Speaker 1: Chapter eleven of the British Army from Within by E.
Speaker 1: Charles Vivian. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
Speaker 1: Chapter eleven. Active service. The popular conception of active service
Speaker 1: is of a succession of encounters with the enemy, Desperate
Speaker 1: deeds of valor, brilliant charges by bodies of troops, men
Speaker 1: saving other men under fire, the storming of positions, and
Speaker 1: the flush of victory after strenuous action enter largely into
Speaker 1: the civilian conception of war. The reality is a somber
Speaker 1: business of marching and watching, nights without sleep and days
Speaker 1: without food, retracing one's steps in order to execute the
Speaker 1: plan of the brain, to which a man is but
Speaker 1: one effective rifle out of many thousands, marching for days
Speaker 1: and days, seeing nothing more exciting than a burnt out
Speaker 1: house and the marching men on either side and to
Speaker 1: front and rear, And then the contact with the enemy.
Speaker 1: A vision crack from somewhere, or the solid boom of
Speaker 1: a piece of artillery somewhere away to the front or flank.
Speaker 1: Is the enemy and his pieces do damage. In the ranks.
Speaker 1: There is a searching for cover. Some orders are given.
Speaker 1: Perhaps a comrade lies utterly still and one knows that
Speaker 1: that man will not move any more. There is a
Speaker 1: desperate sense of ineffectiveness, of anger at this cowardly, as
Speaker 1: it seems, trick of hitting when one cannot hit back.
Speaker 1: There is the satisfaction of getting the range and firing,
Speaker 1: with results that may be guessed but cannot be known
Speaker 1: accurately by the man who fires. There is the curious
Speaker 1: thrill that comes when an angrily singing bullet passes near
Speaker 1: and one realizes that one is under fire from the enemy.
Speaker 1: In a normal action, there is the sense of disaster,
Speaker 1: even of defeat, when one side may in reality be winning.
Speaker 1: For one sees men dying, wounded, lying dead. One knows
Speaker 1: the damage the enemy has inflicted, but has no idea
Speaker 1: of the damage one's own force as inflicted in return. Often,
Speaker 1: when it begins to be apparent that the enemy is
Speaker 1: nearly beaten, there comes the order to retire. One does
Speaker 1: not understand the order, but with a sullen sense of
Speaker 1: resentment at it, retires, ducking at the whizzing of a shell,
Speaker 1: though not all the ducking in the world would avail
Speaker 1: if the shell were truly aimed at the one who ducks,
Speaker 1: or starting back to avoid a bullet that whizzed by,
Speaker 1: as if by starting back one could get out of
Speaker 1: the way of a bullet. After a day of action,
Speaker 1: or after the chance has come to rest for a while.
Speaker 1: After days of action, one gets a sense of the
Speaker 1: horror of the whole business, the tragedy of lives laid
Speaker 1: down in a good cause, certainly, but the men are dead,
Speaker 1: and one questions, almost with despair, if it is worth while.
Speaker 1: So many good men with whom one has joked and
Speaker 1: worked and played in times of peace have gone under,
Speaker 1: and there are probably more battles yet to fight. It
Speaker 1: is not until a war has concluded and men who
Speaker 1: have served are able to get some idea of the
Speaker 1: operations as a whole, that they are able to understand
Speaker 1: what has been done and why it has been done.
