Christmas celebrations in the Navy were naturally curtailed this year, but even in time of war the festival is observed to some extent, under the limitations caused by the necessity of being ready for immediate action. That the Navy did not allow Christmas festivities to interfere with duty is shown by the brilliant air-raid on Cuxhaven on Christmas morning. The Grand Fleet which keeps its silent watch on the seas, under Admiral Jellicoe, did not, we may be sure, relax any of its vigilance. One of the Christmas customs in the Navy is to decorate the mastheads with holly, mistletoe, or evergreens. The mess-room tables are also decorated, and the officers walk in procession through the messes, the Captain sampling the fare.—[Photos. by Newspaper Illustrations and Alfieri.]

THE AIR-RAID ON GERMAN WAR-SHIPS OFF CUXHAVEN: BRITISH SEA-PLANES, SISTERS TO THOSE WHICH TOOK PART IN THE BRILLIANT EXPLOIT.

The sea-planes came into great prominence, for the first time during the war, on Christmas Day, when seven of them attacked German war-ships lying in Schillig Roads, off Cuxhaven. The attack started from a point in the vicinity of Heligoland, and the air-craft were escorted by a light-cruiser and destroyer force, together with submarines. The enemy put up a fight by means of two Zeppelins, three or four bomb-dropping sea-planes, and several submarines. Six out of the seven pilots returned safely—three were re-embarked by our ships, and three were picked up by British submarines. Flight-Commander Francis E.T. Hewlett, R.N., was reported missing. In our first photograph a sea-plane is being conveyed to her parent ship; in the second and third, sea-planes are being hoisted aboard.—[Photos. by S. and G.]

AMENITIES OF MOLE WARFARE SATIRISED: A FRENCH CARICATURIST'S SKIT ON THE "LUXURIES" OF LIFE IN THE TRENCHES.

Both the French and British troops have made the best of things in the siege-warfare of the trenches, and out of an initial condition of misery have managed to evolve a considerable amount of comfort in many parts of the front. Ingenious French engineers, for example, have constructed warm shower-baths, hair-dressing saloons, and similar conveniences, while the British "Eye-Witness" was able to write recently of our own lines: "The trenches themselves are heated by braziers and stoves and floored with straw, bricks and boards. Behind them are shelters and dug-outs of every description most ingeniously contrived." The above French cartoon, which is from "La Vie Parisienne," is headed "La Guerre des Taubes et des Taupes" (moles).

SHELLED, BURNED OUT, AND FINALLY TAKEN BY STORM: ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE FAMOUS CHÂTEAU OF VERMELLES.

Less than three months ago a charming French country mansion amidst its beautiful gardens and park, all that remained at Christmas of the Château of Vermelles is the shell here shown. Fate made the Château, with the small adjoining village, for upwards of eight weeks a disputed tactical point between the Germans and the Allies, a narrow strip of only 150 yards of ground intervening between the trenches. The Germans held Vermelles from October 16 until early in December, fortifying the Château and grounds. They had to be shelled out By October 21, the Château was only smouldering walls, and French engineers were mining approaches to it. Then an English heavy battery bombarded Vermelles. Finally the French "in a very brilliant attack," stormed and took Vermelles, village and château.

THE ACCUSATIONS OF OUTRAGE AND BREACHES OF THE LAWS OF WAR BY GERMANY: THE BRITISH COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY.

On September 15, the Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons that he had asked the Home Secretary and the Attorney-General to take such steps as seemed best adapted to provide for the investigation, from evidence obtainable in this country, of accusations of outrage and breaches of the laws of war on the part of Germany, This Committee is constituted of the Right Hon. Viscount Bryce, O.M. Chairman; the Right Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, Professor of Jurisprudence; the Right Hon. Sir Edward Clarke; Sir Alfred Hopkinson, Vice-Chancellor of the Victoria University, Manchester, 1900-1913; Professor H.A.L. Fisher, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University; and Mr. Harold Cox, Editor of the "Edinburgh Review."—[Photos. by Beresford, Russell, Winter, and Elliott and Fry.]

"DRIVEN ASHORE AND BURNT": THE "EMDEN" BEACHED ON NORTH KEELING ISLAND, AND A BOATLOAD OF PRISONERS COMING AWAY.

