GOLD MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1892 . 
493 
The first necessity for training is that it should be systematic. 
Spasmodic drill parades will not secure Fire Discipline. A connected 
course of instruction extending throughout the year and progressive 
from day to day is necessary for every battery. The system of train¬ 
ing must depend on the system of recruiting. In India the conditions 
are more favourable than in England. Recruits are sent out periodi¬ 
cally in batches and remain for definite and known periods with their 
batteries. In England they are received in driblets, and the duration 
of their service in a particular battery is uncertain. In spite, how¬ 
ever, of these difficulties it is quite possible to establish an annual 
course of instruction which can be followed without interruption. 
The limits of the Indian draft season may be said to be between the 
1st October and the 1st of March. After the latter date and before 
the next succeeding October there is no risk (under normal conditions) 
of disturbance of the personnel. It is known at the latest by the 1st 
of March every year what men will remain with each battery for 
practice in the summer and for manoeuvres in the autumn. 
As on the Continent so with us, the institution of combined 
manoeuvres of the three arms during the autumn is now recognised as 
an annual necessity. All training should be preparation for these 
manoeuvres which are the crowning test of the work done during the 
year. Successful shooting is not a conclusive proof of Fire Discipline : 
because even at Okehampton the tactical test, owing to the limited 
ground available, must of necessity be imperfectly applied. The true, 
searching, final test of the Fire Discipline of a battery must be looked 
for in the field at such manoeuvres as were carried on in 1890 on the 
Berkshire Downs, and last year in Hampshire, at the Curragh, and on 
a smaller scale in other districts. 
The winter months in England are best given up to individual 
training. By fixing all courses of instruction outside the battery 
during this season young officers and non-commissioned officers will not 
be taken from their batteries during the progress of the summer 
instruction. As soon as the requirements of the Indian drafts are 
known it should be arranged without delay for the transfer to the 
depot of all men selected for foreign service—the place of these men, 
as likewise of all those whose time will expire during the ensuing 
year, being filled by recruits. There is no object in keeping at the 
depot recruits who are not eligible for Indian service during the cur¬ 
rent trooping season. On the other hand, it is very inconvenient to 
receive recruits in service batteries after the 1st of April when once 
the battery has been committed to its summer drills. The earlier they 
come during the winter the better so that they may get started and 
their individual training taken in hand before the drill season begins. 
The conditions in England do not after all differ so widely as is some¬ 
times supposed from those on the Continent where all recruits who 
come up in November are expected to take their place as trained 
soldiers during the succeeding autumn manoeuvres. 
The training of subaltern officers on first joining must here be 
referred to. The duties which are now assigned to them of instructors 
require that they should in the first place be thoroughly trained them- 
Importance 
of systematic 
training 
throughout 
the year. 
All training 
should be 
preparation 
for the 
annual man¬ 
oeuvres which 
are the final 
test of Eire 
Discipline. 
Training 
during 
winter 
months. 
Young 
officers. 
