ECHOES OF THE WAR

Otago Witness, Issue 3448, 13 April 1920, Page 20

ECHOES OF THE WAR

(By. Cable.) BRITAIN'S ASSISTANCE EXTOLLED. PARIS, April ;1. General Mangin, writing to the Deux Mondes, confirms Field Marshal French's account that Laurezac's unannounced retirement forced the British to withdraw, and condemns his own staff, who were "e----sponsible, also, for not surmounting early and inevitable misunderstandings.. He extols Britain's assistance as invaluable morally, and effective beyond the question of numbers. HINDENBURG'S BOOK. LONDON, April 7. Field-marshal von Hindenburg's book "Out of My Life," is mainly concerned with the operations on the east front, where he was commander-in-chief till 1916. He takes the Junker view that England was mainly blameable owing to commercial jealousy, but he says the war was also due to French Chauvinism and Russian greed. He regards the German as the lord of the battlefield, .though he -admits that there was a great deterioration in the later years of the war. The French were, he says, better fighters than the English, and artillery was responsible for the worst crises. The elite of ithe English army were the colonial troops. The Americans were brave, but were unskilfully led. Marshal von Hindenburg, in justifying Germany's assistance to Turkey, pays an indirect tribute to the Australians, because the Germans thus "kept 100,000 of the finest enemy troops away from European fronts." He mentions the "Villerg-Bretoneux reTerse as finally destroying the hopes of a decisive victory. Finally he regards the attack on August 8, as Ludendorff did, as " Germany's day of doom." Marshal von

Hindenburg says: "This .was bui*: first great disaster from which there was no recovery." The book concludes with a stirring call to young Germany to prepare for the future. ADMIRAL SIMS CRITICISED. WASHINGTON, April 7. ' Admiral Rodman, commander of the United States battleship forces with the. Grand Fleet, testified before the Naval Committee that Admiral Sims's recent charges constituted an ill-advised attempt to discredit the fleet. April 7. At an investigation of naval affairs arising out of Admiral Sims's charges, Admiral Rodman said he had come to defend the good name of the navy, which viewed Admiral Sims's attack as deserving of the deepest censure. Admiral Sims occupied a subordinate position in London 'as a liason officer, and possibly arrogated: to his office more importance than actually was the case. - " Admiral Rodman charged Admiral Sims with a breach of confidence in disclosing confidential admonitions. In answering Admiral Sims's charges that half a million lives were sacrificed because of the Navy Department's delay, Admiral Rodman characterised them as " damned lies." He declared the statement was ridiculous; nobody was responsible for the loss of life which occurred. April 7. At the naval investigation arising out of Admiral Sims's charges, Admiral Rodman declared that he had never seen such efficiency and preparedness as when America entered the war. April 9. Rear-admiral Thomas, before the Senate Investigation Committee, said that desertions from the navy had been so numerous that this year the ships of the United States were manned by inexperienced boys. Admiral Frank Fletcher said that in 1912 the United States worked out plans for the eventuality of war with a Central

European Power. Consequently the United States was not, as Admiral Sims had alleged, utterly unprepared when she entered the war. GERMAN BATTLESHIPS SURRENDERED. LONDON, April 7. The German battleships Nassau and Ostfriesland have arrived in the Firth of Forth, and have been surrendered to the British naval authorities in accordance with the terms of the Peace Treaty. COMBATING THE SUBMARINE. LONDON, April 7. The waning advantage of the submarines against surface ships and battleships was shown at a lecture which Naval Lieutenant Kingall delivered at the Royal Service Institution. The lecturer asserted that the advantage, which was as 9 to 1 in 1914, was only 7 to 3 last year and was likely to be only as 6 to 7 in 1930. Submarine detection apparatus was likely to develop, which would partially protect important ships against a tactical attack. He expressed the opinion that gas would eventually revolutionise naval warfare. Gas might be discharged on an enemy's coastline. Such a plan was contemplated during the. German occupation of Belgium, but was postponed in deference to Belgian susceptibilities. The lecturer recommended I'he extension of the convoying system for the protection of commerce during war time, but ruled out the plan for making capital ships submersible on the ground of its impracticability. Admiral Sturdee, who presided, agreed with the last-mentioned opinion. DISTRESS AMONG AUSTRALIANS. LONDON, April 9. Distress among Australian discharged soldiers awaiting return passages is becoming acute. A number of men are on the verge of starvation. The Anzac Buffet Fund is unable to give more than

