Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/118/1 - Photostats - Part 2

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The Times Weekly Edition.
___________________________________________________________________________
N^o. 2,153.  (NO. 14.  VOL. XL11.)  LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1918.  PAGE 277
____________________________________________________________________________
"THE TIMES" WAR DIARY OF THE WEEK.
____________________________________________________________________________
THE GREAT
BATTLE.
______________
BRITISH BRAVERY STOPS
THE ENEMY.
_______________
HUGE GERMAN LOSSES.
________________
KING'S VISIT TO THE FRONT.
___________________________
U.S. TROOPS FOR FIGHTING LINE.
___________________________
GEN. FOCH'S NEW POST:

PREMIER'S STATEMENT.
__________________________
The progress of the war since our last issue
is summarised below in the order in which the 
news was received :-
MARCH 28.
On the whole of the British battle front from
the north of Bucquoy across the Anere and
the Somme the line held yesterday, in spite
of great German assaults.  Sir Douglas Haig's
last report says that "our troops fought magnificently," 
and have "thrown back the enemy
all along the British front, in spite of most 
determined attacks and his superiority in
numbers.  Heavy fighting continues on the
whole battle front."
By daybreak yesterday the Germans had taken
Albert, and, pushing up the Anere Valley, were
12 miles of Amiens.  To the south they had
made a good deal of ground to the Somme
Valley.  Counter attacks restored some of our
losses.  The salient in the angle between the
Anere and the Somme was reduced and the
villages of Morlancourt and Chipilly were retaken.
South of the Somme the Germans were
thrown back on Proyart.
In reply, the enemy began a new series of massed 
attacks all along our front from the neighbourhood
of Bucquoy, between Arras and Albert,
to Rosieres, south of the Somme.  Except at
one point near Bucquoy, the British defence
prevailed at all parts of the line.  The language
of the British reports shows how tremendous
was the struggle, how splendid the
British defence, and how great were the German
losses.  Thus at the end of a week's battle
the German rush has, on the northern half of
the field, been checked.
On the southern front during Monday night the
Germans were compelled to relax their attacks
owing to their losses.  Yesterday French
troops were heavily engaged between Roye
and Montdidier, and were forced to give some
ground.  German attacks near Lasnigny and
Noyon were completely repulsed.  French reinforcements
are arriving.
On Monday and Tuesday night 54 tons of bombs
were dropped and hundreds of thousands of 
rounds of ammunition were fired on the enemy
from British aeroplanes.  In addition, four
tons of bombs were dropped on Valenciennes
station, through which enemy troop trains were
passing.  Twenty-two German aeroplanes were
brought down in air fighting.  Twelve of our
machines are missing.
During Monday night the British forces who
have crossed to the east of the Jordan took
Es Salt, half-way between the river and the
Hedjax railway.  Our mounted troops are
approaching the railway at Amman.  A few
prisoners, Turkish and German, have been
captured.
The text of the remarkable memorandum by
Prince Lichnowsky, German Ambassador in
London in 1914, has been published in the
Vorwarts [Oblik over a in Vorwarts], and has now reached this country.
We publish to-day a translation of all the
most important parts by our Correspondent
formerly in Berlin.
Prince Lichnowsky completely exposes the resolve
of Germany for war in 1914, and shows
that he was himself not admitted into this
secret of German diplomacy.
MARCH 29.
The enemy gained during Wednesday night, in
the southern half of the battlefield, the junction
of Montididier, between Amiens and Compiegne. [dash over e in Compiegne]
The French troops holding the town
fell back on the heights to the west.  Yesterday
they counter-attacked with magnificent
dash and retook two of the villages near Montdidier.
To the south towards Noyon they have
also recaptured ground.
Northward, on the British front, the great battle
on Wednesday closed with the British firm
along the whole line.  It blazed up again into
full fury yesterday, and spread to the north
on each side of the Scarpe valley east of
Arras.
On the Arras front the German attack was made
in great strength under a cloud of smoke.  Our
outpost line was forced, and in our battle positions,
a fierce fight was waged throughout the
day.  Here, Sir Douglas Haig says, all the 
enemy's assaults have been repulsed with
heavy loss to him.
South of the Scarpe, on the line Boyelles,
Moyonneville, Ablainreville, Bucquoy, and
Punsieux, our troops have again beaten off a 
number of determined assaults.
The battle was equally fierce in the Somme valley
and to the south.  Early in the day the enemy
had again established a salient as far as Haniel
directly towards Amiens.  Here and in the districts
of Aryillers and Vrely [ dash above e in Vrely], farther south, the
battle swayed during the day, and at the close
we had substantially maintained our ground.
Our airmen again did splendid work on Wednesday
in fighting with bomb and machine-gun
against the German masses and in tackling
German aeroplanes.
