Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 78, 8 March 1916, Page 5

Great Britain

OUTSPOKEN INDICTMENT. i United Pkess Association.! London, March 7. I Mr Oliver, whose book, “Ordered by Bailie,” is now in its twentyfourth thousand, has issued a new introduction, .which is an outspoken indictment of tlie Coalition Government and Mr Asquith’s method of war-mak-ing. He instances the hasty impulse wherewith the Gallipoli campaign was launched. This was one of the greatest and most daring teats in British history, and seldom has the gallantry of troops been more conspicuous, but the expedition was improperly supported. The,Government survived the failure because the nation had become habituated to misfortune and tragedies. One aspect of the whole affair was that England had been dragged so low by politicians that she was prepared to accept, or oven welcome, an unparalleled and humiliating failure. N.Z. TUNNELLING CORPS. London, March (5. ' Sir Thos. Mackenzie visited Falmouth and found, with a few exceptions that the New Zealanders’ Tunnelling Company are in good health, and those in hospital are only suffering from minor illnesses. The majority will rejoin their units this week. _

Sir Thos. Mackenzie read Lord Kitchener’s message, to give his best wishes to the New Zealanders, saying that he was sure they would uphold the Anzac traditions.

LORD NORTHCLIEFE’S EXPERIENCE.

•London, March (i. Lord Northcliffe, writing from Vex-

dun, says it is doubtful what secret motives are underlying the German attempt to break the French line—whether they are financial, in view of the coming war loan; dynastic; or to influence doubting neutrals. That the sufferings of the wounded lying between the trenches through the long nights in icy winds would be intense has not disturbed the Crown Prince is a. gruesome fact. The French found many German wounded frozen to death.

Lord Northcliffe says: I conversed with numerous prisoners, whose horror and misery was plainly depicted on their countenances. At a distance of twenty-five miles T counted two hundred different cannon voices. As we drew nearer I was astonished at the countless proofs of French efficiency and thoroughness. The abundance of reserve stores is remarkable. “I saw Douaumont fort, and the Germans’ claim about it is on a par with the sinking of the Tiger or the / eppeliit:,hcmbardmcnt of Liverpool. It was a newspaper victory. A few Brandenbnrgers climbed into a gunless fort, and are still there, supplied vicariously with food at night-time. The Germans’ announcement evinces the Kaiser’s great anxiety to magnify everything' about Verdun into a great event.

Personal contact with)the miserable creatures forming the bulk of the'tierman prisoners was needed to convince me that such specimens of humanity really belonged to the German army, especially the : ‘Corps d’Elite.’

“One ill-favored youth, barely five feet-four and narrow-chested, and better suited to an office stool, was sent, to Flanders after six weeks’ training, beginning in February, and then sent to Verdun, Ho. said he and his companions wore heartily glad to escape the frightful English. The only good thing about the prisoners was their footwear, stout blucher boots, and this evidenced the necessity of tightening the blockade. • “It is impossible to estimate the Juration of the battle. It is enough to say that the French are confident of bolding their own and feel they have the measure of the enemy, both in men and material, and nothing justifies the belief that the Germans’ spirit and stamina are equal to the task of dislodging the French from their present formidable positions.