THE ARMY IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2406, 11 March 1915, Page 9

THE ARMY IN FRANCE

A GENERAL SURVEY CONDITION AND EFFICIENCY (By tho Military Correspondent of tho Loudon "Times.") Now that two-thirds of the winter are passed and the weather shows signs of mending its manners, the opportunity is favourable for reviewing tho general situation of the. Army under FieldMarshal Sir John French.

Tho district in which our Army is operating is at present practically a swamp, and more or less unlit for the passaga of troops. Large sheets of water cover sorno areas. Water stands on the stiff, slippery countryside, rendering the movements even of infantry across country next door to impracticable. For weeks on end it has rained, and when it has not rained thick mists have onveloped the country, which presents an aspect that can only be described as forbidding. The deep trenches are in many places filled with water up to the men s waists The cold water and deep mud in which tome troops have to tight produce frost-bites which have cost us many casualties It is only upon slightly rising ground, in some woods, and in tho villages and farms, that life is at all supportable. The roads have on tho whole stood well, and the pave has proved a blessing. Were the pave six ieet wider it would more easily permit the passago of two motor-lorries abreast, but as this is not the case there is a good deal of mud churned lip at the 6ides. Frost, or a fornight of fine' weather, may alter the conditions rapidly at any time, but _it is necessary to realiso the difficulties under which operations, if they can bo dignified'by the name, have been conducted during the past few weeks. The Rival Linos. The fronts of the rival Armies are evorywhere covered by a labyrinth of trenches resembling tie Hampton Court Maze in plan. On both sides the front lines are often only posts of observation. In rear stretch many lines, zigzags, and communication trenches, while acres of barbed wire cover most of the iiositions. Breastworks have been constructed by both Armios on tho top of the ground to meet the present difficulties of holding flooded trenches, while strong posts, defended villages and farmsteads, and other arrangements complete the positions. In rear masses of guns of all calibres, 60 well concealed that they are practically invulnerable, and joined up by telephones to all the advanced trenches, make a strong framework for the defence. During all the months that we have occupied this district not more than three direct hits have been made by German sheila upon our guns. An attack has to deal with an intact artillery which has every range known to an inch, so that assaults like those of Monday last by the Germans along the Lo Bassee road are very welcome. A forward trench may often be assaulted or mined by either side, or it may be knocked to bits by heavy shell or cleared by trench mortars and hand gienades, but a local success of this character has no consequences, and nothing. serious can be effected until tho ground, dries. The battling in front is very largely betweou snipers and men in tho sapheads. Our sniper organisation makes progress. Expert marksmanship, good eyesight, and pluck, combiner with telescopic and periscopic sights and match rifles, will eventually onable our snipers to beat tho Germans at this game as we have beaten them at othors. We are busier than wo were with saps and mines, while our grenades and - trench mortars are already doinggood work. As for the Flying Corps, despite tho weather, and masses of hostile anti-aircraft guns, it has maintained its supremacy in its own element, and has only missed sis days in the air since August. It has proved an invaluable aid to the higher command, and both by its organisation and its conduet has won golden opinions. Not very easily will any hostile strategical surprise escape the notice of our active airmen. Winter Campaigning. Our Army is not accustomed to winter campaigning, and is not inured to it. Our campaigns usually take place in warm climates. Many of our troops, have come from such climates, and we have had no experience since the Crimean days of trench fighting in the winter. Wo had our lessons to learn afresh, and it has .cost us something to learn them. In spite of these circumstances the Army has stood tho test upon, its endurance remarkably well, and is probably _in better health than any other, friendly or hostilo, operating-in the region. Many causes contribute to this favourable result. Tho admirable manner in which the Army has been fed and clothed by the Quartermaster General's branch at the War Office and in the field is the first cause. No army was ever better fed, and tho fresh supplies of clothing which have always been at hand when needed have enabled the troops to be refitted constantly and well. The efficient control of the line of communications and the excellent work of the Army Service Corps, including the mechanical transport, have been highly commendable, and on all this side there is_ not a criticism to be made except with regard to some of the boots.

