James Belton

“ In this manner the Huns wage war, trying to weaken the morale of the people. If they would consider for one moment the spirit of a nation like England, who gave the dead crew of one of these destroyed Zeppelins a military funeral, they would realise that a nation which treats a dead enemy like this has a morale that can never be broken. Incidents like the foregoing make the people more determined than ever to push the war to a victorious and successful conclusion. ”

“ I could not spare my stretcher bearer, as we were going to advance, and again I could not allow a wounded man to die for want of attention. Neither could I endanger the lives of the men in my platoon more than was necessary for that of one man. However, I pointed out to the stretcher bearer who had crawled from a shell hole near by, his location on the ground and gave him an idea where he would find our platoon in the jumping-off trench. ”

“ The German is a good fighter as long as he can rub shoulders with his comrades. But when he gets to close quarters and is opposed to our men with the bayonet he seems to wilt. Our boys have no difficulty in putting him out of business then. I had a Russian in my platoon whose boast was that he personally accounted for one dozen Germans and he had notched his rifle, much against orders, twelve times. His ambition was to get another dozen in this fight. He was in the next shell hole to mine and was eagerly watching for me to give the signal to advance. ”

“ The tank is a factor of the great war and is emblematic of Britain's purpose, slow but relentlessly sure. It lumbers out over the waste of No Man's Land toward the German line, mowing down the enemy with its deadly [Pg 146] machine guns and is undeterred by the rifle or machine gun fire of the enemy. It goes crashing on to and over the enemy trenches, going down one side of the shell or mine craters, and up the other, trampling down the strongest of barbed wire entanglements, trees, etc. ”

“ I have seen many baseballers throw the bombs in the same manner in which they would throw the baseball, and have in a few instances seen their shoulders dislocated in throwing. The cricketer on the other hand had the natural and easiest manner of throwing the ball. Great attention should be paid to bombing.
Every soldier should have the rudiments of learning in this branch of the service, as it is [Pg 189] essential that all soldiers should learn to read a map and be able to draw a sketch of any trench or sector of the line which they may occupy. ”

“ In these days of Hun frightfulness the necessity of the gas mask is obvious.
When beginning the attack, take a rough survey of your direct front, and you will have as you advance the different knolls, hedges, ditches, etc., impressed on your mind. You may be two yards or so away from cover when a shell comes screaming towards you. Then you will find you have time to take cover before it bursts. If there is no cover near, drop flat down, and trust to providence.
Never go back from the enemy shell fire, always go forward. The enemy usually fire six shells and each shot goes further behind you. ”

“ Shoot to kill. When you go to France, please remember you are not going there to be killed. You are going there to kill your enemy, so try and get some lead home. I am sure that will please you. Don't shoot at nothing. Shoot to hit.
One shot well aimed is worth more than a million sent to the sky. The Germans are [Pg 266] simply "fed up," and are sick of the fighting. Their officers drive them to the attack with revolvers. We are led by our officers and many of us go with our own free will to fight the murderers of peaceful people and to secure the future safety of the world for democracy. ”

“ No soldiers in the world are fit to cope with the British soldier in bayonet fighting. Their training is intensive, and a man must be physically fit in every respect to be good at this element of warfare. A good boxer is usually a good bayonet fighter, and I notice that in the U.S. National Army there is great attention being paid to boxing as a means of making the men proficient at this game. ”

“ We take great pains to train our men in machine gunnery. A barrage of machine guns on any part of the line is always dangerous to the enemy and is advantageous to us. Usually a barrage may be laid at distances from a thousand to five hundred yards. The cone of fire is very deadly, but when it gets as near as five hundred yards the trajectory, being flat or low, is then dangerous to us if we stand up, so that we have to be very careful how we work under it. ”

