Popular Science JMonf/ilij 



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night of drenching misery and the follow- 

 ing dawn, when the place where the 

 trenches had been was turned into a sea 

 of mud, with the sentries mired, engulfed 

 and drowned at their posts. 



History is repeating itself, but on a 

 vastly enlarged scale. General January 

 and General February have fought for 

 Russia against Germany, just as they once 

 fought against Napoleon. Taking into 

 account its effects upon the civil popula- 

 tions, cold weather has caused more suffer- 

 ing and loss of life in the present war than 

 in a dozen previous wars. In the Meso- 

 potamian campaign the British forces 

 suffered terribly with the heat. Marches 

 were made when the thermometer stood 

 at 110 degrees and over. "We cannot 

 carry enough water," wrote an officer of 

 the Royal Field Artillery, "and one's 

 tongue soon swells when the sun is up." 

 The temperature in the hospital tents 

 was reported as 130 degrees. Imagine 

 the joy (?) with which these same 

 soldiers received from home a consignment 

 of "bullet-proof" vests, consisting of 

 several inches thickness of a heavily 

 woven woolly material! 



They Licked the Moisture on Water 

 Bags— It Was So Hot 



Ignorance of climatic conditions has 



been responsible for many serious blun- 

 ders during the war. The failure of the 

 British campaign at the Dardanelles was 

 partly due to the fact that the e.xtreme 

 dryness of the country was not realized 

 and totally inadequate provision was 

 made for water supply. Water had to be 

 transported long distances on mule-back. 

 When the mules carrying the water-bags 

 reached the troops "the men would rush 

 up to them in crowds just to lick the mois- 

 ture that exuded through the canvas." 

 In the hottest weather of August the sol- 

 diers were reduced to a pint of water a 

 day. Eventually an immense reservoir, 

 with distributing pipes, was built in the 

 Anzac region. In the same region during 

 the following winter, troops from northern 

 Australia, who had never before seen a 

 snowstorm, were treated to severe bliz- 

 zards, which caused much suffering and 

 illness, as neither clothing nor shelter 

 were appropriate for such weather. 



Similar blunders have occurred in every 

 war. The horrors of Napoleon's retreat 

 from Moscow furnish a monumental 

 example of what results from ignoring 

 climate. In the year 1719, a Swedish 

 army under General Arnfeldt was almost 

 annihilated by cold weather on the moun- 

 tainous frontier of Norway and Sw<>dp»^ 

 Heavy rainfall and resulting flcoos led 



id Uoderwood 



Mud, mud, mud! Rivers of it — seas of it. The horses are up to their middles and a truck 

 lies mired up ahead. Yet shells reach guns and the Allied advance is as relentless as Fate 



