The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-01
German Anne1-ican.1

military, guidebooks for use in Bel |
GUM of such nature that they could |
only have been written by Belgian Of
hcers or by their active assistance, |
though the books bear the imprint
OF the British general staff
The German government is in pos
| session of four volumes of this hand
| book, of which volume 1 was printed
| in 1912, volume 2 in 1913 volume
in two parts and volume 4 in 1914
| They show the following imprint:
I CONFIDENTIAL. This book is the
| properly of the British government
| and is to be used for the personal in
| formation Of ----- who himself is
Responsible for. the safe Keeping of
the book. The contents are to be
revealed to authorized persons only
I The handbook contains evidences of
military Investigations in the. min
utest and most exact descriptions of
the territory. The introduction reads
as follows:
These reports can give only the
| condition of the roads at the time in
which they were investigated It
will always be advisable to investigate
| them again before they are used in
order to make sure that they are not
closed on account of repairs. pipe lay
ing. etc
Thus, for instance in volume 1,
page 100 and following, the great
/ high road, Newport. Dixnude Ypres
/ ed and accompanied by maps, with
special regard to quality of the roads
the surrounding country. tactic con-
siderations, observation posts and
water conditions. In this discus
| sion all the villages along the high
road are enumerated and described
Thus we find their exact distance
i from one another, detailed description
of the road with reference to eleva-
I tons bridges, crossings, telephone and
81 j
including length of platforms and
| landing places; branch lines. oil
tanks, etc. 1t is always menti oned
/ whether the population speaks part
ly or altogether French.
AS an Illustration we may cite the
tactical remarks about Dixmude on
page ISL:
4 TT viii be difficult to take Dixmude
from the north or from the south. The
Il best position for defense against att
tacks from the south would be the
railway ennbankn1ent in the west as
far as the street, to the east a num-
her OF small hills. AS far as 1900
| yards west of the street the field is
4 favorable for firing; farther to the
i east the view is Distracted by trees
Il Two bata1lions would be sufficient for
n occupation. The hostile artillery
probably would be situated near
Hoogmolen and Vertkant; otherwise
there is nothing Of tactical import
lance. nor is there anything which
might retatrd marching. Point Of
observation, the mill of Reencheek
permitting of a free panoramic view;
also the KoeIberg, seven and one-haSf
miles distant from Ypres, with out
look toward the east and south"
It may be mentioned that the church
towers are usually mentioned as
good observation points
In a similar detailed manner the
; entire course OF the Scheldt with ali
{, tributaries, villages. landings, oppor-
tunities for crossing. withs and
depths, bridges, supply of boats ETC..
is described
/ lent guide for the army leader the
officer of the general staff and for Of
ffeers second in command To the
; book are added:
First.--A schedule i containing in
formation about communities and
: villages for purposes of bi11eting; fur
! | thernore, Instructions regarding
I transp ortation and all other items
which may be needed by the 1oca,
commander.
7, Second.AA number of Important
l hints to aviators for that part OF
Belgium which is situated south OF
: the line Gharleroi -Na1nur-Lieg al
well as for the surroundings Of Brus
: sells.
This very carefully and conpre
pIemented by map showing thu
:, landing places. It bears the inscrfp
t ton Secret and is dated July, 1914
! These military geographical hand
books cannot be supposed to have
: been written shortly before dur
ing the war. That would. aside from
putting them in print, have been i'm
e posi- BILE The material for the worl
o has on the contrary; as may be seel
from remarks in the different parts
e been collected since 1909. The frs
g volume was printed in 1912.
The manuals therefore prove
s minute preparation carried on dur
ing the last five years for an Eng
Iish campaign in neutral Belgium
8 They are nothing else but secret reg
ulations of military service for a
English army fighting in Belgium
= The English general staff therefor
since long time prepared themse1ve
for this event and foresaw the sam
so surely that they undertook tn
painstalEing work of compiling thes
military han1books.
Without ready and far-reaching as
20 sistance on the part of the Belgium
government and military authorize
l. such a work would not have bee
possible. Those strategical and TAG
teal reports, going into the minutes
details, mentioned above, or sue
A exact data concerning railroads an
: transp ortation service rolling stool
} locks and bridges. could not have bee
!, obtained in any other way Tn
schedules about the billeting capae
ity, which deal with Belgium as if
IF | were English territory, could only b
derived from the Belgian governmen
TO Without doubt official Belgian mater
IL ia1 has been used. 1t is made suit
able for English purposes or at man
g places simply translated into Ems
fish.
Very extensively, indeed, EngIan
Il and Belgium had preDared then
" selves together during times of pea6
for military cooperation. Belgium
he in political as we'll as in military ma
ters was nothing but a vassal stal