It is too early to state yet with accuracy our losses, because in the
case of a battle over such a wide front, fought with such intensity for
over a fortnight, with vast numbers of men engaged, the losses sustained
must be considerable. The claims of the enemy as to prisoners have been
grossly exaggerated, and Field Marshal Haig has assured me that they
were quite impossible from the figures at his disposal, and which he
showed me, and the enemy's claims seem quite preposterous from the
statement he made to me.
But still our losses are very great and our reserves have been called
upon to a considerable extent to make up the wastage and refit the
units, and if the drain continues on this scale, a drain on the
resources of reserves and of man power, it must cause the deepest
anxiety, unless we take immediate steps to replenish it.
The immediate necessity is relieved by the splendid and generous way and
promptitude with which America has come to our aid, but they are simply
lent to receive their training, with a view to their incorporation at
the first suitable moment in the American Army in France, and even if
they remain with the British right through the battle, the time will
come when we shall need large reinforcements, if this battle continues.
I want the House to consider for a moment what the plans of the enemy
may be as they are now revealed. It was never certain he would take this
plunge, because he knows what it means if it fails. But he has taken it.
The battle proves that the enemy has definitely decided to seek a
military decision this year, whatever the consequences to himself.