SIR JOHN FRENCH'S EULOGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 190, 20 January 1915, Page 6

SIR JOHN FRENCH'S EULOGY.

OUll "CO.XTEMPTniLE LITTLE ARMV." WHAT IT HAS DONE. London, December 4. Sir -loliii French's third long iles-j.-iitcl) from the front was published hist Monday. The document, which is dutcd Xowmhcr 20. consists of a detailed description of the great battle which Sir • Hemes the batle of Ypres-Arnien-tieres, followed bv some general observations of interest and considerable importance upon the whole course of the operations in the Western thiatrc of wa.\

The battle under notice, is, of course, merely a development of the continuous struggle along the entire line from the Alsatian frontier westwards, and there is no clean break between it and the lighting which preceded it. l!ut it had its origin in tile offensive movement of the Allies begun in early October, which had as its object the bring ing of great force to bear upon what was their then northern (lank in order to outflank the enemy. With this purpose, the extremely hazardous and diliicult operation of withdrawing the British forces from their positions on the Aisne and transferring them to the left, wing was begun on October 3. and car ricd out without a hitch. The buttle neiv lie said to have commenced on October 11, when our cavalry first <*ame in contact with the German cavalry north of the Bcthune-Aire Canal It continues to this day, having resulted in the gradual extension of the Allies' and the Hermans' lines to the sea in the neighborhood of Xieuport: and among the most interesting of the general remarks of the Commander-in-Chief is this:—

"As f close this dispatch, there are signs in evidence that we are possibly in the last stages of the battle of Ypres-Arnien-tieres." Practically a fortnight has elapsed since Sir John French wrote those words, and nothing has happened to prove the British commander's conjecture unjustified. The enemy has apparently abandoned serious attack upon this portion of the line in favour of an effort in the neighborhood of Arras.

ALLIES OUTNUMBERED. Sir John French's broad view of .the operations in the Western theatre eontains many very significant statements on matters which have hitherto provided a good deal of food for discussion. He remarks, for example, that ' it does not seem clearly understood that the operations embrace nearly the whole continent of Central Europe, from east to west," the united forces of Germany and Austria acting as a combined army between the French, Belgian and British on the one side, and the Russians on the other. The enemy "elected to throw the weight of their forces against the armies in the west," detaching only a comparatively weak army, composed of a few first-line troops with some corps of th" second and third line, to stem the Russian advance until the Allies in the west has been overwhelmed. In this polioy the enemy had persisted, with tlie result that the Allies have been, from firsti to last, greatly outnumbered. Manv statements to the contrary are disposed of bv Sir John French's statement to this, effect, which lie makes in explanation of the fact that the Allies have not yet assumed a vigorous offensive. except when "tlie mistakes and miscalculations"' of the enemy offered special opportunities.

GERMANS LOSE THREE TO ONE. rile Germans made one or two blunders, but ill general it is clear that the part of the Allies in France and lielgium has been to hold the enemy before strong defensive positions, inviting attacks, repelling them with heavy losses to the attackers, and counter-attacking with all possible vigor. From first to last tlie Allies' policy in this area lias been one of attrition, and as to its success Sir .lolm makes two notable declaration.". hi this continuous and desperate fighting against vastly superior forces, the British have suffered grievous losses, but Sir John declared" that "our men have placed at least three times as many of tile enemy liors de combat iit dead, wounded anil prisoners'' as have been lost on our side. Another extremely interesting statement Sir John makes is to the effect that at tlie moment when Germany is most, seriously menaced by her eastern frontier "nearly the whole, of the active armv of Germany is tied down to a line of trenches extending from Verdun round to the sea at Nieuport."—a front of roughly speaking, 200. miles. There the flower of Germany's! fighting force has been held by the Allies in the west from the beginning up to November *), at any rate, and subjected to a most drastic process of attrition. We have been told many times that the allied forces in the western area were, being opposed to the Kaiser's choicest troops, and, of course, we were ready to give credence to the assertion. We are, however, extremely gratified to learn from Sir John French's official declaration that we were not merely flattering our own vanity in giving a willing ear to the tale, j

•A I'KOUD OOMMAXDER-IX-CIIlliK Whilst the Kaiser's picked were dashing themselves vainly against the Franco-British lines in the west, matters have not gone well with the inferior armies Germany lias pitted against her eastern foe; indeed, at the time nf writing, we are awaiting with a certain amount of confidence early intimation of a decisive Russian victory in the tremendous struggle to the no'rth of Lodz. It is idle to speculate what effect such a victory would have upon affairs in tinwest, but, of course, any drastic change in the distribution of the German forces between the east and the west would at least give the allies in the latter area the welcome opportunity of taking a vigorous offensive.

