Service in the field will make or mar this type of officer which is
found so largely in the New Army. In his training-camp at home he has
probably already dimly discerned that upon him, as an officer, devolves
the enormous responsibility of “mothering” a large number of men, all
of whom are older and more experienced in life than he. But he will
scarcely realize how much he is on his trial, that he must “make good”
or go under, until he comes out to the front. In the field he will
learn that his neat uniform and his Sam Browne belt are something more
than mere sartorial embellishments which are _de rigueur_ in England
this year. He will soon find out that the honour attaching not to him
but to the coat he wears carries with it obligations which he must meet
unflinchingly or be crushed.
In the field he will understand the true inwardness of those
regulations, continually impressed upon him at home by senior officers,
whom he was disposed to regard as “fussy” and “red-tapey,” which lay
down a clear social distinction between the officer and his men. He
must find out for himself how to adjust those regulations with that
measure of good-fellowship which, if he keeps his eyes open, he will
see existing between officers and men already at the front. Presently
he will begin to comprehend that the leader must be different from his
men, that the men must look up to him as to a real “superior,” for
guidance, for moral support. Then, when he begins to realize that it
largely depends on himself whether his men are good or bad, he will
take his place as a tiny cog in the position allocated to him by the
army in its vast system of machinery.
But even should it prove impossible to maintain the old atmosphere of
our officers’ corps, the new atmosphere will, I believe, be impregnated
with the same ideals as the old, though their origin may be different.
Our present army, composed of veterans of the Expeditionary Force,
Territorials, and New Army men, is inspired by the same determination
to prevail as held our little army firm at Mons and Ypres. In the case
of the Expeditionary Force, probably military tradition, which has all
the force of habit, was the main source from which this rare tenacity
was fed; with the New Army this unanimous resolve to conquer or die
springs from a blending of our great military traditions with the
mighty uplifting of our British civilization against a tyranny in which
liberty cannot live. Therefore I think one need not be apprehensive
lest the change which is coming over the character of the British
Army should detract from its fighting worth. Our military traditions
will see to it that discipline remains unimpaired: our resolve as a
nation to see this thing through will inspire our new troops to model
themselves on the glorious example of the men who have gone before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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