1916-08-30 — Page 6

PICK-A-BACK ON A HUN. OFFICER'S FIND.

Á“ DESIRABLE” DUG-OUT,

THE CONQUEROR" OF BUKOVINA.

GENERAL LECHITSKY. -

THE HONGKONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30TH, 1916.

General P. A. Lechitsky, who has made Our wounded soldiers have little to such an onslaught on General Pflanzer's

offer to the secker after tragic gloom or infernal error.

Take the case of second lieutenant in a Yorkshire battalion, who before the war gave his days to office work and his le'sure to outdoor sports and amic- ments. He landed at Southampton as a

army in Bukovina, is a self-made man, and owes his career solely to his genius, writes a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MESOPOTAMIA.

(BY LOVAT FBASEN.]

The Mesopotamian misadventure makes the Crunean seandals of last century seem mild by comparison,

8000 were

in

The initial cause of our troubles in these regions was that when the Great War began the Army of India tried to do too much. It was organised for ope rations on and beyond its own frontier, spacious scale. In the first months large but not for over-sens expeditions on a forces were sent from India to France, It took him fully twenty-seven years Egypt, East Africa, and elsewhere! to attain the grade of colonel and com-Heavy calh were made on Indian stores. possibility that Turkey might enter stretcher case, by reason of the shrapnelmander of an infantry regiment. Here the war was evidently never fully en wound in his right thigh. This is how his initiative had a better opportunity.sidered. When the Turks drew the sword

He especially excelled in training the the Indian authorities ho sees his own particular bit of it:

"There's no doubt it's a great show, officers, each one of whom, oven to the difficulties. There's bound to be ups and downs, ofth-lieutenants, were from time to time course, and in some of the Boche regi- given special tasks to perform on their own responsibility, which quickened their ments there's a good deal of snap left. But, on the whole, I think we've got intelligence and gave fair play to their He distinguished himself initiative.

manœuvres near Petrograd, 'em now; I don't fancy they'll ever get the upper hand again. I duft want to during brag about our chaps, but they are im- having held, by his clever tactics, with a For measurably superior to any Bauerkraut single regiment, a whole division of his er. They're real sportsmen. You can't adversary at bay for half a day. make them throw their hands up and this he was made adjutant in the suite ury Mereg! they really don't know of the Tsar, who greatly admired this how it's done. In a general way they don't wish the Bothe any particular harm, but when their blood's warmed up, if they can get to grips there's no. Boche ever born cau eld them up.

feat.

THE RUB80-JAPANESE WAN.

WILL AUSTRIA HOLD ON? |

EFFECTS OF ALLIED SUCCESS.

Nine men out of ten on opening their newspaper and weing yet another mes- ange about further Austrian defeats men- tally exclaim, Well, it won't be long before Austria is out of it," says Mr. Writing with a very close knowledge The many Ernest Hamilton. of Austria Rungary and peoples under the sway of the Hapsburgs, he out of the war before the autumn, feel every confidence that Austria will This is, of course, provided that Ger many performs no military miracles, and few competent observers can be found to think that Germany is any longer in the Why do I think that Austria will retire position of miracle-worker. from a war which has brought her no Jaurels and at a time when even her most able historians will have to admit that

Word Austrian " Austria has been thoroughly defeated i First of all it is very important to means practically nothing. If a were to tell me that he is an Austrian I remember that the should first have to find out what his I could classify him, or have mother tongue and religion were before

tongue alin to Russian and aching to to his national sympathies, and expira tions. He might be a Czech speaking get away from the domination of Vienna: he may be a Croat or Bosnian Seel whose heart is rest when he thinks of the tragic plight of Serbia: In may w Clerical Viennese plotting to sell or he may be a Rumanian living in Tran hand over Austria to Berlin, or again

bit whether Slay or despite obligatory military service. triumphant from the conflict, and who, mains a neutral in the midar of the fight When Generaling in which he is taking part.

