https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/register/ostend-lille-and-douai-2xdjcbs9c
october 18, 1918
Ostend, Lille and Douai
British forces under General Birdwood entered Lille yesterday to the drumbeat of victory, and just before one o’clock Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes landed at Ostend, whence the enemy had vanished. Later in the day Douai fell into our hands. When the new offensive began in Flanders on Monday, few expected that such great and dramatic results would be so rapidly attained. To the British public the recovery of the Belgian coastline will bulk even more largely than the fall of Lille. This country has suffered deeply as a result of the misfortunes which enabled the Germans to gain a foothold on the shores of Belgium. The ports served as lairs for their submarines and destroyers, and in the country behind them the aerodromes were built from which came the aircraft squadrons which so frequently bombed London and our towns and villages. We may well rejoice that the shores of Belgium are all but won back, and that never again will the enemy look covetously across the Straits of Dover.
It is no secret that until recently there seemed every probability that the Allies would find Lille a mass of ruins, another and a larger Bapaume. Apparently it has dawned upon the German Staff that they cannot seek peace with a flaming torch, and that their vile and wanton methods of destruction will only harden the hearts of the Allies against them. Their belated abandonment of practices of barbarism is the obvious outcome of the Allied protests, which should have been made in a more effective form long ago.
Meanwhile Sir Douglas Haig yesterday began a fresh attack on a ten-mile front between Bohain and Le Cateau, in which sector there has already been so much hard fighting. Should this new blow continue to develop, its results may be felt along the whole German front. One of its first consequences is that our troops have gained possession of Douai. On the other hand, the enemy are retreating in reasonably good order, and so far there is no sign of collapse and no visible prospect of a German military disaster.
The Germans have lost the war, and know it, but they are not yet close to breakdown. Their biggest danger is not the Allies. Germany might still resist for a long time, but not if behind a shortened front her civil population is in a state of revolt.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-17/register/advance-on-two-fronts-jx5l6m8f9
Meanwhile Sir Douglas Haig yesterday began a fresh attack on a ten-mile front between Bohain and Le Cateau, in which sector there has already been so much hard fighting. Should this new blow continue to develop, its results may be felt along the whole German front. One of its first consequences is that our troops have gained possession of Douai. On the other hand, the enemy are retreating in reasonably good order, and so far there is no sign of collapse and no visible prospect of a German military disaster.
The Germans have lost the war, and know it, but they are not yet close to breakdown. Their biggest danger is not the Allies. Germany might still resist for a long time, but not if behind a shortened front her civil population is in a state of revolt.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-17/register/advance-on-two-fronts-jx5l6m8f9
october 17, 1918
Advance on two fronts
On the Flanders battlefront our Second Army is continuing to advance with comparatively light resistance from the German rearguards. On practically the whole of the British sector we are now up to or across the canalized River Lys. The Germans are reported to be entrenched on the farther slopes, but the northern slopes and summit are in our hands. The roads in this region, in happy contrast to the old battle area behind our advance, are fairly good, and on one of them we caught a German steamroller engaged on repair work which did its lumbering best to get away.
In many cases we find prisoners quite ready for surrender, with all the rations they can scrape together, and their kits packed as if coming on leave. Many of them have on them copies of a leaflet, evidently distributed by the Higher Command, which tells them that Germany has offered an armistice to President Wilson and that the war will be soon over. Meanwhile, they are to keep stout hearts and fight to the last.
In many cases we find prisoners quite ready for surrender, with all the rations they can scrape together, and their kits packed as if coming on leave. Many of them have on them copies of a leaflet, evidently distributed by the Higher Command, which tells them that Germany has offered an armistice to President Wilson and that the war will be soon over. Meanwhile, they are to keep stout hearts and fight to the last.
Towards and south of Lille, between Lens and Armentieres, troops of our Fifth Army, under General Birdwood, continue to shepherd the Germans eastward. There is not much fighting, the enemy generally covering his rear with machine-guns, which yield under pressure, and as there is nothing to be gained at this stage by risking losses, our progress is deliberate and methodical.
