The training of an infantry company

by E. Kirkpatrick

II.

The Training of Men and Platoons in Outpost Duties.

An outpost company will more often consist of two or more small piquets of one or more platoons with a support, than simply of one large piquet with its support, so that when you come to train the whole company, as above, in taking up a part of an outpost line, the performance of the work will depend largely on the ability of your platoon and section commanders to direct the men in their duties. Unless they are capable of doing this, time will be wasted as you will be occupied with one portion of the line while the rest are doing nothing and awaiting your arrival, for in this class of work the instructor must remain for some time with each piquet while the men are being put through the various duties, and cannot supervise concurrently at all points. Therefore, it is best, before taking the men out for instruction, to give a day or two solely to the instruction of subalterns and non-commissioned officers. When they have got a knowledge of what is required, have the men out, divide them into piquets under subalterns and section commanders, who will put them through the duties, and the work will go on on proper lines, and you will be free to go round and supervise each in turn.

You will have four subalterns, sixteen section commanders, and other non-commissioned officers, a total of twenty rifles or so, but if you are short of non-commissioned officers, have out enough privates to give you sixteen or twenty rifles. Form them up as a piquet and make the supposition that it has just received its orders to break off from the company and go to a certain point in the outpost line and take up its duties there.

Day Piquets.

Indicate some such point as a day piquet position at a reasonable distance from where the piquet is when you give it its orders, and let the senior non-commissioned officer march it there, as on service, the point chosen being, if possible, such a one as would be occupied on service.

(a) This advance to the piquet is the first duty. In spite of the company covering troops being supposed to be somewhere in advance, the piquet on its march should be protected by a small patrol (F.S.R., 64 (1)). In taking up the position, it must not let the enemy see it; that is, neither the men nor their commander should show themselves. Very often the men are kept under cover, but the commander wanders about fixing places for sentries in full view of everyone. He should lie down and peep over the crest or whatever it is while making his plans.

Having arrived at the piquet position, indicate a position on the right and on the left where other piquets are supposed to be and proceed with:—

(b) Duties of outpost sentries.—These are given in I.T., 152. Post as many groups as will use up the whole strength in places which would need watching on service; if there are not enough such places near by, then merely for the purpose of this semi-drill, post two or more groups close together. A group consists of one or two men on duty, and their reliefs, who lie down near them. These groups are relieved every eight or twelve hours. Let it be understood that the position of their own piquet is occupied by the reliefs of these groups and of patrols, and it is a good plan to show the position by a flag. The sentries must see without being seen, know where other groups are, where their own and other piquets are, be told to challenge and halt anyone approaching as in I.T., 152 (3), and what to do if attacked. Let them do this to you personally, as if you were someone not belonging to the troops, and impress on them that they must be careful to teach it to their men so that no stranger may ever be allowed to get close to a group, and to shoot if he does not halt. Neglect of this simple rule has led to many mishaps in all armies. Concealment is not easy, but must be got somehow—by artifice, if the ground is unfavourable. After putting all through “sentry go” close to the groups and teach them:—

(c) Patrolling, for which see I.T., 111 and 156. Patrols are not meant for fighting, but to get information or watch dangerous places. But they may have to fight to avoid capture, and they do no good by walking blindly into an ambush. To bring back information or news that the enemy are coming on, it is evidently essential that whatever happens to the rest of the party, one man at least should always be able to escape, and to avoid ambush the patrol should move in a formation which will prevent a surprise overwhelming the whole party. In short, one portion must scout, and the other be prepared to cover their movement and help them to get away, if possible, but in any case to get away itself and carry news of the enemy. But patrols must be limited in strength, or they will not be able to escape notice, and must make up for their weakness by cunning and stealthiness of movement.

For patrolling by day, tell off the whole strength into patrols of four or six men, one of whom will command in each patrol. Let each take up the formation it would usually adopt; that is, one or two files in advance, followed by the rest at a distance sufficient to prevent the surprise of the whole by one and the same opening of fire. Teach the method advocated for movement across country, i.e., a careful but rapid advance from one cover to another, also how to approach suspicious localities. The leading file halts and looks for any signs of the enemy; meanwhile the rear file comes nearly up to it; the leading file then moves forward while the rear file lies down with rifles loaded and sighted, ready to fire at once to cover the others if the enemy shows himself. If the locality to be searched can be outflanked, the leading files should move round one or both flanks before closing in on it. If it is one that cannot be outflanked, as, for instance, a straight edge of a large wood, they should approach it under cover, creeping up a hedgerow perhaps, and so get inside. If there is no cover they may try some ruse to draw the enemy’s fire before getting too close, halting as if they had seen something, shading the eyes with the hand, pointing and then starting to run back as if alarmed, which might lead the enemy to open fire to prevent their escape. But it is rather hard to get men to do this play-acting unless there is a real force of “Blue” or “Red” enemy against them. The commander of the patrol, when approaching any place, should tell his men what they are to do if it is seen to be held by the enemy, i.e., to lie still and watch, or retire. If the latter, he should fix some place in rear where the patrol could rally after getting out of harm’s way.

Show them how to look over a ridge, wall, or hedge, without attracting notice, taking off their headdress and raising the head slowly, keeping the rest of the body carefully under cover, and also to move unseen, keeping in the shadow of hedges or roadside trees, and covering up any polished metal work of their uniform; to lie up on any place that commands a good view, and look long and carefully all over the country to catch sight of anything. Finally to report what they see, and to do this at once, if there is need, by sending one, or better, if the patrol can spare them, two men back to the piquet with a written report, the rest still remaining in observation. Without having an actual force opposing you, you can only do this exercise with some appearance of reality by giving out verbal situations to the patrol. Thus: “Go and reconnoitre that wood which an enemy may be holding.” On this the patrol would get into formation and move forward. Then, when approaching the wood, “You have seen small parties of the enemy beyond the wood both on its right and left, and they are perhaps in the wood also; try and get into it unseen,” if there is any cover, or, if not, “show what you would do to draw their fire before getting close.” Then “the wood is held by the enemy, withdraw your patrol if you can.” As the patrol attempts to retire “a heavy fire is opened on you as you retire, showing that there is at least a company in the wood, your first duty is to send news of this to your piquet—how and whom would you send, and how would you frame your message?”

