LAND AND WATER 
October 24, 1941 
Cnrionsly, however, the exact converse ia the case, aa 
Plan I. will show. . . 
Let the distance be 3000 yards, taking thirty inmut«s 
roupfaly to cover. Now, at 3000 yards long-range infantry 
fire haa never yet stopped a decent battery from unlimbering 
and opening firo, and never will. 
The enem/s infantry comes over the brow of the hill in 
iuccessive lines, and your men begin shooting, thus disclosing 
their position by the graae of their bullets. 
It was argued by many of us long before the war begaoi 
tha.t to place trenches on the top of a long slope was simply 
to court destruction at the hands of the gunners, who can 
always outrango infantry. We argued that a man could 
always shoot straighter from a rest than when standing up 
froru the shoulder. Therefore, the essence of a good defence 
lay in so tracing tho trenches that the guns could not get at 
them from a distance, thus compelling the infantiy to attack 
without their support. Thus, as shown in Flan II., B.'s guna 
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 tho air, and it ceases to be possible for men to see 
the approaching enemy, much less aii« at him, for the bullets 
corao so thick that every square foot of vulnerable surface, 
meoa's heads, and shoulders, must be hit threo or four times 
a minute. At last, when the enemy's infantry is about 300 
to 600 yard* off, according to the slope of the ground, his 
Plan L 
now cannot come forward down the slope towards A. w.iUiout 
being crushed by A.'s artillery, which can shell the wood full 
of B.'s infantry as it pleases, ajid if B.'s infantry try to break 
out of tlie wood down the hill, A.'s unshaken infantiy can 
pump out magazine fire enough in a minuto to wipe out every 
living thing among theam. This is exactly what we Lave now 
loarnt to do in practice on the Aisno. 
Of course, the enemy's aeroplanes may locate A.'s 
trenches, but unless the guruaem can see where the aero- 
300 Ojd&- 
guns hav* 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 firo 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 
which can defeat this design. 
weapon 
Plan II. 
plane's sngnaJ bomb drops their fire is not likely to ba 
vary accurate, and, after all, you must take some 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 he can imagine, 
let him take heart, for the choice of such a position only shows 
that his leaders know their work and have full conildeaico in 
his shooting. 
THE WAR AND THE FILM. 
L«tesl pieturet at the Scala Theatre. 
-=,Tf^!l! ^°, ^u °.°* '«.' •**" *•'• beautiful colour picture, of the 
war at the bcala Theatre will do weU to take an early opportunity of 
doing «o^ for there ut certainly no entertainment of equal interest 
I^lo!.^ "■ ^"^^^ "' '•'° P"=*^°* ">"«• The latest additions to the 
!Simf^o„ In^"^ f "'''^°' ^"'^ """^ P"^'»" "?«. »~ full of 
^ .^t ^' ^ "° 'i°°v V^^ ''"■^'■y of » >'"*. -"bile the arBt part 
?h, »il^.'^^'""'^'' '^^'^\'^?«^' in varied detail the different unitf of 
I^v W^a n "*^* figl'fng force, of Russia, France, Germany, 
^It^XFrT'^- ^^'t^^l^-d, the United States, and Japan 
^n.„ . f ; I' "^ gorgeou* colouring and of dramatic incident which 
Sd J1 h-^- ^'T "•? «>=°"«=tiou of the spectator, and which miy. 
IS mu'h th=S^"^""^ "gain and again with undiminished zest. Amo^i 
IfriSnal, hf f "?<«^^^°'l»>y. It is difficult to particularise, but thf 
fl^ n^! T „*!"?""'" "P'"^'. °f th« foaming sunlit waters in some of 
the naval pictures is a veritable triumph fSr the kinemacolour Droce,« 
enLnw the Xrof Vh • ^^''"o"* 'tenis being skilfully chosen to 
WAR PUBLICATIONS. 
Se BritUh Armv All^<?^ moment « ho ie not?-in the v,.clfare of 
we ilritisn Army. All the variou. units that go to make up the com- 
plete army are carefully dealt v^ith. The chapter on the " New Army " 
will be read with considerable appreciation. 
Although not specifically stated, it is not difficult to imagine that 
both these books are from the pen of the same author, and the French 
Army jrnm Within explains the various branclie» in detail. The 
chapter dealing with the great garrison towns of France is of particular 
interest. 
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16* 
