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During the war most British soldiers got the impression that the American Army was more wasteful of man-power than we were, and that their field forces carried far bigger overheads in the way of staffs and administrative units and so on. In view of this, a com- parison of the British and American garrisons at Trieste is interest- ing. The strength of both is pegged, by treaty, to a total of 5,000. Within their 5,000 the Americans include three battalions of infantry, a squadron of tanks, a squadron of armoured cars, an anti-tank battery, a battery of field artillery and an air reconnaissance unit. The British order of battle comprises three battalions of infantry and one field squadron of sappers, the remainder of this oddly balanced force—more than 2,000 men out of the total of 5,000—con- sisting of administrative units and a large element of staff officers. I am told that the same sort of unfavourable comparison can be drawn both in Germany and Austria.
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