Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-03
HOPE TO WIN BY
CONSERVING men
Allies Generals Foresee long
War-aoo,ooo Britons
Now in the Field.

Paris. Nov. 3.-No fewer than 3oo,-
900 British soldiers are under the or
ders of Field Marshal Sir John
French on the firing lines. Beyond
these there are many auxiliary troops
on duty at the transport and supply
base. This army acts as a complete
unit in conjunction with their French
eral Joffre. -
Virtually all the British soldiers in
the field have seer service, many Of
them having had from 10 to IL years
training and having participated In
Great Britain's little wars In vari-
GUS parts of the world. The gaps in
their ranks are filled by re-enlisted
men who have fastened back to the
army at Lord Kitchener's call. 81
Half Million in Field December I {.
BY December !, this year. when 1t
is expected large bodies of British
territorials who have volunteered for
foreign service will have been trained
mated that the, force at Sir John
French's disposal will have reached
5000 men. These will include the
British and native troops from India
and portions of the garrisons at Malta
and Gibraltar: By that time, also,
many of the Australian, Canadian and
New Zealand detachments will have
yOllICu IOICcS ol IILc COIIlitlCIlI.
New Army Not Ready Until Spring.
The bulk of Lord K~itchener's new
army of 100000 men,. now coming
into being, will noe. according to an
expert military view. be ready for SER
vice in the field until mex spring, but,
owing to the superior class of h men
who have responded to the call, their
training is progressing rapidly.
Allies Outnumber Germans.
Precise information upon the mum
beers of men engaged in particular &C
mile battle line in France and Bel
GUM is never known outside of a
small group of men who surround
General Joffre, the French conpman-
der-in chief. One hears Of great bat
ties with terrific. losses, sometimes es-
timated at 10000 or $4,000 a day, but
without n accurate news as to how
nan men were engaged on either
side.
But when it comes to the relative
size of the armies engaged in the
western field of the war, something
like general accuracy is o~btainable.
Competent persons attached to the
French war Office estimate that the
Germans have in Belgium. in France
Switzerland about 100000 men. The
French and British undoubtedly have
a numerical superiority. Possibly the
allies, including Belgium, have 2,225,-
900 men on or near the fighting line.
Careful of Lives of Men.
General Joffre and Field Marsha!
French are careful of lives of their
men. They seek to accomplish large
results by letting the Germans attacl
under unfavorable circumstances
when they will do so. and the allied
commanders appear to consider that
the Germans may be engaged to great.
err advantage in France and in Bel
GUM than in Germany. The effort
is to dispose OF the allied troops upon
this or that Of the vast front, SO that
the important factions of the invaders
may be destroyed or captured. For
.he elite. .isnplv 60 drive h Germans
ble-would be drive them back upon
their bases with armies intact. The
problem of beating the Germans on
this frontier would be more difficult
every mile they were driven back.
Victory to Be Won by Attrition.
A deep conviction seems to exist at
the headquarters in the field and at
the ministry Of war that the val is to
be a long one: that the victory is to
be won solely by attrition and that
the process of. attrition can be ap-
piled as well in northern France in
Belgium as we'll as on the Rhine. The
profound care Of the military admin
istration is not to be extravagant with
the unreplaceable human material. It
is poured out lavishly for defense and
also for attack when the point has
an important relation to the larger
plan, but lives are non the less
guarded where there is no capital
military object in pouring them out.