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Read Ebook: The Illustrated War News Number 21 Dec. 30 1914 by Various
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The Admiralty announced on September 13 that the Australian Squadron had occupied, on the 11th, "the town of Herbertsh?he, in the island of Neu Pommern , which is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago; this island lies due east from German New Guinea." At Rabaul, New Britain, on the 13th, a British Proclamation was read, with a special one in "pidgin" English for the natives. The German Acting-Governor, Dr. Haber, surrendered on the 21st. Our photographs show: German troops marching into Herbertsh?he to surrender; A German building at Friedrich Wilhelmshafen, now garrison headquarters; The Australian Naval Brigade marching through Rabaul; and Dr. Haber, followed by the German Commander, riding into Herbertsh?he to surrender.
The three Northern Monarchs whose portraits are given above are: King Haakon of Norway; King Gustav of Sweden; King Christian of Denmark. King Gustav was the convener of the meeting, the object of which was to arrive at an understanding by means of which the Scandinavian countries might be able to draw closer together in view of the interests common to them all as neutrals. The motive was to maintain the neutrality and independence of the three peoples, and at the same time to mitigate as far as possible the serious inconveniences which all the three Northern States have suffered in regard to the supplies of the necessaries of life and in their general economic condition in consequence of the existence of a state of war in Europe.--
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De Wet committed his first open act of rebellion at Vrede, on October 28. There, with a hastily raised commando at his heels, he forcibly seized the place and, after submitting the local officials to brutal ill-treatment, in a wild, incendiary speech called on the Dutch of South Africa to rise in arms against the British Government. It was at Winburg that De Wet performed, as it is stated, the theatrical and unworthy outrage of trampling on and tearing the Union Jack. The identical flag which suffered the maltreatment is shown in our photograph, in the state in which it was after De Wet's puerile act of defiance had been committed. Reparation and atonement are to come, as we shall learn when De Wet faces his court-martial, probably at an early date.
This tragic photograph, showing the fatal effects of a German shell among some French soldiers, brings home to the mind what "death on the field of honour" means. The Premier of France, M. Viviani, in his great speech at the opening of the Chambers, paid an eloquent tribute to the French Army. "We have," he said, "the certainty of success. We owe this certainty ... to our Army, whose heroism in numerous combats has been guided by their incomparable chiefs from the victory on the Marne to the victory in Flanders.... Let us do honour to all these heroes. Glory to those who have fallen before the victory, and to those also who through it will avenge them to-morrow! A nation which can arouse such enthusiasm can never perish."--
The entrenchment of the East Coast is not only a wise precaution, but the work of digging and fitting up the trenches is excellent practice for the troops who may later on be called upon to do similar work abroad. It will be seen from our photographs that the trenches on the East Coast are constructed on the latest pattern as developed in the war, with deep passage-ways, roofed sections, traverses, and zigzags to avoid an enfilading fire from the flank. They are, indeed, to judge by the photograph, remarkably similar to those constructed at the front in France and Flanders. Even if occasion should not arise to use them against the enemy, the labour of making them has not by any means been in vain.--
Full early, the popular German illustrated papers gave pictures of Christmas on the field of battle, and it was very evident that our enemies anticipated a joyous day or two: this, probably, thanks to the idea that at Christmas-time all the Armies might call something of a halt, although it was understood they were not in the least likely to do so officially. It was also anticipated that the conditions of the Christmas spent by the Germans at the front would, like those experienced by our own men and those of the Allied Armies, be ameliorated by the reception and distribution of gifts from home. For a considerable while Germany's women-folk, especially, collected gifts for fathers and brothers at the front; and it is certain that their efforts were much appreciated.
