The training of an infantry company

by E. Kirkpatrick

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A cause now exists, and the men have come out.

EXERCISE I.
Individual Advance in Extended Order.

The exercise portrays what men will have to do when the rifle fire of the enemy becomes effective, and necessitates extension of the small columns which are used to dodge his shell fire (I.T., 118 (3)). This will be somewhere over one thousand yards from the enemy, and perhaps fourteen hundred may be taken as a maximum. From the point at which extension from the small columns is made up till the time of the assault, a line of men in extended order is the suitable formation, unless there is some covered way leading forward which can be traversed in file or other formation. Once the advance has begun it should be carried through as quickly as possible without exhausting the men too much, and fire should not be opened until it is absolutely necessary to neutralise that of the enemy, firstly, because it lessens the speed of the advance and so increases the time during which the attackers are exposed to the enemy’s fire; secondly, because once men start firing it is more difficult to lead them forward; and, thirdly, because it uses up cartridges whose value and difficulty of replacement increases at every yard nearer the enemy’s position.

The exercise is then to train men to gain ground to the front with the minimum of exposure to the enemy’s fire, and as quickly as may be, firstly, without firing, and, secondly, while firing themselves, but in the latter case speed must be subordinated to the development of a fire of sufficient accuracy and volume to largely neutralise that of the enemy, for at this stage of the battle advances under fire will only be possible if it is inaccurate; and the only certain means of causing it to be inaccurate is by disturbing the enemy’s nerves and aim by bringing to bear on him the fire both of supporting troops and of the firing line itself (I.T., 118 (6)).

The regulations do not encourage the opening of fire by units less than two platoons at ranges over one thousand yards as the results do not compensate for the delay. Under one thousand and up to six hundred it is desired that fire should be controlled and directed, i.e., the amount, and the target should be specified by commanders (I.T., 116). Under six hundred yards it is recognised that individual fire gives good results, and, moreover, control becomes almost impossible.

Divide your exercise accordingly. First, teach merely the advance without firing, letting the men know that they are not to fire, as a rule, without orders under six hundred yards, and then let them advance firing at each halt behind cover, choosing their own target and times of firing as they would do in the stage of “close fire,” i.e., six or perhaps eight hundred yards up to assaulting distance, which latter is about two hundred yards from the enemy’s line of defences.

This parade is one that can be done with very few men present, but it is necessary to form them up into sections with a large proportion of non-commissioned officers. Keep the men in their proper sections, but, if necessary, join two or three together, so as to form sections with three or four non-commissioned officers to each. Thus, if you form four sections, they should each be in reality a boiling down of the platoons. In future exercises I will also suppose that you thus concentrate your men, keeping the members of each section together, and form them into sections of size suitable to the work of the day, and no further allusion will be made to this.

Before taking the men on to the exercise ground, you should choose a point on it from which you intend to start your advance. Some fourteen hundred or less yards from this choose a position for your skeleton enemy, who will consist of three or four old soldiers with forty rounds of blank each. If men are not available, put up a few red range flags. Whichever are used, put them into some position that an enemy might reasonably occupy; do not simply dump them down on to the ground. The skeleton enemy must be told to show up occasionally, and to open a slow but regular fire as soon as they see your men advancing, but only to keep it up as long as your men show themselves in making their advance. A complete cessation of fire will denote that your men are making such good use of cover as to be invisible to the enemy. Let your men also know that these instructions have been given, and that such an advance is the ideal to be sought for, provided always that it is not absurdly slow. If neither men nor flags are available you must make believe and point out a supposed position at a supposed distance. I have already pointed out the advantages of having a skeleton enemy to work against.

In front of your starting point, and about four hundred yards from it, decide on some point at which you will let the men halt after they have made their way across the intervening space. Here I will refer you to the diagram. The line AA´ is your starting point, CC´ the enemy’s position. Your exercise consists in showing individual men how to gain ground from AA´ as far as BB´, distant about four hundred yards from AA´, with the minimum of exposure to the enemy’s aimed fire. Draw up the sections, supposing there are two, on the line AA´, fifty to one hundred yards apart, and let the men sit down facing away from CC´ and, if possible, under cover, so that they may not see how their comrades negotiate the course. Space the available non-commissioned officers of each section along the course from A to B and A´ to B´, with orders to supervise and criticise the advance of each man within the limits of their beats. Allow a belt of twenty to thirty yards broad from A to B and from A´ up to B´, within which men must seek their cover. This belt is made broad here to afford instruction, but when the men work together in their sections, it will be much narrower, as they will then be extended at intervals of five or six paces only. Start off one man at a time from each section to cross from AA´ to BB´, to move as if under fire from the enemy in rushes from one cover to another. As soon as a man reaches BB´ he may fall out and watch the movements of the remainder. Do not send off a fresh man until the preceding one has nearly reached BB´, so that your non-commissioned officers may have good opportunity to look at each man as he goes. As for yourself, be active in supervising both sections, using your horse if you have one.

DIAGRAM I. FOR EXERCISES I. & II.

---

CC´ = Enemy’s position about 1400^X from AA´. Enemy
being represented by men with blank cartridge
or flags.

AA´ = Starting points 1400 yards from enemy’s position.

Men start from AA´ to cross to BB´
without exposing themselves to the
enemy at CC.´

Crosses indicate cover, and the chain
dotted lines routes by which men
may advance.

AA´ to BB´ is about 400^X

The following are points to be attended to:—Before leaving their cover, men must decide where their next halting place is to be, and make for it quickly, and with decision. There must be no emerging into the open, and then looking about for a bit of cover to go for. The length of each rush should not be enough to let the enemy have time for deliberate aim—fifty yards or so is quite the limit for this. If there is no cover the men must lie down flat between each rush. Occasionally it is advisable to make a long rush from one good position to another at sprinting pace without stopping at all (I.T., 121 (12)), so this should be practised sometimes, the non-commissioned officers at that part of the beat being ordered to tell the men what is needed. Once a man has decided on his next halting place, and is in wind, he should leave his cover with a jump. The slow uprising of a figure is sure to draw the enemy’s attention, and make his fire more accurate than it would be if no intimation were given him. Similarly, on reaching cover, men should fall down quickly, and not lower themselves slowly to earth.

Insist on a careful choice of cover, a very small depression or elevation, even six inches, is enough to give cover from view, and therefore helps in escaping aimed fire, but in peace time men will not take trouble over apparently trifling things like this unless it is rubbed into them by close supervision. Noticeable objects should be avoided as the enemy may have taken their range, and they help him to define a point on which to concentrate fire. If a man makes mistakes and shows indecision at any part of the course, call him back to the last cover he left, and let him start again from there after pointing out what he has done wrong.

II. The advance combined with individual fire.

The second part of the exercise is done in the same way as the first, the men advancing and taking cover as before, but now using their rifles. They have to be taught to use the cover to advantage, both as a protection and as an aid to their shooting, and to take pains in searching for a good target, and in their sighting, aiming and firing. For purposes of instruction, six hundred yards is rather a short range to open fire at, and I recommend your making a start at eight hundred or so, i.e., two hundred yards beyond BB´ towards the enemy, working up to four hundred. This necessitates judging distance at beyond the practically point-blank ranges of the Lee-Enfield rifle, and makes the men use their eyes keenly to spot the enemy, while it avoids a certain amount of unreality which is apt to attach to instructional movements carried on in front of a skeleton enemy at the deadly short ranges under three hundred yards.

Points which should be considered are:—

To fire from the right and lower edge of any cover, not over the top.

