SOME WAR BOOKS.* Sin HENRI' NEWBOLT, having the art of
a glowing simplicity, is always able to teach and inspire youth with the minimum of wear and tear to the pupil. In these Tales of the Great War I he warns a boy, who stands as the type of his readers, that it is wrong for the author to do everything —the reader must play up to the writer. In order that there shall be a due sharing of duty, Sir Henry Newbolt tells the boy that he has avoided "loud adjectives." lie has simply written some tine stories of British daring and endurance, and has left the reader to feel the inspira- tion from the deeds and to express it to himself in whatever adjectives
• (1) Tales of the Great War. By Henry Newbolt. Illustrated In Colour and Black-and-White. London : Longinans and Co. 16s. net.]-(2) The Cellar- House of Perryse : is 7'ale of Uncommon Things horn the Journals and Letters of the Baroness 2"Serclaes and Mani Chisholm. London : A. and C. Black. 165. net.)- (3) The " Fortnightly" History of the War. By Colonel A. M. Murray, C.B., M.V.CL With a Foreword by Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, V.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., LLD. Vol. I. London : Chapman and Hall. lies. -Bd. net.]-(4) War Flying. By a Pilot. London : John Murray. Us. net.!--{6) The Battles of the Somme. By • Philip Gibbs. With Maps. London : W. Heinemann. les. net.]-(6) Hospital Bays. By " Platoon Commander." London : T. Fisher lJnwin. (2s, ed. net.]- (7). Mr. Poiht Notes and Sketches with the Fighting French. By Herbert Ward. London : Hodder and Stoughton. 17s. ed. net.]--(8) Ballets and Batts. By Bruce liairsefather. London : Grant Richards. [5s. net.]-(9) here and There in the War Area. By the Right Rev. Herbert Bury, DD., Illustrated. Loudon A. R. Iii9wiTay and Co. (is. dd. net] his admiration provides. The author's part is to have searched for the bare truth and to have set it forth. The reader's part is to feel, and to wish to emulate. It is easier for Sir Henry Newbolt to define his pigpen than strictly to keep to it, for the fact is that his narratives require a very small conscious contribution from the intellect or emotion of the reader. Ho would be a dull boy indeed who was not nerved to some nobility of thought or act by the telling of these episodes. The first section of the book describes the adventures of a subaltern in the earlier days of the war ; tho second section contains the battles of Coronel and the Falklands ; the third the story of the 'Emden' ; tho fourth- the services of Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien at the ever-memorable battle of Le Cateau and thenceforth ; the fifth some account of the war in the air ; and the sixth the battle of Jutland.
' The Cellar-House of Pervyse describes one of the most romantic undertakings by women in the whole war. Mrs. Knocker (now the Baroness T'Screlaes) and Miss Maid Chisholm were members of a Red Cross party which went to Belgium at the beginning of the war. Mrs. Knocker had been trained as a nurse, but Miss Chisholm had not. They were, however, prepared to do anything, no matter how dangerous, that they might be allowed to do. For a time they helped in motor-ambulance work under conditions of unceasing peril. At Ilene, for instance, Mrs. Knocker when driving a motor- car found herself in the middle of a desperate bayonet fight. It was a miracle that the tide of war swept past leaving her unhurt. But the worst (or best) experience was to come when these two invincible ladies, in spite of much disapproval and opposition, established a poste de secours in the village of Pervyse. Their theory was that a large proportion of seriously wounded men died of exhaustion through being hurried to the rear, and that many more lives might be saved if the wounded were treated first " for shock " near the trenches, even though the dressing of their wounds might be insufficient in itself. This theory was brilliantly juetilied. The two ladies managed their rest station in the cellar of a house that was continually being shelled. Ultimately the King of the Belgians bestowed on them a high decoration which entitles them to a " present arms " from every Belgian soldier. It is all a wonderful story of unflinching spirit and good-licartecIness. As the ladies are averse from publicity, we think the editor of their diaries might have eased for them the shock of publicity—eventually decided upon in a good cause—by a slightly less intimate discussion of their sentiments and affairs in matters that are scarcely relevant to their great achievement.
