Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-19
TOMMY ATKINS in BARRACKS AND BATTF
The British Soldier He Really The Days Work by Which He
Schooed and Made-Tncdens That Soldierly Qualities
BY HERBERT C. JONES

conditions 1t Is very much worse than ghs,
mans epigram. Contrary to the nonn,..
conception, no martial strains or nnr,
accompany the march to battle. II ia h
reality, sombre business of marching s,a
watching, nights without sleep and Often
without food. But Tommy" goes into n,
business determined to get it over as quickly
as possible, taking the rough with n,
smooth without any complaint.
Always in good humor, with CHEEKY. on.
timistic view of life-or death-he sets about
1t as part of his days work, without stopping
to think whether he is doing a brave thing
in obeying orders. His is not to reason
why, but to do" THE Highlanders" saws
French correspondent with the Allies seo
into action as if they were going to picnic
with laughing eyes and, whenever possible
with a cigarette between their lips TheIr
courage is mixture of imperturbability and
tenacity. One must have seen their imrnoy.
able calm, their heroic sangfroid' under the
rain of bullets to do it justice There "a
much of the philosopher and bit Of the
fatalist in the curious makeup of soldier
A wounded trooper who has lost one side oi
his face through shell-fire in the battle os
Mons writes home: Thank God don't led
as bad as l look Another writes: an
coming back all right never fear. Have
been in such tight corners, and under such
fire. that if was meant to go l should hass
gone by now, I'm sure"
Honors To the BattIe-slain
Notwithstanding the dangers, the deprlva.
tions and horrors of warfare, Tommy Atkins
jumps at the chance of active service. TO
him 1t means excitement and peril that come
as a welcome relief from the monotonou
life of the barrack room. The "bloody sweat
of the battlefield has small terrors for him
for whether a cooks son or a Dukes son, hs
has not only been taught to live, but has
mastered that still harder lesson-how to die
An awful death is that of the battle-ground
Between those who die in their bed and thoe
in battle there is a ghastly distinction e.
pecially when circumstances do not permit q
an early burial There is no loving hand
the relative to close the eyelds or bind ls
face so that the dead have the aspect OF ss'
rene sleep. With the neglected dead OF lns
battlefield the chin has fallen, the musci's
relaxing in death, and the mouth and eye
are generally wide open with expressions tnA
haunt one. The glory of war as vividy pS'
tured by the imaginative artist is not war =
it really is. In letter an officer who naa
been in the thick of 1t writes; "If ever conn
back, and anybody at home talks 70 =,
about the glory of war shall be o--S
rude to him"
The honors of the battle-slain are spal,s
indeed. No coffin or gun-carriage' as IS =
custom in time of peace; no band playins' Y
"last volley" over the grave. The men y.
at sunrise are flushed with all the aspiiauySs W.
of health are buried at nightfall in hs''z
dug grave in the brown blanket "nun
turn, has served as a saddle bianKs' =
his horse and cover for himself, ana ~
serves as a shroud for the "sleep thai Ap'''
no waking"