Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 272, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1916 — REPORT REVEALS GERMAN WEAKNESS [ARTICLE]

REPORT REVEALS GERMAN WEAKNESS

British Capture Document Prepared by Teutonic Corps Commander.

INFERIOR ON THE SOMME

Von Arnim Admits British Superiority in Air and Artillery—Short of Everything but Food —Draws Lessons From Battle.

War Correspondents’ Headquarters in France. —Germany is short of guns, aeroplanes and war material of all sorts, but not of food, according to a most sensationally interesting document the British have captured, which is called “the experience of the Fourth German Corps in the Battle of the Somme.” The document was written as instructions to the troops. It was drawn from the lessons of the battle by Gen. Count Sixt von Arnim, the corps commander, who has been fighting opposite the British throughout the offensive/ This long detailed revelation of the inner thoughts of the German staff discusses the methods and shortcomings of every branch of the German army in view of the unexpected power and organization the British have shown. ,

The document starts out by paying a tribute to the British infantry, “which undoubtedly has learned much since last autumn’s offensive. It shows great dash in attack. The Englishman also has physique and training in his favor. One must acknowledge the skill of the English in rapidly consolidating captured positions and their great tenacity in the defense of them.” British Artillery Very Effective. Explicit instructions are given in the document to the artillery to change their methods of placing batteries in villages and behind steep slopes, because of the British method of distribution of their artillery fire, which prodigally searches all obvious shelters. Owing to the tetrifle concentration of the British artillery fire, says the document, front lines of trenches should be thinly held and dependence placed on small groups of machine gunners. Once the British lay a curtain of fire on a trench, it

adds, the men had better evacuate It and lay down In the open. Most Interesting to the officers. In view of the fact that the British have so consistently held ground they have taken against counter-attacks. Is what Gen. von Arnim says on the subject. “If the counter-attacks, which on account of the situation ought to be methodically prepared, are hurried, they cost much blood, because the troops lose their trust in the leaders If they fall, which nearly always happens,” says Gen. von Armln. He then complains thut the “existing telephone system has proved totally Inadequate in consequence of the development of the fighting,’’ and says the artiHery signal system broke down. The commander asserts that he has discovered that British aeroplanes use sound signals to tell gunners where their shells are falling, and says the Fourth corps already has started an experiment on the same kind of method as a complement to the wireless, which is frequently interrupted. Superiority of British Airmen.

“The numerical superiority of the British airmen and the fact that their machines were better made are disagreeably apparent to us,” Gen. von Arnim says, and he speaks of the surprisingly bold procedure of British airmen, who were often “able to fire-successfully on our troops with machine guns by descending to within a few hundred feet of the ground.” He adds that the German antiaircraft guns could not continue firing at that height “without exposing their own troops to the serious danger of shell fragments.” Before the battle of the Somme airmen kept at anywhere from 6,000 to 12,000 feet over the lines on account of antiaircraft gunfire. - Gen. von Arnim in the document warns his infantry to use their rifles against the daring British aviators. He says that the ammunition supply and the artillery are inadequate, and that maps were insufficient in quantity and bad as regard details. Also the supply of horses has reached the utmost limit. Of the food supply Gen. von Arnim says: “No special difficulties arose. The supply columns prove sufficient.”