Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21
GERMAN HOPE G|VES'
WAY TO DEPRESSION.
Big Losses, Especially Among
Officers, Tend to Destroy
Enthusiasm of Army.
MAXIMUM EFFORT FAILED
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.
Cablexram to The Sunday Star and
Chicago Daily News. Copyright. 1918.

BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER-
CabIegram TO The Sunday Star and
Chicago Daily News. Copyright. 1918.
WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES. April
1s.-Three important questions are often
asked which l shall attempt to answer
on the best authority available here They
are: What are Germany's losses in this
battle? What is the condition of the
German morale? What is the present
situation of the German troops on the
western front?
The enemy's losses really have been
enormous. Some divisions have lost more
than SO per cent of their electives. A
reserve division at Lassigny on March 81.
attacking in regimental columns, came
under the concentrated fire OF the French
field artillery and lost 1000 killed, more
than 1000 wounded and 500 prisoners.
plus twenty-five officers. In other words,
this division was practically wiped out
Another division on the same day lost 81
per cent. The saith and 242d divisions
were badly shattered.
Loss of Officers Very Large.
particularly large The 5th Regiment Of
Grenadiers lost twenty-six officers. An
estimate of the total loss is extremely diff
hcult A division usually loses in the
course Of a big battle at least 20 per cent
On this basis, purposely overlooking the
fact that several divisions have been en-
gagged two and even three times. the Ger
man minimum losses will reach 226.ooo,
while the truth probably IS that they are
more than 10000
Remarkable among German preparations
for the offensive was the attention paid
to the morale of the soldiers. The Off
GERS spoke to the men somewhat like this:
1--WE have made peace with Russia and
Rumania and are working to detach Ser
bia and Belgium from the allies. This
leaves only England and France as our
principal enemies. Now is the time to
crush them before the United States gets
many troops to France. Our preparations
are formidable and our superiority is
great. Our generals possess superlative
genius. Victory is certain. All Will be
over in four weeks"
Begun With Enthusiasm.
This sort or logic succeeded. Every
man seems to have believed absolutely
what he was told. The result was that
the offensive was begun with enormous
battle at the head of their men and the
latter fighting with the greatest energy.
To these political arguments were
added others.
The first week of the offensive was
attended by miracu1ously fine weather.
The days were clear and balmy, throb-
bling with spring. and the nights were
mild and moonlit. To the mystical
minded Germans it seemed as If God
Himself were Intervening in their favor.
fhA -H1ln To. 1GAa 81 Inc
birds and towering fruit trees. SYM
bolical of Germany's resurrection after
nearly four years of death end hunger
symbolical of victory and peace?
For a few days 1t was really a victory
which surpassed even German hopes.
They were marching into France at
remarkable speed. Colt nit uhs." The
end seemed near, but then French in
PREVENTION began seriously to be felt
and the allied line began to stiffen. By
the feelings of the German soldier.
France. the Garden of delight" little
by little turned into a graveyard.
Their losses were terrible. 1t was i'm
possible to advance.
Bad Weather Sets In.
About April 1 bad weathe r set in, rain
diers lay in mud and water under shell
and machine gun fire. They were also
continually harassed by the allied
aviators. God, as they conceived Him,
present in the sunshine and victory,
seemed to have deserted them.
This feeling of depression has grad
ually grown until numerous German
divisions are now as distillusioned as
they were enthusiastic three weeks ago.
The facts are thoroughly attested by
prisoners taken in various stages of the
battle. 1t is from prisoners and also
from the French that / have learned
the expression now current among Ger
man officers: "Ach. these French pigs.
right side up" For the Germans well
realize that it is to the brilliance Of the
French Intervention and the steadiness
of the French command that they owe
the downfall of their hopes
While some thirty-two divisions are
fighting in Flanders and on other parts
Of the battlefront, the Germans are
making a great effort to reconstitute
their worn divisions. When the often
sive began they had ready good sup
ply of divisional reserves near the
front wherewith to fill gaps Immediate
ly. 1t was owing to this system that
they were able to engage the same
division twice and thrice over But
division thus hastily reconstructed
is never really as good as new The
ofhcers are unacquainted with the men
and the liaison is disorganized. More
over, there are only few officers, most
of them non-commissioned, in the i'm
mediate reserve, which. owing to the
large losses in officers, proved entirely
insufficient.
Situation Compels Delay.
The Germans are now working at re-
constitution more carefully, especial
1y in the shock divisions. which APP
parently they hope soon to use again,
but as it takes at least three weeks
to reeonstitute a division properly.
IcIr Yle. Il I.a
before the end of April
Many of the gaps are being filed
with bows of eighteen from the So
called class of 1919; one regiment in
cluded 500 of them. The class of 1920,
OF boys aged seventeen, is about to be
called to instruction camps, but they
cannot be utilized before the end of
the year. Thus, IL men from the de-
pots continue to be used at the present
rate, the enemy is likely to face a seri-
GUS shortage of human material in