COMMUNIST TACTICS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 24 December 1924, Page 7

COMMUNIST TACTICS.

GENERAL SEAY’S CHARGE. Major-General Seely, the Liberal candidate for the Isle of Wight, has sent a letter to the Liverpool Post in which he states that seditious propaganda played a large part in the success which attended the great German attack in March, 1918. He states: What happiness was this: For weeks before the attack fell, agents were going about behind our lines telling all those whom they could find in canteens, Y.M.C.A. huts, etc., that it was a wicked capitalist war, and that all they had to do was to give up fighting and the war would end. The most cunning part of the propaganda wa s that, owing to the great difficulty in, subverting the loyalty of British soldiers, they would always assure their hearers that it was the soldiers in another part of the line—to the right or left of them —who had agreed to do this on “the day.” These agents were in various disguises, were provided with large sums of money, and in spite of the greatest vigilance on the part of our Staff, although some were caught a large number remained undetected until the attack.

When the attack fell in the dawn of a misty morning on March 21, numbers of spies dressed in our uniforms went about ordering the troops to retire. One, dressed as a Staff officer, came up to the commander of one of our batteries and gave him a definite order from divisional headquarters to retire at once. Fortunately, the stouthearted officer suspected him. refused to retire, and said he believed he was a spy, whereupon the man ran away in the mist. The thing was so cleverly done that there were cases where troops retired on these false orders. Close behind the line other spies were running about telling transport drivers, labour battalions, and every one they could find that such and such brigade or division to the right or left of them bad retired en masse, and their only chance of safety was to clear out as fast a s they could. It was here that the seditious propaganda bore its full fruit. Men thought the thing had happened as it had been foretold, and the greatest confusion ensued.

That irj spite of all this our men put ud a most wonderful fight against overwhelming numbers—for instance, the heroic defence of Le Verguier. and, in the end, with the aid of reinforcements, brought the attack to a standstill —is a tribute to their astonishing tennoitv and courage. But .1 have nof the doubt, and I bebeve all . those who know the fact? will agree with me. that seditions propaganda and tl?e cry of the “canitalisf. war” was the direct cause -if tUr. of thousands of brave and w r ,i Ttritish soldiers during -these fateful davs.