(d) Duties on piquet.—Close the platoon and take it to the place where the piquet is to be. A piquet on arrival at its position has at once to strengthen the position against attack, and this without waiting for orders (I.T., 151 (4)). But as we are here only training the non-commissioned officers in their duties we will not ask them actually to dig trenches or make loop-holes and entanglements; indeed, this, as one may term it, executive work, has its proper place in “Defence.” Bearing in mind, then, that we are dealing with a day outpost, ask or show the platoon how to strengthen the position. Bring out a few picks and let them spitlock on the ground the lines of any trenches that might be needed, paying great attention to the siting of the trench so that fire could be brought over all the ground in front. Let them indicate with exactness where and how they would improve and adapt existing cover. Great regard need not be had to the number of men in the piquet, as outposts, if attacked, should make as much show of force as possible, and it does good and not harm if there are alternative loop-holes facing in different directions; also accommodation must be provided for the support. The commander should look for ground outside the outpost line from which enfilade rifle or artillery fire might be brought to bear on him, and mark how he would protect his men from it by traverses, breaking the line of loop-holes into short lengths, keeping under lee of existing cover and so on. The strengthening of the piquet must be done with the aid of common-sense. It will seldom be enough to propose to dig one bit of trench all in one piece and hope the enemy will be good enough to come and knock his head against it. Cover may be made or adapted in several separate groups, if this is needed, so as to make it possible to bring fire to bear on any part of the ground in front. The piquet must be prepared to make as brave a show as possible, therefore the commander, while strengthening the point near which his piquet is to rest, must decide what he will do if attacked. Probably there will be within the limits of his piquet’s frontage one or two other points which might be useful for defence, and he must not expect attack just from one direction. With regard to such alternative positions he should settle when and how he will use them, and whether he can afford time and men to strengthen them, and, last but not least, whether he will be able to get men from one to the other if the enemy does develop a strong attack. If he can do all these he will have added immensely to his power of defence, provided he handles his men skilfully, as he will be able to hold one position till the enemy thinks he has defined its location, then dodge to another, while they will go on firing at the old one, and so make his piquet appear many times stronger than it is. Concealment of the defence is very important, and the non-commissioned officers should be reminded that this must be attended to. They may forget it as there is no actual digging.

(e) Duties in Piquet.—The position of the piquet and alternative defence positions having been fixed, and trenches or other defences marked out on the position, and on the alternative positions if any, assemble the platoon at the piquet and show the non-commissioned officers how to tell off reliefs and other duties. Each group furnished by the piquet consists of three to eight men, and mounts one or two men as sentry, as the circumstances of the post require (I.T., 152 (3)), the sentry, single or double, being relieved in turn by the others of the group. The whole group is under command of the senior soldier or a non-commissioned officer. The men who are to form the reliefs of the groups stay with the piquet, which usually is composed solely of the reliefs of groups and patrols. Extra men who have no specific duties are not advisable unless the position is very exposed. Suppose your group sentries are single, and the groups of three men each, and relieved every eight hours, then for every group posted and in position there will be six men in the piquet resting and waiting their turn, each group thus needing a total of nine men—three out, six in. Patrols start from the piquet or support, as the commander of the company directs, and the piquet commander may send them out on his own initiative, if he thinks it needful. As they are practically all on duty as long as they are out, a turn of four hours is enough for them, or, rather, a third of the daylight time. Take your patrols from this piquet to be four strong, there will be for each patrol eight men in the piquet and four out on patrol, a total of twelve needed to furnish each patrol.

In telling off a piquet on the above conditions of relief, and before dismissing the men to rest, the commander must pay attention to two main points. Firstly, he must tell off the reliefs, and give each relief a place to rest in. Men on outpost are usually tired and need all the rest they can get, especially if they are up all night. Therefore reliefs should be kept together and rest in one place, so that the commander can find them at once without stirring up the others to see who’s who. Secondly, the men must be told off to alarm posts, which they are to occupy in case of attack—each relief and each man of it should be given a position on the entrenchment which he is to hold. To ensure that they will do this at once and without confusion they should be made to go to these places and occupy them before being dismissed. There will then be no needless running about with consequent casualties if fire, either of artillery or infantry, suddenly opens.

Say you have sixteen rifles (non-commissioned officers and others) in your instructional piquet give out that it is to furnish—

1 Sentry over the piquet.
2 Groups of three men each, Nos. 1 and 2.
2 Patrols of four men each, Nos. 1 and 2.

The sentry over the piquet alone being actually posted, the two groups and two patrols being supposed to be out in front, as this part of the lesson is only concerned with the inside work of the piquet, and you have already shown them this work on sentry and patrol. As your strength is not sufficient you must make a further supposition, and make believe that for the reliefs of the groups one of your rifles represents three, and for those of the patrols one rifle represents two. Appoint one of the non-commissioned officers in turn as commander, and let him tell off accordingly.

3 Rifles for piquet sentry, one of whom he actually mounts.
1 Rifle (representing three) as second relief, No. 1 group.
1 Rifle (representing three) as third relief, No. 1 group.
2 Rifles (representing two each) for second relief, No. 1 patrol.
2 Rifles (representing two each) for third relief, No. 1 patrol.
And a similar number for No. 2 patrol and No. 2 group.

Having told off these reliefs the commander should then tell them where they are to have their resting places and where their posts are in case of alarm. At this time also he would give out any special orders which concern the piquet. Then without dismissing the men he should order them to go to their resting places, and as soon as they are there order them to occupy their alarm posts, which should be done in double time, the men lying down on the places that have been marked out for entrenchment or improvement of existing cover. Make this falling in on alarm posts a standing order in the company. After this has been done, and each man knows exactly what he has to do on the alarm, the men should be dismissed to their resting places, which, as before said, should be separate for each relief and apart from each other. After being dismissed, the men would on service be allowed to make themselves as comfortable as possible. Other duties of the piquet commander are:—

(1) The opening of communication with piquets in right and left and the support.

(2) The fixing of places for purposes of nature.

(3) The arrangements for getting up food to his men if they have not their rations with them.

(4) Keeping his piquet in a state of readiness; besides keeping accoutrements on, the men should have their rifles at their sides when resting, and take them with them wherever they go. There should be no such thing as piling arms on outpost.

Night Piquets.

In the dark the bullet is a fool unless fired at close quarters. No practicable amount of shooting, even at only a hundred yards distance, will dislodge determined men posted under cover, and a serious attack must be made with the bayonet or by shooting within the distance at which a man may be distinguished—ten yards or so. F.S.R., 138 (2), lays down for the British Army that the bayonet only is to be used in night attacks, and we may assume that any civilized army we may have to meet will pursue similar tactics. Aerial reconnaissance may nowadays allow an enemy to locate the position held by the main body of his opponent, in spite of its being covered by outposts, but such reconnaissance does not admit of any hope of a successful night attack being made on that main body by eluding or passing through the outposts, because the surface of the ground cannot be sufficiently searched from above to discover the small obstacles which must be avoided or known if the advance of a large body of men is to be carried out at night. So we may take it that now, as formerly, any large attack will fall first on the outposts, supposing, as we must, that these are placed so as to hold or watch all possible lines of advance. In addition to this, outposts must expect isolated attacks made against one or two points held by them which the enemy desires to gain possession of. The duties of outposts by night are, then, to hold and defend the outpost line in sufficient strength to prevent any large body of the enemy breaking through, or getting a footing in some tactically important position on the line, and also to prevent the enemy’s scouts from getting through and making observations, and, lastly, but of most importance, to get news of the enemy both as a means of forestalling any attack, and for the use of the force commander in framing his plans. Bringing the matter down to the level of a piquet of an outpost company, it seems to resolve itself into night patrolling and night defence of a position. As before pointed out, enclosed country allows of piquets closing the lines of advance by which large bodies can only hope to move undiscovered, while intervening ground can be searched by patrols. On the other hand, open country leaves the front vulnerable everywhere, and calls for a greater number of piquets and closer patrolling than are needed by day.