An officer of H.M.A.S. "Sydney," which destroyed the German cruiser "Emden" off the Cocos Islands on November 9, has given a vivid account of the event in a private letter recently published in the "Times." After describing the earlier part of the action, he writes: "By now her three funnels and her foremast had been shot away, and she was on fire aft. We turned again, and after giving her a salvo or two with the starboard guns, saw her run ashore on North Keeling Island. So at 11.20 a.m. we ceased firing, the action having lasted one hour forty minutes." Later, the writer of the letter was sent in a cutter to the "Emden" to arrange for the surrender and taking off the wounded. "From the number of men we rescued—i.e., 150," he continues, "we have been able to reckon their losses.

[Continued opposite.

BEFORE THEY ESCAPED IN "A LEAKING SHIP": THE "EMDEN'S" LANDING-PARTY, WHO SAW THEIR SHIP DESTROYED (ON COCOS ISLANDS).

Continued.]

We know the number of men who landed at Cocos and got away.... They cannot have lost less than 180 men killed, with 20 men badly wounded, and about the same number slightly." As regards the fate of the German landing-party, he says: "Early in the morning we made for the cable-station, to find that the party landed by the Germans to destroy the station had seized a schooner and departed. The poor devils aren't likely to go far with a leaking ship and the leathers removed from all the pumps." It may be that the vessel seen on the right in the right-hand photograph is the one in which they escaped. They had broken up all the instruments at the Eastern Telegraph Cable Station, but those in charge of it had a duplicate set concealed.—[Photos. by Illustrations Bureau.]

CHRISTMAS DAY ON BOARD SHIP IN THE NORTH SEA: THE CAPTAIN GOING ROUND THE MESSES "TASTING THE MEN'S DINNER."

By time-honoured naval usage, on Christmas Day, after Divine Service, on board every ship, the officers, headed by the Captain, visit the men at dinner in their messes, which are always gay with seasonable decorations. At the end of each table stands the cook of the mess, to offer the Captain samples of the dinner he has prepared. These are tasted by the officers, and, with a hearty exchange of good wishes, the procession passes from table to table. It is stated that the officers of the Grand Fleet collectively subscribed to provide Christmas dinners at home for the children of their men. It is certain that friends at home provided Christmas fare for the crews in the North Sea. Never was there a year when seasonable goodwill and seasonable good cheer were more desirable.—[From a Drawing by S. Begg.]

AT FRANCIS JOSEPH'S FEET FOR LESS THAN A FORTNIGHT: BELGRADE (SINCE RETAKEN BY THE SERBIANS) ENTERED BY THE AUSTRIANS.

This drawing by a German artist shows General Liborius von Frank (riding in front of the standard-bearer) entering Belgrade at the head of the Fifth Austrian Army on December 2. As the troops passed the Konak, the building in the background with a cupola, they sang the Austrian national anthem. General Frank sent the following message to the Emperor Francis Joseph: "On the occasion of the sixty-sixth anniversary of your Majesty's accession permit me to lay at your feet the information that Belgrade was to-day occupied by the troops of the Fifth Army." Belgrade remained in Austrian hands less than a fortnight. The Serbians recaptured it after a desperate battle. At Belgrade they placed 60,000 Austrians hors de combat, and from December 3 to 15 had captured 274 officers and 46,000 men.

A GERMAN DREAM OF EMPIRE ENDS IN SMOKE: TSING-TAU SET ON FIRE BY SHELLS FROM JAPANESE HEAVY ARTILLERY.

This impressive photograph was taken during the bombardment of Tsing-tau, Germany's cherished possession in the Far East, which fell to the Japanese and British arms on November 7. In the distance the smoke of her burning is seen going up to heaven. The blockade of Tsing-tau began on August 27. The Japanese troops landed in Lao-shan Bay on September 18, the small British force on the 24th. On the 28th they carried the high ground 2½ miles from the main German position, and fire was opened on the fortress during the first week in October. The general bombardment began on October 31 and lasted till the night of November 6, when the Japanese stormed the central fort. We illustrate on another page one of the Japanese heavy siege-guns used at Tsing-tau.—[Photo. by Record Press.]