Not many serial criticisms of the war are worth republication, for most criticisms offered in reviews and newspapers fall out of date as information aoeurnulates. Colonel A. M. Murray's history of the war written month bymonth in the Fortnightly Review 3 is, however, a distinct exception. It is true that he has amended and amplified his remarks, but in substance they remain, for the very good reason that there was not much to alter. As a feat of insight this is sufficiently notable. Six Evelyn Wood in a short introduction expresses his admiration, and also his dissent on certain points. He disagrees, for instance, with the dicta that phalanx warfare leaves little room for personal courage, that the strategical role of cavalry is a thing of the past, and, that the physical and moral superiority of recruits in the New Armies makes a period of four to six months' training long enough. We are inclined to agree with Colonel Murray about the short period of training, but we disagree very strongly with his declaration against compulsory military service. These, however, are incidental remarks in a very clear military exposition of events.
War Flying.' tells us more of the feelings and experiences of a young officer from the time he snakes up-his mind to fly to the time when he can face the enemy thousands of feet up, -and loop the loop, than we have learnt from any little book of this sort. We can imagine the enjoyment of the boy doing stunts over his old school when he was training, and dropping letters to his friends from the sky. After his first looping of the loop he writes home :- "Four good loops at the first time of attempting a loop isn't bad, considering I had never oven looped as a passenger. Strangely enough, I wasn't half so excited as I expected to be, and once accomplished the feat seemed easy and not out of the ordinary. But to set your minds at rest I don't intend to go in for stunting."
Mr. Philip Gibbs has grown a good deal in power and ease and reality since we first became acquainted with his writing. His new book' is well worth reading. We must quote a passage of professional informa- tion which will resolve the doubts of many readers on one point :-
" Some people imagine, and some critics have written, that the war correspondents with the armies in France have been ' spoon-fed' with documents and facts given to them by General Headquarters, from which they write up their dispatches. They recognize the same incident, told in different style by different correspondents, and say : Ah, that is how it is done ! ' They are wrong. All that we get from the General Staff aro the brief bulletins of the various army corps, a line or two of hard news about the capture or loss of this or that trench such as appears afterwards in the official communiques. For all the details of an action we have to rely upon our own efforts in the actual theatre of operations day by day, seeing as much of the battle as it is possible to see (sometimes one can see everything and sometimes nothing but smoke and bursting shells), getting into the swirl and traffic of the battlefields, talking to the walking wounded and the prisoners, the men going in and the men coming out, going to the headquarters of brigades, divisions, and corps for exact information as to the progress of the battle from the generals and officers directing
the operations, and getting into touch as soon as possible with the battalions actually engaged. All this is not as easy as it sounds. It is not done-without fatigue, and mental as well as physical strain. It takes one into unpleasant places from which one is glad and lucky to get back. But we have full facilities for seeing and knowing the truth of things, and see more and know more of the whole battle-line than is possible even to Divisional Generals and other officers in high command. For we have a pass enabling us to go to any part of the front at any time and get the facts and points of view from every class and rank, from the trenches to G.H.Q. Because the correspondents sometimes tell the same stories it is because we tell them to each other, not believing in professional rivalry in a war of this greatness. Our only limitations in truth-telling are those of our own vision, skill, and conscience under the discipline of the military censorship. I have no personal quarrel with that censorship—though all censorship is hateful. After many alterations in method and principle it was exercised throughout the battles of the Somme (and for months before that, when there was no conspiracy of silence but only the lack of great events to chronicle) with a really broad-minded policy of allowing the British people to know the facts about their fighting men save those which would give the enemy a chance of spoiling our plans or hurting us. If there had been no censorship at all it would ho impossible for an honourable correspondent to tell some things within his knowledge —our exact losses in a certain action, failures at this or that point of the line, tactical blunders which might have been made here or there, the disposition or movement of troops, the positions of batteries and observation-posts. These are things which the enemy must not know. So I do not think that during the whole of the Somme lighting there was more than a lino or two taken out of one or this other of my dispatches, and with the exception of those words they aro printed as they were written."