Make the men keep a count of the number of times they snap over the course (i.e., cartridges used), and report to the non-commissioned officer at the finish of their course.

Let the men do their own judging distance, and let non-commissioned officers drop at once on any man who either fails to do so, or forgets, as they often do, to adjust the backsight.

Cultivate a habit among the men of looking about for different targets, not firing only straight in front of themselves, but on their right and left, so that when they come to fire collectively they may feel nothing new in being told to open the enfilade fire recommended by I.T., 116 (11), and also get the custom of watching for the enemy all along his front.

These two exercises of advancing with and without firing are the groundwork of the fighting efficiency of the soldier in the attack, and will be found to call for every natural and acquired qualification the individual possesses. Good shooting, quick judgment, activity, wind, and everything else are needed if the work is done with full observance of the conditions which would exist under fire. Put the men through exercises of this sort several times, and, if possible, on different ground, till they acquire quickness in choosing cover and the arts that make an expert fighter. Confidence in themselves will come with the skill they acquire, and with confidence comes decision of mind, which is really more important than bodily efficiency. If you have time, a useful rider to this exercise is to work the men by pairs, as is recommended in the Musketry Regulations for the observation of fire, and so introduce them early to the use of the file organisation which I have advised you to adopt.

EXERCISE II.
Retirement by Pairs.

A sound provision against panic among young troops is to accustom them to regard a retirement as all in the day’s work, and not as an exceptional undertaking which their anxiety may invest with possibilities of disaster. The essence of successful retirement in face of an enemy lies in the continuous opposition, or appearance of it, offered to the enemy by one portion of the troops, while others draw off to take post to cover the withdrawal of the rearmost portion. I.T., 137, gives the idea in few words. It does not mention individual training in this, but it is useful to put men through the movements, both to cultivate cohesion in the ranks, and as a tactical exercise. It may happen in war that an extended line has to give ground when engaged with the enemy, and this under so heavy a fire as to make movement except over short distances impossible without great loss. Such a withdrawal would mean that the troops are in a very tight corner, and would test them very highly, but that is another matter. It may happen, and should be prepared for. A withdrawal under these conditions might perhaps be carried out by the alternate movement of men in files covered by the fire of the others, until such a distance from the enemy had been obtained as to allow sections or companies to take up the alteration. Up to that distance it will be simply a reversal of what was done in Exercise I., but worked by files—a front rank man and his rear rank man, one going back a short distance, and the other firing to cover the movement. Again, men on patrol or otherwise detached may have to retire to avoid capture, or for many other reasons, when they might not be under close and heavy fire, but still would be under the necessity of preventing the enemy closing in on them or surrounding them. In this case, the length of each withdrawal would be much longer than in the former case; one man would fire while the other made off perhaps two or three hundred yards at his best speed. Train for both contingencies; it can be done in one and the same parade. Skeleton enemy as usual. For the withdrawal under heavy fire, let the sections sit down and fall out at BB´ (Diagram I.), and put out the non-commissioned officers between BA and B´ A´ as before. Call out the men by files, tell them to work back to A and A´, one firing, the other retiring. As a rule they should retire past each other before halting. The same points must be observed as in Exercise No. I, and the quicker they are in movement the better, but they must be taught to go in quick time also when so ordered (I.T., 137 (4)).

For the retirement of a file as on patrol, do exactly the same, but you should work over six hundred yards of ground or so to correct any tendency to import the short rush into this exercise, which would be out of place, and also to let men have more practice in looking for suitable fire positions from which they can both fire on the enemy, and from which they can get away when their turn comes, a point they often neglect at first. The different nature of the two exercises must be made quite clear.

At this exercise you should bring before your men the need of using all sorts of ruses in a retirement, the use of rapid fire just before withdrawing, the sham withdrawal acted by ceasing fire, and retiring a few yards, but only to halt and re-open fire after a few seconds if the enemy has been tempted to expose himself, thinking the coast clear, the real withdrawal effected so carefully that the enemy is not sure whether you are there still or not, and so on; and make them put their own ideas of these plans into action and tell them if they are doing what is feasible on service or not. Bar all “manœuvre slimness,” i.e., anything that could not be done on service.

EXERCISE III.
Individual Training in use of Fire and Fire Discipline.

Early lessons in fire discipline can be given in single rank on the parade ground, but the open country and extended order are wanted for training men to the fullest extent under service conditions. Only in the open country can be got the variety of targets, ranges and the visual training which are necessary for a complete education. Men must be taught, and taught again, that the taking up of extended order, and movement over all sorts of ground, in no way mean that they are to pass at once beyond the control of their unit leaders, or that it is optional to continue to take any sort of pains with their shooting just because their non-commissioned officers cannot stand over them, but have to shout orders from a distance.

This exercise consists in advancing and retiring in extended order with fire and the use of cover when halted; but to allow for more prolonged shooting practice and closer supervision than are possible when carrying out an attack or retirement as on service, the halts are longer and movements should at first be made in quick time.

Put out your skeleton enemy on a good broad front, so as to allow room for change of targets, and do not have them all in one straight line, so that each target shall call for a change of sighting. Let the sections work independently of each other under their section commanders, who, with the other non-commissioned officers, will have to act both as commanders and instructors. Bring the sections up to about twelve hundred yards from the enemy; get them into a line with intervals between them, i.e., spaces measuring from the flank of one to the flank of the other, sufficient to admit of each section being extended to two or three paces between men without its flank men coming too close to those of other sections, e.g., with two sections of eight file, i.e., sixteen men each; you must leave room for half of each to extend to two paces towards the other, and keep a fair interval; that is, from the centre of each of the above sections of eight men in each rank you want 8 ÷ 2 (half the number in the front rank) × 2 (two ranks) × 2 (two paces extension) = 16 paces for the line extended and an interval of, say, 30 yards, which gives 46 yards between each section centre to centre. Now, let the section commanders order the men to extend, lie down, take cover and open fire. The unit commander, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the section, is to name the target and distance and also the rate of fire, rapid or slow, at all distances over six hundred yards from the enemy (I.T., 116 (5)), unless it is desired on occasion to train men to do this for themselves. After fire has been delivered, direct section commanders to proceed with the exercise, giving orders for advancing, halting and firing, the advance to be made from cover to cover as in Exercise No. I, but in quick time. Yourself supervise in chief, and tell section commanders when you want to give orders as to the firing or movement, and let them give the executive commands, after which you and they should pass along the lines and scrutinise each man’s actions in carrying out the orders, questioning them, and repealing hints you may have given when telling them the object and methods of the practice, if they appear not to be giving them effect. The value of the practice depends on the orders you give as to the firing and the following are suggested:—

(a) Switching the fire of all the rifles on to different parts of the enemy’s position, sometimes straight in front, but quite as often at his extreme flanks. This is to introduce the use of enfilade fire (I.T., 116 (11)) and the habit of giving support by fire to other units (F.S.R., 105 (4)), by concentrating the fire on to particular targets.

