Sometimes it was the observer’s duty to watch a single German for days at a time, not for the sake of watching a particular man, but because the man happened perhaps to be a sentry on the particular piece of line which was under observation.
I remember watching a German sentry in this way, or, rather, seeing him from time to time from the Monday to the Thursday. He never gave an opportunity for a shot, though periodically he used to peer quickly over the parapet and as quickly subside; but one got quite used to his routine. His dinner was brought him at his post, where he seemed to remain for very long hours. Once a friend, who was engaged in painting a notice, seemed to come and sit and talk with him. The sentry himself was an exceedingly young German, and I should say an extraordinarily bad sentry. He sometimes used to shoot at us if we gave him provocation, but he was an appallingly bad shot. He was so exceedingly young that I was very glad that I had not a rifle with me, for when at last he did give a chance it was the Company-Sergeant-Major, who cared not if he was young or old, who did what was necessary.
There were certain observation posts in or outside the British lines from which no shot was ever allowed to be fired, lest the post should be betrayed, so valuable were they for observation. From one you could see at close range a German mounted military policeman—he was not always mounted—directing the traffic. You could almost see the expression on the faces of the Huns.
At another point an observation post which was linked up with the guns had a long distance view of a straight road near a ridge running behind the German lines, along which even in daylight Huns were wont to move in small bodies.
One day an officer and a corporal were in this post, when the corporal drew the attention of the officer to a single figure moving along the road. By deduction it was that of a German officer, for every now and again he would meet little parties of troops coming along the road in threes and fours, not enough to shoot at.
“Sir,” said the corporal, “the officer stops each lot and kind of seems to inspect them. I expect he is a disciplinarian.”
The officer smiled.
Some little distance further on he knew a point on the road was registered by our guns. Before the officer came to this he gave the word along the telephone to fire. As the shells approached the Hun officer hurled himself to the ground, from which, after the smoke cleared from a very nice shot, he was not seen to rise. But the chances are he crawled away. If not, the German Army was certainly short of an officer of “push and go.”
Of course the difference between the really skilled observer and the makeshifts who sometimes had to act in their places came out in a very marked degree at the longer ranges. The latter did not understand the telescope, and were never able to focus it so as to get the best results. In fact, when happenings were quite clear to anyone used to the telescope, these men were all at sea and could not distinguish much.
Anyone who was a real artist with the telescope was, of course, always trying different glasses and different magnifications. Apart from the telescopes which I had purchased with Mr. St. Loe Strachey’s invaluable fund, the Lady Roberts fund sent me out a number of very high-class glasses of all magnifications, and after a great deal of experimenting we came to the conclusion that during all the morning hours, when the sun was facing us, we should do best for all our work with a 10-power magnification, whereas, of course, when the sun went round behind us, higher-powered glasses gave better results. Still, it was very rare indeed that it was worth while to pull out the 30-power stop. Glasses even of the same magnification vary to an amazing extent. Some are what may be called sweet, that is, easy and restful for the eyes to look through. Others, of perhaps exactly similar type and by the same maker, are hard and unsatisfactory. Most of the Lovat Scouts brought out their own glasses, nearly all Ross’s—indeed, I never knew of any glass to compare with those made by this maker.