SICKNESS IN GERMAN RANKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 12 January 1915, Page 5

SICKNESS IN GERMAN RANKS

FLOODED TRENCHES. LONDOTST, Jan. 10. i ."Eye-witness" at British Jieadquarters, describing life in the flooded trenches, says-—"The wet clav causes the stoutest J hoots to give way, and in order to keep dry✓ many of the. soldiers _go down the long communication trenches, and onlv resume t-heir boots and socks when they Teach the drained fire trenches. . » A good deal, of sickness exists in the German ranks, and stone of the "units ha.Ve been temporarily withdrawn. _ Gerr man companies now consist of a, mixture* of.' active soldiers, many of the ILaridwehr and X*andsturm, Ersatz Reservists, and volunteers." (The active army is what is known as the first line, the "Landwehr is the second line,- arid the ll»andstnrm is supposed to "be.a- purely home defence force. The Ersatz (literally, compensatory) reserve is composed of the young men of 20: who are; fit for service, but are in , excess of the numbers required fc>r the annual contingent of troops- They are. . liable to, arid a certain number receive, •' thiee trainings of .ten. six, and four, weeks T*hc primary, object of -this-'Teserve is to'supply-the waste* of war, for which purpose the men wqgld be '-called to the depots in mobilisation, and their training completed; But a certain portion of the ordinary (fully trained) reservists are also available for thfs tiiurposc, and tho depot, or Ersatz, battalions would probably be formed at

first-.of- about one-third, fully "trained, .and" two-thirds partially trained, reservists. On the otKer hand, a large; number of Ersatz reservists have been trained 'in special (non-combatant) duties). ■