Not less good has been the work of the Army Medical Service and of the numerous and distinguished . civilians who hare joined it and worked for it. No one who traces the movements of a sick or wounded man from the moment when he is lifted out of the trenches until ho arrives at home, or is returned to the Army from- some field convalescant can fail to recognise that in this campaign the Army Medical Service has surpassed itself. It has been greatly aided by the energy and intelligence of commanders and staffs who have looked after their men, in most cases, with indefatigable devotion, and have spared no pains to overcome the dangers and difficulties attendant upon the peculiar character which the warfare has assumed. Last and not least must we thank the civil population of NorthEn stern France, who'have cared for our men in billets with unfailing kindness, and have borne with cheerful resignation tho discomforts arising from tho presence of a great army in their country. Thanks to these united efforts, and despite conditions which in old days would have caused au army to melt rapidly away, tho sick rate of the British troops is only 3 per cent, and of the Indian troops slightly less. This is a lower rate than in some of our home garrisons, "and speaks volumes for the efficiency of the control and for the discipline of the Army. We must not, however, boast, nor must new troops coming out to France imagine that ignorance or slackness will not exact a heavy toll. Tho conditions remain dan- | gerous, and require constant watching. In this labyrinth of trenches along the fronts of the Armies the sanitary conditions cannot be good in all cases, glasses of dead have been hastily buried along the front; the sanitary precautions common to camps have occasionally been perforce ignored; and the spring winds will take up and scatter about tho germs of disease. No efforts can be re'axed. Discipline must be rigorously maintained. New troops must seok to ascertain how they can best prevent illness, and no precaution must be omitted to preserve the health of the men. A division wliich marches too far before entering trenches, or is on duty in them too long, or fails to adopt the precautions for combating frostbite, or is not well fed before and alter trench duty, or omits tho baths and the clothing renewals which some commanders have brought to a pitch of scientific perfection—such a division may easily lose 2000 men in four <lays, and may thus suffer as heavily as in a battle. Sickness is moro dangerous than the enemy. In this campaign wo liavo hitherto defeated both. Bilt aa between cernis and

Germans the formor remain the more dangerous foe. Numbers and Organisation. The numbers of tho Army have been well maintained by the Adjutant-Gen-eral's Branch so far as the British troops are concerned Despite a drain which is still very sensible daily, we are not far from war establishments, oven in the infantry, while other arms and branchos are practically complete. Soino few battalions are still under strength, but tho officers now average about 20 per battalion, and oil tlie whole wo are very well off in personnel. Tho Army has li>tely been through a process of reorganisation, and many changes have taken place in the liigln commands and staffs and in tho General Staff at General Headquarters. Somo of these changes are incidental to tho gradual working out of the Army Order of December 30 last. Tliero will result from these changes a delegation of much and other work from General Headquarters to the several Annies, and the task of the FieldMnrshal Comnianding-in-Chief will thereby be appreciably lightened. The staffs, of our Armies will be strengthened, as much fresh work will be thrown upon them, and into the Armies which now exist, as well as into others which may be created hereafter, the now troops will be pieoed as they come out-. When wo talk of Sir John French's Work being lightened, this is only a relativo term. It is lightened becauso by the separation of tho troops into Armies he will be relieved of much administrative detail, and because operaion orders, other than his instructions for the general movements of tho Armies, will devolve upon Army and Corps commanders. But we have only to glance at Marlborough's or Wellington's correspondence to recall that questions innumerable arise for the decision of a British commander operating in a foreign country with Allies, and the present case is no exception to tho rule. Moreover, the Field-Marshal keeps a close watch upon numbers, sick rates, supplies, ammunition, and so forth, and he is occupied without intermission from morning to night upon the affairs of his great command, concerning which nothing escapes his notice. Reinforcements. Broadly speaking, it is probably correct to say that the Field-Marshal, while not initiating reinforcements, is ready to accept all that can be 6ent to him, even down,to a single battalion, or a single regiment of dismounted Yeomanry. The mors tho merrier in this war, and the new organisation can assimilate any numbers that we can find. The task of Lord Kitchener in apportioning troops to our Armies abroad and to dcfencfl at home is a difficult one, but as lie has hitherto held the balance fairly, has not under-estimated the claims of home defence/ and has not sent units abroad until they have been lit to go, soldiers- trust him with confidence to act as the living l'rovidcncc of all our Armies and to be fair to all. No one is doing more than the Secretary for War to win succcss for our arms, pnder very grave difficulties, which will be better understood later, he lias raised, armed, and equipped great bodies of men, and it is to nis tireless energy that we mainly owe the rapidity with which war is supplied with the things which war needs. He is as indispensable in his present position as is Sir John French at the head of our armies in tho field.

