Evening star., 1918-04-07

u2ku1Y move, Auo 6v6I ul0 A1hAAAly ~
vanced only at the cost Of heartbreakins
efforts. Fritz made his onset. not in dry:
calm weather, but with morning and
evening mists to blanket his concentra.
leadership and defiance Of slaughter in
sured for the enemy a considerable sue
cess.
Even Weather Favored the Kaiser.
'Tn truth. my great wonder is that he
has not done more. But for the rain and
snow squalls in 1917 we should have In
dicted almost irreparable damage on the
Germans at Arras. Passchendaele and
prisoners and vast booty though operating
on comparatively narrow fronts. Now
comes Fritz with front Of attack sixty
miles long. with practically all the rne1
and guns he can crowd into action and
inade-to-order German weather. He
drives forward for six days and nights
without q thought Of saving life and
gets nothing remotely resembling q de-
cision. Quite q number Of prisoners? Yes,
A heavy haul of guns and tanks? Yes but
no decision"
was there anything to choose between
the morale Of the British and the morale
Of the German soldiers?" I asked.
"AI can say on that point II that tho
German soldiers unfalteringly obeyed their
commanders and that the British fought
WIN luCE0UlkAOlS COOAu008 anu k0ud<CASys
But It should be realised that the enemy
outnumbered US everywhere, In no place
less than two to one, in some places four
to one and In q few places eight to one.
Came on With Elbows Touching.
while the Germans came ON with ell
bows touching our men fought in a thin
flexible line. Rifiemen and machine gun
uers in thousands Of cases blaSed away
o< xha hVy hns, IN ySnAfftonn
quite isolated from their comrades.
ION the German side It was purely
and simply q collective phenomenon; on
our side fe. was predomtnenfty an tn
divtdual phenomenon. do not say that
these particular Germans would have
shown less bravery and less dogged-
ness II they had been scattered. though
We have seen many evidences OF dete-
rioration in FritS's spirit in the past.
but simply point out that they were not
supposed to be good individuals In
peace: certainly since last Thursday
our men have proved themselves good
fndividualfsts In war. You would have
one Of them. Again and again heard
them joke and saw them smile in the
midst Of the most terrific shell fire ]
have ever experienced. Only severe
wounds, sheer exhaustion or death put
them out of action.
Fought From Two to Eight Germans
Germans were SO numerous and we
relatively SO few. We were compelled
for the purposes Of a safe defense to ask
each man to take on very arduous
job. We had to ask every man in the
opening phases OF the great battle to
fight from two to eight Germans. 30
well did they do 1t that Hindenburg's
timetable, like the celebrated German
timetable Of 1914. was thrown entirely
out of joint. He was forced to fight
many days to win detectives he ex-
pected to win in one. Every day now
reduces our handfcaps. Our reserves
know where they are needed and they
will be there. Besides. some day rain
or snow may fall on the Germans"
will you indicate some Of the pic
turesque features Of the battle"
Our men grew. to look like an army
OF ghosts. Chalk dust overspread them
from head to foot. It gathered on their
hair eyebrows and unshaven faces. AZ
fighting their faces became streaked un-
til their own brothers would not have
known them.
Mercilessly Assailed With Gas.
Never before have we been 30 merci-
lessly assailed with gas. In some parts
of the field. and especially among our
duNdHCcu DdtIcIlSS, men ldDOT6Q IN their
gas masks until they fell. All the while
one was alive to the herceness Of both
attack and defense. The shells came
over in unbroken barrages. sweeping the
earth like a cyclone. Our artillery, in
fantry and miraculous airmen fought
with a sustained precision and rapidity
we have never attained before Yet
everything seemed strangely methodical
saw no furried officers or men, Our
transports also worked perfectly. If q
boche shell tore hole in the advancins 3
line Of lorries, the debris was ouickiv
cleared and the line moved on as ii
nothing had occurred.
Our losses were heavy, but not ~
heavy as we feared might be the case.
Doctors. nurses and ambulance men kent
abreast Of the tremendous occasion. All
In all, never again expect to see such
activities; many SO diverse and SO dif-
ficult, with such perfection of self-conn-
mand and order. 1t makes my brain reel
to recall it."
Impassioned German Calls.
Nor or never" Don't let the enemy
choose the battle-ground in the decisivs
struggle of the war" Such watchwords
according to the German prisoners. were
trumpeted up and down the German lines
prior to the great attack. Interpretina
these impassioned calls British officei
Of high rank said to me:
The enemy did not want another