Speaker 1: Men who came back wounded from Mons and Charlerois, away
Speaker 1: from the magnificent three weeks retreat that was then in
Speaker 1: progress for the British and French armies were in many
Speaker 1: cases fully convinced that they had been defeated, that their
Speaker 1: armies were beaten and had to retreat to save themselves
Speaker 1: from destruction. The men in the ranks cannot understand the
Speaker 1: plan of the staff who controls him, for he sees
Speaker 1: so very little of the whole. At the most he
Speaker 1: knows what is happening to a division of men. While
Speaker 1: engaged in the retreat to the position of the Marne,
Speaker 1: were at the least twenty divisions on the side of
Speaker 1: the Allies. Had one of these been utterly shattered in
Speaker 1: a set battle, the other nineteen might still have won
Speaker 1: a decisive victory. And if news of that victory had
Speaker 1: not come through for a day or two, the survivors
Speaker 1: from the shattered division would have spread tidings of a
Speaker 1: defeat which it would have been to them. The man
Speaker 1: in the ranks sees so little of the whole. Here,
Speaker 1: the war correspondent makes the most egregious mistakes, For untrained
Speaker 1: in military service himself, he takes the word of the
Speaker 1: man in the ranks. The man on the staff of
Speaker 1: army headquarters is far too busy and far too discreet
Speaker 1: to talk to war correspondents, and out of what the
Speaker 1: man in the ranks has to say, the war correspondent
Speaker 1: makes up his story, though the man in the ranks
Speaker 1: may believe his own story to be true. Though he
Speaker 1: may tell of the operations as he conceives them, he
Speaker 1: may be giving an utterly false impression of what is
Speaker 1: actually happening. The man in the ranks is one cog
Speaker 1: in a machine, and he cannot tell what all the
Speaker 1: ma machine is doing at any time, least of all
Speaker 1: when a battle is in progress. Every battle fought differs
Speaker 1: from all other battles, for no opposing forces ever meet
Speaker 1: under precisely identical conditions twice. Thus it is useless to
Speaker 1: speak of a typical battle except in the broadest general sense,
Speaker 1: and useless to attempt to describe a typical battle or
Speaker 1: action of any kind. Usually, the artillery get into action
Speaker 1: after cavalry have reconnoitered the enemy's position. The guns shell
Speaker 1: the enemy until he is considered sufficiently weakened to permit
Speaker 1: an infantry attack, and then the infantry go forward, even
Speaker 1: up to the rarely occurring bayonet charge. If their advance
Speaker 1: dislodges the enemy, the cavalry are set on to turn
Speaker 1: retreat into route. If, on the other hand, the attacking
Speaker 1: force is compelled to retire, the cavalry cover the retreat,
Speaker 1: and in order to make good in a retreat, part
Speaker 1: of a force is taken back while the remainder hold
Speaker 1: the enemy in check. In modern actions, artillery fire their
Speaker 1: shells over the heads of their own infantry at the
Speaker 1: enemy distance and trajectory permitting of this. By trajectory is
Speaker 1: meant the curve that a projectile describes in its flight.
Speaker 1: Both rifles and big guns are so constructed and sighted
Speaker 1: that they throw their projectiles upward to counteract the pull
Speaker 1: of gravity, and the missile eventually drops down towards its object.
Speaker 1: It does not travel in a perfectly straight line, but
Speaker 1: it is bad for infantry to be in front of
Speaker 1: their own guns with their own artillery shells passing over
Speaker 1: them for too long. Morale suffers from this after a time,
Speaker 1: since a man cannot distinguish in such a case between
Speaker 1: his own artillery shells and those of the enemy. Whenever possible,
Speaker 1: the artillery in rear of an infantry force are posted
Speaker 1: slightly to either flank. Circumstances, however, do not always admit
Speaker 1: of this. On mobilization for active service, the first thing
Speaker 1: that happens in the British Army is the calling up
Speaker 1: of the reserves. All men enlist, in the first case
Speaker 1: for a certain number of years with the colors and
Speaker 1: a further period on the reserve. In this latter force,
Speaker 1: they are free to follow any civilian avocation, but on
Speaker 1: mobilization must immediately report themselves at headquarters, wherever their headquarters
Speaker 1: may be, and take the place appointed to them in
Speaker 1: the mobilized army. Then comes the business of drawing war
Speaker 1: kid and equipment from stores. As a battleship clears for action,
Speaker 1: so the army rids itself for the time of all
Speaker 1: things not absolutely necessary on active service, exchanges blank ammunition
Speaker 1: for ball, sharpened swords and bayonets, and in every way
Speaker 1: prepares for stern business. Each man is issued with a
Speaker 1: little aluminum plate which he is compelled to wear, and
Speaker 1: on which are inscribed such particulars as his name, regimental number, unit, etc.
