The North Otago Times MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1917. ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARNE.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13975, 10 September 1917, Page 4

The North Otago Times MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1917. ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARNE.

Three years ago last Saturday, the Auglo-Freiieli hurled the German invaders back across the Marne, having turned at bay on the Seine, with their left on Paris and their right .oil Verdun. The battle bi the Marne, it has been pointed out;'like'the battle"'of Gcttsbiirg, was.a victory for an army standing and accepting a j battle .which, if unfavourable, might have brought national disaster. "Complaints are vain," as Dr Johnson reminded us, ! - \v must try to do better another time. A few designs and a fey,' failures, and the time for designing i is past." This is not the time to' discuss the arguments of the critics who are ever ready to remind ns that there were blunders in the earlier stages of the war. There were blunders and there might,' indeed, have been no retreat to the Marne but for the failure both in the strategy of the French General Staff and in the tactics of the individual commanders. We may leave these phases of the retreat from Mons, to the judgment of history, but we are not disparaging the heroic efforts of gallant imperishable France, if we say the fact that the retreat did not lead to disaster that might have been fatal, is due to "the contemptible little army" commanded by General French. The British nation will ever be thrilled by the story of those supermen who turned the tide of invasion, and refused to be beaten. As a matter of fact the men which General French took across the Channel proved to be the bcsl bit of lighting material at thai moment on the field,. It was, in . deed—it may be said with all . mpdesty—the most expert .and highly' trained force in the world. Perhaps no' other body of troops of the same size, then in. action .lould-havc held, back the.fierce German pursuit from Mons to the Marne, as General French's tiny 'fee did. "The;;e English," d,>dared a member of Hie German .General Staff, conversing with a Dane a few days after the Battle of the Marne, "have prepared a surprise, for. us in- this war, especially iii North France. After we had broken the French positions on the Belgian.frontier, and had got Joffrc's army on the move towards the south, the 'German army's advance appeared to be checked. If was ' General French's Army that had "stayed the retreat. These English arc .1 cool lot! We had to assault again and again, but in vain. We were in fact repulsed after having literally surrounded them. Their perseverence and pluck had gainsd their just reward. The retirement could now be carried out in an orderly way. All risk of catastrophe to the retreating army was avert)d." The collapse of the strategical plans of the French 1 General Jtaff called for masterly tacticr,; France produced the man. General loffre was equal to. the demands of the tragic hour. Ho" his strategy with a rapidity and coolness |,vhich would have de-

hail- opjiofifjd «-■ M unlive .whicli Sculls ■ welling- \ ton's retreat iii Portugal ore Mas3eiia, or Barclay do Tolly's before Napoleon. "Hisstrategic cbn'cejrtion,'' says Sir Johii French,: "was to draw the enemy o;i at all points, until f favoui'iiblo sittuitioii was created 'from which to assume I the .'iV that fateful! hoiiiv M'hell eivilisatifill tl'ehibldd in th© btiianed/ '^apo 3 ' Joffhyas he is affectionately known to the French soldier, chose the Mame as the* battleground to decide the fate of Germany. He sacrificed the cities and provinces of-his owji kith and kin to flame and "sword, but ehoso the only.ground "Which-, made victory certain and he. saved. civilisation. The whole Allied line, like the soldiers who obeyed the famous command "Up Guard?, and at them," at Waterloo, flung themselves upon the 'ruthless invader, The Battle of Hie Manic Was won. Germany's plans for world dominion miscarried, and the invaders. were racing ,from Paris faster tha|' they had advanced.

ITALY'S UPHILL FIGHT. "Slowly the Italian lines are crawling uphill," wrote Mr Perceval Gibbon describing the attack on Monte Santo, "the Italians paying with their valorous- lives for every yard of progress, .If in England anybody .doubted Italy's capacity for liberal sacrifice or her intention towards victory at all costs, he is now answered." It will be remembered that during the latter half of last May, General Cadorna's forces' on the Isouwi and Carso fronts made one of the most l'eluiU'kabie drives of the year—an assault that lasted eighteen days, with its original fury: Observers tell us-Ihat the fighting took place amid the peaks and chasms north of Gorizia, and on the volcanic Carso Plateau to the south, a region of desolate, rooks and a desert of stones. This land of eaves and hiding places had been fortified by the Austriansand complicated with broad acres of barbed wire, behind which cnor- , mous KJ-ineh guns find • innumerable machine guns swept every path of approach. Against these natural fortresses, the Italians won victories despite great odds. They took heavy-guns up mountains I hitherto ascended only by Alpine climbers who roped themselves together. They swung bridges from one peak to another.. They built trenches, fortifications, roads, tunnels, and retaining walls ten thousand feet above the level of the sea; all this in face of an enemy fighting desperately on the defensive, They had their reward. And now, amidst a rparing blazing frenzy of shells; in a "hellbroth of fire and smoke," as one correspondent describes the tumult in (he Alps, the gallant Italians are pushing forward across the towering mountains and deep ravines of the Isonzo front, /and'over the stony inhospitable Carso plateau ; advancing trench by trench, working uphill under the lire of very powerful artillery and in spite of fortifications which seemed inexpungable. In the torrid heat of the stony Carso, the Italians- are smashing through to Trieste the key to Italia Irredenta. Laijd and sea forces are co-operating in the attack on Hermada which bars the way, Away north-east of Gorizia the irresistible Italians have fought their way across the Isonzo and with Monte Santo with its steep coiic and slopes like the side of a roof, in their possession, they are said to have captured Monte Gabrillc "and are advancing towards Monte Daniele which towers above the surrounding country and will give General Cardona's men a glimpse of the forest of Tarnova beyond. North of Tolmino there are a few gaps in the barrier of the Italian Alps opening the road to Vienna, Italy's strategical plait is to push towards the east, and right valiantly are General Cadorna's soldiers conquering the merciless Austrian in a struggle in which the advantages are on the side of the defenders. The Italian armies, assisted by British heavy artillery and powerful monitors, have their object thoroughly in mind and are not to be distracted from it.