358 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1898. 
Definition of a 
Q.F. gun. 
Arrangement of 
subject. 
Advantages.— 
Increased power 
given by use of 
Q.F. guns. 
Decisive effects 
are produced by 
rapid fire. 
Opportunities 
for use of rapid 
fire. 
A Q.F. gun may be defined as one which is so constructed and 
mounted that it may be loaded, layed, and fired quickly ; that is, 
quickly as compared with an ordinary B.L. gun. For use on board ship 
or in a fort, where there is no objection to extra weight or complication, 
it is now easy to produce Q.F. guns (even of large calibre) that can be 
fired “ from the shoulder,” as it were, like a rifle ; and the operation of 
loading can be simplified by the use of fixed ammunition without 
disadvantage ; moreover in such positions the supply of ammunition 
to these guns presents no serious difficulty. With a Q.F. equipment for 
use in the field, however, it is a very different matter : the question of 
the adoption of such an equipment demands the most careful consider¬ 
ation and experiment. 
It is proposed in this essay first to discuss the subject generally, then 
to observe what has already been done towards the evolution of a 
satisfactory Q.F. field equipment, and finally to summarize the whole. 
I.—Advantages and Disadvantages. 
It must, I think, be admitted by all that to be able, at will, to deliver 
an extremely rapid fire (provided it be also well directed) would be of 
vast importance to Artillery in the field : an Artillery commanded 
whose batteries were armed with Q.F. guns would have, when he chose 
to use it, and used it properly, an enormous power which he cannot at 
present possess to the same extent. “Fire is everything, all the rest 
nothing,” was the dictum of the great Napoleon with regard to 
Artillery ; and any increase in the intensity of Artillery fire means a 
gain of effect both material and moral, an increase of power. 
In the battles of Napoleon’s days the decisive effects that were 
produced by Artillery fire were obtained by rapid fire, at case ranges. 
The opening cannonade in the days of smooth bore guns was no doubt 
slow : “ It was never, and was never meant to be, decisive. When a 
decisive effect was called for, those leaders who understood how to turn 
guns to account massed them against the intended point of impact in 
the hostile array, and then a very rapid fire of case was poured in at 
ranges within .... 400 yards. To produce a decisive effect it was 
found that there should be no lull in the storm of missiles . . . .” * 
And these last words are true of Artillery to-day. Ranges have 
increased, but decisive effects are still obtained by the use of rapid fire. 
To see this one has only to study our present regulations, and they are 
founded on principles that have been practically successful in modern 
warfare. Thus on p. 29, “ F.A. Drill, 1896,” it is laid down that, in the 
support of the Infantry, attack “ the range should be decisive, and 
the fire should be rapid : ” again, rapid fire has to be used in short 
“ bursts ” when firing at a moving target, to obtain the maximum of 
effect during short spaces of time ; in “ magazine fire ” for repelling 
Cavalry attacks ; and when at case range, as in the old days. The 
most important instance, perhaps, is at p. 38, where in the Cavalry fight 
the fire of the Horse Artillery acting with the Cavalry “ should be rapid,” 
at the critical moment of the struggle. 
Numberless instances have occurred in warfare, are constantly seen 
at manoeuvres, and will occur again in war, of an enemy temporarily 
exposing himself at a disadvantage : moments when a vast amount of 
damage may be done to him if the opportunity can be grasped, but 
* “Achievements of Field Artillery,” p. 159. 
