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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9874-8.txt b/9874-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe9b074 --- /dev/null +++ b/9874-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1795 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Visit to Three Fronts, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Visit to Three Fronts + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: November 12, 2011 [EBook #9874] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 26, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously +made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France +(BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + + + + + +A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS + +June 1916 + +BY + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + +AUTHOR OF + +'THE GREAT BOER WAR' + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the course of May 1916, the Italian authorities expressed a desire +that some independent observer from Great Britain should visit their +lines and report his impressions. It was at the time when our brave and +capable allies had sustained a set-back in the Trentino owing to a +sudden concentration of the Austrians, supported by very heavy +artillery. I was asked to undertake this mission. In order to carry it +out properly, I stipulated that I should be allowed to visit the +British lines first, so that I might have some standard of comparison. +The War Office kindly assented to my request. Later I obtained +permission to pay a visit to the French front as well. Thus it was my +great good fortune, at the very crisis of the war, to visit the battle +line of each of the three great Western allies. I only wish that it had +been within my power to complete my experiences in this seat of war by +seeing the gallant little Belgian army which has done so remarkably +well upon the extreme left wing of the hosts of freedom. + +My experiences and impressions are here set down, and may have some +small effect in counteracting those mischievous misunderstandings and +mutual belittlements which are eagerly fomented by our cunning enemy. + +Arthur Conan Doyle. + +Crowborough, + +July 1916. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY + + +I + +It is not an easy matter to write from the front. You know that there +are several courteous but inexorable gentlemen who may have a word in +the matter, and their presence 'imparts but small ease to the style.' +But above all you have the twin censors of your own conscience and +common sense, which assure you that, if all other readers fail you, you +will certainly find a most attentive one in the neighbourhood of the +Haupt-Quartier. An instructive story is still told of how a certain +well-meaning traveller recorded his satisfaction with the appearance of +the big guns at the retiring and peaceful village of Jamais, and how +three days later, by an interesting coincidence, the village of Jamais +passed suddenly off the map and dematerialised into brickdust and +splinters. + +I have been with soldiers on the warpath before, but never have I had a +day so crammed with experiences and impressions as yesterday. Some of +them at least I can faintly convey to the reader, and if they ever +reach the eye of that gentleman at the Haupt-Quartier they will give +him little joy. For the crowning impression of all is the enormous +imperturbable confidence of the Army and its extraordinary efficiency +in organisation, administration, material, and personnel. I met in one +day a sample of many types, an Army commander, a corps commander, two +divisional commanders, staff officers of many grades, and, above all, I +met repeatedly the two very great men whom Britain has produced, the +private soldier and the regimental officer. Everywhere and on every +face one read the same spirit of cheerful bravery. Even the half-mad +cranks whose absurd consciences prevent them from barring the way to +the devil seemed to me to be turning into men under the prevailing +influence. I saw a batch of them, neurotic and largely be-spectacled, +but working with a will by the roadside. They will volunteer for the +trenches yet. + + * * * * * + +If there are pessimists among us they are not to be found among the men +who are doing the work. There is no foolish bravado, no under-rating of +a dour opponent, but there is a quick, alert, confident attention to +the job in hand which is an inspiration to the observer. These brave +lads are guarding Britain in the present. See to it that Britain guards +them in the future! We have a bad record in this matter. It must be +changed. They are the wards of the nation, both officers and men. +Socialism has never had an attraction for me, but I should be a +Socialist to-morrow if I thought that to ease a tax on wealth these men +should ever suffer for the time or health that they gave to the public +cause. + +'Get out of the car. Don't let it stay here. It may be hit.' These +words from a staff officer give you the first idea that things are +going to happen. Up to then you might have been driving through the +black country in the Walsall district with the population of Aldershot +let loose upon its dingy roads. 'Put on this shrapnel helmet. That hat +of yours would infuriate the Boche'--this was an unkind allusion to the +only uniform which I have a right to wear. 'Take this gas helmet. You +won't need it, but it is a standing order. Now come on!' + +We cross a meadow and enter a trench. Here and there it comes to the +surface again where there is dead ground. At one such point an old +church stands, with an unexploded shell sticking out of the wall. A +century hence folk will journey to see that shell. Then on again +through an endless cutting. It is slippery clay below. I have no nails +in my boots, an iron pot on my head, and the sun above me. I will +remember that walk. Ten telephone wires run down the side. Here and +there large thistles and other plants grow from the clay walls, so +immobile have been our lines. Occasionally there are patches of +untidiness. 'Shells,' says the officer laconically. There is a racket +of guns before us and behind, especially behind, but danger seems +remote with all these Bairnfather groups of cheerful Tommies at work +around us. I pass one group of grimy, tattered boys. A glance at their +shoulders shows me that they are of a public school battalion. 'I +thought you fellows were all officers now,' I remarked. 'No, sir, we +like it better so.' 'Well, it will be a great memory for you. We are +all in your debt.' + +They salute, and we squeeze past them. They had the fresh, brown faces +of boy cricketers. But their comrades were men of a different type, +with hard, strong, rugged features, and the eyes of men who have seen +strange sights. These are veterans, men of Mons, and their young pals +of the public schools have something to live up to. + + * * * * * + +Up to this we have only had two clay walls to look at. But now our +interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British +aeroplane sailing overhead. Numerous shrapnel bursts are all round it, +but she floats on serenely, a thing of delicate beauty against the blue +background. Now another passes--and yet another. All morning we saw +them circling and swooping, and never a sign of a Boche. They tell me +it is nearly always so--that we hold the air, and that the Boche +intruder, save at early morning, is a rare bird. A visit to the line +would reassure Mr. Pemberton-Billing. 'We have never met a British +aeroplane which was not ready to fight,' said a captured German aviator +the other day. There is a fine stern courtesy between the airmen on +either side, each dropping notes into the other's aerodromes to tell +the fate of missing officers. Had the whole war been fought by the +Germans as their airmen have conducted it (I do not speak of course of +the Zeppelin murderers), a peace would eventually have been more easily +arranged. As it is, if every frontier could be settled, it would be a +hard thing to stop until all that is associated with the words Cavell, +Zeppelin, Wittenberg, Lusitania, and Louvain has been brought to the +bar of the world's Justice. + +And now we are there--in what is surely the most wonderful spot in the +world, the front firing trench, the outer breakwater which holds back +the German tide. How strange that this monstrous oscillation of giant +forces, setting in from east to west, should find their equilibrium +here across this particular meadow of Flanders. 'How far?' I ask. '180 +yards,' says my guide. 'Pop!' remarks a third person just in front. 'A +sniper,' says my guide; 'take a look through the periscope.' I do so. +There is some rusty wire before me, then a field sloping slightly +upwards with knee-deep grass, then rusty wire again, and a red line of +broken earth. There is not a sign of movement, but sharp eyes are +always watching us, even as these crouching soldiers around me are +watching them. There are dead Germans in the grass before us. You need +not see them to know that they are there. A wounded soldier sits in a +corner nursing his leg. Here and there men pop out like rabbits from +dug-outs and mine-shafts. Others sit on the fire-step or lean smoking +against the clay wall. Who would dream to look at their bold, careless +faces that this is a front line, and that at any moment it is possible +that a grey wave may submerge them? With all their careless bearing I +notice that every man has his gas helmet and his rifle within easy +reach. + +A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that +weary walk. Then I am whisked off upon a ten mile drive. There is a +pause for lunch at Corps Headquarters, and after it we are taken to a +medal presentation in a market square. Generals Munro, Haking and +Landon, famous fighting soldiers all three, are the British +representatives. Munro with a ruddy face, and brain above all bulldog +below; Haking, pale, distinguished, intellectual; Landon a pleasant, +genial country squire. An elderly French General stands beside them. + +British infantry keep the ground. In front are about fifty Frenchmen in +civil dress of every grade of life, workmen and gentlemen, in a double +rank. They are all so wounded that they are back in civil life, but +to-day they are to have some solace for their wounds. They lean heavily +on sticks, their bodies are twisted and maimed, but their faces are +shining with pride and joy. The French General draws his sword and +addresses them. One catches words like 'honneur' and 'patrie.' They +lean forward on their crutches, hanging on every syllable which comes +hissing and rasping from under that heavy white moustache. Then the +medals are pinned on. One poor lad is terribly wounded and needs two +sticks. A little girl runs out with some flowers. He leans forward and +tries to kiss her, but the crutches slip and he nearly falls upon her. +It was a pitiful but beautiful little scene. + +Now the British candidates march up one by one for their medals, hale, +hearty men, brown and fit. There is a smart young officer of Scottish +Rifles; and then a selection of Worcesters, Welsh Fusiliers and Scots +Fusiliers, with one funny little Highlander, a tiny figure with a +soup-bowl helmet, a grinning boy's face beneath it, and a bedraggled +uniform. 'Many acts of great bravery'--such was the record for which he +was decorated. Even the French wounded smiled at his quaint appearance, +as they did at another Briton who had acquired the chewing-gum habit, +and came up for his medal as if he had been called suddenly in the +middle of his dinner, which he was still endeavouring to bolt. Then +came the end, with the National Anthem. The British regiment formed +fours and went past. To me that was the most impressive sight of any. +They were the Queen's West Surreys, a veteran regiment of the great +Ypres battle. What grand fellows! As the order came 'Eyes right,' and +all those fierce, dark faces flashed round about us, I felt the might +of the British infantry, the intense individuality which is not +incompatible with the highest discipline. Much they had endured, but a +great spirit shone from their faces. I confess that as I looked at +those brave English lads, and thought of what we owe to them and to +their like who have passed on, I felt more emotional than befits a +Briton in foreign parts. + + * * * * * + +Now the ceremony was ended, and once again we set out for the front. It +was to an artillery observation post that we were bound, and once again +my description must be bounded by discretion. Suffice it, that in an +hour I found myself, together with a razor-keen young artillery +observer and an excellent old sportsman of a Russian prince, jammed +into a very small space, and staring through a slit at the German +lines. In front of us lay a vast plain, scarred and slashed, with bare +places at intervals, such as you see where gravel pits break a green +common. Not a sign of life or movement, save some wheeling crows. And +yet down there, within a mile or so, is the population of a city. Far +away a single train is puffing at the back of the German lines. We are +here on a definite errand. Away to the right, nearly three miles off, +is a small red house, dim to the eye but clear in the glasses, which is +suspected as a German post. It is to go up this afternoon. The gun is +some distance away, but I hear the telephone directions. '"Mother" will +soon do her in,' remarks the gunner boy cheerfully. 'Mother' is the +name of the gun. 'Give her five six three four,' he cries through the +'phone. 'Mother' utters a horrible bellow from somewhere on our right. +An enormous spout of smoke rises ten seconds later from near the house. +'A little short,' says our gunner. 'Two and a half minutes left,' adds +a little small voice, which represents another observer at a different +angle. 'Raise her seven five,' says our boy encouragingly. 'Mother' +roars more angrily than ever. 'How will that do?' she seems to say. +'One and a half right,' says our invisible gossip. I wonder how the +folk in the house are feeling as the shells creep ever nearer. 'Gun +laid, sir,' says the telephone. 'Fire!' I am looking through my glass. +A flash of fire on the house, a huge pillar of dust and smoke--then it +settles, and an unbroken field is there. The German post has gone up. +'It's a dear little gun,' says the officer boy. 'And her shells are +reliable,' remarked a senior behind us. 'They vary with different +calibres, but "Mother" never goes wrong.' The German line was very +quiet. 'Pourquoi ils ne répondent pas?' asked the Russian prince. 'Yes, +they are quiet to-day,' answered the senior. 'But we get it in the neck +sometimes.' We are all led off to be introduced to 'Mother,' who sits, +squat and black, amid twenty of her grimy children who wait upon and +feed her. She is an important person is 'Mother,' and her importance +grows. It gets clearer with every month that it is she, and only she, +who can lead us to the Rhine. She can and she will if the factories of +Britain can beat those of the Hun. See to it, you working men and women +of Britain. Work now if you rest for ever after, for the fate of Europe +and of all that is dear to us is in your hands. For 'Mother' is a +dainty eater, and needs good food and plenty. She is fond of strange +lodgings, too, in which she prefers safety to dignity. But that is a +dangerous subject. + + * * * * * + +One more experience of this wonderful day--the most crowded with +impressions of my whole life. At night we take a car and drive north, +and ever north, until at a late hour we halt and climb a hill in the +darkness. Below is a wonderful sight. Down on the flats, in a huge +semi-circle, lights are rising and falling. They are very brilliant, +going up for a few seconds and then dying down. Sometimes a dozen are +in the air at one time. There are the dull thuds of explosions and an +occasional rat-tat-tat. I have seen nothing like it, but the nearest +comparison would be an enormous ten-mile railway station in full swing +at night, with signals winking, lamps waving, engines hissing and +carriages bumping. It is a terrible place down yonder, a place which +will live as long as military history is written, for it is the Ypres +Salient. What a salient it is, too! A huge curve, as outlined by the +lights, needing only a little more to be an encirclement. Something +caught the rope as it closed, and that something was the British +soldier. But it is a perilous place still by day and by night. Never +shall I forget the impression of ceaseless, malignant activity which +was borne in upon me by the white, winking lights, the red sudden +glares, and the horrible thudding noises in that place of death beneath +me. + + +II + +In old days we had a great name as organisers. Then came a long period +when we deliberately adopted a policy of individuality and 'go as you +please.' Now once again in our sore need we have called on all our +power of administration and direction. But it has not deserted us. We +still have it in a supreme degree. Even in peace time we have shown it +in that vast, well-oiled, swift-running, noiseless machine called the +British Navy. But now our powers have risen with the need of them. The +expansion of the Navy has been a miracle, the management of the +transport a greater one, the formation of the new Army the greatest of +all time. To get the men was the least of the difficulties. To put them +here, with everything down to the lid of the last field saucepan in its +place, that is the marvel. The tools of the gunners, and of the +sappers, to say nothing of the knowledge of how to use them, are in +themselves a huge problem. But it has all been met and mastered, and +will be to the end. But don't let us talk any more about the muddling +of the War Office. It has become just a little ridiculous. + + * * * * * + +I have told of my first day, when I visited the front trenches, saw the +work of 'Mother,' and finally that marvellous spectacle, the Ypres +Salient at night. I have passed the night at the headquarters of a +divisional-general, Capper, who might truly be called one of the two +fathers of the British flying force, for it was he, with Templer, who +laid the first foundations from which so great an organisation has +arisen. My morning was spent in visiting two fighting brigadiers, +cheery weather-beaten soldiers, respectful, as all our soldiers are, of +the prowess of the Hun, but serenely confident that we can beat him. In +company with one of them I ascended a hill, the reverse slope of which +was swarming with cheerful infantry in every stage of dishabille, for +they were cleaning up after the trenches. Once over the slope we +advanced with some care, and finally reached a certain spot from which +we looked down upon the German line. It was the advanced observation +post, about a thousand yards from the German trenches, with our own +trenches between us. We could see the two lines, sometimes only a few +yards, as it seemed, apart, extending for miles on either side. The +sinister silence and solitude were strangely dramatic. Such vast crowds +of men, such intensity of feeling, and yet only that open rolling +countryside, with never a movement in its whole expanse. + +The afternoon saw us in the Square at Ypres. It is the city of a dream, +this modern Pompeii, destroyed, deserted and desecrated, but with a +sad, proud dignity which made you involuntarily lower your voice as you +passed through the ruined streets. It is a more considerable place than +I had imagined, with many traces of ancient grandeur. No words can +describe the absolute splintered wreck that the Huns have made of it. +The effect of some of the shells has been grotesque. One boiler-plated +water-tower, a thing forty or fifty feet high, was actually standing on +its head like a great metal top. There is not a living soul in the +place save a few pickets of soldiers, and a number of cats which become +fierce and dangerous. Now and then a shell still falls, but the Huns +probably know that the devastation is already complete. + +We stood in the lonely grass-grown Square, once the busy centre of the +town, and we marvelled at the beauty of the smashed cathedral and the +tottering Cloth Hall beside it. Surely at their best they could not +have looked more wonderful than now. If they were preserved even so, +and if a heaven-inspired artist were to model a statue of Belgium in +front, Belgium with one hand pointing to the treaty by which Prussia +guaranteed her safety and the other to the sacrilege behind her, it +would make the most impressive group in the world. It was an evil day +for Belgium when her frontier was violated, but it was a worse one for +Germany. I venture to prophesy that it will be regarded by history as +the greatest military as well as political error that has ever been +made. Had the great guns that destroyed Liége made their first breach +at Verdun, what chance was there for Paris? Those few weeks of warning +and preparation saved France, and left Germany as she now is, like a +weary and furious bull, tethered fast in the place of trespass and +waiting for the inevitable pole-axe. + +We were glad to get out of the place, for the gloom of it lay as heavy +upon our hearts as the shrapnel helmets did upon our heads. Both were +lightened as we sped back past empty and shattered villas to where, +just behind the danger line, the normal life of rural Flanders was +carrying on as usual. A merry sight helped to cheer us, for scudding +down wind above our heads came a Boche aeroplane, with two British at +her tail barking away with their machine guns, like two swift terriers +after a cat. They shot rat-tat-tatting across the sky until we lost +sight of them in the heat haze over the German line. + + * * * * * + +The afternoon saw us on the Sharpenburg, from which many a million will +gaze in days to come, for from no other point can so much be seen. It +is a spot forbid, but a special permit took us up, and the sentry on +duty, having satisfied himself of our bona fides, proceeded to tell us +tales of the war in a pure Hull dialect which might have been Chinese +for all that I could understand. That he was a 'terrier' and had nine +children were the only facts I could lay hold of. But I wished to be +silent and to think--even, perhaps, to pray. Here, just below my feet, +were the spots which our dear lads, three of them my own kith, have +sanctified with their blood. Here, fighting for the freedom of the +world, they cheerily gave their all. On that sloping meadow to the left +of the row of houses on the opposite ridge the London Scottish fought +to the death on that grim November morning when the Bavarians reeled +back from their shot-torn line. That plain away on the other side of +Ypres was the place where the three grand Canadian brigades, first of +all men, stood up to the damnable cowardly gases of the Hun. Down +yonder is Hill 60, that blood-soaked kopje. The ridge over the fields +was held by the cavalry against two army corps, and there where the sun +strikes the red roof among the trees I can just see Gheluveld, a name +for ever to be associated with Haig and the most vital battle of the +war. As I turn away I am faced by my Hull Territorial, who still says +incomprehensible things. I look at him with other eyes. He has fought +on yonder plain. He has slain Huns, and he has nine children. Could any +one better epitomise the duties of a good citizen? I could have found +it in my heart to salute him had I not known that it would have shocked +him and made him unhappy. + +It has been a full day, and the next is even fuller, for it is my +privilege to lunch at Headquarters, and to make the acquaintance of the +Commander-in-chief and of his staff. It would be an invasion of private +hospitality if I were to give the public the impressions which I +carried from that charming château. I am the more sorry, since they +were very vivid and strong. This much I will say--and any man who is a +face reader will not need to have it said--that if the Army stands +still it is not by the will of its commander. There will, I swear, be +no happier man in Europe when the day has come and the hour. It is +human to err, but never possibly can some types err by being backward. +We have a superb army in France. It needs the right leader to handle +it. I came away happier and more confident than ever as to the future. + +Extraordinary are the contrasts of war. Within three hours of leaving +the quiet atmosphere of the Headquarters Château I was present at what +in any other war would have been looked upon as a brisk engagement. As +it was it would certainly figure in one of our desiccated reports as an +activity of the artillery. The noise as we struck the line at this new +point showed that the matter was serious, and, indeed, we had chosen +the spot because it had been the storm centre of the last week. The +method of approach chosen by our experienced guide was in itself a +tribute to the gravity of the affair. As one comes from the settled +order of Flanders into the actual scene of war, the first sign of it is +one of the stationary, sausage-shaped balloons, a chain of which marks +the ring in which the great wrestlers are locked. We pass under this, +ascend a hill, and find ourselves in a garden where for a year no feet +save those of wanderers like ourselves have stood. There is a wild, +confused luxuriance of growth more beautiful to my eye than anything +which the care of man can produce. One old shell-hole of vast diameter +has filled itself with forget-me-nots, and appears as a graceful basin +of light blue flowers, held up as an atonement to heaven for the +brutalities of man. Through the tangled bushes we creep, then across a +yard--'Please stoop and run as you pass this point'--and finally to a +small opening in a wall, whence the battle lies not so much before as +beside us. For a moment we have a front seat at the great world-drama, +God's own problem play, working surely to its magnificent end. One +feels a sort of shame to crouch here in comfort, a useless spectator, +while brave men down yonder are facing that pelting shower of iron. + + * * * * * + +There is a large field on our left rear, and the German gunners have +the idea that there is a concealed battery therein. They are +systematically searching for it. A great shell explodes in the top +corner, but gets nothing more solid than a few tons of clay. You can +read the mind of Gunner Fritz. 'Try the lower corner!' says he, and up +goes the earth-cloud once again. 'Perhaps it's hid about the middle. +I'll try.' Earth again, and nothing more. 'I believe I was right the +first time after all,' says hopeful Fritz. So another shell comes into +the top corner. The field is as full of pits as a Gruyère cheese, but +Fritz gets nothing by his perseverance. Perhaps there never was a +battery there at all. One effect he obviously did attain. He made +several other British batteries exceedingly angry. 'Stop that tickling, +Fritz!' was the burden of their cry. Where they were we could no more +see than Fritz could, but their constant work was very clear along the +German line. We appeared to be using more shrapnel and the Germans more +high explosives, but that may have been just the chance of the day. The +Vimy Ridge was on our right, and before us was the old French position, +with the labyrinth of terrible memories and the long hill of Lorette. +When, last year, the French, in a three weeks' battle, fought their way +up that hill, it was an exhibition of sustained courage which even +their military annals can seldom have beaten. + +And so I turn from the British line. Another and more distant task lies +before me. I come away with the deep sense of the difficult task which +lies before the Army, but with a deeper one of the ability of these men +to do all that soldiers can ever be asked to perform. Let the guns +clear the way for the infantry, and the rest will follow. It all lies +with the guns. But the guns, in turn, depend upon our splendid workers +at home, who, men and women, are doing so grandly. Let them not be +judged by a tiny minority, who are given, perhaps, too much attention +in our journals. We have all made sacrifices in the war, but when the +full story comes to be told, perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all is +that which Labour made when, with a sigh, she laid aside that which it +had taken so many weary years to build. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY + + +One meets with such extreme kindness and consideration among the +Italians that there is a real danger lest one's personal feeling of +obligation should warp one's judgment or hamper one's expression. +Making every possible allowance for this, I come away from them, after +a very wide if superficial view of all that they are doing, with a deep +feeling of admiration and a conviction that no army in the world could +have made a braver attempt to advance under conditions of extraordinary +difficulty. + +First a word as to the Italian soldier. He is a type by himself which +differs from the earnest solidarity of the new French army, and from +the businesslike alertness of the Briton, and yet has a very special +dash and fire of its own, covered over by a very pleasing and +unassuming manner. London has not yet forgotten Durando of Marathon +fame. He was just such another easy smiling youth as I now see +everywhere around me. Yet there came a day when a hundred thousand +Londoners hung upon his every movement--when strong men gasped and +women wept at his invincible but unavailing spirit. When he had fallen +senseless in that historic race on the very threshold of his goal, so +high was the determination within him, that while he floundered on the +track like a broken-backed horse, with the senses gone out of him, his +legs still continued to drum upon the cinder path. Then when by pure +will power he staggered to his feet and drove his dazed body across the +line, it was an exhibition of pluck which put the little sunburned +baker straightway among London's heroes. Durando's spirit is alive +to-day, I see thousands of him all around me. A thousand such, led by a +few young gentlemen of the type who occasionally give us object lessons +in how to ride at Olympia, make no mean battalion. It has been a war +of most desperate ventures, but never once has there been a lack of +volunteers. The Tyrolese are good men--too good to be fighting in so +rotten a cause. But from first to last the Alpini have had the +ascendency in the hill fighting, as the line regiments have against the +Kaiserlics upon the plain. Caesar told how the big Germans used to +laugh at his little men until they had been at handgrips with them. The +Austrians could tell the same tale. The spirit in the ranks is +something marvellous. There have been occasions when every officer has +fallen and yet the men have pushed on, have taken a position and then +waited for official directions. + +But if that is so, you will ask, why is it that they have not made more +impression upon the enemy's position? The answer lies in the +strategical position of Italy, and it can be discussed without any +technicalities. A child could understand it. The Alps form such a bar +across the north that there are only two points where serious +operations are possible. One is the Trentino Salient where Austria can +always threaten and invade Italy. She lies in the mountains with the +plains beneath her. She can always invade the plain, but the Italians +cannot seriously invade the mountains, since the passes would only lead +to other mountains beyond. Therefore their only possible policy is to +hold the Austrians back. This they have most successfully done, and +though the Austrians with the aid of a shattering heavy artillery have +recently made some advance, it is perfectly certain that they can never +really carry out any serious invasion. The Italians then have done all +that could be done in this quarter. There remains the other front, the +opening by the sea. Here the Italians had a chance to advance over a +front of plain bounded by a river with hills beyond. They cleared the +plain, they crossed the river, they fought a battle very like our own +battle of the Aisne upon the slopes of the hills, taking 20,000 +Austrian prisoners, and now they are faced by barbed wire, machine +guns, cemented trenches, and every other device which has held them as +it has held every one else. But remember what they have done for the +common cause and be grateful for it. They have in a year occupied some +forty Austrian divisions, and relieved our Russian allies to that very +appreciable extent. They have killed or wounded a quarter of a million, +taken 40,000, and drawn to themselves a large portion of the artillery. +That is their record up to date. As to the future it is very easy to +prophesy. They will continue to absorb large enemy armies. Neither side +can advance far as matters stand. But if the Russians advance and +Austria has to draw her men to the East, there will be a tiger spring +for Trieste. If manhood can break the line, then I believe the Durandos +will do it. + +'Trieste o morte!' I saw chalked upon the walls all over North Italy. +That is the Italian objective. + +And they are excellently led. Cadorna is an old Roman, a man cast in +the big simple mould of antiquity, frugal in his tastes, clear in his +aims, with no thought outside his duty. Every one loves and trusts him. +Porro, the Chief of the Staff, who was good enough to explain the +strategical position to me, struck me as a man of great clearness of +vision, middle-sized, straight as a dart, with an eagle face grained +and coloured like an old walnut. The whole of the staff work is, as +experts assure me, moot excellently done. + +So much for the general situation. Let me descend for a moment to my +own trivial adventures since leaving the British front. Of France I +hope to say more in the future, and so I will pass at a bound to Padua, +where it appeared that the Austrian front had politely advanced to meet +me, for I was wakened betimes in the morning by the dropping of bombs, +the rattle of anti-aircraft guns, and the distant rat-tat-tat of a +maxim high up in the air. I heard when I came down later that the +intruder had been driven away and that little damage had been done. The +work of the Austrian aeroplanes is, however, very aggressive behind the +Italian lines, for they have the great advantage that a row of fine +cities lies at their mercy, while the Italians can do nothing without +injuring their own kith and kin across the border. This dropping of +explosives on the chance of hitting one soldier among fifty victims +seems to me the most monstrous development of the whole war, and the +one which should be most sternly repressed in future international +legislation--if such a thing as international law still exists. The +Italian headquarter town, which I will call Nemini, was a particular +victim of these murderous attacks. I speak with some feeling, as not +only was the ceiling of my bedroom shattered some days before my +arrival, but a greasy patch with some black shreds upon it was still +visible above my window which represented part of the remains of an +unfortunate workman, who had been blown to pieces immediately in front +of the house. The air defence is very skilfully managed however, and +the Italians have the matter well in hand. + +My first experience of the Italian line was at the portion which I have +called the gap by the sea, otherwise the Isonzo front. From a mound +behind the trenches an extraordinary fine view can be got of the +Austrian position, the general curve of both lines being marked, as in +Flanders, by the sausage balloons which float behind them. The Isonzo, +which has been so bravely carried by the Italians, lay in front of me, +a clear blue river, as broad as the Thames at Hampton Court. In a +hollow to my left were the roofs of Gorizia, the town which the +Italians are endeavouring to take. A long desolate ridge, the Carso, +extends to the south of the town, and stretches down nearly to the sea. +The crest is held by the Austrians and the Italian trenches have been +pushed within fifty yards of them. A lively bombardment was going on +from either side, but so far as the infantry goes there is none of that +constant malignant petty warfare with which we are familiar in +Flanders. I was anxious to see the Italian trenches, in order to +compare them with our British methods, but save for the support and +communication trenches I was courteously but firmly warned off. + +The story of trench attack and defence is no doubt very similar in all +quarters, but I am convinced that close touch should be kept between +the Allies on the matter of new inventions. The quick Latin brain may +conceive and test an idea long before we do. At present there seems to +be very imperfect sympathy. As an example, when I was on the British +lines they were dealing with a method of clearing barbed wire. The +experiments were new and were causing great interest. But on the +Italian front I found that the same system had been tested for many +months. In the use of bullet proof jackets for engineers and other men +who have to do exposed work the Italians are also ahead of us. One of +their engineers at our headquarters might give some valuable advice. At +present the Italians have, as I understand, no military representative +with our armies, while they receive a British General with a small +staff. This seems very wrong not only from the point of view of +courtesy and justice, but also because Italy has no direct means of +knowing the truth about our great development. When Germans state that +our new armies are made of paper, our Allies should have some official +assurance of their own that this is false. I can understand our keeping +neutrals from our headquarters, but surely our Allies should be on +another footing. + +Having got this general view of the position I was anxious in the +afternoon to visit Monfalcone, which is the small dockyard captured +from the Austrians on the Adriatic. My kind Italian officer guides did +not recommend the trip, as it was part of their great hospitality to +shield their guest from any part of that danger which they were always +ready to incur themselves. The only road to Monfalcone ran close to the +Austrian position at the village of Ronchi, and afterwards kept +parallel to it for some miles. I was told that it was only on odd days +that the Austrian guns were active in this particular section, so +determined to trust to luck that this might not be one of them. It +proved, however, to be one of the worst on record, and we were not +destined to see the dockyard to which we started. + +The civilian cuts a ridiculous figure when he enlarges upon small +adventures which may come his way--adventures which the soldier endures +in silence as part of his everyday life. On this occasion, however, the +episode was all our own, and had a sporting flavour in it which made it +dramatic. I know now the feeling of tense expectation with which the +driven grouse whirrs onwards towards the butt. I have been behind the +butt before now, and it is only poetic justice that I should see the +matter from the other point of view. As we approached Ronchi we could +see shrapnel breaking over the road in front of us, but we had not yet +realised that it was precisely for vehicles that the Austrians were +waiting, and that they had the range marked out to a yard. We went down +the road all out at a steady fifty miles an hour. The village was near, +and it seemed that we had got past the place of danger. We had in fact +just reached it. At this moment there was a noise as if the whole four +tyres had gone simultaneously, a most terrific bang in our very ears, +merging into a second sound like a reverberating blow upon an enormous +gong. As I glanced up I saw three clouds immediately above my head, two +of them white and the other of a rusty red. The air was full of flying +metal, and the road, as we were told afterwards by an observer, was all +churned up by it. The metal base of one of the shells was found plumb +in the middle of the road just where our motor had been. There is no +use telling me Austrian gunners can't shoot. I know better. + +It was our pace that saved us. The motor was an open one, and the three +shells burst, according to one of my Italian companions who was himself +an artillery officer, about ten metres above our heads. They threw +forward, however, and we travelling at so great a pace shot from under. +Before they could get in another we had swung round the curve and under +the lee of a house. The good Colonel B. wrung my hand in silence. They +were both distressed, these good soldiers, under the impression that +they had led me into danger. As a matter of fact it was I who owed them +an apology, since they had enough risks in the way of business without +taking others in order to gratify the whim of a joy-rider. Barbariche +and Clericetti, this record will convey to you my remorse. + +Our difficulties were by no means over. We found an ambulance lorry and +a little group of infantry huddled under the same shelter with the +expression of people who had been caught in the rain. The road beyond +was under heavy fire as well as that by which we had come. Had the +Ostro-Boches dropped a high-explosive upon us they would have had a +good mixed bag. But apparently they were only out for fancy shooting +and disdained a sitter. Presently there came a lull and the lorry moved +on, but we soon heard a burst of firing which showed that they were +after it. My companions had decided that it was out of the question for +us to finish our excursion. We waited for some time therefore and were +able finally to make our retreat on foot, being joined later by the +car. So ended my visit to Monfalcone, the place I did not reach. I hear +that two 10,000-ton steamers were left on the stocks there by the +Austrians, but were disabled before they retired. Their cabin basins +and other fittings are now adorning the Italian dug-outs. + +My second day was devoted to a view of the Italian mountain warfare in +the Carnic Alps. Besides the two great fronts, one of defence +(Trentino) and one of offence (Isonzo), there are very many smaller +valleys which have to be guarded. The total frontier line is over four +hundred miles, and it has all to be held against raids if not +invasions. It is a most picturesque business. Far up in the Roccolana +Valley I found the Alpini outposts, backed by artillery which had been +brought into the most wonderful positions. They have taken 8-inch guns +where a tourist could hardly take his knapsack. Neither side can ever +make serious progress, but there are continual duels, gun against gun, +or Alpini against Jaeger. In a little wayside house was the brigade +headquarters, and here I was entertained to lunch. It was a scene that +I shall remember. They drank to England. I raised my glass to Italia +irredenta--might it soon be redenta. They all sprang to their feet and +the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. They keep their souls and +emotions, these people. I trust that ours may not become atrophied by +self-suppression. + +The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary +that we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our +sympathy with what they have done, instead of making querulous and +unreasonable demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult +position. The war is made by their splendid king--a man of whom every +one speaks with extraordinary reverence and love--and by the people. +The people, with the deep instinct of a very old civilisation, +understand that the liberty of the world and their own national +existence are really at stake. But there are several forces which +divide the strength of the nation. There is the clerical, which +represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking upon Austria as the +eldest daughter of the Church--a daughter who is little credit to her +mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, there are the +commercial people who through the great banks or other similar agencies +have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. When you +consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that Britain +should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the national +party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand there +might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international +situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any +way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not, +working for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most +efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities +which an absence of coal and iron entails. It is for us to show that we +appreciate it. Justice as well as policy demands it. + +The last day spent upon the Italian front was in the Trentino. From +Verona a motor drive of about twenty-five miles takes one up the valley +of the Adige, and past a place of evil augury for the Austrians, the +field of Rivoli. As one passes up the valley one appreciates that on +their left wing the Italians have position after position in the spurs +of the mountains before they could be driven into the plain. If the +Austrians could reach the plain it would be to their own ruin, for the +Italians have large reserves. There is no need for any anxiety about +the Trentino. + +The attitude of the people behind the firing line should give one +confidence. I had heard that the Italians were a nervous people. It +does not apply to this part of Italy. As I approached the danger spot I +saw rows of large, fat gentlemen with long thin black cigars leaning +against walls in the sunshine. The general atmosphere would have +steadied an epileptic. Italy is perfectly sure of herself in this +quarter. Finally, after a long drive of winding gradients, always +beside the Adige, we reached Ala, where we interviewed the Commander of +the Sector, a man who has done splendid work during the recent +fighting. 'By all means you can see my front. But no motorcar, please. +It draws fire and others may be hit beside you.' We proceeded on foot +therefore along a valley which branched at the end into two passes. In +both very active fighting had been going on, and as we came up the guns +were baying merrily, waking up most extraordinary echoes in the hills. +It was difficult to believe that it was not thunder. There was one +terrible voice that broke out from time to time in the mountains--the +angry voice of the Holy Roman Empire. When it came all other sounds +died down into nothing. It was--so I was told--the master gun, the vast +42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of Liége and Namur. +The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. The Italians +assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in trench +work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little matter. + +We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred +recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single +shell. There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the +aimed fire was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two +passes above us. That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some +of the worst of the fighting. These two passes form the Italian left +wing which has held firm all through. So has the right wing. It is only +the centre which has been pushed in by the concentrated fire. + +When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were +halted, and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches +which lay upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards +between the adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and +Croatian prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the +Italians speak with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians +and of the Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them +however, and especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig +trenches under fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were +recaptured and were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the +whole, however, it may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is +nothing which corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western +conflict. The presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference. + +Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements +on the Trentino front. There are no troops who would not have been +forced back by the Austrian fire. It corresponded with the French +experience at Verdun, or ours at the second battle of Ypres. It may +well occur again if the Austrians get their guns forward. But at such a +rate it would take them a long time to make any real impression. One +cannot look at the officers and men without seeing that their spirit +and confidence are high. In answer to my inquiry they assure me that +there is little difference between the troops of the northern provinces +and those of the south. Even among the snows of the Alps they tell me +that the Sicilians gave an excellent account of themselves. + +That night found me back at Verona, and next morning I was on my way to +Paris, where I hope to be privileged to have some experiences at the +front of our splendid Allies. I leave Italy with a deep feeling of +gratitude for the kindness shown to me, and of admiration for the way +in which they are playing their part in the world's fight for freedom. +They have every possible disadvantage, economic and political. But in +spite of it they have done splendidly. Three thousand square kilometres +of the enemy's country are already in their possession. They relieve to +a very great extent the pressure upon the Russians, who, in spite of +all their bravery, might have been overwhelmed last summer during the +'durchbruch' had it not been for the diversion of so many Austrian +troops. The time has come now when Russia by her advance on the Pripet +is repaying her debt. But the debt is common to all the Allies. Let +them bear it in mind. There has been mischief done by slighting +criticism and by inconsiderate words. A warm sympathetic hand-grasp of +congratulation is what Italy has deserved, and it is both justice and +policy to give it. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE + + +I + +The French soldiers are grand. They are grand. There is no other word +to express it. It is not merely their bravery. All races have shown +bravery in this war. But it is their solidity, their patience, their +nobility. I could not conceive anything finer than the bearing of their +officers. It is proud without being arrogant, stern without being +fierce, serious without being depressed. Such, too, are the men whom +they lead with such skill and devotion. Under the frightful +hammer-blows of circumstance, the national characters seem to have been +reversed. It is our British soldier who has become debonair, +light-hearted and reckless, while the Frenchman has developed a solemn +stolidity and dour patience which was once all our own. During a long +day in the French trenches, I have never once heard the sound of music +or laughter, nor have I once seen a face that was not full of the most +grim determination. + +Germany set out to bleed France white. Well, she has done so. France is +full of widows and orphans from end to end. Perhaps in proportion to +her population she has suffered the most of all. But in carrying out +her hellish mission Germany has bled herself white also. Her heavy +sword has done its work, but the keen French rapier has not lost its +skill. France will stand at last, weak and tottering, with her huge +enemy dead at her feet. But it is a fearsome business to see--such a +business as the world never looked upon before. It is fearful for the +French. It is fearful for the Germans. May God's curse rest upon the +arrogant men and the unholy ambitions which let loose this horror upon +humanity! Seeing what they have done, and knowing that they have done +it, one would think that mortal brain would grow crazy under the +weight. Perhaps the central brain of all was crazy from the first. But +what sort of government is it under which one crazy brain can wreck +mankind! + +If ever one wanders into the high places of mankind, the places whence +the guidance should come, it seems to me that one has to recall the +dying words of the Swedish Chancellor who declared that the folly of +those who governed was what had amazed him most in his experience of +life. Yesterday I met one of these men of power--M. Clemenceau, once +Prime Minister, now the destroyer of governments. He is by nature a +destroyer, incapable of rebuilding what he has pulled down. With his +personal force, his eloquence, his thundering voice, his bitter pen, he +could wreck any policy, but would not even trouble to suggest an +alternative. As he sat before me with his face of an old prizefighter +(he is remarkably like Jim Mace as I can remember him in his later +days), his angry grey eyes and his truculent, mischievous smile, he +seemed to me a very dangerous man. His conversation, if a squirt on one +side and Niagara on the other can be called conversation, was directed +for the moment upon the iniquity of the English rate of exchange, which +seemed to me very much like railing against the barometer. My +companion, who has forgotten more economics than ever Clemenceau knew, +was about to ask whether France was prepared to take the rouble at face +value, but the roaring voice, like a strong gramophone with a blunt +needle, submerged all argument. We have our dangerous men, but we have +no one in the same class as Clemenceau. Such men enrage the people who +know them, alarm the people who don't, set every one by the ears, act +as a healthy irritant in days of peace, and are a public danger in days +of war. + + * * * * * + +But this is digression. I had set out to say something of a day's +experience of the French front, though I shall write with a fuller pen +when I return from the Argonne. It was for Soissons that we made, +passing on the way a part of the scene of our own early operations, +including the battlefield of Villers Cotteret--just such a wood as I +had imagined. My companion's nephew was one of those Guards' officers +whose bodies rest now in the village cemetery, with a little British +Jack still flying above them. They lie together, and their grave is +tended with pious care. Among the trees beside the road were other +graves of soldiers, buried where they had fallen. 'So look around--and +choose your ground--and take your rest.' + +Soissons is a considerable wreck, though it is very far from being an +Ypres. But the cathedral would, and will, make many a patriotic +Frenchman weep. These savages cannot keep their hands off a beautiful +church. Here, absolutely unchanged through the ages, was the spot where +St. Louis had dedicated himself to the Crusade. Every stone of it was +holy. And now the lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the +roof lies in a huge heap across the central aisle. A dog was climbing +over it as we entered. No wonder the French fight well. Such sights +would drive the mildest man to desperation. The abbé, a good priest, +with a large humorous face, took us over his shattered domain. He was +full of reminiscences of the German occupation of the place. One of his +personal anecdotes was indeed marvellous. It was that a lady in the +local ambulance had vowed to kiss the first French soldier who +re-entered the town. She did so, and it proved to be her husband. The +abbé is a good, kind, truthful man--but he has a humorous face. + +A walk down a ruined street brings one to the opening of the trenches. +There are marks upon the walls of the German occupation. +'Berlin--Paris,' with an arrow of direction, adorns one corner. At +another the 76th Regiment have commemorated the fact that they were +there in 1870 and again in 1914. If the Soissons folk are wise they +will keep these inscriptions as a reminder to the rising generation. I +can imagine, however, that their inclination will be to whitewash, +fumigate, and forget. + +A sudden turn among some broken walls takes one into the communication +trench. Our guide is a Commandant of the Staff, a tall, thin man with +hard, grey eyes and a severe face. It is the more severe towards us as +I gather that he has been deluded into the belief that about one out of +six of our soldiers goes to the trenches. For the moment he is not +friends with the English. As we go along, however, we gradually get +upon better terms, we discover a twinkle in the hard, grey eyes, and +the day ends with an exchange of walking-sticks and a renewal of the +Entente. May my cane grow into a marshal's baton. + + * * * * * + +A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of +trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of +compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the +Germans going on high over our heads. The trenches are boarded at the +sides, and have a more permanent look than those of Flanders. Presently +we meet a fine, brown-faced, upstanding boy, as keen as a razor, who +commands this particular section. A little further on a helmeted +captain of infantry, who is an expert sniper, joins our little party. +Now we are at the very front trench. I had expected to see primeval +men, bearded and shaggy. But the 'Poilus' have disappeared. The men +around me were clean and dapper to a remarkable degree. I gathered, +however, that they had their internal difficulties. On one board I read +an old inscription, 'He is a Boche, but he is the inseparable companion +of a French soldier.' Above was a rude drawing of a louse. + +I am led to a cunning loop-hole, and have a glimpse through it of a +little framed picture of French countryside. There are fields, a road, +a sloping hill beyond with trees. Quite close, about thirty or forty +yards away, was a low, red-tiled house. 'They are there,' said our +guide. 'That is their outpost. We can hear them cough.' Only the guns +were coughing that morning, so we heard nothing, but it was certainly +wonderful to be so near to the enemy and yet in such peace. I suppose +wondering visitors from Berlin are brought up also to hear the French +cough. Modern warfare has certainly some extraordinary sides. + +Now we are shown all the devices which a year of experience has +suggested to the quick brains of our Allies. It is ground upon which +one cannot talk with freedom. Every form of bomb, catapult, and trench +mortar was ready to hand. Every method of cross-fire had been thought +out to an exact degree. There was something, however, about their +disposition of a machine gun which disturbed the Commandant. He called +for the officer of the gun. His thin lips got thinner and his grey eyes +more austere as we waited. Presently there emerged an extraordinarily +handsome youth, dark as a Spaniard, from some rabbit hole. He faced the +Commandant bravely, and answered back with respect but firmness. +'Pourquoi?' asked the Commandant, and yet again 'Pourquoi?' Adonis had +an answer for everything. Both sides appealed to the big Captain of +Snipers, who was clearly embarrassed. He stood on one leg and scratched +his chin. Finally the Commandant turned away angrily in the midst of +one of Adonis' voluble sentences. His face showed that the matter was +not ended. War is taken very seriously in the French army, and any sort +of professional mistake is very quickly punished. I have been told how +many officers of high rank have been broken by the French during the +war. The figure was a very high one. There is no more forgiveness for +the beaten General than there was in the days of the Republic when the +delegate of the National Convention, with a patent portable guillotine, +used to drop in at headquarters to support a more vigorous offensive. + + * * * * * + +As I write these lines there is a burst of bugles in the street, and I +go to my open window to see the 41st of the line march down into what +may develop into a considerable battle. How I wish they could march +down the Strand even as they are. How London would rise to them! Laden +like donkeys, with a pile upon their backs and very often both hands +full as well, they still get a swing into their march which it is good +to see. They march in column of platoons, and the procession is a long +one, for a French regiment is, of course, equal to three battalions. +The men are shortish, very thick, burned brown in the sun, with never a +smile among them--have I not said that they are going down to a grim +sector?--but with faces of granite. There was a time when we talked of +stiffening the French army. I am prepared to believe that our first +expeditionary force was capable of stiffening any conscript army, for I +do not think that a finer force ever went down to battle. But to talk +about stiffening these people now would be ludicrous. You might as well +stiffen the old Guard. There may be weak regiments somewhere, but I +have never seen them. + +I think that an injustice has been done to the French army by the +insistence of artists and cinema operators upon the picturesque +Colonial corps. One gets an idea that Arabs and negroes are pulling +France out of the fire. It is absolutely false. Her own brave sons are +doing the work. The Colonial element is really a very small one--so +small that I have not seen a single unit during all my French +wanderings. The Colonials are good men, but like our splendid +Highlanders they catch the eye in a way which is sometimes a little +hard upon their neighbours. When there is hard work to be done it is +the good little French piou-piou who usually has to do it. There is no +better man in Europe. If we are as good--and I believe we are--it is +something to be proud of. + + * * * * * + +But I have wandered far from the trenches of Soissons. It had come on +to rain heavily, and we were forced to take refuge in the dugout of the +sniper. Eight of us sat in the deep gloom huddled closely together. The +Commandant was still harping upon that ill-placed machine gun. He could +not get over it. My imperfect ear for French could not follow all his +complaints, but some defence of the offender brought forth a 'Jamais! +Jamais! Jamais!' which was rapped out as if it came from the gun +itself. There were eight of us in an underground burrow, and some were +smoking. Better a deluge than such an atmosphere as that. But if there +is a thing upon earth which the French officer shies at it is rain and +mud. The reason is that he is extraordinarily natty in his person. His +charming blue uniform, his facings, his brown gaiters, boots and belts +are always just as smart as paint. He is the Dandy of the European war. +I noticed officers in the trenches with their trousers carefully +pressed. It is all to the good, I think. Wellington said that the +dandies made his best officers. It is difficult for the men to get +rattled or despondent when they see the debonair appearance of their +leaders. + +Among the many neat little marks upon the French uniforms which +indicate with precision but without obtrusion the rank and arm of the +wearer, there was one which puzzled me. It was to be found on the left +sleeve of men of all ranks, from generals to privates, and it consisted +of small gold chevrons, one, two, or more. No rule seemed to regulate +them, for the general might have none, and I have heard of the private +who wore ten. Then I solved the mystery. They are the record of wounds +received. What an admirable idea! Surely we should hasten to introduce +it among our own soldiers. It costs little and it means much. If you +can allay the smart of a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting +honour to the man among his fellows, then surely it should be done. +Medals, too, are more freely distributed and with more public parade +than in our service. I am convinced that the effect is good. + + * * * * * + +The rain has now stopped, and we climb from our burrow. Again we are +led down that endless line of communication trench, again we stumble +through the ruins, again we emerge into the street where our cars are +awaiting us. Above our heads the sharp artillery duel is going merrily +forward. The French are firing three or four to one, which has been my +experience at every point I have touched upon the Allied front. Thanks +to the extraordinary zeal of the French workers, especially of the +French women, and to the clever adaptation of machinery by their +engineers, their supplies are abundant. Even now they turn out more +shells a day than we do. That, however, excludes our supply for the +Fleet. But it is one of the miracles of the war that the French, with +their coal and iron in the hands of the enemy, have been able to equal +the production of our great industrial centres. The steel, of course, +is supplied by us. To that extent we can claim credit for the result. + +And so, after the ceremony of the walking-sticks, we bid adieu to the +lines of Soissons. To-morrow we start for a longer tour to the more +formidable district of the Argonne, the neighbour of Verdun, and itself +the scene of so much that is glorious and tragic. + + + +II. + +There is a couplet of Stevenson's which haunts me, 'There fell a war in +a woody place--in a land beyond the sea.' I have just come back from +spending three wonderful dream days in that woody place. It lies with +the open, bosky country of Verdun on its immediate right, and the chalk +downs of Champagne upon its left. If one could imagine the lines being +taken right through our New Forest or the American Adirondacks it would +give some idea of the terrain, save that it is a very undulating +country of abrupt hills and dales. It is this peculiarity which has +made the war on this front different to any other, more picturesque and +more secret. In front the fighting lines are half in the clay soil, +half behind the shelter of fallen trunks. Between the two the main bulk +of the soldiers live like animals of the woodlands, burrowing on the +hillsides and among the roots of the trees. It is a war by itself, and +a very wonderful one to see. At three different points I have visited +the front in this broad region, wandering from the lines of one army +corps to that of another. In all three I found the same conditions, and +in all three I found also the same pleasing fact which I had discovered +at Soissons, that the fire of the French was at least five, and very +often ten shots to one of the Boche. It used not to be so. The Germans +used to scrupulously return shot for shot. But whether they have moved +their guns to the neighbouring Verdun, or whether, as is more likely, +all the munitions are going there, it is certain that they were very +outclassed upon the three days (June 10, 11, 12) which I allude to. +There were signs that for some reason their spirits were at a low ebb. +On the evening before our arrival the French had massed all their bands +at the front, and, in honour of the Russian victory, had played the +Marseillaise and the Russian National hymn, winding up with general +shoutings and objurgations calculated to annoy. Failing to stir up the +Boche, they had ended by a salute from a hundred shotted guns. After +trailing their coats up and down the line they had finally to give up +the attempt to draw the enemy. Want of food may possibly have caused a +decline in the German spirit. There is some reason to believe that they +feed up their fighting men at the places like Verdun or Hooge, where +they need all their energy, at the expense of the men who are on the +defensive. If so, we may find it out when we attack. The French +officers assured me that the prisoners and deserters made bitter +complaints of their scale of rations. And yet it is hard to believe +that the fine efforts of our enemy at Verdun are the work of +half-starved men. + + * * * * * + +To return to my personal impressions, it was at Chalons that we left +the Paris train--a town which was just touched by the most forward +ripple of the first great German floodtide. A drive of some twenty +miles took us to St. Menehould, and another ten brought us to the front +in the sector of Divisional-General H. A fine soldier this, and heaven +help Germany if he and his division get within its borders, for he is, +as one can see at a glance, a man of iron who has been goaded to +fierceness by all that his beloved country has endured. He is a man of +middle size, swarthy, hawk-like, very abrupt in his movements, with two +steel grey eyes, which are the most searching that mine have ever met. +His hospitality and courtesy to us were beyond all bounds, but there is +another side to him, and it is one which it is wiser not to provoke. In +person he took us to his lines, passing through the usual shot-torn +villages behind them. Where the road dips down into the great forest +there is one particular spot which is visible to the German artillery +observers. The General mentioned it at the time, but his remark seemed +to have no personal interest. We understood it better on our return in +the evening. + +Now we found ourselves in the depths of the woods, primeval woods of +oak and beech in the deep clay soil that the great oak loves. There had +been rain and the forest paths were ankle deep in mire. Everywhere, to +right and left, soldiers' faces, hard and rough from a year of open +air, gazed up at us from their burrows in the ground. Presently an +alert, blue-clad figure stood in the path to greet us. It was the +Colonel of the sector. He was ridiculously like Cyrano de Bergerac as +depicted by the late M. Coquelin, save that his nose was of more +moderate proportion. The ruddy colouring, the bristling feline +full-ended moustache, the solidity of pose, the backward tilt of the head, +the general suggestion of the bantam cock, were all there facing us as +he stood amid the leaves in the sunlight. Gauntlets and a long +rapier--nothing else was wanting. Something had amused Cyrano. His +moustache quivered with suppressed mirth, and his blue eyes were +demurely gleaming. Then the joke came out. He had spotted a German +working party, his guns had concentrated on it, and afterwards he had +seen the stretchers go forward. A grim joke, it may seem. But the +French see this war from a different angle to us. If we had the Boche +sitting on our heads for two years, and were not yet quite sure whether +we could ever get him off again, we should get Cyrano's point of view. +Those of us who have had our folk murdered by Zeppelins or tortured in +German prisons have probably got it already. + + * * * * * + +We passed in a little procession among the French soldiers, and viewed +their multifarious arrangements. For them we were a little break in a +monotonous life, and they formed up in lines as we passed. My own +British uniform and the civilian dresses of my two companions +interested them. As the General passed these groups, who formed +themselves up in perhaps a more familiar manner than would have been +usual in the British service, he glanced kindly at them with those +singular eyes of his, and once or twice addressed them as 'Mes +enfants.' One might conceive that all was 'go as you please' among the +French. So it is as long as you go in the right way. When you stray +from it you know it. As we passed a group of men standing on a low +ridge which overlooked us there was a sudden stop. I gazed round. The +General's face was steel and cement. The eyes were cold and yet fiery, +sunlight upon icicles. Something had happened. Cyrano had sprung to his +side. His reddish moustache had shot forward beyond his nose, and it +bristled out like that of an angry cat. Both were looking up at the +group above us. One wretched man detached himself from his comrades and +sidled down the slope. No skipper and mate of a Yankee blood boat could +have looked more ferociously at a mutineer. And yet it was all over +some minor breach of discipline which was summarily disposed of by two +days of confinement. Then in an instant the faces relaxed, there was a +general buzz of relief and we were back at 'Mes enfants' again. But +don't make any mistake as to discipline in the French army. + +Trenches are trenches, and the main specialty of these in the Argonne +is that they are nearer to the enemy. In fact there are places where +they interlock, and where the advanced posts lie cheek by jowl with a +good steel plate to cover both cheek and jowl. We were brought to a +sap-head where the Germans were at the other side of a narrow forest +road. Had I leaned forward with extended hand and a Boche done the same +we could have touched. I looked across, but saw only a tangle of wire +and sticks. Even whispering was not permitted in these forward posts. + + * * * * * + +When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all +to his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side +of a hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin +with the air of a seigneur in his château. There was little furniture, +but from some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which +adorned his grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in +her traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch +in the picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once, +nor shall I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within +my memory. Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of +the Argonne, his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his +red moustache bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out +of the past of France. + +That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier, +General A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division. +Each of these French generals has a striking individuality of his own +which I wish I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that +each seems to be a rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a +touch of d'Artagnan. He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with +huge, up-curling moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It +is a grand figure which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace +collar, hand on sword, and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but +a stern and hard soldier was lurking behind the smiles. His name may +appear in history, and so may Humbert's, who rules all the army of +which the other's corps is a unit. Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure, +small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short, +sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with +electricity in moments of excitement like a cat's fur. What he does or +says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like +pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with +his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu'il est un +soldat dans l'armée Anglaise?' The whole table waited in an awful hush. +'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour service.' +There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an +awkward place. + +And talking of awkward places, I had forgotten about that spot upon the +road whence the Boche observer could see our motor-cars. He had +actually laid a gun upon it, the rascal, and waited all the long day +for our return. No sooner did we appear upon the slope than a shrapnel +shell burst above us, but somewhat behind me, as well as to the left. +Had it been straight the second car would have got it, and there might +have been a vacancy in one of the chief editorial chairs in London. The +General shouted to the driver to speed up, and we were soon safe from +the German gunners. One gets perfectly immune to noises in these +scenes, for the guns which surround you make louder crashes than any +shell which bursts about you. It is only when you actually see the +cloud over you that your thoughts come back to yourself, and that you +realise that in this wonderful drama you may be a useless super, but +none the less you are on the stage and not in the stalls. + + * * * * * + +Next morning we were down in the front trenches again at another +portion of the line. Far away on our right, from a spot named the +Observatory, we could see the extreme left of the Verdun position and +shells bursting on the Fille Morte. To the north of us was a broad +expanse of sunny France, nestling villages, scattered châteaux, rustic +churches, and all as inaccessible as if it were the moon. It is a +terrible thing this German bar--a thing unthinkable to Britons. To +stand on the edge of Yorkshire and look into Lancashire feeling that it +is in other hands, that our fellow-countrymen are suffering there and +waiting, waiting, for help, and that we cannot, after two years, come a +yard nearer to them--would it not break our hearts? Can I wonder that +there is no smile upon the grim faces of these Frenchmen! But when the +bar is broken, when the line sweeps forward, as most surely it will, +when French bayonets gleam on yonder uplands and French flags break +from those village spires--ah, what a day that will be! Men will die +that day from the pure, delirious joy of it. We cannot think what it +means to France, and the less so because she stands so nobly patient +waiting for her hour. + +Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He, +too, is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large +broad good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze +gently into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice. +Such is one of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of +Division D. His former staff officers told me something of the man. He +is a philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant +dreams amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French +assault upon the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade +which he then commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans +with the detached air of the man of science who is hunting for +specimens. In whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his +cloth spread and decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If +fate be kind to him he will go far. Apart from his valour he is +admitted to be one of the most scientific soldiers of France. + +From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There +had been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It +was a very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was +passed back to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over +our heads. My word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he +Boche, French or British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the +shells was awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind, +and then thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench +was a line of terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all +was still. Where were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried +beneath it? Or had they got from under? No one could say. + +There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time +watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved +it, and touched it with a swift but tender touch in every movement. +When it was fired it ran up an inclined plane to take off the recoil, +rushing up and then turning and rattling down again upon the gunners +who were used to its ways. The first time it did it, I was standing +behind it, and I don't know which moved quickest--the gun or I. + +French officers above a certain rank develop and show their own +individuality. In the lower grades the conditions of service enforce a +certain uniformity. The British officer is a British gentleman first, +and an officer afterwards. The Frenchman is an officer first, though +none the less the gentleman stands behind it. One very strange type we +met, however, in these Argonne Woods. He was a French-Canadian who had +been a French soldier, had founded a homestead in far Alberta, and had +now come back of his own will, though a naturalised Briton, to the old +flag. He spoke English of a kind, the quality and quantity being +equally extraordinary. It poured from him and was, so far as it was +intelligible, of the woolly Western variety. His views on the Germans +were the most emphatic we had met. 'These Godam sons of'--well, let us +say 'Canines!' he would shriek, shaking his fist at the woods to the +north of him. A good man was our compatriot, for he had a very recent +Legion of Honour pinned upon his breast. He had been put with a few men +on Hill 285, a sort of volcano stuffed with mines, and was told to +telephone when he needed relief. He refused to telephone and remained +there for three weeks. 'We sit like a rabbit in his hall,' he +explained. He had only one grievance. There were many wild boars in the +forest, but the infantry were too busy to get them. 'The Godam +Artillaree he get the wild pig!' Out of his pocket he pulled a picture +of a frame-house with snow round it, and a lady with two children on +the stoop. It was his homestead at Trochu, seventy miles north of +Calgary. + + * * * * * + +It was the evening of the third day that we turned our faces to Paris +once more. It was my last view of the French. The roar of their guns +went far with me upon my way. Soldiers of France, farewell! In your own +phrase I salute you! Many have seen you who had more knowledge by which +to judge your manifold virtues, many also who had more skill to draw +you as you are, but never one, I am sure, who admired you more than I. +Great was the French soldier under Louis the Sun-King, great too under +Napoleon, but never was he greater than to-day. + +And so it is back to England and to home. I feel sobered and solemn +from all that I have seen. It is a blind vision which does not see more +than the men and the guns, which does not catch something of the +terrific spiritual conflict which is at the heart of it. + + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord + --He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored. + +We have found no inspired singer yet, like Julia Howe, to voice the +divine meaning of it all--that meaning which is more than numbers or +guns upon the day of battle. But who can see the adult manhood of +Europe standing in a double line, waiting for a signal to throw +themselves upon each other, without knowing that he has looked upon the +most terrific of all the dealings between the creature below and that +great force above, which works so strangely towards some distant but +glorious end? + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Visit to Three Fronts, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + +***** This file should be named 9874-8.txt or 9874-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/7/9874/ + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Visit to Three Fronts + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9874] +First Posted: October 26, 2003 +Last Updated: December 10, 2018 + + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously +made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France +(BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS + </h1> + <h3> + June 1916 + </h3> + <h2> + By Arthur Conan Doyle + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + In the course of May 1916, the Italian authorities expressed a desire that + some independent observer from Great Britain should visit their lines and + report his impressions. It was at the time when our brave and capable + allies had sustained a set-back in the Trentino owing to a sudden + concentration of the Austrians, supported by very heavy artillery. I was + asked to undertake this mission. In order to carry it out properly, I + stipulated that I should be allowed to visit the British lines first, so + that I might have some standard of comparison. The War Office kindly + assented to my request. Later I obtained permission to pay a visit to the + French front as well. Thus it was my great good fortune, at the very + crisis of the war, to visit the battle line of each of the three great + Western allies. I only wish that it had been within my power to complete + my experiences in this seat of war by seeing the gallant little Belgian + army which has done so remarkably well upon the extreme left wing of the + hosts of freedom. + </p> + <p> + My experiences and impressions are here set down, and may have some small + effect in counteracting those mischievous misunderstandings and mutual + belittlements which are eagerly fomented by our cunning enemy. + </p> + <p> + Arthur Conan Doyle. + </p> + <p> + Crowborough, + </p> + <p> + July 1916. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY + </h2> + <h3> + I + </h3> + <p> + It is not an easy matter to write from the front. You know that there are + several courteous but inexorable gentlemen who may have a word in the + matter, and their presence 'imparts but small ease to the style.' But + above all you have the twin censors of your own conscience and common + sense, which assure you that, if all other readers fail you, you will + certainly find a most attentive one in the neighbourhood of the + Haupt-Quartier. An instructive story is still told of how a certain + well-meaning traveller recorded his satisfaction with the appearance of + the big guns at the retiring and peaceful village of Jamais, and how three + days later, by an interesting coincidence, the village of Jamais passed + suddenly off the map and dematerialised into brickdust and splinters. + </p> + <p> + I have been with soldiers on the warpath before, but never have I had a + day so crammed with experiences and impressions as yesterday. Some of them + at least I can faintly convey to the reader, and if they ever reach the + eye of that gentleman at the Haupt-Quartier they will give him little joy. + For the crowning impression of all is the enormous imperturbable + confidence of the Army and its extraordinary efficiency in organisation, + administration, material, and personnel. I met in one day a sample of many + types, an Army commander, a corps commander, two divisional commanders, + staff officers of many grades, and, above all, I met repeatedly the two + very great men whom Britain has produced, the private soldier and the + regimental officer. Everywhere and on every face one read the same spirit + of cheerful bravery. Even the half-mad cranks whose absurd consciences + prevent them from barring the way to the devil seemed to me to be turning + into men under the prevailing influence. I saw a batch of them, neurotic + and largely be-spectacled, but working with a will by the roadside. They + will volunteer for the trenches yet. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + If there are pessimists among us they are not to be found among the men + who are doing the work. There is no foolish bravado, no under-rating of a + dour opponent, but there is a quick, alert, confident attention to the job + in hand which is an inspiration to the observer. These brave lads are + guarding Britain in the present. See to it that Britain guards them in the + future! We have a bad record in this matter. It must be changed. They are + the wards of the nation, both officers and men. Socialism has never had an + attraction for me, but I should be a Socialist to-morrow if I thought that + to ease a tax on wealth these men should ever suffer for the time or + health that they gave to the public cause. + </p> + <p> + 'Get out of the car. Don't let it stay here. It may be hit.' These words + from a staff officer give you the first idea that things are going to + happen. Up to then you might have been driving through the black country + in the Walsall district with the population of Aldershot let loose upon + its dingy roads. 'Put on this shrapnel helmet. That hat of yours would + infuriate the Boche'—this was an unkind allusion to the only uniform + which I have a right to wear. 'Take this gas helmet. You won't need it, + but it is a standing order. Now come on!' + </p> + <p> + We cross a meadow and enter a trench. Here and there it comes to the + surface again where there is dead ground. At one such point an old church + stands, with an unexploded shell sticking out of the wall. A century hence + folk will journey to see that shell. Then on again through an endless + cutting. It is slippery clay below. I have no nails in my boots, an iron + pot on my head, and the sun above me. I will remember that walk. Ten + telephone wires run down the side. Here and there large thistles and other + plants grow from the clay walls, so immobile have been our lines. + Occasionally there are patches of untidiness. 'Shells,' says the officer + laconically. There is a racket of guns before us and behind, especially + behind, but danger seems remote with all these Bairnfather groups of + cheerful Tommies at work around us. I pass one group of grimy, tattered + boys. A glance at their shoulders shows me that they are of a public + school battalion. 'I thought you fellows were all officers now,' I + remarked. 'No, sir, we like it better so.' 'Well, it will be a great + memory for you. We are all in your debt.' + </p> + <p> + They salute, and we squeeze past them. They had the fresh, brown faces of + boy cricketers. But their comrades were men of a different type, with + hard, strong, rugged features, and the eyes of men who have seen strange + sights. These are veterans, men of Mons, and their young pals of the + public schools have something to live up to. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Up to this we have only had two clay walls to look at. But now our + interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British + aeroplane sailing overhead. Numerous shrapnel bursts are all round it, but + she floats on serenely, a thing of delicate beauty against the blue + background. Now another passes—and yet another. All morning we saw + them circling and swooping, and never a sign of a Boche. They tell me it + is nearly always so—that we hold the air, and that the Boche + intruder, save at early morning, is a rare bird. A visit to the line would + reassure Mr. Pemberton-Billing. 'We have never met a British aeroplane + which was not ready to fight,' said a captured German aviator the other + day. There is a fine stern courtesy between the airmen on either side, + each dropping notes into the other's aerodromes to tell the fate of + missing officers. Had the whole war been fought by the Germans as their + airmen have conducted it (I do not speak of course of the Zeppelin + murderers), a peace would eventually have been more easily arranged. As it + is, if every frontier could be settled, it would be a hard thing to stop + until all that is associated with the words Cavell, Zeppelin, Wittenberg, + Lusitania, and Louvain has been brought to the bar of the world's Justice. + </p> + <p> + And now we are there—in what is surely the most wonderful spot in + the world, the front firing trench, the outer breakwater which holds back + the German tide. How strange that this monstrous oscillation of giant + forces, setting in from east to west, should find their equilibrium here + across this particular meadow of Flanders. 'How far?' I ask. '180 yards,' + says my guide. 'Pop!' remarks a third person just in front. 'A sniper,' + says my guide; 'take a look through the periscope.' I do so. There is some + rusty wire before me, then a field sloping slightly upwards with knee-deep + grass, then rusty wire again, and a red line of broken earth. There is not + a sign of movement, but sharp eyes are always watching us, even as these + crouching soldiers around me are watching them. There are dead Germans in + the grass before us. You need not see them to know that they are there. A + wounded soldier sits in a corner nursing his leg. Here and there men pop + out like rabbits from dug-outs and mine-shafts. Others sit on the + fire-step or lean smoking against the clay wall. Who would dream to look + at their bold, careless faces that this is a front line, and that at any + moment it is possible that a grey wave may submerge them? With all their + careless bearing I notice that every man has his gas helmet and his rifle + within easy reach. + </p> + <p> + A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that weary + walk. Then I am whisked off upon a ten mile drive. There is a pause for + lunch at Corps Headquarters, and after it we are taken to a medal + presentation in a market square. Generals Munro, Haking and Landon, famous + fighting soldiers all three, are the British representatives. Munro with a + ruddy face, and brain above all bulldog below; Haking, pale, + distinguished, intellectual; Landon a pleasant, genial country squire. An + elderly French General stands beside them. + </p> + <p> + British infantry keep the ground. In front are about fifty Frenchmen in + civil dress of every grade of life, workmen and gentlemen, in a double + rank. They are all so wounded that they are back in civil life, but to-day + they are to have some solace for their wounds. They lean heavily on + sticks, their bodies are twisted and maimed, but their faces are shining + with pride and joy. The French General draws his sword and addresses them. + One catches words like 'honneur' and 'patrie.' They lean forward on their + crutches, hanging on every syllable which comes hissing and rasping from + under that heavy white moustache. Then the medals are pinned on. One poor + lad is terribly wounded and needs two sticks. A little girl runs out with + some flowers. He leans forward and tries to kiss her, but the crutches + slip and he nearly falls upon her. It was a pitiful but beautiful little + scene. + </p> + <p> + Now the British candidates march up one by one for their medals, hale, + hearty men, brown and fit. There is a smart young officer of Scottish + Rifles; and then a selection of Worcesters, Welsh Fusiliers and Scots + Fusiliers, with one funny little Highlander, a tiny figure with a + soup-bowl helmet, a grinning boy's face beneath it, and a bedraggled + uniform. 'Many acts of great bravery'—such was the record for which + he was decorated. Even the French wounded smiled at his quaint appearance, + as they did at another Briton who had acquired the chewing-gum habit, and + came up for his medal as if he had been called suddenly in the middle of + his dinner, which he was still endeavouring to bolt. Then came the end, + with the National Anthem. The British regiment formed fours and went past. + To me that was the most impressive sight of any. They were the Queen's + West Surreys, a veteran regiment of the great Ypres battle. What grand + fellows! As the order came 'Eyes right,' and all those fierce, dark faces + flashed round about us, I felt the might of the British infantry, the + intense individuality which is not incompatible with the highest + discipline. Much they had endured, but a great spirit shone from their + faces. I confess that as I looked at those brave English lads, and thought + of what we owe to them and to their like who have passed on, I felt more + emotional than befits a Briton in foreign parts. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Now the ceremony was ended, and once again we set out for the front. It + was to an artillery observation post that we were bound, and once again my + description must be bounded by discretion. Suffice it, that in an hour I + found myself, together with a razor-keen young artillery observer and an + excellent old sportsman of a Russian prince, jammed into a very small + space, and staring through a slit at the German lines. In front of us lay + a vast plain, scarred and slashed, with bare places at intervals, such as + you see where gravel pits break a green common. Not a sign of life or + movement, save some wheeling crows. And yet down there, within a mile or + so, is the population of a city. Far away a single train is puffing at the + back of the German lines. We are here on a definite errand. Away to the + right, nearly three miles off, is a small red house, dim to the eye but + clear in the glasses, which is suspected as a German post. It is to go up + this afternoon. The gun is some distance away, but I hear the telephone + directions. '"Mother" will soon do her in,' remarks the gunner boy + cheerfully. 'Mother' is the name of the gun. 'Give her five six three + four,' he cries through the 'phone. 'Mother' utters a horrible bellow from + somewhere on our right. An enormous spout of smoke rises ten seconds later + from near the house. 'A little short,' says our gunner. 'Two and a half + minutes left,' adds a little small voice, which represents another + observer at a different angle. 'Raise her seven five,' says our boy + encouragingly. 'Mother' roars more angrily than ever. 'How will that do?' + she seems to say. 'One and a half right,' says our invisible gossip. I + wonder how the folk in the house are feeling as the shells creep ever + nearer. 'Gun laid, sir,' says the telephone. 'Fire!' I am looking through + my glass. A flash of fire on the house, a huge pillar of dust and smoke—then + it settles, and an unbroken field is there. The German post has gone up. + 'It's a dear little gun,' says the officer boy. 'And her shells are + reliable,' remarked a senior behind us. 'They vary with different + calibres, but "Mother" never goes wrong.' The German line was very quiet. + 'Pourquoi ils ne répondent pas?' asked the Russian prince. 'Yes, they are + quiet to-day,' answered the senior. 'But we get it in the neck sometimes.' + We are all led off to be introduced to 'Mother,' who sits, squat and + black, amid twenty of her grimy children who wait upon and feed her. She + is an important person is 'Mother,' and her importance grows. It gets + clearer with every month that it is she, and only she, who can lead us to + the Rhine. She can and she will if the factories of Britain can beat those + of the Hun. See to it, you working men and women of Britain. Work now if + you rest for ever after, for the fate of Europe and of all that is dear to + us is in your hands. For 'Mother' is a dainty eater, and needs good food + and plenty. She is fond of strange lodgings, too, in which she prefers + safety to dignity. But that is a dangerous subject. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + One more experience of this wonderful day—the most crowded with + impressions of my whole life. At night we take a car and drive north, and + ever north, until at a late hour we halt and climb a hill in the darkness. + Below is a wonderful sight. Down on the flats, in a huge semi-circle, + lights are rising and falling. They are very brilliant, going up for a few + seconds and then dying down. Sometimes a dozen are in the air at one time. + There are the dull thuds of explosions and an occasional rat-tat-tat. I + have seen nothing like it, but the nearest comparison would be an enormous + ten-mile railway station in full swing at night, with signals winking, + lamps waving, engines hissing and carriages bumping. It is a terrible + place down yonder, a place which will live as long as military history is + written, for it is the Ypres Salient. What a salient it is, too! A huge + curve, as outlined by the lights, needing only a little more to be an + encirclement. Something caught the rope as it closed, and that something + was the British soldier. But it is a perilous place still by day and by + night. Never shall I forget the impression of ceaseless, malignant + activity which was borne in upon me by the white, winking lights, the red + sudden glares, and the horrible thudding noises in that place of death + beneath me. + </p> + <h3> + II + </h3> + <p> + In old days we had a great name as organisers. Then came a long period + when we deliberately adopted a policy of individuality and 'go as you + please.' Now once again in our sore need we have called on all our power + of administration and direction. But it has not deserted us. We still have + it in a supreme degree. Even in peace time we have shown it in that vast, + well-oiled, swift-running, noiseless machine called the British Navy. But + now our powers have risen with the need of them. The expansion of the Navy + has been a miracle, the management of the transport a greater one, the + formation of the new Army the greatest of all time. To get the men was the + least of the difficulties. To put them here, with everything down to the + lid of the last field saucepan in its place, that is the marvel. The tools + of the gunners, and of the sappers, to say nothing of the knowledge of how + to use them, are in themselves a huge problem. But it has all been met and + mastered, and will be to the end. But don't let us talk any more about the + muddling of the War Office. It has become just a little ridiculous. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + I have told of my first day, when I visited the front trenches, saw the + work of 'Mother,' and finally that marvellous spectacle, the Ypres Salient + at night. I have passed the night at the headquarters of a + divisional-general, Capper, who might truly be called one of the two + fathers of the British flying force, for it was he, with Templer, who laid + the first foundations from which so great an organisation has arisen. My + morning was spent in visiting two fighting brigadiers, cheery + weather-beaten soldiers, respectful, as all our soldiers are, of the + prowess of the Hun, but serenely confident that we can beat him. In + company with one of them I ascended a hill, the reverse slope of which was + swarming with cheerful infantry in every stage of dishabille, for they + were cleaning up after the trenches. Once over the slope we advanced with + some care, and finally reached a certain spot from which we looked down + upon the German line. It was the advanced observation post, about a + thousand yards from the German trenches, with our own trenches between us. + We could see the two lines, sometimes only a few yards, as it seemed, + apart, extending for miles on either side. The sinister silence and + solitude were strangely dramatic. Such vast crowds of men, such intensity + of feeling, and yet only that open rolling countryside, with never a + movement in its whole expanse. + </p> + <p> + The afternoon saw us in the Square at Ypres. It is the city of a dream, + this modern Pompeii, destroyed, deserted and desecrated, but with a sad, + proud dignity which made you involuntarily lower your voice as you passed + through the ruined streets. It is a more considerable place than I had + imagined, with many traces of ancient grandeur. No words can describe the + absolute splintered wreck that the Huns have made of it. The effect of + some of the shells has been grotesque. One boiler-plated water-tower, a + thing forty or fifty feet high, was actually standing on its head like a + great metal top. There is not a living soul in the place save a few + pickets of soldiers, and a number of cats which become fierce and + dangerous. Now and then a shell still falls, but the Huns probably know + that the devastation is already complete. + </p> + <p> + We stood in the lonely grass-grown Square, once the busy centre of the + town, and we marvelled at the beauty of the smashed cathedral and the + tottering Cloth Hall beside it. Surely at their best they could not have + looked more wonderful than now. If they were preserved even so, and if a + heaven-inspired artist were to model a statue of Belgium in front, Belgium + with one hand pointing to the treaty by which Prussia guaranteed her + safety and the other to the sacrilege behind her, it would make the most + impressive group in the world. It was an evil day for Belgium when her + frontier was violated, but it was a worse one for Germany. I venture to + prophesy that it will be regarded by history as the greatest military as + well as political error that has ever been made. Had the great guns that + destroyed Liége made their first breach at Verdun, what chance was there + for Paris? Those few weeks of warning and preparation saved France, and + left Germany as she now is, like a weary and furious bull, tethered fast + in the place of trespass and waiting for the inevitable pole-axe. + </p> + <p> + We were glad to get out of the place, for the gloom of it lay as heavy + upon our hearts as the shrapnel helmets did upon our heads. Both were + lightened as we sped back past empty and shattered villas to where, just + behind the danger line, the normal life of rural Flanders was carrying on + as usual. A merry sight helped to cheer us, for scudding down wind above + our heads came a Boche aeroplane, with two British at her tail barking + away with their machine guns, like two swift terriers after a cat. They + shot rat-tat-tatting across the sky until we lost sight of them in the + heat haze over the German line. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The afternoon saw us on the Sharpenburg, from which many a million will + gaze in days to come, for from no other point can so much be seen. It is a + spot forbid, but a special permit took us up, and the sentry on duty, + having satisfied himself of our bona fides, proceeded to tell us tales of + the war in a pure Hull dialect which might have been Chinese for all that + I could understand. That he was a 'terrier' and had nine children were the + only facts I could lay hold of. But I wished to be silent and to think—even, + perhaps, to pray. Here, just below my feet, were the spots which our dear + lads, three of them my own kith, have sanctified with their blood. Here, + fighting for the freedom of the world, they cheerily gave their all. On + that sloping meadow to the left of the row of houses on the opposite ridge + the London Scottish fought to the death on that grim November morning when + the Bavarians reeled back from their shot-torn line. That plain away on + the other side of Ypres was the place where the three grand Canadian + brigades, first of all men, stood up to the damnable cowardly gases of the + Hun. Down yonder is Hill 60, that blood-soaked kopje. The ridge over the + fields was held by the cavalry against two army corps, and there where the + sun strikes the red roof among the trees I can just see Gheluveld, a name + for ever to be associated with Haig and the most vital battle of the war. + As I turn away I am faced by my Hull Territorial, who still says + incomprehensible things. I look at him with other eyes. He has fought on + yonder plain. He has slain Huns, and he has nine children. Could any one + better epitomise the duties of a good citizen? I could have found it in my + heart to salute him had I not known that it would have shocked him and + made him unhappy. + </p> + <p> + It has been a full day, and the next is even fuller, for it is my + privilege to lunch at Headquarters, and to make the acquaintance of the + Commander-in-chief and of his staff. It would be an invasion of private + hospitality if I were to give the public the impressions which I carried + from that charming château. I am the more sorry, since they were very + vivid and strong. This much I will say—and any man who is a face + reader will not need to have it said—that if the Army stands still + it is not by the will of its commander. There will, I swear, be no happier + man in Europe when the day has come and the hour. It is human to err, but + never possibly can some types err by being backward. We have a superb army + in France. It needs the right leader to handle it. I came away happier and + more confident than ever as to the future. + </p> + <p> + Extraordinary are the contrasts of war. Within three hours of leaving the + quiet atmosphere of the Headquarters Château I was present at what in any + other war would have been looked upon as a brisk engagement. As it was it + would certainly figure in one of our desiccated reports as an activity of + the artillery. The noise as we struck the line at this new point showed + that the matter was serious, and, indeed, we had chosen the spot because + it had been the storm centre of the last week. The method of approach + chosen by our experienced guide was in itself a tribute to the gravity of + the affair. As one comes from the settled order of Flanders into the + actual scene of war, the first sign of it is one of the stationary, + sausage-shaped balloons, a chain of which marks the ring in which the + great wrestlers are locked. We pass under this, ascend a hill, and find + ourselves in a garden where for a year no feet save those of wanderers + like ourselves have stood. There is a wild, confused luxuriance of growth + more beautiful to my eye than anything which the care of man can produce. + One old shell-hole of vast diameter has filled itself with forget-me-nots, + and appears as a graceful basin of light blue flowers, held up as an + atonement to heaven for the brutalities of man. Through the tangled bushes + we creep, then across a yard—'Please stoop and run as you pass this + point'—and finally to a small opening in a wall, whence the battle + lies not so much before as beside us. For a moment we have a front seat at + the great world-drama, God's own problem play, working surely to its + magnificent end. One feels a sort of shame to crouch here in comfort, a + useless spectator, while brave men down yonder are facing that pelting + shower of iron. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + There is a large field on our left rear, and the German gunners have the + idea that there is a concealed battery therein. They are systematically + searching for it. A great shell explodes in the top corner, but gets + nothing more solid than a few tons of clay. You can read the mind of + Gunner Fritz. 'Try the lower corner!' says he, and up goes the earth-cloud + once again. 'Perhaps it's hid about the middle. I'll try.' Earth again, + and nothing more. 'I believe I was right the first time after all,' says + hopeful Fritz. So another shell comes into the top corner. The field is as + full of pits as a Gruyère cheese, but Fritz gets nothing by his + perseverance. Perhaps there never was a battery there at all. One effect + he obviously did attain. He made several other British batteries + exceedingly angry. 'Stop that tickling, Fritz!' was the burden of their + cry. Where they were we could no more see than Fritz could, but their + constant work was very clear along the German line. We appeared to be + using more shrapnel and the Germans more high explosives, but that may + have been just the chance of the day. The Vimy Ridge was on our right, and + before us was the old French position, with the labyrinth of terrible + memories and the long hill of Lorette. When, last year, the French, in a + three weeks' battle, fought their way up that hill, it was an exhibition + of sustained courage which even their military annals can seldom have + beaten. + </p> + <p> + And so I turn from the British line. Another and more distant task lies + before me. I come away with the deep sense of the difficult task which + lies before the Army, but with a deeper one of the ability of these men to + do all that soldiers can ever be asked to perform. Let the guns clear the + way for the infantry, and the rest will follow. It all lies with the guns. + But the guns, in turn, depend upon our splendid workers at home, who, men + and women, are doing so grandly. Let them not be judged by a tiny + minority, who are given, perhaps, too much attention in our journals. We + have all made sacrifices in the war, but when the full story comes to be + told, perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all is that which Labour made + when, with a sigh, she laid aside that which it had taken so many weary + years to build. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY + </h2> + <p> + One meets with such extreme kindness and consideration among the Italians + that there is a real danger lest one's personal feeling of obligation + should warp one's judgment or hamper one's expression. Making every + possible allowance for this, I come away from them, after a very wide if + superficial view of all that they are doing, with a deep feeling of + admiration and a conviction that no army in the world could have made a + braver attempt to advance under conditions of extraordinary difficulty. + </p> + <p> + First a word as to the Italian soldier. He is a type by himself which + differs from the earnest solidarity of the new French army, and from the + businesslike alertness of the Briton, and yet has a very special dash and + fire of its own, covered over by a very pleasing and unassuming manner. + London has not yet forgotten Durando of Marathon fame. He was just such + another easy smiling youth as I now see everywhere around me. Yet there + came a day when a hundred thousand Londoners hung upon his every movement—when + strong men gasped and women wept at his invincible but unavailing spirit. + When he had fallen senseless in that historic race on the very threshold + of his goal, so high was the determination within him, that while he + floundered on the track like a broken-backed horse, with the senses gone + out of him, his legs still continued to drum upon the cinder path. Then + when by pure will power he staggered to his feet and drove his dazed body + across the line, it was an exhibition of pluck which put the little + sunburned baker straightway among London's heroes. Durando's spirit is + alive to-day, I see thousands of him all around me. A thousand such, led + by a few young gentlemen of the type who occasionally give us object + lessons in how to ride at Olympia, make no mean battalion. It has been a + war of most desperate ventures, but never once has there been a lack of + volunteers. The Tyrolese are good men—too good to be fighting in so + rotten a cause. But from first to last the Alpini have had the ascendency + in the hill fighting, as the line regiments have against the Kaiserlics + upon the plain. Caesar told how the big Germans used to laugh at his + little men until they had been at handgrips with them. The Austrians could + tell the same tale. The spirit in the ranks is something marvellous. There + have been occasions when every officer has fallen and yet the men have + pushed on, have taken a position and then waited for official directions. + </p> + <p> + But if that is so, you will ask, why is it that they have not made more + impression upon the enemy's position? The answer lies in the strategical + position of Italy, and it can be discussed without any technicalities. A + child could understand it. The Alps form such a bar across the north that + there are only two points where serious operations are possible. One is + the Trentino Salient where Austria can always threaten and invade Italy. + She lies in the mountains with the plains beneath her. She can always + invade the plain, but the Italians cannot seriously invade the mountains, + since the passes would only lead to other mountains beyond. Therefore + their only possible policy is to hold the Austrians back. This they have + most successfully done, and though the Austrians with the aid of a + shattering heavy artillery have recently made some advance, it is + perfectly certain that they can never really carry out any serious + invasion. The Italians then have done all that could be done in this + quarter. There remains the other front, the opening by the sea. Here the + Italians had a chance to advance over a front of plain bounded by a river + with hills beyond. They cleared the plain, they crossed the river, they + fought a battle very like our own battle of the Aisne upon the slopes of + the hills, taking 20,000 Austrian prisoners, and now they are faced by + barbed wire, machine guns, cemented trenches, and every other device which + has held them as it has held every one else. But remember what they have + done for the common cause and be grateful for it. They have in a year + occupied some forty Austrian divisions, and relieved our Russian allies to + that very appreciable extent. They have killed or wounded a quarter of a + million, taken 40,000, and drawn to themselves a large portion of the + artillery. That is their record up to date. As to the future it is very + easy to prophesy. They will continue to absorb large enemy armies. Neither + side can advance far as matters stand. But if the Russians advance and + Austria has to draw her men to the East, there will be a tiger spring for + Trieste. If manhood can break the line, then I believe the Durandos will + do it. + </p> + <p> + 'Trieste o morte!' I saw chalked upon the walls all over North Italy. That + is the Italian objective. + </p> + <p> + And they are excellently led. Cadorna is an old Roman, a man cast in the + big simple mould of antiquity, frugal in his tastes, clear in his aims, + with no thought outside his duty. Every one loves and trusts him. Porro, + the Chief of the Staff, who was good enough to explain the strategical + position to me, struck me as a man of great clearness of vision, + middle-sized, straight as a dart, with an eagle face grained and coloured + like an old walnut. The whole of the staff work is, as experts assure me, + moot excellently done. + </p> + <p> + So much for the general situation. Let me descend for a moment to my own + trivial adventures since leaving the British front. Of France I hope to + say more in the future, and so I will pass at a bound to Padua, where it + appeared that the Austrian front had politely advanced to meet me, for I + was wakened betimes in the morning by the dropping of bombs, the rattle of + anti-aircraft guns, and the distant rat-tat-tat of a maxim high up in the + air. I heard when I came down later that the intruder had been driven away + and that little damage had been done. The work of the Austrian aeroplanes + is, however, very aggressive behind the Italian lines, for they have the + great advantage that a row of fine cities lies at their mercy, while the + Italians can do nothing without injuring their own kith and kin across the + border. This dropping of explosives on the chance of hitting one soldier + among fifty victims seems to me the most monstrous development of the + whole war, and the one which should be most sternly repressed in future + international legislation—if such a thing as international law still + exists. The Italian headquarter town, which I will call Nemini, was a + particular victim of these murderous attacks. I speak with some feeling, + as not only was the ceiling of my bedroom shattered some days before my + arrival, but a greasy patch with some black shreds upon it was still + visible above my window which represented part of the remains of an + unfortunate workman, who had been blown to pieces immediately in front of + the house. The air defence is very skilfully managed however, and the + Italians have the matter well in hand. + </p> + <p> + My first experience of the Italian line was at the portion which I have + called the gap by the sea, otherwise the Isonzo front. From a mound behind + the trenches an extraordinary fine view can be got of the Austrian + position, the general curve of both lines being marked, as in Flanders, by + the sausage balloons which float behind them. The Isonzo, which has been + so bravely carried by the Italians, lay in front of me, a clear blue + river, as broad as the Thames at Hampton Court. In a hollow to my left + were the roofs of Gorizia, the town which the Italians are endeavouring to + take. A long desolate ridge, the Carso, extends to the south of the town, + and stretches down nearly to the sea. The crest is held by the Austrians + and the Italian trenches have been pushed within fifty yards of them. A + lively bombardment was going on from either side, but so far as the + infantry goes there is none of that constant malignant petty warfare with + which we are familiar in Flanders. I was anxious to see the Italian + trenches, in order to compare them with our British methods, but save for + the support and communication trenches I was courteously but firmly warned + off. + </p> + <p> + The story of trench attack and defence is no doubt very similar in all + quarters, but I am convinced that close touch should be kept between the + Allies on the matter of new inventions. The quick Latin brain may conceive + and test an idea long before we do. At present there seems to be very + imperfect sympathy. As an example, when I was on the British lines they + were dealing with a method of clearing barbed wire. The experiments were + new and were causing great interest. But on the Italian front I found that + the same system had been tested for many months. In the use of bullet + proof jackets for engineers and other men who have to do exposed work the + Italians are also ahead of us. One of their engineers at our headquarters + might give some valuable advice. At present the Italians have, as I + understand, no military representative with our armies, while they receive + a British General with a small staff. This seems very wrong not only from + the point of view of courtesy and justice, but also because Italy has no + direct means of knowing the truth about our great development. When + Germans state that our new armies are made of paper, our Allies should + have some official assurance of their own that this is false. I can + understand our keeping neutrals from our headquarters, but surely our + Allies should be on another footing. + </p> + <p> + Having got this general view of the position I was anxious in the + afternoon to visit Monfalcone, which is the small dockyard captured from + the Austrians on the Adriatic. My kind Italian officer guides did not + recommend the trip, as it was part of their great hospitality to shield + their guest from any part of that danger which they were always ready to + incur themselves. The only road to Monfalcone ran close to the Austrian + position at the village of Ronchi, and afterwards kept parallel to it for + some miles. I was told that it was only on odd days that the Austrian guns + were active in this particular section, so determined to trust to luck + that this might not be one of them. It proved, however, to be one of the + worst on record, and we were not destined to see the dockyard to which we + started. + </p> + <p> + The civilian cuts a ridiculous figure when he enlarges upon small + adventures which may come his way—adventures which the soldier + endures in silence as part of his everyday life. On this occasion, + however, the episode was all our own, and had a sporting flavour in it + which made it dramatic. I know now the feeling of tense expectation with + which the driven grouse whirrs onwards towards the butt. I have been + behind the butt before now, and it is only poetic justice that I should + see the matter from the other point of view. As we approached Ronchi we + could see shrapnel breaking over the road in front of us, but we had not + yet realised that it was precisely for vehicles that the Austrians were + waiting, and that they had the range marked out to a yard. We went down + the road all out at a steady fifty miles an hour. The village was near, + and it seemed that we had got past the place of danger. We had in fact + just reached it. At this moment there was a noise as if the whole four + tyres had gone simultaneously, a most terrific bang in our very ears, + merging into a second sound like a reverberating blow upon an enormous + gong. As I glanced up I saw three clouds immediately above my head, two of + them white and the other of a rusty red. The air was full of flying metal, + and the road, as we were told afterwards by an observer, was all churned + up by it. The metal base of one of the shells was found plumb in the + middle of the road just where our motor had been. There is no use telling + me Austrian gunners can't shoot. I know better. + </p> + <p> + It was our pace that saved us. The motor was an open one, and the three + shells burst, according to one of my Italian companions who was himself an + artillery officer, about ten metres above our heads. They threw forward, + however, and we travelling at so great a pace shot from under. Before they + could get in another we had swung round the curve and under the lee of a + house. The good Colonel B. wrung my hand in silence. They were both + distressed, these good soldiers, under the impression that they had led me + into danger. As a matter of fact it was I who owed them an apology, since + they had enough risks in the way of business without taking others in + order to gratify the whim of a joy-rider. Barbariche and Clericetti, this + record will convey to you my remorse. + </p> + <p> + Our difficulties were by no means over. We found an ambulance lorry and a + little group of infantry huddled under the same shelter with the + expression of people who had been caught in the rain. The road beyond was + under heavy fire as well as that by which we had come. Had the + Ostro-Boches dropped a high-explosive upon us they would have had a good + mixed bag. But apparently they were only out for fancy shooting and + disdained a sitter. Presently there came a lull and the lorry moved on, + but we soon heard a burst of firing which showed that they were after it. + My companions had decided that it was out of the question for us to finish + our excursion. We waited for some time therefore and were able finally to + make our retreat on foot, being joined later by the car. So ended my visit + to Monfalcone, the place I did not reach. I hear that two 10,000-ton + steamers were left on the stocks there by the Austrians, but were disabled + before they retired. Their cabin basins and other fittings are now + adorning the Italian dug-outs. + </p> + <p> + My second day was devoted to a view of the Italian mountain warfare in the + Carnic Alps. Besides the two great fronts, one of defence (Trentino) and + one of offence (Isonzo), there are very many smaller valleys which have to + be guarded. The total frontier line is over four hundred miles, and it has + all to be held against raids if not invasions. It is a most picturesque + business. Far up in the Roccolana Valley I found the Alpini outposts, + backed by artillery which had been brought into the most wonderful + positions. They have taken 8-inch guns where a tourist could hardly take + his knapsack. Neither side can ever make serious progress, but there are + continual duels, gun against gun, or Alpini against Jaeger. In a little + wayside house was the brigade headquarters, and here I was entertained to + lunch. It was a scene that I shall remember. They drank to England. I + raised my glass to Italia irredenta—might it soon be redenta. They + all sprang to their feet and the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. + They keep their souls and emotions, these people. I trust that ours may + not become atrophied by self-suppression. + </p> + <p> + The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary that + we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our sympathy + with what they have done, instead of making querulous and unreasonable + demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult position. The war is + made by their splendid king—a man of whom every one speaks with + extraordinary reverence and love—and by the people. The people, with + the deep instinct of a very old civilisation, understand that the liberty + of the world and their own national existence are really at stake. But + there are several forces which divide the strength of the nation. There is + the clerical, which represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking + upon Austria as the eldest daughter of the Church—a daughter who is + little credit to her mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, + there are the commercial people who through the great banks or other + similar agencies have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. + When you consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that + Britain should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the + national party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand + there might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international + situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any + way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not, working + for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most + efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities which + an absence of coal and iron entails. It is for us to show that we + appreciate it. Justice as well as policy demands it. + </p> + <p> + The last day spent upon the Italian front was in the Trentino. From Verona + a motor drive of about twenty-five miles takes one up the valley of the + Adige, and past a place of evil augury for the Austrians, the field of + Rivoli. As one passes up the valley one appreciates that on their left + wing the Italians have position after position in the spurs of the + mountains before they could be driven into the plain. If the Austrians + could reach the plain it would be to their own ruin, for the Italians have + large reserves. There is no need for any anxiety about the Trentino. + </p> + <p> + The attitude of the people behind the firing line should give one + confidence. I had heard that the Italians were a nervous people. It does + not apply to this part of Italy. As I approached the danger spot I saw + rows of large, fat gentlemen with long thin black cigars leaning against + walls in the sunshine. The general atmosphere would have steadied an + epileptic. Italy is perfectly sure of herself in this quarter. Finally, + after a long drive of winding gradients, always beside the Adige, we + reached Ala, where we interviewed the Commander of the Sector, a man who + has done splendid work during the recent fighting. 'By all means you can + see my front. But no motorcar, please. It draws fire and others may be hit + beside you.' We proceeded on foot therefore along a valley which branched + at the end into two passes. In both very active fighting had been going + on, and as we came up the guns were baying merrily, waking up most + extraordinary echoes in the hills. It was difficult to believe that it was + not thunder. There was one terrible voice that broke out from time to time + in the mountains—the angry voice of the Holy Roman Empire. When it + came all other sounds died down into nothing. It was—so I was told—the + master gun, the vast 42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of + Liége and Namur. The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. + The Italians assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in + trench work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little + matter. + </p> + <p> + We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred + recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single shell. + There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the aimed fire + was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two passes above us. + That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some of the worst of the + fighting. These two passes form the Italian left wing which has held firm + all through. So has the right wing. It is only the centre which has been + pushed in by the concentrated fire. + </p> + <p> + When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were halted, + and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches which lay + upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards between the + adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and Croatian + prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the Italians speak + with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians and of the + Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them however, and + especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig trenches under + fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were recaptured and + were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the whole, however, it + may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is nothing which + corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western conflict. The + presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference. + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements on + the Trentino front. There are no troops who would not have been forced + back by the Austrian fire. It corresponded with the French experience at + Verdun, or ours at the second battle of Ypres. It may well occur again if + the Austrians get their guns forward. But at such a rate it would take + them a long time to make any real impression. One cannot look at the + officers and men without seeing that their spirit and confidence are high. + In answer to my inquiry they assure me that there is little difference + between the troops of the northern provinces and those of the south. Even + among the snows of the Alps they tell me that the Sicilians gave an + excellent account of themselves. + </p> + <p> + That night found me back at Verona, and next morning I was on my way to + Paris, where I hope to be privileged to have some experiences at the front + of our splendid Allies. I leave Italy with a deep feeling of gratitude for + the kindness shown to me, and of admiration for the way in which they are + playing their part in the world's fight for freedom. They have every + possible disadvantage, economic and political. But in spite of it they + have done splendidly. Three thousand square kilometres of the enemy's + country are already in their possession. They relieve to a very great + extent the pressure upon the Russians, who, in spite of all their bravery, + might have been overwhelmed last summer during the 'durchbruch' had it not + been for the diversion of so many Austrian troops. The time has come now + when Russia by her advance on the Pripet is repaying her debt. But the + debt is common to all the Allies. Let them bear it in mind. There has been + mischief done by slighting criticism and by inconsiderate words. A warm + sympathetic hand-grasp of congratulation is what Italy has deserved, and + it is both justice and policy to give it. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE + </h2> + <h3> + I + </h3> + <p> + The French soldiers are grand. They are grand. There is no other word to + express it. It is not merely their bravery. All races have shown bravery + in this war. But it is their solidity, their patience, their nobility. I + could not conceive anything finer than the bearing of their officers. It + is proud without being arrogant, stern without being fierce, serious + without being depressed. Such, too, are the men whom they lead with such + skill and devotion. Under the frightful hammer-blows of circumstance, the + national characters seem to have been reversed. It is our British soldier + who has become debonair, light-hearted and reckless, while the Frenchman + has developed a solemn stolidity and dour patience which was once all our + own. During a long day in the French trenches, I have never once heard the + sound of music or laughter, nor have I once seen a face that was not full + of the most grim determination. + </p> + <p> + Germany set out to bleed France white. Well, she has done so. France is + full of widows and orphans from end to end. Perhaps in proportion to her + population she has suffered the most of all. But in carrying out her + hellish mission Germany has bled herself white also. Her heavy sword has + done its work, but the keen French rapier has not lost its skill. France + will stand at last, weak and tottering, with her huge enemy dead at her + feet. But it is a fearsome business to see—such a business as the + world never looked upon before. It is fearful for the French. It is + fearful for the Germans. May God's curse rest upon the arrogant men and + the unholy ambitions which let loose this horror upon humanity! Seeing + what they have done, and knowing that they have done it, one would think + that mortal brain would grow crazy under the weight. Perhaps the central + brain of all was crazy from the first. But what sort of government is it + under which one crazy brain can wreck mankind! + </p> + <p> + If ever one wanders into the high places of mankind, the places whence the + guidance should come, it seems to me that one has to recall the dying + words of the Swedish Chancellor who declared that the folly of those who + governed was what had amazed him most in his experience of life. Yesterday + I met one of these men of power—M. Clemenceau, once Prime Minister, + now the destroyer of governments. He is by nature a destroyer, incapable + of rebuilding what he has pulled down. With his personal force, his + eloquence, his thundering voice, his bitter pen, he could wreck any + policy, but would not even trouble to suggest an alternative. As he sat + before me with his face of an old prizefighter (he is remarkably like Jim + Mace as I can remember him in his later days), his angry grey eyes and his + truculent, mischievous smile, he seemed to me a very dangerous man. His + conversation, if a squirt on one side and Niagara on the other can be + called conversation, was directed for the moment upon the iniquity of the + English rate of exchange, which seemed to me very much like railing + against the barometer. My companion, who has forgotten more economics than + ever Clemenceau knew, was about to ask whether France was prepared to take + the rouble at face value, but the roaring voice, like a strong gramophone + with a blunt needle, submerged all argument. We have our dangerous men, + but we have no one in the same class as Clemenceau. Such men enrage the + people who know them, alarm the people who don't, set every one by the + ears, act as a healthy irritant in days of peace, and are a public danger + in days of war. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + But this is digression. I had set out to say something of a day's + experience of the French front, though I shall write with a fuller pen + when I return from the Argonne. It was for Soissons that we made, passing + on the way a part of the scene of our own early operations, including the + battlefield of Villers Cotteret—just such a wood as I had imagined. + My companion's nephew was one of those Guards' officers whose bodies rest + now in the village cemetery, with a little British Jack still flying above + them. They lie together, and their grave is tended with pious care. Among + the trees beside the road were other graves of soldiers, buried where they + had fallen. 'So look around—and choose your ground—and take + your rest.' + </p> + <p> + Soissons is a considerable wreck, though it is very far from being an + Ypres. But the cathedral would, and will, make many a patriotic Frenchman + weep. These savages cannot keep their hands off a beautiful church. Here, + absolutely unchanged through the ages, was the spot where St. Louis had + dedicated himself to the Crusade. Every stone of it was holy. And now the + lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the roof lies in a huge + heap across the central aisle. A dog was climbing over it as we entered. + No wonder the French fight well. Such sights would drive the mildest man + to desperation. The abbé, a good priest, with a large humorous face, took + us over his shattered domain. He was full of reminiscences of the German + occupation of the place. One of his personal anecdotes was indeed + marvellous. It was that a lady in the local ambulance had vowed to kiss + the first French soldier who re-entered the town. She did so, and it + proved to be her husband. The abbé is a good, kind, truthful man—but + he has a humorous face. + </p> + <p> + A walk down a ruined street brings one to the opening of the trenches. + There are marks upon the walls of the German occupation. 'Berlin—Paris,' + with an arrow of direction, adorns one corner. At another the 76th + Regiment have commemorated the fact that they were there in 1870 and again + in 1914. If the Soissons folk are wise they will keep these inscriptions + as a reminder to the rising generation. I can imagine, however, that their + inclination will be to whitewash, fumigate, and forget. + </p> + <p> + A sudden turn among some broken walls takes one into the communication + trench. Our guide is a Commandant of the Staff, a tall, thin man with + hard, grey eyes and a severe face. It is the more severe towards us as I + gather that he has been deluded into the belief that about one out of six + of our soldiers goes to the trenches. For the moment he is not friends + with the English. As we go along, however, we gradually get upon better + terms, we discover a twinkle in the hard, grey eyes, and the day ends with + an exchange of walking-sticks and a renewal of the Entente. May my cane + grow into a marshal's baton. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of + trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of + compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the Germans + going on high over our heads. The trenches are boarded at the sides, and + have a more permanent look than those of Flanders. Presently we meet a + fine, brown-faced, upstanding boy, as keen as a razor, who commands this + particular section. A little further on a helmeted captain of infantry, + who is an expert sniper, joins our little party. Now we are at the very + front trench. I had expected to see primeval men, bearded and shaggy. But + the 'Poilus' have disappeared. The men around me were clean and dapper to + a remarkable degree. I gathered, however, that they had their internal + difficulties. On one board I read an old inscription, 'He is a Boche, but + he is the inseparable companion of a French soldier.' Above was a rude + drawing of a louse. + </p> + <p> + I am led to a cunning loop-hole, and have a glimpse through it of a little + framed picture of French countryside. There are fields, a road, a sloping + hill beyond with trees. Quite close, about thirty or forty yards away, was + a low, red-tiled house. 'They are there,' said our guide. 'That is their + outpost. We can hear them cough.' Only the guns were coughing that + morning, so we heard nothing, but it was certainly wonderful to be so near + to the enemy and yet in such peace. I suppose wondering visitors from + Berlin are brought up also to hear the French cough. Modern warfare has + certainly some extraordinary sides. + </p> + <p> + Now we are shown all the devices which a year of experience has suggested + to the quick brains of our Allies. It is ground upon which one cannot talk + with freedom. Every form of bomb, catapult, and trench mortar was ready to + hand. Every method of cross-fire had been thought out to an exact degree. + There was something, however, about their disposition of a machine gun + which disturbed the Commandant. He called for the officer of the gun. His + thin lips got thinner and his grey eyes more austere as we waited. + Presently there emerged an extraordinarily handsome youth, dark as a + Spaniard, from some rabbit hole. He faced the Commandant bravely, and + answered back with respect but firmness. 'Pourquoi?' asked the Commandant, + and yet again 'Pourquoi?' Adonis had an answer for everything. Both sides + appealed to the big Captain of Snipers, who was clearly embarrassed. He + stood on one leg and scratched his chin. Finally the Commandant turned + away angrily in the midst of one of Adonis' voluble sentences. His face + showed that the matter was not ended. War is taken very seriously in the + French army, and any sort of professional mistake is very quickly + punished. I have been told how many officers of high rank have been broken + by the French during the war. The figure was a very high one. There is no + more forgiveness for the beaten General than there was in the days of the + Republic when the delegate of the National Convention, with a patent + portable guillotine, used to drop in at headquarters to support a more + vigorous offensive. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + As I write these lines there is a burst of bugles in the street, and I go + to my open window to see the 41st of the line march down into what may + develop into a considerable battle. How I wish they could march down the + Strand even as they are. How London would rise to them! Laden like + donkeys, with a pile upon their backs and very often both hands full as + well, they still get a swing into their march which it is good to see. + They march in column of platoons, and the procession is a long one, for a + French regiment is, of course, equal to three battalions. The men are + shortish, very thick, burned brown in the sun, with never a smile among + them—have I not said that they are going down to a grim sector?—but + with faces of granite. There was a time when we talked of stiffening the + French army. I am prepared to believe that our first expeditionary force + was capable of stiffening any conscript army, for I do not think that a + finer force ever went down to battle. But to talk about stiffening these + people now would be ludicrous. You might as well stiffen the old Guard. + There may be weak regiments somewhere, but I have never seen them. + </p> + <p> + I think that an injustice has been done to the French army by the + insistence of artists and cinema operators upon the picturesque Colonial + corps. One gets an idea that Arabs and negroes are pulling France out of + the fire. It is absolutely false. Her own brave sons are doing the work. + The Colonial element is really a very small one—so small that I have + not seen a single unit during all my French wanderings. The Colonials are + good men, but like our splendid Highlanders they catch the eye in a way + which is sometimes a little hard upon their neighbours. When there is hard + work to be done it is the good little French piou-piou who usually has to + do it. There is no better man in Europe. If we are as good—and I + believe we are—it is something to be proud of. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + But I have wandered far from the trenches of Soissons. It had come on to + rain heavily, and we were forced to take refuge in the dugout of the + sniper. Eight of us sat in the deep gloom huddled closely together. The + Commandant was still harping upon that ill-placed machine gun. He could + not get over it. My imperfect ear for French could not follow all his + complaints, but some defence of the offender brought forth a 'Jamais! + Jamais! Jamais!' which was rapped out as if it came from the gun itself. + There were eight of us in an underground burrow, and some were smoking. + Better a deluge than such an atmosphere as that. But if there is a thing + upon earth which the French officer shies at it is rain and mud. The + reason is that he is extraordinarily natty in his person. His charming + blue uniform, his facings, his brown gaiters, boots and belts are always + just as smart as paint. He is the Dandy of the European war. I noticed + officers in the trenches with their trousers carefully pressed. It is all + to the good, I think. Wellington said that the dandies made his best + officers. It is difficult for the men to get rattled or despondent when + they see the debonair appearance of their leaders. + </p> + <p> + Among the many neat little marks upon the French uniforms which indicate + with precision but without obtrusion the rank and arm of the wearer, there + was one which puzzled me. It was to be found on the left sleeve of men of + all ranks, from generals to privates, and it consisted of small gold + chevrons, one, two, or more. No rule seemed to regulate them, for the + general might have none, and I have heard of the private who wore ten. + Then I solved the mystery. They are the record of wounds received. What an + admirable idea! Surely we should hasten to introduce it among our own + soldiers. It costs little and it means much. If you can allay the smart of + a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting honour to the man among + his fellows, then surely it should be done. Medals, too, are more freely + distributed and with more public parade than in our service. I am + convinced that the effect is good. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The rain has now stopped, and we climb from our burrow. Again we are led + down that endless line of communication trench, again we stumble through + the ruins, again we emerge into the street where our cars are awaiting us. + Above our heads the sharp artillery duel is going merrily forward. The + French are firing three or four to one, which has been my experience at + every point I have touched upon the Allied front. Thanks to the + extraordinary zeal of the French workers, especially of the French women, + and to the clever adaptation of machinery by their engineers, their + supplies are abundant. Even now they turn out more shells a day than we + do. That, however, excludes our supply for the Fleet. But it is one of the + miracles of the war that the French, with their coal and iron in the hands + of the enemy, have been able to equal the production of our great + industrial centres. The steel, of course, is supplied by us. To that + extent we can claim credit for the result. + </p> + <p> + And so, after the ceremony of the walking-sticks, we bid adieu to the + lines of Soissons. To-morrow we start for a longer tour to the more + formidable district of the Argonne, the neighbour of Verdun, and itself + the scene of so much that is glorious and tragic. + </p> + <h3> + II. + </h3> + <p> + There is a couplet of Stevenson's which haunts me, 'There fell a war in a + woody place—in a land beyond the sea.' I have just come back from + spending three wonderful dream days in that woody place. It lies with the + open, bosky country of Verdun on its immediate right, and the chalk downs + of Champagne upon its left. If one could imagine the lines being taken + right through our New Forest or the American Adirondacks it would give + some idea of the terrain, save that it is a very undulating country of + abrupt hills and dales. It is this peculiarity which has made the war on + this front different to any other, more picturesque and more secret. In + front the fighting lines are half in the clay soil, half behind the + shelter of fallen trunks. Between the two the main bulk of the soldiers + live like animals of the woodlands, burrowing on the hillsides and among + the roots of the trees. It is a war by itself, and a very wonderful one to + see. At three different points I have visited the front in this broad + region, wandering from the lines of one army corps to that of another. In + all three I found the same conditions, and in all three I found also the + same pleasing fact which I had discovered at Soissons, that the fire of + the French was at least five, and very often ten shots to one of the + Boche. It used not to be so. The Germans used to scrupulously return shot + for shot. But whether they have moved their guns to the neighbouring + Verdun, or whether, as is more likely, all the munitions are going there, + it is certain that they were very outclassed upon the three days (June 10, + 11, 12) which I allude to. There were signs that for some reason their + spirits were at a low ebb. On the evening before our arrival the French + had massed all their bands at the front, and, in honour of the Russian + victory, had played the Marseillaise and the Russian National hymn, + winding up with general shoutings and objurgations calculated to annoy. + Failing to stir up the Boche, they had ended by a salute from a hundred + shotted guns. After trailing their coats up and down the line they had + finally to give up the attempt to draw the enemy. Want of food may + possibly have caused a decline in the German spirit. There is some reason + to believe that they feed up their fighting men at the places like Verdun + or Hooge, where they need all their energy, at the expense of the men who + are on the defensive. If so, we may find it out when we attack. The French + officers assured me that the prisoners and deserters made bitter + complaints of their scale of rations. And yet it is hard to believe that + the fine efforts of our enemy at Verdun are the work of half-starved men. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + To return to my personal impressions, it was at Chalons that we left the + Paris train—a town which was just touched by the most forward ripple + of the first great German floodtide. A drive of some twenty miles took us + to St. Menehould, and another ten brought us to the front in the sector of + Divisional-General H. A fine soldier this, and heaven help Germany if he + and his division get within its borders, for he is, as one can see at a + glance, a man of iron who has been goaded to fierceness by all that his + beloved country has endured. He is a man of middle size, swarthy, + hawk-like, very abrupt in his movements, with two steel grey eyes, which + are the most searching that mine have ever met. His hospitality and + courtesy to us were beyond all bounds, but there is another side to him, + and it is one which it is wiser not to provoke. In person he took us to + his lines, passing through the usual shot-torn villages behind them. Where + the road dips down into the great forest there is one particular spot + which is visible to the German artillery observers. The General mentioned + it at the time, but his remark seemed to have no personal interest. We + understood it better on our return in the evening. + </p> + <p> + Now we found ourselves in the depths of the woods, primeval woods of oak + and beech in the deep clay soil that the great oak loves. There had been + rain and the forest paths were ankle deep in mire. Everywhere, to right + and left, soldiers' faces, hard and rough from a year of open air, gazed + up at us from their burrows in the ground. Presently an alert, blue-clad + figure stood in the path to greet us. It was the Colonel of the sector. He + was ridiculously like Cyrano de Bergerac as depicted by the late M. + Coquelin, save that his nose was of more moderate proportion. The ruddy + colouring, the bristling feline full-ended moustache, the solidity of + pose, the backward tilt of the head, the general suggestion of the bantam + cock, were all there facing us as he stood amid the leaves in the + sunlight. Gauntlets and a long rapier—nothing else was wanting. + Something had amused Cyrano. His moustache quivered with suppressed mirth, + and his blue eyes were demurely gleaming. Then the joke came out. He had + spotted a German working party, his guns had concentrated on it, and + afterwards he had seen the stretchers go forward. A grim joke, it may + seem. But the French see this war from a different angle to us. If we had + the Boche sitting on our heads for two years, and were not yet quite sure + whether we could ever get him off again, we should get Cyrano's point of + view. Those of us who have had our folk murdered by Zeppelins or tortured + in German prisons have probably got it already. