THE DIARY OF THE 10th FIELD BATTERY R.A. 
427 
rain. Nearly all had been clipped twice. Their rations had varied a 
good deal daring the six months. Sometimes it would consist of 
plain barley or plain gram with no means available to crush or pre¬ 
pare it. In standing camps, if the gram was issued whole, it was 
generally soaked, but the barley was quite intractable and a very bad 
feed. The fodder, too, varied a great deal, when first the battery 
went into the Swat Valley, it was green rice crops or green Indian 
corn, afterwards at Panjkora and onwards it was generally bhoosa from 
stacks or baled, the green stalks of a sort of bean crop or almost ripe rice 
straw. During November and December it was generally baled hay, 
very good as a rule. Green rice crop proved a much less unwhole¬ 
some fodder than one expected though it did cause a certain amount 
of diarrhoea amongst the horses. Great use was made of bhoosa by 
mixing it with the grain feeds, and the want of a large nosebag of 
the common English carter’s fashion was much felt, the service one 
being much too small. On the whole the Wafers stood the roughing 
it very well, undoubtedly the short cobb}^ stamp proved the best to 
stand hard work and mixed feeding. There was no appreciable dif¬ 
ference in the way the old and young horses did. 
The battery has for the last four years been equipped with pole 
draft and found it most satisfactory. Nos. 4 and 5 always rode on 
the off lead and centre horses. 
The carriages were Mark II with drag shoe brakes, the small sup¬ 
porting chains which fasten the shoe to the drag washers were found 
too weak and three or four broke in action. Six spare wheels seem an 
unnecessary number to carry. The wheels stood the wear and tear 
over very rough ground extremely well. 
The case shot were found too weak to stand the jolting over heavy 
ground. 
The packing up of horses and carriages with the men’s kits and 
other heavy stuff in field service marching order is most undesirable. 
The guns and still more the wagons, even in drill order, are a very 
heavy load for the teams if the ground is heavy and in marching over 
broken ground or when no regular road is available. The battery 
always went in drill order if possible carrying only the picketting gear 
and sufficient grain for a feed on arrival in camp. Also all spare 
horses with harness were generally hooked in making the teams up 
to eight as far as possible. 
The C.O. in his report on the equipment suggests subdivision carts 
capable of carrying 1,000 lbs., which would be sufficient to take the 
picketting gear, one day’s ration for horses, horse clothing and men’s 
kits at 10 lbs. each, thus easing the load on the guns and wagons 
and increasing the mobility and efficiency of the battery. 
Owing to the necessity of not covering more ground than possible 
in camp, space was reduced to a minimum—the men either bivouacked, 
gunners in the gun park and drivers in the horse lines under water¬ 
proof sheet shelters, or when they had tents the tents were pitched in 
two rows between the gun park and horse lines, the gunners occupy* 
ing the row next the guns and the drivers that next the horses. 
