Points to be 
considered, 
German Am- 
munition 
Park, 
French Am- 
munition 
Park, 
310 SILVER MEDAL PRIZE ESSAY, 1896. 
after an action. That is to say that the “ Column” empties itself into 
the fighting line and is filled up by the “ Park,” ready to follow the 
army, while the “ Park” is filled up, as can best be done, from the 
base. 
It has been the custom in most Huropean armies for the artillery to 
have charge of all ammunition supplies, a charge for which the 
decentralised training of the artillery is eminently suited. 
To no unit of an army is the expansible cadre system more applicable 
than to a Column or a Park, for its personnel needs little training and 
can very easily be organized from reservists. 
ORGANIZATION. 
In discussing the organization of Columns and Parks to perform the 
functions detailed above, the following points would naturally suggest 
themselves :— 
(1). What should be the tactical distribution of the Columns and 
Parks? 
(2). What amount of ammunition is to be carried by them ? 
(3). How should they be arranged internally ? 
TacTIcAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
With regard to (1) it is evident that each army corps at least must 
have its ammunition supplies separate, but one big train to supply the 
whole of an army corps would be an unwieldy unit. Under our 
organization an army corps has four components, three divisions and 
the corps troops and it will greatly facilitate the supply of ammuni- 
tion if the first reserves, viz., the Columns, are under the command of 
the divisional Generals, while the corps troops have a Column to them- 
selves. 
By allotting an Ammunition Column to each component of a corps, 
any component detached from the corps would be able to move intact. 
This desire to be able to move divisions intact would also entail a 
similar organization for the Park. In Continental armies, where a 
corps would rarely be split up, such a system is not necessary for a 
Park, which can then be organized as simplicity dictates. In our 
service where, apart from home defence, any corps, or portion of a 
corps, may be required for an expeditionary force, a system which will 
render possible the detachment of any division, complete, down to the 
base, at short notice, is obviously the best. 
ContTINENTAL Systems. 
Germany has organized her ammunition train as follows :— 
Ten Columns per army corps, divided into two echelons of five 
Columns each. The first echelon corresponding to our Columns, the 
second echelon to our Park. A German army corps has two divisions 
instead of three, and each division has a Column for infantry and a 
Column for artillery ammunition and one for the corps artillery. 
France also divides her train into two echelons, the first having six 
sections, one section for the infantry and one for the artillery of each 
division, while two sections are reserved for the corps artillery. 
In the second echelon she has only four sections, three of which 
carry mixed ammunition and one artillery ammunition only. 
