Chapter 2

In the recent victorious operations of the Russian Army the cavalry have taken a conspicuous part. The Headquarters announcement from Petrograd of November 10 said: "To the east of Neidenburg near the station of Muschaken (in East Prussia, about two miles from the frontier), Russian cavalry defeated a German detachment which was guarding the railway, captured transport, and blew up two bridges over the railway. On the 8th inst. our cavalry forced one of the enemy's cavalry divisions, which was supported by a battalion of rifles, to retreat towards Kalisz (near the border of German Poland)." The above drawing shows an engagement in Hungary between an Austro-Hungarian force and a body of Russian cavalry who had crossed the Carpathians from Galicia.

__________________________________________________________________________ 10--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

Dixmude, after a comparative lull since it was first bombarded by the Germans, recently became once more the objective of a fierce attack and fell into the enemy's hands. The afternoon communiqué issued in Paris on November 11 said: "At the end of the day (i.e., the 10th) the Germans had succeeded in taking possession of Dixmude. We are still holding on to the outskirts of this village, on the canal from Nieuport to Ypres, which has been strongly occupied. The struggle has been very fierce at these points." The late French communiqué issued the same night said: "The enemy throughout the day continued his effort of yesterday without achieving any fresh results.... He made vain attempts to debouch from Dixmude on the left bank of the Yser."--[Photo. by Newspaper Illustrations.]

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--11

Although the Germans undoubtedly scored a slight success by their occupation of Dixmude, they did so at enormous cost. It was reported from Amsterdam on the 11th that 4000 Germans severely wounded in the fighting round Dixmude had reached Liége. Dixmude was for three weeks gallantly defended by French Marines. The town is now little more than a heap of ruins. As our photographs show, the fine old church of St. Jean has been almost completely wrecked, and the Hotel de Ville has suffered great damage. It has been pointed out that the military value of Dixmude to the Germans is not very great, as it does not form part of the Allies' defensive line, but was held as a bridge-head on the east bank of the Yser.--[Photo. by Newspaper Illustrations.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 12--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

Dixmude, on the Yser, suffered terribly during the earlier stages of the great battle in West Flanders. It was stated on October 27 that French Marines holding the town had withstood a continuous attack lasting forty hours, at the end of which the place was in ruins. Mr. E. Ashmead Bartlett, who visited Dixmude on October 21, wrote (in the "Telegraph"): "The town is not very big, and what it looked like before the bombardment I cannot say.... An infuriated German army corps were concentrating the fire of all the field guns and heavy howitzers on it at the same time. There was not an inch that was not being swept by shells. There was not a house, as far as I could see, which had escaped destruction."--[Photo. by Newspaper Illustrations.]

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--13

Some idea of the destruction wrought by German shells in Nieuport may be gathered from this photograph of the interior of the church, another example of the fact, pointed out under a drawing on another page, that the German gunners do not respect the House of God. The church at Nieuport, which dated from the fifteenth century, was restored in 1903, and its massive baroque tower, visible from afar, could be easily avoided by artillerymen capable of accurate aim and desirous of sparing a sacred building. Nieuport has at least twice before in history been the scene of conflict. In 1489 it made a stubborn resistance to an attack by the French, and near it, in July 1660, was fought the Battle of the Dunes between the Dutch and the Spaniards.--[Photo. by Newspaper Illustrations.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 14--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

The bursting shrapnel marking the line of flight of that dread "steel dove," the Taube, comes from a new kind of anti-aircraft gun at the front. This weapon, generally used to fire a stream of shrapnel, also fires shells containing a composition for setting aircraft on fire, and its range-finder marks both the height of an aeroplane and its speed.--[Drawn by A. Forestier from a Sketch by H.C. Seppings Wright.]

We see here the finale of a fierce air-fight near Rheims. A German "Aviatik" biplane passed overhead and a French biplane with a machine-gun went at it, There was a hot contest until suddenly a French shot struck the "Aviatik's" motor. Taking fire instantly, the German craft fell blazing to the ground, where it burned to a cinder with its airmen.--[Drawn by Georges Scott from an Eye Witness's Sketch.]

