WITH THE ADVANCE FORCE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2252, 11 September 1914, Page 6

WITH THE ADVANCE FORCE

STIRRING TIMES AT APIA GREAT SURPRISE FOR THE GERMANS HOISTING THE BRITISH FLAG y_ SOME ILLUMINATING GERMAN BULLETINS, . CBy Malcolm Ross.] No. 4.

Austrian frontier. Tho Russian fleet has been compelled to draw hack to the torts at SVeaborg, after being beaten by #! e German fleo* l a* the Alands Islands. Ihe German flag dominates tho Baltic Sea, protected by belts of mines against the appearance of the English squadron, very wide-reaching are tho 1 etfccts of our \ prosperous campaign in , Belgium. Many' strategic movements are possible. Hie front of the fighting lino extends from the west to the north. While- W troops are fighting in a line leading directly to Paris, the French are fighting not against German land, but against the,/land, of their Allies. A strong flanking movement of our troops, forces them to .make a. circuitous advance of troops, as it is quito evident they were awaiting our attack on' tho line of Metz-Belfort. As in 1870, the rapidity of; our mobilisation and advaoico is bewildering to them, and has completely stopped our opponents from carrying out their original, plan. 'The great difficxilty they are experiencing in moving large masses of troops from the eastern to tho northern frontier is shown by" the fact that no battle with tho Allies has; yet taken place. Tho occupation of tho Belgian coast, so greatly feared by the British, and which was made tho excuse for their declaration of war, is already accomplished. Never since the days of Napoleon have the English been so hard pressed. As to affecting' a landing in Great Britain at this stage of the war, as long as the

i The arrival of the Expedition came as a complete surprise to the Germans. They had been expecting a visit from their own fleet, which was due to arrive from tho China Seas at Apia on August 2. They had made great preparations for the visit. There were to. be dances in honour of the officers,- sivasivas by the natives, picnics, and other entertainments. A largo stock of wine and lager beer had been laid in by the leading hotels, and from day to day as the time drew near all was expectancy along the beach.. But the days went past, and the fleet carne not. Vague rumours of serious trouble in Europe began to be abroad; but people in Samoa for many a long year have known that Bumour is a lying jade. When at last on tho morning of August 2{) the smoko of our fleet was seen in the- far distance their first impression was that the Gorman- ships were at last arriving. Our own people also thought it was the German fleet, with the Navua and Tofua captured as prizes of war. The sun'was against the flags, which could' not clearly be made out. But presently, through a telescope,, the British Ensign and tho Tricolour were descried flying over the two largest ships of war, and in a little while the troopships with crowds of soldiers along their decks came clearly into view. The Germans then must have realised that all was not. well with the Fatherland.

The British planters along the, coast had. also seen the flags; thoy drank to the Motherland, drank lorijs; and deep, and quickly,saddling;their horses . galloped into Apia. , It was, for them, a. tflorious and never-to-be-forgotten day. Trouble In the Aln. Tho first inkling that the British had of trouble was on a Sunday, when a race meeting was being held. The Governor hurriedly drove up on to thecourse in his motor-oar, and called for the postmaster and the,officer in charge of the recently-completed wireless station. One of the Governor's officials stated privately that he thought there was_ something of great importance happening in Europe. Later came news of the various declarations of war. The Governor during the subsequent days appeared to spend a very anxious time. Hβ" often waited for hours at the wire-, less station day and night, and then re--turned _to his residence at Vailima to work till far into the morning. He was very serious, and seemed to worry a good deal. The New Zealand newspapers that came down by the last mail were seized, and the letters of British residents and tourists' were opened. I learnt, also, that the American Consul's letters also had been opened, which, •surely, at the very was a breach nf international etiquette. When war 'was announced, the British Consul issued the following :—

