33 
THE DUTIES IN “ ACTION ” OF THE LIEUT.-COLONEL 
COMMANDING A SIEGE TRAIN DIVISION. 
BY 
MAJOR E. G. NICOLLS, R.A. 
(A Lecture delivered to the Long Course Officers anl N.-C. Officers at Shoeburgness, 
June 5th, 1896). 
The following remarks are intended as a sketch of: the general duties 
that would devolve upon the Lieut.-Colonel in command of a S.T. 
Division, when fighting his command; they are in no way authoritative, 
and are merely an expression of the opinions of the writer. 
A reference to S.A.D.,pp. 240-41, shows that a S.T. Division consists 
of 16 pieces manned by four companies under the command of a Lieut.- 
Colonel, who has on his staff one Adjutant, one Quarter-Master, two 
staff N.-C.O/s and two clerks. 
These 16 pieces would in all probability be divided into, and placed 
in, batteries of four guns each, one company of the S.T. being told off 
permanently to each battery. 
The duties of the Lieut.-Colonel in “ Action ” comprise all the means 
necessary to the proper fighting of his command, so that the most 
accurate and effective fire possible may be brought to bear upon the 
defender's ordnance and works as to effectually silence and destroy 
them with the least possible expenditure of ammunition in the shortest 
reasonable time and thus to prepare the way for the final infantry 
assault, by which means alone it can be hoped that the capture of a 
well organised and properly defended land fortress may be achieved. 
To this end his duties may be summed up generally as including— 
1. Supply of ammunition. 
2. Regulation and strength of reliefs. 
3. Control of fire. 
The first two are matters of organisation which it should not be 
difficult to provide for by regulation and on which, therefore, one feels 
somewhat diffident about venturing an opinion, and I do not con¬ 
sequently propose to do more than offer a few remarks under these 
two heads. 
Introduc¬ 
tory. 
S.T. 
Division. 
Object of 
Siege £re. 
Classifica¬ 
tion of 
duties. 
1. VOL. XXIV. 