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--15

The German base hospital for the troops in the coast battles and at Ypres was stationed at Bruges when our photograph was taken. The illustration shows two wounded Belgians--one who has just been lifted out from an ambulance-wagon is on a stretcher; the other stands, a grimly picturesque, overcoated and "hooded" figure, in the centre. Among the group of soldiers are sailor-garbed men of the Marine brigade, brought to Flanders to aid in garrisoning Antwerp and hold the coast batteries near Ostend and Zeebruggen. For the time being the entire city of Bruges, it is stated, has been converted into one immense hospital owing to the crowds of German wounded almost hourly arriving there, while trains with wounded soldiers are continually leaving for Germany.--[Photo. by Record Press.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 16--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

In our last issue we gave a photograph of a Galician town bombarded by the Russians, proving that they carefully avoid the destruction of churches. The German gunners, on the contrary, show no respect for the House of God, although their Emperor so often claims Divine approval. The havoc wrought by German shells in French and Belgian churches and cathedrals stands recorded in countless photographs and other illustrations, to form a permanent Indictment of Germany's methods of warfare that will make her name execrated by posterity. In the present instance not only the church itself was destroyed, but the very graves were torn open, and the bodies and bones of the desecrated dead flung from their places of rest--[Facsimile Drawing by H.C. Seppings Weight Special War Artist.]

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--17

It has been pointed out by a Naval correspondent that the German bayonet of which one edge is a saw is not really quite the barbarous weapon it seems, but is similiar to that carried by pioneers in British naval landing-parties, for use in sawing wood. The toothed edge, he mentions, is so far from the point that only by the rarest chance could it enter the body of an enemy. It would be interesting to know whether the two bayonets British and German--are exactly similar. Another account of the German weapon states that the saw-edge begins only six inches from the point, quite near enough thereto, one would imagine, to "enter the body of an enemy." Inset is an enlargement of the German saw-bayonet--[Photo. by L.N.A.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 18--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

Dixmude, the name of which little West Flanders town on the Yser all the world knows now, after being heroically defended against persistent night-and-day attacks and bombardments at all hours, was taken by the reinforced Germans after a forty-hours renewed attack on November 11. The defenders, however, held out in the outskirts of the town, and could not be dislodged. The post is not part of the Allied main line, but rather of value as a bridge-head over the river. The French naval officer who sent the photographs shown above was one of the defenders until he had to withdraw wounded. When he was there Dixmude had been defended by 6000 French sailors, reinforced at the end of October by 1500 Algerian soldiers.

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--19

One of War's "little ironies" finds illustration in our photograph. A great conflict such as that now being waged is full of contrasts: grins, pathetic, sometimes not without a suggestion of humour. That the German Marine should be told off in a pretty rural district to round up cattle for food for the German troops is a case in point. The sleek and shapely kine which these sturdy fellows are commandeering plod peacefully along in happy ignorance of the fact that they are prisoners of war being led to their doom by an armed guard. If it were not for the significance of the weapons borne by the Marines, the scene would be as purely pastoral as that immortalised by Gray. It suggests the "lowing herd"--with a difference.--[Photo. by Photopress.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 20--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

The "Pegasus," an old and small cruiser, was attacked and disabled by the German cruiser "Königsberg" (recently trapped by the "Chatham" in an East African river), a modern ship of larger size and much heavier metal, at daybreak on September 20, while anchored in Zanzibar harbour to clean boilers. The "Königsberg" stole up during the night, sheltered behind an island off the shore and, easily outranging the guns of the "Pegasus," shelled her helpless opponent. After that the German ship drew off, leaving the "Pegasus" in a sinking condition and with 26 men killed and 53 wounded. Our photograph, which has just been received here, shows the "Pegasus'" wounded being transhipped to the Union Castle liner "Gascon," serving as a hospital-ship to take the injured to the Cape.

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--21

The armed liner "Carmania," in her hour and a-half's fight of September 14 with the German armed liner "Cap Trafalgar," was hit by 73 of her opponent's shells, the splinters making, it is stated, some 380 holes all over the vessel. Offering so large a target to gun-fire as did the "Carmania"--a ship of great length, standing 60 feet out of the water--she was saved from suffering more damage by the seamanship of Captain Noel Grant, R.N., her Captain, who kept her end-on to the enemy. Our photograph of the navigating bridge of the "Carmania," with the engine-room telegraphs wrecked and fragments of metal strewn about, will give an idea of what those on board went through. It has just reached this country.--[Photo. by Farringdon Co.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 22--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

It is clear that the German incendiary outrages in Belgium and France were premeditated, and German scientists devised special apparatus for setting fire to buildings. Our informant, who bought some incendiary disks from a German soldier near Antwerp, states that every man carries twenty bags, each containing about 300 disks. Mr. Bertram Blount, the analyst, found the disks consist of nitro-cellulose, or gun-cotton. They may be lit, even when wet, with a match or cigarette-end, and burn for eleven or twelve seconds, emitting a strong five-inch flame, and entirely consuming themselves. The Germans throw them alight into houses. The photographs show (1) a bag of disks as supplied to German soldiers; (2) a disk burning; and (3) a disk, actual size, before being used.