I had a curious experience of this in was with the Serbs in their

They hegan by doing the right thing well. Their one obvious task in a war with Turkey was to seize the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates at the head of the Persian Gulf in order to deny the Turks access to the sea, and to prevent the enemy from damaging the extensive oil area. They sent a single division under well acquired by the Admiralty in this General Sir Arthur Barrett, which drove seaport of Bussorah, and established an back the Turks, captured the important advanced base at Gorna, 116 miles from the sea, at the bend of the deep-water channel. Had the operations stopped there, as they ought to have done, and as they were originally meant to do, thou sands of homes in this country night not

aspira-

parados, making for their second line, been for many years chief of a regiment be mourning to increased in size. ylvania, who does not care a three-penny

But it was not until the Bus Japanese War that his real genius was It was as we climbed out over their felt. He knew the country well, having But it stationed in the East, and immediately that I got my leg punctured. dilla't hurt a bit, and I welt rigt en.proved how right were his mothods of Our chaps were in whooping fine form training. Here he won the St. George And then, only a few yards farther, came Cross, Golden Sword, for bravery, and was promoted general. He was one of that confounded shrap that messed up my thigh, killed my second sergeant, and the few Russian generals who emerged wounded two or three more. My platoon from the débucle without a spot on his sergeant wanted to stay with me, but of name. Not only that, but after the war course I wouldn't have that. What he he was given the command of the 1st You get Division of Guards and made general of The 1st Division of really wanted was to get on.

Guards is the most aristocratic Preobra on, at' give 'em bell! I told him; and the Tsar's suite.

ni went with the platoon.g

jensky regiment, and has always must distinguished commanders, chiefly from the best aristocratic families. Soon Lechitsky became Chief of the 18th Army Corps

I was in a bit of a small shell hole. However, after a bit I found I could get along the ground slowly without very much pain, and I wriggled back to that Boche front line and crossed it into a

What distinguished him bere was his shallow sap that had been pretty well pulverised by our heavies. I was resting democratic intercourse with the officers, After a year of command he knew all the thore when, if you'll believe me, I saw a Bothe offer come climbing cautiously up officers of his corps, not only their names out of a big dug-out we'd put six bombs but their individual capacities. With in. He was a captain. He had a bomb many of them he was on terms of inti- in one hand and a rifle and bayonet innate friendship-n thing hitherto a the other; and he was peering first one known in the Russian army, where & way and then the other, like a burglar. general during reviews would never shake

Oh, you beauty ! I thought. And just hands with the officers on duty. then he snuggled down against a gap in their parados (back wall of a trench): near the dug-out and bedded his rifle. comfortably for firing at our chaps in kis

second line.

about it.

FOUR HUN OFFICERS SNIPED.

I charged my breech again, and no Huner done that my next target hobs up

lieutenant, 1 got him while he w looking at his captain; I aimed for his shoulder blades, but the old gun kicked u bit and I got him through the head. Seemed I might as well be in a grou hurt, and nothing less than officers for targets, mind you. Well, to cut it short two more Leutenants came up from that same dug-out, making in all three lieure

to

THE SYMPATHETIC TOUCH,

I remember his first review, when at

He arrived much earlier than be was ex- the head of the 16th Army Corps, pected by etiquette, and surprised the chief of a regiment scolding a man in the ranks. The man became quite fright-

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The expedition was and in April of last year General Sir John Nixon took over the commanil from General Barrett. From that moment cau- tion was abandoned and the operations spread far and wide. we had a brigade at Ahwaz, on the River1912, when Nixon arrived we were holding Kurna, bulk of the forces were still around Travelling with us Kacun, to guard the pin-line, but the brilliant campaign against the Turks Bussorah. By June 3rd General Nixon had twelve Austrian and Hungarian news- advanced up the Tigris to Amara, 87 miles paper correspondents. Of these only one The above Kurna. By July 24th he had sent was of Gerrian descent and sympathies. another expedition in an entirely diffe- and he was, a German-American

ly discussed in front of the German rent direction to Nasiriych, on the Euph-others were keen anti-Germans, who free- the ardent rates, 100 miles from Kurna.

newspaper correspondents hopes for a free and pro-Slav Balkan confederation which would put Ger- many's nose out of joint.

