THE AMERICAN AS A FIGHTING UNIT.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 7 June 1917, Page 3

THE AMERICAN AS A FIGHTING UNIT.

ONLY TRAINING NEEDED,

(By General Sir O'More Creagh, V,0.)

FOR many years it has been my good fortune to have been in contact with Americans of both services. I was in Aden during the Hispano-American "War, and saw a great deal of the United soldiers and sailors passing through that port. General Merritt, who conquered Manila, and his staff, stayed with me on their way to Paris, where he was due as a member of the Peace Conference. Subsequently in China, during the Boxer campaign, in which American troops took part, and afterwards in other foreign lands, it was my fortune to meet many Americans. Among others I made the acquaintance of Admiral Evans, better' know as " Fighting Bob." In my experience, whenever American sailors or soldiers have been alongside British Tars or Tommies, they have fraternised most cordially, and from their manner it was almost impossible to tell that they were not of the same country. In China the American officers heartily detested the bullying and rude manners of the Germans, whose attitude towards the inoffensive avid helpless Chinese simply ma.de their blood boil. The American soldier never in the least disguised his mistrust of the Huns, and his attitude was that of standing no nonsense from them. At the beginning the German officers behaved most insolently to American sentries, refusing, for instance, immediately to obey their orders. I must not ■ay what happened, excepting that the Germans had a rude awakening, and decided that it would pay them to mend their manners.

The American fighting men, like our own, have what is of most importance in war —moral strength, exaltation of spirit, and ardent patriotism—and whenever these qualities are to be found in a nation, there you may presume with good reason the likelihood of victory.