hessians, Badeners--all now bent upon prolonging the
+reign of terror, and thus preventing the uprising that they know is,
+sooner or later, inevitable.
+
+Terrible accounts are reaching us of how the Germans are treating their
+prisoners on Hounslow Heath, at Enfield, and other places; of the awful
+sufferings of the poor unfortunate fellows, of hunger, of thirst, and of
+inhuman disregard for either their comfort or their lives.
+
+At present we are powerless, hemmed in by our barricades. Behind us,
+upon Sydenham Hill, General Bamford is in a strong position, and his
+great batteries are already defending any attack upon London from the
+south. From the terrace in front of the Crystal Palace his guns can
+sweep the whole range of southern suburbs. Through Dulwich, Herne Hill,
+Champion Hill, and Denmark Hill are riding British cavalry, all of whom
+show evident traces of the hard and fierce campaign. We see from
+Sydenham constant messages being heliographed, for General Bamford and
+Lord Byfield are in hourly communication by wireless telegraphy or by
+other means.
+
+What is transpiring at Windsor is not known, save that every night there
+are affairs of outposts with the Saxons, who on several occasions have
+attempted to cross the river by pontoons, and have on each occasion been
+driven back.
+
+It was reported to Parliament at its sitting at Bristol yesterday that
+the Cabinet had refused to entertain any idea of paying the indemnity
+demanded by Germany, and that their reply to Von Kronhelm is one of open
+defiance. The brief summary of the speeches published shows that the
+Government are hopeful, notwithstanding the present black outlook. They
+believe that when the hour comes for the revenge, London will rise as a
+man, and that Socialists, Nonconformists, Labour agitators, Anarchists,
+and demagogues will unite with us in one great national, patriotic
+effort to exterminate our conquerors as we would exterminate vermin.
+
+Mr. Gerald Graham has made another great speech in the House, in which
+he reported the progress of the League of Defenders and its widespread
+ramifications. He told the Government that there were over seven
+millions of able-bodied men in the country ready to revolt the instant
+the word went forth. That there would be terrible bloodshed he warned
+them, but that the British would eventually prove the victors he was
+assured. He gave no details of the organisation, for
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------+
+ | LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS. |
+ | |
+ | DAILY BULLETIN. |
+ | |
+ | The League of Defenders of the British Empire |
+ | publicly announce to Englishmen, although the |
+ | North of London is held by the enemy: |
+ | |
+ | (1) That England will soon entirely regain |
+ | command of the sea, and that a rigorous blockade |
+ | of the German ports will be established. |
+ | |
+ | (2) That three of the vessels of the North |
+ | German Lloyd Transatlantic passenger service |
+ | have been captured, together with a number of |
+ | minor German ships in the Channel and Mediterranean. |
+ | |
+ | (3) That four German cruisers and two destroyers |
+ | have fallen into the hands of the |
+ | British. |
+ | |
+ | (4) That |
+ | |
+ | ENGLAND’S MILLIONS ARE READY |
+ | TO RISE! |
+ | |
+ | Therefore |
+ | |
+ | WE ARE NOT YET BEATEN! |
+ | BE PREPARED, AND WAIT. |
+ | |
+ | League of Defenders. |
+ | |
+ | Central Office: Bristol. |
+ +------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ COPY OF THE “DAILY BULLETIN” OF THE LEAGUE
+ OF DEFENDERS.
+
+to a great measure it was a secret one, and Von Kronhelm was already
+taking active steps to combat its intentions; but he declared that there
+was still a strong spirit of patriotism in the country, and explained
+how sturdy Scots were daily making their way south, and how men from
+Wales were already massing in Oxford.
+
+The speech was received on both sides of the House with ringing cheers,
+when, in conclusion, he promised them that, within a few days, the fiat
+would go forth, and the enemy would find himself crushed and powerless.
+
+“South London,” he declared, “is our stronghold, our fortress. To-day it
+is impregnable, defended by a million British patriots, and I defy Von
+Kronhelm--indeed, I dare him to attack it!”
+
+Von Kronhelm was, of course, well aware of the formation of the
+Defenders, but treated the League with contempt. If there was any
+attempt at a rising, he would shoot down the people like dogs. He
+declared this openly and publicly, and he also issued a warning to the
+English people in the German official _Gazette_, a daily periodical
+printed in one of the newspaper offices in Fleet Street in both German
+and English.
+
+The German Commander fully believed that England was crushed; yet, as
+the days went on, he was puzzled that he received no response to his
+demand for indemnity. Twice he had sent special despatch-bearers to
+Bristol, but on both occasions the result was the same. There was no
+reply.
+
+Diplomatic representations had been made in Berlin through the Russian
+Ambassador, who was now in charge of British interests in Germany, but
+all to no purpose. Our Foreign Minister simply acknowledged receipt of
+the various despatches. On the Continent the keenest interest was
+manifested at what was apparently a deadlock. The British had, it was
+known, regained command of the sea. Von Kronhelm’s supplies were already
+cut off. The cables in direct communication between England and Germany
+had been severed, and the Continental Press, especially the Paris
+journals, gleefully recounted how two large Hamburg-American liners
+attempting to reach Hamburg by passing north of Scotland had been
+captured by British cruisers.
+
+In the Channel, too, a number of German vessels had been seized, and one
+that showed fight off the North Foreland was fired upon and sunk. The
+public at home, however, were more interested in supremacy on land. It
+was all very well to have command of the sea, they argued, but it did
+not appear to alleviate perceptibly the hunger and privations on land.
+The Germans occupied London, and while they did so all freedom in
+England was at an end.
+
+A great poster headed “Englishmen,” here reproduced, was seen
+everywhere. The whole country was flooded with it, and thousands upon
+thousands of heroic Britons, from the poorest to the wealthiest,
+clamoured to enrol themselves. The movement was an absolutely national
+one in every sense of the word. The name of Gerald Graham, the new
+champion of England’s power, was upon everyone’s tongue. Daily he spoke
+in the various towns in the west of England, in Plymouth, Taunton,
+Cardiff, Portsmouth, and Southampton, and, assisted by the influential
+committee, among whom were many brilliant speakers and men whose names
+were as household words, he aroused the country to the highest pitch of
+hatred against the enemy. The defenders, as they drilled in various
+centres through the whole of the west of England, were a strange and
+incongruous body. Grey-bearded Army pensioners ranged side by side with
+keen, enthusiastic youths, advised them and gave them the benefit of
+their expert knowledge. Volunteer officers in many cases assumed
+command, together with retired drill sergeants. The digging of trenches
+and the making of fortifications were assigned to navvies, bricklayers,
+platelayers, and agricultural labourers, large bodies of
+
+ +------------------------------------------------------+
+ | =ENGLISHMEN!= |
+ | |
+ | Your Homes are Desecrated! |
+ | Your Children are Starving! |
+ | Your Loved Ones are Dead! |
+ | |
+ | =WILL YOU REMAIN IN COWARDLY |
+ | INACTIVITY?= |
+ | |
+ | The German Eagle flies over London. Hull, Newcastle, |
+ | and Birmingham are in ruins. Manchester |
+ | is a German City. Norfolk, Essex, and Suffolk |
+ | form a German colony. |
+ | |
+ | The Kaiser’s troops have brought death, ruin, and |
+ | starvation upon you. |
+ | |
+ | =WILL YOU BECOME GERMANS?= |
+ | |
+ | =NO!= |
+ | |
+ | Join THE DEFENDERS and fight for England. |
+ | You have England’s Millions beside you. |
+ | |
+ | =LET US RISE!= |
+ | |
+ | Let us drive back the Kaiser’s men. |
+ | |
+ | Let us shoot them at sight. |
+ | |
+ | Let us exterminate every single man who has |
+ | desecrated English soil. |
+ | |
+ | Join the New League of Defenders. |
+ | |
+ | Fight for your homes. Fight for your wives. Fight |
+ | for England. |
+ | |
+ | =FIGHT FOR YOUR KING!= |
+ | |
+ | The National League of Defenders’ Head Offices, |
+ | Bristol, September 21st, 1910. |
+ +------------------------------------------------------+
+
+ A COPY OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE LEAGUE OF
+ DEFENDERS ISSUED ON 21ST SEPTEMBER 1910.
+
+whom were under railway gangers, and were ready to perform any
+excavation work.
+
+The Maxims and other machine guns were mostly manned by Volunteer
+artillery; but instruction in the working of the Maxim was given to
+select classes in Plymouth, Bristol, Portsmouth, and Cardiff. Time was
+of utmost value, therefore the drilling was pushed forward day and
+night. It was known that Von Kronhelm was already watchful of the
+movements of the League, and was aware daily of its growth. Whether its
+gigantic proportions would place him upon his guard was, however, quite
+uncertain.
+
+In London, with the greatest secrecy, the defenders were banding
+together. In face of the German proclamation posted upon the walls,
+Londoners were holding meetings in secret and enrolling themselves. Such
+meetings had, perforce, to be held in unsuspected places, otherwise all
+those present would be arrested and tried for conspiracy by martial law.
+Many of the smaller chapels in the suburbs, schoolrooms, mission halls,
+and such-like buildings were used as meeting-places; but the actual
+local headquarters of the League were kept a profound secret except to
+the initiated.
+
+German spies were everywhere. In one case at a house in Tottenham Court
+Road, where a branch of the League was discovered, no fewer than
+twenty-seven persons were arrested, three of whom were on the following
+day shot on the Horse Guards’ Parade as warning to others who might seek
+to incite the spirit of revolt against German rule.
+
+Nevertheless, though there were many arrests, and though every branch of
+the Defenders was crushed vigorously and stamped out wherever found, the
+movement proceeded apace, and in no city did it make greater headway,
+nor were the populace more eager to join, than in our dear old London.
+
+Though the German Eagle flew in Whitehall and from the summit of St.
+Stephen’s Tower, and though the heavy tramp of German sentries echoed in
+Trafalgar Square, in the quiet, trafficless streets in the vicinity,
+England was not yet vanquished.
+
+The valiant men of London were still determined to sell their liberty
+dearly, and to lay down their lives for the freedom of their country and
+honour of their King.
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III
+
+THE REVENGE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BLOW FOR FREEDOM
+
+
+“‘DAILY MAIL’ OFFICE, _Oct. 1st_, 2 p.m.
+
+“Three days have passed since the revolt at King’s Cross, and each day,
+both on the Horse Guards’ Parade and in the Park, opposite Dorchester
+House, there have been summary executions. Von Kronhelm is in evident
+fear of the excited London populace, and is endeavouring to cow them by
+his plain-spoken and threatening proclamations, and by these wholesale
+executions of any person found with arms in his or her possession. But
+the word of command does not abolish the responsibility of conscience,
+and we are now awaiting breathlessly for the word to strike the blow in
+revenge.
+
+“The other newspapers are reappearing, but all that is printed each
+morning is first subjected to a rigorous censorship, and nothing is
+allowed to be printed before it is passed and initialled by the two
+gold-spectacled censors who sit and smoke their pipes in an office to
+themselves. Below, we have German sentries on guard, for our journal is
+one of the official organs of Von Kronhelm, and what now appears in it
+is surely sufficient to cause our blood to boil.
+
+“To-day, there are everywhere signs of rapidly-increasing unrest.
+Londoners are starving, and are now refusing to remain patient any
+longer. The _Daily Bulletin_ of the League of Defenders, though the
+posting of it is punishable by imprisonment, and it is everywhere torn
+down where discovered by the Germans, still gives daily brief news of
+what is in progress, and still urges the people to wait in patience for
+‘the action of the Government,’ as it is sarcastically put.
+
+“Soon after eleven o’clock this morning a sudden and clearly
+premeditated attack was made upon a body of the Bremen infantry who were
+passing along Oxford Street from Holborn to the Marble Arch. The
+soldiers were suddenly fired upon from windows of a row of shops between
+Newman Street and Rathbone Place, and before they could halt and return
+the fire they found themselves surrounded by a great armed rabble, who
+were emerging from all the streets leading into Oxford Street on either
+side.
+
+“While the Germans were manœuvring, some unknown hand launched from a
+window a bomb into the centre of them. Next second there was a red
+flash, a loud report, and twenty-five of the enemy were blown to atoms.