IN THE BATTERIES AGAINST TSING-TAU: A JAPANESE SIEGE-GUN GETTING THE ORDER BY TELEPHONE TO OPEN FIRE.

We see here one of the heavy siege-guns which the Japanese brought up for the bombardment of Tsing-tau when about to open fire on the German fortress. The gun-team of artillerymen are standing in rear of the piece, and in the foreground, to the right, is one of the detachment receiving orders by telephone from the battery-commandant at his post of observation. Profiting by their experiences in siege-warfare at Port Arthur, the Japanese were fully prepared with a very large and efficient siege-gun train to undertake the attack on Tsing-tau immediately war was declared. The Japanese employed 140 guns in the bombardment, including 28-centimetre howitzers and 21 and 15 cm. siege-guns, firing respectively, 11.2-inch, 8.4-inch, and 6-inch shells.—[Photo. by Record Press.]

HAND-GRENADES SHOT FROM A GUN!—THE AARSEN GRENADE-GUN BEING LOADED.

One of the features of the present war which have been drawn attention to by "Eye-Witness" in his letters from the Front, is the resuscitation of fighting with hand-grenades on both sides. Particularly has this been the case during the battles in Northern France and Flanders, wherever the trenches approached one another within flinging distance. There also, on occasion, where the troops facing one another were further apart, and beyond reach of a throw by hand, an improvised catapult of the classic type has been devised by our men for slinging hand-bombs; utilising a metal spring bent back and held fast in a notch, to be released on the lighting of the fuse. An illustration of a catapult appeared in the "Illustrated War News" of December 23.

HAND-GRENADES SHOT FROM A GUN!—AARSEN GRENADES BURSTING IN THE OPEN.

On the page opposite we give a photograph of a Danish experimental gun, designed at Copenhagen, for firing Aarsen hand-grenades. The grenades are shown in the act of being introduced into the breech of the weapons, and the apparatus for holding each grenade in the hand is clearly shown. In the photograph above the shells are seen bursting at a certain distance from the firing-point. Our soldiers in the trenches in Flanders, according to "Eye-Witness," have made improvised hand-grenades for themselves, utilising empty jam-tins. These are charged with gun-cotton and fused, and on being lighted are flung across among the Germans in their trenches. What the jam-tin hand-grenades look like the "War News" illustration referred to shows, and how they are used with catapults.

READY FOR THE TURKISH ARMY SENT "TO DELIVER EGYPT"! A BRITISH ENTRENCHED CAMP ON THE SUEZ CANAL.

It was stated on December 23 that the "Frankfürter Zeitung" had learned from Constantinople that the Turkish Army sent "to deliver Egypt" began its forward march to the Suez Canal on the 21st. The Canal is securely held along its hundred miles of length. Our illustration shows one of the several British advanced-camps on the eastern bank (the Asiatic or Sinaitic Peninsula side), placed there to prevent a surprise attack. In all cases, our positions are well fortified, and, with the desert in front, present a formidable barrier to the enemy. In support of the entrenched camps, movable pontoon-bridges have been constructed at certain points. These, with the permanent railway along the western bank, will enable reinforcements to be thrown across the waterways speedily.

THE MOST POPULAR FRENCH HEROINE OF '70: JULIETTE DODU (WHO DIED THE OTHER DAY) PARDONED FOR HER GREAT BRAVERY.

There has just died upon her little farm at Clarens, Switzerland, "La demoiselle Juliette Dodu of Pithiviers," forty-four years ago a telegraphist who outwitted the German invaders, was taken prisoner, threatened with death, treated chivalrously by the "Red Prince" Friedrich Karl, released on the proclamation of peace, decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honour, and retired to the little farm, where she ended her days. The spirit of this romance of the Franco-German War of 1870-71 lives in the picture by E.J. Delahaye. Chivalry was not then dead, and the "Red Prince," father of our popular Duchess of Connaught, although Juliette Dodu had hindered the German advance on Paris, shook her by the hand and said that it was "an honour to meet so brave a woman."

