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Title: The Children's Story of the War, Volume 5: The First Six Months of the Year 1916
Date of first publication: 1917
Author: Sir (James) Edward Parrott
Date first posted: Nov. 27, 2017
Date last updated: Nov. 27, 2017
Faded Page eBook #20171140

This eBook was produced by: Marcia Brooks, Howard Ross
& the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net




[Illustration: cover--THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR

By Sir Edward Parrott, M.A., LL.D.]





[Illustration: "Faithful unto Death."

(_By kind permission of the Navy League._)

"Boy (first class) John Travers Cornwell of _Chester_ was mortally
wounded early in the action. He nevertheless remained standing alone
at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders, until the end of the
action." See p. 294.]




  THE
  CHILDREN'S STORY
  OF THE WAR

  BY
  SIR EDWARD PARROTT, M.A. LL.D.

  AUTHOR OF "BRITAIN OVERSEAS," "THE PAGEANT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC.


  The First Six Months of the Year 1916


  THOMAS NELSON AND SONS, Ltd.
  LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK
  1917




 "_Be it written,_
        _That all I wrought_
  _Was for Britain,_
        _In deed and thought:_
  _Be it written,_
        _That when I die,_
  _'Glory to Britain!'_
        _Is my last cry._"

    George Meredith.




  CONTENTS.


        I. Seventeen Months of War                          1
       II. Dark Days in the Near East                      17
      III. Amphibious Warfare                              33
       IV. A Bid for Baghdad                               39
        V. The Siege and Fall of Kut                       49
       VI. The Story of the "Moewe."--I.                   60
      VII. The Story of the "Moewe."--II.                  65
     VIII. Loyalists and Traitors                          76
       IX. Rebellion and Conquest                          81
        X. The Kamerun Campaign                            94
       XI. The Capture of Duala and the Conquest
             of Kamerun                                    97
      XII. The Advance on Erzerum                         107
     XIII. The Fall of Erzerum and the Capture of
             Trebizond                                    113
      XIV. The Senussi                                    127
       XV. A Gallant Rescue                               129
      XVI. Verdun--Past and Present                       137
     XVII. The Greatest Battle of History                 145
    XVIII. Stories of the Battle of Verdun                161
      XIX. The Goose's Crest and the Dead Man             174
       XX. The Battle of Verdun--Second Stage             177
      XXI. The Ebbing Tide                                184
     XXII. The Great German Failure                       193
    XXIII. The Spring Campaign in the Air.--I.            197
     XXIV. The Spring Campaign in the Air.--II.           209
      XXV. How a Traitor was caught and hanged            214
     XXVI. Distracted Ireland                             225
    XXVII. The Sinn Fein Rebellion                        230
   XXVIII. The Aftermath of Rebellion                     241
     XXIX. The Great Sea Fight off Jutland.--I.           249
      XXX. The Great Sea Fight off Jutland.--II.          257
     XXXI. The End of the Battle                          273
    XXXII. Sailors' Stories of the Battle of Jutland      282
   XXXIII. More Stories of the Battle of Jutland          289
    XXXIV. How a Great War Chief died                     296
     XXXV. Six Months on the British Front.--I.           301
    XXXVI. Six Months on the British Front.--II.          305
   XXXVII. The Third Battle of Ypres                      311
  XXXVIII. Heroes of the Victoria Cross.--I.              318
    XXXIX. Heroes of the Victoria Cross.--II.             321
       XL. Why Italy declared War on Austria              326
      XLI. War in the Mountains                           337
     XLII. How the Austrians made a Great Effort
             and failed                                   353
    XLIII. Stories of the Italian Campaign                357
     XLIV. The Great Russian Recovery                     369



[Page 1]

[Illustration:
THE
CHILDREN'S
STORY OF
THE WAR

VOLUME V]




  CHAPTER I.

  SEVENTEEN MONTHS OF WAR.


In the four preceding volumes of this work I have told you, in
somewhat full detail, the story of seventeen months' warfare. I have
tried to bring you as near to the actual fighting as possible, and to
show you struggles in progress on a hundred widely separated fields.
Lest, amidst all this detail, you should be confused, and, as the
proverb says, not able to see the wood for the trees, let me for a few
moments survey the warfare hitherto waged, in its broad, outstanding
features. Before beginning the story of 1916 I will take an aviator's
view of the progress of the mighty struggle in Europe from that August
evening of 1914 when the German guns began to thunder against the
fortress of Liége, to the bitter winter days of 1915 when the Serbian
army was forced to go forth into the wilderness, yielding its native
land to the invader.

First of all, I must remind you that Germany began the war absolutely
certain of speedy and decisive victory. For three years she had bent
all her energies to the work of making herself ready for "the Day,"
and she had succeeded in keeping those who were to be her foes in
almost complete ignorance of her designs. While they were quite
unready for war, she was prepared "to the last gaiter button." She
could put into the field forces vastly superior to those which could
be brought against her for many months to come, and her legions were
ready to march at the moment which suited her best. Further, she was
possessed of great guns such as had never before been seen on the
battlefield, and myriads of machine guns. She was right in thinking
[Page 2]
that these new weapons would bring about new methods of warfare for
which she alone was prepared. With these advantages Germany believed
that she could not fail, and indeed, according to all the rules,
failure seemed to be impossible. When we study the course of the
fighting during the first few weeks of the war, we cannot but marvel
that she did not succeed. She made mistakes, it is true, but mistakes
are made in every war. When all is said and done, we are at a loss to
explain fully why she did not make a speedy end of her foes. We are
forced to believe that the hand of God was against her, and that
Divine wisdom and justice denied her victory.

When the Kaiser bade farewell to his soldiers at Potsdam, he assured
them that they would return victorious "before the leaves fall." He
and his General Staff were well aware that they must win soon or not
at all--"We must take the current when it serves, or lose our
ventures." The advantages with which they could begin the war would
vanish, and even pass to their enemies, if the war should be long
drawn out. Should the Allies be able to stave off the first mighty
onset and gain time, Germany would fail, and fail grievously. She
could put armies into the field greatly outnumbering those which the
Allies could array, but with every month of war these numbers were
bound to dwindle. Should the war be prolonged, Russia could muster
legions which would become overwhelmingly strong when the German
armies were in a state of decline.

Then, too, the vast and far-seeing preparations which Germany had made
would be of no avail, if the Allies were given time to build big guns
and manufacture large supplies of ammunition and all the other
necessaries which they lacked. So, too, with regard to the new methods
of warfare which the Germans were about to use. In a short war the
Allies would be destroyed before they had time to find out which of
the new methods were the most effective, and by adopting them put
themselves on a level with their opponents. For all these reasons
Germany meant the war to be short, sharp, and sudden. In 1870 she had
made a tiger-like spring upon the French, and within six weeks had
captured or besieged all their regular armies. She had won in 1870 by
surprise; in 1914 a similar swift and deadly swoop would again give
her victory.

[Page 3]
[Illustration: The Promise.

"We shall never sheathe the sword until Belgium recovers all, and more
than all, that she has sacrificed."--Mr. Asquith, _November 9, 1914_.

(_By kind permission of Land and Water._)

This is one of the many striking cartoons of Mr. Louis Raemaekers, a
famous Dutch painter, who espoused the cause of the Allies and fought
valiantly for them with all the resources of his great art. His
inspired pencil brought home to all civilized nations the hideous
meaning of German Kultur.]

[Page 4]
So all-important was time to Germany that, in order to gain it, she
began the war with a crime. She tore up her treaties, she broke her
plighted word, and pushed her armies into Belgium, which she had sworn
to protect from invasion. By so doing she lost, in an hour, the
sympathy of the whole civilized world, and brought Great Britain, with
its vast resources, into the field against her. She had counted on
keeping Great Britain out of the fray, and was prepared to offer her
terms if she would forbear from war. Britain's turn was to come later,
when France and Russia were subdued, and Germany was supreme on the
Continent of Europe. When Great Britain declared war, there was bitter
wrath in Germany. Great Britain had "spoiled her game."

There are eminent soldiers who believe that the invasion of Belgium
was not only a crime but a blunder. Let me explain. The Germans
believed that high-explosive shells from the huge howitzers which they
had prepared as one of the great surprises of the war, could smash
into shapeless ruin any known fortress within a few days. Nevertheless
they feared that if they attempted to batter down the frontier
strongholds of France they would suffer a fatal delay. For this reason
they invaded Belgium, supposing that its inhabitants were a feeble
folk, who would make a show of resistance, but no more. They hoped
that the German armies in a few days would be deployed in an easy
country of good roads and railways for a swift descent upon Paris from
the north. But they reckoned without their host. The Belgians fought
like heroes, and though their struggle was hopeless from the first,
they delayed the German armies a full fortnight. You know how horribly
they vented their chagrin on the poor Belgians: they filled the land
with ruin and slaughter, but all their crimes availed them nothing.
They were obliged to leave large forces in Belgium to hold down the
people and to guard the roads and railways, which needed more and more
men as they pushed southward and their lines of communication
lengthened. Had they advanced directly against the French fortresses
and destroyed them, they would have possessed short and direct routes
to their bases, and would therefore have been able to employ larger
numbers of men in the actual work of fighting.

Eighteen days after the first shots were fired the Germans were ready
to begin a great sweeping movement on France. Their line extended
northward from Alsace to the borders of Belgium, and then stretched
[Page 5]
westward for eighty miles. Pivoting on the southernmost army in
Alsace, they meant the whole line to swing round like a gate in order
to envelop the French. The right wing, which would have the longest
journey to go, was to be hurried forward with all speed, and it was
hoped that it would be before Paris in ten days.

On 22nd August came the first great clash of arms. The French lay
along the Meuse and Sambre, relying on the great fortress of Namur. On
the left of the French, to the east and west of Mons, was a small
British army. Against the French and British the Germans hurled forces
which outnumbered them by two to one. When the fortress of Namur
suddenly fell, the French, driven back in front and taken in flank,
were forced to make a hasty retreat southward. Next day the little
British army was furiously assailed, and when, late in the afternoon,
it learned that it was unsupported on its right, it too was obliged to
retire. The Germans followed up the retreating armies with great
speed, and for a moment it seemed that the campaign had been won in
three days.

In earlier pages of this work you followed and admired greatly the
skill of the British commanders and the undaunted courage of their men
in the famous retreat from Mons. The German general, von Kluck, with
four army corps, was bent on surrounding the two British corps, and he
therefore rushed his men forward by means of a vast fleet of motor
cars, in the hope of getting past the British flank and round to its
rear. For eight days the British army was in dire peril. Only by dint
of splendid marching, fine discipline, and stubborn rearguard
resistance[1] did it escape the trap. By 28th August the pursuit had
slackened, and immediate danger had passed.

Why had the pursuit slackened? The French 5th and 4th Armies,
retreating from the Meuse and the Sambre, made a great stand at Guise
on 28th August, and inflicted a severe defeat on the Prussian Guard.
This checked the pursuit in the centre, and enabled the rest of the
retreat to be conducted at a slower rate and in a more orderly
[Page 6]
fashion. Not only were the Germans blocked in the centre, but on the
crest of the hills lying to the east and north of Nancy their left was
held up by a very stubborn French resistance. Nor could they advance,
further north, against Verdun. The commander of that fortress had very
quickly learned the lesson of Namur. In the course of a few days he
had constructed lines of trenches for miles in front of the fortress,
and had moved out his heavy guns to form temporary batteries which
could be shifted from point to point as soon as they were "spotted."
The consequence was that during the last two days of August and the
first seven days of September the German line from Nancy to Verdun
could not advance.

So strongly were the Germans opposed in this part of the line that
they believed they were faced by the main strength of the French
armies. They thought, quite wrongly, that the French had massed the
larger part of their forces between Nancy and Verdun. They therefore
retained an undue number of troops around Verdun, and to the
south-east of that position, feeling sure that von Kluck and von
Buelow were quite strong enough to deal with the Allied forces to the
west of the Forest of the Argonne. As a matter of fact, the bulk of
the French armies were not facing the left of the Germans, but were in
front of their centre and towards their right. It was this mistake
which led to the wrong grouping of the German armies, and brought
about the Allied victory at the Battle of the Marne.

Between 2nd September and 5th September the German line lay across
France in the shape of a sickle. The handle of the sickle was that
part of the line which the French were holding up in front of Nancy
and Verdun. The blade of the sickle curved across the river Marne, and
its tip was at Senlis, some thirty miles north-east of Paris. This
sickle-shaped line was composed of seven groups of armies; five formed
the blade from Senlis to the Forest of the Argonne, and two formed the
handle.

Now it is important to note that when the French retired they were
marching, unknown to the Germans, towards their reserves. A new French
army, the 6th, had been collected on the outskirts of Paris; while
another army, which we will call the 7th, was formed behind the centre
of the Allied line. When the retreat came to an end, and the welcome
order was given to advance, the Allies had six groups of armies facing
the five German groups stretching from the Argonne to Senlis. The
total number of the Germans in the field was greater than that of the
Allies by about eight to five; but the Germans had bunched up so many
of their men along the handle of the sickle that the forces which
faced each other along the blade were about equal. The Allies, for the
first time, were fighting on even terms.

[Page 7]
[Illustration: The Yser.

"We are on our way to Calais."

(_By Louis Raemaekers. By kind permission of Land and Water._)]

[Page 8]
When von Kluck reached Senlis most people believed that he meant to
capture Paris; but to the surprise of all observers, he prepared to
curl round to the east of the city, and strike at the Allied line
between the British army and the French 5th Army. He had discovered by
this time that the French were prepared to sacrifice Paris rather than
withdraw troops from the field to defend it. Merely to capture the
undefended capital was of no use to von Kluck; his business was to
destroy the Allied armies. He therefore swerved south-eastward in the
attempt to pierce the Allied line between the British army and the
French 5th Army. In order to do so he had to march in front of the
British army. This was a very dangerous move, but he thought he might
make it safely, because he believed the British to be so battered and
so weary that they could not show fight. In this belief he was
hopelessly wrong.

At midday on 5th September the British army attacked him on the flank
with unexpected vigour, while the French 5th Army pushed forward
eagerly against his front. His troops across the Marne were in great
straits; but this was not all his danger. The French 6th Army--the
surprise army--had been pushed forward towards Senlis, and here again
he was threatened on the flank by forces which grew stronger every
hour. In order to meet these flank attacks, he was forced to recall
his troops from beyond the Marne, and, what is more, to borrow men
hurriedly from the German armies to his left.

As the borrowed troops moved west to help him, a weak place appeared
in the German centre right opposite the French 7th Army, which was
under the command of that very skilful general, Foch. On 9th
September, three days after the Kaiser saw his forces flung back in
front of Nancy, Foch discovered the weak place in the German centre.
He pushed into the gap, broke through it, and by nightfall the enemy
on his right and left were rapidly retreating. Foch's men followed
[Page 9]
them up with great ardour, going forward "like a wave along the
beach." They captured thousands of prisoners, fifty guns, and an
immense amount of war material; nor did they halt in the pursuit until
they were utterly worn out with twenty-four hours of almost ceaseless
fighting. Between the 6th, 7th, and 8th of September the armies of von
Kluck and von Buelow, farther west, were also obliged to retire, and
by the 10th the whole German line from the Argonne to the Ourcq was in
full retreat.

What a change had suddenly come over the spirit of the dream! Only
five days had elapsed since the Germans, flushed with victory, were
within gunshot of the outer forts of Paris, and the siege of that
great city was hourly expected. Now they were hurrying to the rear in
order to escape destruction. The moment had come when the whole face
of the conflict was suddenly changed. It is probable that the
historians of the future will date the beginning of the end from that
blazing September day when Foch overthrew the Prussian Guard in the
marshes of St. Gond, and brought about the German retreat.

Unhappily, the pursuit was not so swift or so regular as it might have
been, and the Germans were able to fall back to the river Aisne. They
crossed the river unmolested, and established themselves in what has
been called the strongest military position in the west of Europe.
Upon the lofty plateaus which descend sharply to the river meadows,
and with a stream 170 feet broad in front of them, they occupied
trenches already prepared, and made a stubborn stand. On the evening
of 12th September the Allies reached the river, and on the following
morning the British army and the French 6th Army crossed by means of
boats, rafts, and the remaining bridges, in spite of a deluge of shot
and shell. In thirteen hours they had passed the stream, and the
assault of the heights began. Despite great gallantry and much
sacrifice, the Allies made no real headway, and before long it was
clear that the Germans could not be bolted from their burrows by
frontal attacks.

On the evening of 16th September General Joffre began to change his
plan of campaign. He pushed his left northward in the hope of
outflanking the German right. Immediately he did so the Germans
responded by pushing their right northward in a parallel direction.
Day by day this movement continued, each side flinging troops further
and further north, and striving to turn the flank of the other. This
was the famous Race to the Sea, which the Allies won, but only just
[Page 10]
won. When friend and foe had reached the sand dunes of the Flemish
coast, a double line of trenches extended from the North Sea to the
borders of Switzerland, a distance of nearly five hundred miles.
Across the flats of Flanders and the coalfield of North France, along
the ups and downs of the Oise valley and the heights of the Aisne,
across the Forest of the Argonne, round the fortress of Verdun,
through Lorraine, and in every high valley of the Vosges to within
sight of Alpine snows, armed men faced each other from ditches which
they gradually turned into positions of strength. All the German
dreams of a short, sharp war had now vanished. The Kaiser's armies
were pinned and caged. The Allies had gained what they most
needed--time in which to develop their resources, and to overtake the
Central Powers in men, weapons, and ammunition.

The story of the war from October 13, 1914, to the end of February
1915 is the story of how the Germans strove in vain to break through
the bars of their cage. During this time they were superior in men and
in guns to the Allies, who, therefore, were obliged to stand on the
defensive, and, at a terrible cost, play for that time which was vital
to them. Still, in the first flush of their strength, the Germans made
frenzied efforts to hack their way through the thin lines of steel and
valour which the Allies opposed to them. In the second week of October
1914 the British army, which had been transferred from the Aisne to
Flanders, had to bear the brunt of a series of the most violent
efforts on the part of the enemy. He was striving to reach the Channel
ports, and by so doing to cut the British army off from its bases of
supply, envelop it, and threaten the shores of England.

The flats of Flanders and the coalfield of North France became the
scene of battles longer and fiercer and more deadly than had ever
before been known in the history of warfare. The great German attempt
to break through by way of the coast was only frustrated by opening
the dykes and flooding the country. Another great attempt to force a
way through the salient held by the British in front of Ypres was
foiled by the almost incredible valour of our men, and so, too, were
the efforts which the Germans made further south. Our small regular
British army--the finest army of its size that had ever been seen on a
battlefield--literally sacrificed itself in beating back the foe.
Again and again it held off overwhelming numbers. The Germans might
bend it; they could not break it.

[Page 11]
[Illustration: Ahasuerus Returns.

"Once I drove the Christ out of my door; now I am doomed to walk from
the northern seas to the southern, from the western shores to the
eastern mountains, asking for Peace, and none will give it to
me."--_From the legend of "The Wandering Jew."_

(_By Louis Raemaekers. By kind permission of Land and Water._)]

[Page 12]
By the beginning of March 1915 the British strength had increased, and
the Allies now felt themselves able to attack where formerly they had
been on the defensive. Between the 9th of March and the close of
September they undertook a series of great offensives, which were
described at length in Vol. IV. of this work; but though they gained
some ground, shook the enemy's positions, and captured many prisoners
and much war material, they could not pierce his lines on a broad
front. At the close of the year 1915 the great entrenched position
which had been established from the North Sea to Switzerland in
October 1914 still remained intact. The inroads made on the German
lines were too small to be shown on an ordinary map. Nevertheless the
Allies had won what they had fought for--time to put their military
houses in order. Thenceforward they knew themselves to be more than a
match for the enemy, but they knew, too, that while he could not break
out, they could not break in without long and careful preparation and
much sacrifice of life. The German lines had become a long series of
strongholds.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now turn we to the East, to follow briefly the ebb and flow of combat
in Poland and Galicia. When the Kaiser flung down the gauntlet to
Russia, she, in common with her Western Allies, was ill prepared for
war. The Germans confidently counted on a long delay before the Tsar's
armies could take the field. They hoped to bring France to her knees
before there was any need to begin the Russian campaign in real
earnest. Russia, however, mobilized with unexpected speed, and was
able to array several of her armies a full fortnight before the
Germans believed that she could do so. In order to draw off troops
from the West, and thus relieve the French and British, who were then
sorely pressed, the Russians pushed into the sacred land of East
Prussia, but on the last day of August suffered a terrible defeat. In
Galicia, however, they made havoc of the Austrians, and captured the
eastern half of the province.

Before long they were rapidly drawing near to Cracow, the only
fortress which stood between them and Silesia, the "Lancashire" of
Germany. The Germans perceived their danger, and launched great forces
against the railway centre of Warsaw, on the Vistula. The Grand Duke
[Page 13]
Nicholas, who commanded the Russian armies, saw clearly that, if this
city should be lost, he could not hold his gains in Galicia or fight
on the German frontier. He therefore drew back his armies from Galicia
to meet the German thrust along the line of the Vistula. The invader
was defeated almost at the gates of Warsaw, and was chased back to his
own border. Then the Russians pushed into Galicia once more, and
recovered all, and more than all, that they had abandoned.

Meanwhile the Germans made another thrust at Warsaw; but a second time
they suffered defeat, and were well-nigh trapped and destroyed. A
third attempt, however, fared better. The Russians were driven back,
but behind a river line of great strength they stood fast, and at the
close of the year 1914 were still holding their own.

In April 1915 the Russians lay along the Donajetz River, only fifty
miles from Cracow. They had won a long line of the Carpathian crests,
and in some places were ready to advance upon the plain of Hungary,
the great granary of the Central Powers. But though the Russians
appeared to be in a strong position, there was grave weakness in their
ranks. From the first they had suffered from a great shortage of
rifles, guns, and ammunition, and now the shortage became a famine.
Russia, as you know, is mainly an agricultural country. She has few
great industrial cities, and for much of her metal work has to depend
upon foreign countries. Her Government munition factories were too
small to supply her needs, and she had few private foundries and
workshops with machinery that could turn out shells, guns, and rifles
at a pinch. The great misfortune which she was soon to suffer was
entirely due to this fact.

The Germans knew the weakness of the Russians, and proceeded to take
advantage of it. They massed on the Donajetz 1,500 or more great guns
and an enormous supply of shells. Then, with the biggest army which
they had as yet mustered, they began to blast their way through the
Russian lines. Under a terrible avalanche of shot and shell, the
Russian armies were obliged to fall back and yield up all their gains
in Galicia. Not until their armies were properly supplied could they
stand against the foe. The Grand Duke therefore ordered a retreat all
along the line. He was prepared to fall back into the middle of
Russia, if need be, in order that he might gain time for the full
[Page 14]
equipment of his armies. He meant to draw the Germans after him into a
land of swamp and forest, without good roads or railways. Then, when
he was properly supplied with weapons and ammunition, he would turn on
the foe, who, far from his bases, would fight at a disadvantage.

So the retreat began. Slowly the Russians fell back, yielding up the
whole of Poland. Warsaw was abandoned, but not until it was a mere
empty shell. The Germans had hoped to trap the Russians within the
Warsaw salient, but in this they failed. The Russians fell back to a
line which ran in front of the fortresses of Kovno, Grodno, and Brest
Litovski; but one by one these fortresses fell, and as they did so the
Russians moved ever and ever eastward. At the end of August 1915 they
lay on a line from the Gulf of Riga to the Dniester, 200 miles to the
east of Warsaw. The worst was now over; the tide was on the turn. The
Russians had managed to supply themselves with sufficient weapons and
ammunition, and were in a position to meet the foe on equal terms.
They were still unbroken and undefeated when the Tsar placed himself
at the head of his armies, and thereby announced to the world that
Russia would fight to the bitter end.

The retirement was not yet over. The Germans struck at the great
railway line from Vilna to Petrograd, and also at Vilna, and the
Russians fell back thirty miles behind the city. There the retreat
came to an end. By the end of September the Germans were held in check
from the Gulf of Riga to the Dniester, and in the south had begun to
make headway. During October von Hindenburg strove to capture Dvinsk
and Riga, in order to provide winter quarters for his troops; but all
his efforts were in vain, and when the snows began to fall, and icy
winds to sweep across the steppes, the Germans were forced to dig in
amidst swamps and meres, in the face of an enemy renewed and
refreshed, and ready to make vigorous onsets as soon as the sun of the
new year should dry up the thaws of spring.

Russia had passed through an agony of untold suffering, but she had
never lost heart. Her armies again and again had been in the direst
peril, but they had escaped, and were waiting for Russia's hour to
strike. The Germans were no nearer victory than they had been when von
Mackensen's guns began to thunder on the Donajetz.

[Page 15]
[Illustration: The Old Serb.

"Fighting with the Bulgarians against the Turks, I lost my brother; my
sons fell fighting with the Greeks against the Bulgarians. But only
when the Germans came were my wife and my grandchildren killed."

(_By Louis Raemaekers. By kind permission of Land and Water._)]

[Page 16]
       *     *     *     *     *

The year closed with the tragedy of Serbia. Three times in the year
1914 the Austrians had invaded that heroic little country, but each
time they had been flung back to their own borders in rout. But the
long and heavy fighting had exhausted the Serbians, and early in 1915
pestilence raged amongst them. By the autumn they had only some
200,000 fighting men left. In this hour of Serbia's great weakness the
Germans prepared to clear a right of way through the country to
Constantinople, so that they might tap the resources of men and
material in Turkey and Asia Minor. They bought over Bulgaria, and in
the second week of October Austrians, Germans, and Bulgarians attacked
Serbia in front and in flank at nine separate points. The wasted
Serbian army could not stand before this terrific onslaught, and it
was forced to retreat into the high hills of Montenegro and the
sterile wildernesses of Albania. The Allies, who had occupied
Salonika, strove to advance to the relief of the Serbians, but failed
to do so, and the close of the year saw Serbia in the hands of the
enemy, and king, court, and army seeking refuge in an alien land.

       *     *     *     *     *

So ended the year 1915--a black year in the calendar of the Allies. In
the West the Germans had been held in a grip of iron; in the East they
had carried all before them. They had swept the Russian armies far
back into their own land; they had made another Belgium of Serbia.
Eastward the sky was black with clouds, but the eye of faith could
still perceive silver linings. Neither the Russian nor the Serbian
armies had been destroyed; the Germans had won territory but not
victory. The short, sharp war which they had intended had developed
into a long struggle, the end of which was not yet in sight, and
meanwhile the advantages with which they had begun the war were
passing to their foes. So in deep gloom and anxiety, yet with good
hope of final success, the year 1915 drew to a close, and--

  "The new sun rose, bringing the new year."

[Footnote 1: In November 1915 a belated Victoria Cross was awarded to
Lance-Corporal G. H. Wyatt, 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards,
for splendid heroism during the rearguard action at Landrecies. (See
Vol. II., p. 93.) He twice dashed forward and extinguished a fire
which threatened to drive his comrades from their position, and later
in the retreat continued firing until he was blinded by the blood
which poured down his face. Directly his wounds were staunched he
returned to the fighting line.]

[Page 17]



  CHAPTER II.

  DARK DAYS IN THE NEAR EAST.


While the snow and sleet of January pinned friend and foe to their
trenches in France, Flanders, and Russia, all eyes were turned to the
Near East, where the curtain was rapidly descending upon the tragedy
of Serbia. On the first day of the New Year a broken old man, crippled
with rheumatism and all but blind, was helped ashore at Salonika. It
was King Peter of Serbia. He had struggled with the remnants of his
army over snowy ridges and across flooded torrents, and had shared
with his famished soldiers the untold hardships of the retreat, until
the border of Albania--their haven of refuge--was reached. Then,
attended only by three officers and four soldiers, he had journeyed by
mule and horse to the port of Scutari,[2] where he had rested a
fortnight. When fit to travel once more, he had slowly and painfully
made his way along the coast to Avlona,[3] where he had found an
Italian ship, which gave him passage to Brindisi. Six days later he
had sailed from Brindisi for Salonika--a king without a country.

Peter was never so much a king as during those terrible days of trial.
His faith never wavered; he refused to despair, even in the darkest
hour.

    "I believe in the liberty of Serbia," he said, "as I believe in
    God. It was the dream of my youth. It was for that I fought
    throughout manhood. It has become the faith of the twilight of my
    life. I live only to see Serbia free. I pray that God may let me
    live until the day of redemption of my people. On that day I am
    ready to die if the Lord wills. I have struggled a great deal in
    my life, and am tired, bruised, and broken from it; but I will
    see--I shall see--this triumph. I shall not die before the victory
    of my country."

[Page 18]
[Illustration: Serbian Boys who survived the Retreat to the Sea.

These are some of the boys who were brought to Oxford. The boy whose
story is told on page 21 is sitting at the end of the row on your
left. The readers and friends of _The Children's Story of the War_
have undertaken to board, lodge, and educate ten Serbian boys for a
year.]

[Page 19]
Meanwhile British, French, and Italians had occupied the port of
Durazzo,[4] and, in the face of great difficulties, had prepared for
the coming of the Serbians. Italian troops bridged rivers and marshes,
made roads and jetties, and before the end of the year had conveyed
nearly 130,000 Serbian soldiers to the Greek island of Corfu,[5] which
the French had previously occupied. In this lovely island the
exhausted soldiers were rested, and were nursed back to health and
fighting strength. Thousands of the miserable refugees who accompanied
the army were taken across the Adriatic to South Italy. Even in their
wretchedness they saw with delight that the Allies were in possession
of the Kaiser's summer villa on the island of Corfu.

       *     *     *     *     *

Before I pass on, let me impress upon you the greatness of the little
Serbian nation in struggling so long and heroically against
overwhelming odds. We shall probably never learn the full story of
Serbia's agony, but we know that even the enemy could not forbear to
pay a tribute to the wonderful endurance of both army and people. It
was a nation in arms that made the last despairing efforts to beat
back the foe. Young boys and girls frequently fought side by side with
graybeards, and all showed the most wonderful courage. A writer tells
us that he met a boy of fifteen years of age who, with five comrades
and a supply of hand-grenades, had held a German company at bay for
two hours. He had three shrapnel wounds, but was smiling and eager to
fight again. His chief promoted him corporal on the spot.

Dr. Seton Watson, a well-known writer and traveller, describes an
incident which well illustrates the spirit of the Serbian people. A
regiment was forced to retire before superior forces of the enemy. All
the men serving the machine guns had been killed but one, and he,
[Page 20]
instead of withdrawing with his comrades, went on working his gun with
such furious energy that the advancing enemy was held up. The
situation was thus saved by this one man. His exploit was reported to
the general, who sent for him next day and said fiercely: "You're a
terrible fellow. What's this I hear of you? They tell me it was a
regular massacre. How many men did you kill?" The gunner, covered with
confusion, stammered out that he believed he had killed more than a
hundred. "Well," said the general, frowning, "there's nothing for it
but to make you a corporal." "O general!" exclaimed the man. "And now,
Corporal ----, I make you a sergeant." "O general!" gasped the man,
speechless with astonishment. "And now, Sergeant ----," the general
went on, "I make you a lieutenant." The new officer burst into tears.
"And now," cried the general, "embrace me!"

No words of mine can describe the heart-breaking scenes which were
witnessed during the long retreat. It was a moving picture of woe.
Men, women, and children fell by the wayside and died of hunger, cold,
and fatigue; while their comrades trudged on, casting one long,
lingering look behind at the land which they had lost, but still loved
as the dearest on earth. But the homeless, ruined survivors, in the
spirit of their king, never thought for a moment of bowing their necks
to the invader's yoke. A Serbian officer during the retreat talked
with an old peasant, who said: "I have lost my three sons. I lost one
in the war with Turkey, another in the war with Bulgaria, and now I
have lost a third in this war. My sorrow is that it will be such a
long time before _their_ sons grow up to the rifle."

       *     *     *     *     *

When the retreat began the Serbian mothers, knowing that the hope of
the nation lay in its children, sent their boys to follow the army to
the sea. There is nothing finer in history than the splendid
self-sacrifice of these Serbian mothers. It tore their hearts to part
with their sons; but dearly as they loved them, they loved Serbia
better. What mattered their sufferings if the manhood of Serbia might
be preserved? What mattered their sacrifices if in days to come Serbia
might live?

It is said that some 18,000 of these poor lads began the journey, but
that only half of them ever reached the sea. For months afterwards the
[Page 21]
wild hills of Serbia and Albania were strewn with the bones of the
children who had perished. The nine thousand survivors were taken by
the Allies to Corsica and to the south of France, and some of them
were brought to England. In the early days of June 1916 the present
writer saw in Oxford 150 of the boys who had won through.[6] They were
fine, sturdy, intelligent lads, and those in charge of them spoke
warmly of their good behaviour, their gratitude, and their great
desire to learn. Their natural courtesy of bearing and address was
very striking. They were eager to acquire those British virtues which
they had been taught to admire.

Here is the story which was taken down from the lips of one of these
Serbian boys. He was a very bright, clever lad, with a pleasing smile
and excellent manners. As he told his story his eyes flashed and his
gestures were quite dramatic. When a reference was made to his mother
he utterly broke down.

    "My name is Djordje Osmanbegovitch. My mother is a widow, and our
    home is in a village two hours to the south of Nish. When the war
    began I was attending a commercial school. I hoped to be a clerk
    in a bank or a business house when the war was over. I was too
    young to be a soldier, or I should have joined the army. There
    were many boys not much older than I in the ranks.

    "When the retreat began my mother called me and said, 'Djordje,
    you must follow the army. If you stay here, the Austrians or the
    Bulgars will take you and make you forget that you are a Serb. If
    you and the other boys stay behind, there will be no men to fight
    for Serbia when our soldiers fall. You must follow the army to the
    sea. There the British or the Italians or the French will care for
    you. They will feed you and clothe you and teach you until you are
    old enough to be a soldier. Then you must join the army and give
    your life, if need be, to make Serbia free once more.'

    "My heart was very sore when I said good-bye to my mother. I could
    not bear to part from her. I did not go on the march willingly. I
    saw my mother for the last time when I reached the turn of the
    road. She was waving to me, and was trying to be very brave. . . .

[Page 22]
    "Then the long, long tramp began. For two months I struggled on
    over the mountains. It was easy to follow the army. Everywhere
    along the roads there were signs that the soldiers had passed that
    way. There were knapsacks and equipment that had been tossed
    aside; there were dead horses and mules and overturned carts, and
    now and then the guns that our men had been obliged to leave
    behind. Saddest of all, there were the bodies of many of the older
    soldiers, who could not keep up with the younger men. They had
    fallen behind, and had died of weariness, hunger, and cold. There
    were thousands of others on the road beside me--boys and girls,
    women and little children. Some of them did not go far. They lay
    down by the roadside, and they never got up again.

    "I used to trudge on from dawn to dark. When night came I looked
    about for a sheltered place, and then lay down to sleep. It was
    very cold, and there was snow on the hills. Sometimes when I went
    to sleep I thought I should never wake again, but be killed by the
    cold. Many of the soldiers were frost-bitten. I saw some of them
    trying to warm their hands at a little fire. They burnt their
    fingers at the flame, but they could not feel the heat.

    "As soon as the light was in the sky I walked on again, and every
    day there were fewer and fewer of us. Oh, how tired I was! Some
    days I was so tired that I could not walk at all. Then I lay and
    rested all day, and next morning I went on again, trying to catch
    up with the army.

    "Soon I had eaten all my food, and I had to beg scraps from the
    soldiers. They gave me what they could, but they had very little
    for themselves. Once I went three whole days without a bite. I
    should have died, but I found some crusts in the knapsack of a
    dead soldier, and so I was able to go on again.

    "Oh yes, many of the boys must have died on the mountains. I did
    not see their bodies. When they were worn out they just fell down
    by the roadside, and I never saw them again. I kept going on and
    on, and I said to myself that I would not give in.

    "You do not know the road from Serbia to Albania? There are many
    high, bare mountains to be crossed, and there are no real roads,
    only tracks up and down the steep hills. In some places we had to
[Page 23]
    walk along ledges no wider than that, sir" (here he extended his
    arms), "with a cliff going down and down to a river far below.
    Many poor fellows were so weak and giddy that they fell over. So
    did horses and mules.

    "Did I see our King? Yes, sir, several times. Once I saw him in a
    motor car. Then, when the roads were too bad, I saw him on
    horseback, and once I saw him walking. He looked very, very old,
    and full of pain. It was sad to see our King so, was it not?

    "I thought our troubles would be over when I reached Albania; but
    there were robbers about, and they killed many of our poor people,
    and stole all that they had. But it was in Albania that I found a
    friend. I found my cousin, who is a captain in the army, and he
    gave me food and clothes and boots, which he got from the
    soldiers. He took care of me till we reached Durazzo. At Durazzo
    the Italians gave us plenty of food. They gathered the boys
    together--oh, what a miserable crew we were!--and sent us on board
    a ship, which took us to Corfu. From Corfu we sailed to
    Marseilles; and now some of us have come to this beautiful city
    (Oxford), where the trees and the meadows are so green, and there
    are so many palaces and beautiful streets, and where everybody is
    so kind to us.

    "No, sir, my mother does not know that I am safe. I have written
    to her many times, but no letter has come from her yet. . . . What
    shall I do when I am nineteen? I shall be a soldier. Why do I want
    to be a soldier? _Because I am a Serb!_ I must fight for Serbia,
    and help to win back my native land."

       *     *     *     *     *

The little kingdom of the Black Mountain was now to feel the weight of
the enemy's hand. Let us suppose that we are about to pay a visit to
Montenegro in the month of July 1914. We take steamer from Venice to
the Austrian port of Cattaro,[7] which stands on a lovely fiord of the
Dalmatian coast. At Cattaro we board a motor diligence, which climbs a
zigzag road up a mountain side until the Montenegrin frontier is
reached, 2,000 feet above sea-level. Three thousand six hundred feet
above us looms the dark summit of Mount Lovtchen, the highest peak in
[Pages 24, 25]
Montenegro proper. Its black, forbidding aspect gives Montenegro its
name of the "Black Mountain." Mount Lovtchen is sacred ground to every
Montenegrin. From the mountain side issues the clear spring at which
Ivan the Black, the great hero of Montenegrin legend, and the founder
of Cettinje[8] more than four centuries ago, watered his horses. The
peasants still believe that he sleeps in a cavern hard by, and that he
will wake and once again lead his people when the Turk is driven from
Europe. On the summit of the mountain is the grave of another
prince--Peter the Second, poet, statesman, and reformer. He chose to
be buried on this lofty eyrie so that his spirit might still watch
over his beloved land.

[Illustration: Map of Europe to illustrate the Battle fronts at the
Beginning of the Year 1916.

COPYRIGHT: "GEOGRAPHIA" L^{TD}. _55 FLEET STREET.LONDON.E.C_]

[Page 26]
We climb to the crest of the ridge, and note the forts which command
the mountain road. Then we look down upon a plain ringed about by
mountains, and see at the far end of it the little, red-roofed town of
Cettinje. In less than three hours after leaving Cattaro we are in the
main street of King Nicholas's capital. Forty years ago it was a
straw-thatched village; prior to the war it was a bright, clean little
town, with a parliament house and the palace of the King.

During our stay in the capital let us learn something of the country
and its people. Montenegro is about the size of Wales, and is the
smallest kingdom in Europe. A traveller thus describes it: "Imagine,"
says he, "a circle of hills rising four hundred feet all round; the
rocks bare and gray, except for a few stunted beech or oak trees. Let
these hills enclose a floor of earth on which a few crops are visible.
Scatter over the flat ground and on the slopes of the hills, at
intervals of a quarter of a mile, a few one-storied, one-doored,
one-windowed huts--the walls of stone, the roofs of straw. The result
is a Montenegrin village."

Highlands, as you know, are the chosen home of freedom, and Montenegro
is no exception to the general rule. Montenegro was never under
Turkish rule, though the Turks tried hard to overrun it. From 1788 to
1896 the Montenegrins fought with their fellow-Slavs in all the
Russo-Turkish wars, and in 1878 they won their reward. They were
granted independence, and were given thirty miles of the Adriatic
[Page 27]
coast. In 1910 the Great Powers permitted the prince to take the title
of king.

I need not remind you that, from the moment when the Austrian guns
first opened fire on Belgrade, the Montenegrins fought valiantly side
by side with their Serbian kinsmen, sharing alike their glories and
their sufferings. When the terrific onslaught of Austrians, Germans,
and Bulgarians in October 1915 forced the Serbian armies to retreat
towards Albania, the Austrian armies in Bosnia and Herzegovina pushed
into Montenegro. Though the Montenegrins fought desperately amidst
their mountains, they were far too few to resist the foe, and in the
first week of January 1916 Mount Lovtchen--the key-fortress of
Cettinje--was besieged. The guns of the forts were old, and the small
garrison of a few thousand men was sadly short of food and munitions.

While Austrian warships bombarded Mount Lovtchen from the sea,
infantry assaults were launched against it under cover of gas attacks.
On 10th January--the day after the last British soldier left the
Gallipoli peninsula--the fortress fell, and Cettinje lay open to the
invader. Three days later the Austrians announced, with a great
flourish of trumpets, that King Nicholas had surrendered his country.
The Allies received the news with sorrow, but with no resentment. Most
people thought that Nicholas, seeing the impossibility of continuing
the struggle, had made the best of a bad business, and had come to
terms with his conqueror. Then came the surprising news that Nicholas
had not surrendered at all. He and the queen and the royal family had
escaped to Italy. Montenegro had not sullied its ancient fame by
yielding; it had gone down with the flag flying. Nevertheless, the
little rugged land was in the hands of the Austrians, and Nicholas was
a fugitive.

       *     *     *     *     *

In the final chapter of our fourth volume I told you how the Allies
came to occupy the Greek port of Salonika, and how French and British
troops strove to advance northwards in order to relieve the retreating
Serbians. They came within twelve miles of the heroic rearguard which
was holding the Babuna Pass, but before they could make a further
advance the Serbs were forced to retire towards Albania. The Allies
could no longer hope to join up with the Serbs, and as their advanced
position was dangerous, they decided to retire to Salonika. Foreseeing
[Page 28]
this movement, the Bulgars now began to attack first the French and
then the British positions. The French were forced to fall back before
furious assaults, and the British, who lay amongst the hills west and
south of Lake Doiran, were obliged to retire in order to maintain the
line.

This retirement was similar to the famous retreat from Mons, but of
course on a much smaller scale. Desperate rearguard actions were
fought in order to hold back the enemy. Thanks largely to a heroic
stand by the 10th British Division, the troops were withdrawn without
undue loss to Salonika.

The 10th Division--which was composed of Connaught Rangers, Munster
Fusiliers, Dublin Fusiliers, Inniskillings, and two English
regiments--had been brought from Suvla Bay. It had already had its
fill of hardships. It had scorched under the blazing summer sun of
Gallipoli; it had shivered in the icy winds of winter, and had been
half drowned in the torrents of rain that flooded the trenches. For a
brief space the men of the 10th Division had taken their ease in
Salonika, had chummed with Greek soldiers in the cafés, and had
walked arm in arm with them through the streets. One day they saw in
their camp the greatest man in all Greece. He was recognized by his
beard and eye-glasses, and though few of the division could pronounce
his name, most of them could spell it--Venezelos.[9] Then came the
order to entrain for Doiran, where the bare rocks and gaunt hills
reminded them of Suvla. A three days' march through chill rain
followed; the men bivouacked in the open, sleeping under dripping
clouds, with an oilskin beneath them and a blanket and greatcoat above
them. When the march ended the old familiar trench life began again.

The rain ceased, the snow began to fall, and bitter blizzards blew.
Scores of men every day became helpless from frost-bite, and had to be
sent back along the narrow-gauge railway to Salonika. The 20,000 men
which General Sir Bryan Mahon had led up country were sadly reduced in
numbers by the time the great Bulgar rush came.

[Page 29]
[Illustration: King Nicholas of Montenegro, with Mount Lovtchen in the
Background.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

Nicholas I. was born in 1841, and in 1860 succeeded his uncle, Prince
Danilo I. He reformed the army and the government, gave his land
better education, and in December 1908 opened the first railway in
Montenegro--from Antivari to Vir Pazar. Before the war the population
of Montenegro was about 516,000; all were engaged in grazing cattle
and in tillage. Every Montenegrin from eighteen to sixty-two years of
age was obliged to serve in the army, and the war strength was between
30,000 and 40,000 men.]

[Page 30]
It was on Friday, December 3, 1915, that six deserters came into the
British lines with the news that a big Bulgar assault was preparing.
Dawn had scarcely broken the next morning when the enemy made his
expected attack under the cover of a thick mist. About 5 a.m. the
Bulgars drove in the outposts of the Inniskillings, who were on the
extreme right, and then swooped down on the trenches, but were driven
back by the rifles and machine guns of the Irishmen. Meanwhile the
main body of the Bulgarians dashed down a defile leading to the centre
of our front. As they emerged as from a bottle neck, our shrapnel
battered and smashed them, and the bullets of rifles and machine guns
swept blood-red lanes through them. Wave after wave, however, came on,
and soon there was terrible hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. Our
men were driven out; but the Munsters, Connaughts, and Dublins quickly
rallied, and at the bayonet's point won back the lost position. Again
and again the enemy came on in massed formation, and still the brave
Irish regiments continued to pour lead into them as fast as they could
load their rifles.

When the slow dawn drove off the mists, the enemy returned to the
charge, undeterred by his heavy losses, and undismayed by our deadly
gun and rifle fire. Sometimes, when the thin British line wavered, it
was rallied by shouts of--"Stick it, jolly boys; give it 'em,
Connaughts."

The 10th Division, however, was outnumbered by at least eight to one,
and as the day advanced was forced to fall back to its second line of
trenches, where another desperate resistance was made. On the night of
the 17th the Bulgars made their final attempt to overwhelm the
division. They nearly broke through; but British bulldog courage saved
the day.

Slowly, at the rate of about two miles a day, the Allies fell back
towards the Vardar valley, the artillery holding the enemy in
sufficient check to give them all the respite which they needed. The
danger had now passed. Terrible losses had been inflicted on the enemy
at the cost of 1,300 British casualties. We also lost eight guns,
which the rugged nature of the country prevented us from moving in
time.

On 12th December the Allies crossed the Greek frontier with their
transport and stores. They left behind them wrecked roads and railways
and a wasted land. The whole retreat was a feather in the cap of
General Sarrail; but the chief honours must go to the 10th Division.

[Page 31]
While the Bulgarian troops waited on the frontier, across which they
dared not pass without adding Greece to the number of their foes,
French and British engineers were working night and day to put
Salonika and its neighbourhood into a state of defence. The Greeks had
finally agreed to our occupation, and had withdrawn their troops from
the zone in which the Allies proposed to make a stand. Perhaps you
wonder why we had determined to establish a base at Salonika. First of
all, we knew that Austria greatly coveted the port, and would be
likely to capture it if we withdrew. Had Austria done so, she would
have won an excellent submarine base for operations in the Ægean Sea.
Further, as long as we held Salonika we possessed a gateway into the
Balkans, and were in a position to advance either northwards into
Serbia and Bulgaria, or eastwards to Constantinople, whenever
opportunity might offer. You already know that the Russians were
conducting what looked like a successful campaign on the Turkish and
Persian frontiers between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Should
they be able to invade Asia Minor and march westwards to the
Bosphorus, the Allies in Salonika might co-operate with them, in which
case Constantinople would be threatened both from the east and from
the west.

[Illustration: Map showing the Allied Line of Defence before Salonika.]

Here is a sketch map which shows you how the Allies fortified their
new base. You may be sure that the lesson of Verdun was taken to
[Page 32]
heart, and that instead of trying to defend the place with fixed
forts, which could be smashed to fragments by the great Austrian siege
guns in the course of a few days, lines of continuous trenches were
pushed out far from the city. Salonika lies at the head of a long
gulf, and if the city alone were defended, the enemy would be able to
get on its flanks and attack it on three sides. To prevent this, a
defensive line had to be made in the form of a rough semi-circle from
sea to sea. Fortunately the western flank of Salonika was already
defended by nature; the broad, fordless river Vardar and the wide
swamps on either bank formed an almost impassable barrier to any
attack from the west. Directly to the north of the city extends a
treeless plain rising to a range of hills which gradually sink towards
the east into a trough containing two large lakes. From the eastern
end of the second of these lakes a wooded valley runs to the Gulf of
Orfano. The lines of defence of Salonika were carried from the Vardar
along the hills, and so on, by way of the trough containing the lakes,
and down the wooded valley to the sea--a distance of over sixty miles.
The lines were constructed with surprising speed, and when completed
were said to be impregnable.

       *     *     *     *     *

One hundred and nine years ago the British general Wellington, when
setting out to fight the French in Portugal and Spain, constructed on
the broad tongue of land between the estuary of the Tagus and the sea
a system of defensive works to which he could retire if the worst
should befall. These were the famous lines of Torres Vedras, behind
which, with his back to the sea, and succoured by the Fleet, he was
able to maintain his army during the winter of 1810-11. Massena,
Napoleon's famous general, reconnoitred Wellington's lines from end to
end, but could discover no chink in the wall of defence, and wisely
refused to attack them. Wellington was thus enabled to nurse his men
through the days of frost and cold, and launch them with victorious
effect upon the enemy when the summer returned. The lines which had
been constructed round Salonika were a new Torres Vedras. The winter
snows departed; spring blossoms appeared; the summer sun rose high in
the heavens; but the enemy dared not attack. His legions halted at the
frontier, "willing to wound, but afraid to strike."

[Footnote 2: Town, Albania, on lake of the same name, 16 miles from
the Adriatic Sea.]

[Footnote 3: Port of Albania, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, about
60 miles north-east of Otranto, in Italy. Avlona was first occupied by
the Italians in September 1915.]

[Footnote 4: _Doo-rat'so_, port of Albania, 58 miles north of Avlona.]

[Footnote 5: Greek island of Ionian Sea, 270 square miles in area;
famous for its oranges, wine, oil, and grapes. From 1815 to 1863 it
was under British protection. The German Emperor's villa is in the
neighbourhood of the port of Corfu, on the east coast of the island.]

[Footnote 6: In June 1916 the readers and friends of _The Children's
Story of the War_ undertook to lodge, board, and educate ten of these
boys for a year.]

[Footnote 7: _Kat′tä-ro_, seaport of Dalmatia, Austria, at the
south-east extremity of the gulf of the same name.]

[Footnote 8: _Chet-teen'ya_, capital of Montenegro, 17 miles
east-north-east of Cattaro, and about 25 miles north of the seaport of
Antivari.]

[Footnote 9: Eleutherios Venezelos, born in Crete in 1864. He became
President of the Cretan National Assembly in 1897, and brought about
the union of Crete with Greece. In 1905 he became Prime Minister of
Greece. It was he who invited the Allies to land troops at Salonika,
so that Greece might fulfil her treaty duties with regard to Serbia.
When King Constantine refused to carry out his policy he resigned
(October 6, 1915).]

[Page 33]




  CHAPTER III.

  AMPHIBIOUS WARFARE.


From the snowy ridges of the Balkans we must now travel eastwards, to
the wastes and swamps of Mesopotamia, and see what progress our troops
were making in that ancient land. In chapter xxxi. of our third volume
we followed the fortunes of the small British force which pushed up
the river Tigris in November 1914, captured Basra, the city of Sindbad
the Sailor, and advanced to Kurna, the supposed site of the Garden of
Eden. You will remember that Anglo-Indian troops were sent to the
Persian Gulf to protect the Anglo-Persian oil-fields, and to occupy
the holy city of Baghdad,[10] probably better known to you as the city
of the _Arabian Nights_. It was thought necessary that we should
maintain our hold on our Persian oil supplies, though the Navy was not
dependent on them, and it was supposed that our capture of Baghdad
would so greatly impress the wild and lawless tribesmen that they
would refuse to join the enemy against us.

[Page 34]
[Illustration: River Fighting on the Tigris. Armed Steamers supporting
the Fighting Columns.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

Some of the many types of river craft used in the Mesopotamian
campaign are here seen. The central ship, which was formerly a
passenger steamer plying between Baghdad and the Shat-el-Arab, was
turned into a formidable gunboat by means of boiler plating and
sandbags. Notice the observing station on this vessel, and also that
on the boat to the right. The flotilla played a very important part in
the amphibious operations described in this and succeeding chapter.]

[Page 35]
The campaign in Mesopotamia was remarkable because it was fought by
water and by land. The main highway into the interior was a broad,
navigable river. Troops and stores had to be conveyed for hundreds of
miles up country by means of ships, and for this purpose a most
wonderfully assorted flotilla was gathered together. Not only were
there gunboats which were able to attack the enemy's positions, but
there were

    "paddle steamers which once plied with passengers, and now waddle
    along with a barge on either side, one perhaps containing a
    portable wireless station, and the other bullocks for heavy guns
    ashore. There are once respectable tugs which stagger along under
    a weight of boiler plating, and are armed with guns of varying
    character; there is a launch with batteries of 4.7's, looking like
    a sardine between two cigarette boxes; there is a steamer with a
    tree growing amidships, in the branches of which officers fondly
    imagine they are invisible to friend and foe. . . . And this fleet
    is the cavalry screen, advance guard, rear guard, flank guard,
    railway, general headquarters, heavy artillery, line of
    communications, field ambulance, and base of supply for the
    Mesopotamian Expedition. . . . When reading the dispatches we must
    always bear in mind this fleet, and picture following in its wake
    flocks of store-bearing river craft with acres of white sails
    bellying in fair curves, and peaking up sharp angles against the
    sky."

It is hard for us in the West to realize the great difficulties and
hardships of this Mesopotamian campaign. The climate of Mesopotamia is
one of the worst in the world: the bitter cold of winter, the raw
dampness of spring, the terrific heat of summer, and the swarms of
mosquitoes severely try the constitution of the hardiest of men, and
no wonder that many of our soldiers, Indian as well as British, fell
victims to it. The river road was always liable to be blocked for a
longer or shorter time by unexpected mudbanks, and thus food and
stores were often delayed. Land marches were often held up, and plans
were thwarted by the sudden appearance of unmapped swamps, and all the
time the wild, lawless Arabs were waiting for an opportunity to
plunder our convoys, attack our hospitals, cut our telegraph wires, or
convey information to the enemy. If we are to appreciate what our men
accomplished in Mesopotamia, we must never forget the manifold
difficulties which beset them on every hand.

Now let me take up the thread of the narrative where I dropped it in
chapter xxxi. of our third volume. At the beginning of the year 1915
our troops were securely entrenched on both sides of the Tigris at
Kurna and Mezera,[11] and we commanded the highway of the river to the
Persian Gulf. From the first our army was far too small to cope with
the Turkish troops opposed to it. Reinforcements arrived from India
early in the year, but still the British force was gravely
outnumbered. The whole expedition was placed under the command of Sir
John Nixon.

Nothing of first-rate importance happened until April. We fought
[Page 36]
several small engagements to prevent the enemy from clustering in
strength; but we could not advance, because the country on both sides
of the river from Basra northwards to forty miles beyond Kurna was
flooded, and formed an inland sea two to six feet deep. On 12th April,
however, the Turks, who numbered 18,000, and had with them some twenty
guns, attacked our positions near Basra from the north, south, and
west. In the course of a three days' battle our men completely routed
the enemy, and a final bayonet charge by the 2nd Norfolks and 120th
Infantry put them to flight.

During the battle Major Wheeler, as you will learn on a later page,
won the Victoria Cross by a deed of great gallantry, but, unhappily,
lost his life. "It was a sheer, dogged soldier's fight," wrote General
Mellis, who was in command; "no words of mine can adequately express
my admiration of those gallant regiments which won through." Our
casualties amounted to about 700 officers and men, and the Turkish
loss was not less than 7,000. We captured several machine guns, and
large quantities of stores and equipment, including motor cars and
ammunition wagons. During their retreat across the desert the Arabs
hung on the Turkish rear, killing the stragglers and looting
everything they could lay hands on. After assembling his officers and
denouncing the faithlessness of the Arabs, the Turkish commander, in
despair, shot himself.

By the middle of May all preparations had been made for an advance up
the Tigris. A large number of "bellums"--that is, long, narrow boats
of the country--had been collected and armoured with iron plates. In
these the infantry were to be conveyed. For several weeks our men were
trained in punting and boat work. Guns had also been mounted on rafts,
barges, tugs, and paddle-steamers, and floating hospitals had been
rigged up. The country was still flooded, and a successful advance
could only be made by the careful working together of Army and Navy.
The weather was terribly hot, and the sweltering days were followed by
still, sultry nights.

The Turks at this time lay entrenched north of Kurna, on islands in
the wide-spreading floods. In the early morning of 31st May, while
mine-sweepers were clearing the stream, our guns heavily shelled the
Turkish position. Then a force under General Townshend made a frontal
attack, and carried the enemy's trenches at the point of the bayonet.
Some of his men had to pole their boats through thick reeds for over a
[Page 37]
mile and wade waist-deep in water before they could land. While the
frontal attack was proceeding, another force had pushed up the river,
and had fallen fiercely on the Turkish flank. Early next morning an
aeroplane reported that the Turks were in full retreat up the Tigris.
At once the flotilla went in pursuit. The enemy was kept on the run,
and two days later General Townshend reached Amara, about 75 miles
north of Kurna. During the fighting of the previous four days he had
captured 1,773 prisoners, 17 guns, 2,718 rifles, four river steamers,
a number of lighters and boats, besides large quantities of stores and
ammunition.

[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Mesopotamian Campaign.]

Before Sir John Nixon could advance any further it was necessary for
him to clear the enemy from his flanks. If you look at the map on this
page, you will see that Kurna stands at the junction of the Euphrates
and the Tigris. About one hundred miles west of Kurna you notice, on
the Euphrates, the town of Nasiriyeh,[12] the Turkish headquarters of
the Basra province and an important Arab centre. It was very probable
[Page 38]
that as our troops pushed up the Tigris the enemy would make a dash
from Nasiriyeh against Basra. To prevent this, Sir John Nixon sent
General Gorringe with a force to occupy the place. I wish I had space
to describe this expedition fully, because it would give you an
excellent example of what British soldiers and sailors can do in the
face of almost incredible difficulties. Our boats had to make their
way through a maze of creeks and lagoons amidst thick date groves,
while the enemy's snipers were busy from the banks. Often the boats
were aground for days, and frequently the "bellums" had to be dragged
across mudbanks, and in one case across sixty yards of dry ground. A
great dam across the river had to be destroyed, and parties had
frequently to be landed to chase away the enemy. But in spite of all
obstacles General Gorringe fought his way to Nasiriyeh, and by 25th
June the enemy had been driven off across the marshes, and the place
was in our hands.

Now that the dangerous left flank was cleared, the advance up the
Tigris could continue. By 12th September the expedition was ready to
proceed. While the troops made route-marches along the banks, the
flotilla advanced upstream. There were frequent cavalry skirmishes
with the Turks, but the intense heat--the thermometer ranged from
110° to 116° in the shade--and the swarms of flies were more deadly
than the enemy. On 15th September the column reached Sannaiyat, eight
miles from the enemy's position covering Kut-el-Amara, a town of about
6,000 inhabitants, situated at the bend of the Tigris, and at the head
of the route to the Persian hills. It is 220 miles by river from
Baghdad, and more than 300 miles from the Persian Gulf. The column
rested at Kut until 25th September, and received reinforcements.

[Footnote 10: Ancient city of Mesopotamia, on both banks of the
Tigris, 220 miles above the outfall of the Shat-el-Arab. It contains
several holy Mohammedan tombs, and is a place of pilgrimage. It was
built out of the ruins of Ctesiphon (see page 44) in 763. Formerly a
place of great importance, its transit trade was still considerable
before the war.]

[Footnote 11: See Map, Vol. III., page 277.]

[Footnote 12: _Naz-e-réya._]

[Page 39]




  CHAPTER IV.

  A BID FOR BAGHDAD.


The army of Nur-ed-Din Bey lay astride the river, some seven miles
north-east of Kut, in a very strong position. The German general, von
der Goltz,[13] had been for months in Constantinople preparing the
Turkish armies for the field, and directing their operations. Probably
the Turks had constructed their defences on the Tigris according to
his plans. On the left bank of the river they had dug seven miles of
trenches, which linked up the gaps between the river and three
marshes. These trenches were so sited that they could not be seen
until the troops were almost upon them. There was pumping apparatus in
the trenches; there were mazes of barbed wire in front of them, and
the ground over which our men had to advance was honeycombed with
mines and rifle pits. Between the lines of fire trenches were miles of
communication trenches, which provided covered outlets to the river. A
great boom of barges and wire cables had been constructed to block the
waterway. On the right bank there were five miles of similar trenches
behind a canal embankment, twenty feet high, on which were a number of
watch towers. Such was the position which our men had now to attack.
The enemy awaited our coming with nearly 10,000 men.

On 26th September General Townshend was within four miles of the
Turkish position at Sannaiyat. His plan was to make a great attack on
the left bank of the river; but in order to deceive the enemy, he
began operations with a feint against the right bank. All day long the
assault on the right bank continued, but at night he silently withdrew
his troops to the left bank by means of a specially constructed
bridge. Next morning at dawn the battle opened in real earnest.

[Pages 40, 41]
[Illustration: Aeroplane View, looking towards Kut, showing the
operations of the Relief Column. (See Chapter V.)


On December 3, 1915, General Townshend was surrounded at Kut-el-Amara
by the Turks, who had pursued him from Ctesiphon, where he had fought
a stubborn battle and had lost about one-third of his force. When the
enemy was strongly reinforced he had no option but to retire. A relief
column under General Aylmer was moving up the Tigris, but, owing to
the floods, could not advance. By January 13th it was twenty-five
miles down the Tigris from Kut. Sir John Nixon, the
Commander-in-Chief, was invalided about this time, and was succeeded
by Lieutenant-General Sir Percy Lake.

On January 7-9, 1916, General Aylmer won a victory, and was able to
continue his advance. The Turks, with a force estimated at three
divisions, were posted behind the watercourse which enters the Tigris
at Orah.

On January 13, the Turks were driven back to the Umm-el-Hannah
position, but bad weather put a stop to active operations there. On
February 4th there was heavy fighting, but General Aylmer could not
proceed. Meanwhile the Turks strengthened their lines. Their first
position was at Umm-el-Hannah. Three miles behind, at Falahiyah, was a
second line; the third was at Sannaiyat, 6,000 yards in rear of
Falahiyah. The main Turkish lines ran through Es Sinn, six miles east
of Kut-el-Amara. On the right bank it extended to the Shat-al-Hai, and
on the left to the Suwaicha Marsh--a total distance of about fifteen
miles. For more than a month there was a weary deadlock. General
Aylmer's force was unable to operate by both flanks, and the
successive lines of entrenchments on the left bank appeared too strong
to be carried. He therefore transferred the bulk of his troops to the
right bank, and on March 6th moved against the Es Sinn position. He
attacked on the 8th, but from want of water was obliged to fall back.
Then came another long lull. Not till April 5th, when General Gorringe
had assumed command, was there any progress. Meanwhile the Russians
were overrunning Western Persia.

On April 5th our 13th Division captured five successive lines of
trenches at Umm-el-Hannah, and on the same day General Keary on the
right bank carried the works which flanked the second Turkish position
at Falahiyah. In the afternoon the Turks made an unsuccessful
counter-attack to recover the lost position on the right bank. This
was repulsed, and the 13th Division went forward and stormed the
Falahiyah lines. During the night and on the 6th, the 3rd Division
reached a position from which it could enfilade the Turks on the left
bank. On the 17th and 18th the 3rd Division advanced on the south bank
to within eleven miles of Kut, and during the fighting the Turks are
said to have lost 3,000 killed. On April 23rd we were checked at
Sannaiyat, and then bad weather put an end to the operations. An
attempt was made to get a supply ship through to the beleaguered town
on April 24th, but it ran aground, and was captured four miles from
Kut. All hope of relieving General Townshend had now gone, and he was
forced to surrender after sustaining an heroic siege of 143 days. In
the above view the spectator is looking from General Gorringe's point
of view--up the Tigris towards Kut. You must imagine that the view has
been drawn from an aeroplane some thousands of feet above the river
Tigris and the adjacent marshes.]

[Page 42]
The Turkish trenches were far too strong to be carried by a frontal
attack, so General Townshend determined to get round the flank. This
task was entrusted to General Delamain, who had carried out the feint
of the previous day. While General Fry's brigade, resting its left on
the line of the river, pinned the opposing Turks to their trenches,
Delamain's troops, in two columns, advanced against the enemy's
left--one column assaulting the flank entrenchments directly, and the
other making a wide sweep round the flank to attack them in the rear.
Our right was protected by cavalry and armoured motor cars, and the
enemy was thus prevented from sending assistance to his threatened
left. Shortly after ten in the morning the flank redoubts were
brilliantly carried by the 2nd Dorsets and Indian troops. Meanwhile
the other column was well round the flank, and by two in the afternoon
the whole of the enemy's left had been rolled up, despite several
fierce counter-attacks. Prisoners, some field guns, and great
quantities of rifles and ammunition were captured.

By this time Delamain's men were worn out with long marching and hard
fighting under the tropical sun, and were suffering severely from want
of water. After a brief rest the column was moved southwards in order
to attack the rear of the enemy holding the centre and right. While
doing so, seven enemy regiments, with guns, suddenly appeared,
marching from the south-west. At once Delamain turned to attack them.
"The sight of the approaching enemy, and the prospect of getting at
him in the open with the bayonet, put new life into our infantry. . . .
For the time thirst and fatigue were forgotten. The attack was made
in the most gallant manner with great dash. The enemy was routed with
one magnificent rush, which captured four guns and inflicted great
losses on the Turks." The enemy fought stubbornly, and was only saved
from complete destruction by the approach of night.

Throughout the fight the gunboats on the river did yeoman service.
Late in the afternoon, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander
Cookson, they tried to force a passage through the boom that blocked
their way. The ships came under a terrific fire from both banks at
[Page 43]
close range, but the boats pushed on. The _Comet_ rammed the boom, but
could not break through. While trying to cut a wire cable that held
the barges of the boom together, Lieutenant-Commander Cookson was shot
dead.

[Illustration: The 2nd Dorsets storming the Turkish Redoubts outside
Kut-el-Amara.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

To the 2nd Dorsets was given the difficult task of storming the
redoubts on the extreme flank of the Turkish position outside
Kut-el-Amara. The regiment came up against some unbroken barbed wire
about fifty yards from the loopholes of the Turkish trenches, which
were covered in with brushwood. Nothing could be seen but a row of
loopholes, and a tall pole from which floated the Turkish flag. The
2nd Dorsets gallantly carried the position, but they had to pay the
price of victory.]

[Page 44]
The sun rose next morning on long lines of empty trenches. The Turks
had fled during the night, and had escaped along the bank of the
Tigris. That same morning we took up the pursuit both by land and
water; but the shifting shallows of the river caused many delays, and
the enemy was not greatly harried in his retreat. Kut-el-Amara was
occupied, and the flotilla pushed on with all possible speed. Our
airmen reported that the Turks were falling back at the rate of
twenty-five miles a day, and that they showed no sign of halting
before reaching Ctesiphon,[14] where they had previously prepared very
strong positions.

The victory of Kut-el-Amara came as a welcome surprise to the British
people. It was a very real success. Four thousand Turks had been put
out of action, and fourteen guns, many rifles, much ammunition, and
other war material had been captured. Considering the severity of the
fighting, our casualties were not great. Of the 1,233 men who were
hit, a large number were only slightly wounded. "I do not think," said
the Prime Minister, "that in the whole course of the war there has
been a series of operations more carefully contrived, more brilliantly
conducted, and with a better prospect of final success." The question
now was, Should we advance any further? For a time, so it is said, the
Government was undecided, but finally it gave the order to advance.
General Townshend asked for large reinforcements. These, however, were
not forthcoming, and he had to push on with an army far too small for
the purpose.

October is a delightful month in Mesopotamia. The days are bright and
clear, the nights are cool, the floods have subsided, and the marshes
are rapidly drying. It is the best season of the year for an advance.
By 5th October our vanguard was thirty miles east of Ctesiphon. Then
came a delay of six weeks, which was fully occupied with preparations.
[Page 45]
On 21st November the expedition reached Lajj, nine miles from the
ancient city.

[Illustration: Battle of Ctesiphon.]

Ctesiphon is a name of ancient renown, but its glories have long since
departed. Nineteen and a half centuries ago it was the capital of an
empire. In later times it was a battleground of Romans and Parthians,
and Roman emperors more than once entered it as conquerors. The
Emperor Severus, who afterwards made a campaign against the Scots, and
died in the city of York, sacked Ctesiphon in the year 119
B.C., and carried away 100,000 prisoners. Later on, the city
rose from its ashes, and became more glorious than it had ever been.
Noble buildings were erected, amongst them a palace with a huge
archway 120 feet high. Though built two thousand years ago, this
archway still stands as a testimony to the skill of ancient builders.
It can be seen for many miles, so flat is the surrounding country.
To-day the ancient city is little more than a squalid Turkish village,
dotted with the ruins of its former grandeur.

The Turkish position at Ctesiphon lay astride the Tigris. On the map
[Page 46]
you will see the lines of trenches which were constructed by German
engineers on the right bank of the river. There were similar lines on
the other bank, and the two wings were connected by a bridge of boats.
The mounds of waste and ruin had been turned into redoubts armed with
machine guns. The whole position was very strong. Thanks to our
airmen, we knew exactly how the Turks were posted. We knew, too, that
the enemy had been recently reinforced by four fresh divisions.

Our plan of attack was similar to that which had given us victory at
Sannaiyat. One column was to advance against the centre of the first
Turkish position, a second column against the left, and a third column
was to sweep round and get to the rear. A still wider sweep was to be
made by the cavalry. The plan was a good one, but we had hardly enough
men to carry it out. All told, our numbers did not exceed 14,000 men,
while the Turks had about 20,000, with strong reserves.

General Townshend marched his men through the night of the 21st and
the early morning of the 22nd. The moon shone brightly, and after
seven miles had been covered the ruins of Ctesiphon were seen casting
purple shadows on the yellow plain. Before dawn we had dug in against
the centre and the flank, the right column was well to the left rear
of the enemy, while the cavalry were on the flank of the Turkish
reserve trenches. Dawn broke, and revealed strong bodies of troops
moving northwards to check our right and our cavalry. They formed up,
as you see from the map, on a line parallel with the river and uniting
the first and second line of trenches. The outflanking which had been
so successful at Sannaiyat could not now be repeated.

