THE GREAT SOLDIERS OF 10-DAY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 20, 12 March 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE GREAT SOLDIERS OF 10-DAY.

It is a true saying that "the houi produces the man, ' and that every time of crisis and turmoil brings into promence, either through sheer merit, or tlugood fortune without which even merit cannot hope to win its full recognition or, in most cases, a combination of the two, men wTlose names have formerly been little known to the mass of their countrymen. Especially is this the case in war*. Sometimes a man's fighting qualifies have scant opportunity for revealing themselves in the piping times of peace; the possessor of charming manner and social graces may be able to outshine in peace time the man whose whole soul and brain are bound up in Ins profession, but when the real day of trial comes the case will be far different. So, too, the brilliant theoretical strategist may find himself outwitted in actual war by some unguessed-at military genius who can make of his theories so much waste paper. No doubt many such a new reputation will rise triumphant over the* smoke and tumult of the present world struggle. Already names which were, before the war, little known outside military circles, have begun to leap into prominence; while others, splendid in their record of bygone, war (like that of the grand old veteran Lord Roberts, who died within sound \A the battle-thunder of the warring nations'), already begin to belong to the storied past. For the war of to-day, byland and by sea, is a new war, like the wars of old onlv in one thing—the eternal "human element "of courage, endurance, and discipline. And the new war Ts being waged by the new school of generals. "KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM." Never was a bettor man brought forth by destiny to meet a great national need than the man who presides over Tap niKitary fortunes of this country, our soldier Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, or "K. of K.." as the man in the street persists in calling him.

It is said (ami. probably it is true) that Tford Kitchener's first step on the road to success was made through a lucky chance —or rather an avoidance of mischance. He was an officer in the Royal Engineers, and was working in Palestine for the Exploration Fund. While no was there the new Egyptian cavalry was being raised, and Kitchener, leaving Palestine, offered his services to that branch. The story goes that he was nearly rejected because he rode so TmeTl'v. However, the examiner was kind. Who knows what the British Empire owes to that nameless examiner! Throughout his career Lord Kitchener's successes have been won mainly by his' magnificent genius for organisation rather than by his battles. It was not tiie~"nght at Omdurman that conquered the Soudan so much as the patient planning Tout led up to and that followed the battle. It was not by battle, but by block-houses, that the South African campaign was ended. It has been said that he belongs more to the type of Wellington and Grant than of Napoleon or Lee. And be it remembered that both the first-named were the ultimate victors over their meteoric and vivid antagonists. "How long will it take you?" Lord Kitchener is reported to have said to one of his officers. "Twelve days." "Then,'' said Lord Kitchener, "you must do it in six." And done it was — in five days! THE BRITISH COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Lord Kitchener's work at the War Office does not, however, bring him into contact with the actual work of the army at the front, and it is there that iue old reputations are being most fiercely tested, and the new ones springing into fame. So far Britain has found no cause to regret the choice -long forseen by military experts in tho case of Britain being engaged in war —Sir .fohn French as the leader of the British Army in the field. The great battles in which the British Army has ; been engaged —the dogged and difficult retreats, the dashing advances, the long, wearisome and destructive "stonewall'' tactics since the battle of the Aisne—have all tested the British general's resources as no man's has been tested since the days of the Peninsular War. At present the gigantic scale of the conflict can hardly be realised. It will be for the military historian of the future to grasp the full meaning of Sir John French's task. French, like so many of our best generals at all times, was not the spoi'.d darling of fortune in his earliest ycirt as a soldier. Ho has' made his way to the forefront by sheer ability !,nd determination to succeed. He is reporter to have said when an officer in the 19th Hussars—"lf I don't end my days as a Field-Marshal It will not be tor want of trying!" Efficiency and energy have been bis watchwords, rather tr.an minor details of the red-tape and etiquette, and while in South Afric.i he was widely spoken of as' "the shirt sleeved General." General French—unlike Lord Kitchener, who is one of our few tall generals—is of short stature, about lr.o feet six inches; he is fairly br.iaJ, witii massive head and keen blue eves beneath bushy eyebrows. His a,<pea.rsnco i« not indicative of his qualifies as a dashing cavalry leader, in whim ro.o h<? is unsurpassed by- any of his coutein poraries. Once during the South African campaign General French almos: lest ins life while fording a river in food. Roth lhe and his Assistant-Ad) itair,C.m?rn', Colonel (now Sir Douglas) Haig, were i fluii" into the stream through tueir ! horses losing their footing, and had con Mderable difficulty in getting to terra firma minus their mount:- . General Haig's is one of the younger military reputations, and his distinction earned during the trying times of the rearguard action after Mons is one of the outstanding features of the opening part of the campaign in France. General French, as is fairly well known, began bis career is a naval cadet but. discovering a center nttrnct'on in military life, he quitted the sea for tho land, and thus entered the calling in which he was destined to win -such high honour and responsibility. GENERAL JOFFRE. Many writers have discerned points ot likeness between General French and General .loft re, the brilliant Command-er-in-Chief of lli« French Army. The French General possesses to the full those soldierly qualities which endear a man to his troops. He is courageous, downright, modest, and sincere: a «oldier rather than a courtier. Bluff in build and appearance, be is considerably taller than the British leader. He al-o is a great believer in the value ol cavalry, lie was born at Riversaltes, in lhe Pyrenees, in W>2, and began bis military education at sixteen at tho F'leole Polvtechnique. On the outbreak of war with Prussia be joined a battery ' as sub-licutentnt, and went through the Irving experience of the Siege of Paris. He afterwards completed his military ' studies at the Ecole Polytechnique, and joined the 2nd Engineers Row ment. j Hi- military record includes several I notable campaigns. among them the Tonkin camnaign of 1885, during which 1 his iiersonal valour was rewarded with t the Cross of the Legion of Honour. Lat- <