+For a few moments the soldiers were demoralised, but orders were shouted
+loudly by their officers, and they began a most vigorous defence. In a
+few seconds the fight was as fierce as that at King’s Cross; for out of
+every street in that working-class district lying between the Tottenham
+Court Road and Great Portland Street on the north, and out of Soho on
+the south, poured thousands upon thousands of fierce Londoners, all bent
+upon doing their utmost to kill their oppressors. From almost every
+window along Oxford Street a rain of lead was now being poured upon the
+troops, who vainly strove to keep their ground. Gradually, however, they
+were, by slow degrees, forced back into the narrow side-turnings up
+Newman Street, and Rathbone Place into Mortimer Street, Foley Street,
+Goodge Street, and Charlotte Street; and there they were slaughtered
+almost to a man.
+
+“Two officers were captured by the armed mob in Tottenham Street, and
+after being beaten were stood up and shot in cold blood as vengeance for
+those shot during the past three days at Von Kleppen’s orders at
+Dorchester House.
+
+“The fierce fight lasted quite an hour; and though reinforcements were
+sent for, yet, curiously enough, none arrived.
+
+“The great mob, however, were well aware that very soon the iron hand of
+Germany would fall heavily upon them; therefore, in frantic haste they
+began soon after noon to build barricades, and block up the narrow
+streets in every direction. At the end of Rathbone Place, Newman Street,
+Berners Street, Wells Street, and Great Titchfield Street huge
+obstructions soon appeared, while on the east all by-streets leading
+into Tottenham Court Road were blocked up, and the same on the west in
+Great Portland Street, and on the north where the district was flanked
+by the Euston Road. So that by two o’clock the populous neighbourhood
+bounded by the four great thoroughfares was rendered a fortress in
+itself.
+
+“Within that area were thousands of armed men and women from Soho,
+Bloomsbury, Marylebone, and even from Camden Town. There they remained
+in defiance of Von Kronhelm’s newest proclamation, which stared one in
+the face from every wall.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+“‘DAILY TELEGRAPH’ OFFICE, FLEET STREET,
+_Oct. 1st_, 2 p.m.
+
+“The enemy were unaware of the grave significance of the position of
+affairs, because Londoners betrayed no outward sign of the truth. Now,
+however, nearly every man and woman wore pinned upon their breasts a
+small piece of silk about two inches square, printed as a miniature
+Union Jack--the badge adopted by the League of Defenders. Though Von
+Kronhelm was unaware of it, Lord Byfield, in council with Greatorex and
+Bamford, had decided that, in order to demoralise the enemy and give him
+plenty of work to do, a number of local uprisings should take place
+north of the Thames. These would occupy Von Kronhelm, who would
+experience great difficulty in quelling them, and would no doubt
+eventually recall the Saxons from West Middlesex to assist. If the
+latter retired upon London they would find the barricades held by
+Londoners in their rear and Lord Byfield in their front, and be thus
+caught between two fires.
+
+“In each district of London there is a chief of the Defenders, and to
+each chief these orders had been conveyed in strictest confidence.
+Therefore, to-day, while the outbreak occurred in Oxford Street, there
+were fully a dozen others in various parts of the metropolis, each of a
+more or less serious character. Every district has already prepared its
+own secret defences, its fortified houses, and its barricades in hidden
+by-ways. Besides the quantities of arms smuggled into London, every dead
+German has had his rifle, pistol, and ammunition stolen from him.
+Hundreds of the enemy have been surreptitiously killed for that very
+reason. Lawlessness is everywhere. Government and Army has failed them,
+and Londoners are now taking the law into their own hands.
+
+“In King Street, Hammersmith; in Notting Dale, in Forest Road, Dalston;
+in Wick Road, Hackney; in Commercial Road East, near Stepney Station;
+and in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town, the League of Defenders this
+morning--at about the same hour--first made their organisation public by
+displaying our national emblem, together with the white flags, with the
+scarlet St. George’s Cross, the ancient battle-flag of England.
+
+“For that reason, then, no reinforcements were sent to Oxford Street.
+Von Kronhelm was far too busy in other quarters. In Kentish Town, it is
+reported, the Germans gained a complete and decisive victory, for the
+people had not barricaded themselves strongly; besides, there were large
+reinforcements of Germans ready in Regent’s Park, and these came upon
+the scene before the Defenders were sufficiently prepared. The flag was
+captured from the barricade in Prince of Wales Road, and the men of
+Kentish Town lost over four hundred killed and wounded.
+
+“At Stepney the result was the reverse. The enemy, believing it to be a
+mere local disturbance and easily quelled, sent but a small body of men
+to suppress it. But very quickly, in the intricate by-streets off
+Commercial Road, these were wiped out, not one single man surviving. A
+second and a third body were sent, but so fiercely was the ground
+contested that they were at length compelled to fall back and leave the
+men of Stepney masters of their own district. In Hammersmith and in
+Notting Dale the enemy also lost heavily, though in Hackney they were
+successful after two hours’ hard fighting.
+
+“Everyone declares that this secret order issued by the League means
+that England is again prepared to give battle, and that London is
+commencing by her strategic movement of local rebellions. The gravity of
+the situation cannot now, for one moment, be concealed. London north of
+the Thames is destined to be the scene of the fiercest and most bloody
+warfare ever known in the history of the civilised world. The Germans
+will, of course, fight for their lives, while we shall fight for our
+homes and for our liberty. But right is on our side, and right will win.
+
+“Reports from all over the metropolis tell the same tale. London is
+alert and impatient. At a word she will rise to a man, and then woe
+betide the invader! Surely Von Kronhelm’s position is not a very
+enviable one. Our two censors in the office are smoking their pipes very
+gravely. Not a word of the street fighting is to be published, they say.
+They will write their own account of it before the paper goes to press!
+
+“10 p.m.
+
+“There has been a most frightful encounter at the Oxford Street and
+Tottenham Court Road barricades--a most stubborn resistance and gallant
+defence on the part of the men of Marylebone and Bloomsbury.
+
+“From the lips of one of our correspondents who was within the
+barricades I have just learned the details. It appears that just about
+four o’clock General Von Wilberg sent from the City a large force of the
+19th Division under Lieutenant-General Frankenfeld, and part of these,
+advancing through the squares of Bloomsbury into Gower Street, attacked
+the Defenders’ position from the Tottenham Court Road, while others
+coming up Holborn and New Oxford Street entered Soho from Charing Cross
+Road and threw up counter barricades at the end of Dean Street, Wardour
+Street, Berwick, Poland, Argyll, and the other streets, all of which
+were opposite the defences of the populace. In Great Portland Street,
+too, they adopted a similar line, and without much ado the fight,
+commenced in a desultory fashion, soon became a veritable battle.
+
+“Within the barricades was a dense body of armed and angry citizens,
+each with his little badge, and every single one of them was ready to
+fight to the death. There is no false patriotism now, no mere bravado.
+Men make declarations, and carry them out. The gallant Londoners, with
+their several Maxims, wrought havoc among the invaders, especially in
+the Tottenham Court Road, where hundreds were maimed or killed.
+
+“In Oxford Street, the enemy being under cover of their
+counter-barricades, little damage could be done on either side. The
+wide, open, deserted thoroughfare was every moment swept by a hail of
+bullets, but no one was injured. On the Great Portland Street side the
+populace made a feint of giving way at the Mortimer Street barricade,
+and a body of the enemy rushed in, taking the obstruction by storm. But
+next moment they regretted it, for they were set upon by a thousand
+armed men and by wild-haired women, so that every man paid for his
+courage with his life. The women, seizing the weapons and ammunition of
+the dead Germans, now returned to the barricade to use them.
+
+“The Mortimer Street defences were at once repaired, and it was resolved
+to relay the fatal trap at some other point. Indeed, it was repeated at
+the end of Percy Street, where about fifty more Germans, who thought
+themselves victorious, were set upon and at once exterminated.
+
+“Until dusk the fight lasted. The Germans, finding their attack futile,
+began to hurl petrol bombs over the barricades, and these caused
+frightful destruction among our gallant men, several houses in the
+vicinity being set on fire. Fortunately, there was still water in the
+street hydrants, and two fire-engines had already been brought within
+the beleaguered area in case of necessity.
+
+“At last, about seven o’clock, the enemy, having lost very heavily in
+attempting to take the well-chosen position by storm, brought down
+several light field guns from Regent’s Park; and, placing them at their
+counter-barricades--where, by the way, they had lost many men in the
+earlier part of the conflict while piling up their shelters--suddenly
+opened fire with shell at the huge obstructions before them.
+
+“At first they made but little impression upon the flagstones, etc., of
+which the barricades were mainly composed. But before long their
+bombardment began to tell; for slowly, here and there, exploding shells
+made great breaches in the defences that had been so heroically manned.
+More than once a high explosive shell burst right among the crowd of
+riflemen behind a barricade, sweeping dozens into eternity in a single
+instant. Against the fortified houses each side of the barricades the
+German artillery trained their guns, and very quickly reduced many of
+those buildings to ruins. The air now became thick with dust and smoke;
+and mingled with the roar of artillery at such close quarters came the
+screams of the injured and the groans of the dying. The picture drawn by
+the eye-witness who described this was a truly appalling one. Gradually
+the Londoners were being overwhelmed, but they were selling their lives
+dearly, fully proving themselves worthy sons of grand old England.
+
+“At last the fire from the Newman Street barricade of the Defenders was
+silenced, and ten minutes later, a rush being made across from Dean
+Street, it was taken by storm. Then ensued fierce and bloody
+hand-to-hand fighting right up to Cleveland Street, while almost at the
+same moment the enemy broke in from Great Portland Street.
+
+“A scene followed that is impossible to describe. Through all those
+narrow, crooked streets the fighting became general, and on either side
+hundreds fell. The Defenders in places cornered the Germans, cut them
+off, and killed them. Though it was felt that now the barricades had
+been broken the day was lost, yet every man kept courage, and fought
+with all the strength left within him.
+
+“For half an hour the Germans met with no success. On the contrary, they
+found themselves entrapped amid thousands of furious citizens, all
+wearing their silken badges, and all sworn to fight to the death.
+
+“While the Defenders still struggled on, loud and ringing cheers were
+suddenly raised from Tottenham Court Road. The people from Clerkenwell,
+joined by those in Bloomsbury, had arrived to assist them. They had
+risen, and were attacking the Germans in the rear.
+
+“Fighting was now general right across from Tottenham Court Road to
+Gray’s Inn Road, and by nine o’clock, though Von Wilberg sent
+reinforcements, a victory was gained by the Defenders. Over two thousand
+Germans are lying dead and wounded about the streets and squares of
+Bloomsbury and Marylebone. The League had struck its first blow for
+Freedom.
+
+“What will the morrow bring us? Dire punishment--or desperate victory?”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+“‘DAILY MAIL’ OFFICE, _Oct. 4_, 6 p.m.
+
+“The final struggle for the possession of London is about to commence.
+
+“The metropolis is in a ferment of excitement. Through all last night
+there were desultory conflicts between the soldiers and the people, in
+which many lives have, alas! been sacrificed.
+
+“Von Wilberg still holds the City proper, with the Mansion House as his
+headquarters. Within the area already shown upon the map there are no
+English, all the inhabitants having been long ago expelled. The great
+wealth of London is in German hands, it is true, but it is Dead Sea
+fruit. They are unable either to make use of it or to deport it to
+Germany. Much has been taken away to the base at Southminster and other
+bases in Essex, but the greater part of the bullion still remains in the
+Bank of England.
+
+“Here, in Whitefriars, the most exciting stories have been reaching us
+during the last twenty-four hours, none of which, however, have passed
+the censor. For that reason I, one of the sub-editors, am keeping this
+diary, as a brief record of events during the present dreadful times.
+
+“After the terrific struggle in Marylebone three days ago, Von Kronhelm
+saw plainly that if London were to rise _en masse_ she would at once
+assume the upper hand. The German Commander-in-Chief had far too many
+points to guard. On the west of London he was threatened by Lord Byfield
+and hosts of auxiliaries, mostly sworn members of the National League of
+Defenders; on the south, across the river, Southwark, Lambeth, and
+Battersea formed an impregnable fortress, containing over a million
+eager patriots ready to burst forth and sweep away the vain, victorious
+army; while within central London itself the spirit of revolt was rife,
+and the people were ready to rise at any moment. The train is laid. Only
+the spark is required to cause an explosion.
