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still young it was believed that the bayonet
would have little place in modern
combat. Great reliance was placed upon
field pieces and machine guns to keep
the enemy back. When however the
conflict began to settle down to the stage
of a siege for both sides—a siege in
which ditches took the place of walls and
Keep Your Feet 1
Just one- little slip or trip on
a bit of uneven ground and
III'- guard slips a foot to one
side, up or down, and then
comes the opponent's chanc
"GET YOUR MAN!" 651
A A
fortifications, and the enemy could only
be routed from his position liv attacks
of infantry in force, then the real value
of the bayonet began to show itself.
Frequently, of course, the enemy after
being subjected to a heavy bombardment
for days is too demoralized to offer a
really serious resistance to direct attacks.
At other times, though, he shows a desperate
determination to stand his ground.
Mere superior bayonet work may prove
to be the decisive factor.
Moreover, the morale the bayonet
gives a charging regiment is tremendous.
In inverse ratio the line of steel plunging
down upon them is most dispiriting to
to the troops on defensive.
If our new army can come to the
trenches with the new method fully developed
it will mean that our men have
at their command a style of attack and
defense that should make them more
than a match for the Germans even if the
latter have fairly well developed the
same system.
The German soldier is not individually
as good a fighter as the Frenchman, the
Englishman, or the Canadian. That is a
matter the American infantryman new
at the game may well remember. It may
give him courage on some dark night
when, as one of a reconnoitering party.
he encounters the Germans in a raid on
their trenches. The German is accustomed
to fight as a member of a unit.
His mind works well as a member of an
organization. Up against the primitive,
fighting singly as though he were back
in the period of the cave man, he has not
that organization to guide and to protect
him. He must fight for himself and by
himself. Here is where he falls down.
The American, on the other hand, has
been trained from boyhood in sports and
pastimes that have featured individual
effort and individual skill. When in
knickerbockers he played "sting-goal",
"stick-top", "scrub", marbles — games
which all had their penalties for personal