GERMANS WON'T FIGHT

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 228, 24 September 1918, Page 5

GERMANS WON'T FIGHT

SIGNS OF LOWER MORAL FURTHER ADVANCE POSSIBLE. GERMANS FIRE ON OWN SEEN. LONDON, September 23. Writing from Australian, headquarters on Sunday, Mr. Keith Murdoch states: Cold winds begin to drive over the battlefront, and heavy rains bring the fam liar muddiness. The detested duck-boards reappear. The cositst people along the British and French sectors are the infantry in the front and support lines. They are snug in the deep old trenches or in new, narrow lines, in which they arc safe from shells. Wreckage from the battlefield provides ideal material for shelter from the weather. There are ample supplies of German corrugated iron and timber available. For the past two days there has been little fighting, for the German will not fight. He has given up his attempts to regain ground, and simply refuses to face our machine guns, despite stronglyworded orders by leading generals that these lines are vital to the whole system of defence. The First Australian Division captured documents adding to the mass of evidence tending to show the German decline. One, signed by a divisional commander, referring to the territory from which the enemy was evicted on Wednesday, says: '"The whole of thip system must be held for winter quarters. You must fight to the last cartridge and the last man." Another, signed by an army commander, directs that all positions must be held. If driven back they must retake them at all costs. Observations show signs of decreasing German respect for officers. At the Fourth Division's prisoners' cage hundreds of German privates crowded to the entrance as each battalion commander was brought in, sarcastically cheering and waving their hands. Sometimes the battalion commander and staff cheered back. Such things would have been impossible a few months ago. Nearly all the German officers, however, express manly regret over their captures, senior officers invariably feeling it as a deep disgrace, some adding that they have found the war most interesting and are sorry thu,t they have to leave it. The Australians have captured some most striking testimonials to the British troops, including a harassed German commander's order that gas discipline must be made far more rigid on the British front. He says: "Only yesterday 215 men were gassed in a single battalion It is suspected that men are purposely getting this.gas in order to avoid fighting the English." No farmer ever longed for rain with the intensity with which the German commandera must now pray for bad weather. If the next few weeks are fine Allied blows may have an extremely far-reaching effect." On the other hand nothing is calculated to hamper their attacks more than mud and rain which will enable any rallying elements in the German lines to hold "out in isolated posts, possibly, gaining enough time to reorganise and stabilise the positions. The whole weight of the British heavy gunpowe-r is tiow turned upon the wire, entrenchments, concrete machine - gun posts, and tunnels of the inner Hindenburg system. Much is hoped for. The atmosphere is charged with expectation of a further advance. Confidence is all the greater because the German artillery is proving much less formidable than was expected. Artillerymen prisoners explain that so many guns have been captured that the Germans are finding it impossible to keep up effective firing There is evidence in our hospitals of a considerable amount of effective fire upon the Germans themselves. Many bear unmistakable signs of having been shot from behind, and show no disposition to discuss the circumstances. There has undoubtedly been a fair amount of German fire turned upon their own men in anger at their retreat.—(United Service)