Norwich bulletin., 1916-12-22
STORIES OF THE WAR

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 Attitude of the Men Towards Peace.
 The Somme front, as I have just seen it, writes correspondent on the heavy mists or drizzling rain, ruined villages and mud again, mud every where. And yet through that mud, through those nists, the vast enter prise of war is going on as uninter- ruptedly as ever. Our party was talk Germans and for three hours or more we plowed about in the trenches and lodged isolated shells looking for prey, and stared between times ar what was once a village but what were now only bleak mud pits.
 To me, however, coming from Par is, buzzing with the talk of changes in. the high command and 0f the Ger man peace proposals, the effect of all this upon the men in the trenches was the more interesting.
 In regard to the attitude of the men toward peace, I can think of nothing better than an encounter with three and drawing sledge. along through the mud. As we met there in tine drizzling rain and in pools of water I said: sN
 Nice road.'' The first of the men, nodding, said: "Yes, but we have been over it before" Then I continued: T hear the Germans want peace. What do you think of that?"
 "Oh, a lovely peace their peace '' was the reply. Then I said:
 Well, what's the answer?"
 At this the second man lifted nis finger naively to where the skies were eehoing with the thunder of the guEs and muttered: Listen to the answer" And if after this I had any doubts as to the supreme indifference with which the French poilu treats German desires it was dispelled by another conversation, held with an old senti i- nel, who spat upon the ground and growled: "Ah, all we've got to say 10 Boches is"
 Well, it vase the untranslatabie word of cambronne that followed. The opinion of officers is more politely ex- pressed but equally decisive. When I asked a commanding officer what he thought upon the matter he juat laughed and said: Another sign of their weakness. We who witness tiie increasing dribble of deserters-even the captains and majors who como in and throw up their hands-know that the German Empire is rapieIy going to it's doom.
 "Rumania is in unfortunate circum- stances, yes: but that is of no strate- gic importance. In the end it's sim ply more wastage for the enemy. We are on his trail now and nobody, nothing, even the weather, can stop us"
 When we turned off to pay a visit to some of the aviation sheds, where we encountered a section of the avioni lie chases, the same spirit was equally il. evidence. One of our party asked an aviator if he had no compunction at replied, If they're German, the more the merrier." Then when the ques- tioner insisted that his opponent, new ertheleSs;. was a man just like himself he interrupted him with, Pardon, he is a man who speaks German and am a man who speaks French; and one of us has got to die"
 In the same escadrille we met Nun gesser, second in rank of the French aces and official victor of twenty Ger mans. He received us with quiet ai- liability, offered chairs, and when one of his mates clapped him on the bach as a great hero, he smiled, felt both his cheeks and said: Am I bIusl. ing?"
 But it is no exaggeration to speak of Nungesser as a hero. A man twice taken from military service and only in the army from sheer will to fight tc the finish, who is crippled, with legs a hand and half his chin blown off and who wears artificial substitutes is surely worthy of that title
 The same spirit dominates all these F'renchmen. Tarascon, for instance who when a leg was blown off by T shell fragment merely passed his foot server with, calmly, Here, take tn.s: it's in my way" and brought his aero- plane safely to earth. After that he returned to the corps with a wooden leg, and when the wooden leg was Slot off in turn it was his chance to laugh