WHERE THE BATTLE RAGES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11756, 21 July 1916, Page 3

WHERE THE BATTLE RAGES

THE BLACK COUNTRY OF FRANCE HISTORIC TOWNS. There is a oloso bond of union between Australia and those towns along the western firing line in Fr.ince, as it is to the majority of those towns over and around which shells are screaming to-day that Australia's wool goes in many hundreds of tons annually, and where the raw material is turned into tho finished article for the supply of most of tho population of our French ally This was explained to a Morning Herald" reporter by Mr A. O. Anchor, who fought through the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1, and who has a son, Sergeant A. L. Aucher, 2nd Battalion, Ist Australian Division, who was wounded at Gailipoli, now attached to tho Army Pay Corps in England. "The country," said M. Aucher, '''where tho main fight of tho Allies is just taking place, has no doubt been chosen as tho offensive lino on account o* tho ground bring tolerably level, but studded here and there with hills and undulating parts, making at tho same time a good attacking" and defending territory. The present theatre of war is perhaps tho weakest as regards the defences erected by the Germans, because they could never;dream that an offensive would he launched i at any other point than with Lille as its objective. However, the terrain ! chosen, if tho Allies' offensive develops itself in their favour, is of considerable importance., owing to the railways in existence prior to the war, and those constructed since by the enemy.. It was their shortest route of supply, and also tho easiest way to get reinforcements from Belgium. If the Allies succeed in their objective and take Peronne and Bapaume, the lino formerly occupied by tho Germans must naturally bo straightened, and also be in more direct lino with Verdun, thereby forcibly taking the great enemy, pressure off that objective of theirs, which for the last fonr months has been so stubbornly resisted by the French. It will, moreover, if successful, push the Germans further back from the French frontier, and, as can be foreseen by any military student, drivo the invaders into "Luxembourg, thus freeing both tho French and Belgian territories. "Of course, being so far distant from the field of battle, here in Australia, it is rather difficult to come, to any determined idea of what will happen; but' it has been seen that, in spite of the old idea that tho position of the two belligerents was leading to stalemate by, the formidable trench defences erected by the enemy, the Germans failed to take into consideration that, with the high explosives which were- brought to bear on the destruction of this class of defence, the trenches became- death-trans,, and could never bo considered a definite block to the Allies " Tho country at present being contested has been of great value to the Germans," continued M. Aucher, "on account of the principal towns being manufacturing centres, which Australia supplied with her wool, and the 1 coal mines from which Franco derived her main supply. It might aptly be described as the ' Black Country' of 'France, and produces a large propor-, tion of France's wealth.. This district is intersected by a network of railways, of which Paris is always the great centre, as Birmingham is in England. Besides* bemg a mining and manufacturing centre it is also largely an agricultural one. Farms stud the whole of the very territory in which •the fighting is taking place, and it is appalling to think that after the destruction to which it was submitted during the German possession, to retake the same country will submit it to further destruction. There is no doubt that any former proprietor will not be.able to Bay where his property was situated, and a general re-survey of these localities'will have to be made, before settlement, as far as the land is concerned, can be adequately arranged. You will better uuderstanci this when I tell you that one holding is not divided from another as in Australia bv fences, or in England by hedges. Stones, after survey, are placed at the four corners of the plot _ of ground," and no neighbour at any time displaces these stones or infringes neighbour's right. One might nnagmC that tho cattle belonging to tho various owners would get. inextricably mixed, owing to the lack of fences. IJus, however, is not the case, as the cattle belonging to those in tho locality aro stabled on a common each night, and are collected every morning by a little herdsman, who blows a horn when the doors are opened. Tho cattle, aftei being milked, go to pasture or return to their owners. It is the same with the geese, of which there arc very big flocks in the district, and, strange to sav, there are never quarrels between neighbouring farms, a3 both cattle and neese know their homes, and make straight for them on being liberated.^ " Another important question arises,' went on M. Aucher. "Taking into consideration the tremendous shelling of thoso innumerable trenches, stretchin"- from end to end of the country, re will be problematical whether agriculture can be immediately resumed after the war, owing to gases and otner chemical influences rendering tho soil unsuitable. . ' " The principal towns m this pari or the war zone are Arras. Bapaume, Combles, Peronne, Chaulnes. Yennand, Iloiscl Bertincourt, Marcomg and Croyules' Theso are mostly manufacturing centres for all the woollens which France produces. Every description ot cloth (including large contracts for cloth for tho French Army) is, or, rather v*-as turned out from them and thousands of men and women were employed in its production. "It has been noticed in the cables that the advance of the French is more raoid than that of the British. J.his is'easily accounted for to one who knows the country. Taking a lino from Albert to Gommecourt shows it is more hilly, and here the British lino has ha<i to 'advance. From Albert south to Chaulnes, tho country is natter, and ; the enemv. hardly expecting an offensive at this point, had consequently failed heavily to mass troops along it. and the French have been enabled to push on further in comparison. " The numberless farms I referred to before as dotting this countryside must not lead to the supposition that it_ is dairying country in comparison with our south or north coast in New Scut.) Wales. Every farm is a mixed one, where the farmer keeps cattle, pigs, fowls, etc., and grows his own vegetables and fodder. The farmer sells his surplus produce at the markets held on certain davs in the nearest township to his farm, 'after keeping what ho requires for family use; but the output is a. mere bagatelle compared to Australian dairying districts. ''This part of France is very cud, as far as its towns arc concerned. Arras is a cathedral city, with many fine old buildings, and the Peronne of to-day was a well-known place in ancient French history, rendered famous by the Kings of France in past centuries often holding courts there. Close to the firing lines, fifteen miles south-east of Peronne, lies the little town of Ham. This city is celebrated for having been the place of retention of Napoleon 111., when he made his first attempt to bribe ] France to place him on the throne, which resulted in his being captured, with his eagle, by the Government of Louis Phiilipe.' It was from his prison in Ham that he afterwards made his escape, and took refuge in England, before being recalled, to take up the I rulci'ship of France in 18IP,"