“ Railway construction troops were supposed to have bomb-proof jobs, but many of these men have taken up the rifle to assist the infantry when required, and very capable they have proven themselves to be.
The forestry battalions are a non-combatant corps and their job can be described as a bomb-proof job, although the work they do is very essential to the forces in the field.
Bomb-proof jobs are few and far between in France, although in the various Base headquarters the orderly room clerks, etc., have all bomb-proof jobs. These are about the only men who have them. ”

“ There are thousands of doctors, nurses, orderlies, etc., to be clothed and fed. There are canteens of Red Cross men, rest homes for nurses, worn out by hard work and ceaseless activity. We provide, of course, hospital clothing, drugs, dressings all in enormous quantities for equipment and reserve. These reserves are for ever being replenished at an ever rising price and cost.
When a man is wounded the Red Cross is immediately with him.
The stretcher bearer takes him from the front line trenches to the regimental aid post, where the battalion or medical officer is stationed. ”

“ A successful attack requires a great deal of preparation. Every detail has to be gone over very minutely, and every officer and man must know exactly what he has to do and be prepared to take all the chances and risks that go to make an attack successful.
[Pg 14]
A great deal of the enemy's barbed-wire entanglements must be cut down by means of constant artillery fire, which for days shells their wire and trenches. When the artillery has completed its work the infantry is told to be prepared to go "over the top." ”

“ No power on earth could save them; our barrage was perfect and we worked under it steadily. The training over the tapes was partly forgotten. We were eager to reach the Hun trenches; we were out for blood! God, how awful it seemed! Men fell around me gasping, sputtering; but we still moved on relentlessly.
When within fifty yards of the barrage, I signalled to the men to extend. I didn't know how many men I had lost. I saw my platoon sergeant fall just after we had gotten over the top. As they fell, other men took their places from other units. ”

“ At the canteen the men can obtain at cost price substantial hot meals that have been prepared by the ladies. They can have hot baths and get their clothes cleaned and sterilised, so that they take the train refreshed in body and spirit. As the number of soldiers in France grows, the canteen will necessarily become a greater factor and will be most potent in maintaining the morale of our army.
If you can't go to war, you can pay to alleviate the sufferings of those who are fighting. ”

“ America's sons in Flanders will fight all the better when they learn the songs which Britain's sons have sung from Ypres to Gallipoli, in Macedonia and Mesopotamia, India and Egypt; on sinking transports at sea, and in shell-torn trenches on land.
He who sings well will fight well. Perhaps the songs of Uncle Sam's soldiers will be most [Pg 213] heard of when the Allies make their final drive, but the simple songs and parodies of the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African soldier have re-echoed round the world since "Tipperary" took fearless men to heroes' graves in 1914. ”

“ All men in the ranks know the old familiar cry, "Stretcher bearer, stretcher bearer, on the double." Then we know it is blighty for someone; it may be a mere scratch, or it may mean death.
I had often gone over No Man's Land at night, and looked over it through my periscope in the daytime, but this was going to be my first time "over the top" in daylight. I did [Pg 50] not feel afraid, yet I was naturally anxious as to what I should feel like, and also how my platoon would act under the ordeal. No man but one who has gone "over" can describe or try to make anyone realise the feeling. ”

“ It was for this reason that the No. 1 section of each platoon had been supplied with special rifle wire cutters.
At 3.45 A.M. I served the rum to the boys before "going over." It was certainly a very dangerous job, as my batman and I had to crawl from one shell hole to another to give each man his allowance. When a star shell would go up I would be exposed but would try to screen myself flat to the ground. I never wanted to appear so small in my life and I thought all the time that I must have been as huge as an elephant. ”

“ You can hardly believe it, for he seems much the same as other soldiers. I can assure you that there is none of that insensate hatred that one hears about out here. We are out to kill. And kill we do, at any and every opportunity. But, when all is done and the battle is over the splendid, universal "soldier spirit" comes all over the men, and we cannot help thinking that Kipling must have been in the firing line when he wrote that "East is East and West is West."
Just to give you some idea of what I mean, the other night four German snipers were [Pg 267] shot on our wire. ”

