FOCH THE MAN.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1919, Page 10

FOCH THE MAN.

CHAPTER OF NEW FACTS. SOME INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS.

On October 2 next 'Marsha! Foch, the Commander-in-Chief of the Allies, will have completed his sixty-eighth year; the world as desirous of knowing more than it does of this great military genius. Hence new facts and anecdotes are welcomed. That Foch was born at Tarbos and traces his descent to mi old Pyrenean family of martial valor is well authenticated by French publicists and historians. He had three brothers and one sister. Sophie Dupre, the mother of Foch, was a Pyrenean, daughter of Chevalier -Dupre. He had fought under the Napoleonic eagles in Spain, and earned distinction. Deeply rooted was the Napoleonic tradition in Foch's family; at an early age young Ferdinand Foch became fascinated with the great epic; when only a lad he had read and mastered M. Thiers' 15 volumes of the Consulate and Empire—the Napoleonic Bible. His lareer was decided upon without difficulty. He was to be a, soldier—like his mother's father. His family did not enjoy affluence; it lived in comfortable respectability. Foch's mother patiently hoped she would live to see her ton qualify for admission to the Eeole Polytcchnique; that he would achieve distinction equal to the Chevalier Pupiv. Little did the fond mother then dream that Ferdinand Foch would—in the world's greatest war —rival in daring strategic conceptions Napoleon himself; hecome the direct heir of his military principles. FOCH AND LUDENDORFF.

Rena Puaux. who fought vv: : th Foch at the first battle of the Marne. and Was with him up to the signing of the armistice, November 11, 1018, has been greatly Interesting the French nation with his well-authenticated information concerning Fcch throughout the great war. "All Foch's strength," he says, "is concentrated in his brain. He is different to Ludendorft*—the switchboard of death and intrigue." ¥. Puaux compares the two generals, "Foch," he comments, "has a military knowledge which make 3 him the direct heir of the personal tradition of Napoleon Bonaparte, and, like Napoleon, he takes refuge in meditation when grave problems are at stake. "His decisions are always simple and easily understood. Ludendorff is devoid of the true philosophy of war. Unlike Foch, he has no Inner or shining light." MANOEUVRE WITH MATCHES. M. Puaux is enamored of Foeh's sim-

plicity in the field, "Some months after the first battle of the Murne," lie declares, "wa met Foch at his headquarters. We were all anxious to know precisely how he won the first battle of the Marne, The suggestion was made to the general. Fooh soon had us all intensely interested in the refighting of the battle. He manoeuvred a number of matches on a table, showing us how ho brought up the famous 42nd Division from the village of Linthes, smashing in the flank of the Prussian Guards, after the gap had been created in the German battle line at La Fere Champenoise." The intense respect evinced by the British for Foch in the early days of the great struggle forms a highly interesting portion of the French writer's narrative.

On October 30, 1914, says M. Puaux, General Foch heard that the British cavalry had been violently attacked by superior forces, and had to yield considerable ground to the south of Ypres. The line had been pierced; the flank under General Dubois was menaced. Foch left Cassel, motored as quickly as possible to St. Oiner, where he arrived at I o'clock in the morning. "Is it true that your line has been broken ?" he asked Sir John French. "Ye 3," was the reply.

"Rave you any reserves f" "None," answered tho British general. "Well," said Foch, "have mine. Fill the gap at once. If the Germans get through at a single point we are lost, because of the enemy's huge attacking forces. I have eight battalions of the 32nd Division that General. Joffre Is sending me. Take them, and on you go!" "Sir John French was deeply moved," M. Puaur declares, "He rose and clasped both General Foch's hands firmly. 'Thank you,' he said, 'that is splendid help-ypu have brought me,'" By 2 o'clock that morning the gap was,filled and the position saved.

INSPIRED SUGGESTION. The magnetism of Fooh's personality produced a similar effect on the command of the Belgian army. "After the retreat from Antwerp," comments M. Puaux, "the Belgians, on their arrival at the Yser, hoped to get a little rest, but they were immediately engaged by the enemy, Genera! Focli Rent "the 42nd division to strengthen the defence. 'You must stand fast at whatever cost,' lie paid. 'Look, here is the very thing. There is a railway line froirt Nieuport to Dixmude! And there's an embankment! It's a line, I don't know what it's, worth, but It's a line, anyhow. If there were only a little water in front of it you'd be masters of the situation. Was the™ any means of Hooding the ground?' Captain Nuvteer took the inspired suggestion .. in hand. The lock-gates were opened; tliu water welled out over the low-lying plain. Tho German artillery sank in .the slime; the German infantry floundered till thev had finally to abandon .-the place. The Belgian army was saved, and ■the last remnant of Belgian territory. TJiis was brought about by .the magnetic /influence of General. Foeii, „who. has knowledge, strength of will, faith, who inspiration from tradition and tlie battlefield." . . : . \.,':'.

WORKED ON'UNDAUNTED. f Foch arrived atjChttlune, from Nancy fon August 29tli.. J i01flffR«T«ffre iramedi'ately assigned him the'command of the l)th Army. -viiVr.r. i.'J."It was," observed M.T Puaux, "an amalgum of forces of whose fighting capacity, wear and tear, manners and moraK General Foch was entirely ignorant. He was impassioned in his search for information, and those who lived through those tragic hours with Foch give us a picture of him interrogating liaison officers, who had no exact idea of where the different units really were. He worked on undaunted, and reconstructed in his head the mosaic of which so many pieces were still missing. All the time he was haunted with the dread that his only son was killed." ■'Tn 1616," says M. Puaux, "I remember Foch stealing away to the. church at JCassel to seek comfort in the great affliction of which he,,, never spoke. I can never forget his lock lib seemed to . «»ui Ma *iolf> soul. '. Above and be-

l yond the indomitable energy it expressed there was a tenderness" and a sadness and a great melancholy, flis eyes se'emed to say: 'Young men, don't you know what a father can suffer when mourning enters his house, never to leave it? They have taken my. only son, and one of my daughters is a widow.'" Early the following year, Foch was heard to exclaim: "There a;'o, like myself, thousands of fond old fathers who have lost all they loved, the sons on whom their hope was set. But we have no right to self-pity. Our country—our beloved patrie--is all that matters. Let us accept that sacrifice. The whole' of humanity is iit stake. Liberty must first triumph. Afterwards we may weep."