(b) Distributing the fire laterally along the whole or a part of the enemy’s front (I.T., 116 (10)). This may be done by giving the section a particular extent of the enemy’s front, e.g., “from the dry tree to the gate in the hedge.” The section commander then allots those of the enemy, who can be viewed within his bit of front to individual men, or preferably files of men, who are to treat them as their especial charge and keep on firing at them till otherwise ordered, or till the enemy shifts. Of course, if there is not enough of the skeleton enemy to give each file in the section a live antagonist (and there won’t be on your parades), the commander must indicate bits of cover which individual men of the enemy might be expected to use and tell his men to fire at these spots. This is a most important practice, and needs a good deal of attention and application before the men get really quick at it. It means, of course, that on service you will make it your business to allow as few of the enemy’s riflemen as possible to be free of the distraction of having some bullets landing about them, to upset their nerves and aim. Unless some plan is adopted to do this all along his line, it is all too probable your men will be exposed to some accurate fire from rifles held in steady hands, and even one rifle so held has, to my knowledge, caused a loss of eleven men in as many minutes. This lateral distribution is rather difficult, but it is easy, compared with the concomitant task of spotting where the men of the enemy are hidden, if they really try to hide, at anything but the shortest fighting ranges. The only remedy for this is for each private to carry field glasses of sorts; you will not get them from Government, but if any of your men are keen enough to go in for spotting a hidden enemy for themselves with glasses and would bring their own to parade, forbid them not, but encourage it. I have been told that in some of the yeomanry corps in the South African war nearly every trooper raised somehow and somewhere a pair of glasses—some were mother o’ pearl and silver-mounted, but did the spotting all right in spite of that.

(c) Passing orders and changing targets. Under heavy fire non-commissioned officers will not be able to move along the line, and orders must be passed either by word of mouth or by written messages passed from hand to hand; the former is apt to be slow, and the orders garbled en route unless practised beforehand; the latter is not very practical as men in action are too busy to read bits of paper or trouble themselves to see that they are passed on (I.T., 119 (4)). To practise the verbal method while the men are engaged in firing at any particular target, give orders to one man in a low tone (you would have to speak loud if ball cartridge were being used) to fire at some other target, and to pass the word. The man then tells his neighbours on each side, and yourself and a non-commissioned officer then follow the order each way, and when a man varies it admonish him to repeat just what he got from the last speaker, no more and no less. In a little time the men will become exact in taking and passing messages. This method should be confined to directions about firing; orders for movement should invariably be given by commanders by word themselves or signal, and men should not be allowed to repeat these, as it may lead to grave mistakes on service, as a signal may be seen and acted on by someone for whom it was not intended.

(d) Besides firing at the skeleton enemy or bits of cover, let fire be directed at civilians who are moving about in the field of view. Call on some individual man by name to choose some such target, and tell him he has to pass the word to the rest of his squad what target he has chosen and to fire at it. This gives practice in target definition, i.e., describing its position so that other men can know just where to look for it. It is not easy in a landscape devoid of noticeable objects to do this quickly, but it is important, as the difficulty of locating a well-concealed enemy with smokeless powder requires that every pair of eyes in the ranks should be engaged in the search till all the positions of the enemy’s riflemen are seen, and the information given to everyone in the firing line. Until this is done, the affair is one of trying to neutralise aimed by unaimed fire, a pretty hopeless task. Hence train your men to use their eyes for seeing and their tongues for description.

(e) Accustoming the men to judge distance, and use their backsights without orders. Judging distance for the men as a formal practice is confined to ranges under 800 yards, but it does no harm to let them judge greater ranges. Let the unit commanders define targets to be fired at, omitting to state the range, and let the men judge it for themselves and fire. Walk up the line and see that no man forgets to adjust his backsight for the distance he estimates. If possible, have the correct ranges taken previously with a range finder, and let the men know what they are after they have aimed. Each change of target gives the men a useful lesson in judging distance.

(f) Having put the men through all sorts of paces in the way of firing while advancing and retiring, in quick time do the same thing again, but with the movements in double time, and, in addition, carry out the increases and decreases of the extension, inclines and changes of direction given in I.T., 93, throughout insisting on the same steadiness in firing as when in quick time. All this will at first probably get the men “rattled,” and the benefit of it is that after some of it they will get over being “rattled,” and will not let hurried orders or speed of movement interfere with deliberation and steadiness in shooting.

EXERCISE IV.
The Assault.

Exercise III. can suitably be wound up by a practice in delivering an assault, as this does not take long, and the moral may be pointed that all fire training is only a preparation for a successful assault. The fixing of bayonets before assault commonly leads to a complete cessation of fire in the firing line. This is quite wrong, as such complete cessation of fire by the firing line must largely surrender for the time being that superiority of fire which facilitates the delivery of the assault (I.T., 121 (7)), for it gives the enemy a chance to take aim again. Supporting fire by artillery or infantry not in the firing line cannot be relied on when the firing line has reached assaulting distance. Therefore, do not have a simultaneous fixing of bayonets, but let one-half fix while the other fires, and the best arrangement is evidently one that ensures a fire being kept up along the whole front and not in patches. The system I have found most satisfactory is to fix bayonets by ranks, the front rank fixing while the rear rank continues firing, and then the rear rank fixing while the front rank fires. It may be done by odd and even files, or other ways, but, the company being organised in files, the same men are usually in the front and rear rank, and there is no difficulty in their remembering which they are. The important thing is to adhere to one system once it is adopted, and have it well understood by all. It does not matter much if a few men fix bayonets out of turn, so long as the fire is merely diminished and not stopped during the time bayonets are being fixed. In the charge, the men should work by their files, i.e., the two men of each file should act together and run at the same objective. The meaning of this is that in actual conflict two men would go together for the same individual enemy, and between the two of them they would be pretty sure to bring him to an untimely end, if the enemy really waited for the steel, and with less chance of his doing damage than if the combat took place man-to-man; thereafter they could turn their attentions to some other person.

For the practice choose and indicate any position for assault; work sections up to about two hundred yards from it, and then order rapid fire and bayonets to be fixed. As soon as all are ready, order the charge to be sounded. (I.T., 124). When the men hear the bugle they must at once jump from their cover and go straight and hard at the position; there must be no waiting by individuals to fire a last shot or two. The rush should be made suddenly and swiftly, so that the enemy has no time to see what is happening before the men are well on their way at him. When the position is reached, pass right through it and well beyond it, to escape hostile gunfire (I.T., 124 (5)), and then order the “Halt,” when the men may lie down under cover and open a pursuing fire. Walk along the line and see, with the help of non-commissioned officers, whether men of each file are together; if so, it will be proof that they have obeyed the directions to keep together during the charge. Allow a minute or two of the pursuing fire, then let section or platoon commanders sound their whistles, close and reform their sections under cover. On the whistle-sound (a succession of short blasts), men rise and double to where the commander is, resume their places, and lie down. This re-organisation is very important for you as company commander, for by it you get your men formed up quickly into platoons and ready to be closed into company or to take fresh orders in the minimum of time. The usual thing seen is that after the assault the ground is covered with a mixture of men of all companies staring about, and apparently thinking the show at an end, whereas on service this is the very time you may expect either a counter-attack by infantry or a burst of artillery fire directed on the lost position.

To repeat the orders of the assault: “Rapid Fire; Fix Bayonets; Charge; Halt and Take Cover; Commence Fire; Rally and Close Under Cover,” and be ready for further happenings.

EXERCISE V.
The Section and Platoon in the Attack.

Having trained the individual men in the work needed of them, the next step is to make use of that individual skill to the best effect in combination under orders of a commander. The section is the lowest unit recognised for training (I.T., 107), and it also is the normal unit used in firing (I.T., 6 (4)). When the company is advancing in the attack, or retiring, its sections and platoons will often be widely separated from each other, and the company commander cannot look after each one in detail, so that the platoon commanders, and under them the section commanders, must be fully competent to lead their men without supervision, in accordance with the general intention given them before the company opened out. So the training of men in combination must be accompanied by the training of your section and platoon commanders.

