,,training ,,for ,,the ,,trenches ,,leslie ,,vickers ,illustration3 ,,british ,,tank ,,in ,,action ,,training ,,for ,,the ,,trenches ,a ,,practical ,,handbook ,,based ,,upon ,,personal ,,experience ,,during ,,the ,,first ,,two ,,years ,,of ,,the ,,war ,,in ,,france ,,by ,,captain ,,leslie ,,vickers ,,late ,,lieut4 ,,seaforth ,,highlanders ,,lecturer ,,in ,,trench ,,warfare1 ,,department ,,of ,,military ,,service1 ,,columbia ,,university ,illustration ,,new ,,york ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company ,,copyright1 #aiag1 ,,by ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,to ,,lieut4 ,,gordon ,,alford ,,of ,,the ,,anzacs1 ,a ,,very ,,gallant ,,soldier1 ,a ,,boyhood ,,friend1 ,,who ,,made ,,the ,,great ,,sacrifice ,,on ,,the ,,somme1 ,,august1 ,,nineteen-,,sixteen ,,introduction ,since the ,great ,european ,war broke out1 printing presses have been busy producing text books1 handbooks and guides for soldiers4 ,military authorities and civilians alike have come to realise that this war has changed many of our old conceptions of strategy and that it has introduced conditions that are entirely unprecedented4 ,new methods have had to be devised--sometimes on the field itself in the midst of the greatest difficulties--for meeting new and novel methods of warfare4 ,every deadly engine of destruction has called forth some new invention to cope with it4 ,soldiers have had to live and fight under conditions that to the lay mind1 or to the mind of the military men of a few years ago1 would seem to be impossible4 ,it is reasonable to assume that the inventive genius of the world will be turned more and more in the direction of the problem of how to construct still more terrible machines of destruction4 ,the next war1 if there be one1 is not likely to be any less fearful than the present1 so that the soldier who is called upon to engage in it will require to know the lessons that have been learned in this war4 ,the author hopes that from a fairly long training in ,england in preparation for work in ,france1 and from some months in the trenches on the ,western ,british front1 he may be able to offer suggestions that will be of value to men who are training themselves with a view to becoming efficient soldiers4 ,he sends this little book forth1 not as a treatise on war1 nor yet as a scientific handbook4 ,he merely desires it to serve to bring home lessons that are sometimes too dearly bought4 ,experientia docet is the proverb that we used to write in our copy books1 and he will feel that he is repaid if1 from his experience1 others are enabled to learn4 ,while he trusts that there will be many veteran soldiers and instructors who will be glad to have this information in convenient form1 he intends this little book primarily for the use of those who are civilians in the process of becoming soldiers4 ,l4 ,v4 ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,civilian ,,and ,,the ,,soldier #ae ,,ii4 ,,health #ba ,,iii4 ,,disease #cc ,,iv4 ,,vermin #df ,v4 ,,health ,,and ,,officers #ej ,,vi4 ,,cover ,,and ,,trenches #fb ,,vii4 ,,protection ,,of ,,trenches #hj ,,viii4 ,,artillery ,,fire #ij ,,ix4 ,,gas ,,and ,,liquid ,,fire #ig ,x4 ,,the ,,attack--,,defence #aja ,,xi4 ,,the ,,attack--,,offence #ajd ,,xii4 ,,equipment ,,for ,,the ,,field #aaf ,,xiii4 ,,tricks ,,for ,,the ,,trenches #abd ,,illustrations ,,page ,,british ,,tank ,,in ,,action ,frontispiece ,,figure #a4 ,,showing ,,use ,,of ,,natural ,,cover ,,by ,,soldier ,,lying ,,down #bb #b4 ,,showing ,,use ,,of ,,sandbag ,,and ,,earth ,,for ,,protection #bb #c4 ,,showing ,,position ,,of ,,body ,,behind ,,earth1 ,,and ,,direction ,,of ,,fire ,,round ,,right ,,side ,,of ,,cover #bf #d4 ,,trench ,,system ,,showing ,,fire1 ,,support ,,and ,,reserve ,,trenches2 ,,redoubts2 ,,communicating ,,trenches2 ,,saps2 ,,listening ,,posts1 ,,etc4 #bh #e4 ,,showing ,,method ,,of ,,cutting ,,trench2 ,,parapet ,,and ,,parados2 ,,drainage #bh #f4 ,,showing ,,revetting2 ,,flooring ,,made ,,of ,,boards ,,and ,,chicken ,,wire2 ,,drainage #cj #g4 ,,trench ,,with ,,simple ,,dugout ,,under ,,parapet #cb #h4 ,,finished ,,dugout1 #f',x#d',x#d' ,,with ,,deep ,,entrance ,,and ,,shrapnel-,,proofing #cb #i4 ,,finished ,,trench ,,showing ,,parapet ,,and ,,parados2 ,,firing ,,step ,,of ,,earth2 ,,flooring2 ,,and ,,shelter ,,dugout ,,under ,,parados #cd #aj4 ,,machine ,,gun ,,position ,,with ,,heavy ,,overhead ,,cover #cf #aa4 ,,simple ,,entanglements ,,made ,,of ,,barbed ,,wire ,,and ,,rough ,,posts #db #ab4 ,,trench ,,periscopes #df #ac4 ,,simple ,,loophole ,,made ,,of ,,steel ,,plate ,,let ,,into ,,parapet #eb #ad4 ,,ordinary ,,hand ,,bomb ,,with ,,fuse ,,lighted ,,automatically ,,as ,,lever ,,is ,,released #eb #ae4 ,,trench ,,bomb ,,gun ,,firing ,,bomb ,,with ,,stem2 ,,and ,,trench ,,mortar ,,firing ,,large ,,bomb #ed #af4 ,,simple ,,gas ,,mask ,,with ,,flutter ,,valve ,,or ,,check ,,valve4 ,,ambulance ,,dogs ,,and ,,horses ,,in ,,the ,,gas ,,zone ,,were ,,equipped ,,as ,,shown #ef #ag4 ,,british ,,soldier ,,fully ,,equipped ,,with ,,pack1 ,,entrenching ,,tool1 ,,sandbags ,,and ,,steel ,,helmet #gh ,,training ,,for ,,the ,,trenches ,,training ,,for ,,the ,,trenches ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,civilian ,,and ,,the ,,soldier ,the change from civilian to soldier is one that is not easily accomplished4 ,we soon find that there are many new conditions to be faced1 many new and uncongenial tasks to be undertaken1 and all sorts of strange and novel regulations to which we must render the strictest obedience4 ,in civilian life we become thoroughly independent4 ,we come and go more or less as we please4 ,we do not usually ask the permission of any one if we wish to depart a little from our customary habits4 ,not since we left school have we answered to roll-calls to any considerable extent1 and only in the summertime1 for the fun of it1 have we done our own housekeeping and submitted to domestic duties4 ,in civilian life we have been allowed to work out our own salvation1 and if we have been part of a machine at all it has been a huge social machine in which we did not figure as a cog but rather as an attachment4 ,in military life things are all changed4 ,we become at once cogs in the great machine4 ,we have a definite work to perform4 ,the smooth running of the plant depends on us4 ,we lose much of our independence4 ,we realise that other cogs depend on us1 and1 further1 that there are many bigger cogs who drive us and whose bigness and authority we must thoroughly appreciate and recognise4 ,in my own experience1 after some years of being my own master to the degree that only the professional man understands1 ,i found it much to my dislike to be obliged to get permission before ,i could leave the camp grounds for half an hour4 ,a sentry with a fixed bayonet helped me a little in the appreciation of my new circumstances1 and when in a few days' time ,i was the sentry myself1 it did me the world of good and took the edge off my displeasure4 ,again it is not to the liking of the ordinary man to be told that he must rise at a certain hour1 and much less is it to his liking to be told that he must be in bed at a certain hour after which talking is considered a misdemeanour and is punishable4 ,but a few weeks of enforced early rising makes one give thanks for the pure fresh air of the small hours of the day2 and a few days of hard physical exertion in the process of training makes a man glad to conform to the rule of early to bed1 and gives him reason to class as a nuisance the man who talks after ,lights ,out and thus prevents him from sleeping4 ,in civilian life1 too1 a man usually chooses with scrupulous care his roommate or mates4 ,in the army one may be placed in a tent or a billet with men who are by no means congenial1 unless he is lucky enough to have been able to join a group of companions who form a unit4 ,but even the experience of having uncongenial companions is not altogether without its compensations2 for every civilian finds that he has need of rearranging his estimates of men when he enters the army4 ,the sooner our own corners are rubbed off the better1 and many of them are inevitably rubbed off when we are ten or thirteen in a tent6 ,the quality that is the salvation of the volunteer is his keenness4 ,we volunteer because we are keen and we would be ashamed to be otherwise4 ,the rules and regulations of army life are liable to try our tempers and our patience4 ,there may come times when we question very seriously the wisdom of having joined up4 ,there may be occasions when we thoroughly despise our seniors and conclude that everything military was arranged for our oppression4 ,bit by bit we shall lose the conviction that we know it all already1 and as knowledge increases within us1 we shall appreciate more and more the knowledge and experience of those placed over us4 ,regulations and even red tape will be seen to have a wise purpose1 though1 to the end of our days1 we may long for some official scissors to cut it4 ,the change from civilian to soldier is produced in one way only--,,the ,,learning ,,of ,,obedience4 ,this is the first and last lesson4 ,the civilian is only obedient in certain ways and to a limited extent4 ,the soldier is obedient in every way and to any extent1 even to death4 ,it would be wrong of me to indicate that the habit of implicit obedience comes easily to the average man4 ,it is difficult to acquire4 ,but it is the sine qua non of a good soldier and must be acquired4 ,it is the heart of the system4 ,obedience is given to some one by every rank in the army1 from the highest general to the humblest private4 ,when we have learned obedience we need to learn discipline--for the two words do not mean exactly the same thing4 ,discipline may be of two kinds4 ,first of all there is ,,self-,,discipline4 ,this includes the restraint of selfishness2 the cultivation of the spirit of comradeship1 generosity and thoughtfulness2 the cultivation of habits of moderation in smoking1 drinking1 etc42 and the elimination of those vices that tend to rob us of our strength or impair the clearness of our thinking4 ,then there is1 secondly1 ,,army ,,discipline1 which includes obedience1 thoroughness1 common sense and resourcefulness4 ,this question is dealt with at length in military handbooks and needs few words from me4 ,the point to remember is that training for modern war is a serious business1 not to be entered upon lightly1 nor regarded as a cinch4 ,a man must first of all be fit in body to be able to withstand the many physical hardships that he will be sure to encounter4 ,then he must be fit in mind to provide him with the imagination and the resourcefulness that he will certainly be called on to show4 ,his heart must be strong not only in the opinion of the surgeon but in the opinion of those who judge his all-round manhood4 ,he must be trained in such a way that he will be able to stand not only the physical but the nervous strain as well4 ,a visit to the hospitals in ,england and ,france will provide the spectacle of row after row of beds containing men who have never been wounded but whose nerves have gone to pieces in the strain of modern warfare4 ,remember to take your training seriously--it pays4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,health ,benjamin ,franklin once said1 ,be sober and temperate and you will be healthy4 ,this is in the main true and is excellent advice for the soldier4 ,but there are ills that are liable to affect the fighting man in spite of his temperance and sobriety and of these we must speak4 ,the health of men in the army is1 on the average1 much better than that of individuals outside of it4 ,this is due to many causes chief of which is the fact that only healthy men are admitted to the army4 ,then the out-of-door life1 regular and wholesome food1 sufficient exercise and early to bed and early to rise tend to keep him well4 ,if he enters the army fit1 he must make it his business to remain fit and it will be well to remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure4 ,to preserve good health is his ,,duty for only thus can he become an efficient soldier4 ,if the bodily resistance is weakened1 man becomes prey to the millions of germs that are to be found in the air and even within his own system4 ,when he is healthy the body is able to keep them in subjection1 but once let him permit his system to run down and these armies of microbes will attack him with all their forces4 ,now let us begin first of all with ,,bodily ,,cleanliness4 ,no soldier can come on parade unless his face and hands be clean4 ,shaving1 though sometimes a bore1 is an excellent method of keeping the face clean and fresh4 ,it tends to smarten a man1 and officers are not slow to pick out the careful from the slovenly soldier4 ,we used to reserve the unpleasant tasks of the camp--latrine duties amongst others--for men who would not keep their hands and faces clean4 ,but there are other parts of the body to which it is just as necessary to apply cleansing methods regularly even though no military punishment follows the violation of the rule4 ,first of these that ,i would mention is the ,,teeth4 ,soldiers1 ,i find1 are very careless in this matter till the first thing you know is that someone is absent from parade because of the toothache4 ,on one occasion in the trenches1 when we were very short handed1 an officer had to leave us for a week to go to the hospital with a badly abscessed tooth due entirely to neglect4 ,cleaning the teeth night and morning freshens the mouth and makes food taste better4 ,an excellent custom is to rinse the mouth after every meal1 and while this may often be inconvenient it can be done if a soldier remembers to wash his mouth out with the first sip of water every time he takes a drink4 ,if the teeth are allowed to get very bad a man's digestion suffers and he falls ill4 ,this robs the army of part of its fighting strength1 a result which every soldier has an interest in avoiding4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #a3 ,showing use of natural cover by soldier lying down4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #b3 ,showing use of sandbag and earth for protection4 ,,hair4 ,no better advice can be given to the soldier on this subject than cut it short4 ,the shorter the better1 for when it is short it is easy to keep clean both from body dirt and vermin4 ,in this war soldiers have almost invariably had the clippers run completely over their heads4 ,soap and water are as good for the head as for any other part of the body4 ,,trunk4 ,it is not always possible for soldiers to get a shower or plunge every day1 but a small sponge carried as part of the equipment will help a good deal4 ,in ,france1 where the water was scarce1 we had to make it go a long way4 ,when the enemy permitted1 ,i used to get my regular morning bath with the aid of the sponge and about a saucerful of water4 ,i felt like a canary during the process and wanted to chirp and flap my wings4 ,soldiers should be encouraged to go in swimming whenever circumstances permit4 ,to go in swimming was not a military order in my regiment1 but we used to take the men to the sea and then ask who wanted to go in4 ,about eighty per cent of the men would volunteer4 ,then we would tell off the remaining twenty per cent for vigorous physical exercises and after ten minutes give them the choice of continuing or taking a plunge in the sea4 ,they all went in6 ,men's objections to water usually come from habit and they soon learn to appreciate its refreshing power4 ,,feet4 ,an army marches on its stomach--metaphorically1 but it marches on its feet1 literally1 as every poor infantryman knows4 ,and it has to do a good deal of marching in war and in preparation for war4 ,route ,marches and ,hikes are very popular with the training staff as the soldier will find1 and they are usually planned by the men who ride horses6 ,so important did we consider the care of the feet that we used to have ,,toe ,,parades twice a week with the ,doctor in attendance4 ,men with neglected feet were considered as candidates for cookhouse garbage duty1 and were promptly assigned to this task4 ,in the first place feet must be comparatively clean--soap and water recommended6 ,then they should be free from corns4 ,this is not so easy to accomplish4 ,paring with a knife helps1 but if they get too bad the doctor or the chiropodist should be consulted4 ,another frequent source of trouble is neglected toe nails4 ,the best way is to cut them straight across1 not too far down1 but so as to keep them from tearing the sock or cramping the foot in the boot4 ,blisters sometimes arise on the feet4 ,they should be treated at once1 mainly by removing the cause--which may be in the boot itself or the sock--and then by bathing them in a solution of boric acid4 ,if the socks are kept oiled1 or even if small pieces of soap are put into the boots1 this condition will1 in large measure1 be avoided4 ,i have seen many a pitiful case of men trailing along the road well in rear of their company1 limping and hobbling as best