"K.O.'S" ARE "OK."

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1915, Page 12

"K.O.'S" ARE "OK."

XJiqHBKBft'B 'ASK*.' A ©PLBTOID 1?Q8C& London, July If: \ The formation and training of Wrtj chenerij new army has been fallowed with much keener interest by the troops at i the front than by the people at home. There speculation has been rifo as to how flie new soldiers would stand the peculiarly trying conditions under which the war is being fought in Flanders. It is good to know that the "Kitchener's Orphans" who are already on the scene of strife have won golden opinions from the men who have borne the burden of the fighting hitherto. An old soldier friend who won his spurs in the Boer war, and now holds a commission in a famous regiment, writes enthusiastically about the units of the new army he has come into contact with at the front. ' To sum up his notions about them he says: "You can take my word for it that the 'K.O.V are 'O.K.,' and with a bit of experience will be equal to my own crowd at its best." And he ia very proud indeed of his own regiment, so the praise is worth something. This verdict on the "Orphans" is endorsed by a friend in the Army Service Corps who has been at the front practically since hostilities opened, and by a journalistic obeserver at the British headquarters. He says:— "The news of the arrival of the new formations was, of course, kept a dead secret, except to those officers directly concerned. Rumours were frequent in the spring that such-and-such a division had arrived, but, with the exception named above, none had any intimation that some of the new army had arrived until they chanced to sec them on the road or met them in the trenches. "The sturdy, appearance and good discipline of the new units did not fail to make an impression. All who saw them remarked upon their soldier-like bearing and smart behaviour. Passing a battalion on the road, one could not distinguish it from a regiment that had served at the front since the outbreak of the war. The men were bronzed and weatherbeaten, their uniforms stained with the dust and mud of the Flanders road, their rifles and equipment looked as if they had seen wear. WORK IN THE TRENCHES. "Nor did the appearance of the men belie their personal qualities. They' were put into the trenches for snort jspells to give them experience of the stern realities of trench life, first t>j small sections, and so, by a gradual progression, to whole battalions. They stood their baptism of Are as they were expected to, while one unit which happened to come under heavy fire showed splendid powers of courage and tenacity. "Their officers are loud in praise of their 'men. The general commanding one of the divisions expressed to me his opinion that his men, as soon as they had gained experience would equal the standard of regular troops. He spoke particularly of the keenness they showed in whatever they were doing, which, he said, augured well for the time when they would have to do real fighting! Their officers, he con eluded, were excellent in every way and he could not wish to command a better unit. "Gunners also spoke with high approval of the new army batteries. Indeed, in every respect these new units are well organised, while the transport sections have been given the same detailed attention that is common throughout the transport department of the Army in the field. "The moral effect of the arrival of these new divisions must not be overlooked. It is undoubtedly great. Men who have been engaged out here for several months eagerly welcome new units, and the feeling that those which have come out are only the forerunners of many others, inspires a renewed confidence in our ability to crush the enemy, and at the same time affords concrete proof that those in the firing line are being supported to the fullest extent by those at home." UNDER FIRE. A correspondent of the Chronicle gives a pen picture of a company of "Orphans" under fire for the first time. He writes:—"They had been led on in easy stages to the danger-zone. It isn't fair to plunge them straight away into the nasty places. But the test of steadiness is good enough on a dark night behind the reserve trenches when the reliefs have gone up, and there is a bit of digging to do in the open. '"Quiet, there, boys,' said the ser-geant-major. 'And no larks.' "It was not a larky kind of place or time. There was no moon, and a light drirale of rain fell. The enemy's trenches were about a thousand yards away, and their guns were busy in the night, so that the shells came overhead, and young men who had heard the wis hoot in English woods, now heard stranger nightbirds crying through, the air with the noise of rustling wings, ending in a thunderclap. '■ -Ami my old mother thinks I'm enjoying myself,' said the heir to a seaside lodging house. _ "•Thirsty wor!(„ this grave-digging job!' said a lad who used to skate on rollers between the bath-chairs of Brighton' promenade. " 'Can't see much in those shells,' said a yioung man who once sold ladies' blouses in an emporium of a South coast village. 'How those newspaper cliaps do try to frighten us!' "He put his head on one :.<;de with a sudden jerk. " 'What's that? Wasps?' "A number of insects were flying overheard with a queer sibilant, noise" Somewhere in the darkness there was a steady rattle in the throat of a beast. " 'What's that, sergeant V " 'Machine-gun, my child. Keep your head down, or you'll lose hold of it. .... Steady, there! Don't'get jumpy, now.' "'The machine-gun was filing (oo high to do any serious damage. It was probably a ricochet from a broken tree which made one, of the boys suddenly drop-his spade and fail over it ■n a crumpled way. '"Get up, Charlie,' said the comrade next to him; and then in a scue-.l voice. 'Oil, sergeant!' "•That's all right,' said tin sergeant. 'We're getting off very lightlv. Xow, remember what I've been tViliiig you. Stretcher this way.' "They were very steady through the night, this company, of the new army. " 'Like old soldiers, sir,' said' the sergeant-major when he stood chattmg with the colonel after breakfast."