THE ARMISTICE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 72, 19 December 1918, Page 5

THE ARMISTICE

ALLIES ON THE RHINE BRITISH CROSS THE RIVER IN FORCE " I!y Telegraph—Press Association-Copyright r London, December 17. 3 The French have entered WiesbaJen, and the British have crossed the- Rhino i in force, making an impressive spectacle. [ A crossing; was\ simultaneously made at ' Bonn. The cavalry liavo readied the limit of the zone of occupation around the bridgeheads.—Aus.-N.Z. Ciible Assn. : MACKENSEN'S REARGUARD ARMY ■ ' INTERNED IN RUMANIA. ■ General von Mackeneen has been in- . formed thnt the rearguard of his army in Transylvania, consisting of 180 officers . and 2000 men, has been disarmed and , interned by Rumanian troops. Von . Mnckensen has protested to Budapest.— . Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE GERMAN NAVAL SURRENDER BITTER. COMPLAINTS OF BRITISH ; ; OFFICERS' COLD SCORN. (Rec. December 18, 8 p.m.) Amsterdam, December 17. The first' German newspaper accounts of the surrender of the submarines complain bitterly of tho humiliation of the officers, the men's impotent rago agains tho British, and the cold, polite, and scornful attitude of the British officers., One narrator dwells on the "superfluous wounding of our feelings. Wβ were not permitted to fly the German flag. There is no place more God-forsaken than Scapa Mow."—"The Times." THE GREAT ADVENTURE MOURNFUL SPLENDOUR OF GALLIPOLI WHAT WAS ACHIEVED London, December 17. Sir James Mills presided at a luncheon given by Hie Australian and Now Zealand Clubs to General Birdwood and Mr. Winston Churchill. General Birdwood, responding to a toaet, eaid the future would do full justice to tho Mediterranean expedition. Although the Dardanelles campaign was unsuccessful, it accomplished the annihilation of tho flower_ of the Turkish Army. No name was higher in the world than the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, while in the whole army there was not any better organised or efficient division than tho New Zealanders. Mr. Winston Churchill said a mournful splendour played about the great operation on Gallipoli. It was launched without universal Allied help. There were scarcely any graves on tho whole of the battlefields upon which could better be written the words "Not in vain" than on those Anzac graves on Gallipoli. General Sir lan Hamilton had ueen set a task which perhaps no human being could have achieved with the Temnnnts left after the needs of France had been met. It had now become the duty of the statesmen to pieservo tho unity of the Empire and to carry the Imperial organisation a step forward. They must expect tho oversea Empire to desiro closer touch in the march of events confronting them in the future.—Aus.-N.Z. Cablo Assn.-Reuter. THE CAMPAIGN IN EAST AFRICA TASK OF TREMENDOUS DIFFICULTY London, December 17. A dispatch from General van Devonter, commanding in East Africa,- graphically describes the tremendous difficulties undor which the campaign was conducted. Ho says: "It may appear ex traordinary that Cobnel tod Lettow Vorbeek's force should so often have succeeded in evading tho British and Portuguese converging columns, but the Germans were well, guided. They generally avoided the regular tracks, and moved by native paths through the heart of the bush. There is over a kindred thousand square miles of such bush between the Rovuma and Zambesi Rivers, much of tho country is a terra incognita, and the natives are unsubdued or openly rebellious. The campaign of 1916-17 has. shown that it is practically impossible to round up a mobile enemy in such difficult terrain, and from the character of the German commander it appeared improbable that a seneral snrrerder 'would take place until his forces were reduced to innocuousnpss. The campaign was therefore one of virtual extermination, and tho operations ''ere even conducted through the heavy rainy season. Some idea of the heavy obstacles encountered is shown by the fact that the troops often had to force their way through such thick jungle that the roads were mere tunnels through the bamboo thickets and elephant grass."—Reuter. HEROES BEHIND THE LINE THE POISON GAS EXPERTS. London, December 17. Among the unnoticed heroes of the war are poison gas experts, whose duty it -was to test various gases and re asks. Every day they were shut up in s°aled chambers containing gases, an 4 inevitably absorbed poison into their systems. Sometimes they were shut up for hours at a time. The experts looked far ahead, and found antidotes and protections against any possible gases in addition to those actually employed by the Germans. Phosgene was Germany's, deadliest gas, but a protective helmet was devised four months before it was iequired. This start was never lost. Twenty million small "box respirators" wore distributed; The head of tho AntiGas Department was Colonel Harrison, who died of influenza recently. He was warned that he could not live another year if he persevered with tho work, and ho swiftly succumbed to the attack of influenza—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. PRINCE OF WALES TO TOUR THE EMPIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE BRITAIN'S DEBT TO THE DOMINIONS. (Rec. December 7.30 p.m.) London, December 7. One of t.V) latest battleships is now being refitted for the purpose of an Imperial tour by the Prince of Wales. This tour is regarded as a fitting way in which His Majesty the King could express to the Dominions his deep .consciousness of the great services rendered in the war to the whole of the Empire.—Renter. MONARCHIST PLOT IN VIENNA SOVIETS PREPARING SHARP COUNTER-MEASURES. (Rec. December 18, 7.30 p.m.) Copenhagen, December 17. ' Advices from Vienna report that a monarchical meeting was held, at which several generals nominated tho Archduke Max, brother of the ex-Emperor Karl, as ' the lattor's successor. Tho Soviets are '. preparing the sharpest counter-measures, i -Aus.-N.Z- Cable Assn.-Reuter. __ THE ENEMY ALIEN BAN i ACTION OP BRITISH HOTEL- ] KEEPERS. (_Rec. December 18, 7.30 p.m.) London, December 17. Tho Hotclkoepers' Onion has decided neither to employ nor accommodate any person of enoniy origin for the next ten ] years.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Reuter. NATIONAL MINISTRY IN < RUMANIA \ Jassy, December 17. M. Bratiano is forming a National 1 Ministry.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Router. c