https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/the-offensive-begun-h56mgbhjd
The following little story is worth telling as illustrating the spirit of our men. In a recent night raid against our posts, two parties of Germans, 20 strong, and another 30 strong, came over disguised with spectacular frightfulness. They wore hideous masks, black shirts and overalls, and each man carried a great dagger and an automatic pistol. The garrisons of the attacked posts put up a sturdy defence, and the raiders were compelled to retire. They took with them one of our men, whom they had captured, and who was escorted by a burly German with pistol and dagger. Presently, however, on getting separated from the main body, the British prisoner quietly raised his hand to the brim of his shrapnel helmet and then, snatching it from off his head, brought its sharp edge down with such a tremendous crack upon his captor’s skull that the latter collapsed like a log. In telling the story to his cheering comrades shortly afterwards the stout fellow maintained that he had killed the German, but, whether this was actually so or not, he undoubtedly “did him in” effectively enough to make good his escape.
march 22, 1918
The offensive begun
At about 5 o’clock this morning the enemy artillery swelled into a heavy bombardment of practically the whole British front south of the Scarpe, and an hour later opened fire with gas shells on the front south of Armentieres. As I write, at 10 o’clock, the air is thunderous. Our guns are replying strenuously. Thus far no infantry movement is reported. The weather is very hazy and aerial observation is almost impossible. Today is one of the dates mentioned by prisoners for the opening of the great offensive. Our troops are everywhere standing to in readiness.The following little story is worth telling as illustrating the spirit of our men. In a recent night raid against our posts, two parties of Germans, 20 strong, and another 30 strong, came over disguised with spectacular frightfulness. They wore hideous masks, black shirts and overalls, and each man carried a great dagger and an automatic pistol. The garrisons of the attacked posts put up a sturdy defence, and the raiders were compelled to retire. They took with them one of our men, whom they had captured, and who was escorted by a burly German with pistol and dagger. Presently, however, on getting separated from the main body, the British prisoner quietly raised his hand to the brim of his shrapnel helmet and then, snatching it from off his head, brought its sharp edge down with such a tremendous crack upon his captor’s skull that the latter collapsed like a log. In telling the story to his cheering comrades shortly afterwards the stout fellow maintained that he had killed the German, but, whether this was actually so or not, he undoubtedly “did him in” effectively enough to make good his escape.
Later: Following the heavy bombardment which commenced against almost the whole of our front south of the Scarpe this morning, the enemy launched an infantry attack on a big scale. Under cover of a smoke barrage, his infantry came over in dense waves on a front extending from the north of Lagnicourt down to Gauche Wood. At 10.50am there was hand-to-hand fighting in our front line at various points. Details coming back from the battle line are scrappy, but it seems certain that the Germans have assumed the offensive on a big scale.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-21/register/the-central-asian-menace-kbgzlmxcs
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-21/register/the-central-asian-menace-kbgzlmxcs
march 21, 1918
The Central Asian menace
The steady advance of German forces into Russia gives the measure of the designs of the enemy upon the territories in Eastern Europe which now lie at their mercy. In the south they are advancing like conquerors, and are now being followed by Austrian troops. They have not stopped at Odessa, where, according to reports, many of the warships of the Black Sea Fleet have fallen into their hands. They have reached the port of Nikolaieff, 70 miles north-east, and obtained possession of the chief shipbuilding yard in Southern Russia. They are also marching from Kieff on Kharkoff, the city from which the great coal and iron industries of Southern Russia are controlled. In the Ukraine they have seized a great slice of the “Black Earth” region, the finest granary in Europe, and by far the most populous area in European Russia. The swift advances upon Nikolaieff and Kharkoff indicate a converging movement towards the coal and iron fields in the Donetz basin, where in the past Russia obtained 70 per cent of her coal and pig iron and 50 per cent of her steel. It will now be understood why the boundaries of the lath-and-plaster Ukraine State were flung so far eastward.