The weather has improved today to the extent that no rain is falling, but the unsettled conditions, with the already unpleasant state of the Flanders mud, are not encouraging. The more one sees of this dreadful battle area the more hideous it is. Not even the terrible old Somme battlefields are more utterly blasted and shell-torn, stripped alike of all trees and all buildings, than is the region of our Flanders fighting of last year now that it has again been twice fought over. Ypres itself has sunk one more step in the process of decay and another summer’s herbage has overgrown the shapeless heaps of brick which were once the houses of the town. Above the waste the jagged remnants of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall have put on something of the majesty of the ruins of Greece and Rome. It seems like a city of another age, and is invested with a strange beauty.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-16/register/conditions-of-armistice-dn8zq2nrg
The weather has improved today to the extent that no rain is falling, but the unsettled conditions, with the already unpleasant state of the Flanders mud, are not encouraging. The more one sees of this dreadful battle area the more hideous it is. Not even the terrible old Somme battlefields are more utterly blasted and shell-torn, stripped alike of all trees and all buildings, than is the region of our Flanders fighting of last year now that it has again been twice fought over. Ypres itself has sunk one more step in the process of decay and another summer’s herbage has overgrown the shapeless heaps of brick which were once the houses of the town. Above the waste the jagged remnants of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall have put on something of the majesty of the ruins of Greece and Rome. It seems like a city of another age, and is invested with a strange beauty.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-16/register/conditions-of-armistice-dn8zq2nrg
october 16, 1918
Conditions of armistice
Mr Wilson has sent through the Swiss Charge d’Affaires in Washington his answer to the last German Note. The President’s prompt and emphatic reply has been received with general satisfaction in political and diplomatic circles. It reached the Government yesterday, and was carefully considered by the War Cabinet. Its statement that no arrangement for an armistice can be accepted which does not “provide absolutely satisfactory safeguards and guarantees of the maintenance of the present military supremacy” of the associated Armies in the field is felt to place the position on a satisfactory basis.
Opinion was less unanimous upon the President’s reference to a radical change in the character of the Government of Germany as “one of the peace terms which the German Government has now accepted”. But in some quarters the view prevails that the President’s position hardly differs from that taken by Mr Lloyd George when he declared that the Allies would naturally deal with a repentant Germany in a different spirit from that which would inspire their treatment of an unrepentant Germany.
Opinion was less unanimous upon the President’s reference to a radical change in the character of the Government of Germany as “one of the peace terms which the German Government has now accepted”. But in some quarters the view prevails that the President’s position hardly differs from that taken by Mr Lloyd George when he declared that the Allies would naturally deal with a repentant Germany in a different spirit from that which would inspire their treatment of an unrepentant Germany.
No forecast can be made of the way in which President Wilson’s Note will be received in Germany. In some quarters it is believed that the German Government will elect to throw itself upon his mercy. In others it is held to be more probable that the Pan-German and Conservative sections of German, and especially Prussian, opinion will attempt to rally round the Emperor and to continue the struggle under a military dictatorship. All reliable information from Germany points to the bewilderment of German public opinion. Alarm is intense in the Rhine provinces. Sweeping changes in the German Government are hourly expected.
The state of Austria-Hungary is even more distracted. The Germans of Austria show signs of seeking to carry out the threat which they have often addressed to the dynasty and of throwing in their lot with the Germans of the German Empire.
The Turkish request to the United States for an armistice has been received in London. The only terms upon which the Allied Governments are likely to grant an armistice are analogous to those imposed upon Bulgaria.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-15/register/latest-german-overture-3znclsvml
The state of Austria-Hungary is even more distracted. The Germans of Austria show signs of seeking to carry out the threat which they have often addressed to the dynasty and of throwing in their lot with the Germans of the German Empire.
The Turkish request to the United States for an armistice has been received in London. The only terms upon which the Allied Governments are likely to grant an armistice are analogous to those imposed upon Bulgaria.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-15/register/latest-german-overture-3znclsvml
October 15, 1918
Latest German overture
The German reply to President Wilson was the sole subject of consideration in official quarters yesterday. The King came specially from Sandringham to Buckingham Palace, where he received Mr Lloyd George and General Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. His Majesty afterwards returned to Norfolk.
