131 
OKEHAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1892. 
BY 
CAPTAIN E. W. BLUNT, R.A. 
(A Lecture delivered at the Royal Artillery Institution, September 21st, 1892) A 
Lieut.-Col. E. Bainbbidgb, R.A., in the Chaib. 
Captain Blunt —Gentlemen, a great compliment lias been paid me in 
asking me to address you here this evening to say something about 
what has been going on at Okehampton this year. I am sorry for 
your sake, and perhaps for my own, that none of the other senior 
officers of the Staff were able to do it, and the duty has devolved 
upon me. 
The practice of the past season at Okehampton has been conducted on 
somewhat different lines from that of last year. Perhaps the best way 
to lay it before you will be to state shortly the system followed and 
then to refer in detail to such points as seem specially to deserve notice. 
The chief points of difference between the practice of this and of last 
year are two :—First, a progressive programme of practice was drawn 
up at the beginning of the season and, as far as possible, adhered to 
throughout. The object being that each battery should fire under the 
same conditions of time, range and target, whether it shot with the 1st 
Division in May or the 5th in September. If results are to be com¬ 
pared and accepted as a gauge of excellence, this is the only fair way 
of doing it. The hoped for uniformity has been only partially obtained. 
During the practice of the 3rd Division there was a difficulty about 
getting one of the ranges cleared. A Field Day, in combination with 
infantry from the Devonport Garrison, interfered with the 4th Division, 
one range being temporarily closed while field-works were being con¬ 
structed. The 5th Division were allowed only 350 rounds, so their 
practice was curtailed, and moreover was much interrupted by a succes¬ 
sion of wet days such as even Okehampton seldom gives. Nevertheless 
the conditions have been nearly the same for all batteries, and afford 
fair ground for comparisons to such as like to make them. 
Many officers have expressed a wish that, for the batteries practising 
at Okehampton, three or four days of Service Practice should take the 
place of the present Competitive. This would go far to eliminate the 
1 The publication of this lecture has been delayed in order that it might not appear before the 
“ Annual Report of the School of Gunnery on Horse and Field Artillery Practice at Home, 1892.” 
18 
3. YOL. XX. 
