https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/forward-in-the-west-8kjxst7md
The battle line east of Albert curved sharply into the Somme valley, making a great German salient — with its point at Fricourt. It was in this salient that we won our greatest successes on Saturday. Late in the evening Headquarters reported that we had captured the German labyrinth of trenches here on a front of seven miles and that the strongly fortified villages of Montauban and Mametz are in our possession. Everywhere the battle was intense. In the centre, where earlier in the day unofficial news had come through that our troops had taken Serre and La Boisselle, Headquarters said the struggle was still severe and that we had gained many strong points. In the north, to beyond Gommecourt, the day had not gone quite so well, and we had been unable to retain portions of ground gained in our first attacks. Sir Douglas Haig telegraphed last night that the general situation was favourable. Beyond the capture of Fricourt, where the fighting was very heavy, our troops were making effective progress near La Boisselle.
Our aerial work during the battle was especially successful in damaging railway communications with the enemy’s front. German Headquarters, to judge from the report of the first day’s battle, take the offensive calmly, suggesting that they have long expected and prepared for it. They admit the loss of ground near the Somme, but maintain that to the north, between Gommecourt and La Boisselle, we obtained no advantage worthy of mention and suffered heavy losses.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-07-01/register/smoke-and-ruin-dlqhqbh6c
From where we were stationed a wide panorama lay before us of what would in ordinary times have been a charming agricultural country of undulating land with prosperous villages nestling among groves of trees and scattered farmsteads and chateaux. But all the foreground was a brown wilderness embroidered with a maze of trenches. The woods within the dreadful zone are leafless, and chateau and farm and village alike mere heaps of ruins.
There may be worse to come, but already this has been in spots the heaviest artillery bombardment yet upon this front. As a spectacle, though one sees only a small fraction of all the 90 miles along which it is going on, it is stupendous. What is, as always, one of the most impressive features is the utter absence of any visible human being. You, with the three or four men beside you, appear to be the only living things in a world which is all being broken into chaos again.
Overhead, indeed, were other signs of life, for our aeroplanes never ceased to circle in the sky, while as far as the eye could reach to north and south the line of the front was marked by the evil-looking, sausage-shaped kite balloons tethered high in the air. It was a significant and encouraging fact that from where I stood one could count 16 balloons, of which 13 were ours and only three German. The communiques have more than once recently mentioned the destruction of kite balloons. It is a new feature, and comment or explanation would at the moment be injudicious. But it is by no means a small item towards the mastery of the air if we can keep our balloons up and the enemy cannot keep his.
What losses we have inflicted on the enemy it is, of course, impossible to say, but deserters — one never puts too much trust in a deserter — tell us that in the trenches from which they came there had been no food for two days, because supplies could not come up through our fire.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-29/register/more-about-mesopotamia-lmc9k9lts
Major Carter, whose courageous exposure of the medical scandals on the Tigris receives the warm praise of the Commission, is an officer of the Indian Medical Service. Few statements in the report have shocked the public more than the admission of General Cowper that when Major Carter protested to him about the condition of the wounded “I threatened to put him under arrest, and I said that I would get his hospital ship taken away from him for a meddlesome interfering faddist.” Yet General Cowper was soon afterwards himself the victim of precisely the same sort of treatment. When he telegraphed to Simla urging that unless more river transport were sent the relief of Kut would fail, General Duff replied: “Please warn General Cowper that if anything of this sort occurs again, or I receive any more querulous or petulant demands for shipping, I shall at once remove him from the force, and will refuse him further employment of any kind.”
