FRENCH FORESTS IN THE WAR 



By MAJOR BARRINGTON MOORE 



AFTER the first two years of the war, the tonnage 

 shortage made it impossible to ship wood to 

 France, except aeroplane stock and the like, for 

 wood is very bulky and the necessary shipping would 

 have been enormous, more than could possibly have been 

 spared with safety. Yet wood is a military necessity. 



The ports of France were not built with a view to 

 the landing of large armies, and were wholly inadequate ; 

 yet the speedy debarkation of the troops, with their 

 munitions and supplies, had to be assured at all costs. 

 J he submarines forced the ships to come in convoys 

 of ten or fifteen at once, requiring several times the dock- 

 ing space the same number of ships would have needed 

 singly. Wharves, miles of wharves, were of immediate 

 necessity. For this we must have piling and wharf 

 timbers. 



But, once the troops and supplies were landed, our 

 difficulties did not end. It was necessary to find shelter 

 for them. Sacks of flour cannot be left out in the rain. 

 Warehouses became necessary, warehouses of gigantic 

 size and capacity. Railroads had to be laid in the ware- 

 houses, one depot alone requiring eighty-five miles. 

 Lumber for these warehouses had to be furnished imme- 

 diately. 



Wherever possible, we billeted our troops in houses to 

 save barracks. But the crowded condition of the 

 country, owing to the refugees from Belgium and the 

 invaded parts of France made this inadequate. Our men 



were dying of pneumonia. We simply had to have bar- 

 racks. Every suitable building that could be found 

 anywhere in France was turned into a hospital, but yet 

 there were not enough. We required large quantities of 

 lumber for hospitals. 



After the army was landed, its supplies cared for, 

 and the men were in billets or barracks in all of which 

 wood plays the leading role the army must be moved 

 forward. As a matter of fact, it had to be moved for- 

 ward even before the preparations for landing were com- 

 pleted. Everything was done under the utmost tension, 

 and still not rapidly enough. 



The transportation of men and guns, with munitions 

 and supplies, required the construction of new railroad 

 lines and the double-tracking of others. Ties became 

 more important than guns, because without the railroads 

 the guns could not be brought to the front. When the 

 Germans broke through in March and got within close 

 range of Amiens, they paralyzed the main artery between 

 the French and British armies. Another railroad had to 

 be built, and built quickly. Fortunately, the Canadians 

 had ties ready cut for an emergency. 



In order to permit one organization to communicate 

 quickly with another, it was necessary to construct tele- 

 phone and telegraph lines. This called for thousands 

 and thousands of poles. 



Cooking the food and keeping the men warm meant 

 tons and tons of fuelwood. 



A FRENCH FOREST DEVASTATED BY WAR. MILITARY WORKS VISIBLE, RIGHT CENTER 



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