BRITISH TROOPS IN DISTANT THEATRES

REASONS FOR RETENTION It is learned from authoritative sources that while the necessity for retaining a substantial British force in France and on the Rhine is generally appreciated, the reasons demanding the temporary retention of our military forces in many of the distant theatres are less obvious to those unfamiliar with the local conditions in those parts. In the Italian theatre we have at present three divisions, which originally formed part of the force sent in November 1917, to assist the Italians after the disaster of Caporetto. This force is now being reduced by process of demobilisation, and probably only a fraction of it will be retained on this front, to form part of the Allied Army of Occupation in Austria, in accordance with the wish of the Commander-in-chief. One battalion (York and Lancaster) has been sent to Fiume by the Italian High Command, and one battalion of the Honourable Artillery Company to the Northern Tyrol. In the Balkans we have now three divisions, all somewhat reduced in strength, owing to drafting having ceased since the armistice. One of these divisions is in the Dobrudja, where it is garrisoning the zone between the Bulgarians and the Roumanians. Another division is in Turkey in the vicinity of Constantinople and the Dardanelles and the third is in the Salonika area. A battalion of the Essex Regiment from this area has been sent to Scutari, in Northern Albania, as part of the Allied army of occupation there. Troops from the Balkan force have been sent to Trans-caucasia in order to ensure fulfilment by the Turks of the armistice terms and keep open communication with our forces in Trans-caspia, where we have the Warwickshire Infantry, in addition to other troops, mostly Indian. These troops will probably be required for some months, and though relatively weak in numbers, have done excellent work in maintaining law and order and general wellbeing over a large extent of country, and in protecting peaceful inhabitants from the Turkestan Bolsheviks and a large number of German and Austrian prisoners, who are still in ignorance of the defeat of the Central Powers. One of these prisoners said that they had been told 30,000 British troops had been sunk by German submarines in the Caspian.