ARTILLERY FROM AN INFANTRY OFFICER’S POINT OF VIEW. 279 
which we can properly conduct the mancuvres, that we have not, I think, 
sufficiently paid attention to the enormous importance of the study of ground. I 
do not mean in relation to the large pieces of ground, or the question of fields and 
valleys, but the question of undulation ; and in that very question of undulation 
is to be found I believe the answer to the question that was asked as to how we 
should best attack artillery. I believe there is hardly any position that the 
artillery could take up that could not be approached almost with impunity, by a 
comparatively small force sufficient at any rate to very seriously damage the artillery 
when they got near them, if there was not some corps or some scouts a consider- 
able distance from the artillery watching it, and I am sure any officer who has 
studied the extraordinary effects of ground and has stooped and paid attention to 
the varied formation and characteristics of the surface will some day make his 
mark when he puts the result of his study into practice. 
And then with regard to that point that the Lecturer mentioned about the 
insistance of the Germans that the commanding officers should separate themselves 
from their command, that is the old question of where the officer commanding 
the Horse Artillery should be, when the Horse Artillery are acting with cavalry ; 
and I know very well that many officers think that he should be always with the 
battery, but it has been decided now the other way. At any rate the advantage 
of his being away from the battery is that he has much more power and much 
more time to select his ground for the artillery than he would otherwise have ; 
and exactly the same remark holds good with officers holding commands of 
regiments. I have never seen a battalion commander far enough, in my opinion, 
in front of his battalion when manceuvring. I hope when we do get more ground, 
or more facilities for holding manceuvres, it will be one of the first lessons we 
shall try to teach that the commanding officer should separate himself from the 
details and duties of command and take general charge of his unit. 
Then the question of the advance-guard battery has been mooted. Butsurely 
that must be a question of what your advance-guard has got to do; and the com- 
position of the advance-guard must entirely depend upon the duties it is called 
upon to perform. The general argument would be that, as a rule, with a small 
force you ought to keep your artillery behind the advance-guards. As for machine 
guns, for my part I think in this theatre, at all events, we may leave that subject 
by saying that I do not think the artillery arm of the service has anything to fear 
from any great advance made by the machine guns. 
The question of the value that is to be obtained from infantry and artillery fire 
I think again must be left to the discretion of those upon whom the duties fall, 
Then the Lecturer has made a great point of the Germans and their high ex- 
plosive. I certainly thought that they had not got a high explosive for their field 
gun. As far as our experiments have gone the advantage that is gained by putting 
high explosives into a shell of small calibre is so very small and the danger on 
account of the fuzes and so forth is so great that up to this time we have not dared 
to undertake it; and I believe myself that the Germans are in exactly the same 
state. 
Having made these observations, gentlemen, I will ask you all to join 
with me in thanking Captain Pilcher for the lecture he has delivered this evening, 
which has been most instructive and most interesting (cheers). 
