p.

5.

You said in one letter that you had heard that German
officers mess with their men - I do not know if that is
true or not, I rather doubt it - but I am quite certain
that it is an excellent idea from every point of view.
The officers could have their own table or tables in the
men's mess room - just the same as the prefects'
table at school; & the batmen would serve the food,
which would be exactly the same as the men's.
By this means, the soldiers could never get the
idea that officers take the best of the rations, &
the best cooks & so on. the officers would have
their own private sitting room or tent, & so would
the Sgts. And if that arrangement caused officers to
lose dignity or authority, then they do not deserve to
be officers. Your idea that the officers get the best of the
rations, then the Sgts, & the soldiers what is left,
really has no foundation at all, except in very bad
order units. You see, there is a ration scale, & the stuff
is divided up according to numbers. But officers' food
is very much better cooked, & a sirloin is roasted
as such, & not cut up into stew, & then of course
they pay 2,3, 4, & 5/- a day to supplement their rations.
That is the wrong part - if the ration scale is good
enough for a soldier to train & fight on, then it should
be enough for officers & sgts. And the answer would
be to reduce officers' pay, & thereby narrow the
enormous difference between it & a private's - & at
the same time -- 1. stop all this extra food to
which officers mess's are not really entitled; 2. save
an enormous number of men by relieving
officers & sgts messes cooks & waiters & fatiguemen;