BOOKS.
TROOPER 8,008, I.Y.*
WE congratulate Mr. Sidney Peel most heartily on his frank and manly book.. That it will obtain a very large number of readers we do not doubt, for it is a fascinating record of service in perhaps the most interest- ing body of troops that took part in the war. The Imperial Yeomanry are a corps without precedent in modern military history, for never before had so large a force of mounted riflemen, who were practically none of them pro- fessional soldiers, been placed in the field by any European country. The nearest analogies are to be found in the armies of the North and of the South in the American Civil War. But though nothing like the Imperial Yeoman is to be found in France or Germany, and though he is not recognised in the text-books of either nation, 'he is, nevertheless, the soldier of the future. Mr. Peel's book has the great advan- tage of being the experiences of a private soldier who was never anything else but a private soldier, and therefore never had the officer's point of view superimposed on that of the man in the ranks. In his book we get war as seen from the ranks recorded not only by a singularly able and cultivated man, but by one who bad plenty of experience of men and cities, and who had a first-hand acquaintance of generals and politicians before he went campaigning. Usually the gentleman private is merely a lad of mettle,---a boy who knows little of the world and who has gone forth to win his spurs straight from his father's hearth. Mr. Sidney Peel was a barrister and "late Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford," when he joined the Yeomanry.
But Mr. Peel's book % not merely striking and important because it is a book written from the ranks by a man of ex- perience and ability. It contains much that is of the utmost moment on the military as well as the literary side, and if only those responsible for the reform of the Army will attend to and follow up the hints it gives, Trooper 8,008's experiences may prove of real service to the nation. Most sig- nificant is the passage in which Mr. Peel describes his talks with the privates in the Regulars and sets forth their grievances and grumblings. We do not doubt that he got to know more of the heart of the matter in his free talks with the private soldiers than any officer, however experienced. We believe, indeed, that if a Commission of three sensible civilians with Mr. Peel as, their secretary were to be asked to inquire into the conditions of service best suited to attract recruits, they would be able to suggest alterations and improvements • Trooper 6,4106, F Y. By the Hon. Sidney Peel. Is : B &wird Arnold. Cs. 61.1
which would immensely increase the popularity of the Army without in any Tray adding to the burden on the Treasury. Of course, we shall never see such a Commission appointed, but it is quite clear to us that Mr. Peel understands the private soldier, and could put the War Office on the track of making the Service popular in a reasonable and legitimate way far better than any number of Colonels or Adjutants. To say this is not to blame our regi- mental officers. They are second to none in the world, not only for their soldierly qualities but for their sympathy with their men; but by the nature of things they cannot and -do not know what the man in the ranks really wants. The private will never tell them, and they cannot guess. Even the man promoted from the ranks cannot help, for his sue- -cessf al service in the ranks converts him to the belief that all is well. What does a man want more than the opportunity to rise to a commission? is generally the and of his philosophy.
The way to make the conditions of service attractive to the private must be learned from insida information," and not from officers, whether they come from Sandhurst or the ranks.
Though Mr. Peel is too good a soldier and too able a man to be a grumbler and complainer, it is clear that he noticed plenty of foolish and inept things in the way in which the Imperial Yeomanry were raised, equipped, and trained. It could not be otherwise considering the facts. One has only to put to oneself a few plain questions as to what a man of common-sense would have done with the Yeomen when they were first enlisted, and then refer to Mr. Peel's book and learn what was actually done with them, to realise how many and how foolish were the mistakes made. If a man with a business head had raised ten thousand Yeomen, of whom very few had any -experience with the rifle, but who would be wanted to shoot, and to shoot straight, as soon as they got to the Cape, he -would surely have said The whole of the three weeks or so between enlistment and embarkation shall be spent at the rifle-butts, and the men shall at any rate reach South Africa thoroughly conversant with their rifles and the mechanism of their weapons. Besides, they
shall learn how to keep a horse in health, and also as much about scouting and taking cover as can be learnt in England.' Die Paltmalliensibus aliter taunt. The little tin sods of Pall Mall apparently thought otherwise, and the time that might have been spent in learning to shoot was spent in -ceremonial drill. Mr. Peel suggests that possibly they were not taught to shoot becausectliem was no ammunition; but
.even if so, it is no excuse, for there was at any rate plenty of Morris-tube ammunition available, and a great deal about -shooting may be learnt with that. But we must not let our readers suppose that Mr. Peel's book is composed of texts on which to found sermons against Wai- Office stupidity. It is full of humour and readability, as the following extract -shows. This is how Mr. Peel describes the preposterous burden which the Imperial Yeoman was expected to lay on the back of his horse before he himself bestrode it. We have
