SOME WAR BOOKS.*
" Born CABLE " needs no introduction to our readers. Other writers about the war may have graces which are outside his register, but we do not know of one who is so unfailingly informing as he is. He makes us see the life of the trenches going on as though it were before our eyes. In his Between the Lines he employed the happy expedient of heading each chapter with a typical extract from some official report. He enabled us to read between the lines, because he clothed the skeleton and gave us the spirit instead of the form. In Action Front 1he continues this expedient, though it is not quite so well justified as before, as he is not here explaining for their own sake such typical things as a trench raid, a mining operation, or an artillery duel. He is, in fact, in this respect following in the wake of a success, not creating freshly and appropriately. But the scenes and episodes are as good as ever. We should like to know that American sergeant of motor transport who had suffered the " humiliation " of passing for a Canadian, though there was " no Canuck " in all his outfit, in order to get out to the front. He could not proclaim his real nationality for fear his father should lose his German trade connexion in the United States. So he passed as a Canadian, and drove his own make of lorries with the help of British mechanics. His dream was to see something of trench warfare instead of enduring the dulness of dodging long-distance shells behind the lines. Ile had been a famous baseball pitcher, and if his accuracy of aim, when he did get his chance in the trenches, was not beyond the skill of all other eminent baseball players, we can only suppose that cricketers are not the only people who change with no sense of discomfort whatever from throwing in cricket-balls from the deep field to throwing bombs into Fritz's trench. Another episode, delightfully told, occurs when the British take over some French trenches. The secret, of course, must not be given away to the Germans. But unfortunately some courteous " Tommy " conceives the idea of striking up the " Marseillaise " as a compliment to the French. The French naturally answer with " God Save the King." The secret is nearly out. The Boches are only a few yards away. They will guess the meaning. But the quick wit of the British soldier saves the situation. The whole marching chorus of the battalion drowns the efforts of the French with such a caterwauling as was never heard. The British officer is furious till he learns the reason of this rude and unseemly outburst. Finally, we must mention the very moving story in which a man wounded past all speech conveys his last message to a pal by means of blinking his eyes according to the Morse Code. For pathos this would be very hard to beat.
Signaller Silas t has used both his pen and his pencil to produce a book of sketches with accompanying letterpress which we should think every Anzac: soldier who served in Gallipoli will want to possess and hand on to his children. Death stalks through the pages, but the sketches are not morbid. The drawings of the ships and transports seem to us the best. They have motion. The least successful is the allegorical piece at the end.
Mr. Moseley s was a war correspondent in Gallipoli. His narrative is • (1) Action Front. By Boyd Cable. London : Smith, Elder, and Co. [5s. net.] —(2) Crusading at Anzac, Anna Dentin( 1915. Pictured and Described by Signaller Ellis Slim London : British Australasian Office. [2s. 6d. net.]—(3) The Truth about the Dardanelles. By Sydney A. [Howley. With a Map. London : Cassell and Co. [5s. net.)—(4) Through the Serbian Campaign : the Great Retreat of the Serbian Army. By Gordon Gordon-Smith. With a Preface by M. S. Boa- kovItch, formerly Serbian Minister to the Court of St. James, and 32 illustrations and Maps. London : Hutchinson and Co. (12a. 6d. net.)2---(5) In the Hands of the Seamiest. Complied from the Diary of Captain 11. Gwatkin-Williams, R.N., by Mrs. Gwatkin-Williama. London : C. Arthur Pearson. [2s. net.}—(6) The Black Bois of the Desist : the Diary of a Sarrisar ' Tara.' Damien: Redder mad Stoughton. LL. net.]
rather a patchwork, and his ambition often outruns his skill. The most interesting part is his defence of Sir Ian Hamilton's management of the campaign. His general view is that the Gallipoli campaign was starved in reinforcements and ammunition, and that the Army was the victim of the politicians at home. We are thoroughly with him on principle in his condemnation of croakers and pessimists, but in one respect he does what he reprobates in others. Ho disposes of Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett's criticisms of the campaign, for instance, because Mr. Bartlett is an " amateur strategist." But he himself, with a similar title to speak, does not hesitate to condemn General Monro's advice as to the evacuation of the Peninsula.