Of course, elementary instruction in these duties must be carried out by daylight to allow of supervision; so now assemble your platoon of non-commissioned officers and give out that you are going to practise night work. Choose some place for your night piquet, realistic as may be, a bridge, a cutting, or anything else that constitutes a defile or otherwise blocks a likely line of advance from the enemy’s direction. Also choose, and point out to the platoon, positions where the adjoining piquets on the right and left would be. Give out the following instructions to the non-commissioned officers:—

(1) Piquets must take up their night positions when it is getting dusk, the strengthening of the piquet and construction of obstacles being done in advance, secretly if possible, and towards evening the working party should withdraw and leave the intended night position empty till it is time to move into it, further work being completed by twilight.

(2) The provision of obstacles is more necessary than entrenchment, as securing the piquet from being rushed while completing the latter.

(3) Men must rest on their alarm posts, and bayonets may have to be kept fixed by all, if there is a possibility of a sudden attack (I.T., 151 (7)), to ensure instant readiness.

(4) All piquets must stand to arms one hour before light and remain ready for action till the patrols have found that there is no sign of an immediate attack. When relief takes place in the morning, night outposts will not return to camp till the patrols report all clear.

After this, let the non-commissioned officer in command withdraw the piquet from its day position and march it to the night position. On arrival ask the non-commissioned officers in turn where they would place the piquet exactly and where they would put their obstacles. Obstacles for a night piquet should be under close fire, i.e., ten or twenty paces, but, in addition, booby traps and alarms may be placed further in front. Barbed wire is the best of all obstacles. The actual defensive measures to be taken do not differ from those taken for the defence of any position not on outpost.

The position of the piquet and obstacles being decided on, let the non-commissioned officers mark on the ground the actual work they would undertake, having regard to the time available, which you should tell them, and, on the same lines as for the day piquet, let them as commanders in turn divide the men into reliefs of sentries and patrols, tell them off to their alarm posts, and order them to occupy them once as if on alarm.

A piquet by night, no matter how well entrenched, has a very limited field of action. Even with most carefully arranged night rests for the men’s rifles its fire effect is small except at close ranges, and to resist attack by relatively larger bodies it must in general keep behind its defences. Hence a well organised scheme of patrols is necessary to supplement the passive opposition which the piquet can offer. The patrols are charged with the duty of bringing news of any advance of the enemy to attack, and, if he is close enough, of spying out his movements on and within his outpost line, of preventing his patrols or scouts penetrating their own line, of watching any localities which are of particular importance and unoccupied by piquets, such, for example, as villages beyond the outpost line which the enemy might try to occupy by night, and, lastly, of keeping up communication between the various bodies of the outposts. The strength of patrols is limited by the necessity of their being able to do this work without making a noise, and a strength of three to eight men is advised. A patrol performs its duty of observation either by going from point to point, or by watching one particular place, when it is called a “standing patrol.” If a piquet posts any group sentries by night, away from the piquet, such groups have just the same work as standing patrols, except that they may be ordered to maintain their position in case of attack as they are near support, whereas patrols would fall back as soon as they had made sure the enemy was advancing, and possibly, if in accordance with their instructions, after treating him to a short burst of rapid fire. An ordinary patrol will also have to halt and listen perhaps for long periods, and so becomes for the nonce a standing patrol.

Form up the platoon at the piquet position, and let the commander tell it off into three patrols to practise this duty, disregarding reliefs, all three to be sent out at the same time in different directions, one man in each to be commander. Before they start off, tell them the following, which piquet commanders must see to:—

(1) If there is no countersign published for the force, piquet commanders must arrange either a word or a sign by which men may know their own side in the dark.

(2) Patrols going out are to tell the nearest sentry which way they are going (I.T., 156 (5)).

(3) For patrols a code of signals should be arranged, e.g., a hiss or half-whistle, to call attention, answered by the same to show that the man called has heard it, followed by the signal, whatever it is:—a double hiss for “come up to me,” a click of the tongue for “retire,” but anything will do provided it cannot be clearly heard much further off than the listeners for whom it is intended, and is neither a very common nor a very uncommon sound.

(4) The piquet commander must tell patrols how long they are to stay out and any places he thinks must be visited, in addition to what they themselves may find advisable, on closer acquaintance with the ground.

A suitable formation for a night patrol of six men would be four in the advanced party, followed at ten to fifty paces by the rear party or two. The reason for the stronger party being ahead is, firstly, that fighting at night begins with suddenness and ends rapidly, while reinforcement of one party by another is slow and uncertain, and, secondly, to ensure that some part of the patrol may have a good chance of getting away with news, whatever happens to the rest: Bayonets should be fixed and rifles sloped on the right shoulder, the right hand holding the small of the butt so as to come to the charge at once, and not to have any chance of a rifle falling on the ground.

Tell patrol commanders to get their patrols into formation and practise movement in silence along a road and on ordinary road. If along a road, let them move on each side of it, off the metal on the roadside grass or dust, and under trees or close to the hedge or wall. On ordinary country the ball of the foot should be put down first as if to feel the surface, before putting the full weight of the body on the advanced foot. A stick or broom-handle, à la “boy scout,” is invaluable in moving over unexplored ground, as by it the real nature of objects dimly seen at one’s feet can be made out, and awkward spills thereby avoided. The movement of patrols under these conditions will be very slow over any but quite level ground. As the patrols move let them practise the code of signals, halting, advancing, coming up into one line, etc., also the keeping up of communication by one file moving back and forward between the two parts of the patrol. They should practise also breaking up and scattering as if attacked by overwhelming numbers, each individual getting away as quickly and quietly as possible, and the whole rallying again at some place in rear. The patrol commander as he goes out must fix these rallying places, usually one is enough over the whole of a patrol’s beat, and they should be outside the outpost line. Have the patrols moved so that on their beats they may meet each other once or twice, and use the sign to reply when challenge is made. As a second practice, direct one of the meeting patrols to consider itself hostile, and let the commander of the other patrol excogitate how he would deal with men who did not stand fast on being told to halt and could not give the countersign.

Next tell the patrols to get into position to watch various localities, a farm steading, a ravine, or such like, as they would have to do for limited periods as patrols reconnoitring on their beats, or for the whole night as standing patrols. One of the best ways in which patrols can fulfil their office is by halting and listening with ears near the ground for sounds of human movement. There is no rule for thus lying up except that they must not get caught themselves. A couple of men should be left quite clear of the patrol to get away if the others strike trouble, and the commander of the patrol should have word passed to these two from time to time that all is well with the rest, or they may wait in their place while the others have been quietly downed.

Lastly, let patrols return to the piquet, and learn how to approach without getting themselves fired on, or causing useless alarm. A good way is for two of the patrol to advance a few steps at a time when near the piquet, halting and quietly code-signalling the piquet sentry till they get His attention and warn him that the patrol wants to come in.

