FRENCH'S BOOK.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 11931, 30 October 1919, Page 8

FRENCH'S BOOK.

London, Oct. 24. Mr J. Vv'. Fortesque, the' official historian of the war, in reviewing Viscount ;French's book in the Quarterly Review, created a sensation by "making an attack upon Viscount French. He says- "This is one of the most unfortunate books ever written. On Field Marshal French and his staff completely lost their heads, and in a vain endeavour to conceal this Viscount French has taken leave of all sense of accuracy and descended to misstatements and misrepresentations of the clumsiest kind in order to injure the reputation of a subordinate who is forbidden to defend himself. Coming from one in Viscount French's posit:'«« this brings shame and dishonour upon the whole army. He says that when Brigadier-General,. Grierson died Marshal French wanted General Plumer to succeed him, but Lord Kitchener preferred to send Genoral Smith-Dorrieu. Thereby hangs a sorry.tale. An unsavoury incident is the fact that in a dispatch of September 7th Marshal French gave General Smith-Dorrien full credit for his cool courage in accepting battle at Le Cateau. He now would have us believe that General SmithDorrien was only opposed by cavalry. Viscount French also says that fourteen thousand men &nd eighty guns were lost, whereas the real figures show a loss of eight thousand men and thirty-six guns. There is ignorance as well as malice in this portion of the narrative." Mr Fortesque continued: "Marshal French, long before the battle of Le Cateau, decided to hurry back to Noj-on, leaving his army to look after itself for a day or two. Happily Kluck marched south-west across the rear of the Second Corps, so that the British continued to retreat unmolested. "