Supply. All the services for the supply of munitions, and for the repair and renewal of material, are centralized in a divisional Park. To the supply of munitions we shall devote a special chapter.
The supply of provisions is entrusted in a Division to a sub-commissary of stores. The Commissariat Department is part of the general service at the Army base, and its study would lead us beyond the limits assigned to this exposé.
Medical Department. Every Division has its own medical department. On this point, too, we shall abstain from entering into details. Let us however remark that the medical service is still susceptible of much improvement. In spite of continuous improvements in its organization, in spite of the generous assistance of our Allies, of neutral countries, and particularly of our American friends, the recent engagements have proven:
1st. The insufficiency of the means at hand for rapidly collecting the wounded on the battlefield;
2d. The insufficiency, near the battlefield, of large field hospitals for the operations that cannot be delayed;
3d. The lack of special hospitals just out of range of the enemy’s guns, where the severely wounded (grands blessés), and particularly the abdominal cases, can remain as long as necessary. It is generally acknowledged that those who have been wounded in the abdomen require immediate surgical aid, and cannot be removed to a distance without undue risk. Such dangerously injured men should therefore be provided with “Rest hospitals,” where they can remain until able to be transported to the base.
The transportation of the wounded should be the object of a very close study. The trains for the transfer of the grave cases should be further improved, their speed increased, and their appointments so arranged as to allow the wounds to be dressed during the trip. Many cases of gangrene would thus be avoided.
This is said without prejudice to the wonderful improvements which have been made during the last three years. The devoted service rendered to France by her military Medical Corps cannot be too highly praised.
American army surgeons, who have benefited by the vast experience and wonderful skill of Dr. Alexis Carrel at the War Demonstration Hospital in New York, will be able to do more for the relief of suffering and the saving of life than their ablest French confrères could accomplish three years ago.
The Command. The characteristic qualities of a “Chief” in the present war must be: