FRENCH ARMY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20912, 18 September 1939, Page 4

FRENCH ARMY

EFFICIENT TRAINING CONSCRIPTION AT WORK “ AN HONOUR TO SERVE” With the Introduction of conscription in Great Britain, the French Army has become a subject of increasing interest to every Englishman, writes the Paris correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. What do the French, with their long experience in this matter, do about this and that? llow are French officers recruited; what is t.*c French private’s daily routine; what are his mental reactions to compulsory military service; what, in the organisation of the French Army, is worth imitating, and what is not? Anyone interested iu all the smaller details of French Army routine would do well to study the 1100-page “Manuel du Grade d’lnfanterie,” which many a soldier carries with him in his haversack, or, failing that, the “ Precis destruction Militalre Generale,” an elementary handbook used in the French equivalents of the O.T.C. In France a man is not quite a man until he has done his two years’ military training, lie is told in his text books that his military service is not a duty but an honour—though it is not an honour that can be declined with impunity. Conscientious objectors are practically non-existent in France, and in this country of individualists the army is one thing in the world that is “ above discussion.” Even the discussions in 1935 for or against the extension of the military service from one year to two years did not last long. The Silent Army There is a sort of tacit agreement in France netween the army and the people; the army is “la Grande Muelte,’’’ the “ Great Silent One,’’ standing above politics, and it is therefore wrong to drag the army into political discussions. Except for a marked propensity among the reserve officers, of whom there are about 80,000, to join the ranks of the Croix de Feu and otiier Right-wing movements it is remarkable how completely aloof from politics the active army was during the years of political commotion through which France passed between 1934 and 1937. The army symbolises the fundamental unity of the French people and their profoundly democratic spirit; it is in the army that all the classes rub shoulders in a spirit of human equality, for there is singularly little caste spirit of the “ Blimp ” variety among the officers; and if the soldier looks up to his professional officer, it Is not because this officer belongs to a different “ class,” but because the very intense training he has undergone at St. Cyr or the Polytechnique commands intellectual respect. To serve in the army is an “ honour ” —a point which is impressed on every young recruit and is also illustrated by the fact that, however short France may be of man-power, foreigners are not admitted into the army (though some exceptions have recently been made to this rule), but are only allowed to join the Foreign Legion. Exciting Experience Many may at heart regard their “ military service ” as a nuisance, but there are few young Frenchmen who afterwards regret having gone through their two years of service, which, especially in the case of the rural recruits, is an exciting experience which broadens their outlook and gives them a variety of new human experiences. And a Frenchman will invariably speak with a certain male pride of the years he spent “ in the regiment.” The French private works hard, but his life is not all work; he rises at 5 or 6 a.m., according to the season, and is busily engaged drilling and doing various jobs until the late afternoon. Those not on guard duty are then free until 9 p.m. A soldier has 17 days leave a year, though none during the first six months. Married soldiers are allowed to be stationed in the garrison nearest their homes and to go home two nights a week. Along the Maginot line, in particular, a great deal is done to relieve the monotony; cinema and theatrical shows are frequently organised. Normally the soldier lives in barracks, in well-aired dormitories with about 20 beds in each, and with a corporal In charge. There are libraries and reading rooms attached to the barracks. Food in the Army Food is a matter of particular interest to soldiers—as it is to all Frenchmen. They eat in refectories, but can buy “ supplements ” very cheaply at the canteen. Tobacco is also provided free of charge. The soldier’s “ pay ” is only 3d a day. The day begins with large quantities ol white coffee and bread and cheese. There are two “ principal meals ” during the day which are simple but substantial, and in most cases well cooked, if the soldiers do not approve of the food they do not hesitate to complain, and bad cases (like the recent case in Lorrain of low-quality bread) are dealt with, with thp greatest severity by the Minister of War in person. But on the whole the French Army cooks have a high reputation. Apart from lunch and dinner, which are usually composed of soup, meat, vegetables, cheese, and fruit, or jam (on Sundays they get chicken), the soldiers are entitled to an intermediary meal in the forenoon, known as the “ cassecroute”—“a light but substantial meal,” says the “Manuel’’ composed of bread, butter, sausages, sardines. In some companies there are two casse-croutes,’ one at 10 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m. With each “ principal ’’ meal he is entitled to a quarterlitre (roughly two-thirds of a pint) of wine. In winter he is further entitled to warm drinks, like tea and coffee at more or less frequent intervals, and in summer to cool drinks. Plentiful Supplies The army is a great bread-eater, and nearly all the recruits put on weight after a year. Food in the French army is so plentiful that I have lately heard of numerous cases where on the Italian frontier, the rations were shared in brotherly fashion with the less well provided Italian “ enemies ” opposite. After passing his fitness test, before a “ conseil de revision,” a recruit joins the army during the year following his twentieth birthday. In towns and villages the new recruits, carrying their little suitcases, are usually conducted to the station in a festive atmosphere, and with the local band playing military music. But not all

new recruits are of the same age. In numerous cases a respite (“sursis”) is allowed; these are cases in which the recruit can prove that: 1 His only brother is serving with the colours at the same time. 2 That he supports his family. 3 That he is an apprentice. 4 That a respite is in the interests of his academic or other studies. 5 That his presence is required by the agricultural, commercial, or industrial concern for which he works. He can also ask for a respite if he lives abroad. The respite is valid for a year, but Is automatically renewed by further periods of one year until the age of 25, or, in the case of students In medicine and pharmacy, until the age of 27. University students who generally leave their secondary school at 17 or 18, usually join the army after one or two years' study at the university, though many prefer to take their degree first. If after their military service they return to the university it is to take a higher degree (agrega\ion or doctorat). Valuable Officer Reserve The officers of the French Army come from different places and from different classes of society; from the Sandhurst ” and “ Woolwich ” of France—St. Cyr and the Polytechniqut where they become officers only after a period of training that follows their purely scientific studies; from the ranks of n.c.o.’s who have passed an examination at one of the six recognised schools; from the ranks of reserve officers who have re-entered the army. The reserve officers also come from different places and classes. For instance, all the students of the Ecole Normale, Superieure, the Ecole Na tionale de Mines, and five other schools of the same high standing, receive compulsory military training (roughly of the O.T.C. standard), and after a stiff examination, join the army as sub-lieutenants, and undergo a further period of training while in the army. But the bulk of reserve officers is trained under the system of “ higher military training" (also of O.T.C. standard) attached to universities; having completed this, they Join the army, not usually as sub-lieutenants but as E.O.R.’s (elves officers de reserve). A Democratic System They spend six months without any official rank in the preparatory squad (peloton preparatoire) ; the next six months are spent at the large reserve officers’ school at St. Cyr (which is attached to the famous St. Cyr school for professional soldiers), or at the artillery school at Poiters; they spend the next six months in the army as “aspirants ” and, having passed the necessary examination, hold the rank ol sub-lieutenant during the last six months in the army. Generally speaking, a large proportion of the university youth of France leave the army as reserve officers with the rank of sublieutenant. Later they attend 12 lectures a year at the “ ecoles de perfectionnement,” and serve for a certain number of “periodes”; and at the end of four years they are usually promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Over a period of years a reserve officer can attain the rank of captain and even colonel of the reserve. This system, under which a large number of officers is trained over a long period oi years, constitutes one of the strongest points of the French army. Such a system cannot be Improvised in a short time; and the French often claim that even in spite of six years of intense militarism Germany has still

“ nothing like it.” Jt will also take seme time before a “ democratic *' officer class like this comes into existence in Britain.