The Washington herald., 1917-05-27

bad time were raised since the war
began from a population as little ac-
quainted with military training as our
men, there could be no disposition
here to underestimate the worth OF
raw American troops. Many officers
have waxed most enthusiastic to me,
and pointed out how the endurance
and strength, IL not the pluck, of Brit
ish battalions has necessarily deterio-
rated as older and weaker men have
put into khaki. when your army
comes across" said a famous general
sadly, 'it will be made up of the
finest infantry in the world. the finest
infantry left in the world, for the best
soldiers there ever were in the world,
the old British expedittonary force, no
longer exist"
The only doubt among wen who are
going through the mill themselves on
the battle front concerns the mex
perience OF American infantry and ar
tillery officers, and all with whom
have talked are most anxious that 'the
fullest possible expert instruction In
modern fighting be carried out in the
United States even II this involves the
withdrawal Of much-needed officers
from the present campaign. 1t is
hoped that mo considerations of pride
will prevent the American authorities
from making use Of foreign advice.
The British armies have had the same
experience. Their stan work and their
artillery technique early in the war
were vastly inferior to the French. as
was inevitable since the British forces
were volunteer levies and the French
were made up Of professional soldiers.
During the first two years Of war, 1t
is now freely admitted. certain British
leaders were unwilling to go to school
to their French colleagues, and avoid
able 'regrettable incidents" and swol-
len casualty lists were the result
False. pride OF this kind no longer ex-
lists between the French and British
armies. Each has much to learn now
from the other, and every new idea
evolved in the camp OF one ally is
promptly studied by all.
American Front Selected.
There has been much comment at the
front as to where an American army
would 20 II It came over. remember
a semi -Jocular discussion at British gen
eral headquarters many months ago, at
a time when the entry Of the United
States seemed extremely doubtful. The
general opinion OF a number Of distin-
guished officers was that for political
reasons Americans would prefer to fight
on Belgian soil. The allied line in Bel
gfum would not care to relinquish the
salient of Ypres, which has been
drenched in British blood. and with
Ypres ruled out there remained a sector
next to the remnants of King Albert's
army which seemed the natural place
for American troops. We even worked
out a hypothetical line to be held by one
American division, and settled on the
town which would be used as American
headquarters; a piece Of guesswork like
ly to be vitiated by an allied advance in
this region long before the Stars and
Stripes are carried into martyred Bel |
GUM
But despite the enormous Importance |
of the formation OF a great American |
army to save the common cause from
disaster II things should go wrong this ]
year, there Is every confidence that VIC |
tory is at hand and that IL a 1918 cam |
paign is necessary at all It will be very |
brief. There have been up to this spring, |
among soldiers In France and in Lon !
don, three main schools of thought about |
the result of future struggles in France. |
One, which I called the optimist school |
held that some day by good luck or
good management the British or French |
would somewhere break clean through |
the German line and a colossal disaster |
would result, with hundreds of thousands !
of prisoners and thousands OF captured
guns, a victory that would end the war |
at q single blow. As opposed to this |
view. equally distinguished officers be-
Heved that the trench lines were perma- |
nent. THE war will end hundred yards
east or hundred yards west, Of where |
we are standing today" was q senti- |
ment I have often heard in the trenches |
though seldom read in the newspapers. |
Both the optimists and the pessimists |
known to me have now abandoned their |
former positions, In the light of this
years fighting, and adopted the view Of
~
tary opinion. The ofhcers-men like Gen.
Sir O'Moore Creagh, v. c., Kitchener's |
successor in Egypt, and Gen. Sir Alfred
contended for at least a
year that the war would be won as 1t |
Is being won today, by a succession Of
local victories as the allied preponder-
ance in artillery grew, each success af-
festing adjacent sectors Of the line and
forcing local retreats, until finally the
whole German line will be in motion;
and, once In motion. unable to stop or
to turn and defeat an enemy superior to
them In numbers and munitions
TO my mind" said Sir O'Moore
Creagh, in discussing the present fight
ing, 1.-The outstanding feature Of the new
warfare has been the effective combina-
ton Of artillerymen, airmen and infantry
men, which in the latter fighting has
proved an unpleasant surprise to the
guns could hardly have been improved
upon, and that the synchronisation of
barrage and infantry movement evoked
the admiration of French headquarters
stan observers.
1T used to be said that It took two
years to make q competent gunner. Well,
I think the word competent can In all
truth be applied to our gunners at the
front today. We have to imagine one
set of guns playing on the front line. sup
port and rear trenches Of the enemy,
blowing them to smithereens and keep
Ing the garrisons imprisoned in deep dug
outs; another set Of guns raining fire
and steel on the communication roads
along which food, ammunition and re-
must be brought; a third
set Of guns encircling the ground to be
seized with an avalanche Of flame
through which ingress or egress is equal n
ly difficult; and a fourth set Of guns II
raising up IN front OF the assaulting IN 4
fantry a moving sheet Of fire to protect A
them from enemy troops in the bonn
barded area and at the same time knock 1
the enemy's machine guns out Of action. II
And for days before these four sets of Il