Pen Pictures of the War.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 39, 10 December 1920, Page 10

Pen Pictures of the War.

SERIES II. A CON DKMN AT10N OF THE STAFF. Philip Gibbs is oue of the best known war eorrespondents and his "Realities of War" published after the censors' veil had beeri lifted has aroused considerable controversy over its vehement denunciation of general head-quart.ers and the sta-ff in general. The outstandhig characteristics of.-the author as revealed in this work are firstly that lie hates war and the horrors of war with his vvhole heart and eoiiJ ; secondly that lije intensely admires and generoasly praises ihe fighting soldier, officer and man alike pthirdly that he despises and scourges with all his literary vocabulary the red tabbed gentlemen who occupy nice safe billets far, so far from the seene of fighting and receive various decorations from the British and Allied Governments. We quote first of all his description of General Headquarters, "the City of Beautiful Nonsense," I came to know G.H.Q. more closely when it removed for fresher air, to Montreuil, a fine old.walled town, once within sight of the sea, which ebbed over the low-lying ground belojy its hill, but now looking acrots a wide vista of richly cultivated fields vvhere many Iiamlets are scattered ainong clumps of trees. One came to G.H.Q. from journeys over the wild deiert of the battle-fields, where men lived in ditches and "piil-box.es," muddy, miserable in all things but spirit, as to a place where the pageantry. of war slill maintain. ed its old and dead tradition. It is like one,; of those pageants which osed to be piave J in England before the war, picturesnue, romantic, utterly unreal. It was as though men were playing at war liere, whiie others, sixty miles away, were fighting and dying, in mud and gas-waves and explosive barrages. An "open Sesame" by means of a special pass, was needed to enter this City of Beautiful Nonsense. Below the gateway, up the steep hillside, sentries stood at a white post across the road, which lifted np on pulleys when the pass had been cxamiiied by a military policeman in a red cap. Then the sentries slapped their haiids on the rifles to the occupants of any motor car, sure that more staff -officers were going in to perform those duties which 110 private soldier could attempt to understand, h'elieving they belonged to such mysteries as those of God. Through the narrowest street walked generals, middle-aged colonels and majors, youthful subalterns all wearing red hat-bands, red tabs, and the blue-and-red armlet of G.H.Q., so that colo.ur went with them on their way. Often one saw the Commander-in-Chief starting for an afternooii ride, a fine figure, nobly mounted, with two A.D.C.'s -and an escort of Lancers. A pretty sight with fluttering p.ennoiis on all their lances, and horses gro-jmed to the last hair. It was prettier that the real thing up in the Salient among ruins and slaughtered trees. War at Montreuil was quite a pleasant occupation for elderly generals who liked their little stroll after luncb, and for young "regular officers released from the painful necessity of dying for their country, who were glad to get a game of tennis down below - the walls there, after strenuous office work in which they had written, "Passed to you" on many "minutes,'' or had drawn the most comcial® caricatures of their immediate chicf, and of his immediate chief, 011 blotting-pads and writing blocks. It seemed at a mere glance, that all these military inhabitants of G.H.Q. wge great and glorious soldiers. Some of the youngest of them had a row of decorations, from Montenegro, Serbia, Italy, Roumania, and other States, as recognition of gallant service in translating German letters (found in dugouts by the fighting men), or arranging for visiis o'f political personages to the back areas of war or initialling requisitions ' for pink, blue green and yellow forms which in due course would find their way to battalion adjutants for immediate fil-ling-up in the middle of an action. The oldest of them, those white-haired, bronze. faced, grey-eyed generals in the administrative side of war, had started tlieir third row of ribbons well before the end of Somme battles, and had flower borders on their breasts by the time the massacres had heen - accomplished in the fields of Flanders. I know an officer who was awarded the D.S.O. because he had hindered the work of industrious men with the zeal of a hedge-sparrow in search of worms, and another who was the best decorated man in the army because he had presided over a visitors' chateau and e.itertaining royalties, Members of Parliament, Mrs Humphry Ward, miners, Japanese, Russian revolutionaries, Portuguese Ministers, Harry Lauder, Swedes, Danes,