The Cabinet held long sittings and considered the outlook in all its aspects. The results of the conferences in Paris last week between the Allied Prime Ministers and their military and political advisers were examined. At those conferences the main conditions of the granting of any armistice to the enemy are understood to have been agreed upon, and the method of procedure fixed. There was no disposition in any quarter to accept promises or undertakings by way of guarantee from the Germans. The discussion, it is believed, turned entirely on the practical conditions of security to be exacted, and it is not by any means thought certain, or even probable, that the question of an armistice will take practical shape in the immediate future. It is certain only that, should a position arise in which the granting of an armistice becomes expedient, Marshal Foch and the British naval authorities are likely to have a decisive voice in settling its terms.
The Cabinet held long sittings and considered the outlook in all its aspects. The results of the conferences in Paris last week between the Allied Prime Ministers and their military and political advisers were examined. At those conferences the main conditions of the granting of any armistice to the enemy are understood to have been agreed upon, and the method of procedure fixed. There was no disposition in any quarter to accept promises or undertakings by way of guarantee from the Germans. The discussion, it is believed, turned entirely on the practical conditions of security to be exacted, and it is not by any means thought certain, or even probable, that the question of an armistice will take practical shape in the immediate future. It is certain only that, should a position arise in which the granting of an armistice becomes expedient, Marshal Foch and the British naval authorities are likely to have a decisive voice in settling its terms.
The official text of the German reply only reached Washington yesterday morning. There is consequently no indication of the way in which President Wilson will deal with it. In quarters best acquainted with his mind and intentions, it is, however, anticipated that his rejoinder will be prompt and extremely frank. The President called Mr Lansing and Mr Baker to the White House for a conference. Later, Colonel House and Mr Daniels (Secretary of the Navy) joined the conference, which lasted for nearly two hours.
In the meantime there is reason to believe that the German Imperial Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, has resigned office. His attitude has satisfied neither the Conservative nor the Socialist sections of German opinion. By the former he is blamed for having yielded far too much, and by the latter for having sought to equivocate at a moment when the German people are anxious, above all, for a prompt conclusion of peace.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-13/register/the-only-way-jgmwwzn2j
In the meantime there is reason to believe that the German Imperial Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, has resigned office. His attitude has satisfied neither the Conservative nor the Socialist sections of German opinion. By the former he is blamed for having yielded far too much, and by the latter for having sought to equivocate at a moment when the German people are anxious, above all, for a prompt conclusion of peace.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-13/register/the-only-way-jgmwwzn2j
october 13, 1918
The only way
“In order that the reply” (of the United States to the German request for an armistice) “shall be as candid and straightforward as the momentous interests involved require”, Mr Wilson sought last week “to assure himself of the exact meaning” of the German proposal. Within four days Dr Solf, the latest German Foreign Secretary, has answered in terms that are neither straightforward nor candid. His promptness gives the measure of German anxiety to secure some breathing space for the German Armies in France. But his answer betrays the atmosphere of equivocation in which the German Government lives and moves.
Dr Solf replies that the German Government “declares itself ready to comply with the proposition of the President in regard to the evacuation”, and suggests that the President “may occasion the meeting of a Commision for making the necessary arrangements”.
Dr Solf replies that the German Government “declares itself ready to comply with the proposition of the President in regard to the evacuation”, and suggests that the President “may occasion the meeting of a Commision for making the necessary arrangements”.
This is not compliance. It is merely an attempt to create an impression in Germany that Germany is ready to accept the President’s terms. For casuistry of this kind, frankness is the only cure. The German people should know at once that the associated Governments have not the slightest intention of accepting “arrangements” concerning the evacuation. Even less satisfactory is Dr Solf’s definition of the status of the new Imperial Chancellor. Dr Solf says that he “speaks in the name of the German government and of the German people”. The fiction that the German people have any say in the matter is brushed aside.