NOTICE. ■• British Consulate, Apia. Samoa, August ,5, 1914: . ' Whereas a state of war exists between Great Britain and Gor- ■ . many, nrid whereas His Excellency the Governor of this colony, Dr. Sshuliz, lias notified mete-day , that no measures will be taken by his Government against British subjects living in Samoa, provided they keep.the laws-and keep strictly neutral, therefore I enjoin on all the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, who are now in this colony the duty of obeying its laws and of maintaining a strict and impartial neutrality. Any persons who may misconduct themselves in the premiises will do so at their own peril, and will receive no protection from this consulate. . (Signed) T. TROOD, Acting British Vice-Consul. Fears and Hopes, •For some nine or ten days now the Germans were very much afraid that a British cruiser would appear oil the coast-and shell the town; but these days passed uneventfully, and confidence was restored. The people were assured that they wei'e now safe from any British force. The powerful German cruisers must already be in southern seas, and would afford ample protection. A strict censorship, was enforced, the publication of the local paper, which contained an English section, was sto]Jped, and scarcely any news except that which was favourable to Germany, was given out. In its place bulletins published in German and- Samoan were issued by the authorities. Some of these bullotins etated that the German eoldiers had already landed in England, and that their dirigibles were flying ovor London. Day by day news of German successes and French and Belgian reverses were published. Quite, early in the campaign came a message from Berlin stating, that Liege had. been taken at the point of the. bayonet, that Brussels was in flames, that Antwerp had been blown up, and that the Kaiser at the head of tho army was expected to reach Paris m^ a week! There was much rejoicing, oven in distant Samoa. Flags were hoisted, and there was a great consumption/ of. lager beer. The spirits of the British and the tourists interned on the island were correspondingly depressed, and relapsed into a state of despondency. This sudden rejoicing and merry-making on the part of the Germans, however, caused some of the British to suspect that a good deal of the previously-published news had not been altogether reliable, In order to give some idea of the methods adopted, even so far afield as Samoa, let me give here a free translation of one of tho bulletins (the sixteenth), published in German and Samoan, on August 24.

State of the War. "With a. bravery very seldom shown Germany has pressed forward into Belgium. With a strong dashing stroke Liego was ■-token in a few days. Head over heels tie Belgian Army retreated to the north, without even finding timo to offer battle to the Germans in front' of their capital, possibly left in tho lurch by their Allies, the Frenoh. Today, after three weeks of carrying on the war, tho military occupation of Belgium is au accomplished fact. ' Tho thunder of the Gorman cannons is groaning across tho Channel at England and finds no echo there. It proclaims England's inability to protect tho neutrality of Belgium. What has England and what/has Russia effected in the first twenty days of war? England cut our cable, and made itself master of the world's telegraphs, but against our fleet they have accomplished nothing, in spite of their majority of three to one. Russia is so' well held that no'advance whatever has been made, and no Rus.yanfi feaye. swaged, cither, the G.erraan or,

English fleet is intact, naturally nothing can bo said, but attacks by airships and submarines ore opening up many possibilities (the distance from Ostend to Dover is fifty' nautical miles). Let England thank her, position in that she need not fear an invasion just yet. France is in an infinitely worse position with her not very strongly-for-tified northern frontier. Easily to be seen from the . strategic advantages 'of our advance, wo ars better equipped, more united, and above all, more numerous than our opponents, t Whether England! or Russia can equalise by sending reinforcements remains to be seen. Already we hold Belgium as a. pawn for all eventualities, (and to all appearance- France will meet •the same fate. What does the lose we' suffer through Italy's not taking part, matter in face of this ability to win? What -matters the losses that England can effect by destroying our commercial shipping nnd by taking a few of our small colonies? What matters the harm done by Japan—who has lately shown a suspicions attitude —if sho takes Kiaochiui? It is impossiblo for Belgium and France to harm us, and so tho land which forced , sudden war_ upon .us ■through jealousy of our position a« the leading Power won by our own: efforts will become the theatre of this terrible !«-ar;" ■ .■•,'•■•• .-■ Opening Their Eyes. When, on o,ur arrival at Apia, we were able to tell them that at latest 'accounts tho Liege forts had not yet fallen; that thoro had been a serious Gorman check with enormous loss; that tho British Expeditionary Force had knded'without the lose of a sinelo man; that our Navy held the North Sea; that, the German Navy was still bottled up in the Kiel Canal; that about a couple of hundred ships of their mercantile marinewero in the hands, of the enemy; that the Austrian forces had, been stopped by the Servians; that powerful Russian armies tvore already invading or on the point of invading Austria and Germany; and that Italy was almost as likely, to fight against them as for them, they' stood amazed. The hitherto despondent Englishmen became cheery again, and tho Teutonic barometer fell to zero. The presence of our two troopships with their human freight and pur six ships of wot was sufficient indication that we had still a few men to spare, and that even the presence of the much-belauded Scharnhorst and, GneieePacific waters was not enough to deter us from attempting the capture of one of the most historic of the German colonies.