Pending further developments in thi> gigantic military drama it is worth while glancing at some details of Sir lolm French's despatch, the editing of which for public consumption certainly shows improvements on the censoral 'methods to which We have been accustomed, the first time units engaged in the lighting are mentioned by name t)ir,.in-!mii: the document with amazing freedom. We arc no longer told that "the th, holding the advancr-d trenches iU ." formed prodigies of valour. The units are named, mid even the. places at which they did their good work ;uv nennitt'il to be known.

In particular, names of 110 fewer than nine territorial units vhirh have heen engaged, are given and their conduct has inspired Sir John French with "the highest hope as to the value and help of Territorial troops generally." In :: ing renewed praise to the work of "t!„. Kovnl 11 \ ;IIL? I or;/.-, Joiui (I;,. interesting remark Unit "aiimH ..vwrv day new methods of employing them, both strategically and tacticall}', are discovered ,ind put into praeiice," an.! that. " t lie development of their n?e" has hcpn quite extraordinary." The gallant service rendered by the Indian troop* ! is t! ■ -iilijocf. of special mention. Their j)jil :ive and resource have "mni'li jj,ipre- ,■!" sir ,|olm French. He express •< at several points in the dispatch the de j>e-t admiration and pride in all Cie t:iops under his command, but special mention must be made of what he has

together with the \inth French Corps, held the position at Ypres "against the enemy's most violent attacks, culminating in the assault delivered on the 11U and 12tli of this month by the Prussian ' Guard, who are specially commanded by ' the Emperor to break through when their comrades of the line have failed I "Words fail me," writes the Commander | in-Chief, "to express the admiration feel for their conduct, or my sense i» the incalculable services they have ren dered. 1 venture to predict that their deeds during these days of distress and "trial will furnish some of the most brilliant chapters which will be. found in the military history of our time."

A VERY THIX "liliD LINE." Information gleaned from Sir John French's dispatch makes it possible to form some idea of the numerical weakness of the British line which withstood the enemy's fierce and pertinacious attacks between October 20 and Xovenibcr 2. The front held an extent of .'JO miles, and including the cavalry, who were dis■mounted, and assuming that all units were at full strength, apparently not more than 88.000 rifles were available to occupy this front. This allowed an average of 1.0 men per yard for nil purposes—firing line, supports and reserves. Our field service regulations avoid laying down any definite rule for determining the force necessary to hold a given extent of the front : but according to the "Post'' military correspondent, "it may be safely said that for the prolonged defence of this position three rilles per yard—or about; double the number available —would be a moderate estimate." It is not surprising to learn from unofficial sources that the troops were thirteen days in the trenches without respite or relief. Every man was, in fact,. fighting almost continuously during that period: and the endurance anil determination displayed by our troops must stand forth as one of the marvels of military historv.

- The ease of one portion of the force—tlin third Army Corps—between October 20 and 31, the conditions appear to have been even worse. The front held by this corps was twelve or thirteen miles in length. For the defence of this less than one rifle per yard was available. On October 31 the'front of this corps had to be further extended, so the very "thin red line" had to be made thinner still, and this over ground which military experts declare was "tactically weak" in several places.

THE "TERRIERS" ox TRIAL. Tin; part played by the Territorial units, which were thrown into the light lias commanded the whole-hearted admiration of even those military writers who, in the piping times of peace, tvere ever busy with their pens at the expense of our citizen soldiers. The critical nature of the situation made it necessary to call on these troops to do what they had never been expected or intended to do. When the Territorial force was created, it was staled in the House of Commons that six months would be available after mobilisation for training tho force. There were many who believed, at the time, tlmt tins assumption was more than optimistic, and as a matter of fact, circumstances* only admitted of the force receiving nearly half the training which had been accepted as essential to Jit it to take tlie field. No one with experience of training troops would suggest that this | shortened period could be adequate. That it is not is proved by tlie reference in the dispatch to a training camp which has been established at Army headquarters iu the field for giving territorial units some elementary instruction. It is probably the iirst occasion —at least, in modern war—on which a Commander-in-Chief and his staff have had to divide their energies between military operations and the training of troops in the presence of the enemy, and the lesson this incident conveys ought to be plain to all men The "Terriers," on Sir John French's showing, liave done wonders on such training as circumstances permitted, but they had to be used before they were really ''rV." for the real thing. They gave of their best, and jt was really very good, but it would have been better ' still if they could have been given a longer period of preparation.