Plenty of good infantry, plelity of heavy guns, and plenty of high explosives are the main needs of- tho Army for success in the fighting. Shrapnel is rarely effective in the trench fighting, and the French now supply their field guns with 75- per cent, of high explosive shell. Some of our conservative gunners still hold to only 25 per cent., but our infantry think differently, and if we adopt a 50 per cent, standard we shall not be far out. No inattor how great the difficulty of attacking these modern trenches, tho thing can be done, given masses of guns, masses of men, and thorough preparation. But to attack without heavy gun's and ample high explosive is to ask for trouble, and no commander is justified in doing it unless the objeot is to celebrate an Emperor's birthday by useless sacrifice of life. As for our cavalry, we have already enough and more than enough, until the character of the fighting changes. We have' a magnificent force of British and Indian cavalry, and though the horses have coats like bears they are wonderfully well and aro nil under cover of one sort or another. Our cavalry soldiers take their share in the trench fighting, and do it well. They form, at other times, a mobile reserve of great power, but unless our Yeomanry come out on foot and fight as riflemen they will be difficult to place. ,

Tho essential matter for the Government to bear in mind is that we cannot have too many troops in France, and that no detachments upon secondary objectives, however promising and even captivating, can be made without risk to the success of the operations in the main theatre. Now that tho Allied line is held throughout, every additional army corps sent out means one corps the more—British, French, or Belgian— in reserve for defence or attack, so that whether we assume that we shall attack the Germans, or that they will attack us, we cannot be too strong at the decisive point. Alternative operations in other theatres must be judged by the test whether they will be decisive in tho first place, and secondly whether they will distract more lorces of the enemy from the main theatre than they distract of ours. If this is not the case they must bo rigorously banned. The Indian Troops. The Indian Army Corps has had oiie or two hard knocks lately, and criticism has naturally been its lot. It is necessary to be fair to this portion of the Army, which out of comparatively small effectives has had 10,000 casualties, including 228 white officers. All armies engaged have lost trenches at times, and the loss by Sir James Willcock's command of a few hundred yards of ground is not an exceptional case at all. Before the affair of December 20 (last the Indian Corps had been two months and a half in the trenches, and was almost worn out. The Indians have been given their turn in reserve, and are now once more taking their share in the fighting line. When the spring comes on, and especially if offensive tactics are open to us, the Indian Army Corps should do well. "I owe them,"etelegraphed Sir John French to Sir James Willcocks on December 8, "a deep debt of gratitude for the splendid services they liavo rendered, which have proved of great valiio in tho conduct of tho campaign"; and this is only one among manv' complimentary messages which the Field-Mar-shal has sent to them. The troops from India now look very liappy and trim after a much-needed rest. The Spirit of the Army. The whole Army is physically in good condition, and its spirit is also excellent. In no previous war has the standard of bravery been higher, and in none have more gallant deeds of arms been performed. The Territorials have done remarkably well, and their services are very highly esteemed by all their commanders under whom they have been placed. A very fine spirit of good comradeship pervades all ranks, and though tho fatigues and dangers of tho campaign.have been great, - and there /s much disappointment that the actions of the campaign are so little known to the public at Home, there is indestructible confidence in the ultimate issue and a firm belief in our superiority to tho enemy. We have good and tried commanders as well as admirable troops, while fewer rivalries or intrigues than we have known in any previous war mar the happiness and good fellowship of tho great Army under Sir John French. Day by day this Army increases in numbers and covers more ground. It is oil cordial terms with our French allies, wliohave doubled their lighting efficiency sincc the opening of tho war, and it only needs sound public spirit at homo and energy in tho Goveraincut to. arable tho Amy? to succeed,