12 
RANGING A BATTERY. 
Symbol o— below a range denotes gun being depressed to the 
lower arm of the bracket. 
At first sight, many will be impressed with the idea that a system of 
this sort is beyond the capacity of the majority of N.-C. Officers and of 
some Officers. I feel certain this is not so, if only a very short time 
be given to studying the tables. 
There is absolutely nothing for a sectional officer to carry in his 
head, and the C.O. can personally detail in his first order, or at “ Pre¬ 
pare for action,” or at any moment he chooses the exact range each 
gun should be laid at. 
After the first start, a see-saw of the simplest description has to be 
maintained between the two ranging sections, in which it is impossible 
for a man who fills up in pencil a blank table, as he goes along, to make 
a mistake. Should, however, such a contretemps occur, the battery 
simply has to wait until the range is altered by the erring No. 1, in 
accordance with what the C.O. has called out. 
Some who have learnt the system will be tempted into carrying their 
own share in their heads ; but, as I said before, this is to be deprecated. 
One man may undoubtely do this and do it well, but when an accident 
comes, and this we have to legislate for, a reliable record should be on 
the spot, ready and up to time, for whoever has to carry on the work. 
That men will have to be trained for such a system is undoubted, 
but do not we see around us on every side marked advances in the 
standard of intelligence attained by and obtained from our N.-C. Officers 
and men. What more striking example can we have than the present 
signal drill, where no voice is heard but the C.O.’s., as compared to the 
drill of 30 years ago when, with a noisy C.O., everyone down almost 
to the 2nd Trumpeter, had a shout whenever he got a chance. That a 
very moderate amount of careful training yields good results is testified 
to by Captain Horne’s experience with his battery and Major Burridge’s 
with the 50th Field Battery. In the latter case it has taken an aver¬ 
age of 3 minutes 25 seconds to range, up to firing the first shrapnel 
without accidents. This is the result of a very short spell of practice. 
Assuming that a system of this description is found to .work well, 
the advantages that may be claimed for it are :— 
(a ).—The sole attention of one Section is given to shrapnel. 
(£).—Four guns being sufficient for finding the range, the four 
nearest to the C.O. are utilised. 
(c) . —Supposing that the C.O. is accurate, mistakes, beyond of a 
momentary nature, can barely occur, as the C.O. keeps 
them all straight each time he calls the range out. 
( d ) .—Fewer shots are wasted, as fewer guns are loaded at a time, 
than under the present system. 
(e) .—Bar accidents, which will occur with any system, the time 
occupied in ranging is immensely reduced. 
(f) .—Under the system now in force the C.O. has to wait for the 
guns; by this way of working, the guns have to wait for 
the C.O. (observing with puffs). 
(y).—No guns have to be unloaded or needlessly fired off. 
(h ),—Nothing in this plan precludes a C.O. from falling back on 
<e Slow fire ” from either flank should he have too few guns 
or men left. 
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