LYING IN STATE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 3, 5 January 1931, Page 7

LYING IN STATE.

JOFFRE'S LAST WISH.

No One to Reproduce Image in Death.

"DEAR TO BRITISH HEARTS."

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

(Received i p.m.) PARIS, January 4. Though Jofifre will rest at the Invalides side by side with Napoleon, Foch and other great soldiers lie will not, unlike Napoleon, have a deathmask taken, one of his last requests being that nobody should be ' allowed to reproduce his image in death. Lord . Tyrrel, British Ambassador to Paris,'communicated to tlio French Government a telegram of regret from the British Government which says: "The great services rendered ly tho late marshal in the dark days of 1914 have won him a sure placc in every British heart." The body of Marshal Joffrc will be removed from the nursing home to the chapel at the military school, where it will lie in state until Tuesday evening, when it will be. taken to Notre Daine Cathedral, pausing en rOiitc at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, while buglers sound the "Last Post." v ' There will be a service in Notre Dame on Wednesday morning, followed by a procession to Lea Invalides, and M. Barthou's oration. The coffin will remain in the crypt until the burial at, the marshal's country home, near a - thicket where he used to rest after gardening. The President, M. Douiuergite, in his reply to tho message from King George, says the death of Marshal Joffrc cannot fail to revive among all Frenchmen the remembrance of the brotherhood of arms which united the two countries in the tragic days.

Hailed as the "Saviour of France ljl the darkest days of the Great War, which saw the French victory of the Marne, Marshal Jollre established a reputation which entitles his name to be written mto military history as one of the generals of his age. Front 1911 he held the post of Chief of tlie French General Stall, an appointment -which implied supreme command .in time of war. !brom the jommencement of the German advance through Belgium in August, 1914, he neld the highest post irt the French forces, until November, 191(3, and in 1917 he went on a mission to the United btates ln .tne interests of the Allied.

Born on January 12, 1852, at Rivesaltes, at the edge of the Eastern Pyrenees, he belonged to a family, which, according to tradition, , was o£ Spanish stock and noble, whose . proper lfamc was. Goitre. His father by trade was a cooper, and had a family of eleven children. Lhe studies of young Joffre at the EcoJe Polytechnique were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and;he took part in the defence, of Paris, in 1870. Afterwards ho passed, into, the engineers and worked on the fortifications of Paris. In 187.6 he was promoted captain. The loss of his wife so' affected him, however,--that he applied for n transfer' to Indq-Cmna, where, in 1885, he took part in .the occupation of Formosa, and remained three years at Hanoi as chief of-engineers. In subsequent years Joffro rendered service iii other . ioreign fields, and in ■1894, by a brilliant march to the relief of Timbuktu, he for the first, time brought his name , before ..the general public'; At the time of his appointment as Chief of Staff in 1911, General Joffre was 59 years of age, and bad nye more years on the active list. . Strong, Silent Leader. • From the day on which Germany declared war on France, the history or Joffre's life was that of the war itself. This silent, general, jealous of his authority, but undismayed by the most tragic events, had to bear on his broad shoulders a weight which only his coolness and energy enabled him to sustain. Alter having attempted. in vain to throw lus forces on tho flank of. the Germans, he was obliged to withdraw bis. left wing a"' considerable distance. He resumed the offensive on September C,] and threw the Germans back to the Aisue in the memorable battle of the Marne. He attempted then to turn their right- wing, a frustrated manoeuvre which ended with the rival fronts resting on the sea. . The Germans first made the attempt to break the allied line on the Yser in November, 191.4, and they failed.'The French, in turn, tried vainly to break the German front in Champagne", in the Woevre, in Artois; and in September 1915, simultaneously in Artois and Champagne.; • • .

These checks had alarmed public opinion, and there followed a series of personal attacks on the Commander-in-Chief, followed by rivalry among the general staffs. On December 3, 1915, however, General Joffre received, instead of , the siaiple command of the north and northeast, the supremo command of all the French' Armies. Further trouble, however, was not slow; in arising;. On December 16 the Minister of War demanded information on the state of the " defences before Verdun. On tlfe 18th he. received a stiff reply from Joffre, : who offered to resign. The Minister replied that he held the complete • confidence of the ■ Government. Nevertheless, two mouths latex-, on February 21, 1916, the Germans attacked in front of Verdun, and the defences, which were incomplete, were forced in as far as the line of forts, to'a depth of eight kilometres in four days. The campaign against Joffre was resumed, and a new Minister of War issued a decree on December 13,' 1916, conferring upon the distinguished soldier the title to technical adviser to the Government concerning toe direction of the war.' General Nivelle received, the coninicincl of the north. And the north-east, while the Army of the Orient again, became " independent ot general headquarters. ' " Papa Joffre." Even the. harshest ' critics of Marshal Joffre acknowledged that beyond all doubt he did niucli by moral influence to repair the shattered fighting power of | ranee. His universal .nickname, Fapa. J ollre, was not only witness to his hold on the affection of the people, but symbolical of the picture he presented in the popular imagination. By most French people he was regarded as the rock on which France held and Germany .foundered. Jn retirement} too,- his help>_to. the Allied cause was as great as-m his ity, for his mission to the United blare., in 1917 was a triumphal procession, and as a svmboi of France unconquerable he inspired Americans, both with entlvusnWn for the war, and with ?a-sympathy for France, which for long counteracted the sources of friction. - ■ By the present-, generation Marshal Joffre will be remembered withnational, and also international, affection. To posterity liis name will be handed on with highest honours, and -increasing lustre.