Part 16

Soldiers on land and sea! The fourth year of war, which began today, finds you full of pride for the hard trials you have faced, and which, with admirable courage, you have overcome. In face of your firm decision to resist to the utmost the enemy was obliged to call a halt, and in daring and magnificent actions you have many a time shown him the indomitable spirit and resolute will to conquer with which you are animated. This priceless energy, revivified by the faith which your country has in you, is strengthened still further by the anxiety with which your oppressed and despoiled brothers await your coming.

Soldiers on land and sea! With the sacred image of a country entirely freed from the enemy imprinted in the very depths of your hearts, together with the ideals of justice and civilization which our war has adopted as its aims, I will accompany you in your future struggles, certain that the reward for the tireless energy which you, in common with our valiant allies, have shown will not be delayed much longer.

President Wilson sent the following message to the Italian people, after it had been read by Secretary Lansing at a Washington celebration of Italy's anniversary:

I am sure that I am speaking for the people of the United States in sending to the Italian people warm fraternal greetings upon this, the anniversary of the entrance of Italy into this great war, in which there is being fought out once for all the irrepressible conflict between free self-government and the dictation of force. The people of the United States have looked with profound interest and sympathy upon the efforts and sacrifices of the Italian people, are deeply and sincerely interested in the present and future security of Italy, and are glad to find themselves associated with a people to whom they are bound by so many personal and intimate ties in a struggle whose object is liberation, freedom, the rights of men and nations to live their own lives and determine their own fortunes, the rights of the weak, as well as the strong, and the maintenance of justice by the irresistible force of free nations leagued together in the defense of mankind. With ever-increasing resolution and force we shall continue to stand together in this sacred common cause. America salutes the gallant Kingdom of Italy, and bids her Godspeed.

France's Tribute to Great Britain

Great Britain's "Empire Day" was celebrated May 24 throughout France. In Paris there was an imposing demonstration at the Sorbonne, at which were present the President of the republic, Ministers, Ambassadors, and Deputies. President Deschanel of the Chamber in speaking of "the prodigy of Great Britain's effort" said:

This people of seamen and merchants came forward as volunteers in crowds; in the Spring of 1915 there were 2,400,000, and at the end of the same year 3,000,000. In May, 1916, King George announced that 5,000,000 men had been raised by voluntary recruitment. But this did not suffice. Parliament voted compulsory service, the greatest victory that the people ever gained over itself, a triumph of duty and conscience, the pledge of that victory which we shall win together over the enemy.

When Germany over a year ago proclaimed unrestricted submarine warfare, she announced, too, England's capitulation at short notice. Instead of that hundreds of thousands of Americans are crossing the seas as allies. Germany has united France and England not for the present struggle but forever.

Before the war there was in a Calais belfry a Flemish peal of bells. On the clock dial two knights armed with lances--Henry VIII., King of England, and Francis I., King of France. Every time the hour struck they exchanged lance thrusts--one at 1 o'clock, three at 3 o'clock, and twelve at midday. A German shell hit the knights and ended the fight forever. It is the only German shell which ever showed esprit, remarked a French wit.

Georges Leygues, Minister of Marine, who spoke in the name of the French Government, said that, thanks to the maritime supremacy of Great Britain, the Entente had the mastery of the sea and could look to the future without concern. Reviewing the work that the navies silently accomplished, he mentioned that in the course of last month they had sunk more submarines than the Germans were building. They protected the transports which in April disembarked on the coasts of France more than 400,000 soldiers.

"In the past," he continued, "mastery of the sea was always a powerful means of conquest. At present it forms in addition a powerful guarantee with which none other is comparable. The enemy knows that he will retain neither in the east, nor in the west, nor in the south the territories which he momentarily occupies, and he knows, moreover, that he will not wrest from us the mastery of the sea. That being so, the issue of the war is certain, and the navies take their place in the gratitude of the Entente alongside of its incomparable armies."

America's First Anniversary in France

President Poincaré of France sent the following cablegram to President Wilson on June 13, the anniversary of the arrival in France of the first American troops:

The Allies, owing to the Russian capitulation, are living through the most difficult hours of the war, but the rapid formation of new American units and the uninterrupted increase in oversea transportation are leading us with certainty toward the day when the equilibrium is restored.

