The Western Offensive.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VI, Issue 203, 11 August 1916, Page 5

The Western Offensive.

Farther British Gains. Effective Work by British Aircraft. Iron Ring Daily Drawn Tighter Round the Huns. [PRESS ASSOCIATION COPYRIGHT.] (Received u, 9.45 a.m.) • New York, Aug. 10. Lord Derby, in an interview with American correspondents, stated:— “ The Allies are drawing the iron ring around the enemy tighter every day. The Germans will be pounded down until they break under the strain. The war must result in victory for us. The Allies now have the Germans where ,they cannot swing men from one front to another. They are forced to the defensive everywhere, endeavouring to keep the line intact. They have not a man to spare anywhere. The ground that the Allies have gained will never be lost .We shall keep on tiring the Austro-Germans, killing their men until they are bound to give up. All porteWts show that the day is not far distant when Germany must crumble. Her armies cannot survive the pressure.” [HIGH OOMMIBSIONKR’B MESSAGE.] London, Aug. 10. North-west of Pozieres the Australians advanced our lines 200 yards on a frontage of 600 yards. Otherwise the situation is unchanged. As a result of our aeroplane service in co-operation with our artillery serveral guns have been destroyed and magazines exploded. A train was fired by aeroplane bombs. Hostile aircraft are more active, but are obviously endeavouring to avoid combats. Several enemy machines have been damaged.

(Received n, 8.5 a.m.) [ London, Aug. 10. j Sir Douglas Haig reports: The night was generally quiet ex| cept for hostile shelling south-east of Tronas Wood. ? North-west of Pqzieres we further progressed, gaining % local objejctive which we are consolidating. We took yj prisoners. j South of Arras an enemy sap was raided, causing several casualties. BELGIANS BOMBARD DIXMUDE LINES. London, Aug. 10. . A Belgian communique states:—We successfully bombarded the enemy fortifications in the Dixmude region. ' FRENCH REPORT CONTINUED PROGRESS. BAD WEATHER HINDERS OPERATIONS. [HIGH COMMISSIONER’S MESSAGE.] London, )Yug. 10. North of the Somme we entirely re-occupied s the ftrench north of Hem Wood, where the enemy gained « Tuesday night. We took 50 prisoners in the ci jMhsf th* s action. * We continue to progress in the region north of Hem. Wood, where a lively combat is developing to our advantage. ) (Received 11, 815 a.m.) London, Aug. |o. The French official report states: North! of the Somme, during the progressed WdUie xegion northwards <pf ? Wood. We tookvioofprifeoners Raptured six machine--guns. Rain and fog hindered our operations. South of the Somme a Gerftlan reconnaissance, accompanied by liquid flames, was dispersed by our fire eastwards of Vermandovilliers. ARTILLERY ACTIVE ON THE MEUSE. UNENDING STRUGGLE FOR THIAUMONT AND FLEU.RY. [high commissioner’s message.] London, Aug. 10. » On the right bank of the Meuse there is great artillery action in the sectors of Thiaumont, Fleury, Vaux, Chapitre, and Le Chenois. ENEMY COUP FAILS IN ALSACE. [high commissioner’s message.] (Received 11, London, Aug. 10. The French official report states:—ln the Vosges, an enemy cbup-de-main, preceded by bombardment, on the salient of our lines north-west of Altkirch, near the Swiss frontier, was unsuccessfully, with loss to the enemy.

FRENCH FIGHTERS GENERALS~OF NOTE. THE GENERALISSIMO. The personality of General Joffre and his leading commanders is the subject of an interesting sketch in a recent number of the “Fortnightly Review” :— “The Generalissimo is in a certain sense less known than any of his generals (writes Charles Dawbarn). No politician can boast that he has his ear, for he has. kept himself rigidly from such influences.. His popularity with the masses is remarkable, and his name has become a symbol for humanity and the saving of lives, but he dwells apart in an atmosphere removed from all clamour and excitation, apparently unconscious of the intrigues about him. ‘Moral effect’ has infinitely. . less weight with Joffre than military utility; he knows only the latter law in fact. A rigid and solitary figure upon the height, clearly silnouttea against the glowing sky of a vast conflagration, he yet remains impenetrable to all save a few intimates. GENERAL DE CASTELNAU. “The Second-in-Command presents a complete contrast with his Chief. His character is open, and his oratory is at once humorous and compelling. Though a strict Catholic and atending mass every day, de Castelnau is so tolerant and broadminded that he has chosen as orderlies two Protestant officers belonging to the Lutheran Church in Alsace. His military science is so sure that he seems to divine in advance the plan of the enemy, ana his experience in the Courts and camps of Europe, whither he he has gone on missions, political and military, has given him a grasp of problems apparently lying outside formal strategy, but in reality closely connected with it. Probably the most accomplished general in the French Army to him is attributed the plan for the great offensive designed for the spring of 1916. PETAIN’S PERSONALITY. “The events of Verdun give prominence to the personality of Petain. Before the great attack by the Germans on the fortress, he was unknown except to those in close touch with the Army. In a few weeks he has become world-famous. His rapid promotion was due to the perspicacity of Castelnau, who had the general direction of the line from Soissons to Verdun. This position is now asumed by Petain in virtue of his splendid performance in the gigantic battle —a promotion deserved in every way. The Second-in-Command observed the vast German preparations, the accumulation of guns and massing of infantry, and, with the assent of the General-in-Chief, set Petain to work to build a dyke against the devastating waters. With characteristic energy, the Geneneral, who had sprung so suddenly into view, threw himself into the stupendous task. Fortunately, bad weather delayed the German advance, and, profiting by the momentary respite, Petain increased the fortificatjpns so that when the battle opened a week later the French were able to resist the first awful thrust of the German battalions. “The new commander of armies has the supreme gift of inspiring the enthusiasm of his men. They are ready to die for him, to go anywhere at his bidding. And the frank, clear, piercing eyes, the serene forehead, the handsome face barred .by the moustache —wheat-coloured like the hair, until two-score years and the Great War turned it grey—seem to explain the intimate character. He has the indivduality of great leaders, and those tense and tragic weeks at Verdun have served to bring it out.