they could1 all due to the fact that they had not paid the attention to their feet that they must if the feet are to do the work for which the army calls4 ,a few minutes attention per day given to these points will1 ,i am confident1 help to procure and maintain health for the soldier4 ,but all his care will be wasted unless that which he takes inside his body is wholesome--food and drink4 ,in camps the soldier usually has all his food cooked for him1 and it is the duty of his officers to see that it is good in quality1 sufficient in quantity1 and reasonably well cooked4 ,as the soldier does the serving himself1 that is entirely his own lookout4 ,in the trenches it is not possible to have things arranged as one has in camp4 ,the regimental cookers were usually stationed about three miles from the firing line--for their safety--and all the food was cooked there and sent up to the lines in boxes or sandbags1 and apportioned to the various platoons according to the number of men on the strength4 ,three times a week the cooks were given fresh meat to prepare for us--when the ,government says it is fresh it is fresh even in ,summer time and when the flies have been busy--and for the other days we subsisted on canned meats or bully beef as it was called4 ,the meat was either baked or boiled1 though sometimes we got a stew--in camp we got too many stews6 ,potatoes were boiled1 usually in their jackets4 ,this food we could heat in the trenches in our individual cooking apparatus1 which also served to cook our ration of bacon for breakfast1 while in the upper part of the tin we made tea4 ,of course in the trenches we had to eat whatever we could get1 but our lot was relieved considerably by the arrival of delicacies from ,england by the parcel post4 ,this sometimes subjected us to the temptation that we were under while in training1 and that was to eat pastry and suchlike food1 which1 while very appetising1 is not to be recommended as a diet for the soldier4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #c3 ,showing position of body behind earth1 and direction of fire round right side of cover4 ,on the question of ,,drink my views have become very pronounced since my experience with the army4 ,undoubtedly the best universal drink for the soldier is tea--preferably weak4 ,i should say water were it always possible to get water that is pure4 ,but during a campaign pure water is a luxury4 ,by making the water into tea you make sure that it gets boiled1 and by the addition of tea you get a beverage that has not the insipid sickly flavour of boiled or sterilised water4 ,coffee is preferred by ,americans1 ,i know1 but there are dangers to be recognised especially by those whose hearts are inclined to be weak4 ,with regard to alcohol ,i would most heartily recommend total abstinence4 ,i need scarcely remind ,american readers that there is not a single front rank baseball manager that allows his men to indulge in alcohol4 ,from my own experience ,i could tell of many men who were permanently rendered unfit as soldiers through foolish indulgence4 ,of the men who were brought before the ,colonel for more or less serious crimes1 #ij per cent of them owed their humiliation directly to alcohol1 and #e per cent of them to alcohol indirectly4 ,i know that it is possible for some men to take alcohol in moderation4 ,not many continue to do so1 and sooner or later there is almost certain to be an overindulgence4 ,in the ,british army men were sentenced to the extreme penalty--death--for being intoxicated while on active service in ,france4 ,i say without hesitation that the best men ,i had were the abstainers and the worst men ,i had were the drinkers4 ,alcohol weakens the tissues of the body1 it lowers its vitality and makes it an easy victim to disease1 and worse still1 it rapidly obscures the mind4 ,for a war of the kind that is being waged in ,europe a man needs to have his head very clear1 and this he cannot do if he is the victim of the alcohol habit4 ,many total abstainers from alcohol are tempted to take gassy drinks1 fizzes and so forth4 ,these tend to shorten the wind and should therefore be avoided4 ,if plain water has to be drunk1 care should be taken to see that it is reasonably pure1 and all vessels such as water bottles should be thoroughly rinsed each time before using4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #d3 ,trench system showing fire1 support and reserve trenches2 redoubts2 communicating trenches2 saps2 listening posts1 etc4 ,when these simple rules of eating and drinking are followed many of the dangers incidental to army life will be avoided1 and physical fitness established4 ,a kindred subject is that of ,,smoking4 ,this habit has become so universal in the ,british army that it is almost true to say that every one smokes4 ,from my own experience ,i have seen very few ill effects from it except in cases of obvious overindulgence4 ,but undoubtedly it is easy to overdo the cigarette business1 and on this point ,i would utter a word of warning4 ,pipes are to be preferred1 though ,i admit it is difficult to get men to smoke anything else than cigarettes in the trenches4 ,in the monotony and strain of trench life1 and from the need to do something to keep the stench of decaying bodies from the nostrils1 men do smoke to excess4 ,there is some excuse there1 but during training at home every man must endeavour to be reasonable in his indulgence4 ,,clothing4 ,i have found that men are very apt to load themselves up with all sorts of useless items of apparel4 ,in their endeavour to keep warm they have often badly overdone it with the result that they have found themselves perspiring and exhausted in the midst of an important piece of physical labour4 ,of course the soldier will need to see to it that his underclothes are sufficiently warm to keep out the extreme cold1 but it is better to add something to the clothing from time to time--such as a ,cardigan waistcoat--than to be equipped permanently with the heaviest kind of underclothes4 ,above all1 avoid those garments that are being offered extensively to unsuspecting men1 and which1 while they will undoubtedly keep you warm1 will also prevent the proper perspiration of the body4 ,the body must be allowed to perspire and the air must be allowed to carry off the perspiration4 ,woollens are the best for this purpose1 and though the initial cost of them is rather great1 they are worth it in the long run4 ,,boots4 ,in the paragraph on feet ,i couldn't help mentioning the matter of boots1 but it is so important that1 at the risk of too great repetition1 ,i want to mention it again4 ,you must have boots that are right1 otherwise you will soon be lamed and thus be out of action4 ,and every man out of action counts two on a division4 ,we found it advisable in ,france to get boots that were large enough to accommodate the feet and two pairs of socks--one thin and one thick pair4 ,into the boots we poured a small quantity of oil1 or between the socks we put small pieces of soap to keep the feet in good condition4 ,you will find that the feet must be oiled if they are to stand the work of a campaign4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #e3 ,showing method of cutting trench2 parapet and parados2 drainage4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #f3 ,showing riveting2 flooring made of boards and chicken wire2 drainage4 ,but sometimes injuries are caused to the feet by other parts of the clothing of a soldier4 ,men frequently laced their puttees or leggins too tight and found that they suffered pains in the feet--the circulation was being stopped4 ,this rendered them very liable to frostbite1 than which there is nothing more painful4 ,if there are signs of freezing1 remove the boots as soon as possible and restore the circulation4 ,but if the feet are actually frozen the soldier is in for a long and tedious illness1 and will be lucky if he does not need to have his feet amputated4 ,i am told that1 during the first campaign in the ,carpathians1 the ,central ,powers lost #be1jjj men per day with frozen feet4 ,before leaving this subject to deal with diseases and their avoidance1 ,i would like to say a word or two on the congenial subject of ,,rest4 ,a soldier should get as much of it as he can1 consistent1 of course1 with doing his duty4 ,never stand when you could as well be lying down4 ,throw yourself on the ground whenever you can1 to rest1 and let the whole body relax4 ,when you are given a rest on the roadside1 stretch out on your back and breathe as deeply as you can4 ,give your mind and body alike a vacation and you will feel the benefit of it at the end of the day4 ,don't spend your hours of beauty sleep in talking--get that done during the day4 ,your body will call for rest after the tiring duties of the day and you should give it all the rest you can4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #g3 ,trench with simple dugout under parapet4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #h3 ,finished dugout1 #f' #d' #d' with deep entrance and shrapnel-proofing4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,disease ,if the rules of health set forth in the foregoing chapter are carefully observed1 the soldier will be doing the best he can to keep his body fit4 ,he will be building up a reserve of strength that will stand him in good stead should the germs of disease find entrance into his body4 ,but there are times when1 in spite of all our precautions1 these little microbes get the upper hand1 and a long struggle against them begins4 ,the disease that has been responsible for the death of armies of soldiers is ,,enteric or ,,typhoid fever4 ,during the campaign in ,south ,africa the ,british lost more men through the ravages of this disease than through bullets and shells4 ,but during the present war there have been comparatively few cases of enteric1 and the number that have proved fatal is very small4 ,for this result we have to thank the medical profession that has given so much study and care to the perfection of a method of combating this disease4 ,the secret has been found to lie in the inoculation of the soldier with small doses of the disease itself till he becomes comparatively immune to it4 ,inoculation was not made compulsory in the first armies that were raised in ,england after war broke out1 but it was made compulsory for men who desired to become members of the ,british ,expeditionary ,force in ,france4 ,most men gladly accepted this medical boon and subjected themselves to this simple and painless operation4 ,but there were others who objected1 sometimes through fear of the pain1 and sometimes through what they termed conscientious objections4 ,anti-,inoculation ,societies got busy and spread their wretched literature throughout the camps and made men thoroughly afraid1 both of the operation and of its results4 ,to meet this the ,war ,office issued through the papers and by pamphlets1 information from the medical authorities as to the wonderful results that had already been achieved4 ,they were able to prove beyond all dispute1 that of the men who caught the infection in ,france1 practically all of those who had been inoculated recovered--their cases being light--while those who had not been inoculated became easy victims to the disease4 ,as the war has progressed these figures have been amplified till now there can be no question that the use of ,inoculation has made this dread disease a thing to be feared less than the measles4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #i3 ,finished trench showing parapet and parados2 firing step of earth2 flooring2 and shelter dugout under parados4 ,officers adopted different methods in counteracting the teaching of those who tried to keep the soldiers from submitting4 ,some of them argued with the men and told them of the wonderful results that had been achieved4 ,others warned their men that they would be left behind when the battalion went to ,france4 ,for my own part ,i adopted the method of sending for the medical men whose business it was to administer the dose4 ,when they were all prepared ,i marched in my men from some light fatigue work in which they had been engaged1 told them to take off their coats and roll up their sleeves1 and three at a time they appeared before the waiting surgeons4 ,the business was over in no time4 ,i marched them off to a place where ,i could talk to them and then acquainted them with the advantages of inoculation4 ,the announcement of forty-eight hours' freedom from drill for the whole company to let their arms limber up put the few that were disgruntled into good spirits again1 and ,i was able to report to the ,o4 ,c4 that #ajj per cent of my men were willing to be inoculated--and had been inoculated6 ,so little did any of them suffer from its effects that they readily lined up in ten days time when they were to receive the second dose4 ,at intervals of two or three months in ,france the operation was repeated and ,i never had a single man on the sick list from enteric6 ,now1 while inoculation is excellent and should be insisted on in all armies1 both for the sake of the individual soldier and of those who associate with him1 every possible precaution should be taken by the soldier even after this has been done4 ,all water for drinking should be looked upon with suspicion4 ,never take any chances for the sake of getting a hasty drink4 ,many communities have water supplies that are admirable and when military operations are carried on there1 the difficulties disappear4 ,on the other hand many places have the most abominable water supply systems4 ,where we were in ,france1 the country was very flat1 and consequently the drainage poor4 ,the buildings that housed the human beings and the cattle and pigs on the farms were as a rule all built around a midden into which flowed all the refuse4 ,in many cases the family water supply1 a well1 was dug within three feet of this cesspool1 so that the drainage from the latter was almost sure to reach the former4 ,this is asking for enteric1 and some men fell victims to it before they could be made to realise the danger4 ,the best rule to follow1 as we all soon learned1 was to get our drinking water exclusively from the army water wagons1 for there the water had been treated and the danger lessened4 ,at times we could not get to the water carts and a certain degree of risk had to be run4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #aj3 ,machine gun position with heavy overhead cover4 ,not only with water has the greatest care to be taken1 but also with food4 ,flies are notorious carriers of disease1 and consequently soldiers must see to it that no food is left uncovered4 ,nor should food ever be placed near latrines or any place where there is decaying matter4 ,with universal inoculation1 and with a careful following of these simple rules laid down1 the ancient scourge of the army loses much of its terror4 ,the task of combating it lies mainly with the medical and sanitary staff1 though the common soldier must also play his part of carefulness4 ,some men carried small sterilisers with them4 ,this practice is not to be recommended for it is very difficult to keep these little utensils clean1 and then they themselves become harmful4 ,tabloid sterilisers ,i have found to be effective in an emergency4 ,those who have followed the history of the war will remember how the ,serbian ,army was threatened with extinction through the deadly disease called ,,typhus4 ,there is no doubt that the army and most of the civil population would have been wiped out had it not been for the timely assistance that that brave little nation received from medical men and women throughout the world1 notably ,america4 ,many of these brave souls made the final great sacrifice in their endeavour to stamp out this disease4 ,then again its horrors have been more recently brought to our notice through the revelations of the conditions at ,wittenberg ,camp in ,germany4 ,the story that ,captain ,vidal and ,major ,priestly1 ,officers of the ,royal ,army ,medical ,corps1 had to tell of their living death in that awful internment camp1 brought home to the ,british people and then to the world1 the frightfulness of that disease1 as well as the inhumanity of certain ,german medical officials4 ,fortunately1 typhus has been little known in ,western ,europe1 and it is possible that soldiers in this country will never know its ravages4 ,but all the same it is as well to be prepared for it1 and to know the methods of preventing its outbreak4 ,it is a disease that is carried by flees and lice and consequently the most that can be said in a work of this kind is to recommend the greatest pains in the removal of these creatures from the body should they ever take up their residence there4 ,i refer the reader to the chapter on ,vermin for methods of combating ,lice4 ,,dysentery1 ,,enteritis1 and ,,colitis4 ,these names are applied to various kinds and grades of stomach troubles1 between which it is difficult for the common soldier to differentiate1 and which show