+
+“Reports reaching us to-day from Lord Byfield’s headquarters at Windsor
+are numerous, but conflicting. As far as can be gathered, the authentic
+facts are as follows: Great bodies of the Defenders, including many
+women, all armed, are massing at Reading, Sonning, Wokingham, and
+Maidenhead. Thousands have arrived, and are hourly arriving by train,
+from Portsmouth, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Gloucester, and, in fact,
+all the chief centres of the West of England, where Gerald Graham’s
+campaign has been so marvellously successful. Sturdy Welsh colliers are
+marching shoulder to shoulder with agricultural labourers from Dorset
+and Devon, and clerks and citizens from the towns of Somerset, Cornwall,
+Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire are taking arms beside the riff-raff of
+their own neighbourhoods. Peer and peasant, professional man and pauper,
+all are now united with one common object--to drive back the invader,
+and to save our dear old England.
+
+“Oxford has, it seems, been one of the chief points of concentration,
+and the undergraduates who re-assembled there to defend their colleges
+now form an advance-guard of a huge body of Defenders on the march, by
+way of Henley and Maidenhead, to follow in the rear of Lord Byfield. The
+latter holds Eton and the country across to High Wycombe, while the
+Saxon headquarters are still at Staines. Frölich’s Cavalry Division are
+holding the country across from Pinner through Stanmore and Chipping
+Barnet to the prison camp at Enfield Chase. These are the only German
+troops outside west London, the Saxons being now barred from entering by
+the huge barricades which the populace of West London have during the
+past few days been constructing. Every road leading into London from
+West Middlesex is now either strongly barricaded or entirely blocked up.
+Kew, Richmond, and Kingston Bridges have been destroyed, and Lord
+Byfield, with General Bamford at the Crystal Palace, remains practically
+in possession of the whole of the south of the Thames.
+
+“The conflict which is now about to begin will be one to the death.
+While, on the one hand, the Germans are bottled up among us, the fact
+must not be overlooked that their arms are superior, and that they are
+trained soldiers. Yet the two or three local risings of yesterday and
+the day previous have given us courage, for they show that the enemy
+cannot manœuvre in the narrow streets, and soon become demoralised.
+In London we fail because we have so few riflemen. If every man who now
+carries a gun could shoot we could compel the Germans to fly a flag of
+truce within twenty-four hours. Indeed, if Lord Roberts’s scheme of
+universal training in 1906 had been adopted, the enemy would certainly
+never have been suffered to approach our capital.
+
+“Alas! apathy has resulted in this terrible and crushing disaster, and
+we have only now to bear our part, each one of us, in the blow to avenge
+this desecration of our homes and the massacre of our loved ones.
+
+“To-day I have seen the white banners with the red cross--the ensign of
+the Defenders--everywhere. Till yesterday it was not openly displayed,
+but to-day it is actually hung from windows or flown defiantly from
+flagstaffs in full view of the Germans.
+
+“In Kilburn, or, to be more exact, in the district lying between the
+Harrow Road and the High Road, Kilburn, there was another conflict this
+morning between some of the German Garde Corps and the populace. The
+outbreak commenced by the arrest of some men who were found practising
+with rifles in Paddington Recreation Ground. One man who resisted was
+shot on the spot, whereupon the crowd who assembled attacked the German
+picket, and eventually killed them to a man. This was the signal for a
+general outbreak in the neighbourhood, and half an hour later, when a
+force was sent to quell the revolt, fierce fighting became general all
+through the narrow streets of Kensal Green, especially at the big
+barricade that blocks the Harrow Road where it is joined by Admiral
+Road. Here the bridges over the Grand Junction Canal have already been
+destroyed, for the barricades and defences have been scientifically
+constructed under the instruction of military engineers.
+
+“One of our reporters despatched to the scene has just given me a
+thrilling account of the desperate struggle, in which no quarter was
+given on either side. So overwhelming were the number of the populace,
+that after an hour’s hard fighting the Germans were driven back across
+Maida Vale into St. John’s Wood, where, I believe, they were held at bay
+for several hours.
+
+“From an early hour to-day it has been apparent that all these risings
+were purposely ordered by the League of Defenders to cause Von Kronhelm
+confusion. Indeed, while the outbreak at Kensal Green was in progress,
+we had another reported from Dalston, a third from Limehouse, and a
+fourth from Homerton. Therefore, it is quite certain that the various
+centres of the League are acting in unison upon secret orders from
+headquarters.
+
+“Indeed, South London also took part in the fray this morning, for the
+Defenders at the barricade at London Bridge have now mounted several
+field-guns, and have started shelling Von Wilberg’s position in the
+City. It is said that the Mansion House, where the General had usurped
+the apartments of the deported Lord Mayor, has already been half reduced
+to ruins. This action is, no doubt, only to harass the enemy, for surely
+General Bamford has no desire to destroy the City proper any more than
+it has already been destroyed. Lower Thames Street, King William Street,
+Gracechurch Street, and Cannon Street have, at any rate, been found
+untenable by the enemy, upon whom some losses have been inflicted.
+
+“South London is every moment anxious to know the truth. Two days after
+the bombardment we succeeded at night in sinking a light telegraph cable
+in the river across from the Embankment at the bottom of Temple Avenue,
+and are in communication with our temporary office in Southwark Street.
+Over this we report the chief incidents which occur, and they are
+printed for the benefit of the beleaguered population over the water.
+The existence of the cable is, however, kept a strict secret from our
+pair of gold-spectacled censors.
+
+“The whole day has been one of tension and excitement. The atmosphere
+outside is breathless, the evening overcast and oppressive, precursory
+to a storm. An hour ago there came, through secret sources, information
+of another naval victory to our credit, several German warships being
+sunk and captured. Here, we dare not print it, so I have just wired it
+across to the other side, where they are issuing a special edition.
+
+ +----------------------------------------------------------+
+ | |
+ | [Illustration] |
+ | |
+ | =LEAGUE OF DEFENDERS.= |
+ | |
+ | CITIZENS OF LONDON AND LOYAL PATRIOTS. |
+ | |
+ | The hour has come to show your strength, and to |
+ | wreak your vengeance. |
+ | |
+ | TO-NIGHT, OCT. 4, AT 10 P.M., rise, and strike |
+ | your blow for freedom. |
+ | |
+ | A MILLION MEN are with Lord Byfield, already |
+ | within striking distance of London; a million follow |
+ | them, and yet another million are ready in South London. |
+ | |
+ | RISE, FEARLESS AND STERN. Let “England for |
+ | Englishmen” be your battle-cry, and avenge the blood of |
+ | your wives and your children. |
+ | |
+ | AVENGE THIS INSULT TO YOUR |
+ | NATION. |
+ | |
+ | REMEMBER: TEN O’CLOCK TO-NIGHT! |
+ | |
+ +----------------------------------------------------------+
+
+“Almost simultaneously with the report of the British victory, namely,
+at five o’clock, the truth--the great and all-important truth--became
+revealed. The mandate has gone forth from the headquarters of the League
+of Defenders that London is to rise in her might at ten o’clock
+to-night, and that a million men are ready to assist us. Placards and
+bills on red paper are everywhere. As if by magic, London has been
+flooded with the defiant proclamation of which the copy here reproduced
+has just been brought in to me.
+
+“Frantic efforts are being made by the Germans all over London to
+suppress both posters and handbills, but without avail. The streets are
+littered with them, and upon every corner they are being posted, even
+though more than one patriot has paid for the act with his life.
+
+“It is now six o’clock. In four hours it is believed that London will be
+one huge seething conflict. Night has been chosen, I suppose, in order
+to give the populace the advantage. The by-streets are for the most part
+still unlit, save for oil-lamps, for neither gas nor electric light are
+yet in proper working order after the terrible dislocation of
+everything. The scheme of the Defenders is, as already proved, to lure
+the Germans into the narrower thoroughfares, and then exterminate them.
+Surely in the history of the world there has never been such a bitter
+vengeance as that which is now inevitable. London, the greatest city
+ever known, is about to rise!
+
+“Midnight.
+
+“London has risen! How can I describe the awful scenes of panic,
+bloodshed, patriotism, brutality, and vengeance that are at this moment
+in progress? As I write, through the open window I can hear the roar of
+voices, the continual crackling of rifles, and the heavy booming of
+guns. I walked along Fleet Street at nine o’clock, and I found, utterly
+disregarding the order that no unauthorised persons are to be abroad
+after nightfall, hundreds upon hundreds of all classes, all wearing
+their little silk Union Jack badges pinned to their coats, on their way
+to join in their particular districts. Some carried rifles, others
+revolvers, while others were unarmed. Yet not a German did I see in the
+streets. It seemed as though, for the moment, the enemy had vanished.
+There was only the strong cordon across the bottom of Ludgate Hill, men
+who looked on in wonder, but without bestirring themselves.
+
+“Is it possible that Von Kronhelm’s strategy is to remain inactive, and
+refuse to fight?
+
+“The first shot I heard fired, just after ten o’clock, was at the Strand
+end of Fleet Street, at the corner of Chancery Lane. There, I afterwards
+discovered, a party of forty German infantrymen had been attacked, and
+all of them killed. Quickly following this, I heard the distant booming
+of artillery, and then the rattle of musketry and pom-poms became
+general, but not in the neighbourhood where I was. For nearly half an
+hour I remained at the corner of Aldwych; then, on going farther along
+the Strand, I found that the defenders from the Waterloo Road had made a
+wild sortie into the Strand, but could find no Germans there.
+
+“The men who had for a fortnight held that barricade at the bridge were
+more like demons than human beings; therefore I retired, and in the
+crush made my way back to the office to await reports.
+
+“They were not long in arriving. I can only give a very brief résumé at
+the moment, for they are so numerous as to be bewildering.
+
+“Speaking generally, the whole of London has obeyed the mandate of the
+League, and, rising, are attacking the Germans at every point. In the
+majority of cases, however, the enemy hold strong positions, and are
+defending themselves, inflicting terrible losses upon the unorganised
+populace. Every Londoner is fighting for himself, without regard for
+orders or consequences. In Bethnal Green the Germans, lured into the
+maze of by-streets, have suffered great losses, and again in
+Clerkenwell, St. Luke’s, Kingsland, Hackney, and Old Ford. Whitechapel,
+too, devoid of its alien population, who have escaped into Essex, has
+held its own, and the enemy have had some great losses in the streets
+off Cable and Leman Streets.
+
+“With the exception of the sortie across Waterloo Bridge, South London
+is, as yet, remaining in patience, acting under the orders of General
+Bamford.
+
+“News has come in ten minutes ago of a fierce and sudden night attack
+upon the Saxons by Lord Byfield from Windsor, but there are, as yet, no
+details.
+
+“From the office across the river I am being constantly asked for
+details of the fight, and how it is progressing. In Southwark the
+excitement is evidently most intense, and it requires all the energy of
+the local commanders of the Defenders to repress another sortie across
+that bridge.
+
+“There has just occurred an explosion so terrific that the whole of this
+building has been shaken as though by an earthquake. We are wondering
+what has occurred.
+
+“Whatever it is, one fact is only too plain. Both British and Germans
+are now engaged in a death-struggle.
+
+“London has struck her first blow of revenge. What will be its sequel?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+SCENES AT WATERLOO BRIDGE
+
+
+The following is the personal narrative of a young chauffeur named John
+Burgess, who assisted in the defence of the barricade at Waterloo
+Bridge.
+
+The statement was made to a reporter at noon on October 5, while he was
+lying on a mattress in the Church of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, so
+badly wounded in the chest that the surgeons had given him up.
+
+Around him were hundreds of wounded who, like himself, had taken part in
+the sudden rising of the Defenders, and who had fallen beneath the hail
+of the German Maxims. He related his story with difficulty, in the form
+of a farewell letter to his sister, who was a telegraph clerk at the
+Shrewsbury Post Office. The reporter chanced to be passing by the poor
+fellow, and, overhearing him asking for someone to write for him,
+volunteered to do so.
