OKEHAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1894. 15 
CotoneL E. A. Oxtivant—TI think I must have been the officer referred to by 
Major Hughes, as the one who used mounted orderlies at Brigade Service Practice. 
If so, I should like to say that in addition to mounted orderlies, each battery had a 
dismounted orderly in rear of the Battery Commander, so as to avoid any mounted 
orderly coming into the firing line; and I think that that adds materially to the 
advantages of having mounted orderlies. 
I think that at Okehampton some Battery Commanders are a little inclined to 
follow what I may term the letter and not the spirit of the book. One sees officers 
who, even at short ranges, begin by bringing out their range-takers, and ranging 
with common shell in precisely the same manner as if they were firing at a long 
distance target, and this, even at a cavalry target advancing rapidly. That, I 
think, is due to their going entirely by the letter and not considering the spirit 
of the book. 
Then, as regards casualties, we must all of us recognise the very great importance 
of practising their replacement. A certain amount of confusion takes place when 
a casualty occurs at practice, due to a great extent to the fact that the Staff 
Officer touches the supposed casualty, and says: ‘‘ You are out of action,” and 
nobody knows that this is the case, it is not sufficiently understood. I cannot help 
thinking that it would be better if we had some system by which we could label 
our casualties at the moment, by a red label or other mark, which everybody could 
see. There was a great tendency this year when the Major was shot for the senior 
Subaltern to take the command ; nobody ever thought of sending for the Captain, 
who was in rear. I should like to add one word on the question of sergeants 
acting as layers at the Competitive Practice. Itappears to me that they have lost 
a good deal of their interest in laying; now the sergeants have to carry out a 
considerable part of the instruction in laying, and I think that they might be 
allowed to lay at one series of the Competitive, which would give them some 
interest in it. It would be easy enough to keep up the same number of layers, 
and the chief umpire could choose two out of the three sets when he came on the 
ground, so that the number of layers would not be diminished, and the sergeants 
would have a personal interest in the shooting. 
Masor H. C. C. D. Stupson—I attended this summer, at Bousson, in the 
Italian Alps, the Brigade-division practice of three 9-pr batteries of the Italian 
Mountain Artillery Regiment, and Major Hughes’s statement as to the faultiness 
of the echelon system of ranging appeared to be fully borne out. Owing to its 
employment, and the absence of all attempt at verification on the means of the 
small bracket, the practice throughout, except at a moving target, was very in- 
different. One point struck me as worth noting, and that was the custom, 
whenever the targets represented a battery, of firing a succession of petards as 
denoting at them a hostile battery in action. This made the ranging, when the 
small bracket was being found, very difficult, owing to the impossibility of 
distinguishing the bursting shell from the petards being fired on the target em- 
placement. The guns, on coming into action, were invariably placed under cover, 
and not run up into position until loaded, which operation was effected very rapidly, 
owing to the shell being always carried fuzed in the boxes, a detonator merely 
being dropped into the head of fuze on orders to load being given. The range- 
finder was rarely used, and when it was, gave most unsatisfactory results. Rate 
of fire was quicker than ours. 
After each series, officers, Nos. 1, and layers fell out for the customary 
““palaver”’ on the tactical idea and the shooting, which commenced, first of all, 
by the remarks of the Battery Commanders (after which Nos. 1 and layers fell 
in), followed in succession by those of the Major Commanding the Brigade- 
division, and concluding with the Colonel’s critique. 
I had previously attended some mancuvres of an Alpine group in the French 
