THE MEN AT THE FRONT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 207, 9 February 1915, Page 7

THE MEN AT THE FRONT.

CARKAUK AMOXO liilJ'i ISIL 1 OFKK'KRS. SUili: OFFIC'EKiS AN!) TUKLR MKN. In cf the niggardly disposition • if tiie Press Bureau and the baldness of its literary style, readers of the morning papers get a more or less dim impression of Ije progress of the biggest battling the world has ever seen. Mora eloquent (writes Sir Henry Lucy from London to the Sydney Morning Herald, under date, 21st October) are Ihe simple- (olwu.s cataloging H e names of killed, and wounded in action. Still more vivid are flashes of personal knowledge of the operation of the war upon quiet, happy homes of yesterday. Less than a month ago I bade farewell to a friend and country neighbor going to the front. In order to accomplish liia heart's desire, lie lnid resigned one of tile, most highly-prized positions .of distinguished officers in Home service As soon as he was gone, his brave and capable wife devoted herself to hospital duties, taking her full turn at hard work from four o'clock in the afternoon till midnight.

Perhaps such engrossing labor had its compensation in distracting her mind from hourly anxiety. In addition to her husband, three of her brothel's—the eldest heir to a historic Scottish Lukedom —had gone to the war. Of the two younger, one returned from the, battlefield wounded; the other, known to be dangerously wounded, is among the missing. Nothing has been beard of him fince lie disa] lieavu! a full iiunth ago And now comes a brief summons from roulogne bidding her repair ti I!> ? side of her husband, who lies in the hospital grievously wounded.

The regiment he led into battle w;is more tlian decimated. It was practically annihilated. As far as I have seen, not a word has appeared in the newspapers recording their desperate gallantry. These men did not fall in hand-to-hand combat with the foe. As happened in the ease of the vast majority of Die 57.000 of the British Expeditionary Force killed up to the end of October, they were simply butchered en masse by continuous volleys of shrapnel fired by an invisible enemy operating from a quarter distant some three or four miles When the British or Indian troops, bayonet in hand, come within touch of the enemy, ho incontinently flees. But no force, however brave and well trained, can live under this hellish hail of shell. Onre an airman, occasionally a spy. has signalled the t st.c t. range the crtillery opened lire, and the British are eitlur swept off the open field or interned in their trenches.

The proportion of British officers killed in action is terrible. With the (Serbians it is more frightful. Tt is reported that of those who a lite'." ui< v than three months ago gaily crossed the Belgian border o t) their way to Paris. 70 per cent, are killed or missing. This seems incredible. But it must he remembered that all trie foes of the German officers are not in front of them. As they with indisputable gallantry lead their men into action, there are scores, perhaps hundreds, who by their callous brutality, they have converted info deadly enemies. When a man has been subjected to the hardest disciplinary treatment, varied by private use of the cane, or even of the revolver, he might find it difficult to resist the temptation of settling old scores. It would mivrcsting and instinctive to lea n how many of the German officers fallen in the field have been shot in the back. It is true that during the war a habit, has been acquired by them of advancing with revolver in hand behind their troops, ready to shoot any man who shows any disinclination to proceed. But though this practice may limit opportunity, it does not absolutely destroy it. The different relationship between the British officer and his men as compared with that of the German army is indicated in a passage from a letter written by Ainslie Gore, a young officer, whose short but splendid career is told by his comrade. Major Gambler Pa it. Talking about the rank and file, lie said: —"Fail to win these fellows' hearts, and tliev will fail you, and fail themselves through you —don't forget that. Win their hearts and their ,< onfid 'lice at the same time, and they will fvdlow you to—well, blazes! The real remedy, I think, i? to be a gentleman at all times; and there is no surer judge of a gentleman, especially if he is countrybred, than Tommy the gentleman. li>r.iself." Speaking at Douglas the other night, Lord Raglan, Governor of the Isle of Man, told a touching ttnrv, showing how the principle here described works out in practice. His son, a lieutenant in a Welsh regiment, neing seriously wounded,, a private =ohli"r of the regiment skilfully rondere.l ;ir:t aid. This done, he said: "They ';h:ill not hit you again, sir" Then he lay down in front, of his disabled officer, interposing his own body against the enemy's fire.