Speaker 1: So that in case of his being killed on the field,
Speaker 1: he may be identified and the news of his death
Speaker 1: transmitted to his next of kin. Each man, too is
Speaker 1: issued with an emergency ration, which is a compressed supply
Speaker 1: of food amply sufficient for one day's meals, so that
Speaker 1: in any tight corner where provisions are not obtainable, he
Speaker 1: may be able to hold out for at least one
Speaker 1: day without being reduced to starvation. The opening and use
Speaker 1: of this ration, except by permission of an officer, counts
Speaker 1: as a crime in the army unless a man is
Speaker 1: placed in such a position that no officer is at
Speaker 1: hand to sanction the opening of the package, when the
Speaker 1: matter is perforce left to the man's discretion. Marching on
Speaker 1: service is a different matter from marching in time of peace.
Speaker 1: Not only is there the strain of ever possible attack,
Speaker 1: but then there is also for cavalry and infantry the
Speaker 1: weight of service armament and equipment to be considered. Every
Speaker 1: man carries in his bandoliers one hundred and fifty rounds
Speaker 1: of ammunition for his rifle, not a bit too much
Speaker 1: when the rate of fire possible with the modern rifle
Speaker 1: is taken into account. But one hundred and fifty rounds
Speaker 1: of ball cartridge is a serious matter when one has
Speaker 1: to carry it throughout the day, and when active service opens.
Speaker 1: It is easy to understand why only really fit men
Speaker 1: are passed by doctors into the army. So far as
Speaker 1: the rank and file are concerned, it is power to
Speaker 1: endure that makes the soldier on active service. Bravery is needed,
Speaker 1: initiative is needed, but staying power is needed. Most of all,
Speaker 1: There may be days of solid marching without a sight
Speaker 1: of the enemy. One may form a part of a
Speaker 1: flanking force whose business is to march from point to point, fighting,
Speaker 1: but seldom but always presenting a threat to the enemy
Speaker 1: or his lines of communication, and thus ever on the move,
Speaker 1: with very little time for sleeping or eating. Again, one
Speaker 1: may be placed with a force which has to march
Speaker 1: half a day to come in contact with the enemy,
Speaker 1: and to fight the other half of the day. Or
Speaker 1: yet again, it may be necessary to march all night
Speaker 1: in order to take a position, or be shot in
Speaker 1: the attempt at dawn. In time of peace and on maneuvers,
Speaker 1: officers take care the compensating time is allowed to men,
Speaker 1: so as to give them the normal amount of rest
Speaker 1: on active service. The officer commanding a force spares his
Speaker 1: men as much as he can, and gives them all
Speaker 1: the rest possible. But he has to be guided by circumstances,
Speaker 1: or to rise superior to circumstances and cause himself and
Speaker 1: his men to undergo far more than normal exertions. War
Speaker 1: as carried out today requires all that every man has
Speaker 1: to give in the way of staying power. And now,
Speaker 1: as in the days of the battle axe, and longbow.
Speaker 1: Physical endurance as the greatest asset a man can have
Speaker 1: on active service. The hard drinker in time of peace,
Speaker 1: and the man who has been looking for soft jobs
Speaker 1: all the time of his peace service soon go sick
Speaker 1: and become ineffective. They may be just as brave as
Speaker 1: the rest, but they lacked the staying power requisite to
Speaker 1: the carrying on of war. Men's impressions of being under
Speaker 1: fire very so much that every account is of interest.