THE AUSTRIAN DÉBÂCLE: A DISASTROUS MARCH UNDER CONTINUAL SHELL-FIRE FROM SERBIAN ARTILLERY.From the Painting by Frédèric de Haenen. (left half)

The retreat of the Austrians after the recent great victory gained over them by the Serbians has been described as one of the most disastrous in history. It was stated unofficially in a report from Budapest that the southern Austro-Hungarian Army had lost over 60,000 men killed and wounded during the rear-guard actions and the flight, and about 35,000 prisoners, together with a large amount of guns and war material. Of the actual retreat it was said that the Austrian troops were on the march continually for a whole week, while the Serbian (continued)

THE AUSTRIAN DÉBÂCLE: A DISASTROUS MARCH UNDER CONTINUAL SHELL-FIRE FROM SERBIAN ARTILLERY.From the Painting by Frédèric de Haenen. (right half)

(continued) artillery in pursuit shelled them without cessation. Many of the Austrian soldiers, it is said, dropped by the way from fatigue and weakness, as they had had neither food nor rest, and several of the officers did the same. It was impossible for some parts of the army to make a stand, as their artillery had been obliged to remain behind owing to the exhaustion of the horses. Only those of the Austrian regiments which had their supply-wagons with them were able to reach the Bosnian frontier.

A GERMAN POSSESSION ADDED TO THE BRITISH EMPIRE BY THE AUSTRALIAN FORCES: THE OCCUPATION OF NEU POMMERN (NEW BRITAIN).

The Admiralty announced on September 13 that the Australian Squadron had occupied, on the 11th, "the town of Herbertshöhe, in the island of Neu Pommern (late New Britain), which is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago; this island lies due east from German New Guinea." At Rabaul, New Britain, on the 13th, a British Proclamation was read, with a special one in "pidgin" English for the natives. The German Acting-Governor, Dr. Haber, surrendered on the 21st. Our photographs show: (1) German troops marching into Herbertshöhe to surrender; (2) A German building at Friedrich Wilhelmshafen, now garrison headquarters; (3) The Australian Naval Brigade marching through Rabaul; and (4) Dr. Haber, followed by the German Commander, riding into Herbertshöhe to surrender.

THE NEUTRALITY OF THE SCANDINAVIAN POWERS: THE KINGS OF NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK, WHO MET IN CONFERENCE AT MALMO.

The three Northern Monarchs whose portraits are given above are: (1) King Haakon of Norway; (2) King Gustav of Sweden; (3) King Christian of Denmark. King Gustav was the convener of the meeting, the object of which was to arrive at an understanding by means of which the Scandinavian countries might be able to draw closer together in view of the interests common to them all as neutrals. The motive was to maintain the neutrality and independence of the three peoples, and at the same time to mitigate as far as possible the serious inconveniences which all the three Northern States have suffered in regard to the supplies of the necessaries of life and in their general economic condition in consequence of the existence of a state of war in Europe.—[Photos. by Russell, Florman, and Bieber.]

THE ENEMY AS PORTRAYED BY HIMSELF ON CHALK: THE GERMAN SOLDIER-CAVEMAN AS ARTIST IN THE AISNE QUARRIES.

In more ways than one, the German soldier would seem on occasion to represent, as it were, a reverting to primitive type: to the barbaric European of centuries back in the world's history. The "reversion" takes many shapes, and we have seen instances of it during the war in various ways. It is surely readily recognisable, for example, in that spirit of sheer ruthlessness which inspired the perpetration of the inhuman outrages that have laid Belgium waste, and of the killing of harmless women and children by naval shells at the peaceful watering-place of Scarborough. Another and more innocuous form of going back to the habits and methods typical of primitive man, is, perhaps, traceable in the illustrations given above. They are some of the handiwork of the twentieth-century German military cavemen of the Aisne battlefield, while making use of the cover of the quarries and natural excavations of the district along the northern side of the river.

[Continued opposite.

THE ENEMY AS PORTRAYED BY HIMSELF ON CHALK: THE GERMAN SOLDIER-CAVEMAN AS ARTIST IN THE AISNE QUARRIES.

Continued.]

In very much the same way, as modern exploration has brought to light, the primaeval cave-dwelling inhabitants of Europe in prehistoric times left rudimentary traces of their presence in certain places in the shape of carvings and roughly painted "portraits" of themselves, of the creatures they hunted for food and fought with, and of the implements they used. According to the German newspaper from which we reproduce the illustrations given here, they are the work of a German artist who has had to go to the Front as a conscript and serve in the ranks of an infantry battalion.

