I spent yesterday at Loos battlefield.

The former German trenches were on a ridge like Flagstaff Hill and Ridge at the Plain. Our trenches were 4800 yards short of them. Germans could see for 4 miles our men for 400 yards.

Ground, a desolate waste like an African veldt, not a blade or anything save one single tree which stood like a landmark.

If there was one place in which it was impossible for men to rise from their trenches and assault without being mown down, it was here. But they did it. Even seeing what one has seen, I should never have believed it possible for even British troops to attempt the task.

Artillery had cut the German wire and our own had been cut by wire cutters to admit passage of assaulting columns.

The XV Div. K Scottish were the leading troop of one corps. They have made a name for themselves and "achieved the impossible" and have displayed a dauntless courage which has seem no equal since the Peninsula. Future history will how - enlighten the world of their achievement, but the childish censorship at home prefers to conceal these glorious deeds lest the mistakes in staff management might be revealed, for the story of their performance reveals many weakpoints in other departments.

These men rose from our trenches covered by "smokeballs" and went striaght through whole systems of German trenches, through their final objective and on to a ridge beyond. This they accomplished with under ten per cent casualties. Other troops on either flank experienced more difficulty, were held up by various factors which were not anticipated, result being that these Highlanders were for a very long period absolutely out by themselves.

Now comes the emphatic part of the story, other divisions came up, hungry, tired, exhausted. Question arises, would not a strong man have sat them down for 2 hours to feed and drink, and then give battle instead of going into such an awful conflict on empty stomachs. The old, old story of which I tire of writing, Discipline. The K Divs are like children in that respect. Men were killed on the threshold of the battlefield with no iron rations on them and no water in their field bottle. Why? Lack of discipline: lack of that rigid discipline which can make men do the impossible. In one K Div it is good in another indifferent.

Well I need (nor could I if I tried) not emphasize the value of "compliance with orders" as a proof of discipline. Two Divisions went into the fight under the conditions stated above. They melted away. They had less effect upon the situation than 1800 Cavalrymen who arrived full of heart and cheer and cognisant of the situation, with a system of holding on to a certain point at all costs.

These two Divisions broke down their cookers by overloading with ridiculous paraphernalia, walked through 15 villages without stopping to give the men a drink or a bite of cheese. At the end found the men had eaten all their rations and drunk all their waterbottles and were hurled into the Armageddon to meet the death which inevitably claims ill-disciplined troops.

Now mark you, these men could present arms - salute - and all the outward and visible signs of discipline very well. But the real soldier was not in them. Trades unionism had taught them that "self first" was the only motto in life. Poor devils, they have learnt a lesson, but at what cost, ie they eat their emergency ration when they felt hungry instead of awaiting an order to do so.

This will afford you a bit of a lever is disciplinary measures.

Far from exaggerating I underrate the conditions, because one is not allowed to give any places or figures.

Imagine the minds of the Germans. They thought themselves impregnable in very deep and perfect systems of trenches with 3 rows of wire in front each row 5 yards deep, 10 yards between each row. Well might they have considered themselves impregnable.

The resultant moral effect (ie Attack) on our troops has had a very marked effect. They are all in splendid spirits, and the holes in their ranks have been replenished.This side show in Servis may cause complications, but let it be remembered that this war can only be won by killing Germans. We have taken a terrible toll of them this last month. An exploitation of success in new theatres means nothing. It is done for ulterior motives, but will not help them to stave off the inevitable defeat.

Our bombers are now armed with bombs, knives and bludgeons' Jolly sort of war isn't it? The things with bombers is to get the maximum throw. It stands to reason if you can outrange your opponent you must keep him off. The system of carrying up supplies of bombs, bombing squads, etc all require great attention. The best carrier of all is a nose bag. When the man is shot, his nose bag drops, another comes along, catches it up and goes on; whereas with body belts etc it takes a very longtime to take them off the dead, and in a trench has been found practicaly impossible to do so quickly. The Guards Div used 8000 bombs in 12 hours which will you give you an idea of the organisation required for replenishment. Work out a Brigade system. Any system is better than none.

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