themselves with most distressing effects4 ,they come1 usually1 from drinking bad water or eating bad food4 ,even with the greatest care that the ,commissariat could take1 there were occasions when food unfit for human consumption was served to the troops4 ,in the trenches it was not to be wondered at that we were stricken with these diseases1 for the flies that infested the trenches and lived on the dead bodies there1 favoured us with many visits at food time and poisoned the latter for us4 ,there is no way that ,i know of to prevent it1 and the sufferer will be well advised to report to the medical officer for skilled treatment4 ,cases of dysentery were not very frequent in ,france1 but they were in ,gallipoli where the food supply left much to be desired4 ,,tetanus is a disease that is brought about by infection which enters the system through a wound4 ,in the early part of the war it occurred only too frequently till1 in this case also1 the skill of the medical profession provided us with a serum to combat it4 ,the universal practice now is to inoculate with anti-tetanic serum just as soon as possible after a wound has been received4 ,by this means tetanus1 like enteric1 is rapidly ceasing to be regarded as a menace4 ,i have no intention of exhausting the whole category of diseases to which man--and therefore the soldier--is heir1 but simply to touch upon those that are most likely to occur in a campaign4 ,the foregoing list includes1 ,i believe1 all the most likely1 but to them ,i should like to add these two--,,smallpox and ,,cholera4 ,to deal first with smallpox1 we can say1 fortunately1 that it is rare4 ,this is due in large part to the almost universal provision of vaccination1 which should be insisted upon in an army4 ,cholera is of rare occurrence1 and nothing can be done to ward it off except to follow carefully the ordinary rules of health and sanitation4 ,should it1 unfortunately1 break out1 the army must place itself unreservedly in the hands of medical authorities who are especially qualified to deal with it4 ,there is one other disease that has made its effects felt on almost every army1 and which it has been found impossible to thoroughly eliminate4 ,the hands of those who would lessen its influence are to a great extent tied1 because in the past1 the only method that has been permissible to eliminate venereal disease has been what ,i shall call the ,moral method--the appeal to morality and the intelligence of the individual soldier4 ,we have used this excellent and praiseworthy method for generations1 but it has never been found capable of eradicating the evil4 ,some other means1 from an army point of view1 has obviously to be resorted to4 ,but even to discuss the matter1 one runs the risk of being ruled out of court by those who will admit none but the aforementioned moral argument4 ,when the first ,expeditionary ,force went to ,france1 the late ,lord ,kitchener1 then ,secretary of ,state for ,war1 issued an appeal to the men1 in which he besought them to be on their guard against two of the evils that lessen the efficiency of soldiers--wine and women4 ,the men who fell victims to wine or whiskey or other forms of alcoholic intemperance1 were punished1 first of all with imprisonment1 and then1 when it was seen that this penalty did not meet the case1 the death penalty was imposed for such as became intoxicated when at their post of duty4 ,obviously the army cannot afford to have as its guardians men who cannot keep sober4 ,those who fell victims to loose women and contracted venereal diseases--and it is beyond a doubt that most of the women who follow an army are diseased--had to be withdrawn from their positions and sent back to the bases to hospitals4 ,every man1 therefore1 who violated ,lord ,kitchener's advice1 was playing into the hands of the enemy to this extent that he was taking the risk of contracting a disease which would rob the army of his services4 ,my own ,colonel used not to mince words on this subject but used to say that such men might just as well go over to the enemy at once4 ,but with every kind of pleading and threat on the part of officers1 it was found that there were men who disregarded their advice4 ,a soldier's pay automatically stops under these circumstances1 and at first it was the custom to acquaint his family with the fact that he had been sent to such and such a hospital1 and the people of ,england soon got to know the purpose of these hospitals1 and many a home suffered shame from the indiscretions of the men who represented them in ,france4 ,when the ,australian troops were quartered near ,cairo--than which there are few more immoral cities in the world--venereal cases were frequent1 in spite of the admonitions of the combatant officers and of the medical staff4 ,what was to be done8 ,every effort was made to restrain the men and keep them out of the notorious red light district1 but case after case of the disease turned up4 ,eventually some of the medical men hit upon the scheme of establishing at the entrance to the various camps1 tents to which men could go on their return from the city4 ,in those tents there was a representative of the ,army ,medical ,corps equipped with all the latest appliances in the form of prophylactics1 and these were administered without charge and without question1 even as to name1 to all who sought this method of protecting themselves after acts of indiscretion4 ,the result was very gratifying from the medical standpoint1 for the number of those who contracted the disease rapidly declined and the efficiency of the army was maintained at a correspondingly high standard4 ,of course a protest was immediately entered by those who were particularly interested in the morals of the men1 and the charge was made that it was putting a premium on immorality4 ,for my own part1 interested in both of these matters1 ,i have come to the conclusion that the old methods have failed1 and that ,i would rather have an army immoral and well than an army immoral and diseased4 ,as human nature is constituted at present ,i can see no alternative1 though ,i believe it to be our bounden duty to continue to urge the need of self-restraint4 ,i do not fear that these words will be taken to cast a slur upon any army1 for those of us who are not blind are perfectly aware that the same kind of immorality exists among civilian populations as in armies4 ,for those men who shall read these words of mine ,i would with all the force at my command urge the close following of the precepts of ,lord ,kitchener4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #aa3 ,simple entanglements made of barbed wire and rough posts4 ,a kindred problem with which the authorities sometimes have to deal is that of unnatural men4 ,records of the ,german ,army before the war contained many examples of this most revolting form of perversion4 ,in the ,british ,armies that were raised at the outbreak of the war1 several cases occurred1 the offenders being punished with terms of imprisonment varying from seven to fifteen years with hard labour--much too lenient4 ,the whole problem is most difficult to deal with1 and any one who attempts to deal with it risks public censure4 ,yet the problem must be faced1 nevertheless1 and the sooner we apply sane methods to its solution1 the better4 ,of course views will differ as to what constitutes sane methods1 but ,i am convinced from my own experience with soldiers that the method outlined above is a good one4 ,we must not1 however1 fail to emphasise the dangers that men run4 ,they must be taught the folly of it4 ,we must make it plain to them that it is not worth the candle to run the risk of contracting the most horrible diseases that even our advanced medical science can never cure with certainty1 for the sake of a brief gratification4 ,a man's whole life may be ruined2 his innocent children afflicted with a loathsome disease2 his wife made to endure years of physical and mental torment as the price of that foolish act4 ,were this book a moral treatise ,i should spend time in driving this point home with more force4 ,but as the object ,i desire to achieve is to show men how they can become soldiers and remain fit1 it must suffice to say again that the surest way to lay up misery for yourself1 to render yourself unfit to remain at your soldier tasks and thus increase the odds of the enemy against your side is to run the risk of venereal disease through contact with women4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,vermin ,i feel that no hints on health would be complete without some brief reference to the terrors of the trenches--,,lice4 ,a learned ,professor of one of the ,universities of ,england published a little book whose exact title ,i have forgotten but which was something like this--,flees1 ,lice and ,bugs1 or1 the ,little ,brothers of the ,prussian4 ,that is pretty hard on the enemy--or the lice--but it serves to emphasise one important point and that is1 that the ravages of these vermin is so great that they can well be said to be fighting the same cause as the enemy4 ,in spite of all a soldier can do1 lice are sure1 sooner or later1 to overtake him4 ,they make their nests in the straw upon which he throws himself when fatigued1 or in the walls of houses1 or on other human beings1 and contact is almost sure to bring them4 ,they are most interesting little pets whose sole interest in life seems to be to lay eggs and thus make sure that their race shall be perpetuated4 ,the female louse takes up her abode upon the soldier's body and immediately sets herself to an egg laying competition4 ,if she gets five minutes start of her victim she lays up for him weeks of trouble1 and the only thing to do is to go after her and her eggs as soon as her presence is made known4 ,i discovered my first louse while ,i was at luncheon in the trenches4 ,i seized the spot on my arm where ,i believed her to be1 and calling to my orderly hurried off to the fields some distance behind the lines4 ,there we began the hunt which ended1 ,i am happy to be able to say1 in her decease4 ,but the eggs had been laid and not for weeks did ,i succeed in ridding myself of these unwelcome boarders4 ,i was1 much against my will1 used as a perambulating incubator1 and only the greatest vigilance served to rid me of the pests4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #ab3 ,trench periscopes4 ,it was our custom1 as soon as we were relieved from the trenches for a spell of a few days1 to turn all the men out into a field and bid them ,hunt6 ,i used then to walk around amongst the men and enquire of them what luck they had had4 ,two1 ,seven1 ,nineteen1 etc41 were the frequent replies4 ,one of the saddest men ,i have ever seen replied ,none1 ,sir4 ,his unhappiness was due to the fact that he was perfectly well aware that there were some there to be caught1 but that he had not yet had the luck to get them4 ,as to means of combating them1 the best is constant vigilance4 ,make sure that not only the live lice are killed but that the eggs as well are destroyed1 say with the ash of a lighted cigarette4 ,the next thing to remember is that body lice are opposed to cleanliness1 and that the oftener you can wash yourself1 the more you inconvenience them4 ,gasoline squirted over the body and the clothes also serves to discourage them4 ,some thin cotton shirts covered with a solution of carbolic1 had a good effect1 and at the least they served as another barrier to the little rascals before they could reach the body4 ,since ,i returned to this country1 a manufacturer of vermin killers told me that the following method will be found effective3 ,take a goose quill and seal up one end4 ,put in half an inch of mercury1 and then seal the other end making a little phial of about an inch and a half in length4 ,sew this to the clothes under each armpit and round the belt line4 ,as to whether this will work ,i do not know1 for ,i am glad to be able to say that ,i have not needed to test the theory since ,i returned to ,america4 ,,fleas are not so common1 but when they occur1 they must be hunted with the same vigilance as lice1 and the same methods apply to their extermination4 ,as carriers of typhus1 they are particularly to be dreaded4 ,,chapter ,v ,,health ,,and ,,officers ,so far ,i have been dealing with disease from the point of view of the individual and ,i have said nothing of the duties of officers towards their men in this respect4 ,a word on the subject may not be out of place4 ,when the new armies were formed in ,england at the outbreak of war it was summer time and the new troops were placed in tents in open fields4 ,the lessons of camp life were difficult for many of these men to learn1 and some of the experience that was obtained was bought dearly4 ,it will occur to every soldier that the greatest care must be paid to the cleanliness of the lines4 ,men are often too lazy to carry their scraps to the proper garbage pails1 and carelessly throw them around in the neighbourhood of the tents4 ,in fine weather they can be easily seen and the culprits1 when discovered1 can be made to clean up all the lines4 ,when the culprits cannot be discovered1 whole companies have to be put to this fatigue work4 ,in wet weather it is worse1 for the particles of meat and bread get trodden into the ground and before long there arises a stench from them4 ,sometimes1 too1 rats and mice are encouraged by this careless method4 ,we used to find that certain men who had an inherent objection to fresh air1 would eat all their meals within the tents4 ,this practice must be stopped at all costs4 ,bring the men into the open and let them stay there and they will be all the better for it4 ,it is excusable for them to remain in the tents during rain but at no other time4 ,the inspecting officer would frequently find pieces of bacon and butter and cheese trodden into the ground on which the men had to sleep4 ,the lines must be kept clean4 ,officers will be well advised to assign liberal fatigue work to the men who are guilty of messing up the lines1 and littering them with particles of food1 papers1 cigarette and cigar ends1 etc4 ,the regular sanitary squad cannot be expected to do its work unless the soldiers themselves are made to co-operate4 ,it is a good thing to encourage the spirit of rivalry between units1 and men can often be jollied on into keeping their lines neat and tidy by pointing out to them lines that are better kept--and sometimes praising them when their lines are up to the required standard4 ,we found that a good many of the men had quite an artistic instinct1 and would use up the old bottles and stones from around the camp to execute the most beautiful designs representing the battalion colours or the flags of the allied nations4 ,we also met with considerable difficulty in getting men to thoroughly air the tents4 ,the flaps of round tents should be rolled up just as early as is possible each morning4 ,a good plan is to strike individual rows of tents occasionally and give the ground a thorough airing and disinfecting4 ,we followed this plan with tents which contained notoriously lazy men who would not rise at the proper time and developed the habit of leaving the flaps of the tents down4 ,they were awakened by the ,orderly ,corporal in the usual course of events and given ten minutes in which to appear outside their tents4 ,promptly at the expiration of this time a squad arrived on the scene and1 undoing all their guy ropes1 let the tents down very suddenly on their heads4 ,it is very provoking to have a mass of canvas come about your ears in this way1 and the slackers soon learned the only way to avoid it4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #ac3 ,simple loophole made of steel plate and let into parapet4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #ad3 ,ordinary hand bomb with fuse lighted automatically as lever is released4 ,when an army has to live in tents1 a certain amount of dampness is almost certainly inevitable4 ,but if proper drains are dug around them1 and every advantage taken of the sunlight1 much can be done to avoid what frequently ends in rheumatism or pneumonia4 ,it pays to construct good cinder roads in all the camp lines and to see to it that the approaches to the individual tents are prepared in the same way4 ,when we were first dumped down in a field of clay in the ,midlands of ,england and told to prepare it for the horse lines to accommodate the sixteen hundred horses that were due in a few days1 we were faced with a colossal task4 ,we were all turned into navvies1 and long before we even had shelter for the horses they had arrived4 ,it was a most tedious business to construct lines for them in ,december in ,england1 and we had to cart many hundreds of tons of cinders and rock to make the place possible4 ,for weeks we worked at it1 and there were complaints from the men that they had not joined the army to be navvies4 ,they had joined it to fight1 so they said4 ,but when the stables were finished and they could approach the lines over nice smooth dry roads they realised that