It has taken longer to write about outposts than it may take you to put your men through them, and I have purposely been discursive because a knowledge of what is needed from outposts is more important than any set exercise, and also because this duty is the one which newly raised troops are most likely to perform negligently, and at the same time the one which, if neglected, allows the enemy to bring raw troops to quick demoralisation. I have also purposely written as if unlimited ground were available, and, speaking generally, I think it is. You can, and should, practise your piqueting and patrolling on the ordinary countryside, with its main and bye-roads, paths, fields, and hedges. The practice of outposts when piquets are not entrenched, causes no damage, so that leave to move over the fields should not be hard to get, but even if it cannot be got, the principal and most important work of patrolling and watching all roads and paths, will be done on the ground on which they would be done on service. If fighting ever takes place in Britain, which Heaven forefend, outpost lines will be along the ordinary country and not on Salisbury Plain, so do not go into wild and desolate places for your outposts, but take the ordinary country round where you are.

EXERCISE XV.
Defence.

The subject of defence is treated of in F.S.R., 107-110, I.T., 125-135, and in Chapter VII., M.F.E., 1911. The duties required of the company commander and his subordinates are briefly defined by I.T., 132, to be similar to those they carry out in the attack. The whole spirit of the regulations is that the active Defence is merely a means to an end, viz., the ultimate assumption of the offensive, which may be carried out either by the same troops which have acted on the defensive or by fresh troops detailed for the purpose. In both cases the troops that have acted on the defensive must be ready to become the aggressors. Therefore, in training your men, you should keep this constantly in view and conserve a spirit of aggressive mobility. Men must not be allowed to think that once a position has been taken up and entrenched it is to be their location till fighting ceases; on the contrary, they should be encouraged to look for opportunities while still on the defensive, to occupy alternative positions which will make the task of the attacking enemy more difficult. Quickness in seizing and strengthening a position must be combined with mobility in leaving it to take up and strengthen a new one. Of course, the time available regulates the work that can be undertaken (M.F.E., VII. (2)); deep trenches and concealed head cover cannot be made with an enemy pressing in to assault, but the first requirement is the ability to choose positions that give a good field of fire and to strengthen them as thoroughly as the time available and the proximity of the enemy admit.

In dealing with a company, the onus of choosing what localities it is tactically necessary to occupy and strengthen rests with the company commander, subject to the orders of his battalion commander. In the same way as on outpost, you will be given a bit of ground to defend, either acting with the battalion or as an isolated company, and the rest will be on your head. I do not propose to deliver a treatise on the tactical occupation of ground, but instead I will ask you to procure and read two books. The first is “The Defence of Duffer’s Drift,” by Backsight Forethought (W. Clowes and Sons), the second is “A Staff Officer’s Scrap Book,” by Sir Ian Hamilton (Edward Arnold). They are both most readable books, and are quite free of soporific effects. The first is small, and deals with the efforts of a half-company, under Lieutenant B. F., to defend a drift over a South African river. In the second the author takes you along with him through the Russo-Japanese War, of which he was a privileged spectator, and in your journeyings you look on at victories and defeats in the making, while the causes that led to them, great and small, are set forth, along with many shrewd comments on human nature and how it translates itself in the day of battle. Every fight bears its own lesson of what to do and what not to do in defence, and this told in no pedantic strain, but with the saving grace of humour, to mitigate the darker side of human carnage. Read them both, get to yourself the wisdom and understanding with which they are filled, and you will know how to take up a position for defence.

Having educated yourself to choose the points of a defensive position that must be occupied if the position is to be effectively held, you have still to train your men to the work of defending them, and they must learn to be able to do without the help of a supervising officer, as will often be the case on service.

Daylight defence is almost entirely a matter of fire, the immediate object being to make it impossible for the enemy to come to close quarters. Platoon and section commanders then must be able to dispose their men with this in view to the best advantage within the limits of the ground allotted to their units, and the men must be able to site their trenches or whatever form of cover has to be constructed so as to use their rifles to the best effect. It is no good to teach men to dig trenches and make loop-holes unless they know the proper places for them. (M.F.E., 18 (7)).

At the same time, practice in digging and the use of tools is very necessary for men who are not accustomed to such work. The hands of the untrained man blister and his muscles tire under the unusual effort, while he expends much energy with results small in comparison with what he can accomplish once he has learnt to use his strength well. Moreover, a certain amount of technical skill is required in making any but the most simple cover.

To practise the execution of work, you must have ground which you are at liberty to turn up, as well as some materials for loop-holes and obstacles. These may not be obtainable at any and every parade, but you can give practice in the selection and siting of trenches on any bit of country without causing damage, the men merely spitlocking or marking with stones or anything else the position of the trenches on the surface of the ground, and describing what they propose doing.

I would, therefore, advise that you make your training consist of two parts, firstly the siting of trenches and the planning by unit commanders and men of defensive work, the choice and occupation of alternative positions, and the assumption of the offensive from the defensive, all this without actually breaking ground, and, secondly, ground and tools being then available, the performance of a course of making real cover and obstacles.

But the first part cannot be carried out unless the men have a knowledge of what trenches, loop-holes and so on are like, and the objects with which they are made. In a company of raw recruits taken from the populace at large, there will be plenty who have no ideas on the subject at all. You must then precede your exercises either by a short lecture, materials for which you will find in plenty in the “Defence of Duffer’s Drift,” and the manuals of training, or, better than a lecture, by showing them specimens of entrenchments made by regular troops. The main points to insist on are the securing of a field of fire, the necessity of concealment of the defences, the importance of head cover as a help to the delivery of an accurate fire by letting men keep the enemy in view without showing up themselves, the avoidance of enfilade fire by making traverses, or by taking advantage of intervening high ground, the provision of cover from downward shell fire by making the trenches deep and steep enough to let men stand close up to the edges, and, in the case of isolated posts and points held as pivots of a position, the necessity of preparing an all-round defence so that these pivots will be able to continue fighting whatever happens on the intervening ground. The course of work actually performed for the second part should include digging all kinds of trenches, by which the men will learn to use their tools to the best advantage, and their hands and muscles will become hardened, the use of the excavated earth to form parapets and parados (cover from fire from the rear of the trench; forty inches of earth are needed to keep out a bullet), the drainage of trenches, the making of traverses against enfilade fire, the making of loop-holes and head-cover with the aid of all sorts of materials, sand bags, brushwood and heather, straw and twigs, stones and bricks (which must be covered with earth to deaden the effects of splinters), packing boards, and so on, the concealment of trenches and loop-holes so as to be invisible to the enemy (this is of great importance), the masking of loop-holes when not in use to prevent light showing through, the making of dummy trenches and loop-holes to draw the enemy’s fire away, the improvement of existing cover, such as loop-holing walls and the use of hedges with or without ditches, making sangars, if stones are available, the making of obstacles of barbed and plain wire, and measuring and marking of ranges round a position, which should be done by some means not obvious to the enemy, and clearing the field of fire. It will seldom be practicable to obtain subjects for practical demonstration of some of the latter in peace time; people will object to their walls being experimented on or their shrubberies laid low, and so even here a description of the method will have to be substituted for actual performance. For night defence the construction of night rests for rifles is needed. The best I know is a packing case, filled with earth, with the front and rear edges notched to hold the rifle stock. The magazine is laid hard up against the outside of the rear edge and the notches, front or rear, slowly deepened with a penknife till the sights bear on the target; afterwards earth is banked up outside the box and head-cover made above. The foregoing may seem a formidable list, but they are things that will undoubtedly be required as soon as you get on shooting terms with an enemy; while if you exhaust this list and feel the want of further occupation, the Engineering Manual will supply you with further subjects for your activities.

