ARMY COMPANIONS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 31, 26 January 1940, Page 3

ARMY COMPANIONS

& HE daily ration for the men : consisted of a pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound of meat, plus a meagre cash allowance. The bread, after being tossed from hand to hand, was kept none too sweetly in barrack-room cupboards; the meat was dealt with-cooked would be a misnomer-in out-of-date cookhouses by men who were cooks only in name. This forbidding nourishment was consumed in the barrack-room or, not infrequently thrown out of the barrackroom window." It is difficult to believe that the above description refers to the feeding of British soldiers only about 50 years ago. To-day what a difference-menus which equal those of a good home; food excellently cooked by trained cooks; meals served in proper mess rooms; kitchens equipped with giant ovens, sinks, cool stores ‘and even frigidaires in which to keep meat and milk. As with food, so with every other department of the modern army. In the days when the British were fighting in Egypt and the Sudan, the following comment on barrack life and training was made by an officer of the 2nd Life Guards: " Commanding officers leant too largely on the adjutant. Troop and com- pany officers left all details of administration to their non-commissioned officers, They scarcely knew their men by name and knew nothing of their character or capabilities. They got through their work as quickly as possible and went off to enjoy themselves." Personal Responsibility Compare that with the position of officers to-day. Woe betide the lieutenant or the captain who does not know every

man under him, for he must be. father and mother, sister and brother to soldiers under his command. More than that, the whole welfare of the men is his personal responsibility, hence the careful attention in selecting men for commissioned rank. To-day the officer does not dispose of his duty quickly. Long after parade, the officers are at work, consulting together and planning the million and one details which are the sole concern of those in charge of the men. This is what Sir George Arthur, himself a former officer in a Guards Regiment, said of the officers when he fought in Egypt: " Professional zeal was at a discount. Military history had been for the most part a closed book. Any question as to strategy or tactics in the mess-room was liable to a fine; and a junior officer might frankly admit that any intimate knowledge of Waterloo was confined to one of London’s railway stations bearing that name." Keen Study of Military History Again what a difference. Professional zeal is the keynote to-day, and military history a keen subject. Officers and men alike are encouraged to study, with the result that the standard is high-higher than it has ever been. The mechanisation of the army to-day demands a high standard of education; the war of 191418 saw the last of the officer who was in the army simply because it was a job. To-day many of our army leaders have risen from the ranks, and every encouragement to do so is given to the men, General Sir Garnet Wolseley was the man who began to set England’s military house in order. Before he took command education in the army was at a deplorably low ebb, and one senior officer is reported to have said: "I would much prefer to lead into action a company of

men who*can’t read or write." Wolseley insisted that education must. permeate all rahks andhe ‘set out to stimulate mental alertness and a thirst for knowledge... He -also encouraged rivalry between regiments.) Soldiéring in Wolseley’s day took on a new form. Libraries in Barracks To-day every barracks in England has its well-stocked library, just as* libraries have .been installed in the’ camps in New Zealand, and- every encouragement is given to the men who wish to study. Before the South African war a commission in the British Army, particularly in the Guards and Household Cavalry Regiments, was a’ costly business. A cavalry officer had to spend over £600 on uniforms and~ provide himself with two chargers, costing anything’ from £150 to £500 each: The uniforms were so elaborate that even Wolseley himself, when he received his Field Marshal’s baton from Queen Victoria, was. so tightly laced and uncomfortably clad

that he wrote to his wife: "I experienced all the sensations a cat. must feel when shod with walnut shells." Merit Alone It was Wolseley, too, who insisted that merit, and merit alone, should secure military advancement. To-day that spirit permeates the whole of the British Army, witness of which is the promotion of young men to take commanding positions in the forces now in the field. Lord Gort, for example, was promoted over the heads of about thirty senior officers. Lord Kitchener carried on the traditions of Lord Wolseley and forged the great volunteer army which finally emerged from the last war. Even then, however, tradition died hard, and it was not until the beginning of the present war that the War Office announced that regiments would be officered by men from the ranks who possessed the qualities of leadership.