their labour had not been in vain4 ,there is usually a fitting return in health from all the labour invested in the preparation of a good camp4 ,another place in which officers and non-commissioned officers must be on the alert for filth1 is the cook house4 ,this is true in winter as well as in summer time4 ,it has been my experience that the laziest and dirtiest men volunteer for the task of cook4 ,the reason is that they are able to get the choicest portions for themselves1 be free from the bore of attending drills and parades1 and get a little higher pay1 besides what they can get from the soldiers on the side for little favours4 ,in an army such as was formed in ,england at the beginning of the war it was impossible to get enough trained cooks for the work1 and all sorts of men were run in for the job4 ,many of them were thoroughly lazy and incompetent4 ,there was1 of course1 a rooted objection to calling in the aid of women--though few of us ever think of employing men to do our cooking in private life--and when we suggested it for the purpose of improving the grade of our food in the ,officers' ,mess1 we were met with the reply that it had never been done4 ,that was the reason for keeping out a good many reforms in ,dear ,old ,england4 ,but by strategy on our part1 and by the eventual demands of the stomachs concerned that some change be made1 we were able to introduce a woman manager for the mess kitchen4 ,she reformed everything1 including the costs of the food4 ,our mess bills were considerably reduced1 the food was better cooked1 and we got a variety that had never seemed to occur to the late robbers that we had employed4 ,when ,england began to feel the want of fighting men1 it entered the brains of some of the ,brass ,hat officials that this was a sphere in which the women could well supplant the men--and woman came into her own again1 at least in part4 ,that was a job that women could do well1 but it was a long time before we would agree to let them4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #ae3 ,above is trench bomb gun firing bomb with stem2 below is trench mortar firing large bomb4 ,but whether men or women are in charge of this important department of an army1 the duty will still devolve upon the officers to see that the cookhouses are kept clean and that the food is up to the proper standard4 ,one case occurred in a camp near ,london where they were following the principle of allowing outside caterers to supply the food1 in which the ,orderly ,officer of the day just managed to stop in time1 the service to the men of meat that was diseased4 ,the desire to make a little additional profit had blinded these unpatriotic people to the welfare of the troops1 and they were punished with a fine and with the loss of their catering contract4 ,that is mild punishment4 ,grafters of every kind1 from those who put bad powder into shells or bad leather into boots1 to those who risk an outbreak of sickness through supplying improper food1 should all be treated the same way that certain other enemies of their country are treated--a ,court-martial and a firing party4 ,no condemnation is too severe for them4 ,officers will not always find it an easy task to detect these thieves1 but they must be very much on their job for this purpose4 ,then again good food sometimes is allowed to become bad food through the careless handling by the cooks and their assistants4 ,covers are left off dishes that contain meat1 butter1 cheese1 etc41 and they are ruined by dust or flies4 ,contaminated food is allowed to remain in close proximity to the food that is to be offered to the troops2 cooks either use unclean utensils themselves or allow the orderlies from the various units to return dirty utensils to them2 or they handle the refuse and then the food without ever a thought to washing their hands4 ,one very knowing old rascal of a cook we had used to have his place in excellent condition at eleven in the morning when the ,orderly ,officer used to make his rounds1 and one day when ,i came upon him suddenly it was to find that he was using one of the bread bags as a receptacle for his change of clothes--a filthy collection of shirts1 socks1 etc4 ,he was fired1 and cursed me for many a day as he carried his great weight of avoirdupois round the training field with a rifle over his shoulder like any other infantryman4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #af3 ,simple gas mask with flutter valve or check valve4 ,ambulance dogs and horses in the gas zone were equipped as shown4 ,with regard to water1 while the regular line officers must also keep an eye to its general purity1 it is generally left to the care of the medical staff to test it from time to time to make certain of its fitness for human use4 ,we experienced a good deal of trouble in making the men keep their wash lines clean and in making them refrain from throwing soapy1 greasy water on the ground4 ,it is the easiest method--for them--but the costliest in the long run1 and they must be made to throw it into the proper drains4 ,then1 too1 no camp will be complete without a thorough system of garbage disposal4 ,the refuse should be collected into tins that can be closed to keep away the rats1 etc41 and then taken at certain specified times to the incinerator4 ,the latter can easily be built under any circumstances and there can be no reason for a camp not being well supplied in this matter4 ,latrines1 also1 must be thoroughly inspected by the officers of every unit4 ,they should be established at some distance from the tent lines1 and as far removed as possible from the kitchen4 ,sand and lime should be liberally supplied4 ,the tasks of attending the latrines will normally fall to the sanitary squad who can be assisted by those who are convicted of the crime of failing to keep their lines clean4 ,it is wonderful what a wholesome effect on a lazy man has the imposition of three days latrine duty6 ,in the trenches this was one of the few punishments at our disposal for the slackers1 for they welcomed any punishment that would send them away out of the firing line4 ,the same principles that have been laid down for tent life will apply more or less to life in billets4 ,when the winter came all the troops in ,england and ,scotland were moved into billets in towns where they could be accommodated4 ,these were usually manufacturing towns that had numerous small homes that could each accommodate a soldier or two4 ,from the point of view of training this is a system far from satisfactory for the men so easily get out of control4 ,but it is the best system that we had at the time4 ,later on1 extensive villages of huts were constructed1 and the training proceeded normally4 ,sometimes groups of men were assembled in large vacant houses4 ,there was no furniture in them and the troops had to sleep on the floor4 ,cooking facilities were inadequate1 but worst of all were the toilet facilities4 ,these houses had been constructed to serve as the homes for average families of five to ten1 and when fifty or sixty men were turned into them the result is imaginable4 ,the same problems will probably be presented if ever ,american soldiers are housed in this way1 and those who happen to be officers will have to exercise the greatest vigilance4 ,then again we found that there are some men who have no idea of the risk they run in leaving food lying about a house or hidden away4 ,after a certain group had moved away from ,bedford1 ,england1 it was my business to go round the houses they had occupied to see if they were fit for occupation by the incoming troops4 ,i found to my horror in one of the houses that some of the men1 instead of taking surplus meat out to the garbage cans1 had put it under a board in the floor6 ,it had been there a few days when ,i found it1 and examination of the other rooms disclosed the fact that all sorts of things from meat and bread and tins to old clothes had been hidden in similar places by these lazy fellows4 ,my reader will soon realise that the officer of to-day has to keep his eyes constantly open to preserve the best conditions for the training of his men4 ,and while ,i am on this point ,i would just add this word4 ,not only must the officers see to it that the food and water are good and the camp kept clean1 but he must also have the men's health constantly in mind when he is planning their schedule of training4 ,moderation is the word4 ,it is possible to be too enthusiastic and do the men more harm than good with hasty training4 ,exercises should be graduated4 ,it must be remembered that many of the men who will constitute civilian armies are not used to out-of-door life and their training must be gentle4 ,it is not fair for an officer to expect his men to be able to march twelve or twenty miles on a hike while he rides comfortably with them on a horse6 ,it is a good thing for him to share the fatigue of his men that he may be the better able to direct their training4 ,i have found that a good many of these hikes were planned by the higher officers who never walked and never understood when men began to fall out from fatigue4 ,rests during marching should be fairly frequent and the men should be taught the advantages to be gained by loosening their packs and throwing themselves down flat on the ground to relax all their muscles4 ,singing and whistling should be encouraged on the march1 for there is nothing like it to make a long road seem short1 but smoking should be reserved for the rest periods4 ,the principle of plenty of rests should also be followed during physical exercises and a man should never be asked to hold his arm long in any uncomfortable position4 ,a thoughtful officer is soon rewarded by the increased efficiency of his men4 ,do unto others as you would have them do unto you--will bring big returns in the army4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,cover ,,and ,,trenches ,this war is being fought out1 not in great open battles1 but in successive conflicts from the security of trenches in what ,papa ,joffre has called the nibbling process4 ,it is not simple work but such as calls for healthy bodies1 trained minds1 and steady nerves4 ,quick action is often necessary4 ,independence of thought1 ingenuity and personal courage1 combined with implicit obedience1 make up the ideal soldier4 ,the training through which a civilian must go1 then1 will be such as to develop these qualities4 ,every syllabus of training must be drawn up with this in view1 and all the time the attention of the officers must be kept on the fact that the training must be such as to make soldiers who will be efficient in the kind of war that is being waged4 ,much that has been written in the text books for armies has had to be discarded as out of date4 ,it is no exaggeration to say that the ,british knew very little about modern warfare when we went to ,france1 in spite of the fact that we had1 during this century1 waged a war in ,south ,africa1 not to mention the numerous border engagements in ,india4 ,we did not know the tremendously important part that artillery was to play2 we knew practically nothing of the use of bombs2 we had never made gas and did not know its constitution2 and in the work of trench construction we were in the kindergarten class4 ,our enemy taught us many of these things and we learned them slowly4 ,now we have reached his standard and gone past him as the ,tanks testify4 ,but in pure frightfulness we can never compete with him and never intend to4 ,eight hours a day of hard but varied training was our rule with frequent evening lectures4 ,conditions were arranged as much like those on active service as possible1 even to the use of live bombs4 ,men are very reluctant at first to handle these explosive little instruments of war1 and they must be given confidence in themselves long before they reach the firing line4 ,there they are used as freely as a mechanic uses a machine4 ,it is said that one general who was training his men in the ,midlands of ,england had a difficulty in getting them to keep their heads down4 ,they could not see the necessity for it and always wanted to see all that was going on4 ,now in actual warfare the individual soldier is able to see very little of what is transpiring round about him1 and he has to be content to come through with a whole head4 ,accordingly the ,general served out to a few trustworthy men a number of live1 ball cartridges4 ,during the manoeuvres the men who would put their heads up heard some of these missiles singing round their ears1 and soon learned that it was unwise to be too curious4 ,i am not sure that ,i would recommend this method--for were an accident to happen it would bring disgrace and dismissal to the officer who had employed it--but it is certainly an effective means4 ,one of the first things to be insisted upon in training a man is that he learn the use of ,,cover4 ,he must learn not only that cover is necessary1 but also what constitutes effective cover of various materials4 ,the most common form of cover is that afforded by piled up earth4 ,a rifle bullet fired at short range will pierce about forty inches of earth so that nothing less than thirty-six inches can be considered as giving protection from ordinary bullets4 ,where sand can be obtained ten inches less will suffice4 ,ordinary turf is not nearly so good and nothing less than five feet in thickness is sufficient4 ,bricks are effective4 ,if they are placed end on giving a thickness of nine inches this will be found sufficient so that a man can feel fairly secure from rifle bullets standing behind an ordinary brick wall4 ,where wood is used much depends on its degree of hardness2 thirty inches for hardwood and forty-five for softwood can be taken as affording complete protection4 ,any of the harder substances such as iron and steel1 etc41 are preferable1 but they can seldom be obtained4 ,of ordinary iron plate three-fourths inch is necessary and less for the different varieties of steel4 ,usually several of these media must be used4 ,boards can be arranged with stones and sand or litter1 etc41 between them4 ,the point to be remembered is that the required thickness must be obtained1 not at the base of the cover but at the top1 to support which a much larger base will usually be required4 ,when a man has learnt what thickness of materials he needs to have to protect his life1 it will be a good thing to take him out and let him see how far bullets are able to pierce these media by actually firing at them from point blank range4 ,that will give him a respect for bullets and impress the lesson on him4 ,but he must also be told that cover that protects is only half what is required4 ,it must be such as to allow him to become offensive while giving him defence4 ,the problem is a simple one in actual trenches1 where he has no alternative but to build them continuously and then fire over the top or through loopholes of steel4 ,but when more open fighting develops he must learn that his business is not only to get reasonable protection for his own body but to be able to bring his rifle to bear on the enemy4 ,this necessitates a certain amount of exposure4 ,certain devices have been developed during this war to allow a man to fire his rifle from beneath the parapet of the trench by means of specially adapted periscopes4 ,these are of great use for snipers but cannot be used by all the men4 ,in open fighting men often make the mistake of seeking cover in what is obviously the most protected place from rifle bullets1 but equally obvious to those of experience as the most likely place for the enemy to choose as marks for his artillery4 ,orchards1 woods1 houses1 etc41 come within this category1 and it is only experience that will teach a man what places to choose and what places to avoid4 ,wherever the enemy can view the approaches to these shelters1 either by direct vision from their positions or by means of aeroplanes or observation balloons1 they become dangerous as cover4 ,modern trenches are intended to give cover from fire and from view4 ,they are seldom roofed over1 so that1 as a matter of fact1 they can be seen from the air1 but it is not by any means an easy task either for an aeroplane to drop bombs there 7a ditch three feet wide7 nor yet for the artillery to hit them4 ,but we seldom are able to inherit trenches--they usually have to be dug under cover of darkness while the enemy is sniping4 ,for this purpose each man in the ,british army carries a small entrenching tool on his back1 as well as two sandbags4 ,every man is trained in the use of this valuable little tool1 and soon learns never to be without it4 ,when1 during an advance1 he needs to provide cover for himself1 he throws himself down on the ground placing his rifle at his left side1 and begins to dig away the earth at his right side1 throwing the loose earth up in front of him4 ,just as soon as he can he takes the sandbags from his back and fills them1 placing them in front of him4 ,under this imperfect cover he proceeds to deepen the hole till he can roll his body into it4 ,this