About a quarter to nine we attacked all along the line. The right,
being gravely outnumbered, lost ground, but at X on the map we pierced
the Turkish line by means of artillery fire. The first line was won,
and 1,300 prisoners were in our hands; but the Turks, assisted by the
forces which had defied our right and our cavalry, retired in good
order to their second line, where they awaited the next shock.

At half-past two in the afternoon we advanced against the second line.
We broke into it, captured eight guns, and made good our hold of the
enemy's trenches. But by this time the enemy was strongly reinforced,
[Page 47]
and he counter-attacked again and again. The captured guns changed
hands several times. Just before nightfall we were obliged to fall
back upon the first position which we had won, and the guns had to be
abandoned. Both sides were now worn out, and we had lost so heavily in
killed and wounded that we were in no fit condition to attack again.
About one-third of our men had fallen, and 800 of them were dead. The
Turks were in no better plight. The battlefield was littered with
their killed and wounded, and many of the trenches were choked with
dead. One Turkish division had been almost wholly destroyed. But next
day the Turks brought up their reserves, and from three o'clock in the
afternoon till long after dark they fiercely attacked our line. Every
time they came on they were hurled back with severe losses. It is
estimated that during the battle the Turks lost some 10,000 men in
killed and wounded.

It was now clear that we could advance no further, and lack of water
and our weakness in men soon forced us to withdraw. We fell back
towards Kut, and the first part of our retirement was unmolested.
Early in the evening of 1st December, when General Townshend's little
army reached camp, about forty-five miles as the crow flies above Kut,
the smoke of Turkish fires was seen. The enemy was following us up; he
had recovered from his severe handling at Ctesiphon, and was now about
to harry our retreat. Had he been able to fall upon us without delay,
scarcely a man could have escaped alive.

At daybreak on 1st December the Turks attacked in strength. Our
artillery did great execution, and the cavalry rode over a column that
was attempting to envelop our right flank. The enemy was checked, and
we continued our retirement in perfect order under a heavy shell fire.
By midday the enemy was shaken off, but we dared not halt until we had
covered twenty-seven miles. After three hours' rest we took the road
again, and moved on another fifteen miles. We were now only four miles
from Kut, and men and horses were so weary that they could go no
further.

Next morning (3rd December) all that remained of the Baghdad
Expedition, which had set out with such high hopes six weeks before,
staggered into Kut. It had done magnificently, but it had achieved
nothing. From the first it was too small a force to carry out the work
assigned to it. By remarkable courage, steadiness, and self-sacrifice
[Page 48]
it had made a wonderful advance and a no less wonderful retirement,
but it could no longer cope with the numbers of the enemy rapidly
gathering against it. By the 5th of December the enemy was fast
closing in on Kut from all sides except the west. General Townshend
retained one steamer as a ferry boat, and sent the other and the
barges down stream. Next day all the cavalry but one squadron started
off to fight their way towards Basra, and happily managed to get
through the enemy's lines with but trifling casualties. On the evening
of 6th December the enemy had completely encircled the town. The siege
had begun.

       *     *     *     *     *

The following two officers were awarded the Victoria Cross for
remarkable deeds of gallantry:--

Major George Godfrey Massy Wheeler, 7th Hariana Lancers,
Indian Army.

During the battle fought on 12th April, near Basra, Major Wheeler
noticed a group of snipers who were gathered round a flag, and were
firing upon our artillery observation post. He asked and obtained
permission to charge with his squadron, and clear them away. His
squadron galloped forward with great dash, and at the point of the
lance scattered the enemy in all directions. As they swarmed to the
rear our guns caught them, and did great execution. Major Wheeler only
lost one man, and had three horses wounded. Next day he and his
squadron charged a mound from which the enemy was galling our right
flank. He was seen far ahead of his men, riding straight for the
enemy's standards, which were planted on the mound, when a shot struck
him and he fell dead.

Lieutenant-Commander Edgar Christopher Cookson, D.S.O., R.N.

You have already heard of this hero's great exploit. You will remember
that on 28th September our gunboats tried to destroy the barricade of
boats which the enemy had made across the river. An attempt to sink
the centre boat by gun fire failed, and then Lieutenant-Commander
Cookson ordered his ship, the _Comet_, to be placed alongside. Armed
with an axe, he jumped on to the boat, and tried to cut the wire
hawsers connecting it with the other craft. He was thus a good mark
for the enemy's sharpshooters, and fell under a hail of bullets. He
died within a very few minutes.

[Footnote 13: German field-marshal, born 1844; known as "Goltz Pasha,"
because he organized the Turkish army which was defeated during the
Balkan War.]

[Footnote 14: _Teśi-fon_, ancient city of Assyria, on east bank of
Tigris, about 30 miles south-east of Baghdad, and about 50 miles north
of ancient Babylon. It stands opposite to another ancient city,
Seleucia, which was founded three hundred years B.C.]

[Page 49]




  CHAPTER V.

  THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KUT.


The history of our empire abounds in dramatic stories of little
British forces hemmed in by enemy hordes, yet holding out for months
at a time against hunger, thirst, fatigue, disease, and constant
attempts to overwhelm them. In some cases the story ends happily.
Relief comes in the very nick of time, and haggard, starving men are
rescued when almost at their last gasp. No boy or girl who reads these
pages can ever forget the relief of Lucknow,[15] of Chitral,[16] of
Ladysmith,[17] or Mafeking.[18] Sometimes, however, the story ends in
disaster. The relieving force fails to arrive, or arrives too late,
and the besieged, after a long agony, are slaughtered or carried away
into captivity. But whether the story ends happily or sadly, there is
always something in it to stir our hearts, and make us proud of our
fellow-countrymen. We Britons place at the head of all military
virtues dogged endurance--the courage that "sticks it" to the bitter
end. We glory in him who is

    "Strong with the strength of the race to command, to obey, to
    endure."

[Page 50]
I am now going to tell you the story of a siege which British forces
endured in the old heroic spirit. The defenders were shut up in a
space only four times as big as Hyde Park; they were surrounded by
enemies who poured shot and shell upon them, and strove again and
again, but always in vain, to break through their frail defences. They
had no shelter save their trenches and the mud huts of Arab townsfolk;
they had no food except what they brought with them, and the scanty
supplies which a small and poor town afforded; they suffered hunger
and thirst; they fell victims to disease, and were tortured by that
hope deferred that "maketh the heart sick." Yet they held out, grimly
cheerful, for twenty long weeks, and never thought of surrender until
starvation stared them in the face. They were not more than 14,000
fighting men when they set out for Baghdad; they were less than 9,000
when the siege came to an end. By far the largest number of the
defenders were Indian soldiers, and we may with full justice offer to
them the fine tribute which Tennyson paid to their fellow-countrymen
who fought side by side with us at Lucknow fifty-nine years ago:--

  "Praise to our Indian brothers, and let the dark face have his due!
   Thanks to the kindly dark faces who fought with us, faithful and few!
   Fought with the bravest among us, and drove them, and smote them,
       and slew."

       *     *     *     *     *

The town of Kut, in which General Townshend and his forces were now
besieged, is a miserable Arab village--"a collection of mud huts,
thrown together with winding alleys and narrow passages, all open to
the winds and rains and burning heat." But though it is as miserable a
town as one can find in the whole of Mesopotamia, it is well placed
for defence. Round about Kut the Tigris makes a deep =∪=-shaped loop,
and thus forms a promontory about a mile wide, with the river, about
250 yards broad, on all sides save one. The isthmus, which is 3,200
yards across, is the only land approach to the town. General
Townshend, as you may suppose, lost no time in making entrenchments
across this neck of land from river bank to river bank. He knew from
the first that the enemy would strive his hardest to break in through
this line, and that it would have to bear the brunt of his heaviest
attacks. At the north-east end of his entrenchments he therefore
erected a strong redoubt.

[Page 51]
[Illustration: Indian Troops wading through the Floods on the Tigris.

(_From the picture by Philip Dodd. By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 52]
The little map on the next page will make the British defences of Kut
quite clear to you. Notice, to the north of the redoubt, a bridge of
boats crossing the river. General Townshend pushed a detachment across
this bridge, and made a bridgehead for its defence. He also held a
liquorice factory and a village beyond the river to the south-west of
the town.

On the morning of the 9th December 1915, Nur-ed-Din, the Turkish
commander, sent a letter to General Townshend demanding his surrender.
The British general refused, and almost immediately the town was
heavily bombarded from the north, the west, and the south-east, and
attacks were made from all the points of the compass. The detachment
holding the bridgehead was driven in. The bridge could no longer be
held; so, lest it should fall into the hands of the enemy and enable
him to move his troops the more readily from bank to bank, General
Townshend determined to destroy it. In the night Sapper-Lieutenant
Matthews very gallantly led a party to the bridge and blew it up.

During the following days the Turks flung tons of shot and shell into
Kut, and made several infantry attacks against the isthmus, but
without success. More than once our men rushed out of the redoubt and
fell furiously on the enemy. The Turks now bent all their energies to
the task of capturing the redoubt. On Christmas Eve, when the famous
52nd Division had arrived from the Caucasus front, they breached the
parapet in several places and got inside; but they were driven out
again, leaving 200 dead behind. On Christmas night they broke through
once more, and flung bombs on the defenders at close quarters; but
before morning they had been hurled out again with great loss, and had
retired to trenches 500 yards from our front. They had suffered great
losses, and it was said that the 52nd Division had been almost wholly
destroyed. Do what they might, the Turks could not break down our wall
of defence. They asked for an armistice on the 29th, in order to bury
their dead and remove their wounded from the front of the fort. After
the armistice there were no more infantry attacks. The Turks had
already lost 4,000 men, and it was clear that they could only rush the
British positions at a terrific sacrifice of life. They therefore
blockaded the place, and left their unseen ally, hunger, to do its
fell work.

[Page 53]
Early in January 1916 General Townshend telegraphed home this cheerful
message:--

    "Going strong.
    Everything all right.
    Shall be relieved soon."

He had good hopes of speedy relief, for a force under General Aylmer
was fighting its way up the river, and had already forced the Turks to
retire to a new and very strong position only twenty-three miles from
Kut.[19] Unhappily, the weather prevented a speedy pursuit. Heavy rain
fell, high winds blew, and the ground became a quagmire. Advance by
water and by land was impossible until the 17th of January.

[Illustration]

On the 21st the relief force attacked the new Turkish position; but
though it punished the enemy sorely, it could not break through his
lines. When the fight was over, the wounded lay out in the mud and the
rain, and the heavens opened with a terrible deluge. The river was
brimful, and our camps were under water. Fighting could not continue
in these conditions. For the rest of the month, and all through
February, no headway could be made. On 6th March, however, three
columns set out across a waterless desert to fall on the extreme right
of that part of the enemy's main position which lay on the right bank
of the river. Through the night of the 7th our men trudged on in the
inky darkness, the silence being only broken by the howl of the jackal
and the cry of geese in flight. Soon after daylight our guns
unlimbered, and with startling suddenness our shells began to fall
fast and thick upon the surprised enemy. Before long, guns were heard
booming in the rear of the Turks. They were British guns, manned by
[Page 54]
General Townshend's men in besieged Kut. Our officers, peering through
their field glasses, could actually see the flash of the guns, which
were only eight miles away. During the day we made attack after
attack; but the position was too strong for us, and we were forced to
retire to our old lines.

The relief force was now reinforced, and was placed under the command
of General Gorringe.

On 5th April success smiled upon us. The 13th Division, which had won
such renown in Gallipoli, carried the first and second lines of the
enemy's position on the left bank of the river, and the Turks had
again to fall back. Seven days later our men attacked again on the
right bank. They pushed across a flooded plain, crossed by deep
ditches, and forced the enemy to retire in some places as much as
three miles. By the 17th we had occupied his advanced lines, and had
inflicted great losses on him.

We were now about fourteen miles below Kut, and we could advance no
further. The deep trenches, the strong redoubts, and the barbed-wire
tangles of the enemy's main position were too strong for us. On the
17th the Turks began their counter-attacks, and there was much fierce
fighting, often at close quarters. Though the enemy lost over 3,000 in
two days' battle, he forced us back and pinned us. The weather again
grew very stormy, and miles of country on either side of the river lay
deep under water. General Gorringe and his troops had done all that
men could do. The Turks, with flood and storm as their allies, could
not be overcome, and the little force in Kut looked in vain for
relief.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now let us return to the besieged town, and see how the heroic
defenders were faring. I have already told you that after the Turks
were beaten off on 24th December and on Christmas Day, 1915, they
turned the siege into a blockade. Except that they shelled the place
every night with their big guns, they made no attacks upon it. From
Christmas Day onwards the defenders were fighting, not Turks, but
hunger.

At first nobody went on short commons, and happily a supply of warm
clothing had arrived just before the siege began. On 24th January a
large quantity of grain was discovered, but it could not be used
because there were no millstones with which to grind it. Millstones,
however, were soon obtained--from the sky! The aeroplanes with the
[Page 55]
relief force managed to drop millstones in Kut, and the engine which
drove the grinding machinery was set going with oil from the naval
barges.

From this time onwards friendly aeroplanes made frequent visits, and
dropped into the camp such light articles as rifle-cleaners, spare
parts for the wireless telegraph, nets for fishing, etc. At one time
they dropped cigarettes and tobacco; but the supplies were so small
that they would not go round, and General Townshend, who was
determined that no man should be favoured beyond his fellows, gave
orders that no more were to be sent. Then our men strove to satisfy
their craving by smoking lime leaves, or ginger or baked tea leaves.
Throughout the siege General Townshend shared every hardship with his
troops.

A flying man gives the following account of one of his visits to
Kut:--

    "I constantly flew over the Turkish positions, and circled above
    beleaguered Kut. On one occasion we carried five parcels to
    General Townshend's force. It is not easy to drop anything from an
    aeroplane flying at the height of 5,000 feet, and we are obliged
    to keep that distance up if we do not want to fall a victim to the
    Turkish anti-aircraft guns. We managed, however, to drop three
    packets out of the five into our lines. Of course we have to drop
    them by means of a parachute. I am afraid that the two other
    packets fell into Turkish lines; but the wind always blows
    strongly across the desert, and a parachute is not an accurate
    thing, so we were perhaps lucky to get three packets to their
    right destination. Flying over the desert is an exciting pastime,
    for if one has engine trouble and comes down, one is faced with
    two possible fates--either to be found and 'finished off' by the
    Arabs, or else not to be found, and so die of hunger and thirst."

Before the end of January scurvy began to set in. Vegetable seeds were
planted about 26th January, and they bore welcome fruit before the
siege came to an end. The real privations of the garrison began about
the middle of February, when the milk gave out, and the sick in the
hospitals had to be fed on cornflour or rice water. Early in February
the British soldiers were receiving a twelve-ounce loaf, one pound of
meat, a few groceries, and a small supply of dates daily. The Indians
received supplies on much the same scale until 3rd March, when the
rations were reduced. They were cut down again on 9th March, and by
16th April the flour supply for British and Indians was reduced to
four ounces per day. During the last few days almost the only food in
the camp was that which the aviators dropped.

[Page 56]
[Illustration: Sick Men from Kut arriving at Basra. (See page 58.)

(_Photo, Central News._)]

[Page 57]
Early in the siege the horses were killed for food, and when they were
gone the mules suffered the same fate. One of the last mules to be
slaughtered had taken part in three Indian frontier campaigns, and
wore the ribbons of these expeditions round its neck. Twice the
butcher refused to kill it, but in the end it had to go the way of the
others. For the most part the troops spent the long, weary days in
their dug-outs. Except near the liquorice factory, there was no place
where games could be played, and for the most part the men were too
weak for unnecessary exertion. Some of them fished with success, and
thus eked out their scanty rations. Hostile aeroplanes frequently flew
over the camp and dropped bombs, some of which caused much damage.

    "After 20th April," writes a correspondent with the Mesopotamian
    forces, "many of the Arabs, feeling the pinch of hunger, made
    attempts to escape by the river from Kut. These men are splendid
    swimmers. Two of them got through to our camp with the help of the
    strong current. One, supported by skin bladders, made the journey
    by night in eight hours; the other concealed himself during the
    day, and arrived on the second night. A third, the sole survivor
    of a party of eighteen, came through on a raft with a bullet in
    his leg. The Turks fired on them from the bank. Four had been
    killed, and the others, many of them wounded, dived into the
    water. It is doubtful if any escaped."

On the night of 24th-25th April the steamship _Julnar_, laden with
supplies, made a gallant attempt to run the blockade and reach Kut.
The vessel was commanded by Lieutenant Firman, who knew that the
venture was a forlorn hope, yet cheerfully volunteered for the duty.
She managed to get within four miles of the besieged town, and then
went aground. Some days later she was seen with her funnels riddled
with bullets and her propeller damaged. Her gallant commander and
several of her crew had fallen. The Turks announced that they had
captured the vessel, and with it hundreds of tons of foodstuffs.

All hope of succour had now gone. On the 27th General Townshend
informed the enemy that he was ready to surrender Kut if he and his
army were allowed to go free. The Turks however, would make no
conditions with him, and the next day the British flag was hauled
down, a white flag was run up, and the enemy marched in. General
Townshend handed his sword to the Turkish commander, who courteously
[Page 58]
returned it. The men who were then holding our front line had been in
the trenches without relief for a fortnight. They were so weary that
they could not carry back their kit. Thus, after holding out for 143
days, the British in Kut became prisoners of war. Some 2,970 British
troops of all ranks and services, together with 6,000 Indian troops
and their followers, passed under the yoke[20] that day.

After the surrender the Turks behaved very well to their prisoners.
Turkish officers gave our soldiers cigarettes as they left Kut for the
prisoners' camp upstream, and Turks and Britons were soon on friendly
terms. Doctors and chaplains were left with the sick in Kut, and a
hospital ship was allowed to carry our wounded back to their own
people in exchange for Turkish prisoners. The enemy also permitted a
tug with two lighters, each laden with 500 tons of food and stores, to
proceed to the prisoners' camp. When the tug arrived the Indians were
bathing--a luxury which they had not enjoyed for months, as the
river-bath at Kut was exposed to snipers. When the British soldiers
sighted the tug they shouted for tobacco, and 100 lbs. of plug was
thrown to them over the heads of the sentries. Lime juice, potatoes,
onions, groceries, and medical comforts were soon landed, and the men
sat down to enjoy their first "square meal" for more than 143 days.

On board the hospital ship which sailed down stream from Basra, with
its freight of sick and wounded, were three four-footed members of the
Kut garrison--Spot, General Townshend's fox-terrier, and Peggy and
Diamond, two terriers belonging to General Mellis. From Spot's collar
hung a paper setting forth in his master's handwriting his record of
faithful service from the Battle of Kurna to the defence of Kut.

       *     *     *     *     *

The fall of Kut was received by the nation with deep regret, but with
great admiration for the splendid endurance of those who had held out
so long and so cheerfully against desperate odds. All recognized that
the relieving force had striven with great valour and determination to
reach the beleaguered city, and that it had been foiled, not by the
[Page 59]
Turks, but by the Tigris, the desert, and the swamps. No one imagined
that the surrender of 2,970 British and 6,000 Indians was anything
more than a blow to our national pride; it could not possibly have any
effect on the issue of the great struggle. There were many, however,
who thought that the attempt to capture Baghdad was a grievous mistake
from the first, and they asked bitterly why so small a force had been
marching through deserts hundreds of miles from the sea to take a city
which could not be surprised, and would be certain to be strongly
fortified before it could be attacked. There were others who
complained that the medical and transport arrangements were very bad;
but, as a whole, the nation received the news calmly, and saw no
reason to despond.

There was a very important reason why the nation should remain calm in
the face of this unfortunate set-back. While the fate of Kut was
hanging in the balance, the Russians had captured Erzerum, the great
stronghold of Armenia, and also Trebizond, an important Turkish post
on the Black Sea. On the day that Kut fell the Russians were on the
upper waters of the Tigris, not more than eighty miles from the main
Turkish line of communication. The Turkish army which had been so long
held up by the defence of Kut was now in a position which daily grew
more dangerous. General Gorringe's relieving force was facing it on
the Tigris, and the Russians were threatening to cut it off from the
railway by which alone it could properly maintain itself in
Mesopotamia.

Now you begin to see that General Townshend's struggles and sufferings
had not been in vain. Students of the war were not slow to point out
that if the Russians continued to advance, the Turks in Mesopotamia
must do one of three things: they must either suffer themselves to be
cut off, and in the course of time be destroyed; they must retire, and
abandon the province altogether; or they must summon from
Constantinople all their reserves, in which case the Russians would be
able to march westwards through Asia Minor with but little opposition.
In a later chapter I shall describe the remarkable Russian campaign
which placed the Allies in such a favourable position at the very time
when a British force was on the verge of disaster.

[Footnote 15: On the Gumti, a tributary of the Ganges, 550 miles from
Calcutta, India. During the Indian Mutiny the British were besieged in
the Residency from July 2 to November 17, 1857.]

[Footnote 16: Native state, north-west frontier of Kashmir, India. In
1895 Sir George Robertson was besieged in the fort for forty-seven
days, but was relieved by Colonel Kelly after a brilliant march.]

[Footnote 17: Town on the Klip River, Natal, British South Africa.
Besieged by the Boers for four months (November 2, 1899, to February
28, 1900), but successfully relieved.]

[Footnote 18: Town, Bechuanaland, British South Africa, 200 miles
north by east of Kimberley. Besieged by the Boers from October 11,
1899, to May 18, 1900, when a relieving force arrived.]

[Footnote 19: See pp. 40, 41 for an aviator's view of the progress of
the relieving force.]

[Footnote 20: A The Romans made those who surrendered to them pass
under a yoke which consisted of two upright spears with a third fixed
horizontally across them.]

[Page 60]




  CHAPTER VI.

  THE STORY OF THE "MOEWE."[21]--I.


One solitary armed ship, and she only for a few brief weeks, flew the
German flag upon the high seas during the year 1915. Prior to the war
Germany possessed nearly 88,000 merchant vessels of various kinds, yet
during 1915 not a single one of them furrowed the oceans of the world.
Thanks to the British navy, the foreign shipping trade of Germany was
utterly extinguished. In none of our previous wars have we made so
complete and so rapid an end of an enemy's overseas commerce as during
the present great struggle.

You will remember that when the war broke out German raiders were at
large, ready to prey on British merchantmen. I have already told you
that an armed ship on the ocean routes is as powerful for mischief as
a cat amongst pigeons. One warship can work terrible havoc amongst
peaceful trading vessels. The _Emden_, for example, in seven weeks
captured twenty-one ships, with a tonnage of 700,000, and a value of
three millions sterling. You can easily see that, if the Germans had
been able to keep a score of such raiders at sea, our shipping would
have been at their mercy. Happily, such German cruisers as were at
large were hunted down one by one, and soon the trade routes were as
safe as in the days of peace. When Admiral Sturdee destroyed von
Spee's squadron, on December 8, 1914, all real danger to our high seas
trade was over.

The Germans were, of course, eager to send out warships to harry our
merchant vessels; but our navy kept such a close and careful watch
that for a whole year only one ship got through. She was one of the
tenders of the _Karlsruhe_, and our Admiralty let us know that she had
succeeded in getting past our patrols in March 1915. As, however,
[Page 61]
nothing further was heard of her, we may suppose that she did little
or no mischief. The German navy, as you know, dared not leave its
harbours except for short, sharp dashes into the North Sea, and the
"canal fleet" became the laughing-stock of the world. Suddenly, in
January 1916, an armed enemy vessel appeared in the Atlantic, and for
a couple of months had a remarkable career of destruction. In this
chapter I am going to tell you the story of her dramatic appearance,
and of her strange adventures. Before, however, I do so, I must give
you some account of Britain's "Watch on the Brine." You will then be
able to understand how the German ship managed to run the gauntlet and
reach the open sea.

In our fourth volume I told you that in March 1915 the British
Government began a blockade of the North Sea coast of Germany--that
is, it made use of its naval power to stop all sea-borne goods from
entering or leaving that country. A nation at war can use every lawful
means of overcoming its enemy, and one of the lawful means is to stop
every ship trying to leave or enter the enemy's ports. This is known
as a blockade. The nation which successfully carries on a blockade can
deprive the enemy of imported food and of those materials for warfare
which he is obliged to obtain from foreign countries. A successful
blockade may cause such a shortage of munitions or bring about such a
scarcity of food as to force the enemy to sue for peace.

Strange as it may seem to you, the high explosives now so largely used
in warfare are made from cotton. Almost equally important in these
days of motor transport is rubber. Both cotton and rubber are tropical
products, and therefore cannot be grown in Germany, but must be
imported from abroad. Copper is almost essential for the manufacture
of shells, and Germany produces less than one-twenty-fifth of the
world's output--less, in fact, than Great Britain gets from her own
mines each year. You can now see that if cotton, rubber, copper, and
the other things which Germany cannot sufficiently provide for herself
are not allowed to enter the country, she must be greatly hampered in
carrying on the war.

The same is true, in a lesser degree, in the case of food. Germany
grows much of the food which her people consume; but even in time of
peace she has to import large quantities of wheat, barley, maize,
[Page 62]
hog's lard, butter, and eggs, and, of course, all such tropical
products as coffee and tea. In time of war so many men and horses are
serving with the army that the land cannot be properly tilled, and the
harvests are bound to decrease. Foreign food is, therefore, required
in ever-increasing quantities to supply the shortage; and if imported
food is cut off, the people must go on short commons. While it is
probably true that Germany cannot be starved out, it is certain that
by means of a blockade she can be made to suffer much hardship, and
thus be brought all the sooner to her knees.

At first our blockade of Germany was not very strict, and large
quantities of food, cotton, copper, chemicals, rubber, and other
necessary things got through; but in April 1915 we began to tighten
our grip. After a good deal of public agitation and delay, we cut off
Germany's supply of cotton, and stopped her foreign food supply.
Before long the Germans began to feel the pinch of hunger, and as the
blockade continued they felt it more and more. They tried to
retaliate, as you know, by means of a submarine campaign, in the
course of which they sank some hundreds of ships, both British and
neutral, and were responsible for the deaths of some thousands of
innocent sailors and passengers. We waged war on their submarines,
and, according to an American authority, we had captured, by the
middle of May 1916, some 130 of them. Germany's campaign of piracy and
murder brought her into sharp conflict with the United States, and we
shall learn in a later chapter that, under threat of war, she had to
promise to put an end to it.

Our greatest difficulty in carrying on the blockade was with neutral
nations, especially with the United States, Holland, Denmark, Norway,
and Sweden. Neutrals have every right to carry on trade--if they
can--with all other countries, whether they are at war or not; but by
the law of nations we, or any other country at war, can say to
neutrals, "Here is a list of the things which we shall _not_ allow you
to send to Germany. If your shippers try to run cargoes of these
things into Germany, they will do so at their peril. Our patrol boats
will stop all ships making for the Continent, and will search them.
Any ship which contains forbidden articles will be seized and taken
before a Prize Court, which will decide what is to happen to her and
her cargo. Of course, ships which contain no forbidden goods will be
allowed to proceed."

[Page 63]
[Illustration: A British Naval Patrol approaching a suspicious
Neutral at Night.

(_From the picture by C. E. Turner. By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 64]
Now, if Germany were an island we could by this means prevent almost
all goods from reaching her shores. Germany, as you know, is not an
island, but a continental country, joined on by land to the neutral
countries of Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland, and only separated by
a narrow inland sea, in which we cannot carry on a blockade, from
Norway and Sweden, which are also neutral. Suppose a Dutch ship laden
with food, copper, cotton, rubber, and so forth, is stopped by one of
our patrols, and her captain says, "This cargo is not meant for
Germany, but for Holland." What then? Are we to let it go free? While
Holland has every right to receive goods from abroad, we have the
right to stop her from supplying Germany with forbidden goods from
over the seas. Before our patrols will let the Dutch ship proceed they
must be assured that the goods are really going to be used by the
Dutch, and are not to be sent over the frontier for the use of the
Germans. We try to form an estimate of the amount of overseas goods
which Holland needs for her own people, and we only allow this amount
to pass. If Holland were allowed to import an unlimited quantity of
foreign goods, the Dutch could send large supplies into Germany, and
thus make our blockade of no effect.

Let me tell you how this difficulty was met. We asked the leading
merchants in each of the neutral countries to form societies which
were to receive all imported goods, and were to guarantee us that such
goods should not reach the enemy in any form. In return for this
guarantee we promised not to interfere with their trade unless there
was some trickery afoot. Arrangements of this kind were made with
Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Swiss societies, and as the
German complaints of shortage of food and other supplies grew louder
and louder, we may suppose that the plan served its purpose.

[Footnote 21: _Moo´vai._]

[Page 65]




  CHAPTER VII.

  THE STORY OF THE "MOEWE."--II.


I need not tell you that the blockade meant an immense amount of hard
and anxious work for the patrol ships of our navy. Night and day, in
all weathers and at all seasons, they had to keep the two gateways to
the North Sea--the entrance by way of the Strait of Dover, and the
passage north of Scotland. Every foreign ship that entered these
waters had to be visited and, in many cases, taken into harbour to be
searched. An American writer tells us that his vessel was taken into a
northern harbour, where he saw more than a score of neutral merchant
vessels. Some of them, such as the ship on which he had crossed the
Atlantic, were only detained for the examination of passengers and
cargo; others were prizes which would be held until the end of the
war.

    "These were the flies caught in the great web spun by the British
    across the northern trade route. Beyond the harbour's mouth, in
    the bleak waters about these Orkney Isles, about the bleak
    Shetland Islands to the north and the Hebrides to the south-west,
    along the eastern coasts of Scotland, and out across the North Sea
    towards the Norwegian shore, converted cruisers on patrol duty are
    for ever weaving their criss-cross courses with Dreadnoughts
    waiting within easy call. . . . I pictured a similar web centring
    at Dover, in which all the Channel shipping becomes enmeshed; a
    third at Gibraltar, which controls traffic between America and the
    Mediterranean ports. . . . I understood for the first time what
    Englishmen mean when they declare that 'Britannia rules the
    waves.'"

We must never forget the great debt which we owe to the seamen of our
naval patrols. In fair weather and in foul, in tempest, fog, and calm,
they kept their ceaseless watch, sighting and stopping every ship that
showed itself; boarding incoming vessels by means of small boats in
the roughest of seas, examining the papers, the crews, passengers, and
[Page 66]
cargoes of the boarded ships, and sifting out innocent traders from
those who were trying to succour the enemy. All this work had to be
done in the face of constant danger from mines and submarines, and at
a heavy loss of ships and men. There were always foreign captains
ready to run the blockade in order to obtain the high prices which the
Germans were ready to pay for forbidden goods, and the patrols had
ever to be on the lookout to foil such attempts. Every kind of trick
was practised, but our seamen were rarely deceived. If they were at
all suspicious of a vessel they ordered it into harbour, and there it
was closely examined. X-ray photographs were taken of bales and cases,
and more than once rubber and other forbidden goods were discovered
hidden away amidst innocent material.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now for the story which I promised you several pages ago. On New
Year's Day, 1916, a German raider of about 3,000 tons register,
disguised as a Norwegian fruit trader, slipped out of the Kiel Canal
during a fog and made her way northwards. She was commanded by Captain
Count von Dohna Schlodien, a young naval officer, and, as the sequel
will show, a bold and skilful seaman. According to the story of one of
her lieutenants, Hans Berg, of the German Naval Reserve, several
British warships sighted the raider, and signalled to her, asking if
she had seen any Germans about. She replied that she had seen none,
and wished them a happy new year. Without being molested, she managed
to reach the Atlantic, and off Cape Finisterre captured the
_Corbridge_, a Cardiff steamer, laden with coal. This vessel she took
along with her as a collier. The same day she seized another steamer
with a cargo of 5,000 tons of copper ore, and sank her. Between the
13th and the 15th she sent to the bottom four other vessels.

Now let the scene change to the British mail steamer _Appam_, of the
Elder-Dempster line. In the bright, clear weather of 16th January she
was sixty miles north of Madeira, on her homeward voyage from French
West Africa. If all went well another ten days would see her safely in
Plymouth. Early in the day she sighted the smoke of a steamer,
afterwards discovered to be the _Moewe_,[22] on the horizon, and later
on discovered that she was flying the British red ensign on the
forepeak--that is, she was showing a signal of distress. The captain
of the _Appam_ thought she was out of control.

[Page 67]
[Illustration: A Vision: Jellicoe and the Shade of Nelson.

  "Admirals all, for England's sake,
    Honour be yours and fame;
  And honour, as long as waves shall break,
    To Nelson's peerless name."--Newbolt.]

[Page 68]
Sir Edward Merewether, Governor of Sierra Leone, who was one of the
_Appam's_ passengers, gives us the following account of the
incident:--

    "Captain Harrison believed she was a British tramp, and changed
    his course to bear down on her. At her stern was a flag drooped in
    folds. We discovered later that this ensign was weighted, so that
    it would droop. All of us who gave it a second's thought took it
    for granted that it was the Union Jack. As a matter of fact it was
    the German Imperial Navy Ensign.

    "When Captain Harrison had come within two hundred yards of the
    stranger and had stopped his engines, a sudden transformation in
    the other boat's appearance electrified us. All the forward and
    after railings, which had looked quite solid until that instant,
    simply disappeared as if by magic. We learned later that whole
    sections of these solid-looking railings were actually composed of
    accordion-like strips of steel which dropped into a slot at the
    pressure of a button on the bridge. At the same instant the square
    structures which we had mistaken for deck houses also collapsed,
    and exposed the bareness of the guns. I counted the guns, and saw
    that there were two mounted forward, four mounted aft, and one
    3-pounder on the poop deck. These guns ranged between 4-inch and
    6-inch according to my judgment."

The _Moewe_ was no longer a Norwegian fruit-trader, but an armed
cruiser. As the railings slid together and the canvas screens
shrouding the guns fell away, a shell flew shrieking over the
_Appam's_ bridge. The gunners had been crouching behind the screens,
waiting at their stations to open fire the moment their weapons were
unmasked. The _Appam_ had a 3-inch gun mounted astern, but, of course,
it was not of the slightest use against the _Moewe's_ heavy armament.
The _Appam_ could offer no resistance.

The captain of the _Moewe_ now hailed the _Appam_ through a megaphone,
and asked if there were any Germans aboard. Captain Harrison at once
admitted that he had twenty German prisoners of war. A few moments
later a boat containing Lieutenant Berg and twenty-one sailors was
seen putting off from the _Moewe_. Before long, armed Germans had
swarmed up the sides, and were on the deck of the British ship. One of
them rushed to the _Appam's_ one gun, and flung the breech-block
overboard, thus rendering it useless. Then the German prisoners were
released, armed with rifles, and posted as guards over the passengers
[Page 69]
and crew, who were forced to give up their firearms, knives,
telescopes, etc. Shortly afterwards Captain Harrison and his officers
were carried to the _Moewe_ for a conference. Later on the British
officers and all the prisoners which the _Moewe_ had taken from the
vessels which it had sunk were sent back to the _Appam_. When this was
done the _Appam's_ engines were set going, and, under the navigation
of her own crew, she was started on a course known only to the German
commander. A German was stationed at the wireless apparatus to receive
all messages, but to allow none to be sent out. In this way the
whereabouts of British cruisers patrolling the regular ocean lanes
were discovered. Lieutenant Berg, who took charge of the prize,
steered far out of the ordinary steamer track.

Sir Edward Merewether tells us that the Germans behaved very well to
their captives.

    "I had no idea Germans could be so courteous as these Germans
    proved to be. If by chance they bumped into one while walking on
    deck they apologized; and this spirit of decency in my opinion was
    largely owing to the fine example set by Lieutenant Berg himself.
    He was the embodiment of courtesy from first to last."

The _Moewe_ stood by the _Appam_ for two days, and during this time
Sir Edward and his fellow-passengers had an opportunity of seeing the
Germans in action. On the 17th a British liner, the _Clan Mactavish_,
was sighted hull down on the horizon. While the _Appam_ continued her
course, the _Moewe_ made for the _Clan Mactavish_, and when abaft her
beam signalled, "Stop at once; I am a German cruiser." The British
captain at once ordered the engineers to get up full speed, and
meanwhile told the _Moewe_ that he was obeying her order. The _Moewe_
thereupon stopped her engines, and the _Clan Mactavish_ dashed ahead,
and soon left the raider astern. I will tell you the story of the
gallant but unavailing fight made by the Scottish liner in the words
of Mr. MacIntyre, her third officer:--

    "As soon as the _Moewe_ found that we were not stopped, he started
    again full speed ahead, and fired across our bows. Our own gunners
    then got busy at the captain's orders and fired back. Then the fun
    began. The next shell struck us on the fo'c'sle head, smashing up
    the windlass and the lookout man, a Lascar. The third went through
    the second officer's room and the steward's room; it seemed to be
    shrapnel, for splinters were hurled all over the deck. All this
    time our own two gunners were firing as hard as they could, and we
    could see that they were hitting. The German was only 200 yards
    away. One of their shots struck the top of the engine room,
    killing seventeen men and wounding five, all Lascars. Another hit
    us below the water-line and badly damaged us. It was useless to
    carry on the fight, so the captain ordered 'Cease fire,' and
    stopped the ship. I signalled to the Germans to this effect; but
    owing to the smoke, some time passed before they could see our
    signals, and they continued to fire. Even as I signalled our gun
    went off, owing to the order 'Cease fire' not having reached our
    gunners. And that, of course, caused more trouble. The whole thing
    was over in less than fifteen minutes. . . .

[Page 70]
    "It was not until we were taken on board the raider that we
    ascertained the extent of her casualties. Although our shells were
    so small--the gun was only a six-pounder--it seems we had done a
    good deal of damage, and the bluejackets told us we had killed
    four of their crew and wounded two. When the German commander came
    aboard our ship he asked for the captain, and on Captain Oliver
    coming forward he demanded why the _Clan Mactavish_ had fired on
    him. 'I wanted to get away, of course,' replied the captain, 'and
    I fired to protect my ship. My Government put a gun on board, and
    I used it. It wasn't put there for ornament.'"

[Illustration: How the "Moewe" captured the "Appam," and afterwards
attacked and sank the "Clan Mactavish."

(_By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 71]
"It was a fine fight," says Sir Edward Merewether, who watched it from
the _Appam_. Finally the Germans discharged two torpedoes at the _Clan
Mactavish_, and both struck home. The British ship heeled over, as if
some giant had struck her a sudden blow, and in a very short time
disappeared. The Germans lowered boats with all possible speed, and
began to search for survivors. Four of the gallant fellows who had
fought so pluckily were picked up, and the passengers on the _Appam_
gave them a rousing cheer as they were brought over the side. All the
others, nineteen in number, went down with the ship.

During the night the _Moewe_ parted company with the _Appam_, taking
with her some £50,000 of bar gold which she found on board her prize.
Before she disappeared her commander ordered the British on board the
_Appam_ to sign a paper declaring that they would not take arms
against the Germans. Several of the passengers refused, and were
imprisoned on board the _Moewe_ for a time, but were finally released
and sent back to the _Appam_. One man who signed the paper was called
up for the army on his return to England; but he pleaded that he had
given a promise not to serve against the Germans, and his promise was
respected.

What became of the _Moewe_ we shall learn later on. Meanwhile we will
follow the fortunes of the _Appam_. It was quite clear that Lieutenant
[Page 72]
Berg could not carry the prize to a German port. If he attempted to
navigate the liner towards the North Sea, she would be certain to be
stopped and captured by British cruisers. He was bound to take her to
some neutral port. The nearest neutral country to him was Spain; but
instead of heading towards that country he steered westward for the
coast of North America. No doubt he had received instructions to take
the _Appam_ to the United States, in the hope that when she arrived
questions might arise which would cause trouble between the United
States Government and that of Great Britain. For some distance he
towed the steamer _Corbridge_, but before long he transferred all her
coal to the _Appam's_ bunkers, and then scuttled her. A roundabout
course was then made for the port of Norfolk, in Virginia.

During the voyage, which lasted sixteen days, the passengers were
allowed full liberty, and were not harshly treated. Food soon ran
short, and for the last three days of the voyage the bill of fare
consisted only of rice, biscuits, bread, and jam. You probably wonder
how Lieutenant Berg and his small crew of twenty-two were able to
prevent the four hundred passengers from recapturing the ship. The
passengers, you will remember, had been deprived of arms, and
Lieutenant Berg plainly told them that if there was any attempt to
mutiny he would blow up the ship, and send everybody on board to
"kingdom come." For this purpose he had placed explosives in various
parts of the vessel, and had made arrangements to fire them by
electricity. This threat was sufficient to put an end to all thoughts
of overcoming the German guard.

It is supposed that Lieutenant Berg intended to stay out of port as
long as his coal and oil lasted; but he was prevented from making a
long cruise by the men in the stoke-hole, who every day threw many
tons of unburnt coal into the sea along with the ashes. "You can trace
the course of the _Appam_ on the bottom of the sea," said the chief
engineer, "by the steady line of black coal; and if friend Berg cares
to look into the bilge of the ship, he will find there enough oil to
have lasted her engines a month."

Early on the morning of 1st February the _Appam_ dropped anchor in
Hampton Roads. At once Lieutenant Berg sent off the following telegram
to the German Ambassador at Washington:--

[Page 73]
    "I have the honour to report that I arrived at Hampton Roads with
    the prize ship _Appam_, the British liner. I have on board 400
    passengers, among them the Governor of Sierra Leone (Sir Edward
    Merewether), many sacks of mails, and 3,000 tons of goods.--Berg."

The rest of the story is soon told. The Government of the United
States ordered the vessel to be interned as a German prize until the
end of the war, but refused to make prisoners of the British subjects
on board; and, greatly to Lieutenant Berg's surprise, would not allow
him and his prize crew to go free. The _Appam's_ passengers and crew
returned to England shortly afterwards.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now we must return to the _Moewe_. After she parted company with the
_Appam_ nothing definite was heard of her until 5th March, when the
Germans issued a statement announcing that she had arrived safely at a
certain German port (Kiel) on the previous day, after a successful
cruise lasting several months, and that she had brought with her four
British officers, twenty-nine British marines and sailors, and 166
men, crews of enemy steamers, as well as £50,000 in gold bars. She
claimed to have captured in all fourteen ships, with a total tonnage
of over 58,000. As you may imagine, the Germans were hugely delighted;
and the Kaiser at once decorated the whole crew with the Iron Cross.

The success of the _Moewe_ proved that a disguised ship, given good
luck, could elude our patrols. The history of all blockades abounds
with similar instances. The sea is so wide, and the obscurity of
darkness or fog is so great, that no patrols can possibly keep all
raiders from breaking through. It was, however, a desperate adventure,
and we will not begrudge the German captain a full meed of praise for
the skill and courage which he displayed. The incident only served to
stimulate our navy to increased watchfulness.

       *     *     *     *     *

One of the _Appam's_ officers learned from the Germans who had seized
his vessel that six other ships were being fitted out in the Kiel
Canal, and that one by one they were going to try to slip past the
British patrols and prey on Allied shipping. The story was probably
true, for, on 29th February, H.M. armed merchant cruiser _Alcantara_
[Page 74]
sighted what looked like a Norwegian merchantman steering for the
Atlantic between the Shetlands and the Faroes. She had the Norwegian
colours painted on her side, and it was noticed that at one time she
had two funnels, at another three, and on another occasion only one.
So suspicious were her movements that the _Alcantara_ closed up with
her, and, when 800 yards away, signalled, "I am going to board you."
The answer was, "I am a peaceful merchantman flying the Norwegian
flag."

Thereupon the captain of the _Alcantara_ ordered a boat to be lowered,
and as this was being done the _Moewe_ trick was repeated, and the
"peaceful merchantman" suddenly became the fighting cruiser _Greif_.
At once she discharged three torpedoes at the _Alcantara_, two of
which hit her, and caused great havoc on board. Although the British
gunners were surrounded by wounded men and the ship was doomed, they
opened fire with great gallantry, and for ten minutes fought a fierce
duel with the German raider. Then the British vessel heeled over and
sank.

After the _Alcantara_ had been hit, one of her consorts, the _Andes_,
appeared, and took part in the fight. The German raider fired more
torpedoes, but the _Andes_ evaded them, and her shells swept the decks
of the enemy. The German was already beaten when the British light
cruiser _Comus_, attracted by the sound of firing, appeared on the
scene. Again and again her gunners hit the German vessel, but even
before they opened fire she was done for, and soon afterwards blew up
with a loud explosion. At once the work of rescue began, and five
German officers and 115 men out of a total complement of probably over
300 were picked up and made prisoners. Our own loss was five officers
and sixty-nine men.

[Page 75]
[Illustration: The Duel to the Death between the "Alcantara" and the
"Greif."

(_From the picture by Charles Pears. By permission of The Illustrated
London News._)

Our illustration shows the final scene. The _Alcantara_ is on the
left, the _Greif_ on the right. The latter was sunk by gun-fire, and
the former by torpedoes.]

[Footnote 22: She had been originally christened the _Ponga_, but had
been rebaptized as the _Moewe_, thus taking the name of a gunboat
which had been sunk at Dar-es-Salaam.]

[Page 76]




[Illustration: Camel Steeplechase at Windhoek, Capital of German
South-West Africa.]




  CHAPTER VIII.

  LOYALISTS AND TRAITORS.


On the first day of the year 1916 the news of an African success came
to us like a ray of sunshine in the prevailing gloom. The capital of
the German colony of Kamerun had surrendered. Already Togoland and
German South-West Africa had been captured, and the Kaiser's overseas
empire was now reduced to well-nigh one-third of its former extent. In
our fourth volume[23] I mentioned the campaign which gave us German
South-West Africa, and promised that, later on, I would tell you the
story of its conquest. In the next chapter I will keep my promise.

When the Germans were planning the great adventure which was to give
them the mastery of the world, they convinced themselves that Great
Britain was a decaying power, unable and unwilling to engage in a
European struggle. They felt sure that our empire, though it appeared
solid and enduring, was rotten at the core, and that if Britain was
threatened with war it would fall to pieces. To make assurance doubly
sure, they sent their agents into all parts of the empire where there
was a chance of stirring up strife, and waited for rebellion to break
out, east, west, north, and south. To their amazement the empire as a
whole stood firm. Only in South Africa and in Ireland were there
outbreaks that led to fighting, and these rebellions, hopeless from
[Page 77]
the first, were soon suppressed. The great bulk of the peoples in the
British Empire proved themselves to be thoroughly loyal. Even if they
had grievances against Great Britain, they preferred her honest and
just rule to the bullying, overbearing government of the Germans,
whose treatment of subject races has always been marked by violence
and contempt.

[Illustration: General Louis Botha Prime Minister of the Union of
South Africa.]

The Germans were confident that there would be a serious outbreak in
British South Africa. Less than fifteen years had elapsed since the
Boers, secretly helped and encouraged by the Germans, had begun a long
and bitter war against us. The Kaiser and his Ministers believed that
the Boers still hated us, and that when the European war began they
would eagerly seize the opportunity to throw off the British yoke.
They did not know that time had worked wonders, and that a great
change had come over the feelings of the Dutch. They did not realize
that Britain's just and generous treatment had banished much of the
old enmity, and had reconciled most of the Boers to the idea of living
peaceably under the Union Jack. In 1906 the British Government had
said to the Boers, "Now that you are under the British flag, take the
rights of white men and govern yourselves." Thus it came about that
Boer generals who were fighting against us in 1902 became Ministers of
the British Crown and rulers of British territory four years later.
Some people in Britain thought that this grant of self-government was
a very dangerous experiment; but, as you will see, it justified
itself.

[Page 78]
In 1910 the four states of South Africa came together and formed a
union. It was clear to all far-seeing men that they were not strong
enough to stand alone; their railways formed one system, and their
interests were closely linked together. Most South Africans by this
time had realized the truth of the old proverb, "United we stand,
divided we fall." They therefore agreed to unite, and to setup one
Government and one Parliament, which should act for all. The first
Prime Minister of United South Africa was General Botha, the ablest of
all the Dutch soldiers who had fought against us in the Boer War. He
was a true patriot; he loved South Africa dearly, but he saw that she
had no future save as a part of the British Empire. Without abating
one jot of his affection for South Africa, he threw in his lot with
the empire, and set himself to win over those Boers who still resented
and disliked British rule. In this work he was greatly assisted by
another Boer general---Smuts, a man who had won fame alike as a
scholar, a lawyer, and a commander in the field. Britain had good
cause to rejoice that these two great men were at the head of affairs
in South Africa when the war began.

On August 7, 1914, the British Government informed General Botha that
if the South African Government were to seize such parts of German
South-West Africa as would give it command of Swakopmund, Luderitz
Bay, and the wireless stations at these places, it would be doing a
great and urgent service to the empire. On 10th August General Botha
replied that South Africa would supply the land forces for such a
venture if Great Britain would provide ships and sailors. This was
agreed to, and on 9th September General Botha announced in the Union
Parliament that the Government had decided to carry the war into
German territory, "in the interests of South Africa as well as of the
empire." Parliament supported the Prime Minister by 91 votes to 12,
the opposition being led by General Hertzog, who made a very bitter
speech against the proposal. Hertzog was the leader of the old,
slow-going, anti-British Boers, and he had recently been dismissed by
Botha from the Ministry.

There were several other Boer leaders who were disloyal. One of them
was General Beyers, a born soldier, who had won fame by his handling
of the guns during the Boer War. He had visited Germany, and the
Kaiser had paid him such great attention that his head had been
[Page 79]
turned. When the grant of self-government was given to the Transvaal
he became Speaker of its Parliament, but, to his chagrin, had not been
appointed to the same post in the Union Parliament. He had never
forgiven Botha and Smuts for leaving him in the lurch and supporting
another candidate. In order to appease him, he had been made
Commandant-General of the Active Citizen Force; but this did not
satisfy him. He still cherished enmity against his old friends, and
was ready to do them all the mischief he could. Then there was De Wet,
who gave us so much trouble during the Boer War. Then he had played
hide-and-seek with the British columns; he had broken through our
lines time after time, and had never been caught. He was fifteen years
older now, and had lost much of his former activity. His feats during
the Boer War had made him something of a hero. In reality he was a
savage, coarse, unlettered man. He still bitterly hated the British,
and was eager to restore the old Boer government.

[Illustration: Christian Rudolf de Wet.]

Beyers had insisted on appointing, as lieutenant-colonel in command of
the border between British South Africa and German South-West Africa,
[Page 80]
a man named Maritz, who had already served with the Germans, and was
known to be in close touch with them. Both Beyers and Maritz were
traitors: they had already plotted with the enemy, and had agreed that
on the outbreak of war they would raise the standard of rebellion and
set up a South African republic. As Commandant-General of the Union
forces Beyers was called upon to make arrangements for carrying the
war into German territory. He knew all the secret plans of the
Government, and he played a double game until he thought the time was
ripe for open rebellion.

Botha knew well that there were many disloyal men in the country, and
that German agents had been busy stirring up the anti-British Boers;
but he knew, too, that the great majority of South Africans would
gladly follow his lead. There was great enthusiasm when he announced
that he would command the Union troops in person, and men at once
flocked to his banner. There was little or no difficulty in procuring
recruits; the difficulty was in refusing them. Magistrates, employers
of labour, lawyers, schoolmasters, men of every rank and station,
begged to be allowed to enlist, if only in the ranks. It is said that
when Botha was raising troops he called up thirty-five officers who
had served with him in the Boer War, and told them that he wanted
fifteen of them to join him. He left them for five minutes to talk the
matter over. When he returned their spokesman simply said, "Take the
fifteen you want; the rest of us intend to go anyway as privates." In
a very short time 7,000 men--5,000 foot and 2,000 mounted
infantry--were in arms.

[Footnote 23: See p. 322.]

[Page 81]




  CHAPTER IX.

  REBELLION AND CONQUEST.


Before I describe the campaign which was now about to begin, let me
point out that, though German South-West Africa is continuous with
British South Africa, an army cannot invade the one from the other by
land except at two points--from the east along the lower course of the
Orange River, and from the south across the strip of desert between
the Port Nolloth Railway and the river. On the eastern border of
German South-West Africa stretches the Kalahari Desert, which, except
in very rainy seasons, is quite devoid of water. No army can cross
this desert without grave risk of perishing from thirst. South of the
desert, and south and east of the lower course of the Orange, there
are wide, dry plains which are almost equally impossible for the
advance of large bodies of horses, mules, and men. You can clearly see
that German South-West Africa is best invaded from British South
Africa by sea.

Port Nolloth,[24] you will observe, lies about fifty miles south of
the mouth of the Orange River. From the port a railway of 2 feet 6
inch gauge runs inland to the copper deposits of Ookiep, 92 miles
inland. It crosses country which is without a blade of green except
when the rains, which come once on an average in every three years,
drench it. Then flowers of the rarest hue spring up from the bare sand
and carpet the barrenness with rich colour. About sixty miles from the
coast on this railway stands Steinkopf, from which a forty-five mile
track across a country without grazing and water leads to Raman's
Drift, on the Orange River. About thirty miles to the north of Raman's
Drift is Warmbad, the southern terminus of the German railway system.
[Page 82]
If you follow the course of the Orange River inland, you will see the
station of Upington, in British Bechuanaland, and on the border line
to the north-west of it the frontier post of Nakob. Now that you are
clear as to the position of these places, you will be able to
understand General Botha's plan of campaign.

[Illustration: Swakopmund: General View.         [_Photo, The Sphere._

Swakopmund stands immediately north of Walfish Bay, which is British
territory. The harbour is poor, and the city, which is built on the
edge of the desert, derives its importance from the fact that it is
the northern coast terminus of the railway system.]

[Page 83]
He proposed to invade German South-West Africa with four columns--A,
B, C, and D. Column A was to be carried by sea to Port Nolloth, and by
rail to Steinkopf, from which place it would trek to Raman's Drift,
and then fight its way north towards the capital, Windhoek, where the
Germans were expected to make their great stand. B column, which was
to be commanded by Maritz, the traitor, was to advance from its base
at Upington to a point on the Orange River, where it was to join hands
with Column A. Column C would proceed by sea to Luderitz Bay, occupy
the port, and push eastwards and then northwards towards Windhoek;
while Column D would land at Swakopmund, and having captured the
place, would advance eastwards on the capital. All the columns, you
will observe, would have the railway to help them in their advance.
This plan, however, was never carried into effect, for reasons which
will presently appear.

As soon as the war began the German governor, Dr. Seitz, ordered his
troops to abandon Swakopmund and Luderitz Bay, and retire with all
their military stores to the capital, Windhoek, some two hundred miles
inland. Seitz knew well that as he could expect no help from the sea,
the ports were of no use to him. His best defence was the 200 miles of
sandy desert which lay between the capital and the coast. Before
leaving Swakopmund he dismantled the jetty and sank the tugs in the
harbour. He had probably 10,000 men and a camel corps of 500 for the
defence of the colony. He was strong in artillery and machine guns,
and had several aeroplanes.

As early as the 20th of August the enemy had made a number of small
raids into British territory, and had fought some skirmishes with the
frontier farmers. More serious fighting began when Column A, having
landed at Port Nolloth, found itself ready to push forward the 4th and
5th South African Rifles towards Raman's Drift. The trek across the
desert from Steinkopf was one long, hard grind through thick dust that
choked and blinded man and beast. Not until thirty-three miles of the
[Page 84]
journey had been covered was a water-hole discovered, eight miles off
the line of march. Before the march could be completed the baggage
animals had to trudge eight miles to this water-hole and eight miles
back again. The trek was a great test of endurance both for man and
beast, but it was safely accomplished. At dawn on 15th September the
South African Rifles attacked the police station at Raman's Drift. All
the Germans but one scuttled away at the first crack of the rifles.
The German who remained was an officer, and he surrendered after
killing one of our men. Patrols were sent in pursuit of the enemy, who
retired inland to a strong position at Sandfontein, half-way to
Warmbad.

Meanwhile, on the 17th, the Germans surprised a British post at Nakob,
and left the place in charge of a small garrison. Next day Column C,
which had sailed from Cape Town in four transports, accompanied by a
British gunboat, landed at Luderitz Bay and occupied the town. At noon
the white flag on the town hall was replaced by the Union Jack. The
town was discovered to be a very unpleasing place, with no natural
advantages. Some of the public buildings were imposing, and many of
the houses were well furnished; but the streets were deep in loose
sand. The wireless station had been destroyed, but the electricity
works were intact. Luderitzbucht was taken over as a going concern.
About a hundred German families had remained in it when their army
retreated to Windhoek.

Now we must return to Column A, which you will remember was pushing
its patrols forward in pursuit of the Germans who had been dislodged
from Raman's Drift. Sandfontein, where the enemy was reported to be in
strength, is a small kopje covered with huge boulders, in the midst of
a sandy, cup-like plain, which can only be approached through defiles
in the surrounding hills. The place is important, because it is one of
the few spots where water can be obtained in this dry and thirsty
land. When the British approached Sandfontein on 19th September they
found it abandoned. All the pumps had been destroyed, and the bodies
of dead dogs had been thrown into the wells. The British occupied the
kopje, and having cleared the surrounding country, left a squadron as
a garrison. This squadron was relieved on the 25th, and the newcomers,
finding themselves attacked, sent for reinforcements, which arrived
[Page 85]
early on the morning of the 26th. The reinforcements consisted of a
squadron with two guns and about thirty men of the Transvaal Horse
Artillery.

[Illustration: German South-West Africa.]

The new arrivals had hardly outspanned before clouds of dust were
observed north, east, and south of them. Before long it was discovered
that Sandfontein was being surrounded by the enemy, who were from
1,500 to 2,000 strong. Retreat was impossible, as all the defiles were
occupied by the Germans. The enemy's guns opened fire, and as the
[Page 86]
gunners knew the ranges, they did much execution. The little British
force--257 officers and men all told--fought gallantly all day until
their ammunition ran out, and then, having destroyed their field
pieces, surrendered. The German commander was full of praise for the
British; he could not believe that so stubborn a resistance had been
put up by less than 300 men. Our loss was 12 killed, 40 wounded, and
205 captured.

No doubt both this disaster and that at Nakob were due to treachery.
Somebody had given the enemy information as to the number and the
movements of the British troops, and the Germans had thus been able to
fall upon them unawares. A fortnight later it was quite clear who the
traitor was. At this time Maritz was at Upington, in command of the
980 officers and men and four machine guns which were to form Column
B. You will remember that he owed his appointment to Beyers. He had
refused to take the oath of loyalty after the Boer War, and had become
naturalized in German South-West Africa; but when the Union was formed
he had returned to British territory, and had set up in business as a
butcher. He was a suspected man from the first. As far back as 1913 he
had been plotting with the Germans, who had promised him help and had
given him money.

When Maritz was instructed to advance into German South-West Africa,
he informed the Government that rather than do so he would resign. By
this time he had won over many of his men, and his force could not be
trusted. General Botha thereupon ordered Colonel Brits to supersede
him. Brits sent a major to Maritz, ordering him to give up his
command; but this Maritz refused to do. He seized the major, and kept
him under arrest, but afterwards released him and sent him back with
an impudent message to the Government. "Unless," he said, "General
Hertzog, De Wet, Beyers, and others are allowed to come and meet me
and give me their instructions by a certain date, I will invade the
Union." The major further reported that Maritz had shown him telegrams
from the Germans, and had told him that he held the rank of general in
the German army. Maritz had German troops with him, and boasted that
he had plenty of guns, rifles, ammunition, and money.

It was on 10th October that Maritz purged his force of its loyal
members. By means of a trick he got all those who had not already
[Page 87]
agreed to join him to come to his quarters unarmed, and then
surrounded them with the rebel members of his band. He said that he
had made a treaty with the Germans, and that in return for helping
them they would give him forces to fight the British. He gave his
hearers five minutes to make up their minds whether they would join
him or not. Those who wished to throw in their lot with him were to
take two paces forward. Five officers and fifty-eight men stood fast,
including the whole of the machine-gun section. The gunnery officer,
Lieutenant Freer, told Maritz plainly what he thought of him, and
declared that if he had his four machine guns with him he would gladly
fight the whole pack of rebels. Maritz refused this challenge, and
ordered the loyal men to be made prisoners. These poor fellows
suffered much for keeping faith. They were badly treated, and were in
captivity for eight months, when some of them managed to escape. On
12th October Maritz proclaimed a South African Republic, with himself
as President and Commander-in-Chief.

I have already told you that Maritz was to lead Column B, according to
Botha's plan of campaign. His treachery threw all the plans out of
gear, and compelled Botha to suspend all important operations in
German South-West Africa. At once martial law was proclaimed
throughout British South Africa, and Botha announced that he would
lead the loyalists against the rebels. One of his friends begged him
not to do so, saying that his life was too valuable to be risked. To
this Botha replied, with deep emotion, that he would not ask his
people to enter into armed conflict with their brethren unless he led
them. The friend said that Botha had spoken nobly, and that his words
ought to be taken to heart by every man in the country.

Five days after Maritz threw off the mask he was attacked by Colonel
Brits. By this time the traitor had discovered that the Germans could
send him no help, and that he had relied on a broken reed. In a series
of fights between the 22nd and the 30th of October he was badly
beaten, and his commando was hopelessly broken up. It took twenty days
to smash Maritz, and in the meantime a much graver rebellion had
begun.

       *     *     *     *     *

[Page 88]
[Illustration: Captured Rebels of De Wet's Commando.
                                [_Photo, The Illustrated London News._

Most of the rebels who joined Beyers and De Wet were "poor whites" who
were landless, men who still cherished bitter memories of the boer
War, and other discontented persons. The rebels here shown are mainly
old men and young boys. The total number of prisoners taken was 7,000.]

[Page 89]
When war broke out in Europe an old Boer pastor, who was believed by
the "back-veld" Boers to be an inspired prophet, began to see visions
and to dream dreams. He said that Germany, was the appointed agent of
God to purify the world, and that the Almighty had chosen Generals
Delarey, Beyers, and De Wet to set up once more the South African
Republic. Many of the old, slow-going, anti-British Boers firmly
believed in the prophet, and were quite willing to take up arms
against us. There were also large numbers of "poor whites" in the
Transvaal who believed that all their troubles were due to British
rule. Rebellion was diligently preached amongst the "poor whites" and
the "back-veld" Boers, and before long numbers of them were ready to
take up arms. There was one man who might have raised the whole of the
farmers in the Western Transvaal--Delarey; but he was accidentally
shot by a police patrol outside Johannesburg on the very day when
Beyers, by resigning his post as Commandant-General, showed plainly
that he was ready to head the rebellion.

On 24th October De Wet seized a small town in the north of the Orange
State, and did other acts of war. Botha at once called upon all loyal
burghers to help him to put down the revolt, and to their undying
honour they responded freely to his call. From farm to farm went the
summons, and when it was received many a Boer took down his Mauser,
upsaddled his pony, and galloped off to the place of muster. In a few
weeks more than 30,000 loyal Boers were in arms. Remember that these
farmers were called upon to fight men of their own blood, some of whom
had been their leaders and comrades in the Boer War.

Botha hastened northwards with all speed, and on the 27th of October
fell in with the enemy about eighty miles from Pretoria. He completely
routed the rebels, scattered their commandos, and took eighty
prisoners. The leaders fled to the south-west. Elsewhere, however, the
rebels had a success, but it was short-lived. Before long they were
being hunted down in all directions. Some of them, along with Kemp,
made their way towards German territory, and on 7th November General
Smuts was able to announce that the rebellion was over, and that only
a few scattered bands under De Wet and Beyers were holding out.

On 11th November Botha completely defeated De Wet, and two days later
Beyers's rebel band was thoroughly beaten. De Wet now knew that the
game was up, and with twenty-five men he made one last dash for
[Page 90]
liberty. Probably he meant to try to push through the Kalahari Desert
to join the Germans in South-West Africa; but he had not reckoned on
the swiftness of his pursuers, who followed hard after him in motor
cars. On 1st December they caught him, and two days later he entered
Johannesburg as a prisoner.

On 8th December, when Beyers was being driven across the Vaal, then in
high flood, he found his horse failing under him, and slipped from its
back into the water to swim. His greatcoat hampered him, and in vain
he tried to get rid of it. A companion heard him cry, "I can do no
more;" and he sank. Two days later his body was discovered. Thus, by
the end of December the back of the rebellion had been broken. De Wet
had been captured, Beyers was dead, Kemp was across the German border,
and Hertzog had saved his skin by not declaring himself. In less than
two months Botha had routed the rebels at all points, and had captured
7,000 of them, while his own loss was no more than 334.

The last embers of the rebellion were stamped out in January, when the
rebels, dispirited and half starving, were badly beaten in the angle
formed by the Orange River and the German frontier. In their last
sally they were led by Kemp and Maritz. Kemp surrendered; but Maritz,
knowing that no mercy awaited him, escaped into German territory. When
all was over Botha showed much mercy to his captives. The rank and
file were pardoned, but the leaders were brought to trial. British
South Africa was now safe from civil strife, and Botha was free to
give all his attention to the campaign which he had already begun, but
had been forced by the rebellion to suspend.

       *     *     *     *     *

I do not propose to tell you the story of the conquest of German
South-West Africa in detail, for though it was a fine achievement, it
was not of thrilling interest, and the real foe was not the enemy, but
the climate and the desert. In fact, the campaign resolved itself into
a mighty and well-engineered trek. Since September we had held
Luderitz Bay, the southern terminus of the roundabout railway which
swerves northwards and then eastwards to Swakopmund. During the
rebellion we captured Raman's Drift and the fords of the Orange, and
on 14th January transports arrived at Swakopmund, and without much
[Page 91]
trouble took possession of the place. We thus held all the gates of
the German colony, and our command of the sea gave us freedom to use
them. Swakopmund was described by a correspondent as a "white city"
perched on the edge of a desert, and overlooking a foreshore more
adapted to surf bathing than shipping. It had many showy buildings and
good shops, attractive hotels, beer gardens, cinematograph theatres,
and a music hall.

[Illustration: Searching for Water in the Desert.
                                                [_Photo, The Sphere._]

General Botha, as you know, had decided on an enveloping movement
against Windhoek, and for this purpose his forces were divided into
two main armies. The northern army, which he himself led, moved along
the railway towards the capital. The southern army, under General
Smuts, was divided into three columns, the first of which moved east
from Luderitz Bay along the railway, the second north from Warmbad,
while the third was to invade the colony from Bechuanaland. Let us
follow very briefly the progress of the northern army. It began to
march inland on 22nd February; but its progress was slow, for the
Germans had blown up the railway, and it had to be repaired. By 5th
May the northern army had driven the enemy back on Windhoek, and all
[Page 92]
serious resistance to its progress was over.

On 1st April the column moving northwards from Raman's Drift joined
hands with that which had pushed westwards from Bechuanaland; and on
the 20th Keetmanshoop surrendered without fighting. General Smuts made
it his headquarters, and waited there for the force which was moving
inland from Luderitz Bay. This force reached a station seventy miles
north of Keetmanshoop on 24th April, and all was ready for the advance
of the united southern army. Four days later, the Germans were badly
beaten north of Gibeon in the biggest engagement of the campaign, and
the circle of steel was fast closing in on the capital. By 1st May all
German South-West Africa south of Gibeon was in British hands, and
Botha was rapidly advancing on the capital from the west. On 10th May
the Germans sent a message to say that Windhoek would surrender. On
the 12th the army entered the town, and found that the troops had
withdrawn to Grootfontein, which you will see on the map at the end of
the railway in the north-east of the colony. The wireless station at
Windhoek was found to be intact.

On the day following the occupation a message arrived that Governor
Seitz and the German military commander, Colonel Francke, desired a
"conversation" with General Botha. A meeting took place, an armistice
of forty-eight hours was declared, and finally, on July 8, 1915, the
whole German force surrendered. The total number of prisoners taken
during the last stage of the campaign was 4,740. In addition,
thousands of rifles, large quantities of ammunition, twenty-two
machine guns, and thirty-seven field-pieces were surrendered. The
enemy had been outnumbered and outgeneralled, and, when engagements
took place, outfought; and the main credit was due to General Botha,
who had indeed rendered "a great and urgent service to the Empire."

The British Prime Minister well described the difficulty of the task
in a speech at the Guildhall when the capture of Windhoek was
announced:--

    "Their undertaking has been no slight one. A force of about 30,000
    men, rather over half of whom are mounted men, with guns, horses,
    medical stores, mules, and transports, have been conveyed overseas
    500 and 700 miles, in addition to the large land force which has
    been operating on the German Union frontier. All supplies--every
[Page 93]
    pound of provisions for the men, much of the water for their
    consumption, every ton of forage for horses and mules--have had to
    be brought from Cape Town. All the railway material for rapid
    construction has also had to be brought from Cape Town, and all
    these men, horses, guns, supplies, and materials had to be landed
    at two ports, Luderitz and Walfish, at which appliances for
    disembarkation for such operations had not been constructed. Then
    there was the sandy desert veld, eighty to a hundred miles wide,
    which had to be covered."

None but those who have campaigned in German South-West Africa can
have any idea of the scorching heat, the deep sands, and the gritty
storms which prevail in these parched regions. Many of the men had to
be operated on to remove sand from the glands under their tongues.
Sand blew into everything, and men were forced to wear goggles to keep
it out of their eyes. Hundreds of Cape boys were employed day and
night in shovelling sand off the railway. The conquest of German
South-West Africa was a triumph of human endurance and of organizing
skill.

[Illustration: Imperial Light Horse skirmishing.

(_By permission of the publishers of "How Botha and Smuts conquered
German South-West Africa."_)]

[Footnote 24: See Map, page 85.]

[Page 94]




  CHAPTER X.

  THE KAMERUN CAMPAIGN.


In Chapter XIX. of our third volume I gave you some account of the
German colony of Kamerun, which forms a rough wedge between British
Nigeria and French Congo, with its apex at Lake Chad. Kamerun is a
vast country, about one and a half times the size of the German
Empire. German South-West Africa, you know, consists for the most part
of wide, bare, waterless deserts, covered with shifting sand. Kamerun,
on the other hand, is well watered and thick with vegetation. The oil
palm grows freely, and in the dense forests there is a wealth of
valuable timber. The colony was of great value to Germany, because it
provided her with rich tropical products. She held it for thirty
years, and spent much labour and vast sums of money in developing it.
In two districts alone fully a million pounds was expended in planting
cocoa and rubber.

