My reader will soon realise that the officer of to-day has to keep his eyes constantly open to preserve the best conditions for the training of his men. And while I am on this point I would just add this word. Not only must the officers see to it that the food and water are good and the camp kept clean, but he must also have the men's health constantly in mind when he is planning their schedule of training. Moderation is the word. It is possible to be too enthusiastic and do the men more harm than good with hasty training. Exercises should be graduated. It must be remembered that many of the men who will constitute civilian armies are not used to out-of-door life and their training must be gentle. It is not fair for an officer to expect his men to be able to march twelve or twenty miles on a hike while he rides comfortably with them on a horse! It is a good thing for him to share the fatigue of his men that he may be the better able to direct their training. I have found that a good many of these hikes were planned by the higher officers who never walked and never understood when men began to fall out from fatigue. Rests during marching should be fairly frequent and the men should be taught the advantages to be gained by loosening their packs and throwing themselves down flat on the ground to relax all their muscles. Singing and whistling should be encouraged on the march, for there is nothing like it to make a long road seem short, but smoking should be reserved for the rest periods.
The principle of "plenty of rests" should also be followed during physical exercises and a man should never be asked to hold his arm long in any uncomfortable position. A thoughtful officer is soon rewarded by the increased efficiency of his men. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"—will bring big returns in the army.
CHAPTER VI
COVER AND TRENCHES
This war is being fought out, not in great open battles, but in successive conflicts from the security of trenches in what "Papa Joffre" has called the "nibbling process." It is not simple work but such as calls for healthy bodies, trained minds, and steady nerves. Quick action is often necessary. Independence of thought, ingenuity and personal courage, combined with implicit obedience, make up the ideal soldier.
The training through which a civilian must go, then, will be such as to develop these qualities. Every syllabus of training must be drawn up with this in view, and all the time the attention of the officers must be kept on the fact that the training must be such as to make soldiers who will be efficient in the kind of war that is being waged. Much that has been written in the text books for armies has had to be discarded as out of date. It is no exaggeration to say that the British knew very little about modern warfare when we went to France, in spite of the fact that we had, during this century, waged a war in South Africa, not to mention the numerous border engagements in India. We did not know the tremendously important part that artillery was to play; we knew practically nothing of the use of bombs; we had never made gas and did not know its constitution; and in the work of trench construction we were in the kindergarten class. Our enemy taught us many of these things and we learned them slowly. Now we have reached his standard and gone past him as the Tanks testify. But in pure frightfulness we can never compete with him and never intend to.
Eight hours a day of hard but varied training was our rule with frequent evening lectures. Conditions were arranged as much like those on active service as possible, even to the use of "live" bombs. Men are very reluctant at first to handle these explosive little instruments of war, and they must be given confidence in themselves long before they reach the firing line. There they are used as freely as a mechanic uses a machine.
It is said that one general who was training his men in the Midlands of England had a difficulty in getting them to keep their heads down. They could not see the necessity for it and always wanted to see all that was going on. Now in actual warfare the individual soldier is able to see very little of what is transpiring round about him, and he has to be content to come through with a whole head. Accordingly the General served out to a few trustworthy men a number of live, ball cartridges. During the manœvres the men who would put their heads up heard some of these missiles singing round their ears, and soon learned that it was unwise to be too curious. I am not sure that I would recommend this method—for were an accident to happen it would bring disgrace and dismissal to the officer who had employed it—but it is certainly an effective means.
One of the first things to be insisted upon in training a man is that he learn the use of Cover. He must learn not only that cover is necessary, but also what constitutes effective cover of various materials. The most common form of cover is that afforded by piled up earth. A rifle bullet fired at short range will pierce about forty inches of earth so that nothing less than thirty-six inches can be considered as giving protection from ordinary bullets. Where sand can be obtained ten inches less will suffice. Ordinary turf is not nearly so good and nothing less than five feet in thickness is sufficient. Bricks are effective. If they are placed end on giving a thickness of nine inches this will be found sufficient so that a man can feel fairly secure from rifle bullets standing behind an ordinary brick wall. Where wood is used much depends on its degree of hardness; thirty inches for hardwood and forty-five for softwood can be taken as affording complete protection. Any of the harder substances such as iron and steel, etc., are preferable, but they can seldom be obtained. Of ordinary iron plate three-fourths inch is necessary and less for the different varieties of steel. Usually several of these media must be used. Boards can be arranged with stones and sand or litter, etc., between them. The point to be remembered is that the required thickness must be obtained, not at the base of the cover but at the top, to support which a much larger base will usually be required.