Evidently in reply to the growing knowledge in
Germany of the very heavy losses in the great 
battle, the Headquarters report yesterday
stated :-"Our losses generally keep within
normal limits, though at some of the most vital
points they are heavier.  The number of
slightly wounded is estimated at 60 to 70 out
of every hundred."
Mr Lloyd George has sent a message to the
United States to "send American reinforcements
across the Atlantic in the shortest
possible time."
A signal success has been gained by the British
forces in Mesopotamia, comparable with the
victory of Ramadie last September.  Our
troops, moving up the Euphrates from Hit
along the Aleppo road, attacked the Turkish
positions about Khan Baghdadie, 22 miles to
the north-west, on Tuesday morning.  By
nightfall the main positions had been carried.
The enemy retreated along the Aleppo road, but
were cut off by our cavalry, who had taken
a wide detour.  The Turks were repulsed with
heavy losses, and 3,000 of them, including a
divisional commander, were compelled to lay
down their arms.  The remaining fugitives 
are being harried in the district of Haditha, 45
miles upriver from Hit.  Our booty was
heavy.
General Allenby sends news that on Wednesday
afternoon our forces east of the Jordan were
converging on the Hedian [[railway at xxxxx?]]
and that our mounted troops were within a 
mile of the town.  In the course of the day's 
fighting 200 of the enemy were taken prisoners.
Trains on the railway were hit by bombs.
MARCH 30.
On both wings of the long battle line from the
Scarpe to the Oise the enemy are held.  In
the centre, on the front across the Somme,
between Albert and the Avre, north of Montdidier -
the German advance still went on yesterday,
though far more slowly than hitherto.
The line here now runs about 11 miles east of
Amiens.
North of Albert, to a point near Lens, the great
German attack of Thursday failed.  At
the end of a day of hand-to-hand fighting in
our outpost lines the German reserves were
sent forward against our battle positions, and
were everywhere thrown back with great loss.
The enemy did not resume the attack on this
front yesterday, and at some points we gained
ground.
The objective of this onslaught astride the Scarpe
is known from captured documents to have
been the Vimy Ridge and Arras.  At least
six German divisions were used in the front
line with four assaulting divisions in reserve.
In the heavy fighting at the same time between
Boiry and Serre, which had no greater
success for the enemy, 11 hostile divisions
were identified.
The struggle on the French front, from the
heights west of Montdidier to the environs of
Lassigny, has not relaxed.  During, Thursday
night there were stubborn fights for the
villages which the French had regained during
the day.  But the French troops held on
against counter-attacks, and again began to
fight their way forward.  Yesterday there was
practically no change in the line.
In the German Headquarters report of yesterday
it is claimed that in the attack on the
Scarpe on Thursday several thousands of 
British prisoners were taken.  The same report
states that since the beginning of the 
battle 70,000 prisoners and 1,100 guns have 
been taken, and that of these 40,000 prisoners
and 600 guns were taken by the army of von
Hutier.
The principal work of our airmen at present is
in attacking with bomb and machine-gun the
masses of the enemy behind the battle line.
On Thursday 26 tons of bombs were dropped
and a quarter of a million rounds were fired
from machine-guns.  The work had to be carried
out in rainstorms with low clouds.  During 
the day the enemy had 11 machines destroyed
and five others driven down out of control.
Twelve of our machines are missing.
In the Balkans on March 24 our aeroplanes
bombed the aerodrome at [[Drama?]] with great
success : 57 bombs burst on the aerodrome,
and four hangars were badly damaged.

The American Red Cross has given £250,000 to
the British Red Cross "to alleviate as far as
possible the suffering caused by the great
battle."
APRIL 1.
During the week-end changes in the track of
the long line of battle from Arras to Noyon
have not been wide, and the territorial position
of the opposing armies remains generally as
it was two days ago.  In the north the enemy
are firmly held, and weight has gone out of 
their attacks.  In the centre and south attack
and counter-attack with massed forces have
followed each other in quick succession, and
positions have changed hands from hour to
hour.
The heaviest fighting north of the Somme was
on Saturday in the Boisy-Boyellea district.
Fresh German troops, advancing in four
waves were unable to get beyond our outpost
line, and their losses can be reckoned in
thousands.  Two other fights in this region
also went to our advantage, one near Serre,
where we took 230 prisoners and 40 machine-guns,
and an action in the Scarpe Valley.
South from the Peronne-Amiens road to the
Oise near Noyon, there has been hardly a
pause in the great struggle.  North of Montdidier, 
where French and British troops are
fighting side by side in the valleys of the
Luce and Avre, each height and village on the 
way to Amiens has already been fought for
many times over.  The possession of Demuin
and Moreuil has been bitterly contested, but
the last news is that they are again in the 
hands of the Allies.
