FIELD ARTILLERY POSITIONS. 
381 
therefore expose sixty men to view for two periods of one minute 
and fourteen seconds each or, in other words, for two minutes 
and twenty-eight seconds. In the other system you expose fifty-four 
men (eighteen drivers) and forty-two horses for a period of one minute 
and twenty seconds. 
The chances of loss are not then so very disproportionate, but the 
chances of effective shooting subsequently are. For— 
" The fatigue entailed in the first case was very marked, most 
of the detachments were quite unfit for their duties for some minutes; 
anything like accuracy of laying would have been quite out of the 
question for some time.” 1 2 
That last paragraph should give us pause. 
I do not say that on occasions “ creeping ” may not be desirable, 
but it is not surely a system to be accepted as a normal one, when the 
deficiencies in physique of our Field Artillery gunners is considered, 
and it is one certainly unsuited for those occasions when guns have to 
intervene quickly and decisively in the combat, unless a stretch of 
smooth, hard turf werebysomeextraordinarygoodfortune tobemetwith. 
I myself four years ago held up to admiration the achievement of 
those German guns who massacred the three French batteries at Sedan 
and I cordially agree that no one but a lunatic would drive up 
in the open and unlimber under fire from a hostile artillery which 
had found the range unless dire necessity drove him on. None 
the less, the picture of the destruction which would certainly fall 
upon a brigade division which brought its guns “ up to the crest of 
an intended position, in full view and under fire from a hostile line of 
guns,” is painted in too violent contrast of light and shade altogether. 
Let us analyse the situation here for a moment too. The attention 
of troops in action is always more or less distracted by the appearance 
and disappearance of hostile parties. Scouts, patrols, or stronger 
bodies of cavalry hover about, small parties of infantry appear, 
a gun opens from an unexpected direction; it is never quite the case 
of a cat watching a mouse-hole in a quiet corner. Except under 
abnormal conditions, guns appearing as is suggested will frequently 
not be noticed for a few seconds after their arrival. The “Annual 
Keport of the School of Gunnery for 1896,” page 10, already quoted, 
tells us that the horses and limbers of a brigade division “ bringing 
its guns up to the crest line of an intended position ” will be 
exposed to fire for not more than one minute and twenty seconds. 
What are the chances against them ? The same report shows that 
the average time fourteen batteries at Okehampton last year took 
to commence firing “ time shrapnel ” was four minutes and thirty- 
seven seconds. And they did not arrive at what they thought 
was the correct length of fuze until six minutes and twenty-one seconds 
had passed. I see that Yon Holme 3 has put the average time that 
German batteries take to range (einzuschiessen) at 4 # 6 minutes. I 
1 Vide Report. 
2 “ Militar-Wochenblatt,” No. 4, 1897. 
50 
