UNDER THE SIX STARS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2920, 4 November 1916, Page 7

UNDER THE SIX STARS

VISIT TO GENERAL BIRDWOOD "BILLY " AND lIIS MEN (By Lord Northclift'e.) The following articlo was written by request by Lord Northdiffe (or the United Cable Service, Ltd., of Australasia, and published by arrangement. Somewhere in France.

Thu high hopes of the Australasian peoples arc centred round a bare room in one of the numberless French chateaux where nowadays the air vibrates with the throbbing of the guns. In that small room, tho furniture principally consisting of the simplest possible bed, a telephone, and a map marked with the latest moves on the battle line, is General Birdwood, the idol of the Anzacs. An officer from Victoria received me at the gate of. the chateau, where stood 011 guard two Australian giants having before them a fluttering flag of the Six Stars. It was a muggy morning, reminding the officcr of October in his own country in the late shearing time. AVo passed through one of tho halls of the chateau where numbers of the clerical stalf were busy at typewriting and telephones, ami upstairs to the general's room.

General JJirdwood stands sft. 9in., has not an ounce of spare fat on him, and looks like a man in hard training. He lias a strong but gentle voice, firm month, with a slight moustache, deep-set, pale blue eyos and a cropped head. He looks a fighter every inch of him. Ho is fifty years of ago, and has been engaged directly or indirectly in the business of war during most of his adult life. He eats and drinks little, is up and away at daylight in winter and bofore six in summer. He pushes his headquarters as near the front as possible, knows many of his "boys," as he oalls them, who fought with him in tho Gallipoli Peninsula, "by their Christian names, and they believe in him as implicitly as ho believes in them. Birdwood, erect in pale khaki coat with some four rows of well-earn., rmuous, coru .riding breeches and riding boots, is not a man to lose a moment of time. Ho was just olf to meet tho boys back for rest from Portieres. I'noy *.ere camping 111 somo woods to irhich we drove- in his open car, which flies the Australian flag. Some of them had already arrived. The sun, which Jiad been absent for some days, came out, at this moment, and never do 1 remember seeing a more delightful sylvan scene than, that presented by these battle-worn but merry soldiers with •their booty of German helmets and caps, German drums, and German field-glasses, riding ami walking up to their huts and tents. Somo had al-

rotuly arrived and were boiling their ■ toa, making dampers, cooking beef in 1 the cookers they ext-inporisetl i'rom kerosene tins, and;eating keenly and heartily after their long, long vigil in tho heavily-shelled trenches. ' Cooci Diggers. As tho general steped out of his ear , he twas instantly recognised by his men, most of them from New to'outh Wales, who had been engaged in what was probably their hardest' fight since Uallipoli. Tliey had dug themselves in deeply the other side or i'ozieres, and had not left their trenches for days. "Aly boys are good diggers," remarked the general. "They dig deep and quickly, and their trenches are so clean that you could eat oil' them at dinner time." He addressed his soldiers simply and truly, and drew, first from tine and then from another, stories of tho fierce fighting they lisid just experienced, Some wero so tired that, we had passed them asleep just as they, bad arrived; others wore full of life and gaiety, and as Capain MacKeime, of the Salvation Army, known throughout the leninsula and in France as "Mac," said, many were already anxious to go back to the firing line and show the Germans that if they were looking tor' nioro trouble tliey could get it. I looked with interest, at these already hardened warriors for whom death, wounds, and the German guns held no fear. A good deal has been said of Australian discipline. Jinglisli Australians who wero among them told me that when it comes to fighting their discipline is as rigid as the most adamant commander could wish, lliey obev their officers implicitly from the moment serious business begins, and their relations with the Imperial officers are perfect. Tho fact tlmt the young English schoolboys and slightly older "mus who man tho aeroplanes have driven tho spying German aero-

planes from the sky greatly rejoices them. Their long experiences 111 the trendies in Gallipoli have mado them the excellent trencli fighters that they •are. . .

A Simple Speech. 1 accompanied liirdwood and his Staff from one ..portion to another of the scattered forest scene. In some of the imts all the men vei'o asleep, and liirdwood would on no account allow them to be disturbed, but in others they were merry with mouth-organs, flutes, and capturcd drum. 1 lie General peered in, but would not allow

them to desist. Hero and there they temporarily formed into lino and saluted him as' he appvoachcd. Ho had a simple spccch for every group, always to tlio same effect. "You have suffered, but you have done splendidly. Are you ready for more when the times comes?" and there, always came a great shout of "Yes." Many were the stories told. One of how a mere lad (for some of thorn arc extremely young) chased a huge German out into the open, and finally settled the terrified Hun after a hand-to-hand bomb duel. Another of how a Hun machine gunner lired at the Anzncs until he had used the whole of his cartridge belt, when the German threw his arms round the nearest. Australian and called out, "Pardon, Kamorad." All the time wo were talking the "crumping" and booming of great guns was a reminder of our proximity to tlm j terrific struggle waging at the mom'ent. The men came into the wood in a con-1 stant stream. Having seen their general they at once went to wash and eat or sleep. Birdwood had always one piece of parting advice to the boys. "Write home. Let your mothers know where you are, what you are doing, and how you are, for if you don't write ijo her she will write to me. I get dozens of letters by every mail asking for one or other of you." Once, while we were in the forest, attention was rivetted on an air light of which we could son nothing by reason of the leaves. The sharp rattle of the machine guns high in the sky tcld o fa prolonged fight whose end we afterwards were informed was not satisfactory to the Germans. It must have been a rare spectacle, for a Pun is not'often seen to cross our lines these days.

