Evening star., 1939-11-22
Front-Line Tommies
Hope for Gifts Of
WooIen Clothing
Murder ThriIIers and
Comes Also on List
OfWunts
BY SIR PHILIP GIBBS,
Noted British War Correspondent

Noted British War Correspondent.
WITH THE BRITISH FORCES
IN FRANCE, Nov. % (By Wireless)
up in the line, I asked some
friends of mine m one of the bat
talions what the men wanted most
from the people at home when they
are thinking of sending out gifts for
the mems comfort. The answer did
not surprise me, for the weather
has turned colder, and in these wet
fields there is wet mist that chills
to the bone
Anything for warmth" said one
OF the young officers, especially
vests, socks, scarves, pullovers, nit
tens and woolen gloves"
Thus far none of our troops in
the field has, as far as I can make
out, any vests to wear under their
shirts, though these may be pro-
vided later. This new army of ours
is lightly clad, compared with their
predecessors in the last war, who, in
the Somme trenches and other
places and even on the march, put
on any old thing they could be-
meath their macintosh caps to keep
out the rain and wind. Thus far,
the weather has been fairly mild
but when a cold snap comes our
men will need a lot of extra cloth
ing beneath their tunics.
3 Pairs of Socks Not Enough.
The three pairs of socks they are
allowed are hardly enough for men
digging and draining trenches and
tank traps in sodden ground where
their boots are filled with water.
Handkerchiefs also are scarce and
they could do with many more. Any
knitted scarf Is boon, though not
in such fancy colors as worn by
certain cavalry officers I know. who
disregard army conventions In this
respect.
Inquiries made along the line and
IN billets behind it bring forth re-
quests for razor blades, mouth
organs, packs of cards, dominoes.
checkers and any other games.
But in the mess where I went yes
terday, the most urgent desire of
the battalion was for IL false
boards. This was not for espionage
purposes or other business of war.
but for a Christmas pantomime now
In an active state of preparation.
A fairy godfather who arrived in the
nick of time has already dealt with
this matter. And the boards will
arrive in due course.
For intellectual needs, the British
expeditionary force is calling out
for books. No poetry, by request.
There is a prejudice, I am told,
against love stories and ronances.
They do not want to know if Jack
married Jill. They are not inter-
ested in the emotional affairs of
young men and women in Blooms
bury or Belgravia. What they like
to read. said one of the officers, is
jolly good detective story with a
murder in every chapter. Never
having written anything of that
Kind, copies of my own books are
unacceptable, but millions of SIX
penny thrillers would be deeply
absorbed.
French Shops Cater to Needs.
A good many of the little things
wanted by the men are bought by
them in French shops if they hap.
pen to be billeted in small towns
behind the line, where the shop
Keepers already are catering to their
British customers. But those are
the lucky ones.
The men in the line are far re-
moved from the amenities of civili-
zation. The villages nearby consist
mainly of an old farmhouse, some
COW sheds. a barn, a church, an
estamlnet and row of brick cot
tages with stone floors. Transport
being difficult, they are out of reach
OF one of those stores called by the
mysterious name of naafi, where a
British soldier is able to buy ciga-
rettes, If any are left when he
arrives; chocolate, pickles, razor
blades and biscuits.
In that grim, remote countryside,
guarded by blockhouses, machine
gun posts, tanks and tank traps,
thousands of men are cut off from
the rest of the world. I think the
most desolate of all must be our
gunners, planted with their cam
ouflaged guns in odd places, very
solitary, with dugouts nearby in
boggy fields that are ankle deep in
mud. Each battery is very much
by itself. They are like ship
wrecked mariners on desert island.
Those vests, socks, pullovers and
woolen gloves are badly needed, and
a few mouth organs for their de-
light on winters night.
(Copyright, 1882 by the McNaught
Syndicate, Inc)