a small dole to many discharged men who are averse to charity in view of the fact that they are entitled to a gratuity. The Canadian authorities are coping with a somewhat similar situation by providing the who are awaiting shipment with board and lodgings and charging it agtinst the payments to which the recipients are entitled. A plan akin to this is needed to relieve the Australians. A BONUS WANTED. LONDON, April 6. A delegation representing six War Veterans' Associations petitioned the Acting Prime Minister (Sir George Foster) for a bonus of 2000 dollars for every man who served in France, 1500 dollars for men who served in England, and 1000 dollars for those who served in Canada. BURIED. BOMBS. PARIS, April 9. Nine farm workers were killed at Lille through the explosion of a' buried German bomb, which was struck while ploughing. SHIPPING CONTROL ENDS. MELBOURNE, April 9. The Commonwealth Shipping Controller states that ships are being released from requisition, subject to certain conditions, on the completion of their current voyages. GENERAL BIRDWOQD IN SYDNEY. SYDNEY, April?. There was a brilliant and enthusiastic assemblage at the Town Hall to-night at a State dinner tendered to General Birdwood. The Speaker eulogised General Birdwood's leadership, thus helping to make the great name that the Australian Ai-my had won. . General Birdwood's reply paid a tribute to the splendid officers and men under him, to whom the honours belonged, not

to him. He felt like the man riding a bicycle. He sat still and the machine did the rest. Later, in the Domain, General Birdwood presented a large number of war decorations. GENERAL ITEMS. PARIS, April 3. Eastertide brought a stream of British mourners to the military cemeteries France and Flanders. BRUSSELS, April 4. The Derniere Heure states that the British and Belgian Governments have signed a contract by which Belgium will receive on favourable terms 24,000 tons of Australian raw zinc. Delivery will be completed within two years. SUCCESS OF RETURNED SOLDIERS ON THE LAND. In our illustrated pages will be found a series of four photographs which give convincing evidence tiiat in one case at least soldier settlement has been eminently successful; it is a case ot putting the right men in the right place. The farm illustrated is in the Lakes district. The area is about 260 acres, so badiy infected with the Canadian and Califorman thistle that a man could hardly force his way through them, being in some places eight feet in height. The soldiers set to work to roll down the thistles, the horses used in the roller being protected by sheepskins. The thistles were then ploughed under and the land sown in oats. The resulting crop was very free of thistles, and thrashed 50 bushels per acre, despite the fact that the season was one of the driest known in the district. For the coining year it is intended to sow down the land in lucerne. We hope to hear of the success of the enterprising men who tackled a work that many farmers would shrink from. A SELF-REPATRIATED SOLDIER. Among our illustrations this week is one of a "self-repatriated" soldier, minus his; right arm, at work, using a plane with his left hand. Mr S. Hay, the soldier. in question, belongs to Palmerston, Otago. On recovering . sufficiently alter hospital treatment, this one-armed hero set to work to kill the heavy hours by making little things, using the skill he had acquired as a builder before the war, but reduced to the left har.d for such delicate operations as glue joints, fixing hinges, locks, etc. Now he has been successful with cupboards, sideboards, bedsteads, music, cabinets, dinner waggons, and many other articles which show a finish that would do credit to a cabinet maker, even without this great handicap. Photographs of some of Mr Hay's work were submitted to us by Mr Wm J. Bennett, late of the Palmerston District High School, but, unfortunately, these would not reproduce satisfactorily, wid we have to be content with reproducing a photograph of the soldier in his workshop, where the lighting was difficult.