On the heights west of Montdidier and thence
south-east to the district of Noyon the battle
has also swayed to and fro.  On the whole the
French have held their ground near Montdidier,
and have advanced on each side of
Lassigny.  Near Lassigny their assaulting
columns did brilliant work.  In the capture of
one village, Le Piemont, they took 700
prisoners.
General Foch has been charged by the British,
French, and American Governments to coordinate
the action of the Allied Armies on 
the Western front.
Whatever may happen in this battle, the Prime
Minister says, the country must be prepared
for further sacrifices to ensure final victory.
The necessary plans are being prepared by the
Government.  Mr. Lloyd George has sent a 
message to the Dominions telling them of the
proposal to raise fresh forces here, and urging 
the Dominion Governments to send reinforcements.
He concludes :- "Before the campaign
is finished the last man may count."
General Pershing has told General Foch that
America would feel greatly honoured [[ to have
xxxx were engaged?]] in the present battle.
The King has returned from a brief visit to the 
front, and in a letter to Sir Douglas Haig
pays a glowing tribute to the fighting powers
and spirit of the British troops.
British troops in Palestine are now on the line
of the Hedjax railway east of Jordan.
Several miles of the track have been destroyed
by Colonial mounted troops.
General Marshall's advance in Mesopotamia continues.
The Turks defeated at Khan 
Baghdadie have been pursued "with untiring
energy."  By midday on Thursday the
pursuit had been pushed beyond Ana, 83
miles north-west of Hit.  The number of
prisoners taken as a result of the victory at
Khan Baghdadie has increased to 5,000.
The British troops on the Italian front have
been transferred from the Montello sector to 
a new sector on the Asiago plateau.
APRIL 2.

There was less fighting yesterday than on any
day since the great battle opened on March 21.
North of the Somme attacks by small bodies of
the enemy in the morning near Albert were
repulsed with the loss of the greater part of 
their number.  It has been ascertained that in
the action near Serre on Saturday we captured
109 machine-guns.
Between the Somme and the Avre there was local
fighting near Moreuil and Hangard, which
went in favour of the France-British forces.
There had been a hard struggle at Hangard
on the previous night, when, as the French
report says, "a brilliant counter-attack, in
the course of which our Allies displayed irresistible
dash, enabled us to repulse the enemy
completely and to recapture the village."  Thus
the enemy are no nearer Amiens than they
were two days ago.
On the short front near Montdidier, on the hills
west of the Doms Valley, the German thrust
towards the Amiens-Paris railway is still held
in check.  There was fierce hand-to-hand
fighting for the village of Grivesnes, five miles
north-west of Montdidier, on Sunday night
and yesterday, but the French retained all
their ground.  From Montdidier to Lansigny
there was little movement.
Our Correspondent at the British front gives
further details of the severe German defeat
east of Arras, and news of the doings of
various regiments in the fighting retreat of the
British Third Army.
Ludendorff's [oblik on e] report yesterday was again brave
in tone, but small in substance.  It claims that
advances have been made on either side of 
Moreuil on the Avre, a village retaken by the 
Allies two days ago, and that all attempts
by the French to retake ground have been
frustrated.  It is now alleged that prisoners
taken have swollen in the last few days to
75,000.
Our airmen kept close watch on Sunday on
the movements of the troops in the south of
the battle area, constantly bombed them, and
engaged them with machine-guns.  At night
they dropped 24 tons of bombs on important
railway stations and Bruges Docks.
Italian bombarding squadrons of aeroplanes
have taken an active part in the operations
over the Somme battlefront in the past few
days.
Important decisions have been taken by which
the large forces of trained men in the American
Army can be brought to the assistance of
the Allies in the present struggle.  Large
numbers of American battalions are coming to
Europe in the next few months, and the
United States Government has agreed that
such of its regiments as cannot be used in
divisions of their own shall be brigaded with
French and British units so long as the necessity
lasts.
By this means troops not sufficiently trained to
fight as divisions and army corps will form
part of the seasoned divisions until such time
as they have completed their training and
General Pershing wishes to withdraw them in
order to build up the American Army.  The
decision will in no wise diminish the need of
raising fresh troops at home.
British troops on the Euphrates are half-way
between Baghdad and Aleppo.  Since the
action at Khan Baghdadie on March 26 they
have advanced along the Aleppo road 134
miles, and they are now 250 miles from
Aleppo.  A few more Germans and two big
guns mounted on river boats have been captured.
Our Parliamentary Correspondent, in discussing
the new Military Service Bill, says that it is
accepted that the new age limit will be 50
and that the Bill will deal drastically with all
existing exemptions.
APRIL 3.