er he too l -', part in various African operations, it lading the bombardment and rapture ol Timtmctoo.

Jn one respect General Joffro appears to resemble "K.of K.", that is, in his ruthless treatment of incapacity, for when he was Chief of General Staff five generals were dismissed for incompetency during the grand manoeuvres. THE RUSSIAN AND GERMAN COMMANDER y.

The Russian Commander-in-Chief, the Grand Duke Nicholas, has a touch of romance about his personality. Tall, handsome, a typical Guardsman, hj& nevertheless adopts a tone of soldierly comrade-hip with his armies, and he is affectionately nicknamed by the troops "Bolshoi Nikoloi" (big Nicholas). He is reputed to be rough in his manners towards his officers, and a story is even current that on one occasion he boxed a colonel's ears?

The Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolayevitch is the son of the late Grand Duko Nicholas, a brother of the present Czar's grandfather, Alexander TI. He began his career in the famous Pavlovsky regiment of the Imperial Guards — the regiment whose officers replied to the gibe, "You all have broken noses,'

"But our foes have all broken heads." During the later stages of the Manchurian War he was appointed President of the National Defence Council, and way himself very anxious to command the armies of Russia in the held. Public opinion was. however, against this, for the reason that a member of the Imperial Family must not be associated with failure, the war being already lost. Now, however, the Grand Duke s wish is realised, and he is l proving himself a born strategist and an admirable leader of men in the vast battle-line on the Eastern frontiers of Germany.

Of Germany's own generals, strange to say, litlle is known. Possibly the presence of the Kaiser in the field accounts for the fa ft, since it is hotter that "no dog should hark too loud" in the presence of that vainest of monarchs. The Chief of the German Genoral Staff is Lieut.-General Helmut von Moltke, nephew of the famous Count von Moltke. but (rumour says) a mere shadow of that celebrated organiser of war. General von Moltke's appointment sis Chief of Staff was regarded in German military circles as a piece of favouritism, but he iv said to have reinstated himself in expert opinion by his skillful conduct of manoeuvres.

Tt is difficult to obtain reliable information at the present time as to his present position in the Imperial or the public favour. It seems, however, likely that his reputation has not been increased by the general failure of his plans of campaign and conquest, and that his star is therefore not in the ascendant. The foregoing is an outline of the careers of those of the world's soldiers already celebrated in war. It iv likely enough that during the war many men will rise to renown as generals whose name: 1 have not yet been heard of outside their own immediate circles, and that it may be the lot of the future historian to chronicle the deeds of soldiers still unknown to fame, who rise to take their place among tne great soldiers of the day.