nd have
had elaborate theories as to the construction of trenches and much
practice in making them.

The British are the only troops in the war who shoot with any degree
of excellence. Their shooting does not approach in accuracy that of
our own army, but is so superior to the Germans that a British
battalion of 1100 men usually has a firing effect equal to that of a
German regiment of nearly 3000. On the gray-green backgrounds of
Europe the British khaki is not conspicuous, but at the same time it
is certainly visible. The British hat is the most conspicuous headgear
in the war, since its rim casts a heavy black shadow, and its flat top
shows white in sunlight. The heads of the British in the trenches
stand out very distinctly.

In my experience the machine-gun is the most effective infantry
weapon. Personally, I should interpret this not as praise for
machine-guns, but as a criticism of the poor shooting of all the
infantry engaged. The French have comparatively few machine-guns.

Since November, the French have had troops of all categories on the
firing-line, and I should judge by this that since November, if not
earlier, the French have had all their available men in service. Among
my personal acquaintances in France, I know no man liable for service
who has not been in the army from that date onward. The men who for
physical reasons were earlier refused are now being quite generally
accepted as volunteers and are put to office work or similar
occupations. I have seen great numbers of wounded Territorials in
France, and many Territorial prisoners in the prison camps in Germany.
When I visited the prison camp at Zossen (near Berlin) where there are
said to be 20,000 French prisoners, a large percentage (perhaps as
much as 50 per cent.) of the prisoners I saw were Territorials.

The Germans have very well-developed and well-organized systems of
relays for their men at the front. The infantry stay in the trenches
for about a month at a time and are then given a vacation, usually
being sent home to their garrison town. Their cavalry serve ten days
at the front and are then sent a day's march to the rear for a
ten-days' rest. Their artillerymen get no vacation, their lives being
considered easy enough.

I saw no evidence of any well-organized system of vacations among
either the French or British and I knew many isolated cases where
personal friends of mine, both officers and enlisted men, have been at
the front c