I loft this forest scone with regret, hut there was miieli to do that day. Something was in preparation. General Birrl wood 'had work to attend to. Ho took mo with liim iu his oar, anil wo passed more and more of the Anzncs oil their way in from the battle. Rome worn asleep on the top of the highly packed general service transport wagons. Those in German helmets were singing, all smiled affectionately as they saw their general, and saluted hv a quick "eyes right" or the i"isiiifx of the hand to tho hat. Mounter' lv-n il'-miped their right hand sharply to the side. ft was a long and interesting

cavalcade oil its way homo from the battle. Tile dust, ns one of them remarked, made him fairly home-ajek. All wero in good spirits, and in spite of heavy losses they had done well, and their general had come to meet and greet tliem. Passing through one ruiucd town and village after another wo came to a divisional headquarters whore in a. small house some new movement to which the general had to attend was being arranged for, and he entered a two-story ruined building, a mass of telephone wims pouring in at the windows from every corner, and inside the busy click of typewriters and the voices *>f n>en worlcing in the heat in their shirt sleeves. Hard by a great shell fell, wounding several men and cruelly mutilating ft young English officer, whom, in tho.evening, I saw being wheeled out of tho operating theatre at a neighbouring hospital. The Ambulance Work. General liirdwood is a soldier who thinks it his duty to be in tho firing line whenever possible, but his officers do not agree with him. Two years of acquaintanceship liave endeared him so to them

that thoy feel - they would be lost without him. He has often been far too close to death for their happiness, and they urged him not to go any further, but to take me to tho nearest field ambulance, which was No. 2 Australian. Cheerily a slightly wounded Australian at the gate, in reply to a question from Birdwood as to how the liospital was getting on, replied: "Oh, wo are filling up nicely, general." Tho ambulances arrived at the gate and stretchers wero carried in in less time than it takes to write it. The men were classified, fed, and those who were fit had anti-tetanus serum injected. The sorum was administered with great care and speed, and the lotter 'T was marked on each forehead itt indelible pencil. Arrangements were being made to convey' such as wero well enough to tho casualty clearing station, whenca they vrill go to ono of the beautiful base hospitals, probably looking over tho Atlantic, that are the pride of tho Empire. AVo went thence to tho Ist Australian Field Ambulance. Sir Anthony Bowlby, the distinguished surgeon, was just making his inspection, and I passed the time talking with some of tho wounded lads. Some were sleeping, others in pain, but in general they woro ready for a joke and a talk and a cigarette. "How do you like France?" I asked a young Victorian. "I liko it fine," he replied; "they can teach us something in farming." And. another ono said: Not an inch' of land wasted. They work on tho land rain or shine." "Girls are all right, too," put in a young giant from Bathurst. "\es, I should like to take a couple of them back," chipped in a wounded Adelaide!'. I was duly -shoolted, but the compliment to Franco was sincere. All expressed admiration for the French, just as -'tho French love the Britisli for their kindness to tho French children, Gallipoli, which all of them, Birdwood included, pronounces "Gallipli," afforded no rest. Here when thoy are not actually fighting they have delightful resting cainps with wellfitted canteens.

I asked the general whore these men were drawn from. They are of all types —clerks, blacksmiths, men from stations and farms. Many of the officers are of the same class. They understand and obey each other implicitly. They have, exactly tho same rations as the British soldiers, and draw only a portion of their handsome pay. "We have liad no lunch," said one of the Staff officers at this point. "Birdwood eats nothing, and expects us to 4o likewise." "We drove away Irom the wounded lads along the encumbered roads, past miles and miles of ivagons with the emblem of the Australian rising sun and tho New Zealand fern,.and back to the chateau. I learnt during the ride something nSw from General Birdwood of Australasia's generosity to its forces, of the promptness of the Australian Government in responding to his requests, of the groat help of the Australian Red_ Gross. These fine soldiers are making Australian history. They are building up the traditions of Australia's future armies. There is hardly one of them who lias not patriotism burnt into his soul and burnt into his body. Many Australian soldiers have tattooed • 011 their arms the Australian, French, and Brtiisli flags with the words "1915 Gallipoli" nuderneatiii.

After a lons drive through the dust I shared a simple meal, at which tea dulv predominated, with the alert and adile chief and his staff, and as Idrove away many miles along tho lines I. could not but marvel at the turn in world conditions that had brought these young giants from the farthest corner of the earth to shed their blood ,oi) behalf of the Powers which are so gallantly fighting for the greatest ! cause in tho world, the cause of freedom as opposed to tyranny. '