The Washington herald., 1917-01-21

on the Ancre In November are not In
cluded in the figures given. have heard
them estimated at 5000.
One thing about the British casualty
lists may be said positively; they are not
falsified or doctored in any way. as are
the German lists. according to pretty
good evidence in the hands OF the allies.
It should be noted that since all the
missing are included under the head of
wounded and missing" the death roll
! Is heavier. perhaps by fifteen per cent.
than indicated under the head Of dead
there have been very few British pris-
oners taken on the Somme. The number
of British officers and men who have
laid down their lives In this battle Is
certainly more than 125 900. probably less
than 10000
The man in the street does not know
these figures. and he believes the losses
to have been much greater. while he is
inclined to minimize what has been ac-
complished- He knows that the attack
by the French troops under General Foch
on the British right was intended simply
to cover the right of the British ad-
vance. and he sees on the map. that the
French have captured more ground, and
hears that their losses during the whole
campafgn have been between one-third
and one-quarter those suffered by the
British.
Consequently the same kind of whispers
circulate through England regarding Sir
Douglas Haig as In the United States
during the winter of 1854. after. the bloody
Wilderness campaign. when the man who
received Lees surrender at Appamatox
was called "the butcher" All this is
most unfair, the fact being that the
French attack which succeeded SO splen-
didly was made by two crack CORPS the
Colonial and Twentieth. while six Brit
ish corps were engaged, and the Germans
had massed and still have massed the
bulk OF their best troops on the western
front before the British lines. At the
beginning of the Somme engagement
about fifteen German divisions confront
ed the British along the line of attack,
and only three met the French onslaught
in the Peronne district
It Is true that the French losses have
been light, but there Is every reason to
suppose that the British during the last
five months have inflicted casualties upon
their enemies which will affect the 1917
campaign, and no French authority would
deny that the results obtained on the
Somme that count in a military sense are
In great measure to be credited to the
British armies, whatever the map may
show in ground gained.
Inc 10 pIedK InrOuRn the Ger
man lines and compel a retreat impresses
the civilian In Britain, although through
out the whole campaign have been re-
peatedly told that competent military
opinion did not think such a result could
be obtained this year. The argument in
vogue at present runs as follows: I'VE
have lost the flower of our army, and
have put a dent In the German front.
When we attack next spring We can do
one OF two things We can continue the
attack IN the saliant We have created on
the Somme. where we have forced the
Germans into a disadvanta geous position
and where they cannot construct during
the winter defenses as strong as those
along the rest Of the front. But II we
do this the Germans will retire to a new
line which they are now preparing, since
they must expect the Somme attack to
be kept up, and our prime object, which
Is to keep on the move when they once
start going back, may not be attained.
Could Prevent Rally.
On the other hand. II we attack at some
new point on the front where they do
not expect an offensive we could pre-
vent them from rallying and clear them
out OF France II we ever broke through
cleanly. but We will find their defenses
as strong as the first line system was
on INC oohiihe' inc Cost Will De equally
great. and seems to be no reason to
suppose we should have any better sue
cess next year than we had this" It
is not easy for that rare bird, the op-
tinist, to meet this reasoning. except
by pointing out that the wear and tear
on the German armies must be taken
into account. that Britain has more men
than Germany can send to the British
front while she has the French, Rus
slams and Rumanians to take care of,
and that next year the artillery su-
periority of the allies in the west will be
much greater than 1t is at present.
On top of the Englishman's feelings