Statements Challenged. Having said so much about tho-Ger-man methods in regard to tho dissemination of alleged war news, it is but right and fair fhat- I should'correct some wrong impressions and mis-state-ments that have appeared. New Zealand journalism, on the whole, has not, in tho past, sullied the fair fame that has attached to it, and snrely, even in our hour of trial,-wo can. still be British and sufficiently just to give credit where credit is due. Let me, therefore, at once eay that the Germans—and there are many fine fellows among the Germans in Samoa—faced tho altered situation calmly and bravely. It has been published of the "gallant defenders of Samoa," that "despair, in effect took such hold of them that they had no courage to face the invaders." That 300 of them were drawn up when our force got ashore, but that air but fifty slung away their guns and took to the hills." As a matter of fact, there was not a single armed Gorman on tho beach where we landed; no one threw away a sinele gun; and no one took to tho hills! The Gormans.had no force of threo hundred men! As already stated, in these articles they had only a few native policemen,, generally, armed'with batons! It was published that the.Garrison troops to the number of 300 paraded. There were no garrison troops in.Samoa! It was published that the Governor was "absent on a pig-hunting expedition." The Governor of Samoadoes not indulgo in pig-hunting at all! He had been to a meeting of Samoan ■Chiefs, and from one of tho Chiefs I learned that he had told them to respect the law under the probable altered rule. , .

Furthermore, the treatment of the Britisli in Samoa since we were at war with thciv. country, had been all that could bo desired, and as a woof of this the British, French, and Belgian residents presented a memorial to Colonel Logan expressing their appreciation of tho treatment accorded them by Br. Schultz and the German officials since the outbreak of war and trusting that the Gorman residents would receive tho samo consideration. Strenuous and Risky Work. During the two days that wo remain, cd in Samoa the work of unloading tho ships went merrily on—night and day —gangs of friendly Samoans giving splendid service. Tho work was not unattended with risk. During the night ono of the launches and a lighter got in to tho danger zone where the waves were breaking over the coral reef. Sig-. nals were mado and a boat from ono of tho warships got the motor launch off, but the lighter, with somo fifteen tons of provisions and equipment, was wrecked on the reef. Next day another .boat AUd lighter had a narrow escane, J

