SIR JOHN FRENCH'S STORY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2511, 12 July 1915, Page 6

SIR JOHN FRENCH'S STORY

NARRATIVE OF GALLANT ' FIGHTING THE GAS FIENDS By Telegraph—Pi's33 Assoclatlon-Oopyrlght i> (Rec. July 11-12, midnight.) .Sir John French's dispatch, dated Juno 15,.'states': — . :. -'"Sincc.--April 5 the Army has' been Jieavily engaged on. both flanks. Ypres lias'.,agaiii-been .successfully defended against vigorous? and sustained' attacks by . masses of ,heay^^Bld/';artineisV , was' of-..a number ajid weight- of-calibre 'superior .to'anyiconcbntratioh.which ly assailed''tliat part' of* tho liiie. -' In the south.:the. First' Army .'- has taken, a' vigorous oftensive, during wlnoh a largo ajea of 'eiitrenched and fortified- ground ha-s.-been capture^-whilst .valuable, sup. port has been afforded to the French attack on Arras and Lens! ' -

Rules of War violated. : "I, much regret that the - fighting, on the. enemy's side was characterised-.by a j cynical; and barbarous disregard .'for the usages of civilised : war, and in ,flagrant' defiance: of The Hagiie the resources of Germany have* ■apparently:, been brought into .play to produce a gas so virulently' \'iny human being' brought 'into contact with it' is first' paralysed . and' then meets a lingering and agonising death. - Tli'e enemy invariably preceded, prepared, and supr ported his attacks by the discharge of. a stujwndous" volume of these gas fumes .whenever t'heV wind was favourable.' Sueli "weatheri 'conditions""only prevailed''• • to any- extent in the neighbourhood of, Ypres,: and tho, fumes. enced the'-. operations at Ypres until experience suggested the' effectivecoun-ter-measures which, have since ' been •perfected,, rendering \ the fumes innocuous; Their. 'efficiency..in practice sliow.s that? the, Germans must have harboured t'he.desigiy fd'r. a lpng' time. As a soldier Iv.cannot" help expressing •my . deepest regret and. sonio> surpriso that ail army ■ which claimed to .be .tlie' chief exponent' of .chivalry,, in war. should stoop ;to employ eucli devices ' against gallant foes." : . ■ *'' "Hill 60." /•••Describing, -the.,capture of Hill .60, Sir 'John; Fionch , states that it afforded the enemy ail. excellent artillery • observation, post. .1 "General Bulfin planned .the preliminary operation and the- mining, and .their General Ferguson carried ; out the'attack- on/ April; 17, '.in which-tho French and Belgian batteries assisted. The: 'attempt to. .recapture: Hill -60 on May :I,'.was supported by .a. discharge of. asphyxiating , gases, which caused nearly' all the men-on a front of 400 yards to be : immediately ,struck.' down by the fumes.", '•' ;J. The splendid courage, whereby the leaders':rallied J their,'-men subdued , the natural tendency to panic,' and combined with the. prompt .' mterventibu' of the support, drove'back tlie enemy. A more ; sevoi'e. gas.attack on May -5, under much more favourable conditions, enabled the enemy.to recapture Hill■ 60 a.few days' ■ later.-.. Means of -counteracting' the gas, which have' since' proved ' so effective, were' introduced, otherwise the attack on- May. 5 would have' been without result-.',: *• *•' - '.

v Sir _ Joliii . French goes 'ou to describe tlie lirst, use' of,the, gas on April 22.. : "Our • aircraft, at, five o'clock, reported ,a .thick:' .fellow ' smoke issuing German, trenches between • Langemarck and Bixfcchoote. ;What followed almost idefies. The effect of the :gas ;was so virulent'.that it rendered'the ■ wliolo line held by the French •Division ' betweeiL:;Steciistraato; and -tho ' Poelchapelle i'oad practically- incapable of, action. At first it was impossible for anyone to realise; what actually had happened. The. smoke fumes hid everything,- and .hundreds:.ware thrown- in a ■comatose and- dying r cbndition, l and the Ivhole position, within an hour, was abandoned with fifty'guns, '■ ■ _ 'fl wish particiiiarly- to repudiato the, ~ ea TV ' the least blame attached .to the .French- Division-.. After all the examples our': gallant Allies .have, shown dogged tenacity and courage, • it" is fsupertliioiis to insist oil this point. If any troops in the-world could have held tho trenches that French Division would have held firm.

Splendid Valour of the Men,

' "The retreat made on oqr left flank leffc tho Canadians, dangerously exposed and-tlieie, was a, prospect of:thetn being overwhelmed, thus enabling, the Gcr.mans to cut off tho British, who were occupying, the. salient to the east: The , Canadians, however, -held their ground with;-;:»' magnificent- display of tenacity and courage, and the conduct of tlieso splendid troops avoided disaster. In the confusion' caused by the gas and tlie smoke,,' tlio .Germans captured .the bridge : : at'Steenstraato and the works eouth of Lizerae. -,I sent some, xeinforcements to support and assist General Pulz, and ordered reinforcements.! fronv ■ the C Second Army Corps.

"I had • a conference • with General Foch on the morning of the 23rd. Tbo General asked mo to maintain tho British line while lie endeavoured to regain the trenches belonging to the Frcnch Division.

"I'concurred, but stipulated that if tho position _ wei'o not re-established within i a ' limited time, tlio British troops would.not be allowed ito remain .in' their existing exposed .situation. Many circumstances combined to render the situation east of Ypres very critical. For two or three days fresh units had been pushed into the firing lino in ah area swept by artillery liro, which, owing to tho capture of tho French guns, we were unablo to keep down. This led . to very heavy casualties. I wish to record my deep admiration for tho resourco and .prescnco of- mind of the' commander* wj. the yj.ot, particular-

ly of Major-General Snow and Briga-dier-General Hull. The Lahore Division made gallant attempts to push tho enemy north, but was partially frustrated by the gas. '

"Tho French mbanwhile had retaken Lizoruc, but as no further progress was niado by tho twenty-eighth towards the recapture of tlie original line, I ordered General Plumer, who now had charge of the operations, to prepare for a. retirement. ■ These orders 'were postponed until May .1 at General Foch's request, and then carried out with scarcely any loss, reflecting the greatest possible credit on General Pluiner. Our artillery assisted, and the aeroplanes caused tlie Germans considerable loss when entrenching opposito our new lino, and advancing their guns to new positions. During the whole of. May 4 the enemy heavily shelled our evacuated trenches, ■ quite unaware that they were unoccupied."- > '• . . . DANISH STEAMER SUNK BY PIRATE : i CHEW LANDED SAFELY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright ■ - _ ■ Copenhagen, July 9. A submarine in.the North Sea 1 burnt the Dani6h schooner Ellen, timber-laden from'Tonsberg, to Livorpool.. The crow were landed. SUNK OFF IRISH COAST. . (Rec. July 11, 3.30 p.m.) ■i^y' London, July 10. A submarine sank the steamer "Er•lesmfe. inear tlie Smalls (a number of rocks ,S:E. of-'tho Irish coast, County. Wexford). Ono man was killed. The remainder landed. . "Not in Lloyd's list-, .v, ■ , London, July 3,0. \ •A submarine sank : the steamer Guide, from Hull to Archangel. The crow landed at Peterhead. ; ." '■ . _ : Tlie: submarine- also sank the Russian steamer Anna; from Archangel to Hull Tho crew landed at Peterhead. I'll® Anna js ieported ,to .be . still afloat.

A' submarine sank the Russian barque Marion Lightbody, from Valparaiso to England, ; off Queenstown, where the crew were landed.