THE OLD ARMY

Levin Daily Chronicle, 7 February 1918, Page 4

THE OLD ARMY

A GREAT ANNIVERSARY. ' v * THE FIRST BATTLE 6F YPRES. lii its issue of October 24th last, "The Turn's" firfntca the following editorial 011 one of the- greatest dates of the war: — s?,-» •• THREE ""?t!ARS | AGO. ; .A, shfti't time ago wf.suggestei that Oktoftei-'Slst, which wAsf the--day m li) 14 when the first battle of Ypres reached its climax, should. henceforth be regarded, 1 as a da)r of hat'iopar celebration and' thanksgiving. Wo pointed out that on Oct6beJv3lßt,: ' 1914, "the British :EmpiJte "!wns .in .greater- peril thaiHt hsgip.ver.becn-.befyreof since." Letters which have reached ns since from n>any sources'indicate f that the country at large still Wulerstands far too little abmit-titer- tremendous importance of the first battle of Ypres, and jißojit its una\terablo, effcct upon the whole course of the war! Let us briefly, then, recall the story. The first battle of Ypres wsft the unforeSCfjL, outcome, of. a desire to prevent the encray.from reaching' the* Ch r aifuel ports. Ha'd / .tlify . piKicceded they would have hold -the coast of Northern ■•yioaee, threnfejiqd. Taris ngp.}ny A doirjinatecT the- wi-tli- their "submarined, ami cut tire ahavter communications between (3reat Britain and the fipixt s . The whole ; eoursa of the war in the west would have been changed, as wc can how. sec-'far m r ore clearly than was', possible throe years ' ago. The battle,.of ..the Manic shattered the Gerrojin hope of destroying the French "and"' British ' armies, of Teaching ! Pstri's, -- and of imposing a quick peace on Franco. The enemy still had chance .of attaining their object by 7 sdfzing "flic ' SPrfeneh coast, ' and had tliey won the> - first battle of Ypres the results of the battle of the Marne would, liaye-ixifin swept away. Their slowness in .striking, at Calais and Havre, dije garUy tO " tßfei'r preand also, it is said in Germany, to ' lack of ammunition, must- be fic'ctiunte'd • one . >o¥ the greatest' of- their -many- -military • -blun-

dors. . ,r,i"; From the moment it was realisec that the G_ermans could not quickl; be dislodged from the Aisnc, the mind, of the -Alliod commanders- turned _ ti the pammount necessity of preventing fheni from 'reaching" the cortst. Botl sides began to extend their line to wards the s&ay-'tho' German's -thrusting westward, i while theiAlHos jfenjded then off by pushing northward. .Marsha Joffre sent in ,tvpn armies,.und.cr Gene rals, Maud 'Kuy, de Castelnau, ant Foch, and they c'drried 1 the line!'' up tc somewWW 'aHtfuf La '-Bftesee. Thei; came the turn ■ thb ' British.- In insisting on taking l his army. 1 out of the line at the Aipjfe, Lprd. French obviously had a double, purpose to serve. Hi's proper and. agreed' place was on the loft flanic, nearest' our own shores, and ho had bOcOtne embedded in the French line by eh'ancey While the exclusion of the enemy from the Channel ports" "rtas an-interest as-vital; to Great Britain. ,a§ , v , .to ancp... Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien and -our Second Corps wqJ9 the first ;tq continue tho line from La Bassee northward to a point near Anl and thero < they fought desperately for many flays, suffering losses •which Lord French described, as "enormous." Sir William Pulteney came ;up next wkh t tjig • if hjrd -and took "up*a "long .of AJjnentieres, with his right on Boise Grenier and his left on Le Gheit.' French, cavalry ittlal 'irp •'•tW. ga]i' 'between Smith-Dorrien and himself, jon his left Sir fldvnund -AJlcnby iand the Cavalry Coijps,,., having ,clefired tlie country of Germans on. front of many miles, continued the line on theeastern side of the iibtf * fain'dus Mes-sines'Wy'tscliact'e-ridgri. I '-North of Allenby the Fourth 1 Coips^. • consisting of the devoted Seventh division and the Thirdc # CavalTjf,: • Davison. > the whole under Sir Hei^ry.Rawlinscn, had fallen back into , lipe .a'fter covering the retreat of tlie. 6eigian''Army from Ant- , v. erp. ' It took 'up"positions on the verv scene of' 'this- ' 'Autirmn-'s battle ■ZU'ndfO'ord® through Gheluvelt lo Zonnebekcv .at the : fiwthern end of the Passchendac-lfi Ilidge. Kawlmson i.va's ordered, to qwing ,ro,und to the c.tstand take'thi> bridge over the Lys at Menin, but lie'knind that great masses of the enemy'were opposing him, and tell back to-iis ©14 liue.'''By'• October 10th Sir Dourflfis- Hfiig and the First Corps had come up from the Aisnc and 'u'oVc oni the Belgian-frontier. Lord French thcn>HaiL' , 'to fa!ac two desperate alternatives. Smith-Dorrein, Pulteney, 'Allcuby, .'.i'a'fid ißawliuson ,a\l .-battling against; heavy odds, holding veiy thiniy lines far beyond their strength, and all .seplfing hplp.. .What was lie to do with the First Corps "If he used H tq strengthen thd 1 line'already taken :p, .the Gel-mail's' might- get round to-