There might easily have been loss of life. Colonel Logan (who mado an excellent impression oven with tho Germans) and his staff 'wore very busy both days with administrative affairs; and Lieut. Oolonel Fulton, who seemed to havo taken tho bulk of the shoro work upon his own shoulders, was übiquitous, his tireless energy seeming to know no bounds. Tho Chief, of Staff, tho A.Q.M.G., tho Adjutant, and the Provost Marshal were also busy men. /Indeed, one and all —officers and man — settled down cheerfully to real hard work eager and willing to do their best in tho interests of the Expedition and of New Zealand/ It was anything but a picnic. , The "King" of Savail. A big stout man with a big round faco, a twinkle in his eye, and just a suspicion of the Irish brogue in his conversation, was presented to mo by a mutual friend whom I had known during tho last rebellion in Samoa fifteen years ngo. Ho was introduced to mo as "Vilfiami," and qverybody in Samoa- knows that "Villiami" "is R-. Williams, of Savaii, one of the islands of German Samoa. Ho is a man of about 6fi or 57, and has spent tho greater part of his life in Samoa. For several years now he has acted for the Germans, as a sort of sub-Governor in Savaii, and he is the only Britisher who has been put on the pension list of tho Gorman Government. He is greatly respected by and has great influence with the natives of that island, who number about eleven thousand. During the whole courso of his administration not one single judgment over a period of fourteen years had been objected to, and during tho threatened rising against German rule some four years ago ho was ' able after a lengthy period of trouble to send : a letter ■of three words "Savaii is quiet" to Dr. Solf, the able and popular Governor of tho period.- Dr. Solf subsequently told the people there that he had been, waiting a long time to hear from his representative, and that eventually, when the letter did come to hand;-it was as satisfactory as it was brief. Williams was just as popular with the Germans as he was with the natives, and when the-four cruisers that had come down to quell the threatened rebellion and to deport' the troublesome eniefe were going back to Kaio-c'hau, there was quite a rivalry among them as to which was to be honoured with the company of Williams, who was making a tour to Germany via the Siberian railway. His geniality and his ready Irish wit make him a delightful companion, and many are the good stories told about him. In Berlin he- had a two hours' interview, with Prince vonßulow, who was at the tiiiio head of the Foreign Office. The recently-established Colonial Office Department had not then been thought of by_ Germany. At the end of the interview Prince von Bulow remarked: ,: I euppose, Mr Williams,'by this time you rau3t have' become quite familiar with the German language." "I 'am sorry to say, sir," replied Williams, "that I only know one word of German, and that I have as yet had no opportunity of using- it since I arrived in Berlin." ."What is that word?" .queried the Prince-." '"Prosit, , replied the "King" of 'Savaiiy with just the suspicion ot a smile playing about the -corners, of his mouth. The Prince laughed heartily. "Villiami" was promptly handed over to -the care of some, of the Foreign Oflice clerkjs, and a bee-line was made for the nearest fashionable restaurant. Needless to say .Villiami" was able to, say "prosit" many times before the day was far advanced. Colonel Logan was vet long in seeking an introduction to Williams. "I havo heard of you as a King," said the Colonel as he shook hands with the genial .Irishman.: "Yes," said Williams, simulating an air of solemnity.' "Yes, Colonel. A Jling without a Kingdom!" The reference,- of course, was to ; the fact thatupon the outbreak of war the. German Government could no longer continue Williams, a British subject, in his official position in Savaii. ■Tho colonel and the "King" walked upstairs into the former's room in the Government offices, and in a little whilo , Williams was reorowned "King" of Savaii.' Colonel Logan was most fortunate in obtaining tJhe. services of such a man. So, far ns the attitude of the natives of Savaii is conccrneiV.it makes the position quite secure. Later in the day, Roberts, Williams, and I. lunched together at'tbo house,of .the former. "When are you going back to Savaii?" I asked, as wo lit our cigai-s. "As soon as I can get my washing!" replied'the genial "King" with another of his : delightful smiles. Thus is another line added .to the "Footnote to History" in these historic Islands.. ■

The Flag Coes Up. ' *. When we landed in Apia we found only the German and tho American flags flying, tho latter above tho American Consulate, and upon an American sailing vessel in the inner harbour. The flag at tho British Consulate. had, of course, been hauled down. The Consul had been warned of the state of affairs by message in a secret code sent via the American 'wireless station at Pago Pago, and .he. promptly put'his papers.in the'keeping of the authorities of the,neutral nation.: The position of the rival flags was now soon to be reversed. On tho morning of Sunday," August 30 (our Saturday), we awoke with the music of church bells ringing in our ears, and for the moment could scarcely realise that we wore on activo service, and that in an hour or two we should be witnessing ■ a ceremony that with all its ' attendant circumstances wa& uniquo in the. history of tbp ■ Empire. ' At 8 aim. the British flag was to be hoisted over German territory by, the head of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, that, with its own escort, and, later, supported by tho, warships of tho Allied Fleets of France and England, had made its way over thousands of milei of pea. .' There was little timo for. arrangements, but these were, nevertheless, very carefully made. > The troops wero drawn up in three sides' of a squaro facing the courthouue —the seat of tho new Government. Inside the square Uius formed, and facing the. flagstaff wore Colonel Logan and staff, in thoir rough khaki service uniforais. On the right were Captain Marshall, of H.M.S. Psyche (the senior naval officer commanding the New Zealand naval'division), and the other commanders of the escort with their staffs. Thoy looked spick and span 'in • their neat fitting white tropic uniforms. On the left the high chiefs Tanu Malietoa and Tania-. sese—who had been specially invited by Colonel Logan to attend tho coremony. —with other high chiefs, made a picturesque group. Fifteen years previously I had seen the young King placed on his tlvrono at llulimni, near_by, with the representatives of tho allied fleets of-Britain and America and the civil authorities of these nations in attendance, and the Germans, who had been fomenting a native rebellion with their usual orooked diplomacy,' conspicuous only by their absence. To-day fresh, history was being made, and another footnote was being added to Samoan chronicles. In tho harbour tho emblem of Britain's might fluttered from tho masts of our cruiser escort; the Stars and Stripes waved in tho tropic breeze above palms surrounding tho American Consulate, and out in the open eea the White Ensign and tho Tricolour flow on tho powerful warships of the allied fleots of England and France. Tho news of die proposed hoisting of the flag had spread quickly through tho town and neighbourhood, and' a largo crowd of British and other residents and Samoans had quickly gathered. In the background woro groups of Chinese coolies— who had deserted the German and British plantations—gazing wpnderinply upon tho unwonted scone. Tho balconies of the adjoining buildings were crowded witji British and Samoans. Only . tho wera conspicuous by their ab-.