" Platoon Commander " s in his new sketches displays the analytical art which we have had occasion to praise. before. By accumulations of small facts, closely observed but lightly conveyed to the reader, ho provides a picture that remains clear and distinct in the mind. He describes the whole experience of being wounded, carried to the rears receiving first dressings, and eventually being a surgical case in a hospital at home. " Sunbeam " is a good example of his manner. Hero we see how the apparent indulgence and unlimited patience of a nurse can tuts to something like coldness and sternness when the mental or nervous condition of the patiert requires a check. " Sunbeam's " ways are a medical lecture—but ele episode is very far from reading like a lecture.
Mr. Herbert Ward's sketches and notes' make a handsome volume. The French " Poilu " is the hero of both text and illustrations. Mr_ Ward, rejecting the conventional explanation of " poilu" as shay, unshaven, interprets the word as follows. The word " poilu " stands for pluck, energy, and all manly virtues. The " poilu " is he of whole it can be said " U a du poil "—" He's a plucky chap." Mr. Ward says that the Poilu is never tired of abusing the Bodies, yet he never forgets to make a reservation in favour of their courage. As for the French Army as a whole, he says :- " The French army is first and last utilitarian ; it exists exclusively for the purpose of war. It is a democratic national army, without any hindrances of class distinction. The French army is based upt.m a human system. It reminds one of a family wherein the father ranks as the general, the elder brothers as officers, and the rest of the children are the soldiers. My reason for comparing the system of the irenee army with that of family life is the sympathetic understanding which exists among French soldiers of all ranks. One never sees any signs of swaggering or haughty bearing among the officers. There is no arrogance : everywhere there is simple equality. I feel that I am on safe ground when I affirm that the tenacity and patience of the French army, those very qualities that have gained the admiration of the whole world, are largely due to this paternal system. It is a systeru that is peculiarly adapted to the French temperament ; it is in harmony with their intelligence, their love of liberty, and their high state of civilization."
The drawings of Captain Bairnsfathers have become so much of an institution in the Army that they scarcely need an introduction. As our men at the front are tickled and pleased at being identified se:tittls droll of walrus-like appearance who is Captain Bairnsfather's type, they must have it so. Personally we are not convinced that some type might not have been found equally comic yet standing less question- ably for all that the war means to a democracy that goes forth to fight. However, the walrus-man is undeniably funny, and the great point is to hasten to laugh lest we be obliged to weep like the Barber of Seville. The book before us shows how much Captain Bairnsfather has in bine His jokes are spontaneous, and, when he tries, they fit the dram-lugs perfectly. He has, moreover, firmness and a power to charm when he pleases. Take for example the illustration showing a star shell which
momentarily enables you to scrutinize the kind of mud you aro in," also the Crome-like drawing, " A three-sided red-tiled building with a rectangular smell in the middle."
Bishop Bury, the Bishop of Northern and Central Europe, has travelled far and wide during the war in his ministrations. He writes very pleasantly, and, if we may judgo from this book,s has carried everywhere a saving common-sense, unbounded energy, and a cheerful disposition. Ho has had the unique experience of visiting Germany with the approval of both the British and German authorities. lie writes of the treatment of prisoners wherever he saw them. But perhaps the most interesting pages are those about Russia. At Moscow he shared in the highest-services of the Orthodox Church, and his descrip- tion of the British Bishop blessing the Russian crowds tells even more than the narrative strictly contains. The effects of such an episode will not end ;with -the end of -the war.
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