“His energy is legendary, and the effect of it is heightened by the appearance of youth conveyed by the pink and white complexion and slim figure. He has kept himself fit by physical exercise. This is part, of his svstem. There is no leader in the French army who has so persistently imposed a rigid system upon himself, and none who shows greater activity |at his age. In the Champagne offen- ! sive he ran three miles at the head of his- troops over heavy ground. | “He leaves nothing to chance, organising and controlling everything. At the height of the bombardment round Verdun he surprised his officers by paying them personal visits in the most exposed positions. During part of the battle he passed along the lines in an a«uftgred car, which served temporarily as nis office and sleeping quarters. At another stage in the gigantic conflict he speht five days and nights continuously at his desk wrestling with details. He drives like the wind over any road, and even racing motorists hold him in respect. Though unmarried, he adores children, and a friend tells me that he saw him, when comma!fling the 33rd Regiment of Infantry, romping delightfully with children on his back. “His superiority as a soldier comes from his instant vision. He sees a problem with such sureness that his words seem prophetic. Long before the war he prophesied that the infantry would have all the pain and i the profit of it. Events have justified his prevision. GENERAL ROQUES. “Calmness and equality of temper i are the characteristics of General I Roques, who has succeeded General Gallieni at the Ministry of War. Possessing as great will-power as his predecessor, he has the added quality ,of getting his own way without exciting an embarrassing opposition. Like Joffre, he has passed the greater part of his career in the colonies, and went thither directly after his Polytechnique days. Like Joffre, too, he worked as an engineer in Madagascar, helping the future Generalissimo to build Diego Suarez, and afterwards harnessing his scientific energy to a railway from Antananarivo to the sea. Seven fruitful years in Madagascar were prefaced by six in Algeria, and as many in Tonking; he took part, also, in General Dodds’ expedition to Dahomej’. “Succeeding Joffre as Direc"?r of Engineers at the Ministry if War. he became Director of Aeronauri?s at the moment when France began to realise the military possibilities of the aeroplane. General Roques’ spirit of organisation prevailed in the Rue St. Dominique as it prevailed when he came into contact with troops. Mounting by the usual steps of division, corps d’armee, and armee, he distinguished himself in actual war in the latter two- commands, and gained the War Cross and Grand Cross of the Legion for personal bravery and skill in the field. At manoeuvres a year before the war he had shown already his ability in handling men. With the dust of Verdun upon him, he went to the Ministry of War armed with every qualification for his tremendous task. “He is of the school of those formed in France-over-seas. They include, of course, Joffre, Gallieni Gouraud, and Marchand. Gouraud resembles Petain in his temperament and personal charm, as well as in his command over . men. He inspires devotion, enhanced by his splendid face and figure. The right sleeve hangs empty with a touching eloquence, and for months he walked limping with a sties, for his right thigh and left leg had been injured also atj^^Dardanelles —cause of the missing*arm. “I saw him just after his recovery, under orders, to his great joy, to rejoin the front. In speaking to him. one realised why he was called the Lion of the Argonne. There is some thing king-like in his looks; the brown beard and manly, well-formec features ; and you are certain tlaa J the khaki tunic hides a lion’s heart , for his whole career has been leonine whether tracking Samory, the negro chieftain, into the recesses of his virgin forest, where he captured hin after he had waged war with France for seven years, or whether he waleading a sortie from Fez and clear ing a savage horde from its walls. This last feat gained for him th< three stars at a time of life wher most French officers are not yet colonels.

“Petain was still Colonel, mature and a little disappointed, and even contemplating retirement, when the war broke out. But contact with realities revealed his worth, and his ascension from the great retreat to the prodigious battle of Verdun was a record in rapidity. Placed in temporary charge of the 4th Brigade of Infantry, he received, three days subsequently, the command of the sth Division, and his temporary rank 1 of General of Division was confirmed s fortnight later. On October 25, 1314. he was given the 33rd Army Corps, which covered itself with glory at Carency, Notre Dame de Lorette, and Ablain. Officially a divisionnaire on April 30, 1915, Petain became Chief of the Second Army, with which he led in the great offensive "in Champagne

GENERAL FOGH. “No French general has come into „l oS er contact with the English than Foch ; his army has neighboured ours for long together, and none has a higher opinion of our military qualities or is more sensible of our progress in the scientific art of war since our first appearance on the Continent. Foch is one of the most learned, of the French generals, and his lectures at the War School, which he directed during a part of his career, are remarkable treatises on tactics. When war broke out he was commanding the 20th Army Corps at Nancy, with its famous Iron Division. He is a strict disciplinarian, who has known how to adapt his science and his rigid rules sucessfully to the actual problems. Looking forty-five, though twenty years older, he is of those who prepared assiduously for the great campaign. Alas I his own family were early victims of it, for his son and son-in-law fell at Charleroi. “Balfourier, who has so distinguished himself in the . fight at Verdun, r was amongst his brigadieraenerals. rV‘These, then, are the men who are carrying* France to ".victory. Tomorrow Jothers\ will sprjng from the |pil tdt typify’Gallic courage, talent, and/resourcefulness. <-.» And there is hitting fcore startlingly true in the present Z<ar than Hhex absolute adaptability or the race*- It is peijen? trial .in its freshrffiss and inspiration#*