THE YPRES TIMES
195
There was a tendency at times to regard a further retreat, which might involve the
loss of Ypres, as certain and inevitable. And Foch has not been free from
criticism owing to his zeal for offensive operations. But he knew the fighting
qualities of British troops, upon whom the greater burden of the attack had fallen,
and he urged that if only the Allies would stand firm, the German offensive would
exhaust itself and the Channel ports be saved. At length the crisis passed and
Ypres remained in British hands.
The published Life and Diaries of Sir Henry Wilson give us many happy
glimpses of the relations which existed at this period between Foch and the British
Headquarters at St. Omer. And a telling tribute to his work in Flanders was made
by M. Poincaréin his funeral oration. If to-day," he said, England and Belgium
are in the front rank of the beloved nations who are associating themselves in the
grief of France, it is particularly because they have forgotten nothing of the
inestimable services rendered by Foch to the cause of our three countries during
the Battle of the Yser and the Battle of Ypres no one questions, I think,
that from the top of the Hill of Cassel, Foch steadfastly supervised the preparation
of common success with an incomparable influence."
Later history shows Foch employed in a number of important posts, and
among them that of Chief-of-Staff, and Military Adviser to the Italian Higher
Command. Towards the end of 1917 the Supreme War Council was established
at Versailles and Foch was appointed President of its military branchthe Inter-
Allied Executive War Board. Military opinion was definitely tending towards
unity of command, and while the matter was still under .discussion the blow fell.
On March 21st, 1918, the Germans broke through the British defences in front of
Amiens. A crisis had been reached. It had to be faced, and faced immediately.
That crisis brought to Foch his opportunity, and with it the most terrible responsi
bility. He was called upon to co-ordinate the action of the Allied Armies on the
Western front," and was afterwards appointed General-in-Chief of the Allied
Armies in France." It is said that he accepted the appointment with these words:
"It is a hard task you offer me now, a compromised situation, a crumbling front,
an adverse battle in progress. Nevertheless I accept."
From that moment he faced his task. His immediate object was to close the
gap which had been opened between the French and British Armies. General
Weygand, his eminent and devoted Chief-of-Staff, has given a graphic description
of his amazing energy at this critical hour. By the evening of March 26th, Foch
had made his first survey of the general situation at the front. I have seen what
there was to see," he said, and have done what had to be done. I can stop them,
but pray God it may not be too late."
Within twenty-four hours of his appointment, in spite of the fact that there
had been no time to organize his General Staff, Foch had personally visited all the
Army Commanders who were engaged in the battle. He had explained to them
his plans, leaving with them his written instructions and encouraging them with
the assurance of his confidence. So his activity continued to the end. Travelling
in his car by day and night, sometimes at a speed of a hundred kilometres an hour,
he was in constant touch with every important phase and point of the battle,
showing, as General Weygand has said, an infallible judgment and an excep
tional spirit of decision."
It was at the climax of the worst periods, in May and June, that his spirit rose
to the height of its magnificence. Ludendorff attacked again and again, in the
valley of the Lys, on the east of Soissons, and lastly in Champagne. But
throughout the crisis Foch remained serene and confident, and never for a moment
did his nerve give way. Calmly and quietly he grasped each situation at close
quarters, and arrived at his decisions.
Then the great moment came. With Mangin's successful counter-attack on
