OKEHAMPTON EXPERIENCES, 1894. 7 
The result of the first was that the order for ‘rapid fire’? came be- 
fore the sections were ready, consequently, after the order had been 
given, there was a long pause before a gun fired. This pause led to 
the second error, for the Battery Commander, seeing the target advanc- 
ing all this time, and thinking it was getting ahead of the battery, 
would alter the range and fuze for the second and third rounds, and 
the re-setting of the fuzes caused a yet greater delay. 
The necessity, when firing at a moving target, of not giving orders 
too quickly one after the other, or altering those once given, was very 
evident. Perhaps an actual example will explain better. Say the rang- 
ing section is at 1800 yards, giving a minus, and the remainder loaded 
and laid at 1750 yards, fuze 8, and two shell ready at fuze 73, 74: the 
Battery Commander fires another round and obtains a plus, and at 
once orders ‘‘ Three rounds, rapid fire.” The first four rounds all 
burst on graze, shewing fuze 8 to be too long. One’s inclination is to 
order the other fuzes to be shortened, and should one do so the delay 
caused by altering them will probably allow the target to get inside the 
range; further, the torrent of new orders upsets the battery. In such 
a case it appears better not to attempt to alter the fuzes, but let them 
be fired, they will act on graze and do some damage, and the next 
batch can be ordered shorter. 
The third reason, z.e., limber numbers not setting fuzes, was perhaps 
the most frequent. When fuzes were set at the limber the system 
worked well; thus, one battery took only 50 seconds to fire its first set 
of rapid fire (two rounds a gun), and 1 minute 30 seconds for the next 
(this time three rounds a gun). 
The fourth cause led to many ranging rounds being lost, and was 
lable to throw out the Battery Commander. 
The other system, a kind of ordinary fire through the battery, was 
very similar to that described for the echelon target. The following 
modification appeared to give the best results: On the change to mov- 
ing target being ordered, the Battery Commander gave “ Range —— 
slow fire,” and fired until he had roughly fixed its position, and then 
started ordinary fire. The fire was from the right. After No. 4 had 
fired, the Commanding Officer gave new length of fuze to right section, 
and after No. 6 had fired, gave final elevation. You willsee that it is 
not exactly ordinary fire, for the right section waited to load until they 
received a new fuze. Also, the centre and left Section Commanders 
made a drop in range and fuze, on their own account, from that 
ordered for the right section. The centre giving 25 yards less eleva- 
tion and ¢ fuze; the left 50 yards and 4 fuze. It is considerably 
simpler than it appears from the explanation, and it certainly worked 
well, and at ranges when observation is easy, say under 1800 yards, 
would probably give a more effective fire than with a ranging section. 
At longer ranges the latter is probably better, as it fixes the position of 
the target with greater accuracy. 
A great deal of time was often taken up changing from the standing 
to the moving target. The latter, although it fired petards both before 
and after starting, was certainly hard to see; but even after the layers 
had made it out, there was often a further delay, generally caused by in- 