AS LEFT BY THE TRAITOR, DE WET: THE UNION JACK THE REBEL LEADER TORE AND TRAMPLED UPON AT WINBURG.

De Wet committed his first open act of rebellion at Vrede, on October 28. There, with a hastily raised commando at his heels, he forcibly seized the place and, after submitting the local officials to brutal ill-treatment, in a wild, incendiary speech called on the Dutch of South Africa to rise in arms against the British Government. It was at Winburg that De Wet performed, as it is stated, the theatrical and unworthy outrage of trampling on and tearing the Union Jack. The identical flag which suffered the maltreatment is shown in our photograph, in the state in which it was after De Wet's puerile act of defiance had been committed. Reparation and atonement are to come, as we shall learn when De Wet faces his court-martial, probably at an early date.

"GLORY TO THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN!" MEN OF THE HEROIC FRENCH ARMY WHO HAVE DIED FOR EUROPEAN FREEDOM.

This tragic photograph, showing the fatal effects of a German shell among some French soldiers, brings home to the mind what "death on the field of honour" means. The Premier of France, M. Viviani, in his great speech at the opening of the Chambers, paid an eloquent tribute to the French Army. "We have," he said, "the certainty of success. We owe this certainty ... to our Army, whose heroism in numerous combats has been guided by their incomparable chiefs from the victory on the Marne to the victory in Flanders.... Let us do honour to all these heroes. Glory to those who have fallen before the victory, and to those also who through it will avenge them to-morrow! A nation which can arouse such enthusiasm can never perish."—[Photo. by Alfieri.]

DEFENDING OUR EAST COAST FROM INVADERS: ENTRENCHMENTS OF THE TYPE USED AT THE FRONT, ON THE CLIFFS.

The entrenchment of the East Coast is not only a wise precaution, but the work of digging and fitting up the trenches is excellent practice for the troops who may later on be called upon to do similar work abroad. It will be seen from our photographs that the trenches on the East Coast are constructed on the latest pattern as developed in the war, with deep passage-ways, roofed sections, traverses, and zigzags to avoid an enfilading fire from the flank. They are, indeed, to judge by the photograph, remarkably similar to those constructed at the front in France and Flanders. Even if occasion should not arise to use them against the enemy, the labour of making them has not by any means been in vain.—[Photo. by Newspaper Illustrations.]

CHRISTMAS WITH THE GERMAN ARMY, ACCORDING TO A GERMAN PAPER; THE ARRIVAL FROM HOME OF GIFTS FOR THE TROOPS.

Full early, the popular German illustrated papers gave pictures of Christmas on the field of battle, and it was very evident that our enemies anticipated a joyous day or two: this, probably, thanks to the idea that at Christmas-time all the Armies might call something of a halt, although it was understood they were not in the least likely to do so officially. It was also anticipated that the conditions of the Christmas spent by the Germans at the front would, like those experienced by our own men and those of the Allied Armies, be ameliorated by the reception and distribution of gifts from home. For a considerable while Germany's women-folk, especially, collected gifts for fathers and brothers at the front; and it is certain that their efforts were much appreciated.

UNDERGROUND, WITH GRAMOPHONE, WHITE TABLE-COVER, AND FLOWERS: FRENCH SOLDIERS IN A "HOME-LIKE" BOMB-PROOF TRENCH.

Our photograph reproduces a snapshot, by a French artillery officer, in the trenches to the east of the Aisne. It shows how some of the French are making the best of things, regardless of weather and the enemy. They hollowed out the trench at one point (describes the officer), and roofed it over with planks and earth, forming a bomb-proof. A seat was cut at the sides and a table got from a village near. A roll of sheet-iron found in the village was made a chimney for a fire with a cosy chimney-corner beside it. With some wire, also, a sort of candelabra was constructed. The flowers on the table are in a German shell for vase, and the gramophone was another village "find." It is evident that the war may develop a race of military troglodytes.