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--23

The German heavy "batteries of position" are for the most part armed-with the 15 cm., or 6-inch howitzer, throwing a shell of 90 lb. with an approximate range of 6650 yards. The howitzer type of mobile heavy gun is much favoured for defensive work in both the German and the Austrian armies. The howitzer is capable of elevation up to 65 deg., the idea of this high elevation being, it is stated, to obtain a steep angle of descent for the shells at comparatively short ranges, in combination with a high remaining velocity so as to ensure the penetration of overhead cover. These howitzers are also employed in siege and fortress defence warfare. They have been used along the Aisne positions as auxiliaries to the giant Krupp siege-howitzers.

__________________________________________________________________________ 24--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

Cavalry engaged in the Belgian frontier battles are fighting in all sorts of ways: repeatedly, for example, as infantrymen in the trenches. On occasion, also, they have even charged on foot, with bayonet or with their lances. The Life Guards, according to a letter from the front, charged the German trenches the other day with bayonets. A squadron of French dragoons dismounted and crept through a wood on foot, surprising a German infantry company and overpowering them in close-quarter fight with lances and clubbed carbines. With

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--25

lances, also, as our illustration shows, some of our Bengal cavalry, in action on foot, on October 24, at Ramscapelle, near the Yser, recaptured the village from the Germans. Dismounting near by, they charged the enemy lance in hand, driving him from his trenches. Following up their success, they then forced their way into the village, smashing in doors and windows and storming house after house in spite of fierce resistance until, assisted by other troops, they forced the enemy out, capturing guns and many prisoners. The action was particularly notable.

__________________________________________________________________________ 26--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

"Who gives quickly gives twice." That paraphrase of one of Napoleon's war maxims in regard to the conferring of distinctions won in battle as speedily as possible after the event, has been adopted by the nations engaged in the world-war. Recommendations for the "V.C." have been announced as having been laid before our authorities, many grants of the "D.S.O." and "D.C.M." have already been garetted; and our French Allies have awarded the Legion of Honour to several officers and men. Our first photograph shows a French General publicly bestowing the accolade on a newly made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Our second shows a German Commander adorning a German officer with one of the innumerable Iron Crosses the Kaiser is sending round.--[Photos. by Alfieri.]

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--27

There is something gruesomely appropriate in this photograph of the wreckage of a destroyed German motor-transport wagon train, or convoy, grouped in a sort of hollow square about the graves of the officers and men involved in the destruction of their charge. The place is in the Argonne district, the tract of rough country, between the sources of the Aisne and the Meuse, through which the high road from Paris to Verdun passes. How catastrophe befell this particular German convoy we can guess. More than one of the enemy's transport trains, moving in this part of the country, are recorded to have fallen victims to long-range bombardments by the French artillery as the result of aeroplane reconnoitring activity--[Photo. by Alfieri.]

__________________________________________________________________________ 28--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

Like his father and brothers, Prince Eitel Fritz, the Kaiser's second son, has received the Iron Cross. It has not been made known over here how the Prince won it. Our illustration, reproducing a picture from a German paper, may solve the difficulty. Says the legend: "The Prince seized the drum of a fallen soldier and led his troops, beating the charge."

One of the curious fictions about England now going round in Germany is one that Sir John Jellicoe's fleet keeps in hiding lest it should meet the German fleet. German war-ships, indeed, scour the North Sea at all hours to give the Grand Fleet battle! Our illustration, from a serious painting published in a German paper, shows them at it.

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--29

Early in the war, the Kaiser commissioned various painters to produce battle-pictures of German prowess. The royal house of Bavaria has apparently followed suit. More recently the Kaiser expressed a wish that the British might meet the Bavarians "just once" and his wish was gratified. In depicting a Bavarian cavalry fight with French dragoons, the Bavarian artist naturally represents the enemy as going down like nine-pins. Prince Heinrich, who figures in the drawing, is the only son of the late Prince Francis Joseph of Bavaria, first cousin of Prince Rupprecht, the Bavarian Crown Prince, who recently exhorted his troops to conquer "our most hated foe." He also highly extolled the Bavarian cavalry, who, he said, have fought "with the greatest fearlessness and extraordinary dash."

__________________________________________________________________________ 30--THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914.

It is said that the German garrison at Tsing-tau, which surrendered to the Japanese and British on November 7, included five battalions of infantry, fire battalions of marine artillery, one battalion of mechanics, and about 2500 reservists. After the surrender of the garrison a number of German soldiers are said to have escaped in native boats, but were recaptured. The defences were under naval control. Tsing-tau was strongly fortified and had about 600 Krupp guns of various calibre. The photographs show men of the Third Sea Battalion. (1) On the march in Tsing-tau; (2) and (3) Entrenched with a machine-gun. Our correspondent states that the photographs were taken since the siege began; otherwise the dark band round the helmet-covers might be taken for a manoeuvres badge.

__________________________________________________________________________ THE ILLUSTRATED WAR NEWS, NOV. 18, 1914--31