The selection and training of Scouts for work in the dark cannot be too seriously undertaken, since the success or failure of a night operation depends in a great measure on their efficiency. They must be men of good constitution, active, able to bear great fatigue, and to sleep at any hour of the day or night; they must also have acute powers of vision and hearing, be able to make a rough map, to find their way by the compass and the stars, and be absolutely without “nerves.” They should be thoroughly well acquainted with the appearance of the moon in all its phases, and have a knowledge of the rate of its movement, so that they can at any time form an estimate of the time the moonlight will last. They must be capable of moving across country in line with considerable intervals between them, and of consistently maintaining the direction of their line of advance. Each scout should carry a luminous compass and a piece of card, covered with luminous paint, for use under a tracing of the map. If possible, they should be supplied with rubber soles to their boots or, at any rate, the heel pads, which are to be found in most shops.
No scout can be considered efficient if he cannot pass through any ordinary outpost line at night whenever he pleases; if he is really well trained, nothing short of a continuous chain of sentries can keep him out.
This power of traversing the lines at will affords great opportunities not only of obtaining information, but also of harassing the enemy’s outposts. Two or three small parties of well-trained men can keep a whole section of an outpost line in such a state of nervous tension that sleep will be impossible, and the resulting fatigue will greatly diminish the efficiency of the troops composing it during the next day.
In night attacks selected men should be employed to surprise and disable the sentry groups on the line of advance. They should attack the groups from the rear, and the best weapon for them to use is an ordinary life preserver, well weighted and covered with rubber, or a small leather bag filled with sand and securely fastened to the end of a short stick. A blow on the side of the head from either of these makes very little noise, and, as the injury caused by them is not necessarily fatal, they can be used with less compunction against an unsuspecting man than more lethal weapons.
In addition to disposing of the groups, scouts should be detailed to creep close up to the enemy’s piquets and supports, and to remain there ready to throw hand grenades among them when the attack develops.
Suitable men soon become keenly interested in their work, for the sporting chances offered by night operations have an undoubted fascination for adventurous spirits.
Searchlights in Attack and in Defence.
Even in open ground it is rarely possible to arrange searchlights so as to illuminate the whole of the area covered by their beams since small irregularities in the surface of the ground produce patches of shadow. When fixed lights are exposed the attackers must endeavour to utilise these dark patches when crossing the zone of light; if travelling beams are used they must lie down before the light reaches them and remain perfectly still till it has passed. Unless their clothing affords a marked contrast to the colour of the ground it is difficult to detect troops if only they remain motionless.
Should the enemy’s artillery open fire on the area covered by the light, the attacking column must continue to advance, and if necessary assume more open formations. The guns will probably have been laid by daylight, and it is not easy to make accurate alterations in the dark, consequently the quicker the attackers advance the less loss they are likely to suffer.
In the defence, if searchlights are provided, the officers on outpost duty must endeavour to ascertain what portions of the ground in their front the beams do not light up, and take special measures to watch them.