September 5 - Some interesting addenda:
On August 30th a special edition of
The Times contained a dispatch from correspondent Arthur Moore. The story mentioned the "terrible defeat" suffered by the British Army at Mons and described the the troops as "the broken bits of many regiments." On September 5th First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill wrote a letter to the owner of
The Times. "I think you ought to realise the harm that has been done by Sunday's publication in
The Times. I never saw such panic-stricken stuff written by any war correspondent before, and this served up on the authority of
The Times can be made, and has been made, a weapon against us in every doubtful State."
Prime Minister Asquith asked Churchill to write a letter for publication, describing the retreat in detail. Churchill wrote "There is no doubt that our men have established a personal ascendancy over the Germans, and they ar conscious of the fact that with anything like even numbers the result would not be doubtful." Of course the numbers were not even close to even, but the British were only a small part of the Allied army at that time.
The Belgian underground was doing their part. They had torn up so much of the railway system that the Germans had to devote 26,000 railroad workers just to try to make repairs, and they were losing ground. The distance from the rail head to the front line was 20 miles on August 25th. By September 4th the German 2nd Army had to move men and equipment more that 100 miles to get to the fighting.
At the beginning of the Battle of the Marne General Joffre wrote "At the moment when the battle upon which hangs the fate of France is about to begin, all must remember that the time for looking back is past; every effort must be concentrated on attacking and throwing the enemy back."
"I visited the Divisions and found the men very elated at the idea of moving forward rather than backward."
-General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, diary
Among the first French troops to attack the German line were 5,000 Moroccans. As they came under heavy fire a French battalion charged to their rescue. First killed was the French Captain. Lieutenant Charles-Henri de la Cornillière led the soldiers forward until he himself was mortally wounded. As his men started to shout "The lieutenant is killed!" and show signs of panic, de la Conrillières dying words were "Yes, the lieutenant has been killed, but keep on firm!" This incident became famous among French patriots.
It was also on September 5th that the Daily Opinion first ran the picture of Lord Kitchener, drawn by Alfred Leete.
It would later become the legendary recruiting poster:
