LAND AND WATER 
October 24, 1941 
Curiously, hoivever, tte exact conyerse is the case, aa 
Plan I. ■will siow. 
Let tha distance bo 3000 yards, taking thirty minutes 
roughly to cover. Now, at 3000 yards long-range infantry 
fire ha^ never yet stopped a decent battery from unlimbcring 
and opening fire, and never will. 
The enomjr's infantry comes over the brow of the hill in 
Bucccssivo lines, and your men begin shooting, thus disclosing 
their position by tbo graze of their bullets. 
It was argued by many of us long before the war began 
that to place trenches on the top of a long slope was simply 
to court destruction at the hands of tlie gunners, who can 
always outrange infantry. Wo argued that a man could 
always siioot straighter from a rest than when standing up 
from the shoulder. Therefore, the essence of a good defence 
lay in so tracing the trenchea that the guns could not got at 
them from a distance, thus compelling the infantiy to attack 
without their support. Thus, as shown in Plan II., B.'s guns 
Batteries promptly appear near the top of the hill, not 
necessarily on it, and in three minutes or so a rain of 
shrapnel begins to burst over your heads, smoke, dust, and 
bullets fill the air, and it ceases to be possible for men to see 
the approaching enemy, much less aim at him, for the bullets 
come so thick that every square foot of vulnerable surface, 
Bjeai's heads, and shoulders, must be hit three or four times 
a minute. At last, when the enemy's infantry is about 300 
to 500 yards off, according to the slope of the ground, his 
Plan L 
now cannot come forward down the slope towards A. without 
being crushed by A.'s artillery, which can shell the wood full 
of B.'s infajitry as it pleases, and if B.'s infantry try to break 
out of the wood down the hill, A.'s unshaken infantry can 
pump out magazine fire enough in a minute to wipe out every 
living thing among them. This is exactly what we have now 
learnt to do in practice on the Aisne. 
Of course, the enemy's aeroplanes may locate A.'s 
trenches, but unless the gunners can see where the aero- 
30 Oj£- 
pins have to cease their fire in order to avoid hitting their 
own men in the back, an experience no men will stand. But 
by that time the defenders have been so reduced in numbers 
and so harassed by shells generally, that they fire high and 
wild, and can no longer stop the enemy's final rush. That is, 
and always has been, the mechanism of every successful 
attack, but hitherto, in actual practice, no army has seen that 
in the modem breech-loader they possess the one weapon 
which can defeat this design. 
Plan II. 
plane's signal bomb drops their fire is not likely to be 
very accurate, and, after all, you must take som.e chances 
in war. 
When, therefore, in the near future any of my readers may 
find themselves in a trench halfway up a slope, or close to 
a wood, at first sight the worst kind of place ho can imagine, 
let him take heart-, for the choice of such a position only shows 
that his leaders know their work and have full confidence in 
his shooting. 
THE WAR AND THE FILM. 
Latest pictures at the Scala Theatre. 
Thosi who have not yet eeen the beautifnl colour pictures of the 
war at the Scala Theatre will do well to take an early opportunity of 
doing eo, for there is certainly no entertainment of equal interest 
to be seen in London at the present time. The latest additions to the 
colour filma comprising scenes of interest round the Belgian coast, and 
an adnurablo series of views of Paris and Parieian life, are full of 
animation, and are alone well worthy of a visit, while the first part 
of the programme, which shows in varied detail the diflerent unita of 
the military and naval fighting forces of Russia, France, Germany, 
Jtaly, .servia Denmark, Switzerland, the United States, and Japan, 
oonatitutea a feast of gorgeous colouring and of dramatic incident which 
can never fade from the recoUectiou of the spectator, and which may, 
indeed, be enjoyed again and again with undiminished zest. Among 
80 much that is noteworthy, it is difficult to particularise, but the 
strikingly beautiful aspect of the foaming sunlit waters in some of 
the naval pictures is a veritable triumph for the kinemacolour process. 
Another remarkable effect is th^t produced by the firing of the field 
guns, the flashes from which appear at times Uko an actual blaze of real 
fire upon the screen. Quite a fcafure of the entertainment is the 
OTchestra, which is excellently handled throughout, and adds much to 
the general enjoyment, the various items being skilfully chosen to 
enhance the effect of the pictures. A word of praise is aleo due to 
the lecturer whose lucid explanation of the films is often characterised 
by touches of humour. 
WAR PUBLICATIONS. 
Mcssre Hodder and Stoughton have just published two topical 
hooka, The BntisA Army from Within, by E. Charles Vivian, and 
rhe Freiich Army frmn Within, by ex-Trooper, at 2s. each 
Ihe former will make very instructive reading, not onlv to 
those who have eiJisted or are about \o enlist, but to all those 
interested— and at the preeent moment who is not?— in the welfare of 
the Jintish Army. AH the various units that go to make up the com- 
plete array are carefully dealt with. The chapter on the " New Army " 
will be read with considerable appreciation. 
Although not specifically stated, it is not difficult to im.igine that 
both these books are from the pen of the same author, and the French 
Army from Within explains the various branches in detail. The 
chapter dealing with the great garrison towns of France is of particular 
inteiest. 
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