miniature trench should be two feet wide and three feet long4 ,then if time permits he should add small comforts such as a recess for his feet1 drainage for water1 etc4 ,he will find that he needs to dig down to about two feet1 all the time throwing the earth out in front and occasionally pushing it out a little so as to make it of sufficient width1 for1 of course1 he will be seeking to get a parapet of about a yard in thickness at the top4 ,if he has an opportunity of firing he should do so1 not over the top of his cover but round the right side of it4 ,to fire over it is to ask for trouble4 ,the body and legs should be placed in such a position that they are covered as much as possible by the earth thrown up in front4 ,if an advance has to be made from this position1 the small trench will have served its purpose in giving temporary shelter4 ,but there are times when troops have to consolidate positions won in this way1 and on the site of these primitive trenches1 more elaborate ones have to be made4 ,at the battle of ,neuve ,chapelle the troops took up a certain line1 dug themselves in in a rough way1 and then during the night they set to work to construct the very trenches that still shelter them to this day4 ,but it was due to the entrenching tools and the few sand bags that they were able to hold the line during the hours of daylight1 and when the next morning dawned they had a fairly adequate protection4 ,while the question of cover is very important1 ,i do not wish to convey the impression that men should have this subject always in their minds4 ,to use a rock or a tree or a mound of earth as a temporary shelter is one thing2 but to continue to hide behind it at the time an advance is needed1 is another4 ,the man who hesitates to go forward when he has recovered his wind1 but who takes care of his precious skin by remaining under cover1 is worse than useless4 ,the object of all troops must be to get into touch with the enemy and drive him out with the bayonet4 ,cover will help to keep a man alive for a little while to be able to do that work4 ,when through adverse circumstances--usually the presence of the enemy in superior force--an army has to go to ground1 it sets to work in dead earnest to build its trenches4 ,we have learned that the best fortifications that can be got are those that are constructed in the earth4 ,the guns of ,verdun have practically never been in operation--indeed at the present time there are no guns in the old forts--and the reason for this is that earth works of such strength were thrown up at a distance from the forts that the ,germans were never able to get their heavy guns to bear on them4 ,the forts of ,lige1 and ,namur1 and ,antwerp all fell before the great howitzers1 but the earth works of ,verdun were too much for them4 ,it is doubtful if large forts will ever again be used in inland places1 for the earthworks have proved their great superiority4 ,trenches are laid out and dug as shown in the accompanying diagram ,figure #d4 ,they do not consist of one long straight line1 but what may be described as a succession of little rooms1 about twenty feet long1 seven feet deep and three feet broad4 ,they are seldom roofed over4 ,each little room is connected to the ones on either side by a trench that runs behind the four-feet-square traverse that is of solid earth and which serves the purpose of localising the effect of shells1 bombs1 etc4 ,if the trenches were in one straight line1 a shell that fell there would be liable to injure a great many men2 whereas under the present system the traverse acts as a buffer and limits the radius of its explosive force4 ,the trench itself is dug about three feet deep1 care being taken to lift off the top layer of grass and keep it aside to place over the front of the earth on completion of the trenches1 to render them less visible4 ,as the earth is lifted out it is thrown to the front and rear1 and some of it put into sandbags which are then laid like stones as shown4 ,the front part of the trench is then called the parapet and the rear part the parados4 ,both must be made strong1 the parapet for reasons already given1 and the parados in order to protect the men from the force of shells that fall just behind the trenches4 ,about a foot from the ground there is placed a board that is called the firing step1 on which the men stand when they are about to fire4 ,i have said that there is seldom any roof over the trenches4 ,it is difficult to cover in the trenches because of the limited supply of materials4 ,then again it is questionable if roofing pays2 for1 admitting that they may be able to keep out small bombs and rifle bullets1 they can never hope to be able to keep out shells4 ,the ,germans used to roof in a great deal--but then they were there to wage a defensive war and did not propose to move for a good while4 ,in some ground the earth will hold itself up at the sides of the trenches1 in other ground it will have to be revetted4 ,this is done with chicken wire1 or with willows or old staves where they can be had4 ,it is important to have the sides firm1 or else in wet weather especially1 they will prove a nuisance to the occupants of the trenches4 ,some kind of floor should be provided for the trenches4 ,the simplest and best are made in the following way3 ,take two seven-inch boards about ten feet in length1 nail them together to make a fourteen-inch plank1 and then cover the whole with fairly fine chicken wire4 ,place these boards on the ground with the side on which the wires are joined downwards4 ,they keep the feet from slipping1 are easily cleaned by being upended when they are dry1 and allow the space under them to be reached easily to pick up scraps of food1 etc4 ,there is nothing more heart breaking than having to pursue your weary course for miles1 sometimes1 up trenches with slippery sides and sloping1 wet1 treacherous bottoms4 ,in each trench there must be dugouts for the men to sleep in4 ,the first ones that are made will be very primitive1 and will be very much like a fireplace in a room--simply excavations in the back wall of the trench almost on a level with the bottom of it4 ,at first they used to be dug in the front of the trench1 but this practice was discontinued as it was found to weaken the power of resistance of the very important parapet4 ,in the course of time more labour can be expended upon the dugouts1 and it will be found advisable to construct them of uniform size1 six feet long by four feet wide by four feet high4 ,by having them uniform we give the engineers a chance to make frames that can be used to support the roof and the sides and bring them well from the rear to construct the dugouts4 ,these dimensions do not make a very commodious home for four men1 but never more than three of a section 7of four7 are off duty at the same time1 and besides there is considerable danger in having large dugouts1 as they present a correspondingly larger target for the guns4 ,a direct hit on a large dugout will often bring the whole thing crashing about the ears of the inhabitants4 ,my own adjutant and one of my brother officers were killed by falling beams in large dugouts4 ,the entrance to the dugouts must be kept as small as possible so as to protect the occupants from shells that fall just outside4 ,the ,germans used to follow the custom of digging many of their funk holes1 as they were called1 many feet underground4 ,sometimes they went down twenty and even thirty feet4 ,the idea of this was that they could retreat into these secure places during a bombardment and then emerge with their machine guns as soon as the attacking infantry had started to approach over ,no ,man's ,land4 ,we never followed that custom1 for while it will work at times1 yet the attacking infantry may be upon you before you are aware of it and have you at their mercy with bayonets and bombs from the parapet4 ,this the ,germans have learnt to their cost many times on the ,somme4 ,many efforts have been made to construct dugouts1 reasonably near the surface1 that would be shell proof4 ,this is a most difficult matter4 ,it is easy enough to make them shrapnel-proof4 ,a layer of galvanised iron on the roof covered with a foot of loose earth will accomplish this for the velocity of shrapnel is not great4 ,but with high explosive shells it is different4 ,it was seen at ,lige and ,namur what terrific effects high explosive shells fired from howitzers could have even on re-enforced concrete4 ,i am told that at ,port ,arthur1 a ,russian ,general was killed in a shelter that was covered with over twelve feet of concrete4 ,the closest we can approach to a shell-proof dugout on the field is as follows3 ,dig an approach trench about ten feet deep1 leading into a hole of this depth1 by any dimensions you may choose--say six feet square4 ,put in supports for the roof that shall be four feet from the floor4 ,roof in with steel rails1 such as are used on railroads1 then cover them with two or three layers of bricks that have been broken into small pieces4 ,leave a five-foot air space and then place an exactly similar roof above and cover the whole with earth4 ,small shells will be stopped at the first set of rails1 while large ones may possibly pierce them4 ,but the effect of the explosion will mostly be taken up in the airchamber and the dugout itself protected4 ,the reader will readily perceive the difficulty of constructing such dugout on the field and they can certainly not be provided for the accommodation of the common soldier however precious his life may be4 ,as the days go by1 every effort must be made to improve the trenches4 ,this can be done in many ways1 some of which will be obvious4 ,the front line is1 of course1 the most important one1 and the greatest amount of work has to be done there4 ,but support and reserve lines as well must be constructed and many communicating trenches4 ,support lines were usually dug at a distance of thirty to eighty yards from the firing line4 ,in them we kept a few men to be used in case of emergency4 ,this line was an exact duplicate of the front line and was intended to be used in case we were pushed back4 ,the reserve line was about five to eight hundred yards back from the front line and was not brought to any very great degree of completion4 ,interspersed between these three lines were many redoubts1 or especially strong points containing machine guns1 etc41 whose defenders were expected to hold on to the very last and take advantage of their more secure position to make the attacker pay dearly for his advance4 ,all these lines had to be linked up by communicating trenches1 which started about a mile in the rear of the front line and went up in zigzag lines to the latter position1 crossing the other trenches on their way4 ,these communicating trenches are used for the purpose of bringing up troops and supplies1 etc41 and for taking to the rear the men that have been wounded4 ,it is usually arranged to have some of these trenches ,up and some of them ,down roads4 ,each line of trenches 7except of course the communicating7 contain dugouts for the use of the troops that hold them4 ,the distance between the communicating trenches varies from twenty-five yards to three or four hundred according to the state of perfection of the trench system4 ,for special weapons such as machine guns and bomb guns1 special shelters have to be made4 ,extra strong parapets are provided as well as head cover of railroad ties1 and every effort is made to keep the exact position of the machine guns secret from the enemy4 ,we soon learnt that he was very anxious to find our machine guns and would shell us liberally in the hope of being able to locate them4 ,care must be given to the question of drainage4 ,small ditches should be dug at intervals of a few yards to lead the water to pits in the rear4 ,in ,flanders1 where we were very near river level1 we installed hand and power pumps to keep the water from taking possession of the trenches4 ,even then1 on rainy days we sometimes were in water up to our waists4 ,great care must also be taken in the construction of latrines4 ,the method that was followed was to dig a short blind alley trench at right angles to one of the communicating trenches1 and at a distance of twelve or fifteen yards from the front line4 ,starting from the end of this blind alley1 the trench was gradually filled in with earth as it was used4 ,in other cases biscuit tins were used as receptacles and the ordinary sanitary squads emptied them at specified times into a fairly deep pit4 ,these latrines should be well protected with sandbags to keep the enemy from finding them and training a machine gun on them1 in the knowledge that they were very likely to get some of the men who used them during the day4 ,this1 ,i believe1 gives the principal points in the construction of the trenches4 ,men should be taught to dig them in broad daylight at first and then when they have learnt the knack1 they should be set to dig them at night4 ,from time to time during their training they should be made to return--preferably to the same sections of the trenches--to improve them and maintain them4 ,an excellent scheme is to arrange competitions among the men to spur them on to invent ingenious devices for protecting themselves and their fellows during their occupation of them4 ,at certain times they should also be made to spend a night and then several nights there1 going through the regular routine of sentry duty1 stand to arms1 etc41 just as they will have to do in real warfare4 ,another scheme is to choose opposing sides with trenches within easy reach1 say1 twenty-five yards apart4 ,arrange a three-day tour of the trenches1 and let each side attempt to surprise the other4 ,umpires can be stationed in ,no ,man's ,land to decide as to the relative merits of the two sides4 ,at certain times1 additional interest can be given to the conflict by some harmless missiles such as sand bags 7without the sand67 rolled up and made into a ball the size of a base ball with string4 ,these will also give excellent practice in bomb throwing4 ,illustration3 ,,figure #ag3 ,british soldier fully equipped with pack1 entrenching tool1 sandbags and steel helmet4 ,the rules of the trenches can be summed up in a few words3 ,keep your spirits up and your head down4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,protection ,,of ,,trenches ,there are two things to be done after the trenches have been dug--one is to keep them in order1 and the other is to provide outside protection for them4 ,the elements themselves are enough to play havoc with the sand bags and the walls of trenches1 but if you add to this the fact that they will immediately become the marks for the enemy gunners you will see that the cost of upkeep is liable to be high4 ,during the first year of the war the ,germans were supplied with an amount of shells that enabled them to do what they pleased with our trenches without our being able to reply4 ,indeed1 for many months1 as is now well known1 we were on an allowance of six shells per battery per day1 or about one shell per gun per day6 ,gunners will readily appreciate the uselessness of a stock of this kind4 ,the result of this discrepancy in the number of shells was that the enemy could shell us with impunity4 ,he used to set to work to break down our parapets early in the morning1 and then1 knowing that we should have to repair them during the night1 would train machine guns on the breeches that had been made4 ,it is a very disheartening business to have the parapets that you have laboured so hard to construct1 knocked down in a few minutes4 ,there would be some consolation in being able to serve him the same way1 but that was denied us at that time4 ,indeed1 one of the best ways to preserve your trenches is to let him know by experience that every time he breaks them down1 you will do the same thing to him4 ,every night there will be something to do in this connection4 ,no effort must be spared to get the trenches into first-class condition and keep them thus4 ,it is very annoying to relieve a battalion that has lain down on their job during their tour of duty in the line1 and to find that you have a great deal of work to do--work that could have been avoided if they had taken reasonable care of the work that had already been accomplished when they took over the trenches4 ,as to the outside protection for the trenches1 that consists for the most part of barbed wire4 ,sir ,ian ,hamilton1 in his report on the ,dardanelles ,expedition1 paid a tribute to the effectiveness of the ,turkish barbed wire4 ,it was the means of stopping a ,british advance more than once on the ,peninsula1 just as it was in ,france4 ,at the battle of ,aubers ,ridge1 fought on ,may #i1 #aiae1 we suffered most heavily from the fact that the wires had not been cut1 and therefore we were unable to make progress4 ,we had to retreat1 leaving a number of our dead and wounded before the enemy lines4 ,it would be difficult to exaggerate the part that barbed wires have played in this war4 ,wherever they are set up it means