LAND AND WATER 
December 26, 1914. 
Fuzzies in AfgtanLstan and Egypt; bnt it was rot until we 
had time to think over th« experiences of the Boer War that 
WO began to reason out consocutively tho value of the power 
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the new weapon gave us when placed in tho hands of trained 
men, fitted by racial temperament to handle it. 
The first point in the- argumoit is this. If a single man 
attempts to advance alone, against, let us say, ten riflemen, 
all ready to get a drop on him, his chances of survival are not 
worth many minutes' purchase, and this is, in fact, what hap- 
pened in South Africa on many regrettable oecasions. 
But if two or three men advance, the attention of the firers 
will be distracted so that no one of the three runs, or feels that 
he runs, so great a risk. If, however, you increase the number 
of men indefinitely till they are shoulder to shoulder, a fresh 
consideration sets in, for the bull's-eye is always the safest spot 
in the target, and it is his comrade, not the man actually 
aimed at, who generally gets hit. There is a proverb in the 
Russian skirmisher (Rifle) battalions which expresses this: — 
" In action avoid the neighbourhood of a white stone or of a 
general ofiBcer." 
The problem, then, is to find a happy mean of distance 
bet-ween the two adjacent men, and in practice from two to 
three paces would answer but for a further complication. 
Of course some one will drop from time to time, and therefore 
it is necwsary to provide men to fill up the gaps which thus 
arise. Now the fall of each man increases the risk of the 
remainder, and the question arises. How long can the 
weakened line hold on without fresh support, and what is 
the most economic method of supplying tJiat support? 
Primarily the limit of endurance depends on the effi- 
ciency of the assailants' own return fire. If, as against the 
ten men above referred to, the fall of one attacker leaves only 
three, a fourth of the fire power is gone, and the enemy 
may rapidly gain a superiority. If, say, six remain, 
only l-7th is lost, and the odds are more reasonable, and 
that was why in the old days it was found that it paid better 
to attack in a two-deep line than in an extended lino v^ith 
■upports behind it. The lina was firing all the time, and a 
few men down made very little difference. But the eupporta 
behind an extended firing line could not fire at all, and it 
Terms of Suhsci'ipticn to 
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(ESTABLISHED 1862). 
AT HOME— Twelve Months - - . £l go 
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BACK COPIES of "LAND AND WATER," containing the 
•eries of Articlfs by HILAIRE BEI.LOC, "THIS WAK BY 
LAND"; and FKED T. JANK, "THE WAK BY WATER" 
nfTT^o''» '^'*'^ " valuable reference, "THE I OPOGRAPHICAL 
UUIDE, c«n be obtained tl-.rough any NewsaKont, or on 
•pplicaticn to the Offices cf "LAND AND WATEli " Central 
House, Kingsway, W.C. ' 
was very difficult to bring them forward to replace casualtiefl 
when wanted. Moreover, they acted aa stop butts for the 
enemy's bullets that flew over the first line, and thus suffered 
losses without power of retaliation^ — tlie greatest of all trials 
of endurance — hence supports very often broke for it, bolted 
and left their firing lino comrades to look after themselves. 
Now, thanks not only to the new weapon, but to the skill 
with which our men have learned to handle it, and to the 
extraordinary courage and endurance they are now display- 
ing, it is possible now to economise men at every point of 
the chain. 
Tour men now will hold a front which formerly required, 
Bay, ten, because their fir© power is greater, and their spirit 
of self-sacrifice acquired through discipline markedly higher, 
they can hold on without support for longer — hence supports 
can be kept back further — hence the less danger from the 
" overs " meant for the front line. But the fewer the men 
in the fighting line, and the fewer with the supports or second 
line (which in some form or other must always be provided) 
the more men will remain over to execute the final " knock- 
out " blow when the right moment comes. 
The object of modem training is essentially to develop 
this spirit of self-sacrifice, which amounts to a determination, 
to take sJl the chances of war as they come and hold on itt 
a given situation for the credit of the regiment, for the 
honour of the nation, and the sake of those dearest ones you 
have left behind ; and, fortunately, one can learn all thesei 
essentials, even without arms or practice at the " butts," 
and it is the existence of the spirit which forms the funda- 
mental justification, of our voluntary service. 
To my mind also it is a point of view whicK should be 
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soberly and rationally placed before the soldier, not by vio- 
lent appeals to his emotional nature through the medium of 
catch-penny advertisements and coloured presentation pl.ites, 
but so that he may realise, at least sub-consciously, that every 
brave man in the fighting line who sees a thing through 
eaves other men's lives somewhere about in a fivefold pro- 
portion — viz. : fewer men necessary in the fighting line, fewer 
in support, who can be kept further to the rear, more for the 
reserve, and consequently immensely greater chances for 
success in the final assault. 
LOOKING BACKWARDS. 
Readers of the spwcial articles appearing in this Journal 
on " The World's War by Land and Water ' will doubtless 
wish to retan in correct rotation this remarkable series 
of articles by HILAIRE BELLOC and FRED T. JANE. 
We have, therefore, prepared special cloth binders to hold 
the first thirteen numbers, at a cost of Is, 6d. each. 
Or we will supply the thirteen numbers BOUND complete, 
for 6s. 6d. 
Owing to the big demand for back numbers already 
received we have had to reprint some of the earlier 
numbers. Same can now be supplied at 6d. per copy. 
Order now from your Newsagent, Bookstall, or direct 
from the Publishers, 
"LAND AND WATER," 
CENTRAL HOUSE. KINGSWAY. LONDON. 
14^ 