For the second day in succession there was comparative
quiet on the whole length of the new
battle front.  Sir Douglas Haig sends news
of two minor actions, which went to our advantage
on Monday, one near Hebuterae, in which
we took 73 German prisoners, and one between
the Avre and the Luce, where we captured
50 prisoners and 13 machine-guns.  In the 
latter area two German counter-attacks late
in the day were broken up with heavy loss
by our artillery.
On the French front there was rather [[ Mainly?]]
artillery fighting, especially between Montdidier 
and Lassigny.  A strong German reconnaissance 
on the left bank of the Oise was
repulsed.
In the area immediately south of the Somme, our
Correspondent at the British front says the
enemy has put in more new divisions, which
show signs of aggressiveness.  Our Correspondence
comments on the wild statements in
German official reports.
A description of the fighting retreat of the
British and French troops immediately north
of the Oise to the present line from Montdidier
to Noyon is given by our Correspondent with
the French Armies.
Eleven German aeroplanes and two balloons
were destroyed by the British on Monday, and
six other aeroplanes were driven down out of
control.  Eleven of our machines are missing.
____________________________
"THE TIMES" FUND.
The Times Fund on behalf of the British Red
Cross Society and the Order of St. John
amounted on Wednesday to £9,652,842 0s. 4d.
Particulars of some of the contributions are 
given on page 292.
Subscriptions should be sent to the Chairman
of the Joint Finance Committee, Sir Robert
Hudson, G.B.E., at 83 Pall Mall, London.
S.W.1. cheques being drawn to the Joint War
Committee and crossed "Bank of England, not 
negotiable."
____________________________________
AYETTE IN OUR HANDS.
____________________________________
A dispatch from General Headquarters in
France states that British forces between Arras
and Albert have captured the village of Ayette
with 192 prisoners.  Farther north in the valley
of the Scarpe they have repulsed a German
attack after brisk fighting.
To the south of Moreuil on the Avre and
north of Bollot, between Montididier and Lassigny,
local German attacks have been beaten
back.  North of Le Plemont, between Lasigny
and Noyon, the French widened their [[salient?]],
and took 60 prisoners on Tuesday night.
According to a German report Noyon Cathedral
is in flames.
____________________________________
WITH THE WOUNDED.
____________________________________
KING AND QUEEN'S VISIT.
The King and Queen visited the 1st London
General Hospital, Camberwell, on Tuesday afternoon,
and spend an hour and a half with officers
and men who have just arrived there from the
recent battles in France.  This hospital has 
received within the past few days about 80
wounded officers and roughly the same number
of rank and file.  Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald,
the Officer Commanding, welcomed the King
and Queen and presented Colonel Waring
(principal surgeon), Lieutenant-Colonel Seton-
Stuart (registrar), Miss Fox-Davies (Principal
matron), and Miss Appleyard, the matron.
During the tour of the wards members of the
medical and surgical staffs were also presented.
Their Majesties spoke to nearly every patient
in the officer's wards, displaying the keenest
sympathy and concern.  One of the men's 
wards was inspected in detail, and here also
the Royal visitors talked with a number of
patients.  They found it impossible in the
time at their disposal to see all the men, but
they desired that their good wishes and their
earnest hope of complete recovery should be
conveyed to all.

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278  THE TIMES WEEKLY EDITION. (APRIL 5, 1912.
ENEMY BROUGHT TO A STANDSTILL.
THE GREAT BATTLE
IN THE WEST.
____________________
ALLIES' SUCCESSES.
____________________
GERMAN ANDVANCE BARRED,
AND GROUND GAINED.
The great battle on the Western front
proceeds, and the fighting has been of the
most violent kind, but the stanchness of
the France-British troops has brought the
enemy practically to a standstill.
The following dispatches from our Special
Correspondents at the front give a vivid
picture of the struggle in which the French
and British soldiers are bearing themselves
with such heroism.
(From Our Special Correspondent.)
WAR CORRESPONDENTS'S HEAD-

QUARTERS, MARCH 27.
On the northern part of the battle front, the
chief fact of importance is that we have fallen
back slightly in the neighbourhood of Albert.
Between the Anere and the Somme we have also
withdrawn to a line west of Moriancourt.  But
though there have been light collisions between
small bodies of troops in this area, the Germans
are coming on reluctantly, either because they
are waiting for their guns or because they are tired
and more new divisions are coming in.  [The 
War Office announce the recapture of Moriancourt.)
Below the Somme, the chief fighting has taken
place about Proyart, Rosieres, and Guerbigny.
In the Proyart area the enemy has pushed us
back a thousand yards or so.  [It was officially
reported last night that our line had again been
advanced to Proyart.]  Near Rosieres he attacked
in considerable strength this morning, and at
one time was in possession of his objective.  At
about 11 o'clock we counter-attacked, and drove
him out and re-established our original positions.
Much the same took place below here in the
area of Guerbigny, and, on the whole, the results
of the day's exchanges on this part of the line
have been in our favour, even though we have
lost some ground.
Much the same is true of the northern region.
Along the section of our line Guemappe-Ablainaeville
pressure has been only moderate, and the
Germans have made no progress.  About
Ablainaeville itself, however, they attacked with
great determination several times and were
beaten off each time.  The ground attacked remains
in our hands, and the enemy losses are
heavy.
Below here there have been [[almost?]] similar
incidents at Auchonvillers and near Colincamps.
At Auchonvillers the Germans at one time got
into our positions and had held them long enough
to bring in 11 machine-guns and put themselves
in positions of defence.  None the less, we
reattacked with great dash, and recaptured the
positions and took the machine-guns and some
prisoners, among them certain officers who insist
on wearing nice new yellow gloves, and generally
bearing themselves in a thoroughly Prussian
offensive way.
At Colincamps the story was much the same.
The Germans, by a sudden attack in strength, 
made us give way.  Then we came back, and, by
sheer superiority in individual fighting quality,
our men won back all the ground.
Give-and-take fighting has since been in progress
among comparatively light forces on both
sides in the area of Aveluy Wood and Mesmil,
but at neither place in the end did the Germans
win any ground.  Here again we took prisoners,
who tell stories of being excessively tired of the
war and complain bitterly of the badness of their
rations.
In the northern area the German shelling has
been fairly heavy and sustained, especially
heavy on places south of the river from gun
positions on the north side.  Otherwise, on the
whole, while the day has been fruitful of rumours
of large movements and successes on one side
or the other, it has been less eventful than any
of its predecessors.
The nights nowadays are almost busier than
the days, both sides doing much bombing
of the other's positions, the Germans
choosing towns with civilian populations rather
than points of military importance, doubtless
from a desire to cause panic among the French
people and influence their opinion on the war.
The civilians, however, are being methodically,
and in gradual fashion, evacuated from the most
dangerous areas.
The enemy has been bombing Amiens ruthlessly.
One bomb missed the Cathedral by a 
very narrow margin.  I have passed through
Amiens twice to-day and have seen most of the
damage done, and can testify to the completely
needless way in which bombs were dropping in
all parts of the town.
The fine weather continues, and even if it is
in favour of the Germans from the military
standpoint, one is glad of it for the sake of the
refugees from threatened towns, who are passing
in considerable numbers along the roads, offering
the usual pathetic spectacles of aged men
and girls wheeling all their family possessions on
peramulators, wheelbarrows, or handcarts, and
invalid women borne on improvised stretchers
of shutters or planks.  Many of the poor family
parties are accompanied by cows, donkeys, and
goats, and all, it seems, by dogs, while the
children carry cages with canaries in them in
their hands.
THE BEST OF THE FIGHTING.
I have myself to-day travelled so far over the 
areas behind the lines and returned so late after
starting in the early morning that nothing more 
than this most perfunctory account of the day
is possible.  In spite of some geographical gains
on the enemy's part, it has by no means been
a day to reduce our confidence.  Where we have
fallen back, it has been done chiefly without
any pressure and undoubtedly on sound grounds.
Where there has been fighting we have had the
best of it in the great majority of cases.
The scenes which I have witnessed, among
men going into the line and coming out alike,
make ridiculous the German official statement
that the British Army is beaten.  It is no more
beaten than is the French, and one of the inspiring
incidents of this battle has been the way
in which, when French troops relieved some of
ours when our Allies first began to cooperate in
this battle, they percolated into the line between
our men, till they were in strength enough for
our men to fall back : and there was an interval
when the two Allies were standing literally
shoulder to shoulder, and whole sections of line
were mingled, blue and khaki, almost in alternate
uniforms.  It was emblematic of what still
confronts the Germans to-day.
EXTENT OF GERMAN GAINS.
[map - refer original document]
ARMY'S SPIRIT.
___________________________
THE GREAT STAND ON NORTH
FRONT.
(From Our Special Correspondent.)
WAR CORRESPONDENTS' HEAD.
QUARTERS, MARCH 28.
Our Army grows in confidence.  It is quite
possible that you may hear of further German
advances, but, so far as the British Army is
concerned, there is a wide feeling that, though
extremely heavy fighting is yet ahead, we have
gone through an ordeal worse than anything
likely to come.
I would not for a moment desire to breed a 
feeling of security and complacency at home.
The trial must yet be severe, for Germany is
undoubtedly throwing all her strength into the
battle, and that strength is far from exhausted.
At the same time, the German progress has
been much less than they confidently expected.
The magnificent way in which the north of
our line has held against the tremendous weight
thrown upon it frustrated, on the first day, the
enemy dreams of an immediate break through,
which was to be followed by the rolling up of
our front from the flanks.  Since then their
progress, though continued, h has been contested
at every yard.  For days, at large parts of the
line, we have not moved from our positions
except to throw back the menace hurled at us.
