Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-02

OF course simple, but it is at the same
time picturesque and often moving.
DOggedness OF British.
II may be prejudice, but the first
Impression, n gets from these let
ters, an impression produced on the
French observers as well. is the ex-
traordinary doggedness and GOODNESS
Of the British soldier. Everybody now
knows that General French's whole
force was for two days within an inch
OF humiliation, and that If his troops
had not been logged, with splendid
nerves and Of great fearlessness, there
would have been one of those terrible
pantcs which invites the pursuing en-.
envy to slaughter.
frank confession Of the perturbation
OF nerves which a soldier feels when
he Is for the first time under fire.
nave heard. that all military writer's
have come to the conclusion in study
Ing the psychology of the soldier that,
wnetner 1t be necessary or not from
pure startegy, 1t Is always psychology
icaily essential that soldiers should
nre their rifles as soon as possible; it
liz the only thing that restores their
nerves. sd :
Nervous at First.
This view Is confirmed by many as-
sages in these soldiers letters. One
says;
most Of us were a bit trembly, but as
soon as a few men had retired hurt
the nerves got in hand and our officers
hadn't much use for their Steady,
boys.'"
AS you read, the letters. you perceive
more n more how this blood fury
grows; until in the end such a kindly
creature as the typical British Tommy
Atkins Is becomes quite ferocious.
Here, for instance, Is an illuminating
passage from one OF the missives:
Il and four other wounded. men got
together and hid under some wheat
sheaves. Presently one man put out
his head to e II the coast was clear
and was spotted by a-German soldier.
The fellow came toward us, and grasp
Ing his rife by the barrel. was about
to batter out my mates brains when
whipped out my jackknife and, spring
Ing UP, .jabbed 1t into his throat.
He went down. and i with him,
and by the time 1 had finished he'was
done for. j, kept at his windpipe so as
not to. give him a chance to bawl for
assistance. ne.
Here. is another extract from a sol.
dier's letter..
1--WE killed, them (the Germans) in
heaps; it was; terrible, but the gloried
in it. The sensation of killing q, mar
is not nice, but, once done, we become
dragons"
1t is the same, too. with the Ger
mans. Once when they were interrupt
eddy the British soldiers in a pur-
suit. this Is how they appeared to ar
English officer:
Nothing could stop them, they
were sold wild, and soon they were
hopelessly. mixed up with us. slashine
n-l rI~SNr 80 EIo1lS.r ~ n~yy.
thing in human form that took their
fancy. They saw red and wanted blood
SO it didn't matter whose 1t was &C
long as they got It,"
Never Loses Sense OF Humor.
However, amid these CHASTITY scenes
an unexpected point which I have al
ready indicated stands forth. The first
is that Tommy lever seems to lose his
spirits OF his sense of humor, and thai
both before and after a battle he il
the same comic self, with quaint views
about everything, and especially abou,
fighting, as he is when he is flirting
Dublin.
These fellows" a ,.Frenchmar
writes about British soldiers. Ego into
battle as II they were going to q pic.
mic, with laughing eyes and with Gig.
arets between their lips One must
have seen their immovable calm, their
heroic sangroid under a rain OF bl1:
lets, to do it Justice" (.
/ Another Frenchman isamuchs anus
when he hears the British soldiers
shout out: Are we sdownhearted?',
and the resounding No. which fol-
lows it. =
AFTER a volley has. swept the
ranks" he says, there is always some
joker to shout the question, and al
the rest roar out in the midst Of gen.
eral laughter, No. In the midst 81
one hot action the British soldiers
sang 'IIitchy Koo.'
chorus" the chronicler says. "the
man next to me got a wound in the
upper part of the arm. But he sang the
chorus to a finish and did not seem t6
know he was hit till a comrade on the
other side said: Don't you think you'6
better have it bound up? It's begin
ming to make a mess"
Thinks OF Food.
Another point which I wish tt
touch on in this analysis Of the psy.
chology of war is the curious way ir
which the most prosaic and everyday
intervals occure between battles. OF.
ten in the hottest moment Of the bat
ttle itself I have: heard from many mer
who have gone through a campaign
the colder is obsessed by the idea o.
where he will get his next meal. Food
is SO uncertain and the work is sc
hard and exhausting that food is a