For Great Britain another problem is arising. As Germany has completed her movements in Southern Russia, and as soon as the Turks have occupied the valuable regions and cities in Transcaucasia ceded to them with disgraceful pusillanimity by the Bolshevists, we shall witness a fresh invasion of Persia. Large forces will not be required. In Persia, where supplies are scanty, military operations are best conducted by small mobile forces under daring leadership. The Germans and Turks know this, and earlier in the war had very nearly reached Teheran when the Russians drove them headlong. We must be prepared for their reappearance at any moment. The objects will be threefold. They may again attempt to take Teheran and to capture the young Shah. They may move down the Turco-Persian frontier and endeavour to strike at the valuable oilfields of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. They are quite likely to reach the frontiers of Afghanistan and try to raise the Afghans against us. In Persia, we ought not to be “caught napping,” and must prepare for trouble while there is yet time.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-20/register/land-girls-inspected-by-the-queen-r2nl7pcsz
At 11am the procession formed up outside the Board of Agriculture. Some of the girls had started at 6 that morning from distant farms in Wales. At their head was a tall girl — a motor-tractor driver — carrying the Union Jack. She was followed by a band of the Civil Service Rifles, and then in their knickerbockers and holland coats, group leaders, motor-tractor drivers, forestry girls carrying their saws, dairywomen, and land workers of many grades. The forestry girls had green caps and badges of spruce to distinguish them, and the land girls felt hats and smocks. Their banners called town lasses to come to the land; one had as emblem a little high-heeled shoe and beside it a tall farm boot. A hay wagon with two fine horses from an Essex farm came in the middle.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-20/register/land-girls-inspected-by-the-queen-r2nl7pcsz
march 20, 1918
Land girls inspected by the Queen
The recruiting campaign for 12,000 women for the women’s land army came to London yesterday. The propaganda of health and happiness, clear skins and bright eyes, beside which the City worker looked pale or painted, was the chief work of the 130 girls who came long distances to win recruits. Some who had been City girls a year ago looked as if they belonged to a different race.At 11am the procession formed up outside the Board of Agriculture. Some of the girls had started at 6 that morning from distant farms in Wales. At their head was a tall girl — a motor-tractor driver — carrying the Union Jack. She was followed by a band of the Civil Service Rifles, and then in their knickerbockers and holland coats, group leaders, motor-tractor drivers, forestry girls carrying their saws, dairywomen, and land workers of many grades. The forestry girls had green caps and badges of spruce to distinguish them, and the land girls felt hats and smocks. Their banners called town lasses to come to the land; one had as emblem a little high-heeled shoe and beside it a tall farm boot. A hay wagon with two fine horses from an Essex farm came in the middle.
Government departments cheered the girls as they came up Whitehall. After a vegetarian lunch at the Savoy Hotel, where they were the guests of Lady Denman, president of the Federation of Women’s Institutes, they went to Trafalgar Square. From the hay wagon, speeches were made while the recruiting girls circulated amongst the listeners, a little shy of the town girls. But omnibus girls and city clerks stopped them and asked for terms of service, many going on to the recruiting huts to join up. Lord Chaplin said the submarine peril made it essential we should make the country self-supporting. Although we had the finest Army in the world, it would not avail if food supplies failed. Only one thing could ever conquer England — starvation. “You can help to make us safe, you women of England.”
At Buckingham Palace the Queen inspected the girls, asking questions about their work and length of service. Sir Arthur Lea, Director-General of Food Production, said that the land women were useful in every branch of farm work. The farmers were agreed that the women workers were particularly willing to learn and extremely conscientious.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-19/register/the-curfew-order-kqztr6sbx
A number of British subjects who are trying to go by the Murman Railway route are detained by vexatious and ever-mutable passport regulations and trumpery formalities. They spend their time in going to and fro between the Consulate, now housed in the British Embassy, and various Bolshevist officials who only prolong the delay and fail to keep their promises, and no progress can be made in consequence of the frightful muddle into which everything has degenerated. Members of the staff of the Central Council of the People’s Commissioners, with the office effects of that institution, have left for Moscow, while two days ago the majority of the Commissioners themselves went off. Unfortunately, the clerks of the Commission of Foreign Affairs, in the haste of removal, took with them all the British passports deposited weeks ago for endorsement to enable the bearers to leave Russia, so that the Englishmen who are fretting to be allowed to quit the country before it is too late must either wait still longer to receive their passports back from Moscow or prevail upon the Consul to issue copies.
At Buckingham Palace the Queen inspected the girls, asking questions about their work and length of service. Sir Arthur Lea, Director-General of Food Production, said that the land women were useful in every branch of farm work. The farmers were agreed that the women workers were particularly willing to learn and extremely conscientious.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-03-19/register/the-curfew-order-kqztr6sbx
march 19, 1918
The curfew order
We believe there will be no serious opposition to the so-called Curfew Order, if the Government make it clear that it is a war measure of urgent importance, and if they also apply it to the whole country. In its present form the scheme provides for the closing of theatres, music-halls, restaurants and all places of public amusement at 9.30pm. The area for the operation of the order is the South of England, and the line is drawn for the present from Bristol to the River Stour. It is partly for this reason that complaints are being made, and that misconception is arising about the real objects of the order. Many people suppose that the plan is due to anticipated air raids, and that the statements about the necessity of saving coal and economizing transport at night are mere pretexts. It cannot be too clearly stated by those in authority that the scheme is precisely what it professes to be. The fact is that, unless we are all to go fireless next winter, it is imperative to accumulate stocks of coal during the coming spring and summer. Many thousands of young miners are to be drafted into the Army, but in spite of the smaller production of coal we have to make provision for part of the needs of our Allies next winter. The only way to check the consumption of coal is to take advantage of the Daylight Saving Act and to change the social habits of the nation. Passenger trains will be reduced in numbers, especially at night, when the railways will be needed for the distribution of food. In London, in particular, the swarms of people moving to and fro at a late hour will be compelled to go to their homes earlier. The defect of the scheme is that it applies only to the South of England. If it is made plain that as soon as possible the 9.30 curfew will be promulgated from Land’s End to John o’Groat’s, and in Ireland also, we are sure that it will be accepted without a murmur. No one who realizes the importance of maintaining public cheerfulness could wish to see any drastic curtailment of opportunities for legitimate amusement, which are specially sought by soldiers on leave. With some readjustment of hours, we believe these aims can still be attained. A subsidiary advantage will be that the risk attendant upon the congregation of crowds in theatres during air raids will be eliminated.