The duties of fire unit commanders are laid down in I.T., 116 (5), and those of section commanders in I.T., 116 and 123 (10). Before you proceed with this exercise have up these non-commissioned officers and devote ten minutes to an exposition of what is contained in the above paragraphs. Dilate on them, and show how neglect of those duties hampers the company commanders. At the same time, desire them to maintain among the men during sectional exercises the standard of individual training which was obtained in the preliminary exercises. Unless they do so the men will soon cease to apply what they then learnt, and so forget it in battle until the occurrence of casualties impresses its value afresh in their minds. Also give them the gist of what follows as to the advance and description of fire phases.

The exercise gives commanders the opportunity of doing what they will have to do when the company is attacking or retiring, but without their having to keep an eye on the movements of the other platoons. The men should now be extended at full intervals as on service, five or six yards apart, this being held to be the most that is needed. Put out the skeleton enemy in groups, one group as objective of attack for each section or platoon on parade, and the groups sufficiently apart to prevent them interfering with each other when extended as above, for they are to act independently. Take up the advance as if at fourteen hundred from the enemy, when his rifle fire on open ground would compel you to change from small columns of sections or platoons into the line of extended men (I.T., 118 (5)). The advance up to assaulting distance, from fourteen hundred yards, consists (I.T., 121 (7)), in the first place, of an advance to fire positions. Now Musketry Regulations lay down that fire by less than two platoons is of little effect over one thousand yards, so do not encourage commanders to open fire till one thousand yards at least, and use the space fourteen hundred to one thousand yards for instruction in getting their sections or platoons forward as quickly, and with as little exposure, as possible. Secondly, the advance consists of a fire fight combined with further advances up to the assaulting position. In this fire fight controlled collective fire is better than individual fire (I.T., 116 (7) (iii)), so up to six hundred yards let firing take place, only on the specific orders of commanders, who accordingly are to name the targets and ranges. In this phase therefore make them choose forward fire positions and work their units forward, using controlled collective fire at the same time.

Under six hundred yards it is apparently held best to accept the inevitable and allow individual fire, the unit commanders being still responsible for getting their men forward up to the position of assault—about two hundred yards from the enemy. Still at this close range unit commanders should do what they can to direct the fire, and especially they should see that men fire slowly and carefully. In general the rate of firing or snapping is far too fast, and pouches would be empty long before the assaulting position would be reached.

Owing to the great importance of training the sections, it is advisable to let them do this exercise, through both the phases below, separately from each other, and not in platoon. When they know all about it, let them work in platoon.

Having drawn up your sections in line at fourteen hundred yards, order the section commanders to extend and move on, and signal the skeleton enemy to open fire.

First Phase: Fourteen to One Thousand Yards, Gaining Ground Without Firing.

Practise the section commanders in all ways of getting their sections forward without undue exposure or delay, by rushes of the whole section, man-by-man from one and both flanks and by files, together, and any other way that suggests itself. Stand over the section commanders in turn and tell them to advance the section by one method and then by another, and ask them which seems most suitable for various conditions of fire and ground (I.T., 118 (4)). The advance should be steady and determined. Before starting the advance from one position to another, section commanders are to decide and must tell the men to what point they mean the next advance to be made (I.T., 108 (2)), in the same way as individual men were taught to mark their next halting places.

Attention must be paid to the way in which advances are inaugurated. Rushes must be sudden and simultaneous (I.T., 92 (5)). The men have been trained to leave their cover quickly. The unit commander must give his directions for the next move without getting up (if himself lying) and tell the men to be prepared; when all are ready, he and the men must jump up together and rush at once on the word or signal. The object of this, of course, is to avoid a concentrated fire being directed on the unit commander, and, perhaps, the two or three men nearest him, if they get up before the others, which would make it likely that some of them would be hit immediately, while the rest of the unit looked for a new leader, and so no advance take place; whereas if everyone gets on the move together a casualty or two will not bring the whole to a standstill. Of course, commanders should lead the way, but they must get in front by sprinting the first few yards.

Second Phase: One thousand to Six Hundred Yards (Collective Fire) and Six Hundred to Two Hundred Yards (Individual Fire).

As soon as a section begins to fire, it becomes possible for it to practise the lessons in the use of fire which were learnt in Exercise III., such as concentration and distribution of fire. From one position the commander must choose his next fire position, and work his section up to it in whatever way is most suitable. On flat and open ground this position may simply be the halting place of the next rush, thirty or forty paces to the front, but it is more instructive and practical to have positions far enough from each other, say one hundred and fifty or two hundred yards, to necessitate the advancing section making several successive rushes and using various devices to gain ground without attracting the enemy’s attention. Practise sections in all ways of advancing from one position to another, as was done before firing began, and encourage the use of covered ways. This exercise, if properly done, represents what the section would have to do in battle. For the purpose of instruction, the unit commanders should be allowed to move about as instructors, but when all ranks have been through the exercise and know what is needed, you should practise it under service conditions, and tell unit commanders to behave as if under fire; this is important, as it lets all see how much will be asked of the individual man under fire, and how difficult it is to exercise any wide control.

For the same reason you must in this exercise begin the practice of ordering casualties of leaders, and carry it on through the whole of the rest of the training. Order section commanders to be casualties, and let the next senior man carry on, then order that man to become a casualty, and let the next one take command. Collect these casualties with you and let them go round with you, and have for a time the onlooker’s view of the game. Do not stint in ordering them, but let every man be ready to take up command. This readiness to assume command and to carry on the advance in spite of the absence of leaders is most valuable in battle and on parade for training, keeps men’s attention fixed on the business, and helps to counteract disorder when companies and sections get mixed up in reinforcement in battalion attack.

Under six hundred yards let the men use individual fire, choosing their own targets; at this time try to get them into the way of looking for the targets which most require to be shot at at the moment—they must be always looking along the enemy’s line, and must not acquire the paralysing habit of only seeing straight in front of themselves.

Call on unit commanders to keep in view the question of expenditure of ammunition. It is no good ordering men to snap-fire 200 times in the course of an advance when they would only have 100 rounds in their pouches on service, and no means of getting more; when blank is being used they should see that the ammunition of casualties is collected and redistributed.

At some time in the course of this exercise the section must be practised in improving cover as if under fire, i.e., working lying down. The nature of the work depends on what tools you have, but it should be attempted if possible. Order the section to do it when halted together in some fire position. At first they will shape badly and expose themselves a lot, but if you have time for practice they get into the way of digging in very quickly. If there are stones pile up “schanzes.” Attention should be paid to concealment of the cover, so as not to make it a target for the whole countryside, and it must give cover from fire or view, or both; one often sees men making molehills which show up their position without being capable of stopping a bullet. Better not make them at all than that way.

Wind up the advance occasionally by an assault, as it is a mistake to let the idea take hold that the fire fight is the end of all things. This, I think, is the reason that the word “skirmishing” has disappeared from the book of training, as it connoted an indecisive action, whereas the whole spirit of the present training is that it shall be directed to the delivery of an assault and the ousting of the enemy from his position. Scouts are the only people who may have to skirmish in the former accepted meaning of the word, and they only do so until the firing line joins them, or they withdraw after reconnoitring.

In Platoon.

Next work the sections together in their platoons on similar lines. Practise again all ways of gaining ground; by rushes of the whole platoon, or if one or more sections, man by man, and so on, as taught to the section. Fire should be directed by the platoon commander, and controlled by the section commander. Teach the lateral distribution of fire along a given front among the four sections of the platoon. Teach also the principle of covering fire, one section being sent to make its way with every use of cover to a forward fire position, while the remainder continue firing. The first section, on arrival at the new fire position, opens fire, and the others follow in due course, one section only being dumb while the movement is in progress. If there is a choice of good lines of advance it is better that sections should not follow each other on one line, as the enemy may have noticed the move and be waiting for them.

