The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-06-09
New BattaIions Have Completely
EnguIfed the Old Regu-
lar Force.
HOLD 100 MILES OF FRONT
Never Have There Been So Many Ger
man and Allied Troops on tho
Western Front--Doctors Help
the Civilians.
BY FREDERICK PALMER.

British Headquarters, France.-A
! correspondent who has been absent
( for six months from the British front
IL amazed upon his return at the in.
crease In numbers OF men, guns and
equipment. The numerous battalions
Of the new army which have arrived
have engulfed the old regular army.
Not one officer in ten whom one meets
has had any military service before
the war.
Now one must ride hundred miles
to pass the British front. Khaki rs
thick in the villages OF the Somme
country as we'll as In those OF north
ern Belgium. The British hold the ia
nous Labyrinth" as well as Ypres
and Loos.
In the course OF the taking over OF
q long section OF the French line,
which freed French troops for sery-
ice, hundreds OF miles of wire had to
be laid. transport organized, head
quarters moved, new corps and divi-
sions created and commanders ap-
pointed.
In the last few months new men
have come into positions Of RESPONSE
bility. Men who entered the army as
second lieutenants have become cap
tains without yet being old enough to
vote. Majors have become colonies
and generals.
Owe do not know when the war will
be over, but we do know that spring
is here" say the soldiers. The sec.
ond wlgter> in the trenches >>-is in
ished. Its chilli, wet monotony is over.
Before another winter-well, what
will happen this summer? The growth
Of the army and the sun drawing the
moisture out OF the mud emphasized
the universal question.
Face Big German Army.
Never so far as one can learn, have |
there been so many Germans and so
many allied troops on the western
front as at this time. Next to the |
Verdun region, the German concentra-
ton Is heaviest in face of the British |
Of any section from the North sea to |
Switzerland. No German troops have
been drawn off from the British front
as re-enforcements for the attack on
Verdun.
One side or the other demolishes
section of enemy trench by exploding
mines or by artillery concentration.
Then the infantry rushes the trench,
gathers in some prisoners, does what
damage 1t can and returns to its own
trench.
In the morasses of the Ypres salient
and the Loos region nothing more
could be done, though winter attack
might be possible in high country like
that around Verdun.
Much ingenuity has been shown by
both sides in these trench raids. But
no sooner has one side worked out
a new trick than the other learns
how to counter 1t.
Mud" was the reason given In
word by an officer why the British
could not attack in winter to relieve
the pressure on Verdun.
1T was the season the Germans
WOulO nave SAO0Ou Iva Ao W 0SSe~nS |
he added.
Doctors Help Civilians.
Recently bundle of reports which
throw interesting light on the work
Of peace the British army is doing in
France was collected at headquarters.
They came from army medical officers
all the way from the fighting line back
TO the hospitals at the bases far from
the zone OF shell fire. and told of the
service which the army doctors have
been rendering to the civil population.
France itself has been depleted of
doctors. The young ones who did not
20 to the front as medical officers or
20 the army hospitals, went to fight.
In many villages any British army
loctor who happened to be stationed
here took the place Of the local prac-
.itioner.
These simple reports reveal the SUI
'ering and the sacrifice Of the French
population who have received free
medical service from the allies. 1.
Surgeons go from the operating ta-
bic to set the broken leg Of boy
who has fallen out of tree or to lance
} felon; from the clearing station,
where the 1white-bandaged wounded
pass through, to look ct the baby with