These two messages are a damning exposure of a certain type of military bureaucrat. Under the vicious tradition which prevailed, any officer who reported defects was apparently liable to be professionally ruined. Last year we refused to accept all the charges of parsimony brought against Sir William Meyer, the Finance Minister at Simla, because in our judgment no proof was then forthcoming. The report now contains proof enough and to spare. Sir William Meyer tried “to carry on war upon a peace budget”, and although India was financially strong fought incessantly for money to spend on the ditches and drainpipes of peace. We have seen no more huckstering document than the letter in which Sir William Meyer objected to build a railway in Mesopotamia because it would not be “remunerative”. What would this country have said if Mr Bonar Law had refused to let Sir Douglas Haig build strategic lines in France unless he could promise profit in hard cash?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-28/register/general-pershings-army-3jxw7trml
By this time the haze had disappeared and crowds began to gather. Along the breakwater there were gangs of men who took no part in the welcome — German prisoners, who gazed open-mouthed at the spectacle. Each transport was greeted with loud cheers, and the meeting between the American General in command and the French officers on the quay was of a most friendly character. The General, a veteran of the Cuban, Philippine and Mexican campaigns, was overwhelmed with questions as to how the voyage had passed, but even the blandishments of experienced interviewers could make him say nothing more than, “We left in fine weather, with a calm sea, and we have arrived on time. Nothing happened.” He added: “I am happy to be the commander of the first troops who will fight shoulder to shoulder with the heroes of the Marne and Verdun.”
The General then left to inspect the camp where his men will be lodged. Negro labourers rushed down the gangways carrying tents, boxes of tinned meats, biscuits, sugar, &c, while the troops looked on from the decks. The men look in the pink of condition, and have made the best impression on the French.
july 3, 1917
Forward in the west
Long-awaited news of a great British offensive reached London on Saturday morning in a terse report from Headquarters. An attack had been launched north of the River Somme at 7.30 that morning; British troops had broken into the German forward system of defences on a front of 16 miles, and a French attack on our right was proceeding equally satisfactorily. The British attack was on a front of 20 miles in the country of chalk downs and woods on either side of the Ancre and to the north of the Somme. The French helped our troops immediately north of the Somme and also attacked over five miles of the enemy’s line to the south of the river. Thus the combined attacks were directed towards Bapaume in the north and Peronne in the south.The battle line east of Albert curved sharply into the Somme valley, making a great German salient — with its point at Fricourt. It was in this salient that we won our greatest successes on Saturday. Late in the evening Headquarters reported that we had captured the German labyrinth of trenches here on a front of seven miles and that the strongly fortified villages of Montauban and Mametz are in our possession. Everywhere the battle was intense. In the centre, where earlier in the day unofficial news had come through that our troops had taken Serre and La Boisselle, Headquarters said the struggle was still severe and that we had gained many strong points. In the north, to beyond Gommecourt, the day had not gone quite so well, and we had been unable to retain portions of ground gained in our first attacks. Sir Douglas Haig telegraphed last night that the general situation was favourable. Beyond the capture of Fricourt, where the fighting was very heavy, our troops were making effective progress near La Boisselle.
Our aerial work during the battle was especially successful in damaging railway communications with the enemy’s front. German Headquarters, to judge from the report of the first day’s battle, take the offensive calmly, suggesting that they have long expected and prepared for it. They admit the loss of ground near the Somme, but maintain that to the north, between Gommecourt and La Boisselle, we obtained no advantage worthy of mention and suffered heavy losses.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-07-01/register/smoke-and-ruin-dlqhqbh6c
july 1, 1917
Smoke and ruin
The activity of the last three days has now assumed the character of a determined bombardment of the enemy’s positions along practically the whole of the British front. So far, the enemy’s reply has been light. In places he has used his heavy guns and is employing lachrymatory shells on a large scale, but up to date we have completely overpowered his artillery at almost every point.From where we were stationed a wide panorama lay before us of what would in ordinary times have been a charming agricultural country of undulating land with prosperous villages nestling among groves of trees and scattered farmsteads and chateaux. But all the foreground was a brown wilderness embroidered with a maze of trenches. The woods within the dreadful zone are leafless, and chateau and farm and village alike mere heaps of ruins.
There may be worse to come, but already this has been in spots the heaviest artillery bombardment yet upon this front. As a spectacle, though one sees only a small fraction of all the 90 miles along which it is going on, it is stupendous. What is, as always, one of the most impressive features is the utter absence of any visible human being. You, with the three or four men beside you, appear to be the only living things in a world which is all being broken into chaos again.
