Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1915 — AUTOS WIN BATTLE [ARTICLE]

AUTOS WIN BATTLE

How the Tide Was Turned on the Marne. General Galllenl Hurls 70,000 Men by Taxicab Against German Flank and Forces Retreat to the Alsne. By FRANKLIN P. MERRICK. (International News Service.) Paris. —It is not generally known that the Battle of the Marne was won by automobiles. General Galllenl had 400 taxicabs and other light motor cars at his disposal It will be remembered that Von Kluck with the right of the German army got as far as Champiley. General Galllenl, as military governor of Paris, had a large force, probably half a million men, at his disposal and he was responsible for the defense of Paris. Galllenl figured that he had more men than he really needed and that 70,000 of his men could be spared for work at the front. Acting entirely upon his own responsibility, he ordered his men to crowd into the automobiles. He made each taxicab carry nine soldiers. It was a curious sight There were two in each seat two on the hood, one with the driver and one on each running board. Within six hours he threw the whole 70,000 against the flank of the Germans at Meaux, about thirty-five miles from Paris. Von Kluck evidently had not reckoned with such a sortie. He was forced to stop and give battle. The French, retiring on his front, re-formed and gave battle. The result was the retreat of the Germans from Marne to the Alsne after the sanguinary battle named from the first river. This is only one of the great exploits of the French army automobile transport service. No other nation in this war has used the motor car with the effectivenesr of the French. The automobile transport service is organized as a separate branch. Working with amazing rapidity just after the beginning of the war, the French army officers drafted into this corps men who had been employed in automobile manufacture —foremen, skilled workmen, testers and drivers. The officers were drawn from the manufacturers, agents and other heads of automobile organizations. The heaviest trucks are used for ammunition carriers and lighter commercial vehicles for the food supply. General Mongin commands the whole corps. Some noted French race drivers are now in the army service. Boillot alternates with the Marquis D’Albufera in driving General Joffre’s car. Several machines are kept ready day and night for General Joffre and it is no unusual

thing for him to enter one of them and drive the whole length of the battle front in the course of the night There are now 15,000 automobiles and 12,000 trucks in the service of the French army. One of the automobile service corps’ biggest feats was the transfer of the British army from Braisne, between Soisne and Reims, to St Omar, a distance of 170 miles. The 200,000 men were transported to their new positions within three days.