Eonce. With -undisguised feelings of sadness they had seen their own flag hauled down tho day before. Naturally they Tiad no desire to witness tho flag of tho rival nation going up in its placo. A few minutes before eight o'clock all was ready. The commands to the troops had ceased, and an intense silence prevailed. Two bluejackets and a naval lieutenant stood, with tho flag, awaiting the signal. A-naval officer looked at Ins watch, and, presently, the first gun of the Royal salute from the Psycho boomed out across the bay. Then slowly, very slowly, inch by inch, to the booming of the 21 guns, the flag was hoisted to tho summit of tho staff, the officers with dTawn. swords silently watching it go up. "With the sound of the last gun it reached the top of the flagstaff, and fluttered out in the south-east trade wind above tho tall palnis of. Upolo. There ivae a slurp command from the officer.'commanding tho expedition, and the troops came to the Royal saluteThe National Anthem—never more fervently sung—and three rousing cheers for His Majesty King George, the Fifth , followed. Then came the reading of tho proclamation by Colonel Logan '■ in. a strong,' clear voice; the troops formed up- again, and, to 'tho music of the band of tho Fifth Regiment, marched back to quarters. From ' start to finish_the : b'rief ceremonial was. finely impressive, and as the old flag ! iloated out once more as a 6ymbol of the-power and tie just rule of tho British Empire there were, in the little knofl of British people, grouped/below,'somo! eyes that were dim with a mist of v threatened wars. And there were some! who were not at all ashamed to admit '■ the fact. The End. .-, .On the night of Monday' August 31, rTioopship No. 1 was again at sea in company with one of tho ships of war steaming with lights out. The warship was to leave us at a certain spot on the ocean and then to go about her master's business.'. It was. a glorious moonlight " mght when she left us, Jupiter, below the clear three-quarter moon in the! east, and Venus, high in the h'eavenson'the west, shining brilliantly in the clear air. The warship winked a 'message to us to carry on as arranged. 'We carried on. From that point in the ocean ; we must.return alone. We signalled "Good-night I" to our friendly convoy, and watched her slowly disappearing uV the gloom of night. Wβ had seen the last of the ships! The fleet had vanished as it came—into the unknot. Soma • there wero Tho knew things, but, over the movements of the ships at this • stage of this memorable cruise, it would be inadvisable to lift the veil of secrecy • (Concluded;) \ -

•AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN. FORCES. "COMMON" ARMY & LAND WEHES. A. review of the condition of the Austrian Army, by tho military correspondent of the "Morning Post" is to handby the English mail. The correspondent writes:— It is difficult -to give a concise account of the Austrb-Huiigarian forces, because their organisation is unique in two respects. Thoy' are divided into the "Common Army," which "belongs to the whole Empire, and the two distinct Landwohrs, belonging respectively to Austria and to Hungary. Moreover, the Laiidwehr are not, as in Germany, troops of the Militia or secondline typo, but are in reality -regular troops with a relatively low peace establishment. J ■ . ■The Common Army is organised as 16 army corps of two 'divisions each, except one which has three divisions. The division consisting of 12 (sometimes 16) .battalions, 2 or 3 squadrons, 9 or 10 batteries oilfield guns or howitzers,and the usual proportion of engineers and other troops. • There are also two batterios of heavy howitzers to 14 of tho army corps. The organisation of the loth Bosnia-Herzegovina army corps is special, designed for operations in hilly country. There are, furthermore,, 8 cavalry divisions, each-consisting'of 24 squadrons and 2 horse artillery batteries. Mountain artillery stands outside the normal wai;> organisation of army corps,and divisions. All told, the Common Army eomprisos 467 battalions, 252 squadrons, 3UB field and field howitzer . batteries, 62 mountain batteries,, and 28 heavy howitzer batteries, besides the complement of pioneers, railway troops, telegraph, troops, and departmental services. ■ ,

The Austrian Landwelir and the Hungarian Landwehr each supply eight divi-' sions, one to each army corps district, and also , each supply one cavalry division.' The divisional organisation is not, however, so complete as in the case of the Common. Army, the Hungarian Landwehr until quite recently .having been without artillery; but some of , these defects are being made good. Together the Laudwehrs comprise 21 ft battalions, 90 squadrons; and 40 field and howitzer batteries. Thus the units forming the .Austro-Hungarian field army comprise 063 battalions, 348 squadrons, and 438 mobile batteries', and'theso would apparently bo organised as 16 army corps of three divisions each, together with one spare division, 10 cavalry divisions, and certain army troops, making a total of about 1,100,000. The fact that; the army, corps is likely to 'consist of two divisions of the Common Army and one of the Landwehr should be noted, ibeoauso this prac.tically means that, an army corps of the Dual Monarchy is nearly half as strong again as the normal corps in Europe.' when one hears of so many corps mobilised tliis point must not be over looked. It was shown in. the note en ■the Servian Army which appeared recently, that this can put ten divisions in the field; against these Austria-Hun-gary can oppose- forty-nine. In conipar-. ing the Austro-Hungarian 438 batteries the Servian 122, it must be remembered that in the Dunl Monarchy field batteries have sis guns, while other batterios have four, but that in Sorvia all batteries are four gun batteries. As compared to the German, French, and Russian armies the peaco cadres of tho Austro-Hungarian Common Army are at a somewhat low establishment, although they have been substantially increased within the last two years, so that units on a' war footing will include inconveniently large numbers of Reservists from the start. That is still moro the cose in tho Landwehr. But; on the other hand, the same thing holds good in Servia to an even greater extent, and, for fte war experience , , the training standard of King'. Peter's troops ought to bo decidedly inferior to that of their antagonists; but tho campaigns of 1912 and 1913 must havo taught the Serb officers and men lessons which their opponents . have still.to' learn. Aβ matters stand there is no reason to suppose that tho forces of the Dual Monarchy are more efficient than tho6e which they are about to meot, c'scept perhaps in respect to cavalry—and Sorvia is not, a country well adapted for tho manoeuvring of horse. ' , . .'.Tho Austro-HuiiEanan rifle is tho Mannlicher. The artillery is armed with guns and howitzers of a special' typo, mado of a form of bronze, and the field batteries at least an equipped with a weapon of older date than tho Servian, and believed to be inferior to tho Schneider Canot ordnance, whioh proved so formidable in tho Balkan Wars.' . ' .

WOOL FOR KHAKI

(Rec. September 11, 0.50 a.m.) London, September 10, morning. . ■ Instead of waiting for.the auction sales next month, certain Australian firms have decided to sell to the mills impiediately certain kinds of wool required for tho manufacture of khaki. These descriptions specially cover New Zealand slipes and scoured crcssbrede. London merchants realise that if they held they might conceivably _ secure ■ higher prices later, but appreciating the' loyalty of the New Zealanders, were confident thoy wercjustificd in offering; the wool iminediate«ii