FOUGHT TO A COMPLETE STANDSTILL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 89, 9 January 1919, Page 5

FOUGHT TO A COMPLETE STANDSTILL

■ .. - • . SIR DOUGLAS HAIG'S STORY OF THE FINAL VICTORY A THRILLING, GLOWING NARRATIVE GERMANS' PLIGHT WHEN ARMISTICE WAS SIGNED'FACED WITH DISASTER AND ARMED INVASION ;:..,.... ''...' ByTelegraph-Preiß Association-Copyright ■ - "■' ' - (Rec. January. 8, 8.5 p.m.) . . • ..'■,■' ' London, January 7. ■ A Gazette has been issued containing Sir Douglas Haig's dispatch dated December 211 4.nd covering the period since the termination of. the great, defensive -battles on the Somme and,the Lys. The dispatch states:— . .... . . Last April'the German attacks, though unsuccessful, had restricted the Al- '."" lies'.resources to the uttermost, and the possibility of an immediate renewal of the enemy's offensive was viewed, with grave anxiety. On the contrary the enemy ' undoubtedly had suffered"severely, but possessed a sufficient superiority, of force to retain the initiative, which, however, he could not afford to delay applying owing-to'the increasing growth of the American Army. British military policy wae to maintain an active defence until the equilibrium of strength had been reached. The-complete success of tho Allied counter-attack near Soissons on July 18 marked the turning-point of the campaign, after, which the initiative lay with . the Allies.. ; . .. . ■ . . ; ■ • ' "At this'point,, and in this connection," says Sir Douglas Haig, "I should like'to'pay'a personal'tribute to the foresight and determination of the French Marshal in whose hands the co-ordinated action of the Allied armies was placed." Sir Douglas Haig proceeds to describe the steps during the period of active defence to repair the effects of the enemy's breaches' ( in the defensive system, and '• shows how, in consequenco of tho enemy's fire commanding important railway construction and railway junctions, tho Allies undertook a comprehensive pro/.gramme of railway'construction in order to render traffic between north and south independent of Amiens. This involved the laying of two hundred miles of broadgauge track between April and July; Tho new offensive work involved the' digging of-five thousand miles of trenches. In the meantime- the 'fighting troops severely harassed the enemy in the Lys sector, delaying and ultimately preventing the ignewal of the German offensive there. Brought to Battle and Defeated. 1 . But the outstanding feature' of the events -described hs Sir Douglas Hnig's , own account.'Of.tiie-great series of' British victories between August. 8 and Nov- '. ember 11. Hβ says: "At Amiens and Ba'paume, in.the breaking of the DrocourtQueant arid Hindenbiirg systems, before Lo Cateau, and on, the Selle River in Tlanders, and on the Sambre, tho onemy was again and again brought to battle and defeated. He was finally defeated in the great battles, of November 1 and i, and was utterly without reserves. At'.the date of the-armistice he was falling back without any coherent plan, and in widespread disorder .and confusion. By the end of October the British'armies were in a position to prevent the enemy's ' withdrawal'to shorter lines, and the British wore able to force an immediate conclusion." y -; final Smashlnfl Blow. ; The dispatch discloses the fact that the principal British attaok was to have taken place on November 1, after Valenciennes had been captured. • Sir Douglas Haig says:-"In the fightinjr on and subsequent to that date we broke the oiieiny'e resistance' beyond the possibility of recovery. The enemy thereafter was capablo neither of accepting nor refusing battle. The Allies' strategic plan was realised w.ith a completeness rarely seen in war, and when 'the armistice was signed the enemy's defensive powers had already been ' definitely' destroyed, and a continuance of hostilities could on ly have meant disaster to the German armies and the armed invasion, of. Germ any." In the course-of eloquent-, passages, Sir Douglas Haigsays :-"Jn throe ■ months of epic fighting the British arm ies in Franco ■ brought "a sudden and ■."dramatic;end to the great-we'nrinfMmt battle of the past four years. The co'n'fidence of our troops throughout the/years of strain has never, watered. The ' annals of war hold no record of a more wonderful recovery than that which; three months after .the treirani-rae blows which had .been showered upon them on tho Somme and' theiys, saw the undefeated British armies advancing from " victory to victory, and finally forcing tho erstwhilo triumphant enemy to acknowledge unconditional defeat. ... In the decisive contests of tho Ttfriid covered "the British-attacked'the strongest and most vital parte of the enemy's front, cut his lateral communications, and fought his best divisions to a standstill. On the different battlefronts 187,000 prisoners were taken, with 20,850 guns, 29,000 machinerKuns, and 3000 trench mortars. These results were achieved by fifty-nine British divisions, which'engaged and defeated.ninety-nine separate German divisions in Orree months. In spito of the accepted military doctrine that in good defensive positions- any given force can hold up a considerably greater attacking force-and this* our defence proved in March, and April-yet, when the tide of battle .turned, and the British attacked completely .destroying tho German resistance, the British were numerically to the defeated German forces - ■ ... The' Valour of the Infantry.. Sir Douglas Haig pays a tribute to the "most magnificent spirit of the men"' Beferrin;? to the infantry, he saye-.-"Despite,the enormous develop-ment-of mechanical invention jn ; every p hase of warfare, the place which the infantryman has always held as the main substance and. foundation of an army ■"ie as secure to-day as in any period of history. The infantryman remains the backbone,of the defence and the spear-head of the attack. At no time has the reputation of the British infantryman been higher, or his achievement more worthy of his renown. No p/aisd can be too high for the valour he hae shown; no gratitude too deep for the work he has accomplished." Sir Douglas Haig also refers to the unsurpassable work of the artillery-and the cavalry, 'adding—"The recent, fighting showed that the-cavalry- was still a necessary arm in modern war."' He also pays.a tribute to'- other arms, including the Gas ' Services 'which discharged between March and November 2250 tons'of sas; also the Forestry' Corps, which, in the year ended October 31 cut two millions and ■ a half tons of timber for the British and French armies. The dispatch con- : dudes with a reference to the harmonious relations with our allies, "undimmed by any hint of discord or conflict of interests or ideals."-Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.