492 
GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1892 . 
Its division 
into sections. 
Importance 
of the sec¬ 
tion system. 
Battery sys¬ 
tem admir¬ 
ably adapted 
for securing 
Eire Discip¬ 
line. 
under fire will be understood by all who have studied the causes which 
contributed to the success of the G-ermans in 1870. 1 2 
The division of the battery into three sections gives a distinct charge 
to each subaltern officer. In no other branch of the army are the 
conditions so favourable for decentralising authority. The tendency 
in recent years has been in the direction of increasing the respon¬ 
sibility of the Section Commander. In the last edition of the 
“ Standing Orders of the Royal Artillery,” Battery Commanders were 
directed to “work through the subalterns of sections,” who are now 
held responsible for the instruction 3 of their men as well as for the 
interior economy of their sections. The section has now become the 
sub-unit for instruction. How admirably adapted this organisation is 
for the purposes of Fire Discipline training will be shown in Part III. 
of this Essay. 
Just as each battery should be self-supporting so should each section, 
and after the section each sub-division. Recruits when once posted to 
a sub-division should not be moved from it except under strong 
necessity. The lower decentralisation is carried the better. The 
encouragement of esprit de corps should by no means be limited to the 
battery, but requires to be carried as far down as possible in the scale 
of organisation. If a Section Officer sees his men constantly chang¬ 
ing, his interest in those who remain is correspondingly decreased. 
The more permanent the union between the officer and those under 
him during peace the more likely is discipline to be maintained under 
fire. 
It is not possible to pass from this part of the subject under discus¬ 
sion without a strong sense of satisfaction. We have in the battery 
system an organisation which offers the best conditions for securing 
control above and obedience below. The mechanism of an English 
battery, whether taken as a whole or dissected in parts, will bear the 
test of close comparison with that of any foreign model. The German 
battery with fewer officers is a less perfect machine. If the Fire 
Discipline of an English battery falls below the requisite standard of 
excellence this is not due to want of organisation, but must be looked 
for in other causes, such as faulty training, or imperfect morale . 
PART HI. 
Training. 
“ Untiring practical instruction is needed in all that goes to malce up the end of shooting. 
Without it all other excellence is worthless .” 3 —Fox Strang-ways. 
1 In alluding to this question of administrative responsibility the late Colonel Home, E.E., 
wrote as follows :— 
“ As the provision of food, arms, and clothing for men keeps the superior in contact with the 
inferior, and induces the latter to lean on, be governed, and be guided by the former, it follows 
that if possible the first tactical division should correspond with the first administrative division, 
or in other words that the smallest independent tactical command should also be the smallest 
administrative division.”—Precis of Tactics, by Colonel Home, C.B., R.E. 
2 “ They are to instruct the men of their own sections in their duties as artillerists.”—Para. 2, 
Sect. XVi., “ R.A. Standing Orders.” 
3 “ Field Artillery Progress,” by Lieut.-Colonel Fox Strangways, It,A., “ Proceedings ” of the 
E.A. Institution, Yol. IX., March, 1876. 