EXERCISE VI.
The Section and Platoon in Retirement.

For the general principles of retirements see I.T., 137. The platoon, when working with the company, will take its turn at being the rearmost portion of the troops, and will have the difficult task of getting away while in touch with the enemy, but its retirement will be covered by the fire of other portions of the company. On the other hand, if a platoon or section finds itself beyond support from other troops, as might happen often enough, it will have to act itself as a rearguard and retire by alternate parts.

In both cases great advantage is gained if the position held can be vacated so stealthily that the enemy shall not be aware of its having been vacated till the defenders are well on their way to the rear. For this reason it will be worth while to accustom the men to employ, when practicable, a procedure used in mountain warfare, withdrawing the bulk of men first and leaving only a few quick-footed men to keep up appearances and fire as long as possible and then retiring them at speed. Also all men must be taught to grovel backwards on their stomachs from the crest of their fire position till sufficiently under cover, if there is cover, to stand up without being seen, after which they rise and make off.

Send out the skeleton enemy with instructions to follow up the retirement slowly, and not to close in on the sections, as it is easy and tempting to do this when there are no bullets in the rifles.

(a) As a Section or Platoon Acting with the Company.

Do the practice first by sections and then in platoon. Draw up the unit on a fire position about eight hundred yards from the enemy, the men in extended order, lying down, and open fire on the enemy. Tell the commander to choose his next halting place and retire his unit on it, which he should do on the lines before indicated. The halting places should be chosen as far apart as two to four hundred yards; short retirements merely prolong the time exposure to fire and should not be used unless the enemy are very close or the fire very heavy. Once the men are clear of the position, they should move as fast as they can, trusting to escape casualties, by speed, the alteration of range, and the fire of the few men left on the position. As a rule, carry out all retirements at the double, so that the men shall not be confused by the hasty movement. As soon as the first party has reached the new position, the fringe of men left on the old one should creep back and go as hard as they can to rejoin their section or platoon, and they should be taught to judge the time of going for themselves, so as not to “let in” the section or themselves, by going too early or staying too late. Repeat the movement to one or two further positions. It is a strenuous practice and makes demands on the men’s limbs, wind, and willingness, but the rearguard is the post of honour and danger. Order casualties of leaders from time to time, and let the men be called to move in quick time sometimes, which they would have to do if there were signs of unsteadiness.

(b) As a Section or Platoon Acting Alone.

Act on the same lines as before, but let the commander run the show, which he should be able to do, after having done it under supervision. One party (a file or two in the case of a section, or one or two sections in that of a platoon) gets back to a fire position and opens fire to cover the retirement of the other. In general, it is better that both parties should not fall back on one and the same fire position; on the contrary, if they act on a wide front in ordinary country—say, three hundred yards apart—their fire is equally effective, but the enemy is broken up, and the danger of their being outflanked or surrounded is less. For the same reason it is good practice, if the platoon is strong, to send out groups of four or five men still further on the flanks, and a group to precede the whole on the line of retirement by six hundred yards or so, in order to occupy positions and deny them to the enemy, and after one or two turns of this exercise tell the skeleton enemy to follow on harder and try to work round the flanks. In this part also continue to order casualties of leaders.

EXERCISE VII.
The Section and Platoon in Independent Attack.

It is very important to secure the intelligent co-operation of section and platoon commanders in the operations in which their company or battalion is taking part. I have read that in the Russo-Japanese War the result of one of the battles—I think at Penlin, 31st July—turned on the action of an infantry section who gained a footing on the extreme flank of the Russian line, and drove off the defenders in the immediate vicinity, opened a way for the advance of the greater numbers, and led to the outflanking and retreat of the whole Russian force. If you give your unit commanders some chances of carrying out attacks, acting as if unsupported by other troops, they will find themselves faced with the same problems which confront commanders of larger bodies in the attack, and they will be more likely, when acting in combination, to look beyond just the limits of their own commands; they will be led to comprehend the object of operations and the difficulties in the way, and will become quick to seize any opportunity to further the general plan without waiting for orders. It is true that so small a body as a section would seldom be formally told to attack an objective single-handed, but there are often occasions on service when a platoon might have to carry out an attack on a small scale, as when a few of the enemy’s riflemen are making themselves unpleasant, while not in sufficient force to do more than “snipe,” or to require the diversion against them of a whole company. Though a section as now constituted is a very small unit to work with, I think no excuse is needed for performing the attack with the smallest unit, having in view the excellent training it forms for non-commissioned officers and men. However, for this practice, it is advisable to form sections somewhat above the usual strength, by joining two together, so as to give at least eighteen rifles in the whole. After having put the sections through the exercise, you will, of course, let the platoon commanders carry out the attack with their platoons.

Put out a skeleton enemy of three or four men for each platoon or section, or one only for all to attack in turn, and post this enemy in some commanding place, with a good field of view and fire so that if possible the unit shall have twelve to eight hundred yards to manœuvre over before coming to close quarters. As an example, give out the supposition that this enemy are a cavalry patrol of the enemy, who have dismounted and are using their rifles on the company as it is on the move from somewhere to somewhere else. The section or platoon is ordered to drive them off, neutralise their fire, or hold them in check, in case they should be the forerunners of a greater number. The enemy should begin to fire on a signal from you (with your flag), which you should give as you tell off the commander for the duty. If the other units are to attack the same enemy in turn, you should halt them under cover or turn them to the rear, so as not to see too much of the method the first lot choose to carry out their job.

The method of the attack will depend on the nature of the ground—what suits one case may not suit another, and there may be two or three courses open in attacking any one position. The commander should accordingly look well at the ground before deciding how he will carry out the attack, but there are certain principles common to attacks, great or small, which he should put into practice. He should secure himself from interruption on his flanks and rear, and he should provide a supporting fire to distract the enemy and cover the advance of his main force. He cannot make large detachments or indulge in wide patrolling, nor would such small bodies as platoons be sent off to attack if such were advisable; but, at least he can post a file or two on some high ground, or, failing that, on one flank out of decisive range of the enemy, i.e., about eight hundred yards from him, with orders to keep up a steady fire until his advance masks their fire. This will prevent, or at least give warning of, an attempt to cut in on the rear. He may also send a file perhaps two or three hundred yards to either flank, to move parallel with his advance and prevent his being enfiladed at short range, if the enemy should be tactless enough to avail himself of a chance of meeting the advance by a counter-attack. Until he sees pretty well what he has in front of him, he should divide his party into two, sending one to engage the enemy and keeping the other as a reserve to support the first by fire if they get into difficulties, and to be available to carry on the attack after the other has got the enemy well busy, either by reinforcing it directly, or, better still, by continuing the advance along a fresh line leading to some position from which the enemy can be finally turned out, either by fire or by a charge, the first half joining in and advancing as soon as the enemy has turned his attention to the new attack. Both parties should keep scouts or a patrol of some sort out in front of them until the foreground is proved not to contain any hidden body of the enemy, or until the opening of fire by their own side makes it necessary for the scouts to merge into the firing line. I have seen on service a half-company go off to take post as a piquet on a long ridge; it neglected the above precautions, beyond having some scouts in front. There were four or five of the enemy on the ridge, and they waited till the scouts were close, shot some down and drove the others to cover, and then turned their fire on to the half-company, who were also driven to ground, and, as there was little cover, they were tied up till set free by some more infantry, who had to be specially sent off to move along the ridge. Had the half-company moved in two portions, the first would have contained this weak enemy, and the rear party could easily have circled round and got on to the ridge farther along, which would at once have caused the enemy to clear out. See F.S.R., I., I, as to the results of the violation of the principles of leading troops, and as therein directed, impress the principles taught on the minds of your non-commissioned officers, who are commanders, albeit only of platoons and sections.