President Wilson replied as follows:

MR. PRESIDENT: Your telegram was certainly conceived in the highest and most generous spirit of friendship, and I am sure that I am expressing the feeling of the people of the United States, as well as my own, when I say that it is with increasing pride and gratification that they have seen their forces under General Pershing more and more actively co-operating with the forces of liberation on French soil.

It is their fixed and unalterable purpose to send men and materials in steady and increasing volume until any temporary inequality of force is entirely overcome and the forces of freedom made overwhelming, for they are convinced that it is only by victory that peace can be achieved and the world's affairs settled upon a basis of enduring justice and right. It is a constant satisfaction to them to know that in this great enterprise they are in close and intimate co-operation with the people of France.

WOODROW WILSON.

President Poincaré also sent a message to General Pershing, heartily praising "the gallant troops of your command who behaved so magnificently in the recent battles." He expressed the firmest hope in the continuation of the American successes.

General Pershing replied to President Poincaré as follows:

Permit me to thank you, Mr. President, for your kind message on the occasion of this anniversary. The enthusiastic reception which Paris gave us then has since been extended by all your people to the American Army.

Today our armies are united in affection and resolution, with full confidence in the final success which will crown the long struggle for liberty and civilization.

The following telegrams were also sent to General Pershing:

On the anniversary of your arrival in France to take command of the American troops I wish, my dear General, to express to you once more the greatest admiration

_To whom the Emperor Karl wrote his famous peace letter. The Prince is fighting on the side of the Allies_

for the powerful aid brought by your army to the cause of the Allies. With ever-increasing numbers the American troops cover themselves with glory under your orders in barring the route of the invader. The day is coming when, thanks to the superb effort of your country and the valor of persons, the enemy, losing the initiative of operations, will be forced to incline before the triumph of our ideal of justice and civilization.

CLEMENCEAU.

A year ago you brought to us the American sword. Today we have seen it strike. It is the certain pledge of victory. By it our hearts are more closely united than ever.

FOCH.

MY DEAR GENERAL: Your coming to French soil a year ago filled our country with enthusiasm and hope. Accept today the grateful homage of our soldiers for the daily increasing aid on the battlefield brought by their American brothers in arms. The last battles, where the magnificent qualities of courage and military virtue of your troops were demonstrated in so brilliant a manner, are a sure guarantee of the future. The day is not far off when the great American Army will play the decisive rôle, to which history calls this army on the battlefields of Europe. Permit me, my dear General, to express to you, on this anniversary day, my entire confidence and assure you of my feelings of affectionate comradeship.

PETAIN.

The Soldier Speaks

By JOHN GALSWORTHY

[By Arrangement with The London Chronicle.]

If courage thrives on reeking slaughter, And he who kills is lord Of beauty and of loving laughter-- Gird on me a sword! If death be dearest comrade proven, If life be coward's mate, If Nazareth of dreams be woven-- Give me fighter's fate!

* * * * *

If God is thrilled by a battle cry, If He can bless the moaning fight, If when the trampling charge goes by God Himself is the leading Knight; If God laughs when the gun thunders, If He yells when the bullet sings-- Then my stoic soul but wonders How great God can do such things!

* * * * *

The white gulls wheeling over the plow, The sun, the reddening trees-- We being enemies, I and thou, There is no meaning to these. There is no flight on the wings of Spring, No scent in the Summer rose; The roundelays that the blackbirds sing-- There is no meaning in those!

If you must kill me--why the lark, The hawthorn bud, and the corn? Why do the stars bedew the dark? Why is the blossom born? If I must kill you--why the kiss Which made you? There _is_ no why! If it be true we were born for this-- Pitiful Love, Good-bye!

* * * * *

Not for the God of Battles!-- For Honor, Freedom, and Right, And saving of gentle Beauty, We have gone down to fight!

The War in the Air

Attacks by Massed Squadrons of Airplanes Become an Important Factor in Battle

Aerial warfare entered upon a new phase with the opening of the German offensive in March, 1918, and largely bore out the prediction that the operations in the air would become almost as vital as those of infantry and artillery. Since early in the war airmen have been performing the scouting and observation functions which formerly belonged to the cavalry arm; and as the conflict has developed they have also become skilled in the art of harassing the enemy. So far these operations had been carried out by individual aviators or comparatively small squadrons, but the operations of March, 1918, witnessed the definite development of larger squadrons, manoeuvring as effectively as bodies of cavalry, and in massed formation attacking infantry columns. The possibilities of the new aerial arm were further demonstrated in the creation of a barrage, as effective as that of heavy artillery, for the purpose of holding back advancing bodies of infantry.

