BATTLE ECHOES

North Otago Times, Volume CIV, Issue 13694, 9 October 1916, Page 7

BATTLE ECHOES

VARIED PJfASES v OF THE GREAT , CONFLICT. (Conducted by ''Observer.") : • [Headers of "Tint Times" are cordially Invltod to Bond to "Observer" euro of "Tim Tlnios" Ofltco, tiny .Interesting paragraphs that may coma uuder their notice.] General Joffre gave an interview to a number of American correspondent? on the occasion of. the. second amiiverjary of the declaration of A\'<if. He said: "Although our enemies arc lighting to-day more bitterly than ever, yet, in view of the-unity of action, of the Allies, the entire world sees and understands clearly the destiny which is shaping:final victory for us. The characteristic of the present campaigns is the unity of action on all fronts which is bringing ever-increasing pressure to bear on the enemy on all sides. While it was< the French sacrifices in the early part of the war winch enabled the Allies to prepare this unity of action, at tliv same time T am now proud to pay public, homage to the manner in which our Allies to-day are discharging their obligations. Russia, profiting by the time we were able to give her through being first prepared, has made increasing efforts -towards- drawing ever more and more upon her inexhaustible resources of men and material until she is now able to pour on to the eastern front armed masses which have attained'the recent glorious achievements in Galieia. Our preparedness has, at the sam.e time, enabled England to organise her full power of mobilisation, the actual lighting value of her men having now been fully demonstrated en the Sommc. Italy had a more difficult problem, and a more limited sphere of action, but her splendid accomplishments are now well known. The newlyorganised Serbian army lias displayed the unbroken lighting valour with which it is ready to resume tho campaign. Although the, enemy is still lighting desperately, yet the German plan of quickly transferring reserves to various fronts is no longer possible, owing to the steady act ion of the Allies on Ihe whole German front. Victory for us is now certain. It is not for me to say how long the struggle will last before the final breakdown of the enemy's strength comes, as come 1 am absolutely certain it will."

Truth, like food, ha? lately Yicen a si'Mive commodity in Germany. The deluded people of that country are being fed by their newspapers on lies of a vaiied and assorted character. The New Zealand soldiers, who, together with other "Anziics," have been slandered by these untruthful journals, have paid off a- few si-ores during the past week or hvo, There slill are one nr two more to pay off. ' Se'feral German pap""', which have described the Anzacs as "raw and undisciplined," now, doubtless, will be changing their tune and devising some new form of'abuse for the;"raw" men from the coveted Overseas Dominions of hated Britain, The Anzaco may have found time between their iliisliim; assaults on the enemy's trenches to read extract; from German papers. If so, there are one of two particular insults that will be kept in mind. One that was published about a fortnight ago was thai

uttered by the Cologne Yolks Zeitnng. Thi'; paper published alleged interviews from Egypt representing that the Anzacs broke into riots when ordered to leave Egypt, and thai tlioy were "quieted" by the British generals with all sorts of promises of "victorious revels'' when they reached France. "Victorious assaults" perhaps, would have been a more suitable term. i''or papers, however, whose chief function at present is to disseminate lies, this would not do. This is one of the little things tor which (lie Anzacs and the New Zealanders in particular have lately been securing' some satisfaction.

The forces and considerations which brought the German Fleet out arc by no means certain, writes Mr Arthur Pollen, of the battle- of Jutland. The first German official account spoke of there being an enterprise to the north which the Fleet had sallied forth to execute, This is a somewhat vague- objective, and can be hold to cover such different purposes as an effort to get into the Atlantic, an -attempt- to cut the communications of Archangel, or to get the whole battle licet through the Skagerrack and the Sound into the Baltic for a combined sea and laud attack on Riga. The first and second of these objects could have been better achieved by simpler means, if we assume that the German staff realised that to get across the line of the Archangel supplies, or to be at large in the Atlantic, were things for which if would be worth risking the existence of their more powerful units. The argument of Riga being the objective of the Jleets is based on the supposition that the latest Dreadnoughts of the Koen'ig class are .not able to make their way through the Kiel Canal, And at the end of May, before the Austrian resistance to the southern end of the Russian line had collapsed, an advance on Petrograd might still have seemed the most

promising enterprise that Germany could undertake. But, on the whole, the indications arc that the sortie was .made with the deliberate intention of engaging our scout ships, and of limiting that engagement, if possible, to a light with those forces. Later communiques, indeed, suggest that this clearly was the object, They tell us that Sir David Deatty had made frequent sweeps into the of Julland in the ino.'iths of .'April and Hay, and that the Fleet was sent out to engage him. The German tactics throughout the battle—so far as those tactics were due to their own initiative—confirm this theory. On the the luck was, on the whole, pn

side, but it' was against them on one point. Their Zeppelin reconnaissances Bqc.ni to have been -fruitless, owing to the haze,- bo that the encounter with the Grand Fleet, into 'which Sir David first enticed and then forced them, was, in fact, a surprise. If this view is correct, the German Fleet came out eo light a partial'action, so that those of the ships tliat returned to'harbour could be held as it fleet of conquerors.

Now that the tide of war has so unmistakably turned ■ against the enemy, some of the German newspapers seem to be unable to find anything better l ! lo say than to indulge in complaints against the Allies' methods/Such pleas or excuses appear to bo in great favour wiongst the Germans, Yon Kluck is reported to have attempted to explain the Allies' great victory of the Maine bv saying that General Gallieui surprised him by breaking one of the. first rules laid down for the .'conduct'of for-j tress . commanders, The ihcthod in which the French general took the offensive was stilted to have contravened this rule. Toss.ibiy it never occurred to Vyn Kluck, as: it did to'his opponent,' tlmt ■ 'ill rules are made to be broken; on occasions, and that it. is a good tiling, to know when to break them. Since the beginning of the-great offensive on the. western front the. German papers have been .quite amusing in their complaints against the tactics of the British and French. They have been staggered by the deadly effect of the Allies' infantry charges in close succession lo the great work of the artillery. This successful method of warfare has been described as "butchery," a.business for which the German has no taste,unless lie is himself the butcher. But the Allies, it seems, are guilty of other breaches.of the "rules" of.war. '.We were told the other day that the Kolnische Zcitnng was "plaintively grumbling" at the Allies' system of alternating the British and French attacks, which gave them "an opportunity of resting the troops and bringing up reinforcements of men and ammunition," Such arc the military sins of the Allies! No doubt with the excellent coordination now existing they will go on sinning and succeeding. There are a few more "rules" yet to be broken. The "rule" of military despotism ami lliiniiish tyranny is one of them, The Germans, of course, never break rules. They adhere most consistently to all the regulations—of "kultur" and f, f rightfulness."

The' capture of Combles, which the Kaiser ordered was to be held at all costs, appears to have resulted from the perfect co-ordination of the advance of the British and French forces. The capture' of Morval by. the British, and the French advance at. Fregicourt, brought the Allied, lines north-east and cast of Combles within a" mile of each other. The Germans began to evacuate important material. The military experts believe that probably much booty and many prisoners will have been taken by the Allies. The Germans now have only two strong points to the east of Combles, Then, however, there are three fortified woods and strong ridge positions on both sides of the valley of the Eiver Tortille. On the other hand, to. the north the ground slopes down !o the open country towards Bapanuie, from which the British arc only three miles distant. ;

A number of Anzacs have married Englishwomen recently. On a recent Sunday a large crowd at Lambeth,, in south-cast London, witnessed the marriage to a local girl of a distinguished Tasmanian, who holds the military medal. The greatest enthusiasm was evinced.