EXERCISE VIII.
The Platoon as an Advanced Guard and as a Flank Guard.

(a) When the company is on the march, it should always be preceded by an advanced guard—either a party of scouts, or, more usually, by one of the platoons. After the advanced guard comes in contact with the enemy its further action becomes either an attack to drive off the enemy, or a defence to delay his advancing, according to his strength and tactics; so I propose here merely to indicate suitable formations of march in ordinary, i.e., non-mountainous country, so that the platoons may be practised in taking them up without delay on being told off for the duty. The exercise takes little time, and can be done on the same parade as the flank guard exercise.

An advanced guard may come under Are at any moment, and to provide against surprise (F.S.R., 64), its leading portions may move in extended order. The duties are given in F.S.R., 68, and apply quite completely to so small a body as a platoon. The platoon should be divided into a vanguard and a main guard. For the vanguard, a common plan is simply to extend a section on either side of the road, but I prefer to divide the section into three patrols, or more if strength permits, who work along in a general line—one to search the road and its immediate vicinity, and one on each side. The nature of the country regulates the breadth of ground the centre patrol can search from the road, and the distance to which the others are sent out on each side. The other sections follow as main guard, not so close as to be at once mixed up with the vanguard if fire is opened on the latter, nor so far as to be unable to support it quickly with fire. The advanced guard is responsible for keeping touch with the main body (the company) (F.S.R., 64 (4)), but the company commander should satisfy himself that this is being done. If view is restricted, the main guard must drop a connecting file to keep connection. This file must march with their beards on their shoulders, to see what the company is doing, and let the commander know, and also to signal to the company, if the platoon has had to halt. If the country is open, the commander should still tell off a file for this duty, who will march with the platoon, but be continually on the look-out to the rear. The platoon commander ought, of course, to keep a watch himself, but may have other things to attend to, and it is well to take precautions against the platoon either getting too far in front or letting the company get too close to it, by marching on while the platoon is investigating some suspicious locality.

(b) The Platoon as a Flank Guard.

A platoon may sometimes be used as a flank guard, as when a small convoy is on the march with only a company or two as escort. Flank guards are dismissed in a few words in F.S.R., 70. It is worth while to practise them once or twice to avoid delay in taking up the formation when the march is being started, or in improvising a method of fighting off the enemy if he attacks.

Represent the convoy or whatever it is by a man with a red flag to move along the road; the platoon is then to move along parallel to the road, and far enough off to afford protection from effective rifle fire, i.e., at least eight hundred yards in open country. The skeleton enemy should be instructed to keep about the same distance again on the flank beyond the platoon, and to move along parallel with it without closing in, opening fire on an agreed signal.

The march formation should be on the same principles as those for the advanced guard. The platoon should move in two bodies, and patrols or scouts should precede it, both in the direction of the march and towards the flank which is being guarded. It is important to keep touch with the main body by connecting files at all times, otherwise if the road changes direction out of view of the flank guard it may separate them too far or bring them too close to the company.

The method of fighting merely to hold off the enemy resembles that used by a rear guard for the same purpose, i.e., fire and movement by alternate portions. When the enemy opens fire on your signal, the patrol on the flank either falls back, or the platoon reinforces it. The patrol in the line of advance should still continue to precede the movements of the platoon in that direction, and should be told to conform to its movement. The platoon replies to the enemy’s fire as soon as possible and begins the lateral fight—one half is sent, if possible under cover, to take up a fire position farther along the direction of the line of march, preceded by the patrol, which, to some extent, secures it from surprise from that direction. As soon as the leading party has found a fire position and opens its fire, the other follows it, and either halts alongside it, so allowing it to go off to a new position, or continues its movement beyond it and takes up a third position to cover the further movements. The latter method is the quicker, as it saves the time of replacing men of the first party in their fire position by those of the second. The exercise need not be prolonged, as a few of these lateral movements are quite sufficient illustration to enable the men in future to take up their duty quickly.

EXERCISE IX.
Preliminary for the Attack by the Company in Battalion.

A company attacking as part of the battalion is sure to find the men of different platoons mixed up in the course of the attack with those of other platoons, both of that company and of others. Before practising the attack, accompanied with this mixture of platoons, it is advisable to train them and their non-commissioned officers for their duties without allowing any mixing up. This may be done by bringing all the platoons of the company up into one line, and then extending each on its own ground. The result is that each platoon may be taken to represent the leading platoon of four companies told off to furnish the firing line and supports (I.T., 122). The four platoons form thus the firing line, the other three supposititious platoons of each company being in support. This formation would be taken up when the enemy’s rifle fire began to be effective, i.e., at or under fourteen hundred yards. Within this distance the firing line has to press on through the zones in which it uses collective and individual fire up to assaulting distance, being reinforced as needed, firstly by the supports, and finally at the time of the assault by all or part of the local reserve, which, in this case, would be composed of the four companies of the battalion not detailed to furnish the firing line and supports.

Put out a skeleton enemy with orders to remain in one position, and fire slowly, but continuously. Draw up the four platoons, or as many as are present of the company at fourteen hundred yards or so from the enemy, in one line and at sufficient intervals to allow of their extending to five paces, plus some space between flanks of sections after extension, to allow plenty of choice of lines of advance. Indicate to each platoon a part of the enemy’s position which it is to regard as its final objective of assault (I.T., 121 (3)). Have the men extended to five paces, and carry out the attack right through on the lines of Exercise V., and finish with an assault and rally after it. Each company would have an officer with its platoon in the firing line to direct the fire. If fire is opened between fourteen hundred and one thousand yards, it will not be effective against ordinary targets unless the whole four platoons direct their fire on the same target. Under one thousand yards fire should be controlled by section commanders and directed by platoon commanders.

Practise concentration of the fire of the four platoons on one part of the enemy’s line and lateral distribution of fire within the limits of that part. Give each platoon a fraction of this fraction of the enemy’s frontage to deal with, and let the platoon commander again tell off his sections to fire at various marks inside his limits. Again switch the fire of all four platoons on to some other particular bit of the enemy’s position, as done in previous exercises.

To do this you must introduce and work with thoroughness a system of inter-communication (I.T., 119), but it should be one approved and adopted by your battalion commander, otherwise each company of the battalion may be found using a different one. It is to be understood that orders as to the direction of fire in no way interfere with the gaining of ground to the front, a platoon firing at one object ceases fire in order to advance, but resumes its fire on the same object when it again halts.

As soon as section fire is opened, encourage mutual support, some part of the line firing while others advance, and make section commanders continue to observe this principle.

At some one parade for this exercise halt the whole line during the attack and practise entrenching under fire, the men working lying down (I.T., 121 (13)). Thereafter resume the advance.

Move about yourself and let your section commanders do so also, and check any slovenly work on the part of the men in using, quitting, or getting into cover, and in the use of their rifles and judging distance if, as should often be done, it is left to them to estimate how far they are from the target of the moment.

EXERCISE X.
The Company in Attack with the Battalion under Artillery Fire.