The retreat of the heroic Serbian Army before the German hordes is described by Mr. Gordon-Smith' in a valuable narrative. All that he says increases our respect for the fighting qualities of our Serbian Allies. Certainly no Balkan people exceeds them in tenacity. They seem to be fighting as well as ever before Monastir after their recuperation and re-equipment. A point about which little is known is the treatment of conquered Serbia after the Germans had occupied it. Mr. Gordon- Smith says :- " At first when the Austro-German forces entered the country they were, as I stated in a former chapter, on their good behaviour. The Serbian wounded were well cared for and the requisitions made on the inhabitants were not too severe, and were generally paid for. The invaders even supplied the population with sugar and salt at prices far below those current in Serbia. But this was merely policy. While the Serbian Army still held the field, a reputation for humane treatment of the conquered provinces was likely to facilitate the task of the invaders. The population in the provinces still held by the Serbian Army were less likely to flee, carrying off all their stores of food. But once they were masters of the whole country, the attitude of the invaders imme- diately changed. The unfortunate population was dragooned without mercy, ruthless martial law was proclaimed from one end of the country to the other. And then the work of spoliation began. All food was seized and sent off to Germany. All the corn, grain, pigs, sheep, cattle, horses, fowls, firewood—in a word, everything that could be of any use in Germany was ruthlessly confiscated. After the food came the metals. Every scrap of metal that could be found was seized, particularly copper. Even the door-handles and cooking utensils were confiscated. Fortu- nately for the Allies the Germans were unable to exploit the famous copper mine at Bor, one of the most productive in Europe. Before abandoning it the Serbians wrecked it to such a degree that experts brought from Germany to inspect it, reported that twelve months' hard work was required on it before a single ounce of copper could be extracted. As can be imagined, the condition of the Serbian population was a terrible one. The whole trade and commerce of the country was at a standstill, as it was completely cut off from all communication with the outer world. No letters or telegrams were allowed to be sent and the railways were reserved exclusively for the use of the Austro-German Armies. The position of the public hinctionaries, civil servants, school- masters and all who looked to the Government for their incomes was a terrible one. They had no means of drawing their salaries, as naturally the Serbian Government at Corfu could not entrust the paying of these to the Germans. It was even questionable if the Germans would not confiscate this money if it had reached Serbia through some neutral country. In the case of Belgium the population was kept alive by relief administered by an American Committee. But no such organization existed in Serbia, and it is more than doubtful if, in view of the strained nature of the relations between Berlin and Washington, the Germans would have consented to allow an American relief organization to be established in Serbia."
Disease spread among the starving population. In April tuberculosis was rife in Belgrade. The German administrators behaved with characteristio arrogance. A town near Belgrade was renamed- " Mackensenburg," in honour of the victorious Field-Marshal. Two newspapers, one in Serbian, the other in German, and both organs of the Government, were started in Belgrade. The country was divided up into administrative districts with German, Austrian, or Bulgarian officials to rule over them.
The story of the British seamen of H.M.S. Tara' who fell into the hands of the Senussi, and were ultimately rescued by the armoured cars led by the Duke of Westminster, is one of the most extraordinary in the war. There are scenes in it good enough for the creation of legend, were it not that the rush and variety of the war have a numbing effect and cause us to lose something of the faculty of wonder. In the Hands of the Senoussis and The Black Hole of the Deserts both describe the experiences of the captives. The ` Tara' used to ply across the Irish Sea as a passenger vessel, and was brought into the service of the Government for some mission in the Mediterranean. She was torpedoed in the Bay of Sollum, and the survivors soon found themselves in the hands of the Senussi, with whom were some Turkish officers. Captain Gwatkin-Williams describes a visit of the head of the Senussi :—
" To-day we were visited by a man we were told was the uncle of the Grand Senoussi. (I have since come to the conclusion that this was the Grand Senoussi himself.) He is a powerful man, with a greyish beard, and reminded me forcibly of the picture of one of the Elders in the story of Susannah. He carries his whip and gun with him everywhere, and amused himself by firing shots at various objects from the tent door. Cigarettes were hastily put away at his approach, and the remains of the whisky hidden. The Turks treated him with great respect to hie face, and there was much kissing of hands : but as soon as he had retired they spat violently, and said he was a savage."
This glimpse of the relations of the Turks and the Senussi (who are the Puritans of Islam) is very interesting. The deep differences of religious practice do not seem any bar to active co-operation for the purposes of war. Hero is another snapshot of Turkish military habits
The following incident which occurred to-day is typical of Turkish
methods of discipline which I observed on later occasions, and appears to be quite satisfactory to them. Two soldiers having quarrelled, their Commanding Officer smacked both their faces and knocked them down, and said if there was any more trouble they would be shot. Relenting later on, he sent for and kissed them both, and then all drank tea together."
Captain Gwatkin-Williams made a very gallant attempt to escape to Sollum in order to bring succour to the captives. He set out on foot alone across the desert, having stored up rations for the perilous journey. He supposed the British to be in possession of Sollum, but, as a matter of fact, if he had reached it he would have found the Turks there. The British did not retake it till a fortnight after his attempt. He was captured by Arabs, and brought back to the camp from which he had started. The author of The Black Hole of the Desert describes his return : " We were now witnesses of one of the most degrading spectacles it has been my lot to see. When the guard of Senussi reached our captain they punched him with their fists until his face was streaming with blood. He was struck with their rifles until he was nearly unconscious. The man in charge of the well lashed him with an elephant thong whip. Soon afterwards up came the black women with large stones. They ran close up to him and hurled them in his face. Of course, we were powerless to interfere. They made him sleep in the sheep pen that night, with a guard standing over him. He had had some terrible experiences, and he told us it would be useless for any one of us to try and escape, as it was impossible to get through. He had covered two hundred miles from the time ho left us until his return."
The phrase " black hole " refers to a cavernous well into which the prisoners were forced to descend for a few nights, and where they could hardly breathe. Their captors said it was to protect them from tho rain. The Senussi on the whole, however, did not behave unkindly to the prisoners, and it was with regret that the author of The Black Hole saw his warders killed—as was inevitable—at the time of the rescue.
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