THE FRENCH ARMY

Evening Star, Issue 23378, 22 September 1939, Page 10

THE FRENCH ARMY

EFFICIENT TRAINING i CONSCRIPTION AT WORK “ AN HONOUR TO SERVE " With, the introduction of conscription in Great Britain the French army has become a subject of increasing interest to every Englishman, writes the Paris correspondent of the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ What do the French, with their long experience in this matter, do about this and that? 'How are French officers recruited; what is the French private’s daily routine; what are his mental reactions to “ compulsory military service ”; What, in the organisation of the French army, is worth imitating, and what is not? Anyone interested in all the smaller details of French army routine would do well to study the 1,100-page ‘ Manuel du Grade d’lnfanterie,’ which many a soldier carries with him in his haversack, or, failing that, the ‘ Precis d’lnsteuction Militaire Generale,’ an elementary handbook used in the French equivalents of the O.T.C. In Prance a man is not quite a man until he has done his two years’ military training. He is told in his. testbooks that his military service is not a duty, but an honour—though it is not an honour that can be declined with impunity. Conscientious objectors are practically non-esistent in France, and in this country of individualists the army is one thing in the world that is “ above discussion.” Even the discussions in 1935 for or against the extension of the military service from one year to two years did not last long. THE SILENT ARMY. There is a sort of tjcit agreement in France between the army and the people; the army is ‘‘la Grande Muette,” the “ Great Silent One,” standing above politics, and it’ is therefore wrong to drag the army into political discussions. Except for a marked propensity among the reserve officers, of whom there are about 80,000, to join the ranks of the Croix de Feu and other Right Wing movements it is remarkable how completely aloof from politics the active army was during the years of political commotion through which France passed between 1934 and 1937. The army symbolises the fundamental unity or the French people and ■their profoundly democratic spirit; it is in the army that all the classes rub shoulders in a spirit of human equality, for there is singularly little caste spirit of the “ Blimp ” variety among the officers; and if the soldier looks up to his professional officer, it is not because this officer belongs to a different ‘‘ c]ass,” but because the very intense training he has undergone at St.. Cyr or the Polyteehnique commands intellectual respect. To serve in the army is an “ honour ” —a point which is impressed on every young recruit and is also illustrated by the fact that, however short France may be of man-power, foreigners are not admitted into the army (though some exceptions have recently been made to this rule), but are only allowed to join the Foreign Legion. EXCITING EXPERIENCE. Many may .at heart regard their military service ” as a nuisance, hut there are few young Frenchmen who afterwards regret having gone through their . two. years of service, which, especially in the case of the rural recruits, is an exciting experience which broadens their outlook and gives them a variety of new human experiences. And a Frenchman will invariably speak with a certain male pride of the years he spent “ in the regiment.” FOOD PLENTIFUL. iho French private works hard, but his life is not all work; he rises at 5 or 6 a.m.. according to the season, and is 'busily . engaged drilling • and doing various jobs until the late afternoon. Those not on guard duty are then free until 9 p.ra. A soldier has 17 days’ leave a year, though none during the first six months. Married soldiers are allowed to be stationed in the garrison nearest their homes, and to go home two nights a week. Along the Maginot Line, in particular, a great deal is done to, relieve the monotony; cinema and theatrical shows are frequently . organised. Normally the soldier lives in barracks, in well-aired dormitories with about 20 beds in each and with a corporal in charge. There are libraries and reading rooms attached to the barracks. ■ FOOD IN THE ARMY. Food is a matter of particular interest to soldiers—as it is to all Frenchmen. They eat in refectories, but can buy “ supplements ” very cheaply at the canteen. Tobacco is also provided free of charge. The soldier’s “ pay ” is only 3d a day. The day begins with largo quantities of white coffee and 'bread and cheese. There are two “ principal meals ” during the day, which are simple but substantial, and in most cases well cooked. If the soldiers do not approve of the food they do not hesitate to complain, and bad cases (like the recent case in Lorraine of lowouality bread) are dealt with with the greatest severity by the Minister of War in person. But on the whole the French army cooks have a high reputation. Apart from lunch and dinner, which are usually composed of soup, meat, vegetables cheese, and fruit, or iam (on Sundays they get chicken), the soldiers are entitled to an intermediary meal in the forenoon, known as the “ casse-croute “ a light hut substantial meal,” says the Manuel, composed of bread, butter, sausage, sardines. In some companies there are two casse-crontes, one at 10 a.m. and the other at 4 p,m. With each “ principal ” meal he is entitled to a quarter-litre (roughly two-thirds lo ■nintd of wine. In winter he is further entitled to warm drinks, like tea and coffee, at more or less frequent intervals, and in supimer to cool drinks. FOOD PLENTIFUL. The army is a great bread-eater, end nearly all the recruits put on weight after a year. Food m the French Smy is so plentiful that I have lately heard of numerous cases where, on the Italian frontier, the rations were shared in brotherly fashion with the less-well-provided Italian enemies passing his. fitness test,.before a “ counseil de revision,” a recruit jeans the army during the year following his twentieth birthday. In towns and villages the new recruits, carrying their little suit cases, are usually conducted to the station in a festive atmosphere, and with the local hand playing military music. But not all new recruits are of the. same age.. In numerous cases a respite ( sursis is allowed; these are cases m which the recruit can prove that: . 1 His only brother is sepmg with the colours at the same, time, 2. That he supports his family, i s. That he is an apprentice.. '

