Evening star., 1937-08-14
Bv Mnrr.C0rfer Roberts

Maj. Geofrev McNeill-Mo New
York: Alfred A. knopf
~ OOkS on the war in Spain
- have been coming out in in
creasing numbers for some
- time now Yet all to date
have been partisan, and by far the
greater part of them have been
strongly on the Loyalist side. Re-
Gently F. Theo Rogers, in his "A
Tragic Journey" spoke for the Ma
hohallStS. dealing with the compa ra
hVe merits of the two sides in
manner winch leaves no doubt that
ne rates the rebels superior in dis
clpllne, treatment of the civilian
population, principles of conduct and
PATRIOTISM Indeed Mr., Rogers saw
the lovaliSt government as an sesre-
eatlon OF eangSters, Sezing power for
Pangs'er motives and holding it bv
eangSter methods with such planned
srtion as it took being directed en-
firelv bv Communist forces from
other countries, chiefly Russia, But
ms point of view has not been that
OF the majority Of writers and MIR,
Rogers obvious personal emotion. as
ne wrote of the destruction of
riVlllHatlOn which he had loved con-
fr1outed somewhat TO weaken me
case which he made.
No" we have book that is en-
f'relV lmpa rtlal. book in which the
greatest emotion which is shown Is
the authors aTduouS zeal for an even
handed presentation of facts and
evidence, and 1t makes case for
the NauOnahStS which is overWhelm-
inglv convincing. A thousand lines
more imoreSSiVelv thau Mr Rogers
sorroWtGi and Wrathtul story This
diSpa SSlOnate work bv an English
ARMY ma lOr places before It's readers
picture of small group of high
prlnciped. IRON disciplined patriots
carving on against large mob
spirited dlSOrderlv force The direc-
ton OF which is either from savaeely
irresponsible opporruniSts or from
ra aiculaung leaders from foreign coun-
tries who see advantages TOR their
own political behefS IN Spains pres
ent agony.
These terms OF description. 10 be
sure. are not those which Mai.
McNeill- Moss himself uses. On the
contrary, ne seems to exert himself
10 commend both sides alike. But
he also eAerts himSelf to present
facts, and his story speaks for itself
His praise of the LOValiSLS. signiti-
cantlv. IS limited to the meu IN the
ranks. The common soldiers, who. he
believes, have sincere conviction
that they are defending free gov
ernmenJ against the threat of a
tyrant. II is part of the thorough
ness of his method. however. that he
exposes some of the propaganda used
10 establish this conviction among
The people and. against it, sets the
cold facts of The IoyaliSt government a
regime. which hardly bear out the
contention that hat regime Is con-
cerned. even little, With democratic
doctrines
The book is no record of he Whole
war. but. as its title indicates. is
the story of tne incredible siege and
defense of the great fortress of
Toledo. she AicaHar This siege began
no July l8 and ended on Septe ember
25, when Gen. Franc succeeded in
reaching the beIea guered stronghold
and relieving Its heroic defenders.
Heroic. indeed. The word is badly
shopuorn one today. il is almost a
hurleSoue term. but 1t can De applied
to Inc men of The Alcazar III It's
pristine honor
There We're less than 800 OF them
and OF that number only 500 had had
soldierly experience and training. OF
the rest many we're boys OF bet
6 and l8 years of age They bad
no artillery: rifles. machine guns and
bombs were their only weap pons. They
were shut IN in medieval building.
Whereto q cIWi population OF
thousand had fed for refuge from
fbe forces of democracy, sS they are
described. They had a limited
supply of food and water. SO thai
they we're on starvation raLlonS from
the first. Against them MAS set d
force intellectually superior in num-
bers. free and mobile in action. armed
with heavy artillery which Was set
rp at close range, aided by airplaneS,
equipped with flame throwerS, tanks
and incendiarv bombs. and cal apabe OF
LAYING and exploding mines 'as IL dld).
In the weeks of The siege the SLruc-
lure of tbe great fortress the glory
Of Toledo one of the siorieS of
Spain. was utterly destroyed. The
defenders fought on among the giant
heaps of ruined masonry, while the
women and children were housed in
the cellars. Yet there was no sur
render. and, by all evidence. no
thought of it. II Is a magnificent
story.
II is the story Of morale agai inst
mob For though the defenders are
called rebels, and the beSiegers loyal
troops, the officers and men of the
garrison themselves did not think of
themselves as in rebellion and behaved
throughout the terrible siege accord
Ing 10 the QulXOuCallv high standa rd3
Of gentlemen pa trioLs defending their
native land, their fellow citizens and
their own oathS 10 Spain as soldiers
III the SdJIN Stages Oh lDP outbreak lDe
commander of the fortress, Col. Mos
cardo, had received q telephone call
from a person who refused to give a
name but claimed that he spoke for
the ministry of war. This person de-
msnded that the entire stock of muni-
tons in the arms factory of Toledo be
transported 10 Madrid. Col Moscardo,
who had taken no part IN the revolt
and whose garrison, at the time. was
only handful of boys attached to the
srmy school, asked for written con-
flrmatlon of the order His request
was taken as declaration of rebellion
and ne was informed ,Still by people
to whom he owed no responsibility
that he must surrender Immediately.
The reason ne could get no contr-
nation of orders from the Madrid gov
ernment. says Mai McNell Moss, was
Fhat there was virtually no one in al-
thoritv in that city. The ministry Of