364 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1897 . 
keep his eyes glued to it, and consequently cannot attend to his guns 
as well as he otherwise might. 
Electric range- A far better arrangement is the electric range dial. It is very simple 
dials ‘ and any intelligent gunner can be taught its working, connections, etc., 
in a week ; by its use the drill of a group becomes practically the same 
as when using P.F. case II., and the learning of drill details is conse¬ 
quently simplified, which to Militia and Volunteer officers and men 
would be a great advantage ; the G.G.C. can attend entirely to the 
working of his guns, and at the same time hear his ranges called out by 
the dial number, as do also the G.C.’s and G.L.’s. The system of making 
corrections at the D.R.F. also becomes simplified and similar to using 
P.F. case II., the dial number at the instrument merely having to cut 
off his current, run back or forward according to the number of yards 
the shot was short or over, connect again and move to the range called 
out by the drum reader. 
This system has been tried and found to work very smoothly and 
well, the D.R.F. detachments very soon get into the way of making 
corrections rapidly and without mistakes, and the only objection to 
these dials is their liability to “ slip,” but it should not be difficult to 
remedy this. 
One thing that has to be guarded against, is the tendency men have 
to correct for every few yards’ error and trying to get extreme accuracy. 
They should be trained to rarely correct for anything less than twenty- 
five yards short or fifty yards over, which will be quite near enough 
for all ordinary service conditions, though of course at competitive 
practice, when firing at record target, greater accuracy may be required ; 
they should however be made to correct sufficiently to get a “ bracket,” 
as at least one in four rounds should be short of the target. 
g.g.c.’s As regards the G.G.O.’s corrections, that for displacement is of great 
corrections. importance. If the D.R.F. emplacements are near the groups or behind 
them, matters are much simplified, but if some distance away, the 
divisions marked on the arcs are too close together, and if the target is 
at all a rapidly moving one, correct prediction becomes a matter of great 
difficulty. 
It would be a good plan if the G.G.C.’s were to mark the displacements 
in chalk according to the form of attack expected. In the case of a 
rapid target, corrections of fifty yards should generally be quite near 
enough for accuracy, and would much simplify predicting ; with a slow 
target or when great accuracy is necessary, divisions of twenty-five yards 
must be used. 
Deflection The deflection given to guns is usually ordered by the B.C., but he is 
corrections. 0 ft e n so far to a flank, that he cannot judge line very well. A plan 
sometimes adopted is to have a group observer to note the number of 
feet in front or behind the target the shot strikes ; this can be easily 
estimated if the length of the target is known. The G.G.C. corrects his 
own deflection roughly ; for example, at a mean range of 2,000 yards, 
ten feet might be taken as requiring five minutes wfith R.M.L. guns. 
The advantage of thus correcting is that it leaves the B.C. free to see 
to other things, and that the G.G.C. need not correct if he observes a 
delay in firing his gun, or thinks, from the movements of the layer, 
that the line is not reliable ; the B.C. on the other hand, judging only 
by what he sees, may correct on a badly layed round and thus throw 
out the whole of his shooting. 