Norwegians, clefgymen, Mont«oegrius, and"! the editor of "John Bull," at the Govemment's expense — and I am bound to say he deserved them a"~., beihg a man of infinite tact, many languages, and a devaslating sense of humour. There was always a Charlie Chaplin film b^tween moving pictures of the Battlcof the Somme. He b rough t the actualities war to the visitors' chateau, by sentry boxes outsido the door, a tcy tank in the front garden. and a .collection of war trophies in the hall. Iie spoke to high personages with less , def erence than he showed to miners from Durham and Wales, and was master of tliem always, ordering them sternly to bed at ten o'clock (when he sat down to bridge with his junior ofucers), and with strict military discipline, insisting upon thee inspection of the bakeri.es at Boulotgue, and boot-mending factories at Calais as part of the ; glorv of war which they had come out to see. So it was that- there were brilliant colours "in the streets of Montreuil, and at every door way a sentry slapped his liand to his rifle, with smart untiring iteration, as the brains of the army, under brass hats and red bands, went hither and thither in the town, looking stern, as soldiers of grave respon'sibility, answering salutes absent-mindedly, staring haughtily at young battalion ofiicers who passed tkrcugh Montreuil and looked meeldy for a chance of a lorry ride to Boulcgne, on seven days' leave from the lines. The smart society of G.H.Q. was best seen at the Officers' Club, in Montreuil, at dinner-time. It was as much like musical comedy as any stage setting of v;a- at the Gaiety. A band played ragtime and light music while the warriors f.ed, and all these generals and staff ofiicers, with their decorations and armhands and polished buttons, and crossed swords, were v/aited upon by little W. A.A.C/s with the G.H.Q. colours tied up in bows on their hair, and kahaki stockings under their short skirts and fancy aprons. Such a chatter ! Such bursts of light-hearted laughter! Such whisperings of secrets and intrigu.es and scandrJs in high places ! Such carelesshearted courage, when British soldiers were being blown to bits, gassed, blinded, maimed, and shell-shocked in places that were. far — so very far — from G.H.Q. We quote further Philip Gibbs' description of the fee'ings of the fighting soldier towards the staff : — When the immensity of casualties among British troops was out of ali proportion to their gains oi ground our men's spirits re. volted against these massacres of their youth, and they were embittered against the generalship and staff work which directed these sacrificial actions. This sense of bitterness becarne intense, to the point of fury, so that a young staff officer, in his red tabs, with a jaunty manner, was like a red rag to a bull among battalion ofiicers and men, and they desired his death exceedingly, exalting his little personality, dressed in a well cut tunic and fawn-coloured riding-hreecheg, and highly polished top boots, into the supreme folly of "the Staff" which made men attack im. possible positions, sent down confiicting orders, issued a litter of documents — caiied by an ugly name — containing impracticable instructions, to the torment of the adjutants, and to the scora of the troops. This hatred of the Staff was stoke d high by the fires of passion and despair. Some of it was unjust, and even the jaunty young staff officer with r,ed ta.bs and polished boots was often not quite such a fool as he looked, but a fellow who had proved his pluck in the early days of the war and was now doing his duty — ahout equal to the work of a boy cierk — with real industry and an exaggerated sense of its importance while it lasted. In a subsequent article we shall quote further from Philip Gibbs' pinions, but lest we weary the reader with a surfeit of criticism we quote now a sample of Gibbs' humour with which he lightens the tone of his work. A PEEP-SHOW FOR POLITICANS. One of the most remarkable battles on the front was fought by a Battalion of Worcestors for the benefit of two English Members of Parliament. (Can we not picture Bill and Joe as we read?).- It was not a big battle but most dramatic while it lasted. # The Colonel, who had a sense of humur, arranged it after a telephone message to his dug-out, telling him that two politicans were ahout to visit his battalion in the line, and asking him to show them something interesting. "Interesting?" said the colonel. "Do they think tliis is a peep-show for politicians? Do they want me to arrange a massacre to make a London holiday?" Then his voice changed, and he laughed. "Show them something interesting? Oh, all right; I daresay I can do that." He did. When the two M.'sP. arrived, apparently at the front line trenches, they were informed by the colonel that, much

to his rcgret, for their sake, the enemy was just attacking, and his men w,ere defending their laositicn desperately. "We hope for the best," he said ,"and 1 think there is just a chance that you will escape with your lives if you stay liere quite quietly." "Great God!" said one of the M.'sP., and the other was silent but,- pale. . Certainly there was all the noise of a big attack. The Worcesters were standing. to on the fire-step, firing rifle-grenades and throwing bombs with terrinc ctiOrgy. Ev*ery now and then a man fell, and the stretcher-bearers pounced on him, tied him up in bandages, and carried hina away to the field dressing-station, whistling as they went, "We won't get home till morning," in a naost heroic way. The battle lasted twenty minutes, at the end of which time tho colonel announced to the visitors : "The attack is repulsed, and you, gentlemen, have nothing more to fear. " One of the M.'sP. was thrilled with ex. citement. "The valour of your men was marvellous," lae said. "What impressed me jnost was the cheerfulness of tlie wounded. They were actually grinning as they came down on the stretchers." The- colonel grinned too. In fact, he stified a fit of coughing. "Funny devils !" he said, "they are so glad to be going home. " The Members of Parliament went away enormously impressed but they had not enjowed themselves 11 early so well as the Worcesters, who had fought a sham battle — not in the front-line trenches, but in support trenches two miles back. They laughed for a week- af t erw ards .