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ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT 17
towards a spectacle which I would never forget : the German
Army in all its overpowering strength drawn up for the greatest
contest in the world’s history. The German Army ! These
words convey nowadays far more than formerly, and the
same may be said of the French Army. In these days it is
not armies of mercenaries that meet one another in the field,
it is entire nations that range up for battle. The difference
is only that the Gennan Army is one homogeneous whole and
pure in race, whilst the French Army is reinforced with
Englishmen and a whole colour-scheme of imported heathens.
The next day I was out with my friend the Rittmeister and
got fitted out from head to foot with motor cap, boots and
puttees, a sporting suit of suitable warmth, leather coat and
vest, rain-coat, a warm muffler and a pair of motor goggles,
which I never used.
I ended my day at a reception at the house of the Countess
Wilamovitz, née Fock, whose husband, Captain of one of the
Reserve Regiments of the Uhlans of the Guard, is fighting at
the front. The sole topic of conversation among the guests
was the War and the final victory.
The 15th of September we started out. I turned up in good
time at the offices of the Imperial Volunteer Automobile
Corps, where the car was waiting. But as usual it takes a
long time to get away ; von Krum has several papers to sign
and maps to arrange and Dr. Arnoldi conveys to me very
hearty greetings from Lieut.-Colonel Gross, the great
airship expert and inventor, who is commanding the Field
Telegraph Battalion. Before I left he insisted on my going
out to inspect his magnificent establishment. So we drove
out to see him and were received at the gate by the Colonel
himself, an energetic, virile, distinguished little man sur-
rounded by several officers. The establishment is truly
imposing, a whole row of barracks, workshops, depots, stores
and stables surrounding an enormous yard, where masts for
wireless telegraphy tower aloft. The station is thus in
communication with the whole of Germany, and the aerial
news operator was just engaged in reading out for the general
edification some atrocity stories received that moment from
English sources. The telegraph battalion with equipment,
men and horses, is, of course, in the field with its Army Corps.
But, nevertheless, depots, barracks and stables are replete
with a completely new set of everything. In the stables
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