South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-03-31

on a months leave of absence from
MS duties as correspondent at the
front IN the European war.
Capt Fortescue said:
Before L make any statements as
to my opinions regarding conditions
In the war zone L would like 10 have
IL clearly known that / take no sides
In the controversy. Since / returned
10 America / have been asked often if
l were pro-German or pro-allies and
my answer has invariably been that
am pFO-United States.
In all that 1 have seen of the op-
erations / have tried TO approach the
problem from the viewpoint Of a neu-
trail first and second from the, 10 me,
exceedingly interesting angle of an
army officer. So that L hope in read
ing what L have TO say one will al
ways bear that fact IN mind. Where
l give praise, / give praise not be-
cause my sympathies are with the
side 1 happen TO be discussing but
simply because the obvious superior
ity demands my admiration from a
military point of view, l shall not
speak of the cause or the moral side
OF the war. but only OF the material
and military side which l have seen
and known.
Saw All But Turks and Serbs.
seeing all the armies in action save
the Servians and the Turks
Il was fortunate in being in Bel
GUM at the outbreak Of the war and
saw the first conflicts beginning with
Liege, passing through that afflicted
country down the valley of the Meuse
TO Namur and eliminating in the bat
tie of Dinant.
Here / saw the operations of the
l L, a.
supposed to defend the line of the
Sambre at Charlerois in conjunction
with the English army. 1 had extra
ordinary opportunities of judging
their state of preparedness and eff
cheney.
Afterwards 1 returned to London
and proceeded TO Berlin and followed
the German operations from that side
for three weeks. | was treated with
the greatest courtesy by the gentle
men of both the military and diplo-
matte offices in Germany and was
taken by them to Liege, where 1 had
the opportunity of checking up the
observations l had made from the
Belgian side.
Since that date have been in
Berlin as recently as Feb. Is.
THE difficulties that beset the cor
respondents are we'll known now to
every one and we who are doing our
best to try and paint word pictures of
what we see on the battle front not
only have to take the chances of shell
and shot but also are in continual
danger Of being mistaken for spies
by the forces with whom we chance
to be working.
Arrested Three Times
My experiences in France were
rather unfortunate. There L was ar
rested three times although my
papers were always in first class or
der. l spent on the Belgian and
French frontiers in the theater of op-
erations a period Of three months at
the beginning of the war, subtracting
the three weeks L was in Germany.
THE extraordinary opportunities 1
had have made il possible for me to
get / think, a comprehensive idea Of
the value of the different armies en-
gagged.
Lord Kitchener says that gener-
ais win battles. soldiers win a war
so that the spirit of the armies is
therefore most important" it was
suggested to Capt. FOrtescue. How
do the armies that you have seen
compare in this respect? That is to
say, the British with the French, the
French with the Russian, and all
three allies with the German and Aus
trian armies?"
Germans Most Mobile.
The difficulty in answering that
question arises in the fact that armies
are not stationary" he replied.
They vary in their value from day
TO day. depending entirely upon the
circumstances of the military opera
tions. with this understanding, how
ever. We can try and make a general
comparison of the effectiveness of the
forces engaged.
Il don't hesitate to say from what I
have seen and judged purely from a
military standpoint that the German
units-re giments. brigades and di-
vision CCrps-are of higher tactical
value than corresponding units in any
of the other armies with the possible
exception of the British, at least the
British of the first expeditiOnary
force.
Before the war began 1 was in a
manner conversant with the German
organization and i have had the op-
portunity of seeing that organization
tested by the most rigorous demands
of warfare / can say unqualihedly
that il has stood the test without a
break The spirit of the troops is
splendid.
All Are Brave
There has been a great deal of
fun. l might say pOked at the soldiers
and officers of the German army for
having received the highest award
the iron crOss-in such great num-
bers. Personally 1 am OF the opinion
that all the men / have seen under
fire have qualified according TO the
highest standards OF courage for any
honor their country can bestOw upon
them.
The troops of the German army
whom l describe, however are men
OF the first line and it must be known
that the landwehr and landsturm are
naturally not so effective as the
younger regiments
The British force which after all
is a very small part of the land fight
ing force-Only eight per cent of the
armies in the field at first-are also
troops of the very highest tactical
value This has been admitted 10 me
by German officers themselves. 1t
must be remembered here also that
the new British army which is now