When the battalion is moving forward to attack, and before the enemy’s rifle fire is more than a distant and future danger, that of his artillery becomes an imminent and formidable menace as soon as the limits of its range are crossed, because of the suddenness with which it is capable of dealing destruction. Whether his artillery actually opens on the battalion is another matter. If the battalion shows up as a tempting target in column of route or mass, he most certainly will fire on it, but if it is skilfully led it may possibly escape his notice altogether; at the same time, it is hardly likely that it can move from five thousand to fourteen hundred yards from the enemy’s infantry without giving some indications of its movement, and the probability is, that at some part of the advance it will find itself the recipient of the enemy’s attention. To escape the effect of this fire, the battalion and the company will have to break up into small shallow columns such as platoons or sections at least 50 yards from each other laterally (I.T., 118) and two hundred yards from front to rear; in fact, a lot of little groups of men sufficiently apart to prevent the burst of one shell covering more than one group. The advance in this order constitutes the first phase of the infantry attack. The company must be practised in getting into this formation, and moving in it so as to avoid confusion in action, and also to let non-commissioned officers and men understand that this formation does not free them from the control of their commander.

At manœuvres and exercises the adoption of this formation is sometimes burked on various pretexts, of which the most heinous is to say that the results of artillery fire are overrated, and the risk run in keeping in closed formation is more than compensated for by the comfort of the men, maintenance of control and saving of time. This theory I fancy had its origin in the South African War, where the Boer artillery was skilful but exiguous, if judged by European standards. I have not been under shell fire myself, but I have seen the results of it on a column of about two hundred men who came along a watercourse two thousand yards or so from the guns, in something resembling a march formation. The guns had the range, and the enemy left about fifty dead in that watercourse in a few minutes, so personally I am going to open out my company and trust to my peace training of it to keep it in hand and get it along fast enough to be on the spot when wanted.

I need hardly give details how to practise this. The point is, to get the company opened out quickly and without confusion, and this is to be done by telling your platoon commanders what you want and where they are to go, and not by any drill. Platoons may further split up into columns of sections. Leave it to your platoon commanders to have the sections moved apart to intervals of fifty yards. If the enemy’s artillery is straight in front, a diamond formation seems suitable—a platoon at each angle—the length of the diagonal front to rear being over two hundred yards and side to side over one hundred; or the platoons may simply follow each other at two hundred yards distance, though this is not a very handy arrangement. But, subject to keeping the distances large enough, it is not the formation that matters, but the way it is taken up, and I will leave it at that.

At the end of this phase of endurance of the enemy’s artillery fire the company comes under rifle fire and has to take to extended order, and on service it would perhaps have to do this and plunge into the attack without the platoons closing in from the scattered formation in which they have so far moved. But for the first few times you should close up at fourteen hundred yards and start from there, so as to tell the men what is next to be done when they come under rifle fire, and in any case the size of your exercise ground would probably necessitate your doing the two phases over more or less the same bit of ground.

EXERCISE XI.
The Company in Attack with the Battalion, under Rifle Fire.

The immediate objects of the fire fight within effective rifle range are to produce a fire sufficiently heavy to overcome the fire of the defence, and to reach a position from which the assault can be delivered (I.T., 121 (5 and 6)). In theory, then, the desideratum is to get so many men up to about two hundred yards from the enemy that they form a line practically shoulder to shoulder, in order that their fire may be at least as heavy as that of the enemy, if the latter are also in one continuous line, and in default of circumstances admitting of effective covering fire being maintained from positions in rear or on a flank. On this supposition it is frequently argued that a battalion and its companies, when advancing to the attack, should do so on a front not greater than that which the battalion would occupy if it were in single rank, but this does not really follow. The nature of the ground may be such that to attempt to build up a shoulder-to-shoulder firing line all along the enemy’s position within charging distance, may be merely to send men to useless destruction by exposing them on fire-swept spaces, where they are sure to be knocked over before they can do any good. On the other hand, there may be other points where men may be massed so as to give not only a firing line of maximum density, but also a supporting force both to replace casualties and to carry out the assault. These are the points which it is of importance to gain and hold in strength sufficient to carry out the object of the attack—the assault. It is the duty of the battalion commander to give each of his firing line companies some such point as their objective, and to define the frontage and direction of their attack. It is similarly the duty of the commander of a firing line company to give each of his sections an objective within the limits assigned to his company (I.T., 122 (4) and 123 (3-)). The problem for solution is, how to get to those points, and so it does not appear to matter much what frontage the battalion and its companies occupy when they start off for the attack at the fourteen hundred yards limit of effective rifle fire, provided of course, they do not encroach on the frontage of other units. Indeed, an attack which starts on a wide base and concentrates only in its later stages seems much more likely than one which starts from base equal to a single rank frontage to keep the enemy uncertain of its objective, and to be able to bring oblique or enfilade fire to bear on portions of his line. Therefore, when practising the company in attack, do not be bound by cast iron rules as to the breadth of the zone of ground within which you are to bring your company from fourteen hundred yards up to the charging position. Four platoons following one straight behind the other, at two hundred yards distance, make a very unwieldy procession, and, in general, I would advise you to use something in the nature of a diamond formation at first, the three platoons in rear making their own way forward till they reinforce the leading portion which finally consists of the whole company.

Put out the skeleton enemy on a front of, roughly, what your company will occupy in single rank, and let the position, if possible, have within it two, or at most, three points, which you can assign as objectives to the platoon commanders. You must consider this position as having been assigned to you as objective by your battalion commander, the ground on the right and left of it being the prey of other companies, and not the object of your assault, though it should, nevertheless, frequently be the object of your fire during the advance.

Draw up the company at about fourteen hundred yards from the enemy. Tell the platoon commanders the relative positions the platoons are to take up when the advance begins, roughly the distances between them (I.T., 123 (7)), the direction of the attack, if the enemy’s position is not quite clearly to be seen, the frontage on which the company is free to manœuvre, and the points which the sections are to regard as their objectives; the details contained in I.T., 123 and 124, may also be enumerated if the commanders are not experienced. As regards these details, I recommend that scouts be formed not in a line of men extended at wide intervals, but as a line of patrols of four or six men each, and you or a subaltern should halt them early in the attack and tell them to send back word that they are held up by fire, or that they have defined the enemy’s position; on this the nearest platoon reinforces them, and the process of building up the firing line begins from that point. As regards inter-communication, use connecting files and semaphore signalling to join up the various parts and make real use of them, but avoid sham messages.

As soon as the object and manner of the attack have been detailed to all, tell the platoon commanders to move off their platoons to their positions and extend them ready to advance, and the scouts to get off in front. Five paces is the least extension to ensure that a bullet aimed at one man may miss him with a fair chance of not hitting his neighbour. Do not let the scouts go too far away, because at this time of getting to grips with the enemy, their usefulness, when acting with their companies is mainly limited to guarding against ambush at close range, and as ground scouts to prevent the company coming against some unseen obstacle, barbed wire, donga, canal, or what not.