“ The infantry Tommy as a rule likes to take his time providing he is safe, whilst on a working party, from the enemy's fire, but when he realises the seriousness of the situation he can develop a remarkable amount of speed and energy. My boys did not lack pep, speed or energy and they began to work with grim determination. I handed over my platoon to the platoon sergeant for a few minutes to see if the platoons on my right and left flanks were all right, so that we would be able to connect up our trenches during the day when we would be under cover. ”

“ SOME TRENCH SONGS
When the singing soldiers of the First British Expeditionary Force marched to the slaughter at Mons in the fall of 1914 singing "Tipperary," they established a precedent which the troops from all parts of the British Empire have maintained. The Canadians were quick to learn the value of songs to fighting men, and some of the many they have given voice to in Flanders are here set down. Most of the parodies were acquired from that redoubtable soldier, Tommy Atkins. Some of them are the invention of Canadian soldier-minstrels. ”

“ Who would not go "over the top" with men who could sing "I Want to Go Home" as they crouched for the charge across No Man's Land. Who would not fight like knights of old when comrades could sing in face of the foe, "Keep your head down, Alleman'." ”

“ What is the Red Cross doing in France for the soldiers?
[Pg 193]
There are two distinct phases of Red Cross relief work for soldiers on duty. The operating of rolling canteens and the maintaining of stationary canteens back of the fighting line is one. It is a most daring yet essential work, this of operating rolling canteens. Often a soldier leaves the trench utterly exhausted. The rolling canteen goes right down to the communicating trenches, where the soldiers passing in and out receive their quarts of steaming bouillon or coffee in winter, and cold drinks in summer. ”

“ At midnight our field guns were brought forward and began to fire from behind the railway embankment at the Hun trenches. It was not long before the Huns started to retaliate with gas shells. The slight wind that was blowing in our direction soon brought the vile fumes towards us. Without a moment's delay every one put on his gas helmet or small box respirator. We were then safe from the deadly gas fumes, but an occasional German shrapnel shell would burst over our heads. The Huns' artillery fire was principally directed against our artillery, but they could not locate them. ”

“ If the enemy trenches are close to ours we may run a little narrow sap extending from our fire trench in the direction of the enemy. Great pains are taken to conceal this sap. The excavated earth is placed in sand bags and carried some distance away. At the end of this sap, which may be 3 × 4 feet, we make a cutting sufficiently large to accommodate two men. As a rule the men in this sap, or listening post, as it is commonly called, are connected with the sentry in the fire trench by a long, strong cord. Signals are pre-arranged to give silent warning of any movements on the part of the enemy. ”

“ Near a certain town "somewhere in France" there is a large training ground that is called the "bull ring." Here men from the Imperial, Canadian, Australian and Newfoundland Forces are trained and instructed in the various branches of the service.
The "bull ring" is about two miles square and is divided into sections. Each section is allotted for the purpose of training a large number of men in special branches of the service such as bayonet fighting, physical training, bombing, trench warfare, musketry, wiring, machine gunnery, topography, military engineering and the use of the gas mask. ”

“ Between the city of Arras, held by the French and British, and the city of Lens, held by the Germans, was Vimy Ridge which stretched north, west and southwest in front of the village of Vimy. Since 1914, the Germans had held it, resisting all Allied assaults. Its strategical importance was fully recognized by both the Allies and the Germans. Every artificial means had been taken to increase its natural strength, the best scientific devices of fortifications had been made use of by the Germans, and for two years it had defied all attacks. ”

“ One man was allotted to carry the pigeons in a small wooden box. This man was always Wagner. He professed to love birds and had taken a course to train pigeons. Whenever our battalion was out at rest, if in a town, Wagner was sure to be away after drill hours. Seldom was he seen at the Y.M.C.A., nor did he ever appear to write any letters. We discovered that he had confederates in some of these little villages where he procured German pigeons, and, no doubt, by some means he exchanged these pigeons and sent important messages occasionally to the enemy. ”