WAR JOTTINGS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12430, 22 January 1915, Page 7

WAR JOTTINGS.

Two soldiers, a hum-corporal and a private, in the Hants Regiment of Kitchener's new army stationed at Codici'd. ha', e .been pioved to be German spies, and have been dealt with by the military authorities. "Copies of letter.* i via ling t.o the movements and proposed movements of troops were found in their po.-v - .-ion. Keri un.'-Leilers are now forbidden to practise throughout- the German Kmj.ee. Sine,- ;.i;e war broke out they ! i; ui i-ee:: consulted by ?n enormous [ iiuiiib -r (ii wives and relatives in the ! lieid who wanted to know the fate o! those who Here dear to them. They hardlv ever hear anything lrom them, a-, the organisation of the army HeM post office i- one lliej.e mud'ile. News ha.- bet n lvc-ived in Melbourne oi the death oi Captain Richard Loekington iiinlwood. of the Indian army, assistant political agent in the Persian Gulf, who was killed in action at Basra during the recent lighting there. Captain Birdwood was the youngest oi five sons of the late Mr Herbert if. Birdwood, of the Indian Civil Service, a!! serving in the Indian army. He was the youngest brother of General William Birdwcod, commanding the Australasian Imperial troops in Egypt. . I An officer who was recently resting in Franco with his regiment, describes the amusement which the recreation of the British soldier causes the inhabitants. He says: "We had a paperchase on our half-holiday. A British officer,' dressed up as the Kaiser, and mounted on a piebald horse, rode about eight miles- across" country, dropping bits of paper. Then about fifty of us chased him on horseback, anil nearly caught- him. Villagers turned out to see the fun. They thought he was a real German, as he wore a big helmet and was covered with iron crosses.

An interesting story concerning the war and insurance companies is reported front Reading (says the London Daily Telegraph). A local resident took out an insurance policy with an industrial company ill April last. On the outbreak of war he, being a reservist in the Bedfordshire Regiment, was called up, and' proceeded to the front, but in September his wife received am official intimation from the War Office informing her that her husband had been killed in action in France, the intimation being accompanied by a letter from Earl Kitchener expressing sympathy with her bereavement. The documents were duly presented to the insurance company, which forthwith paid the claim of £25 to the woman. She has now received a communication from her liusbajid that lie is wounded and' a prisoner in Germanv.

Here is a story which a party of English travellers from the East had to tell of Captain von Mnller, late of the Emden. One night-, while the British cruiser Yarmouth, was escorting a merchant ship out of Singapore, the wireless operator received calls' from a ship some distance away. He answered, them, and found' to his surprise that he was in communication with the German cruiser Emden. Thus spake wireless:—''Captain von Muller and th • ward -room mess send thvir compliment' and would be obliged if the Yarmouth would let them have the result of t'hn infer-regimental Rugby football match." l'ie result of the match, which h"d taken place that afternoon, was duly given, together with, an- intimation,that it would not be very long before the British sportsmen in the east hat]' tlr* pleasure of the captain's company at ali field and, track events. ***** A Swiss lady married-to an Alsatian had the opportunity of going to see her husband a few weeks ago in Germany-, and sent the following impression her husband and the people generally have about the war. The husband is serving in the Landsturm (Torriorial Reserve) : —"The Germans will, certainlv enter Paris, Warsaw, and London. All the telegrams of the Havas Agency aro false. The Germans laugh a- the idea of their beinu: starved ' into surrender. There are still eight million men to send to the front. The retreat on th- 1 Mam? was the fault of the Austrians. who are bad soldiers. The retreat in Poland is not a defeat; it was necessary to give the Austrians breaching space. France is nearlv famishsd in men an i money. Germany is about to hold a knife at her throat, and will force her to accept any conditions without ence to her Allies, nor of the agreement between them that war shall not be stopped without mutual decision. The English will, of collide, betray the Frsr.ch. The English troops are worth nothing, and the English have taken good rare to send as few men as possible to the help of the French.. The King of the Belgians has already written to the Kaiser offering to make peace. The Russians are only so much food for cannon. Their generals are alwavs ouarrelling."