On June 1, 1916, the War Office published a dispatch from
Major-General Sir Charles Dobell giving an account of the operations
which led to the Allied conquest of Kamerun, or, as he prefers to call
it, the Cameroons. He tells us that the colony was defended by a
well-led and well-trained force, plentifully supplied with machine
guns, and that our conquest of the country was not by any means a
triumphal march. In the early stages of the war, when our forces were
insufficient to hold the posts which we captured, we suffered several
reverses. In the bush country ambushes were frequently laid for our
men, and many of them fell victims to concealed enemies. To add to our
difficulties, sickness raged amongst the troops.

The first half of the campaign was occupied in clearing the coasts and
[Page 95]
the borders of the enemy. When this was done, many columns marched
from different points of the compass towards Yaunde, a station far in
the interior, where the Germans had set up their headquarters when
they were driven from Duala, the chief port. In the middle of February
1916 the campaign was practically over, and Germany had lost her most
valuable African colony.

When the campaign began, early in August 1914, it was arranged that
two French columns should invade the country from French Congo, while
British columns entered it at several points on the frontier of
Nigeria. Unhappily these movements were not successful, mainly because
the forces which the Allies were able to put into the field were too
small for the purpose, and because they had to advance during the
rainy season in a tangled and ill-mapped country. Already the enemy
had invaded Nigeria, in the hope of capturing the town of Ibi, on the
Benue River, and of cutting off the British from their water route. At
the post of Takum a little British garrison made a stand which recalls
the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift.[25] There were only fifty
Nigerian police and two British officers in the place; yet, though
they were outnumbered by five to one, they held the blockhouses for a
whole day against most determined rushes, and drove off the enemy. At
nightfall the faithful blacks retired in pitch darkness and drenching
rain. They had to march in single file through swamps and rivers, and
for twenty-six hours were without food. Nevertheless they reached a
place of safety without a single casualty.

When war broke out a British officer was in Kamerun, several hundred
miles from the frontier. His friends were puzzled how to communicate
with him and give him a chance of escaping to British territory. At
last they sent a boy with a message. The lad travelled for many days,
and fortunately reached the officer, who set off post haste for the
frontier, where he was stopped by a native sentry. The man was
persuaded to let the officer through, and received two shillings for
his politeness. Two hours later German soldiers appeared, only to
discover that the officer had escaped. They vented their rage by
flogging the sentry.

About 29th August British mounted infantry captured the station of
[Page 96]
Garua,[26] which you will find on the river Benue, about two hundred
miles south of Lake Chad. Shortly afterwards they were heavily
counter-attacked, and driven back to British soil with many
casualties. One of the survivors said: "It was a terrible loss, and
there was absolutely no glory in the whole fighting, taking place as
it did in an out-of-the-way spot--5,000 miles from England--that not
one person in a thousand has ever heard of." No better luck attended
the other columns.

The land attack having failed, an attempt was made to carry the port
of Duala from the sea. The task was entrusted to two British warships,
the _Cumberland_ and the _Dwarf_. An officer of the _Cumberland_,
whose account[27] of the operations I shall follow, tells us that the
river mouth divides into many deep, mangrove-bordered creeks, some of
which are navigable for many miles from the coast. Owing to the many
shoals in both river and creeks, a big ship such as the _Cumberland_
can only approach within fourteen miles of Duala.

The _Cumberland_ and the _Dwarf_ left Lagos on the evening of August
29, 1914, and reached the small harbour of Victoria, to the westward
of Kamerun River, on the morning of 4th September. A beautiful view of
Mount Kamerun (13,000 feet) was obtained as the ships steamed towards
the town. A small working-party landed and searched the town without
any opposition; but next day a German officer appeared, and said that
unless the British retired in thirty minutes his troops would wipe
them out. As the town was surrounded by thick bushes which concealed a
large number of Germans, the working-party was withdrawn. Shortly
afterwards the ship's guns opened fire, and destroyed a food store
which had been discovered in the town.

[Footnote 25: Post on the Buffalo River, Natal; scene of a heroic
stand by a handful of the 24th Regiment against the Zulus on January
22, 1879.]

[Footnote 26: See map, page 103.]

[Footnote 27: _Blackwood's Magazine_, December 1915.]

[Page 97]




  CHAPTER XI.

  THE CAPTURE OF DUALA AND THE CONQUEST OF KAMERUN.


Having ascertained that the enemy was in strength near Victoria, the
_Cumberland_ sailed for Lagos, and on 7th September returned to the
attack, along with a flotilla of lighters and small craft capable of
navigating the creeks. It was discovered that nine vessels had been
scuttled by the Germans to block the fairway of the river, and divers
had to descend and blow them up before the channel was clear. While
these operations were going on, the Germans attempted to sink other
vessels, but the gunboat _Dwarf_ was able to prevent them.

    "The Germans undoubtedly thought at this time that this barrier
    would prevent anything larger than the _Dwarf_ from getting within
    range of Duala. They knew, however, that she could do so, as she
    had proved it two days previously [when she had pushed up to
    Doctor Point,[28] where the Channel was mined, and had come within
    range of the battery at Yoss Point]. They, therefore, decided to
    destroy her by torpedo. A steamboat was fitted with two vertical
    spars secured over the bows and projecting to a depth of 12 feet.
    A bracket, capable of being slid up and down the spars, carried
    two flasks (used for making soda-water), about 6 feet long and 4
    inches in diameter, filled with dynamite. The flasks, when in
    position, were parallel to the fore and aft line of the boat, and
    were fitted with pistols carrying detonators arranged to act when
    they struck their target. This is how they were to be used: A full
    head of steam was to be raised in the steamboat, while a second
    boat went ahead to the off-side of the _Dwarf_ to show a light by
    which to steer; a third was to remain handy to pick up the brave
    who, having set the tiller of the steamboat to hit the _Dwarf_,
    was to jump overboard in time to be clear of the explosion. What
    really happened was that the man jumped overboard _before_ the
    tiller had been set and when some distance from the target. The
    boat that was to pick him up found more pressing work to do when
    the _Dwarf_ opened fire on the boat showing a light, so that the
    attack was in no way a success; and the 'torpedo' having missed by
    400 yards, cruised about until the steam died down, when it
[Page 98]
    drifted on to a mud bank, whence it was rescued by the _Dwarf_ in
    the morning. The 'torpedo' was removed, and thereafter the
    steamboat became a valuable addition to the flotilla. The man who
    had been entrusted with the aiming of this infernal machine swam
    to one of the sunken vessels, from which he was rescued in the
    morning. When questioned, he said he was a missionary, trying 'to
    do his bit.' Rumour has it that he is doing it as a prisoner at
    Dahomey."[29]

By this time it was clear that all the creeks would have to be cleared
of the enemy before any advance could be made. Many little fights took
place in the narrow waterways, and in one of them a British picket
boat actually attacked a German armed merchantman, and put three
shells into her hull. The picket boat was chased, but the merchantman
retired as soon as she sighted the _Cumberland_ at the mouth of the
river. The _Dwarf_ went in pursuit of her, and in the network of
creeks the two ships suddenly found themselves within fifty yards of
each other, the German coming down stream and the _Dwarf_ going up.
The creek was narrow, and the _Dwarf_ could not turn, so she opened
fire, and went full steam ahead, in the hope of ramming the German
vessel. Her first shot blew the enemy's foremost gun and crew into the
water, and a few minutes later she crashed into the enemy. All the
Germans who had not been killed jumped overboard, and the vessel was
last seen blazing furiously and drifting seawards. The four guns of
the _Dwarf_ had poured shot into her from a range of ten yards! About
a dozen Germans were killed; but the _Dwarf's_ casualties were nil,
though she had a clean cut along her side from the upper deck to six
feet below the water line. In a week, however, she was repaired, and
ready for more adventures.

Other craft now took up the work of creek fighting. Sometimes these
boats had to anchor at night within a few yards of the dense mangroves
on the banks, and the men on board listened to the trumpeting of
elephants and the squealing of monkeys, or glanced over the side to
see the snaky forms of crocodiles cleaving the surface of the water.
By 24th September the river had been cleared up to Yoss Point: the
enemy had been driven from the lower creeks, and the barrier across
the fairway of the river had been blasted through. The previous day
the cruiser _Challenger_ had arrived with six transports, carrying
3,500 native troops under white officers. Most of these men had been
[Page 99]
trained to bush fighting, and as they had to proceed through forest
tracks they were accompanied by 3,000 carriers. French transports with
4,000 Senegalese appeared next day, and soon all was ready for the
attack on Duala.

[Illustration: Chart of the Mouth of the Kamerun River.]

The _Challenger_ managed to push up the river to within ten thousand
yards of the town, and the _Dwarf_ advanced still nearer. Before the
ships opened fire a messenger with a white flag was sent to the
governor, demanding the surrender of the place, and giving him two
hours in which to prepare an answer and to withdraw the women and
children if he intended to resist. While the _Challenger_ and the
_Dwarf_ were flying the white flag at their mastheads, the Germans
sent a number of floating mines down the swiftly flowing current, in
the hope of destroying the ships. Our bluejackets, however, lined the
bulwarks with machine guns and rifles, and exploded the mines before
they could do any damage. At the end of two hours the Germans returned
an answer which was only meant to gain time. So the day passed, and
the bombardment had to be postponed until next morning.

At dawn on the morrow the _Challenger_ opened fire, but only on
special parts of the town, because it was hoped to occupy the chief
[Page 100]
buildings as general headquarters for future operations. At ten in the
morning the roar of a heavy explosion was heard. The Germans had blown
up the wireless station. Half an hour later the place surrendered.
Meanwhile the German troops had got away. As soon as the mines were
cleared from the deep channel the _Challenger_ steamed up and anchored
off the town.

It was not only the _Challenger's_ bombardment which brought about the
rapid surrender of Duala. An attempt had been made to land troops on
the bank of the Lungazi River, directly south of the town. Only a few
of the men were put ashore, and the transport conveying them ran
aground. Nevertheless, when the Germans learned that the Allies were
landing forces, and were threatening their only line of retreat, they
made haste to give up the place and get their forces away. Gunboats
were pushed up the creek in order to cut off the German retreat, but
they found themselves brought to a standstill by a boom a short
distance below Pitti. The enemy got away by the railway which runs
eastwards from Duala. As soon as the trains were across the Lungazi
River the Germans blew up the bridge.

On 28th September our troops were sent up to Duala, and the
Headquarters Staff was installed in Government House, which had only
been slightly damaged by the bombardment. The Tricolour and the Union
Jack were hoisted together at the flagstaff, and the capital of the
Kameruns passed into the hands of the Allies.

       *     *     *     *     *

The Allies had now gained a foothold in Kamerun, and were in a
position to push into the interior; but neither the climate nor the
character of the country favoured their advance. The rain fell in
torrents for days at a time; there were no roads or even paths; the
country was covered with the densest African forest. Had it not been
for the two railways which run, the one to the north and the other to
the east from Duala, little or no progress could have been made.

The column which advanced along the northern railway suffered a
repulse, but was afterwards able to push on, and by 10th December had
reached the railhead, where two aeroplanes, which had not yet been
unpacked, were captured. Good progress was made along the midland
railway, and by the end of January 1916 a goodly strip of the country
[Page 101]
was in our hands. By this time French and Belgian troops had begun to
make their presence felt on the borders, and all that was valuable to
the Germans in Kamerun had been lost. The wireless station had been
destroyed, the coasts were ours, and the German troops were preparing
to make a last stand at Yaunde, about one hundred and twenty miles
east of Duala.

[Illustration: A Flotilla on the River.         [_Photo, The Sphere._]

In March 1915 the French and British generals met at Duala to make
arrangements for a joint advance on Yaunde, now the German
headquarters. By 1st May the British and French columns were at a
place about sixty miles east of Duala, and a little more than that
distance from Yaunde. In front of them was thick bush where, at every
turn of the road, machine guns lay in ambush. The enemy fought
stubbornly, and threatened our line of communications, while sickness
played havoc in our ranks. The advance on Yaunde failed, and our
troops fell back to the line of the Kele River.

[Page 102]
[Illustration: Assembling a Column of Native Soldiers and Bearers.

(_Photo, The Sphere._)

This picture gives some idea of the great difficulties encountered in
the conquest of Kamerun. In the background you notice the dense
tropical forest, which is only traversed by a few tracks. Pioneers
must precede an army operating in this region, and hew and track out a
road before an advance can be made. Every pound of supplies and all
the ammunition must be carried on the heads of natives. Consequently
the army of carriers must be almost as large as the army of fighters.
Progress through the forest is bound to be slow as well as dangerous.
Snipers lurk in the undergrowth, and machine guns are installed under
dense cover so as to sweep the tracks by which the army advances.
During the fighting in the forest region ambushes were frequent, and
the Allies lost many men. Further, the rotting vegetation and the damp
fetid air caused great sickness amongst the troops. Had it not been
for the rivers and the railways, the conquest of Kamerun could hardly
have been undertaken with any hope of success. A few of our Nigerian
troops are shown on the right of the picture. Many of these men are
Hausas, belonging to the most intelligent and enterprising of West
African tribes. They have long had a form of writing of their own, and
books of poems, riddles, history, law, etc. They teach their children
to read and write. Many of them are Mohammedans, but others remain
heathen. Their speech is understood by most tribes in the central and
western Sudan. For generations they have mined iron, tin, lead,
silver, and salt; they are excellent farmers, keen traders, and expert
at cotton spinning, weaving, and dyeing. Though peaceful by nature
they are very strong, brave, and cool. As early as 1874 they fought as
allies of the British (in the Ashanti campaign). The Hausa makes an
excellent policeman and soldier. He is said to be "as incorruptible as
an English judge."]

[Page 103]
Nothing more was attempted until October; but during the interval a
plan was made to finish off the conquest of the country. French troops
at the point marked A on the south-eastern border[30] were to move in
the direction of the arrow marked 1, while a force was landed at
Campo, and was to march in the direction of the arrow marked 2. Other
columns were to close in upon Yaunde in the direction of the arrows
marked 3 and 4, and meanwhile an advance was made on Banyo by two
columns starting from the Nigerian frontier (6^{1} and 6^{2}). A
Belgian column also invaded the country from the Congo, and a force
(5) cleared the country round the northern railhead.

[Illustration]

An officer who accompanied column 6^{2} advancing on Banyo tells us
that he and his comrades climbed to the plateau on which the town
stands by steep, narrow paths, and that on the crest they discovered a
strong position which the enemy had abandoned. The next few days'
advance was across open rolling grass lands, quite uninhabited. The
enemy took up positions on kopjes, but were easily driven from their
strongholds. When near Banyo the two columns came into touch, and on
24th October they entered the town, from which the garrison had
withdrawn to the top of a steep mountain amidst a range of hills three
miles away. From Banyo this position looked very strong indeed. It
fairly bristled with rocky boulders and strongly-built "sangars."[31]

    "We commenced our attack on the mountain early on the morning of
    4th November. The infantry, advancing from four different
    directions, covered by the fire from our three guns, worked their
    way up slowly and doggedly, foot by foot, climbing over rocks and
    tearing their way through the thorny scrub and the long grass
    under a heavy rifle and Maxim-gun fire from the enemy's sangars
    and concealed snipers amongst the rocks. By the evening most of
    the companies had managed to struggle half-way up the hill,
    getting what shelter they could from the incessant fire of the
    enemy, which was aided by fireballs and rockets. Officers and men,
    exhausted, and drenched with rain, hung on to the ground gained.
    At dawn on the morning of the 5th they started climbing once more,
    splendidly led and commanded by their company and section
    commanders.

[Page 104]
    "Our troops having got directly under the first line of sangars,
    the enemy, in addition to rifle and Maxim-gun fire, started
    rolling down rocks and throwing dynamite bombs. . . . All that day
    our men gradually worked their way up, capturing a small stone
    redoubt and a sangar here and there. . . .

    "Darkness set in early that evening. At 5 p.m. heavy clouds rolled
    up from the west, and an hour or two later a terrific thunderstorm
    burst over the mountain. Heavy firing and the explosion of bombs
    and fireballs still continued. There seemed reason to fear that,
    owing to the exhaustion of our men from the want of sleep and
    violent physical effort, they would never succeed.

    "A misty morning prevented our seeing what was happening as dawn
    broke on the morning of the 6th, but as only scattered firing was
    going on success seemed assured; and sure enough, as the mist
    dispersed, a white flag could be seen on the top of the hill and
    our men standing out against the sky-line. It had been a dour and
    stubborn fight. The Germans occupying such a strong and
    well-prepared position, had put up a strong resistance, and
    contested every yard of ground. Our men, however, would not be
    denied. They fought magnificently. The people of Nigeria ought to
    feel proud in producing such good soldiers, as it was a task which
    would have tried the finest troops in the world."

On the top of the mountain the victorious troops saw a strange scene.
Scattered in all directions were broken furniture, burst trunks, tin
boxes, blankets, bedding, clothes, broken bottles of wine and beer,
smashed-up rifles, gramophones, telephones, and a hundred other
things, in the utmost confusion. Within this hill-stronghold the
Germans had built several good mud houses with glass doors and
windows, furniture, carpets, pictures, etc. Signposts showed the way
to the defensive posts; there were two fine cement reservoirs of
water, a vegetable garden, and caves filled with mealies and corn.
Cattle, pigs, sheep, and fowls were feeding hard by, and it was clear
that the Germans thought they could hold the position for any length
of time. The capture of this eyrie was a feather in the caps of the
Nigerian troops, and when they were paraded on 7th November "it was a
real pleasure to see their black, grinning faces and hear them
cheering."

By 26th November the French, advancing along the arrow marked 3, were
within forty miles of Yaunde; and on 17th December our troops,
advancing along the arrow marked 4, had left the tangled forest region
behind, and were in open country. Thenceforth they pushed forward on a
wide front, and the enemy, knowing that spearheads were being thrust
against him on all sides, began to lose heart and give way. Meanwhile
[Page 105]
the columns which had captured Banyo had marched south for 160 miles,
and had joined hands with the column moving along the arrow marked 4.

[Illustration: German Troops in Banyo.

(_Photo, The Illustrated London News._)]

Yaunde was now doomed. Harried on all sides, the enemy completely
broke, and all real resistance was over. On New Year's Day, 1916, the
French entered Yaunde, and before long the flags of France, Britain,
and Belgium were flying above the town. During the following week
allied troops from all points of the compass began to arrive. A very
remarkable feat had been performed. Widely separated, columns, that
had fought and marched for a period of seventeen months, had converged
upon Yaunde within a few days of each other. Despite the roadless
country, the swampy marshes, the dense forests, the difficulties of
transport, the great heat, and the sickness that always besets troops
in the tropics, all the columns, some of them beginning their march
from points separated by five hundred miles, met at the point to be
attacked almost at the same time. Probably never before in the history
of warfare has a combined movement of this character been so well
timed and so successfully carried through.

The Germans who retreated from Yaunde were followed up; but most of
[Page 106]
them, along with the governor, managed to escape into Spanish
territory,[32] where they were disarmed and interned. In the middle of
February 1916 the only Germans in Kamerun were perched on a lofty
mountain in the far north, where they were closely besieged and cut
off from the outer world. Before the end of the month they yielded,
and the conquest of the colony was complete.

       *     *     *     *     *

Only one Victoria Cross was awarded during the campaign which gave us
Kamerun. It was won by

Captain John Fitzhardinge Paul Butler, the King's Royal Rifle
Corps, attached Pioneer Company, Gold Coast Regiment, West African
Frontier Force.

On November 17, 1914, Captain Butler, with a party of thirteen men,
pushed into the thick bush and attacked the enemy, who numbered about
one hundred, and were armed with a machine gun. He and his followers
scattered the troops opposed to them, and captured the machine gun,
together with many loads of ammunition. Again, on 27th December,
Captain Butler exhibited remarkable courage. The Ekkam River was held
by the Germans, and it was important that the position and strength of
the enemy should be ascertained. Captain Butler went out for the
purpose with a few men and, all alone, swam the river. In the face of
a brisk fire he managed to reach the farther bank, and creep
sufficiently near to the enemy to find out where and in what strength
he was posted. The gallant captain returned in safety, but two of his
men were wounded while he was in the water.

       *     *     *     *     *

You have now heard how German South-West Africa and Kamerun were lost
to Germany. In February 1916 the only remaining colony in which the
enemy could show fight was German East Africa, which had been first
attacked as far back as August 13, 1914. I shall not now describe the
fighting in East Africa, but shall postpone my account of the campaign
until I can tell you the whole story.

[Footnote 28: See map, page 99.]

[Footnote 29: French colony on the Guinea coast of Africa.]

[Footnote 30: See map, p. 103.]

[Footnote 31: An Indian term for low walls of loose stones, used as
cover.]

[Footnote 32: Late in June 1916 the Kaiser sent a submarine to
Cartagena with a letter of gushing thanks to the King of Spain for the
manner in which German refugees from Kamerun had been received in
Spanish African territory.]

[Page 107]




  CHAPTER XII.

  THE ADVANCE ON ERZERUM.


It is a far cry from Kamerun to Armenia--from the fetid breath of
mangrove swamps and the clammy heat of tropical forests to the deep
snow and piercing blizzards of sterile uplands, "where winter
lingering chills the lap of May." In Chapter XXXII. of our third
volume I described the fierce fighting which took place on the borders
of this region during November and December 1914 and January 1915. You
will remember that the Turks then invaded Transcaucasia, and made a
desperate attempt in the depth of winter to reach the Russian fortress
of Kars. Our ally dealt with the Turkish columns one by one, and flung
them from the country with great slaughter. Transcaucasia was entirely
cleared of the enemy, and the remnants sought refuge in the fortress
of Erzerum, the central city of the Armenian plateau.

A year later, again in the depth of winter, this region became the
scene of a struggle which ended in a great Russian success. Russian
and Turk had now changed parts: the defenders of 1915 were the
attackers of 1916. The Russians swept across the frontier, and, as you
will learn, wrested from the enemy not only Erzerum, his most
important stronghold in Asia Minor, but Trebizond, the sea-gate of
that fortress, and pushed south to within two hundred and fifty miles
of the British forces on the Tigris.

[Page 108]
[Illustration: The City of Erzerum.   [_Photo, Exclusive News Agency._

Erzerum stands about seventy miles from the Russian railhead at
Sarikamish. Its citadel was founded in the fifth century, and formerly
it was an important caravan centre. It fell into Turkish hands in
1517, but became Russian in 1829. In 1878 it was restored to Turkey by
the Treaty of Berlin.]

[Page 109]
Erzerum stands 6,000 feet above sea level, in a sort of flat pocket of
ground amidst lofty hills which hem it in on the north, north-east,
and south. All travellers must enter the city by one or other of five
roads. One of these roads, running to the north-east, pierces the
mountains by means of a deep gorge, and leads past Olty to the Black
Sea port of Batum. Another road strikes north-west, and after crossing
three passes, one of them 8,000 feet in height, comes to an end in the
Turkish port of Trebizond. It was at Trebizond that Xenophon[33] and
the Ten Thousand joyfully saw the sea after the terrible trials of
their retreat across the snowy ranges of Armenia. The distance from
Trebizond to Erzerum is 200 miles, and a week of fine weather is
necessary for the journey. The third of the roads running northwards
from Erzerum crosses a pass called the "Camel's Neck,"[34] and runs to
the Russian railhead of Sarikamish, some seventy miles away. This road
is by far the best of all the roads which lead to Erzerum. The
"Camel's Neck," which lies a few miles to the east of the city, is
only a few hundred feet higher than the pocket in which Erzerum
stands. Southwards from Erzerum runs a road which forks into two--the
more easterly leading to Mush, on the Eastern Euphrates; the other to
Diarbekr, which is only fifty miles from the Baghdad railway.

[Illustration: Map showing Roads which meet at Erzerum.]

Now that you know something of the situation of Erzerum, you can
easily understand that in ancient times it was a most important
trading centre and the avenue through which western Asia Minor
communicated not only with Persia and Mesopotamia, but with
Transcaucasia. The Transcaucasian railway on the north and the Baghdad
railway on the south have robbed it of much of its trade; but it is
still an important centre, and before the war was considered to be the
strongest fortress in the Turkish Empire. At the beginning of the year
1916 three gaps in the hills on the eastern side of the city--the
[Page 110]
gorge through which passes the road to Olty; the "Camel's Neck," over
which runs the road to Sarikamish; and the break in the line of high
crests through which the road to Mush proceeds southwards--were all
commanded by strong forts. The Turks declared that they had 1,030
heavy guns and 200 lighter pieces in position round Erzerum. It is
doubtful, however, whether they had any of the largest Krupp or Skoda
guns.

The great weakness of Erzerum as a fortress lies in its long and
broken communications with its main base at Constantinople. A convoy
of munitions or supplies starting from the shores of the Bosphorus
must travel for two days by rail to the nearest railhead at Angora.
Then it must proceed by road for 440 miles. It would thus take at the
very least three weeks to reach Erzerum. The usual route was by sea to
Trebizond, and then by road to the city; but as the Russians were now
in command of the Black Sea, the Turks dared not send munitions and
supplies by ship. Up to the end of February 1916 the Russian light
cruisers and torpedo boats had sunk some 4,000 Turkish vessels in the
Black Sea. The sea route was therefore impossible, and the land route
alone was available. As the Turks were short of rolling stock, and the
roads were deep with the snows of midwinter, they had the greatest
difficulty in providing Erzerum with the ammunition and other supplies
necessary for it to sustain a siege. The Russians were in a much more
favourable position. By means of the Transcaucasian railway they could
bring troops, guns, and munitions from their bases to within seventy
miles of the fortress which they were now about to attack.

When the Tsar placed himself at the head of the Russian armies in
September 1915, he appointed the Grand Duke Nicholas, the former
commander-in-chief, Viceroy of the Caucasus. Nicholas reinforced the
Russian army on the Turkish border, and brought it up to a strength of
about 180,000 men. The Turks at this time could not muster more than
150,000. Since the beginning of winter the Grand Duke had been making
preparations for an advance, but it is probable that he did not intend
to move until spring. He struck, however, before his time, and for the
following reason. Early in January, you will remember, the Allies
finally left the Gallipoli peninsula, and by so doing released five
Turkish corps for service elsewhere. It was thought probable that the
[Page 111]
greater number of these troops would be sent to the Caucasus, but they
could not arrive for at least six weeks. The Grand Duke therefore
resolved to strike before the enemy's forces could be strengthened.

It was a bold resolve, for winter campaigning on the lofty uplands of
Armenia is a terrible trial of endurance. The thermometer is always
far below freezing-point, the roads are blocked with snow, avalanches
are frequent on the mountains, and the blizzards are perhaps more to
be feared than artillery fire. The people of the country still shelter
themselves from the winter storms and biting cold by living in deep
pits, just as they did in the days of Xenophon. There was only one
advantage to be gained by a winter attack: the enemy might be taken by
surprise. On the other hand, the forces of nature alone might bring
about a Russian defeat.

The Russians began their movement on the 11th of January. They
advanced on a broad front on both sides of the road from the railhead
at Sarikamish to Erzerum, and the Turks were obliged to fall back to
avoid being enveloped. The movement was greatly impeded by snowstorms,
which formed drifts up to the height of a man's waist. On the 16th the
centre reached the village (marked =X= on the map, page 112)
which commands the bridge crossing the river Araxes. Then began a
fierce battle, which lasted two days. The Turks held the village and
the bridgehead with machine guns, and the Russians were checked; but
on the evening of the 18th, in the midst of a blinding snowstorm, they
carried the position. The village was captured in the early hours of
the morning, and three Turkish divisions were driven in utter rout
towards Erzerum, only thirty-three miles away. The Turks fled
pell-mell over the snowy mountains, throwing away their arms and
equipment, and leaving behind them large quantities of stores. Erzerum
was lost at the battle of the Araxes crossing.

[Page 112]
[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Advance on Erzerum.]

[Footnote 33: Xenophon was a Greek who (401 B.C.), with
10,000 others, joined Cyrus the Younger in his attempt to overpower
his brother and seat himself on the throne of Persia. Cyrus was routed
and slain at Cunaxa on the Euphrates, and the Greeks under Xenophon
made a wonderful retreat to the coast of the Black Sea at Trebizond.
Xenophon tells the story in his _Anabasis_.]

[Footnote 34: Marked on the map (p. 112) _Deve Boyun_.]

[Page 113]




  CHAPTER XIII.

  THE FALL OF ERZERUM AND THE CAPTURE OF TREBIZOND.


While the Turks were fleeing from the Araxes to the shelter of Erzerum
the Russians won another success. Their cruisers in the Black Sea sank
163 Turkish sailing ships, 73 of which were laden with provisions. On
22nd January they sent 40 more vessels to the bottom. Thus Erzerum was
deprived of munitions and supplies at the very moment when the
Russians were closing in upon it.

The plight of the retreating Turks was awful. The pursuing Cossacks
followed them up relentlessly. Often they passed on the road hundreds
of broken and weary men huddled together and sleeping in the snow.
When engaged in rounding up the fugitives they frequently found dozens
of them frozen to death. It was a mob of dazed, numbed, and
half-starved men, rather than an army, that gathered behind the
Camel's Neck for a last stand.

By the 20th January the Russians were at the gates of the fortress,
and were preparing to assault the Camel's Neck. The speed of their
advance was amazing. Three days after the collapse of the Turks at the
Araxes, Russian guns were battering at the outer forts of the city.
The policy of General Yudenitch, who commanded the army, was to give
the enemy no time to rally or to take up new defensive positions.
Turkish reinforcements were on the way, but he hoped to capture the
city long before they could arrive.

From 26th January to 12th February the Russians waited for their heavy
guns and the necessary ammunition to arrive. Meanwhile their field
guns were busy bombarding the forts. On the 10th, when the thermometer
was fifty degrees below zero, a Russian column pushed through the deep
[Page 114]
snow and reached the fort of Kara Gubek, the extreme north-eastern
point of the Erzerum defences. Mr. Seppings-Wright, whose picture of
the incident appears on page 120-121, says:--

    "This fort is the key to the whole system of the outer defences of
    the city of Erzerum. There are fifteen other forts, but none of
    such supreme importance as Kara Gubek. The assault was carried out
    by Caucasian and Siberian troops, all hardened by the winters of
    the North. Few other troops in the world could have faced such
    conditions, and their success deserves to rank as one of the
    greatest feats of the war. . . . Steadily and surely the Russian
    army forged their way--storming the plateaus, chasing the enemy
    over glaciers until the final rush was made. Up the last barrier
    they climbed knee-deep in snowdrifts, the icy wind burning and
    blistering their faces like the blast from a furnace. The cries of
    men and the sighs of the tired animals, mingling with the sharp
    clap of shrapnel, made the strangest chorus ever heard. It was
    repeated a thousand times among the tremendous precipices of that
    weird land. . . . No roads helped the advance. From the summit of
    a high ridge Erzerum, the goal, was seen, and was greeted with
    loud shouts. As the armies assembled on the crest, the order was
    given to charge down. Then occurred the most extraordinary
    spectacle--an army sliding down the smooth slopes until the
    mountain side was lined as though with innumerable toboggan runs.
    Crowning the summit of a mountain opposite stood the great
    fortress of Kara Gubek, the ramparts lined with Turks. Banners
    with the Crescent and Star streamed in the wind, but the defenders
    were about to meet their doom. Small parties of Russian engineers
    had been at work digging zigzags in the snow. These were instantly
    filled with swarms of Russians. . . . Around the crumpling
    ramparts of the forts the Turks had prepared positions with wire,
    and an entirely new device--namely, frozen snow; the snow had been
    constantly sprayed with water, and had frozen into a barrier of
    ice. The assault commenced at seven in the morning; by noon the
    Russian flag flew proudly over the fort. Erzerum was won!"

Kara Gubek fell on 12th February, and next day Fort Tafta, overlooking
the Camel's Neck, was carried, after a Russian shell had exploded its
magazine. The Russians were now in the rear of the main defences of
the city, and during the next two days the forts surrendered one by
one. On the evening of the 15th only the old rampart of the inner
redoubts stood between the attackers and the city. The Turks knew that
their last hope had gone, and almost immediately began to abandon the
place. They streamed in disorderly crowds along the roads to
Trebizond, Erzingan, and Diarbekr; and at eight o'clock on the morning
of the 16th the Cossacks of the central column rode into the city,
where they were soon joined by mounted men of the other columns.
Erzerum was in Russian hands.

[Page 115]
[Illustration: Russians dragging Field Guns up the Mountains.

(_From the picture by H. C. Seppings-Wright.
By permission of The Illustrated London News._)

"In the south," writes Mr. Seppings-Wright, an artist with the Russian
armies in Armenia, "the whole region is covered with mountains, which
rise to a height of 10,000 feet. There is a complete absence of roads.
Thinking this region impassable to any important force, the Turkish
staff entrusted its defence chiefly to Kurds. . . . By a kind of
miracle the Russian troops dragged up, not mountain guns, but field
guns. . . . Reaching the edge of the plateau, our men slid down the
slopes amid cries of 'To Erzerum!'"]

[Page 116]
Without delay the Cossacks went in pursuit of the retreating Turks,
and soon were busy rounding up prisoners and capturing guns. Some
12,753 unwounded Turks, 323 guns, nine standards, and vast quantities
of ammunition and stores were taken. Between the 11th of January and
the 17th of February the Turks cannot have lost less than 60,000 men.
Five divisions are said to have been wiped out as fighting units.

The capture of Erzerum must be accounted one of the most brilliant
victories of the war. Three columns had marched upon the city by
different routes, and all had come together at the right moment. The
central column had brilliantly carried the bridge at the crossing of
the Araxes; the left column had moved with amazing speed through the
wild tangle of pathless hills, had dragged 8-inch guns over rocky
crests sheathed in ice or deep in snow, and had assaulted the key-fort
of the city by glissading down a mountain side. Only soldiers of the
greatest endurance and the most dogged determination could have
performed such a feat.

       *     *     *     *     *

The man who was mainly responsible for the capture of Erzerum was
General Yudenitch, the chief of the Caucasian army. He it was who
defeated the Turks at Sarikamish in the winter of 1914, and planned
the campaign which had just been crowned with success. He had spent
his whole life in the Caucasus, and had specially trained his men for
winter warfare amidst the snow-clad and blizzard-swept mountains. So
constantly were his troops sent on route marches that he was nicknamed
"The General on the Go." It is said that his Caucasian troops were
ready in full marching order twenty-four hours after the Tsar gave the
order for mobilization. When Erzerum was captured he was a man of
fifty years of age, remarkable for his great modesty, his strong will,
and his fixed belief in the truth of the old proverb, "Look before you
leap." His favourite saying was, "Measure seven times before you cut
anything." He believed in training his men and officers to think and
act for themselves. "One who obeys without thinking," he said, "is
worth much; but a chief who educates his subordinates in the idea that
every order must be blindly obeyed commits high treason."

       *     *     *     *     *

Some idea of the difficulties which the Russians had to encounter in
[Page 117]
their advance on Erzerum may be gathered from the following account
written by a Russian officer. He tells us how his men descended from
the mountains to attack the bridge over the Araxes.

    "We held a position on the summit of a mountain rising 11,000 feet
    above sea level. Every morning there was a strong wind, which
    drove before it masses of snow and drifted up our positions to a
    depth of from 10 to 15 feet. Our shelters, huts, and kitchens were
    all buried in the snow. The wind was so fierce that most of our
    huts were almost blown to pieces, though they were held together
    with wire. No one so much as thought of warm food during those
    days. Not only were our kitchens buried in the snow, but we had no
    other means of heating water.

    "At last we got orders to leave our burrows above the clouds and
    descend into the valley. We began the incredibly difficult task of
    finding our way down precipices coated thickly with snow. The men
    followed one another in single file, in endless chains, forcing
    their way through the deep snow with their chests. From time to
    time rifle shots were fired to guide those behind. Only after a
    whole day of wandering did we manage to assemble again. The
    hurricane hurled upon us dense clouds of snow. The men clung
    together in groups, so as not to lose sight of one another. Frozen
    snow penetrated our clothes and turned the cloth into a hard
    sheeting of ice. Masks of ice covered the soldiers' faces. One of
    the horses slipped and disappeared over a precipice.

    "By desperate exertions we somehow managed to get our guns down
    into the valley. Here we were received by the detachment stationed
    there, who helped us with the final work of lowering the guns with
    straps. We had done well. Despite the awful difficulties of the
    path and mountain steeps, not a man had perished; not one had been
    left behind or lost. At the close of our march we were well
    rewarded for all we had gone through: our unexpected appearance
    caused a panic in the Turkish trenches."

       *     *     *     *     *

Though most of the Turks in Erzerum retreated hastily when the main
defences fell, there were some who preferred to die rather than yield.
In one place a Russian company broke into a small fortified position
which was held by a handful of Turks. The Russian officer invited them
to surrender; but they replied with a volley, and fought on until not
a single man remained alive.

[Page 118]
[Illustration: Russian Soldiers with the Nine Turkish Banners captured
at Erzerum.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

These nine gorgeous standards were captured in a fort at Erzerum by a
brigade of Don Cossacks. The standards were taken to Tsarkoe Selo and
presented to the Tsar by Captain Konieff, the first officer to enter
Erzerum, and nine men representing various arms of the Caucasian
forces. They were afterwards paraded through Petrograd and deposited
in the cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.]

       *     *     *     *     *

[Page 119]
In the second week of March the Tsar received in his palace at
Tsarskoe Selo[35] Captain Konieff, the first officer to enter Erzerum,
and nine men of the Caucasian army, who presented him with several
trophies from the captured fortress--the four keys of the city and
nine Turkish banners. The Tsar talked with the men, and was eager to
learn how the trophies had been seized. Finally he conferred upon each
of them the Cross of St. George, and bade them thank their comrades in
his name for the splendid courage and endurance which they had shown
in the campaign. The standards were afterwards deposited in the
cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

       *     *     *     *     *

Erzerum is chiefly inhabited by Armenians, a Christian people who have
always been bitterly hated by the Turks. For the last forty years they
have been terribly persecuted, and brutal massacres have been
frequent, despite the protests of Britain and the United States. The
Kurds, a fierce, warlike race of Mohammedans, are their neighbours.
They live amongst the oak groves on the slopes of the mountains
dividing Persia from Turkey, and pride themselves on being descended
from King Solomon. In recent years they have been very active in
torturing and slaughtering Armenian men, women, and children. Many of
these Kurds were in Erzerum fighting for the Turks when the fortress
fell. Before quitting the place they mercilessly slew thousands of the
Armenian inhabitants. The wretched remnants of the persecuted nation
hailed the appearance of the Russians with unfeigned joy. A Russian
conquest of Armenia meant their salvation. To us in the West it seemed
very fitting that the first portion of the Sultan's empire to be won
was that in which the Turks had committed their foulest crimes.

       *     *     *     *     *

[Pages 120, 121]
[Illustration: The Assault on Kara Gubek: Russian troops sliding down
a mountain advancing by zigzags against a fort strengthened by a belt
of ice.

(_From the picture by H. G. Seppings-Wright. Permission of The
Illustrated London News.)_]

[Page 122]
The fall of Erzerum gave the Russians a frontier fortress from which
they could strike into Turkish territory south, east, and west. They
could not, however, be said to be in the heart of Asia Minor until
they had crossed the Western Euphrates, and had left the mountains for
the plains. Before this advance could be made, they were obliged to
protect their flank by the capture of the Turkish port of Trebizond. A
writer in _Blackwood's Magazine_ tells us that Trebizond has no equal
in beauty or historical interest among the cities on the Black Sea. It
stands, with Constantinople, Smyrna, and Amasia,[36] as one of the
four cities in the Turkish Empire most favoured by nature. Trebizond
has mountains behind it more lofty than those of its rivals, and it
has the great advantage of being in a verdant region. It surpasses
Smyrna and Amasia in the number and beauty of its ancient buildings.
When the Ten Thousand reached it it was a prosperous city. In later
times it became the capital of a Roman province, and was afterwards
subject to the emperors who had their capital at Byzantium, which we
now call Constantinople. Still later it became the seat of the
emperors of Trebizond, and maintained its independence for well-nigh
two hundred and fifty years. In 1461 it fell to the conquering Turks,
and remained in their hands until the events which I am about to
relate.

The old portion of the city stands on a small plateau which falls in
steep cliffs to deep ravines on either side and in front slopes to the
sea. Behind the city the plateau rises to higher ground. All along its
edge are old walls with towers and castles, which form part of the
fortifications. Spanning the gorges are great stone bridges which
connect the old town with the surrounding suburbs. The streets of the
city proper are narrow and dirty, but here and there we find mosques
which were Greek churches in the Middle Ages. "Seen from the sea, you
get a jumble of picturesque old creeper-grown walls and towers,
irregular red roofs, and much foliage; above these lower features rise
many minarets and domes, and behind and above them all are wooded
hills and then mountains. The suburbs of Trebizond have now spread
along the coast, for the city has grown to 50,000 or 60,000
inhabitants, and the old walled portion is only a small part of the
whole."

Trebizond has no harbour and no railway communication, and therefore
has great drawbacks as a port. Nevertheless it is the sea-gate of
Erzerum, with which it is connected, as you know, by a good metalled
road nearly two hundred miles long. Should the Russians make a base of
Erzerum, they must take Trebizond, so as to prevent the Turks from
[Page 123]
landing forces on their flank. Only when Trebizond fell would it be
possible for the Russians to push southwards and threaten the Baghdad
railway, the main Turkish route of communication with Mesopotamia.

The Russians proposed to capture Trebizond by means of a combined land
and sea movement. Transports carried the troops to Atina, some sixty
miles east of Trebizond. There they were landed on 4th March, under
cover of a heavy fire from the warships, and began their march along
the coast. Difficult as this route was, it was far easier than that
which lay through the terrible tangle of mountains in the interior.
Further, if the weather remained good the troops could receive
supplies and succour from the sea. The warships patrolled the coast,
and easily drove off the _Breslau_ when it attempted to interfere with
their movements.

The march along the coast road was slow but sure. On 8th March the
Russians were within thirty-five miles of Trebizond, but in the next
nineteen days they only advanced five miles. On 6th April they reached
the Kara Dere, a torrent flowing through a deep gorge and flanked by
high mountains. Under German guidance the Turks had constructed strong
defences along the left bank of the river. On 14th April a fierce
battle was fought along the line of this river, and the Turks were
thrust back and driven from position after position. On the 17th the
Russians were within seven miles of Trebizond, and on the 18th they
entered the place without serious opposition. Thus the most important
of all the fortified towns on the coast of the Black Sea was lost to
Turkey.

After their defeat at Kara Dere on the 14th the Turks decided to
abandon Trebizond. It really was of no use to them now that the
Russians were in command of the Black Sea. Any attempt to defend it
would have meant that the garrison would be locked up inside the forts
surrounding the town, and would finally be obliged to surrender.
Before retreating, the Turks carried off or destroyed the guns and the
stores, so that little booty fell into Russian hands. They marched in
orderly fashion to Baiburt, about fifty miles north-west of Erzerum,
where they joined up with their main forces, and formed the left wing
of the armies facing the Russians.

The Turks had lost nothing by abandoning Trebizond, but the Russians
had won a sea-gate that was bound to be of great use to them for
[Page 124]
supply purposes. All the credit of this fine achievement must not go
to the Russian troops which entered the port. The fleet had played an
important part by convoying the soldiers, by bombarding the town, and
by landing seamen and marines. The Russian armies further south had
also helped in the capture. When the Turks saw that Trebizond was in
danger they hurried up reinforcements from Gallipoli, and made a great
effort to drive the Russians back. They suddenly attacked the right
flank of the Russians, in the hope that they would weaken their centre
to aid the threatened wing. Then they hurled their main forces at the
centre, which lay west of Erzerum. Had they succeeded in breaking
through, they would have compelled the Russians along the coast to
retreat in order to avoid being surrounded and cut off from their
communications. The Russians, however, were able to beat back these
assaults, and the enemy's plan completely failed. Nevertheless the
road from Trebizond to Erzerum was not yet open; the Turks still clung
to the passes along the road, and for many weeks the Russians failed
to dislodge them.

       *     *     *     *     *

After the capture of Erzerum on 16th February General Yudenitch
followed up the Turks with great energy as they retreated towards
Erzingan and Baiburt. By the 19th of February his advanced guards had
seized Mush, eighty miles south of Erzerum, and on the 25th they were
in possession of Akhlat, on Lake Van. By 23rd March they had stormed
Bitlis, and their cavalry were pushing on towards Diarbekr, on the
edge of the Mesopotamian plain, and towards Mosul on the Tigris. But
about the middle of April large Turkish reinforcements arrived on the
line Diarbekr-Erzingan-Baiburt, and were able to check the advance of
the Russians both westwards and southwards.

While, however, the Russians were prevented from pushing towards the
Baghdad railway from Bitlis, a force, which for two months had been
fighting the Kurds west of Lake Urmia, crossed the Turkish border and
seized a town about eighty miles east of Mosul. Thirteen days after
the fall of Kut the Russians were holding the front shown upon the map
on the next page. It was not a continuous line of entrenchments, such
as the Allies held in the West, but was broken by lofty mountains,
amongst which troops could not operate. You will notice that its
[Page 125]
southern end was only about two hundred and fifty miles, as the
aeroplane flies, from the British forces on the Tigris.

[Illustration: Map illustrating the Russian Front in April 1916.]

Now let us return for a few moments to the British, who were still
striving to carry the Turkish positions below Kut. On 22nd May came
the surprising news that two squadrons of Cossacks had ridden into
General Gorringe's camp. Whence had they come? A Russian army under
General Baratoff had been operating in Persia for many months past.
Early in February it had reached Hamadan, which you will see on the
[Page 126]
road leading to Baghdad, and by 12th March it had pushed on to Kerind,
more than a hundred miles farther west. Here General Baratoff had
called a halt of two months, in order that he might secure his flanks
and make the road from Hamadan fit for the passage of artillery. From
Kermanshah, which you will see fifty miles to the south-east of
Kerind, a good road runs southwards for fifty miles to the hills. When
these are crossed, a desert ride of forty miles brings the traveller
to the banks of the Tigris. A bold dash of 200 miles through a country
inhabited by wild Kurdish tribes would enable Russians and British to
join hands. General Baratoff gave two of his cavalry leaders
permission to make the attempt, and after a most adventurous ride they
and their troopers galloped into the British lines. Some weeks later
the dashing horsemen were paraded before Sir Percy Lake, who had been
appointed to the command of the British forces in Mesopotamia in
January, and by order of the King he decorated them with the Military
Cross.

Already, in the West, Russians were fighting on French fields. One
month before General Baratoff's troopers reined up in the British camp
on the Tigris, a detachment of Russian infantry had safely landed at
Marseilles, after a long voyage from the Pacific coast of Siberia.
They had travelled half-way round the world to fight side by side with
their gallant allies the French, who were now in the midst of the
longest, fiercest, and most deadly battle known to the history of the
world.

[Footnote 35: Town, 15 miles south by east of Petrograd, containing
two of the Czar's palaces; the one built by Catherine I. in 1724, the
other by Catherine II. in 1792.]

[Footnote 36: Ancient city of Asia Minor, beautifully situated on the
Yeshil-Irmak, about two hundred miles to the south-east of Trebizond.
It rose to greatness after the time of Alexander the Great, and was
enriched with noble buildings by the early sultans. The rock tombs of
the Castle Rock are famous; one of them is known as the "Mirror Tomb"
because of its highly polished surface.]

[Page 127]




  CHAPTER XIV.

  THE SENUSSI.


Before I return to the Western front, let me relate the story of a
dashing little campaign fought on the desert frontier of North-Western
Egypt. You know that when Germany plotted to bring about the downfall
of the British Empire she did not rely wholly upon her armies, great
and well trained as they were. She sent her secret agents into all
parts of the Empire and its borders,[37] and did her utmost to
persuade the disaffected to rise in revolt as soon as war was
declared. You have read how those who yielded to her blandishments in
South Africa came to grief, and in a later chapter I shall tell you
how some thousands of Irishmen were beguiled into a hopeless rebellion
that was put down in a week. In this and the next chapter you shall
learn how the Senussi, who live on the frontier of North-Western
Egypt, were lured to their doom by German officers and their Turkish
dupes.

In the first half of the nineteenth century an Algerian lawyer named
Mohammed Ben Ali went to and fro in Morocco and Arabia preaching a
reformed Mohammedan religion. In 1855 he and his followers settled at
a place about one hundred and thirty miles south-west of Sollum, on
the western frontier of Egypt. Mohammed died in 1859, and his second
son, Sidi el Mahdi, became the leader of the sect known as the
Senussi. This man gradually acquired authority over the desert tribes,
and won the favour of the Sultan of Turkey. When he died, in 1902, his
nephew succeeded him, but was dethroned seven years later.

[Page 128]
In 1911, when the Turco-Italian War broke out, the Senussi fought
fiercely against the Italians, and even after Turkey had made peace
with Italy they continued the struggle. They professed, however,
friendship towards the Egyptian Government, and in February 1915
undertook to keep peace on the frontier. In May several Turkish and
two German officers appeared among them, and began to stir them up
against Britain. One of the Turkish officers was Nuri Bey, a brother
of Enver Bey, and it was he who persuaded the Senussi to throw in
their lot with the enemy. He had already raised a large force of
Bedouin Arabs, and now proposed to attack the Egyptian border.

Up to the month of November 1915 the Senussi remained quiet. They were
watching events in Gallipoli, where, as you know, we were making but
little progress. On 19th November some three or four hundred Arabs
fell upon one of our frontier posts, but were beaten off. The leader
of the Senussi still professed to be friendly; but there is no doubt
that he was secretly urging his followers to take up arms against us.
By 21st November more than two thousand Arabs, under Turkish and
German officers, were threatening Sollum. As the place was only
defended by four British officers and 120 British and Egyptian
soldiers, it was decided to withdraw the garrison to Mersa-Matruh, a
small seaport and Egyptian coastguard station on the coast, about one
hundred and fifty miles west of Alexandria. At the same time a mounted
brigade of Yeomanry and Australian Light Horse, with a battery of the
Royal Horse Artillery and four infantry battalions, was dispatched to
Mersa-Matruh.

On 11th December this force came in contact with detachments of the
enemy and dispersed them. By this time, however, the Senussi had
occupied Sollum and other frontier posts; and the main body, which
numbered about two thousand four hundred, and was armed with Maxims
and field guns and a plentiful supply of ammunition, had taken up a
position under Nuri Bey and Jaafar, the chief of the Senussi.

[Footnote 37: In June 1916 we learned that the Kaiser had actually
written a letter to the Amir of Afghanistan, trying to persuade him to
declare a holy war; but, happily, the Amir remained loyal to his
promises, and insisted that his country should remain neutral.]

[Page 129]




  CHAPTER XV.

  A GALLANT RESCUE.


On the morning of Christmas Day our troops moved out in two
columns--one for a frontal attack, the other to turn the enemy's
flank. Aeroplanes spied out the enemy's position, and "spotted" for
the artillery. As soon as our gunners got to work, light-draught
vessels off the coast began shelling the series of sand ridges on
which the enemy was posted. While our infantry carried ridge after
ridge the cavalry managed to get to the south of the enemy, who then
fled westwards, leaving 200 dead and one gun behind them.

Again, on 22nd January, a force of all arms, consisting of British,
South African, Australian, and Indian troops, marched westwards from
Mersa-Matruh[38] to engage the enemy, whose camp had been discovered
by our airmen about ten miles west of Bir Shola. Each man carried a
day's rations, and a further supply for two days was packed on the
motor wagons which accompanied the column. From 3 a.m. until 10 p.m.
the troops tramped seventeen miles across sodden and heavy ground, and
bivouacked by the side of a small well, from which the field engineers
pumped sufficient water for men and horses.

Next morning the march was resumed in two columns, and after eight
miles had been covered the mounted men, who formed the advance guard,
came in contact with the enemy at Agagia. The infantry now marched to
the sound of the guns, and soon found that the enemy had dug
themselves in on a low ridge with a front of two and a half miles. Our
men were received with heavy fire from machine guns and nine-pounders.
While the mounted troops worked round the flanks, the infantry were
sent forward to attack the centre. They had to cross a stretch of
[Page 130]
desert, swept by the enemy's fire and without a scrap of cover; but
they pressed forward with great steadiness, and by means of a series
of rushes drove the enemy from their positions. Again the Arabs fled,
firing as they retired, until the dusk and the desert hid them from
view. About 650 of the enemy were killed or wounded, and the British
loss was 28 killed and 274 wounded.

It is said that the South Africans suffered severely from the rifle
fire because they were so big and tall, and that many of them, who
were unused to long marches on foot, became so lame that they had to
remove their boots and make their way to the rear. When, however, they
heard their comrades in the firing line raise the South African
war-cry they turned right about, and with their boots in their hands
charged back. In the excitement of the battle they quite forgot their
sufferings, and fought barefooted all day. The two days' march back to
Matruh was very trying for the wounded, who had to be carried on
stretchers or on limber wagons. The remainder of January was occupied
in strengthening the position which had been won, and in establishing
frontier posts.

On 26th February we followed up the enemy, who had taken up a strong
position some fifteen miles to the south-east of their former
position; and, thanks to another fine advance by the South African
Infantry, the Arabs were again defeated and forced to flee. The Dorset
Yeomanry were detached from the main body in order to outflank the
Senussi and cut off their retreat. An officer of the Dorsets thus
describes his experiences:--

    "Dismounting on a little ridge overlooking a valley, we could see
    all the Senussi retiring in long straggling lines of men and
    camels. With two machine guns we gave them rapid fire; but they
    were between fifteen hundred and two thousand yards off. It was
    very difficult to observe the fire or to get the correct range, as
    the sun was hot and there was a lot of heat shimmer. Moving on
    again, we came into dismounted action at long range against a
    ridge held by the enemy with a considerable force and four machine
    guns.

    "Then came the cream of the whole thing. Lieutenant-Colonel Souter
    got us on to our horses, and we advanced first in line of squadron
    columns and then in line, and charged with drawn swords right
    across a wide, open valley against a ridge in front about a mile
    and a half off. It really was a great show, as the Maxims on the
    ridge ploughed up the sand at our feet. I really thought we were
    in for it; but the gunners must have got flurried, or raised their
    sights or something, as suddenly the fire seemed to lift and
    whistled over our heads.

[Page 131]
[Illustration: Ships of the Air attack Ships of the Desert.

On February 6, 1916, the following report was received from Western
Egypt:--"In the region of one of the four great wells in the desert
between Alexandria and Matruh, two of our aeroplanes dropped bombs on
a Senussi village and demolished a camel convoy. Some camels were
laden with high explosives, and violent explosions occurred, causing
great damage."]

[Page 132]
    "We had a good many casualties in the charge, but not nearly so
    many as I expected. Colonel Souter led us in front of the whole
    regiment, which rode behind him in line as at a general's
    inspection. It was splendid.

    "We charged with a yell over the crest of the little hill, and
    suddenly saw beyond us a wide valley, full of the enemy running
    like mad. In less time than it takes to write we were among them,
    sticking and slashing, and the men went at it like furies. Most of
    our casualties happened then. . . . Colonel Souter had his horse
    shot under him, and a second lieutenant had two horses shot under
    him. There were some very narrow escapes. The most wonderful bit
    of experience was that Colonel Souter, when his horse fell, found
    himself in front of Jaafar Pasha, who surrendered to him.

    "We rode on through the valley, and then rallied to the left; but
    as there were so many wounded, and the horses were done, we could
    not do much more. I don't know how many of the enemy we got, but I
    should think about three hundred. Our casualties were heavy; but I
    believe that we have given the Senussi a real blow, which I hope
    will shorten or end the show."

       *     *     *     *     *

Now let me tell you a story which sounds as if it had been lifted
bodily from the pages of a boy's book of adventure. On November 5,
1915, H.M. armed boarding-steamer _Tara_ was sunk by a German
submarine in the Bay of Sollum. The Germans rescued some of the crew
and handed them over to the Turks, saying, "You are now the prisoners
of his Most Excellency the Sultan." Others who managed to gain the
shore were also captured and held captive by the Senussi, who treated
them shamefully. Their sufferings were shared by a number of men who
had escaped when the steamship _Mooringa_ went down on 11th November.
They became slaves of the Senussi, and were forced to work in the
fierce sun, like the Christian captives of the Bey of Algiers[39] who
were urged to their tasks by the whips of their masters. One of the
_Tara's_ men kept a diary, from which you will learn how the poor
fellows were tortured.

    "_Nov. 21._--Yesterday one of the prisoners was missing, and
    instead of the guard being punished, as would be the case in
    England, we have all been punished by being kept without food for
    twenty-four hours, and marching twenty-six miles.

[Page 133]
    "_Nov. 22._--At a place called Zebla we were told that the Senussi
    had declared war on England. Our position is peculiar. We were
    sunk under the German flag, and landed under the Turkish flag into
    a neutral country, which has now declared war on us.

    "_Nov. 23._--Day after day in the scorching, maddening sun, in
    ragged clothes, we have tramped the desert. Our feet are blistered
    and burnt, our eyes bloodshot and almost blinded. We have lost
    nearly all our strength because of scanty and bad food. We can
    just drag one leg after another. We only stop for a moment when it
    is impossible to move an inch further, and then we are prodded on
    by the bayonets behind. . . . The air is so hot that we can
    scarcely breathe, and our tongues are black and swollen.

[Illustration: Map illustrating the Campaign against the Senussi.]

    "_Nov. 28-Dec. 2._--We have been put into a well. It is very damp,
    about ten feet deep and eighteen feet square, with only room for a
    man to get through the opening; so it can be imagined what it is
    like when seventy-eight men sleep in it at night.

    "For four dreadful nights in succession we have had to crawl into
    this horrible hole--the whole seventy-eight of us--and try and
    breathe until the dawn. It must be much worse than the Black Hole
    of Calcutta. I don't know how we have lived through it. Owing to
    Leading Seaman J. Markwick being taken seriously ill, we have been
    allowed to come out into the fresh air again. It was like coming
    out of a tomb. No words can describe the awful experience of those
    nights. The only ventilation came through the little hole at the
    top of the well, through which we could just catch a glimpse of
    the sky, and occasionally the grinning black face and the white
    teeth of one of the guards looking down upon us as we groaned and
    gasped for air. . . . To make matters worse, our food has been
    reduced to twelve ounces of rice per day per man."

[Page 134]
[Illustration: The Fight on Christmas Day. Led Horses coming out of
Action at Mersa-Matruh.

(_From the picture by C. Catou Woodville. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)

In the distant background on the left is a ridge held by the enemy and
shelled by the R.H.A. Nearer the foreground are some of our dismounted
men covering the advance. In the foreground are led horses coming out
of action. The sea is on the right of the picture (not seen): ships
are shelling the retiring enemy.]

[Page 135]
So the miserable story goes on. Sometimes the starving men managed to
satisfy their hunger by eating a sheep that had been killed by a wolf,
or a young camel that had been drowned. In December they were reduced
to snails, and on Christmas Day they feasted as follows:--

Breakfast.--Rice, boiled with a little salt.

Dinner.--Two ounces of boiled goat flesh, and "pudding" (made
of flour and sugar that had been saved for the occasion).

Tea.--One small pancake, with very weak tea.

British troops were now on the move, and our sailor reports: "The next
few days we saw searchlights in the sky, and heard the boom of heavy
guns from the north-east. On 20th February Captain R. S.
Gwatkin-Williams, commander of the _Tara_, tried to escape, in order
that he might reach Sollum and beg deliverance for his men. Some few
of us knew he was going, and we fully understood the perils he would
have to go through. We prayed earnestly to our heavenly Father to
protect his footsteps." Unhappily he was captured before he had gone
far. Our sailor's entry for 29th February reads as follows:--

    "About 3 p.m. we suddenly heard rifle shots to the northward. A
    few minutes later there appeared over the brow of a small hill
    some men and camels, and there, walking apart from the rest, was
    our brave captain. We were now witnesses of one of the most
    degrading and brutal sights it has been my lot to see. He was
    lashed with a rhinoceros hide whip, and the guard punched him
    violently in the face. Then the women came up and pelted him with
    the largest stones they could find."

Relief, however, was on the way. You have already read how the Arabs
and the Senussi were beaten and scattered on 26th February at Agagia.
On 14th March our troops occupied Sollum, which had been abandoned by
the enemy, and that very day nine armoured motor cars and twenty-six
other cars, together with ten motor ambulances, under the command of
the Duke of Westminster, went forward in pursuit of the enemy. The
going was bad for the first eight miles, but after that the cars
struck a good road, and flew along at nearly forty miles an hour.
Hundreds of Bedouins fleeing westwards were passed on the road; but
they were unmolested, as more important work was afoot.

[Page 136]
The main camp was now seen, and all the armoured cars but two, which
were detailed for a flank attack, advanced in line. As they approached
they were fired on by one gun and two machine guns, but the gun teams
were shot down at a distance of 400 yards. Then the cars dashed into
the camp, and the enemy fled in every direction, leaving ninety-one of
their prisoners in our hands. The poor fellows were in the last stage
of hunger and despair. They were thunderstruck at the sight of the
armoured cars, and at first thought they saw a mirage. Food was
immediately served out to them, and "the men might have been seen
holding beef in one hand and biscuit in the other--just gorging." Four
of them had died of neglect, and their captain had recited the burial
service over them from memory. Our sailor's diary thus concludes:--

    "It is pretty clear to us now that we were rescued in the very
    nick of time. We were in such a state of weakness that we should
    not have lasted long, and what would have been the end of it all
    does not bear thinking about. So we one and all of us say, 'God
    bless the Duke of Westminster and his brave men for their very
    timely rescue.'"

Thus happily ended one of the most adventurous episodes of the war.
For the first time armoured motor cars had proved their value in
desert warfare. They had made a most dashing raid, and, besides
rescuing the prisoners, had scattered the enemy and captured his
artillery and machine guns. By the end of March the remnants of the
Senussi had been driven far beyond the Egyptian border, and had been
rendered powerless for further mischief.

[Footnote 38: See map, p. 133.]

[Footnote 39: Down to the year 1830 Algiers was a pirate stronghold,
and was full of Christian slaves, who were forced to work for their
masters. Cervantes, the author of _Don Quixote_, was one of these
slaves for five years, but he managed to escape. The British bombarded
Algiers in 1816, and the French in 1826, and the pirates were finally
stamped out in 1830, when the French took possession of the town.]

[Page 137]




  CHAPTER XVI.

  VERDUN--PAST AND PRESENT.


No place-name is more familiar to the readers of these pages than
Verdun, the strongest of the four great entrenched camps which keep
watch and ward over the eastern frontier of France. It was, you will
remember, the vast strength of these fortresses which decided the
Germans to commit the crime with which they opened the great struggle.
They had not yet put their giant guns and high explosives to the
practical test of war, and they feared that the siege of Verdun and
its sister strongholds--Toul, Epinal, and Belfort--would entail so
long a delay that they would lose the advantage of surprise. When,
however, the forts of Belgium and North France were crushed to
shapeless ruin one after the other in the course of a few days, they
knew that the invasion of Belgium was more than a crime: it was a
blunder.

Verdun stands on both banks of the Meuse, at the meeting-place of two
great roads which give access from the heart of France to Germany. A
town so situated was bound to become important, and Verdun has been
famous since the days of the Romans. It figures in early European
history as the place where Charlemagne's wide domains were divided up
amongst his three grandsons,[40] and France and Germany were
separated, never again to be united. The great military engineer
Vauban fortified it, and in 1870 it held out stubbornly. When Alsace
and Lorraine were lost to the French, Verdun became one of the eastern
bulwarks of France. Prior to the present war it was probably the most
powerful fortress in Europe. It had an inner line of redoubts, and
[Page 138]
beyond them an outer line of forts and batteries was pushed out for
some thirty miles. In all there were thirty-six forts of various
sizes, and at its greatest width the camp was nine miles across.
Before the war the old masonry and earthworks had been replaced by
concrete and steel, and the guns were mounted in turrets, as at
Liége.

The first month of the war saw the fortresses of Belgium and North
France go down with startling quickness before the great howitzers of
the enemy. General Sarrail, who was in command at Verdun, soon knew
that the only way to save the stronghold was to construct lines of
entrenchments far beyond the outer line of forts, and move his big
guns into them. Hardly had this work begun when the Crown Prince began
to attack the fortress. He was so strongly held up at Verdun and Nancy
that the German High Command came to the conclusion that the main
French forces were massed between these two places. This led, as you
know, to that wrong grouping of the German armies which brought about
the failure at the Marne.

While the Battle of the Aisne was proceeding, a bridgehead was won at
St. Mihiel, and the Crown Prince in the Forest of the Argonne strove
to "fit the strap to the buckle,"[41] and thus surround the Verdun
position. For sixteen months he struggled to join hands with the
forces at St. Mihiel, but all in vain. His front remained a
horse-shoe. Do what he might, he could not turn it into a ring.

Early in 1916 the Germans began to prepare for a new great offensive
in the West. There were several reasons why they should attack without
delay. They knew that as soon as the Russians were ready, France,
Britain, Italy, and Russia would fall upon them on three fronts at the
same time, and that they would not be able to save themselves by
rushing reinforcements from one front to the other, as they had done
in the past. Their only hope of victory was to overcome the Allies in
the West before a great concerted movement could begin. If they struck
early and struck hard, the Allies might be tempted to make their
attack before all things were fully prepared, and so would be taken at
a disadvantage.

At what point on the long line from the Yser to the Swiss frontier
should they attack? They might make a great bid for Ypres or Arras;
but these places were mere shells, and their capture would not be
considered a great achievement either by their own people or by
[Page 139]
neutrals. Verdun was known all the world over as the most powerful
fortress of Eastern France; it was still intact, and had so far defied
all the efforts of the Crown Prince. If it could be captured, the
German army would win great glory, and the Crown Prince would recover
some of that credit which he had lost by his many failures.

[Illustration: Map showing the Battle-line from the Aisne to the
German Frontier before the Battle of Verdun.]

Accordingly, the German High Command determined to capture Verdun at
any cost. The plan of campaign was to be that adopted by Mackensen
when he broke the Russian front on the Donajetz. Thousands of guns
were to be massed before the French lines, and a whirlwind of fire was
to rage until the trenches were wiped out. Then, while the guns played
upon the ground behind the destroyed position, and so prevented
reinforcements from being rushed up, German infantry would be pushed
forward to seize the wrecked trenches and turn them into defensive
positions. Thus slowly, and step by step, the French lines would be
driven in and Verdun would fall. The Germans did not propose to waste
men by sending them against unbroken positions. All that would be
required of their infantry was to occupy and hold the ground already
conquered by the guns. For every stage in the advance they meant to
use fresh troops, so that the forward movement might be made, from
start to finish, by vigorous, unwearied men.

[Page 140]
[Illustration: Verdun: showing the Cathedral and Houses lining the
Meuse.

[_By permission of The Sphere._]

[Page 141]
Before I begin to describe the Battle of Verdun--the longest,
fiercest, and deadliest battle ever known in the history of the
world--I must try to give you a clear idea of the country over which
the struggle was to rage. Look carefully at the map on page 142. The
shading, which almost covers it, shows you clearly that Verdun stands
on the edge of highland country.

Give your attention first to the district on the right or east bank of
the Meuse. You notice a series of heights which rise steeply from the
stream to some five hundred feet above the water-level in the valley.
From west to east these heights are from five to six miles broad; at
the eastern end they fall sharply to the clayey flats of the Woëvre.
The whole district is really a tableland, and the hills do not rise
high above the general level. Most of the plateau is cultivated, and
here and there we find large woods of beech, oak, and chestnut. Little
villages and farms are scattered over it, and several roads cross it
by means of the hollows. Ravines run down from the summit of the
plateau to the Meuse on the west and to the Woëvre on the east. All
of these ravines are deeply cut in the plateau, and are filled with
scrub. Only one railway crosses the region. It winds eastwards from
Verdun, and tunnels through the ridge to reach Eix station, from which
it proceeds to Metz.

About a mile and a half to the north of Verdun you will see a hill
marked Côte de Froide Terre[42]--the crest of cold ground. Suppose
you are standing on this ridge in the early days of February 1916,
what do you see? To the north stretches a rolling plain, broken here
and there by the gray-brown of winter woods. To the south you see the
citadel, the walls, and the smoking chimneys of Verdun. To the west
and north-west your eye follows a series of low ridges which continue
on and on until they merge into the dark hump of the Argonne Forest.
To the east you see the blue plain of the Woëvre, dotted with forests
and gleaming with meres and streams. In the haze beyond lies Germany.

Now follow on the map the line of dark thick dots which represents the
French front as it was on February 26, 1916. Run your finger along the
line beginning from the west. You observe that it runs north-eastwards
[Page 142]
to the north of the villages of Malancourt and Bethincourt and crosses
to the left bank of the Meuse. About a mile south-west of the place
where the line crosses the Meuse you see the village of Forges[43] on
a brook formed by the junction of two streams, the more southerly of
which flows in a valley along the west side of a hill known as Mort
Homme, or Dead Man. In later pages you will hear much about this
strangely-named hill.

[Illustration: Map of the Verdun Salient.
_West (right) Bank of the Meuse._     _East (left) Bank of the Meuse._

[This map should be carefully studied and constantly referred to in
following the progress of the great series of battles fought in front
or Verdun.]]

[Page 143]
On the eastern side of the Meuse you see the village of Brabant, and
notice that the line still runs north-east in front of the village of
Haumont,[44] through the Bois de Caures[45]--the Wood of Caures--to
Azannes, which is between nine and ten miles as the aeroplane flies
north-east of Verdun. At Azannes the line turns sharply to the
south-east and crosses the Verdun-Metz railway to Hennemont.