Victory, as Lord Grey recently said, is in sight, though it is not yet within reach. The object of the rulers of Germany is to bolster up their own prestige and the power of their accursed system by persuading their people that they are unbeaten. For the associated peoples and their Governments the lesson is to hold together, and support their Armies in the field by keeping a united front at home, while Mr Wilson prepares his “candid and straightforward” reply. The Government of the United States is as determined as the people of this country that Germany shall abide by that arbitrament of force to which alone, four years ago, she appealed in her presumptuous pride. The sword must decide. There is no other road to peace.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-12/register/the-sunk-irish-packet-9dfmq0s7x
Victory, as Lord Grey recently said, is in sight, though it is not yet within reach. The object of the rulers of Germany is to bolster up their own prestige and the power of their accursed system by persuading their people that they are unbeaten. For the associated peoples and their Governments the lesson is to hold together, and support their Armies in the field by keeping a united front at home, while Mr Wilson prepares his “candid and straightforward” reply. The Government of the United States is as determined as the people of this country that Germany shall abide by that arbitrament of force to which alone, four years ago, she appealed in her presumptuous pride. The sword must decide. There is no other road to peace.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-10-12/register/the-sunk-irish-packet-9dfmq0s7x
october 12, 1918
The sunk Irish packet
Further details of the loss of the Irish mail steamer Leinster, the torpedoing of which was announced yesterday, emphasize the brutal character of the enemy’s conduct of sea warfare. Of some 700 persons on board, including many women and children, about 450 are now reported to have lost their lives.
The Leinster left her moorings in Kingstown Harbour on Thursday morning for Holyhead in the charge of Captain Birch. She had on board nearly 700 passengers, and about 70 crew. The approach of a torpedo was first noticed by a passenger, who informed the captain, but it was so close that it was impossible to evade it. It struck the small steamer between the forecastle and post office compartment, piercing her side. An attempt was made to bring the steamer about and make for port, and it looked as if this would succeed despite the heavy swell, but a second torpedo strack the vessel amidships near the first-class saloon, and immediately there was a violent explosion, which shook the ship from stem to stern. Many persons must have been killed by its force. The Leinster listed to port, and many men, trusting to their life-belts, dived into the sea, but most of them were drowned. Boats were lowered, but some capsized before reaching the water, and their occupants were thrown out. Others were smashed against the sides of the ship. As the vessel began to settle it became apparent that the loss of life would be heavy. The sea was filled with a struggling mass of men, women, and children. Some were clinging to rafts, others scrambling into boats, but most had to give up the struggle for life and disappeared. One survivor states that he saw the second torpedo coming, and knew then that it was all over.
The Leinster left her moorings in Kingstown Harbour on Thursday morning for Holyhead in the charge of Captain Birch. She had on board nearly 700 passengers, and about 70 crew. The approach of a torpedo was first noticed by a passenger, who informed the captain, but it was so close that it was impossible to evade it. It struck the small steamer between the forecastle and post office compartment, piercing her side. An attempt was made to bring the steamer about and make for port, and it looked as if this would succeed despite the heavy swell, but a second torpedo strack the vessel amidships near the first-class saloon, and immediately there was a violent explosion, which shook the ship from stem to stern. Many persons must have been killed by its force. The Leinster listed to port, and many men, trusting to their life-belts, dived into the sea, but most of them were drowned. Boats were lowered, but some capsized before reaching the water, and their occupants were thrown out. Others were smashed against the sides of the ship. As the vessel began to settle it became apparent that the loss of life would be heavy. The sea was filled with a struggling mass of men, women, and children. Some were clinging to rafts, others scrambling into boats, but most had to give up the struggle for life and disappeared. One survivor states that he saw the second torpedo coming, and knew then that it was all over.
A passenger who had a narrow escape said: “High in the davits amidships and overhanging the side of the ship, just about where the torpedo struck, was a large lifeboat with about 70 people in it. That boat and those people were blown to fragments and scattered in the great clouds of debris that darkened the sky. The ship was not so much sunk as blown up into the air. A moment afterwards nothing was left of her but odds and ends of wreckage. We were told that only one wireless call could be got off before the aerial and the installation gave way.”
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