In the first days of the German offensive there took place an aerial battle which up to that time was unique in the annals of warfare. It was a battle not merely for the purpose of gaining the mastery of the air, but to aid allied infantry and artillery in stemming the tide of the German advance, and when the drive finally slowed down and came to a halt in Picardy, the allied airmen had undoubtedly contributed largely to the result.

During the first two days (March 21-22) of the German drive there was comparatively little aerial activity. The aviators on both sides were preparing for the impending battle, which actually began on the morning of March 23 and lasted all that day and the day following. At the end of the two days' struggle the allied airmen had gained a decisive victory, the point of which was complete ascendency in the air during the next five days, when the German aviators were entirely unable to prevent the allied fliers from doing what they liked.

UNPRECEDENTED AIR BATTLE

The story of the air battle of March 23-24 reads like one of the most extraordinary adventure tales ever imagined. The struggle began with squadrons of airplanes ascending and manoeuvring as perfectly as cavalry. They rose to dizzy heights, and, descending, swept the air close to the ground. The individual pilots of the opposing sides now began executing all manner of movements, climbing, diving, turning in every direction, and seeking to get into the best position to pour machine-gun fire into enemy airplanes. Every few minutes a machine belonging to an allied or German squadron crashed to the ground, often in flames. At the end of the first day's fighting wrecked airplanes and the mangled bodies of aviators lay strewn all over the battlefield.

All next day, March 24, the struggle in the air went on with unabated fury. The allied air squadrons were now on the offensive and penetrated far inside the German lines. The German aviators counterattacked whenever they could, and more than once succeeded in crossing the French lines. But at the close of the second day victory rested with the allied airmen, and during the next five days scarcely a German airplane took the air.

The nature of the military operations on the earth below during these five days, (March 25-29,) favored the allied airmen and permitted them to secure important results in attacking infantry. The Germans were advancing through the valley of the Oise and across the Picardy plains, while the Allies were endeavoring bring up sufficient reserves to hold back the advance. The fighting was now in the open, and except for walls, trees, and ditches there was practically no cover of which the Germans could take advantage. This was exactly what suited the allied air squadrons as they sallied forth to harass and hamper the advancing German columns, which they attacked by day and night. Many German units were completely destroyed by showers of bombs, others were dispersed and demoralized, and there is no doubt that the allied squadrons, unopposed for the time by German aviators, did much to retard the advance of the enemy columns. The allied airmen literally swarmed in the air, but in carefully organized formations, so that their attacks would reap the largest possible gain.

ARTILLERY COLUMN SHATTERED

Some of the separate episodes illustrate the advantage of unopposed aerial operations. On March 25, for instance, a German artillery column moving along the road between Guiscard and Noyon, was attacked by French airmen and entirely dispersed. The machine gunners in the airplanes killed or wounded many horses which either fell down in their harness and blocked the road, or, panic-stricken, bolted in all directions, leaving the roads and adjoining fields covered with dead men and animals, wrecked guns, caissons, and wagons. Bodies of infantry were similarly broken up, dispersed, or demoralized. Showers of bombs from the airplanes created a barrage, and entire companies of German infantry were annihilated. In addition, railroad stations were damaged, transports blocked, and military works and depots of all kinds destroyed or put out of commission. At no previous time in the war did armies suffer so severely as did the German forces during the five days, March 24-29, 1918. The allied airmen did not come out unscathed. Many were killed by rifle fire, and many machines were lost. But the Allies held the mastery of the air and turned it to the fullest advantage, while the Germans were organizing new aerial squadrons.

On the fifth day of this period of allied air supremacy German airplanes began to appear once more, and with the organization of new enemy squadrons, the Allies' ascendency was no longer uncontested. Richthofen and other German air commanders came on the scene with their squadrons, and from March 30 onward there was continued fighting in the air between the opposing forces.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION

A day-to-day story of the air fighting on the Western front would vary little in its recital of duels and raids and battles between opposing squadrons. But on some days there was more intense fighting than usual. Such a day was April 12, when the Allies achieved the feat of destroying or bringing down ninety-three enemy airplanes.

