BRUSSILOFF.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1618, 30 September 1916, Page 4

BRUSSILOFF.

Brussiloff, in whose features, a London Chronicle man sees a resemblance to those of Lord I\oberts, is said lo lie feeling the effects of the jremendous strain involved in the direction of so many armies and so great an offensive, victorious as it has been. According to Mr Stanley Washburn, the Times’ special correspondent with (he Hussion forces, Brusilotf has turned perceptibly greyer of late, his face is deeply lined, and he looks' ten years older at least;. Russia has worn out, temporarily, anyhow, more than one of her generals in this war, and it is little wonder, when one considers the enormous areas over which the line of battle runs and has run, and the surprising changes of fortune that have been seen on the Russian fronts, let alone the size and number’ of the armies concerned, and the hitherto almost insuperable difficulties in the way of properly equipping them. Besides, this particular offensive is by no ineans the only great move for whose success Brussilolf has been responsible, though it is the greatest. It was Brussiloff’s army that in the first months of the war swept down into Galicia and made possible the taking of Lemberg thirty days after the declaration of hostilities. It was his army’ again that got through the Dukla Pass, when Mackensen’s drive on (he Dnnajec and the destruction of the neighbouring army left his right (lank exposed and made withdrawal necessary. Yet in spite of superior forces, lack of ammunition, and other difficulties, Brussilolf withdrew his army in gooff order and, with the assistance of reserves hurried ijp, was ablc.to check the Germans on the San, after which (he Russian retreat became a rearguard .action rather than a precipitate retreat. “Brnssiloff,” says Mr Stanley Washburn, “is a man of the very highest type of intellect and the ideal of a soldier who is equally good at attack or defence. With finely-moulded features, long tapering fingers, sjteady grey eyes, he is at the first glance a thoroughbred. No man in the Russian army knows Galicia mure intimately than he, and no man has a finer record. His first act after taking over his command was to make a personal inspection of all armies at the front, and be-r fore the present movement began he knew personally exactly what to expect from almost every unit, while his intimate knowledge of the country and of. the psychology of the enemy gave him the background of understanding for the planning and carrying forward of the whole campaign.”