One of the editors of the Berliner Tageblatt has taken part, as an officer in the recent fighting, and he has sent a remarkable letter regarding the English troops to that paper:—"When we marched forward," he.says, "every man was assured that- God had given the English very long legs, merely th*>.t they might run away like hares. We all thought about what we had heard of Tommy Atkins when at home, and believed that we could get some tennis rackets cheaply. Bnt we soon learned that these clean-shaven gentlemen used their long iegs not only for fighting, but very often for very dangerous attacks. English, infantrymen are ver\ dangerous enemies. Thev defend with great energy, and when thry are driven back they always try during night to regain what they have lost. Thev are always helped strongly by artillery, .which is of the same quality as the German. The Englishman also tises his instinct for hunting, and, being a •sportsman, he has better control of his nerves than the German; their cleverness in the use of terrain and in*" patrol work 'is also very noticeable, and T cannot always say the same of patrols on my own side." The appearance .of sncfi a letter in a Berlin paper is so extraordinary that a correspondent of the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Con rant wired it in full to Rotterdam.

7n the town of a large British force had just marched in. The town square was thick with troops. The enemy w:>* r.ot supposed to be .within scent anywhere. But. ;ays a correspondent of the Morn ins Post, at. precisely the moment wh'-n the peril to our troon? wo" greatest a Taube appeared overhead Hyii'.g f'.-n-ly low. It could throw bomb.- with precision at that height. O'ie 1-i'ih-explosive bemb merely would play havoc in the square, crowded as it was with cavalry. There were but few infantry in the square, but they opened fire at once, taking the range from the observations of an officrr. Another section opened . fire with maxims. It was done so promptly and' so well that the Taube people lost their nerve and started to scurry away without dropping a bomb. The aeroplane mounted impulsively for a few yards like a pigeon mounting quickly from a trap. Then it was seen to flutter slightly in its flight, but still it kept on. Then there came a burst of vapor from its petrol tank, which had been pierced by. a maxim bullet. The flight of the Taube was ended, and it be sail to volplane down to earth. Like terriers after a rat. cars were on its track, two of them simply leaping out of the square by parallel roads. The aeroplane was soon encountered; but without its crew. Thc-y were observed running ahead. The pursuit did not last long. Both men were captured. One had' the. T.M. Orr|er from the German Emperor for womb-throwing at Antwerp. " The Taube was little injured except that the petrol tank was perforated. „.****, The Rev. P.' -J. Stephen, speaking at the united intercession service in the Pitt street Congregational Church, Sydney last week/.said they must get rid of their illusions. One of these was that this was going to be a brief war. Self-complacency had led them to undc-r-estimate the seriousness of the problem they were up against. The German people believed in the "Kaiser, in the Justice of their cans? : thev believed they were fighting for heortli and home, and for national expansion. As a result, the nation wa; as one.- They had ben told by those who hail come recently from Germany of that country"; practically limitless supplies of arm- and men, and that the spirit of the German was to fight to the last

(hop of blood'. 'There was 110 use talking of the British Empire's past-, they were up against a grave problem, and the sooner tljey realised its seriousness tlie. better. In the face of it, every man should be prepared to take- his part on behalf of the Empire's safety, and it was "up to them'' in Australia to take their .share in the gigantic struggle. What should be their attitude to the- great erUi.-!- Firstly, o?e of quiet confidence in the ultimate .-s----siie, even if the war be ions and costly. Secondly, they must hare courage to look at facts, to face temporary defeat, before their purpose was gained. Thirdly, they must be prepared for a spirit of sacrifice. He mentioned information that had come to him of 400 men I rout one small town in Yorkshire having been killed in I'Vance, and that of a .Scottish regiment of 110.') only /i:s survived. These, lie said, weiv big sacrifices. What were they in Australia nreniired to do?