HEADQUARTERS UNDERGROUND: THE BRAIN OF THE BRITISH ARMY WORKING IN A SUBTERRANEAN ROOM, SAFE FROM SHELL-FIRE.

Our illustration shows how and why the motive-power of the Expeditionary Force, the brain of the Army, is often to be found below-ground. Mr. John Dakin, writing of this drawing, made by him from a sketch which he made at the Front, says: "Throughout the war, the enemy has displayed considerable skill in locating and shelling any buildings selected for occupation by our Staff. Various methods of countering these tactics have been devised. On at least one occasion, headquarters was established in a subterranean apartment, which was not merely bomb-proof, but a comfortable retreat from the weather. Here, by lamplight, plans were worked out; scraps of information pieced together with the aid of maps without risk of interruption from the enemy."—[Drawn by John Dakin from his Sketch made on the Spot.]

AFTER THE ENEMY HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO COME WITHIN POINT-BLANK RANGE OF THEIR SILENT FOE:

Determined night-onslaughts by infantry have been, according to a letter from Petrograd, a notable feature of the German tactics in the battles on the Vistula, particularly in the fighting that has been taking place between Lowicz and the river. By day, the Germans, we are told, were persistently aggressive, continuously launching attacks against various points of the Russian lines, while the Russians remained on the defensive. With the coming of darkness, however, regularly, night after night, the Germans redoubled their efforts everywhere, taking advantage of the obscurity to fling forward dense swarms and columns of men in massed formation, to storm the entrenched Russian position, apparently at any cost. They failed every time, it would appear, beaten back after literally a massacre. The Russian tactics, it is interesting to recall, were exactly the same as those with which, as our own officers and men have described in letters home, Sir John French's battalions in every case so effectively shattered the German efforts at breaking through the British during the retreat after Mons. The Russians, it is stated, invariably allowed the Germans to come in to well within point-blank range, remaining silent, holding their fire and not showing a light meanwhile. Then, as the enemy got within point-blank range, searchlights were suddenly switched on and a ceaseless fusillade of Maxim and rifle-fire from the Russians literally mowed the Germans down by hundreds, breaking up their masses and paralysing the attack. Our illustration shows one of the combats just at the critical moment.—[Drawn by Frédèric de Haenen.]

RUSSIAN INFANTRY SMASHING A GERMAN NIGHT-ATTACK IN MASSED COLUMNS, IN A BATTLE ON THE VISTULA.

Determined night-onslaughts by infantry have been, according to a letter from Petrograd, a notable feature of the German tactics in the battles on the Vistula, particularly in the fighting that has been taking place between Lowicz and the river. By day, the Germans, we are told, were persistently aggressive, continuously launching attacks against various points of the Russian lines, while the Russians remained on the defensive. With the coming of darkness, however, regularly, night after night, the Germans redoubled their efforts everywhere, taking advantage of the obscurity to fling forward dense swarms and columns of men in massed formation, to storm the entrenched Russian position, apparently at any cost. They failed every time, it would appear, beaten back after literally a massacre. The Russian tactics, it is interesting to recall, were exactly the same as those with which, as our own officers and men have described in letters home, Sir John French's battalions in every case so effectively shattered the German efforts at breaking through the British during the retreat after Mons. The Russians, it is stated, invariably allowed the Germans to come in to well within point-blank range, remaining silent, holding their fire and not showing a light meanwhile. Then, as the enemy got within point-blank range, searchlights were suddenly switched on and a ceaseless fusillade of Maxim and rifle-fire from the Russians literally mowed the Germans down by hundreds, breaking up their masses and paralysing the attack. Our illustration shows one of the combats just at the critical moment.—[Drawn by Frédèric de Haenen.]

SHIPS THE BRITISH NAVY MIGHT HAVE HAD! FREAKS OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE THAT HAVE NOT BEEN OFFICIALLY ADOPTED.

We illustrate here and on the page opposite some curious designs for war-ships by various inventors. No. 1 is McDougal's Armoured Whale-back, with conning-towers, a design of 1892 for converting whalebacks into war-vessels. No. 2 is an American design of 1892, Commodore Folger's Dynamite Ram, cigar-shaped, with two guns throwing masses of dynamite or aerial torpedoes. No. 3 is a design by the Earl of Mayo in 1894 and called "Aries the Ram," built round an immense beam of steel terminating in a sharp point, No. 4 is Gathmann's boat for a heavy gun forward, designed in 1900. She was to be of great speed, and the forward gun was to throw 600 lb. of gun-cotton at the rate of 2000 feet per second. A formidable Armada this, had it been practicable.

