November 28, 1918 
LAND fe? WATER 
The Armistice : A Soldier's Letter 
The following has been received from a British soldier. The writer may 
be quite right or quite wrong in his opinions, but at least they are interest- 
ing as coming from a man who has had considerable service in the field. 
JUDGING by all we read and hear of the rheering, and 
bunting, and burning bonfires (of our captured guns), 
you people at home arc feeling pretty bucked over the 
whole of the armistice. Here the feeling does not 
seem to be quite so full of rejoicing, and there are a 
few little points worrying the fellows in the field now and 
again. I don't mean to suggest that we are not all thoroughly 
glad to be done with the fighting, and it is really only the 
men who were programmed to go over the top in the next 
few days of the push that can understand just how thankful 
it is possible to be that the "cease fire" went. But we don't 
like the terms of the armistice. In fact, a whole lot of us 
are wondering pretty hard why there were any terms at all, 
and why "Jerry" was not told straight out to surrender 
unconditionally, and if he didn't like to do that, to run along 
home and let's get on with the war. 
Some of you may say that it was not worth while ; that 
the terms are strong enough to prevent the Boche beginning 
the show again, and that it would have only meant more of 
our men being killed for nothing. But is this so ? Every- 
body knows that we had the Huns stone-cold. In the last 
few days there was no fight left in them, and we were much 
more busy trying to find them than in fighting them. I 
believe that "down in the south, on the American front, they 
were having some scrapping right up to the finish ; but there 
is very little doubt that if the Yanks had simply stopped 
there and marked time they would have had no further 
casualties, and the trick could have been just as effectively 
tried on other fronts where the enemy were not on the run, 
and where the wash-out of the whole lot could have been 
completed. There was no question, then, of stiffer terms 
costing us a single casualty more, or prolonging the war one 
hour. We are sure the "Jerries" would have surrendered 
by the stated hour on any terms or no terms. 
Most of us here don't profess to be any great strategists, 
and we know little or nothing of international politics and 
complications, and all that sort of thing. But we do know 
a bit about fighting ; and, after all, it is only the fighting 
side I am talking about. Nobody will deny that the Hun 
was completely done for, and we had the war so well won 
that the longer it ran the worse a hammering he was going 
to get. This being so, why were any terms offered at all ? 
Foch is a strategist, and knows his game from end to end ; 
and you cannot persuade us that he didn't know just how 
well he had the game in hand, or how absolutely he was 
master of the position. Why did he, or the conference, or 
the admirals and generals — or whoever it was made up the 
terms — give any terms at all ? 
I know that the statesmen would have to have a bit to 
say on this question affecting the interests of the whole of the 
Allies, and I know, too, that it is only heads outside the 
Army who are best able to know whether there is money 
enough, or men enough, or powder enough, or anything else 
enough, available to go on with the "straffing." .No doubt 
these people went over the whole situation very carefully, 
and discussed it with Foch and the rest of the fighters, and 
framed their armistice terms as a result. Foch knew that every 
day, in fact, towards the end, every hour, was putting the 
Boche more and more at our mercy. Did he have any 
authority to make more drastic terms if he felt that the 
military situation was good enough to allow him to do so, 
and impose them successfully ? 
We have a vague notion that we have been cheated of the 
full reward of such a sweeping victory as we were on the 
point of gaining. It was a pretty good victor^', but it was 
nothing to what it would have been if the war had run on 
another few weeks. We don't like Germany being allowed 
to hand out a number of her battleships and U-boats when 
we could have had the lot ; we don't like hearing that we 
may occupy Heligoland when we could have had it for the 
asking ; we don't like knowing that 2,000 aeroplanes were 
to be handed over if the enemy had 3.000, or even 2,001. 
And, most of all, we don't like reading in translations from 
the German papers an address from old Hindenburg to his 
army that they can hold up their heads with pride, that 
Germany has only been beaten economically, and never in 
the field— and all that sort of stuff. If they wanted a bigger 
beating fhey only had to keep on. But if they are allowed 
to get away with the idea that they were not beaten as a 
military power, then we feel we have not properly finished 
the job. I don't say it out of spite, but I do believe that 
most of us want to see the Germans beaten down and humi- 
liated and broken in spirit, and for a very sound reason. If 
they finish up the war with the firm belief that their army 
has not been well thrashed, and that it would not have been 
better thrashed as days went on, there seertjs to be quite a 
chance that in some years' time they will 'pluck up spirit 
and get ready to have another go. We don't want that. 
We have had our full share of war, and most of us don't 
want to have to get back into khaki again in our lives. 
I know that it is the peace terms that will settle this ques- 
tion of whether or not the Germans can ever begin a war 
again ; but it is just because we feel we did not exact the 
full advantage of our victory in the armistice terms that we 
feel very doubtful if the peace terms are going to be as strong 
as they ought to be. We will resent it deeply if the peace 
terms do not tie the Hun up for generations so helplessly 
that war will be an impossibility for him, and one of the 
surest ways to make him sick of war is to make him see that 
he has been well licked, and that for all his cockyness and 
pride in the invincibility of the German armies, they can be 
beaten, and have been beaten, and that they are going' to 
be beaten again if ever they ask for it. 
How the terms are going to be framed to gain this object 
we are wilHng enough to leave to the statesmen, or whoever 
is thought best fit to handle the job. We don't care how it 
is done so long as it is done, and we are going to kick pretty 
hard presently if we find that the right men have not done 
the job in the right way. At the moment we are mainly 
interested here in two things : getting a good peace signed 
and getting the Army home. We have not studied questions 
of boundaries and races and national rights to any great 
extent, and we are quite content to leave the settlement of 
these things to people who understand them. But if the 
peace-term makers want to please the British Army and, 
I fancy, most of the Allied armies, they will stick in a couple 
of clauses in the terms — one making sure that when we get 
back to civilian life we are not going to be saddled for the 
rest of our existence with all sorts of crippling taxations to 
pay for the mischief we had no hand in beginning, and the 
other that an armed force does a real good full-dress parade 
through Berlin on the same lines as the Germans did in their 
last war to Paris. 
A Soldhr. 
The Fall 
I'll sing a song of kings and queens 
And falling leaves and flying rain. 
With Time to mow, and Fate who gleans 
Their good and evil, boon and bane. 
I'll sing a song of leaves and rains 
And flying queens and falling kings. 
Yet doubt not reason still remains 
Snug hidden at the core of things. 
For every year an autumn brings 
To round the root and fat the sheaves, - 
And haply garner queens and kings ^ 
With falling rain and flying leaves. 
The rain is salt with tears of queens, 
The leaves are red with blood of kings ; 
Unknowing what the mystery means. 
We puzzle at these solemn things. 
For why great kings and rains should fall. 
And wherefore leaves and queens should fly, 
Or such rare wonders be at all, 
You cannot tell ; no more can I. 
Yet this we know : new leaves and rain v. 
Anon shall crown the vernal scene. 
But dust of dynasts not again 
Blows up into a king or queen. 
Eden Phillpoits. 