Overhead, indeed, were other signs of life, for our aeroplanes never ceased to circle in the sky, while as far as the eye could reach to north and south the line of the front was marked by the evil-looking, sausage-shaped kite balloons tethered high in the air. It was a significant and encouraging fact that from where I stood one could count 16 balloons, of which 13 were ours and only three German. The communiques have more than once recently mentioned the destruction of kite balloons. It is a new feature, and comment or explanation would at the moment be injudicious. But it is by no means a small item towards the mastery of the air if we can keep our balloons up and the enemy cannot keep his.
What losses we have inflicted on the enemy it is, of course, impossible to say, but deserters — one never puts too much trust in a deserter — tell us that in the trenches from which they came there had been no food for two days, because supplies could not come up through our fire.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-29/register/more-about-mesopotamia-lmc9k9lts
june 29, 1917
More about Mesopotamia
The report of the Mesopotamia Commission covers so much ground that the various issues it raises can only be approached piecemeal, but it is clear already that public indignation chiefly centres upon the medical shortcomings. The report shows plainly that both the military and civil medical arrangements in India need drastic reform.Major Carter, whose courageous exposure of the medical scandals on the Tigris receives the warm praise of the Commission, is an officer of the Indian Medical Service. Few statements in the report have shocked the public more than the admission of General Cowper that when Major Carter protested to him about the condition of the wounded “I threatened to put him under arrest, and I said that I would get his hospital ship taken away from him for a meddlesome interfering faddist.” Yet General Cowper was soon afterwards himself the victim of precisely the same sort of treatment. When he telegraphed to Simla urging that unless more river transport were sent the relief of Kut would fail, General Duff replied: “Please warn General Cowper that if anything of this sort occurs again, or I receive any more querulous or petulant demands for shipping, I shall at once remove him from the force, and will refuse him further employment of any kind.”
These two messages are a damning exposure of a certain type of military bureaucrat. Under the vicious tradition which prevailed, any officer who reported defects was apparently liable to be professionally ruined. Last year we refused to accept all the charges of parsimony brought against Sir William Meyer, the Finance Minister at Simla, because in our judgment no proof was then forthcoming. The report now contains proof enough and to spare. Sir William Meyer tried “to carry on war upon a peace budget”, and although India was financially strong fought incessantly for money to spend on the ditches and drainpipes of peace. We have seen no more huckstering document than the letter in which Sir William Meyer objected to build a railway in Mesopotamia because it would not be “remunerative”. What would this country have said if Mr Bonar Law had refused to let Sir Douglas Haig build strategic lines in France unless he could promise profit in hard cash?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-06-28/register/general-pershings-army-3jxw7trml
june 28, 1917
General Pershing’s army
Somewhere in France, June 26. The arrival of General Pershing in Paris was the first tangible sign of the intervention of the United States in the war, and today France is greeting the advanced guard of the great and splendidly organized Army which will follow its Chief in helping France and her Allies in their great effort to secure the triumph of civilization. There was a slight sea haze, presaging a glorious summer day, when the arrival of the American ships was signalled. The Port Commander’s launch put off at once with the French authorities and a number of American officers. The ships were met a short distance out, a veritable Armada of huge transports, whose black hulls showed clearly against the horizon, while the grey forms of their escorting destroyers were almost blotted out in the leaden-coloured sea. Dominating everything was an enormous American cruiser, with its peculiar upper works. The warships picked up their moorings with clockwork precision, and the transports were taken in charge by tugs, which towed them to their appointed berths.By this time the haze had disappeared and crowds began to gather. Along the breakwater there were gangs of men who took no part in the welcome — German prisoners, who gazed open-mouthed at the spectacle. Each transport was greeted with loud cheers, and the meeting between the American General in command and the French officers on the quay was of a most friendly character. The General, a veteran of the Cuban, Philippine and Mexican campaigns, was overwhelmed with questions as to how the voyage had passed, but even the blandishments of experienced interviewers could make him say nothing more than, “We left in fine weather, with a calm sea, and we have arrived on time. Nothing happened.” He added: “I am happy to be the commander of the first troops who will fight shoulder to shoulder with the heroes of the Marne and Verdun.”
The General then left to inspect the camp where his men will be lodged. Negro labourers rushed down the gangways carrying tents, boxes of tinned meats, biscuits, sugar, &c, while the troops looked on from the decks. The men look in the pink of condition, and have made the best impression on the French.
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