that a thorough bombardment must be made before an advance can be risked4 ,the erection of these entanglements is really the work of ,engineers1 but so extensive is the task that infantrymen have to be called in to do the pick and shovel work while the engineers do the directing4 ,stakes are driven deep into the ground1 and round them the wire is twisted as it is taken from stake to stake4 ,some wires are laid on a level with the ground1 some a few inches above it1 then all the way up to ten or fifteen feet into the air1 making a regular network4 ,we tried to have our wires extending over a width of ground of at least twenty feet4 ,but not only are barbed wires used1 but also electrically charged wires in some cases1 though between the lines they will seldom be of much use for a single shell may short circuit the system and it be rendered harmless4 ,an effective method was that of placing trip wires near the ground1 and then a little beyond them bayonets with the sharp points uppermost1 or pointed sticks1 so that when the man tripped over the wire he would fall and impale himself on the spikes4 ,sometimes bombs were attached to the wires in places where it was thought likely that the enemy would attempt to cut them or come through them4 ,as these entanglements have to be erected during the night and under the fire of the enemy it will be seen that it becomes exceedingly dangerous work4 ,but it has to be done1 and the risk must be taken for the sake of the additional security it will give to the trenches4 ,it has been suggested that this is work to which the conscientious objectors in ,england--the ,pacifists here--might be put4 ,it is necessary work for the preservation of life1 and is not specifically military4 ,it is labourer's work4 ,there is no chance of fighting out there nor of taking human life4 ,then it offers an excellent opportunity of winning the martyr's crown because some one is sure to turn a machine gun on you if you remain out there long enough4 ,all of these points should appeal to ,pacifists4 ,but the greatest reason from our point of view is that it would save the lives of valuable men6 ,the men in the trenches are further protected by men whose business it is to go out into ,no ,man's ,land and remain there hours at a time1 lying in some kind of hole1 and listening to be able to detect the presence of the enemy4 ,should the enemy make his appearance in small parties1 these listening posts can usually take care of them1 but when they are in large parties1 the listening post men return to the trenches and give warning4 ,the best nerves are needed by the men who go out into the open to do this work1 and sooner or later every one has to take a turn at it4 ,these listening posts are sometimes entirely disconnected from the trenches1 and out beyond their own barbed wire1 through which the men have to make a passage for the time being1 and of course keep it secret4 ,but sometimes they are connected with the fire trench by a shallow trench or sap which is dug out into the neutral territory whenever circumstances are favourable4 ,when the troops landed at ,suvla ,bay1 on the ,peninsula1 they found several excellent water holes that were most inviting to parched and thirsty men4 ,a rush was made for them1 when suddenly a terrific explosion was heard1 and dozens of men fell flat on the ground1 some dead1 some wounded4 ,the ,turks had taken the precaution to place land mines round these wells1 and as soon as they were stepped upon1 the mines went off4 ,this is a genuine ruse of war and was used also between the lines4 ,the ,turks never resorted to the treachery that ,general ,botha had to overcome in ,german ,east ,africa where he found the wells1 not mined1 but poisoned4 ,a recent report from ,france tells us that in the present retreat the ,germans are employing the same dastardly tactics4 ,it is one thing to protect your trenches or your line of retreat2 it is quite another to take the lives of men in this barbarous way4 ,trenches dug in the foregoing manner and protected by barbed wire will give the infantryman a chance to live4 ,but he will increase or decrease the probability of coming out alive according as he is careful or careless during the time he is there4 ,nothing1 of course1 can save the men if the enemy is determined to thoroughly shell the line1 and the orders are to hold it4 ,the sanest thing when a bombardment begins is to withdraw to the next safe line4 ,but the enemy will sometimes be content to allow men to remain in their trenches for a while without shelling them provided they do not wilfully provoke him4 ,a column of smoke arising from the trenches where the men were cooking was usually considered by the enemy as provocation1 and over the shells would come4 ,this brings us to the point that ,i wish to make regarding fires4 ,the men must eat during their tour of duty1 and they must have hot food1 consequently fires of some kind are needed4 ,but they should be made of very small pieces of wood cut up with a pocket knife so small that they will not give off any smoke4 ,by following this method a safe and very hot fire can be made4 ,at times we were supplied with small quantities of charcoal which was very acceptable4 ,as a matter of fact1 more liberties in this connection can usually be taken in the firing trench than in the support or reserve trenches4 ,the enemy knows perfectly well men are in the firing trench4 ,he sees from the rifle fire that that is manned1 but it is a good thing to keep him guessing about the other trenches4 ,for the same reason there should never be any unnecessary noise in the trenches4 ,it provokes the enemy to throw bombs and other unwelcome missiles4 ,i have indicated that the present form of trenches1 being in a continuous line1 makes it necessary either to construct loopholes or to look over the top of the parapet in order to fire4 ,i have indicated too that there are several forms of rifles that can be fired through periscopes1 but these must as yet be considered special and are not for the ordinary man to use4 ,no doubt such a rifle will be invented and generally used in the future4 ,but in this war we soon learned that it was unhealthy to put our heads above the parapet any more frequently than we had to4 ,therefore1 in order to see what the enemy was about1 and to wait for sniping opportunities we used periscopes4 ,some of those that were brought to ,france were huge cumbersome boxes that made a fine mark for the enemy's sharpshooters4 ,but the kind that was most generally used after the first six months of the war was that which consisted of a stick with two slanting grooves in it1 one near each end1 into which grooves small mirrors could be fitted4 ,we found them quite effective1 and should an accident happen and a mirror be broken they were easily replaced from the store we carried with us for that purpose4 ,not having a box of any kind they were very difficult to see from the enemy lines4 ,certain gunners who used to come to the trenches as ,forward ,observing ,officers were equipped with a splendid periscope that had beautiful lenses in it4 ,but it was very costly and could not easily be repaired if once damaged4 ,to make the image in the periscope clearer1 binoculars can be applied to the lower glass at the proper angle1 and almost as clear a view obtained as by looking over the parapet4 ,one disadvantage of the periscope is that it makes the distance seem greater than it really is1 and many a man receives a shock when he places his head above the parapet after looking through a periscope for a while1 to see how close the enemy trenches are4 ,trenches are exposed to attack not only from the surface but also from the air and from beneath the surface of the ground4 ,aeroplanes come over and drop steel darts or bombs1 and only very strong head cover can give protection against them4 ,but it is very hard to hit a trench from the air with a missile of this kind1 and the danger to the men in the trenches is not very great4 ,by far the greater danger comes from mining4 ,men must be on the watch all the time to detect these operations of the enemy and to forestall them where possible4 ,special instruments like giant stethoscopes have been invented and men are told off to hold them to the ground to detect the sounds of digging4 ,but1 while these instruments are of use1 the best means is a well trained ear4 ,if the enemy is discovered mining towards your position1 the only thing to do is to countermine him and try and blow him up before he is ready to touch off the fuse that is intended for your destruction4 ,it is not an easy matter to decide just where the countermine should be sunk or how far to go4 ,many combats have been fought with pick and shovel in the bowels of the earth in cases where one side or the other has broken through the gallery4 ,but any risk must be taken rather than let the enemy enjoy uninterrupted his work of mining you4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,artillery ,,fire ,it may be desirable to indicate the various kinds of shell fire to which trench men are exposed4 7,i pass over rifle fire which is harmless so long as men keep their heads down and avoid corners from which they can be enfiladed47 ,no amount of caution will save a man from shells if they happen to be falling in his neighbourhood4 ,the most frequent visitor of the shell variety is of course the shell from the field gun4 ,the ,british use an #ah-pounder1 the ,french a #ge millimetre1 and the ,germans a #gg millimetre--all shells of about the same calibre 7#c inches74 ,of these the best gun is undoubtedly the ,french1 which is a perfectly marvellous piece of mechanism4 ,but all of them are deadly in their effects4 ,they may fire either shrapnel or high explosive--always spoken of in the army as ,h4 ,e4 ,in the former case1 the shell that is fired contains a nose that comes off at the time for which it is set1 and liberates hundreds of small round leaden bullets4 ,these go out in cone shape and spray the ground round about4 ,shrapnel is very effective against men in the open but of little use when they are entrenched1 for very few of the bullets from any shell will enter the ditch itself4 ,when the ,british army first took the field they had very little ,h4 ,e4 ,shrapnel had been used successfully in ,south ,africa1 and it was thought it would do in ,france4 ,the proportions used were #if per cent shrapnel to #d per cent ,h4 ,e4 ,we learnt our lessons dearly--as we usually do--and in time we came to realise that for breaking down parapets shrapnel was absolutely useless4 ,the proportion that is now used is about #ij per cent ,h4 ,e4 to #aj per cent of shrapnel4 ,the soldiers used to call the #gg mill4 shells of the ,germans ,pip-squeaks4 ,they used to give a pip and then a squeak4 ,if you heard the first and did not hear the second you were dead1 while1 if you heard them both you could consider yourself still alive4 ,another familiar name for them was that of ,cheeky ,charlies1 from the fact that they had the habit of coming in without being announced4 ,in addition to the field guns there are the ,mediums or guns of about #e inches calibre4 ,the familiar name for the ,german shell fired from them was the ,crump--by reason of the fact that they sat down alongside you with a terrific ,crump as their greeting4 ,as in the former case1 those who could report having heard the ,crump were still alive4 ,then there are various long range guns between five and nine inches in calibre4 ,but long range guns do not play the part that high-angle or ,howitzer guns do4 ,the ,germans wasted a good many shells in firing at targets even as far away as twenty-three miles1 but nowadays shells are usually kept for targets that there is a fair chance of hitting and not for blind firing4 ,the ,howitzer that has come to play a very large part in the operations of the ,british is the gun that is familiarly called ,mother--a gun of #i4b inches calibre and which projects a very weighty shell4 ,the ,germans have a corresponding gun of a little larger bore4 ,last of all there come the great guns of #ae and #af inch calibre4 ,these guns need concrete foundations and cannot be set up in a hurry4 ,fortunately--for them--the ,germans had a number of these foundations already prepared in unsuspecting ,france and ,belgium long before the war4 ,our own gun of this size we call ,grandmother4 ,the shells that fall from the ,german guns of the largest size we call by various names--either ,bertha ,krupps from the name of the proprietress of the great gun works at ,essen2 or ,fat ,berthas for the same reason2 or ,jack ,johnsons from their hard-hitting capacity2 or coal boxes1 black marias1 etc41 etc4 ,the effect of these shells was terrific1 as may be imagined1 but there were many occasions when they pierced so deep into the soft ground that a good deal of the force of their explosion was lost4 ,of course for work against forts there is nothing like them4 ,they opened the eyes of the world from their terrible destructive force shown at ,lige and ,namur4 ,akin to shells in their effects are the now familiar bombs4 ,these are of all varieties and sizes4 ,they range from the small hand grenade that is about the size of an ordinary lemon and is simply heaved into the opposing trench by the soldiers1 to the immense bombs weighing two hundred and fifty pounds that are thrown from trench mortars1 or guns of short barrel and very wide mouths4 ,it was a long time before the ,british army appreciated the value of bombs and we could not get a supply of them4 ,the ,tommies set to work to manufacture them in the trenches and a good many lives were lost there through premature explosions4 ,practice is absolutely necessary before a man is fit to be allowed to handle a live bomb4 ,he should be trained first of all to throw a tin filled with stones1 and learn the trick of letting it go at the correct moment4 ,the first time a man throws a bomb he is simply anxious to get rid of it without any regard for the time the fuse has been burning4 ,most fuses now are five seconds and that time must be calculated to a nicety to get the best results4 ,if a bomb is thrown too soon1 the enemy may pick it up and throw it back--this has happened many hundreds of times4 ,it should be retained in the hand during the first and second seconds at least and then thrown so as to explode ,,over the enemy trench on the fifth second4 ,our men were taught to get out of the way of bombs coming into the trenches if they could--there is no use staying to be blown up under ordinary trench conditions--but if they were under such circumstances that they could not get out of the way they were supposed to catch them and throw them away1 or throw them back as hastily as possible4 ,men become experts in this just as they do in catching base balls4 ,where a bomb could not be picked up and endangered the lives of men in the trench who could not get away from it1 men have often thrown their bodies upon it1 and thus1 in a most gallant and self-sacrificing way1 given their lives for their comrades4 ,of course catching them is out of the question when it comes to the large bombs4 ,absence of body then is better than all the presence of mind4 ,when they actually hit the trench--which is a very difficult thing to do--they do frightful damage4 ,but when they miss their mark they usually open up a lot of earth either before or behind the trench1 and perhaps lay out a man or two with concussion4 ,of the same variety are aerial torpedoes which are simply bombs with flanges on their tails to give them direction4 ,sometimes the bombs that were sent over were not ,h4 ,e4 in the sense that they exploded a steel shell that sent its various pieces large and small hurtling through the air1 but were simply large oil drums with a quantity of ,h4 ,e4 in them4 ,men were killed right and left1 not from being hit with anything1 but merely from having been in the neighbourhood when they exploded4 ,rifle grenades are a form of bomb on the end of a stick that fits into the muzzle of the rifle and is then discharged by means of a blank cartridge4 ,they are effective only at short distances4 ,indeed1 even with trench mortars1 the projectiles can seldom be hurled more than four hundred yards1 so that they are almost always used on the fire trenches and are never directed to trenches farther back4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,gas ,,and ,,liquid ,,fire ,a new and deadly form of warfare is the use of ,,gas4 ,until ,april1 #aiae1 we knew nothing about it and then we had to face it to our great cost4 ,we had no masks and no apparatus of any kind to help us combat it4 ,having been taken by surprise in an engagement that almost cost us ,calais1 we set to work to devise means to counteract it4 ,the method adopted is the helmet1 made of cloth1 and very much like a fireman's smoke helmet4 ,it has large goggles similar to the ones that motorists wear4 ,the cloth is kept saturated with a solution of ammonia which acts as a neutraliser of the chlorine gas4 ,a tube passes through the cloth into the