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[Illustration: cover--THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR

By Sir Edward Parrott, M.A., LL.D.]




[Illustration: British Soldiers crossing the Aisne. (_See page 244._)]




  THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR

  by
  SIR EDWARD PARROTT, M.A., LL.D.
  AUTHOR OF "BRITAIN OVERSEAS," "THE PAGEANT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC.


  From the Battle of Mons to the Fall of Antwerp.


  THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
  LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, AND NEW YORK




  _Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!_
        _To all the sensual world proclaim,_
  _One crowded hour of glorious life_
        _Is worth an age without a name._

    Sir Walter Scott




  CONTENTS.


       I. The French Army                                        1

      II. The First Clash of Arms                               11

     III. The Fall of Namur                                     17

      IV. The Battle of Mons                                    26

       V. Soldiers' Stories of the Battle of Mons               33

      VI. The Russian People                                    44

     VII. The Russian Army                                      49

    VIII. The Eastern Theatre of War                            54

      IX. Victory and Defeat                                    65

       X. Stories of Russian Soldiers                           77

      XI. The Fighting Retreat                                  81

     XII. A Glorious Stand                                      91

    XIII. "The Most Critical Day of All"                        97

     XIV. Stories of the Retreat from Mons to St. Quentin      106

      XV. Valorous Deeds and Victoria Crosses                  113

     XVI. Arras and Amiens                                     125

    XVII. The French Retreat                                   129

   XVIII. "Those Terrible Grey Horses"                         138

     XIX. The Story of Battery L of the R.H.A.                 145

      XX. More Stories of the Retreat                          152

     XXI. The Beginning of the War at Sea                      161

    XXII. The Battle of Heligoland Bight                       177

   XXIII. The Turn of the Tide                                 193

    XXIV. The Crossing of the Marne                            205

     XXV. The Battle of the Marne                              209

    XXVI. Stories of the Battle of the Marne                   220

   XXVII. More Stories of the Battle of the Marne              225

  XXVIII. The Aisne Valley                                     236

    XXIX. The Crossing of the Aisne                            241

     XXX. The Battle of the Aisne                              250

    XXXI. Soldiers' Stories of the Battle of the Aisne         257

   XXXII. Verdun and Rheims                                    273

  XXXIII. The Race to the Sea                                  289

   XXXIV. The First Russian Advance to Cracow                  297

    XXXV. Antwerp as it was                                    305

   XXXVI. The Siege and Fall of Antwerp                        310




[Illustration: THE
CHILDREN'S
STORY OF
THE WAR

VOLUME II.]




  CHAPTER I.

  THE FRENCH ARMY.


In Chapter XXIII. of Volume I. I told you that the French began their
raid upon Alsace on August 7, 1914. At this time some of the Liége forts
were still holding out, and the great German advance through Belgium had
not yet begun. As the French were able to push into the enemy's country
thus early in the war, you may imagine that they were quite ready for
action before Belgium was overrun. Not, however, until August 22 were
their preparations so far advanced that they could begin the business of
war in real earnest.

Before I tell you the story of the first real battle of the war, let us
learn something of the French army. In Chapters IV. and V. of Volume I.
you read an account of the little man, with the pale face and cold blue
eyes, who made France the greatest fighting nation of the world. He
became, you will remember, master of continental Europe, and his legions
marched in triumph through Berlin, Vienna, Naples, Madrid, Lisbon, and
Moscow. He taught the art of war to all Europe, and France under his
rule rose to the highest pinnacle of military glory.

When Napoleon fell, Frenchmen turned in loathing from the work of war.
They remembered the awful waste of life and the terrible misery which
had resulted from his campaigns, and they longed for peace, during which
they might build up the nation anew. The French army, therefore, became
a mere shadow of what it had been formerly. Under Napoleon III.,
however, there was a revival of military spirit. His army, as you know,
fought well in the Crimea[1] and in Italy,[2] but it suffered hopeless
defeat in the war of 1870-1 against the Germans.[1] The French took to
heart the fearful lessons of this war, and began almost at once to put
their military house in order.

In 1872 they passed a law which was supposed to compel every young man
to serve as a soldier for twenty years--five years with the colours, and
then four years in the Reserve; five years in the Territorial Army, and
six years in the Territorial Reserve. But this law was not fully
enforced. The men called up each year were divided by lot into two
groups, and one of these groups, in time of peace, was let off with only
one year's service in the Regular Army. Whole classes of persons, such
as breadwinners and teachers, were free from service altogether, and any
man could escape with one year's training by paying a certain sum of
money. This plan proved very unsatisfactory, and in 1889 a new law was
passed by which every young man was forced to serve twenty-five
years--three years with the colours, seven years in the Reserve, six
years in the Territorial Army, and nine years in the Territorial
Reserve. By this means France hoped to raise her total number of trained
men to 3,000,000.

Up to the year 1893 France and Germany had about the same number of
soldiers on a peace footing; but very soon Germany began to forge ahead,
chiefly because her population grew so rapidly. Soon it was clear that
France could not hope to raise so large an army as Germany; so in 1897
she made an alliance with Russia, by which each Power agreed to take
part in the other's quarrel if either of them should be attacked. In
1905 France again altered her army law by reducing the time of service
with the colours to two years, and by increasing the period of service
with the Reserve to eleven years. But even this arrangement did not give
her all the soldiers which she needed; so in 1913 she decreed that every
Frenchman found fit for service must join the colours at the age of
twenty, spend three years in the Regular Army, eleven years in the
Regular Reserve, seven years in the Territorial Army, and seven in the
Territorial Reserve. Thus every strong and able-bodied Frenchman became
liable for military service from his twentieth to his forty-eighth year.
Roughly speaking, this new law enabled France to put into the field, a
month or so after the beginning of war, about 4,000,000 trained men.
This gave her a first line army of about 1,500,000, a second line of
about 500,000, and a reserve of about 2,000,000. Germany feared that
this new law would so strengthen France that she and Russia combined
would be more than a match for her; and one of the reasons why she
declared war on August 1, 1914, was to crush the French before the new
arrangement could come into full working order.

[Illustration: Recruits in the Streets of Paris.

_Photo, Sport and General._]

Every year in the month of February a Council sits in Paris and in the
provinces, and before it all youths of twenty must appear to pass the
doctor. If they are found "bon pour le service," they are told what
regiment they must join and the place where they are to undergo their
training, and in the following October they join their depots.
Frequently the young men so chosen pin big paper favours on their coats
and hats, and, thus decorated, march about the streets. Outside the
hall in which the Council is sitting there are almost sure to be a
number of stalls loaded with these blue, white, and red decorations.

When the young soldier arrives at the barracks he is given three suits
of clothes, one of which is his drill dress, another his walking-out
dress, and the third his war dress. These clothes he keeps on a shelf
above his bed, and he so arranges his garments that the French colours,
blue, white, and red, are clearly seen. In summer he rises at 4 a.m.,
and in winter at 6 a.m., and he goes to bed at 9 p.m. all the year
round, except when he is on sentry-go, or has permission to stay out
late. Every day the barrack-room is inspected, to see that the beds are
properly made, that the men's clothes are in good order, and that the
room is clean and tidy. The "little breakfast," which consists of coffee
and a roll, is served at 5 a.m.; lunch is eaten at ten o'clock, and
dinner at five. The meals usually consist of soup, meat