You have now followed the outer defensive entrenchments of the great
camp of Verdun--a salient of, roughly, thirty-five miles from end to
end. Between this line and Verdun there were a second and a third main
position, with trenches between them. The continuous black line on the
map shows the outer position which had been prepared in 1874; it was
now to be the second line of the Verdun system. Gangs of labourers had
been employed all through the early winter of 1914 in making the lines
as strong as possible. Miles of barbed wire formed a network at all
points of danger. The forts were dismantled, and the guns in them were
moved out to carefully chosen positions, where they were cunningly
concealed. Sheltered roads were made, so that troops and supplies
could be brought to the front readily and safely, and no device was
neglected which could add to the strength of the defence. Verdun was
no longer a fortress in the old sense of the word; it was simply an
area such as the British were holding in front of Ypres, but far
stronger and not overlooked.

Strong as the French position was, it had its weaknesses. First of all
it was a salient, and therefore could be attacked from many points.
Secondly, the city of Verdun was, like Ypres, the neck of a bottle.
All supplies and reinforcements for the lines on the plateau had to
pass over the bridges of Verdun and through its streets. In the third
place, its railway communications might be broken. Already the main
line along the Meuse valley had been cut, and the Paris line which
[Page 144]
passes south of the Argonne Forest was within range of the German
guns. Only a branch line remained. From the point of view of the
Germans Verdun invited attack. They determined to bombard the city,
destroy the railways, and catch the enemy in a wedge of highlands
where he was shut in by a river, now swollen by winter rains to a
width of a thousand yards.

The French High Command fully realized all the dangers of their
position, and prepared for them. They organized a motor transport
service, which made them independent of the railways; and to the south
of the city they constructed strong positions, to which they could
retire if the worst should befall. They meant to make the enemy pay a
heavy price for every inch of ground that he won, but they did not
propose to endanger their forces by holding on to positions which were
no longer defensible. Their policy was to let the Germans butt their
heads against the trenches and take a heavy toll of them as they did
so. They meant to stand on the defensive, and only counter-attack when
a position of great importance was lost. For such a policy they needed
men of the most dogged courage--men whose strength lay in resistance,
and who could hold on with grim determination to the bitter end. In
former wars the French had not shown themselves possessed of this
virtue in a high degree, and there were many besides the Germans who
thought that the task would be too much for them. A new France,
however, had arisen, and the men whom she had bred were soon to show
themselves as stubborn and unflinching in defence as any that have
ever borne arms.

[Footnote 40: By the Treaty of Verdun, 843 A.D.]

[Footnote 41: See Vol. II., p. 281.]

[Footnote 42: See map on next page.]

[Footnote 43: _Forzh._]

[Footnote 44: _O'mon_ (_n_ nasal).]

[Footnote 45: _Core._]

[Page 145]




  CHAPTER XVII.

  THE GREATEST BATTLE OF HISTORY.


In the last weeks of January and the first fortnight of February the
Germans made attacks on the Allied front in Flanders, Artois, and
Champagne. It was clear that a mighty blow was to be struck somewhere,
but the exact spot was as yet uncertain. The object of these attacks
was to draw off the attention of the Allies from the wooded country on
the right bank of the Meuse, where the Germans were massing no less
than half a million men, and more guns than they had ever brought
together before. In that country of forest and valley they could array
their forces without being observed either by land or by air. Weeks
were occupied in the work, and though the French had some inkling of
what was going on, they only discovered the full strength and meaning
of the movement after the first attack had been launched.

A writer in a Dutch newspaper thus described the great array which was
secretly preparing in the hinterland of Verdun:--

    "Over the roads leading towards Verdun artillery and ammunition
    were brought up in such quantities as the history of war has never
    seen on such a limited area. The country seemed to be covered with
    an incredible number of guns. We could hardly believe what we saw
    round Verdun. Long rows of guns, as in old battle pictures, set up
    in open fields, the gunners standing about them, and on the
    hilltops observation posts with their great telescopes uncovered.
    When I shut my eyes I still see before me those curved lines, row
    upon row of guns in endless array, with gunners moving about them
    in the open battlefield."

[Page 146]
[Illustration: The Zouave Bugler's Last Call.

During the great German attack the few survivors in the first-line
trenches were entirely cut off from their comrades in the second line.
Help was urgently needed, but it was impossible to communicate with
the reserves. The telephone wires were broken to atoms, and nothing
could be seen in the dense cloud of smoke and gas. There was only one
way to signal to those behind and that was by bugle; but this meant
certain death to the bugler, who would have to lower his gas mask in
order to sound his call. The gallant fellow did not wait for the word
of command. He tore off his mask, sent a long peal for help to the
rear, and fell to the ground, to suffer an agonizing death. He did not
die in vain. His call was heard, and the reserves came up.]

[Page 147]
The command of this mighty war engine was entrusted to the Crown
Prince--not because he had given any evidence of possessing military
genius, but because he was the Kaiser's heir, and a great victory
would bring him honour and glory and make his throne secure in days to
come. Old Marshal von Haeseler, who had been the Kaiser's military
tutor, and had more than once sharply rebuked his imperial master for
bad generalship at manœuvres, was appointed as the Crown Prince's
adviser. De Castelnau had already selected the general who was to
conduct the French defence, but the new chief did not arrive until the
battle had raged for five days. De Castelnau had but 12,000 men lining
the trenches when the Germans were about to attack. He immediately
hurried up new divisions, collected heavy artillery from forts and
even from ships in the navy, and further strengthened his army with an
immense number of machine guns and field guns. Thanks to his untiring
energy, the first awful thrust of the Germans failed, and time was
gained in which to prepare for a defence which is unequalled in the
story of warfare.

       *     *     *     *     *

On Wednesday, 15th February, the German guns began to thunder. Heavy
pieces threw shells into Verdun itself, and the governor ordered the
city to be cleared of civilians. The French guns replied, and tried to
discover the whereabouts of the enemy's batteries, which seemed to be
massed in the woods in front of Forges and Brabant.[46] French airmen
went up, and reported that in some places the German guns were as
close together as apples in a basket. Now, for the first time, the
French were certain that a great assault was about to be made on
Verdun.

The bombardment of the 15th led to nothing. Six days later came the
first great shock. At a quarter-past seven in the damp, foggy morning
of Monday, the 21st, the most furious storm of artillery fire ever
known burst upon the French trenches. The fire was regulated by six
captive balloons, which floated over the German lines. Thousands of
shells of all kinds--some whistling, some howling, others
moaning--sped through the air, and exploded with a continuous,
deafening roar. A cloud of earth and smoke arose that blotted out the
view like a thick fog. Under that awful rain of destruction the French
first lines were utterly wrecked; the communication trenches were
shattered; the woods were torn to splinters; the very shape of the
hills was altered.

[Page 148]
It has always been the habit of the French to hold their firing
trenches and first support lines with few men, and to withdraw them
when the bombardment begins. They allow the enemy to occupy their
wrecked trenches, and then let loose their "75's," and spring
counter-attacks in order to win them back again. On that February
morning, when the massed German guns began their awful onslaught, the
French followed their usual custom, and retired to their reserve
lines, though not without loss. Meanwhile the French guns were busy
trying to create a barrier of fire in front of the wrecked trenches,
so as to prevent the German advance.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, when the first-line trenches of the
French were heaped and pitted like a lunar landscape, the German guns
lifted their sights and lengthened their fuses, and rained a torrent
of shells upon the ground behind. Then, headed by bomb-throwers and
pioneers, the Germans advanced to the wrecked trenches, and with
feverish haste began to put them in a condition of defence. For weeks
past they had been trained for this work, and had been promised an
easy and speedy triumph. They had been told that this was "the last
offensive against the French," and that they would be in Verdun in
four days. On the afternoon of 21st February it seemed that the
prophecy would be fulfilled to the letter.

The first point in the game had been won by the Germans. The firing
trenches and most of the support lines were carried in the centre, and
on the German left in the Wood of Haumont and in the Wood of Caures.
In the course of the night the French delivered a counter-attack, and
won back the lost support lines in the Wood of Caures, but, under the
incessant rain of shells, could advance no further. It was necessary
that a stand should be made while the main body of the French were
moved back to new ground, and a most stubborn resistance was put up in
the village of Haumont next day. The infantry holding this village,
and the artillery posted in the woods and on the crest behind, were
quite cut off by the German fire; no supplies could reach them, and
they were without news of what was going on in their rear and on their
flanks. Some of the guns fired at the advancing Germans at point-blank
range, and mowed them down by hundreds. As one wave of the attackers
was destroyed another followed, and when the enemy began to appear in
the rear all hope of holding out had gone. The gunners, having fired
[Page 149]
away all their shells, blew up their guns and retired.

A battery of heavy guns on the crest behind Haumont was silenced and
all its crew killed, but a sergeant of artillery managed to collect a
few gunners and get it going again. This heroic man remained at his
post until the enemy was close upon him, when he blew up the guns and
tried to retire, but in vain.

The fiery torrent was pouring down on every road by which ammunition
and supplies could come up, and shells were falling upon the village
at the rate of twenty a minute; nevertheless the regiment which was
holding it clung to the ruins, and behind some wire which had escaped
destruction poured a murderous machine-gun fire on the advancing
enemy. Their resistance, however, was vain. The Germans crept into the
village, and reached the house where the Colonel and his staff were
preparing to make a last stand. They fired the place, and turned
machine guns on every door and window. Preferring death by the bullet
to death by burning, the colonel walked through the machine-gun fire,
and, strange to say, was untouched. He rallied the remnants of the
gallant regiment, and led them to a new position in the rear.

The same kind of heroism was witnessed in the Wood of Caures, where
Colonel Driant and two battalions of the famous Chasseurs were
striving to hold back the enemy. When the village of Haumont fell, the
Germans turned all their guns on to the trenches in the wood, and soon
reduced them to ruin. Then Colonel Driant stood upon the parapet of a
wrecked trench and cried, "Charge, my children! Long live France!" and
the Chasseurs, though their ranks were terribly thinned, and they were
being surrounded, plied grenade and bayonet with unfaltering courage.
When the Germans managed to enfilade the chief point of the defence,
Colonel Driant ordered the remnants of his battalions to withdraw. He
himself never left the wood alive.

The most successful stand, however, was made in the Wood of
Herbebois,[47] which you will see on the map to the north-west of the
village of Ornes. The Germans had gained a footing in this wood on
21st February, but the French had counter-attacked on the evening of
that day, and had pinned the enemy down. All through the 22nd grenade
[Page 150]
fighting went on without pause, and the defenders still held their
own. On the 23rd an enemy battalion pushed into the wood, but was
almost wholly destroyed by the fire of French rifles and "75's." Four
other attacks followed in quick succession, but all were beaten back.
At a quarter-past four on the 23rd the gallant defenders received the
order to retire. The men saw no reason why they should withdraw, and
grumbled loudly. They had fought superbly, and had done the most
heroic deeds. At one point four bombers had held a post against the
enemy for twenty hours. The front was littered with German dead, and
the men were full of confidence, despite intense cold, lack of food,
and great fatigue. Only when the situation was explained to them, and
they were assured that they had done more than their share, would they
consent to retire.

       *     *     *     *     *

By the morning of 23rd February the French had fallen back to an
almost straight front, running from Samogneux,[48] in front of
Beaumont, and through the south end of the Wood of Herbebois. If you
look closely at the map, you will see that the new position covered
two broad humps of plateau, with the steep valley of Beaumont between
them. You already know that the French plan was to hold up the Germans
at each stage of the advance, and having killed as many as possible of
them, to fall back little by little until the final position was
reached, where the last stand would be made.

On the morning of the 23rd the French tried to counter-attack from
Samogneux, but a storm of shell from the German guns put a stop to the
advance. There was much fierce fighting during the day, and for the
most part it took place in the open. When the Germans in turn began to
push forward the French guns swept line after line of them to earth.
The German losses were very heavy, but before long they were greater
than had ever been known in the history of war. Thousands of men were
ruthlessly sent forward to their death, and over their dead bodies
thousands of others were rushed to a similar fate.

While the French wings held fast, the centre swayed to and fro like a
pendulum. As darkness closed in the line was so badly battered, and
the German guns from posts far out in the Woëvre were wreaking such
havoc, that a retirement on a large scale became necessary. There was
desperate fighting all the next day, and by the night of Thursday, the
[Page 151]
24th, the French east of the Meuse had been forced back to a line
running eastwards along the base of Talou Hill, across Poivre (Pepper)
Hill, and along the plateau of Douaumont to the gorge of Vaux, and
thence to Eix station. In four days' fighting they had yielded a strip
of ground varying in width from six miles to two miles. They had lost
heavily in killed, and wounded and prisoners, and now stood with their
backs to the wall on the highest portion of the plateau, holding the
last defensive position covering Verdun. If either Pepper Hill or the
Douaumont tableland should be lost, the coveted city would assuredly
fall into the hands of the Germans.

The French people knew well that their forces were at bay, and that
the fate of their beloved country was trembling in the balance; yet,
though very anxious, they remained calm and confident. They knew
nothing of the steps which had been taken to resist the German onset,
but they had faith in the skill of their generals and in the undying
bravery of their soldiers. They refused to be cast down, and waited
patiently for a deliverance similar to that which had been vouchsafed
to them when Joffre turned upon the enemy and flung him back from the
Marne in September 1914.

Early on Friday morning--the fifth day of the battle--snow began to
fall heavily. There was little wind, and the frost was keen. With the
first light of dawn the Germans began their second great effort. So
far they had succeeded. Another great onslaught, and victory would be
achieved. Long before the sun was up the German batteries again opened
fire; but the defenders were now holding a position which afforded
them better cover than formerly. Moreover, two new brigades had
arrived, and supports were on the way. Every French soldier knew that
he must perish rather than yield another inch of ground. For another
twenty-four hours he must make a supreme effort to stem the torrent of
the enemy's advance if France was to be saved.

The Germans were now making furious attacks upon that portion of the
French line extending from Pepper Hill to the village of Douaumont--a
distance of some four and a half miles. Pepper Hill, you will notice,
rises steeply from the river. Between Pepper Hill and the Hill of
Talou to the west a road runs northwards to Beaumont, and on the
eastern side of Pepper Hill a road leads from the village of Bras past
Louvemont to Ornes. To the east of the latter road is the plateau of
[Pages 152, 153]
Douaumont--a plateau on a plateau, rising 600 feet above the level of
the Meuse. It takes its name from a little village of one street,
which you will see marked on the map. About six hundred yards to the
south-east of the village was the Fort of Douaumont, which had been
dismantled for many months. Two hundred and fifty yards still farther
east there was a redoubt, forming a position in the French line.

[Illustration: Bird's-eye View illustrating the German Advance on
Verdun through Brabant and Herbebois.

_The outer dotted line represents the German position on February
21st, when the great assault on Verdun began._

_The inner dotted line shows the position occupied by the Germans on
April 1st._

The old city of Verdun stands on the Meuse, at the place where the
great highroad from Paris to the Rhine crosses the river. It is also
the meeting-point of many cross-roads which converge on its bridges
from both sides of the river. In Roman times it was a military
station, and in the Middle Ages the stronghold of the Counts of
Verdun, who were princes of the empire in the days when Lorraine was
still "Lothringen," and owed its allegiance to the Holy Roman
emperors. When the district passed to France, Henry IV. built a
citadel on a bold spur of the hills above the town. When Louis XIV.
was reorganizing the defences of France, Vauban demolished the old
walls, and drew around the place a ring of ramparts, bastions, and
ditches. It was then supposed to be a strong place, barring the main
road to Paris; but on September 1792 it surrendered after a brief
bombardment. In the war of 1870, though defended only by Vauban's old
ramparts, it made a gallant defence.

In 1875 Verdun was hastily fortified by erecting a circle of earthwork
redoubts on the position where the German guns had been posted during
the siege. On the sites of these redoubts a circle of permanent forts
of masonry and earthwork was afterwards erected. Prior to the war,
these works formed the inner line of defence. There was a second
circle of forts and batteries still further out, and between these
forts lines of felled trees entangled with barbed wire formed barriers
to the advance of the enemy. Broad alleys were permanently kept open
through the woods to enable the fire of the forts to sweep the fronts
of these barriers. Verdun thus became the strongest fortress in
France, and the most northerly stronghold of the lines of
fortifications extending southward to the Swiss frontier. You already
know that the old scheme of defence was abandoned early in the war and
that trench lines were constructed far from the city, and the guns of
the forts were made mobile, and moved to the rear of the new
positions.]

[Page 154]
On that red, roaring Friday the Germans flung all their weight against
the two ends of the French position--against Pepper Hill and the
village of Douaumont. The French held lines a little on the south side
of the crest of Pepper Hill. The big retreat of the night before meant
that the enemy had to bring his guns forward and get new ranges;
consequently the bombardment took time to reach its height. When the
German infantry pushed up the steep ground towards the crest of Pepper
Hill, it was scattered like chaff before the wind by the fire of
"75's," machine guns, and rifles, and by the shells of heavier pieces
on the ridge of Charny, to the west of the river.

Better success attended the Germans in the centre. Over and over again
their attacks were crushed by the French gunners, but by three in the
afternoon their infantry was swarming into the village of Louvemont.
Meanwhile they were assaulting the Douaumont plateau, and though their
men fell fast and thick, they gained ground. By nightfall they had
occupied both slopes of the plateau. Again and again they reached its
rim, only to be hurled back by the thin line of devoted Frenchmen. For
a moment, about five o'clock, it seemed that the village of Douaumont
would be captured; but a counter-attack removed the danger. The glory
of the defence on that day must go to the 3rd Regiment of Zouaves and
to the gunners.

It is impossible for you to imagine the terrible scenes of bloodshed
enacted on the plateau. The following account by a French officer in
an observation post will give you some idea of the awful slaughter:--

    "Beyond, in the valley, dark masses are moving over the
    snow-covered ground. It is German infantry advancing in massed
    formation to the attack. We telephone through to the batteries,
    and the ball begins. The sight is horrible. In the distance, in
    the valley and up the slopes, regiments spread out, and as they
    deploy fresh troops come pouring on. . . . There is a whistle over
    our heads. It is the first shell on the way. It falls right in the
[Page 155]
    middle of the enemy infantry. We telephone, telling our batteries
    of their hit, and a flood of heavy shells is poured on the enemy.
    Through glasses we can see men maddened, men covered with earth
    and blood, falling one upon the other. . . . The first wave of the
    assault is broken. The ground is dotted with heaps of dead, but
    the second wave is already pressing on. It tries in vain to get
    through our fire. It is driven back, and again discovered by our
    guns; once more our shelling causes awful gaps in the ranks.
    Nevertheless, like an army of rats, the Boches continue to
    advance. . . . Then our heavy artillery bursts forth in fury. The
    whole valley is turned into a volcano, and its exit is stopped by
    the barrier of the slain."

       *     *     *     *     *

That day the new general arrived. His name was Pétain, and up to that
time he was scarcely known outside military circles. He was fifty-nine
years of age, with frank, clear, piercing eyes, a pink-and-white
complexion, and gray hair. As a professor he had lectured very ably at
the School of War, and had been much admired by his students. He was,
however, a simple colonel, commanding the 33rd Regiment of infantry at
Arras when the war broke out. Two months later he was at the head of a
corps, and on October 30, 1915, he was leading the 2nd Army in the
great attack that broke the German lines in Champagne. His energy was
remarkable, and he made it a point of duty to keep himself in the pink
of physical fitness. It is said that when he was stationed at Arras
his landlord gave him notice to quit, because he skipped every morning
in his bedroom and disturbed the occupants of the flat below. During
the Champagne offensive he ran three miles over heavy ground at the
head of his troops. He often challenged his brother officers to jump a
ditch with him, and was frequently seen carrying little children
pick-a-back.

All his energy, great as it was, was needed on the day when he arrived
at Verdun. Before long he was the heart and soul of the defence, and
his name rang throughout Europe. He left nothing to chance, but
organized and controlled everything, everywhere. In the height of the
heaviest bombardment he frequently surprised his officers by suddenly
appearing amongst them in the most exposed positions. Sometimes for
days together he took up his quarters in an armoured motor car, and
sped at forty miles an hour from one post to another. He is said to
have used up a dozen drivers in as many weeks. One of them said that,
he did not mind taking his chance of being killed in the trenches, but
to drive the general was positively asking for death. Wherever he went
[Page 156]
amongst his troops he brought cheer and confidence, and before long
they were proud of him, and were ready to go anywhere and do anything
for him. His sporting instincts endeared him to them, and they knew
that whatever discomforts they were called upon to bear he shared them
to the uttermost. The defence of Verdun ranks as one of the miracles
of warfare, and the man who worked the miracle was General Pétain.

       *     *     *     *     *

The new general did not arrive a moment too soon. The French army
before Verdun had been beaten back four miles or more in four days,
and the position which it was then holding was by no means strong. The
trenches had been neglected; gun positions had not been prepared, and
the communications were poor. Reinforcements and supplies had to be
brought over difficult ground, and more and more guns and more and
more shells were required to cope with the enormous strength of the
German artillery. Already the enemy was surging against the last
position. If Douaumont fell, Verdun could not stand.

That night the frost was bitter, and the wounded lying out in the open
died a merciful death before dawn. In the faint light of early morning
both sides peering from their parapets saw what appeared to be dark
figures crawling towards them. At first they thought it must be a
night attack, but soon they knew that it was only an army of dead.

Early on Saturday, the 26th, the bombardment began again, and was
especially fierce on Douaumont, the key to Verdun. The village was
soon a welter of ruins, and shells fell fast and thick on the
dismantled fort. The order had gone forth that Douaumont must be taken
at all costs, and somewhere on a hill in the rear the Kaiser and his
staff were watching through their glasses the gigantic effort now
about to be made. Already Berlin had been told to expect the news; the
flags were ready to flutter from every window; and the children at
school were waiting eagerly for the holiday that the Kaiser granted
them whenever he announced a so-called German victory.

[Page 157]
[Illustration: The Brandenburgers storming the dismantled Fort of
Douaumont.

(_By permission of L'Illustration._)

On Friday, February 25th, the 24th Regiment of Brandenburg broke into
the fort of Douaumont after a series of fierce and costly assaults.
The news was immediately wired to Germany, and the Kaiser received
countless addresses and congratulations from public bodies, to one of
which he replied as follows: "I rejoice greatly at the new and great
example of Brandenburg vigour, and the faithfulness unto death
displayed by the sons of that province during the last few days in the
course of the irresistible assault against the most powerful fortress
of the enemy." Despite this transport, all that had been accomplished
was the capture of a dismantled and half-abandoned fort.]

[Page 158]
The assault began. The 3rd and 15th Corps were seen advancing up the
spurs and along the ravines. Soon they were on the slope of three
hundred yards which lay in front of the French position. Then the guns
opened fire, and the shells crashed into the advancing men, who were
swept away in the whirlwind of fire. Again and again they advanced,
but nothing mortal could exist in that awful storm. It was noticed
that the men in the front ranks moved forward with glassy eyes, as
though they were under the influence of a drug. They were mown down,
but behind them wave after wave rolled on, only to meet the same fate.
About ten in the morning a wave mightier than the rest surged up the
slope, reached the French trenches, and overflowed beyond the crest.
The 24th Regiment of Brandenburg had broken the French front, but had
not carried the position. To the west the French were still holding
the village, and to the east the redoubt; the Brandenburgers had only
thrust in a wedge against the old fort, and were now battling amidst
its ruins. Nevertheless, the success was enough for the watching
Kaiser. Immediately the news flashed along the wires that Douaumont,
the last line of the French defence, had fallen. Berlin was in a
frenzy of delight, but it rejoiced too soon.

A mighty feat of arms had been accomplished, but it availed nothing.
Pétain's plans were already yielding fruit. The wearied Frenchmen,
who had been fighting for five days against fearful odds, had now been
reinforced. The famous 20th Corps, which had crushed the flower of the
German cavalry on the heights in front of Nancy,[49] had been rushed
along the "moving platform" of the motor transport on the Verdun road,
and had now arrived on the plateau. Fresh and full of ardour, it was
launched at the Brandenburgers, who were pushed back over the rim of
the high ground. Some two thousand of them, however, still held on to
the fort, where they were caught like rats in a trap. Four times the
fort was taken and retaken.

Fierce and terrible fighting continued until the 29th. The Germans
flung themselves with fury upon the village of Douaumont, in order to
make good the hold which the Brandenburgers had obtained upon the
fort. The critical moment had arrived. The village was held, however,
by one of the finest regiments in all France. Amidst the ruins the men
lay in cover with rifles and machine guns trained on the advancing
foe. The Germans believed that there was no living creature in the
village; they thought that every defender had perished or been driven
[Page 159]
out by their rain of shells. Imagine, then, their surprise when their
appearance on the outskirts was greeted with a storm of deadly fire.
The front ranks reeled with the shock; they recoiled, and in doing so
threw those behind them into confusion. Before long the whole
advancing force had turned tail, and was hurrying panic-stricken to
the rear. France and her fortunes had been saved.

[Illustration: The Attack on Douaumont.]

The regiment which had thus opposed a wall of steel to the assaults of
the Germans remained under fire for fourteen terrible days. Officers
and men vied with each other in deeds of heroism. Wounded soldiers
refused to go to hospital, or, when sent to the rear against their
will, insisted on rejoining their comrades as soon as their wounds had
been bandaged. A colonel, to his surprise, found in the firing line an
old sergeant whose white beard suggested that his place was away
behind the lines. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Mon colonel,"
was the reply, "my son has been killed. I have come to avenge him."

An infantry officer who took part in the heroic defence of the plateau
tells us that on the night of 1st March the Germans destroyed the
French earthworks with a fierce bombardment, and at 1.15 in the
afternoon attacked the village from the north and on the flank.

[Page 160]
    "The first Germans seen were advancing from the fort. They were
    wearing French helmets, and for an instant we hesitated. Our major
    shouted out, 'Do not fire; they are French!' He had scarcely
    uttered the words when he fell with a bullet in his throat.
    Another officer at once took his place and cried, 'Fire! fire!
    They are Boches!' Meanwhile the enemy tried to surround us and
    capture the village, but we determined to hold it to the last man.
    While it was in danger, a single company charged the German masses
    who were trying to force their way into our lines. There was a
    terrible hand-to-hand struggle, but at last we were overwhelmed by
    numbers. The last survivor of the company died still charging.

    "The German troops at this moment began to move towards the
    south-west entrance to the village. . . . A captain at once took
    steps to check their advance, and a machine gun opened fire upon
    them. Out of about one hundred Germans scarcely twenty were left
    capable of retreating. . . . Under cover of the darkness we
    constructed barricades, and modified our front so as to oppose a
    strong defensive position to the enemy."

With this repulse the first stage of the Verdun battle may be said to
have ended. The French, with a few weak divisions, had been assailed
in a difficult position by enormous masses of the enemy, long prepared
for the venture. They had fallen back yard by yard, selling the ground
at a heavy price. The Germans had hoped to sweep away all opposition
by one terrific onset, and had they succeeded Verdun would have been
theirs within four days. The falling back of the French spoiled their
plans, and forced them to proceed, not by one mighty blow but by
stages, between each of which the guns had to be advanced to new
positions, and a new bombardment undertaken before the infantry could
be pushed forward to the assault. This gave the French time to bring
up reinforcements, and to oppose the enemy with a strength equal to
his own.

Nevertheless they had come very near to disaster. They had been caught
napping, and it was more by good luck than good management that the
key position had not been captured. Had the plateau of Douaumont been
lost, large numbers of French troops would have been cut off, and
Verdun would have fallen into German hands. The Allied front might not
have been broken, but the Germans would have scored heavily. New
ardour would have inspired their ranks, and neutral nations would have
been greatly impressed. As it was, they missed victory by a very
narrow margin indeed.

[Footnote 46: Refer for places mentioned in this chapter to map on
page 142.]

[Footnote 47: _Erb-bwā._]

[Footnote 48: _Sam-o-new._]

[Footnote 49: See Vol. II., p. 218.]

[Page 161]




  CHAPTER XVIII.

  STORIES OF THE BATTLE OF VERDUN.


A _Times_ correspondent, writing from "before Verdun, 4th March,"
tells us that the great German assault was intended to take place long
before the day on which it was actually launched, but that it was
delayed by spells of bad weather. He also tells us that things went
wrong with the Germans in other ways. A Zeppelin that was to have
blown up important railway junctions on the French lines of
communication was brought down at Révigny.[50] On the evening of 21st
February, the day on which the great guns began to thunder before
Verdun, the stationmaster of Révigny saw a Zeppelin approaching. On a
siding there were seventy wagons filled with munitions, and he
realized at once that they would be a good mark for the bomb-droppers.
A pointsman and a locomotive driver rushed up at his call, and within
a very few moments all the wagons were speeding away from the danger
zone at top speed. For their promptness and resource the three railway
men afterwards received decorations.

       *     *     *     *     *

A man who saw the Zeppelin brought down describes the incident as
follows:--

"The Zeppelin made its appearance suddenly in the bright beam of a
searchlight. It was not more than 1,800 metres (6,000 feet) up, and it
looked like a gigantic fish. Its nose offered a good enough likeness
to the tapered head of a pike, and the pike's long body was
represented by the carcass of the dirigible. At short intervals I
[Page 162]
heard loud reports. These came from the batteries of motor guns which
were firing on the airship. The Zeppelin seemed to pause, and
afterwards for a few moments went forward again in a southerly
direction. Then it put about, and sought to escape; but the
searchlights and motor guns of Révigny pursued it, and the cannonade
became more violent. Suddenly an immense burst of flame gushed upwards
into the sky, and from all of us who were watching broke the same cry,
'It's hit!' In less than ten seconds the airship, a flame from end to
end, turned on itself two or three times, and came whirling to the
earth. While the blazing Zeppelin was falling, one of the crew climbed
over the side of the car, slid down a rope, and fell to the ground
from a height of 1,000 feet. He was dead when picked up."

It was the L77 which had thus been destroyed, and the gun that brought
it down was one of the famous French "75's." "After something like
twenty shots," says a correspondent, "the gunners got home with one
which sealed the fate of the pirate craft. French artillerymen are not
accustomed to hide their feelings, and their enthusiasm got the better
of them. Some of them danced round the guns, embracing their comrades,
while others gave vent to their joy in song."

       *     *     *     *     *

The French "75's" are such wonderful guns, and they played such an
important part in the Verdun battle, that I cannot do better than give
you a description of one of them. First of all, what is a "75"? It is
a field gun whose calibre--that is, the diameter of its bore--is 75
millimetres, or nearly three inches. Its length is nine feet, and it
is the best man-killing machine which the world has yet known.
Formerly artillery fire was slow, and this was due to the fact that,
after the gun was laid and fired, the shock of the discharge so upset
the aim that the gun had to be relaid for the next shot. The French
set the best brains of their country to the work of inventing a gun
which might be fired again and again and not need relaying. The "75"
which was served out to the French gunners in 1898 was the result. The
old form of gun was attached to its axle-tree, but the new gun was
fixed to a buffer in a cradle, which not only absorbed the shock of
the recoil, but ran back the gun so exactly into its former position
that no second laying was necessary. You can easily understand that
the new gun could be fired much more rapidly than the old; indeed, it
could discharge its shots as fast as the gunners could adjust the
fuses to the shells.

[Page 163]
[Illustration: The Gun which brought down L77.

(_French official photograph._)

You will notice that the gun is mounted on a motor, and is thus
enabled to follow the course of the Zeppelin. It is an ordinary French
"75." Private Pennetier, who fired the decisive shot, is seen seated
in position just in front of the barrel.]

[Page 164]
If you look at the French "75"[51] you will see a cylinder beneath the
gun barrel. This cylinder contains a combination of glycerine,
compressed air, and springs which take up the recoil. The exact
proportions of this combination are a secret which is most jealously
kept. Many "75's" have fallen into the hands of the Germans, but they
have not been able to discover the secret. The moment they open the
cylinder the air escapes, and the secret with it.

Now that the French had made a very rapid-firing gun, the next problem
was how to increase the rate of fuse-setting. Probably you know that
if a shell has its fuse too long or too short, even by a little, it
cannot do its work accurately. Before long the French had invented a
machine which set the fuse exactly and very rapidly. The gunner pulls
a handle like that of a beer engine, and with one clean, crisp stroke
the shell is properly fused. I cannot tell you how this machine works,
for its details are a secret.

The French had now produced a gun easily able to fire twenty-five
aimed shots a minute; but they were not content with anything short of
perfection. They gave their new gun an increased range by lengthening
the barrel to nearly nine feet--an hitherto unheard-of length for a
field gun--and they provided it with shrapnel and high-explosive
shells, which raced away on their mission of death at a higher speed
than had ever been known before. Then they invented a method by which
they could get three different kinds of fire from the gun without
relaying it. By means of a worm and wheel gear they were able to make
the gun spray its shrapnel right and left, just as a field labourer
swings his scythe when mowing grass. This they called "mowing fire."
Next they fitted mechanism to the gun which enabled it--still without
relaying--to follow up men as they ran towards it or away from it.
Finally they combined this forward or backward fire with the "mowing
fire," and so were able to spray any piece of ground so thoroughly
with shrapnel that nothing mortal could live on it. Over and over
again, not only at Verdun but on a score of other fields, the French
gunners were able to destroy advancing columns by means of this
[Page 165]
dreaded _rafale_.[52] Were four battalions, massed in a brigade
formation, to come within three and a half miles of a battery of
"75's," at a range known to the gunners, they would probably be beaten
flat to the earth in less than half a minute, and not a single man of
them would escape wounding!

       *     *     *     *     *

Let us watch a battery of "75's" in action. The battery commander
rattles off a string of words, telling his men their target, the
range, length of fuse, angle of deflection, and so forth. While he is
speaking, the gun layers are at work, and the fuse setters are
punching the shell noses. Then the breech of each gun swings open, the
shells are inserted, and "as the captain finishes on a sharp note of
command, each gun, being laid on an axis parallel to its fellow,
whizzes off a string of eight shells in two groups of four, and ceases
fire. As the last shell leaves the gun the loader swings open the
breech and stands easy. The whole process has taken exactly twenty
seconds; and somewhere about two miles off there is a patch of mother
earth the size of Trafalgar Square, every scrap of which has been so
beaten by shrapnel bullets that there is no unprotected living thing
on it."

Such is the French "75"--the pride of the French army, and the most
effective piece of artillery known to man. It is said that the Germans
strove hard to obtain the plans of the "75," and that the French
prepared a set which were apparently perfect, and let their
whereabouts be known. A German spy was allowed to steal the papers,
but when his masters made the gun from them they found that it
wouldn't work. The Germans had obtained possession of dummy plans!

       *     *     *     *     *

A French doctor, who describes the first four days of the fighting
before Verdun, tells us that on the first day he was in the Caures
Woods with a battery holding an advanced position. Behind the battery
the Germans had created two or three zones of curtain fire, through
which the supplies of ammunition had to be brought up and the wounded
removed. This was done with wonderful calm and heroism. One gun of the
French battery was damaged by a German shell, and had to be withdrawn
to the rear. There remained three "75's," which fired ceaselessly. As
[Page 166]
soon as the doctor had finished binding up the wounded and sending
them to the rear, he lent a hand in passing up the shells. An 8-inch
German shell passed between the legs of one of the men serving the
battery, and failed to explode. A little later a 12-inch shell caught
this same man as it rebounded, threw him over the gun, and landed him
head foremost in a dug-out. The man scrambled out again, saying,
"Doctor, I really believe I can't be hit."

[Illustration: The Pride of France--French Gunners bringing a "75"
into Action.

(_By permission of The Graphic._)

This picture illustrates a battery of "soixante-quinze" guns changing
position during a lull in the attack on the Verdun salient.]

[Page 167]
Meanwhile the guns grew hot and tired. The man had gone back to his
piece while the doctor attended to the wounded twenty yards to the
rear. Suddenly the gun burst. Raising his eyes, the doctor saw two of
the gun's crew dead, and the poor fellow who thought he couldn't be
hit in his last agony. The burst gun was removed. There now remained
two guns, one of which had a hole in its rifling, and the other had
its brake smashed; but still they fired. The gunners were splendid;
they stuck to their work as though nothing had happened. Then the
Germans opened fire with their Austrian 4.1-inch guns, which are the
nearest thing they possess to the French "75's." The result was awful,
but nothing compared with the moment when the German machine guns
began to play, for no cannon is so terrible as a machine gun.

The men were dead tired. The severely wounded were tied on to the
empty ammunition wagons, and back they went, plunging in and out of
the enormous craters which the German heavy shells had made. At last
the German infantry advanced from the woods at a trot. "Our fellows,"
says the doctor, "fired until the enemy was within 300 or 400 yards.
Then, not wishing to be caught, they retired. That was the worst
moment of all. The men retreated foot by foot. It made one's heart
bleed. The retirement lasted twenty-four hours.

"Then came a moment of mad delight. Our attacking corps appeared. On
they came, with great speed and power. My poor fellows, worn out and
lying flat, watched them as the torrent of men and guns rolled
forward. They dashed onwards, never stopping, with wonderful spirit
and 'go.' Never have I felt such joy. From that moment we all knew
that the Huns were done for, and that their advance was stayed."

       *     *     *     *     *

A French soldier who took part in the fight at Ornes wrote as
follows:--

[Page 168]
    "I have fought right through from the beginning. It was so
    frightful that I, who have seen my comrades fall almost with
    indifference, shudder when I look back. Battalions of the Germans
    advanced on us in close ranks--twenty men abreast. The shrapnel
    from our '75's' and our heavy artillery rained on them. It was
    blood-curdling. You could see great gaps being made. It was as if
    a man had been passing through the German ranks with a scythe
    steadily mowing them down. Each time the shells exploded human
    fragments fell around us."

       *     *     *     *     *

One more story about the guns before I pass on to other aspects of the
battle. An artillery captain said to a correspondent: "It was in the
full height of the assault, and our guns had been firing round after
round at the highest speed. After seven or eight hundred rounds the
'75's' became so hot that it was impossible to fire any longer until
the pieces had been cooled. Our guns reached this stage of heat, and
there was no water left except in the men's water-bottles. The men
were almost dying of thirst, and yet of their own free will they
refused to drink a single drop, reserving all the water in their
flasks for the cooling of the pieces which were defending the infantry
a mile or two away."

       *     *     *     *     *

When the Germans entered the village of Samogneux, two French
companies of infantry holding some ruined houses were cut off, and had
no time to retreat. Their leader was a young captain, who determined
to die rather than surrender. Happily, the position was a good one.
The Germans were exposed to the fire of the French machine guns, and
the French could take refuge in cellars from the bombardment of the
German artillery. Twice the Germans attempted to rush the position,
but both times they were repulsed. The number of the defenders,
however, gradually grew less, and their ammunition began to fail. When
at last the captain saw the Germans preparing to make a third attack,
he knew that it must end in the destruction of his little band. At
once he sent off an orderly with a message to the colonel, saying that
he meant to attack the enemy at three o'clock, but he hoped to be
relieved before that time. If not, nothing remained but for him and
his men to die for their country.

Slowly the time went by. At five minutes to three the captain called
[Page 169]
his men together, and told them that when the hour struck they must
attack the enemy. If help arrived in time they might be saved; if not,
it was certain death. "Let us, at least," he said, "show the Boches
how French soldiers can die."

At the hour fixed he gave the order to attack. His men leaped forward
to the fray so fiercely that the Germans were forced to fall back.
Before they could rally for a counter-attack, French cheers were heard
in the rear. The troops so long waited for were advancing, led by the
orderly who had been sent to summon them. The men came up at a rush
just in the nick of time, and enabled the gallant little band to make
good its retreat.

       *     *     *     *     *

It is said that the Germans made no less than eighteen attacks on the
village of Douaumont on 28th and 29th February before they entered it,
only to be thrust out again. The French fully admitted the bravery of
the enemy. "Not knowing that they were advancing to their death,"
wrote an officer, "they came on as if on parade to within twenty yards
of us, and then rushed forward, crying, '_Vorwärts!_' A salvo from
our machine guns mowed down the first line, and then the order rang
out to charge with fixed bayonets. Terrible hand-to-hand fights ensued
in the darkness. Frightful mistakes were made by the enemy. We found
the body of a German officer pierced by German bayonets. An enemy
company charged a section which was coming up to support it. The fight
lasted till daybreak, when the approaches to Douaumont were covered
with dead and wounded. We planned a counter-attack, which enabled us
to gain a footing in the little redoubt north-west of Douaumont, from
which the Germans were firing on us with machine guns. Calm returned
in the morning."

[Page 170]
[Illustration: "You have the honour to charge!"

(_By permission of The Graphic._)

In the great struggle that centred on Douaumont a gallant French
officer gave the order to attack in these simple words: "My children,
you have the honour to charge!"]

[Page 171]
       *     *     *     *     *

How the two thousand Brandenburgers were trapped in the fort of
Douaumont is told in the following extract from a French newspaper:--

"Our counter-attack was carried out so rapidly that the unfortunate
24th Brandenburg Regiment, which is one of the crack corps of the
German army, could do nothing but hide and take cover in the casemates
of the old fort of Douaumont, where it found nothing but stones.
To-day (29th February) this regiment is completely surrounded, and
dare not come out. No doubt they are afraid of being shot by us; and
they have good enough reason for believing this, as, before sending
them to the assault at the very height of the battle, under the eyes
of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, their commanders said to them,
'Don't forget that the French do not take prisoners.' When the
position was recaptured, our men showed great enthusiasm. The generals
commanding the reinforcing armies massed in the rear announced the
success in the following words: 'The ---- Corps has retaken
Douaumont.' On all sides rose the cry, 'Vive la France!' Every band
played the 'Marseillaise.' It was a moment of supreme emotion."

       *     *     *     *     *

One of the most thrilling adventures of the fighting described in the
preceding chapter was the escape of a young lieutenant who was acting
as observer to the artillery in a captive balloon high above the roar
of the battle. Suddenly he discovered that the steel hawser connecting
the balloon with the ground had been severed by a shell, and that he
was drifting towards the enemy's lines. Thousands of anxious eyes were
directed towards the little speck, which grew fainter and fainter as
the southerly wind wafted it towards the German positions. Four
aeroplanes at once started off in the hope of rendering assistance;
but every one felt that the lieutenant was doomed. Minutes passed. The
balloon kept on rising, and only the car could now be seen. Then
suddenly a tiny, grayish speck was noticed to drop from the balloon,
which shot up a thousand feet. The speck, instead of falling to earth,
seemed to be hanging in mid-air. By the aid of glasses observers saw
that the speck was a human body, suspended from a parachute. A mighty
cheer arose when, twenty minutes later, the parachute descended into
the French lines with the young officer safe and sound.

       *     *     *     *     *

His own story of the adventure is as follows:--

"I first knew that something had gone wrong when I felt a slight
shock. I thought the telephone cable had parted. All at once I became
aware that the other balloons were growing smaller, and I grasped the
fact that I was adrift. A glance at my barometer told me I was already
five thousand feet up. I tried to pull the cord working the valve, but
[Page 172]
it had become entangled and would not act. I tried to climb up to it,
but failed. Then I feared I was lost. My first thought was to destroy
my papers; then I thought of blowing out my brains, to avoid falling
into the hands of the Boches. At last, however, came inspiration. Why
not try the parachute? I had to be quick, for I was now 11,000 feet
up. The cord which was tied round my body was 65 feet long, so I had
to jump that distance into the void before the box containing the
parachute could open and set it free. For a few seconds I held on to
the car by my hands. Then I let go. I must have dropped over a hundred
feet before the parachute unfurled, and it was not an agreeable
sensation. But after that I did not mind, and was able to look about
me. When I was only 2,500 feet from the earth I became aware that the
wind was carrying me towards the German lines. Then I seemed to lose
consciousness. I rebounded three times before I finally landed, and
discovered I was 300 yards from the enemy. I had been twenty minutes
falling. I am only slightly bruised."

       *     *     *     *     *

A correspondent[53] who visited the battlefield in the first week of
March tells us that "Verdun lies in a great basin with the silvery
Meuse twining in the valley. The scene is, on the whole, Scottish.
Verdun, from where I saw it, might be Perth, and the Meuse the Tay.
Small groups of firs darken some of the hills, giving a natural
resemblance to Scotland.

"The town is being made into a second Ypres by the Germans. Yet as it
stands out in the sunlight it is difficult to realize that it is a
place from which the people have all gone, save a faithful few who
live underground. The tall towers of Verdun still stand. Close by us
is a hidden French battery, and it is pretty to see the promptness
with which it sends its screaming shells back to the Germans within a
few seconds of the dispatch of a missive from the Huns. One speedily
grows accustomed to the sound and the scene, and can follow the
position of the villages, about which the Germans pretend to mislead
the world by wireless messages every morning.

"We journey farther afield, and the famous fort of Douaumont is
pointed out. The storming of Fort Douaumont, as related by the German
dispatches, is on a par with the sinking of the _Tiger_ and the recent
air bombardment of Liverpool. All the world knows that the _Tiger_ is,
[Page 173]
as she was before the Germans sank her in their newspapers, one of the
finest ships in the world, and that the air bombardment of Liverpool
was imagined in Berlin. The storming of Fort Douaumont, gunless and
unmanned, was about as important. It was a military operation of
little value. A number of Brandenburgers climbed into the gunless fort
of Douaumont, and some of them are still there, scantily supplied with
food by their comrades at night. They are practically surrounded by
the French, whose Headquarters Staff regards the whole incident as a
simple episode in the give and take of war. . . ."

       *     *     *     *     *

The same writer tells us that the prisoners taken by the French were
miserable creatures, and that he could hardly believe that they
belonged to a crack German corps. "One ill-favoured youth hailing from
Charlottenburg[54] was barely five feet four inches high.
Narrow-chested and peak-faced, he had the quick-wittedness of the town
recruit, but seemed far better fitted for his stool as a railway clerk
than for the life of the trenches or for the ordeal of battle. Yet he
had been taken at the end of 1914 and sent to Flanders after six
weeks' training, 'educated' in trench-making for another month, then
left to himself and his comrades as a full-fledged Prussian eaglet.
Like the bulk of the other prisoners, he had been withdrawn at the
beginning of February from the Flanders front and sent to the
neighbourhood of Verdun. . . .

"Of one thing he and his fellows were heartily glad--to be taken away
from the neighbourhood of the 'frightful' English and nearer to the
kindly French. From all the reports which these men had received from
their families during the last two months, it appears that, in the
words of one of them, 'there reigns in Germany considerable misery.'
. . . The chief longing of the men, as of their families, was for
peace."

[Footnote 50: _Rey-veen-ye._ Thirty miles south-west of Verdun; an
important junction on a main railway to Paris, with connections
serving the French lines in Champagne and the Argonne.]

[Footnote 51: See picture on p. 166.]

[Footnote 52: _Ra-fah_, French word for a squall.]

[Footnote 53: Lord Northcliffe, in the _Times_.]

[Footnote 54: Town, province of Brandenburg, Prussia; on the river
Spree, immediately west of Berlin. It contains a royal castle and a
famous technical school.]

[Page 174]




  CHAPTER XIX.

  THE GOOSE'S CREST AND THE DEAD MAN.


After terribly fierce fighting the Germans had failed, but only just
failed, to carry the key positions of Pepper Hill and the plateau of
Douaumont by frontal attacks. Why they failed still remains a mystery.
Perhaps the wintry weather and the difficult upland country caused
delay in moving the heavy pieces forward and bringing up supplies of
shell. The French declared that though the Germans had thrown away
life like water, they had not pushed on with that fire and resolution
which would have swept away all opposition. The German troops had been
told that the guns would do the work for them, and that they would
merely have to go forward and occupy wrecked positions. When they were
sent against positions which had not been destroyed, they seemed
puzzled and dispirited. Another reason why the frontal attacks had
failed was that the French guns on the left bank of the river had
prevented the German right wing from lending proper support to the
centre, and had forced the enemy to mass his men for the attack on a
very narrow front.

At the end of February the German High Command came to the conclusion
that its right flank must be cleared before the assault on the eastern
bank of the river could succeed. Accordingly it sent many batteries
across the river, and placed them in position amidst the woods. The
new plan was to drive in the salient on the west, and to advance on
Verdun from the north-west. If the French artillery on the left bank
of the Meuse could be overcome and an advance of one mile could be
made, the main road and railway communications of Verdun would be in
danger. At the same time blows were to be delivered on the other
[Page 175]
flank. What the Germans now proposed to do was to strike in from the
flanks, and thus cut off the salient at its roots.

[Illustration: The Goose's Crest (Côte de l'Oie).]

Perhaps you wonder why the Germans did not push through the plain of
the Woëvre and turn the whole Verdun position by getting round to its
rear. The reason was that the Woëvre is a very difficult campaigning
ground in winter. It has a stiff clay soil, and when there are no
frosts is covered with swamps and pools. The heavy guns and the
transport could only advance by one railway and a few roads, and the
troops could not easily deploy on the soft, sticky soil. Further, all
the roads and cross-roads by which they could advance were commanded
at long range by the guns in the south-eastern forts of Verdun. The
plain of the Woëvre was impossible, so the Germans were obliged to
attack Verdun from the north, the north-west, and the north-east,
where the roads were good, the soil was dry, and the woods gave them
shelter.

Find the little village of Forges, which I have already mentioned. On
2nd March the German guns began to attack the western part of the
salient between the Forest of Argonne and Forges. The French lines on
this side of the river ran behind the village of Bethincourt and up
the narrow, marshy valley of the Forges Brook, so as to cover Forges
village. I have already pointed out that the brook is formed by two
[Page 176]
streams which unite near Bethincourt. Notice especially the more
easterly branch, which skirts on the west a long ridge of hills, known
as the Goose's Crest. The north-western slope of this ridge is thickly
covered with the woodland called the Bois de Corbeaux, or Crow's Wood.
The ridge sinks sharply to the Meuse opposite to Samogneux, and on the
south side of it is the large village of Cumières.[55] Between the
ridge and Cumières is the Wood of Cumières. At the western end of
the Goose's Crest is the summit known as Mort Homme, or Dead Man.

You can easily see that if the Germans proposed to advance on Verdun
from the north-west they must completely carry the Goose's Crest and
its highest point, the Dead Man. If they did so, they would be able to
keep down the fire of all the French batteries on the west of the
Meuse, and would also be able to carry the Douaumont plateau by a
flank attack. Further, if the French were driven off the Dead Man,
there was no halting place for them until they reached the ridge of
Charny, four miles away. The assault of the Goose's Crest was,
therefore, decided upon. It was the key to the western bank, just as
the Douaumont crest was the key to the eastern heights.

[Illustration]

[Footnote 55: _Coom-e-air._]

[Page 177]




  CHAPTER XX.

  THE BATTLE OF VERDUN--SECOND STAGE.


On 2nd March the Germans began a bombardment of the French firing
trenches along the valley of the Forges Brook and the reserve lines on
the Goose's Crest and the Dead Man. They also paid special attention
to the Crow's Wood and the Wood of Cumières, in which the French guns
were concealed. The railway which you see following the left bank of
the river[56] was shelled, and was rendered useless. All transport was
now dependent on the motor service. For four days the bombardment
continued.

In order to prevent the French from reinforcing their line along the
Forges Brook, a series of very strong attacks was made on the village
of Douaumont[57] and on the hamlet of Vaux,[58] about a couple of
miles to the south-west. Douaumont, now a heap of ruins, was captured;
but no real success was won, for the French still held the higher
slopes to the south. The village was, indeed, outside the position on
which the French were making their great stand. The assaults on
Douaumont and Vaux were only holding attacks; the main blow was to be
delivered to the west of the Meuse. General Pétain was not deceived;
he had guessed the German plan, and had made arrangements to meet it.

The long and heavy bombardment on the west of the river ceased at dawn
on Monday, 6th March, and two German divisions moved out to attack the
valley of the Forges Brook. They carried the first French position
easily, for its right flank was "in the air." The Germans were already
in possession of the opposite bank for three miles up to Talou Hill,
and were thus able to assail the French wing with enfilading fire. The
defenders fell back, fighting stubbornly, to their prepared position
behind the Goose's Crest. By midday the Germans had taken Forges;
before darkness fell they had won the eastern part of the crest, and
had pushed their way into the Crow's Wood. Further, they had advanced
along the railway, and were in the wood of Cumières.[59]

[Page 178]
[Illustration: Douaumont Village and Fort.
                                       [_By permission of The Sphere._

Douaumont village is seen on the left, and the fort on a high mound to
the right. The Germans obtained a footing in the fort on February
25th, and were in possession of the village on March 4th.]

[Page 179]
[Illustration: French Position west of the Meuse on the Morning of
March 6th.]

Next day, Tuesday, the 7th, came the first attack against the new
French line. While it was in progress two successful assaults were
delivered on the eastern side of the salient--against Fresnes[60] and
against the redoubt in Hardaumont Wood. The redoubt was captured, and
the enemy thus obtained a position from which he could attack Vaux.
The main fighting, however, was against the Goose's Crest. Thanks to a
counter-attack, most of the Crow's Wood was won back, but elsewhere
the French had to struggle hard to maintain their footing.

It is impossible for me to describe in these pages all the attacks
which the Germans made on the French positions before Verdun. I should
only confuse you if I did so. You must imagine the Germans as
thrusting forward their men with the utmost ruthlessness day after
day, and the French fire sweeping great lanes through them as they
strove to advance. You must imagine the Germans, undeterred by their
great sacrifices, coming on again and again; and finally, by sheer
weight of numbers, winning small parcels of ground, but making
[Page 180]
terribly slow headway. I cannot describe all this ebb and flow of the
long-continued battle. I must confine myself to the outstanding
incidents of the long struggle.

The most determined and most costly effort of the enemy in the early
days of March was that made against the old fort of Vaux. Let me try
to give you some idea of its approaches. Suppose you are standing on
the plain of the Woëvre, say at the village of Dieppe. Looking up
from the flats you see a small glen with steep sides crowned with
clumps of wood. A road ascends the glen, and half-way up you see a
straggling village of one street, with a church at the eastern end.
This is the village of Vaux. To the north of it is the Hardaumont
Wood, and from the high ground you catch a glimpse of the round top of
Douaumont Fort. To the south-east of the village there is a bluff
crowned by the old fort of Vaux, and surrounded by a wood.

When the moon had set, just after midnight on Wednesday, 9th March, a
German brigade pushed up the glen towards the village. All the
previous day shells had been flung into the little place, which was
now a heap of ruins. The Germans thought that it was abandoned, and
they marched jauntily up the glen, four abreast. A French officer who
saw them said they looked as though they were out for manœuvres, and
that they only needed their band to complete the picture.

Up the glen they tramped, until they reached the village. The French
were lurking in the ruins and in the cellars, waiting with beating
hearts for their coming. Suddenly from the holes and corners they let
loose a murderous fire of machine guns on the advancing foe. As the
enemy reeled before the storm of lead the waiting Frenchmen leaped out
and plied the bayonet with deadly effect. Most of the attackers fled,
and the remainder were finished off with grenades. At daylight the
Germans returned again to the assault, advancing not only up the glen
but up the steep slopes against the old fort. During the day they made
attack after attack, but they were unable to make headway against the
French guns. On the 11th they made their final effort. They swept up
the glen, and took the eastern end of the village and the ruins of the
church. From the fort, however, they were beaten back with heavy loss,
and the wire entanglements on the slopes were thick with their dead
and dying.

[Page 181]
Though the fort of Vaux was entirely outside the sphere of fighting on
these two days, the Germans boldly announced that they "had carried by
assault the armoured fort of Vaux, as well as numerous neighbouring
fortifications." They had done nothing of the kind; and later on they
tried to explain away their lying statement by declaring that the
French had retaken the fort--which, as a matter of fact, they had
never lost.

[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Attack on Vaux.]

While this fighting was going on at Vaux the Germans were making
assaults all along the eastern side of the salient, but none of them
succeeded. At the same time they were attacking the Goose's Crest.
They were like a woodman felling a tree by striking first at one side
of the trunk and then at the other, but with this difference: while
each stroke of the woodman's axe cuts deeper and deeper into the tree,
the German blows glanced off. They had cut through the loose bark, but
the hard core turned the edge of their weapon every time.

From Thursday, 3rd March, to Tuesday, 14th March, an almost continuous
struggle raged between Bethincourt and the Goose's Crest. The Germans
suffered very heavy losses; but they gained ground, and on the evening
of Tuesday, the 14th, they made a great attempt to carry the Dead Man.
Two divisions, numbering in all some 25,000 men, poured out of the
[Page 182]
Crow's Wood, which was now in the enemy's hands. The division on the
French left advanced from the Forges Brook and pushed up the slopes of
the hill which you see marked 265,[61] while the division in the
centre made directly for the same hill.

[Illustration: "We exploded a mine and occupied the crater."
                                   [_By permission of L'Illustration._

Survivors of a French mine explosion being attacked by French infantry
with bomb and bayonet. Notice the steel casques worn by the French in
order to protect the head against shrapnel. Somewhat similar helmets
were served out to the British about this time.]

[Page 183]
The centre advanced in five waves, and though caught by the French
guns and checked, managed before nightfall to win two positions under
the crest of the hill. At once a message was sent to Berlin announcing
that the Dead Man had been captured. You can see for yourself that the
news was false. The Dead Man had not been captured; all that had been
won was an outlying spur 1,100 yards to the north-west.

On the afternoon of Thursday, the 16th, after a heavy bombardment
another attempt was made to carry the hill. The French poured a
terrific machine-gun fire on the flank of the advancing troops, and
completely broke them up. Then their right sprang forward and drove
the remnants back with heavy losses into the shelter of the Crow's
Wood.

That same night the Germans made another effort to gain full
possession of the village of Vaux, in which, you will remember, they
had gained a footing. In the darkness five separate attacks were made
one after the other. As the Germans crept stealthily forward the long
beams of the French searchlights showed them up as clear as daylight,
and the French guns poured a pitiless rain of shells upon them. All
the attempts were in vain. Two days later, on 18th March, six other
attacks were made on the village. In some of them the Germans used
liquid fire, but even this hideous weapon availed them nothing. The
six attacks on 18th March proved just as unsuccessful as the five
attacks on 16th March.

With these failures the second stage of the battle, which had now
continued for twenty-two days, may be said to have come to an end. On
the west side of the Meuse the Germans had thrust into the French
position a wedge less than a mile deep between the Brook of Forges and
Cumières, but they had failed to carry the Dead Man, the key to
Verdun on that side. On the east bank they held most of the Wood of
Hardaumont, and they were in the outskirts of Vaux village; but the
plateau of Douaumont still defied them.

[Footnote 56: See map, p. 179.]

[Footnote 57: _Du-o-mon_ (_n_ nasal). See map, p. 181.]

[Footnote 58: _Vo._]

[Footnote 59: _Coom-e-air._]

[Footnote 60: _Frayne._ See map, p. 142.]

[Footnote 61: See map, p. 179.]

[Page 184]




  CHAPTER XXI.

  THE EBBING TIDE.


By the middle of March it was clear that even if Verdun fell the next
day it would have been bought at far too great a price. Had the Crown
Prince been able to enter the city on 26th February, he would have
startled the world with an object lesson of German might. Now it was
plain that even if he won Verdun he would be in the position of a man
paying a five-pound note for an article worth a shilling. He would
have gained something, it is true, but he would have paid an absurd
price for it.

A man may obtain much business by selling his goods below cost price;
but if he continues to do so, he is sure to find himself sooner or
later in the bankruptcy court. The aim of generals in the field is to
inflict a greater loss on the enemy than they themselves suffer. If
they gain a position not of vital importance, and in doing so lose
more men than the enemy, they have really not gained a victory, but
have suffered a defeat. The Crown Prince was now in this plight. He
had already lost twice as many men as the French, and all that he had
gained was a few miles of hill and dale. When the Greek general
Pyrrhus[62] defeated the Romans in the year 280, and a friend
congratulated him, he replied, "One more such victory, and Pyrrhus is
undone." The victories of the Crown Prince were one and all Pyrrhic
victories.

General Pétain, on the other hand, played the part of a cautious and
far-seeing trader. He regarded the villages and crests of the salient,
and even Verdun itself, as wares which the Germans could
have--provided they were willing to pay his price. He had no
particular desire to keep his stock intact; so long as his balance was
[Page 185]
on the right side he was content. He knew that if the process
continued long enough he would make a fortune, and the rash buyer
would be ruined. He sold his wares bit by bit, but he made the enemy
pay sometimes twice as much, and sometimes three times as much, as
they were worth. When, however, he saw that a serious inroad was being
made on his business, he did not hesitate to spend freely in order
that he might not be obliged to put up his shutters.

After the eleven fierce attacks on Vaux, which I described in the
preceding chapter, a lull set in. So heavy had been the losses of the
Germans that they were obliged to remain quiet while they reorganized
their forces. The struggle for the Dead Man had cost them very dear.
They had flung regiment after regiment against the position, and one
after the other they had been horribly torn and shattered. In some
cases as many as six out of every ten men who were hurled to the
attack lay dead or wounded on the fatal slopes. Further, the Germans
had used up most of the huge supplies of shell which they had
accumulated for the great venture. They had been most lavish in their
bombardments. It is said that on one point, 200 yards wide by 450
yards deep, they threw more than 80,000 shells in a single day! Time
was necessary in order to procure and bring up fresh supplies of
ammunition, and this delay enabled the French to prepare for the next
blow.

Our gallant Allies had borne for three weeks the brunt of the
mightiest onset ever made in the history of the world, and they were
now full of confidence that the Germans could not now succeed. General
Joffre in an order of the day told his troops:--

    "Germany counted on the success of this effort, which she believed
    to be irresistible, and to which she devoted her best troops and
    much powerful artillery. She hoped that the capture of Verdun
    would revive the courage of her Allies, and convince neutrals of
    her superiority. _She had reckoned without you._ Night and day, in
    spite of a bombardment such as was never known before, you have
    resisted all attacks and maintained our positions. The struggle is
    not yet at an end, for the Germans need a victory. You will
    succeed in wresting it from them."

Germany now needed a victory more than ever, and she strove with all
her might to obtain it. All attempts to carry the Dead Man by a
frontal attack from the north-west having failed, she was now about to
try a flank attack from the west. Find the village of Malancourt,
[Page 186]
which lies about two miles to the south-west of Bethincourt. About
three miles to the south of Malancourt you will see the village of
Avocourt. The new advance was to be made between these two villages.
The map shows you plainly that before the Dead Man could be reached by
this route the woods on both sides of the road from Malancourt and
Avocourt would have to be carried, and then the hill marked 287, and
afterwards the hill 304. The latter hill, which is the key to the Dead
Man, is not difficult to climb; it descends in long, gentle slopes to
the west and the north-west. If Hill 304 could be carried, the
long-delayed victory would be won.

[Illustration: The Attack on March 20th from Avocourt.]

On the afternoon of Monday, 20th March, a Bavarian division made an
attack with liquid fire on the Avocourt Wood, and managed to capture
the eastern part of it. Fresh troops were at once brought up, and in
spite of the ravages wrought by the French guns, were pushed forward
to the point where the trees end and the hill pastures begin. The
French lines on the west now formed a salient which the Germans meant
to break through. All Tuesday they flung a curtain of fire to the rear
of Hill 304, so as to prevent the French from bringing up
reinforcements, and during the next three days they pinched the
salient very thin. Then came a short period of calm; but on Saturday
[Page 187]
the guns began to thunder again, and by Monday evening they were
firing so furiously that the French knew they might soon expect an
infantry attack. On Tuesday it came. Battalion after battalion was
hurled upon the weak forces holding Malancourt. The French heavy guns
opened upon them with terrible effect; but they pushed on into the
north-west corner of the village, where bayonet and grenade fighting
of the fiercest character took place for the next two days. The
village, which had been furiously bombarded, was now only a heap of
ruins.

[Illustration: General Pétain, the Hero of Verdun.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

A friend of General Pétain describes him as a resolute man of the most
wonderful coolness. "While I agree that a leader should give his men
an example of courage, perhaps Pétain may be reproached with exposing
himself a little too much. He has a rare modesty, and his delight
before the war was to go and rest at Cassis, on the shores of the
Mediterranean. I have heard him say that we are carrying on a war of
workshops, and that every heavy shell of which we run short may cost
the lives of twenty men."]

[Page 188]
General Pétain knew that the real danger-point was not the village
but the wood of Avocourt, which the Germans were rapidly turning into
a stronghold. The time had come for him to depart from his usual
custom, and to make one of those rare counter-attacks which he only
employed to win back really important positions. His men dashed
forward with great spirit, and not only won 300 yards of the wood, but
carried a redoubt which the enemy had erected in it. The Germans took
the loss of this redoubt greatly to heart, and made four desperate but
unavailing attempts to recapture it. They achieved nothing, and left
mounds of dead before the French position.

Thus foiled, the Germans flung themselves on Malancourt once more. On
the 29th they launched fresh troops at the ruins, and at the third
attempt, which was made on the morning of Friday, the last day of
March, won the south-west corner of the village. They were already in
the north-west corner, and it was clear that the whole place would
soon be in their hands. Pétain saw that the enemy had paid the price,
and he therefore withdrew his troops. During the night his men retired
very quietly to a strong position on the lower slopes of Hill 304. For
several days the Germans did not know that the French had retreated,
and continued to bombard empty trenches.

Malancourt was won, and Berlin rejoiced; but the enemy dared not
advance, because the terrible French guns on Hill 304 and on the Dead
Man commanded the bare little hollow in which the village lies.

Meanwhile the woodman was hacking away at the other side of the trunk;
he was making another attempt to hew out a wedge at Vaux. Twice on
Thursday his strokes had miscarried, and late on Friday night, when
the French west of the Meuse were leaving their trenches at Malancourt
[Page 189]
to take up their new position, he struck again, and at the second
stroke cut into the middle of the village. From this point a road
climbs steeply up a shallow ravine between the woods to the plateau
near the old fort of Douaumont. On the morning of Saturday, 1st April,
the enemy in four columns struggled up this road, but found himself in
the same position as at Malancourt--the French guns held him. Next
day, Sunday, he thrust 15,000 men into the ravine. Massed in the
narrow glen, they were at the mercy of the French guns, and the hollow
was soon choked with dead and dying. The carnage was awful, but the
Germans pressed on over the bodies of their fellows, and entered the
tangled, tumbled mass of broken beeches which had once been woods.
They had won a real success, and the plateau was in dire danger.

Again Pétain saw that the hour had come for a counter-attack. On
Monday, 3rd April, after a night of heavy bombardment, one of his
divisions charged the wood, and after a fight which must rank as one
of the severest of the whole war, thrust the enemy out of the scorched
and blackened region and won back the whole of it, except a strip near
to the Douaumont redoubt. The Germans were driven down the ravine, and
all the western part of Vaux, which had been lost three days before,
was recovered. No one will ever know exactly what the enemy's losses
were on that day. The French lost heavily too, but even so, the profit
and loss account was still in their favour.

Again the Germans rocked their attack to the other side of the river.
While the battle was raging at Vaux they charged the empty trenches of
the French under a fierce rain of shells. During the remainder of the
week they made some small gains, and entered Bethincourt, which the
French had abandoned. By Sunday, the 9th, they were ready for a
supreme effort against the Dead Man. Two main attacks were to be
launched against the hill--one from the woods between Avocourt and
Malancourt by way of Hill 304, the other from the Crow's Wood directly
against the coveted position. There was also to be a flank assault
from between Regnéville and Cumières.

At eight o'clock on Sunday dense masses of Germans emerged from the
wood of Avocourt. Instantly the French guns got to work, and the
movement was nipped in the bud. The attackers were forced back into
the shelter of the trees, and there they were pinned. The first half
[Page 190]
of the grand attack had failed. Nor did the attempt from the Crow's
Wood fare any better. The Germans were mown down in swathes. They
paused irresolute for a moment, then ran, leaving the ground littered
with corpses. Equally disastrous was the flank assault, for as the
troops advanced along the flat riverside meadows the French shells
caught them and destroyed them by hundreds. All the afternoon the
attacks were repeated, and at length the Germans obtained a footing in
400 yards of the first line of French trenches on the lower eastern
slopes of the Dead Man. There were a few other local gains, but none
of them were important. Late in the evening, when the sky was lit up
by a weird sunset, a Bavarian brigade suddenly appeared advancing to
the assault on the extreme western flank at Avocourt. Some ground was
won, but the French recovered it before darkness fell.

Still the battle raged, but by Tuesday, 11th April, even the Germans
could not fail to perceive that they had failed, and failed
grievously. They had used up nine divisions, and at every important
point they had been checked and held. Thanks to the magnificent
stubbornness of the French, every position essential to the defence of
Verdun had been maintained. The Germans had boasted that they would be
in the city in four days; after forty-eight days of unexampled
struggle and horrible losses, they were still battering vainly at the
granite wall of the defence. All their carefully-laid schemes had come
to naught, and thenceforward they seem to have followed no definite
plan. The struggle was continued for months longer, but all the
generalship had gone out of it. For the next three months the battle
resolved itself into a series of wild rushes, with long spells during
which nothing was done. Colonel Feyler, the great Swiss critic of the
war, did not hesitate to say after the colossal failure of 9th April,
"The French have won the Battle of Verdun."

       *     *     *     *     *

In your reading of these pages you must have noticed that the battles
of the present war do not seem to come to a clear-cut, definite end.
They drag on, and may only be said to finish when the fighting grows
hot elsewhere. Even then they may not end; but, as in front of Ypres
and Loos, and in Champagne, may still continue, though on a lesser
[Page 191]
scale. There are, signs, however, in every long struggle which show
that the attacker no longer hopes for success. Such signs were evident
at Verdun about the middle of April, when the Germans looked about for
a scapegoat, and found it in the person of Marshal Haeseler, who was
recalled in disgrace. The old general was sacrificed to save the face
of the Crown Prince, and to cover up the costly mistakes of the
General Staff.

Another sign was the changed tone of the German newspapers. They now
told their readers that the Verdun battle had accomplished all that
had been expected of it. Verdun had not been captured; but that
mattered nothing, for the place itself was of no value. All that the
High Command had set out to do was to take a heavy toll of the French,
and make them use up their reserves. In this they declared that they
had succeeded, and they published figures showing that the French
losses were greater than their own. These figures were, of course,
quite false. Indeed, they proved too much, for they showed that the
Germans had captured more unwounded prisoners than the defenders had
lost altogether, and not far short of the total number of troops with
which the French were holding Verdun.

Though the Germans knew that they had failed, nobody who understood
their obstinate temper supposed that they would confess their failure
by withdrawing their troops for an attempt elsewhere. Again and again,
even when the great Allied offensive, which began on 1st July, was in
progress, they made frenzied attempts to hack a way into Verdun. On
6th June they managed to surround the heroic garrison which held the
ruins of the fort of Vaux, and early next morning received its
surrender. Ever since 21st February the fort had been the target of
the enemy's heavy guns, and long before the end came it was merely a
heap of stones.

For ninety days the fort had been directly attacked, and it was in the
position of a ship on which the guns of a fleet had been concentrated.
The defence of Vaux was a supreme example of the grit and doggedness
which the French had everywhere shown on the salient.[63] Its capture
was a feather in the German cap, and the French had lost an excellent
observation station overlooking the Woëvre; but the enemy had still
[Page 192]
many difficult positions to carry before the plateau of Douaumont was
in his hands and Verdun was won. Meanwhile he was paying a terrible
price for his small gains, and was exhausting his resources to no real
purpose.

In the last ten days of June, after a long pause, the contest was
renewed with a violence almost equal to that of February and March.
Again, both on the eastern and the western bank of the Meuse, the
French were furiously assailed. Again masses of men were hurled to
their death, and only insignificant points were won. Still the Germans
persisted in butting their heads against the stone wall of the French
defence; still they continued to sacrifice their armies in a hopeless
task. Divisions were brought up from every quarter where they could be
spared, and were thrust ruthlessly into the deadly storm of fire; but
even after one hundred and thirty days the Germans were as far as ever
from attaining their object. Students of the war were amazed that the
General Staff should continue this mad policy, and they came to the
conclusion that the enemy dared not break off the struggle without
playing into the hands of the Allies.

[Footnote 62: _Pir'us._ King of Epirus (318 to 272 B.C.).]

[Footnote 63: In July, at a special parade held in Paris, the Cross of
the Legion of Honour was presented to Madame Raynal, wife of the
defender of Fort Vaux, who was then a prisoner in Germany.]

[Page 193]




  CHAPTER XXII.

  THE GREAT GERMAN FAILURE.


One hundred and thirty days of struggle had gone by, and yet the
fighting before Verdun had not come to an end. It will go down to
history as the longest continuous battle ever known to mankind. When
it began, the snows of February whitened the hills, and the woods on
the heights were stark and bare. Days lengthened into weeks, and the
fresh young grass covered the scarred and riven ground. Such trees as
had escaped shell fire donned the livery of spring, while down in the
hollows the almond trees gladdened the eye with their "fairy favours,"
and the lush meadows by the waterside gleamed with the gold of
marigolds. Still the battle went on. Nature had awaked from her winter
sleep to the promise of spring and the fulfilment of summer and
autumn; on every hand she proffered her bounties for the life and
comfort of man, but still the work of slaughter was unstayed.

It is easy to interest you in the battles of an earlier time. They
rarely lasted for more than a day, and every moment had its incident.
A long line of galloping horsemen, with gleaming swords and waving
plumes, dashes down upon the enemy, and in one swift charge cleaves a
way to victory; a thin red line of heroes rushes forward, and at the
bayonet's point carries a position that ends the fray; stalwart
warriors engage in single combat, and the victor rides off with the
trophies of triumph--such are the episodes which made the old battles
thrilling dramas. The Battle of Verdun had no such thrills. On an area
of thirty square miles a million men stood to arms, but had you been
stationed on the heights you would have seen none of them. All were
hidden in holes in the earth. Save for the fleecy puffs of shrapnel
[Page 194]
bursting on the ridges, or the heavy clouds of black smoke that arose
from high-explosive shells, you would have seen nothing. Your ear,
however, would have been everlastingly assailed with the rattle of
machine guns, the crack of rifles, and the dull, heavy roar of
artillery. A modern battle appeals to the ear and not to the eye.

[Illustration: French Troops repelling an Attack on the Dead Man.

(_By permission of The Graphic._)]

[Page 195]
I must not close this account without paying a tribute to the splendid
valour and the glorious stubbornness of the French during the long
struggle. They had been tried as men had never been tried before, and
they had borne the strain with marvellous doggedness. The Germans had
struck them a blow which was meant to shatter their nerve and drive
them in despair to make a separate peace. But, inspired by their love
of fatherland, they refused to be disheartened, and presented a living
wall, stronger than concrete or steel, to the foe. Through long days
of awful weariness and torture, when the very earth seemed crumbling
around them, they held their ground against terrible odds in the
spirit of the Spartans of old. They were never so great as during
those long months of struggle, when they stood at bay against
overwhelming legions, and unflinchingly bore the brunt of warfare such
as man had never known before.

Many of the defenders had vowed themselves to a glorious death. On a
bombproof shelter these words were found:--

  "My body to the earth;
   My soul to God;
   My heart to France."

When a captain asked for five volunteers for a perilous
mission, forty of his men held up their hands, and were grievously
disappointed when they learned that they could not all go. He selected
those whose names began with the letter B, and they gladly marched off
at his command. Not one of them returned. "What's the use of saving?"
cried a group of warriors on leave in Paris, and spending their money
freely; "we're Pétain's men!"

I have already told you that in such a battle as that of Verdun we
must give the palm to the side which prevents the other from obtaining
its object, and in doing so loses fewer men than its opponent. In June
1916 it was said that the Germans had lost 400,000 men; but even if
their losses had been only half this number, they were double those of
the French. The Germans had not attained their object, and they had
[Page 196]
paid a most extravagant price for a few square miles of barren
highland. If Verdun had been captured, and the French had been dealt a
fatal blow, these losses might have been justified. As it was, the
German resources had been squandered. This wasteful spending of men
was the first and chief reason of Germany's failure.

Another reason was that she overrated the power of artillery, and
merely used her infantry to occupy positions which her guns were
supposed to have won. The Battle of Verdun proved clearly that
infantry still remains the "queen of battles." Big guns may prepare
the path; they may wreck all surface features and tear holes in the
ground; but they cannot cleave their way through thirty or forty feet
of soil or rock, and thus destroy the deep burrows in which the
defenders take shelter when the bombardment rages in all its fury.
When it slackens, and the enemy's infantry advance to occupy the
wrecked positions, the defenders emerge from their underground
shelters, and then comes the real tug of war. The man behind the
bayonet decides the issue of the day. It was the splendid courage,
zeal, enterprise, and endurance of her infantry that enabled France to
maintain her hold so long upon the salient of Verdun.

[Page 197]




  CHAPTER XXIII.

  THE SPRING CAMPAIGN IN THE AIR.--I.


  "_Last night I saw the monster near--the big_
   _White monster that was like a lazy slug,_
   _That hovered in the air, not far away,_
   _As quiet as the black hawk, seen by day._
   _I saw it turn its body round about,_
   _And look my way; I saw its big, fat snout_
   _Turn straight towards my face, till I was one_
   _In coldness with that statue made of stone,_
   _The one-armed sailor seen upon my right--_
   _With no more power than he to offer fight._

    *    *    *    *    *

  "_Oh, it was strange to see a thing like jelly,_
   _An ugly, boneless thing all back and belly,_
   _Among the peaceful stars--that should have been_
   _A mile deep in the sea, and never seen;_
   _A big, fat, lazy slug that, even then,_
   _Killed women, children, and defenceless men._"

                                      W. H. Davies.


On the last day of January 1916 Zeppelins once more visited Great
Britain on their mission of "frightfulness." About 4.30 in the
afternoon six or seven raiders were sighted off the coast. On this
occasion, for the first time, the Midlands of England were to be
stricken. The Zeppelins seemed to have crossed over Norfolk into
Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire, from which county they
circled back to the coast by way of Norfolk and Suffolk. Immediately
they were sighted, news was flashed to all places which were likely to
be attacked. Lights were extinguished, all train traffic was
suspended, and fire-brigades were in readiness. The Midlands, however,
were taken by surprise, and some of the towns which suffered most
severely received no warning at all. After the raiders had done their
deadly work, bitter complaints arose from these towns, and the nation
[Page 198]
was once more impressed with the necessity of making a determined
effort to obtain the mastery of the air.

There were two separate raids upon Staffordshire, the great industrial
county of middle England. The first took place between eight and nine
in the evening, the second about one o'clock in the morning. In all
some thirty persons were killed in the county, and at least fifty
persons injured. Some families were wiped out altogether; in other
cases there were few survivors. A bomb fell at the feet of a man who
was leaving his house, and killed him, while his little boy who
followed him had an arm blown off. In one town the father went to a
picture house, leaving his wife and the four children at home. The
wife took the children to visit their grandmother, and when the father
called for them on his way home he found grandmother, mother, and
children, five in all, buried in the ruins of the house. Many other
stories just as sad might be told.

The most tragic event of that night of horror took place in a mission
room, where the sister of the well-known minister was conducting a
service attended by about two hundred women and girls. A bomb fell
between the mission room and the church; the lady who was speaking and
three members of the congregation were killed instantly, while others
were seriously injured. Elsewhere, a bomb fell on the roof of a
theatre, and the people rose to their feet as though about to rush
into the streets. At once an actor began to sing the National Anthem.
The audience joined in, and all remained in the darkened theatre
without panic or confusion, until the raid was over. Close by, a
service mainly attended by children was being held in a school hall.
When the roar of the first explosion was heard, the minister began the
hymn, "Jesu, Lover of my soul," and the children sang it through to
the end.

The raid on Staffordshire was quite unexpected, and no preparations
had been made to meet it. Leicestershire, too, was taken by surprise;
warnings were only received a short time before the raiders appeared.
In one Leicestershire town ten persons were killed, five of them being
women and one a girl of sixteen. A soldier of the R.A.M.C. returned
home on leave, to discover that his wife, son, and daughter had been
killed. In Lincolnshire three persons met their death and seven were
injured. In Norfolk and Suffolk little damage was done. In all, about
[Page 199]
220 bombs were dropped during the raid, and the total death-roll was
33 men, 20 women, and 6 children killed, and 51 men, 48 women, and 2
children injured. Except in one part of Staffordshire, no great damage
was done to works and buildings.

The German report ran as follows:--

    "On the night of 31st January one of our naval airship squadrons
    dropped large quantities of explosive and fire-raising bombs on
    docks, harbours, and factories in and near Liverpool and
    Birkenhead, on the iron foundries and smelting furnaces of
    Nottingham and Sheffield, and the great industrial works on the
    Humber and near Great Yarmouth.

    "Everywhere marked effects were observed in the gigantic
    explosions and serious outbursts of fire. On the Humber a battery
    was also silenced.

    "Our airships were heavily fired on from all directions, but were
    not hit, and safely returned."

This report was "hopelessly inaccurate." The Zeppelins had never been
near Liverpool and Birkenhead. It was clear that they had lost their
bearings, and had mistaken towns in the Midlands for the great ports
on the Mersey.

       *     *     *     *     *

The Germans declared that all the raiders had returned safely. This
was untrue, for two days later the Grimsby trawler _King Stephen_
(commanded by Skipper William Martin) saw at daybreak the Zeppelin L19
disabled and floating in the North Sea. The mate's account of the
incident was as follows:--

    "I was the first to notice the Zeppelin flashing a signal, and we
    naturally thought it was some vessel requiring assistance. We got
    in the gear and steamed to the spot. By the time we got there it
    was daylight. There were eight men on the platform on top of the
    Zeppelin, all of them waving and shouting to us. The greater part
    of the airship was under water, and about fifty feet of the
    forepart of the envelope was above water. In fact, the top part
    was as high as our mast. We had to go close up to hear what the
    Germans were saying. I counted eighteen men. The commander was in
    uniform, and all of them wore lifelines.

    "From the hatchway they kept shouting to us in broken English,
    'Save us! save us! We give you much gold if you take us off.' One
    of the Germans made as if he were going to jump overboard; but as
    he was a great height up he apparently changed his mind.

    "The skipper and I talked the position over. We argued that there
    were twenty or twenty-five of the enemy, and only nine of us. Most
    of them would be armed, whilst we had nothing. We decided it was
    not safe to have them on board, because they could easily have
    overpowered us and taken our boat into Germany--that is, if they
    had not put us into our own boat and sent us adrift. So the
    skipper shouted to them that we could not take them off.

    "Then they commenced shouting, and saying that they would not
    touch us if only we would save them. They kept screeching out,
    'Save us! save us!' We thought the best course to adopt was to
    hurry away and report to the first naval vessel we met, and leave
    them to deal with the matter. As we left, some of the Germans, I
    am told, but personally did not hear it, shouted out, 'Gott strafe
    England!' and they shook their fists at us."

[Page 200]
[Illustration: The Grimsby Trawler King Stephen alongside the sinking
Zeppelin L19.

(_From a drawing by Montague Dawson. By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 201]
The mate was of opinion that as the sea was smooth there was no
immediate fear of the Zeppelin sinking. Soon afterwards, however, half
a gale sprang up, and then there was very little likelihood of the
airship remaining afloat for long. The mate also said that the _King
Stephen_ could not have towed the Zeppelin, and that the whole fabric
would have collapsed under the strain of a pull. When the news was
received in England there were many to regret that the raiders had
been left to their fate, but nobody was disposed to blame the skipper.
He and his men were the best judges as to whether they could take off
the crew of the Zeppelin without running the risk of being overpowered
and sent adrift. It is true that the Germans promised not to touch
them if they were saved; but who now dares to trust a German promise?
While we may regret that the men on the Zeppelin were abandoned, we
must never forget that they had just returned from a mission of
murder, and that amongst their victims were twenty women and six
children.

       *     *     *     *     *

On 9th February two German seaplanes flew over the Isle of Thanet, and
bombs were dropped. One of them fell upon a large girls' school at
Broadstairs, but happily most of the girls were in the playing fields.
One bomb broke through the roof, and fragments of a ceiling fell upon
a class of young children, but only injured a little girl and a maid.
Three other bombs fell in the school grounds. At Ramsgate a bomb fell
close to a tram full of women and children, but no one was injured.

On February 20th there was a similar seaplane raid on Lowestoft; but
though seventeen bombs were dropped, no one suffered death or injury,
though there were several narrow escapes. At the same time a seaplane
flew over Walmer; on the Kentish coast, and dropped four bombs, one of
which blew in the windows of a church while the _Te Deum_ was being
[Page 202]
sung. Two men and a boy were killed, and a marine was wounded. In both
cases the raiders were chased by British airmen.

On 5th March Zeppelins again appeared, and raided a large part of the
east coast from Kent to Yorkshire. A heavy snowstorm was then raging,
and up to that time it was supposed that Zeppelins could not fly in
safety during such weather. This belief was now proved to be wrong.
The raiders, probably three in number, visited Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, Rutland, Huntingdon, Norfolk, Essex, and Kent; but the
main attack was made on a Yorkshire town, where about twenty-five
bombs were dropped from two Zeppelins, and seventeen persons were
killed and fifty wounded. Six persons afterwards died of shock.
Several houses were shattered, small fires were started, and the
parish church suffered damage to the extent of £25,000. In one house
a woman and her four young children, two boys and two girls, aged
eight, six, four, and two, were killed, and the father was severely
injured. The town was entirely without defence, and naturally the
inhabitants were very indignant. The Zeppelins hovered over the place
for about an hour and a half, and were quite unmolested. The total
casualties for all parts of the area which the Zeppelins visited on
this occasion were eighteen killed and fifty-two injured. Twenty-six
women and thirteen children were numbered with the slain or were
wounded.

On Sunday, 19th March, four seaplanes again visited the Kentish coast.
They arrived over Dover about two o'clock in the afternoon, and did
much damage, besides killing and wounding several children who were on
their way to Sunday school. While the enemy was still in sight,
British machines went up in pursuit. In one of them--a single-seated
land-machine--was Flight-Commander Bone, R.N. He pursued one of the
seaplanes for nearly thirty miles. Rising to a height of 2,000 feet
above his enemy, he dropped down ahead of him, and, while firing
rapidly, managed to get under him. The German pilot swerved his
machine to the left before they met, and Commander Bone as he passed
by saw the man hanging over the side of his machine, severely wounded.
Then he brought his machine within fifteen or twenty feet of the
enemy, and poured bullets into the seaplane until it began to drop,
and smoke was seen issuing from it. Nevertheless, the seaplane managed
to land safely on the water. Commander Bone was now obliged to leave
[Page 203]
his enemy to the mercy of the winds and waves, as his land machine
could not descend upon the water, and his engine was beginning to give
trouble. He returned safely, and for his heroic exploit was awarded
the Distinguished Service Order.

One machine which probably escaped the fight at Dover hurried to Deal,
where it dropped bombs which damaged property, but did not kill or
injure any one. On the same day, a little after two in the afternoon,
two seaplanes dropped bombs on Ramsgate, and killed four children on
their way to Sunday school and a man who was driving a motor car.

With the end of March came a period very favourable for Zeppelin
raids. The nights were moonless and clear, and there was not much
wind. The Germans seized the opportunity, and for several nights in
succession they visited wide areas of Great Britain. By this time,
however, we were better prepared to receive them. London had been
equipped with a number of anti-aircraft guns of long range, and with
many new searchlights. Everywhere the authorities had told the people
what to do when the raiders came. Towns and houses were plunged in
darkness, church bells were silenced, and public clocks were not
permitted to strike. A system of warnings was arranged for the whole
country, and at the first sign of the raiders trains were stopped,
signal lights were put out, and engine fires were banked.

On the night of 31st March-1st April five Zeppelins came up the
estuary of the Thames and struck northwards as far as Yorkshire. The
Germans afterwards claimed that they had dropped bombs on the city of
London between the Tower Bridge and the docks; that they had bombarded
military camps in the north-west of the city; that various towns had
been attacked, batteries had been silenced, industrial establishments
had been wrecked, and fires raised. As a matter of fact, the Zeppelins
never reached London at all, nor did they visit many of the towns
mentioned in the report. They had travelled blindfold, and had guessed
at the places upon which they had dropped their bombs.

As several of the raiders came up the Thames they were revealed by
powerful searchlights, and batteries at once opened fire on them. In
vain did the Zeppelins try to get out of the glare. The searchlights
followed them, and the batteries did not cease to fire, even while the
[Page 204]
bombs were dropping. One of the raiders was hit right in the centre,
and its back was broken. As it fell it crumpled up, and finally fell
into the water a little more than a mile from the Knock lightship.

Destroyers, mine-sweepers, and patrol vessels hurried up and
surrounded it. It was discovered to be L15, rapidly sinking. Two
officers and fifteen men of the crew climbed on to the envelope, and
made signs that they were willing to surrender. It was said that they
had left one young officer in the cabin, in order that he might blow
up the airship when his comrades were rescued. The ship, however, was
not blown up; it sank.

A steam trawler took off the crew and carried them to Chatham as
prisoners of war. Their leader was Lieutenant-Commander Breithaup, a
young man of thirty-three, who wore the Iron Cross on his breast. The
second officer was Lieutenant Köhne. Both officers seem to have
thought that they would be shot, for the commander told the British
officers who received their surrender, "I take all responsibility upon
myself. My men are not responsible." Some of the men were barefooted
and without coats. They were supplied with clothing, and treated as
ordinary prisoners of war.

Certain foreign journalists were permitted to talk with the prisoners,
who assured them that they had done much damage to British military
positions. The commander declared that the killing of women and
children was an accident. "You must not suppose," said he, "that we
set out to kill women and children. We have higher military aims. You
would not find one officer in the German army or navy who would go to
kill women or children. Such things happen accidentally in war." When
some of the crew were asked if they did not think baby-killing a sorry
business, they replied, "We do as we are ordered."

The Zeppelins elsewhere came into the fire of anti-aircraft guns, and
were pursued by aeroplanes, which, however, did not prove very
effective. A young New Zealander, Lieutenant Brandon of the Royal
Flying Corps, managed to rise above an airship and drop bombs upon it;
but in other cases the raiders flew too high to be attacked.

[Page 205]
[Illustration: The Crippling of L15 over the Eastern Counties.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)

A triangular battery of anti-aircraft guns in a sleepy little village
picked up the Zeppelin with its searchlight and bombarded it. Several
shells burst close to the raider, and at last one burst near the
stern, smothering the vessel in smoke. She gave a convulsive shiver,
shot upwards, and with her nose in the air drifted off seaward, to
fall a hopeless wreck into the estuary of the Thames.]

[Page 206]
The following evening, 1st-2nd April, there was another raid on the
north-east coast, which resulted in much damage and the death of
eighteen persons and the wounding of a hundred others. Again, on
Sunday, 2nd-3rd April, six Zeppelins crossed the North Sea. Two raided
the eastern counties of England, one the north-east coast of England,
and three the east coast of Scotland. Never before had enemy airships
travelled north of the Tweed. Shortly after nine o'clock news that the
raiders were coming reached a Scottish east coast city, and
householders were informed by the sudden lowering of their electric
lights to a dull red glow.

A little before midnight a Zeppelin appeared and circled over the city
for about forty minutes, during which time it was almost wholly
unmolested. There were no anti-aircraft guns in the place, and it was
at the mercy of the raider. Keen-eyed people could see the airship as
a pale streak of light, and all could hear the bee-like drone of the
engines. Then the bombs began to fall--a blinding flash, followed by a
roar, as if a thousand tons of coal had been suddenly shot into a
gigantic cellar. Some thirty bombs were dropped, but with a
surprisingly small amount of damage and loss of life. The massive
stone houses withstood the explosions far better than the brick houses
of England. This was seen in a working-class quarter, where a bomb
entirely wrecked a laundry of brick, but only blew a hole in the wall
of the tenement which adjoined it. In all ten persons were killed,
eleven were seriously wounded, and a dozen or two more were slightly
injured. All the damage to life and property took place in the central
and southern part of the city.

The most prominent building of the capital was furiously assailed, but
the raiders only succeeded in blowing away a portion of the rock upon
which it stands. In a neighbouring seaport a warehouse was set on
fire, and damage was done to houses. The bomb which proved most fatal
exploded at the foot of a tenement, in the common stair of which a
number of persons had taken shelter, and killed six of them. In
another part of the city a young man just of age was spending the
week-end with his widowed mother when the bombs began to fall. He
hurried out, brought in a neighbour to keep his mother company, and
was about to do the same kindness to another woman who lived all alone
when he was killed. The staircase of the tenement was blocked by the
falling masonry, and the inhabitants had to be rescued by means of
fire escapes. Elsewhere a bomb which struck the ground fifty yards
from a house drove a splinter through the bottom sash of a window,
[Page 207]
through a wooden shutter and two bedcovers, into the body of a
year-old baby lying in its crib. There were, as usual, many narrow
escapes. The raid on the capital seems to have been carried out by one
Zeppelin. The other probably lost its way, for its bombs fell
harmlessly in fields.

A Zeppelin which travelled through East Anglia that night dropped
fifteen bombs into a little wood outside a small country town. Three
fowls were killed, some windows were broken, and a roof
collapsed--that was all. In another spot over a hundred bombs were
dropped in a half-mile area containing two houses. In the north-east
the raid was a failure, probably because the commander of the airship
was entirely out of his reckoning. In a south-eastern county a
Zeppelin was fired upon, and made off after dropping about a hundred
bombs in uninhabited places. Such was the result of that Sunday night
raid, which was meant to strike terror into our hearts. The airships
which reached Scotland killed or injured a few dozen people, damaged a
few houses, and set fire to a whisky store. Those which wandered over
England lost their way.

Nevertheless the Germans announced that they had bombarded Edinburgh
and Leith, with the docks on the Firth of Forth; Newcastle, and
important wharves and buildings, blast furnaces, and factories on the
Tyne.

The totally unprotected state of towns on the east coast of Scotland
aroused much indignation, and before long steps were taken to give the
raiders a warm welcome if they should venture to return.

On 5th April a district on the north-east coast which had been
frequently attacked by Zeppelins received another visit. On former
occasions the raiders had met with little or no opposition. This time,
however, they were surprised to see searchlights flash out and
batteries open fire. One Zeppelin strove hard to evade the beams of
the searchlights, and to escape the shells that burst all around it;
and at last, deeming prudence the better part of valour, made for the
sea, dropping a few bombs outside the city, and slightly wounding a
boy. The townsfolk were full of thanks and gratitude to the
authorities for providing them with the means of defending themselves.
In many other places guns and searchlights had been installed, and
people were beginning to feel that they now had some protection from
[Page 208]
the terror that flew by night. Londoners declared that they were so
well provided with guns and searchlights that the raiders would
trouble them no more. Certainly no attacks were made on the capital
during the first six months of the year 1916.

In the next chapter I shall describe the rising which took place in
Dublin during Easter week. The Germans had planned to paralyze us
during that week by attacks from the air, from the sea, and on our
forces in Flanders. On Easter Monday, 24th April, a German aeroplane
appeared over Dover, but was driven off without dropping any bombs.
That same evening there was a Zeppelin raid over Norfolk and Suffolk.
Three airships took part in it, but they seem to have been more bent
on scouting than on bomb-dropping. Next night four Zeppelins raided
Essex and Kent, but the explosion of two hundred bombs only produced
one casualty. On the following night Zeppelins visited the east coast
of Kent once more, but achieved nothing. Most of the bombs fell upon
the marshes.

One of the airships dropped a bomb into a garden at the back of a
house. The ground had been recently dug, and the bomb buried itself
about two and a half feet in the earth without exploding. Instead of
getting as far away as possible, the owner of the house filled bucket
after bucket with water, drenched the bomb, and managed to extinguish
the fuse. When taken to task for risking his life, he said he was not
thinking of himself, but of the safety of the people in the
surrounding houses. A clergyman who was staying in the house helped
him in this heroic work.

[Page 209]




  CHAPTER XXIV.

  THE SPRING CAMPAIGN IN THE AIR.--II.


On the evening of Tuesday, 2nd May, the Germans dispatched more
Zeppelins to England than had ever before made the voyage at one time.
They crossed the coast at many points--from Rattray Head, north of
Aberdeen, to the north coast of Norfolk--but only two of them made a
serious attempt to penetrate inland. Only in one district did they do
much damage, and there the total casualties did not exceed thirty-six.
L20, which flew northwards to Scotland, probably in order to attack
Edinburgh, missed its way, and wandered on to Aberdeenshire, where it
dropped bombs in fields and on moors.

This Zeppelin was destined never to reach Germany again. As it strove
to return, a south-easterly wind arose, and snow began to fall
heavily. Soon it was evident that the airship could not reach its
base, and her commander decided to try to land in Norway. To add to
his misfortunes, two British warships--H.M.S. _Galatea_ and H.M.S.
_Phæton_--appeared, and opened fire as they chased him eastwards. A
British submarine, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander F. Feilman, R.N.,
completed its destruction, and rescued seven of the crew. Finally, the
airship drifted on to the Norwegian coast, and struck against a
hilltop, broke in two, and fell into a fiord. A torpedo boat rescued
three men who still remained in the cabin, and subsequently a
detachment of Norwegian soldiers fired on the airship from a distance
of fifty yards and exploded it.

[Page 210]
[Illustration: The wrecked Zeppelin L20 floating on Hafsfiord.
                                       [_By permission of The Sphere._

The tapered stern of this airship was identical with that of L15.]

Thus ingloriously ended the last airship raid which took place during
the first six months of 1916. Britain had now awakened to the
necessity of air defence, and the raiders no longer plied their work
[Page 211]
of death and destruction at their leisure. The destruction of L15 at
the mouth of the Thames, and of L20 as it crossed the North Sea,
proved clearly that our anti-aircraft guns were effective and our
gunners were becoming expert. During the week ending 6th May the enemy
lost no fewer than three airships by gun-fire. While, however, our air
defences were increasing in number and power, the Germans had proved
that no part of Great Britain was secure from attack.

Though we had made a considerable advance in our means of defence
against raids, the nation was not yet satisfied that the Government
was keenly alive to the importance of winning the command of the air.
There was an important debate on the subject in the House of Commons
during the second week of May. In the course of the debate Mr. Winston
Churchill, formerly First Lord of the Admiralty, but then in command
of a battalion, said that the Admiralty had acted wisely in not
building Zeppelins, which he described as "frail and feeble monsters."
In his opinion, aeroplanes and seaplanes were more valuable than
airships. He thought that the best remedy for Zeppelin raids was
either to attack the Zeppelins in their sheds, or to waylay them at
some point overseas, coming or going. Our air service had suffered
because it was under the control of two different boards--the one
acting for the Admiralty, the other for the Army. He urged that the
two boards should be combined into a single branch of imperial air
defence.

The Government shortly afterwards announced that a Joint Air Board
would be formed representing the two services, with Lord Curzon as its
president. This Board would discuss all questions connected with
aerial warfare, and would make suggestions to the Admiralty and the
War Office. Should these bodies decline to act on the suggestions of
the Joint Air Board, it was to report to the War Committee of the
Cabinet, who would finally decide what was to be done.

       *     *     *     *     *

Before I close this account I must mention a success which attended
our naval gunners in the harbour of Salonika. About two o'clock on the
morning of 5th May the town was aroused by a warship in the harbour
firing three red rockets, and men awoke to hear the familiar hum of
Zeppelin engines. They were just able to distinguish the dark shape of
the raider. A few seconds later a searchlight caught it in its broad
glare, and the silvery form of the Zeppelin was clearly visible for a
full quarter of an hour. Then the anti-aircraft guns opened fire, and
[Page 212]
soon a hurricane of shells burst round the raider. A correspondent
says:--

    "The fire was excellent from the very start, and many of the
    shells burst very close to the airship, which remained practically
    stationary for some time. Precisely at 2.30 a shell appeared to
    the onlookers to strike the vessel and pass right through it,
    while at the same moment another seemed to burst right in the
    centre of the craft. Then a remarkable thing happened. Two blazing
    shells fell from near the tail of the airship, and it is stated
    that they were two fire-raising bombs, which had been dropped on
    it by an aeroplane, which had gone up immediately the alarm was
    given. Whether this is correct or not, the Zeppelin immediately
    afterwards seemed to be out of control.

    "First it turned round to the left, as though to return in the
    direction from which it had come. Then it veered round to the
    right, with a decided dip in front. Another shower of shells burst
    round it, and a minute afterwards the searchlights lost it. For
    nearly half an hour people waited for its reappearance. The fire
    stopped, and the searchlights were put out. At exactly three
    o'clock a gigantic burst of flame, accompanied by a dull roar, lit
    up the horizon out to sea. It was the end of the raider.
    Apparently when the searchlights lost it, the aircraft, badly hit,
    fell rapidly to the surface of the sea. After lying in the shallow
    water of the Vardar delta for twenty minutes it either exploded or
    was set on fire by its crew.

    "A few minutes later a warship was sending a flashlight message,
    and watchers could guess that it was announcing the destruction of
    the Zeppelin to the rest of the fleet and to all the stations of
    the Allied army. Soon after, cheering from the warships in the
    harbour could be heard. The news of the destruction of the raider
    was hailed with great joy at Salonika. The survivors of the crew,
    four officers and eight men, were made prisoners."

[Page 213]
[Illustration: The Gun, the Gunners, and the Shells that brought down
the Zeppelin at Salonika.

(_By permission of the Central News._)]

[Page 214]




  CHAPTER XXV.

  HOW A TRAITOR WAS CAUGHT AND HANGED.


The scene now changes to the south-western coast of the Emerald
Isle--to the "kingdom" of Kerry--where the long, broken fingers of the
land thrust themselves out into the Atlantic surges, and the salt
water pushes up many a long creek to break against lonely mountains.
On these wild shores, where nature has provided some of the finest
havens in the world, few ships are to be seen. Save for fishing boats
and the lumbering coasters that come and go with the tides, there is
no sea-borne traffic to disturb the solitudes. Yet this Irish county,
so deserted and so remote, was now to play a part in the great drama
of the war.

The northern gateway to this romantic region of mountain and sea is
Tralee, seated at the head of its bay, which is the most northerly of
the Kerry fiords. A few miles from Tralee the strand is fringed by
sand dunes, in the shelter of which there are a few small farms. On
the morning of Good Friday, April 21, 1916, John MacCarthy, the
proprietor of one of these holdings, rose between 2 and 2.30 a.m., and
went along the sandy shore, in order to pray at a holy well about a
mile from his home. About four o'clock he retraced his steps, and on
his homeward way his eye was attracted by a collapsible boat which was
water-logged and was being washed in by the tide.

With the help of a neighbour named Driscoll he drew the boat ashore,
but found nothing in it except a dagger. Looking around him, he saw on
the sand a rusty tin box bound with cord, and the footprints of three
people. He followed the footprints for about two hundred yards in the
direction of his home, and then lost sight of them, but found them
again in the yard of his house. Some time later he noticed his little
[Page 215]
daughter, aged seven, playing with three Mauser revolvers, and his
small boy holding a bag which had contained the weapons. The children
had found them on the shore. At once MacCarthy sent Driscoll for the
police, and when they arrived he took them down to the boat. On the
shore they picked up two leather handbags, containing pistol
ammunition, several maps of German make, a flash lamp, a large flag,
two other revolvers, two lifebelts, and three coats. In the pocket of
one of the coats was found a railway ticket from Berlin to
Wilhelmshaven, dated 13th April. All the treasure trove was carried
off to the Ardfert police barracks.

Does not this sound like the opening of a detective story which
promises to be most exciting? What was the meaning of the boat
drifting ashore with the tide, and empty save for a dagger? How came
the revolvers, the tin box, the coats, and the leather bags to be
lying on the sands? You may be sure that the neighbourhood was soon
buzzing with the news, and that all who could throw any light on the
mystery had an eager audience. Michael Hussey, a labourer, remembered
that about 9.30 on the night before Good Friday he was walking along
the shore after visiting a friend, when he saw a red light flash for a
few seconds about half a mile out at sea. On the following morning,
about nine o'clock, he returned to the shore, and saw the boat which
MacCarthy and Driscoll had pulled up on the sand. It was exactly in a
line with the light which he had seen the night before. He afterwards
saw the same boat in the police barracks.

Mary Gorman, a farm servant, had actually seen the men whose
footprints MacCarthy had traced. About 4.30 on the morning of Good
Friday she noticed three men walking along the road in the direction
of McKenna's Fort, an old Danish rath or circular earthwork, with a
trench about nine feet deep, now filled with water and covered over
with rushes. She was surprised to see strangers at such an early hour,
and she noted them carefully. One was a tall man, who carried a
knapsack on his shoulder and had a stick in his hand. All of them were
walking quickly. They passed within a few yards of her as she stood at
the gate of her employer's farm.

Now Police-Sergeant Hearn of the Royal Irish Constabulary, along with
Constable Riley, arrives on the scene, and begins to search the
surrounding country. They make their way to the old fort, and there,
at 1.20 in the afternoon, Riley sees the "tall stranger." At once he
[Page 216]
covers him with a carbine, and orders him not to move. The tall
stranger walks towards him and says, "This is a nice way to treat an
English traveller. I am not armed. I will do you no harm." Then up
comes the sergeant, who gives the following account of the strange
meeting:--

    "'What do you do there?' I asked. He said, 'By what right do you
    ask the question? Am I bound to answer it?' I said, 'It is the
    only question I wish, and you have got to answer it. If you don't,
    I shall arrest you under the Defence of the Realm regulations.' I
    then asked him his name. He said, 'Richard Morton.' I asked him
    where he lived. He said, 'Denham, Bucks.' I asked him his
    occupation, and he said he was an author. I asked him the name of
    a book he had written. He said he had written a book on the life
    of St. Brandon.[64] I asked him what port he arrived at, and he
    said Dublin. I asked him if he had any passport paper. He said,
    'None.' I asked him where he went to from Dublin, and he said he
    came through County Kerry and went along by Brandon. He told me
    that he arrived about eight o'clock, and I noticed that the lower
    portion of his clothes was wet. Then I arrested him and took him
    to the Tralee police barracks, where he was charged with being
    concerned in landing arms on the coast of Ireland."

Now let us hear what a schoolboy named Martin Collins, a very smart
lad of twelve and a half, has to say. On Good Friday morning, while he
was alone in a pony cart, he saw Sergeant Hearn near McKenna's Fort.
With him were Constable Riley and a tall stranger. As the three men
were leaving the fort he saw the stranger roll up a piece of paper in
his left hand, which he was holding behind his back, and drop the
paper on the ground. Sergeant Hearn then told him to drive the party
to the barracks, and he did so. When he returned he went to the spot
where he had seen the stranger drop the piece of paper, and saw it in
the ditch. There was a little boy paddling in the water, and Collins
sent him to get the piece of paper. He found that it was torn in two,
and he read a part of what was written on it. He handed the paper to
Constable Riley. The paper was afterwards discovered to be a German
code, which contained such messages as the following: "Railway
communications have stopped. Our men are out. Further men are needed.
Further rifles are needed. How many rifles will you send us? Send
another ship to ----" There could be no shadow of a doubt that these
messages were intended to summon aid from Germany.

[Page 217]
[Illustration: An Irish Prisoner of War in Germany.

(_By permission of the Illustrated London News._)

"Why," asked Casement of the Irish prisoners of war in Germany, "do
you stay here in hunger and misery when you might be enjoying
yourselves by joining the Irish Brigade, and becoming guests of the
German Government?" Those who refused to join were badly treated, and
their food allowance was reduced.]

[Page 218]
Before the day was out the identity of the tall stranger was
discovered. He was Sir Roger Casement, an able and cultivated
Irishman, who entered the British Consular Service in 1895, and served
the Government in various parts of Africa and the New World. In 1909
he was made Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro. Soon afterwards he was
called upon to investigate a series of charges connected with the
treatment of the natives who were employed in collecting rubber in
Peru. He exposed the shocking cruelty practised on these poor people,
and enabled the British Government to put a stop to it. For this
service he was knighted, and when the honour was announced he wrote a
most grateful letter of thanks, in which he begged that his humble
duty might be presented to the King. He retired from the public
service in 1913, and continued to receive his pension until the end of
September 1914.

On his return to Ireland Casement took an active part in the Home Rule
movement, to which I shall refer more fully in the next chapter. After
the Ulstermen banded together and armed themselves, the Home Rulers
did likewise, and Casement played a prominent part in the movement.
When the war broke out he was in the United States, but in the autumn
of 1914 he somehow managed to get to Berlin, where he played, as you
will learn, the part of a renegade and a traitor. As far back as 1913,
when he was in the service of the British Crown, he wrote the preface
to a treasonable book, which was afterwards published by the German
Foreign Office, and scattered broadcast through the United States. In
this book he said:--

    "The day the first German comrade lands in Ireland, the day the
    first German warship is seen proudly breasting the waters of the
    Irish Sea, with the flag of Ireland at the fore, that day many
    Irishmen must die; but they will die in the sure peace of God that
    Ireland may live. . . . I know of no way, save one, to make free
    the open seas--Ireland must be withdrawn from the custody of
    England and restored to Europe."

Such was the man who had served the British Crown, had taken British
money, had been honoured by the British King, had professed loyalty
and faith to his sovereign, but had now turned traitor, and, as the
agent of Germany, had landed in Ireland to head a rebellion. He had
[Page 219]
failed utterly. The moment Constable Riley covered him with a carbine
in the old fort near Tralee his career of treason came to an end.

       *     *     *     *     *

He was taken to London, and was lodged in the Tower--the stronghold
that has sheltered many traitors in the course of our history. He was
next seen in a court of justice, where the story of his treachery was
unfolded, and the mystery of his landing was cleared up. It appeared
that in the month of December 1914 the German Government collected
together the prisoners of war belonging to the Irish regiments, and
gathered them into a large camp at Limburg. Then Casement appeared
amongst them, and tried to get them to forswear their allegiance, and
join an Irish Brigade which was to fight for Germany. Corporal John
Robinson, of the 13th Field Ambulance, who was captured in France on
August 24, 1914, but had since been exchanged, thus describes the
efforts which Casement made to secure recruits for the Irish
Brigade:--

    "About a fortnight after my arrival at Limburg I saw Sir Roger
    Casement. He was dressed in civilian clothes, and went about the
    camp without any guard. He was spouting to the men about the Irish
    Brigade. About thirty or forty men were listening to him. He said,
    'Now's your chance to fight for Ireland, to free Ireland.' Sir
    Roger wanted the men to form a brigade, and said that if Germany
    had a victory at sea he himself would land them in Ireland.
    Sometimes he got a very cool reception. On several occasions they
    hissed him out of the camp. One man shoved him, but the German
    guard protected him. He said that every man who joined the Irish
    Brigade would receive £10, and that if Germany lost the war all
    the Irish Brigade would be sent to America. . . . About fifty or
    sixty men out of the thousand men at Limburg joined the Irish
    Brigade."

A Munster fusilier told much the same story. He said that Casement
asked the prisoners, "Why do you stay here in hunger and misery when
you might be enjoying yourselves by joining the Irish Brigade, and
becoming guests of the German Government?" The men who joined wore a
silver-gray uniform, with green facings. Those who refused to join
were badly treated, and their food allowance was reduced. A corporal
of the Royal Irish Regiment said that the sergeant-major of the 4th
Dragoon Guards shouted out that Casement was a traitor, and that for
this he was sent to a punishment camp. "Some of the men," said he,
"laughed at Casement, others called him a renegade, and others said he
[Page 220]
was 'up the pole.'" A private of the Royal Irish Rifles said Casement
told them that the Germans very much liked the Irish, and the Irish
very much liked the Germans. He also said that Ireland now had the
strongest Power in the world at her back. Those who wished to join the
Irish Brigade were asked to sign a book. No one signed the book, and
Casement was very much disappointed. "What are you Irishmen thinking
of," he asked, "that you won't go and fight for your country at this
time?" He told them that the Irish Brigade was first to help the Turks
against the Russians; secondly, the Germans against the English; and
then they were to go and shed their blood for their own native
country.

Now that we know how Casement occupied himself in Germany, let us
learn how he made his dramatic appearance in Ireland. The full story
was told by one of his companions, a man named Daniel Bailey, of the
Royal Irish Rifles, who joined the Irish Brigade, and was photographed
in the uniform.

    "I saw Sir Roger Casement about April 1915. He spoke to us about
    joining an Irish Brigade solely for the purpose of fighting for
    Irish freedom. I joined to see if I could possibly get out of the
    country. I signed on as D. J. Beverley. I was made sergeant
    straight away. About the end of March 1916 I was sent to Berlin. .
    . . On Tuesday, the 11th inst., three of us (Casement, Monteith,
    and I) were driven to the War Office. They gave me a railway
    ticket, and we got into the train for Wilhelmshaven. There we were
    put on a submarine, U20. She steamed out, but had to return, owing
    to an accident, to Heligoland. There we boarded U19, and came
    round the Shetlands to the west coast of Ireland. I knew now where
    I was going, but still got no instructions. I gathered, when near
    Tralee, that it was in connection with the volunteer movement.
    They steamed in as near as they could, lowered the collapsible
    boat, and put us off. When everything was ready we took in the
    boat, the revolvers and ammunition, etc., which you have found,
    and I was ordered to bury them. It was about 1 a.m. or later when
    we were put in the boat. When in the surf the boat was overturned,
    and we had to wade ashore, and I went back two or three times to
    fetch in the stuff. We buried the arms, etc., not far from where
    we landed."

Bailey then goes on to describe how he left Casement early in the
morning, and was taken by Monteith to Tralee, and how he and Monteith
met four men in a shop, one of whom was addressed as Mr. Stack. One of
the men gave him a suit of clothes to wear, and took him along the
road to a point where Mr. Stack and a driver met them with a motor
[Page 221]
car. They got in and drove off. Then Stack asked Bailey if he knew
where "Mr. Rice" was. That was the name by which Sir Roger Casement
was to be called. Bailey said that he could not locate the spot where
he was hiding. They then drove the car about the roads looking for the
place. You already know that they could not find him, because he was
in the hands of the police.

[Illustration: Casement and Bailey in the Dock at Bow Street Police
Court.

(_By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 222]
At the end of a road leading to the beach one of the tyres of the car
was punctured. Bailey and his companions were challenged by the
police, but were allowed to mend the puncture and drive away from
Tralee. Several times the police stopped them and searched the car,
but they did not arrest the men in it. That night Bailey slept in a
lonely house, and next morning was told to go to a "castle" and "knock
about." He remained there until he was arrested.

       *     *     *     *     *

While Bailey was on board the submarine he overheard conversations
from which he gathered that a small Wilson liner was being piloted to
Fenit (the port of Tralee). It was disguised as a timber ship, and had
on board 20,000 rifles and over a million rounds of ammunition. There
were also ten machine guns on board, as well as bombs. Bailey
understood that Dublin Castle was to be raided.

Here we have a new feature in this strange case. A ship full of arms
was accompanying the submarine which carried Casement and his
fortunes. I will tell you what happened to this vessel in the words of
the Attorney-General when Casement and Bailey were brought before the
magistrate at Bow Street on 15th May:--

    "On 21st April H.M. sloop _Bluebell_ was patrolling in the
    neighbourhood of Tralee when she sighted a suspicious ship flying
    the Norwegian ensign, and having four Norwegian ensigns painted
    forward and aft on each side of the vessel. The captain of the
    _Bluebell_ hoisted a signal demanding the name of the vessel and
    where she was bound for. The reply was that she was the _Aud_,
    from Bergen to Genoa. The captain of the _Bluebell_ informed the
    vessel that she must follow him to harbour. The captain of the
    _Aud_ asked in broken English, 'Where are you taking me to?' The
    _Bluebell_ ordered her to go ahead immediately.

    "The _Aud_ remained without moving, and a shot was fired across
    her bows. Then the _Aud_ asked, 'What am I to do?' She was ordered
    to follow the _Bluebell_, and was escorted by that vessel without
    further trouble. When the _Aud_ was abreast of the lightship near
    Oueenstown she hoisted a signal, 'Where may I anchor on arrival?'
    and received the reply, 'Wait for orders, and continue to follow
[Page 223]
    the _Bluebell_.' On nearing the Daunt Rock lightship the
    _Bluebell_ headed for the harbour, but the _Aud_ stopped her
    engines. The _Bluebell_ went back, and when about a cable's length
    away those on board saw a small cloud of white smoke rising from
    the starboard side of the _Aud_. At the same time two German naval
    ensigns were broken at the mast, and two boats were lowered. The
    _Bluebell_ fired one round; whereupon the two boats hoisted the
    white flag, and the men in them held up their hands. The _Aud_
    sank almost immediately afterwards, about 1¼ miles
    south-south-east of the Daunt Rock lightship."

On 10th May an Admiralty diver descended to the bottom of the sea, and
saw through a hole in the starboard quarter of the sunken vessel many
rifles and much ammunition. He brought up a rifle of Russian
manufacture.

       *     *     *     *     *

By this time you have come to the conclusion that the traitor Casement
was the stormy petrel of rebellion. You will learn in a later chapter
that within three days of his landing Dublin was in the hands of
rebels. He, however, thanks to the loyalty of an Irish farmer and the
vigilance of the police, had been caught before he could do any
mischief, and the same day the rifles, which Germany hoped to place in
the hands of 20,000 disaffected men, were lying at the bottom of the
sea. Casement's venture was strangely inglorious.

On 27th June and the two following days he stood in the dock at the
High Court of Justice, charged with the crime of "adhering to the
King's enemies otherwhere than in the King's realm--to wit, in the
empire of Germany."

His counsel pleaded most earnestly and eloquently that the old law
under which Casement was being tried only referred to traitorous acts
done _within_ the King's realm and not to those done outside it. He
also tried to prove that Casement had only asked the soldiers to join
an Irish Brigade for the purpose of resisting the Ulster volunteers
when the war was over. In summing up, the Lord Chief Justice said that
the old law referred to traitorous acts done both within and without
the realm, and he pointed out that the men of the brigade were to be
landed in Ireland after a German victory, and that it was impossible
for them to fight for Ireland without fighting for Germany. He also
asked how it was that Casement came to be in possession of a code
which could only be used for the purpose of summoning aid from
Germany, and how he came to be accompanied by a German ship loaded
[Page 224]
with arms. Casement's treason was proved up to the hilt, and the jury
had no difficulty in finding him guilty. The prisoner thereupon made a
long address to the court, declaring the purity of his motives, and
complaining that he ought to have been tried in Ireland. At the
conclusion of his speech the judges assumed the black cap, and the
Lord Chief Justice sentenced him to death by hanging. No evidence was
offered against Bailey, who was clearly innocent of any wicked intent.
He therefore was allowed to go free.

Casement appealed to a higher court, and again his counsel pleaded
that the law only applied to acts done within the King's realm. The
court, however, held that no matter where a man gave aid and comfort
to the King's enemies, he played the part of a traitor.

On the day after the trial the King ordered Casement's name to be
erased from the roll of knights, and at nine o'clock on the morning of
3rd August he was hanged in Pentonville Prison.

  "_So perish all traitors!_"

[Footnote 64: St. Brandon is the patron saint of the district. Mount
Brandon, just across Tralee Bay, is supposed to take its name from
him.]

[Page 225]




  CHAPTER XXVI.

  DISTRACTED IRELAND.


In the early part of the year 1914 the people of Great Britain and
Ireland were sharply divided on a political question which brought
them to the verge of civil war. For thirty years the Liberal Party had
striven to give the Irish people the right to rule Ireland by means of
an Irish Parliament. Those who favoured Home Rule believed that
Ireland would become peaceful and contented if her people were allowed
to govern themselves. The Unionists, on the other hand, greatly
disliked the idea of breaking up the united Parliament of Great
Britain and Ireland, and they feared that self-government in Ireland
would bring about its separation from the British Empire. They also
objected to Home Rule, because they had championed the cause of the
Protestants who formed the majority of the people living in the nine
counties of Ulster. The Ulster Protestants hated the idea of being
subject to a Parliament which was bound to be largely composed of
Roman Catholics, and they desired strongly to maintain their
connection with the united Parliament sitting at Westminster.

In 1893, and again in 1912, Irish Home Rule Bills passed the House of
Commons, but were rejected by large majorities in the House of Lords.
The opposition of the House of Lords to this and other measures of the
Liberal Government brought about a conflict the result of which was to
limit the power of the Lords to reject bills passed by the House of
Commons. A new Home Rule Bill was twice passed, and was twice rejected
by the House of Lords. According to the new arrangement, if the House
of Commons passed the Bill a third time it became the law of the land
over the heads of the Lords. This occurred on May 25, 1914.

[Page 226]
While the Home Rule Bill was being bandied from House to House, the
Protestants of Ulster, led by Sir Edward Carson, began to prepare to
resist the measure by force. An Ulster volunteer force was raised, and
in May 1914 was said to number 100,000 men. Before long the Ulstermen
decided that if Home Rule should be established they would set up a
government of their own. The British Government now feared that the
Ulster volunteers would seize army stores in Ulster, and a cavalry
brigade then stationed on the Curragh was ordered to move north. A
number of the officers of this brigade refused to march until they had
received guarantees that they would not be called on to fight against
the Ulstermen, and these guarantees were given to them by the
Secretary for War and the members of the War Council. Many Liberals in
the House of Commons were very angry at this proceeding, and described
it as yielding to mutiny. When the Cabinet refused to recognize the
guarantees in the form in which they had been given, the Secretary for
War and two members of the Cabinet resigned. The Prime Minister
thereupon became Secretary for War, and under his firm guidance the
trouble with the army came to an end.

[Illustration: Sir Edward Carson, Leader of the Ulster Party.]

Shortly afterwards the Ulster volunteers ran a cargo of arms, seized
local post offices, and detained public officials. These acts of open
rebellion caused great excitement in the country; but the Government
allowed them to pass without punishment.

From 1907 onwards a spirit of lawlessness had gained ground in
Ireland, and, unhappily, the Government did not put it down with a
strong hand. There was a good deal of "cattle driving," and the law
forbidding men to carry arms had been allowed to lapse. During the
very serious labour troubles which took place in 1913 an agitator
named James Larkin raised a "citizen army." There was in Ireland at
this time an association known by the Irish name of _Sinn Fein_,[65]
which means "Ourselves alone." Beginning as a society intended to
encourage the Irish language, inspire the Irish people with greater
self-reliance, and stimulate them to industry, thrift, and temperance,
it passed into the hands of men who were bitterly hostile to England,
[Page 227]
and were prepared to do anything and everything to overthrow British
rule in Ireland. A group of Sinn Feiners, with the assistance of Sir
Roger Casement and others, began to enlist a force of Irish volunteers
which in July 1914 was said to number 153,000 men. The control of this
force was taken out of the hands of the Sinn Feiners, and passed into
those of Mr. John Redmond and the other leaders of the Irish
Parliamentary party.

You now see that Ireland was divided into two armed camps. Everywhere
men provided themselves with rifles, and drilling went on all over the
country. The rival forces marched and manœuvred whenever and wherever
they thought proper. At a great demonstration in Ulster Sir Edward
Carson challenged the Government in the following words: "Give us a
clean cut for Ulster, or come and fight us." By a "clean cut" he
meant, withdraw from the control of any Irish Parliament that might be
established the whole nine counties of Ulster. As the Roman Catholics
had a majority in five of the nine Ulster counties, the Irish party
was unwilling to agree to this proposal.

[Illustration: John Redmond, Leader of the Nationalist Party.]

Civil war seemed to be on the eve of breaking out when the King
stepped into the breach and asked the rival Irish leaders and certain
members of the Government and the Opposition to meet at Buckingham
Palace and try to find a way out of the difficulty. Several meetings
took place, but nothing came of them. On Monday, July 27, 1914, only
nine days before we declared war on Germany, the National Volunteers
landed arms from a ship at Howth. They were intercepted in the streets
of Dublin by a battalion of the King's Own Scottish Borderers and a
small force of police, who attempted to disarm them, but in vain. As
the troops were marching back to barracks they were stoned by the
crowd, and some of them, without orders, so it was said, fired on the
mob and killed three persons and wounded forty others. Civil war
seemed to have begun. The Kaiser was quite justified in supposing that
Ireland would soon be in open rebellion, and that Great Britain would
[Page 228]
be so busy putting it down that she could take no part in the war
which he was now about to begin.

Next day Parliament met, gravely disturbed by the news from Ireland.
Early in the session Sir Edward Grey rose, and told the House that any
moment we might be plunged into European war. At once a spirit of
unity swept over the assembly. The trouble in Ireland was forgotten in
the face of the far greater peril. For the first time in history Irish
loyalty was pledged to the British cause, and this pledge was strictly
kept by the leaders of the Irish Parliamentary party. Home Rulers and
Unionists alike became recruiting sergeants, and, thanks to their
efforts, Ireland furnished a large contingent of troops for service
against the enemy.

The Sinn Feiners, who were furiously angry when the control of the
National Volunteers was taken out of their hands, now cut themselves
adrift from the loyal volunteers, and were joined by the citizen army
which Larkin had raised. They obtained arms and ammunition in large
quantities, and there was a strong suspicion that they were furnished
with money from German sources in America. From the moment the war
began the Sinn Feiners had done their utmost to prevent recruiting.
They besought Irishmen not to fight "England's battles," and they said
that the doings of the Germans in Belgium were not so black as they
had been painted. The British army, and the loyal Irishmen who were
bravely fighting abroad, were sneered at and reviled.

On September 14, 1915, the Prime Minister introduced into the House of
Commons a Bill to suspend the operation of the Home Rule Act until the
end of the war. He pledged himself to introduce in the next session an
Act amending the measure, and further declared that Ulster should not
be forced to come under the control of the Irish Parliament. This Bill
was passed, and the Home Rule Act became the law of the land.
Remember, the Act was not to come into force until the war was over,
and was to be amended in order that Ulster might remain under the
control of the Parliament at Westminster, if she so wished.

For the next six months Ireland seemed to be tranquil, and most
Britons believed that she would remain peaceful during the great
struggle. But all the while the Sinn Feiners were preparing for
rebellion. They paraded openly; they marched with arms on their
[Page 229]
shoulders through the streets of Dublin, and they even practised an
assault on the Castle. The Government left them to their own devices,
and seem to have been under the impression that they were not
dangerous. They were, however, only waiting for the arms which the
_Aud_ was bringing to break out into open revolt. On 18th April came
the news that Casement had been arrested, and that the _Aud_ had gone
to the bottom. The Sinn Feiners at once countermanded the order for a
parade in Dublin on Easter Sunday, and the Lord Lieutenant thought
that they had done so because they were dismayed at the news.
Nevertheless, he asked the Secretary for Ireland to have the leaders
arrested, and to order a raid to be made on Liberty Hall, the
headquarters of the citizen army, and on other places where arms were
stored. This was not done, and next day rebellion stalked the streets
of the capital.

[Footnote 65: Pronounced _Shin Fane_.]

[Page 230]




  CHAPTER XXVII.

  THE SINN FEIN REBELLION.


The morning of Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, broke cool and bright,
and Dublin seemed to be in holiday mood. Away to the south-west the
hills were a picture of calm repose; but ere the day was half over
madness and terror and bloodshed were rampant in the city. As the
clocks struck the hour of noon, Sinn Feiners, many of them arrayed in
a green uniform, and armed with rifle and bayonet, appeared in the
streets. One party rushed towards the Castle, in the hope of taking it
by surprise. The rebels shot down a policeman who was shutting the
gate, and the sentry inside, but did not enter the City Hall, and
newspaper offices hard by were seized, and from the windows the rebels
fired on any soldiers who showed themselves. The attack on the Castle,
however, was a half-hearted affair. Before many hours had passed, the
guard was reinforced and the rebels were driven off.

Meanwhile other parties were marching through the streets, to occupy
important positions in various parts of the city. It was noticed that
by the side of each man walked a woman in uniform, carrying bandoliers
well supplied with cartridges. Shots were fired, and civilians were
killed or wounded. Before long the heavy stone buildings of the Four
Courts on the north bank of the Liffey were occupied without
resistance, and the General Post Office, with its massive front facing
Sackville Street, was rushed. The entrances were seized, and the lower
windows were smashed in. The staff was easily overpowered. The men
officials, some of whom were secretly in sympathy with the Sinn
Feiners, were made prisoners, and the women were turned into the
street, which by this time was seething with shouting men and
[Page 231]
shrieking females. The telegraph wires were cut, and Dublin was
supposed to be isolated from the world. The telephones, however,
remained, and by means of them troops were at once summoned from the
Curragh, from Belfast, and from England. By a quarter-past twelve the
green, white, and orange flag of the Irish Republic was flying above
the Post Office, and snipers were firing at soldiers and police from
the windows.

A sergeant in command of a little group of men tried to push his way
in, but was shot through the head. A brave Scottish telephone girl who
was in the building insisted on remaining to bandage his wound, and by
so doing saved his life. All the scum which rises to the top when
disorder reigns in a great city gathered in the streets and began
looting the shops. An eye-witness[66] tells us that

    "Shops of all sorts were broken open, and the goods freely
    distributed to the citizens of the Irish Republic. Men stripped
    off their old clothes and dressed themselves anew in the open
    streets, donning fashionable suits. Women selected jewels for
    their personal adornment, and rich and rare were the gems they
    wore on toil-stained fingers and grimy wrist. Watches were carried
    off heaped in aprons. Toys were given to the young. Fruit and
    champagne, and other expensive luxuries, were freely partaken of.
    The wines were in some cases retailed for a few pence the bottle.
    Bookshops only were free from attack."

The same writer visited the Post Office after it had passed into the
hands of the rebels, and thus describes the scene:--

    "It was a wreck. Glass littered deeply the path and pavement in
    front of it. Armed men stood behind its shattered windows. Useless
    barricades had been piled up within--mail bags, evidently filled
    with letters, to keep out bullets; chairs and tables, through
    which bullets would pass almost as easily! And peering out of
    their defences, the unhappy warriors threatened with their rifles
    the scared crowd. At one window a mere boy was still knocking out
    the glass with the butt of his rifle. Above the building floated a
    huge green banner with the inscription in white letters, 'Irish
    Republic.' Truly _Der Tag_[67] had come! But oh, how pitiful!
    Death, the sure and certain wage!"

[Pages 232, 233]
[Illustration: Bird's-eye View of the City of Dublin, to illustrate
the Rebellion of Easter Week, 1916.]

[Page 234]
In the south part of the city about two hundred rebels seized St.
Stephen's Green, turned the people out of the surrounding houses,
closed the gates, and began digging themselves in. Most of them were
lads of seventeen or eighteen years of age, and they seemed to look
upon the rebellion as a joke. In half an hour, however, all was
changed. The red-headed ruffian who was in command called upon a
driver to stop, and because he was slow in doing so, shot him. Then
the rebels fired on all and sundry, and made a sort of barrier within
the large gate facing the foot of Grafton Street. Soon afterwards they
gained possession of a public house in the neighbourhood, and ran up
the republican flag. Then the firing was wilder than ever, and many
innocent and unarmed persons were shot. With the St. Stephen's Green
party was the Countess Markievicz, an Irishwoman who had married a
Pole, and was a well-known agitator.

The most unmilitary person, looking at the position which the rebels
had taken up on St. Stephen's Green, could not fail to see that no
German officer was directing affairs. No trained soldier in his senses
would have shut up his men in an enclosure commanded by tall buildings
on every side, from any one of which almost every corner of the Green
could be commanded. A few days later, when the troops occupied the
buildings, they easily drove the Sinn Feiners out.

Other points of vantage, such as Westland Row railway station and
Jacob's biscuit factory, were taken and occupied by the rebels. The
biscuit factory was a specially strong position, and it had the
further advantage of being stocked with enormous quantities of food.
It had its own water supply and its own gas and electric light plant.
The rebels closely guarded all roads leading to the city, and allowed
no one to enter or leave without a pass. An attempt to cut the Great
Northern Railway, at a point about twelve miles from the city, failed.

There was, however, a most important position which the rebels did not
attempt to seize. If you look at the plan on pages 232, 233, you will
notice that one long street, bearing different names, runs from St.
Stephen's Green to the O'Connell Bridge, and then onwards past the
Post Office. Almost midway between the Green and the river is Trinity
College, the university of Swift, Goldsmith, and Burke. Its grounds
cover thirty-five acres, and it contains a number of very fine
buildings, including a School of Engineering which Ruskin thought to
be the most beautiful structure of its kind in the world. The great
library receives a copy of every book published, and is filled with
[Page 235]
priceless treasures, including the Book of Kells[68] and the harp of
Brian Boru.[69] The great stone front of the college faces College
Green; to the left is Grafton Street, leading to St. Stephen's Green;
to the right is Westmoreland Street, leading to Sackville Street; and
in front is Dame Street, leading up to the Castle. The college
buildings and grounds, which were held by thirty-six members of the
Officers' Training Corps, assisted by eight Anzacs home on leave, thus
formed a sort of loyal stronghold, dividing the forces of the enemy,
and keeping open the principal streets of the city for the passage of
troops. Though death and tumult raged in the streets, and some of the
students were in arms, examinations in the College went on as usual.

In the course of the afternoon the rebels issued a proclamation,
calling upon the people of Ireland in the name of God to strike for
freedom, and announcing the setting up of an Irish republic. This
precious document was signed by eight of the leaders, some of whom
were men of education and position. One was a poet, another a
university professor, and some of them held government appointments.
Pearse, the commander-in-chief, was the head of a boarding-school
which was little better than a nursery of rebels; and Connolly, the
commandant-general, was a wild agitator who had played a large part in
the serious labour troubles of 1913-14.

When the revolt began there were but few troops in the city, and they
could barely hold the barracks in which they were stationed. The
biggest fight on Monday took place near the Portobello Barracks. The
rebels had installed themselves in a public-house which commanded the
road to the barracks, and it was essential that they should be cleared
out. A detachment of soldiers armed with machine guns and rifles
rushed to the attack, but was met with a strong resistance. A priest
ran in between the two sides, hoping that his presence would bring the
rebels to reason. He was, however, shot down by their fire. After they
had used up their ammunition they plied whisky and porter bottles as
weapons. Finally, however, the position was captured.

[Page 236]
[Illustration: Sackville Street before the Rebellion.]

[Page 237]
On Monday evening soldiers arrived from the Curragh, and next morning
they were joined by others from Belfast, and later on by the Sherwood
Foresters and other troops from England. Martial law was proclaimed
throughout the country, and the city was surrounded. From the roof of
Trinity College the Anzacs and the members of the Officers' Training
Corps maintained a very accurate fire, and played a large part in
saving the city. They not only prevented the rebels from seizing the
Bank of Ireland (formerly the Irish House of Parliament), which fronts
College Green, but they kept Dame Street, Grafton Street, and
Westmoreland Street clear, and even fired on the strongholds of the
enemy in Sackville Street.

The greatest danger was from the snipers lurking in the houses. Early
on Tuesday the Shelbourne Hotel, which overlooks St. Stephen's Green,
was easily recaptured, and from its roof machine guns began to play
upon the trenches. The great event of the day, however, was the
capture of the _Daily Express_ offices near to the Castle. A terrific
fire was directed against the building, and under cover of it the
soldiers tried to rush the position. Several fell during the attack,
and there was fierce hand-to-hand fighting in the narrow passages of
the newspaper offices. Finally, however, the rebels were bombed out.

Attempts to carry rebel strongholds by storm proved very expensive,
for the men advancing to the attack were fired on from all quarters.
The writer already quoted says:--

    "Not a few of the men told me that they would prefer being at the
    Front. At the Front, they said, you know the direction from which
    you may expect a bullet. Here the enemy is all round you. He lurks
    in dark passages and among chimney stacks, and when at last you
    have hunted him down, you find you have got hold of a peaceful
    citizen who gives you some good reason for his presence."

A far more speedy and less expensive method was adopted as soon as the
artillery arrived. On Wednesday morning Liberty Hall, the headquarters
of the so-called citizen army, was marked out for destruction. H.M.S.
_Helga_ steamed up the Liffey, and, at fifty yards' range, bombarded
the building. Meanwhile two 18-pounders also opened fire.

[Page 238]
[Illustration: Sackville Street after the Rebellion.
                                  [_By permission of Lafayette, Ltd._]

[Page 239]
    "The noise was tremendous. To the general din was added the
    spitting of a machine gun placed high on the tower of the Fire
    Brigade station. When next I saw Liberty Hall its empty shell
    alone remained. Every floor had been blown out of it. It was
    stated that none of the rebels had remained to face the attack. A
    few weeks ago I saw armed men keeping guard within this building
    to keep out the police; and this was known to, and suffered by,
    the authorities."

Damage was, of course, done to buildings in Sackville Street by the
bombardment. A few shells fell on the Post Office, and soon the
building was in flames. About two hundred rebels, including Pearse,
the commander-in-chief, put up a white flag and surrendered. Others
who tried to make a dash for freedom were mown down by machine guns.
In order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the military now granted a
truce, to enable the rest of the rebels in the Post Office to yield.
At half-past six, when the truce expired, there were no more
surrenders, so the shooting began again.

By Thursday morning the people were starving. Food supplies had
failed, and most of the shops were closed. "Wages had ceased, for
there were no employers, and no work to do. But wages would not have
helped; there was nothing to buy." The military now took the matter in
hand. They seized stores, opened warehouses, and distributed food to
the starving people, who showed themselves very grateful to the
soldiers.

Another enemy stronghold was destroyed by shell fire that day, and at
nightfall the flames of burning buildings lighted up the sky.

    "All this Thursday night firing continued, sometimes breaking out
    in one direction, sometimes in another. The vicious rattle of
    Maxims, and the tap, tap, tap of some quick-firer--wickedest sound
    of all--mingled every now and again with the crash of bombs and
    filled the night with a sense of horror and danger. The streets
    were in many places barricaded, and no one was permitted to pass.
    Indeed, only the military were now to be seen on the streets."

Though the situation had still "serious features," and the rebels were
still holding strong positions, the soldiers were rapidly gaining the
upper hand. On Friday it was clear, even to the most ignorant and
reckless of the rebels, that the game was up. The Sinn Feiners in the
Post Office were finally disposed of, and on Saturday, after an
armistice of three hours, the following notice, signed by Pearse, was
posted up:--

[Page 240]
    "In order to prevent further slaughter of unarmed people, and in
    the hope of saving the lives of our followers, now surrounded and
    hopelessly outnumbered, members of the provisional government at
    present at headquarters have agreed to unconditional surrender,
    and the commanders of all units of the republican forces will
    order their followers to lay down their arms."

Pearse, you will remember, had already surrendered; and Connolly, who
had been wounded, was a prisoner.

Late on Saturday night the writer from whom I have quoted so freely in
this chapter ascended to the top of the lookout tower of the Fire
Brigade station.

    "The view northward was sublime and terrible. Acres of flame and
    red-hot buildings stretched across the middle distance. The lurid
    light, reflected on rolling clouds of smoke, rose and fell as roof
    and walls toppled over. Fresh fires appeared to be springing into
    existence at a point to the north-east, and it really looked as if
    we were witnessing the wholesale destruction by devouring flames
    of the entire northern side of the city. The night was still, or
    the damage would have been far greater than it was. The Fire
    Brigade was overwhelmed, but it did great service. And its work
    was in some cases done under the fire of the rebels. Two and a
    half million pounds' worth of property was destroyed during the
    rising."

On Sunday the rebels who were holding St. Stephen's Green and Jacob's
biscuit factory surrendered, and the rebellion was over. Calm settled
down upon the distracted city, and the citizens for the first time
realized the terrible damage that had been done. Lower Sackville
Street, the finest thoroughfare in Dublin, had practically been
destroyed. Buildings which once were hotels, restaurants, and fine
shops were now smouldering heaps of bricks and twisted girders. Here
and there a wall still stood, blackened with flames and smoke, but not
a single whole building could be seen along Lower Sackville Street,
and for fifty yards on either side of it. The General Post Office was
an empty shell.

[Footnote 66: _Blackwood's Magazine_, July 1916.]

[Footnote 67: "The Day."]

[Footnote 68: A beautifully illuminated copy of the gospels, dating
from the eighth century.]

[Footnote 69: King of Ireland, slain at the battle of Clontarf, fought
against the Danes in 1014.]

[Page 241]




  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  THE AFTERMATH OF REBELLION.


The rebels had hoped that the rising in Dublin would be the signal for
outbreaks all over the country. At various places, mostly in the south
and the west of Ireland, local Sinn Feiners appeared in arms, but
nowhere were they formidable. The head and front of the whole
rebellion was in Dublin, and when it was crushed the local rebellions
were easily suppressed.

