RETREAT FROM FLANDERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 July 1940, Page 6

RETREAT FROM FLANDERS

OTHER FAMOUS FIGHTS RECALLED'. CLASH WITH NAPOLEON. The British retreat from Flanders and Artois and the subsequent evacuation and embarkation for England is one of the greatest military movements in history and brings to mind other retreats in previous wars. Of retreats followed by evacuation there are not many examples in military history. The earliest is the “Retreat of the Ten Thousand,” after the Battle of Cunaxa, 401 8.C., when 10.000 Greek mecenaries in the service of Cyrus, a pretender to the throne of Persia, retreated after the battle in which Cyrus lost his life, from northern Irak up the valley of the Tigris and over the mountains of Kurdistan and Armenia to Trebizzond on the Black Sea, a distance of more than 1000 miles through a hostile country. The story is told by Xenophon, the leader, in his “Anabasis.” The most famous example in British military history is the retreat of Sir John Moore on Corunna in the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Sir John Moore, with an army of about 20.000, an expeditionary force to help the Spaniards against the French, found himself, on December 23, 1808. near Salamanca, in a tight corner, with news that Napoleon himself with vastly superior forces was trying to surround him. Sir John Moore knew he would have to "run for it." and began his retreat to Corunna in the north-west corner of Spain. On January 1. 1809. Marshal Soult, one of Napoleon's best generals, took over the pursuit from, the Emperor. The forced march of Sir John Moore over the mountains of Galicia tried the discipline of his little force severely, but. fighting many rear-guard actions, he reached Corunna on January 11. with his army intact, but sadly thinned. The transports to take him away were delayed by foul winds, and he had to take up positions to cover the embarkation of his army. Here Marshal Soult. with 20.000 men and 40 guns, attacked. Marshal Soult was repulsed, but Sir John Moore was mortally wounded. The well-known poem, "The Burial of Sir John Moore.” pictures the romantic circumstances of his death. The troops were safely embarked for England.