15 SEPTEMBER 1917, Page 3

Lord French, in some remarks on the battle of the

Marne which were published in the Paris Journal on the third anniversery of the fight, declared that General von Xluck made in fatal blunder, not merely in turning aside from his march due south against the British Army, but also in retreating hastily as soon as General Maunoury menaced his flank on the Ourcq. Lord French wondered why the German General "did not continue on his course and attempt to smash through." "Happily he did not," he added ; and the "mere handful of from sixty to seventy thousand men " which Lord French commanded was able to advance rapidly, pressing the enemy back for thirty miles in four slays. The stagnation after the battle, Lord French said, was due to the want of effectivea, and above all to the want of material. " Later mr again, at Loos," he added, " when 1 was holding the Germans, I had, for the want of several divisions which had been sent else- where, to give up the hope of reaching Lille, as I had the right to hope to do." These divisions went to Suvla Bay instead.