Nowhere have the Germans so pierced our 
front that any process of rolling up can possibly
begin.
On the north of our line, especially south of
the Scarpe end in the Albert area, the Germans
in the last 24 hours have been trying hard to
get forward, but our resistance is now stronger
than when the battle began, and, as I told
yesterday, in the vast majority of local incidents
we have the best of it.
Between the Anere and the Somme there is
no change in the situation.  The Germans
appear to be somewhere about Moriancourt,
and we still bar his way across the stream to
stream in the neighbourhood of Mericourt-
Sailly-le-Sec.  South of the Somme there has 
been no alteration since I wrote yesterday,
where our line then had everywhere held firm
against repeated attacks at Rosieres [mark over e] and
elsewhere, having only given way at that one
point near Proyart.  To-day, by a counter-
attack, we have won back part, at least, of the
[[area?]] gain which the enemy made there yesterday.
We hear that the French are having very
heavy fighting in the area of Montdidier, but
this is outside the scope of the British Army.
We have no [[fear?]] that the French cannot take
care of everything the Germans can do.  Whether
the Germans take this place or that and advance 
no far or farther, this is not a matter of geography,
but of the final strength of armies and 
nations, and we have even less apprehension
now than when the supreme trial began a week
ago.
MAGNIFICIENT GUNNERS.
To us out here it seems incredible that any
one at home should, at such a moment, have
any other thought than for the Army and for
victory, or that any domestic difference of
whatever kind should persist.  The Army needs
all your thoughts, all your help, and all your
prayers.  And it has earned and deserves them.
Whatever happens on the map, be assured that
no soldiers over fought more splendidly than
your men are fighting out here now, or than
they propose to fight, and will fight through
whatever is in store.
In speaking in this way one's mind naturally
goes instinctively to the infantry and the man
with the rifle, but other men here are just as
fine.  No troops could possibly have behaved
better than the gunners, and in this I would
especially say that I do not mean field gunners
alone.  The Royal Garrison Artillery has borne
itself magnificently.  The strain upon the men
with the heavy guns has been stupendous, and
their endurance, their resource, and their
courage have been beyond all praise.  The
German claims of numbers of guns taken
cannot be even approximately correct, unless
they include the Tank guns taken and the
enormous majority of other pieces which were
already smashed by shell-fire or had broken
down and were derelict, while others were
destroyed by our men before leaving them.
As examples of the behaviour of our gunners, 
there was a case of a battery of field guns
which fired with open sights on the advancing
massess of the enemy, beginning from 800 yards
range downwards.  They went on firing and
literally mowing down the enemy in blocks till
the Germans were within 25 yards, when the
last gun was got away and the whole battery
was saved.  In another case two batteries
of six-inch howitzers, near Morchier, completely
broke up a heavy German attack.  One
battery fired from the open at 1,000 yards
range, and others from cover at 1,700 yards got
on to masses of Germans trying to advance
and completely broke them up, and the attack
utterly failed.
From all directions one hears the same story
of the splendid heart in which the gunners
have kept, in spit of almost intolerable weariness,
of the utter absence of any demoralization,
and of the refusal of the guns ever to get back
until absolute necessity compelled.
Besides the almost incredible number of
German machines brought down in fighting,
the cooperation of the flying men with the guns
has been admirable.  In addition, there are
parts of the front where, in these last four days,
we have had literally hundreds of machines
patrolling over enemy territory, firing on men
on the roads, so making it impossible for them
to advance, compelling them to take cover in
small parties and chasing them over the open.
The casualties inflicted in this way have been
very great.  Then we bomb all crucial points
at night in a merciless way.  There is a certain
bottle-neck where everything going towards one
sector of the front must pass through and a 
constant stream of transport and guns.  On
this spot we have dropped some tons of
bombs nightly, and the whole area is a 
scene of dreadful wreckage.  The troops in
front, as prisoners tell us, have the utmost
difficulty in getting any provisions, and the 
whole contribution of the Air Force to our
fighting strength is of the greatest value.
There are individual cases where single
British flyers have met parties of nine or 10
enemy machines and have shot down one or
more and come triumphantly home.  But we
have to go far behind the enemy lines to get
any fighting in the air, and the most brilliant
work of the airmen has been perhaps in the real
battle area in attacking any enemy troops.
During the last 24 hours I have said that
fighting nowhere has been on a great scale,
and on the whole the balance has been in our 
favour.  In the early morning the Germans
attempted a fairly heavy attack on the extreme
north of the line above the Scarpe at
Gavrelle, but it was held and beaten off, and it
finally tailed off into our hunting the enemy
out of a trench position with bombs.