Pending your getting facilities of ground, tools, and materials to execute work, you can proceed with the first part of training outlined above. If your non-commissioned officers have not had experience, take them out as an instructional section in the same way as when teaching outpost work, and put them through the exercises which follow. But if they are already fairly competent, take the men on parade, forming them, if possible, into not less than two sections.

Instruction in Siting Trenches.

Choose any position on undulating ground, form the men in extended order in one line in rear of it, and order them to move up, and mark where each would place his trench in order to fire on an enemy advancing from the front. In doing this it should be an invariable rule that men must lie down, bring the rifle into the firing position, look along the sights, and move forward or back till they see that they have got the best position to sweep the ground in their immediate front (see M.F.E., 31 (3)). Dead ground close to the trench gives the enemy a place in which to collect and organise an assault. Take the men in the same way on to other positions and repeat the lesson till they all understand that the first thing to be done is this aiming with the rifle to secure a good field of fire. At first halt them close to what you see is the best line, and afterwards halt them thirty or forty yards from it, and then give the order to choose sites. For instance, halt them on the top of a convex slope and let them find out that the best place to bring fire on to flat ground at its base is somewhere on the enemy’s side of the convexity, for if the trench were made on the top of the slope the ground immediately in front would be hidden by the convexity. The section commanders must help the men in choosing sites.

After the men have fixed and marked the proposed sites, let them lay down their rifles three paces in rear and kneel or lie down at the rear edge of the site as if waiting to commence work while you and section and platoon commanders go round and examine the line. Ask details from the men—how high they would make the parapet, how thick it should be, how they would make head-cover, how they would conceal the work, and so on.

Traverses and broken lines of Trenches.

Repeat the exercise as above, but this time have the men in sections or small groups, and the trenches made not in one line, but in short lengths, separated by traverses. You will have to explain the construction and use of these to prevent enfilade fire (if not from long range), and to localise shell bursts. Again, have lines of trenches mapped out in short lengths on an irregular front, some a little forward, some a little back, with the earth at each end, banked up on the flanks with the same object (M.F.E., 33).

Short Trenches for Two Men.

Bring the men extended to six or eight paces on to a position, and let the men of each file close to two paces from each other. Each file is then to choose and mark a site for a short trench to hold both of them, or, as it would formerly have been called, a rifle pit, marking where they would make loop-holes to fire both to the front, and obliquely towards the right and left, so as to rake the ground in front of the line of the other men’s pits. This arrangement is not officially recognised, and it does not give the closest possible firing line, but it is an excellent way of making men think for themselves.

When the men have got their bearings in the matter of taking up a line for entrenchment, make them get into the way of changing from defence into attack. Take up a position as before, and as soon as the trenches are marked out, indicate a position at some distance as an objective for attack and start an advance against it, as done in the attack practices, forming a firing line rapidly of some named platoons and the support of the others. A skeleton enemy kept hidden till needed adds much to the realism.

Defence of Pivots (M.F.E., 50 (3), and I.T., 129).

Find a position in which there are some points separated from each other which command the ground between, and also form such pivots for defence of the position as are described in the paras. above. According to the nature of the ground, such pivots might be, for platoons, as much as four hundred yards apart, i.e., attackers coming between them would be under fire at not more than two hundred yards. Send a platoon under a commander to each pivot, and let him plan and mark out his defensive measures, which must include:—

1. An arrangement for all-round defence, so that the pivot may be self-contained and capable of continuing the fight, although others may have been captured.

2. The siting accordingly of trenches and loop-holes to fire all round and especially to sweep the front and rear of adjoining pivots.

3. The adaptation of existing cover to save labour.

4. The provision of protection against enfilade and reverse fire, and the recognition of distant localities from which such fire, whether of artillery or rifle, might be brought to bear on the post.

5. The marking of ranges in each direction.

6. The provision of obstacles.

7. Any feasible scheme for alternative positions which his men could reach and occupy under fire.

8. The concealment of the defences, provision of dummy trenches, and loop-holes and any other shifts.

9. The telling off and posting of look-out men and fixing and occupying of alarm posts when work has been completed.

10. Drainage and sanitation.

The concealment of defences from aerial reconnaissance will, perhaps, soon claim more attention than it gets at present.

Practise an attack after defence, starting off one platoon under your own orders to “go for” an indicated enemy, and sending word either by messenger or by semaphore to the others, either to join you and form a firing line, or to move out in support, but, if the latter, do not fail to finally call them up to reinforce the firing line; counter-attacks must usually be made with a relatively strong firing line and small support.

The Company in Defence Acting Alone.

When you have put non-commissioned officers and men through the preceding course, plan some scheme on the lines of the defence of Duffer’s Drift, to deal with a company isolated and beyond reach of immediate reinforcement. Any bridge over a railway line, a group of buildings supposed to contain stores, or a ford or bridge over a river, will provide you with an object to defend. Choose a line of defence round it and determine what are the essential pivots to be held. To do this, so as to furnish an instructive lesson, it will usually be necessary for you to pay a visit to the place by yourself and formulate your proposed defence before bringing the company on to the ground. Pay great attention to crossing and supporting fire from the pivots, and look at the surrounding country with a view to meeting attack from any direction, for in this case the company, as well as the pivots in its line of defence, must be self-contained. Also have regard to the certainty that you will have artillery fire against you, to which you will not be able to reply, and in consequence your proposed defences must include deep trenches or recesses to shelter the men from shell. Your defences will take the form of a chain of isolated groups about the point to be defended and separated from each other by possibly several hundred yards. It is no use simply to go and sit inside a group of buildings which the guns would knock about your ears and against which the enemy can concentrate. The better plan is to break up his attack and hide your weakness by occupying well-strengthened pivots, behind whose protection you may have some freedom of movement, and so be able, if the weakness or rashness of the enemy gives opportunity, to inaugurate local counter-attacks. These, if successful in inflicting a sharp and sudden loss, will make him hesitate to deliver a decisive attack till he has found out all about you. With one company you cannot expect to achieve decisive results against any considerable body of the enemy, but must be content with keeping him in play for as long a time as possible, and an attitude of active bluff is the best means of doing so.

When you have got your plans completed, take out the company as strong as possible and complete in its proper platoons and sections—if there are too few men let one man count for two or three. Send off platoons to occupy and plan the defence of the pivots as done when practising it before. Do the same scheme on two separate occasions. The first time do not send out a skeleton enemy, so that the men may have time to look round, but for the second time send out some scouts under a subaltern, and let the platoons fall out on their positions with patrols out in front. Fix a certain hour by which you expect the arrangements to be all ready, and arrange for the enemy to advance at that time, and open fire on the patrols if they are met. When the patrols have fallen back the enemy closes in and starts sniping at the position. Then bring off a counter-attack, withdrawing some men for the purpose from pivots that are not threatened, and coming in on the flank of the attackers. In theory, of course, you should have a support or reserve available for this, but it does no harm to move men out of their trenches with the object of assuming the offensive, while the men learn the essential part of their work by all being employed on the perimeter.

