A WAR STORY.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1921, Page 4

A WAR STORY.

THE PRESS AND THE GENERAL STAFF. Jn “The Press and the General Stall the Hon Neville Lytton, who was 111 charge of all the British and Allied war correspondents at G.H.Q., reminds us that the censor was easily the most maligned individual in the war. To the public he was a vague, remote person, given to ways that acre dark and trick* that were vain. r J o the Press he was an instrument ol the most brutal obscuiautism and tyranny. To tiie authoritie l.e was a person whose notions ot what it was proper to publish displayed singular lack of judgment. His role v.as. tin invidious one. He was Die buffer between politicians with an ax< to grind, a staff which believed that silence was golden, and a public which believed that it had a light to knowhat was going on. Officially he had m f iends; if anything went wrong he wa the convenient scapegoat. Mr Lyttei mi.ms several experiences of his own w! id. suggest, that b.g had rather a

thorny path to tread. On one oeeasne. an interview with Sir Douglas Haig somewhat unskilfully translated froii its original French into English, gav. offence t;. certain members of the G. •,eminent. Mr Lyttnti’s position in tb matter was una.-sailable ; be bad bad instructions not to censor the interview and he bad obeyed them. Hut be wa, summoned post baste to London an taken to task at a meeting of the Wa

Cabinet Mr Lloyd George “appears to be in a towering passion,” nnft seem ed unwilling to accept his explanation Lord Curzon was coldly hostile, for Innately, M.r Balfour was present, am his suavity and wisdom turned tl> opinion of the Cabinet in the right di reel ion. Sir William Robertson ba said nothing during the meeting, Inn afterwards he remarked to Mr Lytton “You see what 1 have to put up wit' cverv day.”

It wi.ll he gathered from bis accoun of this episode that Mr Lytton is quit' frank, and when lie sees lit, criticisethe authorities with freedom, thotig.i always with good humour. Soon after the outbreak of war he joined a Sussex regiment and went through the heav.v figting of Ifflo. He and his comrade thought that the descriptions of Neur. Chapellc. Fcstubcrt, T.oos, and tin other battles ol the time were ver.\ unsatisfactory. They tailed to give an; idea of the true psychology of the sol dier in the line, they credited him will an optimism which he did not possess, and they magnified gains which were trifling, and had been bought at a terrible cost. Hut for this the system, rather than the correspondents, was 1. blame. These were the days when the official policy was still one ol suppression. To Kitchener and many members ~l the High Command, newspaper correspondents were anathema, an infliction io be tolerated with ill grace, and the> simply had no chance of seeing thingut first band, and in true perspective. M, Lytton bad then no suspicion that he would ever have anything to do will, the Press, or (bat under his regime a Bir better system would be adopt.-!. But be was wounded, later was assigned ns n sort of chaperone to a party of French correspondents who weie \isiting the British sector, and finally went iu G.11.Q. t<> supervise the activities ol nil the representatives of the British and Allied Press on the British front

Oiiicial policy was henceforth changed. Tiie correspondents were treated as intelligent and patriotic - beings. They were told the why and wherefore of prohibitions, and were given -facilities for visiting the lighting zone. Operations were explained to them, with the proviso that certain information wnconfidential. If they still found certain restrictions irksome, they bail tar lea.-; ground for complaint than in cue earlier days. Thanks to the better understanding that existed between the Press and ihc general stall' before the ml of the war, JBritai* had the lie* organisation of news sin vice among ia. a emit s engaged. .Mr Lytton cannot s,i\ a:, mneb u| iiic■ photographic, cinomat igrapliie, or artistic sections ol the In - lorical records’ side, lie has sonm caustic- 0i..-e: rations to oiler on the wor.c of the -Ministry ol Jnl'ormaLion and lir difference in tiie honours awarded m F.e piml ograpl.eiwho daily risk--.! ti .• ir lit es ai tiie front, and tiie gentle in i... ndim by whom the phoiograpes v. re enlarged ami “smearc 1 with 1111 - i edible coloiiis. Ihe I' rear i ai li-iigi.-c ea.s in ilicsc departments were