The rebels believed that they would be backed up by a German landing,
but they were relying upon a broken reed. Beyond the Zeppelin raids,
which I described in a former chapter, the Germans did nothing to help
their Irish allies, except to send a squadron of warships on a wild
scurry across the North Sea for the purpose of bombarding Lowestoft
and Yarmouth. For half an hour, on the early morning of Tuesday, 25th
April, they shelled these towns, killing two men, one woman, and one
child, and injuring nine other persons. Considerable damage was also
done to dwelling-houses, and with this pitiful record the ships turned
and fled for home. Unhappily, they reached their own shores in safety.

       *     *     *     *     *

The death-roll of the rebellion was heavy. One hundred and three
soldiers had been killed, fifteen policemen, one man of the Royal
Navy, and five loyal volunteers; 388 had been wounded, and nine were
reported missing. The casualties amongst the rebels and the civil
population amounted to 794, including 180 who were killed. When all
was over, the work of meting out justice began. Courts-martial were
set up, and thirteen of the rebel leaders were shot. Many others were
sentenced to death, but were let off with long terms of penal
servitude. Joseph Plunkett, one of the men who signed the proclamation,
was married in prison to a Miss Gifford on the eve of his execution.

[Page 242]
[Illustration: The Capture of the Placards: Munster Fusiliers raiding
German Trenches and seizing "News Notices."

(_By permission of The Illustrated London News._)

The German attempt to tamper with the loyalty of our Irish troops at
the front was a miserable failure. Our illustration shows the answer
which the Munsters returned to invitations to surrender.]

[Page 243]
       *     *     *     *     *

While the embers of the revolt were being stamped out, the Germans in
the trenches opposite the Munster Fusiliers displayed on their
parapets placards which read as follows:--

"Irishmen! Heavy uproar in Ireland: english guns are firing at your
wifes and children! 1st May 1916."

In front of another division these notices appeared:--

"Irishmen! In Ireland revolution. English guns are firing on your
wives and children. The English Military Bill has been refused. Sir
Roger Casement is being persecuted. Throw away your arms. We give you
a hearty welcome. We are Saxons. If you don't fire, we won't."

How did the loyal fellows in the trenches reply to these invitations?
Immediately they sang Irish airs and "Rule, Britannia!" to the
accompaniment of mouth organs and melodeons; and that night, when all
was still, a party of twenty-five men and two officers of the Munsters
crawled towards the German trenches. When they were half-way across
the "No Man's Land" an enemy's searchlight revealed them, and machine
guns were turned on them. Some of the Irishmen were badly wounded, but
all lay still for hours, and then those who were unhurt crept on
towards the German lines, cut the wire, charged over the parapets, and
hurled bombs into the trenches. The gallant Munsters seized the
placards, and bore them back to their own lines in triumph. There were
traitors in plenty in the Dublin streets, but there were loyal hearts
and true in the trenches. "It's too bad entirely," said a khaki-clad
warrior in a mellow Connemara[70] brogue, "that whilst we are fighting
for the honour and glory of ould Ireland, there should be dirty
fellows found to come out of their holes with rifles in their hands to
play the game of the Germans." He spoke for every man in his division.

       *     *     *     *     *

We can, of course, feel nothing but loathing for the madmen who
"played the game of the Germans," and at the same time dealt Ireland a
foul blow by their crazy rising. Still, we must never forget that
thousands of Irish Nationalists were at that moment wearing the King's
[Page 244]
uniform, and fighting bravely for the British Empire. We should do
Irishmen a grave wrong were we to tar them all with the same brush.
Those who rose in rebellion were comparatively few in number; the bulk
of Irishmen either had no sympathy with the outbreak, or were
reluctant to take part in an armed revolt. A wise and famous Irish
priest said: "Let us remember two things about this Irish rising. The
first is that Ireland did not rise at all; the second, that, if she
had risen, she would have done so under leaders she knew something
about." He begged Englishmen not to punish Ireland for two or three
generations to come because of the violence of perverse and foolish
men.

Before concluding my account of this painful episode let me dwell for
a moment on the splendid services which Irish troops had already
rendered in the war. In the retreat from Mons, at the Marne, in the
Ypres battles, at Festubert, in the Dardanelles, at Loos, and at Lake
Doiran, Irish regiments had covered themselves with glory. Even while
recreant Irishmen in Dublin were filling the city with tumult, flame,
and slaughter, their loyal countrymen at Hulluch were resisting the
poisonous gases, the shells, and the bayonets of the enemy with the
utmost courage and fortitude. Let not the shame of plotters and
traitors dim the glory of the brave and true.

       *     *     *     *     *

As soon as the rising was over a Royal Commission, consisting of Lord
Hardinge,[71] a judge of the High Court, and a distinguished civil
servant, was set up "to inquire into the causes of the recent outbreak
of rebellion in Ireland." The Commissioners sat in London and in
Dublin, and early in July issued a report, in which they said that the
main cause of the rebellion was that lawlessness had been allowed to
grow up unchecked, and that for years past the Government had refused
to put the law into force, when by so doing it would come into
conflict with a section of the Irish people. Mr. Birrell,[72] the
Chief Secretary for Ireland, was held to be mainly responsible for the
outbreak, and his secretary was blamed because he had not brought home
to Mr. Birrell, during his long absences from Ireland, the necessity
[Page 245]
for taking strong measures to nip the rebellion in the bud. Mr.
Birrell and the Lord-Lieutenant at once resigned.

Some weeks before the report was issued, Mr. Asquith, the Prime
Minister, visited Belfast, Dublin, and Cork, in the hope that good
might come out of evil, and that all parties in the country might be
brought to agree upon some better method of governing Ireland in the
future. On his return to London the Cabinet appointed Mr. Lloyd-George
to try to get the rival leaders to come to terms. For a moment it was
thought that Nationalists and Ulstermen would agree that the Home Rule
Act should come into force, on condition that the six Irish counties
of Down, Antrim, Derry, Armagh, Tyrone, and Fermanagh, with the cities
of Belfast, Londonderry, and Newry, should not be subject to the Irish
Parliament. Difficulties, however, arose, and no further step was
taken. The golden opportunity had been missed. The Lord-Lieutenant was
reappointed, but the country was still ruled by martial law. The great
and grave problem of the future government of Ireland remained
unsolved.

       *     *     *     *     *

You will remember that one of the placards which the Germans displayed
on their parapets announced that "the English Military Bill has been
refused." Before I pass on, I must explain what the Germans meant by
these words. In Chapter I. of Volume IV. I told you something about
the Derby Scheme, under which a great effort was made to persuade men
to offer themselves freely for the army. At first the plan was very
successful, and before the end of December 1915 nearly three million
men had "attested"--that is, had declared themselves ready to serve
when their classes should be called up. Soon, however, it was clear
that the army was not getting all the men that it needed. Very large
numbers of men had been "starred"--that is, had been freed from
enlistment, because it was supposed that they were necessary for
carrying on the trade of the country. Many other men would willingly
have served; but they felt that their wives and children would suffer
if they had to live on the small allowance granted to the families of
those who joined the army. Whole classes of men, such as farmers and
miners, were freed from enlistment, and there were many others who
claimed to go free because they had a conscientious objection to
[Page 246]
fighting. No doubt many of these "conscientious objectors" really
believed in their hearts that service in the army was contrary to the
law of God, but there were many others who put forward this plea in
order to escape doing their duty to their country. The consequence was
that there was a shortage of men. On 21st December the Prime Minister
said that another million men must be raised--the fourth million since
August 5, 1914.

[Illustration: A Barricade in the Streets of Dublin.
                                 [_By permission of The Record Press._

You will notice that our men have erected a barrier consisting of
furniture from the adjoining houses and of iron boilers. The chief
danger our troops had to face was the sniping from the windows and
roofs of houses in which the Sinn Feiners had taken refuge.]

[Page 247]
The married men who had "attested" now began to give trouble. Many of
them had gone to the recruiting office believing that they were not to
be called up until all the unmarried men were in the ranks. They
pointed out that there were still more than 650,000 unstarred single
men who had not answered the call. The only real way out of the
difficulty was to make every man of military age liable for service,
and to call up all who were eligible, whether married or unmarried,
attested or unattested, and pick and choose from them those who were
to serve in the army.

The Government, however, was very unwilling to grasp the nettle, and
it now proposed a scheme of partial compulsion. On January 24, 1916,
an Act was passed compelling all unmarried men or widowers without
children dependent on them, between the ages of eighteen and
forty-one, to serve in the army. This Act, you see, only compelled the
unmarried men to do their duty.

Before long it was clear that even this Act, which came into force on
10th February, was not sufficient. The married men still contended
that they ought not to be called up until all the unmarried men were
in arms. So grave was the discontent that the Government was obliged
to try another method of solving the difficulty. It brought in a Bill
which tried to get the men without general compulsion, and in secret
sessions of the House of Commons told the members exactly what numbers
the chiefs of the army required. The country was by this time tired of
makeshifts, and was quite ready for general compulsory service.

When the Government's Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on
22nd April, it was promptly rejected. A few days later the Dublin
rebellion was in full blast, and it was clear that additional soldiers
would now be necessary, not only to fight the Germans, but to prevent
[Page 248]
such risings in future. The Government now threw aside the last
remnants of doubt, and on 3rd May the Prime Minister brought in a Bill
which declared that from that date every male British subject whose
regular abode was in Great Britain, and who was between the ages of
eighteen and forty-one, was to be considered duly enlisted in the army
for the term of the war. The Bill was carried by a majority of 250 to
35, and was signed by the King on 25th May. His Majesty sent a message
to his people on that day, thanking them for their patriotism and
self-sacrifice. He pointed out that some five million men had enlisted
without legal compulsion, and that no such free rally of a great
nation had ever before been recorded in history.

       *     *     *     *     *

Thus Britain parted with the system which had been her boast and pride
for hundreds of years, and under which she has risen to a lofty
pinnacle of might and majesty. Compulsory service was now the law of
the land; the whole manhood of the nation was now available for
military service, and Great Britain had come into line with the
nations of the Continent. Of all the changes due to the war, this was
probably the greatest, and it is certain that nothing but the gravest
and most urgent necessity would have brought it about. There are many
who blame the Government for not establishing compulsion sooner, and
some accuse the Cabinet of lacking courage, and of following rather
than leading the mind of the country. But we must remember that so
vast and far-reaching a change in our national life could only be
safely carried into effect when the people were fully prepared for it.
Had a large section of the people resisted, disaster might have
followed. As it was, the course of events converted the bulk of the
nation to the necessity for compulsion, and they agreed to the change
when they saw clearly that there was no other way.

[Footnote 70: District of Western Ireland, County Galway, famed for
its wild and romantic scenery of mountain and lough.]

[Footnote 71: Born 1858; formerly Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs,
and Viceroy of India (Nov. 1910-Mar. 1916).]

[Footnote 72: Augustine Birrell, born 1850; appointed Secretary for
Ireland 1907 author of many charming books on literary subjects.]

[Page 249]




  CHAPTER XXIX.

  THE GREAT SEA FIGHT OFF JUTLAND.--I.


On that hot August afternoon of 1914 when our fleets silently
disappeared to their secret war stations, every British sailor hoped
and believed that ere long he would play his part in a North Sea
Trafalgar. Weeks lengthened into months, and the hope was not
fulfilled. Nevertheless it was this hope which buoyed up our sailors
during the wearisome and monotonous work of watching and waiting, and
battling with the bitter winds and stormy waves of northern seas.

There was no special ground for the bluejackets' hope that the enemy
would come out and fight. The German sea lords had made no secret of
the fact that they meant to avoid a big battle until they could meet
our fleets on equal or superior terms. They cherished the vain hope
that by means of their submarines they would be able to reduce our
navy to their own level. They sank many of our vessels by submarine
attack; but all the time the clang of hammers never ceased in our
shipbuilding yards, and for every cruiser or patrol boat that was sent
to the bottom, another or others were launched. Despite its losses,
the British navy was stronger in May 1916 than it had been when war
broke out.

Though our sailors knew all this, they still believed that when the
war on land began to go against Germany the High Seas Fleet would come
out and challenge the British navy. They argued that the Huns would
strive to retrieve their losses on land by a victory at sea. In May it
seemed to them that the hour had arrived when Germany would be obliged
to make this gambler's throw. The long and costly struggle at Verdun
had failed; the Russian armies, millions strong and munitioned anew,
[Page 250]
were beginning to advance. Germany's reserves of men were failing, and
unless success came soon it could not come at all. Our seamen were
right: the German war lords needed a success badly, and, as events
proved, they meant to cheer the hearts of their people with the glad
news of victory, whether they won it or not. On May 31, 1916, the
German High Seas Fleet came out of its harbours, and on that day the
greatest sea fight in all the history of the world up to that time
took place.

Before I describe the battle, let me remind you that the British navy
had from the first won the command of the seas. For twenty-one months,
thanks to our navy, we had the full use of the ocean highways, while
the enemy had scarcely a ship afloat on the wide waters of the world.
It was the freedom of the seas which enabled us, while holding out
against the enemy's fierce attacks, to supply ourselves with the men,
guns, and munitions which we lacked, and put ourselves in a position
to meet the foe on equal and more than equal terms.

Nor was the benefit of this command of the seas ours alone. Had we not
been able to traverse all the sea highways at will, France would have
been without coal for her factories, machines for her shell shops, and
beef for her troops. Unless the ocean tracks to Vladivostok and
Archangel had been kept open, Russia could have obtained no rifles,
guns, or shells from America, Japan, or Great Britain. If the sea
routes to Genoa and Leghorn had been closed, Italy would have lacked
those supplies which enabled her, as you will read later, to resist
and finally defeat the Austrians amidst the Alpine snows of her rugged
frontier.

    "But for the grain and meat ships, but for the raw materials and
    manufactures of America, Great Britain would be starved and
    powerless, her splendid regiments unarmed, her factories
    unproductive. Unless our transports were free to cross the
    Channel, the vast new army--so much of which has come from our
    overseas Colonies--could not be maintained for a single day.
    Everything then turned on Great Britain's command of the sea, and
    that command turned on the issue of the Battle of Jutland."

       *     *     *     *     *

In all the naval engagements that had so far taken place the big
battleships of friend and foe had played no part. Cruisers alone
fought the Battle of Heligoland Bight, wrought the destruction of
Cradock's squadron off Coronel, won the Battle of the Falkland Islands
[Page 251]
and the running fight on the Dogger Bank. Our battle cruisers, which
you will remember form the first line of British sea strength, bore
the brunt of the fray in all these engagements. It was their business
to sweep the North Sea from time to time in the hope of catching the
enemy and bringing him to battle. The battle cruisers were the advance
guard of the Grand Fleet, the hounds that must close with the quarry
and hold it till the hunters appeared on the scene.

You can easily understand that this work of searching for the enemy
was very anxious and very trying. The commander of the squadron had to
be on the watch night and day, for his chance might come at any
moment. He had to take grave risks, for the enemy might suddenly
oppose him in full strength, and overwhelm him before the big
battleships could come to his assistance. And while he took these
risks he had to be very wary lest he might lose his ships, and thus
bring down our sea strength for a time to the level of the enemy. You
must always remember that a ship is much more difficult to replace
than a regiment. Fresh men can be called up to take the places of
those who have fallen, and soldiers can be trained in six months; but
it takes six years to make a junior naval officer, a cruiser takes two
years to build, and a battleship three.

A rash act on the part of a British admiral might so weaken our sea
forces as to bring about the very condition of things that the enemy
hoped for. On the other hand, without boldness, and perhaps even
rashness, we could not get to grips with foes who were determined to
avoid fighting until they could do so on even terms. We shall soon see
that in the Battle of Jutland Sir David Beatty, the commander of our
Battle Cruiser Squadron, was called upon to make a quick and very
grave decision. He had to decide whether, with one section of the
British fleet, he would attack the whole German High Seas Fleet, or
whether he would decline the fight and run for safety. Knowing the man
as you do, I need not tell you what his decision was. He chose to
fight, and to hang on grimly until Sir John Jellicoe's battleships
appeared, when he knew that the issue of the battle would be no longer
in doubt. By his superb boldness he played, perhaps, the largest part
in the issue of the day.

[Page 252]
       *     *     *     *     *

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 30, 1916, the British Grand Fleet
left its northern bases in order to make a sweep of the North Sea. It
was in two sections. To the north was Sir John Jellicoe's division of
four battle squadrons, one battle cruiser squadron, three other
cruiser squadrons, and three destroyer flotillas.[73] South of
Jellicoe's division was the Battle Cruiser Fleet of two squadrons,
under Sir David Beatty, a battleship squadron under Rear-Admiral
Evan-Thomas, three light cruiser squadrons, and four destroyer
flotillas. You will notice that each of the sections contained both
battle cruisers and battleships, but that Sir John Jellicoe's division
was far stronger in battleships than Sir David Beatty's.

Let us look for a moment at the force under Sir David Beatty. Its ten
biggest ships were six battle cruisers and four battleships of the
latest and fastest type. Its leader was the youngest British naval
officer who ever wore an admiral's stripes; but young as he was, he
had in two battles shown such splendid courage, skill, and resource
that he was the idol of every man under his command. The admirals who
served with him--Evan-Thomas, Pakenham, and Brock--were all young,
brilliant, and gallant; and his captains were men of like kidney, some
of whom--such as Napier, Goodenough, and Sinclair--had already given
proof of fine seamanship and daring bravery. Then, too, there were the
commanders of the destroyers, men of the greatest skill and
enterprise, who, before the battle was over, were to show such dashing
and fiery courage as has never been known even in the glorious annals
of the British navy. Every man, from admiral to boy, breathed the
spirit of victory.

Now let us turn to Sir John Jellicoe's division, which was about an
hour and a half's steaming to the northward. It was a fleet the like
of which had never before been seen in battle. In the strength of its
massive walls, in the power of its engines, the might of its guns, and
the skill of those who navigated it and manned its weapons, it never
had an equal. Its commander was the man who since the war began had
been the brain of the whole navy. He was faced with the terrible
menace of mines and submarines and airships--such dangers as older
admirals never dreamed of; but with rare forethought and deep cunning
he had devised methods of dealing with them. Cool, tireless, calm,
never flurried and never surprised, he was the very embodiment of the
scientific seaman of the modern school.

[Page 253]
[Illustration: The Great Naval Battle off Jutland: Admiral Hood's
Squadron going into Action.

(_From the picture by S. Begg. By permission of The Illustrated London
News._)

In the foreground and centre of the drawing are seen the three leading
British battle cruisers with attendant destroyers advancing to meet
the enemy. Leading the British line is _Invincible_; the second battle
cruiser is _Inflexible_; the third, _Indomitable_. On the left is seen
the line of the German ships, pale gray in colour. (See page 264.)]

[Page 254]
On the morning of the last day of May the German High Seas Fleet also
put to sea, and sailed north for a hundred miles or so from the coast
of Jutland. It, too, was in two divisions. First went Admiral von
Hipper's five battle cruisers, with attendant cruisers and destroyers,
and following them came the Battle Fleet, consisting of most of the
big ships in the German navy, under command of Admiral von Scheer. It
is probable that the whole fleet consisted of nineteen or twenty
modern battleships, five cruisers, some older battleships, about
twenty light cruisers, and a large force of destroyers and submarines.
Almost the whole fighting strength of Germany was at sea.

We do not know why von Scheer brought his ships out that day. Perhaps
he had learned that the British fleet was at sea, and he hoped to
engage and destroy a portion of it before the remainder could come to
its aid. He may have been about to make a raid on the British coast,
or he may have been escorting cruisers which were to make a dash for
the open sea in order to prey upon our merchant vessels. It is more
likely that the German people had begun to ask what was the good of a
fleet that only lay in its harbours, and could do nothing more than
dash out into the North Sea and run home again as soon as the enemy
appeared. The German war lords very probably ordered the fleet out to
allay the rising discontent amongst the public at home.

All over the North Sea during the last week of May lay a light summer
haze. On Wednesday, the 31st, loose gray clouds began to overspread
the sky. About midday Sir David Beatty, having finished his sweep to
the south, turned northward to rejoin Sir John Jellicoe. The sea was
as calm as a mill pond. In front of the battle cruisers were the light
cruisers and destroyers, forming a screen extending from east to west.
They were searching the North Sea over a wide front, looking for the
enemy. Suddenly, at 2.20, _Galatea_, the flagship of the 1st Light
Cruiser Squadron, which was on the extreme right wing, sighted to the
eastward some light craft of the enemy.[74]

[Page 255]
[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Scene of the Battle of Jutland.]

At once two squadrons of our light cruisers made a dash for them, and
Sir David Beatty turned his battle cruisers round towards the east, so
as to cut off the enemy ships from their bases. A little later a
seaplane was sent up from the _Engadine_, formerly the Cunard Liner
_Campania_, and in a very few minutes the aviator, from a height of
900 feet, reported that behind the light craft of the enemy there were
five German battle cruisers. The enemy had been discovered in
strength. Promptly at 3.30 Sir David formed his battle
[Page 256]
cruisers--_Lion_, _Tiger_, _Queen Mary_, _Princess Royal_,
_Indefatigable_, and _New Zealand_--into line of battle. The
battleships _Barham_, _Valiant_, _Malaya_, and _Warspite_ also formed
line some five miles behind him. You must not suppose that the ships
lay exactly in a line one behind the other. Sir David was now driving
straight into the wind, and had the vessels been exactly in line, the
smoke from the funnels and guns would have obscured the view of all
but the leading ship of each line. The vessels were therefore arranged
in steps, as it were, so that the smoke would blow away to the
southward of them.

[Illustration: Diagram to illustrate the Movements of Sir David
Beatty's Fleet when the German Fleet was sighted.]

The British battle cruisers tore on towards the enemy ships, which
were soon seen to be racing back to join the main German fleet, now
coming up rapidly from the south. At 3.48, when the fleets were about
eleven miles apart, the guns began to thunder. Gradually Beatty's
ships gained on the enemy, and the range was reduced to eight miles.
Twenty minutes later the _Barham_ and her three consorts joined in the
fray. They were firing their 15-inch guns at a range of 12½ miles,
and probably at that distance did not do much damage.

[Footnote 73: See map, p. 255.]

[Footnote 74: See diagram on p. 256.]

[Page 257]




  CHAPTER XXX.

  THE GREAT SEA FIGHT OFF JUTLAND.--II.


Sir David Beatty had now to make that most important decision to which
I have already referred. So far the odds were in his favour: he had
six battle cruisers and four battleships against von Hipper's five
battle cruisers; but he now knew that in a very short time the main
German fleet would come up, and he would be enormously outnumbered.
Should he fight or should he fly? There would be no disgrace in
refusing to fight more than twenty big vessels with his ten. No one
would be likely to blame him if he turned and ran for safety towards
the main British fleet, just as the Germans were doing. But he knew
that if he did so there would be no battle, and he longed with every
fibre of his nature to strike a blow at the enemy, who had given him
the slip in two former battles. Never for a moment was there any doubt
in his mind as to what he ought to do. He refused to play for safety.
He determined to take on the whole German fleet, and hold it fast
until Sir John Jellicoe could come up. So, full steam ahead was the
order. Could Nelson have revisited the glimpses of the moon on that
day, he would have gloried in Sir David's heroic decision.

At 3.48 the first stage of the battle began. About four o'clock enemy
submarines were sighted on the right and left of the British line; but
a dashing attack by the destroyers drove them off. A quarter of an
hour later, eleven destroyers were ordered to rush towards the German
battle cruisers and try to torpedo them. German destroyers came out to
defend their big ships, and a fierce engagement followed at close
quarters, with the result that two German destroyers were sunk and the
rest were driven back. Nevertheless, the Germans had prevented our
destroyers from discharging their torpedoes. The fight had delayed
[Page 258]
them, and had caused most of them to drop astern, and therefore to be
in the wrong position to fire their torpedoes. If a torpedo is to be
discharged with the best chance of success, it must be fired ahead of
the target ship, so as to meet it. This could not now be done from our
light craft, most of which had gone astern. Some of them, however, had
kept the right position, and were able to fire their torpedoes, one of
which found its billet in the rear ship of the enemy's line.

Meanwhile the fighting between the opposing battle cruisers was very
fierce and resolute. At the beginning of the battle the gunnery of the
enemy was very good indeed, and it was only later, when the fight was
going against them, that their shooting became wild. By half-past four
Sir David's six cruisers had been reduced to four. A lucky shot had
hit the _Indefatigable_ in a dangerous spot, and had blown her up. The
_Queen Mary_, perhaps the best gunnery ship in the fleet, had also
been struck by a chance shell, and had suffered the same fate. She did
not, however, go down before her superb marksmanship had taken heavy
toll of the enemy. By this time the haze had settled down upon the
waters, and the British gunners could only see their targets in
blurred outline. The sea all around was dotted with submarines, but by
rare good luck our vessels passed through them without loss.

Sir David, with only four battle cruisers, now found himself faced by
the whole German fleet. What was he to do? It would mean his utter
destruction if he attempted to fight them all, even with the help of
Evan-Thomas's battleships, which were now coming up at full speed. But
though he could not tackle this great force, he could entice it
towards Sir John Jellicoe's ships, which were racing southwards with
the stokers working like inspired giants down below. He therefore
turned his squadron to the right about, and headed straight for the
point towards which he knew that Jellicoe's Battle Fleet was
advancing. Ten minutes later Admiral Evan-Thomas followed suit, and
formed up in line behind the battle cruisers. For a good hour and a
quarter these eight vessels kept up a running fight with the whole
German fleet. The work of the British engineers during this stage of
the battle was splendid. The _New Zealand_, for example, broke all her
records, and managed to keep up with her faster consorts.

[Page 259]
[Illustration: Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, commanding the First
Battle-Cruiser Squadron, in Action, May 31, 1916.]

[Page 260]
Why, you will ask, did von Scheer, the German Commander-in-Chief,
follow Beatty, and thus allow himself to be drawn into a trap? He had
already sunk two British battle cruisers, and with this success he
might have been content. The fact is, that though he had Zeppelins
scouting for him, the haze prevented them from seeing Jellicoe's
fleet. Von Scheer actually did not know that Jellicoe was out and that
he was drawing nearer and nearer every moment. He thought that Beatty
was cruising on his own account, and that he had no supports in the
offing. It appeared to him that Beatty was running away, and that he
had a good chance of destroying him altogether. We can imagine the
exultation on board the German ships when they saw, as they fondly
supposed, that the gods had delivered the whole of Beatty's fleet into
their hands.

Beatty, of course, knew better. He knew that Jellicoe was only fifty
or sixty miles away, and that if he could coax the Germans within
range of the oncoming fleet the issue of the day would not be in
doubt. So with his guns roaring he sped towards Jellicoe. Though we
had lost two ships, you must not suppose that the enemy had not
suffered. Before von Hipper joined von Scheer, one of his ships was
seen to be on fire, and another had been torpedoed. It was, however,
during the running fight to the north that the enemy came in for
severe punishment. To appreciate properly the fine shooting of the
British fleet, you must understand that while our vessels stood out
sharp and clear against the western horizon, the enemy was shrouded in
fog, and could only be seen in dim outline now and then. A German
cruiser--perhaps the _Lutzow_--was driven out of the line, broken and
battered, and other enemy ships also showed signs of distress. The
smaller craft, too, were busy, and a destroyer got home a torpedo on
the sixth ship of the enemy line.

Beatty had, however, one great advantage over the enemy. His ships
were faster than those of the Germans, and so he was able not only to
keep steadily ahead of them, but to begin a gradual curve to the
eastward. Why did he do this? Look at the diagram on the next page,
and you will understand. Jellicoe's fleet, you will observe, was
steaming to the south-east, while the German fleet was going
north-west. Had the two fleets kept on these courses they would not
have met. Beatty, as you know, wished to shepherd the Germans right
into the arms of Jellicoe. He therefore began a swerve towards the
[Page 261]
east, and by doing so forced von Scheer to swerve eastward too, and
make for the very point towards which Jellicoe's fleet was rapidly
advancing. The Germans imagined that they were driving Beatty before
them; as a matter of fact, he was heading them towards the main
British fleet. It was a fine manœuvre, and another proof of the young
admiral's splendid seamanship.

[Illustration: Diagram to illustrate Beatty's swerving Manœuvre to the
East, in order to shepherd the German Fleet into the arms of Jellicoe.]

At this point the first stage of the battle may be said to have ended.
Let me sum up in a few words what had happened. Shortly after 2 p.m.
on Wednesday Admiral Beatty's fleet of six battle cruisers and four
battleships came in contact with Admiral von Hipper's battle-cruiser
squadron. They drove von Hipper back on the main German fleet, which
consisted of about twenty battleships, with a strong force of lighter
craft. During this phase of the fight we lost the _Indefatigable_ and
[Page 262]
_Queen Mary_. When, at 4.38, Beatty found himself up against the whole
German High Seas Fleet and hopelessly outnumbered, he changed his
course from south to north, and ran towards Sir John Jellicoe's fleet;
but while doing so was able to inflict considerable loss on the enemy,
and force him to edge off to the eastward, where he would, if he
continued on that course, fall into the hands of the main British
fleet. At 5.50 Sir John Jellicoe's light cruisers were sighted, and
six minutes later the vanguard of the Grand Fleet, which had been
steering for two hours to the thunder of the guns, could be seen only
five miles away. Then Beatty, leading the line, steered _Lion_
directly east at full speed, crossing, as it were, the =T= of the
German line. His object was to force the Germans to follow his
movements, to concentrate a fire upon the head of their line, and at
the same time to get, if possible, clear away to the east, so as to
leave the road open for the Grand Fleet to come into action and finish
the business of the enemy.

Beatty had done a great work, and had greatly added to his laurels.
With a vastly inferior force he had not only kept the enemy engaged
until the main British fleet could come up, but he had lured him into
a position which seemed to threaten his total destruction.

       *     *     *     *     *

We must now turn to Sir John Jellicoe's Battle Fleet and follow its
fortunes. When the wireless on the Commander-in-Chief's flagship
cracked and spluttered with the news that Beatty was in contact with
the enemy, Jellicoe was some fifty or sixty miles to the northward,
steering south-east. You may imagine the delight with which all ranks,
from boy to admiral, received the glad tidings. The long-looked-for
day had come at last. The Trafalgar so long expected was about to
begin. Down in the stoke-holes men naked to the waist laboured as they
had never done before, and all speed records were broken. In his
dispatch Sir John Jellicoe pays a high tribute to the stokers and
engineers. It must never be forgotten, he tells us, that bringing the
fleet into action is the work of the engine-room department, and that
during the battle the officers and men of that department have to
perform their most important duties without knowing how the fight is
going. Their discipline and endurance are taxed to the utmost in these
conditions, and during the Battle of Jutland their work was beyond all
praise.

[Page 263]
[Illustration: Serving the Guns to the Last.

(_From the drawing by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)

A typical scene during the great battle. Though many of our men were
killed or wounded, and shells were falling all around, the survivors
stuck to their guns and continued to fire on the enemy without a
thought of themselves.]

[Page 264]
It was no easy work to bring the Grand Fleet to join Beatty's
squadrons at the proper moment, and at the point which had been
previously fixed upon. There are no signposts at sea, and very careful
calculation has to be made if ships are to meet at a precise spot in
the wide ocean. Moreover, when the junction was made, the hazy weather
made it difficult to distinguish between the enemy ships and the
British ships.

The 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron, under Rear-Admiral Hood, led the
Battle Fleet. At 5.30 Hood saw flashes of fire, and heard the sound of
guns to the south-west. At once he sent off _Chester_ as a scout, and
this ship soon found herself attacked by three or four of the enemy's
light cruisers. For twenty minutes _Chester_ maintained the unequal
combat. She was hit again and again, and many of her men were killed
or wounded; but she was splendidly handled, and as her engines had not
suffered, she was able to rejoin her squadron. It was during this
terrible time that "First-Class Boy John Travers Cornwell," a lad of
sixteen and a half, played a hero's part and met a hero's death. I
shall tell you his undying story on a later page.

At 6.20 Admiral Hood led his squadron into action in a manner worthy
of the great seamen from whom he was descended. He came of a long line
of sailors, two of whom did magnificent work for their country during
the great war with France. One of his ancestors, Lord Hood, covered
himself with glory in 1788, when the French fleet was utterly
destroyed off Dominica in the West Indies; and another, Sir Samuel
Hood, Lord Hood's cousin, was almost equally distinguished. The name
Hood is one to conjure with in the British navy, and a Hood just as
intrepid and skilful as his forbears now bore down upon the enemy.

       *     *     *     *     *

For a moment let us return to Sir David Beatty and see how he was
faring. When he began to cross the T of the German line, the enemy
perceived his movements, and promptly tried to upset them by sending a
light cruiser to make a torpedo attack on his ships from ahead.

    "Then followed a most gallant and picturesque incident. _Onslow_,
    a large destroyer, went full tilt for the enemy cruiser, and
    fought her at the short range of from 4,000 to 2,000 yards,
    driving her off. Having disposed of this enemy, she then went
    straight for the head of the enemy's line to attack with
[Page 265]
    torpedoes; but before more than one of her four could be fired,
    she was disabled by a heavy shell.

    "The captain, thinking that all his torpedoes were fired, and
    being, of course, unable to engage 12-inch guns with 4-inch guns,
    thought only of saving his ship. He was then told that there were
    still three torpedoes in the tubes. He no longer had the speed
    necessary for tackling the battle cruisers, but seeing the light
    cruiser which he had driven off within range, he went for her and
    sank her with his three torpedoes. But he was still hopelessly
    crippled, and he had to stop. So in the midst of the track of
    battle he lay for an hour, until he in turn was rescued by another
    destroyer, wounded almost as badly as he was, but not altogether
    incapable of movement. Admiral Beatty tells us, as if it were
    nothing particular, that this destroyer, the _Defender_, had been
    struck in one of her boilers by a 12-inch shell. It seems a
    miracle that this fragile craft, built of steel less than a
    quarter of an inch thick, and with the lightest of scantlings and
    beams, was not entirely shattered and destroyed by so formidable a
    missile. But she could still steam 10 knots an hour, and she took
    _Onslow_ in tow, and both were saved."[75]

       *     *     *     *     *

Hood, with _Invincible_, _Inflexible_, and _Indomitable_, now swung
gallantly into line ahead of Beatty, and at once opened a very hot and
accurate fire on the leading German ships. _Invincible_, you will
remember, was now going into action for the third time. She had fought
gallantly in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, and had played a large
part in the destruction of von Spee's squadron off the Falkland
Islands. She was now about to fight her last fight, and leave her
bones at the bottom of the North Sea. A survivor thus describes the
fight:--

    "Getting within about 12,000 yards of the enemy ships,
    _Invincible_ joined the fray by opening fire upon some of the
    German light cruisers. Our marksmanship was splendid, and we
    evidently damaged the enemy considerably, although, owing to the
    thick weather, I could not see exactly what effect our shells had
    upon the vessels as they hit them.

    "_Invincible_ kept pushing in closer, until at last she got into
    touch with some enemy cruisers, and opened fire upon them at about
    9,600 yards range. Of course, all the time we were going towards
    the enemy, and the range was quickly decreasing, until it got very
    short. Picking out the leading German battle cruiser, the name of
    which I do not know, _Invincible_ turned her guns upon it. The
    ship was a very large one, apparently the largest of the lot, and
    she suffered greatly at our hands.

    "Here I might say that our light cruisers and the enemy light
    cruisers were all the while fighting between the _Invincible_ and
    the ship she was engaged with. The larger vessels fought over the
    heads of the smaller ones. That will give you some idea of what
    kind of a mix-up it was."

[Page 266]
The Germans were shooting well, but _Invincible_ was shooting better.
Several times during the action Admiral Hood complimented Commander
Dannreuther, his gunnery officer, on the fine marksmanship that was
displayed. Several times she hit the target ship, and finally set her
on fire. The last message which _Invincible's_ gunners received from
the admiral was, "You are doing splendid firing!"

Several German cruisers now concentrated their guns on _Invincible_,
and a few minutes after the admiral's message had been received a
terrible explosion occurred in her centre. The force of the explosion
was so great that it seemed to lift the middle of the ship right out,
and before the men who had been flung into the water had time to
realize their condition the vessel was sinking. An eye-witness says:
"I saw her go. There came just one great burst of flame and smoke.
When this cleared away, all that I could discern of her were her bow
and stern sticking up out of the water. A few minutes later, when we
passed the spot, there was nothing left of the ship." She went down
with nearly all her crew of seven hundred. Only six men were picked
up; they had saved their lives by clinging to floating wreckage.
_Invincible_ had only been in action for a quarter of an hour, but in
that short time she had done deadly work. The leading ship of the
Germans had been shattered and driven out of the line; the head of the
German fleet had, as Sir David Beatty says, "been crumpled up."

Four minutes before Hood went into action, _Defence_ and _Warrior_
were seen passing down between the British and German battle fleets
under a very heavy fire. A survivor of _Warrior_ tells us that his
ship went straight at the enemy, following the lead of _Defence_. Four
of the enemy's ships concentrated their fire on these two vessels.
_Defence_, after fighting for eight minutes against heavy odds, was
struck aft, and an explosion followed. Nevertheless she still pressed
on towards the enemy, firing her foremost guns. Then she was hit
forward, and a second and greater explosion occurred. Dense clouds of
smoke arose, and in the midst of them _Defence_ disappeared. She had
fought gallantly to the last.

_Warrior_ was now suffering heavy punishment. Her starboard
engine-room was wrecked, and her hydraulic pumps were disabled, so
that thenceforward the guns had to be worked by hand. She began to
[Page 267]
slew round, and with her port battery sank a German light cruiser,
which she had previously set on fire. Five German battleships now
blazed away at her, and shell after shell burst on board. One of them
plunged into the dynamo room and wrecked it, so that all lights were
put out, and all the telephones were rendered useless. The survivor
already quoted says:--

    "This meant semi-darkness in the shell-room passages and other
    places, through which men were obliged to grope their way as best
    they could by the aid of temporary lights. And, of course, broken
    communications prevented orders from being passed in the usual
    quick way.

    "One shell which hit the _Warrior_ on the port side tore its way
    through three cabins and then went down into the engineers'
    workshop, where it smashed part of the supports of my turret.
    Luckily this shell did not explode; if it had done so I should not
    have been here. A large projectile which pitched about eight feet
    from the fore part of my turret smashed its way through the upper
    deck; then another struck the deck about seven feet behind the
    turret and did a lot of damage. A little aft of us were the boat
    hoists, and through these an 11-inch shell cut completely. We were
    indeed 'in it,' and the strangest experience I had was when a
    large shell burst in the water about twenty feet from the muzzle
    of my gun and knocked me backwards by the force of its explosion.
    I was dazed for a few seconds, but recovered, and felt quite
    relieved to be 'all there.'"

Soon _Warrior_ was in a desperate condition. A few minutes more, and
she must have met the fate of _Defence_. Relief, however, was on the
way. Admiral Evan-Thomas's four battleships, with their 15-inch guns,
were now hard at work, and one of them, _Warspite_, steamed up at full
speed and thrust herself in between _Warrior_ and the German
battleships that were making havoc of her. The enemy ships were forced
to leave _Warrior_ alone, and to turn their fire upon _Warspite_.
Unfortunately, _Warspite's_ steering gear became jammed; she was out
of control, but she steamed round and round, shielding _Warrior_.

    "Several ships concentrated their salvos on her; some say six,
    others eight. For some time, at any rate, _Warspite_ was
    invisible, hidden by the vast fountains which the German shells
    sent into the air as they struck the water all round her. All who
    saw it thought it impossible that she could survive. Suddenly from
    the midst of the turmoil she emerged, apparently unscathed, and to
    the delighted astonishment of her friends opened fire with all her
    guns. It was a great moment."


Amidst all this intense bombardment _Warspite_ suffered only slightly,
though the Germans afterwards claimed that they had sunk her. One gun
[Page 268]
turret was hit, but her engines were quite uninjured.

Under shelter of _Warspite's_ wing, _Warrior_ slowly crept out of
action by means of her port engine, the only one which would work.
Soon after she got out of range this engine gave out, and she lay on
the water as helpless as a log. By this time, however, the squadrons
of the Grand Fleet had come up, and the battle had moved southward.

_Warrior_ was leaking badly, and it was clear that she would soon
sink. The seaplane carrier _Engadine_ now steamed up and took the
disabled vessel in tow. All night long her crew strove hard to save
their ship; but when morning dawned it was plain that their task was
hopeless. Her wounded men were transferred to _Engadine_, and the
remainder of the crew followed. When _Engadine_ steamed past the
sinking vessel, _Warrior's_ crew gave her three parting cheers. They
did not see her go down, but they saw her water-logged and awash
astern.

It was during this period that the _Black Prince_ received damage
which led later to her destruction.

At 6.50 the position was roughly as follows:--Beatty had turned the
German van, and was steering south-east, gradually moving towards the
south. Sir John Jellicoe had deployed his ships, and was following Sir
David's course in a single line. The two sections of the British fleet
were now united; they were one fighting unit. The German line was
headed off on the east, and Beatty and Jellicoe were working their way
between the enemy and his home ports. "The grandest sight I have ever
seen," said an eye-witness, "was the sight of our battle line--miles
of it fading into the mist--taking up their positions like clockwork,
and then belching forth great sheets of fire and clouds of smoke." The
enemy was now greatly outnumbered, and it looked as though the
destruction of the German fleet was only a matter of hours.

Then came misfortune. The haze which had been hanging over the waters
all day now deepened into one of those thick fogs so common in the
North Sea. So dense was it that it veiled the enemy's movements
completely, and frequently hid his ships altogether. This not only
made gunnery very difficult, but prevented the British from keeping
proper contact with the enemy. The failing light, however, was in our
favour. From time to time the German ships were seen standing out
[Page 269]
clear against the sunset. When this occurred, the British gunners took
full advantage of the opportunity. How well they worked their guns may
be gathered from the following passage in an officer's letter home:
"One of our 12-inch-gun ships put her salvos into a German ship so
accurately that the enemy vessel heeled right over under the heavy
blows. Of course the German went out of action. If the 12-inch gun
could do this, how much more destructive must have been the
well-directed fire from 15-inch and 13.5-inch guns. . . . It was a
gunners' battle. Our gunnery is better at the points than that of the
enemy. . . ."

[Illustration: "Warspite" coming to the Rescue of "Warrior."

(_From the drawing by Arthur J. W. Burgess. By permission of The
Sphere._)

About 6.30 p.m. _Warspite_ came up to the rescue of the sinking
_Warrior_. Immediately she smashed up one of the leading German
battleships. First she cleared away the enemy's foremost mast and then
sent two of her turrets flying out of position. Finally she set the
German on fire. The enemy ship thus handled is seen in the foreground.]

[Page 270]
Under cover of the thick weather von Scheer turned his fleet as
rapidly as he could, and sped southward for safety and home, with the
British hard after him. For the British the situation was
heart-breaking. The long-looked-for chance had come; the German fleet
was at our mercy, and yet the full fruits of victory were snatched out
of our hands by the thick weather. But though the enemy escaped, he
did not escape unscathed. At 7.14, when the sun was hidden behind the
western clouds, Beatty sighted two battle cruisers and two battleships
of the enemy, and engaged them vigorously. Soon they began to show
signs of great distress. One of them was on fire, and another was
dropping astern. To hide these ships from Beatty's gunners, the German
destroyers raised a heavy pall of smoke, under cover of which they got
away.

About eight o'clock the 1st and 3rd Light Cruiser Squadrons were
ordered to sweep westward, in order to discover where the head of the
enemy's line was, and twenty minutes later Beatty altered course in
the same direction. He soon sighted three battle cruisers or
battleships, and engaged them at 10,000 yards range. _Lion_ got her
shells home time after time on the leading ship, which fell out of
line, burning furiously and listing heavily to port. _Princess Royal_
set fire to another battleship, and forced a third to leave the line.
She also was in flames, and heeling over. Then the mist came down
again, and the enemy could no longer be seen.

At 8.40 all Sir David Beatty's battle cruisers felt a heavy shock,
which sent a quiver through them. At first it was thought that the
ships must have been torpedoed, or that they had run upon mines or had
fouled sunken wreckage. At once the hulls of the vessels were
examined; but as they showed no damage, it was supposed that the shock
[Page 271]
had been caused by the blowing up of a big enemy vessel somewhere in
the mist to the westward.

       *     *     *     *     *

[Illustration: Diagram to illustrate Movements of British Fleet after
the Union of Beatty and Jellicoe at 9 p.m.]

Meanwhile, what was Sir John Jellicoe's fleet doing? It had fired its
first shots at 6.17, when the 1st Battle Squadron came into action,
and had administered severe punishment to the enemy. The _Marlborough_
was soon prominent. She fired seven salvos at a battleship; then she
engaged a cruiser, and afterwards another battleship. A few minutes
before seven she was hit by a torpedo, and listed considerably to
starboard; but by 7.12 she was at it again, and soon had fired
fourteen rapid salvos at another battleship, and had forced it to
leave the line. Sir John Jellicoe tells us that the manner in which
this ship kept up a rapid fire, despite the fact that she had been
[Page 272]
disabled by a torpedo, set a very fine example to the whole squadron.

_Iron Duke_, with Sir John Jellicoe on board, opened fire at 6.30 on a
battleship 12,000 yards away. Very quickly this enemy ship was
"straddled"[76] by shrapnel fire, and at the second salvo her shells
got home. _Iron Duke_ fired with great rapidity, and soon the target
ship, unable to stand it any longer, turned away. The light cruisers
were also busy with torpedoes. During this stage of the fight they
sank a German battleship and four destroyers.

By nine o'clock the enemy had completely disappeared, and darkness was
rapidly setting in. All the British main forces had by this time
encircled the German fleet, and were between it and Heligoland.
Nothing but the fog and the coming of night had saved the enemy from
complete destruction. Sir John Jellicoe dared not close in on von
Scheer's ships during the hours of darkness. The sea was swarming with
submarines and torpedo craft, and he would have run frightful risks
had he attempted to continue the fight with his big ships during the
night. He therefore arranged his fleet so that it would be in a most
favourable position for continuing the battle next day.

Meanwhile he did not intend to leave the Germans at peace. The light
craft were ordered to make a night attack. The object of this attack
was to demoralize the enemy, and force him to disclose his
whereabouts, so that as soon as daylight returned he could be picked
up and finished off. Having once got firm hold of the enemy, Sir John
did not mean to let him go again until he had finished his job.

[Footnote 75: Quoted from Mr. A. H. Pollen's account of the battle in
_The Weekly Dispatch_.]

[Footnote 76: Some of their shots fell over the enemy ship, others
short, but none as yet, hit.]

[Page 273]




  CHAPTER XXXI.

  THE END OF THE BATTLE.


The night attack began about 9 p.m., and was mainly carried out by
destroyers. Light cruisers were also engaged for the purpose of
protecting the British line from torpedo attack. At 10.20
_Southampton_ and _Dublin_ were in action with no less than five enemy
cruisers, and they lost many men during the fifteen minutes' unequal
fight. At half-past eleven _Birmingham_ sighted several big ships
steering south. They were enemy battleships slipping past the British
stern in the fog and darkness. During the night the fight between the
light craft and the enemy ships raged fast and furious, and many
German vessels were sent to their doom.

The British destroyers did splendid work that night, and won great
glory. The heaviest fighting fell to the lot of the 4th Flotilla,
which, after discharging two torpedoes with effect, lost _Tipperary_,
which was set on fire, and sank. Two rafts were got away from the
sinking vessel, and a number of survivors were afterwards picked up;
but the young commander went down with his ship. A petty officer thus
describes the fighting. His experiences give us an excellent idea of
the fierce and confused series of encounters that took place.

    "Through haze and smoke and darkness--all mixed up to baffle
    us--our division of destroyers raced along, and, about three
    minutes past midnight, plunged right into the midst of the German
    fleet. Being oil-fuel boats and emitting neither smoke nor flame,
    we were able to pounce quietly upon the enemy, and it was apparent
    that we gave their nerves a nasty jar. One could tell this by
    their manner of firing. Hurriedly they switched on their
    searchlights, and began to bang away at us with all the guns they
    could bring to bear, and with some they could not bring to bear,
    judging from the wild way in which some of their rounds flew
    overhead. A sure sign this that the men working them had become
[Page 274]
    panic-stricken, and were just blazing away without considering
    what they were blazing at.

    "It was too dark for us to follow the enemy's movements closely,
    though we could see the loom of some of his ships and locate
    others by the flash from their guns; but we saw enough to show us
    that our sudden descent upon the enemy had thrown him into
    disorder, and some of his ships appeared to be acting in a very
    demoralized sort of way. Perhaps that was not to be greatly
    wondered at, for a destroyer attack at midnight is anything but a
    pleasant thing for a fleet to face."[77]

The same writer also tells us that the enemy ships turned their
searchlights on the destroyers, and that the destroyers responded by
firing at the searchlights. The consequence was that the searchlights
were switched on and off in the most confusing fashion. "The enemy
dared not keep a beam steadied upon one object long, lest our light
guns should send a projectile crashing through the lens."

Of course, the guns carried by the destroyers were mere peashooters
compared with the heavy weapons of the battleships and cruisers. One
shell from a big ship was quite sufficient to send any one of the
daring little craft to the bottom. When you realize this, you will
begin to understand the splendid courage and resolution of the crews:
they did not hesitate to fight the biggest ships of the German fleet.

    "Heavy guns blazed furiously at us, and at such close range that
    they could not miss. It was not just one or two guns, but dozens,
    that were turned upon us. Only one result was possible. We were
    crushed by the weight of their fire. You may imagine what
    bombardment from armour-piercing guns would mean to such fragile
    craft as destroyers. Of our lot, only one vessel came through
    unhurt, and it is marvellous that she escaped."

_Fortune_ was literally torn to pieces by heavy shells. Her midships
gun was blown into the sea, and most of her crew were killed. The
engines were torn out by another shell, and she settled down fast by
the bows. But even while she sank she let the Germans feel her sting.
The foremost torpedo tube was still in working order, so a petty
officer and others trained it upon the nearest German ship. Just as
they were firing it a shell came aboard and blew the tube into the
air. The torpedo was actually discharged while the tube was rising,
and, what is more, it ran towards its mark.

[Page 275]
[Illustration: The Last Moments of the Destroyer "Fortune."

(_From the drawing by Maurice Randall. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)

This picture illustrates _Fortune_ firing her last torpedo, and an
enemy shell blowing the tube into the air at the moment that the
torpedo left it.]

[Page 276]
Shortly afterwards _Fortune_ sank, but by means of rafts some
thirty-five of the crew managed to keep afloat. For a couple of hours
they drifted to and fro, while the battle raged furiously all around,
and over their heads as well. So deafening was the thunder of the guns
that they had to shout to be heard by their nearest companions.

    "Dimly we could see the big ships moving; the flame from their gun
    muzzles would light up all the hull for a second, and then die
    out. It was as though the vessels suddenly sprang out of the night
    and as suddenly faded back into it again. Most uncanny sight of
    all was that of a German Dreadnought on fire. She lay some
    distance from us, and was glowing from stem to stern like a
    red-hot cinder. One of her guns still continued banging away; all
    the others had presumably been put out of action. But struggling
    there she made a fine target for British gunners, who made full
    use of the opportunity, and poured so much metal into her that she
    soon went hissing to the bottom."

About six in the morning a destroyer came along and attempted without
success to pick up the survivors of _Fortune_. Later on _Moresby_,
which was returning from a chase in which she had torpedoed an enemy
vessel, came up together with some of our light cruisers. The
submarines which infested the waters were driven off, _Moresby_
dropped her whaler, and seventeen men out of the thirty-five who took
the rafts when _Fortune_ went down were saved.

I despair of being able to give you a picture of that terrible night
in the North Sea. You must think of the black darkness, stabbed every
few moments by flashes of fire, or the whole sky for miles around lit
up by the leaping flames of a big ship in its last throes. You must
think of the awful roar of the guns, which seemed to sound even louder
than by day, and the cold, white fingers of the searchlights, like
some uncanny monsters of the deep searching the ocean for their prey.
"The searchlights at times," wrote an eye-witness, "made the sea as
white as marble, on which the destroyers moved black as cockroaches on
a floor." And above all, you must think of those gallant Britons who
were fighting and dying in that nightmare of horrors in order that you
and I might continue to dwell in freedom and safety in the land of our
fathers. We must never forget them; they gave their lives for us.

       *     *     *     *     *

The dawn of 1st June broke thick and foggy, and the lookouts in the
[Page 277]
foretops could barely see more than four miles around them. The
British fleet was then lying south and west of the Horn Reef, and now
it turned northward to search for the enemy. But during the night the
German ships had scattered like a flight of wild duck scared by shot.
In the fog and darkness they had slipped astern of the British ships,
and steamed as rapidly as they could for their harbours. On the 1st
June there was not a single German craft afloat in the so-called
German Ocean. The British fleet swept the seas until 1.15 p.m., but
there was no sign of the enemy. Further searching and waiting were
useless, so Sir John Jellicoe ordered his ships back to their bases.
By 9.30 p.m. on 2nd June they were at sea again, eager for another
fight, but could discover no enemy.

       *     *     *     *     *

On an earlier page I told you that the Germans meant to claim a
victory, no matter what the result of the engagement might be. As soon
as their crippled and battered ships were safely in harbour, the gates
of the dockyards were locked in order that no prying eyes might
discover the real condition of the fleet. Then a great victory was
announced. The German people were told that the British fleet had been
beaten. The first great blow had been struck, and the ancient glory of
the British race had disappeared. The German losses, so it was said,
were small. Only one old battleship, three small cruisers, and five
destroyers had gone down.

Of course this was a fairy tale, meant to hearten the German people,
who stood in great need of a victory. Before long the Germans were
forced to admit that other ships had been lost, and their deluded
people were told that these losses had been concealed "for military
reasons." Our Admiralty promptly issued a list of all the British
ships that had been sunk, but said little or nothing about the German
losses. Many people thereupon jumped to the conclusion that we had
suffered a reverse. Our sailors, however, knew better, and they were
surprised and angry that such a false idea had got abroad. There was
not an admiral, nor a captain, nor an officer, nor a man in all the
fleet who did not know that the enemy had been outgeneralled and
outfought. We had lost _Queen Mary_, _Indefatigable_, _Invincible_,
_Defence_, _Black Prince_, _Warrior_, and eight destroyers; and most
of their crews--some five or six thousand men--had gone down with
them. "They fell," said Sir John Jellicoe in his dispatch, "doing
[Page 278]
their duty nobly--a death which they would have been the first to
desire."

How well our sailors bore themselves on that never-to-be-forgotten
31st of May may be gathered from the glowing tribute which Sir John
Jellicoe paid them in his dispatch:--

    "The conduct of officers and men throughout the day and night
    actions was entirely beyond praise. No words of mine could do them
    justice. On all sides it is reported to me that the glorious
    traditions of the past were most worthily upheld: whether in heavy
    ships, cruisers, light cruisers, or destroyers, the same admirable
    spirit prevailed. Officers and men were cool and determined, with
    a cheeriness that would have carried them through anything. The
    heroism of the wounded was the admiration of all. I cannot
    adequately express the pride with which the spirit of the Fleet
    filled me."

With the generosity of the truly brave, Sir John also testified to the
courage of the Germans:--

    "The enemy fought with the gallantry that was expected of him. We
    particularly admired the conduct of those on board a disabled
    German light cruiser which passed down the British line shortly
    after deployment, under a heavy fire, which was returned by the
    only gun left in action."

[Illustration]

 [Page 279]
        =Time-Table of the Battle of Jutland.=

                 May 31-June 1, 1916.

+----------------------------------------------------+
|   =p.m.=           =_MAY 31._=                     |
|                                                    |
|  =2.20.=  _Galatea_ reports presence of enemy.     |
|                                                    |
|  =2.35.= Smoke of enemy ships sighted to eastward. |
|                                                    |
|  =2.45.= _Engadine_ sends up seaplane to scout.    |
|                                                    |
|  =3.30.= Beatty forms line of battle, and one      |
|          minute later sights enemy.                |
|                                                    |
|  =3.48.= Action commences--range 18,500 yards.     |
|          (_"Queen Mary" sunk._)                    |
|                                                    |
|   =4.8.= Evan-Thomas's squadron opens fire--range  |
|          20,000 yards.                             |
|                                                    |
|  =4.15.= Our destroyers move out for torpedo       |
|          attack.                                   |
|          (_During this attack the destroyers       |
|          "Nomad" and "Nestor" were sunk._)         |
|                                                    |
|  =4.18.= The third enemy ship on fire.             |
|          (_"Indefatigable" sunk._)                 |
|                                                    |
|  =4.38.= _Southampton_ reports von Hipper's fleet  |
|          ahead.                                    |
|                                                    |
|  =4.42.= Beatty sights enemy's main battle fleet.  |
|          Runs northward to lead the German ships   |
|          towards Jellicoe.                         |
|                                                    |
|  =4.57.= Our ships standing out against clear      |
|          horizon; German ships shrouded by mist.   |
|                                                    |
|  =5.10.= _Fearless_ reports enemy heavy ship on    |
|          fire.                                     |
|                                                    |
|  =5.35.= Beatty gradually hauling to north-east,   |
|          keeping range of enemy.                   |
|                                                    |
|  =5.50.= Jellicoe's advance ships sighted.         |
|                                                    |
|  =5.56.= Beatty alters course to east, in order    |
|          to cross =T= of German line.              |
|                                                    |
|  =6.14.= Jellicoe forms line of battle.            |
|                                                    |
|  =6.17.= First shots fired by Jellicoe's fleet.    |
|          (_"Defence" sunk; "Warrior" disabled,     |
|          and sank in night._)                      |
|                                                    |
|  =6.21.= Hood leads his squadron into action.      |
|          (_"Invincible" sunk._)                    |
|                                                    |
|  =6.30.= 4th Battle Squadron, with flagship _Iron  |
|          Duke_, opens fire.                        |
|                                                    |
| =6.30.-7.20.= 2nd Battle Squadron in action.       |
|                                                    |
|  =6.50.= Beatty's ships cross =T= of German line.  |
|          Light bad. Enemy ships lost sight of.     |
|                                                    |
|   =7.6.= Whole British fleet steams south, chasing |
|          enemy.                                    |
|                                                    |
|  =7.17.= Sun below clouds. Light improves. Enemy   |
|          ships seen and re-engaged.                |
|                                                    |
|  =7.45.= Destroyers at head of enemy's line emit   |
|          palls of smoke to cover retreat of their  |
|          big ships, which are soon lost to sight.  |
|                                                    |
|  =7.58.= British cruisers ordered to sweep         |
|          westward and discover whereabouts of head |
|          of enemy's line.                          |
|                                                    |
|  =8.20.= Beatty turns west to support. Leading     |
|          ship of enemy on fire and listing heavily |
|          to port. _Princess Royal_ sets fire to a  |
|          three-funnelled battleship. _New Zealand_ |
|          and to _Indomitable_ report third ship    |
|          forced out of line, heeling over and on   |
|          fire.                                     |
|                                                    |
|  =8.40.= Heavy shock felt--probably due to big     |
|          enemy ship blowing up.                    |
|                                                    |
|     =9.= Enemy entirely out of sight. Jellicoe     |
|          disposes his fleet for the night. Night   |
|          attack of destroyers begins.              |
|          (_"Black Prince" sunk._)                  |
|                                                    |
| =10.20.= 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron in action for  |
|          fifteen minutes with enemy cruiser and    |
|          four light cruisers.                      |
|                                                    |
|   =a.m.=                                           |
|                                                    |
|  =2.35.= _Moresby_ fires torpedo at enemy          |
|          battleships, and two minutes later feels  |
|          shock of the explosion on board vessel    |
|          aimed at.                                 |
|          (_During the night the destroyers         |
|          "Tipperary," "Ardent," "Fortune,"         |
|          "Shark," "Sparrowhawk" and "Turbulent"    |
|          were sunk._)                              |
|                                                    |
|                    =_JUNE 1._=                     |
|                                                    |
| =Daylight.= Battle fleet, then south and west of   |
|          Horn Reef, turns north in search of       |
|          enemy.                                    |
|                                                    |
|     =4.= Fleet engages a Zeppelin for about five   |
|          minutes.                                  |
|                                                    |
|    =11.= British fleet watching and waiting for    |
|          enemy.                                    |
|                                                    |
|   =p.m.=                                           |
|                                                    |
|  =1.15.= Jellicoe concludes that enemy has         |
|          succeeded in returning to port. Shapes    |
|          course for his bases, which are reached   |
|          Friday, June 2.                           |
|                                                    |
|   =p.m.=           =_JUNE 2._=                     |
|                                                    |
|  =9.30.= Fleet re-fuelled and re-supplied with     |
|          ammunition. Sails at 9.30 p.m., but       |
|          searches in vain for the enemy.           |
+----------------------------------------------------+

[Pages 280, 281]
[Illustration: The Last Phase of the Great Battle.

[_By permission of The Sphere._

When night fell, British destroyers dashed into the midst of the
German fleet and carried out fierce and determined attacks on the big
ships. The following is an extract from Sir John Jellicoe's dispatch
describing the night battle which is illustrated above:--

"During the night the British heavy ships were not attacked; but the
Fourth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Flotillas, under Commodore Hawkesley and
Captains Charles J. Wintour and Anselan J. B. Stirling, delivered a
series of very gallant and successful attacks on the enemy, causing
him heavy losses.

"It was during these attacks that severe losses in the Fourth Flotilla
occurred, including that of _Tipperary_, with the gallant leader of
the flotilla, Captain Wintour. He had brought his flotilla to a high
pitch of perfection, and although suffering severely from the fire of
the enemy, a heavy toll of enemy vessels was taken, and many gallant
actions were performed by the flotilla.

"Two torpedoes were seen to take effect on enemy vessels as the result
of the attacks of the Fourth Flotilla, one being from _Spitfire_
(Lieutenant-Commander Clarence W. E. Trelawny), and the other from
either _Ardent_ (Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden), _Ambuscade_
(Lieutenant-Commander Gordon A. Coles), or _Garland_
(Lieutenant-Commander Reginald S. Goff).

"The attack carried out by the Twelfth Flotilla (Captain Anselan J. B.
Stirling) was admirably executed. The squadron attacked, which
consisted of six large vessels, besides light cruisers, and comprised
vessels of the _Kaiser_ class, was taken by surprise. A large number
of torpedoes was fired, including some at the second and third ships
in the line; those fired at the third ship took effect, and she was
observed to blow up. A second attack, made twenty minutes later by
_Mœnad_ (Commander John P. Champion) on the five vessels still
remaining, resulted in the fourth ship in the line being also hit.

"The destroyers were under a heavy fire from the light cruisers on
reaching the rear of the line, but the _Onslaught_
(Lieutenant-Commander Arthur G. Onslow, D.S.C.) was the only vessel
which received any material injuries. In the _Onslaught_
Sub-Lieutenant Harry W. A. Kemmis, assisted by Midshipman Reginald G.
Arnot, R.N.R., the only executive officers not disabled, brought the
ship successfully out of action and reached her home port.

"During the attack carried out by the Eleventh Flotilla, _Castor_
(Commodore James R. P. Hawkesley), leading the flotilla, engaged and
sank an enemy torpedo-boat destroyer at point-blank range."

Sir David Beatty reports:--

"The Thirteenth Flotilla, under the command of Captain James U. Farie,
in _Champion_, took station astern of the battle fleet for the night.
At 0.30 a.m. on Thursday, 1st June, a large vessel crossed the rear of
the flotilla at high speed. She passed close to _Petard_ and
_Turbulent_, switched on searchlights and opened a heavy fire, which
disabled _Turbulent_. At 3.30 a.m. _Champion_ was engaged for a few
minutes with four enemy destroyers. _Moresby_ reports four ships of
_Deutschland_ class sighted at 2.35 a.m., at whom she fired one
torpedo. Two minutes later an explosion was felt by _Moresby_ and
_Obdurate_.

"_Fearless_ and the 1st Flotilla were very usefully employed as a
submarine screen during the earlier part of the 31st May. At 6.10
p.m., when joining the Battle Fleet, _Fearless_ was unable to follow
the battle cruisers without fouling the battleships, and therefore
took station at the rear of the line. She sighted during the night a
battleship of the _Kaiser_ class steaming fast and entirely alone. She
was not able to engage her, but believes she was attacked by
destroyers further astern. A heavy explosion was observed astern not
long after.

"There were many gallant deeds performed by the destroyer flotillas;
they surpassed the very highest expectations that I had formed of
them.

"Apart from the proceedings of the flotillas, the Second Light-cruiser
Squadron in the rear of the battle fleet was in close action for about
fifteen minutes at 10.20 p.m. with a squadron comprising one enemy
cruiser and four light cruisers, during which period _Southampton_ and
_Dublin_ (Captain Albert C. Scott) suffered rather heavy casualties,
although their steaming and fighting qualities were not impaired. The
return fire of the squadron appeared to be very effective.

_Abdiel_, ably commanded by Commander Berwick Curtis, carried out her
duties with the success which has always characterized her work."]

[Footnote 77: _London Magazine_, September 1916.]

[Page 282]




  CHAPTER XXXII.

  SAILORS' STORIES OF THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND.


Before I begin to tell you stories of the great fight, let us ask
ourselves the question: Was the Battle of Jutland a British victory?
It certainly was not such a complete victory as Nelson achieved at the
Battle of the Nile, when he sank or captured eleven out of the
nineteen ships opposed to him; nor was it as sweeping as the victory
at Trafalgar, when twenty ships out of the forty in the combined
fleets of France and Spain either surrendered or were destroyed. In
the Battle of Jutland, though we made no such wholesale havoc of the
enemy, he undoubtedly suffered heavier losses than we did. According
to Sir John Jellicoe's careful calculation, the Germans lost three
battleships, one battle cruiser, five light cruisers, one of which may
have been a battleship, six destroyers, and one submarine. These were
certain and observed losses. In addition, one first-class battleship,
one battle cruiser, and three destroyers were seen to be so severely
hit that in all likelihood they went down before reaching harbour.
Further, most of the ships which escaped were so badly damaged that
they were unable to leave harbour for weeks afterwards. Our losses,
you will remember, were three battle cruisers, three armoured
cruisers, and eight destroyers. The enemy's losses were actually
heavier than ours, and proportionately they were far greater. If we
only take into consideration the balance of damage done, victory must
be ascribed to the British fleet.

But there is another and a far more important side of the question
which we must consider. For twenty-two months of war the British fleet
had blockaded Germany, and the German navy had not dared to come out
to try to break the blockade. On May 31, 1916, it put its fortune to
[Page 283]
the touch, and the stake for which it played was that command of the
North Sea which we had enjoyed so long. Had we suffered defeat, German
warships would have been free to come and go at their will, to prey
upon our shipping, to sink our transports, and to bombard our ports;
while their merchant vessels would once more traverse the ocean routes
of the world. When the battle was over there was not a German ship to
be seen on the so-called German Ocean. Our control of the North Sea
was as complete as ever. Whatever object the German navy may have had
in coming out, it certainly failed to achieve that object. He who in
any struggle prevents his enemy from accomplishing his purpose is
surely the victor, or words have lost their meaning. The Battle of
Jutland--the greatest naval battle of history--_was_ a British
victory, and far-sighted men have not hesitated to call it a decisive
victory.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now I must keep the promise implied by the heading of this chapter,
and tell you some sailors' yarns of the battle. First we will read a
middy's account of the fight.

"I thought we were out on a stunt, but I did not think it was going to
be the 'pukha'[78] stunt. I was in my bunk having a nap after lunch
when my servant came and woke me up, and told me that we had to take
battle stations. I tumbled out pretty quick, and got to my place. I
had three _matelots_[79] with me in my position, and I don't think the
eldest could have been more than eighteen. They were topping chaps.
They had never been in action before, and though they looked a bit
white when the first shot went off--I felt a bit shaken myself--they
bucked up like Trojans, and after a few minutes were whistling and
singing as if nothing particular except battle practice was going on.

"Those first few minutes were pretty bad, for the Huns got in on us
first; and their shooting was just wonderful--every shell seemed to
get home. When we started--and I think it was _Lion_, Beatty's ship,
which opened the ball--we gave them something to go on with.

"But, my goodness! what a sight it was. I have seen some ships in my
time, and a good number at a time; but I would hardly have believed
there were so many ships in the world as I saw on that Wednesday. The
[Page 284]
water seemed alive with them, and the farther you looked the more
ships there seemed to be. Of course of the general action I have only
a very vague and confused idea. We seemed to engage two or three
ships, and then they seemed to disappear or limp away. We got hit
fairly often, but never in a vital spot, and the longer the game went
on the wilder the Huns' shooting became. Our fellows were as steady as
rocks, and our shooting was as good as at battle practice--and that's
pretty good.

"But with the awful noise one could hardly realize what was really
going on. I saw _Queen Mary_ blown right out of the water, and
_Invincible_ and _Indefatigable_ sunk. Talking of _Invincible_, there
was one sight which I shall never forget. It was the pluckiest thing I
have ever seen. When the ship went down four of the chaps managed to
collar hold of a raft. As we steamed ahead into action we saw these
men on the raft, and at first thought they must be Huns. But as we
passed by--for, of course, we could not stop for anything--the four
got up on their feet and cheered us like mad! It was the finest thing
I have seen.

"The 'Black Navy,' as we call the torpedo-boat destroyers, were
absolutely magnificent; they just wiped the floor with the Huns'
torpedo-boat destroyers, and the way they tackled the big ships was
simply top-hole. I saw one--I think it was _Onslaught_--take on a big
ship (I believe it was _Hindenburg_, or one of that class) and sink
her.

"There were some extraordinary escapes. One chap I know was in a
turret. One shell took the top of the turret clean off. Then another
came slap through the side. The shock threw this chap--he is a captain
of the Marines--into the sea. He was picked up, and except that he was
a bit shaken and stunned, he was all right, and is on duty now."

       *     *     *     *     *

The middy whose account you have just read saw _Queen Mary_,
_Invincible_, and _Indefatigable_ sunk. A naval expert, writing in the
_Daily News_, believes that two of these ships were lost not by
gun-fire, but by the explosion of their magazines. The Germans, he
says, were firing shells which when they burst flung out flashes of
flame 200 feet long. According to his account, the shells blew off the
top of the turrets, and the flashes shot down the ammunition hoists
[Page 285]
into the magazines and caused the terrible explosions which sent the
gallant ships to the bottom.

