3538 
THE TRAINING TOGETHER IN PEACE TIME THE GARRISON 
ARTILLERY FORCES OF THE EMPIRE, INCLUDING REGULAR, 
MILITIA, VOLUNTEER, & COLONIAL ARTILLERY. 
BY 
LIEUT.-COLONEL R. F. WILLIAMS, R.A. 
“PRO ARIS ET FOCIS.”’ 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1895. 
BrroreE considering in detail the question of the training together of 
the Regular and Auxiliary Artillery belonging to the garrison of a 
Coast Fortress 1b is necessary to determine how often 
(1) The whole of the Artillery Garrison of the fortress, 
(2) The Corps constituting each group of Batteries under a Fire 
Commander, 
(3) Those manning the guns of each separate Battery, 
should be assembled respectively; and further to as- 
certain how far this would be practicable in each case. 
(1) A rehearsal by the whole of the Artillery of a fortress of its 
part in war, as nearly as such could be carried out in time of peace, 
would be valuable principally as a test of the arrangements for mobil- 
ization, of those for transport and supply and for the accommodation 
of the Garrisons as well as for medical and sanitary purposes, &c., and 
of organization generally. Such occasions would also doubtless be 
seized upon as opportunities for operations on a large scale in 
conjunction with the other arms and with the Navy when the defence 
of the fortress would be regarded as a whole. Their chief value would 
in fact lie in the experience which they would afford to Officers in the 
higher commands and on the Staff. For the rest, equal, if not greater 
benefit would probably be derived from assemblies on a smaller 
scale. 
It might be sufficient to keep pace with the changes in armament 
and with the progress in Coast Artillery tactics if the whole of the 
Artillery of a fortress were mobilized once in every 5 years. This 
period would moreover seem to be a suitable one in being in most 
cases that of the tenure of command and of posts on the Staff, so that 
each of the Officers filling these positions would, if this term were 
fixed upon, be afforded an opportunity of gaining experience at an 
occasion of a mobilization on this large scale. The difficulty indeed 
of arranging for the simultaneous training of so many Corps as consti- 
tute the Artillery garrison of a large fortress, and the expense of 
7. VOL, XXII. 