march 17, 1918
The explosion near Paris
Last night the northern sky of Paris was still glowing with the fire which followed Friday’s great explosions at Courneuve, and it is impossible yet to state with accuracy the extent of the damage done and the number of killed and injured. The number of officially ascertained dead is 30, and the injured number nearly 1,500, most of them being but slightly hurt by falling glass or grenade splinters. Some idea of the widespread nature of the damage may be gathered from the fact that windows were broken as far away as Versailles, and in Paris itself the quantity of glass destroyed is very great. The most notable damage in Paris was done at the Academy, where the glass roof of the meeting hall was destroyed. Naturally unlovely, the district of the Plain of St Denis, outside the city walls, has been transformed into a realistic imitation of a modern battlefield. The first explosion was caused by the dropping of a case of the hand grenades. The first two explosions were by far the most serious. When the tremendous roar of the first explosions was heard Paris concluded that a daylight raid was in progress. and the inhabitants were quite justified in thinking that bombs were dropping immediately upon them. With a celerity which shows how well Paris is learning its air raid drill people took to cellars and shelters. A gigantic column of smoke which spouted up to the north made it quite clear, however, what had happened, and with really remarkable promptitude ambulances were rushing out to the scene of the disaster. The work of rescue was extremely difficult, as explosions still continued, but it was effected with rapidity and by the afternoon the first trainload of wounded had reached the Gare du Nord. I may remark that the American Red Cross rendered services which have still further increased the esteem in which it is held by the French. The propaganda effect of the activity of the American Red Cross during the recent air raids and this tragic weekend cannot be overestimated. British ambulances hurried up also to assist the French in treating the wounded as they came into the hastily established dressing stations and operating rooms. For the last three days the fire and explosions have been continuing, and the countryside is covered with grenades, some still unexploded.
march 16, 1918
Exodus from Petrograd
“Evacuation of Petrograd” is now the order of the day, and something like a panic has set in. Crowds of people, unable to get railway tickets owing to the congestion of traffic and the prohibition of egress by train without a special licence, have taken to the roads, combining to hire horses and sledges for their goods and chattels. Others are leaving on foot, not wishing to remain here to starve or be caught by the Germans.A number of British subjects who are trying to go by the Murman Railway route are detained by vexatious and ever-mutable passport regulations and trumpery formalities. They spend their time in going to and fro between the Consulate, now housed in the British Embassy, and various Bolshevist officials who only prolong the delay and fail to keep their promises, and no progress can be made in consequence of the frightful muddle into which everything has degenerated. Members of the staff of the Central Council of the People’s Commissioners, with the office effects of that institution, have left for Moscow, while two days ago the majority of the Commissioners themselves went off. Unfortunately, the clerks of the Commission of Foreign Affairs, in the haste of removal, took with them all the British passports deposited weeks ago for endorsement to enable the bearers to leave Russia, so that the Englishmen who are fretting to be allowed to quit the country before it is too late must either wait still longer to receive their passports back from Moscow or prevail upon the Consul to issue copies.
Many Government Departments, railway offices and depots, certain works and factories are also evacuating their archives, plant, materials, and men, or are removing them to Moscow and other towns. Some will be transplanted as far away as Siberia and Archangel.
We are told that it is not intended just now to reduce Petrograd to a second-rate town and make Moscow the capital unless the Germans settle down here. But Petrograd has already been dethroned. It wears the aspect of a vast provincial borough. Vehicular movement has almost ceased; electric lighting and the tram service have been curtailed to save fuel, which is running seriously short; there is no trade, and all business is at a standstill.
We are told that it is not intended just now to reduce Petrograd to a second-rate town and make Moscow the capital unless the Germans settle down here. But Petrograd has already been dethroned. It wears the aspect of a vast provincial borough. Vehicular movement has almost ceased; electric lighting and the tram service have been curtailed to save fuel, which is running seriously short; there is no trade, and all business is at a standstill.
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