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We passed in a little procession among the French soldiers, and viewed + their multifarious arrangements. For them we were a little break in a + monotonous life, and they formed up in lines as we passed. My own British + uniform and the civilian dresses of my two companions interested them. As + the General passed these groups, who formed themselves up in perhaps a + more familiar manner than would have been usual in the British service, he + glanced kindly at them with those singular eyes of his, and once or twice + addressed them as 'Mes enfants.' One might conceive that all was 'go as + you please' among the French. So it is as long as you go in the right way. + When you stray from it you know it. As we passed a group of men standing + on a low ridge which overlooked us there was a sudden stop. I gazed round. + The General's face was steel and cement. The eyes were cold and yet fiery, + sunlight upon icicles. Something had happened. Cyrano had sprung to his + side. His reddish moustache had shot forward beyond his nose, and it + bristled out like that of an angry cat. Both were looking up at the group + above us. One wretched man detached himself from his comrades and sidled + down the slope. No skipper and mate of a Yankee blood boat could have + looked more ferociously at a mutineer. And yet it was all over some minor + breach of discipline which was summarily disposed of by two days of + confinement. Then in an instant the faces relaxed, there was a general + buzz of relief and we were back at 'Mes enfants' again. But don't make any + mistake as to discipline in the French army. + </p> + <p> + Trenches are trenches, and the main specialty of these in the Argonne is + that they are nearer to the enemy. In fact there are places where they + interlock, and where the advanced posts lie cheek by jowl with a good + steel plate to cover both cheek and jowl. We were brought to a sap-head + where the Germans were at the other side of a narrow forest road. Had I + leaned forward with extended hand and a Boche done the same we could have + touched. I looked across, but saw only a tangle of wire and sticks. Even + whispering was not permitted in these forward posts. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all to + his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side of a + hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin with the + air of a seigneur in his château. There was little furniture, but from + some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which adorned his + grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in her + traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch in the + picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once, nor shall + I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within my memory. + Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of the Argonne, + his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his red moustache + bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out of the past of + France. + </p> + <p> + That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier, General + A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division. Each of + these French generals has a striking individuality of his own which I wish + I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that each seems to be a + rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a touch of d'Artagnan. + He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with huge, up-curling + moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It is a grand figure + which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace collar, hand on sword, + and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but a stern and hard soldier + was lurking behind the smiles. His name may appear in history, and so may + Humbert's, who rules all the army of which the other's corps is a unit. + Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure, small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel + and elastic, with a short, sharp upturned moustache, which one could + imagine as crackling with electricity in moments of excitement like a + cat's fur. What he does or says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He + fires his remarks like pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror + he fixed me with his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est + ce qu'il est un soldat dans l'armée Anglaise?' The whole table waited in + an awful hush. 'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour + service.' There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out + of an awkward place. + </p> + <p> + And talking of awkward places, I had forgotten about that spot upon the + road whence the Boche observer could see our motor-cars. He had actually + laid a gun upon it, the rascal, and waited all the long day for our + return. No sooner did we appear upon the slope than a shrapnel shell burst + above us, but somewhat behind me, as well as to the left. Had it been + straight the second car would have got it, and there might have been a + vacancy in one of the chief editorial chairs in London. The General + shouted to the driver to speed up, and we were soon safe from the German + gunners. One gets perfectly immune to noises in these scenes, for the guns + which surround you make louder crashes than any shell which bursts about + you. It is only when you actually see the cloud over you that your + thoughts come back to yourself, and that you realise that in this + wonderful drama you may be a useless super, but none the less you are on + the stage and not in the stalls. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Next morning we were down in the front trenches again at another portion + of the line. Far away on our right, from a spot named the Observatory, we + could see the extreme left of the Verdun position and shells bursting on + the Fille Morte. To the north of us was a broad expanse of sunny France, + nestling villages, scattered châteaux, rustic churches, and all as + inaccessible as if it were the moon. It is a terrible thing this German + bar—a thing unthinkable to Britons. To stand on the edge of + Yorkshire and look into Lancashire feeling that it is in other hands, that + our fellow-countrymen are suffering there and waiting, waiting, for help, + and that we cannot, after two years, come a yard nearer to them—would + it not break our hearts? Can I wonder that there is no smile upon the grim + faces of these Frenchmen! But when the bar is broken, when the line sweeps + forward, as most surely it will, when French bayonets gleam on yonder + uplands and French flags break from those village spires—ah, what a + day that will be! Men will die that day from the pure, delirious joy of + it. We cannot think what it means to France, and the less so because she + stands so nobly patient waiting for her hour. + </p> + <p> + Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He, too, + is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large broad + good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze gently + into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice. Such is one + of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of Division D. + His former staff officers told me something of the man. He is a + philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant dreams + amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French assault upon + the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade which he then + commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans with the + detached air of the man of science who is hunting for specimens. In + whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his cloth spread and + decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If fate be kind to him + he will go far. Apart from his valour he is admitted to be one of the most + scientific soldiers of France. + </p> + <p> + From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There had + been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It was a + very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was passed back + to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over our heads. My + word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he Boche, French or + British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the shells was + awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind, and then + thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench was a line of + terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all was still. Where + were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried beneath it? Or had + they got from under? No one could say. + </p> + <p> + There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time + watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved it, + and touched it with a swift but tender touch in every movement. When it + was fired it ran up an inclined plane to take off the recoil, rushing up + and then turning and rattling down again upon the gunners who were used to + its ways. The first time it did it, I was standing behind it, and I don't + know which moved quickest—the gun or I. + </p> + <p> + French officers above a certain rank develop and show their own + individuality. In the lower grades the conditions of service enforce a + certain uniformity. The British officer is a British gentleman first, and + an officer afterwards. The Frenchman is an officer first, though none the + less the gentleman stands behind it. One very strange type we met, + however, in these Argonne Woods. He was a French-Canadian who had been a + French soldier, had founded a homestead in far Alberta, and had now come + back of his own will, though a naturalised Briton, to the old flag. He + spoke English of a kind, the quality and quantity being equally + extraordinary. It poured from him and was, so far as it was intelligible, + of the woolly Western variety. His views on the Germans were the most + emphatic we had met. 'These Godam sons of'—well, let us say + 'Canines!' he would shriek, shaking his fist at the woods to the north of + him. A good man was our compatriot, for he had a very recent Legion of + Honour pinned upon his breast. He had been put with a few men on Hill 285, + a sort of volcano stuffed with mines, and was told to telephone when he + needed relief. He refused to telephone and remained there for three weeks. + 'We sit like a rabbit in his hall,' he explained. He had only one + grievance. There were many wild boars in the forest, but the infantry were + too busy to get them. 'The Godam Artillaree he get the wild pig!' Out of + his pocket he pulled a picture of a frame-house with snow round it, and a + lady with two children on the stoop. It was his homestead at Trochu, + seventy miles north of Calgary. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It was the evening of the third day that we turned our faces to Paris once + more. It was my last view of the French. The roar of their guns went far + with me upon my way. Soldiers of France, farewell! In your own phrase I + salute you! Many have seen you who had more knowledge by which to judge + your manifold virtues, many also who had more skill to draw you as you + are, but never one, I am sure, who admired you more than I. Great was the + French soldier under Louis the Sun-King, great too under Napoleon, but + never was he greater than to-day. + </p> + <p> + And so it is back to England and to home. I feel sobered and solemn from + all that I have seen. It is a blind vision which does not see more than + the men and the guns, which does not catch something of the terrific + spiritual conflict which is at the heart of it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord + —He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored. +</pre> + <p> + We have found no inspired singer yet, like Julia Howe, to voice the divine + meaning of it all—that meaning which is more than numbers or guns + upon the day of battle. But who can see the adult manhood of Europe + standing in a double line, waiting for a signal to throw themselves upon + each other, without knowing that he has looked upon the most terrific of + all the dealings between the creature below and that great force above, + which works so strangely towards some distant but glorious end? + </p> + <h3> + ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + </h3> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Visit to Three Fronts, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + +***** This file should be named 9874-h.htm or 9874-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/7/9874/ + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Visit to Three Fronts + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: November 12, 2011 [EBook #9874] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 26, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously +made available by the Bibliotheque nationale de France +(BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + + + + + +A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS + +June 1916 + +BY + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + +AUTHOR OF + +'THE GREAT BOER WAR' + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the course of May 1916, the Italian authorities expressed a desire +that some independent observer from Great Britain should visit their +lines and report his impressions. It was at the time when our brave and +capable allies had sustained a set-back in the Trentino owing to a +sudden concentration of the Austrians, supported by very heavy +artillery. I was asked to undertake this mission. In order to carry it +out properly, I stipulated that I should be allowed to visit the +British lines first, so that I might have some standard of comparison. +The War Office kindly assented to my request. Later I obtained +permission to pay a visit to the French front as well. Thus it was my +great good fortune, at the very crisis of the war, to visit the battle +line of each of the three great Western allies. I only wish that it had +been within my power to complete my experiences in this seat of war by +seeing the gallant little Belgian army which has done so remarkably +well upon the extreme left wing of the hosts of freedom. + +My experiences and impressions are here set down, and may have some +small effect in counteracting those mischievous misunderstandings and +mutual belittlements which are eagerly fomented by our cunning enemy. + +Arthur Conan Doyle. + +Crowborough, + +July 1916. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY + + +I + +It is not an easy matter to write from the front. You know that there +are several courteous but inexorable gentlemen who may have a word in +the matter, and their presence 'imparts but small ease to the style.' +But above all you have the twin censors of your own conscience and +common sense, which assure you that, if all other readers fail you, you +will certainly find a most attentive one in the neighbourhood of the +Haupt-Quartier. An instructive story is still told of how a certain +well-meaning traveller recorded his satisfaction with the appearance of +the big guns at the retiring and peaceful village of Jamais, and how +three days later, by an interesting coincidence, the village of Jamais +passed suddenly off the map and dematerialised into brickdust and +splinters. + +I have been with soldiers on the warpath before, but never have I had a +day so crammed with experiences and impressions as yesterday. Some of +them at least I can faintly convey to the reader, and if they ever +reach the eye of that gentleman at the Haupt-Quartier they will give +him little joy. For the crowning impression of all is the enormous +imperturbable confidence of the Army and its extraordinary efficiency +in organisation, administration, material, and personnel. I met in one +day a sample of many types, an Army commander, a corps commander, two +divisional commanders, staff officers of many grades, and, above all, I +met repeatedly the two very great men whom Britain has produced, the +private soldier and the regimental officer. Everywhere and on every +face one read the same spirit of cheerful bravery. Even the half-mad +cranks whose absurd consciences prevent them from barring the way to +the devil seemed to me to be turning into men under the prevailing +influence. I saw a batch of them, neurotic and largely be-spectacled, +but working with a will by the roadside. They will volunteer for the +trenches yet. + + * * * * * + +If there are pessimists among us they are not to be found among the men +who are doing the work. There is no foolish bravado, no under-rating of +a dour opponent, but there is a quick, alert, confident attention to +the job in hand which is an inspiration to the observer. These brave +lads are guarding Britain in the present. See to it that Britain guards +them in the future! We have a bad record in this matter. It must be +changed. They are the wards of the nation, both officers and men. +Socialism has never had an attraction for me, but I should be a +Socialist to-morrow if I thought that to ease a tax on wealth these men +should ever suffer for the time or health that they gave to the public +cause. + +'Get out of the car. Don't let it stay here. It may be hit.' These +words from a staff officer give you the first idea that things are +going to happen. Up to then you might have been driving through the +black country in the Walsall district with the population of Aldershot +let loose upon its dingy roads. 'Put on this shrapnel helmet. That hat +of yours would infuriate the Boche'--this was an unkind allusion to the +only uniform which I have a right to wear. 'Take this gas helmet. You +won't need it, but it is a standing order. Now come on!' + +We cross a meadow and enter a trench. Here and there it comes to the +surface again where there is dead ground. At one such point an old +church stands, with an unexploded shell sticking out of the wall. A +century hence folk will journey to see that shell. Then on again +through an endless cutting. It is slippery clay below. I have no nails +in my boots, an iron pot on my head, and the sun above me. I will +remember that walk. Ten telephone wires run down the side. Here and +there large thistles and other plants grow from the clay walls, so +immobile have been our lines. Occasionally there are patches of +untidiness. 'Shells,' says the officer laconically. There is a racket +of guns before us and behind, especially behind, but danger seems +remote with all these Bairnfather groups of cheerful Tommies at work +around us. I pass one group of grimy, tattered boys. A glance at their +shoulders shows me that they are of a public school battalion. 'I +thought you fellows were all officers now,' I remarked. 'No, sir, we +like it better so.' 'Well, it will be a great memory for you. We are +all in your debt.' + +They salute, and we squeeze past them. They had the fresh, brown faces +of boy cricketers. But their comrades were men of a different type, +with hard, strong, rugged features, and the eyes of men who have seen +strange sights. These are veterans, men of Mons, and their young pals +of the public schools have something to live up to. + + * * * * * + +Up to this we have only had two clay walls to look at. But now our +interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British +aeroplane sailing overhead. Numerous shrapnel bursts are all round it, +but she floats on serenely, a thing of delicate beauty against the blue +background. Now another passes--and yet another. All morning we saw +them circling and swooping, and never a sign of a Boche. They tell me +it is nearly always so--that we hold the air, and that the Boche +intruder, save at early morning, is a rare bird. A visit to the line +would reassure Mr. Pemberton-Billing. 'We have never met a British +aeroplane which was not ready to fight,' said a captured German aviator +the other day. There is a fine stern courtesy between the airmen on +either side, each dropping notes into the other's aerodromes to tell +the fate of missing officers. Had the whole war been fought by the +Germans as their airmen have conducted it (I do not speak of course of +the Zeppelin murderers), a peace would eventually have been more easily +arranged. As it is, if every frontier could be settled, it would be a +hard thing to stop until all that is associated with the words Cavell, +Zeppelin, Wittenberg, Lusitania, and Louvain has been brought to the +bar of the world's Justice. + +And now we are there--in what is surely the most wonderful spot in the +world, the front firing trench, the outer breakwater which holds back +the German tide. How strange that this monstrous oscillation of giant +forces, setting in from east to west, should find their equilibrium +here across this particular meadow of Flanders. 'How far?' I ask. '180 +yards,' says my guide. 'Pop!' remarks a third person just in front. 'A +sniper,' says my guide; 'take a look through the periscope.' I do so. +There is some rusty wire before me, then a field sloping slightly +upwards with knee-deep grass, then rusty wire again, and a red line of +broken earth. There is not a sign of movement, but sharp eyes are +always watching us, even as these crouching soldiers around me are +watching them. There are dead Germans in the grass before us. You need +not see them to know that they are there. A wounded soldier sits in a +corner nursing his leg. Here and there men pop out like rabbits from +dug-outs and mine-shafts. Others sit on the fire-step or lean smoking +against the clay wall. Who would dream to look at their bold, careless +faces that this is a front line, and that at any moment it is possible +that a grey wave may submerge them? With all their careless bearing I +notice that every man has his gas helmet and his rifle within easy +reach. + +A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that +weary walk. Then I am whisked off upon a ten mile drive. There is a +pause for lunch at Corps Headquarters, and after it we are taken to a +medal presentation in a market square. Generals Munro, Haking and +Landon, famous fighting soldiers all three, are the British +representatives. Munro with a ruddy face, and brain above all bulldog +below; Haking, pale, distinguished, intellectual; Landon a pleasant, +genial country squire. An elderly French General stands beside them. + +British infantry keep the ground. In front are about fifty Frenchmen in +civil dress of every grade of life, workmen and gentlemen, in a double +rank. They are all so wounded that they are back in civil life, but +to-day they are to have some solace for their wounds. They lean heavily +on sticks, their bodies are twisted and maimed, but their faces are +shining with pride and joy. The French General draws his sword and +addresses them. One catches words like 'honneur' and 'patrie.' They +lean forward on their crutches, hanging on every syllable which comes +hissing and rasping from under that heavy white moustache. Then the +medals are pinned on. One poor lad is terribly wounded and needs two +sticks. A little girl runs out with some flowers. He leans forward and +tries to kiss her, but the crutches slip and he nearly falls upon her. +It was a pitiful but beautiful little scene. + +Now the British candidates march up one by one for their medals, hale, +hearty men, brown and fit. There is a smart young officer of Scottish +Rifles; and then a selection of Worcesters, Welsh Fusiliers and Scots +Fusiliers, with one funny little Highlander, a tiny figure with a +soup-bowl helmet, a grinning boy's face beneath it, and a bedraggled +uniform. 'Many acts of great bravery'--such was the record for which he +was decorated. Even the French wounded smiled at his quaint appearance, +as they did at another Briton who had acquired the chewing-gum habit, +and came up for his medal as if he had been called suddenly in the +middle of his dinner, which he was still endeavouring to bolt. Then +came the end, with the National Anthem. The British regiment formed +fours and went past. To me that was the most impressive sight of any. +They were the Queen's West Surreys, a veteran regiment of the great +Ypres battle. What grand fellows! As the order came 'Eyes right,' and +all those fierce, dark faces flashed round about us, I felt the might +of the British infantry, the intense individuality which is not +incompatible with the highest discipline. Much they had endured, but a +great spirit shone from their faces. I confess that as I looked at +those brave English lads, and thought of what we owe to them and to +their like who have passed on, I felt more emotional than befits a +Briton in foreign parts. + + * * * * * + +Now the ceremony was ended, and once again we set out for the front. It +was to an artillery observation post that we were bound, and once again +my description must be bounded by discretion. Suffice it, that in an +hour I found myself, together with a razor-keen young artillery +observer and an excellent old sportsman of a Russian prince, jammed +into a very small space, and staring through a slit at the German +lines. In front of us lay a vast plain, scarred and slashed, with bare +places at intervals, such as you see where gravel pits break a green +common. Not a sign of life or movement, save some wheeling crows. And +yet down there, within a mile or so, is the population of a city. Far +away a single train is puffing at the back of the German lines. We are +here on a definite errand. Away to the right, nearly three miles off, +is a small red house, dim to the eye but clear in the glasses, which is +suspected as a German post. It is to go up this afternoon. The gun is +some distance away, but I hear the telephone directions. '"Mother" will +soon do her in,' remarks the gunner boy cheerfully. 'Mother' is the +name of the gun. 'Give her five six three four,' he cries through the +'phone. 'Mother' utters a horrible bellow from somewhere on our right. +An enormous spout of smoke rises ten seconds later from near the house. +'A little short,' says our gunner. 'Two and a half minutes left,' adds +a little small voice, which represents another observer at a different +angle. 'Raise her seven five,' says our boy encouragingly. 'Mother' +roars more angrily than ever. 'How will that do?' she seems to say. +'One and a half right,' says our invisible gossip. I wonder how the +folk in the house are feeling as the shells creep ever nearer. 'Gun +laid, sir,' says the telephone. 'Fire!' I am looking through my glass. +A flash of fire on the house, a huge pillar of dust and smoke--then it +settles, and an unbroken field is there. The German post has gone up. +'It's a dear little gun,' says the officer boy. 'And her shells are +reliable,' remarked a senior behind us. 'They vary with different +calibres, but "Mother" never goes wrong.' The German line was very +quiet. 'Pourquoi ils ne repondent pas?' asked the Russian prince. 'Yes, +they are quiet to-day,' answered the senior. 'But we get it in the neck +sometimes.' We are all led off to be introduced to 'Mother,' who sits, +squat and black, amid twenty of her grimy children who wait upon and +feed her. She is an important person is 'Mother,' and her importance +grows. It gets clearer with every month that it is she, and only she, +who can lead us to the Rhine. She can and she will if the factories of +Britain can beat those of the Hun. See to it, you working men and women +of Britain. Work now if you rest for ever after, for the fate of Europe +and of all that is dear to us is in your hands. For 'Mother' is a +dainty eater, and needs good food and plenty. She is fond of strange +lodgings, too, in which she prefers safety to dignity. But that is a +dangerous subject. + + * * * * * + +One more experience of this wonderful day--the most crowded with +impressions of my whole life. At night we take a car and drive north, +and ever north, until at a late hour we halt and climb a hill in the +darkness. Below is a wonderful sight. Down on the flats, in a huge +semi-circle, lights are rising and falling. They are very brilliant, +going up for a few seconds and then dying down. Sometimes a dozen are +in the air at one time. There are the dull thuds of explosions and an +occasional rat-tat-tat. I have seen nothing like it, but the nearest +comparison would be an enormous ten-mile railway station in full swing +at night, with signals winking, lamps waving, engines hissing and +carriages bumping. It is a terrible place down yonder, a place which +will live as long as military history is written, for it is the Ypres +Salient. What a salient it is, too! A huge curve, as outlined by the +lights, needing only a little more to be an encirclement. Something +caught the rope as it closed, and that something was the British +soldier. But it is a perilous place still by day and by night. Never +shall I forget the impression of ceaseless, malignant activity which +was borne in upon me by the white, winking lights, the red sudden +glares, and the horrible thudding noises in that place of death beneath +me. + + +II + +In old days we had a great name as organisers. Then came a long period +when we deliberately adopted a policy of individuality and 'go as you +please.' Now once again in our sore need we have called on all our +power of administration and direction. But it has not deserted us. We +still have it in a supreme degree. Even in peace time we have shown it +in that vast, well-oiled, swift-running, noiseless machine called the +British Navy. But now our powers have risen with the need of them. The +expansion of the Navy has been a miracle, the management of the +transport a greater one, the formation of the new Army the greatest of +all time. To get the men was the least of the difficulties. To put them +here, with everything down to the lid of the last field saucepan in its +place, that is the marvel. The tools of the gunners, and of the +sappers, to say nothing of the knowledge of how to use them, are in +themselves a huge problem. But it has all been met and mastered, and +will be to the end. But don't let us talk any more about the muddling +of the War Office. It has become just a little ridiculous. + + * * * * * + +I have told of my first day, when I visited the front trenches, saw the +work of 'Mother,' and finally that marvellous spectacle, the Ypres +Salient at night. I have passed the night at the headquarters of a +divisional-general, Capper, who might truly be called one of the two +fathers of the British flying force, for it was he, with Templer, who +laid the first foundations from which so great an organisation has +arisen. My morning was spent in visiting two fighting brigadiers, +cheery weather-beaten soldiers, respectful, as all our soldiers are, of +the prowess of the Hun, but serenely confident that we can beat him. In +company with one of them I ascended a hill, the reverse slope of which +was swarming with cheerful infantry in every stage of dishabille, for +they were cleaning up after the trenches. Once over the slope we +advanced with some care, and finally reached a certain spot from which +we looked down upon the German line. It was the advanced observation +post, about a thousand yards from the German trenches, with our own +trenches between us. We could see the two lines, sometimes only a few +yards, as it seemed, apart, extending for miles on either side. The +sinister silence and solitude were strangely dramatic. Such vast crowds +of men, such intensity of feeling, and yet only that open rolling +countryside, with never a movement in its whole expanse. + +The afternoon saw us in the Square at Ypres. It is the city of a dream, +this modern Pompeii, destroyed, deserted and desecrated, but with a +sad, proud dignity which made you involuntarily lower your voice as you +passed through the ruined streets. It is a more considerable place than +I had imagined, with many traces of ancient grandeur. No words can +describe the absolute splintered wreck that the Huns have made of it. +The effect of some of the shells has been grotesque. One boiler-plated +water-tower, a thing forty or fifty feet high, was actually standing on +its head like a great metal top. There is not a living soul in the +place save a few pickets of soldiers, and a number of cats which become +fierce and dangerous. Now and then a shell still falls, but the Huns +probably know that the devastation is already complete. + +We stood in the lonely grass-grown Square, once the busy centre of the +town, and we marvelled at the beauty of the smashed cathedral and the +tottering Cloth Hall beside it. Surely at their best they could not +have looked more wonderful than now. If they were preserved even so, +and if a heaven-inspired artist were to model a statue of Belgium in +front, Belgium with one hand pointing to the treaty by which Prussia +guaranteed her safety and the other to the sacrilege behind her, it +would make the most impressive group in the world. It was an evil day +for Belgium when her frontier was violated, but it was a worse one for +Germany. I venture to prophesy that it will be regarded by history as +the greatest military as well as political error that has ever been +made. Had the great guns that destroyed Liege made their first breach +at Verdun, what chance was there for Paris? Those few weeks of warning +and preparation saved France, and left Germany as she now is, like a +weary and furious bull, tethered fast in the place of trespass and +waiting for the inevitable pole-axe. + +We were glad to get out of the place, for the gloom of it lay as heavy +upon our hearts as the shrapnel helmets did upon our heads. Both were +lightened as we sped back past empty and shattered villas to where, +just behind the danger line, the normal life of rural Flanders was +carrying on as usual. A merry sight helped to cheer us, for scudding +down wind above our heads came a Boche aeroplane, with two British at +her tail barking away with their machine guns, like two swift terriers +after a cat. They shot rat-tat-tatting across the sky until we lost +sight of them in the heat haze over the German line. + + * * * * * + +The afternoon saw us on the Sharpenburg, from which many a million will +gaze in days to come, for from no other point can so much be seen. It +is a spot forbid, but a special permit took us up, and the sentry on +duty, having satisfied himself of our bona fides, proceeded to tell us +tales of the war in a pure Hull dialect which might have been Chinese +for all that I could understand. That he was a 'terrier' and had nine +children were the only facts I could lay hold of. But I wished to be +silent and to think--even, perhaps, to pray. Here, just below my feet, +were the spots which our dear lads, three of them my own kith, have +sanctified with their blood. Here, fighting for the freedom of the +world, they cheerily gave their all. On that sloping meadow to the left +of the row of houses on the opposite ridge the London Scottish fought +to the death on that grim November morning when the Bavarians reeled +back from their shot-torn line. That plain away on the other side of +Ypres was the place where the three grand Canadian brigades, first of +all men, stood up to the damnable cowardly gases of the Hun. Down +yonder is Hill 60, that blood-soaked kopje. The ridge over the fields +was held by the cavalry against two army corps, and there where the sun +strikes the red roof among the trees I can just see Gheluveld, a name +for ever to be associated with Haig and the most vital battle of the +war. As I turn away I am faced by my Hull Territorial, who still says +incomprehensible things. I look at him with other eyes. He has fought +on yonder plain. He has slain Huns, and he has nine children. Could any +one better epitomise the duties of a good citizen? I could have found +it in my heart to salute him had I not known that it would have shocked +him and made him unhappy. + +It has been a full day, and the next is even fuller, for it is my +privilege to lunch at Headquarters, and to make the acquaintance of the +Commander-in-chief and of his staff. It would be an invasion of private +hospitality if I were to give the public the impressions which I +carried from that charming chateau. I am the more sorry, since they +were very vivid and strong. This much I will say--and any man who is a +face reader will not need to have it said--that if the Army stands +still it is not by the will of its commander. There will, I swear, be +no happier man in Europe when the day has come and the hour. It is +human to err, but never possibly can some types err by being backward. +We have a superb army in France. It needs the right leader to handle +it. I came away happier and more confident than ever as to the future. + +Extraordinary are the contrasts of war. Within three hours of leaving +the quiet atmosphere of the Headquarters Chateau I was present at what +in any other war would have been looked upon as a brisk engagement. As +it was it would certainly figure in one of our desiccated reports as an +activity of the artillery. The noise as we struck the line at this new +point showed that the matter was serious, and, indeed, we had chosen +the spot because it had been the storm centre of the last week. The +method of approach chosen by our experienced guide was in itself a +tribute to the gravity of the affair. As one comes from the settled +order of Flanders into the actual scene of war, the first sign of it is +one of the stationary, sausage-shaped balloons, a chain of which marks +the ring in which the great wrestlers are locked. We pass under this, +ascend a hill, and find ourselves in a garden where for a year no feet +save those of wanderers like ourselves have stood. There is a wild, +confused luxuriance of growth more beautiful to my eye than anything +which the care of man can produce. One old shell-hole of vast diameter +has filled itself with forget-me-nots, and appears as a graceful basin +of light blue flowers, held up as an atonement to heaven for the +brutalities of man. Through the tangled bushes we creep, then across a +yard--'Please stoop and run as you pass this point'--and finally to a +small opening in a wall, whence the battle lies not so much before as +beside us. For a moment we have a front seat at the great world-drama, +God's own problem play, working surely to its magnificent end. One +feels a sort of shame to crouch here in comfort, a useless spectator, +while brave men down yonder are facing that pelting shower of iron. + + * * * * * + +There is a large field on our left rear, and the German gunners have +the idea that there is a concealed battery therein. They are +systematically searching for it. A great shell explodes in the top +corner, but gets nothing more solid than a few tons of clay. You can +read the mind of Gunner Fritz. 'Try the lower corner!' says he, and up +goes the earth-cloud once again. 'Perhaps it's hid about the middle. +I'll try.' Earth again, and nothing more. 'I believe I was right the +first time after all,' says hopeful Fritz. So another shell comes into +the top corner. The field is as full of pits as a Gruyere cheese, but +Fritz gets nothing by his perseverance. Perhaps there never was a +battery there at all. One effect he obviously did attain. He made +several other British batteries exceedingly angry. 'Stop that tickling, +Fritz!' was the burden of their cry. Where they were we could no more +see than Fritz could, but their constant work was very clear along the +German line. We appeared to be using more shrapnel and the Germans more +high explosives, but that may have been just the chance of the day. The +Vimy Ridge was on our right, and before us was the old French position, +with the labyrinth of terrible memories and the long hill of Lorette. +When, last year, the French, in a three weeks' battle, fought their way +up that hill, it was an exhibition of sustained courage which even +their military annals can seldom have beaten. + +And so I turn from the British line. Another and more distant task lies +before me. I come away with the deep sense of the difficult task which +lies before the Army, but with a deeper one of the ability of these men +to do all that soldiers can ever be asked to perform. Let the guns +clear the way for the infantry, and the rest will follow. It all lies +with the guns. But the guns, in turn, depend upon our splendid workers +at home, who, men and women, are doing so grandly. Let them not be +judged by a tiny minority, who are given, perhaps, too much attention +in our journals. We have all made sacrifices in the war, but when the +full story comes to be told, perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all is +that which Labour made when, with a sigh, she laid aside that which it +had taken so many weary years to build. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY + + +One meets with such extreme kindness and consideration among the +Italians that there is a real danger lest one's personal feeling of +obligation should warp one's judgment or hamper one's expression. +Making every possible allowance for this, I come away from them, after +a very wide if superficial view of all that they are doing, with a deep +feeling of admiration and a conviction that no army in the world could +have made a braver attempt to advance under conditions of extraordinary +difficulty. + +First a word as to the Italian soldier. He is a type by himself which +differs from the earnest solidarity of the new French army, and from +the businesslike alertness of the Briton, and yet has a very special +dash and fire of its own, covered over by a very pleasing and +unassuming manner. London has not yet forgotten Durando of Marathon +fame. He was just such another easy smiling youth as I now see +everywhere around me. Yet there came a day when a hundred thousand +Londoners hung upon his every movement--when strong men gasped and +women wept at his invincible but unavailing spirit. When he had fallen +senseless in that historic race on the very threshold of his goal, so +high was the determination within him, that while he floundered on the +track like a broken-backed horse, with the senses gone out of him, his +legs still continued to drum upon the cinder path. Then when by pure +will power he staggered to his feet and drove his dazed body across the +line, it was an exhibition of pluck which put the little sunburned +baker straightway among London's heroes. Durando's spirit is alive +to-day, I see thousands of him all around me. A thousand such, led by a +few young gentlemen of the type who occasionally give us object lessons +in how to ride at Olympia, make no mean battalion. It has been a war +of most desperate ventures, but never once has there been a lack of +volunteers. The Tyrolese are good men--too good to be fighting in so +rotten a cause. But from first to last the Alpini have had the +ascendency in the hill fighting, as the line regiments have against the +Kaiserlics upon the plain. Caesar told how the big Germans used to +laugh at his little men until they had been at handgrips with them. The +Austrians could tell the same tale. The spirit in the ranks is +something marvellous. There have been occasions when every officer has +fallen and yet the men have pushed on, have taken a position and then +waited for official directions. + +But if that is so, you will ask, why is it that they have not made more +impression upon the enemy's position? The answer lies in the +strategical position of Italy, and it can be discussed without any +technicalities. A child could understand it. The Alps form such a bar +across the north that there are only two points where serious +operations are possible. One is the Trentino Salient where Austria can +always threaten and invade Italy. She lies in the mountains with the +plains beneath her. She can always invade the plain, but the Italians +cannot seriously invade the mountains, since the passes would only lead +to other mountains beyond. Therefore their only possible policy is to +hold the Austrians back. This they have most successfully done, and +though the Austrians with the aid of a shattering heavy artillery have +recently made some advance, it is perfectly certain that they can never +really carry out any serious invasion. The Italians then have done all +that could be done in this quarter. There remains the other front, the +opening by the sea. Here the Italians had a chance to advance over a +front of plain bounded by a river with hills beyond. They cleared the +plain, they crossed the river, they fought a battle very like our own +battle of the Aisne upon the slopes of the hills, taking 20,000 +Austrian prisoners, and now they are faced by barbed wire, machine +guns, cemented trenches, and every other device which has held them as +it has held every one else. But remember what they have done for the +common cause and be grateful for it. They have in a year occupied some +forty Austrian divisions, and relieved our Russian allies to that very +appreciable extent. They have killed or wounded a quarter of a million, +taken 40,000, and drawn to themselves a large portion of the artillery. +That is their record up to date. As to the future it is very easy to +prophesy. They will continue to absorb large enemy armies. Neither side +can advance far as matters stand. But if the Russians advance and +Austria has to draw her men to the East, there will be a tiger spring +for Trieste. If manhood can break the line, then I believe the Durandos +will do it. + +'Trieste o morte!' I saw chalked upon the walls all over North Italy. +That is the Italian objective. + +And they are excellently led. Cadorna is an old Roman, a man cast in +the big simple mould of antiquity, frugal in his tastes, clear in his +aims, with no thought outside his duty. Every one loves and trusts him. +Porro, the Chief of the Staff, who was good enough to explain the +strategical position to me, struck me as a man of great clearness of +vision, middle-sized, straight as a dart, with an eagle face grained +and coloured like an old walnut. The whole of the staff work is, as +experts assure me, moot excellently done. + +So much for the general situation. Let me descend for a moment to my +own trivial adventures since leaving the British front. Of France I +hope to say more in the future, and so I will pass at a bound to Padua, +where it appeared that the Austrian front had politely advanced to meet +me, for I was wakened betimes in the morning by the dropping of bombs, +the rattle of anti-aircraft guns, and the distant rat-tat-tat of a +maxim high up in the air. I heard when I came down later that the +intruder had been driven away and that little damage had been done. The +work of the Austrian aeroplanes is, however, very aggressive behind the +Italian lines, for they have the great advantage that a row of fine +cities lies at their mercy, while the Italians can do nothing without +injuring their own kith and kin across the border. This dropping of +explosives on the chance of hitting one soldier among fifty victims +seems to me the most monstrous development of the whole war, and the +one which should be most sternly repressed in future international +legislation--if such a thing as international law still exists. The +Italian headquarter town, which I will call Nemini, was a particular +victim of these murderous attacks. I speak with some feeling, as not +only was the ceiling of my bedroom shattered some days before my +arrival, but a greasy patch with some black shreds upon it was still +visible above my window which represented part of the remains of an +unfortunate workman, who had been blown to pieces immediately in front +of the house. The air defence is very skilfully managed however, and +the Italians have the matter well in hand. + +My first experience of the Italian line was at the portion which I have +called the gap by the sea, otherwise the Isonzo front. From a mound +behind the trenches an extraordinary fine view can be got of the +Austrian position, the general curve of both lines being marked, as in +Flanders, by the sausage balloons which float behind them. The Isonzo, +which has been so bravely carried by the Italians, lay in front of me, +a clear blue river, as broad as the Thames at Hampton Court. In a +hollow to my left were the roofs of Gorizia, the town which the +Italians are endeavouring to take. A long desolate ridge, the Carso, +extends to the south of the town, and stretches down nearly to the sea. +The crest is held by the Austrians and the Italian trenches have been +pushed within fifty yards of them. A lively bombardment was going on +from either side, but so far as the infantry goes there is none of that +constant malignant petty warfare with which we are familiar in +Flanders. I was anxious to see the Italian trenches, in order to +compare them with our British methods, but save for the support and +communication trenches I was courteously but firmly warned off. + +The story of trench attack and defence is no doubt very similar in all +quarters, but I am convinced that close touch should be kept between +the Allies on the matter of new inventions. The quick Latin brain may +conceive and test an idea long before we do. At present there seems to +be very imperfect sympathy. As an example, when I was on the British +lines they were dealing with a method of clearing barbed wire. The +experiments were new and were causing great interest. But on the +Italian front I found that the same system had been tested for many +months. In the use of bullet proof jackets for engineers and other men +who have to do exposed work the Italians are also ahead of us. One of +their engineers at our headquarters might give some valuable advice. At +present the Italians have, as I understand, no military representative +with our armies, while they receive a British General with a small +staff. This seems very wrong not only from the point of view of +courtesy and justice, but also because Italy has no direct means of +knowing the truth about our great development. When Germans state that +our new armies are made of paper, our Allies should have some official +assurance of their own that this is false. I can understand our keeping +neutrals from our headquarters, but surely our Allies should be on +another footing. + +Having got this general view of the position I was anxious in the +afternoon to visit Monfalcone, which is the small dockyard captured +from the Austrians on the Adriatic. My kind Italian officer guides did +not recommend the trip, as it was part of their great hospitality to +shield their guest from any part of that danger which they were always +ready to incur themselves. The only road to Monfalcone ran close to the +Austrian position at the village of Ronchi, and afterwards kept +parallel to it for some miles. I was told that it was only on odd days +that the Austrian guns were active in this particular section, so +determined to trust to luck that this might not be one of them. It +proved, however, to be one of the worst on record, and we were not +destined to see the dockyard to which we started. + +The civilian cuts a ridiculous figure when he enlarges upon small +adventures which may come his way--adventures which the soldier endures +in silence as part of his everyday life. On this occasion, however, the +episode was all our own, and had a sporting flavour in it which made it +dramatic. I know now the feeling of tense expectation with which the +driven grouse whirrs onwards towards the butt. I have been behind the +butt before now, and it is only poetic justice that I should see the +matter from the other point of view. As we approached Ronchi we could +see shrapnel breaking over the road in front of us, but we had not yet +realised that it was precisely for vehicles that the Austrians were +waiting, and that they had the range marked out to a yard. We went down +the road all out at a steady fifty miles an hour. The village was near, +and it seemed that we had got past the place of danger. We had in fact +just reached it. At this moment there was a noise as if the whole four +tyres had gone simultaneously, a most terrific bang in our very ears, +merging into a second sound like a reverberating blow upon an enormous +gong. As I glanced up I saw three clouds immediately above my head, two +of them white and the other of a rusty red. The air was full of flying +metal, and the road, as we were told afterwards by an observer, was all +churned up by it. The metal base of one of the shells was found plumb +in the middle of the road just where our motor had been. There is no +use telling me Austrian gunners can't shoot. I know better. + +It was our pace that saved us. The motor was an open one, and the three +shells burst, according to one of my Italian companions who was himself +an artillery officer, about ten metres above our heads. They threw +forward, however, and we travelling at so great a pace shot from under. +Before they could get in another we had swung round the curve and under +the lee of a house. The good Colonel B. wrung my hand in silence. They +were both distressed, these good soldiers, under the impression that +they had led me into danger. As a matter of fact it was I who owed them +an apology, since they had enough risks in the way of business without +taking others in order to gratify the whim of a joy-rider. Barbariche +and Clericetti, this record will convey to you my remorse. + +Our difficulties were by no means over. We found an ambulance lorry and +a little group of infantry huddled under the same shelter with the +expression of people who had been caught in the rain. The road beyond +was under heavy fire as well as that by which we had come. Had the +Ostro-Boches dropped a high-explosive upon us they would have had a +good mixed bag. But apparently they were only out for fancy shooting +and disdained a sitter. Presently there came a lull and the lorry moved +on, but we soon heard a burst of firing which showed that they were +after it. My companions had decided that it was out of the question for +us to finish our excursion. We waited for some time therefore and were +able finally to make our retreat on foot, being joined later by the +car. So ended my visit to Monfalcone, the place I did not reach. I hear +that two 10,000-ton steamers were left on the stocks there by the +Austrians, but were disabled before they retired. Their cabin basins +and other fittings are now adorning the Italian dug-outs. + +My second day was devoted to a view of the Italian mountain warfare in +the Carnic Alps. Besides the two great fronts, one of defence +(Trentino) and one of offence (Isonzo), there are very many smaller +valleys which have to be guarded. The total frontier line is over four +hundred miles, and it has all to be held against raids if not +invasions. It is a most picturesque business. Far up in the Roccolana +Valley I found the Alpini outposts, backed by artillery which had been +brought into the most wonderful positions. They have taken 8-inch guns +where a tourist could hardly take his knapsack. Neither side can ever +make serious progress, but there are continual duels, gun against gun, +or Alpini against Jaeger. In a little wayside house was the brigade +headquarters, and here I was entertained to lunch. It was a scene that +I shall remember. They drank to England. I raised my glass to Italia +irredenta--might it soon be redenta. They all sprang to their feet and +the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. They keep their souls and +emotions, these people. I trust that ours may not become atrophied by +self-suppression. + +The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary +that we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our +sympathy with what they have done, instead of making querulous and +unreasonable demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult +position. The war is made by their splendid king--a man of whom every +one speaks with extraordinary reverence and love--and by the people. +The people, with the deep instinct of a very old civilisation, +understand that the liberty of the world and their own national +existence are really at stake. But there are several forces which +divide the strength of the nation. There is the clerical, which +represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking upon Austria as the +eldest daughter of the Church--a daughter who is little credit to her +mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, there are the +commercial people who through the great banks or other similar agencies +have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. When you +consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that Britain +should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the national +party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand there +might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international +situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any +way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not, +working for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most +efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities +which an absence of coal and iron entails. It is for us to show that we +appreciate it. Justice as well as policy demands it. + +The last day spent upon the Italian front was in the Trentino. From +Verona a motor drive of about twenty-five miles takes one up the valley +of the Adige, and past a place of evil augury for the Austrians, the +field of Rivoli. As one passes up the valley one appreciates that on +their left wing the Italians have position after position in the spurs +of the mountains before they could be driven into the plain. If the +Austrians could reach the plain it would be to their own ruin, for the +Italians have large reserves. There is no need for any anxiety about +the Trentino. + +The attitude of the people behind the firing line should give one +confidence. I had heard that the Italians were a nervous people. It +does not apply to this part of Italy. As I approached the danger spot I +saw rows of large, fat gentlemen with long thin black cigars leaning +against walls in the sunshine. The general atmosphere would have +steadied an epileptic. Italy is perfectly sure of herself in this +quarter. Finally, after a long drive of winding gradients, always +beside the Adige, we reached Ala, where we interviewed the Commander of +the Sector, a man who has done splendid work during the recent +fighting. 