Night Operations for Infantry / Compiled for the Use of Company Officers

by C. T. Dawkins

Training of Vision.

Two or three men, under an instructor, should be taken out to ground with which they are perfectly familiar. The instructor will direct them to notice the different appearance which objects present at night, when viewed in different degrees of light and shade; the comparative visibility of men under different conditions of dress, i.e., in khaki, in a tunic, in shirt-sleeves, etc., when viewed against different backgrounds; the ease with which bright objects are seen, especially if in movement. If there is rising ground in the vicinity the difference in the visibility of men standing on the sky-line or on the sides of the slope should be noted. Experiments in the distance at which a match struck in the open and also under cover of some object, or a man smoking, can be seen should also be made. Blank cartridges should be fired, and recruits taught to judge the direction in which the rifle was pointing and its approximate distance from them.

Training of Hearing.

To train their powers of hearing, men, placed a few yards apart, should be made to guess what a noise heard is caused by, and the approximate position of it. The rattle of a mess tin, the working of the bolt of a rifle, the movement of a patrol, the throwing down of accoutrements, low talking, or any noise likely to be heard on outposts may be utilised. Special pains must be taken to impress upon the men the penetrating power of the human voice. The distance at which men talking, even in a low voice, can be heard on a still night is astonishing, and as it is a sound which cannot be mistaken for anything else, and which disturbs birds and animals more than any other, it is most important that the recruit should be shown the absolute necessity of keeping perfect silence.

At this stage it is a good practice to post the men in pairs at intervals along an alignment which the instructors endeavour to cross unnoticed. The instructors should cross from both sides, so as to compel the recruits to watch in every direction.

Finding Bearings.

When the recruit has become accustomed to the dark, and entirely overcome his nervousness, he should be taught to find his bearings by the pole star, to check the direction of his advance by means of stars, landmarks, or even the wind, and conversely by the same means to find his way back to the point from which he started. He should also be taught to recognise the phases of the moon, and to judge whether it is rising or setting.

To test a man’s ability to keep a given direction when moving at night, the following plan is useful. Having chosen a spot from which no prominent landmarks are visible, the instructor, accompanied by the recruit, will advance towards it from a distance of not less than 200 paces. While advancing the recruit must take his bearings. On arriving at the spot chosen the instructor will turn the recruit rapidly round two or three times, and then order him to continue his advance on the same line as before.

Moving in the Dark.

For this exercise three or four recruits, with the instructor on the directing flank, will be placed in line at about one pace interval. Some clearly visible mark, such as a lamp, should be placed as a point for the directing file to march on. The instructor will impress upon the men the importance of lifting the feet up high and putting them down firmly and quietly, also of keeping in touch with their neighbour on the directing flank, and of conforming to his movements without sound or signal. The pace must be very slow, and frequent halts made to test the quickness of the men in working together. As the instruction progresses, each man in turn will take the instructor’s place on the directing flank, and the light on which they are marching should be obscured at intervals, in order to test their ability to maintain the original direction.