\\ inch wi-er. Tim i’n nc'i painters were all mobilised, according to the: class, without distinction or favour. A tier t hey had sei \ed a \ car in tie trenches they wort given a job in tne . aimmllagc branch, which left them enough leisure to skeioh the I'ntl!.fields. Having seen the real thing they were able io give a convincing impression. “We, on the other hand adopted the ridiculous procedure ef

making our popular artists majors, even chough they were of military age, ami should have been serving as combatant soldiers. These comparatively young men were called upon to put on canvas the majesty and horror of war without having had any war experience.” Again, the British organisation for the collection of material for historical records was very inadequate. Briti.su histories will have to be compiled from dull official records. Mr Lytton is very indignant at tiie authorities’ failure to utilise Mr John Masefield’s descriptive power, so finely displayed in his book on Gallipoli. Gne winter day .Mr Ly!on found Mi .Masefield wandering about 11 .(j. “like a soul in distress.” No one was looking alter him, and his opportunities of getting into touch with the war seemed nil. Mr Lvtton was amazed to learn that lie had come out to write about the battle of the Somme which was then practically finished. “How can the greatest genius in the world do anything good when lie writes about things he has not experienced ' There were to he two years more of war. containing the most stirring episodes. Yet Masefield was confined to writing about the Somme, which was over, and was then sent to America to do propaganda.” Incidentally, Mr Lytton has a great admiration for Mr Bean, both as a man and ns a war correspondent, and believes that his history will he one of the most valuable documents relating to the war. From the nature of the ease Air Lytton saw much of ivhat was going on be- | bind the scenes, and tells us n good deal I of the inner history of the war, of trie ! intrigues against Sir Douglas Haig, of

whom he invariably speaks in terms of ( the greatest affection and esteem ; of 1 the vital need for a unified command, j which was apparent long before it was , admitted—“Wc were competing in a race with Germany, who was running , like a single athlete on two legs, whereas we were, with France, like two com petitors tied together in a three-legged ( rlK e”—of the defeat of the sth Army, which at last compelled the Allies fo face facts, and of a score of other matters of which he lias inside knowledge. He is generous in his appreciation of the dominion troops, and pays a fine ti ibutc to the Canadians, while for the Australians he conceived an admiration which increased the more he saw ol tnem. We quote his impression of then, on the first occasion when lie met them in'any numbers: —”1 was struck all ol a heap with their astounding beauty ol physique ; a glance was sufficient to show that their discipline was entirely differ* cut to our own ; they were much dirtier, and their hair was almost as long as the lmir of Red Indians. Of course, they were just out of the line, and were considerably battle-stained; they had loose, lithe bodies, and expressions of extreme cruelty, such as you see on the laces of birds of prey; they never troubled about saluting, and '-ailed me ‘mate’ whenever 1 spoke to any one of them; they seemed to me frightfully efficient, ami never required any order of anv kind, every one knew just exact lv «hat to do.” Of ViHers Breton noaux he writes :* “Everything worker.out according to plan, thereby proving that the battlefield discipline of the Australians must be absolutely perfect, no , nl ,ttcr what their billet discipline iim> |,o ; the Germans holding the railway embankment only discovered that something was wrong when no rations reaciio,l them, for they were completely cu* off from their own side. Even it tne Australians bad achieved noUung else during this war but the recapture of Villers-Brettonneaux, they would ba -e won the right to be considered among the greatest fighting races of the

world.” _ . To the question of discipline he ieturns again and again. “There is not enough paper in the world to contain ~11 (hat has been said about discipline during the war. Our regular officers told us that discipline would win the war; they told us also that the Australians imil no discipline, and yet the Australian soldiers made rings loum the very host German troops with all their iron discipline. The truth is that the Australians had battlefield discipline to perfection, and their initiative and dash had not been crushed by tradition.,l servility— there are as many differ-

ent temperaments as there are men m the world, and each temperament requires a different form of discipline; it i, impossible to deny that the combination of the Australian discipline with the Australian temporal'.; nt has pro,l need the most magnificent fighter in the war.” And here is his account of what has been described as the most brilliant military exploit in the war: ■•The most astounding feat of arms was Ihe capture of Mont St Quentin by the Australians. This hill stands NAY from Poronne, and commands all the surrounding country. From this place the had given us hell during tin* laf.er stages of the first Somme battle; 1 heard General Rawlinsuii tell one ol in-.- correspondents, alter the retreat to the Hindcnburg line, that it was impregnable from the west. The thought of rushing the position without a huge artillery preparation seemed fantastic, and yet by now the Australians bail such a contempt for the Germans that thev were willing to take on anything.

The a Hacking troops reached (Tory just as night was falling; consequently all the preparations for the assault on Mont St Quentin and the Inking up of new positions on ground freshly captured from the enemy had to be performed in the dark. Such an attack, carried out along the hanks o! a sinuous river, involves the overlapping of battalions and brigades, and can only lie performed by porlectly disciplined Lienps, magnificently led. On the next

dav the summit of the mount was captuie.l by sectional rushes, according to text-book principles, eaeb section alternately giving its neighbour covering lire. The amazing cheek ol the enterprise is as incredible as its success Mom St Quentin should become a place of pilgrimage to all visitors Irom die Commonwealth wlm take a pride in their history.”