New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-04
Col. Swinton Says War,
One of Exhaustion, De-
ponds on Raw Recruit.
GERMANS HOPE YET
TO OPEN WAY TO SEA
Have 100000 MenELull In
Battle Gives British Chance
TO Better Position.

.
preceding that date.
There has recently been a lull in
the active operations, he says. No
progress has been made by either side,
and yet there has come about an I'M
/ portant modification comprising a re-
/ adjustment in the scope Of the part
/ played by the British army as whole.
/ He explains the movement from the
/ River Aisne TO the Belgian frontier TO
prolong the left flank of the French
army, and says that in attempting this
D the British force was compelled TO as
sumo responsibility for avery extend
/ ed section of the frontN
He points out, as Toes General
/ French, commander in chief OF tn,
\ British forces, that the British hey
| only one-twelfth of the line, so that
/ the greater share of the common task
of opposing the enemy fell and still
| falls to the French, while the Belgians
played an almost vital part.
Germans Had 10000 Men.
With the fall of Antwerp the Ger
mans made every effort TO push for
ward besieging force toward the west
and FASTENED to bring up new army
corps which had been hastily raised
and trained, their object being to drive
the Allies out Of Belgium and break
| through TO Dunkirk and Calais. Alto
/ gether they had a quarter of million
of fresh men. Eventually the Germans
! had north of La Bassee about fourteen
corps and eight cavalry divisions-that
/ is, "a force of three-quarters OF a
million men with which to attempt TO
drive the Allies into the sea. In add
d 4. a al fttl
armament and heavy siege artillery,
which also had been brought up from
around Antwerp"
The official eyewitness tells of the
| blows delivered by the Germans at
| Newport, Dixmude and Ypres, where
"at first the Allies were greatly out
numbered" For a whole month the
British army around Ypres succeeded
in holding its ground against repeated
onslaughts made by vastly superior
forces. The writer goes into details
of the German attacks and describes
how they were frustrated by the Allies.
The British force, says Colonel Swim
ton, which consisted all along of the
same units, had "to withstand an al
most continuous bombardment and to
meet one desperate assault after an
other, each carried out by fresh units
from the large numbers which the
Germans were devoting to the oper-
alton"
British Forces Res tjusted.
Finally the French came TO their as
sistance and "never was help more well
come, for by then our small local re-
serves had again and again been thrown
into the fight in the execution of coun-
ter-attacks and our men were exhaust
ed by the incessant fighting"
The British front now has been con-
siderably shortened and in addition has
been reinforced, while a lull in the
activity has enabled them to readjust
their forces, strengthening their posi-
tons and bring up reserves. There
has, therefore, "been a great general
| improvement in the conditions under
which we are carrying on the fight"
OF the fighting which preceded this re-
organization the writer says it was due
solely 20 the resource, initiative and
endurance Of the regimental officers
and men that success has lain with the
British. He continues:
"As the struggle swayed backward
and forward through wood and hamlet
the fighting assumed a most confused
and desperate character. The units be-
came inextricably mixed, and in many
cases in order to strengthen some
/ threatened point or to fill gap in the
line the officers had to collect and
throw into the fight what men they
could, regardless of the units to which
they belonged Our casualties have
been severe, but we have been fighting
a battle, and battle implies casualties,
and heavy as they have been it must
be remembered that they have not been
suffered in vain.
Allies Look to Russia.
"The duty of the French, Belgians
and British in the western theatre of
operations has been to act as con-
tanning force; in other words, to hold
on to and to keep occupied as many of
the enemy as possible while the Rus
slams were attacking in the east. In
this we have succeeded in playing our
part, and by our resistance have con-
tributed materially toward the success
Of the campaign. Moreover, our losses
have not impaired our fighting eff
cheney. The troops have required only
slight respite in order to be able to
continue the action with as much de-
termination as ever.
They are physically fit and we'll fed
and have suffered merely from the
fatigue which is inseparable from a
protracted struggle such as they have
been through. The severest handling
by the enemy has never had more than
temporary effect on their spirits,
which have soon recovered owing 10
the years of discipline and training 10
which the officers and men have been
accustomed.
The value of such preparation is as
noticeable on the side of the enemy
as on our own. The phenomenal losses
suffered by the Germans new forrna-
tons have been remarked, and they
were in part due to their lack of train
ing. Moreover, though at the first
onset these formations advanced to the
attack as bravely as their active corps
they have not by any means shown the
same recuperative powers. The 9th
Corps, for instance, which is new
formation composed principally Of men
with from only seven to twelve weeks
training, has not yet recovered from
its first encounter with the British in
fantry around Becelaere, to the north
east of Ypres a month ago.
War One Of Exhaustion.
"On the other hand, the guard corps
in spite Of having suffered severely or
account of having been thrown head.
long across the Disc River at Guise
and of having lost large numbers or
the plains Of Compiegne and on the
banks of the Aisne River, advanced
against Ypres on the 18th Of Novembei
as bravely as they did on the Goth OF
August"
The Allies, continues Colonel Swim.