mouth1 and through this tube the air from the lungs is breathed out4 ,it is1 of course1 fatal to inhale air through it1 and all the air that is breathed in has to be inhaled through the cloth of the helmet4 ,the importance of training the soldier to be able to meet gas cannot be overemphasised4 ,he should be drilled frequently with the helmet on to accustom him to the feeling of it1 and alarms should be sounded from time to time to teach him to don the helmet as rapidly as possible4 ,in some of the military schools in ,france the men were actually taken without helmets into chambers where there was just enough gas to make them realise it was there1 and were then sent into other chambers with a deadly mixture of gas with their helmets on4 ,this training makes them realise the importance of helmets4 ,many forms of helmets have been used from time to time1 and in this matter as in many others we have learnt from our enemies4 ,for the most recent ,british mask contains the nosebox or beak which conforms to the ,german model4 ,as in most other things1 simplicity is to be desired where it can be combined with effectiveness1 and it is the simplicity of the cloth helmet with the tube that even to-day commends it to many critics above the box forms--those that require an independent supply of oxygen4 ,where men such as gunners are liable to be exposed to fumes for some considerable length of time1 either from cylinder gas or from shells or even from tear shells1 or must continue at their posts at any costs1 an independent fresh air supply is necessary4 ,detailed instruction also should be given as to what men are to do during and after the gas attacks2 for there are some forms of gas that do not appear to affect the individual at all1 and then all of a sudden1 when he begins to use his limbs1 he drops dead from heart failure4 ,instruction on this subject must come from the medical and chemical experts who have made a close study of the effects of gas4 ,allied to gas is ,,liquid ,,fire4 ,this fire is projected in long streams from the nozzles of pipes that come from a high pressure cylinder1 sometimes placed in the bottom of the trench1 and sometimes carried on the backs of special men4 ,these globules of burning oil that are sent forth reach a distance of thirty or forty feet from the nozzle of the pipe4 ,the effect of liquid fire is more terrible than words can tell1 and it requires great bravery on the part of troops to have them advance in the face of these streams4 ,clouds of ,,smoke as well as gas are used4 ,one of the ruses that was adopted at the battle of ,loos was to project smoke forward for a few minutes until the enemy should become quite used to it1 and then send out streams and waves of gas to take him unawares4 ,these are frightful methods of warfare which the ,allies have had to turn to in order not to allow the enemy1 from his violation of his pledged word1 and contrary to the rules of warfare1 to gain an unfair advantage4 ,but there are many of us who believe that no other enemy than the ,germans would have descended to these depths of infamy4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,attack--,,defence ,sooner or later in the course of his trench experience the soldier will be subjected to an infantry attack4 ,artillery shelling1 aeroplane attacks1 mining1 etc41 are part of everyday's programme1 but infantry attacks come only now and then4 ,they may come at any time and the enemy is not in the habit of announcing them beforehand4 ,it is not likely that they will occur in broad daylight without any warning4 ,if they are to be made then1 they will be preceded always by a concentrated artillery preparation4 ,night is the danger time4 ,there are two periods of special danger--one1 the hour before sunrise1 and the other the hour after sunset4 ,at these times there is sufficient light for men to be able to see their way to advance over almost any ground1 and not sufficient light for the defending force to be able to take careful sight with their rifles and machine guns1 etc4 ,consequently these hours are the most favourable for making an attack1 and every one must be on the alert to ward them off4 ,these times are called ,stand tos or properly ,stand to arms4 ,while they last1 every officer and every man of the front and support line is on duty4 ,rifles are cleaned1 inspected and loaded1 bombs1 gas-masks1 revolvers1 bayonets1 etc41 are got ready1 and every one remains at his post of duty4 ,in the blackness of night and in the broad light of day the danger is much less and consequently some of the force can be relieved for other tasks1 during the night1 or for rest during the day4 ,should an attack be made1 it becomes the business of the men in the trench to hold the enemy off just as long as they can1 at whatever cost to themselves1 while some one telegraphs back for the supports and reserves1 and possibly for the assistance of the artillery4 ,trenches must never be surrendered without giving these fresh men a chance to regain the advantage1 and should the trench be lost1 a counter attack must be immediately arranged before the enemy has had time to reverse the trenches and connect them up by saps and communicating trenches with his own system4 ,no time must be lost1 for the longer the delay1 the greater the difficulty of making the counter attack successful4 ,as to the methods of holding the trench against an infantry attack1 it will be evident that the men must take up their position on the firing step and fire as rapidly and as steadily as they can4 ,bombs should be kept and thrown only when the enemy has got well within range for them4 ,machine guns can do effective work of course and the artillery should be communicated with and they will open fire with shrapnel4 ,where ammunition permits1 a barrage or curtain of fire should then be established behind the enemy's front line to prevent him bringing up reserves to take the place of those that have fallen1 and also to weaken him for the time when a counter attack on him has to be made4 ,star shells1 that illuminate the ground1 will of course have been fired to give the machine gunners and the rifle marksmen a better chance to find their targets4 ,obedience1 steadiness and tenacity are required of the men1 and only training and experience will develop these excellent soldierly qualities4 ,the poor type of soldier will either forget to use his weapon altogether or else fire wildly and uselessly4 ,an infantry attack is not a pleasant experience1 but soldiers must be taught to expect it1 and that it will probably give them the opportunity of using the final and greatest weapon of the infantryman--the bayonet4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,attack--,,offence ,trenches can only be considered as devices for affording temporary protection during the time that preparations are being made for delivering an attack4 ,no one wants to remain in trenches for ever4 ,at the best it is a miserable kind of life1 and from a military point of view1 it gets nowhere4 ,nor is it capable of being maintained without great loss in men4 ,so costly did it become to us1 and so great was the monotony and the feeling of helplessness1 that we welcomed the word when it came to us to deliver an attack4 ,at least that would bring us action1 and give a variety to life4 ,during the first year of the war1 attacks had almost always to be made without sufficient artillery preparation4 ,even at the ,battle of ,neuve ,chapelle1 where we assembled over #dhj guns on a little more than a mile of front--a greater collection than had ever been got together in history--we had not sufficient artillery preparation for the attack that was to be made4 ,there were enough guns but not enough shells to fire from them4 ,the result was that much of the enemy's wire was still intact when the infantry rushed over1 and the advance was held up in certain important points where we could be enfiladed4 ,we have learnt that the only method of delivering an infantry attack against prepared positions is to give them a thorough hammering with shells4 ,every particle of wire should be destroyed1 so as to eliminate the risk of men being shot down as they attempt to pass through it4 ,at the ,battle of ,loos our guns bombarded their lines from ,monday morning to ,saturday morning1 and kept hammering at them so as not to give them a chance to repair either their wire or their parapets4 ,an effective curtain of fire was established at the same time to render it impossible for them to bring food and supplies up to the line that we were about to attack4 ,for the last ten minutes before the men actually went over the parapet1 there was a perfect tornado of shells falling upon and behind their lines4 ,any one who remained at his post alive during the previous days would find it almost impossible to continue there during this deluge4 ,if the artillery preparation is adequate1 the battle is half over4 ,general ,haig's successes on the ,somme1 and the consequent ,german retreat on a large scale1 have been due1 in the first place to the excellent work of the gunners4 ,of course the gunners themselves have been dependent on many other branches of the service pre-eminent among which is the aeroplane corps4 ,targets are seldom seen by the gunners who have to depend for their information on the men who can fly ahead and come back with actual photographs of the positions to be bombarded4 ,too great emphasis cannot be placed upon the work of these gallant flying men4 ,during the battles of the ,somme1 they have not only been doing this reconnaissance work for the gunners1 but they have been flying very low after they reached the enemy territory and using their machine guns on the advancing or retreating infantry4 ,so low did they fly1 indeed1 that the enemy did not risk firing upon them with their guns for fear of hitting their own men4 ,they were fairly safe as far as the opposing infantry was concerned for the man in the machine is well protected from below and at the sides from rifle bullets4 ,while the artillery is active1 the junior artillery1 the bomb gunners must also get to work to throw over as much ,h4 ,e4 as possible to break down the resistance of the enemy4 ,then again there is the gas1 which has now come to be used as a definite part of an offensive4 ,gas is conveyed to the trenches in large drums1 under pressure1 and at the proper moment is liberated in waves against the enemy4 ,it should be in the hands of trained men who can be trusted not to liberate it a moment before the time comes4 ,while gas has proved very effective under certain circumstances--and almost decided the fate of ,calais early in #aiae--yet it is obviously dependent upon the weather and especially the wind4 ,even if the direction of the wind is correct for the use of gas1 the kind of wind may not be suitable at the moment4 ,the wind must not be high nor squally1 but needs to be low and gentle1 just sufficient to carry the gas across to the opposing trenches without dissipating it on the journey4 ,then again it must be remembered that it can seldom reach the gunners who may open up intensive fire on the trenches from which it is being liberated1 burst the drums and make the place untenable4 ,of course all the men who are employed in liberating gas should be warned to have their helmets in position to guard against these emergencies1 and also against leaks in the drums4 ,gas masks must be tested daily to see that they do not admit any of this deadly poison4 ,in addition to these preparations1 a good many reconnaissance parties must be sent night after night out into ,no ,man's ,land to map it thoroughly1 place directing boards there1 dig small saps to facilitate an advance1 and learn the condition of what remains of the enemy wire4 ,this work is difficult and dangerous1 and must be given to trustworthy1 brave1 resourceful men4 ,for it must be remembered that the enemy will probably come out into this neutral territory at night to try and learn the plans of the opposing side1 just as they are trying to learn his plans4 ,many bloody conflicts have taken place out there under cover of darkness when the patrol from one side has entered into conflict with the patrol from the other4 ,those in charge of the attack will arrange that at a specified time the bombardment will cease1 and the men leap over the parapets4 ,this time is usually arranged for1 say1 one minute after six1 or thirteen minutes after eight--some time which the enemy cannot guess accurately4 ,during the final awful ten minutes1 the finishing touches are given to rifles and bombs and revolvers4 ,then exactly at the appointed time the electric buzzers in the trenches sound the signal to advance4 ,the first man over the parapet is always an officer4 ,unlike the ,germans1 we do not drive our men but expect them to follow us1 and this accounts in part for the very severe casualties that have been suffered by ,british officers4 ,where the distance between trenches is short1 say1 a couple of hundred yards1 it is covered as fast as men can run4 ,it is a veritable race with death2 for the enemy must not be allowed to recover from the bombardment in time to get his machine guns up into position again before the infantry arrives before his trenches4 ,the attacking infantry must throw themselves down into the trenches and begin work at once with bomb and bayonet4 ,since the enemy has adopted the plan of having his dugouts deep down in the earth1 it is a little easier to reach him before he is able to emerge4 ,in this work bombs are most effective4 ,all of the enemy communicating trenches must be effectively barricaded or protected by bombers and riflemen to keep him from bringing up any reserves and thus taking the attacking force from a flank4 ,in an attack of this kind the ground cannot be covered too rapidly1 and no thought must be given to cover4 ,but when attacks have to be made over long distances1 the plan is either to dig out saps that will reach to within a reasonable charging distance of the enemy1 or else have the infantry proceed at a moderate and steady pace1 so as not to arrive at their objective winded and useless for bayonet work4 ,the principle of having sectional rushes while neighbouring sections open rapid fire will be found useful4 ,the ,german method of advance is characterised by the close order formation1 the ,british by the open order formation4 ,the ,german training is such that he cannot act independently to any very great degree1 but needs to feel the support of another strong arm near him1 if possible touching him4 ,they attack in waves of men packed so closely together that it is impossible to miss them if you get a shot at them at all1 and of course they are ideal marks for machine guns4 ,but in the ,british and ,french armies men are trained to be self-reliant and to advance even when they seem to be alone4 ,an interval of three paces is usually maintained between individuals1 and that renders them less of a target for marksmen4 ,they are also trained to take command of other men should their officers or non-commissioned officers be put out of action4 ,should any of the enemy wires be still intact1 they must be cut by the first comers so as not to hold up the main attack4 ,this is done by ordinary wire cutters--which every man is supposed to carry as part of his equipment--or else by a new device that is attached to certain rifles4 ,by means of this a number of the wires are caught together and then when the rifle is fired the bullet cuts them and a passage through is made4 ,if the trench should be successfully taken and all the enemy disposed of1 the first work to be done is to reverse it1 and connect it up by communicating trenches with the old position4 ,for this work engineers are sent immediately behind the infantry1 and they carry with them quantities of sand bags and shovels and picks and wire1 etc41 with which to complete this task4 ,of course the infantry must also help1 and for this purpose it will be as well for each man to take with him a few sandbags on his back--not enough to encumber him1 but sufficient to be of service in putting up hasty defences4 ,the test of the success of the action will come as soon as the enemy is able to organise a counter-attack4 ,he will know the range of the trench to a nicety and will not be slow to hurl the weight of his shells against it4 ,then1 too1 he will try to bring up reserves1 who with bayonet and bomb will attack their old position4 ,for many weary hours the infantry may be busy on this task of repelling counter attacks1 and consolidating their new position4 ,so many details have to be cared for in an attack that it is well to rehearse it thoroughly beforehand and to see that every individual knows just exactly where he is supposed to be and what he is to do4 ,only in that way will confusion be avoided4 ,it will be necessary also for the attackers to wear distinguishing marks in the form of a white band on the arm or a white piece of cloth on the back if the attack is to be made in the darkness or with poor light4 ,the question of prisoners