WAR NOTES

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 7 June 1917, Page 2

WAR NOTES

FAREWELL TO THE SOMME. LONDON, April 20. The contribution of Herr Georg Quere to the Benlin Tageblatt on the retreat from the Somme is a characteristic example of the ghoulish exultation of the German mind in wanton devasta, tion. He writes: — '' From the middle of March it looked like the house-moving of humble people —mattresses and chairs, and perhaps a sewing machine, or a hencoop. And then there was a fine quantity of doors and windows, and everything else which semed worth carrying away from the houses, which a few hours later were to disappear in flames. And they carted away trunks of Trees —good, solid, healthy wood. . . .

"What a desert! A melancholy desort stretching for miles. They sawed and hacked, the trees collapsed, and.the bushes foil, and so it went on for days, until everything had been razed to the ground. No cover was to be left any where. The enemy is to go thirsty, and to look in vain for wells. Nowhere will he find our walls within which he might establish himself. Everything is thrown down and bunnt out, the villages arc heaps of rubbish, and the church towers and the churches with them, lie across the roads. Heat, smoke and smell- The explosions are still doing their last work. We have put distance between us ,and the enemy. It is a desert full of wretchedness. "Farewell, comrades of the Somme! The children in Germany say 'Somme,' and they know that that word is fate. Every village made sacrifice to the Somme of its youth and its men. No river is so red with blood, and so overflowing with tears Do you think that the enemy did not weep? All the tears had to shine in France and England until all the women of America had their diamonds. Now the diamonds bang on fair necks, and glitter with enmity."

THE TURK AS A FIGHTER.

(By General Sir O'Moore Creagh. V.C.) The true Turkish warrior, the Moslem Turk, is a stubborn fighter, as General Maude will be the first to proclaim. But if his moral is once shaken it is very difficult to rally him. After the hiding he has received on the Tigris he should not be of much use to the army of de fence in Baghdad. I have experience of the Turk. He is a merciless oppressor, whose real character is often hidden behind a pleasant manner, and who is ready to cut your throat witli a sort of savage courtesy. Appeal to his fanaticism, and. in the trenches he has no fear of death; but he is very subject, in case of reverse, to cowardly panic, which to a considerable extent detracts from, his worth as a soldier.

"The sword," said Mahonimcd, "is he key of Paradise and hell A drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months' fasting or prayer; whosoever falls in battle his sins are forgiven. At the Day of Judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion and odifcrous as musk. The loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." At grips with, the Turk you do not feel is a very romantic; fellow, and yet in dying he has a vision of blackeyed houris beckoning to him from Paradise. But when fanatical courage is not supported by patriotism or discipline your warrior does not long survive defeat. Hence the rout on the Tigris.

I know some of our men who have met the Turk both, on the Tigris and in Gallipoli speak of him as a clean fighter. Centainly when he mots his match he fights fairly enough, but when he is an easy victor he is remorse;selcss and merciless and robs, murders and ravishes with the unrestrained savagery which lies at the base of his character. The British, prisoners ta r ken by the Turks in the present, war have been disgracefully treated, and, as we know, denied clothing, medicine, and the ordinary necessaries of life, starved, and even refused shelter, in extremes of heat and cold. The people who are always ready to praise the Turk as a clean fighter should remember that lie has a lot to answer for in tlie present war. '

The grave defeat the Turk has suffered at Kut may help to ameliorate the deplorable condition of the British prisoners. The capture of Baghdad would possess us of an excellent influence for correcting the manners of the Turks, for. like their Prussian masters, force is the only argument that has any weight with them.

Nobody will Ijc .following General Maude's advance witli closer scrutiny than the Arabs, who uto among the finest horsemen hi the would, and who. if they are treacherous, liavc this in thvir favour: they hate the Turk who periodically massacred, and pillaged them, and could, I think, under certain circumstances, be rallied to our side. 'When I was in Aden as Political Uesidont the Zaidas of the Yemen, ever neatly to revolt against the Turkish oppressors, more than once asked m<< for British assistance to this end, which I was regretfully obliged to refuse. The rsing of the Sh'orecf of Mecca again.!. the Turk shows the tremendous possibilities at pneseul dormant in Asiatic Turkey,