Speaker 1: My principal impression was that I'd like to run away,
Speaker 1: but there was nowhere to run too, so I stuck
Speaker 1: on and got used to it. After a bit or
Speaker 1: I felt cold and horribly thirsty. I never thought to
Speaker 1: be afraid till afterwards. It is interesting till I saw
Speaker 1: the man next to me rolled over with a bullet
Speaker 1: in his head, and then I wanted to get up
Speaker 1: and go for the devils who had done that. Thus
Speaker 1: spoke three men, when asked how they felt about it.
Speaker 1: My own impression was chiefly a fear that I was
Speaker 1: going to be afraid. I did not want to disgrace myself,
Speaker 1: but to be as good as the rest. One man
Speaker 1: who came back wounded after the day of Mounds described
Speaker 1: how he felt at first shooting a man and knowing
Speaker 1: that his bullet had taken effect. For in the majority
Speaker 1: of cases, with the whole body of men firing, it
Speaker 1: is difficult to tell which of the bullets take effect. This, however,
Speaker 1: was a clear case, and the man could not but
Speaker 1: know that he was responsible for the shot. I had
Speaker 1: four men with me on rear guard, he said, and
Speaker 1: we were holding the end of a village street to
Speaker 1: let our chaps get away as far as possible before
Speaker 1: we mounted and caught up with them. We could see
Speaker 1: German infantry coming on masses of them, but they couldn't
Speaker 1: tell whether the village street held five men or a
Speaker 1: couple of squadrons, so they held back a bit. At last,
Speaker 1: I could see we were in danger of being outflitt
Speaker 1: so I got my men to get mounted, and just
Speaker 1: as they were doing so, a German officer put his
Speaker 1: head round the corner of the house at the end
Speaker 1: of the street, not ten yards away from me. I
Speaker 1: raised my rifle, shut both eyes, and pulled the trigger.
Speaker 1: It was point blank range, and when I opened my
Speaker 1: eyes and looked, it seemed as if I'd blown half
Speaker 1: his face away. I felt scared at what I had done.
Speaker 1: It seemed wrong to have shot a man like that.
Speaker 1: Though he and his kind drive women and children in
Speaker 1: front of their firing lines, it seemed to make such
Speaker 1: a horrible mess. Somehow I got mounted, and just as
Speaker 1: I swung my leg over the horse, a fool of
Speaker 1: a German infantryman aimed a blow at me with the
Speaker 1: butt end of his rifle. I don't know where he
Speaker 1: sprung from, and damaged my arm like this. If he'd
Speaker 1: had the sense, he could have run me through with
Speaker 1: a bayonet or shot me, but I suppose he was
Speaker 1: too flurried. But that officer's face after I had shot him,
Speaker 1: stuck to me, and I still dream of it, and
Speaker 1: shall for some time. Probably he who told this story
Speaker 1: is a boy of twenty two or three, and he
Speaker 1: has gone back to the front to rejoin his regiment,
Speaker 1: now with three stripes on his arm instead of the
Speaker 1: two that were his at the beginning of the campaign.
Speaker 1: On forced marches, and often on normal marches as well,
Speaker 1: all the things that one considers necessities, with the exception
Speaker 1: of sufficient food to keep one in condition, go by
Speaker 1: the board. One sleeps under the stars with no other
Speaker 1: covering than a coat and blanket. One lies out to
Speaker 1: sleep in pouring rain with no more covering. Tents are
Speaker 1: out of the question, for there is no time to
Speaker 1: pitch and strike them. One goes for days without a wash,
Speaker 1: and for days too without undressing. There are two scamps
Speaker 1: in the South African campaign who promised each other for
Speaker 1: some mysterious reason, that they would not take their boots
Speaker 1: off for a month, And they ran into such a
Speaker 1: series of marches and actions that even if the had
Speaker 1: not made the compact, they would only have been able
Speaker 1: to remove their boots three times in the course of
Speaker 1: that month. The smart soldier of peace service goes unshaven, unwashed,
Speaker 1: careless of all except getting enough food and sleep at times,
Speaker 1: and when a lull comes in the operations, so that
Speaker 1: he gets a day or even an hour or two
Speaker 1: to himself. A bath is a luxury undreamed of by
Speaker 1: the man who can have one every morning and consider
Speaker 1: it a mere usual thing. If in time of peace
Speaker 1: the soldier considers a rifle carelessly and even resents having
Speaker 1: to carry it about with him, he looks on it
Speaker 1: differently on service, knowing as he does that his life
Speaker 1: may depend on the quality of the weapon, and his
Speaker 1: ability to use it almost any minute of the day
Speaker 1: or night. The confirmed grouser of peacetime, who will make
Speaker 1: a fuss over having to put twenty rounds of blank
Speaker 1: ammunition in his bandolier to go out on a field day,
Speaker 1: will swing his three bandolis of ball cartridges onto his
Speaker 1: person without a word of complaint, for he knows that
Speaker 1: he may need every round. Values alter amazingly on service.