SHIPS THE BRITISH, AND THE GERMAN, NAVY MIGHT HAVE HAD! DESIGNS BY THE KAISER AND OTHER NAVAL THEORISTS.

The first illustration on this page is a design for a battle-ship made by the Kaiser in 1893, to replace the old "Preussen," then out of date. The vessel was to carry four large barbettes and a huge umbrella-like fighting-top. Illustration No. 2 is an Immersible Ironclad, designed by a French engineer named Le Grand, in 1862. In action the vessel was to be partly submerged, so that only her three turrets and the top of the armoured glacis would be visible. No. 3 is Admiral Elliott's "Ram," of 1884. The ship was to carry a "crinoline" of stanchions along her water-line, practically a fixed torpedo-net. No. 4 is Thomas Cornish's Invulnerable Ironclad, of 1885. She was to have two separate parallel hulls under water; above she was of turtle-back shape.

EXPERTS IN CLOSE-QUARTER FIGHTING: SIBERIAN INFANTRYMEN IN THEIR FIELD-SERVICE EQUIPMENT AT WARSAW.

Our illustration shows a halt in one of the squares of Warsaw of one of the regiments of Siberian infantry, whose magnificent fighting qualities in all the battles of the war in the eastern theatre of operations in which they have taken part have gained for them, as the accounts of the different actions sent to London from Petrograd testify, the outspoken admiration of the whole Russian Army. Particularly singled out for praise has been their audacious expertness in close-quarter combats. They supply both infantry and artillery, and are recruited all over Siberia, forming ordinarily two separate commands, the East Siberian and the West Siberian troops, which garrison the fortresses and districts between Vladisvostock and the Ural Mountains, the dividing range between European and Asiatic Russia.

THE LETTER HOME: A BRITISH SOLDIER WRITING IN A LOFT OVER A COW-SHED "SOMEWHERE NEAR THE FRONT."

One of the happiest features of the Great War, and one of its most favourable omens, is the optimistic spirit in which our troops, officers and men alike, are making the best of things, in spite of the trying conditions in which they have to live and carry out their arduous work. They are as proof against physical discomfort or hardships, and as determined to be "jolly," as was Mark Tapley himself. Our illustration shows one of our soldiers writing home from the loft over a cow-shed, his only shelter "somewhere near the front." A shaft of sunlight relieves the gloom of his rough surroundings, and no doubt is reflected in the messages he is sending to his friends at home. It is this wholesome spirit, in small matters and in great, which makes for success.—[Photo. by Newspaper Illus.]

SERBIA'S GREAT TRIUMPH: AUSTRIAN PRISONERS; HONOURING THE DEAD: AND SERBIAN WOMEN HELPING WITH THE GUNS.

It has fallen to the Serbians to furnish the most complete and overwhelming triumph yet achieved in the war—the smashing victory over the Austrian Army on the River Drina during the first ten days of December. Our photographs were taken on and near the battlefield. No. 1 on the first page represents a preliminary incident. It shows an Austrian patrol captured while pressing forward with the rash assurance that characterised the Austrian headlong advance. No. 2 is a battlefield scene, on December 3, when the Serbians suddenly attacked the Austrians and broke up their positions at all points at the outset, making whole regiments, scattered and isolated among ravines and valleys, in many instances, surrender at discretion. One corps of disarmed Austrian prisoners is seen while being marched to the

[Continued opposite.

SERBIAN WOMEN IN THE FIELD WITH THEIR MEN: PEASANTS BRINGING A WOUNDED SOLDIER TO THE DRESSING-TENT.

