The Pace Of Aemie

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 56, 8 March 1941, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Pace Of Aemie

ONE result of the last war was to give the mass of British people a much clearer idea of the nature of war and the fundamental difficulties confronting soldiers and their leaders. The lesson is being underlined in the present war. Before 1914-the British Army was a small professional hodv in which tlie British public took pride, but little practical or intelligent interest. Because the nation was not a nation in arms, there was an immense amount of ignorance about tl>e fundamentals of war. This was admirably illustrated by the member of Parliament, who, in a speech against compulsory service, said that if England was attacked a million bayonets would flash in the sun. In a perfect retort, the "Spectator" recalled the story of the old woman listening to a preacher's mention of "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." "Let 'em gnash 'em as has 'em," she murmured. Britons had to learn, at heavy cost, that you couldn't produce bayonets, and the men trained to use them, like rabbits out of a hat. And with this knowledge came a decline in the number and importance of amateur strategists, who like to plav chess on maps, rolling up centres and turning flanks without any expert knowledge of such technicalities as supply and what may reasonably be expected of troops. The type persi>ts, but its numbers have been thinned again by the events of the past IS months. Rates of Advance Methods have changed, it is " true. Armies now tear along in motor lorries, and the aeroplane makes surprise extremely difficult. But the fundamentals of strategy remain the same, and so do the fundamentals of campaign organisation. There was a very interesting comparison the other day between rates of victorious advance. The sweep into Libya was so startling and rapid that many may have been surprised to find that the average rate of Waveil's advance was only nine miles a day. The explanation was that he fought five battles as he went. This rule was

By Cyrano } i about the same as that of the German !. advance from Sedan to Dunkirk last year, when the Allies suffered what Mr. c Churchill rightly called a colossal mili- 1 tarv disaster. When Allenbv broke the power of the Turks in 1918 lie moved 7 at about the same rate, nine miles a J day. The Germans had to fight pretty well all the way. Allenby met with little resistance in his later stages. * General Wa veil's push seems to have . consisted in alternate rapid advances ! and halt 6 for battles. On the other 1 hand, the Germane and our Army of the r Xile were much more highly mechanised. = than Allenby's army. Mechanisation, r however, creates its own problems of ® supply, and the Germans were better * off than our army in Libya in that they faced no shortage of water and could ! pick up larger supplies of petroL J Cabal to Candahar < There was at least one British cam- \ paign where the rate was a. good de-al 1 higher. That was Roberts' march from c Cabul to Candahar. A British army, i disastrously defeated at Maiwand, had i taken refuge in Candahar. Another > British army had fought its way to i Cabul after the murder of the British t Minister. The safety of all the British i forces in Afghanistan was now threat- i encd. Donald Steward, the commander- ; in-chief, and Roberts, formed the bold 1 plan of detaching a force to march over i 300 miles to the relief of Candahar. The i risks were grave. The plan involved < withdrawing the rest of the Cabul force ' to the Khyber, which was bound to 1 affcct British prestige. The. force for ' Candahar would plunge into hostile country for some weeks, and would be i more or less in the air. With 2800 British trowps and 7000 Indian troops, Roberts set out, and f>>r three wcc.ks was lost to the world. His i army had to contend with extremes of • lieat and cold, and at times supply was very difficult. Fortunately there was no ' lighting until after Candahar had been ' relieved. The force covered 313 miles in 1 22 day.*, an average of over 14 miles :i day, which was considered a very remarkable achievement. I believe th>; route, march rate in India, along roads, is 20 miles a day. Fourteen miles a day and a bit 111:1 \ not seem much. Fit trampers could d" a good deal more. In hostile country. however, an army has to feel its way. and there is the e.ver-present problem i>! supply. Roberts set out with nearly many native bearers and drivers as inhad combatants. One feature of thmarch, in striking contrast with modern conditions, was the percentage of sicV. Ten per cent of the force liad^to go into hospital when the army reached Candahar. We lost more men in South Africa through disease than from Boer bullets. The. improvement of the health of armies in the field has been astonishing. What are the finest marching performances of the foot-slogging soldier, who has been the mainstay of armies! I

have heard that ths Fraek Legion claims Light Brigade made a hktcrifj-»*M trying to reach Welliogtoa fcflaf Jnfl la la vera. With full covered 62 miles in 26 to Xapiex. Other autharitai miles in the same time —i Mtn||Stß 24 hours. It doesn't matte ■tiUtD** infantry marched in gruelliat:lit£|l|g| hardly any food and wat#B,- : "^^BKj; If a soldier of those the warfare of to-day-)|t'i|[idHW?s|£& the improvement in 'wertiMSSfcliß impress him more than tie jfijfiS in the commissariat. movements of those old raMiI(BMP great mass of avoidable misery. We read of X«aeiWM»v§Wll about-turn from the Eaglbk fli -flfc to the victories of Ulm aM : but we have to look about the famished infantry on the way. 13*7. for food, but were toU tarlH expected them to live oaCtIiaMSHP The conditions in were sometimes appalling aital During one retreat officers out at night in the °P e with no covering. Hdf without shoes, and many gone nearly naked. The arrived late and alive, served out raw, to be men as best they pould. W Md and this does not seem to solitary instance —the \wea, with rain, were just goiiig meat when the order and they had either to Ihwi' . or put it, wet, into their with their biscuits. The ry*" bloody paste which many coiw Mj - In England no one was Mffl. 9 wasn't till the Crimea science was aroused.. When I read of the Africa, especially those in Kritrea, Abyssinia and SM|ls9k|H think not only of the but of the men who keep with munitions and food tances and sometimes try. Theirs is a triumph and hard work. ■"< Bjl <?>