The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1918-01-24

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more mysterious in the case of troops
in the interior of Germany or Belgium
or Poland than with divisions some
where near the firing line. The esti-
mate of General de LacroiX in Paris,
based upon official data, is that on
June / there were, excluding the b.
69S,00O men in the 231 existing Ger
man divisions, 1,739,000 other soldiers
on duty in the rear. Most of these
men are landwehr and landsturm
troops regarded as utterly useless even
for the firing line on the Russian front.
They can never appear in the first line,
no matter how desperate Germany's
straights for men may become, but
they perform invaluable service in re-
leasing the whole fit manhood of the
country for the front.
755,0o0 in Reserve.
In addition to this force of older
and less fit men, the Germans have
in reserve to fill up the gaps in their
fighting divisions some $4,000 men.
OF these General de Lacroix estimates
that there are 100000 in depots at the
front, ready to be drafted as needed
into the divisions that are constantly
being withdrawn in battered cond1-
ton from the active sectors. In depots
in the interior are $4,000 more, while
10000 are training in Germany but
not yet ready to fight.
Besides these men, there remain to
be considered the 100000 boys who
reach the age of eighteen every year.
Approximately 100000, or two-thirds
of these lads are drafted into the
army. The German class of 191S-or
the 100000 soldiers who are nineteen
this year-have already been put into
line and are counted In the general to-
tails of German soldiers given above.
The class of 1919, the boys now
eighteen, will yield 100000 more
troops, and only few of them have
yet been identified by the allied
armies. It is believed that most OF
these lads will be made cannon fod-
der before November. In calculations
regarding the German strength next
winter and next year, they must all be
included.
The strength of the German army,
then, is today roughly this: there are
3,696,0OO combatantS, with additional
reserves of 100000 men plus q re-en-
forcement of between 100000 and $780,
600 boys of eighteen all of whom will
be available by next winter. And in
addition to the fighting men there are
about 1,739,000 older or unfit men on
duties In the rear who will never be
able to face the guns. The fighting
men, including these boys not yet
ready, total almost exactly 100000,
not including the landwehr and land
sturm and other "etappen" or COM
munication troops who, to the number
of nearly two million, will never APP
pear in the trenches.
Losses Important Factor.
The third factor in an analysis of
the strength of the German armies is
now reached. What are the German
losses?
To accept the German official lists
to err, if anything, on the side of eau
ton. There are military men in Lon
don and Paris who believe that these
lists, allowing for unavoidable errors
and delays, are accurate. There are
others who are convinced that for two
years the Germans have "doctored"
the lists and deliberately minimized
their losses. After examining a good
deal of the evidence brought forward
by both sides, | incline to the belief
that the lists are accurate.
The Germans have published lists
for the first 80 months of the war, APP
proximately up to May /, which when
totalled by allied statisticians have re-
vealed total loss of 4,356,760 men.
OF these 99S,439 were killed in ac-
ton, 69,6SS died of sickness, 303 300
are prisoners or missing. In addition
to these men admittedly out of the
war, some $4,000 reported severely
wounded" are supposed to be totally
disabled for further service. Of the
remainder about 1,S50000 reported
wounded" and wounded remaining
with units" are classed by the allies
as men who were able to so back to
fight.
Net Wastage Estimated.
Accepting the German lists as ac-
curate, the net wastage during 33
months of war to May 1, was about q
SOC, 76O men who will never fight again.
This estimate is not based, in the sim
ple fashion indicated above, upon the
German reports of men as severely
wounded and wounded but upon
tons and tons of statistics and curves
plotted upon charts by British and
French intelligence officers. German
bodies are the same as French and
British, the weapons in use are the
same on both sides, and years of fight
ing have enabled the allies not only to
figure out to a remote decimal just
what proportion of their own men who
are hit will find their way back into
the firing line, but to apply the same
figure, with certainty Of being about
right, to the Germans.
The average rate of German vast
age from the beginning OF the war to
the first day of May this year is thus
seen to have been about 10000 men
month. This figure does not in
clude men wounded and afterward
able to 20 back, but only those Ger
mans killed or totally incapacitated.
In attempting to determine what the
will oSt