THE QUEEN OF BATTLE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2644, 13 October 1919, Page 7

THE QUEEN OF BATTLE.

SOME DEFECTS IN THE GERMAN SYSTEM OF HANDLING INFANTRY. By John S. Steele, in ‘Answers.” ‘•Napoleon called the infantry the Queen of Battle. The Germans have degraded it to the mere handmaiden of the guns.” This remark, made to mo the other day I>y a British military officer of high rank, epitomises the result of the new German infantry tactics, developed during the recent war, which it. is believed contained the seed of Germany’s destruction. From the day when organised armies were first created, the infantry has been the backbone of every army, and in the opinion of the most competent generals to-day this still holds pood. The development of mechanical aids to warfare has led to many changes in tactics and strategy, but to-day, as in the first days of war, thf- infantry is the deciding factor. It must complete the work that has been begun by the guns, by the tanks by the aeroplanes. And if the quality of tiie infamry is poor, the whole army must s'-ffi-r in proportion. “STORM TROOFS’’ AND OTHERS. Nothing has been mote notable in

this war than the progressive deterioration of the ordinary German infantry, and this, it is believed, is due to the inherently vicious Gorman system of developing specialist troops to the detriment and expense of the great mass. At the beginning of the war the Gorman infantry were a fairly homogeneous force of distinctly good average quality. All were equally well trained and equally well equipped, and except for the difference between the various German tribes, of fairly average physique. Later they were divided into what the Germans call “ storm troops” and ordinary troops, and the result was that the general average fell much below that of the Allies. It is certain that the bulk of the prisoners taken from the enemy lately arc a poor lot compared with the storm troops on which the Germans relied so much. The ordinary German infantrymen are of poor pyssique, badly fed, and poorly equipped. The storm troops are men in the pink of condition, well fed, wearing new uniforms and the best of equipment. The storm troops fight to the last, while the ordinary infantry surrender easily. This is proved by the course of the fighting. When the storm troops attack they took the Allied positions in front of them with comparative ease. Then they were withdrawn, and, the ordinary infantry were put in to garrison the captured positions. The result was that when the Allies coun-ter-attacked they retook the positions with almost monotonous regularity.

GOVERNMENT BY SUPERMAN. It is easy to note that this system in piilitary affairs was the counterpart of the political organisation of the protagonists in the war. Germany being an autocracy where the superman ruled, and the common man counted for nothing. America, France, Italy, and Britain are democracies, where the common man counts,’ and the aristocrat is cither non-existent or secondary. Germany in all her elaborate scheme of organisation goes in for the glorification of the specialist. The Allies aim at making competent all-round men. The weakness of the German system is also apparent in the air, and to this system was due her progressive deterioration in this branch of the service. Perhaps nowhere was there a greater contrast than recently existed between the air systems of Britain and Germany. From the beginning Germany exalted her air superman. Richthofen’s flying circus was a first-class example of this. Here the commander was credited with all the victories won by his squadron, which consisted of picked men, and by reason of this selection every other squadron in the German air service was weakened. The English system was to aim at making all its men competent, all-round flyers, trained in team work, and to discourage the creation of the “ace.” The result is seen in the superiority of the British air service over the German. In the training of infantry, too, the. difference is very apparent. In both French and British Armies the aim is to make every man a firstclass, thoroughly efficient soldier. Every battalion is trained in shock tactics, in machine gun work, and in all the other details of a soldier’s job. The result is a general level of excellence, which gives a commander confidence that he can secure at least average results from any troops which may be at his disposal. A German general dared not attack without his quota of special shock troops because he knew that his ordinary rank and file were not equal to the task. A British, French, or American commander had no such worry, and could undertake any job asked of him with a fair degree of confidence.