Our photograph reproduces a snapshot, by a French artillery officer, in the trenches to the east of the Aisne. It shows how some of the French are making the best of things, regardless of weather and the enemy. They hollowed out the trench at one point , and roofed it over with planks and earth, forming a bomb-proof. A seat was cut at the sides and a table got from a village near. A roll of sheet-iron found in the village was made a chimney for a fire with a cosy chimney-corner beside it. With some wire, also, a sort of candelabra was constructed. The flowers on the table are in a German shell for vase, and the gramophone was another village "find." It is evident that the war may develop a race of military troglodytes.
Our illustration shows how and why the motive-power of the Expeditionary Force, the brain of the Army, is often to be found below-ground. Mr. John Dakin, writing of this drawing, made by him from a sketch which he made at the Front, says: "Throughout the war, the enemy has displayed considerable skill in locating and shelling any buildings selected for occupation by our Staff. Various methods of countering these tactics have been devised. On at least one occasion, headquarters was established in a subterranean apartment, which was not merely bomb-proof, but a comfortable retreat from the weather. Here, by lamplight, plans were worked out; scraps of information pieced together with the aid of maps without risk of interruption from the enemy."--
exactly the same as those with which, as our own officers and men have described in letters home, Sir John French's battalions in every case so effectively shattered the German efforts at breaking through the British during the retreat after Mons. The Russians, it is stated, invariably allowed the Germans to come in to well within point-blank range, remaining silent, holding their fire and not showing a light meanwhile. Then, as the enemy got within point-blank range, searchlights were suddenly switched on and a ceaseless fusillade of Maxim and rifle-fire from the Russians literally mowed the Germans down by hundreds, breaking up their masses and paralysing the attack. Our illustration shows one of the combats just at the critical moment.--
We illustrate here and on the page opposite some curious designs for war-ships by various inventors. No. 1 is McDougal's Armoured Whale-back, with conning-towers, a design of 1892 for converting whalebacks into war-vessels. No. 2 is an American design of 1892, Commodore Folger's Dynamite Ram, cigar-shaped, with two guns throwing masses of dynamite or aerial torpedoes. No. 3 is a design by the Earl of Mayo in 1894 and called "Aries the Ram," built round an immense beam of steel terminating in a sharp point, No. 4 is Gathmann's boat for a heavy gun forward, designed in 1900. She was to be of great speed, and the forward gun was to throw 600 lb. of gun-cotton at the rate of 2000 feet per second. A formidable Armada this, had it been practicable.
The first illustration on this page is a design for a battle-ship made by the Kaiser in 1893, to replace the old "Preussen," then out of date. The vessel was to carry four large barbettes and a huge umbrella-like fighting-top. Illustration No. 2 is an Immersible Ironclad, designed by a French engineer named Le Grand, in 1862. In action the vessel was to be partly submerged, so that only her three turrets and the top of the armoured glacis would be visible. No. 3 is Admiral Elliott's "Ram," of 1884. The ship was to carry a "crinoline" of stanchions along her water-line, practically a fixed torpedo-net. No. 4 is Thomas Cornish's Invulnerable Ironclad, of 1885. She was to have two separate parallel hulls under water; above she was of turtle-back shape.
Our illustration shows a halt in one of the squares of Warsaw of one of the regiments of Siberian infantry, whose magnificent fighting qualities in all the battles of the war in the eastern theatre of operations in which they have taken part have gained for them, as the accounts of the different actions sent to London from Petrograd testify, the outspoken admiration of the whole Russian Army. Particularly singled out for praise has been their audacious expertness in close-quarter combats. They supply both infantry and artillery, and are recruited all over Siberia, forming ordinarily two separate commands, the East Siberian and the West Siberian troops, which garrison the fortresses and districts between Vladisvostock and the Ural Mountains, the dividing range between European and Asiatic Russia.