I know the reasons put forward in support of these advances. If they are sound, we might equally well have tried to march to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean but they were not sound in view of the drain on the resources of India. We should never have gone out of reach of the deep-water channel. While General Nixon pushed on, no ade- quate stiempt was made to organise river transport, and the question of building light railways never seems to have been seriously

*

considered.

or

B.B. ARAKAN *

It is very important to remember that less than a third of the population of Ausicia-Hungary is German by language, descent or sympathies.

see

NOT A TEMPLE'S WAR, I was in Austria when war was de clared, and, with the exception of Vienna The the slightest sign of enthusiasm. and a few other towns, I failed to War was never a people's war. It would The Turks concentrated again at Kutbe very difficult indeed to imagine a el-Amara, 143 miles above Amara and 346 miles from the sea by the river route, General Nixon resolved to attack them. and by his direction General Townshend fought the successful battle of Kat on

Reptember 28th. Thenceforth misfortune

people's war in Austria, having re gard to the diversity of the peoples there. Jearned that Austria-Hungary soon.

expansion by there was going to be no conqueat as the result of this war gar

to expand at the expense of Austria. less it was that other States were going True, Serbia was, in the end overrun and the hated Serb driven out of his country, but there the ointment was so full of where the Austrian ng was to be seen Ries that here was no balu in it. For in Serbia there could the German fing been in either Germany or Austria knows also be found, and everybody who has what the two countries think of each other,

Still, so long as Germany was fighting Austria's battles-pushing back Russians here and invading Serhis there-Austria Vienna is noted for did not complain. its feminine quality of leaning anywhere for support.

nants and one captain, and I got 'em alleak with the chief of the regiment. transport, commissariat, and medical to She began to show her cards by

If a private dore not understand some- And then a private came up, with thing it is the sergeant's fanit," said he never weapon of any sort in his hand,Then you must scold the sergeant. But and tile fear of God in his white face under no circumstances must you fright- You're a Boche,' I thought, probably en the poor devils. They only lose their

batman (servant), but certainly a heads." Boche and you ought to be shot, but you've got nothing in your silly hands.' It was too much like a sitting bird, you Here!" 1 know. Couldn't manage it. shouted at him. And do you know, he fell just as if I'd shot him.

A BAD QUARTER OF AN HOUR,

got a motor-bike that summer and one chiefs of regerficialities, were

*

Once, however, Germany was no longer willing, or able, to help Austria with plans, generals, and men, Vienna began to cool off. Vienna is like a cucotte who Then Germany committed a fatal mis- gets sulky when presents are scarce,

but quite unmistakably an economis proposing-indirectly and unofficially, union with Austria which would create a Central Europe. Germany is always likely to feel our coonomic hostility much more than our achievements in the field, for she knows that all wars come to an end, and it is only world-commerce that of Germany's can heal the wounds of a campaign.

Austria's reception economic proposals was distinctly un- flattering. A meeting of the Chambers of Commerce was held in Vienna, but the report of it was censored in toto. The Hungarian money magnates were immediately up in arias, Germany was not their market, and they had no futen- tion of passing into the tender care of the too clever Berliner.

our footsteps in Mesopotamia. You can bet I was glad I had my ened, and absolutely lost his head.

