THE NELSON EVENING MAIL TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1931 THE PASSING OF JOFFRE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 6 January 1931, Page 4

THE NELSON EVENING MAIL TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1931 THE PASSING OF JOFFRE

THOUGH Marshal Joffre will he remembered primarily as the victor of the Marne, it should not he forgotten that he was also the victor of the titanic battle of Verdun. True, lie handed over the defence of that historic town to General -.Retain, but nevertheless he, Joffre, was responsible for the safety of the important fortress. He it was of course who had to approve or disapprove of General Retain s plans, supply him with the necessary means for conducting the defence and with ample reinforcements, and at the same time preserve intact the long defensive line, stretching from the English Channel to the border of Switzerland.

Not long after the Germans had received their fatal defeat at the Mai lie, Yon Moltke was removed from command of the German armies in the West (technically he was Chief of the General Staff, the Kaiser assuming the title of Commander-in-Chief) and his place was given to General von I*alkenhayn. No one seems to know why this mediocre and comparatively little-known General was chosen by the Kaiser to fill the most important post in the German Army, and no one seems to know why that general was allowed to put into operation the mad idea of launching a maximum offensive against the strongly-fortified position of Verdun, when there were, northward of it, so many comparatively weak places in the Allies’ line of defence. The story goes that when the idea of assaulting Verdun had matured in his brain, Falkenlvayn sought and received the Crown Prince’s approval of it —or the process may have been that the idea originated with the latter and was by him fathered on to Falkenhuyn—but, when it was broached to the Kaiser, the All Highest made it a matter of a warcouncil. It is said lie called Ilindenburg and Ludendorff from the Eastern front, and, with the Crown Prince and Falkenhayn present, discussed the momentous proposal. Apparently the Kaiser was dubious about it. When it was placed before Ilindenburg and Ludendorff, they gave their opinion against it. The Crown Prince and Falkcnhayn strongly advocated the project. The Kaiser was swayed this way and that. At last Falkenhayn played his last card. He told llie Kaiser that if the assault were carried out in accordance with the plan which He, Falkcnhayn, had propounded lie would guarantee the Kaiser victory. Wilhelm succumbed, and Falkenhayn was told to make the stupendous attack. In the middle of winter—the fourth week of February, i 916 to be precise—he made it, having made a huge concentration of troops by means of the vast railway plexus which led to the German fortress of Metz, and in one month had lost some 300,000 men, yet Verdun still held. When the fighting was at its height, General Joffre issued the following order. “Yesterday, the 24th, I gave orders to hold the right bank of the Meuse, north of Verdun. Any Commander who shall give an order to retreat will be court-niartialled.” No French commander gave such an order, and that was why Verdun did not fall. The struggle continued well into the summer, and still Verdun did not fall. The losses on both sides were terrible, but those of the attacking force were tragical. The French slogan was “They shall not pass!” The Germans did not pass, and eventually were forced to abandon the attack, and thus confessed defeat. Joffre had won his second great victory. One of tile secrets of Marshal Joffre’s success was his marvellous imperturbability in times of tire greatest stress, Here is an account written by one who knew him during the strenuous time when the battle of Verdun was at its height: I have spoken to many staff officers who have lived with the Generalissimo during these two Winter campaigns, and all of them have been struck with his wonderful rapidity at grasping essential details and dealing with the mass of work which awaits him every day. He is not at all the traditional Frenchman, as most Englishmen picture him. Tail and stout, but with the legs of an athlete, “le pere Joffre,” as lie is known by his men, hardly ever makes a gesture and never raises his voice. As one officer told me', ho possesses a most wonderful control over his nerves, and in the gravest circumstances he lias always shown the greatest calm. The night before the battle of the Marne, on which hung the destinies of France, an officer who arrived at headquarters with ail urgent message found the Generalissimo

fast asleep in bed. The Marshal was sixty-four when the battle of Verdun was fought, and yet his physical vigour was such that lie could out-walk all the members of his staff. He sought neither honours nor publicity. When the war was over he retired to a modest lodging in Paris, until friends and admirers presented him with a lovely chateau, not many miles from the capital, in which to end his days. History will know him as the victor of the Marne and of Verdun, and will regard him, not only as a great general, but as one of the greatest men of his time. No praise can adequately extol him. llis deeds are his best monument, for they are imperishable.