That day's work is described in Sir Douglas Haig's report from British Headquarters:

On the 12th inst. atmospheric conditions were favorable for flying, and a great concentration of our airplanes was effected by us on the battlefront. Large numbers of low-flying machines were employed in bombing and sweeping with machine-gun fire roads packed with the enemy's troops. Thirty-six tons of bombs and over 110,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by us.

While these attacks on ground targets were in progress, other formations, flying at a greater height, engaged the enemy's airplanes, which were extremely active in this sector. Other machines reconnoitred the battle area, bringing back information as to the positions of our own and the enemy's troops.

On the remainder of the British front the usual work in co-operation with our artillery was carried out, and a very large number of photographs taken.

In air fighting forty German machines were brought down by our airplanes, and twenty other hostile airplanes were driven down out of control. In addition, two of the enemy's machines were shot down by anti-aircraft-gun fire. Three hostile observation balloons were also destroyed. Twelve of our airplanes are missing.

After dark the incessant bombing carried out by us during the previous twelve hours was continued until dawn. Over twenty-two tons of bombs were dropped on different targets, including the Don and Douai railway stations, two important railway junctions between Mazières and Rheims, and roads leading up to the battlefront in the neighborhood of Estaires.

Sir Douglas Haig's report next day stated that low-flying machines reconnoitred the battlefront during the day and dropped over 1,200 bombs on the enemy's troops on roads leading to the front. The numbers of German airplanes destroyed on various days evidence the intensity of the air fighting. Thus, reports of successive days showed these totals: 21, 53, (two days;) 55, 21, 30, 97, (four days.) On May 25 it was stated that many more German airplanes had been added to the total of 1,000 machines recorded as having fallen to earth, or having been sent down out of control since the opening of the drive on March 21.

WORK OF BOMBING SQUADRONS

Some slight indication of the work of the bombing planes was given in a report of the British Air Ministry, which stated that the number of bombs dropped by British airmen over enemy lines in France, opposite the British front, during March was 23,099 by day and 13,080 by night. The Germans dropped in the area occupied by British troops 517 by day and 1,948 by night. During April the British dropped 6,033 bombs behind the enemy lines along the British front, and the Germans retaliated with 1,346 in the area occupied by British troops.

By reuniting practically all their available air force in the sector of attack the enemy won a short-lived superiority. On June 4 there was a good deal of air fighting, that day turning more steadily in favor of the Allies, who by the following day had gained the upper hand over the Germans.

A brilliant exploit by French aviators was that briefly recorded in the official report of June 5 to the effect that in the valley of the Savière French bombardment squadrons threw more than seventeen tons of bombs on enemy troop concentrations. Early in the afternoon the airmen were informed that a large number of Germans were assembling in the valley of the Savière. Owing to the configuration of the ground they were sheltered from the fire of artillery and it evident that they intended to reinforce the German move westward into the Forest of Villers-Cotterets. Bombplanes were sent out.

The effect of the bombs was tremendous. The German soldiers broke headlong for cover, abandoning all thought of fight. Ten minutes later a bombplane group of the same strength arrived on the scene. At first no Germans were visible; then circling low, the airmen discovered the enemy hiding in the horseshoe wood of Hautwison on the eastern side of the valley. Again the devoted battalions were subjected to a terrible bombardment amid trees that gave no protection. Before the decimated units could re-form the first squadron had returned with a new load, and once more the wood was filled with the roar of explosions.

No human morale could stand such triple strain. In vain the German officers tried to re-form their panic-stricken men. When the French infantry counterattacked they had an easy victory over the weakened forces that had made the advance. The airmen's success against the reserves had nullified an advance that might have been dangerous.

GERMANS FIGHT GERMANS

One of the most extraordinary episodes of recent aerial fighting was the battle waged on June 5 between two flights of German planes. It was an unintentional but disastrous fight between brother aviators, during which British pilots joyfully and impartially rendered assistance first to one side, then to the other, until so many of the German fliers had been destroyed or damaged that the conflict could not continue. According to eyewitnesses two British officers in a fighting machine were leading a patrol along the lines, when they sighted a German Halberstadt two-seater, which, upon their appearance, fired a green signal light. The British leaders expected a trap, and waited to see what this unusual performance meant. In a short time six German scouts came wheeling out of the blue and joined the Halberstadt. Almost at once six other enemy scouts dived out of the sun on their comrades, whom apparently mistook for a British patrol about to attack the Halberstadt.