Evening star., 1925-05-22
EARL FRENCH DIES;
LED WORLD WAR
ARMY OF BRITAIN
Operation Is Fatal to Famed
Military Figure-WaS
73 Years Old.
LUCK WAS TRADITIONAL
THROUGHOUT SERVICE
Shelved to Make Way for Younger
Officers, He Was Soon Re-
called to Troops.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
DEAL. England, May 22.-The Ear
of Ypres, better known as Field Mar
shal French, British World War hero
died here today, aged 73.
The Earl of Ypres underwent an op
Grafton March 10. Soon thereafter he
was reported to be recovering, but
subsequently his condition became
worse.
French Luck" Tradition.
Rising to the highest places and
donors in British military circles the
Earl of YpreS often was characterized
dhs "the luckiest man in the army
and French luck became almost
proverbial among the British soldiers
Later events, however, caused diff
ference of opinion as to whether the
Suck had been on the soldiers side
Sr on that of the British army and
the British Empire.
Perhaps the most important event
of his career which had to do with
these two ideas was the historic battle
of Ypres in the World War, the win
ming of which barred the channel
ports from the Germans and saved
England from probable invasion. 1t
was at Ypres that the Germans first
reSorted to their deadly gas attacks,
form of warfare that impelled the
British commander to deplore the fact
that an army would stoop so low.
What was termed the earl's biggest
piece of sheer luck occurred in 1895,
when the British military authorities
decided to revise the cavalry drill
book as a prelude to reorganization
of the mounted arm. At that time he
was Col. French, on the retired list
at half pay for two years, having been
shelved at the age of Al to give
younger men a chance for promotion.
His career apparently was ended.
Recalled to Service.
It happened that the inspector gen
eral of cavalry was Sir George Luck,
under whom French had served in In
dia, where he performed brilliantly in
bringing cavalry commands up to d
high point of efficiency. Sir George
had not forgotten that service and
brought Col. French out of retirement
10 write the new cavalry book. The
result was characteriZed.as "a master.
piece of lucid explanation and terse
precision" Then the question arose
as to who was to carry out the altera-
1ions called for in the book. Some an
swered 1.-The one who suggested them" :"
French was made assistant adjutant
general of cavalry and proceeded to
climb upward to the command of the
first 1OO,0 900 British soldiers who met
the initial terrific onslaughts of the
Germans in the World War.
In the meantime French had made
extensive reforms and was given COM
Inand of a cavalry brigade. In the
maneuvers of 1898 he attracted the
attention Of the entire British army.
fhrnIph
ing operations, he completely baffied
his opponent, a general using methods
which had been regarded as efficient
and necessary until French'S genius
made them antiquated. French be-
came a major general the next year.
The Boer War was to French only
another opportunity to show the abll-
ity which the British military au-
thorities had shelved seven years be-
fore. He was given the chief cavalry
command and in numerous operations
he proved himself both a great STRAIT
egist and a superior tactictian. He
was mentioned in many dispatches
and went back to England at the
close of the war to be knighted and
given the command of all the troops
at Aldershot with the rank of lieu
tenant general.
Field Marshal i'm 1918.
In 1907 French was appointed in
snector general of the forces and five
wears later he was made chief of the
imperial general staff. He was made
a field marshal in 1913 and as such
went to France at the beginning OF
the World War as chief
of the expeditionary forces. Here
again he displayed his extraordinary
ability as a military leader. He was,
fo,. rIa oh ~ 70
fn the British cabinet resulting in the
creation of the ministry of munitions,
at the head of which former Premier
I,loyd George succeeded in awakening
the munitions manufacturers to the
necessity of rallying to the aid OF the
soldiers in the field.
In the early engagements in France
French's army was outnumbered by
the enemy and short of high explo-
sives to halt the German advance. To
the latter was attributed the necessity
for the strategic retreat from Mons, in
which he handled the sorely tried
British army in mastery fashion.
Later with 100000 men under his
command he scored his great victory
at Ypres.
Reporting on his operations, the field
marshal wrote:
The glorious troops under my COM
mAnd had gone Nandntly 10 IDelr QedIn
when a few more guns and few more
shells would have many times saved
their sacrifice. And still no sufficient
supplies came"
At Odds With Kitchener.
Criticized at home for permitting
the Germans almost impregnably to
intrench themselves, French became
involved in a controversy with Lord
Kitchener, his former South African
commander, then secretary of state
for war.
The late Lord Northcliffe made a
visit to the British front, and upon his
return bluntly told the facts of the
shell shortage. 1t was then that the
change in the cabinet was made, with
the result that the factories speeded
I'D and turned out an immense amount
of shells and other war implements.
After Is months of intensive war
fare in France. French relinquished
command of the British forces to
Field Marshal Haig and returned to
England. He was created a Viscount
and made commander-in-chief of the
, troops in the United Kingdom, a post
he held until 1918. Then he was
made lord lieutenant of Ireland and
served until April 80, 1921, when the
home rule partition act took effect
and Viscount Fitzalan became vice
Continued on Page 2, Column u