More [[xxxx?]] has been the movement south
of the Scarpe, where the Germans succeeded in
making some advance on a front of about 2,000
yards in the neighbourhood of Orange Hill,
and fierce fighting is raging about Infantry
Hill.  The attack, which has pushed us 
back on this bit of the front over the 
ground of the last stage of the battle 
of Arras, was preceded by a heavy
bombardment shortly before 6 o'clock in the
morning.  The attack was made in strength,
and fighting is still going on.  Below here there
has also been fairly heavy local fighting about
Boisleux, Boiry, Ablainaeville and Moyenneville;
and it will be noticed that this is the
area where we have been fighting for three days 
now, so little progress has the enemy made
here.
FIERCE LOCAL STRUGGLES.
Between Ablainaeville and Moyenneville is
some high ground before Ayette, which the
Germans have made repeated and desperate
attempts to capture.  More than once they
have been in possession of part of the ground,
and have been driven out again.  There is a
similar local rise between Boyelle and Boisleux
which the Germans made a determined attempt
to take this morning, and wre brilliantly
driven back by a counter-attack.  Yet a 
third attack by Boisleux is similarly hammered
and beaten back.
About Gommecourt and Hebuterne, Beanmont
Hamel and Serre, and all this blood-
soaked area of the Somme battle, there have
been similar local struggles of more or less
fierceness.  Nowhere has the enemy made any
ground, much of the fighting raging about the
actual old German front line which we attacked
on the first day of the Somme.  Just north of
Albert the enemy has been driving against our
line in considerable strength.  He was badly
beaten in attacks on Authuille and Avelny
Wood, and the only point at which he gained a 
yard was near the village of Aveluy, where he
was reported at noon to have bent in one small
sector of our front.
All these things, however, though the struggles
have sometimes been of extreme bitterness, are
comparatively small incidents in the whole
gigantic drama.  In general, the gain that the
enemy has made in the last two days has been
nugatory, and we still hold the line to which we 
deliberately fell back.
Even when one recognizes to the full the
extent of the gains which the Germans have
made and the gravity of the conflict as it still
continues, it is impossible not to remember that
by this time, after a whole week of fighting,
according to German plans they ought to have
been rolling up our line at will and ranging
magnificently over vast areas in open warfare.
Instead of that they find in front of them troops
stronger in numbers and as stubborn in spirit
as those before them on the first day, and they
are compelled to fight hard to try to gain a few
yards of ground.  If satisfaction be too strong
a word to be used yet, we may at least regard 
the present situation with some confidence.
SOME FAMOUS DIVISIONS.
In the last two days the Field-Marshal
Commanding-in-Chief has mentioned a number
[*F*]

[*83*][*83*]
[*5
A*]
APRIL 5, 1918]  THE TIMES WEEKLY EDITION.  287
LICHNOWSKY'S MEMOIRS.
EXPOSURE OF BERLIN POLICY.
(By Our Correspondent formerly in Berlin.)
Some of the German newspapers which have
now reached London contain the bulk of the
extraordinary memorandum which was drawn
up in August, 1916, by Forman German Ambassador 
in London, Prince Lichnowsky.
It will be remembered that the first part of
the memorandum was published in the Swedish
Socialist journal Politiken,  On March 16 the
matter came before the Main Committee of
the Reichstag and the Vice Chancellor,  Herr 
von Payer, read the letter of  [[apology?]] which had
been addressed by Prince Lichenowsky to the
Imperial Chancellor, Count Hertling.  The
German Government apparently made frantic
efforts to stop further disclosures, and did
not[[ begin?]] upto March 19 its careful report
of the proceedings in Committee.  Meanwhile
publication in the Stockholm Politiken
was mysteriously suspended, and the 
activity of the German Legations in neutral
committee generally can easily be imagined.
But the [[murder?]] was out.  A good many
German journals have not even now published
the memorandum, and German public opinion
has for the past week been implored to believe
that Lichnowsky is either a fool or a knave,
and that what he says does not matter.  Even
in Germany, however, the truth is gradually
becoming known.
Prince Lichnowsky's letter to Count Hertling
was written on March 5, and it contains an
interesting passage which the German Government
did not think fit to telegraph abroad in
its reports of the Reichstag [[debate?]].  This 
passage shows that the memorandum leaked
out last summer, after the fall of Bethmann
Hollweg, and that it leaked out from the 
German General Staff :  After saying that he
had ventured to show his memorandum, under
a pledge of absolute secrecy, to "quite few
political friends." Prince Lichnowsky writes:-
Unfortunately one of these gentlemen, without my
knowledge, gave my memorandum to an officer to
read - an officer employed in the political department
of the General Staff, whom I did not know, but who
took a lively interest in these questions.  Completely
failing to understand the importance of what he was
doing, the officer manifolded the memorandum
and sent it to a number of personages, most of
whom are unknown to me.