+
+“We all did our best,” he said, “every one of us. Myself, I was at the
+barricade for thirteen days--thirteen days of semi-starvation,
+sleeplessness, and constant tension, for we knew not, from one moment to
+another, when a sudden attack might be made upon us. At first our
+obstruction was a mere ill-built pile of miscellaneous articles, half of
+which would not stop bullets; but on the third day our men,
+superintended by several non-commissioned officers in uniform, began to
+put the position in a proper state of defence, to mount Maxims in the
+neighbouring houses, and to place explosives in the crown of two of the
+arches of the bridge, so that we could instantly demolish it if
+necessity arose.
+
+“Fully a thousand men were holding the position, but unfortunately few
+of them had ever handled a rifle. As regards myself, I had learned to
+shoot rooks when a boy in Shropshire, and now that I had obtained a gun
+I was anxious to try my skill. When the League of Defenders was started,
+and a local secretary came to us, we all eagerly joined, each receiving,
+after he had taken his oath and signed his name, a small silk Union
+Jack, the badge of the League, not to be worn till the word went forth
+to rise.
+
+“Then came a period--long, dreary, shadeless days of waiting--when the
+sun beat down upon us mercilessly and our vigilance was required to be
+constant both night and day. So uncertain were the movements of the
+enemy opposite us that we scarcely dared to leave our positions for a
+moment. Night after night I spent sleeping in a neighbouring doorway,
+with an occasional stretch upon somebody’s bed in some house in the
+vicinity. Now and then, whenever we saw Germans moving in Wellington
+Street, we sent a volley into them, in return receiving a sharp reply
+from their pom-poms. Constantly our sentries were on the alert along the
+wharves and in the river-side warehouses, watching for the approach of
+the enemy’s spies in boats. Almost nightly some adventurous spirits
+among the Germans would try and cross. On one occasion, while doing
+sentry duty in a warehouse backing on Commercial Road, I was sitting
+with a comrade at a window overlooking the river. The moon was shining,
+for the night was a balmy and beautiful one, and all was quiet. It was
+about two o’clock in the morning, and as we sat smoking our pipes, with
+our eyes fixed upon the glittering water, we suddenly saw a small boat
+containing three men stealing slowly along in the shadow cast by the
+great warehouse in which we were.
+
+“For a moment the rowers rested upon their oars, as if undecided, then
+pulled forward again in search of a landing-place. As they passed below
+our window I shouted a challenge. At first there was no response. Again
+I repeated it, when I heard a muttered imprecation in German.
+
+“‘Spies!’ I cried to my comrade, and with one accord we raised our
+rifles and fired. Ere the echo of the first shot had died away I saw one
+man fall into the water, while at the next shot a second man half rose
+from his seat, threw up his hands, and staggered back wounded.
+
+“The firing gave the alarm at the barricade, and ere the boat could
+approach the bridge, though the survivor pulled for dear life, a Maxim
+spat forth its red fire, and both boat and oarsman were literally
+riddled.
+
+“Almost every night similar incidents were reported. The enemy were
+doing all in their power to learn the exact strength of our defences,
+but I do not think their efforts were very successful. The surface of
+the river, every inch of it, was under the careful scrutiny of a
+thousand watchful eyes.
+
+“Day after day passed, often uneventfully. We practically knew nothing
+of what was happening across the river, though we could see the German
+standard flying upon the public buildings. The ruins of London were
+smoking for days after the bombardment, and smouldering fires broke out
+again in many instances.
+
+“Each day the _Bulletin_ of our national association brought us tidings
+of what was happening beyond the barricades. We had regained command of
+the sea, which was said to be a good deal, though it did not seem to
+bring us much nearer to victory.
+
+“At last, however, the welcome word came to us, on the morning of
+October 4th, that at ten that night we were to make a concerted attack
+upon the Germans. A scarlet bill was thrust into my hand, and as soon as
+the report was known we were all highly excited, and through the day
+prepared ourselves for the struggle. I regret to say that some of my
+comrades, prone to drink, primed themselves with spirits obtained from
+the neighbouring public-houses in York Road and Waterloo Road. Not that
+drunkenness had been the rule. On the contrary, the extreme tension of
+those long, hot days had had a sobering effect, and even men used to
+drink refrained from taking any. Ah! I have of late seen some splendid
+examples of self-denial, British patriotism, and fearless valour. Only
+Englishmen could have conducted themselves as my brave comrades have
+done. Only Englishmen could have died as they have done.
+
+“Through all yesterday we waited, watching every movement of the enemy
+in our line of fire. Now and then we, as usual, sent him greetings in
+the form of a shell or two, or else a splutter from a Maxim, and in
+reply there came the sweeping hail of bullets, which flattened
+themselves upon our wall of paving-stones. The sunset was a red, dusky
+one, and over London westward there spread a blood-red light, as though
+precursory to the awful catastrophe that was about to fall. With the
+after-glow came the dark oppression of a thunderstorm--a fevered
+electrical quiet that could be felt. I stood upon the barricade gazing
+over the river, and wondering what would happen ere the dawn. At ten
+o’clock London, the great, mysterious, unknown city, was to rise and
+cast off the German yoke. How many who rebelled would live to see the
+sunrise?
+
+“I had watched the first flash of the after-glow beyond Blackfriars
+Bridge every morning for the past ten days. I had breathed the fresh
+air, unsullied by smoke, and had admired the beauty of the outlines of
+riverside London in those early hours. I had sat and watched the faint
+rose turn to purple, to grey, and then to the glorious yellow sunrise.
+Yes. I had seen some of the most glorious sunrises on the river that I
+have ever witnessed. But should I ever see another?
+
+“Dusk crept on, and deepened into night--the most momentous night in all
+the history of our giant city. The fate of London--nay, the fate of the
+greatest Empire the world has ever seen, was to be decided! And about
+me in groups waited my comrades with fierce, determined faces, looking
+to their weapons and gossiping the while. Each of us had brought out our
+precious little badge and pinned it to our breasts. With the Union Jack
+upon us we were to fight for country and for King.
+
+“Away, across, upon a ruined wall of Somerset House the German standard
+floated defiantly; but one and all of us swore that ere the night was
+past it should be pulled down, and our flag--the flag of St. George of
+England, which flapped lazily above our barricades--should replace it.
+
+“Night fell--a hot, fevered night, breathless and ominous of the storm
+to come. Before us, across the Thames, lay London, wrecked, broken, but
+not yet conquered. In an hour its streets would become, we knew, a
+perfect hell of shot and shell. The oil lamps in Wellington Street,
+opposite Somerset House, threw a weird light upon the enemy’s
+counter-barricade, and we could distinctly see Germans moving, preparing
+for a defence of their position, should we dare to cross the bridge.
+While we waited three of our gallant fellows, taking their lives in
+their hands, put off in a boat and were now examining the bridge beneath
+to ascertain whether the enemy had imitated our action in placing mines.
+They might have attached them where the scaffold was erected on the
+Middlesex side, that spot which had been attacked by German spies on the
+night of the bombardment. We were in a position to blow up the bridge at
+any moment; but we wanted to ascertain if the enemy were prepared to do
+likewise.
+
+“Minutes seemed like hours as we waited impatiently for the appointed
+moment. It was evident that Von Kronhelm feared to make further arrests,
+now that London was flooded by those red handbills. He would, no doubt,
+require all his troops to keep us in check. On entering London the enemy
+had believed the war to be over, but the real struggle is only now
+commencing.
+
+“At last the low boom of a gun sounded from the direction of
+Westminster. We looked at our watches, and found that it was just ten
+o’clock. Next moment our bugle sounded, and we sprang to our positions,
+as we had done dozens, nay, hundreds, of times before. I felt faint, for
+I had only had half a pint of weak soup all day, for the bread did not
+go round. Nevertheless the knowledge that we were about to strike the
+blow inspired me with fresh life and strength. Our officer shouted a
+brief word of command, and next moment we opened a withering fire upon
+the enemy’s barricade in Wellington Street.
+
+“In a moment a hundred rifles and several Maxims spat their red fire at
+us, but as usual the bullets flattened themselves harmlessly before us.
+Then the battery of artillery which Sir Francis Bamford had sent us
+three days before, got into position, and in a few moments began hurling
+great shells upon the German defences. We watched, and cheered loudly as
+the effect of our fire became apparent.
+
+“Behind us was a great armed multitude ready and eager to get at the
+foe, a huge, unorganised body of fierce, irate Londoners, determined
+upon having blood for blood. From over the river the sound of battle was
+rising, a great roaring like the sound of a distant sea, with ever and
+anon the crackling of rifles and the boom of guns, while above the night
+sky grew a dark blood-red with the glare of a distant conflagration.
+
+“For half an hour we pounded away at the barricade in Wellington Street
+with our siege guns, Maxims, and rifles, until a well-directed shell
+exploded beneath the centre of the obstruction, blowing open a great gap
+and sending fragments high into the air. Then it seemed that all
+resistance suddenly ceased. At first we were surprised at this; but on
+further scrutiny we found that it was not our fire that had routed the
+enemy, but that they were being attacked in their rear by hosts of
+armed citizens surging down from Kingsway and the Strand.
+
+“We could plainly discern that the Germans were fighting for their
+lives. Into the midst of them we sent one or two shells; but fearing to
+cause casualties among our own comrades, we were compelled to cease
+firing.
+
+“The armed crowd behind us, finding that we were again inactive, at once
+demanded that our barricade should be opened, so that they might cross
+the bridge and assist their comrades by taking the Germans in their
+rear. For ten minutes our officer in charge refused, for the order of
+General Greatorex, Commander-in-Chief of the League, was that no sortie
+was to be made at present.
+
+“At last, however, the South Londoners became so infuriated that our
+commander was absolutely forced to give way, though he knew not into
+what trap we might fall, as he had no idea of the strength of the enemy
+in the neighbourhood of the Strand. A way was quickly opened in the
+obstruction, and two minutes later we were pouring across Waterloo
+Bridge in thousands, shouting and yelling in triumph as we passed the
+ruins of the enemy’s barricade, and fell upon him with merciless
+revenge. With us were many women, who were, perhaps, fiercer and more
+unrelenting than the men. Indeed, many a woman that night killed a
+German with her own hands, firing revolvers in their faces, striking
+with knives, or even blinding them with vitriol and allowing them to be
+despatched by others.
+
+“The scene was both exciting and ghastly. At the spot where I first
+fought--on the pavement outside the Savoy--we simply slaughtered the
+Germans in cold blood. Men cried for mercy, but we gave them no quarter.
+London had risen in its might, and as our comrades fought all along the
+Strand and around Aldwych, we gradually exterminated every man in German
+uniform. Soon the roadways of the Strand, Wellington Street, Aldwych,
+Burleigh Street, Southampton Street, Bedford Street, and right along to
+Trafalgar Square, were covered with dead and dying. The wounded of both
+nationalities were trodden underfoot and killed by the swaying,
+struggling thousands. The enemy’s loss must have been severe in our
+particular quarter, for of the great body of men from Hamburg and Lübeck
+holding their end of Waterloo Bridge I do not believe a single one was
+spared, even though they fought for their lives like veritable devils.
+
+“Our success intoxicated us, I think. That we were victorious at that
+point cannot be doubted, but with foolish disregard for our own safety
+we pressed forward into Trafalgar Square, in the belief that our
+comrades were similarly making an attack upon the enemy there. The error
+was, alas! a fatal one for many of us. To fight an organised force in
+narrow streets is one thing, but to meet him in a large open space with
+many inlets, like Trafalgar Square, is another.
+
+“The enemy were no doubt awaiting us, for as we poured out from the
+Strand at Charing Cross we were met with a devastating fire from German
+Maxims on the opposite side of the square. They were holding
+Whitehall--to protect Von Kronhelm’s headquarters--the entrances to
+Spring Gardens, Cockspur Street, and Pall Mall East, and their fire was
+converged upon the great armed multitude which, being pressed on from
+behind, came out into the open square only to fall in heaps beneath the
+sweeping hail of German lead.
+
+“The error was one that could not be rectified. We all saw it when too
+late. There was no turning back now. I struggled to get into the small
+side-street that runs down by the bar of the Grand Hotel, but it was
+blocked with people already in refuge there.