Baghdad is 100 miles from Kut by the ride and plenty of ammunition, I be General Lechitsky went direct to him, lieve in the good old service rifle. Never and asked what was the matter. The direct land route and 227 miles by water, did bother with revolvers and things Socolonel commanding the regiment ex- while it is 257 miles from the sea by the I got a beautiful bead on this chap, and plained to him, rather hotly, that the river route, on which supplies depended. A second later he was-I wonder where man was a fool, a disgras to the regi-Erroneously believing that Baghdad was drat Boches go: Bit rough on us if ment, and would surely spoil everything.lightly hold, General Nixon desired to never got them, but I expect there's a special compart General Lechitsky ordered the soldier take it. General Townsheud asked for ment down below somewhere for them out of the ranks. He approached the reinforcements, but Anyhow, he didn't have any tinte to think General, deadly pale, thinking that the General Nixon sent rosy reports of the worst would happen. But the General prospects of taking Baghdad, which were pasted him on the shoulder, and in transmitted through the Government of friendly tones began to ask about his India to the Home Government. village and his family. It happened that

We all know what happened next, they were both from the same province.

Look here," said General Lechitsky, General Townshend advanced to Cresi we are Zemliaki "fellow countrymenphon, a few miles from Baghdad, where ("you cannot be stupid as all that," he fought on November 22nd and follow- ing days. The Tarks produced new dive Then having put the soldier at his ease.

sions whose presence was unsuspected ho began to ask him questions. He an- swered them quite freely. Then General and he was driven back to Kut with Lechitsky congratulated him, and went heavy loss. It was at this stage that the arrangements first gravely broke dosil began. and that the sufferings of our wounded General Townshend was then besieged to Mesopotamia to relieve him. The in Kut, and reinforcements were hurr advance of the relief columns began under General Aylmer on January 4th, and various notions were fought between He then assembled the officers, put them that date and January 21st, about which severe examination on the the public has been very imperfectly in- parade ground instead of a march past, formed. We were told that the Turks through a and ordered different military evolutiona, were in flight, but we were not told of the "I tried hard to remember some Ger- made some soldiers undress, inspected misfortunes which befell our own troops, man. Chap in our office wanted to teach their feet and underwear, and then dis-largely owing to misjudgment of the me in the summer before the war, and missed them. Such a review was never enemy's capacity for resistance. About After the review many this time Sir John Nixon, who had an left I've often wished I'd stuck to it. But I con before,

who were only pre doubtedly become seriously ill,

veryMesopotamia, and the command was thing and another I didn't get far. Well, pared for

Yet nobody was punished, taken over by General Sir

Percy Lake I managed to clamber back to that trench little at ense.

number were reprimanded. and poke the Boche with the butt of my though a

The later operations to relieve Kut riffe till he found himself a little and After this General Lechitsky made it atood up. I meant to see that blessed practice to visit at least once fortnight failed, but in spite of the floods, the murt, bose regiments which were the worst in and the misery, there was at least one dug-out. Perhaps they've got their bloom-

the review, and on every day's routine moment when they ought to have succeed ing General Staff there, I thought.

taught their chief and superior officers ed. A strong British and Indian force how things must be done.

made a night march on the right bank to Es Sinn, the strong Turkish position astride the river, less than eight miles from Kut. General Aylmer was in comh- mand. At dawn on March 8th a brigade under General Kembell (now wounded) was in front (within 500 yards) of the great Dujailar redoubt, which was almost

These are the reasons that make me empty, as were the adjacent lines, A battalion colonel begged to be allowed to think that Austria will throw up the "I took a despatch case and all the take it, but permission was refused. Our spange. True, I do not share the views "I kept him in front, you may be sure:

hours watching the Turks, assemble. The utter dismemberment of the Empire, for but if I'd been an old blind beggar he loose papers on the table, and got the men had the mortification of lying for of so many others that there will be an wouldn't have had pluck enough to empty batman, to take me pick-a-back and carry suggestions made are that the orders were this would involve problems that would a bit the despatch case while I struck to my to attack at 9.8.m or 10 a.m. (after a take many weary years to solve. Never That dug-out was my tin can.

