THE ROMANCE OF THE OFFICIAL BULLETIN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 278, 25 May 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE ROMANCE OF THE OFFICIAL BULLETIN.

WONDERS OF THE DAILY MESSAGE.

Like so many other irosatisfyin.things, the "official bulletin" from' the fighting line possesses its elements of romance. This grey, cold statement * really the product of thousands of pens It is the work of the subaltern in m s dugout or behind the firing step even more than of the clean, rod-hatted eci", tie-man who gives it final form in some city of ancient France. Bofore it is seen by the public it has been analysed concentrated treated with contempt', censored and always sterilsed and del layed so that its facts may convey ;,« mi 1 "f° I rmat :°n to ti:o enemy as possible. When things get liveliest "there « nothing to report." "the front has oecn comparatively calm" ; and' the Germans are anchoring themselves m cyclone cellars so that their remains may not be blown whale-sale to Berlin. Tn e official bulletin" is sometimes a lesson in advanced sarcasm as well as in primitive reticence.

How is the official estimate of the day arrived at? The subaltern in the foremost trench pencils at a certain hour a note to his superior dealing with tho activity of tho enemy, the progress of our grenades and rifle fire, and the number of times his portion of parapet has been blown in. This serves as a report for his successor in easo the officer meets with damage in the next few hours. The specialist officers—miners, gas-cylinder men, machine gun-ners' kite balloonists—each report to their superiors. The captain, receiving his quota of little missives, glances through them, makes a few observations, and sends them on to regimental headquarters.

Hero tho Colonel would be snowed under with reports of many descriptions did not a special clerk rapidly collate and tabulate th.?m for him. -A fewnotes only need be made from the reports, and these are sent to the General in command of the brigade. Here a still further condensation is made. Matters of routine are dropped, and a new version goes on to the corps command station, and finally, after another overhaul, to the Commander-in-Chief.

Here again tho information is simplified, tabulated and so prepared that in a few minutes the officer on duty is able to say where there has been shell'ng, where a mine has been fired, and with what success, where an enemy aeroplane hajs been destroyed, where gas is in use, and whether raids on both sides aro in fashion. The bulletin has shed its demand for more men here, moro guns there, its triumphant note that an enemy battery has gone up m a cloud of fire and smoke its list of casualties, its notes that the enemy's line will give way to pressure at certain points.

But the literary side of tho "official bulletin" is the least romantic. Let one trace how it ; passes over land, sea and air to Britain. Tho casualty Ists show that the bulletin is written in blood, in tho blood of thousands of our brothers, our Allies and our foes. Though the danger comes near the heart, one doesn't flinch at that. Even the transmssion of the elements of an "official bulletin" to headquarters may cost many a life; in any case it -is not carried through without considerable danger.

After a. night with bomb and bullet and bayonet, of man-to-man struggles, tho subaltern has rallied a few men in a shell crater. They have cast up a slight protection, and are lying low until dusk, when he will either lead them on or slip back to the trenches. In any case he must report at once, else shell fire may burst over the ground he has gained at such trouble and cost. A tiny .scrap of paper gives his position, and one of his men crawls out into the morning mist. Luckily, a, compass bearing makes certain that he is heading for the British trenches, for in last night's scrap all sense of direction was lost.

A machine gun opens fire from the German line as the shadow moves, dodges and disappears into the shelter of a shell-pit, and from this the sold'er crawls as he finds the way clear. Two, three, four Lours may he taken In getting a message a distance of a hundred and fifty yards. The snipers outs'de our lines note the little hurst of machine-gun fire, and as the morning clears a score of rifles from all sorts of angles are trained toward the active loop-hole. After a while curios'ty or keenness will get the best of some enemy, and there will be opportunity tor a raking shot. Arrived at the British side of noman's land, the volunteer delivers his message to the nearest officer, or perhaps is instructed to take it down the trench to the captain's quarters. Even this journey is oy no means pleasant when the enemy are using curtain fire of shrapnel to prevent any attack in force. After a few words have been added, an orderly lias the full report to carry through the labyrinth of trenches to the distant headquarters. There may be a few "Dead Man's Corners" and "Suicide's Views'' to pass"—places where crumbs of high explosive como down at frequent and uncertain intervals. Not seldom a bloodstain is added to the muddy report—tho first bearer has either been killed or wounded in the execution of his duty.

A regimental headquarters is usually well back from rifle and machine-gun lire, but the big shells from naval guns and howitzers pitch and burst here and there and miles further to the rear. I'rom the colonel's table tiie document now typewritten, is passed to a dispatch rider, whose motor-cycle careers across mud and broken road, pursued now and again by tho rapid fire of enemy snipers.

(Tie official bulletin is now outside tho firing: lino, and -it tho Brigade Hendqimrter.s tho telephone takes up tho. story. The subaltern in his conquered shell-pit has been dropped out of the paper: tho reports of military minors and of aerial scouts disappear. Miles away a typewriter is taking down i short not', which is added to tho pile from pther brigades. A hundred miles of battle front moans n. considerable number of reports. There are special wireless messages among the papers, duplicates of warnings that enemy troops are concentrating at certain po'nts, that more heavy guns are coming, that tho line between certain virla.gis has boon destroyed by aerial bombs. A few minutes of skillful reading presents tho official rennrtor with all the information ho needs. Ho dictates a wore or two of words wh'ch are approved and endorsed by the General, and then given to an operator to bo tolegranhod direct to the War Council in London.

What further censorship takes place here the public can onlv guess. One is, however, told thai offieial London has regularly taken ovontinn to statements which have nevertheless been issued and diseussod freely in our rest camps in France' Anyway, after passing through more or loss efficient hands, the message is exhibited at the Press Bureau and distributed to the newspapers throughant. Gloat Britain.

This in simple language, is the ro

malice of the "official bulletin,'' which ha.-i now dropped into ;i routine of a daily message to the nation. On Sunday a version is transmitted to every telegraph office in the kingdom.