+
+“Another instant and I was lifted from my legs by the great throng going
+to their doom, and carried right in the forefront to the square. Women
+screamed when they found themselves facing the enemy’s fire.
+
+“The scene was awful--a massacre, nothing more or less. For every
+German’s life we had taken, a dozen of our own were now being
+sacrificed.
+
+“A woman was pushed close to me, her grey hair streaming down her back,
+her eyes starting wildly from her head, her bony hands smeared with
+blood. Suddenly she realised that right before her red fire was spitting
+from the German guns.
+
+“Screaming in wild despair, she clung frantically to me.
+
+“I felt next second a sharp burning pain in my chest.... We fell forward
+together upon the bodies of our comrades.... When I came to myself I
+found myself here, in this church, close to where I fell.
+
+“What has happened, I wonder? Is our barricade at the bridge still held,
+and still defiant? Can you tell me?”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On that same night desperate sorties were made from the London,
+Southwark, and Blackfriars Bridges, and terrible havoc was committed by
+the Defenders.
+
+The German losses were enormous, for the South Londoners fought like
+demons and gave no quarter. South London had, at last, broken its
+bounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+GREAT BRITISH VICTORY
+
+
+The following despatch from the war correspondent of the _Times_ with
+Lord Byfield was received on the morning of the 5th October, but was not
+published in that journal till some days later, owing to the German
+censorship, which necessitated its being kept secret:--
+
+“WILLESDEN, _4th October_ (Evening).
+
+“After a bloody but successful combat, lasting from early dawn till late
+in the afternoon, the country to the immediate west of the metropolis
+has been swept clear of the hated invaders, and the masses of the
+‘League of Defenders’ can be poured into the West of London without let
+or hindrance. In the desperate street-fighting which is now going on
+they will be much more formidable than they were ever likely to be in
+the open field, where they were absolutely incapable of manœuvring.
+As for the Saxons--what is left of them--and Frölich’s Cavalry Division,
+with whom we have been engaged all day, they have now fallen back on
+Harrow and Hendon, it is said; but it is currently reported that a
+constant movement towards the high ground near Hampstead is going on.
+These rumours come by way of London, since the enemy’s enormous force of
+cavalry is still strong enough to prevent us getting any first-hand
+intelligence of his movements.
+
+“As has been previously reported, the XIIth Saxon Corps, under the
+command of Prince Henry of Würtemberg, had taken up a position intended
+to cover the metropolis from the hordes of Defenders which, supported
+by a small leaven of Regulars, with a proportion of cavalry and guns,
+were known to be slowly rolling up from the west and south. Their front
+facing west, extended from Staines on the south, to Pinner on the north,
+passing through Stanwell, West Drayton, and Uxbridge. In addition they
+had a strong reserve in the neighbourhood of Hounslow, whose business it
+was to cover their left flank by keeping watch along the line of the
+Thames. They had destroyed all bridges over the river between Staines
+and Hammersmith. Putney Bridge, however, was still intact, as all
+attacks on it had been repulsed by the British holding it on the south
+side. Such was the general state of affairs when Lord Byfield, who had
+established his headquarters at Windsor, formed his plan of attack.
+
+“As far as I have been able to ascertain, its general idea was to hold
+the Saxons to their position by the threat of the 300,000 Defenders that
+were assembled and were continually increasing along a roughly parallel
+line to that occupied by the enemy at about ten miles’ distance from it,
+while he attacked their left flank with what Regular and Militia
+regiments he could rapidly get together near Esher and Kingston. By this
+time the southern lines in the neighbourhood of London were all in
+working order, the damage that had been done here and there by small
+parties of the enemy who had made raids across the river having been
+repaired. It was, therefore, not a very difficult matter to assemble
+troops from Windsor and various points on the South of London at very
+short notice.
+
+“General Bamford, to whom had been entrusted the defence of South
+London, and who had established his headquarters at the Crystal Palace,
+also contributed every man he could spare from the remnant of the
+Regular troops under his command who were in that part of the metropolis
+and its immediate neighbourhood that was still held by the British.
+
+“It was considered quite safe now that the Germans in the City were so
+hardly pressed to leave the defence of the Thames bridges to the masses
+of irregulars who had all along formed the bulk of their defenders. The
+risk that Prince Henry of Würtemberg would take the bull by the horns,
+and by a sudden forward move attack and scatter the inert and
+invertebrate mass of ‘Defenders’ who were in his immediate front had, of
+course, to be taken; but it was considered that in the present state of
+affairs in London he would hardly dare to increase the distance between
+the Saxon Corps and the rest of the German Army. Events proved the
+correctness of this surmise; but owing to unforeseen circumstances, the
+course of the battle was somewhat different from that which had been
+anticipated.
+
+“Despite the vigilance of the German spies our plans were kept secret
+till the very end, and it is believed that the great convergence of
+Regular troops that began as soon as it was dark from Windsor and from
+along the line occupied by the Army of the League on the west, right
+round to Greenwich on the east, went on without any news of the movement
+being carried to the enemy.
+
+“Before dawn this morning every unit was in the position to which it had
+been previously detailed, and everything being in readiness, the Royal
+Engineers began to throw a pontoon bridge over the Thames at the point
+where it makes a bend to the south just above the site of Walton Bridge.
+The enemy’s patrols and pickets in the immediate neighbourhood at once
+opened a heavy fire on the workers, but it was beaten down by that which
+was poured upon them from the houses in Walton-on-Thames, which had been
+quietly occupied during the night. The enemy in vain tried to reinforce
+them, but in order to do this their troops had to advance into a narrow
+peninsula which was swept by a cross-fire of shells from batteries which
+had been placed in position on the south side of the river for this very
+purpose.
+
+“By seven o’clock the bridge was completed, and the troops were
+beginning to cross over covered by the fire of the artillery and by an
+advance guard which had been pushed over in boats. Simultaneously very
+much the same thing had been going on at Long Ditton, and fierce
+fighting was going on in the avenues and gardens round Hampton Court.
+Success here, too, attended the British arms. As a matter of fact, a
+determined attempt to cross the river in force had not at all been
+anticipated by the Germans. They had not credited their opponents with
+the power of so rapidly assembling an army and assuming an effective and
+vigorous offensive so soon after their terrible series of disasters.
+
+“What they had probably looked for was an attempt to overwhelm them by
+sheer force of numbers. They doubtless calculated that Lord Byfield
+would stiffen his flabby masses of defenders with what trained troops he
+could muster, and endeavour to attack their lines simultaneously along
+their whole length, overlapping them on either flank.
+
+“They realised that to do this he would have to sacrifice his men in
+thousands upon thousands, but they knew that to do so would be his only
+possible chance of success in this eventuality, since the bulk of his
+men could neither manœuvre nor deploy. Still they reckoned that in
+the desperate situation of the British he would make up his mind to do
+this.
+
+“On their part, although they fully realised the possibility of being
+overwhelmed by such tactics, they felt pretty confident that, posted as
+they were behind a perfect network of small rivers and streams which ran
+down to join the Thames, they would at least succeed in beating off the
+attack with heavy loss, and stood no bad chance of turning the repulse
+into a rout by skilful use of Frölich’s Cavalry Division, which would be
+irresistible when attacking totally untrained troops after they had been
+shattered and disorganised by artillery fire. This, at least, is the
+view of those experts with whom I have spoken.
+
+“What, perhaps, tended rather to confirm them in their theories as to
+the action of the British was the rifle firing that went on along the
+whole of their front all night through. The officers in charge of the
+various units which conglomerated together formed the forces facing the
+Saxons, had picked out the few men under their command who really had
+some little idea of using a rifle, and, supplied with plenty of
+ammunition, had sent them forward in numerous small parties with general
+orders to approach as near the enemy’s picket line as possible, and as
+soon as fired on to lie down and open fire in return. So a species of
+sniping engagement went on from dark to dawn. Several parties got
+captured or cut up by the German outlying troops, and many others got
+shot by neighbouring parties of snipers. But, although they did not in
+all probability do the enemy much damage, yet they kept them on the
+alert all night, and led them to expect an attack in the morning. One
+way and another luck was entirely on the side of the patriots that
+morning.
+
+“When daylight came the British massed to the westward of Staines had
+such a threatening appearance from their immense numbers, and the fire
+from their batteries of heavy guns and howitzers on the south side of
+the river, which took the German left flank in, was so heavy that Prince
+Henry, who was there in person, judged an attack to be imminent, and
+would not spare a man to reinforce his troops at Shepperton and
+Halliford, who were numerically totally inadequate to resist the advance
+of the British once they got across the river.
+
+“He turned a deaf ear to the most imploring requests for assistance, but
+ordered the officer in command at Hounslow to move down at once and
+drive the British into the river. So it has been reported by our
+prisoners. Unluckily for him, this officer had his hands quite full
+enough at this time; for the British, who had crossed at Long Ditton,
+had now made themselves masters of everything east of the Thames Valley
+branch of the London and South-Western Railway, were being continually
+reinforced, and were fast pushing their right along the western bank of
+the river.
+
+“Their left was reported to be at Kempton Park, where they joined hands
+with those who had effected a crossing near Walton-on-Thames. More
+bridges were being built at Piatt’s Eyot, Tagg’s Eyot, and Sunbury Lock,
+while boats and wherries in shoals appeared from all creeks and
+backwaters and hiding-places as soon as both banks were in the hands of
+the British.
+
+“Regulars, Militia, and, lastly, Volunteers, were now pouring across in
+thousands. Forward was still the word. About noon a strong force of
+Saxons was reported to be retreating along the road from Staines to
+Brentford. They had guns with them, which engaged the field batteries
+which were at once pushed forward by the British to attack them. These
+troops, eventually joining hands with those at Hounslow, opposed a more
+determined resistance to our advance than we had hitherto encountered.
+
+“According to what we learned subsequently from prisoners and others,
+they were commanded by Prince Henry of Würtemberg in person. He had
+quitted his position at Staines, leaving only a single battalion and a
+few guns as a rearguard to oppose the masses of the Defenders who
+threatened him in that direction, and had placed his troops in the best
+position he could to cover the retreat of the rest of his corps from the
+line they had been occupying. He had, it would appear, soon after the
+fighting began, received the most urgent orders from Von Kronhelm to
+fall back on London and assist him in the street fighting that had now
+been going on without intermission for the best part of two days. Von
+Kronhelm probably thought that he would be able to draw off some of his
+numerous foes to the westward. But the message was received too late.
+Prince Henry did his best to obey it, but by this time the very
+existence of the XIIth Corps was at stake on account of the totally
+unexpected attack on his left rear by the British regular troops.
+
+“He opposed such a stout resistance with the troops under his immediate
+command that he brought the British advance to a temporary standstill,
+while in his rear every road leading Londonward was crowded with the
+rest of his army as they fell back from West Drayton, Uxbridge, Ruislip,
+and Pinner. Had they been facing trained soldiers they would have found
+it most difficult, if not impossible, to do this; but as it was the
+undisciplined and untrained masses of the League of Defenders lost a
+long time in advancing, and still longer in getting over the series of
+streams and dykes that lay between them and the abandoned Saxon
+position.
+
+“They lost heavily, too, from the fire of the small rearguards that had
+been left at the most likely crossing-places. The Saxons were therefore
+able to get quite well away from them, and when some attempt was being
+made to form up the thousands of men who presently found themselves
+congregated on the heath east of Uxbridge, before advancing farther, a
+whole brigade of Frölich’s heavy cavalry suddenly swept down upon them
+from behind Ickenham village. The _débâcle_ that followed was frightful.
+The unwieldy mass of Leaguers swayed this way and that for a moment in
+the panic occasioned by the sudden apparition of the serried masses of
+charging cavalry that were rushing down on them with a thunder of hoofs
+that shook the earth. A few scattered shots were fired without any
+perceptible effect, and before they could either form up or fly the
+German Reiters were upon them. It was a perfect massacre. The Leaguers
+could oppose no resistance whatever. They were ridden down and
+slaughtered with no more difficulty than if they had been a flock of
+sheep. Swinging their long, straight swords, the cavalry-men cut them
+down in hundreds, and drove thousands into the river. The ‘Defenders’
+were absolutely pulverised, and fled westwards in a huge scattered
+crowd. But if the Germans had the satisfaction of scoring a local
+victory in this quarter, things were by no means rosy for them
+elsewhere. Prince Henry, by desperate efforts, contrived to hold on
+long enough in his covering position to enable the Saxons from the
+central portion of his abandoned line to pass through Hounslow, and move
+along the London road, through Brentford.
