WHO WON THE WAR?

Taihape Daily Times, 11 September 1919, Page 5

WHO WON THE WAR?

- THE BRITISH NAVY. 'WHAT THE GERMANS MISSED. pr #1 -yr;-guiaao ."—"'—-' ' Received 9 a.m. rubi-" ‘ LONDON, Sept. 9. Lord Fisher, discussing the beginning of the war, asks why the Germans failed to attack or mask the fleet at Scapa Flow in order to gain time to carry out their original plan of landing one million men at Cher‘bourg, from whence Paris could easily have been reached. The answer is that the British fleet was ineffably superior, and the Germans knew it. Some of our naval jeremiahs have since written a lot about the handicaps of the fleet and the critical position of our commerce in 1914, but you cannot get over the fact’ that the Germans were boxed up, and the door _slammed and barred_ Two damned fools of German spies told Admiral Ingenohl, commanding the second squadron, that he could attack Scapa. He promptly shot both, being persuaded they were traitors, luring the fleet to destruction. Admiral Arburthnot wrote recently in a private letter: “This modern navy is Fisher’s. NCthing could have saved the Germans from a stunning blow if our commanders used the Renown, Repulse, Furious and Courageous laid down -on Fisher's advice, specially designed for Balticfighting.” Lord Fisher points out that when the construction of the best ships of the victorious fleet begun, the navy estimates were at the lowest, because the ~construction of dreadnoughts temporarily paralysed German Building. He adds: It will doubtless -‘be interesting to hear his successors ‘recall what appalling things might have happencd. The only substantial question is: “What did happen?” The answer is: The British Navy won the War on the fourth of August. 1914.