DISCUSSION ON ARTILLERY. 
within from 400 to 700 yards of the enemy's position on the flank of 
the infantry. That was so was it not ? 
Lieut.-Colonel Hunter-Blair :•—Yes Sir, about 400 yards or less. 
The Chairman —Had you any artillery opposed to you ? 
Lieut.-Colonel Hunter-Blair :—No Sir not then—there was none. 
There were some artillery inside the Zareba, but they were not very 
much in evidence. They fired two shots at the beginning in the early 
part of the day, and then never any more. 
The Chairman Then again I notice that Major Young said at 
Colonel Elmslie's lecture “ Maxims and guns I believe are of the 
greatest possible value in the very front line, in the line of infantry 
during attack on positions, and it is only by that immense superiority 
of fire, which they aid very much in getting, that bodies of troops 
will be taken in the assault in these days." That question again has 
been raised by Colonel Hunter-Blair. Is that experience of yours, 
Major Young, which induces you to say that you think the place for 
Maxims and guns where they can be of the greatest possible value 
is in the very front line, beside the infantry, derived from experience 
in an action where the enemy had artillery against you or is it derived 
from experience where the enemy had no artillery ? 
Major Young : —They had ten guns against us, but as Colonel 
Hunter-Blair has said, they were not much of guns, those little 
brass mountain guns. 
The Chairman : —I wish General Maurice would say something on 
that point. 
General Maurice, c.b. :—There are two or three things Sir, that I 
should like to get out from officers who were there because there is one 
conclusion that I am inclined to draw generally and I should like to 
know how far officers who were present can confirm it; that is, that so far 
as the infantry attack on a position is concerned certainly the impress¬ 
ion which this story has left on me is that no accumulation of mere 
numbers and force of mere infantry apart from artillery fire would 
have carried that position in any way. It does not matter whether 
you have Frenchmen, Germans, Russians or even Englishmen to attack 
the position ; they never could have carried it because they never 
could have approached it. 
Lieut.-Colonel Hunter-Blair :—I certainly think so. 
Major Young :—Are you talking of the Atbara ? 
General Maurice, c.b. :•—I am talking of Omdurman. 
Major Young :—There was no position carrying at Omdurman. 
General Maurice, c.b. Precisely. I say that no accumulation of 
force against your position consisting of mere numbers of infantry would 
ever have carried that position. I cannot believe it. Those Der vishes 
were every bit as ready to have lost their lives as any troops in the world 
in getting up to that position and the number that they were able to 
accumulate were as great as could ever effectively be accumulated 
against any position. Therefore I can see no chance of a mere accum¬ 
ulation of numbers against that position with a rush carrying the 
position at all. If that is so it is a point of considerable importance 