+
+“Here disaster befell them. A battery of 4·7 guns was suddenly unmasked
+on Richmond Hill, and, firing at a range of 5000 yards, played havoc
+with the marching column. The head of it also suffered severe loss from
+riflemen concealed in Kew Gardens, and the whole force had to extend and
+fall back for some distance in a northerly direction. Near Ealing they
+met the Uxbridge brigade, and a certain delay and confusion occurred.
+However, trained soldiers such as these are not difficult to reorganise,
+and while the latter continued its march along the main road the
+remainder moved in several small parallel columns through Acton and
+Turnham Green. Before another half-hour had elapsed there came a sound
+of firing from the advanced guard. Orders to halt followed, then orders
+to send forward reinforcements.
+
+“During all this time the rattle of rifle fire waxed heavier and
+heavier. It soon became apparent that every road and street leading into
+London was barricaded and that the houses on either side were crammed
+with riflemen. Before any set plan of action could be determined on, the
+retiring Saxons found themselves committed to a very nasty bout of
+street fighting. Their guns were almost useless, since they could not be
+placed in positions from which they could fire on the barricades except
+so close as to be under effective rifle fire. They made several
+desperate assaults, most of which were repulsed. In Goldhawk Road a
+Jäeger battalion contrived to rush the big rampart of paving-stones
+which had been improvised by the British; but once over, they were
+decimated by the fire from the houses on either side of the street. Big
+high explosive shells from Richmond Hill, too, began to drop among the
+Saxons. Though the range was long, the gunners were evidently well
+informed of the whereabouts of the Saxon troops, and made wonderfully
+lucky shooting.
+
+“For some time the distant rumble of the firing to the south-west had
+been growing more distinct in their ears, and about four o’clock it
+suddenly broke out comparatively near by. Then came an order from Prince
+Henry to fall back on Ealing at once. What had happened? It will not
+take long to relate this. Prince Henry’s covering position had lain
+roughly between East Bedfont and Hounslow, facing south-east. He had
+contrived to hold on to the latter place long enough to allow his right
+to pivot on it and fall back to Cranford Bridge. Here they were, to a
+certain extent, relieved from the close pressure they had been subjected
+to by the constantly advancing British troops, by the able and
+determined action of a portion of Frölich’s Cavalry Brigade.
+
+“But in the meantime his enemies on the left, constantly reinforced from
+across the river--while never desisting from their so far unsuccessful
+attack on Hounslow--worked round through Twickenham and Isleworth till
+they began to menace his rear. He must abandon Hounslow, or be cut off.
+With consummate generalship he withdrew his left along the line of the
+Metropolitan and District Railway, and sent word to the troops on his
+right to retire and take up a second position at Southall Green.
+Unluckily for him, there was a delay in transmission, resulting in a
+considerable number of these troops being cut off and captured.
+Frölich’s cavalry were unable to aid them at this juncture, having their
+attention drawn away by the masses of Leaguers who had managed to get
+over the Colne and were congregating near Harmondsworth.
+
+“They cut these up and dispersed them, but afterwards found that they
+were separated from the Saxons by a strong force of British regular
+troops who occupied Harlington and opened a fire on the Reiters that
+emptied numerous saddles. They, therefore, made off to the northward.
+From this forward nothing could check the steady advance of the English,
+though fierce fighting went on till dark all through Hanwell, Ealing,
+Perivale, and Wembley, the Saxons struggling gamely to the last, but
+getting more and more disorganised. Had it not been for Frölich’s
+division on their right they would have been surrounded. As it was, they
+must have lost half their strength in casualties and prisoners.
+
+“At dark, however, Lord Byfield ordered a general halt of his tired
+though triumphant troops, and bivouacked and billeted them along a line
+reaching from Willesden on the right through Wembley to Greenford. He
+himself established his headquarters at Wembley.
+
+“I have heard some critics say that he ought to have pushed on his
+freshest troops towards Hendon to prevent the remnant of our opponents
+from re-entering London; but others, with reason, urge that he is right
+to let them into the metropolis, which they will now find to be merely a
+trap.”
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Extracts from the diary of General Von Kleppen, Commander of the IVth
+German Army Corps, occupying London:--
+
+“DORCHESTER HOUSE, PARK LANE, _Oct. 6_.
+
+“We are completely deceived. Our position, much as we are attempting to
+conceal it, is a very grave one. We believed that if we reached London
+the British spirit would be broken. Yet the more drastic our rule, the
+fiercer becomes the opposition. How it will end I fear to contemplate.
+The British are dull and apathetic, but once aroused, they fight like
+fiends.
+
+“Last night we had an example of it. This League of Defenders, which Von
+Kronhelm has always treated with ridicule, is, we have discovered too
+late, practically the whole of England. Von Bistram, commanding the
+VIIth Corps, and Von Haeslen, of the VIIIth Corps, have constantly been
+reporting its spread through Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield,
+Birmingham, and the other great towns we now occupy; but our
+Commander-in-Chief has treated the matter lightly, declaring it to be a
+kind of offshoot of some organisation they have here in England, called
+the Primrose League....
+
+“Yesterday, at the Council of War, however, he was compelled to
+acknowledge his error when I handed him a scarlet handbill calling upon
+the British to make a concerted attack upon us at ten o’clock.
+Fortunately, we were prepared for the assault, otherwise I verily
+believe that the honours would have rested with the populace in London.
+As it is, we suffered considerable reverses in various districts, where
+our men were lured into the narrow side streets and cut up. I confess I
+am greatly surprised at the valiant stand made everywhere by the
+Londoners. Last night they fought to the very end. A disaster to our
+arms in the Strand was followed by a victory in Trafalgar Square, where
+Von Wilberg had established defences for the purpose of preventing the
+joining of the people of the East End with those of the West....”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+MASSACRE OF GERMANS IN LONDON
+
+
+“‘DAILY MAIL’ OFFICE, _Oct. 12_, 6 p.m.
+
+“Through the whole of last week the Germans occupying London suffered
+great losses. They are now hemmed in on every side.
+
+“At three o’clock this morning, Von Kronhelm having withdrawn the
+greater part of the troops from the defence of the bridges, in an
+attempt to occupy defensive positions in North London, the South
+Londoners, impatient with long waiting, broke forth and came across the
+river in enormous multitudes, every man bent upon killing a German
+wherever seen.
+
+“The night air was rent everywhere by the hoarse, exultant shouts as
+London--the giant, all-powerful city--fell upon the audacious invader.
+Through our windows in Carmelite Street came the dull roar of London’s
+millions swelled by the Defenders from the west and south of England,
+and by the gallant men from Canada, India, the Cape, and other British
+colonies who had come forward to fight for the Mother country as soon as
+her position was known to be critical.
+
+“In the streets are seen Colonial uniforms side by side with the
+costermonger from Whitechapel or Walworth, and dark-faced Indians in
+turbans are fighting out in Fleet Street and the Strand. In the great
+struggle now taking place many of our reporters and correspondents have
+unfortunately been wounded, and, alas! four of them killed.
+
+“In these terrible days a man’s life is not safe from one moment to
+another. Both sides seem to have now lost their heads completely. Among
+the Germans all semblance of order has apparently been thrown to the
+winds. It is known that London has risen to a man, and the enemy are
+therefore fully aware of their imminent peril. Already they are beaten.
+True, Von Kronhelm still sits in the War Office directing
+operations--operations which he knows too well are foredoomed to
+failure.
+
+“The Germans have, it must be admitted, carried on the war in a
+chivalrous spirit until those drastic executions exasperated the people.
+Then neither side gave quarter, and now to-day all through Islington,
+Hoxton, Kingsland, and Dalston, right out eastward to Homerton, a
+perfect massacre of Germans is in progress.
+
+“Lord Byfield has issued two urgent proclamations, threatening the
+people of London with all sorts of penalties if they kill instead of
+taking an enemy prisoner, but they seem to have no effect. London is
+starved and angered to such a pitch that her hatred knows no bounds, and
+only blood will atone for the wholesale slaughter of the innocent since
+the bombardment of the metropolis began.
+
+“The Kaiser has, we hear, left the ‘Belvedere’ at Scarborough, where he
+has been living incognito. A confidential report, apparently well
+founded, has reached us that he embarked upon the steam-trawler _Morning
+Star_ at Scarborough yesterday, and set out across the Dogger, with
+Germany, of course, as his destination. Surely he must now regret his
+ill-advised policy of making an attack upon England. He had gauged our
+military weakness very accurately, but he had not counted upon the
+patriotic spirit of our Empire. It may be that he has already given
+orders to Von Kronhelm, but it is nevertheless a very significant fact
+that the German wireless telegraph apparatus on the summit of Big Ben is
+in constant use by the German Commander-in-Chief. He is probably in
+hourly communication with Bremen, or with the Emperor himself upon the
+trawler _Morning Star_.
+
+“Near Highbury Fields about noon to-day some British cavalry surprised a
+party of Germans, and attempted to take them prisoners. The latter
+showed fight, whereupon they were shot down to a man. The British held
+as prisoners by the Germans near Enfield have now been released, and are
+rejoining their comrades along the northern heights. Many believe that
+another and final battle will be fought north of London, but military
+men declare that the German power is already broken. Whether Von
+Kronhelm will still continue to lose his men at the rate he is now
+doing, or whether he will sue for peace, is an open question.
+Personally, he was against the bombardment of London from the very
+first, yet he was compelled to carry out the orders of his Imperial
+master. The invasion, the landing, and the successes in the North were,
+in his opinion, quite sufficient to have paralysed British trade and
+caused such panic that an indemnity would have been paid. To attack
+London was, in his opinion, a proceeding far too dangerous, and his
+estimate is now proved to have been the correct one. Now that they have
+lost command of the sea and are cut off from their bases in Essex, the
+enemy’s situation is hopeless. They may struggle on, but assuredly the
+end can only be an ignominious one.
+
+“Yet the German Eagle still flies proudly over the War Office, over St.
+Stephen’s, and upon many other public buildings, while upon others
+British Royal Standards and Union Jacks are commencing to appear, each
+one being cheered by the excited Londoners, whose hearts are now full of
+hope. Germany shall be made to bite the dust. That is the war-cry
+everywhere. Many a proud Uhlan and Cuirassier has to-day ridden to his
+death amid the dense mobs, mad with the lust of blood. Some of the more
+unfortunate of the enemy have been lynched, and torn limb from limb,
+while others have died deaths too horrible to here describe in detail.
+
+“Each hour brings to us further news showing how, by slow degrees, the
+German army of occupation is being wiped out. People are jeering at the
+audacious claim for indemnity presented to the British Government when
+the enemy entered London, and are asking whether we will not now present
+a claim to Germany. Von Kronhelm is not blamed so much as his Emperor.
+He has been the catspaw, and has burned his fingers in endeavouring to
+snatch the chestnuts from the fire.
+
+“As a commander, he has acted justly, fully observing the international
+laws concerning war. It was only when faced by the problem of a national
+uprising that he countenanced anything bordering upon capital
+punishment. An hour ago our censors were withdrawn. They came and shook
+hands with many members of the staff, and retired. This surely is a
+significant fact that Von Kronhelm hopes to regain the confidence of
+London by appearing to treat her with a fatherly solicitude. Or is it
+that he intends to sue for peace at any price?
+
+“An hour ago another desperate attempt was made on the part of the men
+of South London, aided by a large body of British regulars, to regain
+possession of the War Office. Whitehall was once more the scene of a
+bloody fight, but so strongly does Von Kronhelm hold the place and all
+the adjacent thoroughfares--he apparently regarding it as his own
+fortress--that the attack was repulsed with heavy loss on our side.
+
+“All the bridges are now open, the barricades are in most cases being
+blown up, and people are passing and repassing freely for the first time
+since the day following the memorable bombardment. London streets are,
+however, in a most deplorable condition. On every hand is ruin and
+devastation. Whole streets of houses rendered gaunt and windowless by
+the now spent fires meet the eye everywhere. In certain places the ruins
+were still smouldering, and in one or two districts the conflagrations
+spread over an enormous area. Even if peace be declared, can London ever
+recover from this present wreck? Paris recovered, and quickly too.
