Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1919 — Allies’ Rifle Strength Greatest When Needed [ARTICLE]

Allies’ Rifle Strength Greatest When Needed

--- Washington.—Fignres showing the rifle strength of the allied and enemy force on the western front during the last eight months of the war were received by the war department. They show that up to July 1 the allies were outnumbered from 200,000 to 300,000. but that they reached their peak on September 1, when they had 1,682,000 opposed to the Germans’ 1,339,000. Rifle strength is the number of “men in. the trenches ready to go over the top with the bayonet.” The rifle strength of an American division of 27,000 combat troops is 12,250. This shows that the actual armies on the western front totaled more than twice as many as the rifle strength figures. During the hard fighting from September 1, the Germans’ losses were appalling, the figures showing a drop in their strength from 1,339,000 to 866,000 on November 1. During the same period the strength of the allifed forees dropped only from 1,682,000 to 1,485,000.