Continued.]

rear. No. 3 shows Serbian villagers placing wreaths on the graves of fallen countrymen. Photograph No. 4 lets us realise something of the heroic part the women villagers took in helping to achieve the triumph. As the battle took shape they came forward and cheered the men-folk on, calling out "Napréd, braco, Napréd," "Forward, brothers, forward," also helping (as our photograph shows) to push the cannon and ease the worn-out horses. Yet another instance of the work the Serbian women did is shown in our page photograph. Owing to the lack of Red Cross men attendants, the peasant women took on themselves to serve as stretcher-bearers, bringing in the wounded, as these fell in fight, to the dressing-tents in the villages and the churches, which were used as hospitals.—[Photos. by Topical.]

WITH "SPIT" HELD BY RIFLES, A SPADE, AND A COUPLE OF STICKS: COOKING THE CHRISTMAS GEESE AT THE FRONT.

There was no Christmas truce at the front. The grim realities of the war over-rode all considerations of sentiment, and the hope which was, for a while, common to both sides had to be left unfulfilled. None the less, the Season was not without its little luxuries, and, thanks to the excellent work of the Army Service Corps and the thoughtfulness of sympathetic friends at home, there was no dearth of substantial necessaries and comforts, as well as tobacco and cigarettes galore. Our illustration shows a group of soldiers cooking their Christmas geese in the open, and as intent upon their task as though such conditions were quite orthodox and even such minor alarums as "spasmodic artillery duels, and local fusillades" were things unheard of.—[Photo. by L.N.A.]

A MISSING LONDONER! AN ENGLISH M.E.T. MOTOR-'BUS IN THE HANDS OF THE GERMANS AND PUT TO USE BY THEM.

As with our London soldiers at the front, the fortune of war has levied its toll on other Londoners. Our photograph depicts the unfortunate fate that has befallen a once well-known object in the streets of London—one of the motor-'buses shipped across to France to serve in transporting British troops to the front, now in the hands of the enemy. Not many of them have had such bad luck, from all accounts, but accidents cannot be helped, and a victim has been claimed now and again, mostly at places where some raiding Uhlan patrol has managed to cut in and ambush one on some outlying road near the line of communications between the front and an army base, catching the 'bus while returning after discharging its soldier "fares."

WEAPONS OF GREY "MOLES," AT TSING-TAU: A LAND-MINE AND EMERGENCY HAND-GRENADES CAPTURED FROM THE GERMANS.

The Germans made use of land-mines in the defence of Tsing-tau, and a few days after the town's surrender, on Nov. 7, several exploded while they were being removed by the Japanese, causing much loss of life. It was stated that the explosions killed two officers and eight men, while one officer and fifty-six men were injured. The Germans also used hand-grenades, as shown in our photograph. These appear to have been of the improvised "jam-tin" type such as has been employed in the trenches in Flanders "Eye-Witness" wrote recently: "Mines have not played such an important part in this mole-work as might have been supposed. We have heard the enemy mining and we have tried it ourselves, but one strikes water in this country between seven and eight feet down."—[Photo. by C.N.]

IN SHELTERS SUGGESTING A ROW OF MINIATURE RAILWAY-ARCHES! GERMANS IN THEIR "RABBIT-WARRENS" IN THE ARGONNE.

"In the Argonne we beat back the enemy's attacks and preserved our front." That is a typical announcement one constantly sees in the Paris communiqués recording events in the district where the photograph given above was taken. Special interest being taken in the fighting in Flanders, one rather overlooks the give-and-take warfare being carried on further east, where siege-trench fighting like that on the Aisne still goes on. There the Germans occupy deeply dug lines which are largely made up of underground galleries partly natural, partly artificial, in character, as our photograph shows. When the French artillery fire is severe, the Germans scuttle like rabbits into their burrows, coming out to man the trenches in front immediately the French infantry begin to approach.—[Photo. by C.N.]

London: Published Weekly at the Office, 172, Strand, in the Parish of St. Clement Danes, in the county of London, by The Illustrated London News and Sketch, Ltd., 172, Strand, aforesaid; and Printed by The Illustrated London News and Sketch, Ltd., Milford Lane, W.C.—Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1914.

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Photo. Newspaper Illustrations

LIEUTENANT THE PRINCE OF WALES, AIDE-DE-CAMP TO SIR JOHN FRENCH, AT THE FRONT: H.R.H. DRIVING HIS OWN CAR, WITH PRINCE ALEXANDER OF TECK AS PASSENGER.