ANOTHER "BIG PUSH" DUE SOON, DECLARED IAN HAY

"We do not expect to be at full war strength in Great Britain until the spring of next year," said Captain Ian Hay Beith, of the Tenth Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, speaking in Sanders Theatre yesterday afternoon. "At that time the nation will at last be fully prepared industrially and in the field. July 1, 1916, was a momentous day for the British 'Tommy' for on that day the war realy began, as far as the Allies are concerned and with the first rush of the Somme offensive the British soldier, inexperienced and hastily trained, proved himself the equal, nay, the superior, of the German 'bosch.'

"Human life on the 'western front is as precarious today as it has ever been in the history of man. I cannot give the exact average length of life in the front trenches, but I know that it is measured in weeks rather than months, and perhaps in days. In the beginning, the small Expeditionary force held on to the long line with ever-diminishing numbers but were mercifully relieved in May of 1915 by the first Kitchener division, the Ninth, of which my regiment was a part. This ended the first stage of the war, but the second continued for over a year while we harrowed and wore down the enemy bit by bit, saving our ammunition for Saturday afternoon 'parties.'

"The third phase of the war began on July 1, when, with the armies of France, the finest troops in the world, the British went over their parapets on the 16-mile Some front. When the winter hardens the water-covered fields of northern France, we will undoubtedly hear some more news from that front, when the 'big push' starts again and restores Belgium and the northern provinces to their rightful owners.

"What do the men at the front eat? The food is extraordinarily good and plentiful and speaks well for the marvellous organization of the supply department. The supplies are brought from the sea coast bases to within ten miles of the front, and are taken from there, under cover of night, by regimental trucks to within 500 yards of the front line trenches. I have never known the supplies to fall to arrive each night, no matter how severe the battle was raging.

"I have often been asked what is the outstanding characteristic of the men at the front, and I think I am right in saying that it is cheerfulness. Of course, they grumble but they wouldn't be happy if they didn't. But it is about the little things that they grumble, such as marmalade served out in their rations when they expected strawberry jam. Their attitude toward the war is that it is a game, a clean game, a great adventure."

After the lecture, Professor William Allan Nelson 1961 sold at action the posters by which the talk had been announced