never read of anything like it, except it be the immortal account of the "kit" of the White Knight in Alice through .the Looking-Glass :- " In front of the saddle was to be strapped one blanket, rolled 'up with a pair of khaki fatigue trousers inside, so as to make a Toll 40 inches long. On the top of this was to go the rolled greatcoat. One boot was to be fastened on to each wallet, and outside this, on the near wallet, the mess-tin. Behind the saddle was to go a roll consisting of the waterproof sheet, containing -one serge tunic and one pair of breeches, the whole to be 26 inches long. On the top of this there were to be fastened do one pair of hay- -nets, two stout pegs (iron-shod) for picketing, one built-up rope, one heel-rope, and a saddle-sack, with the nose-bag, folded in a peculiar manner when empty, hanging from the near side. The surcingle-pad to go underneath the horse's belly on the surcingle. Anything else was to be carried in our kit-bags separately. Here was a burden for a horse to carry; and when I add that our saddles were of an old type and very heavy, and that ouebits and bradoons were of the stoutest kind imagined°, any one would think that we were intending to ride shire horses instead of 13.14 hand cobs. The total weight of all this could not have been far short of eleven or twelve stone, to be added to the weight of the rider as he stood. Yet that was the equipment under which we were apparently expected to march by the home authorities. The day of packing was a day of despair. I laid out all those innumerable articles and gazed at them sadly ; at last, after several hours' conscientioni adherence to regulations —for at that time we were still innocently obedient to the letter of our orders—I managed to roll, strap, and fasten everything together in some sort of a fashion ; I further folded lip the saddle blanket, which goes between the saddle and the nuin nab, and successfully planted the whole thing upon my staggering beast. But here a new difficulty awaited me. How would I ever be able, rifle in hand and encumbered by haversack, water-bottle, and glasses, to climb over that monstrous rear-pack, bristling with pegs and ropes, into the saddle ? and once there, how could I ever dismount? I was filled with the gloomiest forebodings; if it took me several hours to saddle up, if I could only mount after a prolonged struggle, and once mounted, could not again dis- mount, what possible use should I be against an active and enter- prising foe ? I was only consoled by the obvious fact that the rest of my comrades would be in similar difficulties. We paraded, and the word was given to mount. A scene of wild confusion ensued. Many a saddle slipped round, a good many horses did not understand that they ought to stand still while the rider was climbing into his seat, things that appeared to be securely fastened incontinently dropped off and had to be picked up, and a great deal of strong language flew about. After about a quarter of an hour, by dint of great exertions and the aid of some friendly spectators, the order was obeyed, and we marched off to Cape Town station. As for myself, I managed to mount unaided, but dismount I could not. until I gut some one to push my leg over the rear-pack for me."
The Boers managed to campaign without a patent White Knight field equipment. Why could not our men ? The answer is, of course, that they could and did, because they threw away half the lumber provided for them.
All the passages in which Mr. Peel deals with the British private of Regulars are worth quoting, because of the keen insight and sympathy they display, but we must content our- selves with one short extract. Here it is :-
" It would of course be absurd to pretend that the ordinary soldier is contented with his lot. At any rate he does a great deal of grumbling, or, as he would call it,' grousing.' He thinks his pay is very small. and he is much irritated by the deductions which are made from it; he has grievances about his boots and many other points, which may seem small, but are of great importance to him. He will tell you that his one desire is to get out of the army, and that when he returns home be will do his very best to prevent any of his friends or relatives enlisting. Certainly the continual minute routine and pipe-clay that go to make a smart regiment in peace-time must be maddening to a man of any spirit. They treat us like children,' said one man, ' and then expect us to behave like men.' And yet, if, after listening to a string of grievances—and the soldier is not the man to make light of them when talking to his friends—you say you suppose they would not enlist if they had to begin again, there is hardly one but will tell you that he is a better man for going into the army. How it comes about that Tommy Atkins, in spite of it all, is the fine fellow he is, is a mystery I cannot pretend to fathom."
Here is the recruiting question in a nutshell. As it is, the Army is not unattractive, for the men are well fed, well clothed, and well treated, but it might be made still more attractive if the men's habits of mind and body were studied as they are studied, say, by the proprietors of a popular newspaper, by an institution like the Rowton Houses, or by a shop which lays itself out to attract the custom of the barracks. Of course, there will always be grumbling in a British Army as in a British club, but the authorities should look to it that the grumbling is not based upon realities, but is merely of the conventional kind. At present there is both, and the percentage of grumbling with a real
basis is far too high.
In taking leave of this useful and attractive book we will only say that we wish it all possible success. It is in our opinion one of the best first-hand war-books—not counting newspaper correspondents' reprints—that have yet appeared. We rank it with A Subaltern's Letters to his Wife,—as a work in which life in the field is really brought home to us.
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