2 
2 1 light field and 2 heavy field guns of the 1st Artillery Brigade were told off 
for the experiment. 
As the object of the experiments was to ascertain the penetrative power of the 
projectiles, the range was very short, about 700 yards, which, moreover, was 
known to the battery commander : thus it was not necessary to waste any rounds 
in ranging. 
Flags were placed in the centre of each section of the work to distinguish it, 
and the guns were laid on these. Only common shell were used, some with 
bursting charges and some empty. 
The experiments began with the light guns. The range table elevation of the 
first two rounds resulted in the shot striking the left upper corner of the parapet, 
so the elevation was diminished half a “line,” after which the shell began to 
strike round the flags marking the centre of the sections. 
It was remarked that whilst the flags remained intact, the firing was very accu¬ 
rate, as might be expected at so short a range; but when the flags had been 
knocked away the firing became less accurate and the laying was carried out with 
great difficulty. After 2 rounds had penetrated the work, 4 more were fired and 
then the parapet was examined. 
It turned out, as it had appeared from observation, that the filled shell did not 
go through but burst in the work. When the point of impact was not far from 
the superior slope, the shell made a slight furrow on the snow surface, much like 
that made by common shell in loose soil; where the shell buried itself deeply it 
made a kind of puff, indicated on the surface by a wave of smoke. After this 
inspection of the work, plugged shell were fired from the light guns at each 
section of the target. All the sections except the third were pierced ; of the two 
shells fired at this section, one penetrated it and the other glanced off. The snow 
with which the ice was faced was scattered by the first impact, and the ice behind 
threw off splinters to a distance of 50 and 60 yards. After this 2 plugged com¬ 
mon shell were fired from the field battery guns at each section: all the projectiles 
pierced the parapet. 
When the penetrative power of field gun projectiles against snow works had 
been thus demonstrated, experiments were carried out to decide the resistance of 
snow to the bursting power of shells. 
44 shells from the light and 25 from the heavy guns were fired with the follow¬ 
ing results :— 
No. 1 section hit by 4 heavy shells. 
9 9 
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and 14 light shells. 
10 
10 
10 
The inspection of the parapet at the end of the practice shewed that sections 
2 and 4 had suffered most: they were shattered more than half-way down, and 
made a very sorry appearance. 
Observation of the bursts shewed that with 8 feet thickness, the burst occurred 
almost at the moment of the exit of the projectile on the inner side, that is exactly 
where troops sheltered by the parapet would be. 
In No 1 section the bursts occurred after a penetration of 8 and 9 feet. Thus 
it appears that a thickness of 9 feet does not give protection. 
The ice in No. 3 section showed great resistance to the penetration of filled 
shell which burst before they had penetrated very far into the ice. The shell 
made a furrow at the point of impact on the ice-block, from which splinters were 
1 17-pre. and 50-pre. 
