MARSHAL FOCH

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 42, 13 November 1918, Page 9

MARSHAL FOCH

' i ! A CHARACTER SKETCH | | ■ j An interesting character sketch! "General Foeli, tho Allied Chief,'; contributed to tho ''Fortnightly j view" by . .Mr. Charles^.Dawbaru. ! | following is 11 summary of tlic article When General Focli was appoili Chief i of the Allied armies Mr. Llj George is reported to have asked hi "Supposing, you . were-playing ca with LiKleiulorlf, 'which'' liana wo you prefer?"" G oral Focli promptly. A little la one of his British friends was got to London. "If you see your Pi") Minister," lie added by way of pc • script, "you might tell him I-still f for my owircards. Focii has devoted a lifetime to ; study of war. As a young man ■ fought in the disastrous campaign' 1871, hut it did nnfc shake his col ■dencc in the destinies of Franco, spite of his grievous experience he e braeetl resolutely the .military car.? Ho entered the j'Qjyleehniquo arid] licole, do Guerre. With the slowni of the peace-time soldier in France,-! climbed the, -various grades and of became brigadier-general at fifty-sl divisional rank followed a few -yet later. But though his -ascent" long and weary, it enabled him to nil tor every step of the, way. 'The' Eft ■do Geurre never, had a liipi'.e brilliri teacher of tactics, ami' strategy.,-., j lias the gift of firing others witli'! own enthusiasm. bnder the spell: his imagination the war maps liecai living charts of experience and advd ture. Streams and woods and mou lains became ibstinct with new ltieij ing. . Tho roads, winding like whi ribbons across tho country, resouiWl with the-tramp of soldiers. , Eve coppice gleamed, with gunsthe. rain of the great- campaigns shiver; ..with the voice of war. ;}

The-professor reveals the-. ma Timse lectures of'•twonlv years the War School revensed many of tl notions of strat-ejiv and the-conduct'! battles-. A practical spirit slioii none the less. • in the midst of 1| theories. * 'l)o quoi s'ngit-il?' (Wl* have we to fio hero? What is tj practical issue!') lie would ask,ill't] face of each elaborate situation, anj in a. few telling phrases,' would.eluj date the problem, Unerringly his ii; ger pointed to the way out and li learned imagination would unlock tl gate. He lias studied history to nrei purpose, and vet has shown that lie■> .110 slave to'it. When the momcj comes for actioli, ho. is not cniba rnssed l>y the past, though recognisi# that it-.offers food for constant jriecj •tation; Such a man is obviously bo ter equipped for dealing with now coj ditions thiiii bo to whom the genius I the old commanders is a sealed bool ■llis superiority lies in-bis sense 'j adaptation. Practical experience c 4 never lie superseded by mere academ knowledge. Ho.linds that t-rutli wri ten in history as well ifs -in the,cod moil understanding of _ , >

Foch has not. confined himself 1 echniealities; lie. lias taught : : -tl isychologv of war. You must'wide triiid the'soul'of a man before. you cd cad him. Moreover, war is'not'a xact scionce, but a passionate drarij ilayett by human "actors.'For tW eason moral is ail important.Oiic hat goes, everything goes. The. quo] ion of victory or defeat is largely tlwj lid ho .quotes' Joseph le Maistre, wlj aid that a biitllo lost is a battle, whiti me believes to have. lost. Battlej hercfore, are won and lost morallj lot materially. Tllo "ot-at d'ame" ij jonsequently, the prime factor. . _' ! Linked with' moral is discipline I'liere is 110 greater disciplinarian tlia ftich, for all his courtesy and huniai! ,ty:' Like Joffre, ho economises' > lives, liut the commander who lm "ailed in his duty, even in the nf<H ifflicult 'circumstances',■ gets very lift] sympathy from him. Discipline as tli jenoralissiino understands it is intcll' ?ent, not blind; active, not, merely pa* jive. Indeed, it is co-operation, . f reading of- the 'master-milid and s jranslation of it ifito terms of action.; . Focli's knowledge of. the Engljfei Vriny dates ■frum many- years, ■■ Hi 'riendship with 1/ird Wrench is, also it' 110 recent growth; The"Army,-Foe) matched at manoeuvres in the Eastcri :ounties. Probnbly lie was struck,"'#! ire most French observers, with' tii perfection of the' English unjt, tli; rhythm of its movements and " th; jeauty of its equipment; but probably ilso, lie made reservations on the man igement of musses..,.. French.ability ij :hcse large operations is due to lonj training and experience, ...Now,.:hag i»ily, it is harnessed to the tenacity steadiness, and fighting - skill of th| English. Focb has always been v.t partisan- of that unity of'command'oj which, ho. is' the -living 'expression Like other Fr'eiioli'' officers' hd-'hfil-'iu immense! admiration'/ for the Tiiiglfil jliaructei'j for its sense of'loyalty aiiij honour. for; its freedom from intrigue Ho neighboured .us in the north dur. ing the perilous battles'of Ypres/ii October and November, 191 >1. Historj will show how largo a part ho playoc in: Riding the Old Contemptibles • t0... resist the German thrust.. On ionefcriti* cal occasion when it was'Wiieh aii'd —according' to the French" expression] "il ctait cinq" (five, minutes to tlu hour; the hour had almost lie (jointed out the'consequences' of rei firenicnt, the menace to the shores- ol England, and, what is more, . sell! promptly reinforcements to stop tlie rush. He saw that Ypros must be retained at all costs. And retained -it was,,for iMarshal".French -was as rock-j like lis he in its defence.' ; '.l!lrcn,r:!!a at. other times, the mingling'of ;Frencli and English troops' proved" a "fiUfipatli that could not be pierced. •-•,•••- j In action' lm )>ossesses the coolness decreed by Nnpoleon as (be first requisite of .a general, lie is never dis-j turbed; he is serene and smiling. Even in . critical hours lie does not .depart) from ■ calm,- and inspires others...witii it. There is no. tremor at. licadquar-j tors; Somo secluded,, modest liousoi serves as his watch-tower, lleroiho! sits brooding over the battle which will finally decide whether liberty is -to! perish'from llie earih. He fs quil and confident. _ Yet, .with all'his cool calculation of visible means, Focli i.i no materialist, no dry reader of'sym-' bols, without heart or understanding; of the liner issues. Cold figures haVo; not always their face value, nor caui .vou represent the unrepresentable.! The Commander-in-Chief feels tiiatj there are impalpable forces that weigh] in the balance and determine events.] lie is but an instrument in God's handj And there, you have the secrct of liisj faith, for he is a good Catholic. ! As to the 'French soldier, Focli hasi testified again and again to his gaiety) and spontaneity, his adaptability, hiss responsiveness and "elan." .. Aud| now in daily contact witli the Hritislij he will realise, perhaps more deeply,] than before, their racial splendour, thoi keen set of. their mind in difficulty, thai untroubled countenance with which j they look into the very mouth' of.HclL,', Ivor need the great chief doubt ' tliei willingness of the armies in tiio rcartoi givo him munitions in great quantity;! and perfection. Each hour improves j his chances and lessens those of .thai!

f°e.'. "" ■ | In person Fcch is small, below- tho j medium height. Without tho uniform , and oak-leaved hat you would take hinii for a professor, fresh and young for his. years, and yet with countenance| marked by thought ami experience oE j life. 1 Ho' has no affectation of speech] —none of tho, hrusqucrics and' sudden, j explosions of the stage Ho is the typo of.soldier-si-vanl. who lias) kept his' energy and. his wide interest in men and things, J