inevitably comes up4 ,what is to be done with them8 ,how are they to be taken care of8 ,it will be seen that this is a big problem in an attack where men cannot be disengaged from their tasks of taking trenches without greatly weakening the operation4 ,to tell off men to look after prisoners when every man is needed to break down the resistance that is still being offered by others of the enemy1 is a procedure obviously surrounded with dangers4 ,and yet1 in the interests of humanity it has to be done1 for the only other alternative is to take no prisoners4 ,at the battle of ,loos many of the ,german prisoners that we took came to us in embarrassing mobs4 ,they were weak and hungry and required little persuasion to lay down their arms4 ,under these conditions we could manage a great many prisoners with a few armed men4 ,where they surrendered in ones and twos we found there was a disposition on the part of some of our troops to disengage themselves from the battle to lead them back4 ,a man is naturally proud of the fact that he has taken a prisoner and wants to deliver him himself4 ,but we insisted that they be turned over at the earliest opportunity to others who were in charge of small numbers of prisoners1 and that as soon as possible they be given into the charge of men who were slightly wounded1 but who could still be relied on to give a good account of themselves if trouble arose4 ,it is also a good thing to have a quantity of loose telephone wire about--as almost always happens in a battle--and wind this round the prisoners1 making sure that they keep their hands in the air4 ,even barbed wire will do1 though it is not so comfortable for the prisoners concerned1 and it may be necessary to relax the rule about keeping both hands up6 ,raids are attacks on a small scale1 and on a definite portion of the enemy's line4 ,they are usually carried out by parties varying in number from twenty to a hundred commanded by one or more officers4 ,almost the same preparation as for an attack is necessary in most cases to break down the barbed wire before the lines4 ,but in some cases they are carried out as surprises and then other means must be relied on to overcome the difficulties of the barbed wire4 ,as in the case of attacks1 rehearsals must precede the operation itself so that every man will know exactly what he is supposed to do and where he is supposed to be4 ,in a recent raid during the time that the snow was on the ground1 the ,canadians secured a number of women's nightgowns and put them on over their uniforms4 ,in this remarkable garb they proceeded over ,no ,man's ,land to visit the ,german lines4 ,if artillery preparation has been given1 that must be depended on to have broken the wires and the thing to be done then is to reach the enemy parapets before they have time to recover and bring the machine guns into action4 ,but by far the greater number of raids come as surprises to the enemy4 ,they do not hear the men beyond their parapets lying on their stomachs and busily cutting the wires with their snips4 ,the first they know of it is when a bomb lands in the trench or else the body of one of the attacking infantrymen1 as he enters their stronghold to begin his work of destruction4 ,in raiding parties1 more than at any other time it is well to remember the adage that silence is golden1 and that the best results can only be obtained if every man is determined to follow his instructions to the very letter4 ,if the party is cut off by superior forces it must make up its mind as to what it is going to do1 though most men1 ,i am sure1 will prefer to fight to the death rather than surrender4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,equipment ,,for ,,the ,,field ,the question is often asked by prospective soldiers as to what is the irreducible minimum that a man should take to war1 in the way of equipment4 ,i say irreducible1 for it is to the interest of the infantryman who has to carry practically all his belongings on his back1 to reduce his load as much as possible consistent with efficiency and comfort4 ,the tailors in ,london who undertook the tasks of equipping young officers for the trenches1 having more interest in making sales than anything else1 did their best to persuade their victims that the omission of one of dozens of things they proposed would expose them to very grave risks4 ,no one could possibly have carried all the equipment they suggested and no ,army ,service ,corps would ever have been able to handle it as baggage4 ,some of the men who fell victims to these outfitters went to ,france looking more like ,xmas trees than anything else1 for it was only when there was no more room on their bodies to hang anything that these excellent gentlemen were satisfied1 and let them depart4 ,in this list that ,i am now giving1 ,i propose to deal with the equipment of the soldier first and then add to it the items that seem to me to be essential for the ,officer4 ,first of all there is the rifle1 the soldier's best friend4 ,it should be cherished and cared for as though his life depended on it--as it frequently may4 ,we used to inspect the rifles of the men at least twice a day in the trenches1 and any sign of neglect was at once dealt with4 ,it must be kept free from all rust and dirt1 well oiled and polished1 and with every part of the mechanism in first class working condition4 ,any text book on musketry will give the information necessary for the effective care of the rifle4 ,we found that the breech of the rifle was often in danger of becoming fouled through mud or sand4 ,accordingly we advised the men to keep that part covered whenever the rifle was not in action4 ,small khaki cloths with snap buttons were made1 but where these were not obtainable1 the leg of a sock served quite as well4 ,but it must be easily removable4 ,rifles are sometimes fouled through putting into them cartridges that are rusty or muddy4 ,all cartridges should be cleaned before being inserted4 ,now it is obvious that time cannot be taken for this task during an engagement1 and so it must be done before the rifle is to be used4 ,as the cartridges come from the factory they are perfectly clean2 but if they are carried about for days and weeks in the carriers on the equipment they get very dirty4 ,officers must inspect them from time to time and see that damaged ones are sent away and not allowed to be fired through the rifles4 ,no care can be too great4 ,it is a pitiful sight to see a man in action with a rifle that has become clogged through carelessness4 ,it is a good thing to give rewards for those who consistently present clean rifles for inspection1 and to punish those who do not4 ,when a man realises how much he is dependent on his rifle he will be certain to take care of it4 ,the next thing is the bayonet4 ,i have said that all infantry work leads up to the use of the bayonet1 and so1 if a man is to be ready for this final test1 his bayonet must be in good shape4 ,of course there is not much to get out of order1 but there are a few movable parts that must be kept oiled1 and the blade itself which must be kept clean4 ,it is a slight courtesy that you can pay your enemy1 that you give him clean1 instead of rusty1 steel4 ,another weapon that has proved itself indispensable in this war is the entrenching tool4 ,it is a small instrument with a detachable handle1 and the head itself has a shovel at one end and a pick at the other4 ,it is a wonderful little tool for hasty entrenching and no attack should be made without it4 ,it has been the means of saving many1 many lives in this war4 ,unfortunately1 the perfidy of the enemy has made necessary another addition to the equipment of every soldier1 and that is the gas mask4 ,the best kind consists of heavy khaki cloth1 kept wet with a solution to counteract and neutralise the chlorine in the gas1 and equipped with goggles very much like what motorists wear1 and a tube that enters the mouth4 ,the air to be breathed is drawn in through the cloth itself1 and the air that has been used is driven out through the tube4 ,it is not a comfortable process but it is considerably better than imbibing deadly gas4 ,of course a water bottle must be carried and must always be kept clean4 ,on every possible occasion the soldier should wash it out with hot water and some form of disinfectant4 ,men should be discouraged from rushing to their water bottles for drinks at all times1 especially when they are on the march4 ,thirst is a thing that we can easily control if we will4 ,we learnt that it was an excellent practice to have strapped about the equipment in a place where they could easily be got at1 two sandbags4 ,they are not heavy or bulky to carry1 and if hasty cover is needed they will be found invaluable4 ,lists of the clothes necessary are given in every military manual1 and it will be well to follow the one for the special army to which you belong4 ,besides1 the clothing necessary will vary according to the climate in which the troops have to serve4 ,quite obviously the equipment for the ,philippines will be different from the equipment for ,france4 ,but we found that it was a good plan to have warm underclothes for the winter1 not the heaviest variety1 but reasonably heavy4 ,it is better and more convenient to add to the clothing should occasion warrant it rather than carry heavy underclothes all the time4 ,in summer the underclothing should be light4 ,but whatever the season1 a change should be carried in the pack on the back4 ,in the case of socks two or three emergency pairs should be in the pack4 ,these socks should be made of wool1 preferably undyed1 and should be thick and heavy for all times4 ,i am aware that it is much nicer to have thin silk socks for the summer time1 but they are not intended for marching in nor yet for use with heavy military boots4 ,two pairs of boots should be taken1 one pair on the feet and one pair in the pack4 ,tennis shoes should also be carried to put on at times to rest the feet4 ,i need scarcely indicate what toilet articles are needed1 for they are the same on service as would be taken for a week-end at the seaside4 ,but ,i would add that it is a good thing to include a cake of strong carbolic soap to discourage the lice4 ,emergency bandages1 sewn into the tunic1 may be the means of saving your life4 ,some means must be adopted for protecting the ears from the noises of the rifles and bombs and shells4 ,cotton wool will serve1 but a much better device is on the market1 called ,ear ,defenders4 ,they are small vulcanite cylinders that are inserted into the ears4 ,near the end of the cylinder there is a diaphragm of fine gauze which is pushed up against the wall by the sound waves created by great noises 7thus protecting the drum of the ear7 while they do not respond at all to the waves from small sounds4 ,consequently it is quite possible to hear the words of a person speaking1 and not be affected by the noise of the guns4 ,i have used them myself and can vouch for their efficacy1 though it does take a little time to become used to them4 ,then again nearly every soldier will need a wrist watch4 ,these should be luminous1 for there is much waste of time involved in striking a match or going to a lamp to see the time4 ,it pays to buy a good watch1 and by all means get a removable cover for the glass face1 for glasses easily break1 and it is difficult to get them repaired on service4 ,i do not intend this list to be exhaustive1 but to contain the most important things that a soldier will need to include in this equipment4 ,officers are allowed more baggage1 and will need more1 but the mistake must not be made of overloading or taking unnecessary things4 ,they will need a canvas valise and a sleeping bag to go with it1 and1 if possible1 a very light mattress1 weighing not more than a few pounds4 ,a canvas water bucket and a wash basin1 and a change of uniform are very necessary4 ,as to weapons1 ,i found that the ,colt automatic was very serviceable4 ,swords are of course not carried in ,france4 ,they are a nuisance for most purposes1 though they do make excellent toasting forks4 ,in action we led our men1 equipped only with revolver and cane4 ,in raids and trench work a handy instrument is the trench dagger--a knife of about nine inches long1 ending in a handle that has openings for the four fingers to go through1 thus serving as a knuckle duster4 ,field glasses are essential and indeed they should be supplied to some of the non-commissioned officers as well4 ,nothing under four nor over eight diameters should be chosen4 ,below that figure they do not magnify enough1 and above that figure they magnify too much4 ,six or seven is ideal for the infantryman4 ,some form of collapsible periscope may be carried1 but most of us discarded the ones we had bought in ,england in favour of the simple ones that ,i have described in another place4 ,i would utter again the warning against loading up with too many things4 ,get few things but get good ones and keep them good is the best advice that ,i can give4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,,tricks ,,for ,,the ,,trenches ,a closing word should be said on the subject of trench ruses4 ,as in every other form of warfare1 deception must be practised on the enemy4 ,he must be made to believe you are doing things that you are not doing and that you propose doing things that are not in your plans at all4 ,any number of these ruses will occur to the minds of my readers1 and ,i want to mention a few of them that we actually tried4 ,one of the best ruses is to let the enemy get hold of fake orders4 ,these can be placed on bodies immediately after an action and there will be a good chance of the enemy accepting them as genuine4 ,we have reason to believe that some of the prisoners that we took came over for the purpose of letting false orders fall into our hands4 ,it is pretty hard on the individual to make him the goat in this way and ,i do not recommend it4 ,making elaborate preparations for an attack in one spot1 and then actually attacking from another point when his reserves have been drawn to the first point1 also used to work well4 ,it is well to learn the calls and signals of the enemy for use during an attack1 and thus to throw his men into disorder4 ,there have been ,germans in this war who carried out the daring ruse of appearing in our lines in the uniforms of staff officers and giving orders to our men4 ,they were brave individuals and scarcely seem to merit the swift punishment that came to them on detection4 ,in the trenches it was sometimes necessary to move about the few men that we had and to keep them firing first in one place and then in another to convey the impression that we were in considerable force4 ,ruses had to be adopted to discover snipers4 ,on one occasion ,i needed to find a sniper who had just killed three of my men1 and was such an excellent shot that he broke my periscope4 ,for this purpose ,i made a dummy man out of sand bags and had a soldier put him cautiously above the parapet 7head only7 while ,i observed from a neighbouring bay4 ,i detected him from the dust that his bullet raised from his parapet1 and a few well aimed artillery shots put him and his loop hole out of business4 ,my poor dummy was badly wounded in the process4 ,the ,turks in ,gallipoli used to paint some of their snipers a green colour and send them out between the lines among the small bushes4 ,a pretended retreat will sometimes lure the enemy from his trenches to destruction4 ,sending out patrols in one section to draw fire while careful reconnaissance work is being done at another spot will sometimes find him off his guard4 ,dummy guns1 of course1 have played a large part1 and have been responsible for the waste of a great deal of ammunition4 ,they are placed where they can be observed by the aeroplanes1 who promptly report their presence4 ,it is said that at the ,dardanelles the forts once opened fire on the battleship ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,after a while they sank her--and her guns floated off6 ,it is telling no secret now to say that many of the units in the ,british navy had duplicates constructed out of old vessels4 ,their business was to draw fire to themselves while other craft did the work4 ,hence the wooden guns4 ,they served another purpose as well1 for it was very difficult for spies to inform ,germany where the real fighting ships were at any time4 ,in short1 the whole business is to get the enemy's goat4 ,keep him guessing4 ,wear him down with worrying4 ,break his nerve and spoil his sleep1 that his physical resistance may be weakened4 ,on the other hand1 learn to estimate the intention on the enemy4 ,do not underrate him4 ,in all cases and under all circumstances follow out the excellent motto of the ,boy ,scouts-- ,,be ,,prepared4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,hyphen removed3 dugout 7p4 xii1 ,figures #g-i71 loopholes 7p4 #ff74 p4 #aje3 and changed to an 7the only method of delivering an infantry attack74 p4 #abj3 duplicate to removed 7excellent practice to have strapped74