El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-05-01
Tells HotO German Ships
EUaded British Vessels In
Dash Through DardaneLLes
Story of Escape Of Goeben and Bresau Told in Official
British Document; Mystery of Happenings in the
Mediterranean Between August 8 and 10, 1914,
Cleared Up in First Volume of Official History.

7 oNDON, Eng Nay The fun
story Of the Goebeu and the Bres-
Ian and the escape az these Ger
man naval ships from the Dardanelles
al the outbreak OF the war mas been
revealed ln Naval Operations" the
first volume OF the official history Of
the war. which has Just been pub
lished here.
There has always been a great deal
Of mystery about the happenings IN
the Mediterranean between August 8
and August 10. 1914. All that IS
known is that afterWard the ad-
miralty said admiral Sir Berkeley
Milne was not TO blame, and that
Troubridge OF negligence The fact
remained that the two German ships
escaped
The British Mediterranean squadron
slsr In covering the transport OF
French troops from Africa 10 France.
and Il was mot TO be brought TO ac-
ton by superior forces" That last
instruction weighed like a milestone
On all the actions Of that fateful
week
The Goeben was superior to any
OF the British ships except the battle
cruisers, and they were almost con-
stantly to the westward guarding the
French transport lines Consequently
she was only really challenged by
the little Gloucester. whose immortal
daring IS already famous Moreover,
the British battle cruisers were
wasted y the strategical disposition,
because the French navy had It's full
strength on the transport lines, and
did not need help.
No Collaboration.
There was no collaboration between
the French and British admirals dur
ing. the priod OF strained relations"
and neither knew what the other was
doing because there was no written
diplomatic alliance between the two
countries.
There was. however. one other fac
tor that no naval man could have
toreseens and that was the treachery
Of Enver Pssha and his colleagues
70 their own country They were
prepared secretly to league Turkey
with Germany and 10 admit the Goe-
neles, not for internmeut, but as a
stiffenlng 70 the Turkish fleet.
While the British were seeking to
prevent the German ships escaping
70 the Atlantic through the straits OF
Gibraltar. or seeking shelter IN the
Adriatic, their real objective was
quite different II was a repetition
Of the position in which Nelson found
himself In 1905 when he mis1udged
kileneuve's movements, and In which
Collngwood found himself four years
later against Ganteaume and Ale
mande IN the same waters.
The differences was that this time
no chance arose 70 repair the blum
der and as Sir Julian Corbett says;
Much as there was IN those crowded
opening days 70 excuse the failure,
It must always tell as a shadow in
our naval history" The presence OF
the Goeben and the Breslau at Con-
stantinople was the deciding factor
In Turkeys fate
Caused Complications
"a l.
tried Prussian device Of q lying tele-
gram from the German admiral 10
the Turkish ministers in October. al
leEing that his squadron had been
attacked by the Russian fleet off the
Bosphorus, we get an irresistible
combination Turkey came into the
war on the losing side. but her par
ticipation caused endless complica-
lions, cost thousands Of lives. and
even today Is hamperinE and hinder
ing the settlement OF peace
II was Turkey that was mainly re-
sponsibls for the suppression o. the