If the rules of health set forth in the foregoing chapter are carefully observed, the soldier will be doing the best he can to keep his body fit. He will be building up a reserve of strength that will stand him in good stead should the germs of disease find entrance into his body. But there are times when, in spite of all our precautions, these little microbes get the upper hand, and a long struggle against them begins. The disease that has been responsible for the death of armies of soldiers is Enteric or Typhoid fever. During the campaign in South Africa the British lost more men through the ravages of this disease than through bullets and shells. But during the present war there have been comparatively few cases of enteric, and the number that have proved fatal is very small. For this result we have to thank the medical profession that has given so much study and care to the perfection of a method of combating this disease. The secret has been found to lie in the inoculation of the soldier with small doses of the disease itself till he becomes comparatively immune to it. Inoculation was not made compulsory in the first armies that were raised in England after war broke out, but it was made compulsory for men who desired to become members of the British Expeditionary Force in France. Most men gladly accepted this medical boon and subjected themselves to this simple and painless operation. But there were others who objected, sometimes through fear of the pain, and sometimes through what they termed "conscientious objections." Anti-Inoculation Societies got busy and spread their wretched literature throughout the camps and made men thoroughly afraid, both of the operation and of its results. To meet this the War Office issued through the papers and by pamphlets, information from the medical authorities as to the wonderful results that had already been achieved. They were able to prove beyond all dispute, that of the men who caught the infection in France, practically all of those who had been inoculated recovered—their cases being light—while those who had not been inoculated became easy victims to the disease. As the war has progressed these figures have been amplified till now there can be no question that the use of "Inoculation" has made this dread disease a thing to be feared less than the measles.
FIGURE 9:
Finished trench showing parapet and parados; firing step of earth; flooring; and shelter dugout under parados.
Officers adopted different methods in counteracting the teaching of those who tried to keep the soldiers from submitting. Some of them argued with the men and told them of the wonderful results that had been achieved. Others warned their men that they would be left behind when the battalion went to France. For my own part I adopted the method of sending for the medical men whose business it was to administer the "dose." When they were all prepared I marched in my men from some light fatigue work in which they had been engaged, told them to take off their coats and roll up their sleeves, and three at a time they appeared before the waiting surgeons. The business was over in no time. I marched them off to a place where I could talk to them and then acquainted them with the advantages of inoculation. The announcement of forty-eight hours' freedom from drill for the whole company to let their arms limber up put the few that were disgruntled into good spirits again, and I was able to report to the O. C. that 100 per cent of my men were willing to be inoculated—and had been inoculated! So little did any of them suffer from its effects that they readily lined up in ten days time when they were to receive the second dose. At intervals of two or three months in France the operation was repeated and I never had a single man on the sick list from enteric!
Now, while inoculation is excellent and should be insisted on in all armies, both for the sake of the individual soldier and of those who associate with him, every possible precaution should be taken by the soldier even after this has been done. All water for drinking should be looked upon with suspicion. Never take any chances for the sake of getting a hasty drink. Many communities have water supplies that are admirable and when military operations are carried on there, the difficulties disappear. On the other hand many places have the most abominable water supply systems. Where we were in France, the country was very flat, and consequently the drainage poor. The buildings that housed the human beings and the cattle and pigs on the farms were as a rule all built around a "midden" into which flowed all the refuse. In many cases the family water supply, a well, was dug within three feet of this cesspool, so that the drainage from the latter was almost sure to reach the former. This is "asking for" enteric, and some men fell victims to it before they could be made to realise the danger. The best rule to follow, as we all soon learned, was to get our drinking water exclusively from the army water wagons, for there the water had been treated and the danger lessened. At times we could not get to the water carts and a certain degree of risk had to be run.
FIGURE 10:
Machine gun position with heavy overhead cover.
Not only with water has the greatest care to be taken, but also with food. Flies are notorious carriers of disease, and consequently soldiers must see to it that no food is left uncovered. Nor should food ever be placed near latrines or any place where there is decaying matter.