ARMY GRAVE-DIGGERS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 73, 23 September 1914, Page 8

ARMY GRAVE-DIGGERS

In all the world there is only one army — the German — that carries its war preparations to such a state of completeness as to have a special corps of gravediggers, who accompany the army in the field for this grim task alone. They were formed for the Franco-German war of 1870, and their appearance was a source of amazement to the old generation of soldiers in Europe, who could not understand such "specialisation." Another feature of the German military system (as has already been mentioned in various articles) is the requirement that all soldiers on active service should wear around their necks labels with their names, regiment, and lank. In the event of death these are useful for purposes of identification, and < in case of injury the reverse side is ÜBed as a form on which the surgeons attached to the field hospitals jot down details of the patient's injuries and any special treatment that may be necessary » for the guidance of the surgeons at the base hospitals. South African papers just to hand by the steamer Suevic contain extensive re- I ports of the landing of the first British Expeditionary Forces at Boulogne (stated a telegram from Fremantlo to the Sydney Sun last Thursday). A report of the landing in a French paper says : " The aged Governor of Boulogne received Sir John French. They spoke, standing at the salute, for some moments 'It was the thrilling moment of a historic meeting — the first time for centuries that a British commander had set foot in France as combatant except as a foe. The British troops marched through Boulogne laughing, shouting, and singing. The men would interrupt the singing and whistling and shout in unison, 'Are we downhearted? No.' 'Do we win? Rather. 1 Field-Marshal French's reception in Paris is said by the French papers to have been comparable only with the scenes witnessed when the King and Queen of England visited Paris in April last." Members of tho Central Mission Silver Band aro requested to meet nt Novstown Park at 1.45 p.m. to-morrow.