The Knock Out Blow, 30th June 1916

A piece by journalist and author Dr. Emile Joseph Dillon discussing the future prospects for the war was published on 30th June 1916. On the eve of the Somme, he forecast a knock-out blow would be delivered to the Germans by the British Army.

“THE KNOCKOUT BLOW TO BE GIVEN BY THE BRITISH ARMY.

“Dr. E. J. Dillon, the distinguished authority on continental politics, in an article in the Fortnightly Review for July takes a decidedly optimistic survey of the future progress of the war. He pleads justification for his earlier warnings, but says that if his utterances were unwise he is deeply grieved. He thinks, however, that he made no mistake when he told the nation two months ago not to hug illusions.

“Things, however, have changed since last April, in Dr. Dillon's view. According to his information from influential friends in Russia the Russian army is thoroughly reorganised. He is of opinion that they have not reached complete efficiency, but they have made a stride towards it. On the other hand, the Germans have suffered heavily, and during the recent attacks on Fort Vaux in particular their casualties have been much greater than those of our ally.

"But the British forces, which were insignificant at the start, have grown to formidable proportions before the finish. And it is from this relatively new factor that the Teuton forebodes the deadly stroke which will settle his claims to hegemony and give a lasting peace to the world. The turning point in the campaign will, therefore, be reached when the British armies, fully provided with the wherewithal for taking the offensive on a large scale and following up successes, deal the enemy a stunning blow.

“For, in the judgment of competent assessors, the one result of the two years' exhausting campaign which stand out clear and undisputed is that it has reduced the Teuton nation to such a state of flabbiness, that any severe shock administered now would suffice to knock it over for good and end the contest. And this knock-out blow can and will be effectively dealt by the British Army in its own good time, which will be neither hastened by the impatience of friends nor deferred by the expedients of the enemy.

“NO DOUBT ABOUT THE ISSUE.

"Germany and Austria are substantially much weaker than they were. Their staying powers are impaired. Their faculty of recuperation is atrophied. They are hardly capable of much longer maintaining the offensive against the two adversaries whose military forces they alone took into account when embarking on this tremendous conflict, and they are impotent to withstand the shock of an offensive from a new enemy.

“That shock the Teutons have yet to undergo. On its force, duration, and effects may depend the upshot of the war. It will be delivered in the most favourable circumstances and at the right moment. The military chiefs of both Allies entertain no misgiving about the issue.

"Dr. Dillon also mentions the remark made to him recently by an eminent general that when the British contingent first came to France it was welcomed good-naturedly, but not without a touch of friendly patronage and condescension. . . To-day the defects have vanished by the waving of a wizard's wand. The British soldier is now not merely what he has never ceased to be, a dashing fighter, fearless, resourceful, and enterprising individual, but, what is more to the purpose, he is become an integral part of a vast and formidable organism. The artillerymen in particular have attained a degree of precision which challenges the admiration of the French and their continental Allies, and the British army thus transfigured is become one of the main forces of militant civilisation.

"Again, in the matter of heavy guns, explosives, and other war material the results of the work vigorously undertaken by the whole nation, women and men, far exceed the highest estimates that were made, and even the utmost that is currently believed to have been effected. From certain figures which have been communicated to me it appears that no such huge stores weapons have ever yet been accumulated in any country, not even in the two Central Empires."

'Nottingham Evening Post', 30th June 1916.

Image: Imperial War Museum, Q111.