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.

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.

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.

With universal inoculation, and with a careful following of these simple rules laid down, the ancient scourge of the army loses much of its terror. The task of combating it lies mainly with the medical and sanitary staff, though the common soldier must also play his part of carefulness. Some men carried small sterilisers with them. This practice is not to be recommended for it is very difficult to keep these little utensils clean, and then they themselves become harmful. Tabloid sterilisers I have found to be effective in an emergency.

Those who have followed the history of the war will remember how the Serbian Army was threatened with extinction through the deadly disease called Typhus. There is no doubt that the army and most of the civil population would have been wiped out had it not been for the timely assistance that that brave little nation received from medical men and women throughout the world, notably America. Many of these brave souls made the final great sacrifice in their endeavour to stamp out this disease. Then again its horrors have been more recently brought to our notice through the revelations of the conditions at Wittenberg Camp in Germany. The story that Captain Vidal and Major Priestly, Officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps, had to tell of their living death in that awful internment camp, brought home to the British people and then to the world, the frightfulness of that disease, as well as the inhumanity of certain German medical officials. Fortunately, typhus has been little known in Western Europe, and it is possible that soldiers in this country will never know its ravages. But all the same it is as well to be prepared for it, and to know the methods of preventing its outbreak. It is a disease that is carried by flees and lice and consequently the most that can be said in a work of this kind is to recommend the greatest pains in the removal of these creatures from the body should they ever take up their residence there. I refer the reader to the chapter on "Vermin" for methods of combating "Lice."

Dysentery, Enteritis, and Colitis. These names are applied to various kinds and grades of stomach troubles, between which it is difficult for the common soldier to differentiate, and which show themselves with most distressing effects. They come, usually, from drinking bad water or eating bad food. Even with the greatest care that the Commissariat could take, there were occasions when food unfit for human consumption was served to the troops. In the trenches it was not to be wondered at that we were stricken with these diseases, for the flies that infested the trenches and lived on the dead bodies there, favoured us with many visits at food time and poisoned the latter for us. There is no way that I know of to prevent it, and the sufferer will be well advised to report to the medical officer for skilled treatment. Cases of dysentery were not very frequent in France, but they were in Gallipoli where the food supply left much to be desired.

Tetanus is a disease that is brought about by infection which enters the system through a wound. In the early part of the war it occurred only too frequently till, in this case also, the skill of the medical profession provided us with a serum to combat it. The universal practice now is to inoculate with anti-tetanic serum just as soon as possible after a wound has been received. By this means tetanus, like enteric, is rapidly ceasing to be regarded as a menace.

I have no intention of exhausting the whole category of diseases to which man—and therefore the soldier—is heir, but simply to touch upon those that are most likely to occur in a campaign. The foregoing list includes, I believe, all the most likely, but to them I should like to add these two—Smallpox and Cholera. To deal first with smallpox, we can say, fortunately, that it is rare. This is due in large part to the almost universal provision of vaccination, which should be insisted upon in an army. Cholera is of rare occurrence, and nothing can be done to ward it off except to follow carefully the ordinary rules of health and sanitation. Should it, unfortunately, break out, the army must place itself unreservedly in the hands of medical authorities who are especially qualified to deal with it.

There is one other disease that has made its effects felt on almost every army, and which it has been found impossible to thoroughly eliminate. The hands of those who would lessen its influence are to a great extent tied, because in the past, the only method that has been permissible to eliminate venereal disease has been what I shall call "the Moral method"—the appeal to morality and the intelligence of the individual soldier. We have used this excellent and praiseworthy method for generations, but it has never been found capable of eradicating the evil. Some other means, from an army point of view, has obviously to be resorted to. But even to discuss the matter, one runs the risk of being ruled out of court by those who will admit none but the aforementioned "moral argument."

