The Washington herald., 1915-12-21
BY T.. II. JOHNS.

The strength of the British forces in
France in the month Of August Is esti
mated Mt almost 100000 by Surgeon
A. NJ. FaUntleroy. u. $. N. in the first
report Of an American military observer
that has been made public. Surgeon
Fauntieroy was with the allied armies
until August. and while he deals princi-
paliy with the sanitary situation in
France. he gives some very interesting
data as TO the actual forces engaged and
the opera tions of the French and English
armies. In his report. Surgeon FaUntle-
10Y gives a description of the use of
grenades. liquid fire and other new fea
lures OF the trench warfare.
The English troops cooperating with
the French in Northern Belgium says
Surgeon Fauntleroy. ARE known as the
fist British expeditionary force. under
the command of Field Marshal Sir John
French. This force took the field with
something over .co0 men. and there
have been numerous acquisitions since.
until in Auust there We're close to 1000 900
British troops in France. This army.
which has grown since landing in France.
has the same general organization as the
other Continental forces and is now COM
posed of three armies. with the field
marshal a. commander in chief. To these
must be added the small! Belgium army.
now numbering about 10000 men under
King Albert. which operates with the
British and French forces in Southern
Belgium. These two groups of troops
row hold n fraction over thirty-fve miles
of the front, while the remaining 400 and
cdd miles of the line are held by the
French armies of which there are five in
number having each very close to 3C0.-
600 men. with scattered reserves grouped
at strategical points in the rear all along
the line. numbering about 10000 men.
with reserve munitions and supplies.
Gen: Joffre, the French commander in
chief. is III supreme command of the al
lied line and Of the so-called zone of the
army which later extends back on an
average of about thirty-fve miles from
the first line of trenches
While Surgeon Fauntleroy declares
that the rife is still the principle
weapon OF the infantryment and men
serving in the trenches. he adds: The
machine gun is playing an increas-
ingly important role in the conduct
of the present war. At the beginning
OF the war the allies were markedly
deficient in this arm. but at the pres
ent time there seems to he no advan-
tage on either side in this respect
There are several types of gre-
nades." says Surgeon Fauntleroy. 'in
use by the opposing forces. which are
furnished the troops in the field. In
addition to those the troops themselves
extemporize various kinds from the
material to be found at the front.
The hand grenade furnished TO the
French troops is the bracelet type.
with firing mechanism. consisting of
ball of cast iron filled with high ex-
plosives and of leather bracelet TO
the wrist. To the bracelet is attached
rope about. a foot long. having an
iron hook at the end. Just before
throwing the grenade the hook is en-
gagged in the ring of wire attached to
the friction primer. forming n part Of
the fuse plug. which closes the iron
ball. Thus when the grenade Is
thrown the ring OF the wire and the
friction primer are wrenched off and
the fuse is fired. The grenade can
be thrown about twenty-five metres
and explodes four or five seconds af-
ter the primer has been released.
'The German grenade can be thrown
by hand or rifle. BY hand il is used
for a short distance. fifteen to'twenty
metres. II is composed of n copper
rod to the extremity of which is fixed
cast iron cylinder filed with a
high explosive and grooved i'm order
to facilitate its breaking Into small
pieces at the moment of explosion. a
copper tube, also containing some ex-
plcsives. Is placed in the interior. 1t
is surmounted by complicated sya-
tenn for closing the grenade and fos