       *     *     *     *     *

Here is a description of the battle from the pen of another
midshipman:--

"As you no doubt have read, the weather was very misty; which kept us
from a decisive victory. It was very exciting, and once we were in it
I quite enjoyed it; but the waiting before wasn't very nice. My action
station is in a turret right in the forepart of the ship, and I viewed
the action through a periscope in the turret. The noise was deafening,
and I had lost my ear protectors; but I was too excited to notice the
noise. The battle cruisers were firing just in front, and doing
terrible damage. A destroyer just in front of us had its funnel blown
off, and started to blaze away. It was a desperate sight. Then a big
ship close to us blew up amidships, and started to sink. I got a fine
view of her. There were lots of men hanging from the stern and on
rafts in the water. A destroyer stood by to pick them up. Huge
splashes came from German shells, falling into the water fairly close
to us, and some ricochetted over us (I can't spell it). I am
absolutely none the worse for it. Our captain and commander both wore
white heather in their caps. As the first gun in the turret I was in
fired, our gun's crew gave a great cheer, which made me feel all
funny. I thought a lot of you" (the middy is writing to his mother),
"and how wonderfully good you've been to me all through my life. I
also thought of daddy. I had quite a long time to think in before we
get into it. Next morning we met a Zepp and fired at it; but it
disappeared behind a cloud. I have a memento in the shape of a tube
which fired the second shot in our turret.

"We had a memorial service this morning, the hymns being 499, 401,
140. At the same time the dead were buried ashore. We sent a
midshipman to assist in carrying the coffin of a midshipman. All the
next night we had to sleep in our turrets. An overcoat laid on a steel
floor was my bed. We expected a destroyer attack in the night, and
some ships had one. Our fierce part of the action lasted about forty
minutes. After a few shots from the turret it became very hot, and we
all took off our coats. We went into the action with a big Union Jack
flying and two white ensigns on the mast, and another ensign astern,
[Page 286]
so there was no mistaking our nationality. The next morning we were
continually passing wreckage and bodies, some with lifebelts on."

       *     *     *     *     *

A commander thus relates his experiences:--

"It was altogether unimaginable, and even now I have only a sort of
confused idea of what happened. Moreover, I am still rather deaf from
the terrible gun-fire. Although we rather expected to find some Huns
about, we did not think that it was going to be 'The Day.'

"We came upon them rather suddenly. They opened fire upon us, and
never in all my life have I heard such a terrific din. It was like a
hundred thunderstorms, and Brock's fireworks all let loose at the same
time. The first four minutes of the battle saw most of the damage done
to our big ships. I saw _Queen Mary_ and _Indefatigable_ go down. It
would be wrong to say _Queen Mary_ went down: she went up. Some of the
shells must have landed right into the magazines, for the great vessel
went right up in pieces into the air.

"Then _Indefatigable_ received a most tremendous pounding. You could
see the big ship literally staggering under the enormous weight of
metal she received. I think that she must have gone down in about two
minutes after she received the first broadside. Some people aver that
_Queen Mary_ went down as the result of a Zeppelin dropping a bomb
into her magazine; but I am convinced that it was gun-fire that sank
her. But we had not much time for looking about us.

"Admiral Beatty opened fire in _Lion_. The noise was perfectly awful.
We soon began to shake them up a bit, and though we were inferior in
numbers and lighter craft, we got a jolly good grip on them. Of
course, what we wanted to do was to hold on to them at any cost until
Admiral Jellicoe with the big lot could come up; then we knew that we
should blow them out of the water: so naturally Beatty was prepared,
and so were all of us, to lose some cruisers. The only point was to
hold on at any cost. Unfortunately, we could not quite do it, for, as
soon as they gathered that Jellicoe was coming up, the Huns ran for
their lives. They were shaken to the core, and I am absolutely certain
that they have lost far more ships than they have admitted.

[Page 287]
[Illustration: His Master's Voice.                   [_Photo, Cribb._

Sir John Jellicoe's dog Spot beneath one of the 15-inch guns of _Iron
Duke_.]

[Page 288]
"Personally, apart from the big ships they have lost, I am convinced
that they lost about twenty torpedo-boat destroyers; and when the true
facts are known, I think it will be discovered that we not only chased
a bigger and heavier fleet than our own back into port, but that we
inflicted far heavier losses on them than they did on us.

"Another thing I particularly noticed which showed that we rattled
them pretty badly. During the first four minutes of the scrap the
Huns' shooting was extremely fine; it seemed as if 'every bullet found
its billet,' so to speak. The moment we started in on them, however,
their shooting became extremely wild and inaccurate. To start with,
the salvos flopped all right on to the mark; but afterwards they went
all anyhow, else our losses would have been much heavier. This proves
to me that the Huns have no real stomach for sea-fighting. Our
shooting was wonderfully good, especially that of _Tiger_."

       *     *     *     *     *

A petty officer's impression of the fight was as follows:--

"Our fellows were in the best of spirits, making fun all the time, but
pumping it into the enemy as hard as they could. Six shells hit us,
but not one pierced our armour, and at the finish we were still
fighting. The enemy gunners are not to be laughed at. When Jellicoe
came up the Germans 'hopped it,' and some of Jellicoe's ships never
got into action at all."

[Illustration]

[Footnote 78: Indian word meaning real, substantial.]

[Footnote 79: French word for sailors (pron. _mat-e-lō_).]

[Page 289]




  CHAPTER XXXIII.

  MORE STORIES OF THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND.


A Signalman on the ill-fated _Warrior_ thus tells the story of the
part played by his ship:--

"We went into action prepared for heavier losses than we suffered. It
was our part to hang on to the enemy, and we did. The battle-cruiser
fleet came up from a different direction from the great battleships,
in front of which _Warrior_ and _Defence_ were sent out. They moved
northward for a time parallel to the main German fleet off the Jutland
coast. What did us was the haze. It kept coming up thickest from the
east, and our ships were against the afternoon sunlight, and the more
plainly visible. _Warrior_ sighted the enemy about two hours after the
battle cruisers began the fight, and opened fire in ten minutes. I
believe four or five German battleships of the main fleet were firing
at us. We were struck by about fifteen big shells, mostly near the
engine-room. One shell penetrated close to the ammunition passage, but
failed to explode, or _Warrior_ would have been blown sky high.

"Meanwhile _Warrior_ was herself pouring shell into a German cruiser,
which I believe was the _Wiesbaden_. It's my belief we bagged her. She
was a long thing, with three fat funnels, and we struck her with a
salvo of six guns--six shells in a row--and down she went. At the same
time my mind was so concentrated on my work that I didn't either see
or hear the _Defence_ blown up, though she was our next ship, only
four cables away. She was sunk by two salvos of four or five shells
from 12-inch or 14-inch guns.

"As we came up to the scene of action where the battle cruisers had
been engaged for about two hours, we saw a destroyer with her boat
down picking up the survivors of _Queen Mary_ as coolly as if no
[Page 290]
battle was going on. One of the huge shells which struck _Warrior_
gashed the upper deck with a huge rent. One shell burst in the
engine-room, and killed many. Several were severely wounded, and the
total of dead will come to about eighty. I want to praise especially
the extreme heroism of the stokers. They kept on at their work after
the engine-room was flooded. Then they drew the fires and quietly came
up to the deck. The signalmen on the tops also remained in their
position throughout. One on the maintop was killed, having both his
legs blown off. Five or six messenger boys also stood steady, without
'panicking' at all, and went quietly to their action station, though
none of them had seen fighting before. Apart from the smashing blows
of the big shells there were very few casualties, but a few were
gassed by the fumes of the shells. As the ship began to fill she
slowly turned half round to draw out of action, the signal 'Not under
control' being raised. As I shifted my position to look after this
signal I saw a shell crash just where I had been standing, and I
thought to myself, 'There goes my old locker!' As _Warrior_ turned
almost helpless out of action, I saw the whole main fleet rushing
forward to attack the head of the German line."

       *     *     *     *     *

Another seaman[80] thus describes the end of _Warrior_:--

"_Engadine_ took us in tow about 8 p.m. After that we found what we
could to eat, and had supper. But throughout the night there was
little or no sleep for anybody. _Warrior_ was leaking badly, in spite
of all efforts to keep out the water, and she gradually settled lower
and lower. . . .

"One could not easily imagine a more perilous situation than the one
we were in; yet I did not see any one exhibit the least sign of
nervousness or disquiet. Whatever the men might have thought they kept
it to themselves, and steadily 'carried on' with the jobs allotted to
them.

"Morning dawned, with _Warrior_ in very bad case. She had developed a
heavy list to port, and her decks were practically awash. Clearly she
could not last much longer. Only one possible course was open to the
captain, and he took it. _Engadine_ was ordered to come alongside, and
we prepared to abandon ship. . . .

[Page 291]
[Illustration: A Scene during the Midnight Battle.

(_From the picture by C. Clark. By permission of The Sphere._)

A German battleship sinking. The grim spectacle was revealed by the
light of many searchlights flashing across the deep.]

[Page 292]
"Transferring the wounded men proved a difficult thing to do, but we
managed it with only one mishap. A man fell from the stretcher whilst
being lifted from ship to ship, and dropped between the vessels;
whereupon a flight-lieutenant of _Engadine_ pluckily jumped in and
rescued him.

"Having transhipped our wounded, the rest of us followed them, Captain
Molteno being the last one to leave _Warrior_. Now _Engadine_ dropped
astern, and then, having got clear, steamed up again past the sinking
_Warrior_. All of us gave our old ship three hearty farewell cheers as
we left her behind."

       *     *     *     *     *

On 16th September the Admiralty issued a list of the officers and men
who had specially distinguished themselves in the Battle of Jutland.
It was a long list; but you must not suppose that it included all who
had done valiantly in the great fight. Sir John Jellicoe confessed
that he found the task of singling out those who were to receive
honours very difficult, because all had played their parts so well.
The following three heroes were awarded the Victoria Cross:--

Commander the Hon. E. B. S. Bingham.

I am sure that you have not forgotten the gallant attack made by our
destroyers at the beginning of the battle. Commander Bingham, in
_Nestor_, led his division in the most gallant manner, first against
the enemy destroyers and then against their battle cruisers. Later on
he sighted the enemy battle fleet, and, followed by the one remaining
destroyer of his division (_Nicator_), closed in to within three
thousand yards, in order to reach a favourable position for firing his
torpedoes. The German battleships poured a hurricane of fire upon the
two little craft, and _Nestor_ was so badly crippled that she sank
some time later. It was supposed that Commander Bingham had gone down
with his ship; but afterwards he was reported to be a prisoner in
Germany. His Victoria Cross was won by magnificent daring.

Major Francis John William Harvey, Royal Marine Light
Infantry.

Major Harvey did not live to wear the blue ribbon of valour which he
so nobly won during the great battle. A shell burst in his gun house,
and killed or put out of action almost every man in it. He himself
received a mortal wound; but even while the agony of death was upon
him he spent his last moments in saving his comrades. With great
[Page 293]
presence of mind and devotion to duty he ordered the magazine to be
flooded, and by doing so prevented the ship from being blown up.
Shortly afterwards he died. You will search long in the annals of
heroism before you find a deed worthy to rank with his.

[Illustration: John Travers Cornwell, V.C.     [_Photo, Central News._

The boy hero of the Battle of Jutland, aged 16½ years.]

[Page 294]
John Travers Cornwell, First-class Boy, H.M.S. _Chester_.

This young hero was an East Ham boy, and had been a scholar at the
Walton Road schools. As a schoolboy he was in no way distinguished.
His master described him as "an ordinary English boy." God grant that
all British boys, wherever they may dwell, may be as "ordinary" as he!

He had only been twenty-nine days at sea when he went into action. You
will remember that his ship, _Chester_ (see p. 264), was sent on a
scouting mission, and was furiously assailed for twenty minutes by
four or five enemy cruisers. A deluge of shot swept down upon her, and
her casualties were very heavy. It was during that scene of horror and
destruction that "an ordinary English boy" attracted his captain's
attention by splendid devotion to duty. Admiral Beatty in his dispatch
thus describes the lad's heroism:--

    "_Boy_ (First Class) _John Travers Cornwell of 'Chester' was
    mortally wounded early in the action. He nevertheless remained
    standing alone at a most exposed post, quietly awaiting orders,
    until the end of the action, with the gun's crew dead and wounded
    all round him. His age was under 16½ years. I regret that he has
    since died, but I recommend his case for special recognition in
    justice to his memory, and as an acknowledgment of the high
    example set by him._"

Cornwell was a sight-setter, an important position for one so young.
It was his business to receive by telephone the orders sent from the
fire control as to the laying and discharge of his gun. He wore
tele-pads, and thus amidst the roar of the cannonading was able to
hear the instructions sent to him from headquarters. In the first five
minutes of the battle he received a terrible wound; but though he
suffered agonies, he never left his post until the end of the action.
His shipmates said that during the whole of the fight he kept his
tele-pads on, and looked steadfastly towards the bridge, so that if
the telephones broke down he might hear the orders shouted to him.

[Page 295]
Shortly after the battle he died, and was buried in a common grave;
but when the story of his striking heroism became known, his body was
exhumed, and on Saturday, 29th July, was reinterred with great honour
at the Manor Park Cemetery, East Ham. Six boys of _Chester_, Corn
well's mates, formed a guard of honour, and a party of bluejackets
drew the gun-carriage on which lay the coffin, draped in the Union
Jack. The bishop of the diocese, the mayor and councillors, and all
the leading men of the borough joined in the procession, along with
naval cadets and fifty of the hero's old schoolmates, led by their
master. Sir David Beatty, the captain, officers, and crew of
_Chester_, and the Royal Navy sent wreaths. Dr. Macnamara, himself an
old schoolmaster, represented the Admiralty, and at the graveside paid
an eloquent tribute to Cornwell's magnificent courage. A volley was
fired, the "Last Post" was sounded, and the mortal remains of the
gallant lad were committed to mother earth. On the coffin was the
simple but glorious epitaph:--

  "_Faithful unto Death._"

Though the earth had closed over the body of Jack Cornwell, the
inspiration of his example still "lived and moved and had its being."
A day was set apart on which the story of his heroism was told to the
children of every elementary school in the country, and collections
were made to endow a "Jack Cornwell" ward for disabled soldiers and
marines in the Star and Garter Hospital at Richmond. A Mansion House
meeting was held, and arrangements were made for establishing a
national memorial in the shape of cottages for disabled seamen, and
naval scholarships for deserving boys. A leading artist promised to
paint a picture commemorating the deed, a reproduction of which was to
find a place on the walls of some thousands of schools. We part from
Jack Cornwell feeling more than ever the truth of the noble words with
which Dickens concludes the story of Little Nell: "Of every tear that
sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves some good is born, some
gentler nature comes. In the Destroyer's steps there spring up bright
creations that defy his power, and his dark path becomes a way of
light to heaven."

[Footnote 80: _London Magazine_, September 1916.]

[Page 296]




  CHAPTER XXXIV.

  HOW A GREAT WAR CHIEF DIED.


Four days after the great naval battle which I have described at
length, a sea tragedy took place which robbed us of the man whom all
the British world regarded as the organizer of victory. In earlier
pages of this work I told you something of the brilliant career of
Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener. You will remember that he was a student
at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, when the Franco-German War
broke out, but at the time was staying with his father in North
France. Without asking permission of the British authorities, he
immediately enlisted in the French army, and saw some service. While
he was fighting, a young artillery lieutenant named Joffre was
undergoing his baptism of fire. Kitchener and Joffre were destined to
meet forty-four years later--the one as War Secretary of Britain, the
other as Commander-in-Chief of the French armies.

Kitchener left Woolwich in 1871, and a few years later we find him
engaged on surveying work in Palestine and Cyprus. Then he went to
Egypt, where he spent a busy life organizing and fighting, and in 1890
was appointed Sirdar, or Chief, of the Egyptian Army. He owed his
promotion to merit alone, and rose to his high rank by dint of hard
and devoted work, and an inability to understand the meaning of the
word "impossible."

In 1896 came the first great opportunity of his life. The Mahdi had
arisen, and had won back the Sudan from us. It was Kitchener's task to
restore it once more to the British Empire. In the course of a
brilliant campaign he utterly routed the Mahdi's forces in the two
battles of Atbara and Omdurman, and firmly established British power
in the upper valley of the Nile. For this splendid service he was
[Page 297]
raised to the peerage. Parliament voted him £30,000, and warmly
thanked him "for the distinguished skill and ability with which he
planned and conducted the campaign on the Nile of 1896-98."

[Illustration: Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener of Khartum and of Broome.

Born June 24, 1850; drowned at sea June 5, 1916.

(_Photo, Bourne and Shepherd._)]

[Page 298]
Kitchener was now regarded as the foremost military organizer of the
British race. In 1900, during the Boer War, he was sent to South
Africa as Chief of the Staff to Lord Roberts; but soon assumed full
command, and waged war against the Boers by means of a system of
"blockhouses" and "drives," till he secured an honourable peace on May
31, 1902. Again he received honours, a money grant, and the thanks of
Parliament. In the same year he went out to India as
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He did great work in
reorganizing our forces in the peninsula, but not without coming into
conflict with the Viceroy and the Secretary for India. In 1911 he
became Consul-General--that is, the real ruler--of Egypt, and this
post he held when the Great War broke out.

Now that we know something of his career, let us inquire what manner
of man he was. I need not describe his appearance, for it is familiar
to you all. You have seen his strong face and cold, piercing eyes on
many a recruiting poster, and you can never forget the beckoning
finger which drew so many men to the army in the hour of Britain's
need. As he towered above his fellows in inches, so he rose above them
by force of his masterful character and iron will. He was a man of few
friends and of few words; he neither sought nor desired the applause
of the crowd. Duty was the watchword of his life, and in doing his
duty he allowed nothing to turn him from his purpose. One who knew him
well says: "He was not ungrateful for services rendered, but he placed
work and the public service first, and when a man had become useless
he threw him aside like an old rag." Efficiency, and efficiency alone,
was the passport to Kitchener's favour.

When the Great War broke out his name sprang at once to men's lips. To
the mass of the people he was the greatest and most successful of all
living generals. His strength, his silence, his devotion, and his
striking success had won the confidence of the whole nation; and when
he was called upon to take up the duties of Secretary for War, all
felt that the right man was in the right place. The greatest
achievement of his life was the raising of vast armies by the magic of
his name.

[Page 299]
At all times he preferred to work alone, and to concentrate all power
in his own hands. When the problem was one which a single brain could
solve and a single hand execute, all went well. During the Great War,
when the problems of raising and equipping vast armies were more than
one man, however great in mind and action, could cope with, his method
failed, and certain departments of his work had to be taken over by
others. Nevertheless it is impossible to overpraise the magnificent
service which he rendered to the Empire in the dark days of the year
1914. To him the nation turned, as to a star of hope in the sky, and
found strength in his quietness and confidence.

Now we are to learn the tragic story of his death. On Monday, 5th
June, Lord Kitchener with his staff embarked on the armoured cruiser
_Hampshire_, bound for Archangel. He was going to Russia to consult
with the chiefs of the Russian army, so that there might be a combined
movement in East and West when the French and British were ready to
begin their offensive. He was also concerned with arrangements for the
supply of munitions to Russia. When the ship sailed the weather was
wild and stormy, and the waves were running high. About eight o'clock
in the evening, when _Hampshire_ was off the western coast of the
Orkneys, sufficiently close to the land to be seen from the shore, a
terrific explosion occurred. A survivor tells us that "the ship seemed
to reel backwards, as from a staggering blow; she quivered from stem
to stern; men were flung down heavily, and in a moment there spread
along the decks choking clouds of gun-cotton fumes."

_Hampshire_ had struck a mine, or had been blown up by a torpedo from
an enemy submarine; and there were some who declared that treachery
had been at work, and that the enemy had been forewarned of
Kitchener's voyage. The ship began to settle down by the bow, and wave
after wave swept over her decks. Two of the survivors saw Lord
Kitchener a few minutes after the disaster. He was walking aft on the
quarter-deck, and was joined by three of his staff. An officer called
out, "Make way for Lord Kitchener." Captain Savill, who was helping a
boat's crew to clear the captain's galley, was heard to call his name
three times. Nothing more is known of Lord Kitchener's last moments.

In twenty minutes _Hampshire_ had sunk beneath the waves. Four boats
[Page 300]
are said to have left the vessel, but all were overturned. Three
floats, however, got away, and were washed ashore; but of the crew of
700 men, only twelve ever reached land.

One of the survivors, Rogerson, sat astride a float for five hours,
supporting a boy by each arm till they slipped from his grasp.

    "One of these lads," he says, "was the smallest and youngest boy
    aboard the ship. But it was he who, during that first awful hour,
    cheered his older mates by his example."

       *     *     *     *     *

The news of Lord Kitchener's death filled the whole Empire with deep
sorrow, and the shock was felt as much by our Allies as by us. The
British army went into mourning, and grief was as widespread as when
Queen Victoria died. Men sorrowed, but steeled their minds, and were
even more determined than before to press on with the war. More than
one man who had appealed to be exempted from military service at once
withdrew his appeal and joined the army. An impressive memorial
service, attended by the King and all the leading men of the nation,
was held at St. Paul's.

Our newspapers were filled with tributes to the great soldier who had
been so suddenly and mysteriously taken from us. Several of these
tributes came from our French friends. I cannot do better than
conclude this sad chapter with a prose version of some lines from a
poem written in a trench paper by a French colonel:--

    "_Great England's valiant soldier needed a nobler tomb than a hole
    in the ground, and he had the noblest of all tombs. God ordered
    his burial; the loud waves chanted his requiem; the organ pipes
    were the rocky cliffs of the Orcades; his pall was the black sky;
    his wreaths were the snowy foam; and the flashes of lightning were
    his funeral torches._"

[Page 301]




  CHAPTER XXXV.

  SIX MONTHS ON THE BRITISH FRONT.--I.


So far in this volume you have heard nothing of the British forces on
the Western front. I must now very briefly sum up the work of our
soldiers during the first six months of the year 1916. During the
winter months of 1915 considerable changes were made in the Higher
Command of the Allied armies. On December 2nd General Joffre was
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies in all theatres of
war, and the command of the French troops in France was entrusted to
De Castelnau. Thirteen days later General Sir John French gave up the
command of the British Army, which he had directed for sixteen months,
and was replaced by Sir Douglas Haig, who had done so much to win the
Battle of Ypres. Lieutenant-General Sir William Robertson at the same
time was made Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

Before I pass on, let me tell you something of these two remarkable
men. Sir Douglas Haig, a Fifeshire man, was born in 1861, and was
educated at Clifton and Brasenose College, Oxford. He joined the 7th
Hussars in 1885, and afterwards served with distinction in the Sudan
and in South Africa. After the Boer War he received rapid promotion,
and when the Great War broke out he was general officer commanding at
Aldershot. You already know how skilfully and doggedly he directed the
1st Army Corps during sixteen months of unequal warfare. His promotion
to Sir John French's post had long been foreseen. No better man could
have been chosen. Though reserved and somewhat cold in manner, and
credited with no patience for stupidity and bungling, his presence
always inspired his army with the fullest confidence. He worked early
[Page 302]
and late, and expected similar devotion from his officers. Those who
knew him best said that his bright eyes and strong chin and scrupulous
neatness of dress were the outward characteristics that struck them
most.

[Illustration: A Rat Hunt in the Trenches: British Soldiers "ratting"
with Bayonet and Terrier.

(_From the picture by A. Forrester from a sketch by Frederic Villiers.
By permission of The Illustrated London News._)]

[Page 303]
Sir Douglas Haig joined the army as an officer; but Sir William
Robertson, the new Chief of the Staff, began in the ranks. His father
was postmaster of the Lincolnshire village of Welbourn--a big man both
in mind and body, and possessed of a strong will. His mother was
gentle and lovable, and distinguished for her piety. For a time young
Robertson served as a private and a non-commissioned officer; but in
his twenty-ninth year he obtained a commission in the 3rd Dragoon
Guards. Afterwards he was attached to the Intelligence Department of
the Indian Army, and saw service on the north-west frontier. As a
member of the Staff during the Boer War he was present at most of the
important battles. When the Great War began he was placed in command
of a division, and in January 1915 became Chief of the Staff to Sir
John French. A year later he was the supreme military authority in
this country, and was responsible for issuing the orders of the
Government in regard to all military affairs. He had proved himself to
be a man of real genius, of great force of character, and of much
physical strength and endurance.

       *     *     *     *     *

You will remember the terrible experiences of our army in Flanders
during the first winter of the war. During the second winter
conditions improved. Many of the front-line trenches were floored with
brick and properly drained. There were recreation huts behind the line
in which the men could enjoy their leisure, and in the background
there was a huge camp, in which the new armies were being trained. An
Italian who visited the British front at the beginning of 1916 wrote
as follows:--

    "The way in which your army is fed, clothed, and protected from
    the enmity both of man and Nature is worthy of an empire which is
    the greatest financial power in the world, and which is ready to
    sacrifice in this war its wealth for the peace and freedom of
    Europe."

The same observer noticed how friendly the British and French soldiers
were with each other, how freely the Prince of Wales mixed with the
"Tommies," and how widely his attitude towards them differed from that
of the German Crown Prince towards the German privates.

[Page 304]
During the winter months active operations were almost at a
standstill. Each side was watching the other, and life in the trenches
was very monotonous. Rats made their appearance in great numbers, and
devoured everything which came in their way. Our men tried all sorts
of devices to rid themselves of this plague, and whole regiments of
dogs were sent to the front to take over the work of "ratting." A
correspondent in Paris says that he saw a trainful of dogs leaving for
the fighting line.

The distance between our lines and those of the Germans varied
greatly. In some cases the trenches were no more than twenty or fifty
yards apart. Sniping went on constantly, and almost every day there
were attacks by artillery and trench mortars.

    "On the British front," wrote Sir Douglas Haig, "no action on a
    great scale, such as that at Verdun, has been fought during the
    last five months (December 1915-April 1916); nevertheless our
    troops have been far from idle or inactive.

    "Artillery and snipers are practically never silent, patrols are
    out in front of the lines every night, and heavy bombardments by
    the artillery of one or both sides take place daily in various
    parts of the line. Below ground there are continual mining and
    countermining, which, by the ever-present threat of sudden
    explosion and the uncertainty as to when and where it will take
    place, causes perhaps a more constant strain than any other form
    of warfare. In the air there is seldom a day, however bad the
    weather, when aircraft are not busy reconnoitring, photographing,
    and observing fire. All this is taking place constantly at any
    hour of the day or night, and in any part of the line.

    "One form of minor activity deserves special mention--namely, the
    raids, or 'cutting-out parties,' which are made at least twice or
    three times a week against the enemy's line."

Sir Douglas Haig goes on to tell us that these raids were usually
carried out at night, by a small body of men who first prepared a road
through our own and the enemy's wire, then crossed the open ground
unseen, and broke into the enemy's trenches, where hand-to-hand
fighting went on in the darkness. This kind of warfare was especially
to the liking of our men. It gave scope for gallantry, dash, and
quickness of decision, and much skill and daring were displayed. As
time went on, the Germans attempted to make similar raids on our line.
Some of them succeeded, but more often they failed.

[Page 305]




  CHAPTER XXXVI.

  SIX MONTHS ON THE BRITISH FRONT.--II.


I will now describe some of the leading incidents on the British front
during the first six months of 1916. Our line then extended from just
north of Ypres to the Somme. The Ypres salient[81] was still a vast
shell-trap, and in this area there were numerous combats, which in
other wars would have been called big battles. On 14th February the
Germans managed to capture part of a narrow ridge thirty or forty feet
high on the northern bank of the Ypres-Comines Canal. Our trenches
passed over the eastern portion of this ridge, which was known as "The
Bluff." On Thursday, 2nd March, we made an effort to win back our lost
trenches. Between five and six on the evening of 1st March a great
collection of guns behind our line began a terrific bombardment, and
our men flung a hail of bombs on the enemy. All night our machine guns
played upon the lost position, and when the red sun began to shed its
light on the frosty fields, the assault was delivered. For the first
time the heads of our men were protected by the new steel helmets.

Our troops dashed into the enemy's trenches, and took the occupants
completely by surprise. Many of the Germans had not fixed bayonets,
and some were without rifles and equipment. About fifty Germans
managed to get into a crater at the eastern end of "The Bluff," but
made no long resistance, and were afterwards captured. Finally all our
old trenches were retaken. They were found to be full of dead, and
five officers and 250 prisoners were secured. Not until midday did the
enemy attempt to recapture his lost position. Then parties of German
bombers were sent out. They hurled their bombs behind our trenches,
and held up their hands in token of surrender, whereupon the German
[Page 306]
guns were turned on them, and many were killed. Others, however,
fought fiercely to the last, and some terrible combats took place in
the deep dug-outs.

[Illustration: The Northumberland and Royal Fusiliers breaking
through the Enemy's Wire at St. Eloi, March 27, 1916.

(_From the picture by R. Caton Woodville. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)]

[Page 307]
The next incident worthy of notice was the fighting which took place
in the St. Eloi region. On 27th March we exploded a mine near St.
Eloi, which blew in 100 yards of the enemy's trenches. Parties of the
Northumberland Fusiliers and Royal Fusiliers, along with certain
Canadian troops, at once rushed forward and carried 600 yards of the
enemy's lines. A young officer of the Northumberland Fusiliers tells
us that the most difficult part of the job was threading a way through
the maze of wire that covered the slope in front of the enemy
position. "It was very slow work, for once you set foot among the
wires you presented a carefully-sighted target for the enemy machine
gunners." Some of the men carried their comrades pick-a-back through
the wire, the mounted men returning the enemy's fire and trying to
pick off the machine gunners. In spite of the grim character of the
work, the men chaffed each other about their "mounts," and urged their
steeds forward with many a "gee-up." Once through the wire, our men
dashed into the German trenches. Then began the dangerous work of
ferreting the Germans out of their dug-outs. Some 170 prisoners were
taken, and many of them were greatly mystified at the sudden
appearance of the British.

A correspondent tells us that when our men were in the German trenches
an officer came upon two Northumberlands with their fists up about to
fight each other. He discovered to his amazement that they had
quarrelled as to which of them had taken a German prisoner, then
standing by. They proposed to settle the matter by a little fight of
their own. This incident shows you very plainly the keenness of our
men.

One other story of this gallant little fight must be told before I
pass on. The day before the assault the general commanding the
division addressed two of the battalions which were to take part in
it. He told them the fable of the two frogs which fell into the milk.
One, faint-hearted, was drowned; the other made such a stir that he
churned the milk into butter, and, sitting on the island thus formed,
escaped destruction. The general then went on to point the moral of
the tale. Next day he saw a wounded man being brought to the rear.
Raising himself slightly upon the stretcher, the soldier said with a
[Page 308]
cheerful smile, "Ay, but, general, I minded me of yon story you told
about them frogs, but the butter wasn't strong enough to bear me!"

Right down to 11th April the Germans made many efforts to drive us out
of the mine craters. On 30th March they carried one of the craters,
but by 3rd April it was in our hands again. Three days later we lost
the same crater, but it was recovered by a night attack on 9th April.
On the 11th we held three out of the five craters; but on the 19th,
after a heavy bombardment, the enemy carried two of them, and on the
same day attacked "The Bluff" and other of our positions. They claimed
to have captured 700 yards of our line, and to have taken guns and
prisoners.

It was on Good Friday (21st April) that the King's Shropshire Light
Infantry were ordered to recover the lost trenches. Towards evening
the rain fell in torrents; the craters became pools, and the ground
was a quagmire. Through the inky darkness and the pelting rain our
soldiers moved forward in three columns to the assault. The shells of
the enemy flung up geysers of mud, and some of our men fell into the
brimming craters and were drowned. One man stuck in the mud, and was
not released until four days later.

Despite the pools and the mud and the heavy fire, the British columns
got through and took the trenches. Not only so, but they repelled two
German counter-attacks. Some very fine deeds of valour were done
during the advance. A lance-corporal, for example, spent six and a
half hours in dragging and carrying and pushing a wounded man across
600 yards of the "No Man's Land." A private who was wounded in the
knee refused to leave the captured trench because he thought his
comrades were too few to hold it. For thirty-six hours he helped to
defend the trench, and then had to be carried back on a stretcher. One
man held a sap by himself, and single-handed beat off a German attack.
Many other instances of similar gallantry might be given.

We must now move farther south to the old battleground between Loos
and Arras, where there were many violent fights during the last week
of February and the early days of March. I am sure that you have not
forgotten the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which at the Battle of Loos held
up the left of the British advance, and was afterwards the scene of
many deadly struggles. Shortly before six on the morning of 2nd March
[Page 309]
we exploded five mines which had been tunnelled under the German
front-line trenches. Many of you have seen a cinematograph picture of
an exploding mine, and you can form a good idea of the huge column of
earth that is hurled high into the air. On this occasion it was not
only earth that was thrown up for a hundred feet, but sandbags and
mangled bodies as well.

As soon as the five avalanches of earth had fallen, Irish troops
pushed their way over through the debris, and occupied the
newly-formed craters. They seized them at a loss of only sixty men;
but before long they had to withstand a torrent of fire from the
German guns. When the craters had been literally plastered with shells
of all kinds, the Germans rushed forward, and fierce bombing combats
took place. During the next few days the Germans made attack after
attack upon the craters, and frequently there were hand-to-hand
tussles with the bayonet. The Irishmen, however, held fast, and did
many deeds of daring. A lance-corporal, for example, filled two
sandbags with forty bombs, and by hurling them at the enemy beat back
a determined advance. On 18th March, however, the Germans exploded
mines close by, and managed to capture three of the craters.

This kind of warfare was common all along the line. Ding-dong
struggles, in which trenches and mine craters were lost and won, went
on almost daily. As they all had similar features, there is no need to
describe them in detail.

I have already told you how, when the rebellion was on foot in Dublin,
the Germans tried, without the least success, to sap the loyalty of
the Irishmen at the front. You will remember how gallantly the
Munsters raided the trenches opposite to them, and captured the
placards which invited them to surrender. Early on the morning of the
27th April the Inniskillings and Dublin Fusiliers, who were holding
the "chalk pit salient" south of Hulluch, were gassed. Immediately the
poisonous cloud was seen, the Irishmen donned their gas helmets, and
prepared to repel the infantry attack which they knew would soon
follow. About two hours later they were gassed again, and their
trenches were furiously bombarded. Then came the attack. The Germans
expected to find the Irishmen either rendered powerless by panic, or
so much in sympathy with their fellow-countrymen in Dublin that they
would surrender freely. They never made a greater mistake. The
[Page 310]
Inniskillings and Dublin Fusiliers were unshaken alike in loyalty and
courage. They hurled back the enemy with the utmost determination, and
only a few of the assailants escaped.

During May the great struggle at Verdun was in full swing, and all
eyes were directed to the wedge of highlands between the Meuse and the
Woëvre. On May Day came the distressing news of the fall of Kut, and
on the same day unsuccessful gas attacks were made upon our lines
north of Loos and north of Messines. On the 2nd other German assaults
were stopped by artillery fire. On the 9th it was announced that the
Anzacs had arrived at the front. On the night of the 15th there was
desperate fighting on the edge of the crest of Vimy Ridge, where the
enemy had seized and fortified a series of mine craters, forming a
rough crescent. After a bombardment we exploded mines under and
against these craters, and immediately the Loyal North Lancashires
were sent forward to seize the new craters formed by the explosions. A
fierce bomb struggle took place; but within an hour the whole position
was firmly in our hands, and before morning the crater-groups had been
fortified and machine guns had been mounted. As usual, many fine deeds
of heroism were done by our men.

On the 21st the Germans won a distinct success. They carried 500 yards
of our trenches at the north end of the Vimy Ridge, and penetrated our
lines for a distance of from 100 to 300 yards. On 2nd June, when the
lying news of a great naval victory was being circulated throughout
Germany, the enemy began a determined attack upon our lines on the
Ypres salient. The series of fights that followed developed into the
biggest engagement on the British front since Loos, and it fully
deserves the name of the Third Battle of Ypres. I shall tell you the
story of this battle in the next chapter.

[Footnote 81: See map, p. 315.]

[Page 311]




  CHAPTER XXXVII.

  THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES.


Once more the Ypres salient, the scene of so many fierce and costly
struggles, comes into prominence. On page 315 you will see a map of
the salient, showing our lines as they were on the morning of June 2,
1916. Run your finger along the trench line from the village of Hooge,
on the Ypres-Menin road, to that mound of death known as Hill 60,
close by the Ypres-Comines railway. On 2nd June this portion of the
line was held by 20,000 Canadian troops, which included units of
Princess Patricia's Light Infantry, the Canadian Mounted Rifles, the
Royal Canadian Regiment, and the Canadian Infantry. The northern end
of the line was held by the Patricias. To the south were the Canadian
Mounted Rifles. Once again Ypres and Canada were to be linked in
battle renown.

It was a clear, quiet morning, very suitable for observation, and
Generals Mercer and Williams of the 3rd Canadian Division had gone
into the front-line trenches to take stock of the situation. Suddenly,
at ten minutes to nine o'clock, without any warning, a terrible
cannonade began. Along 3,000 yards of our front, from slightly south
of Hooge to the north of Hill 60, torrents of German shells began to
fall. The generals at once took refuge in a well-protected dug-out,
known as "The Tube." They were there when the Germans arrived. At the
end of the day General Mercer was dead, and General Williams was
wounded and a prisoner.

No one on the British side seems to have had the slightest notion that
the Germans were about to make a great assault upon our lines. Soon,
however, it was clear that the attack had been long prepared. Every
kind of gun was used--5.9 guns, naval guns ("Silent Lizzies," as our
men dubbed them), heavy howitzers, and trench mortars. For four long
hours the storm of fire never ceased. Nothing so terrible had been
experienced before.

[Pages 312, 313]
[Illustration: Canadians at Close Quarters with the Germans:
Recapture of Positions near Sanctuary Wood.

(_From the picture by R. Caton Woodville. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)

"The Canadian troops," wrote Mr. Philip Gibbs, the war correspondent,
"charged at two o'clock in the morning (13th June). Their attack was
directed to the part of the line from the southern end of Sanctuary
Wood to Mount Sorel, a distance of about a mile, including Armagh
Wood, Observatory Hill, and Mount Sorel itself--most important because
of the high ground. The attack was a complete success. . . . The men
advanced in open order, and worked downwards and southwards into their
old positions. In one place of attack about forty Germans, who fought
desperately, were killed almost to a man, just as Colonel Shaw had
died on 2nd June with the party of eighty men whom he had rallied. It
was one shambles for another, and the Germans were not less brave, it
seems. One officer and 113] men surrendered."]

[Page 314]
Glance again at the map, and notice what a big bulge there was in our
lines between Hooge and Hill 60. The distance from one place to the
other, as the aeroplane flies, is little more than a mile and a half.
You can easily see that the Germans could fire upon this bulge from
the south, the east, and the north. They could not only utterly
destroy our trenches, but could fling such a barrier of bursting
shells behind them that it seemed impossible that any man could pass
through it and remain unwounded. Nevertheless certain battalions
braved that storm of death, and, what is more, won through.

For four awful hours the shells burst in and around the Canadian
trenches. There is nothing so trying to the nerves as fierce artillery
fire, and many a brave man has felt his courage ooze away under such a
strain. The Canadians, however, never wavered. They endured the awful
blast, though they were powerless to make a reply. In Sanctuary Wood,
which was held by the Patricias, the fire was intense, and soon the
"wood" consisted only of ragged stumps and splintered boles. The fire
was even worse farther south, where the Canadian Mounted Rifles were
holding shallow trenches out on the flat. They could only dig down a
few feet below the surface. If they went down any further, water oozed
up from the spongy soil, and turned the trenches into flooded drains.
Behind the Canadian Mounted Rifles were the positions known as Maple
Copse, Observatory Ridge, and Armagh Wood. Each of these names will be
writ large in history.

You cannot possibly form any idea of the awful nature of the artillery
fire that burst upon the Canadian trenches on that June morning. Some
of you who live in Great Britain have seen, or at least have heard,
the explosion of a Zeppelin bomb, and no doubt you found it terrifying
enough. But if you are to picture the artillery fire which the
Canadians endured, you must imagine Zeppelin bombs dropping by scores
every minute over every acre of the area under attack, and not ceasing
for hours at a time. It is said that in some places shells fell at the
rate of eighty-seven a minute. Before long huge holes appeared in the
[Page 315]
ground, and it resembled a picture of the surface of the moon as seen
through a powerful telescope.

When, at ten minutes to one, the bombardment ceased, the Germans
imagined that the men holding the trenches had been utterly blotted
out. They supposed that they had merely to advance and occupy ground
on which there was no living man to oppose them. Forthwith from the
opposite trenches sprang a swarm of gray-coated Huns. In some places
they had only to push forward and occupy what had once been trenches.
But in other places the Canadians had taken refuge in their dug-outs
while the storm was raging, and as soon as it ceased they manned the
broken parapets once more. This occurred in at least two places--in
Sanctuary Wood and Maple Copse. When the Germans advanced towards
these positions they were met by a fierce rifle and machine-gun fire,
and were mown down remorselessly.

[Illustration: Map of Ypres Salient.]

Let me tell you what happened at Maple Copse. C Company of a certain
battalion held a position which was so heavily bombarded that the
reserves felt sure that every man in it had been blown to pieces or
buried alive. No shots came from the position, and the Germans thought
it was without a single defender. On they came, as carelessly as if
they were out for a stroll. When, however, they were fifty yards away
from the position, a volley burst upon them, and it was so well
directed that those who were unwounded turned and fled. A second time
they advanced, but a second time they were driven back. Then their big
guns got to work again, and battered the position once more, while
thousands of rifles were turned against it. Nevertheless, when night
fell the Canadians were still there, determined to hold the ground to
the last man.

Elsewhere it was impossible to hold on to the mounds of debris that
once were trenches. To add to the horror, mines were exploded which
[Page 316]
caused still further wreckage. On the edge of one of the craters were
seen the bodies of a stalwart sergeant-major of the Mounted Rifles and
two privates of the Patricias. Lying around them and beneath them were
twelve Germans whom they had killed with the bayonet.

In some places the Germans advanced under cover of dense smoke, and so
were not visible to the thin khaki line of dazed and shaken defenders
until they were close at hand. In one trench, where most of the rifles
were unfit for use, the men climbed out and charged into the enemy
with no other weapons than broken rifle-butts, entrenching tools, and
fists. They charged magnificently, but they charged to their death.

The Germans declared that they took few prisoners because the
Canadians ran away. Never was a fouler lie told. They took few
prisoners because the Canadians preferred death to dishonour. They
fought to the last with clubs and bare hands against guns, rifles, and
bombs. In one place Colonel A. E. Shaw rallied eighty Mounted Rifles
amidst a jumble of ruined earthworks, and there the Canadians fought
until only a handful remained. Of these, only two managed to reach
safety.

In another place a captain ordered his pitiful remnant of men to
retire, but they refused, and had almost to be driven to the rear. He
himself stayed until the last man had gone, and his comrades, looking
back, saw him empty his revolver at the advancing Germans, then fling
it in their faces, and leap after it to certain death. Innumerable
gallant deeds were done on that dread day. During the bombardment a
private from Kamsac, Saskatchewan, busied himself in bandaging the
wounded, and in getting them under the cover of a battered sandbag
breastwork. When his company was ordered to retire, he refused to fall
back with them. He stayed on with his wounded, one of whom was a
fellow-townsman and an old friend.

Such was the opening of the Third Battle of Ypres. By 3rd June,
despite the counter-attacks which had been most gallantly made by the
Canadians on the previous day, the enemy remained in possession of a
large part of our line from just south of Hooge to the north of Hill
60. Four days later the Germans attacked our positions north of Hooge,
and on 8th June our front line ran behind this much-fought-for
village. The outermost angle of the salient was in the hands of the
[Page 317]
Germans. They exhibited a placard on one of their parapets:--

  "ENGLISCH--TAKE WARNUNG BY
       KITCHENER'S FATE.
     GERMANY IS INVINCIBLE."

A few days later the Canadians made the boast look foolish. Very early
on the morning of Tuesday, the 13th, they attacked again. At 1.30,
after an artillery preparation, they advanced in four waves.

    "When we got going," wrote an officer, "we went through the
    Germans like a knife through cheese. They didn't know what to do
    with us but throw down their rifles and bolt, or hold up their
    hands. They said we ran. You should have seen them skedoodle for
    home and ma--those who didn't throw themselves on the ground and
    beg to be taken prisoners. We went clean to the old line, and
    captured some hundreds of prisoners. Our artillery had kept them
    from doing much in the digging-in line, and so we had a chance to
    slam them good and plenty. And you bet we did."

Thus the Canadians recaptured most of their lost positions. They won
back more than 1,500 yards of the old line. Heavy losses were
inflicted on the enemy, and many prisoners were taken. The Canadians
had saved the salient once more.

       *     *     *     *     *

No further incident worth recording took place on the British front
during the remaining days of June. The struggle had died down at
Verdun, and the Germans no longer looked for success in that quarter.
Their newspapers were asking, "When is the English offensive coming?"
It was coming rapidly enough. For months we had been preparing for a
combined assault along with the French on the chalk downs and woods
between the Ancre and the Somme. We were now ready to make the
long-expected "Big Push." At half-past seven on the morning of
Saturday, 1st July, the great Battle of the Somme began with an
appalling and long-continued gun-fire that testified to the successful
labours of our munition workers at home. The story of this great and
successful forward movement will be told in our next volume.

[Page 318]




  CHAPTER XXXVIII.

  HEROES OF THE VICTORIA CROSS.--I.


In former chapters of this book I have been able to give you accounts
of the heroes of the Victoria Cross in connection with the engagements
in which they performed their valorous deeds. I am not able to do this
in the present chapter, for at the end of March 1916 the War Office
gave notice that thenceforward the times and places at which Victoria
Crosses had been won would not be stated in the official accounts.
Probably this course was adopted in order to prevent the Germans from
learning through our newspapers what units were opposed to them at
certain times in various parts of our line.

Between 31st March and 22nd June ten heroes were awarded the Victoria
Cross. I have already given you an account of one of them--Private
William Young, of the 8th East Lancashires.[82] In this chapter I will
recount the exploits of the other nine.

Captain Arthur Forbes Gordon Kilby, 2nd Battalion, the South
Staffordshire Regiment.

Somewhere on the British front a strong enemy redoubt was to be
attacked. Captain Kilby, who had on many former occasions shown great
gallantry, begged to be allowed to lead his company against the
position. At the head of his men he advanced along a narrow tow-path;
and, though wounded at the outset, pushed on right up to the enemy's
wire, in spite of terrible machine-gun fire and a heavy shower of
bombs. When he reached the wire he fell with his foot blown off.
Nevertheless, he continued to cheer on his men and to fire on the
enemy. When the attack was over Captain Kilby was reported missing. In
all probability he was numbered with the dead.

[Page 319]
Lieutenant Eric Archibald M'Nair, 9th (Service) Battalion,
the Royal Sussex Regiment.

A mine was suddenly exploded by the enemy under our trenches, and
Lieutenant M'Nair and many men of his platoon were hoisted into the
air. Some of the men were buried, but Lieutenant M'Nair, though much
shaken, was unhurt. At once he organized a party with a machine gun,
and manned the near edge of the crater. The Huns advanced; but the
lieutenant's little band kept up such a rapid fire that many of the
enemy were shot down, and the rest were driven off. Knowing that
another attack would soon be launched, Lieutenant M'Nair ran back for
reinforcements, and sent men to another unit to bring up bombs,
ammunition, and tools to replace those which had been buried. As the
communication trench was blocked by the explosion, he had to cross the
open under heavy fire. Finally, he returned, again across the open, at
the head of reinforcements, and thus by his prompt and plucky action
and example enabled the position to be held.

Sergeant Arthur Frederick Saunders, 9th (Service) Battalion,
the Suffolk Regiment.

During an attack in which his officer was shot down, Sergeant Saunders
took charge of two machine guns and a few men, and although severely
wounded in the thigh, closely followed the last four charges of
another battalion, and rendered it every possible support. Later, when
the remains of this battalion had been forced to retire, he stuck to
one of his guns, and by his clear orders and continuous firing did
much to cover the retirement.

Acting Corporal William Richard Cotter, 6th Battalion, East
Kent Regiment.

Corporal Cotter, whose father and mother lived at Sandgate, was the
eldest of six sons, five of whom had served the King, and two of whom
had made the great sacrifice. He had been in the army fourteen years
when he showed that conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty which won
him the highest award of valour. In the previous December he had been
recommended for the Distinguished Service Medal. After the explosion
of an enemy mine, which blew off his right leg at the knee and wounded
him in both arms, Corporal Cotter managed to make his way unaided for
fifty yards to the crater. There, in spite of his terrible sufferings,
[Page 320]
he took charge of the men holding it, steadied them, controlled their
fire, and arrayed them anew to meet a fresh counter-attack by the
enemy. For two hours he continued at this work, and only allowed his
wounds to be roughly dressed when the attack had quieted down. He
could not be moved back for fourteen hours; but, during all this time
of suffering, he had a cheery word for every man who passed him. There
is no doubt that his magnificent courage helped greatly to save a very
dangerous situation. About a fortnight later he died in hospital. The
chaplain of his regiment said that his last thoughts were with his
comrades, and that his parting words were, "Good-bye; God bless them
all."

Private Henry Kenny, 1st Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire
Regiment.

In one day Private Kenny went out of his trench into the open six
different times, and, undeterred by very heavy shell, rifle, and
machine-gun fire, carried six wounded comrades into safety. He was
himself hit in the neck while he was getting the last man over the
parapet.

[Footnote 82: See Vol. IV., p. 374.]

[Page 321]




  CHAPTER XXXIX.

  HEROES OF THE VICTORIA CROSS.--II.


You are now to learn how a chaplain won the Victoria Cross. He was the
first of his cloth to receive the high honour in this war, and the
second to win the distinction since its institution in 1856.

Rev. Edward Noel Mellish, Temporary Chaplain to the Forces.

[Illustration: The Rev. Noel Mellish, V.C.]

On 24th April, "somewhere in France," a composite battalion made up of
men from every unit in a particular division formed a hollow square,
enclosing in its centre the general and his staff. A crowd of
spectators attended, some of them French villagers--women, very old
men, and children. Twenty-two men were called out, one by one; the
story of their heroisms was recited, and the general pinned on their
tunics the ribbons of the various decorations which they had won. The
last to be decorated was the Rev. Edward Noel Mellish, a "very gallant
gentleman," as the general rightly called him.

[Page 322]
From his earliest years Mr. Mellish loved soldiers and soldiering. He
was only seventeen when the Boer War broke out, and as soon as he was
old enough he went to South Africa and enlisted in Baden-Powell's
Police. He proved himself so good a soldier that he would have been
granted a commission had he desired it. But his belief was that the
army was not a man's job in time of peace. Accordingly he obtained a
post in a diamond mine at Jagersfontein, where he was brought into
contact with all sorts and conditions of men, and speedily won their
confidence. So strong and good was his influence, that a clergyman
induced him to give up business and go home to study for the Church.
In due time he was ordained and became curate of the poor Thames-side
parish of St. Paul's, where he established a Church Lads' Brigade, of
which he was captain. His boys idolized him. He was six feet in
height, tall and strong, and he taught his young admirers how to obey,
how to behave, and how to "play the game."

When the war broke out he could not resist the call. He obtained an
appointment as chaplain, and was at first attached to a military
hospital at Rouen. It was a happy day for him when he was sent to the
front at St. Eloi.

An officer of the Northumberland Fusiliers thus describes how Mr.
Mellish won the V.C.:--

"Nothing could be finer than the way Chaplain Mellish did his duty,
and more than his duty, during the time he was stationed near us. The
conditions on the day on which he won his Cross were very trying.
Immediately the troops occupied the captured trenches, and while the
wounded men were picking their way back painfully, the enemy guns were
turned on full blast, and the intervening ground was deluged with
shell fire and machine-gun bullets, not to mention shells, and
grenades that came from a portion of trench still in enemy hands. Into
this tempest of fire the brave parson walked with a Prayer Book under
his arm, as though he were going to a church parade in peace time. He
reached the first batch of wounded, and knelt down to do what he could
for them. The first few men he brought in himself, without any aid,
and it made us think a bit more of parsons to see how he walked
quietly under fire, assisting the slowly-moving wounded, and thinking
more of saving them from discomfort than of himself. It was only when
the ambulance parties were able to get out during a lull in the
fighting that he took a rest. Next day he was out on the job as
unconcerned as ever, and some men of my regiment had reason to be
grateful for his attention to them at critical moments. Some of them
would never have survived had it not been for the prompt assistance
rendered by Mr. Mellish."

[Page 323]
[Illustration: A Fight in a German Dug-out.

(_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)

This picture tells a story of German treachery. While engaged in
clearing out dug-outs a British officer stood at the entrance of one
of them and called upon the occupants to surrender. They declared that
they could not come out because they were wounded. The officer,
therefore, entered the dug-out, and in a moment was struck down with a
death wound. You may be sure that in a few minutes his men had avenged
his death.]

[Page 324]
Such was the man who stood in the middle of the sunlit square on that
April day, when gallant soldiers received their meed of valour. When a
thousand of his comrades broke into loud and admiring cheers in his
honour, he blushed till he almost matched the new bit of crimson on
his breast. Modesty was ever the virtue of the truly brave.

Lance Naik Lala, 41st Dogras, Indian Army.

Again an Indian soldier appears in the bead-roll of lofty heroism.
Lance Naik Lala, finding a British officer of another regiment lying
close to the enemy, dragged him into a temporary shelter which he had
made, and in which he had already bandaged four wounded men. After
making the officer comfortable he heard calls from the adjutant of his
own regiment, who was lying in the open severely wounded. At the time
the Germans were not a hundred yards away, and it seemed certain death
to go to the rescue of the stricken man. Nevertheless Lance Naik Lala
insisted on going out to his wounded adjutant. He wished to take the
adjutant on his back and crawl in with him; but as he was not
permitted to do this, he stripped off his own clothing to keep the
officer warm and stayed with him till just before dark, when he
returned to his shelter. Then he carried the first wounded officer
back to the main trenches, and returning with a stretcher, brought in
his adjutant. Never was the Victoria Cross more gallantly won.

Captain John Alexander Sinton, M.B., Indian Medical Service.

During this war the doctors have covered themselves with glory. Over
and over again they have tended the wounded under a storm of shot and
shell, and many of them have been stricken down in the midst of their
merciful labours. In these pages you have read of several doctor
heroes. Captain Sinton was a very distinguished member of this gallant
band. Although he was shot through both arms and through the side, he
refused to go to hospital, and remained as long as daylight lasted
[Page 325]
attending to the wounded under very heavy fire. In three previous
actions he had displayed similar bravery and devotion.

Sepoy Chatta Singh, 9th Bhopal Infantry, Indian Army.

In reading the stories of those Indian soldiers who won the Victoria
Cross, you must have been struck by their self-sacrificing efforts to
rescue the wounded. Sepoy Chatta Singh won the highest award of valour
by going out to assist his commanding officer, who lay helpless in the
open. He bound up his officer's wound, and then dug cover for him with
his entrenching tool, and all the time was exposed to a very heavy
rifle fire. For five hours, until the darkness fell, he remained
beside the wounded officer, shielding him with his own body. Then when
night shrouded the battlefield he went back for assistance and brought
his charge into safety.

       *     *     *     *     *

Once more let me remind you that the men whose exploits have been
recounted in this and the former chapter were not a tithe of the
heroes who deserved, and in some cases received, recognition for deeds
of outstanding courage during the first six months of the year 1916.
Many other soldiers received the Military Cross, the Distinguished
Service Order, the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and the Military
Medal. I could fill these pages with the record of their gallantry. Do
not assume that great deeds of daring and self-sacrifice are only done
by the winners of the Victoria Cross. Every battalion, nay, every
company, in the British army, glories in its roll of heroes, all of
whom, whether they received recognition or not, were worthy of a place
on the highest roll of fame.

  "Well done for them; and, fair isle, well for thee!
     While that thy bosom beareth sons like those,
   The little gem set in the silver sea
     Shall never fear her foes!"

[Page 326]




  CHAPTER XL.

  WHY ITALY DECLARED WAR ON AUSTRIA.


In chapter xli. of Volume IV. I made a passing reference to the
Italian campaign, which began on May 25, 1915. I must now describe
more fully Italy's part in the war. Before I do so, let me remind you
that when the Central Powers flung down the gauntlet to France and
Russia, Italy was their partner in what is known as the Triple
Alliance. You will be interested to learn how Italy came to join this
unholy combination, and how she broke away from it and threw in her
lot with the Allies.

Down to the year 1878 Italy was more in sympathy with France and
Britain than with the Central Powers. She had the same ideas of
liberty and progress, and was grateful to Britain for helping her to
secure her freedom. But in 1881 she suffered a great disappointment.
She had long regarded Tunis as a country which she had the right to
govern, for more than fifty thousand Italians had settled in that
North African land. In 1881, however, France, with the sanction of
Great Britain, occupied Tunis, and Italy naturally felt much
aggrieved.

The Italians thought that France and Britain had been unjust, and that
they would stand a much better chance of securing their rights if they
joined Germany and Austria. On May 20, 1882, the Italian Government
signed a treaty with these Powers, and the Triple Alliance came into
being. It was renewed in 1887, 1891, and again in 1912.

In 1915, for the first time, we learned something of the terms of this
Treaty of Alliance. The most important article was to this effect: If
one or more of the Great Powers, _without being directly provoked_,
should attack one or two of the parties to the treaty, and war should
[Page 327]
result, then Germany, Austria, and Italy would make common cause
against the attackers. If, however, one Great Power should threaten
the security of one of the parties to the treaty, and war should
result, then the other two parties undertook to remain neutral and
friendly. If they thought fit to join in the war, they could, of
course, do so.

Though Italy had made a treaty of friendship with Austria, you must
not suppose that there was any love lost between the two countries.
Italians and Austrians have been bitter enemies for many a long day.
There is a historic reason for this hatred. When Napoleon was rising
to power there were many small states in Italy, each ruled by its own
king. Napoleon swept these petty kingdoms away, and set up republics
in their stead. After his downfall in 1815 the Congress of European
Powers met at Vienna and put Italy under the heel of Austria. The old
petty kingdoms were restored; the heirs of the tyrants who had
formerly ruled them were placed on their thrones, and were backed up
by Austrian armies. Worst of all, the Congress handed over to Austria
the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia in North Italy, together with
the long strip of coastline which runs round the head of the Adriatic
Sea and along its eastern shores.

The history of Italy between 1815 and 1871 is the story of how, by
means of uprisings of the people, the states of Italy became united
and the Italian nation arose. Throughout all these struggles for unity
and freedom Austria was _the_ enemy. Her armies again and again
destroyed the hopes of the Italians. So fiercely was she hated that
the national watchword became "Death to the Austrians!" It is only
within the lifetime of living men that Austria has been forced to
yield Lombardy and Venetia to Italy. Right down to the year 1866, when
Prussia defeated Austria in what is known as the Seven Weeks' War, the
Austrian flag waved over the domes and towers and canals of Venice.
When Austria, as you will soon learn, was made to disgorge Venice, she
still retained a good deal of territory that properly belonged to
Italy. This territory is called by the Italians "Unredeemed Italy,"
and for many years they have longed to restore it to their native
land.

[Page 328]
[Illustration: The Meeting of Garibaldi and King Victor Emmanuel II.

(_From the fresco by Pietro Aldi in the Rathhaus at Siena._)

Garibaldi was the leader of irregular bands of patriots who were
determined to drive out of Italy the foreigners and their puppet
kings, and set up one kingdom in which all men should be free under
what is called a constitutional ruler. Victor Emmanuel II., King of
Sardinia (Savoy), was a fair-minded king, who admitted his subjects to
a large share in the government of their own country. His kingdom
became the nucleus of United Italy, and in 1861 he became King of
Italy. This picture shows you the meeting of the two men who were
chiefly instrumental in bringing about the unity of Italy.]

[Page 329]
Now that you understand why the Italians cherish a deep-rooted hatred
for the Austrians, let me tell you how it came about that the
Austrians were forced to give up Venice. The Seven Weeks' War, you
will remember, was brought about by a quarrel between Prussia and
Austria as to the future government of the two provinces which had
been stolen from Denmark. As soon as war broke out Victor Emmanuel,
King of Italy, made an alliance with the King of Prussia. One of the
conditions of this alliance was that no peace should be made with
Austria until she had given up Venetia to Italy. When peace was made,
Venetia was restored to the Italians. They also begged for "Unredeemed
Italy." "Give us the Trentino," they cried; but Prussia would not do
so. "Let us, at least, have Trieste," they implored; but Bismarck
angrily refused. "Trieste is for Germany," he declared. Austria was to
be allowed to keep the great Italian port in pledge for Prussia, till
Prussia was ready to plant her own mailed foot upon the shores of the
Mediterranean.[83]

Prussia, according to her wont, played false with Italy. Though she
made Austria give up Venetia, she arranged the boundary line between
Italy and Austria in such a way that all the advantages were on the
side of Austria. The frontier which Austria was allowed to fortify was
worth three victorious campaigns to her. A writer[84] has thus
described it. He viewed a wide stretch of it from a point high up
above the plain of the Veneto.

    "At our feet and all about us the level country lay glistening in
    the sunshine, with the white towers and red roofs of the towns
    thrusting themselves like islands out of that sea of green and
    gold. But if your gaze travelled across the plain, north, or east,
    or west, it was arrested by the mountain masses billowing skyward
    in range beyond range, banks of gray and purple in the foreground,
    great black walls and ridges farther back, with gleams of silver
    flashing from snow peaks among the clouds of the horizon. On that
    bastion, everywhere on its higher ramparts, Austria has sat in her
    armour, guarded and secure herself, always ready to surge down
    through the gates and passes and river valleys upon the hill
    country and lower slopes of Italy, and then into the rich cities
    and fertile fields of Lombardy and Venetia. The barrier for part
    of its length, in the great salient of the Trentino and on the
    steep and stony cliffs along the Isonzo, has Italian soil and
    Italian peoples behind it, the unredeemed Italy that gives the
    motive for this war. But to reach the promised land, Italy has to
    fight her way up the mountains, and throw out the alien garrison
    encamped upon their upper levels."

[Page 330]
       *     *     *     *     *

From 1908 onwards the Italians found the Triple Alliance more and more
distasteful. One of the articles in the treaty pledged the parties not
to attempt to win influence and territories in the Balkans without
first coming to an agreement with each other. Nevertheless, Austria
annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in various other ways the
interests of Italy were sacrificed. When the Great War broke out the
Triple Alliance was on a very shaky foundation indeed.

When Austria-Hungary sent her infamous Note to Serbia, and seemed bent
on overwhelming that little country, Italy strove in every way for
peace. She backed up Sir Edward Grey's proposals for a conference, and
plainly told Austria that if she moved against Belgrade she would be
breaking an important article in the treaty. Further, she made it very
clear that if Austria, as a result of her high-handed action, should
find herself at war with Russia, Italy would not help her. Such a war
would be provoked by Austria, and by the terms of the treaty Italy was
free to stand out of the quarrel.

Such was Italy's attitude at the beginning of the war. On 4th August
she declared herself neutral. As a matter of fact, her army had been
neglected, and she was then quite incapable of taking the field, even
if she had wished to do so. In any case she was forced to wait and
prepare.

Before long the Italians saw that the time had arrived when they might
make a bold bid for "Unredeemed Italy." "Trent and Trieste!" was
rapidly becoming a popular cry. Before the end of the year 1914 the
Austrian and Italian Governments were discussing the question, and by
the middle of February 1915 the Italian Government warned Austria that
if either Serbia or Montenegro were attacked without previous
agreement, grave consequences would follow. This threat was sufficient
to cause Austria to draw back for a time, and meanwhile Germany tried
to persuade her to give up to the Italians some of "Unredeemed Italy,"
and to pay them a sum of money in order to keep them out of the war.
On 8th April Italy formally demanded the Trentino, a better frontier,
Trieste and the neighbourhood (which were to form a new self-governing
state), together with some islands off the coast of Dalmatia. Austria
was also to recognize Italy as sovereign power in Albania. If Austria
would consent to these terms Italy pledged herself to remain neutral,
[Page 331]
and to pay Austria a large sum of money for the loss of Government
property in the territories which should be given up to her. Then
began long discussions between the two Governments, and meanwhile
popular feeling in favour of the Allies was rising in Italy. On 28th
March it was rumoured that Austria and Italy had come to an agreement.
But rumour was a lying jade, for when in May the Austrian terms were
printed and circulated, they fell so far short of the Italian demands
that there was great anger throughout the country. There were,
however, some Italians, including the leader of the opposition, who
were quite ready to fall in with them and thus avoid war. The Prime
Minister, Signor Salandra, however, would have none of them; and as
the leader of the opposition had a majority in both Houses of
Parliament, he sent his resignation to the King.

[Illustration: General Count Luigi Cadorna, Commander-in-Chief of the
Italian Armies in the Field.

(_Drawn by F. Matania._)]

Then it was that the Italian people showed very clearly that their
sympathies were with the Allies, and that they were eager for a war
with Austria. A great orator appeared in Rome and roused the people to
the highest pitch of enthusiasm. He called on the name of Garibaldi,
the great liberator, and declared that if he could return to them he
would brand them as traitors and cowards if they disarmed Italy and
thrust her again into slavery. The King refused to accept the Prime
Minister's resignation, and his people received the news with great
joy. A procession a mile long marched to the King's palace in Rome,
amidst wildly cheering crowds, and when Parliament met the Prime
Minister found himself strongly supported. The people had spoken, and
their voice was all-powerful. On 22nd May mobilization was ordered,
[Page 332]
and next day war was declared against Austria. Never was a war more
popular. Almost the whole nation was determined that the sacred soil
so long in the hands of their hated enemies should be freed at last.

[Illustration: Italian Soldiers at Garibaldi's Monument.
                                       [_By permission of The Sphere._

A military demonstration in Rome on the eve of the declaration of war.
The soldiers swarming on the base of the monument are Bersaglieri.]

[Page 333]
       *     *     *     *     *

Before I conclude this chapter, let me tell you something of the army
and navy with which Italy was about to challenge the might of Austria,
and Germany too. Service in the army was compulsory; it began at the
age of twenty, and lasted for nineteen years. Recruits were divided
into three classes--the first class formed the first line of the
regular army; the second class received a few months' annual training
for eight years, and then passed into the Militia; the third class was
only called up for thirty days' training each year. In time of peace
the strength of Italy's army was about 15,000 officers and 290,000
men. Her total war strength was about 2,000,000, of whom half were
trained.

Her crack regiments were the Carabineri, the Bersaglieri, and the
Alpini, all composed of picked men. No doubt you have seen pictures of
the Bersaglieri, with their shiny black hats and drooping cocks'
feathers. They are wonderful marchers, and at manœuvres have been
known to cover forty miles in a day. The Alpini, who wear a gray felt
hat with a high crown, a small brim turned up at the back and down at
the front, and a black eagle's feather at the side, are perhaps the
finest mountain troops in the world. We shall hear something of their
exploits in the next chapter. Italian soldiers are not big, but they
are tough, very hard working, always keen and cheerful, and there is a
fine spirit of comradeship between officers and men. Italy's field
artillery was armed with 75 mm. guns, and she had a large number of
howitzer batteries and a heavy siege train.

The Commander-in-Chief was King Victor Emmanuel III., a gallant,
simple, and straightforward monarch, much loved and trusted by his
people. He was the third king of United Italy, the first being Victor
Emmanuel II., King of Sardinia, who was declared king on March 17,
1861. Humbert I., the father of Emmanuel III., was assassinated by an
anarchist in July 1900. You will be interested to know that in 1896
Emmanuel married Princess Hélène, daughter of Nicholas, King of
Montenegro.

[Page 334]
The Generalissimo was Count Luigi Cadorna, a man of sixty-five, and
the son of the man who led the Italian army with great gallantry in
1870. As a young man, General Cadorna had served on his father's
staff, and had since won fame throughout Europe as a writer on
military science. No man in Italy knew the frontier on which the war
was to be waged better than he. Every mountain, valley, and ravine was
as familiar to him as the bogs and lakes of East Prussia were to von
Hindenburg.

A few words must be added about Italy's navy. It contained four
Dreadnoughts and two others almost ready for sea, all armed with
12-inch guns. In addition, there were ten pre-Dreadnought battleships
and a number of older vessels. Three of the cruisers were very fast,
though none of the armoured cruisers could steam more than twenty-two
knots an hour. The light craft included twenty submarines, a large
number of torpedo boats, and forty destroyers. With this naval force
Italy was greatly superior to Austria-Hungary. She took over from
France the task of holding the enemy in the Adriatic Sea.

The Admiral-in-Chief was the Duke of the Abruzzi, first cousin of the
King. He was a man of forty-two, who had won renown as an explorer, a
mountaineer, and a geographer. He had led scientific expeditions to
the Arctic wastes of Alaska, to the vast peaks of the Himalayas, and
to the thick jungles of Ruwenzori.[85] During the Tripoli War[86] he
had skilfully commanded a division of the Italian fleet.

       *     *     *     *     *

With these forces Italy was now about to undertake a terribly
difficult task. She was to try to force her way across lofty,
snow-clad mountains, on which the Austrians had erected strong
fortresses commanding every possible path. In the next chapter I shall
give you some idea of the character of the frontier, and then you will
understand what vast obstacles beset the Italian army.

Italy, however, began the war with two important advantages. In the
[Page 335]
first place, both her army and her navy had seen recent war service.
During the previous fifteen years her soldiers had fought on the Red
Sea coast and in Tripoli, and her sailors had gained much experience
in transporting and convoying armies, and in bombardments and
blockades. In the second place, she did not take the field until more
than nine months after the first shots were fired in Flanders. All
through the winter she had been busy equipping and training her
soldiers, and gaining experience from the operations in East and West.
Her generals had clearly understood the value of heavy artillery and
many machine guns, and they had studied trench warfare in all its
phases. Onlookers, they say, see most of the game. The Italian
generals had watched the great war game very closely, and they had
laid to heart the lessons which the combatants had only learnt at a
terrible cost of men and material.

