HOW FOCH WAS FOUND.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 February 1919, Page 5

HOW FOCH WAS FOUND.

M. CLEMENCEAU'S STORY. FOE TWO WEEKS CAST ASIDE. VICTORY'S INCLINED PLANE. It was a happy time for the French colony in London on 2nd December. iSoiue of its most distinguished men were invited to the French Embassy to meet Marshal Koch. No women received invitations, but they waited in crowds outside while their huflbands and sons and brothers Hocked in, and no cheers were louder than the women's cheers when the great Koldi.tr of Franco and the great Minister of Franco came together to be at home in tho little bit of territory which is France in England. M. Clemenceau begun his sjjeech with a graceful tribute to the work of the Ambassador. Proceeding then to refer to Marshal Koeh, lie said: — '"I have seen him tit work. No one lias seen him more closely than I, and it is a great struggle to me to do him justice before this asemblage of his fellow citizens of the French colony in London.

"We have seen each other in the worst days, and in the finest. I saw Marshal l'och one day when, suddenly and without any reason, he had been thanked and placed on an unemployed list. It was a day I shall never forget, when he camo to me and said, ''See what has come to. me." .. ,

FOOTS SILENT COURAGE. ' ! "He did me honor to ask my advice, I said to him, 'Go home. No recriminations. Say nothing, and before many weeks are passed you wilt be wanted.' Ho had no need of my advice. Perhaps he had already guessed what it would be. His conscience would'have suffered to prevent him running the risk of adding quarrels to the great national crisis through which the country was passing lit that sad hour. "He went home without a word of recrimination, and I believe not a fortnight had passed before he was Chief of Staff of the French Army. We had seen him on the Yser, we had seen him on the St. Gond marches, where we can only ■•ay that by the single effort of that valiant soldier the enemy was stopped, and his soldiers, who were not all French soldiers, wore constrained when they appeared to hesitate to march to the attack.

''lt was in these circumstances that he spoke those splendid words when they came and told him, ■General, we cannot hold on.'—'l cannot hold on. Well, then, [ attack.' He attacked, and conquered. "We are already a long way from that, and in the task which was again confided to him, it can be said that his action was marked by a succession of victories such as the history of war has never known. When the Germans hesitated between two ways, throwing, themselves first on Amiens, I shall never forget the meeting at that moment at Doullens, with all the Allied generals, and heads of Governments, at which General Foeh (that was then his title) told us all: 'T. light before Amiens, I fight in Amiens, :i fight behind Amiens, [ fight all the time.' "And he has kept his word. It is true that he had marvellous soldiers, and a good soldier' inplies good chiefs. The good soldier in turn helps to create tho good soldier.

"You can go and see the poilu in the trenches, you can talk to him of Marshal Foch, ar.d jon will see what he has to say about him. And then you can go and see Marshal Foch in his office at any hour of the day, and talk to him of his poilus, and you will see in which terms he will sing their praises."

MARSHAL FOCH. Marshal Foeh Baid: "You all know through what successive vicissitudes the war passed. I will not recall them. You know thern ns well as I. I will give you a resume of the last phases to tell you. We must draw up our balance sheet in 1918.

"The sacrifices to which France has consented have been colossal. We have them in-every family; you know as well ns I do. Fields ravaged, towns destroyed, populations k-d into slavery—all the abominations of unchained barbarism. Should all that have been left unpunished? No. We owe it to our dead, we owe it to our populations that they are paid for by proper reparation. "When the enemy presented himself in March, in April, in May, to march upon Paris, what did we? Wo have understood one another, the French at first sight, then the English, and the Americans when they arrived, and we have said to ourselves—they shall be stopped, cost what it may. (Cheers). ''And when, beginning a furious offensive, abruptly, by surprise, ho fell upon troops fatigued by four years of trench warfare, we stopped the march on Amiens, the march on Paris. Here is the formula that we have practised with a terrifying e.irgerness. We have joined up. It is the simple things that succeed.

'WE STARTED AGAIN." "We. have then made our plans, and we have said, 'We have tried, used up troops, but these retain undoubted ■. energies.' Besides the Allies, the English ' armies had experienced formidable catastrophic*. We have said the same thing. 'We are going to make amends, ." and we shall start again.' And they did start again. (Laughter and cheers). '' "They started to go further forward? > No. They started to resume the com- ' munieations indispensable to the life of the nation. To f rce Chateau-Thierry, ! to re-establish the communications be- ;; twecn Paris and Nancy—then to assure ' the communications with the north, ; which were always very precarious at ' Amiens. "The attack from July IS to August B, by Generals Rawliuson and Debonev were to free Amiens at any price. That was all accomplished. "Then the attack from Arras bv the hnghsh armies. And then, seeing all that did not succeed so badly, the offensive was extended, and wo finished by losing a battle on a front of 250 miles m which everyone fought-Frenchl hnghsh, Belgians, Americans. "Recollect that in the offensives m have made more than 330,000 prisoners and taken more than COO cannon If it had been allowed to continue the situation of the enemy would from day to day rapidly have become worse