The Keota news., 1917-05-25
HOW BIG ARMIES WERE CREATED BY GREAT BRITAIN

| suited, also owing m0cn 10 tne IenOr'
ance OF the soldiers detailed for cook
ing duties. who served the excellent
food provided In slovenly unappetiz-
Ing way, and improvement followed the
establishment Of schools In instruction
in cookery and the admonition to COM
manding omcers to lay stress on the
variety In the cooking Of the food, on
cleanliness and on economy.
Clothing the recruits was another
difhculty experienced at the beginning.
Important parts Of the equipment such
as army boots were for long time sad
ly deficient. The enlargement Of old
plants, the erection Of new plants and
instruction In the methods Of manufac-
ture was q slow and laborious process.
When the war started. England seemed
to have been n badly OF In matters of
supplies AZ We. They had less than
000.O 900 rides, only half Of them the
latest pattern. The weekly output Of
Rides In the United Kingdom was under
1900. which could be increased some
what by night shifts, but which at the
best was innnitesimal compared with
the needs Of the new army. Unfortu-
nately the rife. though needed In larger
quantities than any other weapon for
an army. requires longer time than
any other before Its manufacture with
new plants can be started. owing large
ly to the number Of gauges Of extreme
accuracy required In the process: con-
sequently the recruits had to wait
long.
By January. 1915. the first new army
had about 400 service rifles per bat.
TALON. and the second about 100. and
It was not until March. 1915. that these
armies were beginning to be fully
armed. To provide even q limited
amount Of drill and musketry practice
1t was necessary to hand around the
few service rifles in each battalion -
the three Fates handed around their
solitary eye In the story of Perseus.
Many rifles were too worn to shoot
with SUFFICIENT accuracy for musketry
practice and there was no opportunity
to cultivate In the soldier q personal
pride In his own rife and the knowl-
edge Of its idiosyncrasies. This scarcity
Of rifles In the early days prolonged the
training.
In the artillery 1t was quite as bad.
In October. 1914. the artillery Of one d.
vision Of the first new army had only
six 1S-pounders altogether instead Of
Its full complement Of 81 another had
only few Of the obsolete 15-pounders;
in March, 1918. some divisions had only
two guns per battery; even in May.
when the full complement of guns had
arrived for the first new army divi-
sions. the equipment Of dial sights. etc,
for indirect laying was still deficient.
For months the gunners In some d.
visions had to learn what they could
Of the mechanism Of a rife without
even seeing one. Some enthusiastic Of
acers provided dummy wooden guns at
their own expense and obsolete guns
were utilized for the same purpose.
When some such guns as these were
available there were no artillery In
struments such as dial sights, range
finders. directors and 50 on. without
which a modern battery IL almost help
less, except those that could be impro-
vised by an ingenious timber gunner.
Similarly horses. harness and the prop
er wagons were hardly ever complete
for any battery of the first three
armies till on the very eve Of their de-
parture over sea. Noncommissioned
odicers fit to train recruits were sadly
lacking. Those having experience
could DOT he spared from their regi-
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