ON THE BRITISH FRONT.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 225, 10 November 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

ON THE BRITISH FRONT.

ALONG THE LINES. IV. By GEORGE HUTCHISON. (Specially Commisioncd by the Ota;:o Daily Times. ) It is no secret among military men, although possibly not known to many of the general public as ye*., that a!! lire, and even directions for attack, an given with reference to chess-board-lik 3 plans. Thus:

The larger divisions are indicated >y capftal letters. "A," "B," "C," et; Each such division has su squares across one way, by five the ether war, indicated by numerals— 9, 11. 11, etc , —so that each division contains .40 numbered squares, which are aga n subdivided, and indicated by the sma 1er letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, an 1 1 d. i i:e sid.or. of the numbered squares, 1, 2, -J, etc., are 1000 yards. The skl-.s ; of the subdivisions, consequently, an 1 600 yards each way. These may agj;-i , be divided, and distinguished by oth/.r | symbols. The order, say, is given, .11. I 2~), c, and the objective is defined wit i- | in a \\i\v yards. Diiections may further 1)3 given by compass bearing, so thas exactitude is dtoly a matter < ' division, with any additional particularity the users may have noted lor the it spec'.-l guidance. Each square shows, also, as in all military topography, conto ir* | and figures indicating grouii.l with, < 1 I course, roads, streams, buildings (b? description), woods, or any other locil feature or peculiarity. The plan?— based, necessarily, on the Belgian or Ereneh standard surveys—are, ;>i course, shown as o;: a flat suface, but some ingenious .stall: men go the lengtn of introducing into their plans the de taiis of physical geography. Su:a plans as indicated by squares are necessarily where the ouje.-tives of gunfire are out of sight, but tlie gi.nners 'ire hi telephonic communication with the officer who is "observing," and who is therefore in sight of the objective. This observer is often miles in advance cf the battery which he directs. The same system applies even to n.e smaller calibre guns, which, aithougti in closer contiguity to their objectives, are suns in emplacements careful!*- masked against prying eyes sadu.g overhead Not the least interesting and excising experience is the aviation brau.'h of the service. Starting the campaign in Flanders with l.one at all, we since attained a high degroe, of proficiency in the warfare in tlvj air. An important factor i- the baitle of the Somme was the complete predominant of our air craft on the southern sectors. Eor a week before the attack nit .1 single German r.itshk, was allowed to show itself, and the final preparations were consequently perfected in comparitivo secrecy, but none the less, were understood to be impending-

It will be a curious experience wnr.i peace shall l;e restored to seek out the boundaries of some of the la Ids from which the. husbandmen were driv?n along the zones where the lighting lias been fiercest. The whole surface of the ground has in many places been ' changed, so that it resembles on a gi- i gantic scale the rooting of wild pigs, or a tract of boilng cauldrons of mud suddenly solidified. How former boundaries ar<; to lie approximated, and what effects the chemical properties of the burst and buried projectiles may havo on future civilisation are questions upon which probably no experts would yet venture even a remot? opinion. Perhaps some rare vintage may be the result! And strange discoveries will often he made beyond the d's-.r.terme.i 4 / of bones and fragments of shot and rusty equipments. In dry summers or through the rush of fknds ia wintel some hollows will give way to curious depths that will be found to be charn.l houses. The artili*>ry which destro/% the German trenches prior to attack often enough seals up d<\?p caverns iii which sore pressed men have sought refuge, only to be slain or entombed The heavy losses in German killed anJ wounded will need additions not a few. for such as are "missing," whose fatemay o£t be traced m personal reli.s in caverns deep down. What a tale of loss and suffering tlvs war will carry with it may not be ada quately realised even by those who have seen the terrible carnage that is increasing every hour. No narrative can even tel! its extent. Indeed, n-. narrative can even approximate .ts daily and weekly flood of anguish. „ At headquarters of each army there arc a limited number of pres'men, and occasionally a civilian visitor is permitted. But there are no war correspondents. That was a rare and noble company in the years gone- by, when untrammelled observers recorded events as they occurred, and praised or blamed as they know how. Russell, o* Crime J n fame,* made and unmade in ministrations, and an air of romance linge.'s round the name of ArehibaU Forbes, and his hundred-and-ten mil.' ride in 20 hours after the battle of Uundi, n July, 1S«0, when he outdi<ranced the despatch-riders, and got his "copy" on the wires to the resounding credit i.t bis newspaper in London. Th ■ decay of war correspondents may be said to have sol in with the Uoer War. rnd Steevcns. incomparable i:i description, found his talent- wasted in being permitt > 1 tc describe the incidents of travel and enforced idleness until he died in La I.'smitb. The American journalists were probably the most successful in adventure at the beginning of the present war. by reaching Belgium U-fore the invasion was complete, so that thev were alternately with the Germans and the Belgians, and might have been shot by either as spies but Tor the fact that they worn Americans, and that it was then-(to some extent still is)—the policy of the belligerents to avoid any tut of unfriendliness against the r:ct neutral of nation" but even their glory has faded. Richard Hardin?: Davis was the last of those who "scored." and ho could not survive the restrictions of ihe modern war censor. He tried all the fronts. andeendear,d —ar, one luight expect an end to he —at Falonika. before there was any "push" from that direction. His death was clearly the result of disappointment as if there were a specific malady of that name. The pre: •.men at Ihe various front m Flanders and France are accorded .vi official welcome, which is well understood to have its limitations. There is a discreet reticence displayed in all their communications. No restriction is imposed, but nothing

which might be in the remotest degree regarded as- of "assistance to the enemy" would Le lor a moment thought of. And th's, of course, is beycnd all doubt a proper Fttitude, .and the censor knows he need have no concern as to any infraction being attempted of such a salutary rule. The censor, to far as such a rule is concerned, might pass every communication without looking at it. But official infallibility has sought to extend its vigilance against criticisms cf the hierarchy at Headquarters, and the result is that the telegraphed despatches from Headquarters are really the only records of the war. They are, on the British side at least, reliable so far as they go, but they deal enly with the hardest of the facts. Beyond this, the o:casional letters from "own correspondents - ' are necessarily only amplifications of the official "bulletins, with a dash of local colour or a reference thrown in to some unit which is known to have been in action. For the rest, the published vignettes from soldiers' letters may (with cauticn) be taken as journalising the war. Tie flood of reminiscences, histories, sketches, and recollections "after the war*' will threaten to inundate the public: and this visitation may be expected in exceptional severity from the States, which have had their energetic representatives a: the several fronts in various philanthropic .nnd other capacities, but chiefly as assistants with the Rei Cross. As drivers of ambulances, stretcher-bearers, and hospitai attendants they will have acquired an unrivalled inside intimacy, which. after their return home, may be expected—unrevised by censorial eyes —to result in contributions to literature like the language of their celebrated countrymen, Bill Nye, both "frequent and free."