CASUALTY LISTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1539, 15 April 1916, Page 4

CASUALTY LISTS.

A recent cable stated tbat “owing to military necessity,” British casuality lists in future will not disclose the theatre of war or the battalion to which the casualty refers. Even if Britain went further and ceased to publish casualty lists, the action could be defended on sound military principles. The French publish no lists, and the Germans would pay any price to learn our ally’s losses. They would give much to know the exact strength of the Anglo-French will be able to pit against them in the West. It is of cardinal importance that each should do its utmost to discover the strength of the other in the field, its reserve of men, and its rate of wastage. Even if Britain were to adopt the system under which France is working, then the relations of the men at the front need not be apprehensive lest anything should happen to the latter without their being apprised of it. In France the relatives are notified as promptly as possible when a soldier is killed, wounded or missing, though it is never stated when or where the casualty occured. Such a system has worked very well from a domestic point of view, and, at the same time, much to Germany’s chagrin the French losses, both in individual battles and in the aggregate, are an absolutely closed book to her.