Evening star., 1932-08-14

pared for President Wilson's signature,
taking over the Holland boats in our
waters, which gave US 400, 900 dead
weight tons more Of shipping, in ad-
dition to the $4,000 tons we had orig
inally and the 100000 tons acquired
through taking interned German ships.
March 81 Hindenburg struck, attacking
on a 50-mile front from Arras to La
Fere. The Germans poured through
the British Fifth Army q distance of
35 miles, and the situation brought
the serious dispatch from Gen. Haig
that the British forces were now fight
ing with backs to the wall"
April l a secret estimate. Of the
forces engaged on the western front
made from inside information at our
disposal showed Germany had a
numerical superiority of 100000 men.
The Allies at once turned to America,
the only source of manpower left, to
make up the deficiency. They were
bled white and could put no more men
on the firing line.
The premiers of Britain and France
therefore united in cables to President
Wilson emphasizing the crisis and ask
ing him to send to France, If possible,
10000 men month for four months
The French Ambassador, the late M.
JuSserand, being the senior, took the
cable to the White House. Soon after
he called me and sought an interview.
He came over to my Office at once. He
gave me the cables to read and told me
ne had presented them to President Will
son. who said, See Gen. March"
He asked me what could do. I re-
piled at once that he would get the
men. The Ambassador seemed rather
taken aback at this immediate response,
as we had not been sending anything
like that number of men per month
abroad, and he knew 1t. But my plans
already provided for the shipment of
more than that number monthly and
the plans were successfully carried out.
British Sought U. S. Force.
Later that day Lord Reading, British
Ambassador, came to my ONCE, accom-
panied by Maj. Gen. Sir John Headlam
Of his military staff. Gen. Headlam was
the best type Of British officer. able and
straightforward He had called on me
at my camp at Valdahon when was in
France and I was delighted to greet
him again. He was present during the
entire interview between Lord Reading
and myself.
Lord Reading opened this conference
by presenting request from the British
government that we ship abroad for
service with the British army 10000
men a month. consisting entirely Of
infantry and machine gun detachments.
He set forth the desperate situation of
the British army and argued that the
best way to meet this was to use the
trained personnel In command of the
British divisions and their artillery
rounding out the divisions with Amer
ican infantry.
l told him at once that I would not
do It; that our program for shipment
of men was balanced scheme for the
organization Of our own army IN
France, complete in all its essential
rarts, including artillery, engineers,
medical detachmentS and the service
of supply. and that I would not change
that policy. Further, We had no ships
for such movement. If Great 81 litain
would give more ships would fill them
to the limit with American troops. Our
troop movement abroad was limited
only by the ships at our disposal.
Lord Reading intimated then that
Great Britain could possibly supply the
ships If I would give him the infantry
and machine gun men for whom he was
sun breaking through the clouds. Every
request we had hitherto made of the
British for more ships had been met
with statements that all their ships
were imperatively needed to carry food
and supplies of all kinds, not only for
their armies in France, including Cana
dians. Australians and others, but for
the civilian population at home that
they had rationed their people and had
given us every available spare ship.
Sought to Send 100000 Men.
I saw this new proposition meant
the end of the war within predictable
time. 1t was almost mathematically
demonstrable that II we could double
our shipment of soldiers to France, we
would cut in two the time 1t would take
to end the war.
If Great Britain could give us ships
to carry infantry alone. she could not
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