Have out the company yet a third time on the same or a similar scheme, pivots and skeleton enemy as before. On this occasion, if the scheme is the same, change round the platoons to different pivots from what they occupied before, and when the arrangements for defence have been settled, leave only sentries and their groups on the pivots as look-outs, but have patrols in front. Form the remainder of the men into a support in some central position, and tell them off to occupy as alarm posts the pivots from which they were withdrawn. When the skeleton enemy attacks, reinforce the threatened part of the line by the men of the units told off for its defence, and with part, or even the whole of the rest, make a counter-attack.

It is very desirable, though unfortunately not often possible, to perform these last three practices on ground where you are at liberty to dig, and with an enemy of three or four companies instead of a few snipers.

Night Defence.

A night attack may be delivered as a sequence to fighting by daylight, in the course of which the enemy has established himself sufficiently close to the defences held by his opponent to see clearly the way to reach the point against which he intends to lead his force. Or he may deliver an attack without previous fighting, hoping to get the better of the defenders by surprise, and basing his plans solely on the results of reconnaissance. In the latter case the attack must be preceded by a night advance, long or short, according as the defenders’ outposts and their patrols have succeeded in keeping the hostile troops at a distance or not, unless, indeed, the troops or their scouts or spies have not been in touch at all during the day in which case an attack would not be a wise proceeding, because the needful information about the ground and your forces is lacking. Such attacks as require a night advance as a preliminary are likely to be made either over open ground or along roads, for the difficulties and delays occasioned by moving troops over broken ground which is not thoroughly known are very great. But in the first case, when fighting has been going on by day, and the two forces are in close contact at nightfall, separated perhaps by only a few hundred yards, the presence of broken ground in front of the defences is no guarantee that the enemy may not consider an attack by night to have a reasonable chance of succeeding against any of the points which he has been trying to carry by daylight. It follows then that in preparing a position for defence the pivots must be ready to withstand attack by night as well as by day, and also that roads or paths leading into the position from the surrounding country should be held and defended by night, in spite of their being innocuous by daylight owing to being swept effectively by fire from the adjacent pivots. It will be admitted, I think, that fire by night is ineffectual unless at very short ranges, or when delivered by men of extraordinary skill such as the up-country Boer and the American backwoods-men were pictured to be. A European enemy will seek to bring off his attack with the bayonet. The defenders will try to foil this attack, firstly, by the use of fire at the close range, which allows it to be effective, and, secondly, by the use of the bayonet. This plainly translates itself into obstacles to keep the enemy under fire, obstacles to hamper him when at bayonet distance, and night rests to help the accuracy of the fire in certain desired directions. I have told you one good form of night rest, and there are several others, but all require some material if they are to be even approximately accurate. Failing material of any sort, tie white rags round the muzzles of the men’s rifles if you can get them. After a week in the field your men will have nothing that is not very dirty, but in a civilised country some member of the population may perhaps be found ready to oblige a soldier.

Working still on your daylight scheme show your non-commissioned officers and men how to make night obstacles in addition to those meant for daylight defence, which latter may be any distance up to one hundred yards in front of the trenches. The night obstacles, on the other hand, should be quite close, the fire obstacles as close as ten yards, the bayonet obstacles, say a narrow ditch and a wire, close under the trenches so as to make a man stumble when trying to reach the defender with his bayonet. Make or plan these arrangements round the pivots, and then practise blocking and defending paths or roads by the same methods as for pivots, but with this variation, that a parapet which can only be used for defence at night may be as high as you consider needful without paying regard to its invisibility, while those to be used by day are kept as low as possible. In a practical exercise the men to hold these night posts would have to be furnished either from your support or by thinning some of the pivots.

Yet the most carefully arranged trenches and obstacles will be of no value unless the men occupy them in time to avail themselves of their advantages. Time sufficient to allow of this, must be got by patrolling in front as for outposts, by making automatic alarms in front of the obstacles (M.F.E., 55 (12)), by having alert sentries on the defence line, and by having a good and well understood arrangement of alarm posts by which each man shall be ready to occupy at once, in silence, and without confusion, the place which has been assigned to him. Patrolling has been dealt with under “Outposts,” the alertness of your sentries will depend largely on the state of discipline to which you have brought your company, and on the commonsenseness, to coin a word, of their training. Alarm posts are practised in the same way as on outpost. In many corps it is a standing order that when in camp or bivouac, on manœuvre as well as on service, men are to fall in on their alarm posts once a day, the usual times being at retreat or on arrival in camp (F.S.R., 48 (2)), and this is done whether in Brigade (F.S.R., 47 (2)) or not. If such is the order in your battalion, adhere to it within your company when detached, if not, do it off your own bat. It does not fatigue the men and ensures attention being paid on all occasions to this important duty.

EXERCISE XVI.
Hasty Expedients.

I.T., 93 (iii.), directs the training of the section to include rough and ready expedients so as to form a fighting front in any direction. This training is of great value, both from a disciplinary point of view, as it makes men quick to move on an order, and also from the point of view of moral, as men accustomed to get sudden and unexpected orders given under imaginary circumstances will be more likely to keep cool, when such orders are necessitated by the stress of actual battle, than men who have always been trained in a deliberate fashion.

Such sudden orders must in general mean one of two things, either that the enemy has got you, or you have got him, “on the hop,” if I may introduce an expression from the cricket field, and that there is every chance of the bowler, whoever he is, being badly scored off, unless he treats the batsman to something more difficult than the expensive half-volley. If you are fortunately able to find the enemy at a disadvantage, you will act against him by rifle fire alone; but, on the other hand, you may find yourself caught in a bad situation, by either artillery or rifle fire, or possibly by cavalry, who mean to use the steel. It follows then, in practising expedients, based, as they should be, on some possible situation, that you should make the central idea either offensive, as if attempting to bring your men into a position to get the best results from their fire, or defensive, as if to escape, or mitigate shell fire or rifle fire, to which you are subjected under adverse conditions.

Against artillery fire from ranges or in positions at which you cannot reply effectively with rifle fire, your action at first, at all events, must be purely defensive, i.e., all you can do, will be to escape being overwhelmed by the shell fire, and even at effective rifle range, the shields of modern field guns, enable them to engage infantry on very equal terms, so long as the infantry is in front, or not far on a flank, of the line of guns.