4. That a respite is in the interest* of his academic or other studies. 5. That his presence is required by the agricultural, commercial, or industrial concern for which he works. Ho can also ask for a respite if h* The respite is valid for a year, but is automatically renewed by further periods of one year until the age'of 25, or, in the case of students in medicine and pharmacy, until the age of 27. University student* who generally leave their secondary, school at 17 or 18 usually join the army after one or two years’ study at the university, though many prefer to take their degree first. If, after their military service, they return to the university, it is to take a higher degree : (agregation or doctorat). - VALUABLE OFFICER RESERVE, The officers of the French army coma from different places and from different classes of society; from the “Sandhurst ” and “ Woolwich ” of France— St. Cyr and the Polytechnique—where they become officers only after a period of training t>at follows their purely scientific studies; from the ranks of n.c.o.s who have passed an examination at one of the six recognised schools; from the ranks of reserve officers whe have re-entered the army. The reserve officers also come from different places and classes. For instance, all the_ students of the Ecol# Normale, Superieure, the Ecole Nationale de Mines, and five other school* of the same high standing receive compulsory military training (roughly of the O.T.C. standard), and, after a stiff examination, join the army as sublieutenants and undergo a further period’ of training while in the army. But the bulk of reserve officers i» trained under the system of “ higher military training ” . (also of O.T.C, standard) attached to universities; having completed this, they join th# army, not usually as sub-lieutenants, but as E.O.R.s (eleves officers de reserve). A DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM. , They spend six months without an# official rank in the preparatory* squad (peloton preparatoire); the next six months are spent at the large reserve officers’ school at St. Cyr (which is attached to the famous St. Cyr school for professional soldiers), or. at the artillery school at Poitiers; they spend th# next six months in the army ’ a* “ aspirants ” and, having passed th# necessary examination, hold the rank of sub-lieutenant during the last six months in the army. Generally speaking, a large proportion of the university youth of leave the army as reserve officers with the rank of sub-lieutenant. Later they attend 12 lectures a year at the “ ecoles de perfectionuement, 1 ’ and serve for a certain number of “ periodes ”; and at the end of four years they are usually promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Over a period of years a reserve officer can attain the rank of captain and even colonel of the reserve. This system, under which a large number of officers is trained over a long period of years, constitutes one of tn# strongest points of the French _ army. Such a system cannot be improvised in a short time; and. the French often claim that even in spite of six years of intense militarism, Germany has still, “nothing like it.” It will also take some time before a “ democratic ” officer class like this comes into existence in Britain.