As the winter deepens, the modern war becomes more and more an infantryman's war. On that snow-covered mountain front, the infantry is the only arm that retains any real power of manoeuvre. Tanks are confined, for the most part, to the roads; the movement and deployment of the artillery is limited. Aircraft can operate effectively only on clear days. But the infantryman, the foot-soldier, is "on top" all the time. There are very few obstacles in the way of ground or weather that he cannot overcome. There are very few that he is not called upon to overcome.

It is well, therefore, to consider the role of the British infantryman in modern times. In World War I the infantryman was often pinned down for long periods of trench warfare and forced into a temporarily statin role. "The guns conquer, the infantry occupy," was how a French general summed up the relative positions of the artillery and infantry at that time. In the second World War this was changed.

An infantryman, indeed, liked to have all the help he could from guns, tanks and aircraft - he was trained to co-operate with the other arms — but he was ready, if necessary, to fight independently. He had new and powerful weapons of his own, and — more important still — a new tactical doctrine.

The "silent attack" without artillery support became a favourite method. In many battles, in Normandy, Italy, Burma and elsewhere, it was the means of achieving victorious surprise. The infantryman specialised in surprise, in deception, in ways of foxing and out-witting the enemy.

His standing in the public eye, based on his fighting record, is indicated by the fact that the British infantry, while not as numerous today as it was between the two World Wars (most of the Line regiments have only one battalion each), has never been more popular. A large proportion of the young men called up for National Service want to be infantrymen; indeed, there are not enough vacancies. A larger proportion of National Service men take regular engagements in the infantry than in any other arm and the proportion of direct enlistments from civil life is larger.

In the modern Army, infantry units are included not only in infantry division, but also in armoured and airborne formations. The motor and lorried infantry battalions in armoured divisions are trained to fight in close co-operation with tanks. But they usually fight dismounted. In the same way, the parachute battalions, though they travel to battle by air, do their fighting on the ground and are fundamentally infantry.

The ordinary, non-specialised infantry battalions have no troop-carrying (as opposed to supply) vehicles of their own though additional transport may be allocated to them for long strategic moves. In the battle area, they reckon to move entirely on foot - if necessary, humping their gear and man handling their heavy weapons. British infantry units of all types make frequent marches - of 20 miles or more - as part of their routine training. Marches are often carried out across country, in combination with field-firing exercises.

During the past few years the power of the infantry, in both attack and defence, has been steadily increased though without any revolutionary changes in armament. The infantry has retained many of the weapons it used in World-War II : for instance, the magazine-rifle, the machine-carbine, the light machine-gun and the 2-inch and 3-inch mortars.

The medium machine-gun which used to be a divisional weapon, has been brought back into the battalion and the U.S. 3.5-inch rocket-launcher (a development of the "bazooka") has superseded the Piat as the platoon antitank weapon. The present battalion anti-tank gun, the 17-pounder, is too cumbersome to be ideal for infantry, and a replacement weapon is clearly required. The battalion carries its own mines in its assault pioneer platoon and also own its mine-detectors. Its wireless equipment has been improved.

The art of the infantryman in modern war is probably more difficult to acquire than that of any other arm. In the average British battalion today, two out of three soldiers are National Service men. Part-perhaps the greater part of their two years with the colours may be spent in an operational theatre, such as Korea or Malaya; alternatively, they may be engaged in the "cold war" in Germany or elsewhere.

In any case, the young soldier has plenty to do. He must master at least a half-dozen weapons and learn to fight in attack; defence and withdrawal; he must become proficient in patrolling, field-craft and map-reading; he must be able to dig trenches and to wire them.

The future of warfare is unpredictable. It is possible-though most military men do not take this view-that new weapons will render land armies obsolete. One thing is reasonably certain: as long as there are armies, there will be infantry.