One of the happiest features of the Great War, and one of its most favourable omens, is the optimistic spirit in which our troops, officers and men alike, are making the best of things, in spite of the trying conditions in which they have to live and carry out their arduous work. They are as proof against physical discomfort or hardships, and as determined to be "jolly," as was Mark Tapley himself. Our illustration shows one of our soldiers writing home from the loft over a cow-shed, his only shelter "somewhere near the front." A shaft of sunlight relieves the gloom of his rough surroundings, and no doubt is reflected in the messages he is sending to his friends at home. It is this wholesome spirit, in small matters and in great, which makes for success.--
It has fallen to the Serbians to furnish the most complete and overwhelming triumph yet achieved in the war--the smashing victory over the Austrian Army on the River Drina during the first ten days of December. Our photographs were taken on and near the battlefield. No. 1 on the first page represents a preliminary incident. It shows an Austrian patrol captured while pressing forward with the rash assurance that characterised the Austrian headlong advance. No. 2 is a battlefield scene, on December 3, when the Serbians suddenly attacked the Austrians and broke up their positions at all points at the outset, making whole regiments, scattered and isolated among ravines and valleys, in many instances, surrender at discretion. One corps of disarmed Austrian prisoners is seen while being marched to the
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rear. No. 3 shows Serbian villagers placing wreaths on the graves of fallen countrymen. Photograph No. 4 lets us realise something of the heroic part the women villagers took in helping to achieve the triumph. As the battle took shape they came forward and cheered the men-folk on, calling out "Napr?d, braco, Napr?d," "Forward, brothers, forward," also helping to push the cannon and ease the worn-out horses. Yet another instance of the work the Serbian women did is shown in our page photograph. Owing to the lack of Red Cross men attendants, the peasant women took on themselves to serve as stretcher-bearers, bringing in the wounded, as these fell in fight, to the dressing-tents in the villages and the churches, which were used as hospitals.--
There was no Christmas truce at the front. The grim realities of the war over-rode all considerations of sentiment, and the hope which was, for a while, common to both sides had to be left unfulfilled. None the less, the Season was not without its little luxuries, and, thanks to the excellent work of the Army Service Corps and the thoughtfulness of sympathetic friends at home, there was no dearth of substantial necessaries and comforts, as well as tobacco and cigarettes galore. Our illustration shows a group of soldiers cooking their Christmas geese in the open, and as intent upon their task as though such conditions were quite orthodox and even such minor alarums as "spasmodic artillery duels, and local fusillades" were things unheard of.--
It is pleasant to think that, with all the dangers and anxieties of the war, our soldiers at the front paid tribute to the season of goodwill. It is a reassuring picture, this of the two men in khaki, rifle on shoulder, but swinging from the deadly barrels berried mistletoe, so rich in suggestion of the happiness of Christmases when the scourge of war was not upon the nations.--
The conditions under which tens of thousands of soldiers spent their Christmas were memorably abnormal, but, none the less, the season was not passed without such observance of old customs, and such care for all available good cheer, as were possible. Our illustration shows a French soldier obviously enjoying his Christmas dinner despite the fact that he has to eat it by the wayside.--
As with our London soldiers at the front, the fortune of war has levied its toll on other Londoners. Our photograph depicts the unfortunate fate that has befallen a once well-known object in the streets of London--one of the motor-'buses shipped across to France to serve in transporting British troops to the front, now in the hands of the enemy. Not many of them have had such bad luck, from all accounts, but accidents cannot be helped, and a victim has been claimed now and again, mostly at places where some raiding Uhlan patrol has managed to cut in and ambush one on some outlying road near the line of communications between the front and an army base, catching the 'bus while returning after discharging its soldier "fares."
The Germans made use of land-mines in the defence of Tsing-tau, and a few days after the town's surrender, on Nov. 7, several exploded while they were being removed by the Japanese, causing much loss of life. It was stated that the explosions killed two officers and eight men, while one officer and fifty-six men were injured. The Germans also used hand-grenades, as shown in our photograph. These appear to have been of the improvised "jam-tin" type such as has been employed in the trenches in Flanders "Eye-Witness" wrote recently: "Mines have not played such an important part in this mole-work as might have been supposed. We have heard the enemy mining and we have tried it ourselves, but one strikes water in this country between seven and eight feet down."--
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