The Parker post., 1916-12-16
Two Commanders Go Over Para
pets Side by Side in Somme
Battle.
STORY YREPEATED MANY Times
Old and Recent Arrivals From Great
Britain Look Equally Like Vet
erans Today-Generous in
Praise of Each Other Are
British and French.

British Front on the Somme.-When
the big push of the Somme was about
to begin and the French and British
armies were on the keen edge of eX-
pectatiOn the battalion commander on
the extreme right Of the British forces
sent word to the battalion commander
on the extreme left Of the French
forces aid asked him where he would
be in the attack, writes Arno Dosch-
Fleurot in the New York World.
81 shall be over the parapets with
the first wave of my troops" was the
French commanders reply.
$50 shall t. was the British COM
mander's return message; keep an
eye out for me-"
So, when the troops were jammed
in the forward trenches waiting for
the enormous mine explosions under
the German communication trenches,
which were to be the signal for the
assault, the British commander worked
his way to the end of the farthest
trench and there he found the French
commander. They stood there wait
ing, side by side, until the terrific ex-
plosiOns tore the German trenches to
pieces, then, one with an "En Avant"
and the other with "Charge!" leaped
over the parapets, automatics in hand,
and led the charge into the German
lines.
Luckily, both escaped unhurt, and
the story of their unusual action has
run through the two great allied armies
on the. Somme. It has gone complete
1y through the British army, in fact,
and I first heard it long before |
reached the Somme I heard it so often
that, I am not sure where I heard it
first, but / remember being told 1t at
the table Of the divisional command
er just south Of Ypres nearly hun
dred miles from the Somme.
Mutual Good Will.
AS / kept on hearing this story I
began to feel it was little too pat to
be true, but it also struck me that
1t did not make much difference
whether 1t was or not. Since have
reached the Somme 1 have had it con-
-f1rmed, but whether 1t was true or not
was nowhere nearly so important as
the effect it had upon the troops. 1t
thrilled the allied armies, and gave
them dramatic example Of their
brotherhood in arms. Certainly, from
the point Of view Of the British army
it has done much toward making them
feel good toward the Frenchman fight
ing beside them.
This has interested me, as the re-
latiOnS between the French and the
British armies has always interested
me. I know from my own experience
with the first British troops that came
to France that they had the typical in
sular attitude Of superiority, except in
the case of individuals who had seen
the French in action and knew at first
hand what good soldiers they were.
After two years every bit Of that is
gone. Going about the British front,
as have just been doing have been
struck, In fact, by the way everyone
has made a point Of calling attention
to the work Of the French troops. At
most points along the 16O-kilometer
front the British now hold there were
formerly French troops, and the Brit
ish troops who now occupy these
trenches have daily object lessons in
" what good soldiers the French must
be to do some of the things that are
everywhere apparent.
Death Toll at Vimy Ridge.
had striking example Of this the
other day when arrived on the Brit
ish front. The frst place where 1 ap-
preached the firing line was at the
Vimy Ridge, north of Arras, a piece
of France that has been fought over
no less fercely than the Mort Homme
or Les Eparges. The fight began at
Notre Dame de Lorette, which fig
ured in the French communicates al
most daily for months, and as the
Germans were pushed out of there by
the French poilus they left behind the
wreck of Ablain-St. Nazaire and
Souchez before they were forced to
the height Of Vimy Ridge, which they
still hold. The little valley in between
is soaked with blood. At NOtre Dame
de Lorette, on a space not over a mile
long and 300 yards wide, at least 5O,-
900 men gave up their lives. 1t is im-
possible to walk there now without
constantly stumbling over boots with
in which the dry bones rattle in a
very ghOstly manner.
All this magnificent fighting was
done by French soldiers, and yet it
was the first place to which the Brit
ish brought me. They have bloody
battlefelds Of their own to show
Ypres, Loos and Neuve Chapelle-
but the place they chose showed only
what the French had done. 1t is true
that over on the Vimy Ridge there is
a daily battle going on that would be
considered important in any other
war, but is never even mentioned In
the British communiques. While I