Now then, Gustave Wilhelm

march), and that these theluse, the time is drawing near when knocked about, you know, by our six rifle. hombs. But right at the back of the Albrecht von Bache, I said to him, weight,“ surprise

that our artillery, which was at no great and Buda-Pesth will say that she will lowest corner there was a sharp twist to will ausgang, as schnell as we can,, for orders were blindly adhered to further, Vienna will say that it is time for peace,

distance, might have shelled our own fight no more. the right and a door with broken glasa our own lines; compree?' panels, taken from a farmhouse by the

"He was a httle slow in the uptake, as troops. you might say, but tumbled to it after a Under the circumstances, ferther ex- look of it. Through that we went along

Others are telling in Parlia a passage, turned to the left, down four bit, especially when I donnerwettered planation is required, for neither of these rations. steps, and into a regular boudoir. Dug him a bit; and, really, he made quite less seeras admissable. The fact remains ment and elsewhere, of the privations out! Why there were a Turkey carpet good job of carrying me till me got close that the way to Kat lay open for hours, and the endless mismanagement. on the floor and beautiful tapestry cur-

to the old sap we used to call "Rim and Kut might have been cheved. The points I wish to emphasise are that the tains to the bunks. Never saw anything mel's" because of its high scent, on our ultimate attack failed, and a day or two public have never been officially told who like it.

own front. And there he got a chance later General Alymer left Mesopotamia is to blame, that no one has been punish- There were three cases of beer; very bullet through his left knee rather a Ho was given command of the Mhowed, and that these things are still going my own leg-and Division, one of the military prizes of on will only say one thing. When you, I had a bottle myself narrow shave for

India He

Lator attempts to relieve Kut good stuff too. right away. There were about hundred simply crumpled up like paper.

war, that were also unsucessful, General Town have said all that can be said about the eggs, two cut hams, pâté de foie gras in wasn't really

shend surrendered, and ever since we erring generals, and the defects of the this little jars, sausages, several boxes of batman.

"I'd a lot of trouble dragging him have kept a large force immobile in Indian system, it is still undeniable that:

the ultimate responsibility for: cigars, & ease of champagne, a gramo- phone, and lashing of cakes and chocolate. into our lines, my thigh being rather Mesopotamia.

But I got him into I have recited the bare facts of the tragic enterprise rests upon Mr. Asquith's There were an electric bell. a shell type-nasty just then,

the risks, and they were, capable of asses writer, and in one of the hurks I found cover at last, though by that time he had Mesopotamia madness, and have said Government. They were not ignorant of a lot of ribbons and things from ladies another bullet in his shoulder, and weep little of the losses and the sufferings of dresses and a pair of ladies' gloves. It ing from sheer fauk. Then one of our the troops, who even now, write letterseing the rash eagerness of General Nixon own bearers got us, and I was all right, complaining that they are on half- and the weak acquiescence cf General

Duff. (Continued on next Column.) was a regular show, that place.

and so was the batman. (Continued on next Column)

**DIESER DUG-OUT.”

"I had to get the Bache's help, but couldn't think how to tell him in German what I wanted. Finally, I made him un derstand. Look here, Bosky, I said, "Ich wille sehen dieser blooming dug out. Got that ?" Then I said, Donner- wetter and grinned at him to show there was no ill-felling, and he managed to make connection.

:

his

This war has found him Commander in-Chief of the Amur Military District, This is the man whom General Brusiloff chose as his aid in the formidable task of reconquering Galicia.

PICK-A-BACK ON THE HUN,

meant

for

THE INEVITABLE.

Meanwhile, Austria is opposed by two and rowerful foes. Booner or later Russia will force the Carpathian passes descend into the plain. Booner or later Italy will force the Tyrol out of Aus- tria's grasp, and she will lie helpless, her most vulnerable parts exposed to her enemies.

"And, patiently waiting her opport- move por- unity, is Rumania-slow to baps, but knowing exactly what she wants out of. Austria and determined to get the last drop of blood,

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