+Therefore we place our faith in British wealth, British industry, and
+British patriotism.
+
+“Yes. The tide has turned. The great Revenge now in progress is truly a
+mad and bloody one. In Kilburn this afternoon there was a wholesale
+killing of a company of German infantry, who, while marching along the
+High Road, were set upon by the armed mob, and practically exterminated.
+The smaller thoroughfares, Brondesbury Road, Victoria Road, Glendall
+Road, and Priory Park Road, across to Paddington Cemetery, were the
+scene of a frightful slaughter. The Germans died hard, but in the end
+were completely wiped out. German-baiting is now, indeed, the Londoner’s
+pastime, and on this dark and rainy afternoon hundreds of men of the
+Fatherland have fallen and died upon the wet roads.
+
+“Sitting here, in a newspaper office, as we do, and having fresh reports
+constantly before us, we are able to review the whole situation
+impartially. Every moment, through the various news-agencies and our own
+correspondents and contributors, we are receiving fresh facts--facts
+which all combine to show that Von Kronhelm cannot hold out much longer.
+Surely the Commander-in-Chief of a civilised army will not allow his men
+to be massacred as they are now being! The enemy’s troops, mixed up in
+the maze of London streets as they are, are utterly unable to cope with
+the oncoming multitudes, some armed with rifles and others with anything
+they can lay their hands upon.
+
+“Women--wild, infuriated women--have now made their reappearance north
+of the Thames. In more than one instance where German soldiers have
+attempted to take refuge in houses these women have obtained petrol,
+and, with screams of fiendish delight, set the houses in question on
+fire. Awful dramas are being enacted in every part of the metropolis.
+The history of to-day is written in German blood.
+
+“Lord Byfield has established temporary headquarters at Jack Straw’s
+Castle, where Von Kronhelm was during the bombardment, and last night we
+could see the signals exchanged between Hampstead and Sydenham Hill,
+from whence General Bamford has not yet moved. Our cavalry in Essex are,
+it is said, doing excellent work. Lord Byfield has also sent a body of
+troops across from Gravesend to Tilbury, and these have regained Maldon
+and Southminster after some hard fighting. Advices from Gravesend state
+that further reinforcements are being sent across the river to operate
+against the East of London and hem in the Germans on that side.
+
+“So confident is London of success that several of the railways are
+commencing to reorganise their traffic. A train left Willesden this
+afternoon for Birmingham--the first since the bombardment--while another
+has left Finsbury Park for Peterborough, to continue to York if
+possible. So wrecked are the London termini, however, that it must be
+some weeks before trains can arrive or be despatched from either Euston,
+King’s Cross, Paddington, Marylebone, or St. Pancras. In many instances
+the line just north of the terminus is interrupted by a blown-up tunnel
+or a fallen bridge, therefore the termination of traffic must, for the
+present, be at some distance north on the outskirts of London.
+
+“Shops are also opening in South London, though they have but little to
+sell. Nevertheless, this may be regarded as a sign of renewed
+confidence. Besides, supplies of provisions are now arriving, and the
+London County Council and Salvation Army are distributing free soup and
+food in the lower-class districts. Private charity, everywhere abundant
+during the trying days of dark despair, is doing inestimable good among
+every class. The hard, grasping employer, and the smug financier, who
+hitherto kept scrupulous accounts, and have been noteworthy on account
+of their uncharitableness, have now, in the hour of need, come forward
+and subscribed liberally to the great Mansion House Fund, opened
+yesterday by the Deputy Lord Mayor of London. The subscription list
+occupies six columns of the issue of to-morrow’s paper, and this, in
+itself, speaks well for the open-heartedness of the moneyed classes of
+Great Britain.
+
+“No movement has yet been made in the financial world. Bankers still
+remain with closed doors. The bullion seized at Southminster and other
+places is now under strong British guard, and will, it is supposed, be
+returned to the Bank immediately. Only a comparatively small sum has
+been sent across to Germany. Therefore all Von Kronhelm’s strategy has
+utterly failed. By the invasion Germany has, up to the present moment,
+gained nothing. She has made huge demands, at which we can afford to
+jeer. True, she has wrecked London, but have we not sent the greater
+part of her fleet to the bottom of the North Sea, and have we not
+created havoc in German ports?
+
+“The leave-taking of our two gold-spectacled censors was almost
+pathetic. We had come to regard them as necessities to puzzle and to
+play practical jokes of language upon. To-day, for the first time, we
+have received none of those official notices in German, with English
+translations, which of late have appeared so prominently in our columns.
+The German Eagle is gradually disentangling his talons from London, and
+means to escape us--if he can.”
+
+“10.30 p.m.
+
+“Private information has just reached us from a most reliable source
+that a conference has been arranged between Von Kronhelm and Lord
+Byfield. This evening the German Field-Marshal sent a messenger to the
+British headquarters at Hampstead under a flag of truce. He bore a
+despatch from the German Commander asking that hostilities should be
+suspended for twenty-four hours, and that they should make an
+appointment for a meeting during that period.
+
+“Von Kronhelm has left the time and place of meeting to Lord Byfield,
+and has informed the British Commander that he has sent telegraphic
+instructions to the German military governors of Birmingham, Sheffield,
+Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Northampton, Stafford, Oldham, Wigan,
+Bolton, and other places, giving notice of his suggestion to the
+British, and ordering that for the present hostilities on the part of
+the Germans shall be suspended.
+
+“It seems more than likely that the German Field-Marshal has received
+these very definite instructions by wireless telegraph from the Emperor
+at Bremen or Potsdam.
+
+“We understand that Lord Byfield, after a brief consultation by
+telegraph with the Government at Bristol, has sent a reply. Of its
+nature, however, nothing is known, and at the moment of writing
+hostilities are still in progress.
+
+“In an hour’s time we shall probably know whether the war is to
+continue, or a truce is to be proclaimed.”
+
+“Midnight.
+
+“Lord Byfield has granted a truce, and hostilities have now been
+suspended.
+
+“London has gone mad with delight, for the German yoke is cast off.
+Further information which has just reached us from private sources
+states that thousands of prisoners have been taken by Lord Byfield
+to-day, and that Von Kronhelm has acknowledged his position to be
+absolutely hopeless.
+
+“The great German Army has been defeated by our British patriots, who
+have fought so valiantly and so well. It is not likely that the war will
+be resumed. Von Kronhelm received a number of British officers at the
+War Office half an hour ago, and it is said that he is already making
+preparations to vacate the post he has usurped.
+
+“Lord Byfield has issued a reassuring message to London, which we have
+just received with instructions to print. It declares that although for
+the moment only a truce is proclaimed, yet this means the absolute
+cessation of all hostilities.
+
+“The naval news of the past few days may be briefly summarised. The
+British main fleet entered the North Sea, and our submarines did most
+excellent work in the neighbourhood of the Maas Lightship. Prince
+Stahlberger had concentrated practically the whole of his naval force
+off Lowestoft, but a desperate battle was fought about seventy miles
+from the Texel, full details of which are not yet to hand. All that is
+known is that, having now regained command of the sea, we were enabled
+to inflict a crushing defeat upon the Germans, in which the German
+flagship was sunk. In the end sixty-one British ships were concentrated
+against seventeen German, with the result that the German Fleet has
+practically been wiped out, there being 19,000 of the enemy’s officers
+and men on the casualty list, the greatest recorded in any naval battle.
+
+“Whatever may be the demands for indemnity on either side, one thing is
+absolutely certain, namely, that the invincible German Army and Navy are
+completely vanquished.
+
+“The Eagle’s wings are trailing in the dust.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW THE WAR ENDED
+
+
+Days passed--weary, waiting, anxious days. A whole month went by. After
+the truce, London very gradually began to resume her normal life, though
+the gaunt state of the streets was indescribably weird.
+
+Shops began to open, and as each day passed, food became more plentiful,
+and consequently less dear. The truce meant the end of the war,
+therefore thanksgiving services were held in every town and village
+throughout the country.
+
+There were great prison-camps of Germans at Hounslow, Brentwood, and
+Barnet, while Von Kronhelm and his chief officers were also held as
+prisoners until some decision through diplomatic channels could be
+arrived at. Meanwhile a little business began to be done; thousands
+began to resume their employment, bankers re-opened their doors, and
+within a week the distress and suffering of the poor became perceptibly
+alleviated. The task of burying the dead after the terrible massacre of
+the Germans in the London streets had been a stupendous one, but so
+quickly had it been accomplished that an epidemic was happily averted.
+
+Confidence, however, was not completely restored, even though each day
+the papers assured us that a settlement had been arrived at between
+Berlin and London.
+
+Parliament moved back to Westminster, and daily meetings of the Cabinet
+were being held in Downing Street. These resulted in the resignation of
+the Ministry, and with a fresh Cabinet, in which Mr. Gerald Graham, the
+organiser of the Defenders, was given a seat, a settlement was at last
+arrived at.
+
+To further describe the chaotic state of England occasioned by the
+terrible and bloody war would serve no purpose. The loss and suffering
+which it had caused the country had been incalculable; statisticians
+estimated that in one month of hostilities it had amounted to
+£500,000,000, a part of which represented money transferred from British
+pockets to German, as the enemy had carried off some of the securities
+upon which the German troops had laid their hands in London.
+
+Let us for a moment take a retrospective glance. Consols were at 50;
+bread was still 1s. 6d. per loaf; and the ravages of the German
+commerce-destroyers had sent up the cost of insurance on British
+shipping sky-high. Money was almost unprocurable; except for the
+manufacture of war material, there was no industry; and the suffering
+and distress among the poor could not be exaggerated. In all directions
+men, women, and children had been starving.
+
+The mercantile community were loud in their outcry for “peace at any
+price,” and the pro-German and Stop-the-War Party were equally vehement
+in demanding a cessation of the war. They found excuses for the enemy,
+and forgot the frightful devastation and loss which the invasion had
+caused to the country. They protested against continuing the struggle in
+the interests of the “capitalists,” who, they alleged, were really
+responsible for the war.
+
+They insisted that the working class gained nothing, even though the
+British Fleet was closely blockading the German coast, and their outcry
+was strengthened when a few days after the blockade of the Elbe had
+begun two British battleships were so unfortunate as to strike German
+mines, and sink with a large part of their crews. The difficulty of
+borrowing money for the prosecution of the war was a grave obstacle in
+the way of the party of action, and preyed upon the mind of the British
+Government.
+
+The whole character of the nation and the Government had changed since
+the great days when, in the face of famine and immense peril, the
+country had fought Napoleon to the last and overthrown him. The strong
+aristocratic Government had been replaced by a weak Administration,
+swayed by every breath of popular impulse. The peasantry who were the
+backbone of the nation had vanished, and been replaced by the weak,
+excitable population of the towns.
+
+Socialism, with its creed of “Thou shalt have no other god but Thyself,”
+and its doctrine, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,” had
+replaced the religious beliefs of a generation of Englishmen taught to
+suffer and to die sooner than surrender to wrong. In the hour of trial,
+amidst smoking ruins, among the holocausts of dead which marked the
+prolonged, bloody, and terrible battles on land and at sea, the spirit
+of the nation quailed, and there was really no great leader to recall it
+to ways of honour and duty.
+
+Seven large German commerce-destroyers were still at sea in the Northern
+Atlantic. One of them was the splendid ex-Cunarder _Lusitania_, of 25
+knots, which had been sold to a German firm a year before the war, when
+the British Government declined to continue its subsidy of £150,000 per
+annum to the Cunard Company under the agreement of 1902. The reason for
+withdrawing this subsidy was the need for economy, as money had to be
+obtained to pay members of Parliament. The Cunard Company, unable to
+bear the enormous cost of running both its huge 25-knot steamers, was
+compelled to sell the _Lusitania_, but with patriotic enterprise it
+retained the _Mauretania_, even though she was only worked at a dead
+loss.
+
+The _Mauretania_, almost immediately after the outbreak of war, had been
+commissioned as a British cruiser, with orders specially to hunt for the
+_Lusitania_, which had now been renamed the _Preussen_. But it was
+easier to look for the great commerce-destroyer than to find her, and
+for weeks the one ship hunted over the wide waters of the North Atlantic
+for the other.
