The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-27
ENGLAND RAISES VEIL OF SECRECY
 ON WAR OPERATION
This Is Proving Popular Move as People Appreciate News From the Front
 in Stressful Times

London, August -(Correspondence oi
 the Associated Press.)-By lifting the
 veil of secrecy to an extent hitherto un-
 heard of in the present war and allow
 ing the British public to get clearer
 view of what is going on at the front
 the war office has made tremendous
 popular move. This revolution in depart
 mental methods started with the Anglo l French offensive It's effect on the peo- | pie has been magical.
 l The British public is now being fed
 generously on what it was deprived of for nearly two years, namely, personal
 doings of the soldiers. And they like it.
 Incidentally, added importance is at ] tained to the new order of things sim | ply because the British government is
 not easily convinced of the wisdom ot departing from old customs. Its about | the most revolutionary occurrence since
 the war began.
 l To begin with the public realizes that there is still much that must be hidden l from them but they are very grateful Tor
 the concessions made. The people realize 1 further that this war must be largely
 au anonymous war, and that 1t is 1n-
 advisable to describe, except after long | interval the deeds of particular reg1-
 ments or divisions
 ] But in other respects the veil has been
 lifted and the British public has been
 permitted to read many moving stories ! which present the war to those. who stay | at home in a truer light than ever be-
 fore.
 l Generally speaking these are the sources of information which are now
 available to the public. First and fore
 most there are the dispatches from the British commander-in-chief, General Sir | Douglas Haig who, as rule, sends from 1 the general headquarters in France, two bulletins each day summarizing in mili- 1 tary language the gains, or losses, which the armies under his command have eX- perienced during the day and night. These 1 are occasionally supplemented by mes- sages, which, coming from the accredited var correspondents at headquarters, may | be regarded as semi i-official.
 Reverting to the improved arrange
 ments for keeping the public informed on
 what is going on the Daily Chronicle | compliments the war office and says of | the newspaper correspondence There are now five representatives of British newspa pers attached to the general head l quarters, and Frederick Palmer of the American Associated Press is privileged tc | join this select band. They are housed | ir a chateau somewhere behind the fir | ing line-at their own expense, let it be 1 said-and from this newspaper nerve cen ter they are free to come and go almost
 as they like.
 "Consonant with military exigencies | they are practically allowed free hand | As it is obviously the duty of a newspa- per correspondent to preserve a whole 1 skin, this freedom is tempered by dis | CT etion, but they must take many risks,
 and in these days of long range artillery
 they are bound to spend most of their | days as well as their nights under fire. :. | The expansion with regard to the pic | torial side of the war is not less re-
 markable than the development of the literary side. One supplements the other
 Some remarkable photographs have come | from France since the recent offensive 1 began. Many of them have perhaps
 done as much as the written description
 of events to stir the imagination. 1 Then there is the moving picture op-
 orator who has his place. not only behind
 the lines. but often at the fighting front | Many films which even now are of ab- | sorbing interest, and which in days to come will be of historical value, have
 beer taken. Like everything else, they
 have to pass the censor before they can l be given to the world but unlike the
 written word buried under the official
 blue pencil these temporarily suppressed | sections may be revived hereafter when
 the war is a sad memory.