wards the coast and overwhelm the Bel-, gians on the Yser and some weak French forces working with them. The alternative was to fill up the" long empty sector between liawlinson and the French and Belgians, and dircct Sir«©ouglas Haig' to try to push back upon Ghent, in accordance ■with the original plan. The .task of operating on such an extended front was almost beyond the strength of the First tjio .hourly danger that the line would bo broken farther south; but Lord Frcnch faced all the risks, for lie saw, as ho says in his dispatch, that, otherwise the Channel ports would have been "laid bare to the ,<?nemy.' \ ft .has been well said that " his tenacity and coolness were among the sources of-victory. Sir Douglas; paig, moVed north-east from YpfeY, and took* up' a line from Zonncbeke through St. Julicn to Bixschoote, where he - touched the French'. Tie soon'found I 'tiat he could get no farther, except at local points, for it bccamc clear that.the Germans were coming on in immense force and were determined to break through to the-French coast. Here'' began the epic period of the firkt battle of'Ypres. The position was that from Lai Bassee to the Forest of Houthulst a slender Britiqh'i linp^.withjFrench ,?uppo}.t at a few "spots, and with French and Belgians extending the front to the coast, was holding, up an immeasnrPbly superior German force. The enemy's attacks . |WCfe incessant,. the .line swayed to ancl fro,,.and it has been , truly, remarked of the Brtish that whole "batialions virtually disappeared." 1 The •SeVenth '•Di'vSsidri,: which had 'just' landed with;4oo officers and 12,000 men, came out .ofi the. battle 2300 . strong, with 44 officers; All through ,the .battle" fresh., miracles .. were, : wrought 'daily. The great fight waged by AlleiVby'with his disiii'oiinted cavalry' 'and 'the London >SebttisK'at Messinos I 'Ridge on November'lst was almost as vital as. anything lin ,the whole /conflict: The lierce struggles of Byiig and the Third Cavalry Division at Kruiseik andZanvoordc on October £9th and. 30th, the long stand of the Third Corps farther squth, are imperishable features of the operation.^;.,in fa.cjt, Loi'd Erc/if-t ' n l despatch insisted on giving to the battle the name of But, by common • consent the supreme moment, the hour when destiny hung in the balance, was between.-2-.- and, o o'clock in theafternoon of .October 31st, in the area, .then held, by Sir Douglas llaig and, the First. Corpe. About' 'Ghfeluvelt. the line of the Fh'st Division was broken, and 1 the division fell back. The commander; ' .'General Lomax, was wounded, several of the. staff were killed, the whole division had suffered heavy losses. The Germans got into Glieluvelt, and it seemed that the whole front must give Then' camc one of those moments in war when'a 'single clear-sighted man can sometimes avert disaster. It was the 2nd Woreestors who saved the day. ;and therefore the. battle, and it was Brigadier-General Charles Fitz-Clar- - ence, killed tv r -elvc days afterwards. iyho immediately saw the danger, and though they were'not under his 1 orders. : bride the Worcester retake Gheluvclt. The First Division gallantly : rallied, and though for another, fortnight the line Wfis. .iji constant peril., , it, never again yielded. The Kaiser hurried to the battlefield., in person and flung in the 'Prussian Guard, but tlic tide had been turned on that stormy .Saturday afternoon,..and.the Channel ports were safe. ."'The- German strength .in thie conflict has bc.cn. variously estimated. . Some say that the enemy ' "had a miilion nftn bbtween' Lille' '■ and the sea, others 000,000, but what is cor : tain is-that the .'British at one time had less than 100,000 men, and never, had more',ljhan 150,000. • Brifish, arms never won a more gloriou.g.victory.. It is one in which our French Allies played an honourable p'art', as- was seen when i General- Mniisby threw in ■ even the cooks and other servants to support the 9th French Corps at Klein Zillcbeke. T.hftugh.Ave, .are. fighting on a 'bigger scale to-day, our brave, new Armies are advancing over ground' hallowed for uj "J by ou'r splendid' old Regular Army, 'whos'c deathless deeds in 1'914 we sliohld keep everl in rembnibrance. >; <—■ M i