THE FRENCH ARMY.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14654, 7 March 1918, Page 7

THE FRENCH ARMY.

READY FOR. THE OFFENSIVE

The report by Reuters correspondent at Frenct: Headquarters of the readiness of the French Army to meet the coming; offensive, wherever it may fall, and the unconquerable spirit of. the men themselves, is comforting news. It is true that the drain upon the manpower of Franco is becoming increasingly leavy, 80 much so that the despatch' of French reinforcements to Italy made it necessary to call to the colours men of fifty. Further than that, on January loth last, a measure . came into force by which workmen mobilised foi munitions work, belonging to the 1914 class—tf at is, 23 and 24 years of age— and younger, who had been mobilised for munition work, were 'withdrawn from the workshops and placed at the

disposal of the Commander-in-Chiof. But as long as France has tte power to make sacrifices she will make them.

"I found, the French Army," said a prominent Canadian officer who recently returned to Canada after spending several months at-tli^ front, "not only very far from being exhausted, but confident and buoyant and full of 'pep.' '" (Anglice "ginger.") Tte watchword of every officer and soldier in the- Army was, "On, les aura"—"we shall get them;" It was absolute nonsense to believe that the French Army was tired .oi»t or incapable of further striking power. It had been on the offensive for fifteen montls, and had never in that time failed to reach a single objective it set out to reach, and never permanently lost a foot of ground once taken. The new methods of attack were irresistible, and made for a saving of- effectives out of all proportion to tlie

gains. As to, weapons, technique, and strafcep;y. the Germans had no advantage ove'r'tteir French and British opponents. "We hear of the terrible "gases

uses by them," continued the officer, "bu,t the most abominable gas they have- "smells1 like eau-de-Cologne compared to some of the heavier-tkan-ah *tuff blown into their dug-outs by the Franco-British forces. The Allies have heavier and more deadly artillery, trench mortars, bomb?, and aerial torpedoes; also a rifle witV. r>™ r-tically n flat trajectory—nothing like it has ever been seen before. The efficiency of the Army Medical Corps has never been equalled by the Germans. "Taking' all these things into consideration," he declared, "not to mention tanks, tricks, and -other- teasers, by comparison the German war machine of to-day looks like a back number." This sounds almost, too "good to be ' true;, in any case, no good ever came of under-estimating ,the enemy's strength or capacity for attack. Bu L. ■that is a lesson wbich we ought to lave ■■learned by this time. And if, as wo believfi- is 'the rase, *ne Allies are nc>- TT hettfir prenared to meet a German offensive than ever before, then ronfidenc"^ that they arc going to win is an excellent heln,' nnd a phrase is some- ■ times a most heartening thing. "On les rmra',' inw prove fs potent in ncViing fi-o iind vi^m.r to the French atto^ 1' as "Tls ne passeront r>ns" was i^ stif- . fening their dpf^"Gf. at Verlun. Le+. vr. ' "libpp- that it will b<^ as well iustifiecl fby tto event as was that historic vow.