GENERAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG SEES VICTORY NEAR.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 217, 13 October 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL SIR DOUGLAS HAIG SEES VICTORY NEAR.

By FREDERICK PALMER, War Correspondent, and Author ot •'The Last Shot.''

With the British Armies m th* Field, July 31 (via London). At the close of two years of the war and of the first month of the British offensive. General Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the group of British armies in France, in speak ; ng of the situation, laid particular emphasis on the fact that the beginning of the third year ot the war saw the initiative entirely with the Allies on all fronts, while England for the first time was exerting something like a power worthy of her numerous rcsorucos on hind. * "The tide has turned." he, said •'Tme has boon with the Allies from the first. It is only a question of more time till we win a deus-ive victory which is the one sure way to bring peace in this, as in other wars. Until this victory is won it ill becomes a British soldier .in France to think of pearf.;." Those who have had the freedom of the battle lines for the last four weeks have had glimpses of the youthful and scholarly features of Sir Douglas in a

passing automobile on dusty roads, thick with movjng troops and transport, and again of h"s athletic figu-', alighting from his car at the headquarters of one of the army commanders for a conference. But mostly his t : me is spent in a quiet room in a sm.'id chateau, his personal headquarters. In the middle of his room, where he talked with the Associated Press correspondent recently, was a raised map tho region of the offensive, iwth evcrv detail —roads, villages, trenches, ridges, and valleys—and all the contnirs revealed at a glance. The only oth :r visible machinery of command were littie sheets of reports which came from the firing line through the curtains of shell-fire, giving the situation at intervals in every sector of the front.

PURPOSE ALWAYS TO GAIN TIME.

"The problem of the first summer campaign .and the second for the Allies," he said, "'was to hold the Germans from forcing a decision with the:' 1 ready numbers of men, guns, and shells. Whether it was thiC able gene. - - r.lship and heroism of the French on the Marne, the dogged retreat of the little British expeditionary force from Mons, the stubborn resistance of the French and British to the Germans' effort for the Channel ports, the Russian retreat last summer, Belgium's or Soma's sacrcfice, Italy's stonewalling against Austria's offensive, or France's immortal defence of Verdun, Ifae purpose was always to gain time for preparations necessary to take the offensive nvrny from the enemy." Ho mentioned the days of Ypres, m tlie autumn of 1914, when the British had not battalions when? they ha/o divisions now, and fought with flesh and blood against superior gunfire. Since he took command of the armv, which lie had to train and form. Ins favourite word has been "Patience'' to his subordinates and callers. " Our unpreparedness at the start of {Tie war. due to its unexpectedness, is no secret," h* continued. "While France, which had a great national army and universal service, was giving all lior strength, we had to begin building from the bottom. The majority . f our host regular officers had been killed or wounded in the early fighting. TREMENDOUS OBSTACLES OVERCOME.

"With the remainder as a nucleus to drill and organise tlie volunteers, win were raw, but had the. spirit that quiekoneth, we undertook to create on army of millions, which must 1m? officered largely by men of no military experience, to fight the German army, .with its forty years of preparation. We had to make uniforms before the men who had enlisted could be taken out of civilian garb, to build plants for th<9 manufacture' of rifles before we could arm our recruits, and to build gun and munition plants bttore we could have artillery. "Meanwhile wi, had to keep on stonewalling in France with such troops as we had ready against that prepared foe whoso blows were the sturdier in his efforts for a decision owing to his realisation that time was against him. Now the new army has had its first practical experience in attack on a large aculft.'* After h : s plans were made and the order given to advance on July 1, General Haig could only await news of tne results in tlik. quiet room, with its atmosphere of detachment. There was no change in Ins imperturbability in tho half hour's rsupense before the first definite information arrived out of the mantle of shell and smoke and confusion into which the infantry charged over a sixteen-mile front. When night tame he- listened to the reports of his subordinates, made plans for the morrow, and gave directions of customary brevity, and sometimes w'.th pithy homily. Characteristically Scotch, with the hardy constitution of the Scot, koop : ng up his exercise and insistent on a f ir allowance of sleep, he seems as fresh at the ,end of the month's battle and two years of war as when the war began. "However well trained an army,'' he continued, "however able its generals, however ample its artillery and mun'tions, the supreme test in a war of this kind is its capacity, unit bv unit, jot bearing heavy losses unflinch-ih-'y-

Wherever sacrifice of life was necessary to the end, these new army men. have bonie it without wavering, and in a manner worthy cf the best traditions of the AngloSaxon race when it has had to fight for principles associated with its history the world over.

''When her navy held England safe from invasion, it was principle which led these men —all volunteers—to fight on -oil which is not ther own. The'.' realised ihe preparedness discipline, and autocratic organisation of the enemy, which stood tor militarism, abhorrent to them." Turning to the map, he put his finger first on Pozieres and then on Delvillc Wood, where the British, by incessant struggles, have gained precious high ground, and said:— "Mire our men, after they had conquered the maze of trench fort'fica-tion-j which the Germans bad been a year and a half in building, have fought under field conditions, digging what cover they could, withstanding counter-attacks with all the stubbornness of the regulars at Ypres, continu'ng to advance, pitting their skill, courage, and resource against those of an annv w'th forty years of preparation. Their confidence that, as man to man. with equally good artillery support, th.e.c wore the superior of the Germans. haw !kvii justified bv the event.

" If we had gained Icvs ground, if \,o had not in conjunction with fho French

inflicted heavier losses on the enemy than our own and had not given a vita! blow to his morale, our offensive would have l«en worth while for its benefit to our morale. Our men ask only to Koop on attacking. They feel that they have taken the measure of the Geriii ails.

RELATIVE LOSSES. "In relation to our own losses, they have, been severe in the instance, of some units, whose steadiness in the face of a most galling fire has ensured reliance on the part of others under i similar test. I may say that the total for the month of July to date, in the midst of a continuous offensive, has been less than five times the total m .Line, when wo were in our trenches. •' But you have been able to see these th ng-s for yourself. Your pa«s will take von into the front lme at Pozieres or Delville Wood, to any headquarters, from that of a battalion to that of any army, or wherever you please." Then Sir Douglas referred to tho character of the German Army and of the British army as revealed by th? fighting of the last four weeks. "Tho British soldier,'' he said,' " used to "thinking for himself, recognised the stubborn task l>efore him, but the German, dooile in his obedience and taking his superiors without question, was Led to believe that the offensive of our new army, which was not taught by this kind, of discipline and was, therefore, inefficient, could not be formidable. When we followed tho breach in their first line with a breach in their second, the shock of our success was accordingly the greater to their minds. For the first time German officers who were taken admitte-1 that Germany was beaten. One <i them, who was on his way to England and had glimpses of our reserve camps in France, said that he had lieen told that the British had only a fringe of troops on itfoo front #ne, and that once our attack was repulsed, they could go through to the coast and end the war." Finally, in expressing the situation, Sir Douglas .indulged in a Scotch phrnfe, "Fact 3 are chiels that winna ding," and continued: — "The third year of the war will be the Allies' year. Xo less than France, now that we are ready, we shall give all the strength there is in us to drive the invader from her soil and that of Belgium. England will net achieve her full strength on land, however, until next summer.

"AH those who beEieve that our cause is the cause of civilisation may rest assured that ths army has no thought except to go on delivering blow after blow until we have won that victory by force of arms which will ensure an enduring p^aee." —New York "Tunes."