In the days of muzzle-loaders, it was the cavalry who possessed the power of suddenly annihilating infantry, when caught unprepared to withstand their charge. The magazine rifle has reduced this danger, but the quick-firing cannon has now equal, if not greater, powers of dealing out swift destruction to any infantry that it finds exposed in close formation, if only the range be known. At least once in the Russo-Japanese War, and again in the Turko-Bulgarian war, if we may believe the somewhat ill-authenticated reports yet to hand, have artillery wiped out of existence in a few moments several hundred unfortunate infantrymen, who were caught in the rafâle fired at a range either ascertained previously, or got at the moment by good luck or good judgment. The contingency of being thus caught by artillery is evidently one that should be prepared for by infantry, as was the forming of squares in the old days, when a cavalry charge was an ever present peril. In this case of artillery fire, the conditions and the object desired are practically always the same—the infantry is in close order of some sort, and wishes to break up into a congeries of small groups, so as to isolate the effect of the burst of each shrapnel. The matter of rifle fire is different, as there are any number of ways in which you may seek either to escape the results of the enemy’s fire or attempt to use your own, and this is the proper field in which to practise expedients.

Whenever you intend to carry out some such movement to meet a supposed situation, you must let the men know exactly what you are picturing, so that they also may understand what is needed. The essence of these practices is that they should be performed without time for deliberate thought—the men must learn to think and act quickly. The most satisfactory way is to be yourself mounted, as you can then get the whole company to hear you at once, whereas, if on foot, the men who are farthest from you often lose the first part of what you say; you then have to repeat it, and the thing loses its character of surprise for the rest, who have already heard it once. Give out the situation in a loud voice, and in as few words as possible, then try and give the very order you think you would give, if the situation was a real one on service; use your own imagination, in figuring what you would say, and how you would say it. To call attention, it seems legitimate to use your whistle, as on service the men would have some warning that things were about to happen, either by the arrival of shell or bullets, the sight of the enemy, or by the signal of their own scouts. In giving the situation, if you are receiving fire, give out what kind of fire it is, the enemy’s position, if it is allowable to suppose it known, or if you are going to be on the offensive, give out where the enemy is, and what he is doing, and how you learn this, i.e., by your scouts, or by first-hand observation. For example, while the company is marching in fours along a road, you see, in imagination, two shells burst simultaneously near by, and about two hundred yards from each other, and you wisely deduce that the enemy is ranging on your company. Blow your whistle and give out “Artillery fire is opening on the company, from such and such a direction—open out to columns of sections.” If you have taught your men what to do to escape artillery fire, they will open out at the double into columns of platoons, at not less than fifty yards interval, measuring roughly at right angles to the direction of the supposed fire (I.T., 118 (3)).

In practising this opening out under artillery fire, which, as I have said, is the one specific hasty manœuvre performed under conditions nearly always similar, it is inexpedient to lay down any fixed rules for the positions to be taken up by the platoons. It sounds simple to say that the platoons of the leading half-company go to the right, and those of the rear half to the left, but when men are marching at ease, and shells begin bursting round them unexpectedly, I do not think there will be time for anyone to see which half-company is leading. The main thing is to get the platoons instantly away from the road on which the enemy has laid his guns, and from each other. Direct platoon commanders to lead their men at the double in any direction away from the platoon in front, except, of course, towards the rear. In theory, of course, this might result in all four making out towards one flank, but, even so, this is better than having any deliberative halts on the road, and in practice the platoons in rear can see which way those in front are heading, and wheel to go to the other flank. There is no advantage to be had from getting the men in the ranks into extended order, as the shrapnel scatter the whole width of their bursting zone in an impartial manner, nor is it any use to seek such slight cover as gives only a screen from view, unless with a view to getting away from the shell-swept locality without attracting notice. Platoon commanders should, of course, make for any cover that is sufficiently steep on the rear side to shelter them from the downward dropping shrapnel bullets. If there is no cover, the best thing after getting out into the line of platoons separated by fully fifty yards intervals, is to move rapidly forward. If cover exists with open ground round it, the men may be got away by “dribbling” man by man, in the hope that the enemy may not spot the movement, and continue or resume his shell practice, to defeat it.

As regards expedients against rifle fire, I will only suggest a few, and leave you to invent others suited to the nature of the ground you have got to exercise on.

1. The company in close order is surprised by a heavy rifle fire; there is cover near by sufficient to hold the whole company crowded together. Order the men to get into the cover helter skelter, and then advance or retire, by the successive movement of platoons or sections, who take extended order at their best speed as they emerge from shelter. If facilities exist, tell one or two platoons to reply to the fire, from the cover, till their own turn comes to move, by which time the first lots that went out should have got into position to open fire.

2. The company in close order is again surprised by rifle fire, but there is no cover near to act as a base. Get the company quickly into extended order, and let men reply to the fire as soon as they have extended, using studiously slow fire.

3. The company or platoons in extended order have to change front to meet an attack from a flank. As in the book, call on them to line a hedge or ditch, facing so as to fire in the new direction.

4. Coming through a gap in a hedge or wall, either in advance or retreat, scattering off right and left, so as to get out of the way of fire concentrated on the gap.

5. The scouts from a position some distance from the company report a body of the enemy unaware of their presence and exposed to fire. Bring the company quickly up to the scouts’ position, halt, load, and adjust sights under cover and just short of the firing position, and on your whistle the men advance at once to the edge of the fire position and surprise the enemy by a simultaneous fire from all the rifles.

6. Taking up quickly an all-round defensive position; the platoons or sections go off and find the best positions in different directions which you merely indicate roughly.

7. Hastily organised attacks, to dislodge an enemy unexpectedly found in occupation of a position, also taking up action as flank and rearguards under fire.

EXERCISE XVII.
Night Operation Training.

I.T., 113, gives some instructions as to how men are to be taught to march and to use their ears and eyes at night, while F.S.R., chapter ix., goes into the subject at length. These operations are divided into night marches, night advances, and night attacks. The men of a company will not be fit to take a useful part in night tactical exercises either in company or in battalion, unless they have had some elementary training as laid down in “Infantry Training,” and have also been practised in the two indispensable duties of maintaining connection (F.S.R., 129 (4)) and in reconnaissance (F.S.R., 130 (1)). Night patrolling and the duties of night sentries have been dealt with under outposts, and I will not say anything more about them here. The rest of the elementary training contained in “Infantry Training” requires no explanation, and you can practise your men in it in small parties. There remains the maintenance of connection, and I have found that training for this is best done at first by daylight. It is very simple, and after one or two daylight lessons the men will work quite well by night, but to begin straight off under darkness will only lead to waste of time, as mistakes cannot easily be corrected, nor the working of a system made plain. The company should parade as strong as possible in this exercise, as, with only a few files on parade, the necessity of maintaining connection, and the difficulty of doing so, are not so obvious as when a fairly large body of men has to be handled without making a noise. Connection has to be maintained within the company itself, and also with the other companies in front or rear, if in column of route, or on the right and left, if deployed. In order to practise this connection with other companies, represent the front and rear, or flank section commanders of the supposed adjacent companies by a man for each company, who should move where those section commanders would be, i.e., in fours, at the head or tail of the directing flank, in line, on the flanks of the front rank. Use these dummies as the recipients of all orders and signals passed along, so that your company may get the habit of keeping touch with the others before it works with the battalion.