[Page 336]
[Illustration: The Serbian Boys adopted by "The Children's Story of
the War."
                                                    [_Photo, Balmain._


_Standing_ (left to right)--Djordje Alexitch, Milivoye Stefanovitch,
Milorad Maletitch, Dmitrije Dulkanovitch, Peter Pantelitch.

_Sitting_ (left to right)--Miodrag Martitch, Mihailo Radonovitch,
Djordje Osmanbegovitch, Stanko Ilitch, Nikola Vasitch.

All these boys followed the retreat of the Serbian army during the
last three months of 1915. Several of the bigger boys fought as
soldiers. On the voyage from Albania to Corfu the Italian ship which
conveyed a number of refugees; including two of the small boys in the
above group was captured by an Austrian submarine. The boys are
scholars of George Heriot's School, Edinburgh.]

[Footnote 83: See Vol. I., pp. 84-85.]

[Footnote 84: Sidney Low, in the _Fortnightly Review_ (Sept. 1916).]

[Footnote 85: Mountain of Central Africa, the eastern half of which
lies between Albert Nyanza and Edward Nyanza. It was explored by the
Duke of the Abruzzi in 1906. Some of the peaks are between 15,000 and
17,000 feet in height, and are snow clad.]

[Footnote 86: Fought against Arabs and Turks in 1911-12. After a very
difficult campaign peace was signed, giving sovereign rights over the
country to Italy.]

[Page 337]




  CHAPTER XLI.

  WAR IN THE MOUNTAINS.


Before we can follow the Italian campaign intelligently we must spend
a few minutes in studying the map on page 338. The thick black line
which is traced upon it marks the frontier between Austria and Italy.
Those who made this frontier had one great object in view--namely, to
put the Austrians in such a favourable position that they could swoop
down upon Italy whenever they wished to do so. They prisoned Italy
behind mountain walls, and they gave to Austria every pass by which
guns could cross the rocky barrier. All along the frontier, at every
gateway in the mountain wall, you will see Austrian fortresses.
Nowhere in the world is there a more formidable frontier.

Run your finger along it. You see that its shape is that of an
irregular S lying on its side, thus [symbol]. You notice that the
western loop of the S is much narrower than the eastern loop. It is to
the western loop that I wish you to pay special attention now. In
chapter xli. of our fourth volume I told you that when Italy joined in
the war she set herself to conquer the Trentino, which is inhabited
mainly by Italian-speaking people, and is part of what is known as
"Unredeemed Italy." The Trentino is contained within the western loop
of the S. It is a great broken headland of mountain jutting into the
plains, and its rim is formed by lofty ranges which are only pierced
by a few river valleys and passes, all of them difficult. The great
river of this region is the Adige. It rises high up in the Alps,
sweeps eastwards, turns south past the city of Trent, and breaks
through the southern rim of mountains to the east of the Lake of
Garda. It then meanders across the plain to join the Po at Verona.
Your map shows you a very important railway following the course of
[Page 338]
this river from Austria into Italy. A road also follows the river, and
at Bozen meets a highway which gives a route across the high Alps into
Austria proper. You can see at a glance that by far the best road from
the Trentino to the Italian plains runs along the valley of the Adige.
Look at the group of black stars round Trent.[87] Each black star
represents a fortress. Nowhere in the Trentino are the fortresses so
thickly clustered together as around Trent. By means of these
fortresses the Austrians blocked the northward road into Austria
proper.

[Illustration: Map showing the Austro-Italian Boundary.]

[Page 339]
A little to the east of Trent there is a lake in which the river
Brenta begins. This river breaks through the eastern rim of mountains,
and then flows south to join the Po. A railway follows its course, but
the road which runs alongside it is very difficult for an army to
follow. Farther north there are several other passes, but the broken
district of the Dolomites lies between them and Bozen. The only real
break by which a modern army can advance through the rim of the
Trentino mountains is the narrow gap through which the Adige finds its
way to the plains.

Now follow the eastern loop of the S. For about one hundred miles this
loop consists of a sheer rampart of almost unbroken mountain. About
thirty miles east of Bozen a highroad has been constructed through the
heart of the white limestone crags at a height of some five thousand
feet; but in places it runs through a defile which is commanded by a
hundred points from which an army on the march could be swept away.
Most of the other passes are mere bridle paths; but one of them, just
about where the loop begins to turn to the south, carries the railway
from Venice to Vienna. Though this is the easiest of all the great
routes across the frontier, it is so narrow and difficult that it
could easily be held against an invader.

Now follow the frontier from the railway which I have just mentioned
to the sea. Find Cividale. Your map shows you level ground extending
from this town to the Gulf of Venice. "Ah!" you say, "here at last is
a weak place in the armour-clad frontier of Austria. Between Cividale
and the sea the Italians have a chance of pushing into Austrian
territory." I must, however, remind you that our map is on a small
scale, and that the country from Cividale to the sea is by no means as
[Page 340]
easy as it looks. The whole distance is only about twenty miles, and
this is far too small a front for the deployment of a great army.
Further, behind the frontier there is the river Isonzo, and lining its
eastern bank are many high hills. You can easily see that the line of
the river forms in itself a very strong defensive position. A great
force of guns ranged on the heights behind the stream would make the
Isonzo front almost impregnable.

Now you begin to understand the tremendous difficulties which the
Italians had to face when they proposed to invade Austria. The
Austrians had every advantage of position; but they had their weakness
too. A modern army, as you know, depends mainly upon railways for
moving and provisioning troops, bringing up guns, and supplying them
with stores of shell. If you look at the Austrian railway system you
will notice that it skirts the frontier from the shores of the Gulf of
Venice right round to the pass by which the river Adige breaks through
the mountains. But you will also notice that it has very few branch
lines, because the hill-valleys make railway construction almost
impossible. Between the railway line and the actual frontier all
material has to be brought up by road through steep valleys and across
high hills. The Italians, on the other hand, were well supplied with
railways. In the eastern loop of the S you see railway lines crossing
and recrossing, and forming a very complete system by which they could
readily supply their troops on the frontier with stores, guns, and
ammunition.

       *     *     *     *     *

You will probably ask, "Why did not the Austrians, as soon as Italy
declared war, sweep down from the mountains along the valleys of the
Adige and the Brenta, and through the passes of the Carnic and Julian
Alps, and overrun the Italian plains?" This was, of course, the right
thing to do; but Austria in May 1915 could not provide the men and
guns for such an advance. She had her hands full in the East, where,
as you know, Mackensen had begun the great drive which was to cause
the Russians to retreat far into the recesses of their land. Austria
was obliged, for some months to come, to stand on the defensive all
along her Italian frontier. Almost immediately war was declared she
blew up the bridges on the Adige, and in the eastern loop of the S
abandoned all her territory west of the Isonzo, thus clearly showing
[Page 341]
that she was going to stand fast and let the Italians butt their heads
against the mountain walls and the river line that formed her strong
bulwark of defence.

What was the Italian plan of campaign? General Cadorna had two objects
in view. First and foremost, he wished to capture the great seaport of
Trieste, which lies, as you will observe, about twenty miles as the
aeroplane flies to the south-east of the Lower Isonzo. You must not
imagine that once the river was crossed all would be plain sailing.
Find the Austrian city of Gorizia, on the Isonzo. Before the war it
was a delightful town of white churches, hilly streets, broad squares,
and gardens of laurels, pines, and palms. The climate is so mild that
it was known as "The Nice of Austria." Strangely enough, its special
industry was the printing of Hebrew books for the East. Between
Gorizia and Trieste stretches the great limestone plateau of the
Carso. Before the Italians could reach Trieste they had to cross this
great obstacle.

    "It is a mass of wrinkled rock, with scrub and thick undergrowth
    in some of the gullies, but for the most part naked stone, its
    gaunt ribs and blank shoulders scourged and flayed by the
    relentless sun. Save for the lizards that bask and bake themselves
    on its furnace-like floors, it is lifeless, as it is waterless and
    treeless; no shrub or tuft of mountain moss, no bird, and scarcely
    an insect, can find nourishment in this burnt solitude. The
    Austrians had strengthened the forbidding fastness by elaborate
    works. The whole face was veined with galleries and covered ways,
    with dug-outs and caves and gun emplacements in the solid rock. .
    . . To besiege this place was like attempting to carry the Rock of
    Gibraltar."

Cadorna's second object was to watch and hold the whole northern
border, lest the Austrians should sweep down to the plains, cut the
railways behind the Isonzo front, and take him in the rear.
Accordingly, he decided to attack the Trentino and all the passes
along the eastern loop of the S. If he could push across the Dolomites
by the highroad to the east of Bozen, he might reach and cut the
railway by which the Austrians maintained themselves all along the
frontier. The Austrians would then be prevented from operating in the
Trentino.

       *     *     *     *     *

Though the Austrians intended to stand upon the defensive by land,
they were quite ready to strike by sea. A squadron of two battleships,
four cruisers, and some eighteen destroyers, supported by many
aircraft, pushed out from Pola on 23rd May, and early next morning
[Page 342]
attacked the Italian coastline from Brindisi to Venice. The object of
this attack was to damage the railway which runs along the Adriatic
shore, for the most part within range of the guns of warships off the
coast. Railway and signal stations and bridges were destroyed, and
some of the seaside towns suffered severely. Airmen flew over Venice
and dropped bombs on the Arsenal, on the oil tanks, and on the balloon
sheds. A wave of anger swept over the Allied and neutral countries
when the news reached them that the lovely city of Venice, with its
exquisite monuments of art and piety, had been attacked. All was over
by 6 a.m. The Italian fleet had been surprised, and the raiding
squadron had done its work unmolested.

       *     *     *     *     *

By the evening of 24th May Cadorna's Isonzo army had crossed the
frontier, and its left was just under Monte Nero, which commands the
railway running south to Gorizia; while its extreme right was on the
shores of the Gulf of Venice. It was a wet season, and the bridges
over the flooded Isonzo had been blown up. While the Italians were
bringing up reinforcements and making ready for an attack on Monte
Nero,[88] Italian airmen were busy bombing the railway farther south,
so as to cut off supplies and reinforcements from the Austrians on the
river line. By the end of May the Italians had reached the Isonzo, but
had not crossed it.

In the central section there was much scattered fighting, and the
Italians captured several of the passes, one of them the pass already
referred to, east of Bozen. On the 30th they were only fifteen miles
as the crow flies from the Austrian railway junction at Franzenfeste;
but those fifteen miles included the highest peaks of the Dolomites,
and the road--one of the finest in Europe--ran, as I have already told
you, through a narrow defile which gave every advantage to the
defenders.

The Trentino fighting also began on May 24th. On that day Italian
detachments pushed forward to the frontier on both sides of the Lake
of Garda and through the Tonale Pass, which you will find on the
western rim, to the west of Trent. By the end of the month the
Italians had closed in on the Trentino fortresses. So far their
success, though small, had been continuous. They had secured their
[Page 343]
flanks. The enemy could no longer descend at will upon the plains.

You must remember that all the fighting which I have briefly described
above was carried on amidst towering Alpine peaks, and sometimes above
the snow-line. Roads had to be made; heavy guns had to be hauled up
mountain sides; trenches had to be dug on the edges of ravines or
amidst the everlasting ice and snow. To give you some idea of the
character of this mountain warfare, I will briefly describe the
assault on Monte Nero, which rises in a sheer cliff to a height of
9,000 feet above sea level. A picked company of Alpini was detailed
for the assault, which was made on a dark, misty night.[89] "No boots"
was the order, "and no knapsacks." Officers and men tied their boots
by the laces to their belts behind. Some wore socks to protect their
feet; others wrapped bandages round them. Only rifles, bayonets, and
ammunition pouches were taken. In complete silence the men scaled the
wall of rock by means of two great cracks, while a more numerous
column ascended the steep rocky slopes farther south. The climbers,
clinging like flies to the rock faces, were not discovered until they
had almost reached the top of the precipice. While the Austrians
hastened to repel this unlooked-for attack, the main body came up and
overwhelmed them. Thus the summit was captured, six hundred Austrians
were made prisoner, and the Italians secured a position from which
they were able to work south towards Gorizia.

Many other mountain spurs were also captured in much the same way, and
again and again the Alpini took the foe by surprise. Not only had they
to storm these difficult positions, but to hold them against fierce
counter-attacks. By this time the Austrians no longer trusted to the
natural advantages of their positions, but girdled the rocky peaks,
6,000, 7,000, or even 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, with wire
entanglements and pitfalls of every kind.

By the end of June both sides had settled down to trench warfare.

A writer who visited an Italian outpost on the summit of Monte
Cristallo, which you will find south of Sexten,[90] tells us that in
the mass of this mountain, up to heights of over eight thousand feet,
in crannies in the rock, in steep gullies, and in chimneys of snow,
the batteries were placed and hidden quite secure from the fire of the
enemy.

[Pages 344, 345]
[Illustration: Hauling a heavy Italian Mortar to its Position high up
on the Mountains.

(_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)

One of the main features of the Italian campaign was the excellence of
the Italian infantry. Heavy pieces were hauled above the snow-line in
all sorts of ingenious ways. The above picture shows you a heavy
mortar in the act of being dragged up the mountain side. You will
observe that a track has been specially made so that the gun cannot
run back when the strain on the ropes is eased.]

[Page 346]
    "A company of men divided into two half-companies held, the one
    half the base of the precipitous rock upon a sward of high valley,
    the other the summit itself, perhaps 3,000 feet higher; and the
    communication from one to the other was a double wire swung
    through the air above the chasm, up and down which travelled
    shallow cradles of steel carrying men and food, munitions and
    instruments. Such a device alone made possible the establishment
    of these posts in such incredible places, and the perilous journey
    along the wire rope, swung from precipice to precipice and over
    intervening gulfs, was the only condition of their continued
    survival. The post itself clung to the extreme summit of the
    mountain, as a bird's nest clings to the cranny of rock in which
    it is built."[91]

The same writer tells us that by means of these cable-ways the
Italians made secure the whole mountain buttress, and captured and
closed all breaks in the Alpine wall.

    "You find small posts of men that must have their food and water
    daily brought to them thus, slung by the wire; you find them
    crouched upon the little dip where a collar of deep snow between
    bare rocks marks some almost impossible passage of the hills that
    must yet be held. You see a gun of 6-inch or even of 8-inch
    emplaced where, had you been climbing for your pleasure, you would
    hardly have dared to pitch the smallest tent. You hear the story
    of how the piece was hoisted here by machinery first established
    upon the rock; of the blasting for emplacement; of the accidents
    after which it was finally emplaced, and of the ingenious thought
    which has allowed for a chance of recoil or displacement."

I need not follow in detail the fighting which went on amidst the
mountains all through the summer, and, on the Isonzo, right down to
the close of the year. In this section of the front the Italians were
striving to capture Gorizia, the key to Trieste. Should it fall,
Trieste could be turned from the north. Upon Gorizia, then, the chief
interest of the campaign centred almost from the beginning.

Look carefully at the little map on the next page. On the northern
edge of the Carso you see the ridge of St. Michael, about eight
thousand yards to the south-east of Gorizia. On the eastern bank of
the Isonzo, about three thousand yards from the same city, you notice
the Podgora Ridge. If the Italians could capture the ridge of St.
Michael and the ridge of Podgora, they would be in possession of
observing stations which would enable them to batter down Gorizia, and
[Page 347]
prevent the enemy from bringing up guns and reinforcements.

For months the Italians strove to capture the heights, and in November
they managed to instal themselves on the slopes of the Podgora Ridge,
and also to gain a footing on the ridge of St. Michael. In December
they were for the first time able to turn their big guns upon Gorizia.
Many infantry attacks were made, and in all of them the Italians
showed wonderful courage and perseverance. Again and again they nearly
broke through; but at the end of the year Gorizia was still in the
hands of the Austrians. Meanwhile in the Trentino the valley of the
Adige had been secured as far as a few miles south of Rovereto, and
the valley of the Brenta was in Italian possession as far up as a few
miles west of Borgo. The road across the Dolomites was also locked,
bolted, and barred against the Austrians.

       *     *     *     *     *

[Illustration: Map of Isonzo Front.]

During the first months of 1916 there was a lull on the Italian front.
Deep snow lay on the mountains, and in all the upper valleys white
thick mists shrouded the lower ground. Though fighting was impossible,
the lines high up on the mountains had to be strengthened and held in
spite of Alpine storms, deep snow, and bitter cold. These were the
real enemies of the Italians during the winter. I need not tell you
that the men who held the mountain lines suffered great hardships.
They were frost-bitten and buffeted by driving tempests, and
frequently lacked food and fire. In many cases convoys of provisions,
men, guns, and the trenches of friend and foe were swept away by
avalanches.

All along the front the Italians laboured hard to preserve the
positions which they had already won. On the Carso they blasted out
[Page 348]
deep trenches and dug-outs, laid down water-pipes, and in a variety of
ways prepared for the coming of the spring, when the war could be
renewed in real earnest. Not until April was there any operation of
importance. In the previous November the Alpini, under the command of
Colonel "Peppino" Garibaldi,[92] grandson of the Liberator, had won a
footing on the Col[93] di Lana after a desperate struggle. The Col di
Lana stands a little to the south-west of Cortina, on the highroad
which I have mentioned more than once in this chapter. It was the one
favourable observation post of the enemy which the Italians had failed
to secure. They had, as it were, shut all the doors of their house,
but until Col di Lana was fully secured there was a window left to the
Austrians by which they could look down into Italy. In April 1916 the
Italians held the greater part of the col, but the Austrians were
still on the summit.

For three months during the winter the Italians tunnelled under the
peak, and laid a mine for the purpose of blowing the Austrians off the
mountain. A fortnight before the mine was ready for exploding the
Austrians began countermining. They fired their mine first, but with
no real effect. On the night of 17th April the Italians touched off
their mine. A huge crater 150 feet wide and nearly fifty feet deep was
formed by the explosion, and this the Italians occupied. They were
raked by Austrian artillery fire for some time, but before long they
had established new lines in which they could defy the enemy's shells.
The Austrians had at last been driven from the sole remaining window
by which they could look down upon Italy.

Just about the time that the great mine on Col di Lana was completed,
the Alpini made an attack of a most wonderfully daring character. Look
at the mountain wall on the west side of the Trentino. A little south
of Tonale Pass you will find Mount Adamello, which is famous for its
huge glacier. Three rock ridges running roughly parallel, and north
and south, cut across this glacier. On the eastern ridge the Austrians
were posted, the Italians being on the western ridge. Early in April
Austrian outposts occupied the central ridge, and the Italians
determined to drive them off.

[Page 349]
[Illustration: A Climb to Victory.

(_From the picture by H. W. Koekkoek. By permission of The Illustrated
London News._)

This picture shows you the Alpini making the remarkable night climb to
the summit of Monte Nero in order to surprise the Austrians at
daybreak. The incident is fully described on page 343.]

[Page 350]
On the night of 11th April some three hundred Alpini, clothed in
white, mounted their _skis_, and worked their way up to the glacier
until they were 10,000 feet above sea level. A terrible storm assailed
them; they lost their way, but were obliged to continue moving lest
they should be frozen to death. In the early morning the Austrians saw
them scattered over the glacier, and apparently at the mercy of their
machine guns. But these wonderful men, though worn out by their long
night march and their heavy losses, charged across the glacier,
carried two of the Austrian positions, and killed or captured nearly
all the defenders.

Seventeen days later, on a clear, starry night, two thousand Alpini
again climbed the glacier, and found the Austrians on a lower saddle
of the eastern ridge. They had left the highest point of the ridge in
order to take shelter lower down from the bitter wind. As soon as the
Alpini were sighted the Austrians made off at top speed for the peak,
and a great race began. The Alpini won by a few minutes, and, with the
help of other columns, managed to capture the whole glacier, but not
without furious and long-continued fighting. In order to support the
advance, a battery of 6-inch guns had actually been hauled up to the
western edge of the glacier.

By means of feats such as this the Italians gradually made headway.
They would have made more rapid progress had they possessed at the
beginning of the war a large supply of heavy guns with which they
could have battered down the Austrian fortresses. They had to build
big guns while their infantry clung on to the ground which had been so
hardly won. Through the winter their gunmakers worked hard, and in
spring many new pieces were brought up to the front.

The time had come for the Austrians to make a big effort. In the
previous spring they had seen von Mackensen's vast array of heavy guns
blast the Russians out of their trenches on the Donajetz, and hurl
them back in rapid retreat. The Austrians, or their German masters,
now decided to strike a similar blow at the Italian army, which they
said consisted of beggars, buffoons, mandoline players, and brigands.
They were about to punish the Italians for their so-called treason.
[Page 351]
The Austrian soldiers were told that the Italians were downhearted,
that victory would be easily won, and that there would be plentiful
wine and glorious loot in the towns and villages of Lombardy and
Venetia.

All through the winter the Austrians collected vast quantities of
food, equipment, guns, and munitions. They drew troops from Galicia,
from the Balkans, and from their reserves, and by the 12th of May they
had arrayed 400,000 men with 2,000 guns, many of them of enormous
calibre, for the great adventure. All was ready for a mighty blow that
would be sure to break the Italian front.

I need hardly tell you where the blow was to fall. Austria's great
army and her heavy guns could only be brought right up to the Italian
border by passing through the Trentino. You already know that the
Austrian frontier railway sends an important branch along the valley
of the Adige. The most likely place for the great new offensive to
begin was Trent. From that city the Austrians could send troops down
by rail towards Verona, or along the valley of the Brenta, so as to
cut the lines of Italian communication with the Isonzo front. If this
could be done quickly, the Austrians would force the Italians to give
up their attacks on Gorizia, and to fall back to meet the enemy on the
plains of North Italy.

[Page 352]
[Illustration: Map to illustrate the great Austrian Offensive in the
Trentino.

The dotted line (marked A) running from a little south of Roveredo in
a north-easterly direction to the Val Borgo shows you the position to
which the Italians fought their way by May 15, 1916. The great
Austrian offensive began on 13th and 14th May, and the Italians were
obliged to fall back. By 1st June the Italians had been driven
south-eastward to the dotted line marked B B. The Austrians occupied
Arsiero and Asiago, but this was the high-water mark of their advance.
They could not capture Monte Pasubio, which commands the road along
the Adige, and they were obliged to draw off troops to meet the "Big
Push" of the Russians on their eastern frontier. By 10th June the
Austrian offensive had come to an end, and the Italians had begun to
attack all along the line.]

[Footnote 87: See map, p. 352.]

[Footnote 88: See map on p. 347.]

[Footnote 89: See picture on p. 349.]

[Footnote 90: See map, p. 338.]

[Footnote 91: Hilaire Belloc in _Land and Water_.]

[Footnote 92: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82), Italian patriot and
commander of irregular forces. He played a very large part in the
liberation and unifying of Italy. At the beginning of the war his
statues in the various Italian towns were surrounded by cheering
crowds.]

[Footnote 93: A high narrow pass between two mountain peaks.]

[Page 353]




  CHAPTER XLII.

  HOW THE AUSTRIANS MADE A GREAT EFFORT AND FAILED.


In the first fortnight of May the great Austrian army and its huge
array of mighty guns rolled down from Trent. The Italians were then
holding a line which ran from a mile or two south of Rovereto to the
east of the lake in which the Brenta rises. It is marked A A on the
map (page 352). On 13th and 14th May they were assailed by a terrible
storm of fire, followed by infantry attacks all along the line. The
Italian guns were outnumbered and outclassed, and quite powerless to
keep down the fire of the Austrian artillery. Our Allies were forced
to fall back; but they did so slowly, selling every yard of ground at
a heavy cost.

On 20th May they had to retire across their frontier and take up the
new battle-front marked B B on the map. It ran, as you will notice,
along the heights covering the fortresses of Arsiero and Asiago, and
its pivot on the west was Monte Pasubio, which lifts itself more than
seven thousand feet above sea level, and stands like a huge sentry
commanding the valley of the river Arsa, running up to Rovereto, and
the valley of the Posina, running eastwards past Arsiero. On their
right flank the Austrians pressed down the valley of the Brenta,
pushing the Italians before them. They captured Borgo, and by 1st June
had opened the road to Asiago, which they occupied. On the same day
another column entered Arsiero. The Austrians were now on the edge of
the plains, and the situation was grave indeed.

But the Austrian advance had already reached its high-water mark. From
the day on which Arsiero and Asiago were captured the tide began to
turn in favour of the Italians. Cadorna now had the situation well in
hand. While the Austrians were pushing back his front he was bringing
[Page 354]
up reserves from all parts of Italy. In a single week during this
perilous time he gathered together half a million men, and by means of
the railways--which do not move the traveller to admiration in time of
peace--hurried regiments, batteries, stores, horses, wagons, and
ammunition from the uttermost parts of the peninsula to the new front.

[Illustration: Fighting amidst the Carnic Alps.

(_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)

Alpini are shown holding a rocky ledge above a valley through which
Austrian troops are advancing. The Alpini, as you know, are trained
mountaineers as well as soldiers, and carry, besides their rifles,
cartridges, knapsacks, etc., ropes and an ice-axe. The Italian rifle
carries five rounds in the magazine and fires nickel-coated bullets.]

[Page 355]
He strengthened his hold on Monte Pasubio, and on the pass to the
south-west, by means of which the Austrians hoped to push down to
Verona. Had they been able to seize these two positions, they would
have rolled up the left flank of the Italians. Cadorna, however, hung
on like grim death to Pasubio and to the pass. The Austrians turned a
vast number of guns on Pasubio, and kept up a bombardment day and
night for three weeks; but all in vain. Meanwhile a six days' infantry
battle raged round the pass, but the Italians did not yield an inch of
ground. You can form some idea of the terrible fighting in this region
when I tell you that on the last day of the battle 7,000 men died on
the field. On 7th and 8th June the Austrians made violent attacks to
the east of Asiago, and on the 10th hurled eighteen to twenty
battalions against the mountain which commands the railway from Asiago
to Schio. With the failure of this great attack the Austrian offensive
came to an end. On 26th June flags were fluttering in all the towns of
North Italy. The Austrians were retreating, and the Italians were hard
on their heels.

The great offensive had failed, and failed miserably. The Austrians
had used up an enormous amount of ammunition, and they had lost in
killed and wounded at least a hundred thousand men. We shall see in a
later chapter that by sending this great array of troops and the best
of their guns to make an onset upon the Italians they had so weakened
themselves on their Eastern front that the Russians were able to win
striking successes.

The Austrians meant to fall back to prepared positions on the high
ground, where they would be able to hold the Italians with smaller
numbers of men. Cadorna, however, followed them up rapidly. By means
of motor cars he pushed his troops up the mountain roads, over the
hills, and along the woodland paths, and thus gave the enemy no rest
for the sole of his foot. Early in August the Italian guns were
[Page 356]
threatening the cross railways by which alone the Austrian withdrawal
could take place.

On the Carso the assault never slackened, in spite of the peril in the
Trentino. Tunnels were driven through the limestone under the feet of
the Austrians, and the Italians sprang to the attack literally out of
the ground, and within a few yards of the enemy's trenches. A great
assemblage of Italian guns, howitzers, and heavy trench mortars rained
a torrent of fire on the defensive works of Gorizia in the first week
of August, and the garrison, stunned and deafened, was unable to
resist the infantry assaults that followed. With bayonet and grenade
the Italians drove the Austrians headlong out of Gorizia.

The key of Trieste had been won, and all was ready for the forcing of
the Carso. No light task lay before the Italians. The crest of the
plateau was not yet in their hands, and there was a terribly difficult
region to be traversed before the Italian flag could wave over the
great seaport, which, though Austrian in name, was Italian in heart.

[Page 357]




  CHAPTER XLIII.

  STORIES OF THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN.


Many interesting stories of the mountain warfare described in the
previous chapters have been told, and I must tell you a few of them
before I pass eastward and deal with the great offensive which the
Russians so happily launched while their foes were vainly battering at
Verdun and striving to overwhelm the Italians on their rocky frontier.
Italy had a great asset in her King. A writer tells us that where the
danger was greatest or encouragement was most needed, there the King
was to be found. "He dashes in his gray motor car along the flat roads
in the Friuli[94] region, appears on horseback on the hills near
Gorizia, climbs on the back of a mule in the Carnic passes, and gains
on foot, helped by an alpenstock, the heights of the peaks from which
Rovereto can be seen.

"Once he crossed the Isonzo on a pontoon bridge south of Monte Nero.
After sunset an officer of the General Staff came up to his Majesty
and told him that an attack of the enemy was expected during the
night, and that it would be unsafe for him to remain on the left bank
of the river. The King promptly replied: 'If this point is dangerous
for my soldiers, it is my place,' and there he remained. To the Crown
Prince, who asked when he could return home to his boy, the King
replied that he could not leave the front while thousands of _his_
'boys' were risking their lives."

       *     *     *     *     *

More than once his Majesty had a narrow escape. On one occasion he was
on the left bank of the Isonzo when a mountain spur was to be stormed.
A shell exploded so near to him that a splinter of shrapnel wounded
[Page 358]
his horse. He had no thought for himself, but he was full of
solicitude for his stricken steed, and ordered it to be sent at once
to the Blue Cross, which, as you know, ministers to wounded horses.
When the members of his staff bade him retire to a place of safety, he
refused to listen to them. He simply called for another horse, and
said, "Here we must win or die!" Then he rode amongst his troops, who
greeted him with loud shouts of delight, and forthwith rushed to the
attack. The position was won, and is now known to Italian soldiers as
"the King's Spur."

       *     *     *     *     *

I am sure you will like to read a story about General Cadorna. You
will remember that he came of a military family, and that his father,
Count Raphael Cadorna, was a famous general. In the war of 1866 his
father commanded an army corps which advanced on Trieste, but did not
reach that seaport because peace was declared before he attacked the
Carso. It is said that one day during the campaign which I described
in the former chapter, General Cadorna placed his finger on a certain
spot on his map, and said, "That is where my father got to." Then
moving his finger to Trieste, he added, "And that is where _I_ have to
go."

       *     *     *     *     *

I told you on a former page that before the campaign had been long in
progress the Austrians strengthened their positions high on the
mountains by means of barbed wire. You will be interested to learn of
the ingenious manner in which the Italians broke through the
entanglements on one of the mountains. They collected a number of wild
buffaloes and drove them forward towards the Austrian positions.
Suddenly they exploded some bombs behind the animals. Immediately they
took fright and stampeded towards the enemy's lines. So amazed were
the Austrians to see a herd of buffaloes charging down upon them that
panic seized them. With horns and hoofs the terrified animals smashed
through the wire, and they were closely followed by the Italians. A
very short struggle followed, and the Austrians holding the position
surrendered.

       *     *     *     *     *

The Italian soldier is a great smoker. During the campaign he was
[Page 359]
seldom to be seen without a cigar in his mouth, even when he was
manning the trenches and beating off an attack. It is said that one
night an Austrian officer, looking across the No Man's Land, saw a row
of red lights behind the enemy's wire entanglements. At once he gave
the order to fire. Almost before the bullets left the rifles the
Italians leaped into the Austrian trenches. They had left their
lighted cigars on their parapets, fifty yards behind, in order to
deceive the enemy!

       *     *     *     *     *

You have already read stories of the extraordinary climbing powers of
the Alpini. Let me tell you how they captured the position of Monte
Cimone.[95] It is a plateau from which a mountain path rises for some
four hundred feet. The Austrians occupied the plateau and the summit
on 26th May, and fortified it very strongly. Machine guns were so
placed that they commanded all the gullies by which it was thought
possible for an enemy to climb. On one side the plateau ends in a
sheer wall of rock. This side was not guarded, for the Austrians did
not believe that any soldiers could ascend it.

The Italians began their attack by heavily bombarding the plateau.
Their artillery hurled shells on the position from two o'clock on a
Saturday afternoon until 4.30 the next morning. During the last two
hours of the bombardment the Alpini were busy. Two companies scaled
the face of the mountain by means of rope ladders, and the men arrived
one by one under the overhanging crest, where they squatted down on
tiny ledges or wedged themselves into crevices. The enemy in the
meantime had become aware of their presence, and from the edge of the
plateau hurled bombs and stones upon them. At ten in the morning the
Alpini scrambled up, broke through the barricades, and rushed towards
a redoubt which the Austrians had established on the plateau. They
managed to get very near to it; but when they had flung all their
bombs they were driven back to the edge of the cliff.

Then was seen an extraordinary sight. Alpini manned the rope ladders
and formed a continuous chain from the Italian positions down below up
to the plateau. From hand to hand they passed up bombs and stones,
which the men on the plateau hurled at the foe. Meanwhile the men on
[Pages 360, 361]
the ladders were being bombed from above. When a man fell the line
moved up one. That was all. The Alpini worked on quite unconcerned.
Enemy bombs which fell without exploding were handed up again in the
hope that they would behave better on the return journey.

[Illustration: A Frontier Duel in the Shadow of the Mountains:
Italians in Action on the Road to Pontebba.

(_From the picture by H. W. Koekkoek. By permission of the Illustrated
London News._)

This picture gives you an excellent idea of the mountain frontier
between Italy and Austria. The zigzag road up the mountains was
constructed by Napoleon, and is the big military highway between Milan
and Venice. Austrian guns are firing from the slopes of the mountains.
In the foreground are Italians behind breastworks of stones, covered
by leaves; in front of them you see the usual wire entanglement.
Pontebba, the village in the middle distance, is the first station in
Italy reached by the traveller journeying from Vienna to Venice by
this route.]

[Page 362]
By three o'clock in the afternoon the redoubt had been won, and before
daybreak on Monday the whole of Monte Cimone was in the hands of the
Italians.

       *     *     *     *     *

The picture on page 365 gives you a good idea of the way in which the
Italian peasant women helped in the campaign. Where the tracks leading
to the Italian gun positions were too steep and narrow for the passage
of horses and mules, or where it was not convenient to set up the
aerial cables described on page 346, women and girls carried up the
shells in panniers strapped to their backs. A war correspondent with
the Italians thus wrote: "Everybody within the war zone appears to be
doing his or her 'bit;' but I was somewhat surprised to see women
engaged in a task which called for great physical strength and much
nerve. I saw women carrying coils of barbed wire up the mountains.
Each of these coils weighed close on fifty pounds. When I passed this
convoy, although it was high up and the women must have been tramping
for some hours, they were all as cheerful as possible, and seemed to
regard their job as a pleasure jaunt. And all the time big guns were
booming and shells were falling close by." Elsewhere women did all in
their power to cheer and encourage the soldiers. While the great
assault on the Carso was in preparation the women of certain Italian
towns wove garlands of flowers and sent them to the front. The men
bound them round their helmets, and thus, crowned with flowers, fought
their way on to the plateau.

       *     *     *     *     *

In earlier pages of this volume I have mentioned the steel helmets
which were served out first to the French and, later on, to the
British on the Western front. The Italians supplied some of their men
with almost complete suits of armour, and utilized these ironclad
warriors for the purpose of cutting the enemy's wire. It is
interesting to notice that in this and in other ways both sides
reverted to the war customs of their fore-fathers. From the very
earliest times men in lofty positions have rolled great stones and
[Page 363]
boulders down mountain sides upon the enemy below. Frequently the
Austrians collected boulders on the edge of steep slopes, and set
under each of them a branch of a tree to serve as a lever. By lifting
the levers the boulders were sent crashing down the mountain sides on
their errands of death and destruction. Those of you who have read the
story of how Hannibal[96] crossed the Alps in the days of old will
remember that the mountain tribes frequently impeded his advance in
the same way. The wild hillmen on the North-West Frontier of India
have frequently bombarded our own troops in a similar fashion.

During the winter Italians and Austrians alike adopted a device of
nature in order to render their fighting men less conspicuous. Many
animals and insects, as you probably know, assume the colour of their
surroundings, and are thus less easily seen by their foes. For
example, mountain hares, which in summer are blue-gray in colour,
become white in winter when the hills are covered with snow. During
the winter fighting the soldiers on both sides were dressed in white
clothing, and thus became invisible when the valleys and hills were a
dazzling expanse of snow. The sentries high up on the mountains in
exposed places looked more like Arctic explorers than fighting men.

       *     *     *     *     *

Already you must have admired the great ingenuity and perseverance
displayed by the Italian engineers in overcoming the difficulties of
transport amidst the high mountains. Roads had to be constructed
before the guns could be advanced; positions had to be blasted out
high on the snowy summits; and aerial cables had to be established to
supply the gunners with shells, stores, and food. By means of these
slung wires guns weighing nearly eight hundredweight were carried to
the top of precipitous peaks. Heavier guns were hauled along the roads
by steam tractors, and man-hauled by means of drag ropes at zigzag
turns. In some cases cogged rails were laid down, and teams of men by
sheer force dragged them into position. (See picture, pp. 344-345.)
Batteries of guns, each weighing eleven tons, with a carriage of five
[Page 364]
tons and a platform (in sections) of thirty tons, were in this way
actually installed at a height of 9,000 feet. The very heaviest siege
howitzers had to be used, for "high-angle" fire was the only possible
way of subduing many of the Austrian forts, which were hidden away
amidst the crags on the steep upper slopes of the mountains.

       *     *     *     *     *

One of the most vivid descriptions of the conditions under which the
war was fought along the Isonzo front was supplied by a wounded
Austrian officer:--

    "When I was wounded the battle was raging along the whole line. I
    was standing on a point from which I could see the whole of the
    Gorizia battlefield. The country below me was a ring of death, and
    in the south, near the sea, the whole line was aflame with the
    guns. . . . There are two great features in the fighting on the
    Isonzo: one is the amazing rapidity of the gun-fire, and the other
    the closeness of the enemy positions to each other. Imagine, then,
    the strain on the nerve!

    "The Italians prepare every one of their attacks with many hours
    of bombardment, and it happens very often that after such a deluge
    of fire they simply send out patrols to ascertain if there are any
    living beings yet in our positions. The patrols return with the
    news that there are defenders still alive, and the bombardment
    continues until all have been put out of action. The cases of
    insanity in consequence of the nerve shocks sustained by the
    bombardment were very numerous. One of our men after one of these
    cannonades refused to eat or drink, for he said that the Italians
    had poisoned everything. At last he died. Another in a fit of
    insanity began to fire at his own officers. He was not seized
    until he had wounded three of them. No doubt the Italians also
    felt the strain, for we often heard them cry, 'Santa Maria!' Our
    men could only survive by hiding in caves and tunnels, and by
    protecting themselves with sheets of steel. I can truly state that
    the greatest heroes of human endurance in this war are those men
    who fought on the Italian front, whether they were defenders or
    attackers.

    "The two opposing lines in some parts were so close to each other
    that only fifteen yards divided them. In such positions any one
    who showed an inch of himself was doomed to certain death, in
    spite of the steel protectors. The distance was so small between
    the lines that the Italians in one place succeeded in pulling down
    our wire entanglements with long sticks.

    "When, later on, I was wounded by shrapnel, I could see nothing on
    the way to Gorizia but wounded men struggling along or being
    carried in an endless line. There were soldiers' graves by the
    hundred along the roads that were under the fire of the Italian
    guns. The men who struggled along on the 'unhealthy' roads did not
    seem to pay any attention to the shells and shrapnel; they walked
    with complete indifference, as much as to say, 'We've had our
    share; these shells are not for us.'"

[Page 365]
[Illustration: Italian Women carrying Shells to the Gun Positions on
Alpine Crests.

(_From the picture by F. Matania. By permission of The Sphere._)]

[Page 366]
       *     *     *     *     *

It is said that, despite the terrible and almost unceasing
bombardment, the people of Gorizia lived much in the usual way. Many
business premises naturally were closed, for much of the trade of the
place was in Italian hands. Goods and provisions of all kinds could be
procured, but the prices were very high. Eggs, for example, cost
tenpence each. "In one street," wrote a correspondent, "a whole row of
flower shops remained open, their windows ablaze with roses, violets,
and asters. Indeed, in this town, under fire day and night, the flower
trade flourished steadily. Barbers, too, shaved on with a steady hand
amid the thunder of the artillery, Austrian and Italian. Here and
there one might buy rings made from the aluminium fuses of Italian
shells, and inlaid with copper. They were displayed as 'Souvenirs of
Gorizia.'"

So many shells fell into the town that their fearful novelty soon wore
off, and people who suspended business for fear of them lost caste
with their neighbours. Yet almost every street already bore its marks
of warfare in the shape of broken windows, cracked walls, and shell
holes. There was one tower almost completely girdled with shrapnel
pits. Certain streets were barricaded as being too dangerous for
traffic, and one of them, which had suffered very badly, was renamed
"Shrapnel Street." Nevertheless people frequently scrambled between
the wooden barriers and the house walls, and took a walk along the
forbidden ways.

       *     *     *     *     *

I will conclude this budget of stories with a word picture of the
[Page 367]
Carso, or Karst, from the pen of a Scottish chaplain long resident in
Venice.[97] When next I describe the fighting on this front I shall
have to tell you of the Italian advance along the Carso. You can only
realize the enormous difficulties which beset the Italians in this
part of their campaign if you have a clear picture in your mind of the
wilderness of desolation known as the Carso.

"We are here on the edge of the Karst (in Italian, Carso), and on the
edge of the fighting. In years gone by the word Karst made me think of
our own word _Carse_, and of the bonnie Carse o' Gowrie.[98] It does
so still--not, however, by way of likeness, but of contrast. A more
barren, forbidding, inhospitable tract of country than the Karst I
never saw. As far as the eye can reach northwards and eastwards--yes,
and much farther than one could walk or even drive in a long summer's
day--there is nothing but a treeless, lifeless, waterless wilderness
of rough ground, strewn all over with rugged limestone boulders of all
sizes. Everywhere, too, there are large funnel-shaped holes, some
fifty feet in diameter, some a few hundreds. Their sides are perfectly
formed, and slope gradually downwards until they come to a point at
the bottom. They are all of moderate depth, from fifty to a hundred
feet; the sides are generally grown over with grass, and sometimes
there are clumps of shrubs and dwarf trees. Occasionally they are
flattened at the bottom, and cultivated."

The writer then goes on to say that if there is nothing of beauty on
the surface of the Karst, there is a wealth of it underneath. The
surface is only a crust, covering a fairy world below ground. At
Adelsberg, some thirty miles south-east of Gorizia, there are
marvellous caves, the largest and most magnificent in Europe. They run
under the Carso, and for five and a half miles you may traverse
streets and lanes lighted by electricity, and pass from one to the
other of four vast grottos, in one of which balls are held twice a
year. Everywhere glistening columns of huge stalactites are seen.
There are lakes and pools in which their splendours are reflected, and
streams and rivulets working their way to the light, and slowly
enlarging the caves as they do so. In the waters live eyeless fish.

[Page 368]
"But it is not in this enchanted region that the Italian soldiers are
fighting, but on the dreary, wild, spongelike, rocky crust above, now
colder and drearier than ever, for it is covered with snow, and
frequently enveloped in mist. Across it, too, often blows, at this
season of the year, the 'Bora,' a fierce north-east wind, which has
been known to unroof houses, overturn loaded wagons, and even stop a
railway train. Indeed, the railway at many places is protected against
it by lofty buttressed walls of wood and stone.

"This, then, is the Carso, where the Italian soldiers are fighting.
The conflict calls for patience, courage, perseverance, and endurance,
and these virtues the Italians exercise with right good will. It ought
to be remembered that the whole European conflict hangs together as
one. No matter where the fighting is, the result is not merely local,
but general. For example, the heroic conduct of the French at Verdun
roused the Italians to undertake a vigorous offensive here on the
Carso, which in its turn was felt at Verdun, as it prevented the
transport thither of Austrian troops and cannon."

       *     *     *     *     *

The Austrians, says the same writer, were so badly fed that at places
where the trenches were within shouting distance they frequently
begged the Italians to throw them some bread. Not only were they badly
fed, but badly cared for, and the consequence was that they were glad
to be taken prisoners.

"One of the happiest of these Austrian prisoners was a young aviator.
His sympathies were Italian, as are those of most of the inhabitants
of the towns and villages on the banks of the Isonzo, and along the
southern edge of the Carso towards Trieste. He told us how five times
he flew over Venice as a pilot. Once he was ordered to circle over St.
Mark's Square. At a height of 4,000 feet he could see the people
walking up and down and sitting at the cafés, all gazing up at his
aeroplane. A bomb was dropped, and the piazza cleared in a moment, but
soon filled up again. He did not know whether it was aimed at the
Campanile, on which the Austrians falsely assert anti-aircraft guns
were mounted, or at St. Mark's Church. Fortunately, the bomb fell
between the two, doing no more damage than making a hole in the
pavement of the piazza. The aviator himself was glad to learn this
fact."

[Footnote 94: The eastern half of the eastern loop of the S. See map,
p. 338.]

[Footnote 95: Two or three miles north of Arsiero.]

[Footnote 96: Carthaginian general (247-183 B.C.), one of the
greatest military geniuses of olden days; crossed the Alps from Gaul
(218 B.C.), and for a time overran Italy.]

[Footnote 97: _Scotsman_, March 24, 1916.]

[Footnote 98: Rich arable district on the north bank of the Tay,
stretching for fifteen miles from the Hill of Kinnoul towards Dundee.]

[Page 369]




  CHAPTER XLIV.

  THE GREAT RUSSIAN RECOVERY.


It is to Russia that we must turn if we would witness the great and
moving drama of the war. Neither France nor Britain has suffered so
many and such striking reverses of fortune as she; neither of them has
been lifted to such heights of hope or flung down to such depths of
gloom. At one moment we see her banners waving on the field of
triumph; the scene suddenly changes, and she hovers on the brink of
disaster. Every misfortune in the whole armoury of fate seems to be
heaped upon her; yet her courage never falters, and her faith grows
not dim. From every blow she recovers, taught by experience and
chastened by suffering. She presses on anew and never despairs,
assured that in the end the God of battles will reward her patient and
uncomplaining fortitude with the crown of victory.

We see her at the outset of war suffering one of the cruellest defeats
in her history, but in the Austrian crown-land of Galicia moving from
success to success, while the watching world foretells that ere long
her legions will tread the soil of their arch-enemy. A threat to her
northern line, and she is forced to retrace her steps and give up all
that she has won. We see her next meeting a furious thrust at Warsaw,
the key fortress of Poland, and flinging back the foe almost from the
gates of the city. Then once more we hear the thunder of hoofs, the
tramp of armed men, and the rumble of the guns as she presses westward
over her old tracks. Towns and cities fall before her; she struggles
amidst the wooded hills and bare peaks of the mountain barrier of
Hungary, and is almost within sight of the German border. Again she
[Page 370]
beats off an attack on the Polish capital, and is rewarded by a
victory that just falls short of disaster for her enemy.

The tide of battle ebbs and flows in Galicia; Russia recoils, but
still keeps her footing on alien soil. In the spring of 1915, when she
grievously lacks arms and ammunition, her enemies assail her with a
tempest of fire, and she is forced back and back almost to her own
frontier. Her doom seems to be sealed; but her generals have the
courage to retreat into the bowels of their own land, drawing the foe
after them. All her conquests are abandoned; her fortresses are
overwhelmed; she yields whole provinces to the invader, and leaves
hundreds of thousands of her people to the mercy of a pitiless
conqueror. Eastward and ever eastward she moves, and meanwhile her
arsenals and foundries work night and day at feverish heat to put
weapons into the hands of her soldiers; the Allies come to her aid,
and slowly but surely she gains the strength to oppose her enemies.
Her forces in the south press forward again; they gain ground, and
once more fortune smiles upon her. At the close of the year 1915 there
is every sign that her recovery cannot be long delayed.

       *     *     *     *     *

You remember the line which the Russians held through the long dark
winter. From the Gulf of Riga it ran along the western bank of the
Dwina as far as Dvinsk; then it struck south, some fifty miles to the
east of Vilna, passed to the west of Baranovitchi,[99] and plunged
into the Marshes of the Pripet. Thence it proceeded southward in front
of Rovno, and so on to the border of Rumania--a distance in all as the
crow flies of about six hundred miles, though, of course, much more if
all the curves and twists and zigzags of the line are taken into
account.

Fix your attention for a few moments on the Marshes of the
Pripet.[100] This great stretch of water-logged ground, with here and
there patches of hard soil, is never fit for the movements of great
masses of men. Rarely even in the depths of winter is it so firmly
frozen that guns and transport can move freely across it. The Marshes
divide the eastern front into two distinct parts, and compel both
friend and foe to treat the northern section as a command quite
separate from the southern section.

[Page 371]
[Illustration: Crossing the Pripet Marshes.

(_From the picture by H. C. Seppings-Wright. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)

All over the surface of the marshes are deep sluggish streams and flat
island patches of firmer ground. To cross the streams and link
together the few causeways that cross the district, the Russians built
timber bridges supported on trestles. A Russian infantry regiment is
here seen marching over one of these bridges.]

[Page 372]
You know enough about the climate of Russia to be well aware that
during winter warlike operations must be brought almost to a
standstill. Were hard frost to prevail all the time, armies could move
and battles could be fought. There are, however, intervals of partial
thaw which turn fields and roads into morasses, along which wheeled
vehicles cannot make their way.

Then comes the spring. In Western Europe it is a delightful season,
full of the promise of summer. But in Eastern Europe it is the time
when the frozen ground gives up its moisture and the whole land
becomes a quagmire. Trenches are flooded, low levels become inland
seas, and the roads are axle-deep in mud. When the thaw is over, a
season of about six months sets in, and during this time troops and
transports can be moved freely and war can be waged in real earnest.

In the south operations can begin earlier. You will remember that von
Mackensen was able to begin his great drive on April 28, 1915. In
1916, however, it was not until the beginning of June that the
Russians were ready to make the great advance which I am about to
describe. They did not intend to put their fortunes to the test until
they were fully armed and munitioned. They chose a fortunate hour in
which to strike. The Germans were in the midst of their great assault
on Verdun, and needed every man and gun that they could spare for
service in France. The Austrians were also involved in a great
offensive in the Trentino, where, as you know, they had massed 400,000
men and large numbers of heavy guns. The Russians began their advance
at the moment when their foes had weakened their eastern front, and
were so deeply engaged elsewhere that they could find but few
reinforcements.

In what part of the line should they strike--to the south of the
Pripet marshes, or to the north? They chose the southern sector, for
several reasons. First of all, because it was held mainly by
Austrians, who are far less formidable foes than Germans. The Russians
were well aware that the Austrians had sent many troops and the cream
of their guns to the Trentino front. Attacks on the southern sector
would also clear the Rumanian border, and, if successful, give them
access to Galicia and the best of all roads to the heart of Germany
and Austria.

[Page 373]
We may divide this southern sector into three separate arenas of war:
(1) what is known as Volhynia[101]--that is, the country between the
marshes of the Pripet and Galicia; (2) a central section facing
Eastern Galicia; and (3) Bukovina. During the winter Austrian armies
under a kindly old gentleman, the Archduke Frederick, were holding the
line from the Pripet marshes to the border of Rumania. The Archduke's
troops had made themselves very comfortable in this region. They had
established bakeries and slaughter-houses behind their lines, and had
even erected sausage factories. There were also vegetable gardens in
the rear, and in the villages and camps behind their lines pigs and
cattle were fattened. Mr. Stanley Washburn, the _Times_ special
correspondent, thus describes the winter quarters of the Austrians as
they appeared when the Russians gained possession of them:--

    "At a safe distance from rifle fire behind the lines one came on
    the officers' quarters, which seemed like a park in the heart of
    the forest. Here one found a beer garden with buildings
    beautifully constructed from logs, and decorated with rustic
    tracery, while chairs and tables made of birch still stood in
    lonely groups about the garden just where they were left when the
    occupants of the place suddenly departed. In a sylvan bower was
    erected a beautiful altar of birch, trimmed with rustic traceries,
    the whole being surrounded by a fence through which one passed
    under an arch neatly made of birch branches. The Austrians must
    have had an extremely comfortable time here. Everything is clean
    and neat, and, no matter how humble the work, always in good
    taste. One of the advancing corps captured a trench with a piano
    in it. It was clear that the Austrians did not spend a desolate or
    lonely winter on this front."

The Austrians, in Volhynia, in the centre, and farther south in
Bukovina, believed that their lines were impregnable. Every possible
device had been adopted to render them so. In most places there were
five lines of trenches, one behind the other, some of them from 15 to
20 feet deep. Everywhere they had field railways and a fine system of
roads to supply and reinforce their front. Where, as in the marshy
regions of Volhynia, trenches could not be easily dug, breastworks of
timber were erected, and were approached by causeways paved with logs.
In some places these log roads were built on embankments, so as to be
high above the floods. Between the lower courses of the Styr and the
Stokhod there were several bridges of this kind, some of them over two
miles long.

[Page 374]
A German military writer on the 5th of June said that the Russians
would need armies several millions strong to break through this
formidable front. "The Russians," he said, "can have no success unless
they compel us to bring troops from other theatres of war. But that
will not be necessary, for we are quite strong enough there to hold on
the defensive." He felt sure that "this last adventure" of the Tsar's
armies would "end in disaster." He was soon to be undeceived.

The Russians in Volhynia and Bukovina were now under the command of
General Brussilov, of whom you have already heard more than once in
these pages. He came of an old Russian noble family, and was a man of
medium height and spare build, with fine features and steady, sharp
gray eyes. He was a splendid horseman, and though sixty-three years of
age, was full of life and vigour. By his generalship in Galicia during
the earlier campaigns, and by his activity in September 1915, when he
captured Rovno, and even, for a short time, Lutsk, he was already
marked out as Ivanov's successor.

Brussilov had two objects in view in making his advance. In Volhynia
he proposed to capture the railway junction of Kovel, so as to prevent
the Germans to the north sending reinforcements and material to the
Austrians in the south. When Kovel was seized he meant to strike
south-westward, and, in conjunction with a movement from the south,
attempt to envelop the Austrians and destroy their armies. At the
least he hoped to make them fall back.

In Bukovina he had another object in view. He proposed to seize the
important railway centre of Czernowitz,[102] and occupy all the
province. This would put him in touch with the Rumanians, and enable
them, if they should elect to play a part in the war--as they did on
27th August--to begin their operations without having the Austrians on
their flank. Further, by driving the Austrians out of Bukovina,
Brussilov would put himself on the right or southern flank of the
Austrians, who were holding the central part of the line.

By 1st June the Austrians became aware that the Russians were about to
begin a great offensive. A flutter of alarm ran along their lines, and
they no longer boasted that they were impregnable. The Germans, hoping
to forestall the Russians, began an attack north of the Marshes; but
[Page 375]
it was of no effect, and did not in the least interfere with the
execution of Brussilov's plans. For months he had been studying the
enemy's positions, and working out the best means of attacking them.
On 4th June his guns began to thunder all along the line of 250 miles,
and for a period of from twelve to twenty hours they never ceased to
hurl shells upon the Austrian trenches. The Austrians were now tasting
the medicine which von Mackensen had administered to the Russians
fifteen months before.

[Illustration: General Brussilov.              [_Photo, Record Press._

Before the war Brussilov was widely known in Russia as a brilliant
cavalry leader. His generalship in Galicia during the earlier
campaigns, and his activity in September 1915, marked him out as the
successor of Ivanov. His soldiers were devoted to him. A timid friend
suggested to one of them that retreat might be necessary.
"What--retreat!" replied the man. "No. Impossible! We are Brussilovs!"]

[Page 376]
When the artillery preparation was over, the Russians dashed forward
with the bayonet, and in a short time were in possession of the
Austrian first-line trenches. Then the Russian gunners lifted their
sights and lengthened their fuses, and rained down a curtain of fire
which cut off all communication with the rear. The Austrians were
trapped; the solid deep trenches of which they had boasted proved to
be snares. Thousands were killed by the Russian bayonets, and though
the Hungarians fought furiously for a time, they were soon seen
holding up their hands.

On that 4th day of June the Russians captured no less than 13,000
prisoners. Even more remarkable was their success on the third day of
the offensive (6th June), when the haul of prisoners numbered 40,000
rank and file and 900 officers. Artillery, machine guns, trench
mortars, searchlights, and all sorts of war material also fell into
their hands. A number of batteries were taken with guns and limbers
all complete. We in the West stood amazed at the swift overthrow of
the Austrians, and at the enormous number of prisoners captured in
three short days. The success of the Russians was due to the splendid
timing of the operations all along the line, and to the fine way in
which the various branches of the service supported each other. "On
our entire front," a correspondent wrote, "the attack began at the
same hour, and it was impossible for the enemy to shift his troops
from one quarter to another, as our attacks were being pressed equally
at all points."

       *     *     *     *     *

The greatest success during the opening days of the offensive was won
in Volhynia, where the Russians were aiming at the railway junction of
Kovel, the meeting-place of five railways, and at the
strongly-fortified city of Lutsk, which stands on the Styr, about one
hundred miles to the south-east of Kovel, Should Kovel fall, the enemy
[Page 377]
would be forced to abandon all that he held east of that place and
south of the Marshes. On the opening day of the attack the Russians
broke clean through the Austrian lines, and their cavalry poured
through the gaps and cut off all retreat. Next day, while the Archduke
was celebrating his birthday at Lutsk, the alarming news reached him
that his "impregnable front" had been pierced in half a dozen places,
and that the Russians were advancing with amazing speed. Fresh troops
were hurried up to stem the torrent, but in vain. In two days the
Russians advanced more than twenty miles, and everywhere the enemy
fled before them. So great was the panic of the Austrians that at one
point they left six 4-inch guns ready loaded, and cases of shell
beside them. About half-past eight on the evening of 6th June the
Russians began to pour into Lutsk. Everywhere they saw signs that the
enemy had retreated in hot haste. Military stores of all kinds had
been left behind, and thousands of wounded had been abandoned.

Not until 16th June was the Russian advance in Volhynia stayed. By
this time a great bulge had been made in the Austro-German line. The
bulge began at Kolki, on the Styr, then followed the course of the
river Stokhod. West of Lutsk it was more than fifty miles deep. A
great salient had been created, and the Russians were in a favourable
position for breaking through to the north-west towards Kovel, and to
the south-west towards Lemberg.

The Germans, of course, counter-attacked, and a violent battle raged
in the strip of ground, only six or eight miles wide, between the Styr
and the Stokhod. The Germans were beaten back, and a Siberian regiment
crossed the Stokhod and captured a whole German battalion. In the same
battle the Hussars of White Russia charged through three lines of the
enemy, and did awful execution. On the evening of 16th June the
Russian right wing was only about twenty miles from Kovel, while the
left wing was seven miles from Brody.

At this point we must leave the northern section and learn what was
happening in the central section, between Dubno and Buczacz.[103] The
Russian troops in this part of the line were set the task of holding
the enemy's centre while the great outflanking movements from the
north and the south were in progress. While the forces in the Bukovina
[Page 378]
were pressing northward to get on the right flank of the enemy, the
forces in Volhynia were pushing southward to get on his left flank,
and thus envelop him. Pressed on both flanks, the Austrians strove to
break the Russian centre, and very hot fighting followed. In the
central sector no great advance was made, or indeed expected.
Nevertheless some ground was gained. Dubno, the third of the Volhynian
fortresses, was captured, and by 16th June the Russian frontier
station on the line from Rovno through Brody to Lemberg had been
seized. During these operations one of the newly formed Russian
regiments behaved most gallantly. After a fierce fight the men forded
a river with the water up to their chins. "One company was engulfed,
and died a heroic death; but the valour of their comrades and their
officers resulted in the disorderly flight of the enemy, of whom 70
officers and 5,000 men were taken prisoners."[104]

One stirring incident of this struggle must not be forgotten. It is
the story of a dashing attack made by Russian cavalry on eight
dismounted regiments of Hungarian horsemen.

    "In the early morning of 8th June the Russians started out from a
    certain hamlet, and forced the stream with such unexpected
    rapidity that the Hungarians had no time to destroy the bridge,
    and hurriedly retreated to a village which we will call S. On the
    following day the Russians awaited the arrival of an infantry
    brigade before starting the attack, which began about 8 p.m.
    Dragoons were in front, with Hussars behind them, and Lancers and
    Ural Cossacks in the rear. The charge was led by the commander of
    the regiment, his senior staff officer, the adjutant, and the
    chaplain. In front waved the regimental standard. The chaplain
    blessed the commander and the men, and then took part in the
    attack. Stretched out in one long line, squadron after squadron
    charged, till the field was covered with horsemen, whose shining
    lance points and swords flung back the rays of the setting sun.
    The enemy's fierce but scattered rifle and Maxim fire failed to
    check them, though in that mad charge many horses fell with their
    riders. The Hungarians pushed forward two or three battalions in
    order to take the Russians in the rear; but this move had been
    foreseen, and Russian flanking forces with Maxims mowed them down
    as they emerged from the woods. The survivors were driven back in
    disorder. The Hungarians fought bravely, and groups of them made a
    desperate stand. Some of them flung away their rifles, and,
    seizing the lances, strove to wrest them from the troopers' grasp.
    Their resistance, however, was in vain. All was soon over. Some
    two thousand prisoners were taken, and many trophies, including
    two howitzers, which the Russians removed by harnessing their
    horses to them with traces made of plaited strips cut from their
    cloaks. At 9 p.m. the bugles sounded the 'Fall in,' and though not
    all responded to the muster roll, the Russian losses were inferior
    to those of the enemy. The Hungarian general, in congratulating
    the Russian cavalry, said: 'We thought cavalry had outlived its
    time, but evidently there is still good work left for it to do.'"

[Page 379]
[Illustration: Map to illustrate the Russian Offensive between the
Marshes of the Pripet and the Rumanian Border.

The broad black line shows the Russian front on June 2, 1916.]

[Page 380]
The Austrians had by this time brought their ill-starred adventure in
the Trentino to an end, and they were hurrying men and guns to the
eastern front in order to "stop the rot." The Germans also had scraped
together troops from France for the purpose of flinging them into the
great gap in the Austrian lines. On 16th June they began a violent
counter-offensive, and the Russians were forced to withdraw from the
western bank of the Stokhod. Many days of fierce battle followed, with
the result that the Lutsk salient was slightly flattened out. The
Germans fought desperately; they knew that a new Russian army was
about to take the field, and that the British and French were ready to
make a mighty assault in the West. They therefore strove with all
their might to beat back the Russians while there was yet time. All
the efforts of the Germans, however, could not win back the ground
that had been lost.

       *     *     *     *     *

Look at the map on page 379, and follow the course of the river
Dniester, which rises on the north-eastern slopes of the Carpathians
and winds its way across Eastern Galicia. Notice its tributary the
Strypa, which flows almost due south to join the main stream. For
about thirty miles the Strypa formed the front between the opposing
armies. The country west of the river is a high plateau seamed by deep
ravines, each with a river flowing at the bottom and dense woods on
the steep banks. You can easily understand that these ravines formed a
strong natural line of defence. Farther north, as far as Tarnopol, the
ground is undulating, the valleys are marshy, and the rivers broaden
out in many places into ponds and lakes. In this part of the line the
Russians made but little headway. Farther south, however, they won a
striking success. After ten days of battle the Austrians were driven
from the eastern bank of the Strypa, and ground was gained beyond the
[Page 381]
river. Many prisoners and a number of big guns fell to the victors.
Then came a lull; the advance was not resumed until the early days of
July.

       *     *     *     *     *

Now we must see how the Russians fared in Bukovina, which, you will
remember, is a mountainous country thickly covered with forests, in
which the beech trees from which the province takes its name are most
common. About twenty miles south of the Dniester runs the Pruth, and
still further to the south is the river Sereth. A glance at the map
shows you that the valleys of the Pruth and the Sereth are the natural
highways of Bukovina. Along them run the railways and the roads;
between them is very difficult hill country.

The thick black line on the map shows you how the Russian front ran
south of the Marshes when their offensive began on 2nd June. You will
notice that it touched the Dniester at the point =∪=. It roughly
followed the winding course of that river eastward and near Okna, then
struck southward to the Pruth. To the south-west of the loop where the
line swung round to the south there is a little plain. The Russians
proposed to cross the Dniester, carry this plain, and from it begin
their advance into Bukovina. On 2nd June they opened a bombardment of
the Austrian positions on the plain, and two days later flung their
infantry across the river. The Austrians withdrew a few miles, only to
discover that another attack had begun on their right flank. A very
desperate battle was fought, and the Hungarians showed great courage;
but after four days of struggle the enemy began to give way. By 9th
June he was beaten, and the Russians were only fourteen miles from
Czernovitz. Over 18,000 soldiers, some 350 officers, and ten guns were
captured.

A wedge had now been driven in between the Dniester and the Pruth, and
the gates into Bukovina were wide open. The defeated Austrians sought
safety in flight, and the Russians followed hard after them. On the
morning of 13th June the people of Sniatyn,[105] a town on the Pruth
about midway between Czernovitz and Kolomea,[106] saw their own
soldiers streaming through the streets in hurried retreat. All night
long they had heard the roar of guns, and had seen the sky red with
the glow of burning villages. Homeless refugees, with all that they
[Page 382]
could save from the wreck of their homes, had been coming in for days
past. In the afternoon the Russians entered Sniatyn for the third time
during the war.

The Austrians were now in full flight. On the line of the Pruth they
made a stand for three days; but their plight was hopeless, and they
knew it. On Sunday, 11th June, the officials of Czernovitz posted
bills informing the people that they would probably be under the fire
of Russian guns that day. Six days later Austrian transports of all
kinds were rolling through the streets, and the rumour that the
soldiers were behind them sent a thrill of despair through the city.
Trains crammed with refugees left the station. In the course of one
day between 6,000 and 8,000 people abandoned their homes.

Prisoners were taken in shoals. Between the 4th and the 13th of June
the Russian armies which started from the Dniester had captured more
than 750 officers, nearly 40,000 men, and large numbers of guns and
Maxims. On 16th June the line of the Pruth was forced, and next
morning Russian troops entered Czernovitz, and were received with joy
by those of the residents who had remained. For the fifth time during
this war Czernovitz had fallen into the hands of a conqueror.

Once the Pruth was passed the Russians moved rapidly. Three days later
they crossed the Sereth. On 22nd June Kuty, on a tributary of the
Pruth, was entered, and from three sides--north-east, east, and
south-east--Russian forces rapidly closed in on Kolomea. The capture
of this town would give them the entrance to the Delatyn Pass, by
means of which they could if they wished threaten the plains of
Hungary. Meanwhile the country south of the Sereth was being overrun.
After a stubborn fight on the evening of 23rd June the town of
Kimpolung, only a few miles from the Rumanian border, was seized. With
the capture of this place the whole of the Bukovina was once more in
the hands of the Russians. In three weeks they had conquered a
province more than half as large as Wales, and were on the borders of
Rumania.

       *     *     *     *     *

[Page 383]
[Illustration: Cossacks bringing in Austro-German Prisoners.

(_From the picture by H. C. Seppings-Wright. By permission of The
Illustrated London News._)

In popular stories the Cossacks are often accused of cruelty. Here
they are seen helping along their footsore and weary prisoners, and
carrying the wounded upon their horses.]

[Page 384]
The whirligig of time had at last brought its revenges. Within a
single month Russia had inflicted a series of smashing defeats upon
those who, less than a year ago, fondly imagined that they had made an
end of her. Never in all the history of warfare had such enormous
captures of men and material been made in so brief a time. Between
one-third and one-half of all the Austro-German forces between the
Marshes and the Rumanian border had fallen into Russian hands. Between
4th June and the end of the month no fewer than 217,000 Austrians and
Germans had been made prisoners, and the number of killed and wounded
could hardly be estimated. In any former war such huge losses would
have meant utter ruin to the side that suffered them; but in this war,
which is a war of nations and not of armies, the blow was not
decisive. There were many bitter battles yet to be fought before the
Central Powers were ready to cry, "Hold, enough!"

The Russian hammer-strokes had not yet ceased to fall. The second
chapter of the great offensive was about to be opened. The story, of
how it fared must be left to our next volume.

       *     *     *     *     *

So ended the first half of the year 1916. In six months the whole
aspect of the war had changed. The Central Powers had failed, alike in
the West, in the East, and in the South. They had wasted their armies
in a terribly costly struggle for the possession of a city that had no
value save the faded glory of a name, and they had vainly flung away
life and credit amidst rocky steeps and Alpine snows. And while they
were thus draining away their failing strength Russia arose like a
giant refreshed, and smote them hip and thigh. Ere her mighty onset
was stayed, Britain and France, shoulder to shoulder, were on the eve
of the vastest offensive ever essayed by man. So, on the last evening
of June, the stars that gleamed forth in the heavens were beacons of
hope and promise to the Allies. They had good cause to believe that
the night was far spent and the day was at hand.

[Footnote 99: _Bar-an-o-vit´chee._]

[Footnote 100: See map, p. 379.]

[Footnote 101: _Vo-lin´e-a._]

[Footnote 102: _Tsher-nyo´vits_, capital of Bukovina, Austria; on the
Pruth, 165 miles by rail south-east of Lemberg.]

[Footnote 103: _Boot´shatsh._]

[Footnote 104: Colonel Tataroff, whose troops performed this fine
feat, was wounded in the heart by a shrapnel bullet in the third week
of July. He cried out, "I am killed!" but by a supreme effort rose to
his feet and dashed forward, shouting, "Charge!" He died with this
order on his lips.]

[Footnote 105: _Shnee-ā´tin._]

[Footnote 106: _Kol-o´mya._]


  END OF VOLUME FIVE.


  PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.


  =Transcriber's Notes:=
  Generally the hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in
  the original The following changes were made to achieve consistency throughout.
  Page numbers have been inserted at their approximate location in the original.

  Pages   5, 28, rear-guard ==> rearguard
  Page   46, out-flanking ==> outflanking
  Page   66, war-ships ==> warships
  Page   69, look-out ==> lookout
  Pages  76, 122, wellnigh ==> well-nigh
  Page   84, halfway ==> half-way
  Page   90, great-coat ==> greatcoat
  Page  138, bridge-head ==> bridgehead
  Page  175, crossroads ==> cross-roads
  Page  202, snow-storm ==> snowstorm
  Page  211, antiaircraft ==> anti-aircraft
  Pages 211, 317, gunfire ==> gun-fire
  Pages 214, 268, waterlogged ==> water-logged
  Page  240, head-quarters ==> headquarters
  Page  262, stokeholes ==> stoke-holes
  Page  308, battle-ground ==> battleground
  Page  315, dugouts ==> dug-outs
  Page  357, horse-back ==> horseback


[The end of _The Children's Story of the War, Volume 5: The First Six Months of the Year 1916_ by Sir (James) Edward Parrott]