As soon as all are in position, the company may be considered as being in the formation in which it would have arrived at the point where, in addition to the enemy’s artillery fire, it comes under heavy and fairly accurate rifle fire. Give the signal to advance, and let the platoon commanders begin to work their platoons forward, using what covered ways they can find. After a little of this, have the scouts halted and reinforce them by one platoon, order fire to be opened, bearing in mind that one platoon’s fire is probably useless at over one thousand yards from the enemy, but if your company is in the diamond formation the platoons on each flank will probably be able to fire, and with favourable ground, e.g., a knoll, or bluff somewhere on the line of advance, the rear platoon also will be able to fire over the heads of the firing line. There is no danger in this if the men hold their rifles straight, and it would assuredly be done in war. I have myself seen it, and the chances of an accident are minimised by practice in peace. During this early opening of fire use every effort to keep the fire from being merely a make-believe, i.e., send word round by your connecting files or semaphore to fire at certain targets, and see that section commanders direct their fire accordingly. In battle the information as to which part of the enemy’s position seemed most to demand attention would, of course, reach you from those of your side who were suffering fire coming from that part of the position, and the result of your passing the word to fire at it as above would be that a shower of bullets would come dropping all round it, to the upsetting of the aim of the hostile marksmen. Under cover of this fire your firing line may be allowed to gain a little ground, platoons moving alternately so as to avoid a cessation of fire. Thereafter continue to gain ground, and gradually reinforce the firing line till all your supports are absorbed and the whole company is in the firing line. When this has taken place the line will consist of a mixture of men of different sections and platoons. Avoid unreal movements in attempting to keep the men of each unit together in reinforcing and recognise that admixture is unavoidable. (I.T., 93 (11) and 123 (9)). The organising of the resultant disorder is one of the essential objects of training for the attack. Make your section commanders call on the men to right and left of them, if they are nearer them than any other unit commander, to act under their orders. Thus: “Private A to Private J under my orders.” Have this done constantly till it becomes a matter of course. The men of files can always hang together, but prove that this is being done by asking men where their file mates are. Get this system started as soon as reinforcement is begun, and keep it in full swing throughout. Once it is started, these extemporized fire units must apply the principles learnt by the intact sections and squads in Exercise IX., i.e., supporting fire by part to cover movement of the others, control and distribution of fire, etc., and so work on up to assaulting distance and deliver an assault. After this, let section and platoon commanders reform their men and units as quickly as possible, and then reform the company under your own orders. At subsequent parades introduce casualties among the section and platoon commanders, and let the senior privates in each of the mixed up fire units step into their places and carry on the attack without halt or confusion.

EXERCISE XII.
The Company in Attack Acting Alone.

On service a company may often have to attack some post of the enemy without having the support of either artillery or infantry, and exercises framed to illustrate these conditions are very useful in developing the initiative of all ranks. In paragraph V. of the preamble I gave an example, and I think, if you will peruse it again, you will see what sort of thing you should arrange for the exercise. At inspections one sometimes sees a company sent off by itself to carry out such an attack, and the method often adopted is to tell off the company into the firing line and supports, and, perhaps, a reserve. The whole then go straight for the object and perform a sort of travesty of what the company does when acting as part of a battalion. By this time I trust you will be quick to perceive that this is just what it ought not to do. As an isolated force it has to do much more than simply to form a firing line and bring off an assault. It must secure its flanks, have a real reserve, employ a flank as well as a frontal attack, provide for its own withdrawal if worsted, be prepared to deal with a counter-attack, and observe all the principles laid down in I.T., 121. Mutatis mutandis, your reserve may consist of only a platoon, your flank guards a file or two of men, your flank attacks a section or platoon with a subaltern accompanying it, and so on, but the precautions must be taken and the principles put into practice, or your attack would run risk of failure. You would do it all on service; therefore, do it all in peace. Carry out such exercises, carefully planned, and with observance of service conditions, and I am quite sure you will see what a great deal there is to be done in this direction before you feel yourself and your company quite competent to undertake a similar task in the field. That first exercise against a skeleton enemy will be the forerunner of many others. Your criticism of the action of your non-commissioned officers must be carefully considered, as there are usually several justifiable ways of doing a thing, and it should always be constructive and not merely destructive (T. & M.R., 2 (2)).

EXERCISE XIII.
The Company in Retirement.

The men have been practised in retirement in pairs in Exercise II., and the sections and platoons have also learned their part in Exercise VI. It remains to train the company for this duty, which it might have to do either as acting as rearguard to the battalion, whether the latter was, or was not, in conjunction with other troops, or as if effecting its withdrawal when isolated. In both cases the procedure and distribution are pretty much alike. In the former case, the company, if it gets into difficulties, may be able to get help from the rest of the force, but in the latter it will not be able to do so, and the commander should be especially careful to have in hand some portion of his company which he can use to extricate any detachment which gets “tied up.” On the other hand, it is very desirable that the main body should not be called on to reinforce the rearguard when the company is not acting alone. So that in both cases you should be prepared to meet eventualities from your own resources. Again, a rearguard is bound to have the majority of its force in action in order to hold back the enemy and present an appearance of force, so that it is not always possible to set apart a portion of so small a body as a company to act solely as reserve, and to remain continuously outside the actual combat. The solution of the difficulty seems to lie in an intelligent application of the principles of rearguard fighting given in F.S.R., 71 to 73, and the early but timeous withdrawal from the fighting line of a portion of the company who move back to a position in rear from which they can cover the withdrawal of the remainder, but are still available to be thrown into the fight, if it is necessary to inaugurate some sort of a counter attack to give portions heavily engaged a chance to break away from close grips. It is important in this exercise to teach non-commissioned officers and men to be ready to adopt quickly any method of withdrawal that may be ordered, because the nature of the ground must determine the way in which a withdrawal can best be effected, and the nature of the ground may vary every few hundred yards. Therefore I merely suggest some ways of practising retirements, and during the course of the exercise you should change from one to another, and also encourage commanders to act on their own initiative, when, as will probably happen, your system of inter-communication fails to act with sufficient speed and accuracy. I.T., 137, gives general rules as to the action of platoons and sections, and the standard set up in Exercises II. and VI. should be adhered to. Send out the skeleton enemy with orders to follow up the retirement, but not to close in under six hundred yards.

(a) Get the whole company deployed into one line of platoons, with intervals between them, occupying a wide front, four to eight hundred yards, the men at five or more paces extension. This may seem too wide a front, but, after all, the intervals between the platoons are only two hundred and forty yards, and an enemy trying to break straight through the line would be under fire at one hundred and twenty yards or less, while a wide front is the best precaution against having your flanks turned and your retreat intercepted.

Send back a platoon from one of the flanks to take up quickly a position in rear clear away from the firing line; three hundred to six hundred yards is not too much; let it open fire, and let the remainder of the firing line work back by retirement of alternate sections, each running back thirty or forty yards, beginning this movement from the flank from which the first platoon went, the platoon on the other flank holding on and only giving ground when the two centre platoons have got well on their way to the line on which the first platoon is halted. This is a slow retirement, but gives a maximum of continuous fire and the flanks are strong.

(b) With the whole company extended in one line, and no intervals between platoons. Retire by short rushes of alternate sections; the rushes must be quite short, twenty yards at most, so that the sections that have retired can fire through the intervals of the rear portion of the line the instant that it begins to retire. This is meant for use after an unsuccessful assault, and only on flat ground.

(c) With the company extended in one line, but with intervals between the platoons. Order the flank platoons to retire and take post to cover the withdrawal of the two centre platoons, who remain in position till the flank platoons are ready to open fire. Watch how the platoon commanders handle their platoons; they should do so artfully, as taught in Exercise VI.

(d) Retire by half-companies, two platoons together, using your subalterns as half-company commanders, and putting the onus of finding suitable covering positions on them, merely telling them to cover each other’s retirement.

(e) With the company all holding one position, leave the scouts or picked men to cover the retirement by rapid fire, and withdraw the remainder at full speed, then cover the retirement of the scouts by the fire of the whole from a position in rear. Watch that the scouts creep back from their cover without letting the enemy know they are going; and of this screen of scouts the flank men ought usually to be the last to go in order to make the enemy believe that the position is still occupied.

EXERCISE XIV.
Outposts.