I. Connecting Files.

The only sure way of keeping connection between bodies of troops moving in separate parties is by connecting files, who keep within sight of each other and so can seldom be at more than twenty yards distance apart. These files must be taught to pass commands with exactitude, and never to open their mouths otherwise, i.e., they must never speculate between themselves “Are they advancing?” or so forth, or talk at all, because the next file may hear some word of their talk and mistake it for an order. When connecting files are needed they must take up their places without its being necessary to tell them off loudly, and when no longer needed they must close into company in silence and in good order.

Form the company into fours, turned to a flank as in column of route: tell the dummy section commander of the preceding company to march off; string the company out after him, the men marching off in files at about ten paces between each file without further command after the first one has gone, each as it moves off touching the next to follow, to give it notice. When they are all strung out, let the rear dummy section commander follow. Then pass orders up the line; use only the form given in I.T., 96 (3). To make sure that such verbal orders have reached the intended recipient, the only way, though a slow one, is to require him to send back a report that he has taken the action required. Thus, a message from the rear to the leading portion to halt would be answered from the leading portion by a report passed down the line to the commander “The leading portion, or, etc., has halted.” Let your first order be to halt, passed from the dummy company in rear up to that in front “From Colonel A. to all companies—halt.” On receiving the order one man of each file halts on his ground and turns to the rear, the other goes forward to the next file as quickly as he can without noise, delivers the order, and returns to his former place, when he halts and faces the other way from his comrade. Thus, on the completion of the order to halt, one man of each file will be facing each way. Bayonets will usually be fixed in night operations, and it is important, especially in Rifle Battalions, to accustom men to carry the rifle on the right shoulder, with the hand round the small of the butt and never at the trail, otherwise there is much danger of someone getting a stab as well as an order.

After the halt, get on the move again by passing up the word to advance, and practise any other likely orders:—“Go fast in front,” “Go slow in front,” “The rear cannot keep up,” and so on. Follow the orders up the line and see that men do not tamper with the form of the order en route, and that they speak in a whisper when giving it over. Section and platoon commanders must be told all orders as they pass, see that their units conform, and look after the maintenance of the distance between files.

Next practise lateral communication, the four platoons in one line in close order, with company intervals between each, representing the leading platoons of four companies drawn up in line of columns of platoons at deploying intervals and ready for a night advance. Lateral connecting files need to be closer than when following each other, so put out connecting files to the flanks in a similar way to what was done before, but at six, or eight yards interval. Then move, halt, and deploy the supposed column by means of these files, dressing and interval being kept up by the files moving up or stepping short, and closing on or inclining from any named company of direction without specific orders.

II. Marching and Formations.

Form up the company and get it into fours as if in column of route, dummy company section commanders as before. Practise marching off from the halt, and halting, passing the word from the front or rear company along the men on the flanks of the fours. As the order comes along, the flank men of the fours nudge or shove the other men in their respective fours, and whisper to the flank men in the four in front or behind. There is seldom any need to speak, as a push or pull is enough. The platoon commanders get the word from the flank men of the sections of fours, and from one another as well, as they are to follow the order along their own platoons, and go forward or back to the commander of the next platoon to whom they must repeat it, and then resume their proper places. The platoon commander of the leading, or rear, platoon is responsible for passing the word to the nearest platoon commander of the next company. The company officers must arrange also to hear all orders, and should have fixed positions, known to all, which they will only quit temporarily. In marching off from the halt, the rear portion of the company should step out well, as soon as the order reaches them, so as to avoid straggling, while the leading fours preserve a uniform pace. In halting in battalion, the leading fours should close up on the company in front, and continue to do so, till it is seen that it has finished closing up; there is always bound to be a good deal of straggling at first owing to the method of giving orders. When this system is in good working order, move and halt the company on your own audibly whispered word of command, the platoon commanders repeating it, the system of communication being kept up as before, but the men moving at once on the word; this will give a fairly simultaneous action throughout the company while ensuring against loss of touch.

On the same lines, practise forming line from column of platoons, mass, and column of platoons from column of fours, and marching in line, paying attention throughout to dressing and the covering of files in line.

III. Night Assault.

Choose a position as objective, and form the company, in line or in column of platoons, about three hundred yards from it, with scouts about eighty yards in front of the company (F.S.R., 137 (4)). This is the formation which would usually be adopted at the position of deployment. When the scouts have got about one hundred yards from the position, or up to a line which they would recognise in the dark as being in close proximity to it, they should halt, and wait for the arrival of the company. The whole then move silently forward towards the position till you give the word or signal for assault, when all charge. Practise this stealthy advance right on to the position, as if the enemy were not alert, and also make the charge from some distance, as would be done if the enemy opened fire, which is recognised to be what will most often happen. After the assault the men should be rallied by the non-commissioned officers taking all men within their reach, and forming them into extemporised sections ready to be reformed into platoons and to begin entrenching.

If by chance you get material, you may introduce refinements, in the way of wire-cutting men with each section, sand bags with each man, and bags stuffed with straw carried ready to throw on to abatis or to fill up trenches, to be carried in a fixed place in the company.

IV. Night Entrenching.

Practise marching with arms and tools, and taking up a position to be entrenched, with especial regard to avoidance of noise. When entrenching by night, the trenches cannot be chosen to give a field of fire unless it has been possible to obtain access to the locality by day, and mark them in advance; failing this the company commander, as soon as the position is reached, must send patrols, and go himself, to ascertain that no commanding ground, at least in the immediate vicinity, has been left unoccupied, and, at the first light, all other such points within effective range as it is possible to hold, should be secured and entrenched, without orders from higher commanders. A full illustration of this, however, can only be done by parading at night.

V. Search Work.

Practise the company in going off, as if detached from the column to get touch with other troops, or to find a gate or bridge by which some obstacle, wall, canal, etc., met with, can be passed. The company moves off dropping connecting files to keep touch with the halted column, the files halt at their distances, and pass word if the company has achieved its mission, and close on the company when the column comes up, but not before, else the column will be left out of touch; or, if the need has passed and the company is recalled to the column, the connecting files again remain at their posts till the company is gathered back on them.

VI. Surprises.

When only a few men are on parade, advanced education, combined with some amusement, may be got by experimenting in the best ways of laying out obnoxious persons, such as hostile patrols, who have to be rushed in silence (F.S.R., 138 (5)). Before beginning a stalk, the quarry should be kept under observation to see which way he looks when halted, and any other idiosyncrasies. The assailant should creep up to him either on his flank, or from behind, moving one foot at a time, and bending down, though not on all fours. If the sentry looks his way, he must stay absolutely motionless, till he again looks away. My informant on this matter was a friend of a successful rifle thief in Upper India.

After putting the company through the above daylight course, you should, of course, put theory into practice and do some real night work whenever you get the chance, putting out a skeleton enemy or some observers to tell you how much noise you make, and follow out the full instructions as to orders, watchwords, etc., given in F.S.R., 138 and 139. Test your men as to their ability to see in the dark; some men can see much more than others; spot these men and tell them off as “Night Scouts.” Even if they are not otherwise qualified as scouts, they are most useful in guiding the company over rough ground.