ubsidiary causes can be guarded
against; and, from the experience gained in dealing with the
condition, the following instructions were formulated and communicated
to the officers in charge of the men:--

(1) Boots and puttees should not fit tightly and must be taken
off once _at least_ every 24 hours and the feet well rubbed and
cleaned, dry socks put on.

(2) The feet should be kept as clean as possible so as to avoid
septic complications in case of blistering.

(3) _Rubber thigh-boots_ should be supplied to all men in
waterlogged trenches, and these should be large enough to take
two pairs of socks.

(4) Trench-boards should be provided, or brushwood or straw laid
down.

(5) Men should be kept dry by the use of mackintosh over the
shoulders.

(6) Hot food should be supplied whenever this is possible.

It is, of course, evident that all these precautions are often quite
unobtainable. In the Ypres region in the winter of 1914-1915
many men stood for days and nights up to the middle in water, and some
of the communication trenches were impassable because of the depth of
the water. Indeed, a good many men were drowned.

The treatment varies with the severity of the case. Rest with the feet
up and careful washing of the feet is all that is at first needed in
slight cases. If there are blisters or sores these must be treated.
Later on various forms of electrical treatment and massage are of use.
In all but slight cases treatment does not prevent the man being
unable to walk for many weeks without pain.

The number of men invalided for "trench feet" during the winter of
1914-1915 was over 20,000. The 27th Division lost 3,000 men the first
week they were in the trenches in February. With good trenches and
proper care "trench feet" should be of rare occurrence. If under these
conditions they are numerous, someone is to blame. As a result of the
experience gained during the winter of 1914-1915 and the adoption of
the recommendations issued, in the winters 1915-1917, in the Ypres
salient, the "trench feet" cases did not average more than two a day
in an army of over 200,000 men.

* * * * *

It was in the closing days of the First Battle of Ypres that the bulk
of the Territorial troops sent to France at that time entered the
fighting line.

In the course of a telegram which I received from Lord Kitchener on
November 2