When I learnt of the mischief it was unfortunately
too late to call in all the copies that had been given
out.  I placed myself at the disposal of the then
Imperial Chancellor, Herr Michaelis, and expressed
to him my very deep regret at the whole painful affair.
Since then, keeping in constant touch with the
Foreign Office, I have striven to prevent as far as
possible the further circulation of my observations,

but unfortunately without the desired success.
I now translate from the Vorwarts all the
most important parts of the memorandum -
the history of the crisis which led to war.  The
Vorwarts says that the whole of these "decisive
chapters" are reproduced without abbreviations.
Under the heading "Servian Crisis," Prince 
Lichnowsky writes: ---
At the end of June, 1914 I proceeded to Kiel by
order of the Kaiser.  A few weeks before i had
been given the honorary degree of Doctor at Oxford,
a distinction conferred upon no German Ambassador
since Her von Bunsen.  On board the Meteor
(the Kaiser's yacht) we heard of the death of the
Archduke, the heir to the Austrian Throne.  His
Majesty expressed regret that his efforts to win the
Archduke over to his ideas had thus been rendered
vain.  Whether the plan of pursuing an active
policy against Servia had already been determined
upon at Konopischt I cannot know.
As I was uninformed about views and events at
Vienna, I attached no far-reaching importance to
this event.  Not until later was I able to establish
the fact that among the Austrian aristocrats a feeling
of relief outweighed other sentiments.  One of his
Majesty's other guests on board the Meteor was an
Austrian, Count Felix Thun. Although the weather
was splendid, he lay all the time in his cabin, suffering
from sea sickness.  When the news arrived he was
well : he had been cured either by the shock or by
joy.
When I arrived in Berlin I saw the Imperial Chancellor,
and said to him that I regarded our foreign
situation as very satisfactory, since our relations
with England were better than they had been for
a very long time past.  I also remarked that a
pacifist Ministry was in power in France.
Herr von Bethmann Hollweg seemed not to share
my optimism, and he complained about [[Russian
aromantics?]].  I tried to calm him and insisted
especially that Russia had no interest in attacking
us, and that such an attack would, moreover, never
obtain the support of England and France, as both
countries wanted peace.
I then went to Dr. Zimmermann (the Under-Secretary),
who was representing Herr von Jagow
(Foreign Secretary), and from him I learnt that
Russia was about to raise 900,000 fresh troops.  His
words showed an unmistakable animosity against
Russia, who, he said, was everywhere in our way.
Difficulties about commercial policy were also involved.
Of course I was not told that General von 
Moltke (Chief of General Staff) was [[pressing?]] for 
war.  I learnt, however, that Herr von Tschirschky
(German Ambassador in Vienna) had received a
rebuke because he reported that he had advised
moderation in Vienna towards [[xx?]].
I went to [[Siberia?]] and on my way back to London
I spent only a few hours in Berlin, where I heard that
Austria intended to proceed against Serbia, in order
to put an end to 'an intolerable' state of affairs.
POTSDAM COUNCIL ON JULY 5.

Subsequently I learnt that at the decisive conversation 
at Potsdam on July 5 the inquiry addressed 
to us by Vienna found absolute assent among all
the personages in authority : indeed, they added
that there would be no harm if a war with Russia
were to result.  So, at any rate, it is stated in the
Austrian protocol which Count Mensdorff (Austrian
Ambassador) received in London.  Soon afterwards
Herr von Jagow was in Vienna, to discuss everything
with Count Berchtold (Austrian Foreign Minister).
I then received instructions that I was to [[induce?]]
the English Press to take up a friendly attitude [[to?]]
Austria gave the "death-blow" to the Great Serbian
movement and as far as possible I was by my influence
to prevent public opinion from opposing Austria.
Recollections of the attitude of England during the
[[xxxx?]] crisis, when public opinion showed
sympathy for the Serian rights in Russia, recollections
also of the [[benevolent?] promotion of national
movements in the time of Lord Byron and Garibaldi
- these and other things spoke so strongly against
the probability of support being given to the projected
[[punitive?]] expedition against the murderers
that I considered it necessary to give an urgent 
warning.  Had I also given a warning against the
whole project, which I described as adventurous and
dangerous, and I advised that moderation should be
recommended to the Austrians, because I did not 
believe in the localization of the conflict.
Herr von [[Jagow?]] answered me that Russia was not
ready : there would doubtless be a certain amount of 
[[xxx?]], but the more firmly we stood by Austria
the more would [[Russia?]] draw back.  He said that
Austria was already [[xxxx?]] us of want of spirit,
and that we should not [[refuse?]] her.  On the other
hand , feeling Russia was becoming ever more
[[xxx?]], and so we must simply [[xxx?] it.
This attitude, as I learnt later, was based upon
reports from