Speaker 1: The man with a box of matches, when one has
Speaker 1: been away from the base for a few days, is
Speaker 1: a person of importance, and a mere cigarette is worth
Speaker 1: far more than its weight in gold. In General Rundle's
Speaker 1: column during the South African War, half a biscuit was
Speaker 1: something to fight for, and the men who thought it
Speaker 1: such had many a time thrown away the same sort
Speaker 1: of unpalatable biscuits and bought bread to eat instead. An
Speaker 1: ant heap acquired a new significance, for it might be
Speaker 1: the means of saving a man's life at any time.
Speaker 1: And among mounted men, a fresh horse, which might give
Speaker 1: its rider some trouble at the time of mounting, was
Speaker 1: no longer to be avoided, for by its freshness it
Speaker 1: showed that it had plenty of spirit and go about it,
Speaker 1: spirit that might take a man out of rifle range
Speaker 1: at a critical moment when the slower class of mount
Speaker 1: might come out of action without its writer. This reversal
Speaker 1: of the circumstances of ordinary life produces lasting effect on men.
Speaker 1: No man who has undergone the realities of active service
Speaker 1: comes back to the average of life unchanged. The difference
Speaker 1: in him may not be apparent at a casual glance,
Speaker 1: but it is there for the rest of his life.
Speaker 1: He has looked on death at close quarters, and whatever
Speaker 1: his intelligence may be, whether he be guttersnipe or varsity man,
Speaker 1: sage or fool, he has a clearer realization of the
Speaker 1: ultimate values of things. One may count the army in
Speaker 1: peace time as a great training school out of which
Speaker 1: men come molded to a definite pattern, and yet retaining
Speaker 1: their individuality. But active service is a fire through which
Speaker 1: men pass, emerging on the far side, purified of little aims,
Speaker 1: to a greater or lesser extent, according to the material
Speaker 1: on which the fire has to work. For many, all
Speaker 1: honor to them and to those who mourn their loss.
Speaker 1: It is a destroying fire. So far as the limits
Speaker 1: of space will permit. There is set down in these
Speaker 1: pages a record of what military service amounts to for
Speaker 1: the rank and file in peace and war. It is
Speaker 1: necessarily incomplete, for the story of the British Army of
Speaker 1: to day, apart from its history of great yesterdays, is
Speaker 1: not to be told in any one book. There is
Speaker 1: too much of it for that. There are those who
Speaker 1: belittle the Army and its ways and influence on the
Speaker 1: men who serve. But one who has served, with a
Speaker 1: perspective of time to give him clearness of vision, can
Speaker 1: always look back on the army and be glad that
Speaker 1: he has learned its lessons accomplished its tasks. The men
Speaker 1: who would belittle it are themselves very little men, too
Speaker 1: little to be worthy of serious notice. The British Army
Speaker 1: is a gathering of brave men, fighting in this year
Speaker 1: of Grace nineteen fourteen, in a noble cause, and fighting
Speaker 1: as the British Army has always fought, bravely and well.
Speaker 1: End of Chapter eleven. End of the British Army from
Speaker 1: Within by E. Charles Vivian