TELL-TALE LETTERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 4144, 22 January 1916, Page 7

TELL-TALE LETTERS.

" Writing of recent captures of mon and material made by the Allies in the west, Mr Philip Gibbs says: “The best of all booty, perhaps, apart from Abe guns, is the enormous mass of documents taken in Loos and </.ie trenches. They reveal the mentality of the German army, and are very curious and instructive. In spite of comments which show that the Ger man soldiers were much elated by the German success in Russia, they complain that the war on the western front is unendurable. Even the comforts of certain dug-outs, lit with electricity and elaborately decorated and furnished with armchairs, does not soothe the souls of these men, who have heard the number of our guns grow stronger and who cannot face tlio steel of our bayonets. One fact is significant. There are a great number of sub-lieutenants commanding companies, and most of them have joined since the war. This reveals a dearth of mor.e experienced officersThe men complain that they never see their high officers in tlie trenches. The colonels and commandants and generals remain well in the rear. “Nevertheless, in spite of the sufferings at the front, many of the men complain of the desperately hard time they had in the regimental depots at home, with bullying from morning to night, so that they prefer to go to tho front, whatever the.risks of death. They deplore tlie heavy losses in Russia, and one man says: would be if we could make a separate peace with Russia. Then we could give those damned English a hammering. They deserve it, the s wine!’ “A German girl, writing to her sweetheart, complains that all the young manhood of the country is gone, and that all the,pleasures of youth arc passing away in history. The 191 G class of recruit has been called to the colors, and the 1917 and 191 S classes have been registered, so that every boy in the Fatherland is on, the roll call. A sense of depression reaching to depths of sadness fills most of these documents, and shows that the heart of the army is filled with, foreboding, in spite of recent victories.”