OUR ARMY AND ITS TASK.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 24, 26 March 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

OUR ARMY AND ITS TASK.

COLONEL ARTHUR LEE'S WARNING FROM THE FRONT. Colonel Arthur Lee, M.P., who is serving at the front, says in a letter to his agent at Farehanr. — "I have been at the front for nearly three months now, and my special work has enabled me to see a great deal of the fighting, both on the Aisne and throughout these prolonged battles in Flanders. As a result I have greater admiration than ever for the British soldier, who has, I believe, surpassed even his own glorious records of courage, tenacity, and endurance. He has certainly been tried as never before, and he has never once failed to perform the task allotted to him. in spite of terrific losses. The odds against him have nearly always been overwhelming, but soon, I trust, our deficiency in numbers will be made up from the new armies and then we shall begin to get our own i back in earnest. ".Meanwhile, it is the greatest mistake to suppose that the German re- | sistance is weakening or that the war I can soon come to an end. It can only I end when we have achieved victory so complete that never again can our peace and our very existence be threatened by Prussian brute force, and we are a long way from that kind of victory yet. The Germans are skilful and dangerous fighters, as brave and enduring as any troops can be, and those who belittle their value ! are doing the worst of services to our Army and the cause of the Allies. We shall need every fighting man and every shilling we can spend to see this thing through, but that victory will be ours in the end 1 have" not, and never had, the faintest shadow of doubt. Meanwhile, I have only to say as regards myself that I am in the very best of health and spirits, and am more than proud and happy at having the opportunity to play even a small part in this greatesl and most righteous of wars."

FRENCH CASUALTIES IN TEN WEEKS. Some idea of the hisses sustained by the French troops is obtainable from a report submitted by M. Troussaint, director of the military health service to the Armv Commission.

From September 15 to the end of November, a period covering about ten weeks of the war. 459,733 wounded were treated in flic French hospitals. No fewer (ban 54..') per cent, of these, or upwards of 200,000, have been discharged, cured and have rejoined the field forces, 120.000 nre convalescent., and more than 00.000 are on the road to recovery. The figure of 2.4S nor cent, of deaths of wounded in hospital is the lowest proportion ever recorded in i

great war. The French Armv Medical Service has 3968 hospitals, providing 366,000 beds, an accommodation that is more than ample for its needs.