When the first Expeditionary Force went to France, the late Lord Kitchener, then Secretary of State for War, issued an appeal to the men, in which he besought them to be on their guard against two of the evils that lessen the efficiency of soldiers—wine and women. The men who fell victims to wine or whiskey or other forms of alcoholic intemperance, were punished, first of all with imprisonment, and then, when it was seen that this penalty did not meet the case, the death penalty was imposed for such as became intoxicated when at their post of duty. Obviously the army cannot afford to have as its guardians men who cannot keep sober. Those who fell victims to loose women and contracted venereal diseases—and it is beyond a doubt that most of the women who follow an army are diseased—had to be withdrawn from their positions and sent back to the bases to hospitals. Every man, therefore, who violated Lord Kitchener's advice, was playing into the hands of the enemy to this extent that he was taking the risk of contracting a disease which would rob the army of his services. My own Colonel used not to mince words on this subject but used to say that such men might just as well go over to the enemy at once. But with every kind of pleading and threat on the part of officers, it was found that there were men who disregarded their advice. A soldier's pay automatically stops under these circumstances, and at first it was the custom to acquaint his family with the fact that he had been sent to such and such a hospital, and the people of England soon got to know the purpose of these hospitals, and many a home suffered shame from the indiscretions of the men who represented them in France. When the Australian troops were quartered near Cairo—than which there are few more immoral cities in the world—venereal cases were frequent, in spite of the admonitions of the combatant officers and of the medical staff. What was to be done? Every effort was made to restrain the men and keep them out of the notorious red light district, but case after case of the disease turned up. Eventually some of the medical men hit upon the scheme of establishing at the entrance to the various camps, tents to which men could go on their return from the city. In those tents there was a representative of the Army Medical Corps equipped with all the latest appliances in the form of prophylactics, and these were administered without charge and without question, even as to name, to all who sought this method of protecting themselves after acts of indiscretion. The result was very gratifying from the medical standpoint, for the number of those who contracted the disease rapidly declined and the efficiency of the army was maintained at a correspondingly high standard. Of course a protest was immediately entered by those who were particularly interested in the morals of the men, and the charge was made that it was putting a premium on immorality. For my own part, interested in both of these matters, I have come to the conclusion that the old methods have failed, and that I would rather have an army immoral and well than an army immoral and diseased. As human nature is constituted at present I can see no alternative, though I believe it to be our bounden duty to continue to urge the need of self-restraint. I do not fear that these words will be taken to cast a slur upon any army, for those of us who are not blind are perfectly aware that the same kind of immorality exists among civilian populations as in armies. For those men who shall read these words of mine I would with all the force at my command urge the close following of the precepts of Lord Kitchener.

A kindred problem with which the authorities sometimes have to deal is that of "unnatural men." Records of the German Army before the war contained many examples of this most revolting form of perversion. In the British Armies that were raised at the outbreak of the war, several cases occurred, the offenders being punished with terms of imprisonment varying from seven to fifteen years with hard labour—much too lenient.

The whole problem is most difficult to deal with, and any one who attempts to deal with it risks public censure. Yet the problem must be faced, nevertheless, and the sooner we apply sane methods to its solution, the better. Of course views will differ as to what constitutes sane methods, but I am convinced from my own experience with soldiers that the method outlined above is a good one. We must not, however, fail to emphasise the dangers that men run. They must be taught the folly of it. We must make it plain to them that it is not worth the candle to run the risk of contracting the most horrible diseases that even our advanced medical science can never cure with certainty, for the sake of a brief gratification. A man's whole life may be ruined; his innocent children afflicted with a loathsome disease; his wife made to endure years of physical and mental torment as the price of that foolish act. Were this book a moral treatise I should spend time in driving this point home with more force. But as the object I desire to achieve is to show men how they can become soldiers and remain fit, it must suffice to say again that the surest way to lay up misery for yourself, to render yourself unfit to remain at your soldier tasks and thus increase the odds of the enemy against your side is to run the risk of venereal disease through contact with women.