'By all means you can see my front. But no motorcar, please. +It draws fire and others may be hit beside you.' We proceeded on foot +therefore along a valley which branched at the end into two passes. In +both very active fighting had been going on, and as we came up the guns +were baying merrily, waking up most extraordinary echoes in the hills. +It was difficult to believe that it was not thunder. There was one +terrible voice that broke out from time to time in the mountains--the +angry voice of the Holy Roman Empire. When it came all other sounds +died down into nothing. It was--so I was told--the master gun, the vast +42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of Liege and Namur. +The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. The Italians +assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in trench +work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little matter. + +We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred +recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single +shell. There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the +aimed fire was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two +passes above us. That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some +of the worst of the fighting. These two passes form the Italian left +wing which has held firm all through. So has the right wing. It is only +the centre which has been pushed in by the concentrated fire. + +When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were +halted, and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches +which lay upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards +between the adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and +Croatian prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the +Italians speak with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians +and of the Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them +however, and especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig +trenches under fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were +recaptured and were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the +whole, however, it may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is +nothing which corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western +conflict. The presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference. + +Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements +on the Trentino front. There are no troops who would not have been +forced back by the Austrian fire. It corresponded with the French +experience at Verdun, or ours at the second battle of Ypres. It may +well occur again if the Austrians get their guns forward. But at such a +rate it would take them a long time to make any real impression. One +cannot look at the officers and men without seeing that their spirit +and confidence are high. In answer to my inquiry they assure me that +there is little difference between the troops of the northern provinces +and those of the south. Even among the snows of the Alps they tell me +that the Sicilians gave an excellent account of themselves. + +That night found me back at Verona, and next morning I was on my way to +Paris, where I hope to be privileged to have some experiences at the +front of our splendid Allies. I leave Italy with a deep feeling of +gratitude for the kindness shown to me, and of admiration for the way +in which they are playing their part in the world's fight for freedom. +They have every possible disadvantage, economic and political. But in +spite of it they have done splendidly. Three thousand square kilometres +of the enemy's country are already in their possession. They relieve to +a very great extent the pressure upon the Russians, who, in spite of +all their bravery, might have been overwhelmed last summer during the +'durchbruch' had it not been for the diversion of so many Austrian +troops. The time has come now when Russia by her advance on the Pripet +is repaying her debt. But the debt is common to all the Allies. Let +them bear it in mind. There has been mischief done by slighting +criticism and by inconsiderate words. A warm sympathetic hand-grasp of +congratulation is what Italy has deserved, and it is both justice and +policy to give it. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE + + +I + +The French soldiers are grand. They are grand. There is no other word +to express it. It is not merely their bravery. All races have shown +bravery in this war. But it is their solidity, their patience, their +nobility. I could not conceive anything finer than the bearing of their +officers. It is proud without being arrogant, stern without being +fierce, serious without being depressed. Such, too, are the men whom +they lead with such skill and devotion. Under the frightful +hammer-blows of circumstance, the national characters seem to have been +reversed. It is our British soldier who has become debonair, +light-hearted and reckless, while the Frenchman has developed a solemn +stolidity and dour patience which was once all our own. During a long +day in the French trenches, I have never once heard the sound of music +or laughter, nor have I once seen a face that was not full of the most +grim determination. + +Germany set out to bleed France white. Well, she has done so. France is +full of widows and orphans from end to end. Perhaps in proportion to +her population she has suffered the most of all. But in carrying out +her hellish mission Germany has bled herself white also. Her heavy +sword has done its work, but the keen French rapier has not lost its +skill. France will stand at last, weak and tottering, with her huge +enemy dead at her feet. But it is a fearsome business to see--such a +business as the world never looked upon before. It is fearful for the +French. It is fearful for the Germans. May God's curse rest upon the +arrogant men and the unholy ambitions which let loose this horror upon +humanity! Seeing what they have done, and knowing that they have done +it, one would think that mortal brain would grow crazy under the +weight. Perhaps the central brain of all was crazy from the first. But +what sort of government is it under which one crazy brain can wreck +mankind! + +If ever one wanders into the high places of mankind, the places whence +the guidance should come, it seems to me that one has to recall the +dying words of the Swedish Chancellor who declared that the folly of +those who governed was what had amazed him most in his experience of +life. Yesterday I met one of these men of power--M. Clemenceau, once +Prime Minister, now the destroyer of governments. He is by nature a +destroyer, incapable of rebuilding what he has pulled down. With his +personal force, his eloquence, his thundering voice, his bitter pen, he +could wreck any policy, but would not even trouble to suggest an +alternative. As he sat before me with his face of an old prizefighter +(he is remarkably like Jim Mace as I can remember him in his later +days), his angry grey eyes and his truculent, mischievous smile, he +seemed to me a very dangerous man. His conversation, if a squirt on one +side and Niagara on the other can be called conversation, was directed +for the moment upon the iniquity of the English rate of exchange, which +seemed to me very much like railing against the barometer. My +companion, who has forgotten more economics than ever Clemenceau knew, +was about to ask whether France was prepared to take the rouble at face +value, but the roaring voice, like a strong gramophone with a blunt +needle, submerged all argument. We have our dangerous men, but we have +no one in the same class as Clemenceau. Such men enrage the people who +know them, alarm the people who don't, set every one by the ears, act +as a healthy irritant in days of peace, and are a public danger in days +of war. + + * * * * * + +But this is digression. I had set out to say something of a day's +experience of the French front, though I shall write with a fuller pen +when I return from the Argonne. It was for Soissons that we made, +passing on the way a part of the scene of our own early operations, +including the battlefield of Villers Cotteret--just such a wood as I +had imagined. My companion's nephew was one of those Guards' officers +whose bodies rest now in the village cemetery, with a little British +Jack still flying above them. They lie together, and their grave is +tended with pious care. Among the trees beside the road were other +graves of soldiers, buried where they had fallen. 'So look around--and +choose your ground--and take your rest.' + +Soissons is a considerable wreck, though it is very far from being an +Ypres. But the cathedral would, and will, make many a patriotic +Frenchman weep. These savages cannot keep their hands off a beautiful +church. Here, absolutely unchanged through the ages, was the spot where +St. Louis had dedicated himself to the Crusade. Every stone of it was +holy. And now the lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the +roof lies in a huge heap across the central aisle. A dog was climbing +over it as we entered. No wonder the French fight well. Such sights +would drive the mildest man to desperation. The abbe, a good priest, +with a large humorous face, took us over his shattered domain. He was +full of reminiscences of the German occupation of the place. One of his +personal anecdotes was indeed marvellous. It was that a lady in the +local ambulance had vowed to kiss the first French soldier who +re-entered the town. She did so, and it proved to be her husband. The +abbe is a good, kind, truthful man--but he has a humorous face. + +A walk down a ruined street brings one to the opening of the trenches. +There are marks upon the walls of the German occupation. +'Berlin--Paris,' with an arrow of direction, adorns one corner. At +another the 76th Regiment have commemorated the fact that they were +there in 1870 and again in 1914. If the Soissons folk are wise they +will keep these inscriptions as a reminder to the rising generation. I +can imagine, however, that their inclination will be to whitewash, +fumigate, and forget. + +A sudden turn among some broken walls takes one into the communication +trench. Our guide is a Commandant of the Staff, a tall, thin man with +hard, grey eyes and a severe face. It is the more severe towards us as +I gather that he has been deluded into the belief that about one out of +six of our soldiers goes to the trenches. For the moment he is not +friends with the English. As we go along, however, we gradually get +upon better terms, we discover a twinkle in the hard, grey eyes, and +the day ends with an exchange of walking-sticks and a renewal of the +Entente. May my cane grow into a marshal's baton. + + * * * * * + +A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of +trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of +compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the +Germans going on high over our heads. The trenches are boarded at the +sides, and have a more permanent look than those of Flanders. Presently +we meet a fine, brown-faced, upstanding boy, as keen as a razor, who +commands this particular section. A little further on a helmeted +captain of infantry, who is an expert sniper, joins our little party. +Now we are at the very front trench. I had expected to see primeval +men, bearded and shaggy. But the 'Poilus' have disappeared. The men +around me were clean and dapper to a remarkable degree. I gathered, +however, that they had their internal difficulties. On one board I read +an old inscription, 'He is a Boche, but he is the inseparable companion +of a French soldier.' Above was a rude drawing of a louse. + +I am led to a cunning loop-hole, and have a glimpse through it of a +little framed picture of French countryside. There are fields, a road, +a sloping hill beyond with trees. Quite close, about thirty or forty +yards away, was a low, red-tiled house. 'They are there,' said our +guide. 'That is their outpost. We can hear them cough.' Only the guns +were coughing that morning, so we heard nothing, but it was certainly +wonderful to be so near to the enemy and yet in such peace. I suppose +wondering visitors from Berlin are brought up also to hear the French +cough. Modern warfare has certainly some extraordinary sides. + +Now we are shown all the devices which a year of experience has +suggested to the quick brains of our Allies. It is ground upon which +one cannot talk with freedom. Every form of bomb, catapult, and trench +mortar was ready to hand. Every method of cross-fire had been thought +out to an exact degree. There was something, however, about their +disposition of a machine gun which disturbed the Commandant. He called +for the officer of the gun. His thin lips got thinner and his grey eyes +more austere as we waited. Presently there emerged an extraordinarily +handsome youth, dark as a Spaniard, from some rabbit hole. He faced the +Commandant bravely, and answered back with respect but firmness. +'Pourquoi?' asked the Commandant, and yet again 'Pourquoi?' Adonis had +an answer for everything. Both sides appealed to the big Captain of +Snipers, who was clearly embarrassed. He stood on one leg and scratched +his chin. Finally the Commandant turned away angrily in the midst of +one of Adonis' voluble sentences. His face showed that the matter was +not ended. War is taken very seriously in the French army, and any sort +of professional mistake is very quickly punished. I have been told how +many officers of high rank have been broken by the French during the +war. The figure was a very high one. There is no more forgiveness for +the beaten General than there was in the days of the Republic when the +delegate of the National Convention, with a patent portable guillotine, +used to drop in at headquarters to support a more vigorous offensive. + + * * * * * + +As I write these lines there is a burst of bugles in the street, and I +go to my open window to see the 41st of the line march down into what +may develop into a considerable battle. How I wish they could march +down the Strand even as they are. How London would rise to them! Laden +like donkeys, with a pile upon their backs and very often both hands +full as well, they still get a swing into their march which it is good +to see. They march in column of platoons, and the procession is a long +one, for a French regiment is, of course, equal to three battalions. +The men are shortish, very thick, burned brown in the sun, with never a +smile among them--have I not said that they are going down to a grim +sector?--but with faces of granite. There was a time when we talked of +stiffening the French army. I am prepared to believe that our first +expeditionary force was capable of stiffening any conscript army, for I +do not think that a finer force ever went down to battle. But to talk +about stiffening these people now would be ludicrous. You might as well +stiffen the old Guard. There may be weak regiments somewhere, but I +have never seen them. + +I think that an injustice has been done to the French army by the +insistence of artists and cinema operators upon the picturesque +Colonial corps. One gets an idea that Arabs and negroes are pulling +France out of the fire. It is absolutely false. Her own brave sons are +doing the work. The Colonial element is really a very small one--so +small that I have not seen a single unit during all my French +wanderings. The Colonials are good men, but like our splendid +Highlanders they catch the eye in a way which is sometimes a little +hard upon their neighbours. When there is hard work to be done it is +the good little French piou-piou who usually has to do it. There is no +better man in Europe. If we are as good--and I believe we are--it is +something to be proud of. + + * * * * * + +But I have wandered far from the trenches of Soissons. It had come on +to rain heavily, and we were forced to take refuge in the dugout of the +sniper. Eight of us sat in the deep gloom huddled closely together. The +Commandant was still harping upon that ill-placed machine gun. He could +not get over it. My imperfect ear for French could not follow all his +complaints, but some defence of the offender brought forth a 'Jamais! +Jamais! Jamais!' which was rapped out as if it came from the gun +itself. There were eight of us in an underground burrow, and some were +smoking. Better a deluge than such an atmosphere as that. But if there +is a thing upon earth which the French officer shies at it is rain and +mud. The reason is that he is extraordinarily natty in his person. His +charming blue uniform, his facings, his brown gaiters, boots and belts +are always just as smart as paint. He is the Dandy of the European war. +I noticed officers in the trenches with their trousers carefully +pressed. It is all to the good, I think. Wellington said that the +dandies made his best officers. It is difficult for the men to get +rattled or despondent when they see the debonair appearance of their +leaders. + +Among the many neat little marks upon the French uniforms which +indicate with precision but without obtrusion the rank and arm of the +wearer, there was one which puzzled me. It was to be found on the left +sleeve of men of all ranks, from generals to privates, and it consisted +of small gold chevrons, one, two, or more. No rule seemed to regulate +them, for the general might have none, and I have heard of the private +who wore ten. Then I solved the mystery. They are the record of wounds +received. What an admirable idea! Surely we should hasten to introduce +it among our own soldiers. It costs little and it means much. If you +can allay the smart of a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting +honour to the man among his fellows, then surely it should be done. +Medals, too, are more freely distributed and with more public parade +than in our service. I am convinced that the effect is good. + + * * * * * + +The rain has now stopped, and we climb from our burrow. Again we are +led down that endless line of communication trench, again we stumble +through the ruins, again we emerge into the street where our cars are +awaiting us. Above our heads the sharp artillery duel is going merrily +forward. The French are firing three or four to one, which has been my +experience at every point I have touched upon the Allied front. Thanks +to the extraordinary zeal of the French workers, especially of the +French women, and to the clever adaptation of machinery by their +engineers, their supplies are abundant. Even now they turn out more +shells a day than we do. That, however, excludes our supply for the +Fleet. But it is one of the miracles of the war that the French, with +their coal and iron in the hands of the enemy, have been able to equal +the production of our great industrial centres. The steel, of course, +is supplied by us. To that extent we can claim credit for the result. + +And so, after the ceremony of the walking-sticks, we bid adieu to the +lines of Soissons. To-morrow we start for a longer tour to the more +formidable district of the Argonne, the neighbour of Verdun, and itself +the scene of so much that is glorious and tragic. + + + +II. + +There is a couplet of Stevenson's which haunts me, 'There fell a war in +a woody place--in a land beyond the sea.' I have just come back from +spending three wonderful dream days in that woody place. It lies with +the open, bosky country of Verdun on its immediate right, and the chalk +downs of Champagne upon its left. If one could imagine the lines being +taken right through our New Forest or the American Adirondacks it would +give some idea of the terrain, save that it is a very undulating +country of abrupt hills and dales. It is this peculiarity which has +made the war on this front different to any other, more picturesque and +more secret. In front the fighting lines are half in the clay soil, +half behind the shelter of fallen trunks. Between the two the main bulk +of the soldiers live like animals of the woodlands, burrowing on the +hillsides and among the roots of the trees. It is a war by itself, and +a very wonderful one to see. At three different points I have visited +the front in this broad region, wandering from the lines of one army +corps to that of another. In all three I found the same conditions, and +in all three I found also the same pleasing fact which I had discovered +at Soissons, that the fire of the French was at least five, and very +often ten shots to one of the Boche. It used not to be so. The Germans +used to scrupulously return shot for shot. But whether they have moved +their guns to the neighbouring Verdun, or whether, as is more likely, +all the munitions are going there, it is certain that they were very +outclassed upon the three days (June 10, 11, 12) which I allude to. +There were signs that for some reason their spirits were at a low ebb. +On the evening before our arrival the French had massed all their bands +at the front, and, in honour of the Russian victory, had played the +Marseillaise and the Russian National hymn, winding up with general +shoutings and objurgations calculated to annoy. Failing to stir up the +Boche, they had ended by a salute from a hundred shotted guns. After +trailing their coats up and down the line they had finally to give up +the attempt to draw the enemy. Want of food may possibly have caused a +decline in the German spirit. There is some reason to believe that they +feed up their fighting men at the places like Verdun or Hooge, where +they need all their energy, at the expense of the men who are on the +defensive. If so, we may find it out when we attack. The French +officers assured me that the prisoners and deserters made bitter +complaints of their scale of rations. And yet it is hard to believe +that the fine efforts of our enemy at Verdun are the work of +half-starved men. + + * * * * * + +To return to my personal impressions, it was at Chalons that we left +the Paris train--a town which was just touched by the most forward +ripple of the first great German floodtide. A drive of some twenty +miles took us to St. Menehould, and another ten brought us to the front +in the sector of Divisional-General H. A fine soldier this, and heaven +help Germany if he and his division get within its borders, for he is, +as one can see at a glance, a man of iron who has been goaded to +fierceness by all that his beloved country has endured. He is a man of +middle size, swarthy, hawk-like, very abrupt in his movements, with two +steel grey eyes, which are the most searching that mine have ever met. +His hospitality and courtesy to us were beyond all bounds, but there is +another side to him, and it is one which it is wiser not to provoke. In +person he took us to his lines, passing through the usual shot-torn +villages behind them. Where the road dips down into the great forest +there is one particular spot which is visible to the German artillery +observers. The General mentioned it at the time, but his remark seemed +to have no personal interest. We understood it better on our return in +the evening. + +Now we found ourselves in the depths of the woods, primeval woods of +oak and beech in the deep clay soil that the great oak loves. There had +been rain and the forest paths were ankle deep in mire. Everywhere, to +right and left, soldiers' faces, hard and rough from a year of open +air, gazed up at us from their burrows in the ground. Presently an +alert, blue-clad figure stood in the path to greet us. It was the +Colonel of the sector. He was ridiculously like Cyrano de Bergerac as +depicted by the late M. Coquelin, save that his nose was of more +moderate proportion. The ruddy colouring, the bristling feline +full-ended moustache, the solidity of pose, the backward tilt of the head, +the general suggestion of the bantam cock, were all there facing us as +he stood amid the leaves in the sunlight. Gauntlets and a long +rapier--nothing else was wanting. Something had amused Cyrano. His +moustache quivered with suppressed mirth, and his blue eyes were +demurely gleaming. Then the joke came out. He had spotted a German +working party, his guns had concentrated on it, and afterwards he had +seen the stretchers go forward. A grim joke, it may seem. But the +French see this war from a different angle to us. If we had the Boche +sitting on our heads for two years, and were not yet quite sure whether +we could ever get him off again, we should get Cyrano's point of view. +Those of us who have had our folk murdered by Zeppelins or tortured in +German prisons have probably got it already. + + * * * * * + +We passed in a little procession among the French soldiers, and viewed +their multifarious arrangements. For them we were a little break in a +monotonous life, and they formed up in lines as we passed. My own +British uniform and the civilian dresses of my two companions +interested them. As the General passed these groups, who formed +themselves up in perhaps a more familiar manner than would have been +usual in the British service, he glanced kindly at them with those +singular eyes of his, and once or twice addressed them as 'Mes +enfants.' One might conceive that all was 'go as you please' among the +French. So it is as long as you go in the right way. When you stray +from it you know it. As we passed a group of men standing on a low +ridge which overlooked us there was a sudden stop. I gazed round. The +General's face was steel and cement. The eyes were cold and yet fiery, +sunlight upon icicles. Something had happened. Cyrano had sprung to his +side. His reddish moustache had shot forward beyond his nose, and it +bristled out like that of an angry cat. Both were looking up at the +group above us. One wretched man detached himself from his comrades and +sidled down the slope. No skipper and mate of a Yankee blood boat could +have looked more ferociously at a mutineer. And yet it was all over +some minor breach of discipline which was summarily disposed of by two +days of confinement. Then in an instant the faces relaxed, there was a +general buzz of relief and we were back at 'Mes enfants' again. But +don't make any mistake as to discipline in the French army. + +Trenches are trenches, and the main specialty of these in the Argonne +is that they are nearer to the enemy. In fact there are places where +they interlock, and where the advanced posts lie cheek by jowl with a +good steel plate to cover both cheek and jowl. We were brought to a +sap-head where the Germans were at the other side of a narrow forest +road. Had I leaned forward with extended hand and a Boche done the same +we could have touched. I looked across, but saw only a tangle of wire +and sticks. Even whispering was not permitted in these forward posts. + + * * * * * + +When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all +to his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side +of a hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin +with the air of a seigneur in his chateau. There was little furniture, +but from some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which +adorned his grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in +her traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch +in the picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once, +nor shall I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within +my memory. Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of +the Argonne, his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his +red moustache bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out +of the past of France. + +That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier, +General A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division. +Each of these French generals has a striking individuality of his own +which I wish I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that +each seems to be a rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a +touch of d'Artagnan. He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with +huge, up-curling moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It +is a grand figure which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace +collar, hand on sword, and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but +a stern and hard soldier was lurking behind the smiles. His name may +appear in history, and so may Humbert's, who rules all the army of +which the other's corps is a unit. Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure, +small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short, +sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with +electricity in moments of excitement like a cat's fur. What he does or +says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like +pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with +his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu'il est un +soldat dans l'armee Anglaise?' The whole table waited in an awful hush. +'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour service.' +There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an +awkward place. + +And talking of awkward places, I had forgotten about that spot upon the +road whence the Boche observer could see our motor-cars. He had +actually laid a gun upon it, the rascal, and waited all the long day +for our return. No sooner did we appear upon the slope than a shrapnel +shell burst above us, but somewhat behind me, as well as to the left. +Had it been straight the second car would have got it, and there might +have been a vacancy in one of the chief editorial chairs in London. The +General shouted to the driver to speed up, and we were soon safe from +the German gunners. One gets perfectly immune to noises in these +scenes, for the guns which surround you make louder crashes than any +shell which bursts about you. It is only when you actually see the +cloud over you that your thoughts come back to yourself, and that you +realise that in this wonderful drama you may be a useless super, but +none the less you are on the stage and not in the stalls. + + * * * * * + +Next morning we were down in the front trenches again at another +portion of the line. Far away on our right, from a spot named the +Observatory, we could see the extreme left of the Verdun position and +shells bursting on the Fille Morte. To the north of us was a broad +expanse of sunny France, nestling villages, scattered chateaux, rustic +churches, and all as inaccessible as if it were the moon. It is a +terrible thing this German bar--a thing unthinkable to Britons. To +stand on the edge of Yorkshire and look into Lancashire feeling that it +is in other hands, that our fellow-countrymen are suffering there and +waiting, waiting, for help, and that we cannot, after two years, come a +yard nearer to them--would it not break our hearts? Can I wonder that +there is no smile upon the grim faces of these Frenchmen! But when the +bar is broken, when the line sweeps forward, as most surely it will, +when French bayonets gleam on yonder uplands and French flags break +from those village spires--ah, what a day that will be! Men will die +that day from the pure, delirious joy of it. We cannot think what it +means to France, and the less so because she stands so nobly patient +waiting for her hour. + +Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He, +too, is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large +broad good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze +gently into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice. +Such is one of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of +Division D. His former staff officers told me something of the man. He +is a philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant +dreams amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French +assault upon the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade +which he then commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans +with the detached air of the man of science who is hunting for +specimens. In whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his +cloth spread and decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If +fate be kind to him he will go far. Apart from his valour he is +admitted to be one of the most scientific soldiers of France. + +From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There +had been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It +was a very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was +passed back to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over +our heads. My word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he +Boche, French or British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the +shells was awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind, +and then thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench +was a line of terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all +was still. Where were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried +beneath it? Or had they got from under? No one could say. + +There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time +watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved +it, and touched it with a swift but tender touch in every movement. +When it was fired it ran up an inclined plane to take off the recoil, +rushing up and then turning and rattling down again upon the gunners +who were used to its ways. The first time it did it, I was standing +behind it, and I don't know which moved quickest--the gun or I. + +French officers above a certain rank develop and show their own +individuality. In the lower grades the conditions of service enforce a +certain uniformity. The British officer is a British gentleman first, +and an officer afterwards. The Frenchman is an officer first, though +none the less the gentleman stands behind it. One very strange type we +met, however, in these Argonne Woods. He was a French-Canadian who had +been a French soldier, had founded a homestead in far Alberta, and had +now come back of his own will, though a naturalised Briton, to the old +flag. He spoke English of a kind, the quality and quantity being +equally extraordinary. It poured from him and was, so far as it was +intelligible, of the woolly Western variety. His views on the Germans +were the most emphatic we had met. 'These Godam sons of'--well, let us +say 'Canines!' he would shriek, shaking his fist at the woods to the +north of him. A good man was our compatriot, for he had a very recent +Legion of Honour pinned upon his breast. He had been put with a few men +on Hill 285, a sort of volcano stuffed with mines, and was told to +telephone when he needed relief. He refused to telephone and remained +there for three weeks. 'We sit like a rabbit in his hall,' he +explained. He had only one grievance. There were many wild boars in the +forest, but the infantry were too busy to get them. 'The Godam +Artillaree he get the wild pig!' Out of his pocket he pulled a picture +of a frame-house with snow round it, and a lady with two children on +the stoop. It was his homestead at Trochu, seventy miles north of +Calgary. + + * * * * * + +It was the evening of the third day that we turned our faces to Paris +once more. It was my last view of the French. The roar of their guns +went far with me upon my way. Soldiers of France, farewell! In your own +phrase I salute you! Many have seen you who had more knowledge by which +to judge your manifold virtues, many also who had more skill to draw +you as you are, but never one, I am sure, who admired you more than I. +Great was the French soldier under Louis the Sun-King, great too under +Napoleon, but never was he greater than to-day. + +And so it is back to England and to home. I feel sobered and solemn +from all that I have seen. It is a blind vision which does not see more +than the men and the guns, which does not catch something of the +terrific spiritual conflict which is at the heart of it. + + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord + --He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored. + +We have found no inspired singer yet, like Julia Howe, to voice the +divine meaning of it all--that meaning which is more than numbers or +guns upon the day of battle. But who can see the adult manhood of +Europe standing in a double line, waiting for a signal to throw +themselves upon each other, without knowing that he has looked upon the +most terrific of all the dealings between the creature below and that +great force above, which works so strangely towards some distant but +glorious end? + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Visit to Three Fronts, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + +***** This file should be named 9874.txt or 9874.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/8/7/9874/ + +Produced by Tonya Allen and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders. 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This file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + +A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS + +June 1916 + +BY + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + +AUTHOR OF + +'THE GREAT BOER WAR' + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the course of May 1916, the Italian authorities expressed a desire +that some independent observer from Great Britain should visit their +lines and report his impressions. It was at the time when our brave and +capable allies had sustained a set-back in the Trentino owing to a +sudden concentration of the Austrians, supported by very heavy +artillery. I was asked to undertake this mission. In order to carry it +out properly, I stipulated that I should be allowed to visit the +British lines first, so that I might have some standard of comparison. +The War Office kindly assented to my request. Later I obtained +permission to pay a visit to the French front as well. Thus it was my +great good fortune, at the very crisis of the war, to visit the battle +line of each of the three great Western allies. I only wish that it had +been within my power to complete my experiences in this seat of war by +seeing the gallant little Belgian army which has done so remarkably +well upon the extreme left wing of the hosts of freedom. + +My experiences and impressions are here set down, and may have some +small effect in counteracting those mischievous misunderstandings and +mutual belittlements which are eagerly fomented by our cunning enemy. + +Arthur Conan Doyle. + +Crowborough, + +July 1916. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY + + +I + +It is not an easy matter to write from the front. You know that there +are several courteous but inexorable gentlemen who may have a word in +the matter, and their presence 'imparts but small ease to the style.' +But above all you have the twin censors of your own conscience and +common sense, which assure you that, if all other readers fail you, you +will certainly find a most attentive one in the neighbourhood of the +Haupt-Quartier. An instructive story is still told of how a certain +well-meaning traveller recorded his satisfaction with the appearance of +the big guns at the retiring and peaceful village of Jamais, and how +three days later, by an interesting coincidence, the village of Jamais +passed suddenly off the map and dematerialised into brickdust and +splinters. + +I have been with soldiers on the warpath before, but never have I had a +day so crammed with experiences and impressions as yesterday. Some of +them at least I can faintly convey to the reader, and if they ever +reach the eye of that gentleman at the Haupt-Quartier they will give +him little joy. For the crowning impression of all is the enormous +imperturbable confidence of the Army and its extraordinary efficiency +in organisation, administration, material, and personnel. I met in one +day a sample of many types, an Army commander, a corps commander, two +divisional commanders, staff officers of many grades, and, above all, I +met repeatedly the two very great men whom Britain has produced, the +private soldier and the regimental officer. Everywhere and on every +face one read the same spirit of cheerful bravery. Even the half-mad +cranks whose absurd consciences prevent them from barring the way to +the devil seemed to me to be turning into men under the prevailing +influence. I saw a batch of them, neurotic and largely be-spectacled, +but working with a will by the roadside. They will volunteer for the +trenches yet. + + * * * * * + +If there are pessimists among us they are not to be found among the men +who are doing the work. There is no foolish bravado, no under-rating of +a dour opponent, but there is a quick, alert, confident attention to +the job in hand which is an inspiration to the observer. These brave +lads are guarding Britain in the present. See to it that Britain guards +them in the future! We have a bad record in this matter. It must be +changed. They are the wards of the nation, both officers and men. +Socialism has never had an attraction for me, but I should be a +Socialist to-morrow if I thought that to ease a tax on wealth these men +should ever suffer for the time or health that they gave to the public +cause. + +'Get out of the car. Don't let it stay here. It may be hit.' These +words from a staff officer give you the first idea that things are +going to happen. Up to then you might have been driving through the +black country in the Walsall district with the population of Aldershot +let loose upon its dingy roads. 'Put on this shrapnel helmet. That hat +of yours would infuriate the Boche'--this was an unkind allusion to the +only uniform which I have a right to wear. 'Take this gas helmet. You +won't need it, but it is a standing order. Now come on!' + +We cross a meadow and enter a trench. Here and there it comes to the +surface again where there is dead ground. At one such point an old +church stands, with an unexploded shell sticking out of the wall. A +century hence folk will journey to see that shell. Then on again +through an endless cutting. It is slippery clay below. I have no nails +in my boots, an iron pot on my head, and the sun above me. I will +remember that walk. Ten telephone wires run down the side. Here and +there large thistles and other plants grow from the clay walls, so +immobile have been our lines. Occasionally there are patches of +untidiness. 'Shells,' says the officer laconically. There is a racket +of guns before us and behind, especially behind, but danger seems +remote with all these Bairnfather groups of cheerful Tommies at work +around us. I pass one group of grimy, tattered boys. A glance at their +shoulders shows me that they are of a public school battalion. 'I +thought you fellows were all officers now,' I remarked. 'No, sir, we +like it better so.' 'Well, it will be a great memory for you. We are +all in your debt.' + +They salute, and we squeeze past them. They had the fresh, brown faces +of boy cricketers. But their comrades were men of a different type, +with hard, strong, rugged features, and the eyes of men who have seen +strange sights. These are veterans, men of Mons, and their young pals +of the public schools have something to live up to. + + * * * * * + +Up to this we have only had two clay walls to look at. But now our +interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British +aeroplane sailing overhead. Numerous shrapnel bursts are all round it, +but she floats on serenely, a thing of delicate beauty against the blue +background. Now another passes--and yet another. All morning we saw +them circling and swooping, and never a sign of a Boche. They tell me +it is nearly always so--that we hold the air, and that the Boche +intruder, save at early morning, is a rare bird. A visit to the line +would reassure Mr. Pemberton-Billing. 'We have never met a British +aeroplane which was not ready to fight,' said a captured German aviator +the other day. There is a fine stern courtesy between the airmen on +either side, each dropping notes into the other's aerodromes to tell +the fate of missing officers. Had the whole war been fought by the +Germans as their airmen have conducted it (I do not speak of course of +the Zeppelin murderers), a peace would eventually have been more easily +arranged. As it is, if every frontier could be settled, it would be a +hard thing to stop until all that is associated with the words Cavell, +Zeppelin, Wittenberg, Lusitania, and Louvain has been brought to the +bar of the world's Justice. + +And now we are there--in what is surely the most wonderful spot in the +world, the front firing trench, the outer breakwater which holds back +the German tide. How strange that this monstrous oscillation of giant +forces, setting in from east to west, should find their equilibrium +here across this particular meadow of Flanders. 'How far?' I ask. '180 +yards,' says my guide. 'Pop!' remarks a third person just in front. 'A +sniper,' says my guide; 'take a look through the periscope.' I do so. +There is some rusty wire before me, then a field sloping slightly +upwards with knee-deep grass, then rusty wire again, and a red line of +broken earth. There is not a sign of movement, but sharp eyes are +always watching us, even as these crouching soldiers around me are +watching them. There are dead Germans in the grass before us. You need +not see them to know that they are there. A wounded soldier sits in a +corner nursing his leg. Here and there men pop out like rabbits from +dug-outs and mine-shafts. Others sit on the fire-step or lean smoking +against the clay wall. Who would dream to look at their bold, careless +faces that this is a front line, and that at any moment it is possible +that a grey wave may submerge them? With all their careless bearing I +notice that every man has his gas helmet and his rifle within easy +reach. + +A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that +weary walk. Then I am whisked off upon a ten mile drive. There is a +pause for lunch at Corps Headquarters, and after it we are taken to a +medal presentation in a market square. Generals Munro, Haking and +Landon, famous fighting soldiers all three, are the British +representatives. Munro with a ruddy face, and brain above all bulldog +below; Haking, pale, distinguished, intellectual; Landon a pleasant, +genial country squire. An elderly French General stands beside them. + +British infantry keep the ground. In front are about fifty Frenchmen in +civil dress of every grade of life, workmen and gentlemen, in a double +rank. They are all so wounded that they are back in civil life, but +to-day they are to have some solace for their wounds. They lean heavily +on sticks, their bodies are twisted and maimed, but their faces are +shining with pride and joy. The French General draws his sword and +addresses them. One catches words like 'honneur' and 'patrie.' They +lean forward on their crutches, hanging on every syllable which comes +hissing and rasping from under that heavy white moustache. Then the +medals are pinned on. One poor lad is terribly wounded and needs two +sticks. A little girl runs out with some flowers. He leans forward and +tries to kiss her, but the crutches slip and he nearly falls upon her. +It was a pitiful but beautiful little scene. + +Now the British candidates march up one by one for their medals, hale, +hearty men, brown and fit. There is a smart young officer of Scottish +Rifles; and then a selection of Worcesters, Welsh Fusiliers and Scots +Fusiliers, with one funny little Highlander, a tiny figure with a +soup-bowl helmet, a grinning boy's face beneath it, and a bedraggled +uniform. 'Many acts of great bravery'--such was the record for which he +was decorated. Even the French wounded smiled at his quaint appearance, +as they did at another Briton who had acquired the chewing-gum habit, +and came up for his medal as if he had been called suddenly in the +middle of his dinner, which he was still endeavouring to bolt. Then +came the end, with the National Anthem. The British regiment formed +fours and went past. To me that was the most impressive sight of any. +They were the Queen's West Surreys, a veteran regiment of the great +Ypres battle. What grand fellows! As the order came 'Eyes right,' and +all those fierce, dark faces flashed round about us, I felt the might +of the British infantry, the intense individuality which is not +incompatible with the highest discipline. Much they had endured, but a +great spirit shone from their faces. I confess that as I looked at +those brave English lads, and thought of what we owe to them and to +their like who have passed on, I felt more emotional than befits a +Briton in foreign parts. + + * * * * * + +Now the ceremony was ended, and once again we set out for the front. It +was to an artillery observation post that we were bound, and once again +my description must be bounded by discretion. Suffice it, that in an +hour I found myself, together with a razor-keen young artillery +observer and an excellent old sportsman of a Russian prince, jammed +into a very small space, and staring through a slit at the German +lines. In front of us lay a vast plain, scarred and slashed, with bare +places at intervals, such as you see where gravel pits break a green +common. Not a sign of life or movement, save some wheeling crows. And +yet down there, within a mile or so, is the population of a city. Far +away a single train is puffing at the back of the German lines. We are +here on a definite errand. Away to the right, nearly three miles off, +is a small red house, dim to the eye but clear in the glasses, which is +suspected as a German post. It is to go up this afternoon. The gun is +some distance away, but I hear the telephone directions. '"Mother" will +soon do her in,' remarks the gunner boy cheerfully. 'Mother' is the +name of the gun. 'Give her five six three four,' he cries through the +'phone. 'Mother' utters a horrible bellow from somewhere on our right. +An enormous spout of smoke rises ten seconds later from near the house. +'A little short,' says our gunner. 'Two and a half minutes left,' adds +a little small voice, which represents another observer at a different +angle. 'Raise her seven five,' says our boy encouragingly. 'Mother' +roars more angrily than ever. 'How will that do?' she seems to say. +'One and a half right,' says our invisible gossip. I wonder how the +folk in the house are feeling as the shells creep ever nearer. 'Gun +laid, sir,' says the telephone. 'Fire!' I am looking through my glass. +A flash of fire on the house, a huge pillar of dust and smoke--then it +settles, and an unbroken field is there. The German post has gone up. +'It's a dear little gun,' says the officer boy. 'And her shells are +reliable,' remarked a senior behind us. 'They vary with different +calibres, but "Mother" never goes wrong.' The German line was very +quiet. 'Pourquoi ils ne repondent pas?' asked the Russian prince. 'Yes, +they are quiet to-day,' answered the senior. 'But we get it in the neck +sometimes.' We are all led off to be introduced to 'Mother,' who sits, +squat and black, amid twenty of her grimy children who wait upon and +feed her. She is an important person is 'Mother,' and her importance +grows. It gets clearer with every month that it is she, and only she, +who can lead us to the Rhine. She can and she will if the factories of +Britain can beat those of the Hun. See to it, you working men and women +of Britain. Work now if you rest for ever after, for the fate of Europe +and of all that is dear to us is in your hands. For 'Mother' is a +dainty eater, and needs good food and plenty. She is fond of strange +lodgings, too, in which she prefers safety to dignity. But that is a +dangerous subject. + + * * * * * + +One more experience of this wonderful day--the most crowded with +impressions of my whole life. At night we take a car and drive north, +and ever north, until at a late hour we halt and climb a hill in the +darkness. Below is a wonderful sight. Down on the flats, in a huge +semi-circle, lights are rising and falling. They are very brilliant, +going up for a few seconds and then dying down. Sometimes a dozen are +in the air at one time. There are the dull thuds of explosions and an +occasional rat-tat-tat. I have seen nothing like it, but the nearest +comparison would be an enormous ten-mile railway station in full swing +at night, with signals winking, lamps waving, engines hissing and +carriages bumping. It is a terrible place down yonder, a place which +will live as long as military history is written, for it is the Ypres +Salient. What a salient it is, too! A huge curve, as outlined by the +lights, needing only a little more to be an encirclement. Something +caught the rope as it closed, and that something was the British +soldier. But it is a perilous place still by day and by night. Never +shall I forget the impression of ceaseless, malignant activity which +was borne in upon me by the white, winking lights, the red sudden +glares, and the horrible thudding noises in that place of death beneath +me. + + +II + +In old days we had a great name as organisers. Then came a long period +when we deliberately adopted a policy of individuality and 'go as you +please.' Now once again in our sore need we have called on all our +power of administration and direction. But it has not deserted us. We +still have it in a supreme degree. Even in peace time we have shown it +in that vast, well-oiled, swift-running, noiseless machine called the +British Navy. But now our powers have risen with the need of them. The +expansion of the Navy has been a miracle, the management of the +transport a greater one, the formation of the new Army the greatest of +all time. To get the men was the least of the difficulties. To put them +here, with everything down to the lid of the last field saucepan in its +place, that is the marvel. The tools of the gunners, and of the +sappers, to say nothing of the knowledge of how to use them, are in +themselves a huge problem. But it has all been met and mastered, and +will be to the end. But don't let us talk any more about the muddling +of the War Office. It has become just a little ridiculous. + + * * * * * + +I have told of my first day, when I visited the front trenches, saw the +work of 'Mother,' and finally that marvellous spectacle, the Ypres +Salient at night. I have passed the night at the headquarters of a +divisional-general, Capper, who might truly be called one of the two +fathers of the British flying force, for it was he, with Templer, who +laid the first foundations from which so great an organisation has +arisen. My morning was spent in visiting two fighting brigadiers, +cheery weather-beaten soldiers, respectful, as all our soldiers are, of +the prowess of the Hun, but serenely confident that we can beat him. In +company with one of them I ascended a hill, the reverse slope of which +was swarming with cheerful infantry in every stage of dishabille, for +they were cleaning up after the trenches. Once over the slope we +advanced with some care, and finally reached a certain spot from which +we looked down upon the German line. It was the advanced observation +post, about a thousand yards from the German trenches, with our own +trenches between us. We could see the two lines, sometimes only a few +yards, as it seemed, apart, extending for miles on either side. The +sinister silence and solitude were strangely dramatic. Such vast crowds +of men, such intensity of feeling, and yet only that open rolling +countryside, with never a movement in its whole expanse. + +The afternoon saw us in the Square at Ypres. It is the city of a dream, +this modern Pompeii, destroyed, deserted and desecrated, but with a +sad, proud dignity which made you involuntarily lower your voice as you +passed through the ruined streets. It is a more considerable place than +I had imagined, with many traces of ancient grandeur. No words can +describe the absolute splintered wreck that the Huns have made of it. +The effect of some of the shells has been grotesque. One boiler-plated +water-tower, a thing forty or fifty feet high, was actually standing on +its head like a great metal top. There is not a living soul in the +place save a few pickets of soldiers, and a number of cats which become +fierce and dangerous. Now and then a shell still falls, but the Huns +probably know that the devastation is already complete. + +We stood in the lonely grass-grown Square, once the busy centre of the +town, and we marvelled at the beauty of the smashed cathedral and the +tottering Cloth Hall beside it. Surely at their best they could not +have looked more wonderful than now. If they were preserved even so, +and if a heaven-inspired artist were to model a statue of Belgium in +front, Belgium with one hand pointing to the treaty by which Prussia +guaranteed her safety and the other to the sacrilege behind her, it +would make the most impressive group in the world. It was an evil day +for Belgium when her frontier was violated, but it was a worse one for +Germany. I venture to prophesy that it will be regarded by history as +the greatest military as well as political error that has ever been +made. Had the great guns that destroyed Liege made their first breach +at Verdun, what chance was there for Paris? Those few weeks of warning +and preparation saved France, and left Germany as she now is, like a +weary and furious bull, tethered fast in the place of trespass and +waiting for the inevitable pole-axe. + +We were glad to get out of the place, for the gloom of it lay as heavy +upon our hearts as the shrapnel helmets did upon our heads. Both were +lightened as we sped back past empty and shattered villas to where, +just behind the danger line, the normal life of rural Flanders was +carrying on as usual. A merry sight helped to cheer us, for scudding +down wind above our heads came a Boche aeroplane, with two British at +her tail barking away with their machine guns, like two swift terriers +after a cat. They shot rat-tat-tatting across the sky until we lost +sight of them in the heat haze over the German line. + + * * * * * + +The afternoon saw us on the Sharpenburg, from which many a million will +gaze in days to come, for from no other point can so much be seen. It +is a spot forbid, but a special permit took us up, and the sentry on +duty, having satisfied himself of our bona fides, proceeded to tell us +tales of the war in a pure Hull dialect which might have been Chinese +for all that I could understand. That he was a 'terrier' and had nine +children were the only facts I could lay hold of. But I wished to be +silent and to think--even, perhaps, to pray. Here, just below my feet, +were the spots which our dear lads, three of them my own kith, have +sanctified with their blood. Here, fighting for the freedom of the +world, they cheerily gave their all. On that sloping meadow to the left +of the row of houses on the opposite ridge the London Scottish fought +to the death on that grim November morning when the Bavarians reeled +back from their shot-torn line. That plain away on the other side of +Ypres was the place where the three grand Canadian brigades, first of +all men, stood up to the damnable cowardly gases of the Hun. Down +yonder is Hill 60, that blood-soaked kopje. The ridge over the fields +was held by the cavalry against two army corps, and there where the sun +strikes the red roof among the trees I can just see Gheluveld, a name +for ever to be associated with Haig and the most vital battle of the +war. As I turn away I am faced by my Hull Territorial, who still says +incomprehensible things. I look at him with other eyes. He has fought +on yonder plain. He has slain Huns, and he has nine children. Could any +one better epitomise the duties of a good citizen? I could have found +it in my heart to salute him had I not known that it would have shocked +him and made him unhappy. + +It has been a full day, and the next is even fuller, for it is my +privilege to lunch at Headquarters, and to make the acquaintance of the +Commander-in-chief and of his staff. It would be an invasion of private +hospitality if I were to give the public the impressions which I +carried from that charming chateau. I am the more sorry, since they +were very vivid and strong. This much I will say--and any man who is a +face reader will not need to have it said--that if the Army stands +still it is not by the will of its commander. There will, I swear, be +no happier man in Europe when the day has come and the hour. It is +human to err, but never possibly can some types err by being backward. +We have a superb army in France. It needs the right leader to handle +it. I came away happier and more confident than ever as to the future. + +Extraordinary are the contrasts of war. Within three hours of leaving +the quiet atmosphere of the Headquarters Chateau I was present at what +in any other war would have been looked upon as a brisk engagement. As +it was it would certainly figure in one of our desiccated reports as an +activity of the artillery. The noise as we struck the line at this new +point showed that the matter was serious, and, indeed, we had chosen +the spot because it had been the storm centre of the last week. The +method of approach chosen by our experienced guide was in itself a +tribute to the gravity of the affair. As one comes from the settled +order of Flanders into the actual scene of war, the first sign of it is +one of the stationary, sausage-shaped balloons, a chain of which marks +the ring in which the great wrestlers are locked. We pass under this, +ascend a hill, and find ourselves in a garden where for a year no feet +save those of wanderers like ourselves have stood. There is a wild, +confused luxuriance of growth more beautiful to my eye than anything +which the care of man can produce. One old shell-hole of vast diameter +has filled itself with forget-me-nots, and appears as a graceful basin +of light blue flowers, held up as an atonement to heaven for the +brutalities of man. Through the tangled bushes we creep, then across a +yard--'Please stoop and run as you pass this point'--and finally to a +small opening in a wall, whence the battle lies not so much before as +beside us. For a moment we have a front seat at the great world-drama, +God's own problem play, working surely to its magnificent end. One +feels a sort of shame to crouch here in comfort, a useless spectator, +while brave men down yonder are facing that pelting shower of iron. + + * * * * * + +There is a large field on our left rear, and the German gunners have +the idea that there is a concealed battery therein. They are +systematically searching for it. A great shell explodes in the top +corner, but gets nothing more solid than a few tons of clay. You can +read the mind of Gunner Fritz. 'Try the lower corner!' says he, and up +goes the earth-cloud once again. 'Perhaps it's hid about the middle. +I'll try.' Earth again, and nothing more. 'I believe I was right the +first time after all,' says hopeful Fritz. So another shell comes into +the top corner. The field is as full of pits as a Gruyere cheese, but +Fritz gets nothing by his perseverance. Perhaps there never was a +battery there at all. One effect he obviously did attain. He made +several other British batteries exceedingly angry. 'Stop that tickling, +Fritz!' was the burden of their cry. Where they were we could no more +see than Fritz could, but their constant work was very clear along the +German line. We appeared to be using more shrapnel and the Germans more +high explosives, but that may have been just the chance of the day. The +Vimy Ridge was on our right, and before us was the old French position, +with the labyrinth of terrible memories and the long hill of Lorette. +When, last year, the French, in a three weeks' battle, fought their way +up that hill, it was an exhibition of sustained courage which even +their military annals can seldom have beaten. + +And so I turn from the British line. Another and more distant task lies +before me. I come away with the deep sense of the difficult task which +lies before the Army, but with a deeper one of the ability of these men +to do all that soldiers can ever be asked to perform. Let the guns +clear the way for the infantry, and the rest will follow. It all lies +with the guns. But the guns, in turn, depend upon our splendid workers +at home, who, men and women, are doing so grandly. Let them not be +judged by a tiny minority, who are given, perhaps, too much attention +in our journals. We have all made sacrifices in the war, but when the +full story comes to be told, perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all is +that which Labour made when, with a sigh, she laid aside that which it +had taken so many weary years to build. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY + + +One meets with such extreme kindness and consideration among the +Italians that there is a real danger lest one's personal feeling of +obligation should warp one's judgment or hamper one's expression. +Making every possible allowance for this, I come away from them, after +a very wide if superficial view of all that they are doing, with a deep +feeling of admiration and a conviction that no army in the world could +have made a braver attempt to advance under conditions of extraordinary +difficulty. + +First a word as to the Italian soldier. He is a type by himself which +differs from the earnest solidarity of the new French army, and from +the businesslike alertness of the Briton, and yet has a very special +dash and fire of its own, covered over by a very pleasing and +unassuming manner. London has not yet forgotten Durando of Marathon +fame. He was just such another easy smiling youth as I now see +everywhere around me. Yet there came a day when a hundred thousand +Londoners hung upon his every movement--when strong men gasped and +women wept at his invincible but unavailing spirit. When he had fallen +senseless in that historic race on the very threshold of his goal, so +high was the determination within him, that while he floundered on the +track like a broken-backed horse, with the senses gone out of him, his +legs still continued to drum upon the cinder path. Then when by pure +will power he staggered to his feet and drove his dazed body across the +line, it was an exhibition of pluck which put the little sunburned +baker straightway among London's heroes. Durando's spirit is alive +to-day, I see thousands of him all around me. A thousand such, led by a +few young gentlemen of the type who occasionally give us object lessons +in how to ride at Olympia, make no mean battalion. It has been a war +of most desperate ventures, but never once has there been a lack of +volunteers. The Tyrolese are good men--too good to be fighting in so +rotten a cause. But from first to last the Alpini have had the +ascendency in the hill fighting, as the line regiments have against the +Kaiserlics upon the plain. Caesar told how the big Germans used to +laugh at his little men until they had been at handgrips with them. The +Austrians could tell the same tale. The spirit in the ranks is +something marvellous. There have been occasions when every officer has +fallen and yet the men have pushed on, have taken a position and then +waited for official directions. + +But if that is so, you will ask, why is it that they have not made more +impression upon the enemy's position? The answer lies in the +strategical position of Italy, and it can be discussed without any +technicalities. A child could understand it. The Alps form such a bar +across the north that there are only two points where serious +operations are possible. One is the Trentino Salient where Austria can +always threaten and invade Italy. She lies in the mountains with the +plains beneath her. She can always invade the plain, but the Italians +cannot seriously invade the mountains, since the passes would only lead +to other mountains beyond. Therefore their only possible policy is to +hold the Austrians back. This they have most successfully done, and +though the Austrians with the aid of a shattering heavy artillery have +recently made some advance, it is perfectly certain that they can never +really carry out any serious invasion. The Italians then have done all +that could be done in this quarter. There remains the other front, the +opening by the sea. Here the Italians had a chance to advance over a +front of plain bounded by a river with hills beyond. They cleared the +plain, they crossed the river, they fought a battle very like our own +battle of the Aisne upon the slopes of the hills, taking 20,000 +Austrian prisoners, and now they are faced by barbed wire, machine +guns, cemented trenches, and every other device which has held them as +it has held every one else. But remember what they have done for the +common cause and be grateful for it. They have in a year occupied some +forty Austrian divisions, and relieved our Russian allies to that very +appreciable extent. They have killed or wounded a quarter of a million, +taken 40,000, and drawn to themselves a large portion of the artillery. +That is their record up to date. As to the future it is very easy to +prophesy. They will continue to absorb large enemy armies. Neither side +can advance far as matters stand. But if the Russians advance and +Austria has to draw her men to the East, there will be a tiger spring +for Trieste. If manhood can break the line, then I believe the Durandos +will do it. + +'Trieste o morte!' I saw chalked upon the walls all over North Italy. +That is the Italian objective. + +And they are excellently led. Cadorna is an old Roman, a man cast in +the big simple mould of antiquity, frugal in his tastes, clear in his +aims, with no thought outside his duty. Every one loves and trusts him. +Porro, the Chief of the Staff, who was good enough to explain the +strategical position to me, struck me as a man of great clearness of +vision, middle-sized, straight as a dart, with an eagle face grained +and coloured like an old walnut. The whole of the staff work is, as +experts assure me, moot excellently done. + +So much for the general situation. Let me descend for a moment to my +own trivial adventures since leaving the British front. Of France I +hope to say more in the future, and so I will pass at a bound to Padua, +where it appeared that the Austrian front had politely advanced to meet +me, for I was wakened betimes in the morning by the dropping of bombs, +the rattle of anti-aircraft guns, and the distant rat-tat-tat of a +maxim high up in the air. I heard when I came down later that the +intruder had been driven away and that little damage had been done. The +work of the Austrian aeroplanes is, however, very aggressive behind the +Italian lines, for they have the great advantage that a row of fine +cities lies at their mercy, while the Italians can do nothing without +injuring their own kith and kin across the border. This dropping of +explosives on the chance of hitting one soldier among fifty victims +seems to me the most monstrous development of the whole war, and the +one which should be most sternly repressed in future international +legislation--if such a thing as international law still exists. The +Italian headquarter town, which I will call Nemini, was a particular +victim of these murderous attacks. I speak with some feeling, as not +only was the ceiling of my bedroom shattered some days before my +arrival, but a greasy patch with some black shreds upon it was still +visible above my window which represented part of the remains of an +unfortunate workman, who had been blown to pieces immediately in front +of the house. The air defence is very skilfully managed however, and +the Italians have the matter well in hand. + +My first experience of the Italian line was at the portion which I have +called the gap by the sea, otherwise the Isonzo front. From a mound +behind the trenches an extraordinary fine view can be got of the +Austrian position, the general curve of both lines being marked, as in +Flanders, by the sausage balloons which float behind them. The Isonzo, +which has been so bravely carried by the Italians, lay in front of me, +a clear blue river, as broad as the Thames at Hampton Court. In a +hollow to my left were the roofs of Gorizia, the town which the +Italians are endeavouring to take. A long desolate ridge, the Carso, +extends to the south of the town, and stretches down nearly to the sea. +The crest is held by the Austrians and the Italian trenches have been +pushed within fifty yards of them. A lively bombardment was going on +from either side, but so far as the infantry goes there is none of that +constant malignant petty warfare with which we are familiar in +Flanders. I was anxious to see the Italian trenches, in order to +compare them with our British methods, but save for the support and +communication trenches I was courteously but firmly warned off. + +The story of trench attack and defence is no doubt very similar in all +quarters, but I am convinced that close touch should be kept between +the Allies on the matter of new inventions. The quick Latin brain may +conceive and test an idea long before we do. At present there seems to +be very imperfect sympathy. As an example, when I was on the British +lines they were dealing with a method of clearing barbed wire. The +experiments were new and were causing great interest. But on the +Italian front I found that the same system had been tested for many +months. In the use of bullet proof jackets for engineers and other men +who have to do exposed work the Italians are also ahead of us. One of +their engineers at our headquarters might give some valuable advice. At +present the Italians have, as I understand, no military representative +with our armies, while they receive a British General with a small +staff. This seems very wrong not only from the point of view of +courtesy and justice, but also because Italy has no direct means of +knowing the truth about our great development. When Germans state that +our new armies are made of paper, our Allies should have some official +assurance of their own that this is false. I can understand our keeping +neutrals from our headquarters, but surely our Allies should be on +another footing. + +Having got this general view of the position I was anxious in the +afternoon to visit Monfalcone, which is the small dockyard captured +from the Austrians on the Adriatic. My kind Italian officer guides did +not recommend the trip, as it was part of their great hospitality to +shield their guest from any part of that danger which they were always +ready to incur themselves. The only road to Monfalcone ran close to the +Austrian position at the village of Ronchi, and afterwards kept +parallel to it for some miles. I was told that it was only on odd days +that the Austrian guns were active in this particular section, so +determined to trust to luck that this might not be one of them. It +proved, however, to be one of the worst on record, and we were not +destined to see the dockyard to which we started. + +The civilian cuts a ridiculous figure when he enlarges upon small +adventures which may come his way--adventures which the soldier endures +in silence as part of his everyday life. On this occasion, however, the +episode was all our own, and had a sporting flavour in it which made it +dramatic. I know now the feeling of tense expectation with which the +driven grouse whirrs onwards towards the butt. I have been behind the +butt before now, and it is only poetic justice that I should see the +matter from the other point of view. As we approached Ronchi we could +see shrapnel breaking over the road in front of us, but we had not yet +realised that it was precisely for vehicles that the Austrians were +waiting, and that they had the range marked out to a yard. We went down +the road all out at a steady fifty miles an hour. The village was near, +and it seemed that we had got past the place of danger. We had in fact +just reached it. At this moment there was a noise as if the whole four +tyres had gone simultaneously, a most terrific bang in our very ears, +merging into a second sound like a reverberating blow upon an enormous +gong. As I glanced up I saw three clouds immediately above my head, two +of them white and the other of a rusty red. The air was full of flying +metal, and the road, as we were told afterwards by an observer, was all +churned up by it. The metal base of one of the shells was found plumb +in the middle of the road just where our motor had been. There is no +use telling me Austrian gunners can't shoot. I know better. + +It was our pace that saved us. The motor was an open one, and the three +shells burst, according to one of my Italian companions who was himself +an artillery officer, about ten metres above our heads. They threw +forward, however, and we travelling at so great a pace shot from under. +Before they could get in another we had swung round the curve and under +the lee of a house. The good Colonel B. wrung my hand in silence. They +were both distressed, these good soldiers, under the impression that +they had led me into danger. As a matter of fact it was I who owed them +an apology, since they had enough risks in the way of business without +taking others in order to gratify the whim of a joy-rider. Barbariche +and Clericetti, this record will convey to you my remorse. + +Our difficulties were by no means over. We found an ambulance lorry and +a little group of infantry huddled under the same shelter with the +expression of people who had been caught in the rain. The road beyond +was under heavy fire as well as that by which we had come. Had the +Ostro-Boches dropped a high-explosive upon us they would have had a +good mixed bag. But apparently they were only out for fancy shooting +and disdained a sitter. Presently there came a lull and the lorry moved +on, but we soon heard a burst of firing which showed that they were +after it. My companions had decided that it was out of the question for +us to finish our excursion. We waited for some time therefore and were +able finally to make our retreat on foot, being joined later by the +car. So ended my visit to Monfalcone, the place I did not reach. I hear +that two 10,000-ton steamers were left on the stocks there by the +Austrians, but were disabled before they retired. Their cabin basins +and other fittings are now adorning the Italian dug-outs. + +My second day was devoted to a view of the Italian mountain warfare in +the Carnic Alps. Besides the two great fronts, one of defence +(Trentino) and one of offence (Isonzo), there are very many smaller +valleys which have to be guarded. The total frontier line is over four +hundred miles, and it has all to be held against raids if not +invasions. It is a most picturesque business. Far up in the Roccolana +Valley I found the Alpini outposts, backed by artillery which had been +brought into the most wonderful positions. They have taken 8-inch guns +where a tourist could hardly take his knapsack. Neither side can ever +make serious progress, but there are continual duels, gun against gun, +or Alpini against Jaeger. In a little wayside house was the brigade +headquarters, and here I was entertained to lunch. It was a scene that +I shall remember. They drank to England. I raised my glass to Italia +irredenta--might it soon be redenta. They all sprang to their feet and +the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. They keep their souls and +emotions, these people. I trust that ours may not become atrophied by +self-suppression. + +The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary +that we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our +sympathy with what they have done, instead of making querulous and +unreasonable demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult +position. The war is made by their splendid king--a man of whom every +one speaks with extraordinary reverence and love--and by the people. +The people, with the deep instinct of a very old civilisation, +understand that the liberty of the world and their own national +existence are really at stake. But there are several forces which +divide the strength of the nation. There is the clerical, which +represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking upon Austria as the +eldest daughter of the Church--a daughter who is little credit to her +mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, there are the +commercial people who through the great banks or other similar agencies +have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. When you +consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that Britain +should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the national +party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand there +might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international +situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any +way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not, +working for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most +efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities +which an absence of coal and iron entails. It is for us to show that we +appreciate it. Justice as well as policy demands it. + +The last day spent upon the Italian front was in the Trentino. From +Verona a motor drive of about twenty-five miles takes one up the valley +of the Adige, and past a place of evil augury for the Austrians, the +field of Rivoli. As one passes up the valley one appreciates that on +their left wing the Italians have position after position in the spurs +of the mountains before they could be driven into the plain. If the +Austrians could reach the plain it would be to their own ruin, for the +Italians have large reserves. There is no need for any anxiety about +the Trentino. + +The attitude of the people behind the firing line should give one +confidence. I had heard that the Italians were a nervous people. It +does not apply to this part of Italy. As I approached the danger spot I +saw rows of large, fat gentlemen with long thin black cigars leaning +against walls in the sunshine. The general atmosphere would have +steadied an epileptic. Italy is perfectly sure of herself in this +quarter. Finally, after a long drive of winding gradients, always +beside the Adige, we reached Ala, where we interviewed the Commander of +the Sector, a man who has done splendid work during the recent +fighting. 'By all means you can see my front. But no motorcar, please. +It draws fire and others may be hit beside you.' We proceeded on foot +therefore along a valley which branched at the end into two passes. In +both very active fighting had been going on, and as we came up the guns +were baying merrily, waking up most extraordinary echoes in the hills. +It was difficult to believe that it was not thunder. There was one +terrible voice that broke out from time to time in the mountains--the +angry voice of the Holy Roman Empire. When it came all other sounds +died down into nothing. It was--so I was told--the master gun, the vast +42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of Liege and Namur. +The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. The Italians +assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in trench +work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little matter. + +We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred +recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single +shell. There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the +aimed fire was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two +passes above us. That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some +of the worst of the fighting. These two passes form the Italian left +wing which has held firm all through. So has the right wing. It is only +the centre which has been pushed in by the concentrated fire. + +When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were +halted, and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches +which lay upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards +between the adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and +Croatian prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the +Italians speak with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians +and of the Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them +however, and especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig +trenches under fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were +recaptured and were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the +whole, however, it may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is +nothing which corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western +conflict. The presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference. + +Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements +on the Trentino front. There are no troops who would not have been +forced back by the Austrian fire. It corresponded with the French +experience at Verdun, or ours at the second battle of Ypres. It may +well occur again if the Austrians get their guns forward. But at such a +rate it would take them a long time to make any real impression. One +cannot look at the officers and men without seeing that their spirit +and confidence are high. In answer to my inquiry they assure me that +there is little difference between the troops of the northern provinces +and those of the south. Even among the snows of the Alps they tell me +that the Sicilians gave an excellent account of themselves. + +That night found me back at Verona, and next morning I was on my way to +Paris, where I hope to be privileged to have some experiences at the +front of our splendid Allies. I leave Italy with a deep feeling of +gratitude for the kindness shown to me, and of admiration for the way +in which they are playing their part in the world's fight for freedom. +They have every possible disadvantage, economic and political. But in +spite of it they have done splendidly. Three thousand square kilometres +of the enemy's country are already in their possession. They relieve to +a very great extent the pressure upon the Russians, who, in spite of +all their bravery, might have been overwhelmed last summer during the +'durchbruch' had it not been for the diversion of so many Austrian +troops. The time has come now when Russia by her advance on the Pripet +is repaying her debt. But the debt is common to all the Allies. Let +them bear it in mind. There has been mischief done by slighting +criticism and by inconsiderate words. A warm sympathetic hand-grasp of +congratulation is what Italy has deserved, and it is both justice and +policy to give it. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE + + +I + +The French soldiers are grand. They are grand. There is no other word +to express it. It is not merely their bravery. All races have shown +bravery in this war. But it is their solidity, their patience, their +nobility. I could not conceive anything finer than the bearing of their +officers. It is proud without being arrogant, stern without being +fierce, serious without being depressed. Such, too, are the men whom +they lead with such skill and devotion. Under the frightful +hammer-blows of circumstance, the national characters seem to have been +reversed. It is our British soldier who has become debonair, +light-hearted and reckless, while the Frenchman has developed a solemn +stolidity and dour patience which was once all our own. During a long +day in the French trenches, I have never once heard the sound of music +or laughter, nor have I once seen a face that was not full of the most +grim determination. + +Germany set out to bleed France white. Well, she has done so. France is +full of widows and orphans from end to end. Perhaps in proportion to +her population she has suffered the most of all. But in carrying out +her hellish mission Germany has bled herself white also. Her heavy +sword has done its work, but the keen French rapier has not lost its +skill. France will stand at last, weak and tottering, with her huge +enemy dead at her feet. But it is a fearsome business to see--such a +business as the world never looked upon before. It is fearful for the +French. It is fearful for the Germans. May God's curse rest upon the +arrogant men and the unholy ambitions which let loose this horror upon +humanity! Seeing what they have done, and knowing that they have done +it, one would think that mortal brain would grow crazy under the +weight. Perhaps the central brain of all was crazy from the first. But +what sort of government is it under which one crazy brain can wreck +mankind! + +If ever one wanders into the high places of mankind, the places whence +the guidance should come, it seems to me that one has to recall the +dying words of the Swedish Chancellor who declared that the folly of +those who governed was what had amazed him most in his experience of +life. Yesterday I met one of these men of power--M. Clemenceau, once +Prime Minister, now the destroyer of governments. He is by nature a +destroyer, incapable of rebuilding what he has pulled down. With his +personal force, his eloquence, his thundering voice, his bitter pen, he +could wreck any policy, but would not even trouble to suggest an +alternative. As he sat before me with his face of an old prizefighter +(he is remarkably like Jim Mace as I can remember him in his later +days), his angry grey eyes and his truculent, mischievous smile, he +seemed to me a very dangerous man. His conversation, if a squirt on one +side and Niagara on the other can be called conversation, was directed +for the moment upon the iniquity of the English rate of exchange, which +seemed to me very much like railing against the barometer. My +companion, who has forgotten more economics than ever Clemenceau knew, +was about to ask whether France was prepared to take the rouble at face +value, but the roaring voice, like a strong gramophone with a blunt +needle, submerged all argument. We have our dangerous men, but we have +no one in the same class as Clemenceau. Such men enrage the people who +know them, alarm the people who don't, set every one by the ears, act +as a healthy irritant in days of peace, and are a public danger in days +of war. + + * * * * * + +But this is digression. I had set out to say something of a day's +experience of the French front, though I shall write with a fuller pen +when I return from the Argonne. It was for Soissons that we made, +passing on the way a part of the scene of our own early operations, +including the battlefield of Villers Cotteret--just such a wood as I +had imagined. My companion's nephew was one of those Guards' officers +whose bodies rest now in the village cemetery, with a little British +Jack still flying above them. They lie together, and their grave is +tended with pious care. Among the trees beside the road were other +graves of soldiers, buried where they had fallen. 'So look around--and +choose your ground--and take your rest.' + +Soissons is a considerable wreck, though it is very far from being an +Ypres. But the cathedral would, and will, make many a patriotic +Frenchman weep. These savages cannot keep their hands off a beautiful +church. Here, absolutely unchanged through the ages, was the spot where +St. Louis had dedicated himself to the Crusade. Every stone of it was +holy. And now the lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the +roof lies in a huge heap across the central aisle. A dog was climbing +over it as we entered. No wonder the French fight well. Such sights +would drive the mildest man to desperation. The abbe, a good priest, +with a large humorous face, took us over his shattered domain. He was +full of reminiscences of the German occupation of the place. One of his +personal anecdotes was indeed marvellous. It was that a lady in the +local ambulance had vowed to kiss the first French soldier who +re-entered the town. She did so, and it proved to be her husband. The +abbe is a good, kind, truthful man--but he has a humorous face. + +A walk down a ruined street brings one to the opening of the trenches. +There are marks upon the walls of the German occupation. +'Berlin--Paris,' with an arrow of direction, adorns one corner. At +another the 76th Regiment have commemorated the fact that they were +there in 1870 and again in 1914. If the Soissons folk are wise they +will keep these inscriptions as a reminder to the rising generation. I +can imagine, however, that their inclination will be to whitewash, +fumigate, and forget. + +A sudden turn among some broken walls takes one into the communication +trench. Our guide is a Commandant of the Staff, a tall, thin man with +hard, grey eyes and a severe face. It is the more severe towards us as +I gather that he has been deluded into the belief that about one out of +six of our soldiers goes to the trenches. For the moment he is not +friends with the English. As we go along, however, we gradually get +upon better terms, we discover a twinkle in the hard, grey eyes, and +the day ends with an exchange of walking-sticks and a renewal of the +Entente. May my cane grow into a marshal's baton. + + * * * * * + +A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of +trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of +compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the +Germans going on high over our heads. The trenches are boarded at the +sides, and have a more permanent look than those of Flanders. Presently +we meet a fine, brown-faced, upstanding boy, as keen as a razor, who +commands this particular section. A little further on a helmeted +captain of infantry, who is an expert sniper, joins our little party. +Now we are at the very front trench. I had expected to see primeval +men, bearded and shaggy. But the 'Poilus' have disappeared. The men +around me were clean and dapper to a remarkable degree. I gathered, +however, that they had their internal difficulties. On one board I read +an old inscription, 'He is a Boche, but he is the inseparable companion +of a French soldier.' Above was a rude drawing of a louse. + +I am led to a cunning loop-hole, and have a glimpse through it of a +little framed picture of French countryside. There are fields, a road, +a sloping hill beyond with trees. Quite close, about thirty or forty +yards away, was a low, red-tiled house. 'They are there,' said our +guide. 'That is their outpost. We can hear them cough.' Only the guns +were coughing that morning, so we heard nothing, but it was certainly +wonderful to be so near to the enemy and yet in such peace. I suppose +wondering visitors from Berlin are brought up also to hear the French +cough. Modern warfare has certainly some extraordinary sides. + +Now we are shown all the devices which a year of experience has +suggested to the quick brains of our Allies. It is ground upon which +one cannot talk with freedom. Every form of bomb, catapult, and trench +mortar was ready to hand. Every method of cross-fire had been thought +out to an exact degree. There was something, however, about their +disposition of a machine gun which disturbed the Commandant. He called +for the officer of the gun. His thin lips got thinner and his grey eyes +more austere as we waited. Presently there emerged an extraordinarily +handsome youth, dark as a Spaniard, from some rabbit hole. He faced the +Commandant bravely, and answered back with respect but firmness. +'Pourquoi?' asked the Commandant, and yet again 'Pourquoi?' Adonis had +an answer for everything. Both sides appealed to the big Captain of +Snipers, who was clearly embarrassed. He stood on one leg and scratched +his chin. Finally the Commandant turned away angrily in the midst of +one of Adonis' voluble sentences. His face showed that the matter was +not ended. War is taken very seriously in the French army, and any sort +of professional mistake is very quickly punished. I have been told how +many officers of high rank have been broken by the French during the +war. The figure was a very high one. There is no more forgiveness for +the beaten General than there was in the days of the Republic when the +delegate of the National Convention, with a patent portable guillotine, +used to drop in at headquarters to support a more vigorous offensive. + + * * * * * + +As I write these lines there is a burst of bugles in the street, and I +go to my open window to see the 41st of the line march down into what +may develop into a considerable battle. How I wish they could march +down the Strand even as they are. How London would rise to them! Laden +like donkeys, with a pile upon their backs and very often both hands +full as well, they still get a swing into their march which it is good +to see. They march in column of platoons, and the procession is a long +one, for a French regiment is, of course, equal to three battalions. +The men are shortish, very thick, burned brown in the sun, with never a +smile among them--have I not said that they are going down to a grim +sector?