+
+The German procedure had been as follows:--All their commerce-destroyers
+had received orders to sink the British ships which they captured when
+these were laden with food. The crews of the ships destroyed were
+collected on board the various commerce-destroyers, and were from time
+to time placed on board neutral vessels, which were stopped at sea and
+compelled to find them accommodation. For coal the German cruisers
+relied at the outset upon British colliers, of which they captured
+several, and subsequently upon the supplies of fuel which were brought
+to them by neutral vessels. They put into unfrequented harbours, and
+there filled their bunkers, and were gone before protests could be made.
+
+The wholesale destruction of food, and particularly of wheat and meat,
+removed from the world’s market a large part of its supplies, and had
+immediately sent up the cost of food everywhere, outside the United
+Kingdom as well as in it. At the same time, the attacks upon shipping
+laden with food increased the cost of insurance to prohibitive prices
+upon vessels freighted for the United Kingdom. The underwriters after
+the first few captures by the enemy would not insure at all except for
+fabulous rates.
+
+The withdrawal of all the larger British cruisers for the purpose of
+defeating the main German fleets in the North Sea left the
+commerce-destroyers a free hand, and there was no force to meet them.
+The British liners commissioned as commerce-protectors were too few and
+too slow, with the single exception of the _Mauretania_, to be able to
+hold their adversaries in check.
+
+Neutral shipping was molested by the German cruisers. The German
+Government had proclaimed food of all kinds and raw cotton contraband of
+war, and when objection was offered by various neutral Governments, it
+replied that Russia in the war with Japan had treated cotton and food as
+contraband, and that no effective resistance had been offered by the
+neutral Powers to this action. Great Britain, the German authorities
+urged, had virtually acquiesced in the Russian proceedings against her
+shipping, and had thus established a precedent which became law for the
+world.
+
+Whenever raw cotton or food of any kind was discovered upon a neutral
+vessel bound for British ports, the vessel was seized and sent into one
+or other of the German harbours on the West Coast of Africa. St. Helena,
+after its garrison had been so foolishly withdrawn by the British
+Government in 1906, remained defenceless, and it had been seized by a
+small German expedition at the very outset. Numerous guns were landed,
+and it became a most useful base for the attacks of the German
+commerce-destroyers.
+
+Its natural strength rendered its recapture difficult, and the British
+Government had not a man to spare for the work of retaking it, so that
+it continued in German hands up to the last week of the struggle, when
+at last it was stormed after a vigorous bombardment by a small force
+despatched from India.
+
+The absurd theory that commerce could be left to take care of itself was
+exploded by the naval operations of the war. The North Atlantic had
+continued so dangerous all through September that British shipping
+practically disappeared from it, and neutral shipping was greatly
+hampered. All the Atlantic ports of the United States and the South
+American seaboard were full of British steamers, mainly of the tramp
+class, that had been laid up because it was too dangerous to send them
+to sea. The movement of supplies to England was carried on by only the
+very fastest vessels, and these, as they ran the blockade-runners’
+risks, demanded the blockade-runners’ compensating profits.
+
+In yet another way the German Government enhanced the difficulty of
+maintaining the British food supply. When war broke out, it was
+discovered that German agents had secured practically all the “spot
+wheat” available in the United States, and had done the same in Russia.
+Germany had cornered the world’s available supply by the outlay of a
+modest number of millions, and its agents were instructed not to part
+with their supplies except at an enormous price. In this way Germany
+recouped her outlay, made a large profit, and caused terrific distress
+in England, where the dependence of the country upon foreign supplies of
+food had been growing steadily all through the early years of the
+twentieth century.
+
+The United Kingdom, indeed, might have been reduced to absolute
+starvation, had it not been for the fact that the Canadian Government
+interfered in Canada to prevent similar German tactics from succeeding,
+and held the German contracts for the cornering of Canadian wheat,
+contrary to public policy.
+
+The want of food, the high price of bread and meat in England, and the
+greatly increased cost of the supplies of raw material sent up the
+expenditure upon poor relief to enormous figures. Millions of men were
+out of employment, and in need of assistance. Mills and factories in all
+directions had closed down, either because of the military danger from
+the operations of the German armies, or because of the want of orders,
+or, again, because raw materials were not procurable. The British
+workers had no such accumulated resources as the French peasant
+possessed in 1870 from which to meet distress. They had assumed that
+prosperity would continue for all time, and that, if it did not, the
+rich might be called upon to support them and their families.
+
+Unfortunately, when the invasion began, many rich foreigners who had
+lived in England collected what portable property they possessed and
+retired abroad to Switzerland, Italy, and the United States. Their
+example was followed by large numbers of British subjects who had
+invested abroad, and now, in the hour of distress, were able to place
+their securities in a handbag and withdraw them to happier countries.
+
+They may justly be blamed for this want of patriotism, but their reply
+was that they had been unjustly and mercilessly taxed by men who derided
+patriotism, misused power, and neglected the real interests of the
+nation in the desire to pander to the mob. Moreover, with the income-tax
+at 3s. 6d. in the pound, and with the cost of living enormously
+enhanced, they declared that it was a positive impossibility to live in
+England, while into the bargain their lives were exposed to danger from
+the enemy.
+
+As a result of this wholesale emigration, in London and the country the
+number of empty houses inordinately increased, and there were few
+well-to-do people left to pay the rates and taxes. The fearful burden of
+the extravagant debts which the British municipalities had heaped up was
+cruelly felt, since the nation had to repudiate the responsibility which
+it had incurred for the payment of interest on the local debts. The
+Socialist dream, in fact, might almost be said to have been realised.
+There were few rich left, but the consequences to the poor, instead of
+being beneficial, were utterly disastrous.
+
+Under the pressure of public opinion, constrained by hunger and
+financial necessities, and with thousands of German prisoners in their
+hands, the British Government acceded to the suggested conference to
+secure peace. Von Kronhelm had asked for a truce, his proposals being
+veiled under a humanitarian form. The British Government, too, did not
+wish to keep the German prisoners who had fought with such gallantry
+longer from their hearths and homes. Nothing, it added, was to be gained
+by prolonging the war and increasing the tale of bloodshed and calamity.
+A just and honourable peace might allay the animosity between two great
+nations of the same stock, if both would let bygones be bygones.
+
+The response of the German Government was chilling and discouraging.
+Germany, it practically said, had no use for men who had surrendered.
+Their hearths and homes could well spare them a little longer. The
+destruction of the German Navy mattered nothing to Germany, who could
+build another fleet with her flourishing finances. Her army was in
+possession of Holland and the mainland of Denmark, and would remain so
+until the British Army--if there were any--arrived to turn it out. The
+British Government must state what indemnity it was prepared to pay to
+be rid of the war, or what surrender of territory it would make to
+obtain peace.
+
+At the same time the German Press, in a long series of inspired
+articles, contended that, notwithstanding the ultimate British
+successes, England had been the real sufferer by the war. The struggle
+had been fought on British soil, British trade had been ruined, British
+finances thrown into utter disorder, and a great stretch of territory
+added to the German Empire. Holland and Denmark were ample recompense
+for the reverses at sea.
+
+The British blockade of the German coast was derided as ineffective, and
+the British losses due to German mines were regarded as a sign of what
+the British Navy had to expect if it continued the war. Then a picture
+was painted of Germany, strong, united, triumphant, confident, firm in
+her national spirit, efficient in every detail of administration, while
+in England corruption, inefficiency, and incompetence were alleged to be
+supreme.
+
+But these Press philippics and the haughty attitude of the German
+Government were, in reality, only attempts to impose upon the British
+people and the British Government. Subsequent information has shown that
+German interests had suffered in every possible way, and that there was
+grave danger of foreign complications. Unfortunately, the behaviour of
+the German Press had the expected effect upon England. The clamour for
+peace grew, and the pro-Germans openly asserted that a cessation of
+hostilities must be purchased at any price.
+
+At the mediation of the French Government negotiations between the
+British and German Governments were resumed in the first days of
+November. But the Germans still adhered inflexibly to their demand for
+the _status quo_. Germany must retain Holland and Denmark, which were to
+become States of the German Empire, under their existing dynasties.
+Turkey must retain Egypt, whither the Turkish troops had penetrated
+during the chaos caused by the invasion of England. The Dutch East
+Indies must become a part of the German Empire.
+
+Certain foreign Powers, however, which had been friendly to England now
+avowed their readiness to support her in resisting these outrageous
+demands. But the outcry for peace in England was growing continually,
+and the British Ministry was helpless before it. The Germans must have
+got wind of the foreign support which was secretly being given to this
+country, since at the eleventh hour they waived their demands as regards
+Egypt and the Dutch East Indies.
+
+The lot of these two territories was to be settled by an International
+Congress. But they finally secured the consent of the British Government
+to the conclusion of a peace on the basis that each Power should retain
+what it possessed at the opening of October. Thus Germany was to be
+confirmed in her possession of Holland and Denmark, while England gained
+nothing by the peace. The British surrender on this all-important head
+tied the hands of the foreign Powers which were prepared to resist
+vehemently such an aggrandisement of Germany.
+
+As for the Congress to deal with Egypt and the East Indies, this does
+not fall within the sphere of our history.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Peace was finally signed on 13th January 1911. The British Empire
+emerged from the conflict outwardly intact, but internally so weakened
+that only the most resolute reforms accomplished by the ablest and
+boldest statesmen could have restored it to its old position.
+
+Germany, on the other hand, emerged with an additional 21,000 miles of
+European territory, with an extended seaboard on the North Sea, fronting
+the United Kingdom at Rotterdam and the Texel, and, it was calculated,
+with a slight pecuniary advantage. Practically the entire cost of the
+war had been borne by England.
+
+Looking back upon this sad page of history--sad for Englishmen--some
+future Thucydides will pronounce that the decree of Providence was not
+undeserved. The British nation had been warned against the danger; it
+disregarded the warning. In the two great struggles of the early
+twentieth century, in South Africa and the Far East, it had before its
+eyes examples of the peril which comes from unpreparedness and from
+haphazard government. It shut its eyes to the lessons. Its soldiers had
+called upon it in vain to submit to the discipline of military service;
+it rebelled against the sacrifice which the Swiss, the Swede, the
+German, the Frenchman, and the Japanese made not unwillingly for his
+country.
+
+In the teeth of all entreaties it reduced in 1906 the outlay upon its
+army and its fleet, to expend the money thus saved upon its own comfort.
+The battalions, batteries, and battleships sacrificed might well have
+averted invasion, indeed, have prevented war. But to gain a few
+millions, risks were incurred which ended ultimately in the loss of
+hundreds of millions of money and thousands of lives, and in starvation
+for myriads of men, women, and children.
+
+As is always the case, the poor suffered most. The Socialists, who had
+declaimed against armaments, were faithless friends of those whom they
+professed to champion. Their dream of a golden age proved utterly
+delusive. But the true authors of England’s misfortunes escaped blame
+for the moment, and the Army and Navy were made the scapegoats of the
+great catastrophe.
+
+That the Army Council and the Admiralty had been criminally weak could
+not be denied. Their weakness merely reflected the moral tone of the
+nation, which took no interest in naval or military affairs, and then
+was enraged to find that, in the hour of trial, everything for a time
+went wrong. When success did come, it came too late, and could not be
+utilised without a great British Army capable of carrying the war into
+the enemy’s country, and thus compelling a satisfactory peace.
+
+THE END
+
+_Printed by_ MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
+
+Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
+
+United Kingdom=> United Kindgom {pg 22}
+
+atached to his=> attached to his {pg 86}
+
+had themelves been=> had themselves been {pg 215}
+
+even a possilibity=> even a possibility {pg 301}
+
+position to be atacked=> position to be attacked {pg 313}
+
+had pratically=> had practically {pg 332}
+
+cross at his thoat=> cross at his throat {pg 339}
+
+of his mazagine=> of his magazine {pg 437}
+
+the whole popluation=> the whole population {pg 464}
+
+was re-reported=> was reported {pg 525}
+
+retain Holland and Demark=> retain Holland and Denmark {pg 548}
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Invasion of 1910, by William le Queux
+
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