--but with faces of granite. There was a time when we talked of +stiffening the French army. I am prepared to believe that our first +expeditionary force was capable of stiffening any conscript army, for I +do not think that a finer force ever went down to battle. But to talk +about stiffening these people now would be ludicrous. You might as well +stiffen the old Guard. There may be weak regiments somewhere, but I +have never seen them. + +I think that an injustice has been done to the French army by the +insistence of artists and cinema operators upon the picturesque +Colonial corps. One gets an idea that Arabs and negroes are pulling +France out of the fire. It is absolutely false. Her own brave sons are +doing the work. The Colonial element is really a very small one--so +small that I have not seen a single unit during all my French +wanderings. The Colonials are good men, but like our splendid +Highlanders they catch the eye in a way which is sometimes a little +hard upon their neighbours. When there is hard work to be done it is +the good little French piou-piou who usually has to do it. There is no +better man in Europe. If we are as good--and I believe we are--it is +something to be proud of. + + * * * * * + +But I have wandered far from the trenches of Soissons. It had come on +to rain heavily, and we were forced to take refuge in the dugout of the +sniper. Eight of us sat in the deep gloom huddled closely together. The +Commandant was still harping upon that ill-placed machine gun. He could +not get over it. My imperfect ear for French could not follow all his +complaints, but some defence of the offender brought forth a 'Jamais! +Jamais! Jamais!' which was rapped out as if it came from the gun +itself. There were eight of us in an underground burrow, and some were +smoking. Better a deluge than such an atmosphere as that. But if there +is a thing upon earth which the French officer shies at it is rain and +mud. The reason is that he is extraordinarily natty in his person. His +charming blue uniform, his facings, his brown gaiters, boots and belts +are always just as smart as paint. He is the Dandy of the European war. +I noticed officers in the trenches with their trousers carefully +pressed. It is all to the good, I think. Wellington said that the +dandies made his best officers. It is difficult for the men to get +rattled or despondent when they see the debonair appearance of their +leaders. + +Among the many neat little marks upon the French uniforms which +indicate with precision but without obtrusion the rank and arm of the +wearer, there was one which puzzled me. It was to be found on the left +sleeve of men of all ranks, from generals to privates, and it consisted +of small gold chevrons, one, two, or more. No rule seemed to regulate +them, for the general might have none, and I have heard of the private +who wore ten. Then I solved the mystery. They are the record of wounds +received. What an admirable idea! Surely we should hasten to introduce +it among our own soldiers. It costs little and it means much. If you +can allay the smart of a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting +honour to the man among his fellows, then surely it should be done. +Medals, too, are more freely distributed and with more public parade +than in our service. I am convinced that the effect is good. + + * * * * * + +The rain has now stopped, and we climb from our burrow. Again we are +led down that endless line of communication trench, again we stumble +through the ruins, again we emerge into the street where our cars are +awaiting us. Above our heads the sharp artillery duel is going merrily +forward. The French are firing three or four to one, which has been my +experience at every point I have touched upon the Allied front. Thanks +to the extraordinary zeal of the French workers, especially of the +French women, and to the clever adaptation of machinery by their +engineers, their supplies are abundant. Even now they turn out more +shells a day than we do. That, however, excludes our supply for the +Fleet. But it is one of the miracles of the war that the French, with +their coal and iron in the hands of the enemy, have been able to equal +the production of our great industrial centres. The steel, of course, +is supplied by us. To that extent we can claim credit for the result. + +And so, after the ceremony of the walking-sticks, we bid adieu to the +lines of Soissons. To-morrow we start for a longer tour to the more +formidable district of the Argonne, the neighbour of Verdun, and itself +the scene of so much that is glorious and tragic. + + + +II. + +There is a couplet of Stevenson's which haunts me, 'There fell a war in +a woody place--in a land beyond the sea.' I have just come back from +spending three wonderful dream days in that woody place. It lies with +the open, bosky country of Verdun on its immediate right, and the chalk +downs of Champagne upon its left. If one could imagine the lines being +taken right through our New Forest or the American Adirondacks it would +give some idea of the terrain, save that it is a very undulating +country of abrupt hills and dales. It is this peculiarity which has +made the war on this front different to any other, more picturesque and +more secret. In front the fighting lines are half in the clay soil, +half behind the shelter of fallen trunks. Between the two the main bulk +of the soldiers live like animals of the woodlands, burrowing on the +hillsides and among the roots of the trees. It is a war by itself, and +a very wonderful one to see. At three different points I have visited +the front in this broad region, wandering from the lines of one army +corps to that of another. In all three I found the same conditions, and +in all three I found also the same pleasing fact which I had discovered +at Soissons, that the fire of the French was at least five, and very +often ten shots to one of the Boche. It used not to be so. The Germans +used to scrupulously return shot for shot. But whether they have moved +their guns to the neighbouring Verdun, or whether, as is more likely, +all the munitions are going there, it is certain that they were very +outclassed upon the three days (June 10, 11, 12) which I allude to. +There were signs that for some reason their spirits were at a low ebb. +On the evening before our arrival the French had massed all their bands +at the front, and, in honour of the Russian victory, had played the +Marseillaise and the Russian National hymn, winding up with general +shoutings and objurgations calculated to annoy. Failing to stir up the +Boche, they had ended by a salute from a hundred shotted guns. After +trailing their coats up and down the line they had finally to give up +the attempt to draw the enemy. Want of food may possibly have caused a +decline in the German spirit. There is some reason to believe that they +feed up their fighting men at the places like Verdun or Hooge, where +they need all their energy, at the expense of the men who are on the +defensive. If so, we may find it out when we attack. The French +officers assured me that the prisoners and deserters made bitter +complaints of their scale of rations. And yet it is hard to believe +that the fine efforts of our enemy at Verdun are the work of +half-starved men. + + * * * * * + +To return to my personal impressions, it was at Chalons that we left +the Paris train--a town which was just touched by the most forward +ripple of the first great German floodtide. A drive of some twenty +miles took us to St. Menehould, and another ten brought us to the front +in the sector of Divisional-General H. A fine soldier this, and heaven +help Germany if he and his division get within its borders, for he is, +as one can see at a glance, a man of iron who has been goaded to +fierceness by all that his beloved country has endured. He is a man of +middle size, swarthy, hawk-like, very abrupt in his movements, with two +steel grey eyes, which are the most searching that mine have ever met. +His hospitality and courtesy to us were beyond all bounds, but there is +another side to him, and it is one which it is wiser not to provoke. In +person he took us to his lines, passing through the usual shot-torn +villages behind them. Where the road dips down into the great forest +there is one particular spot which is visible to the German artillery +observers. The General mentioned it at the time, but his remark seemed +to have no personal interest. We understood it better on our return in +the evening. + +Now we found ourselves in the depths of the woods, primeval woods of +oak and beech in the deep clay soil that the great oak loves. There had +been rain and the forest paths were ankle deep in mire. Everywhere, to +right and left, soldiers' faces, hard and rough from a year of open +air, gazed up at us from their burrows in the ground. Presently an +alert, blue-clad figure stood in the path to greet us. It was the +Colonel of the sector. He was ridiculously like Cyrano de Bergerac as +depicted by the late M. Coquelin, save that his nose was of more +moderate proportion. The ruddy colouring, the bristling feline +full-ended moustache, the solidity of pose, the backward tilt of the head, +the general suggestion of the bantam cock, were all there facing us as +he stood amid the leaves in the sunlight. Gauntlets and a long +rapier--nothing else was wanting. Something had amused Cyrano. His +moustache quivered with suppressed mirth, and his blue eyes were +demurely gleaming. Then the joke came out. He had spotted a German +working party, his guns had concentrated on it, and afterwards he had +seen the stretchers go forward. A grim joke, it may seem. But the +French see this war from a different angle to us. If we had the Boche +sitting on our heads for two years, and were not yet quite sure whether +we could ever get him off again, we should get Cyrano's point of view. +Those of us who have had our folk murdered by Zeppelins or tortured in +German prisons have probably got it already. + + * * * * * + +We passed in a little procession among the French soldiers, and viewed +their multifarious arrangements. For them we were a little break in a +monotonous life, and they formed up in lines as we passed. My own +British uniform and the civilian dresses of my two companions +interested them. As the General passed these groups, who formed +themselves up in perhaps a more familiar manner than would have been +usual in the British service, he glanced kindly at them with those +singular eyes of his, and once or twice addressed them as 'Mes +enfants.' One might conceive that all was 'go as you please' among the +French. So it is as long as you go in the right way. When you stray +from it you know it. As we passed a group of men standing on a low +ridge which overlooked us there was a sudden stop. I gazed round. The +General's face was steel and cement. The eyes were cold and yet fiery, +sunlight upon icicles. Something had happened. Cyrano had sprung to his +side. His reddish moustache had shot forward beyond his nose, and it +bristled out like that of an angry cat. Both were looking up at the +group above us. One wretched man detached himself from his comrades and +sidled down the slope. No skipper and mate of a Yankee blood boat could +have looked more ferociously at a mutineer. And yet it was all over +some minor breach of discipline which was summarily disposed of by two +days of confinement. Then in an instant the faces relaxed, there was a +general buzz of relief and we were back at 'Mes enfants' again. But +don't make any mistake as to discipline in the French army. + +Trenches are trenches, and the main specialty of these in the Argonne +is that they are nearer to the enemy. In fact there are places where +they interlock, and where the advanced posts lie cheek by jowl with a +good steel plate to cover both cheek and jowl. We were brought to a +sap-head where the Germans were at the other side of a narrow forest +road. Had I leaned forward with extended hand and a Boche done the same +we could have touched. I looked across, but saw only a tangle of wire +and sticks. Even whispering was not permitted in these forward posts. + + * * * * * + +When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all +to his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side +of a hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin +with the air of a seigneur in his chateau. There was little furniture, +but from some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which +adorned his grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in +her traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch +in the picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once, +nor shall I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within +my memory. Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of +the Argonne, his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his +red moustache bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out +of the past of France. + +That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier, +General A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division. +Each of these French generals has a striking individuality of his own +which I wish I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that +each seems to be a rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a +touch of d'Artagnan. He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with +huge, up-curling moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It +is a grand figure which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace +collar, hand on sword, and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but +a stern and hard soldier was lurking behind the smiles. His name may +appear in history, and so may Humbert's, who rules all the army of +which the other's corps is a unit. Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure, +small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short, +sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with +electricity in moments of excitement like a cat's fur. What he does or +says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like +pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with +his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu'il est un +soldat dans l'armee Anglaise?' The whole table waited in an awful hush. +'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour service.' +There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an +awkward place. + +And talking of awkward places, I had forgotten about that spot upon the +road whence the Boche observer could see our motor-cars. He had +actually laid a gun upon it, the rascal, and waited all the long day +for our return. No sooner did we appear upon the slope than a shrapnel +shell burst above us, but somewhat behind me, as well as to the left. +Had it been straight the second car would have got it, and there might +have been a vacancy in one of the chief editorial chairs in London. The +General shouted to the driver to speed up, and we were soon safe from +the German gunners. One gets perfectly immune to noises in these +scenes, for the guns which surround you make louder crashes than any +shell which bursts about you. It is only when you actually see the +cloud over you that your thoughts come back to yourself, and that you +realise that in this wonderful drama you may be a useless super, but +none the less you are on the stage and not in the stalls. + + * * * * * + +Next morning we were down in the front trenches again at another +portion of the line. Far away on our right, from a spot named the +Observatory, we could see the extreme left of the Verdun position and +shells bursting on the Fille Morte. To the north of us was a broad +expanse of sunny France, nestling villages, scattered chateaux, rustic +churches, and all as inaccessible as if it were the moon. It is a +terrible thing this German bar--a thing unthinkable to Britons. To +stand on the edge of Yorkshire and look into Lancashire feeling that it +is in other hands, that our fellow-countrymen are suffering there and +waiting, waiting, for help, and that we cannot, after two years, come a +yard nearer to them--would it not break our hearts? Can I wonder that +there is no smile upon the grim faces of these Frenchmen! But when the +bar is broken, when the line sweeps forward, as most surely it will, +when French bayonets gleam on yonder uplands and French flags break +from those village spires--ah, what a day that will be! Men will die +that day from the pure, delirious joy of it. We cannot think what it +means to France, and the less so because she stands so nobly patient +waiting for her hour. + +Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He, +too, is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large +broad good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze +gently into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice. +Such is one of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of +Division D. His former staff officers told me something of the man. He +is a philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant +dreams amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French +assault upon the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade +which he then commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans +with the detached air of the man of science who is hunting for +specimens. In whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his +cloth spread and decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If +fate be kind to him he will go far. Apart from his valour he is +admitted to be one of the most scientific soldiers of France. + +From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There +had been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It +was a very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was +passed back to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over +our heads. My word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he +Boche, French or British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the +shells was awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind, +and then thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench +was a line of terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all +was still. Where were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried +beneath it? Or had they got from under? No one could say. + +There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time +watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved +it, and touched it with a swift but tender touch in every movement. +When it was fired it ran up an inclined plane to take off the recoil, +rushing up and then turning and rattling down again upon the gunners +who were used to its ways. The first time it did it, I was standing +behind it, and I don't know which moved quickest--the gun or I. + +French officers above a certain rank develop and show their own +individuality. In the lower grades the conditions of service enforce a +certain uniformity. The British officer is a British gentleman first, +and an officer afterwards. The Frenchman is an officer first, though +none the less the gentleman stands behind it. One very strange type we +met, however, in these Argonne Woods. He was a French-Canadian who had +been a French soldier, had founded a homestead in far Alberta, and had +now come back of his own will, though a naturalised Briton, to the old +flag. He spoke English of a kind, the quality and quantity being +equally extraordinary. It poured from him and was, so far as it was +intelligible, of the woolly Western variety. His views on the Germans +were the most emphatic we had met. 'These Godam sons of'--well, let us +say 'Canines!' he would shriek, shaking his fist at the woods to the +north of him. A good man was our compatriot, for he had a very recent +Legion of Honour pinned upon his breast. He had been put with a few men +on Hill 285, a sort of volcano stuffed with mines, and was told to +telephone when he needed relief. He refused to telephone and remained +there for three weeks. 'We sit like a rabbit in his hall,' he +explained. He had only one grievance. There were many wild boars in the +forest, but the infantry were too busy to get them. 'The Godam +Artillaree he get the wild pig!' Out of his pocket he pulled a picture +of a frame-house with snow round it, and a lady with two children on +the stoop. It was his homestead at Trochu, seventy miles north of +Calgary. + + * * * * * + +It was the evening of the third day that we turned our faces to Paris +once more. It was my last view of the French. The roar of their guns +went far with me upon my way. Soldiers of France, farewell! In your own +phrase I salute you! Many have seen you who had more knowledge by which +to judge your manifold virtues, many also who had more skill to draw +you as you are, but never one, I am sure, who admired you more than I. +Great was the French soldier under Louis the Sun-King, great too under +Napoleon, but never was he greater than to-day. + +And so it is back to England and to home. I feel sobered and solemn +from all that I have seen. It is a blind vision which does not see more +than the men and the guns, which does not catch something of the +terrific spiritual conflict which is at the heart of it. + + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord + --He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored. + +We have found no inspired singer yet, like Julia Howe, to voice the +divine meaning of it all--that meaning which is more than numbers or +guns upon the day of battle. But who can see the adult manhood of +Europe standing in a double line, waiting for a signal to throw +themselves upon each other, without knowing that he has looked upon the +most terrific of all the dealings between the creature below and that +great force above, which works so strangely towards some distant but +glorious end? + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + +This file should be named 7v3fr10.txt or 7v3fr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7v3fr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7v3fr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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This file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr. + + + + + + + +A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS + +June 1916 + +BY + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + +AUTHOR OF + +'THE GREAT BOER WAR' + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the course of May 1916, the Italian authorities expressed a desire +that some independent observer from Great Britain should visit their +lines and report his impressions. It was at the time when our brave and +capable allies had sustained a set-back in the Trentino owing to a +sudden concentration of the Austrians, supported by very heavy +artillery. I was asked to undertake this mission. In order to carry it +out properly, I stipulated that I should be allowed to visit the +British lines first, so that I might have some standard of comparison. +The War Office kindly assented to my request. Later I obtained +permission to pay a visit to the French front as well. Thus it was my +great good fortune, at the very crisis of the war, to visit the battle +line of each of the three great Western allies. I only wish that it had +been within my power to complete my experiences in this seat of war by +seeing the gallant little Belgian army which has done so remarkably +well upon the extreme left wing of the hosts of freedom. + +My experiences and impressions are here set down, and may have some +small effect in counteracting those mischievous misunderstandings and +mutual belittlements which are eagerly fomented by our cunning enemy. + +Arthur Conan Doyle. + +Crowborough, + +July 1916. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY. + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE BRITISH ARMY + + +I + +It is not an easy matter to write from the front. You know that there +are several courteous but inexorable gentlemen who may have a word in +the matter, and their presence 'imparts but small ease to the style.' +But above all you have the twin censors of your own conscience and +common sense, which assure you that, if all other readers fail you, you +will certainly find a most attentive one in the neighbourhood of the +Haupt-Quartier. An instructive story is still told of how a certain +well-meaning traveller recorded his satisfaction with the appearance of +the big guns at the retiring and peaceful village of Jamais, and how +three days later, by an interesting coincidence, the village of Jamais +passed suddenly off the map and dematerialised into brickdust and +splinters. + +I have been with soldiers on the warpath before, but never have I had a +day so crammed with experiences and impressions as yesterday. Some of +them at least I can faintly convey to the reader, and if they ever +reach the eye of that gentleman at the Haupt-Quartier they will give +him little joy. For the crowning impression of all is the enormous +imperturbable confidence of the Army and its extraordinary efficiency +in organisation, administration, material, and personnel. I met in one +day a sample of many types, an Army commander, a corps commander, two +divisional commanders, staff officers of many grades, and, above all, I +met repeatedly the two very great men whom Britain has produced, the +private soldier and the regimental officer. Everywhere and on every +face one read the same spirit of cheerful bravery. Even the half-mad +cranks whose absurd consciences prevent them from barring the way to +the devil seemed to me to be turning into men under the prevailing +influence. I saw a batch of them, neurotic and largely be-spectacled, +but working with a will by the roadside. They will volunteer for the +trenches yet. + + * * * * * + +If there are pessimists among us they are not to be found among the men +who are doing the work. There is no foolish bravado, no under-rating of +a dour opponent, but there is a quick, alert, confident attention to +the job in hand which is an inspiration to the observer. These brave +lads are guarding Britain in the present. See to it that Britain guards +them in the future! We have a bad record in this matter. It must be +changed. They are the wards of the nation, both officers and men. +Socialism has never had an attraction for me, but I should be a +Socialist to-morrow if I thought that to ease a tax on wealth these men +should ever suffer for the time or health that they gave to the public +cause. + +'Get out of the car. Don't let it stay here. It may be hit.' These +words from a staff officer give you the first idea that things are +going to happen. Up to then you might have been driving through the +black country in the Walsall district with the population of Aldershot +let loose upon its dingy roads. 'Put on this shrapnel helmet. That hat +of yours would infuriate the Boche'--this was an unkind allusion to the +only uniform which I have a right to wear. 'Take this gas helmet. You +won't need it, but it is a standing order. Now come on!' + +We cross a meadow and enter a trench. Here and there it comes to the +surface again where there is dead ground. At one such point an old +church stands, with an unexploded shell sticking out of the wall. A +century hence folk will journey to see that shell. Then on again +through an endless cutting. It is slippery clay below. I have no nails +in my boots, an iron pot on my head, and the sun above me. I will +remember that walk. Ten telephone wires run down the side. Here and +there large thistles and other plants grow from the clay walls, so +immobile have been our lines. Occasionally there are patches of +untidiness. 'Shells,' says the officer laconically. There is a racket +of guns before us and behind, especially behind, but danger seems +remote with all these Bairnfather groups of cheerful Tommies at work +around us. I pass one group of grimy, tattered boys. A glance at their +shoulders shows me that they are of a public school battalion. 'I +thought you fellows were all officers now,' I remarked. 'No, sir, we +like it better so.' 'Well, it will be a great memory for you. We are +all in your debt.' + +They salute, and we squeeze past them. They had the fresh, brown faces +of boy cricketers. But their comrades were men of a different type, +with hard, strong, rugged features, and the eyes of men who have seen +strange sights. These are veterans, men of Mons, and their young pals +of the public schools have something to live up to. + + * * * * * + +Up to this we have only had two clay walls to look at. But now our +interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British +aeroplane sailing overhead. Numerous shrapnel bursts are all round it, +but she floats on serenely, a thing of delicate beauty against the blue +background. Now another passes--and yet another. All morning we saw +them circling and swooping, and never a sign of a Boche. They tell me +it is nearly always so--that we hold the air, and that the Boche +intruder, save at early morning, is a rare bird. A visit to the line +would reassure Mr. Pemberton-Billing. 'We have never met a British +aeroplane which was not ready to fight,' said a captured German aviator +the other day. There is a fine stern courtesy between the airmen on +either side, each dropping notes into the other's aerodromes to tell +the fate of missing officers. Had the whole war been fought by the +Germans as their airmen have conducted it (I do not speak of course of +the Zeppelin murderers), a peace would eventually have been more easily +arranged. As it is, if every frontier could be settled, it would be a +hard thing to stop until all that is associated with the words Cavell, +Zeppelin, Wittenberg, Lusitania, and Louvain has been brought to the +bar of the world's Justice. + +And now we are there--in what is surely the most wonderful spot in the +world, the front firing trench, the outer breakwater which holds back +the German tide. How strange that this monstrous oscillation of giant +forces, setting in from east to west, should find their equilibrium +here across this particular meadow of Flanders. 'How far?' I ask. '180 +yards,' says my guide. 'Pop!' remarks a third person just in front. 'A +sniper,' says my guide; 'take a look through the periscope.' I do so. +There is some rusty wire before me, then a field sloping slightly +upwards with knee-deep grass, then rusty wire again, and a red line of +broken earth. There is not a sign of movement, but sharp eyes are +always watching us, even as these crouching soldiers around me are +watching them. There are dead Germans in the grass before us. You need +not see them to know that they are there. A wounded soldier sits in a +corner nursing his leg. Here and there men pop out like rabbits from +dug-outs and mine-shafts. Others sit on the fire-step or lean smoking +against the clay wall. Who would dream to look at their bold, careless +faces that this is a front line, and that at any moment it is possible +that a grey wave may submerge them? With all their careless bearing I +notice that every man has his gas helmet and his rifle within easy +reach. + +A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that +weary walk. Then I am whisked off upon a ten mile drive. There is a +pause for lunch at Corps Headquarters, and after it we are taken to a +medal presentation in a market square. Generals Munro, Haking and +Landon, famous fighting soldiers all three, are the British +representatives. Munro with a ruddy face, and brain above all bulldog +below; Haking, pale, distinguished, intellectual; Landon a pleasant, +genial country squire. An elderly French General stands beside them. + +British infantry keep the ground. In front are about fifty Frenchmen in +civil dress of every grade of life, workmen and gentlemen, in a double +rank. They are all so wounded that they are back in civil life, but +to-day they are to have some solace for their wounds. They lean heavily +on sticks, their bodies are twisted and maimed, but their faces are +shining with pride and joy. The French General draws his sword and +addresses them. One catches words like 'honneur' and 'patrie.' They +lean forward on their crutches, hanging on every syllable which comes +hissing and rasping from under that heavy white moustache. Then the +medals are pinned on. One poor lad is terribly wounded and needs two +sticks. A little girl runs out with some flowers. He leans forward and +tries to kiss her, but the crutches slip and he nearly falls upon her. +It was a pitiful but beautiful little scene. + +Now the British candidates march up one by one for their medals, hale, +hearty men, brown and fit. There is a smart young officer of Scottish +Rifles; and then a selection of Worcesters, Welsh Fusiliers and Scots +Fusiliers, with one funny little Highlander, a tiny figure with a +soup-bowl helmet, a grinning boy's face beneath it, and a bedraggled +uniform. 'Many acts of great bravery'--such was the record for which he +was decorated. Even the French wounded smiled at his quaint appearance, +as they did at another Briton who had acquired the chewing-gum habit, +and came up for his medal as if he had been called suddenly in the +middle of his dinner, which he was still endeavouring to bolt. Then +came the end, with the National Anthem. The British regiment formed +fours and went past. To me that was the most impressive sight of any. +They were the Queen's West Surreys, a veteran regiment of the great +Ypres battle. What grand fellows! As the order came 'Eyes right,' and +all those fierce, dark faces flashed round about us, I felt the might +of the British infantry, the intense individuality which is not +incompatible with the highest discipline. Much they had endured, but a +great spirit shone from their faces. I confess that as I looked at +those brave English lads, and thought of what we owe to them and to +their like who have passed on, I felt more emotional than befits a +Briton in foreign parts. + + * * * * * + +Now the ceremony was ended, and once again we set out for the front. It +was to an artillery observation post that we were bound, and once again +my description must be bounded by discretion. Suffice it, that in an +hour I found myself, together with a razor-keen young artillery +observer and an excellent old sportsman of a Russian prince, jammed +into a very small space, and staring through a slit at the German +lines. In front of us lay a vast plain, scarred and slashed, with bare +places at intervals, such as you see where gravel pits break a green +common. Not a sign of life or movement, save some wheeling crows. And +yet down there, within a mile or so, is the population of a city. Far +away a single train is puffing at the back of the German lines. We are +here on a definite errand. Away to the right, nearly three miles off, +is a small red house, dim to the eye but clear in the glasses, which is +suspected as a German post. It is to go up this afternoon. The gun is +some distance away, but I hear the telephone directions. '"Mother" will +soon do her in,' remarks the gunner boy cheerfully. 'Mother' is the +name of the gun. 'Give her five six three four,' he cries through the +'phone. 'Mother' utters a horrible bellow from somewhere on our right. +An enormous spout of smoke rises ten seconds later from near the house. +'A little short,' says our gunner. 'Two and a half minutes left,' adds +a little small voice, which represents another observer at a different +angle. 'Raise her seven five,' says our boy encouragingly. 'Mother' +roars more angrily than ever. 'How will that do?' she seems to say. +'One and a half right,' says our invisible gossip. I wonder how the +folk in the house are feeling as the shells creep ever nearer. 'Gun +laid, sir,' says the telephone. 'Fire!' I am looking through my glass. +A flash of fire on the house, a huge pillar of dust and smoke--then it +settles, and an unbroken field is there. The German post has gone up. +'It's a dear little gun,' says the officer boy. 'And her shells are +reliable,' remarked a senior behind us. 'They vary with different +calibres, but "Mother" never goes wrong.' The German line was very +quiet. 'Pourquoi ils ne répondent pas?' asked the Russian prince. 'Yes, +they are quiet to-day,' answered the senior. 'But we get it in the neck +sometimes.' We are all led off to be introduced to 'Mother,' who sits, +squat and black, amid twenty of her grimy children who wait upon and +feed her. She is an important person is 'Mother,' and her importance +grows. It gets clearer with every month that it is she, and only she, +who can lead us to the Rhine. She can and she will if the factories of +Britain can beat those of the Hun. See to it, you working men and women +of Britain. Work now if you rest for ever after, for the fate of Europe +and of all that is dear to us is in your hands. For 'Mother' is a +dainty eater, and needs good food and plenty. She is fond of strange +lodgings, too, in which she prefers safety to dignity. But that is a +dangerous subject. + + * * * * * + +One more experience of this wonderful day--the most crowded with +impressions of my whole life. At night we take a car and drive north, +and ever north, until at a late hour we halt and climb a hill in the +darkness. Below is a wonderful sight. Down on the flats, in a huge +semi-circle, lights are rising and falling. They are very brilliant, +going up for a few seconds and then dying down. Sometimes a dozen are +in the air at one time. There are the dull thuds of explosions and an +occasional rat-tat-tat. I have seen nothing like it, but the nearest +comparison would be an enormous ten-mile railway station in full swing +at night, with signals winking, lamps waving, engines hissing and +carriages bumping. It is a terrible place down yonder, a place which +will live as long as military history is written, for it is the Ypres +Salient. What a salient it is, too! A huge curve, as outlined by the +lights, needing only a little more to be an encirclement. Something +caught the rope as it closed, and that something was the British +soldier. But it is a perilous place still by day and by night. Never +shall I forget the impression of ceaseless, malignant activity which +was borne in upon me by the white, winking lights, the red sudden +glares, and the horrible thudding noises in that place of death beneath +me. + + +II + +In old days we had a great name as organisers. Then came a long period +when we deliberately adopted a policy of individuality and 'go as you +please.' Now once again in our sore need we have called on all our +power of administration and direction. But it has not deserted us. We +still have it in a supreme degree. Even in peace time we have shown it +in that vast, well-oiled, swift-running, noiseless machine called the +British Navy. But now our powers have risen with the need of them. The +expansion of the Navy has been a miracle, the management of the +transport a greater one, the formation of the new Army the greatest of +all time. To get the men was the least of the difficulties. To put them +here, with everything down to the lid of the last field saucepan in its +place, that is the marvel. The tools of the gunners, and of the +sappers, to say nothing of the knowledge of how to use them, are in +themselves a huge problem. But it has all been met and mastered, and +will be to the end. But don't let us talk any more about the muddling +of the War Office. It has become just a little ridiculous. + + * * * * * + +I have told of my first day, when I visited the front trenches, saw the +work of 'Mother,' and finally that marvellous spectacle, the Ypres +Salient at night. I have passed the night at the headquarters of a +divisional-general, Capper, who might truly be called one of the two +fathers of the British flying force, for it was he, with Templer, who +laid the first foundations from which so great an organisation has +arisen. My morning was spent in visiting two fighting brigadiers, +cheery weather-beaten soldiers, respectful, as all our soldiers are, of +the prowess of the Hun, but serenely confident that we can beat him. In +company with one of them I ascended a hill, the reverse slope of which +was swarming with cheerful infantry in every stage of dishabille, for +they were cleaning up after the trenches. Once over the slope we +advanced with some care, and finally reached a certain spot from which +we looked down upon the German line. It was the advanced observation +post, about a thousand yards from the German trenches, with our own +trenches between us. We could see the two lines, sometimes only a few +yards, as it seemed, apart, extending for miles on either side. The +sinister silence and solitude were strangely dramatic. Such vast crowds +of men, such intensity of feeling, and yet only that open rolling +countryside, with never a movement in its whole expanse. + +The afternoon saw us in the Square at Ypres. It is the city of a dream, +this modern Pompeii, destroyed, deserted and desecrated, but with a +sad, proud dignity which made you involuntarily lower your voice as you +passed through the ruined streets. It is a more considerable place than +I had imagined, with many traces of ancient grandeur. No words can +describe the absolute splintered wreck that the Huns have made of it. +The effect of some of the shells has been grotesque. One boiler-plated +water-tower, a thing forty or fifty feet high, was actually standing on +its head like a great metal top. There is not a living soul in the +place save a few pickets of soldiers, and a number of cats which become +fierce and dangerous. Now and then a shell still falls, but the Huns +probably know that the devastation is already complete. + +We stood in the lonely grass-grown Square, once the busy centre of the +town, and we marvelled at the beauty of the smashed cathedral and the +tottering Cloth Hall beside it. Surely at their best they could not +have looked more wonderful than now. If they were preserved even so, +and if a heaven-inspired artist were to model a statue of Belgium in +front, Belgium with one hand pointing to the treaty by which Prussia +guaranteed her safety and the other to the sacrilege behind her, it +would make the most impressive group in the world. It was an evil day +for Belgium when her frontier was violated, but it was a worse one for +Germany. I venture to prophesy that it will be regarded by history as +the greatest military as well as political error that has ever been +made. Had the great guns that destroyed Liége made their first breach +at Verdun, what chance was there for Paris? Those few weeks of warning +and preparation saved France, and left Germany as she now is, like a +weary and furious bull, tethered fast in the place of trespass and +waiting for the inevitable pole-axe. + +We were glad to get out of the place, for the gloom of it lay as heavy +upon our hearts as the shrapnel helmets did upon our heads. Both were +lightened as we sped back past empty and shattered villas to where, +just behind the danger line, the normal life of rural Flanders was +carrying on as usual. A merry sight helped to cheer us, for scudding +down wind above our heads came a Boche aeroplane, with two British at +her tail barking away with their machine guns, like two swift terriers +after a cat. They shot rat-tat-tatting across the sky until we lost +sight of them in the heat haze over the German line. + + * * * * * + +The afternoon saw us on the Sharpenburg, from which many a million will +gaze in days to come, for from no other point can so much be seen. It +is a spot forbid, but a special permit took us up, and the sentry on +duty, having satisfied himself of our bona fides, proceeded to tell us +tales of the war in a pure Hull dialect which might have been Chinese +for all that I could understand. That he was a 'terrier' and had nine +children were the only facts I could lay hold of. But I wished to be +silent and to think--even, perhaps, to pray. Here, just below my feet, +were the spots which our dear lads, three of them my own kith, have +sanctified with their blood. Here, fighting for the freedom of the +world, they cheerily gave their all. On that sloping meadow to the left +of the row of houses on the opposite ridge the London Scottish fought +to the death on that grim November morning when the Bavarians reeled +back from their shot-torn line. That plain away on the other side of +Ypres was the place where the three grand Canadian brigades, first of +all men, stood up to the damnable cowardly gases of the Hun. Down +yonder is Hill 60, that blood-soaked kopje. The ridge over the fields +was held by the cavalry against two army corps, and there where the sun +strikes the red roof among the trees I can just see Gheluveld, a name +for ever to be associated with Haig and the most vital battle of the +war. As I turn away I am faced by my Hull Territorial, who still says +incomprehensible things. I look at him with other eyes. He has fought +on yonder plain. He has slain Huns, and he has nine children. Could any +one better epitomise the duties of a good citizen? I could have found +it in my heart to salute him had I not known that it would have shocked +him and made him unhappy. + +It has been a full day, and the next is even fuller, for it is my +privilege to lunch at Headquarters, and to make the acquaintance of the +Commander-in-chief and of his staff. It would be an invasion of private +hospitality if I were to give the public the impressions which I +carried from that charming château. I am the more sorry, since they +were very vivid and strong. This much I will say--and any man who is a +face reader will not need to have it said--that if the Army stands +still it is not by the will of its commander. There will, I swear, be +no happier man in Europe when the day has come and the hour. It is +human to err, but never possibly can some types err by being backward. +We have a superb army in France. It needs the right leader to handle +it. I came away happier and more confident than ever as to the future. + +Extraordinary are the contrasts of war. Within three hours of leaving +the quiet atmosphere of the Headquarters Château I was present at what +in any other war would have been looked upon as a brisk engagement. As +it was it would certainly figure in one of our desiccated reports as an +activity of the artillery. The noise as we struck the line at this new +point showed that the matter was serious, and, indeed, we had chosen +the spot because it had been the storm centre of the last week. The +method of approach chosen by our experienced guide was in itself a +tribute to the gravity of the affair. As one comes from the settled +order of Flanders into the actual scene of war, the first sign of it is +one of the stationary, sausage-shaped balloons, a chain of which marks +the ring in which the great wrestlers are locked. We pass under this, +ascend a hill, and find ourselves in a garden where for a year no feet +save those of wanderers like ourselves have stood. There is a wild, +confused luxuriance of growth more beautiful to my eye than anything +which the care of man can produce. One old shell-hole of vast diameter +has filled itself with forget-me-nots, and appears as a graceful basin +of light blue flowers, held up as an atonement to heaven for the +brutalities of man. Through the tangled bushes we creep, then across a +yard--'Please stoop and run as you pass this point'--and finally to a +small opening in a wall, whence the battle lies not so much before as +beside us. For a moment we have a front seat at the great world-drama, +God's own problem play, working surely to its magnificent end. One +feels a sort of shame to crouch here in comfort, a useless spectator, +while brave men down yonder are facing that pelting shower of iron. + + * * * * * + +There is a large field on our left rear, and the German gunners have +the idea that there is a concealed battery therein. They are +systematically searching for it. A great shell explodes in the top +corner, but gets nothing more solid than a few tons of clay. You can +read the mind of Gunner Fritz. 'Try the lower corner!' says he, and up +goes the earth-cloud once again. 'Perhaps it's hid about the middle. +I'll try.' Earth again, and nothing more. 'I believe I was right the +first time after all,' says hopeful Fritz. So another shell comes into +the top corner. The field is as full of pits as a Gruyère cheese, but +Fritz gets nothing by his perseverance. Perhaps there never was a +battery there at all. One effect he obviously did attain. He made +several other British batteries exceedingly angry. 'Stop that tickling, +Fritz!' was the burden of their cry. Where they were we could no more +see than Fritz could, but their constant work was very clear along the +German line. We appeared to be using more shrapnel and the Germans more +high explosives, but that may have been just the chance of the day. The +Vimy Ridge was on our right, and before us was the old French position, +with the labyrinth of terrible memories and the long hill of Lorette. +When, last year, the French, in a three weeks' battle, fought their way +up that hill, it was an exhibition of sustained courage which even +their military annals can seldom have beaten. + +And so I turn from the British line. Another and more distant task lies +before me. I come away with the deep sense of the difficult task which +lies before the Army, but with a deeper one of the ability of these men +to do all that soldiers can ever be asked to perform. Let the guns +clear the way for the infantry, and the rest will follow. It all lies +with the guns. But the guns, in turn, depend upon our splendid workers +at home, who, men and women, are doing so grandly. Let them not be +judged by a tiny minority, who are given, perhaps, too much attention +in our journals. We have all made sacrifices in the war, but when the +full story comes to be told, perhaps the greatest sacrifice of all is +that which Labour made when, with a sigh, she laid aside that which it +had taken so many weary years to build. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE ITALIAN ARMY + + +One meets with such extreme kindness and consideration among the +Italians that there is a real danger lest one's personal feeling of +obligation should warp one's judgment or hamper one's expression. +Making every possible allowance for this, I come away from them, after +a very wide if superficial view of all that they are doing, with a deep +feeling of admiration and a conviction that no army in the world could +have made a braver attempt to advance under conditions of extraordinary +difficulty. + +First a word as to the Italian soldier. He is a type by himself which +differs from the earnest solidarity of the new French army, and from +the businesslike alertness of the Briton, and yet has a very special +dash and fire of its own, covered over by a very pleasing and +unassuming manner. London has not yet forgotten Durando of Marathon +fame. He was just such another easy smiling youth as I now see +everywhere around me. Yet there came a day when a hundred thousand +Londoners hung upon his every movement--when strong men gasped and +women wept at his invincible but unavailing spirit. When he had fallen +senseless in that historic race on the very threshold of his goal, so +high was the determination within him, that while he floundered on the +track like a broken-backed horse, with the senses gone out of him, his +legs still continued to drum upon the cinder path. Then when by pure +will power he staggered to his feet and drove his dazed body across the +line, it was an exhibition of pluck which put the little sunburned +baker straightway among London's heroes. Durando's spirit is alive +to-day, I see thousands of him all around me. A thousand such, led by a +few young gentlemen of the type who occasionally give us object lessons +in how to ride at Olympia, make no mean battalion. It has been a war +of most desperate ventures, but never once has there been a lack of +volunteers. The Tyrolese are good men--too good to be fighting in so +rotten a cause. But from first to last the Alpini have had the +ascendency in the hill fighting, as the line regiments have against the +Kaiserlics upon the plain. Caesar told how the big Germans used to +laugh at his little men until they had been at handgrips with them. The +Austrians could tell the same tale. The spirit in the ranks is +something marvellous. There have been occasions when every officer has +fallen and yet the men have pushed on, have taken a position and then +waited for official directions. + +But if that is so, you will ask, why is it that they have not made more +impression upon the enemy's position? The answer lies in the +strategical position of Italy, and it can be discussed without any +technicalities. A child could understand it. The Alps form such a bar +across the north that there are only two points where serious +operations are possible. One is the Trentino Salient where Austria can +always threaten and invade Italy. She lies in the mountains with the +plains beneath her. She can always invade the plain, but the Italians +cannot seriously invade the mountains, since the passes would only lead +to other mountains beyond. Therefore their only possible policy is to +hold the Austrians back. This they have most successfully done, and +though the Austrians with the aid of a shattering heavy artillery have +recently made some advance, it is perfectly certain that they can never +really carry out any serious invasion. The Italians then have done all +that could be done in this quarter. There remains the other front, the +opening by the sea. Here the Italians had a chance to advance over a +front of plain bounded by a river with hills beyond. They cleared the +plain, they crossed the river, they fought a battle very like our own +battle of the Aisne upon the slopes of the hills, taking 20,000 +Austrian prisoners, and now they are faced by barbed wire, machine +guns, cemented trenches, and every other device which has held them as +it has held every one else. But remember what they have done for the +common cause and be grateful for it. They have in a year occupied some +forty Austrian divisions, and relieved our Russian allies to that very +appreciable extent. They have killed or wounded a quarter of a million, +taken 40,000, and drawn to themselves a large portion of the artillery. +That is their record up to date. As to the future it is very easy to +prophesy. They will continue to absorb large enemy armies. Neither side +can advance far as matters stand. But if the Russians advance and +Austria has to draw her men to the East, there will be a tiger spring +for Trieste. If manhood can break the line, then I believe the Durandos +will do it. + +'Trieste o morte!' I saw chalked upon the walls all over North Italy. +That is the Italian objective. + +And they are excellently led. Cadorna is an old Roman, a man cast in +the big simple mould of antiquity, frugal in his tastes, clear in his +aims, with no thought outside his duty. Every one loves and trusts him. +Porro, the Chief of the Staff, who was good enough to explain the +strategical position to me, struck me as a man of great clearness of +vision, middle-sized, straight as a dart, with an eagle face grained +and coloured like an old walnut. The whole of the staff work is, as +experts assure me, moot excellently done. + +So much for the general situation. Let me descend for a moment to my +own trivial adventures since leaving the British front. Of France I +hope to say more in the future, and so I will pass at a bound to Padua, +where it appeared that the Austrian front had politely advanced to meet +me, for I was wakened betimes in the morning by the dropping of bombs, +the rattle of anti-aircraft guns, and the distant rat-tat-tat of a +maxim high up in the air. I heard when I came down later that the +intruder had been driven away and that little damage had been done. The +work of the Austrian aeroplanes is, however, very aggressive behind the +Italian lines, for they have the great advantage that a row of fine +cities lies at their mercy, while the Italians can do nothing without +injuring their own kith and kin across the border. This dropping of +explosives on the chance of hitting one soldier among fifty victims +seems to me the most monstrous development of the whole war, and the +one which should be most sternly repressed in future international +legislation--if such a thing as international law still exists. The +Italian headquarter town, which I will call Nemini, was a particular +victim of these murderous attacks. I speak with some feeling, as not +only was the ceiling of my bedroom shattered some days before my +arrival, but a greasy patch with some black shreds upon it was still +visible above my window which represented part of the remains of an +unfortunate workman, who had been blown to pieces immediately in front +of the house. The air defence is very skilfully managed however, and +the Italians have the matter well in hand. + +My first experience of the Italian line was at the portion which I have +called the gap by the sea, otherwise the Isonzo front. From a mound +behind the trenches an extraordinary fine view can be got of the +Austrian position, the general curve of both lines being marked, as in +Flanders, by the sausage balloons which float behind them. The Isonzo, +which has been so bravely carried by the Italians, lay in front of me, +a clear blue river, as broad as the Thames at Hampton Court. In a +hollow to my left were the roofs of Gorizia, the town which the +Italians are endeavouring to take. A long desolate ridge, the Carso, +extends to the south of the town, and stretches down nearly to the sea. +The crest is held by the Austrians and the Italian trenches have been +pushed within fifty yards of them. A lively bombardment was going on +from either side, but so far as the infantry goes there is none of that +constant malignant petty warfare with which we are familiar in +Flanders. I was anxious to see the Italian trenches, in order to +compare them with our British methods, but save for the support and +communication trenches I was courteously but firmly warned off. + +The story of trench attack and defence is no doubt very similar in all +quarters, but I am convinced that close touch should be kept between +the Allies on the matter of new inventions. The quick Latin brain may +conceive and test an idea long before we do. At present there seems to +be very imperfect sympathy. As an example, when I was on the British +lines they were dealing with a method of clearing barbed wire. The +experiments were new and were causing great interest. But on the +Italian front I found that the same system had been tested for many +months. In the use of bullet proof jackets for engineers and other men +who have to do exposed work the Italians are also ahead of us. One of +their engineers at our headquarters might give some valuable advice. At +present the Italians have, as I understand, no military representative +with our armies, while they receive a British General with a small +staff. This seems very wrong not only from the point of view of +courtesy and justice, but also because Italy has no direct means of +knowing the truth about our great development. When Germans state that +our new armies are made of paper, our Allies should have some official +assurance of their own that this is false. I can understand our keeping +neutrals from our headquarters, but surely our Allies should be on +another footing. + +Having got this general view of the position I was anxious in the +afternoon to visit Monfalcone, which is the small dockyard captured +from the Austrians on the Adriatic. My kind Italian officer guides did +not recommend the trip, as it was part of their great hospitality to +shield their guest from any part of that danger which they were always +ready to incur themselves. The only road to Monfalcone ran close to the +Austrian position at the village of Ronchi, and afterwards kept +parallel to it for some miles. I was told that it was only on odd days +that the Austrian guns were active in this particular section, so +determined to trust to luck that this might not be one of them. It +proved, however, to be one of the worst on record, and we were not +destined to see the dockyard to which we started. + +The civilian cuts a ridiculous figure when he enlarges upon small +adventures which may come his way--adventures which the soldier endures +in silence as part of his everyday life. On this occasion, however, the +episode was all our own, and had a sporting flavour in it which made it +dramatic. I know now the feeling of tense expectation with which the +driven grouse whirrs onwards towards the butt. I have been behind the +butt before now, and it is only poetic justice that I should see the +matter from the other point of view. As we approached Ronchi we could +see shrapnel breaking over the road in front of us, but we had not yet +realised that it was precisely for vehicles that the Austrians were +waiting, and that they had the range marked out to a yard. We went down +the road all out at a steady fifty miles an hour. The village was near, +and it seemed that we had got past the place of danger. We had in fact +just reached it. At this moment there was a noise as if the whole four +tyres had gone simultaneously, a most terrific bang in our very ears, +merging into a second sound like a reverberating blow upon an enormous +gong. As I glanced up I saw three clouds immediately above my head, two +of them white and the other of a rusty red. The air was full of flying +metal, and the road, as we were told afterwards by an observer, was all +churned up by it. The metal base of one of the shells was found plumb +in the middle of the road just where our motor had been. There is no +use telling me Austrian gunners can't shoot. I know better. + +It was our pace that saved us. The motor was an open one, and the three +shells burst, according to one of my Italian companions who was himself +an artillery officer, about ten metres above our heads. They threw +forward, however, and we travelling at so great a pace shot from under. +Before they could get in another we had swung round the curve and under +the lee of a house. The good Colonel B. wrung my hand in silence. They +were both distressed, these good soldiers, under the impression that +they had led me into danger. As a matter of fact it was I who owed them +an apology, since they had enough risks in the way of business without +taking others in order to gratify the whim of a joy-rider. Barbariche +and Clericetti, this record will convey to you my remorse. + +Our difficulties were by no means over. We found an ambulance lorry and +a little group of infantry huddled under the same shelter with the +expression of people who had been caught in the rain. The road beyond +was under heavy fire as well as that by which we had come. Had the +Ostro-Boches dropped a high-explosive upon us they would have had a +good mixed bag. But apparently they were only out for fancy shooting +and disdained a sitter. Presently there came a lull and the lorry moved +on, but we soon heard a burst of firing which showed that they were +after it. My companions had decided that it was out of the question for +us to finish our excursion. We waited for some time therefore and were +able finally to make our retreat on foot, being joined later by the +car. So ended my visit to Monfalcone, the place I did not reach. I hear +that two 10,000-ton steamers were left on the stocks there by the +Austrians, but were disabled before they retired. Their cabin basins +and other fittings are now adorning the Italian dug-outs. + +My second day was devoted to a view of the Italian mountain warfare in +the Carnic Alps. Besides the two great fronts, one of defence +(Trentino) and one of offence (Isonzo), there are very many smaller +valleys which have to be guarded. The total frontier line is over four +hundred miles, and it has all to be held against raids if not +invasions. It is a most picturesque business. Far up in the Roccolana +Valley I found the Alpini outposts, backed by artillery which had been +brought into the most wonderful positions. They have taken 8-inch guns +where a tourist could hardly take his knapsack. Neither side can ever +make serious progress, but there are continual duels, gun against gun, +or Alpini against Jaeger. In a little wayside house was the brigade +headquarters, and here I was entertained to lunch. It was a scene that +I shall remember. They drank to England. I raised my glass to Italia +irredenta--might it soon be redenta. They all sprang to their feet and +the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. They keep their souls and +emotions, these people. I trust that ours may not become atrophied by +self-suppression. + +The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary +that we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our +sympathy with what they have done, instead of making querulous and +unreasonable demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult +position. The war is made by their splendid king--a man of whom every +one speaks with extraordinary reverence and love--and by the people. +The people, with the deep instinct of a very old civilisation, +understand that the liberty of the world and their own national +existence are really at stake. But there are several forces which +divide the strength of the nation. There is the clerical, which +represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking upon Austria as the +eldest daughter of the Church--a daughter who is little credit to her +mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, there are the +commercial people who through the great banks or other similar agencies +have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. When you +consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that Britain +should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the national +party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand there +might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international +situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any +way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not, +working for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most +efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities +which an absence of coal and iron entails. It is for us to show that we +appreciate it. Justice as well as policy demands it. + +The last day spent upon the Italian front was in the Trentino. From +Verona a motor drive of about twenty-five miles takes one up the valley +of the Adige, and past a place of evil augury for the Austrians, the +field of Rivoli. As one passes up the valley one appreciates that on +their left wing the Italians have position after position in the spurs +of the mountains before they could be driven into the plain. If the +Austrians could reach the plain it would be to their own ruin, for the +Italians have large reserves. There is no need for any anxiety about +the Trentino. + +The attitude of the people behind the firing line should give one +confidence. I had heard that the Italians were a nervous people. It +does not apply to this part of Italy. As I approached the danger spot I +saw rows of large, fat gentlemen with long thin black cigars leaning +against walls in the sunshine. The general atmosphere would have +steadied an epileptic. Italy is perfectly sure of herself in this +quarter. Finally, after a long drive of winding gradients, always +beside the Adige, we reached Ala, where we interviewed the Commander of +the Sector, a man who has done splendid work during the recent +fighting. 'By all means you can see my front. But no motorcar, please. +It draws fire and others may be hit beside you.' We proceeded on foot +therefore along a valley which branched at the end into two passes. In +both very active fighting had been going on, and as we came up the guns +were baying merrily, waking up most extraordinary echoes in the hills. +It was difficult to believe that it was not thunder. There was one +terrible voice that broke out from time to time in the mountains--the +angry voice of the Holy Roman Empire. When it came all other sounds +died down into nothing. It was--so I was told--the master gun, the vast +42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of Liége and Namur. +The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. The Italians +assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in trench +work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little matter. + +We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred +recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single +shell. There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the +aimed fire was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two +passes above us. That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some +of the worst of the fighting. These two passes form the Italian left +wing which has held firm all through. So has the right wing. It is only +the centre which has been pushed in by the concentrated fire. + +When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were +halted, and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches +which lay upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards +between the adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and +Croatian prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the +Italians speak with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians +and of the Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them +however, and especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig +trenches under fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were +recaptured and were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the +whole, however, it may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is +nothing which corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western +conflict. The presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference. + +Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements +on the Trentino front. There are no troops who would not have been +forced back by the Austrian fire. It corresponded with the French +experience at Verdun, or ours at the second battle of Ypres. It may +well occur again if the Austrians get their guns forward. But at such a +rate it would take them a long time to make any real impression. One +cannot look at the officers and men without seeing that their spirit +and confidence are high. In answer to my inquiry they assure me that +there is little difference between the troops of the northern provinces +and those of the south. Even among the snows of the Alps they tell me +that the Sicilians gave an excellent account of themselves. + +That night found me back at Verona, and next morning I was on my way to +Paris, where I hope to be privileged to have some experiences at the +front of our splendid Allies. I leave Italy with a deep feeling of +gratitude for the kindness shown to me, and of admiration for the way +in which they are playing their part in the world's fight for freedom. +They have every possible disadvantage, economic and political. But in +spite of it they have done splendidly. Three thousand square kilometres +of the enemy's country are already in their possession. They relieve to +a very great extent the pressure upon the Russians, who, in spite of +all their bravery, might have been overwhelmed last summer during the +'durchbruch' had it not been for the diversion of so many Austrian +troops. The time has come now when Russia by her advance on the Pripet +is repaying her debt. But the debt is common to all the Allies. Let +them bear it in mind. There has been mischief done by slighting +criticism and by inconsiderate words. A warm sympathetic hand-grasp of +congratulation is what Italy has deserved, and it is both justice and +policy to give it. + + + + +A GLIMPSE OF THE FRENCH LINE + + +I + +The French soldiers are grand. They are grand. There is no other word +to express it. It is not merely their bravery. All races have shown +bravery in this war. But it is their solidity, their patience, their +nobility. I could not conceive anything finer than the bearing of their +officers. It is proud without being arrogant, stern without being +fierce, serious without being depressed. Such, too, are the men whom +they lead with such skill and devotion. Under the frightful +hammer-blows of circumstance, the national characters seem to have been +reversed. It is our British soldier who has become debonair, +light-hearted and reckless, while the Frenchman has developed a solemn +stolidity and dour patience which was once all our own. During a long +day in the French trenches, I have never once heard the sound of music +or laughter, nor have I once seen a face that was not full of the most +grim determination. + +Germany set out to bleed France white. Well, she has done so. France is +full of widows and orphans from end to end. Perhaps in proportion to +her population she has suffered the most of all. But in carrying out +her hellish mission Germany has bled herself white also. Her heavy +sword has done its work, but the keen French rapier has not lost its +skill. France will stand at last, weak and tottering, with her huge +enemy dead at her feet. But it is a fearsome business to see--such a +business as the world never looked upon before. It is fearful for the +French. It is fearful for the Germans. May God's curse rest upon the +arrogant men and the unholy ambitions which let loose this horror upon +humanity! Seeing what they have done, and knowing that they have done +it, one would think that mortal brain would grow crazy under the +weight. Perhaps the central brain of all was crazy from the first. But +what sort of government is it under which one crazy brain can wreck +mankind! + +If ever one wanders into the high places of mankind, the places whence +the guidance should come, it seems to me that one has to recall the +dying words of the Swedish Chancellor who declared that the folly of +those who governed was what had amazed him most in his experience of +life. Yesterday I met one of these men of power--M. Clemenceau, once +Prime Minister, now the destroyer of governments. He is by nature a +destroyer, incapable of rebuilding what he has pulled down. With his +personal force, his eloquence, his thundering voice, his bitter pen, he +could wreck any policy, but would not even trouble to suggest an +alternative. As he sat before me with his face of an old prizefighter +(he is remarkably like Jim Mace as I can remember him in his later +days), his angry grey eyes and his truculent, mischievous smile, he +seemed to me a very dangerous man. His conversation, if a squirt on one +side and Niagara on the other can be called conversation, was directed +for the moment upon the iniquity of the English rate of exchange, which +seemed to me very much like railing against the barometer. My +companion, who has forgotten more economics than ever Clemenceau knew, +was about to ask whether France was prepared to take the rouble at face +value, but the roaring voice, like a strong gramophone with a blunt +needle, submerged all argument. We have our dangerous men, but we have +no one in the same class as Clemenceau. Such men enrage the people who +know them, alarm the people who don't, set every one by the ears, act +as a healthy irritant in days of peace, and are a public danger in days +of war. + + * * * * * + +But this is digression. I had set out to say something of a day's +experience of the French front, though I shall write with a fuller pen +when I return from the Argonne. It was for Soissons that we made, +passing on the way a part of the scene of our own early operations, +including the battlefield of Villers Cotteret--just such a wood as I +had imagined. My companion's nephew was one of those Guards' officers +whose bodies rest now in the village cemetery, with a little British +Jack still flying above them. They lie together, and their grave is +tended with pious care. Among the trees beside the road were other +graves of soldiers, buried where they had fallen. 'So look around--and +choose your ground--and take your rest.' + +Soissons is a considerable wreck, though it is very far from being an +Ypres. But the cathedral would, and will, make many a patriotic +Frenchman weep. These savages cannot keep their hands off a beautiful +church. Here, absolutely unchanged through the ages, was the spot where +St. Louis had dedicated himself to the Crusade. Every stone of it was +holy. And now the lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the +roof lies in a huge heap across the central aisle. A dog was climbing +over it as we entered. No wonder the French fight well. Such sights +would drive the mildest man to desperation. The abbé, a good priest, +with a large humorous face, took us over his shattered domain. He was +full of reminiscences of the German occupation of the place. One of his +personal anecdotes was indeed marvellous. It was that a lady in the +local ambulance had vowed to kiss the first French soldier who +re-entered the town. She did so, and it proved to be her husband. The +abbé is a good, kind, truthful man--but he has a humorous face. + +A walk down a ruined street brings one to the opening of the trenches. +There are marks upon the walls of the German occupation. +'Berlin--Paris,' with an arrow of direction, adorns one corner. At +another the 76th Regiment have commemorated the fact that they were +there in 1870 and again in 1914. If the Soissons folk are wise they +will keep these inscriptions as a reminder to the rising generation. I +can imagine, however, that their inclination will be to whitewash, +fumigate, and forget. + +A sudden turn among some broken walls takes one into the communication +trench. Our guide is a Commandant of the Staff, a tall, thin man with +hard, grey eyes and a severe face. It is the more severe towards us as +I gather that he has been deluded into the belief that about one out of +six of our soldiers goes to the trenches. For the moment he is not +friends with the English. As we go along, however, we gradually get +upon better terms, we discover a twinkle in the hard, grey eyes, and +the day ends with an exchange of walking-sticks and a renewal of the +Entente. May my cane grow into a marshal's baton. + + * * * * * + +A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of +trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of +compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the +Germans going on high over our heads. The trenches are boarded at the +sides, and have a more permanent look than those of Flanders. Presently +we meet a fine, brown-faced, upstanding boy, as keen as a razor, who +commands this particular section. A little further on a helmeted +captain of infantry, who is an expert sniper, joins our little party. +Now we are at the very front trench. I had expected to see primeval +men, bearded and shaggy. But the 'Poilus' have disappeared. The men +around me were clean and dapper to a remarkable degree. I gathered, +however, that they had their internal difficulties. On one board I read +an old inscription, 'He is a Boche, but he is the inseparable companion +of a French soldier.' Above was a rude drawing of a louse. + +I am led to a cunning loop-hole, and have a glimpse through it of a +little framed picture of French countryside. There are fields, a road, +a sloping hill beyond with trees. Quite close, about thirty or forty +yards away, was a low, red-tiled house. 'They are there,' said our +guide. 'That is their outpost. We can hear them cough.' Only the guns +were coughing that morning, so we heard nothing, but it was certainly +wonderful to be so near to the enemy and yet in such peace. I suppose +wondering visitors from Berlin are brought up also to hear the French +cough. Modern warfare has certainly some extraordinary sides. + +Now we are shown all the devices which a year of experience has +suggested to the quick brains of our Allies. It is ground upon which +one cannot talk with freedom. Every form of bomb, catapult, and trench +mortar was ready to hand. Every method of cross-fire had been thought +out to an exact degree. There was something, however, about their +disposition of a machine gun which disturbed the Commandant. He called +for the officer of the gun. His thin lips got thinner and his grey eyes +more austere as we waited. Presently there emerged an extraordinarily +handsome youth, dark as a Spaniard, from some rabbit hole. He faced the +Commandant bravely, and answered back with respect but firmness. +'Pourquoi?' asked the Commandant, and yet again 'Pourquoi?' Adonis had +an answer for everything. Both sides appealed to the big Captain of +Snipers, who was clearly embarrassed. He stood on one leg and scratched +his chin. Finally the Commandant turned away angrily in the midst of +one of Adonis' voluble sentences. His face showed that the matter was +not ended. War is taken very seriously in the French army, and any sort +of professional mistake is very quickly punished. I have been told how +many officers of high rank have been broken by the French during the +war. The figure was a very high one. There is no more forgiveness for +the beaten General than there was in the days of the Republic when the +delegate of the National Convention, with a patent portable guillotine, +used to drop in at headquarters to support a more vigorous offensive. + + * * * * * + +As I write these lines there is a burst of bugles in the street, and I +go to my open window to see the 41st of the line march down into what +may develop into a considerable battle. How I wish they could march +down the Strand even as they are. How London would rise to them! Laden +like donkeys, with a pile upon their backs and very often both hands +full as well, they still get a swing into their march which it is good +to see. They march in column of platoons, and the procession is a long +one, for a French regiment is, of course, equal to three battalions. +The men are shortish, very thick, burned brown in the sun, with never a +smile among them--have I not said that they are going down to a grim +sector?--but with faces of granite. There was a time when we talked of +stiffening the French army. I am prepared to believe that our first +expeditionary force was capable of stiffening any conscript army, for I +do not think that a finer force ever went down to battle. But to talk +about stiffening these people now would be ludicrous. You might as well +stiffen the old Guard. There may be weak regiments somewhere, but I +have never seen them. + +I think that an injustice has been done to the French army by the +insistence of artists and cinema operators upon the picturesque +Colonial corps. One gets an idea that Arabs and negroes are pulling +France out of the fire. It is absolutely false. Her own brave sons are +doing the work. The Colonial element is really a very small one--so +small that I have not seen a single unit during all my French +wanderings. The Colonials are good men, but like our splendid +Highlanders they catch the eye in a way which is sometimes a little +hard upon their neighbours. When there is hard work to be done it is +the good little French piou-piou who usually has to do it. There is no +better man in Europe. If we are as good--and I believe we are--it is +something to be proud of. + + * * * * * + +But I have wandered far from the trenches of Soissons. It had come on +to rain heavily, and we were forced to take refuge in the dugout of the +sniper. Eight of us sat in the deep gloom huddled closely together. The +Commandant was still harping upon that ill-placed machine gun. He could +not get over it. My imperfect ear for French could not follow all his +complaints, but some defence of the offender brought forth a 'Jamais! +Jamais! Jamais!' which was rapped out as if it came from the gun +itself. There were eight of us in an underground burrow, and some were +smoking. Better a deluge than such an atmosphere as that. But if there +is a thing upon earth which the French officer shies at it is rain and +mud. The reason is that he is extraordinarily natty in his person. His +charming blue uniform, his facings, his brown gaiters, boots and belts +are always just as smart as paint. He is the Dandy of the European war. +I noticed officers in the trenches with their trousers carefully +pressed. It is all to the good, I think. Wellington said that the +dandies made his best officers. It is difficult for the men to get +rattled or despondent when they see the debonair appearance of their +leaders. + +Among the many neat little marks upon the French uniforms which +indicate with precision but without obtrusion the rank and arm of the +wearer, there was one which puzzled me. It was to be found on the left +sleeve of men of all ranks, from generals to privates, and it consisted +of small gold chevrons, one, two, or more. No rule seemed to regulate +them, for the general might have none, and I have heard of the private +who wore ten. Then I solved the mystery. They are the record of wounds +received. What an admirable idea! Surely we should hasten to introduce +it among our own soldiers. It costs little and it means much. If you +can allay the smart of a wound by the knowledge that it brings lasting +honour to the man among his fellows, then surely it should be done. +Medals, too, are more freely distributed and with more public parade +than in our service. I am convinced that the effect is good. + + * * * * * + +The rain has now stopped, and we climb from our burrow. Again we are +led down that endless line of communication trench, again we stumble +through the ruins, again we emerge into the street where our cars are +awaiting us. Above our heads the sharp artillery duel is going merrily +forward. The French are firing three or four to one, which has been my +experience at every point I have touched upon the Allied front. Thanks +to the extraordinary zeal of the French workers, especially of the +French women, and to the clever adaptation of machinery by their +engineers, their supplies are abundant. Even now they turn out more +shells a day than we do. That, however, excludes our supply for the +Fleet. But it is one of the miracles of the war that the French, with +their coal and iron in the hands of the enemy, have been able to equal +the production of our great industrial centres. The steel, of course, +is supplied by us. To that extent we can claim credit for the result. + +And so, after the ceremony of the walking-sticks, we bid adieu to the +lines of Soissons. To-morrow we start for a longer tour to the more +formidable district of the Argonne, the neighbour of Verdun, and itself +the scene of so much that is glorious and tragic. + + + +II. + +There is a couplet of Stevenson's which haunts me, 'There fell a war in +a woody place--in a land beyond the sea.' I have just come back from +spending three wonderful dream days in that woody place. It lies with +the open, bosky country of Verdun on its immediate right, and the chalk +downs of Champagne upon its left. If one could imagine the lines being +taken right through our New Forest or the American Adirondacks it would +give some idea of the terrain, save that it is a very undulating +country of abrupt hills and dales. It is this peculiarity which has +made the war on this front different to any other, more picturesque and +more secret. In front the fighting lines are half in the clay soil, +half behind the shelter of fallen trunks. Between the two the main bulk +of the soldiers live like animals of the woodlands, burrowing on the +hillsides and among the roots of the trees. It is a war by itself, and +a very wonderful one to see. At three different points I have visited +the front in this broad region, wandering from the lines of one army +corps to that of another. In all three I found the same conditions, and +in all three I found also the same pleasing fact which I had discovered +at Soissons, that the fire of the French was at least five, and very +often ten shots to one of the Boche. It used not to be so. The Germans +used to scrupulously return shot for shot. But whether they have moved +their guns to the neighbouring Verdun, or whether, as is more likely, +all the munitions are going there, it is certain that they were very +outclassed upon the three days (June 10, 11, 12) which I allude to. +There were signs that for some reason their spirits were at a low ebb. +On the evening before our arrival the French had massed all their bands +at the front, and, in honour of the Russian victory, had played the +Marseillaise and the Russian National hymn, winding up with general +shoutings and objurgations calculated to annoy. Failing to stir up the +Boche, they had ended by a salute from a hundred shotted guns. After +trailing their coats up and down the line they had finally to give up +the attempt to draw the enemy. Want of food may possibly have caused a +decline in the German spirit. There is some reason to believe that they +feed up their fighting men at the places like Verdun or Hooge, where +they need all their energy, at the expense of the men who are on the +defensive. If so, we may find it out when we attack. The French +officers assured me that the prisoners and deserters made bitter +complaints of their scale of rations. And yet it is hard to believe +that the fine efforts of our enemy at Verdun are the work of +half-starved men. + + * * * * * + +To return to my personal impressions, it was at Chalons that we left +the Paris train--a town which was just touched by the most forward +ripple of the first great German floodtide. A drive of some twenty +miles took us to St. Menehould, and another ten brought us to the front +in the sector of Divisional-General H. A fine soldier this, and heaven +help Germany if he and his division get within its borders, for he is, +as one can see at a glance, a man of iron who has been goaded to +fierceness by all that his beloved country has endured. He is a man of +middle size, swarthy, hawk-like, very abrupt in his movements, with two +steel grey eyes, which are the most searching that mine have ever met. +His hospitality and courtesy to us were beyond all bounds, but there is +another side to him, and it is one which it is wiser not to provoke. In +person he took us to his lines, passing through the usual shot-torn +villages behind them. Where the road dips down into the great forest +there is one particular spot which is visible to the German artillery +observers. The General mentioned it at the time, but his remark seemed +to have no personal interest. We understood it better on our return in +the evening. + +Now we found ourselves in the depths of the woods, primeval woods of +oak and beech in the deep clay soil that the great oak loves. There had +been rain and the forest paths were ankle deep in mire. Everywhere, to +right and left, soldiers' faces, hard and rough from a year of open +air, gazed up at us from their burrows in the ground. Presently an +alert, blue-clad figure stood in the path to greet us. It was the +Colonel of the sector. He was ridiculously like Cyrano de Bergerac as +depicted by the late M. Coquelin, save that his nose was of more +moderate proportion. The ruddy colouring, the bristling feline +full-ended moustache, the solidity of pose, the backward tilt of the head, +the general suggestion of the bantam cock, were all there facing us as +he stood amid the leaves in the sunlight. Gauntlets and a long +rapier--nothing else was wanting. Something had amused Cyrano. His +moustache quivered with suppressed mirth, and his blue eyes were +demurely gleaming. Then the joke came out. He had spotted a German +working party, his guns had concentrated on it, and afterwards he had +seen the stretchers go forward. A grim joke, it may seem. But the +French see this war from a different angle to us. If we had the Boche +sitting on our heads for two years, and were not yet quite sure whether +we could ever get him off again, we should get Cyrano's point of view. +Those of us who have had our folk murdered by Zeppelins or tortured in +German prisons have probably got it already. + + * * * * * + +We passed in a little procession among the French soldiers, and viewed +their multifarious arrangements. For them we were a little break in a +monotonous life, and they formed up in lines as we passed. My own +British uniform and the civilian dresses of my two companions +interested them. As the General passed these groups, who formed +themselves up in perhaps a more familiar manner than would have been +usual in the British service, he glanced kindly at them with those +singular eyes of his, and once or twice addressed them as 'Mes +enfants.' One might conceive that all was 'go as you please' among the +French. So it is as long as you go in the right way. When you stray +from it you know it. As we passed a group of men standing on a low +ridge which overlooked us there was a sudden stop. I gazed round. The +General's face was steel and cement. The eyes were cold and yet fiery, +sunlight upon icicles. Something had happened. Cyrano had sprung to his +side. His reddish moustache had shot forward beyond his nose, and it +bristled out like that of an angry cat. Both were looking up at the +group above us. One wretched man detached himself from his comrades and +sidled down the slope. No skipper and mate of a Yankee blood boat could +have looked more ferociously at a mutineer. And yet it was all over +some minor breach of discipline which was summarily disposed of by two +days of confinement. Then in an instant the faces relaxed, there was a +general buzz of relief and we were back at 'Mes enfants' again. But +don't make any mistake as to discipline in the French army. + +Trenches are trenches, and the main specialty of these in the Argonne +is that they are nearer to the enemy. In fact there are places where +they interlock, and where the advanced posts lie cheek by jowl with a +good steel plate to cover both cheek and jowl. We were brought to a +sap-head where the Germans were at the other side of a narrow forest +road. Had I leaned forward with extended hand and a Boche done the same +we could have touched. I looked across, but saw only a tangle of wire +and sticks. Even whispering was not permitted in these forward posts. + + * * * * * + +When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all +to his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side +of a hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin +with the air of a seigneur in his château. There was little furniture, +but from some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which +adorned his grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in +her traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch +in the picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once, +nor shall I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within +my memory. Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of +the Argonne, his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his +red moustache bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out +of the past of France. + +That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier, +General A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division. +Each of these French generals has a striking individuality of his own +which I wish I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that +each seems to be a rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a +touch of d'Artagnan. He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with +huge, up-curling moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It +is a grand figure which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace +collar, hand on sword, and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but +a stern and hard soldier was lurking behind the smiles. His name may +appear in history, and so may Humbert's, who rules all the army of +which the other's corps is a unit. Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure, +small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short, +sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with +electricity in moments of excitement like a cat's fur. What he does or +says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like +pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with +his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu'il est un +soldat dans l'armée Anglaise?' The whole table waited in an awful hush. +'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour service.' +There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an +awkward place. + +And talking of awkward places, I had forgotten about that spot upon the +road whence the Boche observer could see our motor-cars. He had +actually laid a gun upon it, the rascal, and waited all the long day +for our return. No sooner did we appear upon the slope than a shrapnel +shell burst above us, but somewhat behind me, as well as to the left. +Had it been straight the second car would have got it, and there might +have been a vacancy in one of the chief editorial chairs in London. The +General shouted to the driver to speed up, and we were soon safe from +the German gunners. One gets perfectly immune to noises in these +scenes, for the guns which surround you make louder crashes than any +shell which bursts about you. It is only when you actually see the +cloud over you that your thoughts come back to yourself, and that you +realise that in this wonderful drama you may be a useless super, but +none the less you are on the stage and not in the stalls. + + * * * * * + +Next morning we were down in the front trenches again at another +portion of the line. Far away on our right, from a spot named the +Observatory, we could see the extreme left of the Verdun position and +shells bursting on the Fille Morte. To the north of us was a broad +expanse of sunny France, nestling villages, scattered châteaux, rustic +churches, and all as inaccessible as if it were the moon. It is a +terrible thing this German bar--a thing unthinkable to Britons. To +stand on the edge of Yorkshire and look into Lancashire feeling that it +is in other hands, that our fellow-countrymen are suffering there and +waiting, waiting, for help, and that we cannot, after two years, come a +yard nearer to them--would it not break our hearts? Can I wonder that +there is no smile upon the grim faces of these Frenchmen! But when the +bar is broken, when the line sweeps forward, as most surely it will, +when French bayonets gleam on yonder uplands and French flags break +from those village spires--ah, what a day that will be! Men will die +that day from the pure, delirious joy of it. We cannot think what it +means to France, and the less so because she stands so nobly patient +waiting for her hour. + +Yet another type of French general takes us round this morning! He, +too, is a man apart, an unforgettable man. Conceive a man with a large +broad good-humoured face, and two placid, dark seal's eyes which gaze +gently into yours. He is young and has pink cheeks and a soft voice. +Such is one of the most redoubtable fighters of France, this General of +Division D. His former staff officers told me something of the man. He +is a philosopher, a fatalist, impervious to fear, a dreamer of distant +dreams amid the most furious bombardment. The weight of the French +assault upon the terrible labyrinth fell at one time upon the brigade +which he then commanded. He led them day after day gathering up Germans +with the detached air of the man of science who is hunting for +specimens. In whatever shell-hole he might chance to lunch he had his +cloth spread and decorated with wild flowers plucked from the edge. If +fate be kind to him he will go far. Apart from his valour he is +admitted to be one of the most scientific soldiers of France. + +From the Observatory we saw the destruction of a German trench. There +had been signs of work upon it, so it was decided to close it down. It +was a very visible brown streak a thousand yards away. The word was +passed back to the '75's' in the rear. There was a 'tir rapide' over +our heads. My word, the man who stands fast under a 'tir rapide,' be he +Boche, French or British, is a man of mettle! The mere passage of the +shells was awe-inspiring, at first like the screaming of a wintry wind, +and then thickening into the howling of a pack of wolves. The trench +was a line of terrific explosions. Then the dust settled down and all +was still. Where were the ants who had made the nest? Were they buried +beneath it? Or had they got from under? No one could say. + +There was one little gun which fascinated me, and I stood for some time +watching it. Its three gunners, enormous helmeted men, evidently loved +it, and touched it with a swift but tender touch in every movement. +When it was fired it ran up an inclined plane to take off the recoil, +rushing up and then turning and rattling down again upon the gunners +who were used to its ways. The first time it did it, I was standing +behind it, and I don't know which moved quickest--the gun or I. + +French officers above a certain rank develop and show their own +individuality. In the lower grades the conditions of service enforce a +certain uniformity. The British officer is a British gentleman first, +and an officer afterwards. The Frenchman is an officer first, though +none the less the gentleman stands behind it. One very strange type we +met, however, in these Argonne Woods. He was a French-Canadian who had +been a French soldier, had founded a homestead in far Alberta, and had +now come back of his own will, though a naturalised Briton, to the old +flag. He spoke English of a kind, the quality and quantity being +equally extraordinary. It poured from him and was, so far as it was +intelligible, of the woolly Western variety. His views on the Germans +were the most emphatic we had met. 'These Godam sons of'--well, let us +say 'Canines!' he would shriek, shaking his fist at the woods to the +north of him. A good man was our compatriot, for he had a very recent +Legion of Honour pinned upon his breast. He had been put with a few men +on Hill 285, a sort of volcano stuffed with mines, and was told to +telephone when he needed relief. He refused to telephone and remained +there for three weeks. 'We sit like a rabbit in his hall,' he +explained. He had only one grievance. There were many wild boars in the +forest, but the infantry were too busy to get them. 'The Godam +Artillaree he get the wild pig!' Out of his pocket he pulled a picture +of a frame-house with snow round it, and a lady with two children on +the stoop. It was his homestead at Trochu, seventy miles north of +Calgary. + + * * * * * + +It was the evening of the third day that we turned our faces to Paris +once more. It was my last view of the French. The roar of their guns +went far with me upon my way. Soldiers of France, farewell! In your own +phrase I salute you! Many have seen you who had more knowledge by which +to judge your manifold virtues, many also who had more skill to draw +you as you are, but never one, I am sure, who admired you more than I. +Great was the French soldier under Louis the Sun-King, great too under +Napoleon, but never was he greater than to-day. + +And so it is back to England and to home. I feel sobered and solemn +from all that I have seen. It is a blind vision which does not see more +than the men and the guns, which does not catch something of the +terrific spiritual conflict which is at the heart of it. + + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord + --He is trampling out the vineyard where the grapes of wrath are stored. + +We have found no inspired singer yet, like Julia Howe, to voice the +divine meaning of it all--that meaning which is more than numbers or +guns upon the day of battle. But who can see the adult manhood of +Europe standing in a double line, waiting for a signal to throw +themselves upon each other, without knowing that he has looked upon the +most terrific of all the dealings between the creature below and that +great force above, which works so strangely towards some distant but +glorious end? + +ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, A VISIT TO THREE FRONTS *** + +This file should be named 8v3fr10.txt or 8v3fr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8v3fr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8v3fr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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