522, THE AMMUNITION SERVICE OF A FORT. 
ways be formed unless the gun details can take the shells out of the stores 
themselves. It reduces the personnel by about one-half, simplifies the 
supply and enables a more complete cartridge service to be arranged. 
The greatest saving is at the top of lifts, because with shell it is neces- 
sary to have sufficient men there to take them out and put them on one 
side, whereas with a simple cartridge service the gun details are 
sufficient. 
In most cases there is no difficulty in finding suitable sites for these 
depots, but in some, recesses or other protected places should be made. 
Their size depends on the probable consumption during action, which 
is governed by local conditions; the lighter the nature of the gun the 
greater the number of rounds; works subject to bombardment will be 
longer in action than those an enemy will run past ; guns behind ports 
in curved works will not fire as often as those with larger training arcs. 
The drill-book suggests placing Palliser between shells in the depdts 
to lessen the danger of explosion, but the danger of explosion seems to 
me small and the chance of mistakes large. : 
Gas-check and a wedge-wad for every projectile on the gun floor 
must be placed at the shell depdts when they are formed. 
Hconomy in personnel as well as speed in supply should really be 
taken ito consideration in the design of works, but in the majority of 
cases there is not much indication of it having been. 
My sixth proposition is that the ammunition details should be divided 
into sections corresponding more or less with the gun details they serve. 
There has been a tendency, for which the form of our manning tables 
is somewhat to blame, to mass the ammunition details together and to 
regard the whole as quite separate from the gun details. I think this 
ilitates against due co-operation in fighting a fort and often prevents 
economy in personnel. It certainly necessitates a great deal of expla- 
nation on the manning table and increases the difficulty of getting the 
men into their places. In many cases if the ammunition details were 
divided as I propose it would be possible for the Gun Group Commanders 
to supervise their own ammunition supply which would often, if not 
generally, be advantageous. 
livery organization for fighting requires testing by practice, and there 
must be someone in command or assisting the commander who is 
thoroughly conversant with all the details. Therefore itis desirable 
(1) that in each fort with lifts there should be at least one by which 
shell can be returned expeditiously and safely to the magazine floor ;! 
and (2) that the Master-Gunner should belong to the ammunition 
details. 
A description of the organization proposed in the case of a fort as 
shown in Plate L. may serve to illustrate what has been said. 
Storace.—Cartridges: A and B groups in No. I. cartridge store. 
C group in No. III. cartridge store. .D and H groups in No. V. cart- 
ridge store. group in No. VI. cartridge store, with reserve in No. 
VY. cartridge store. Hach store to have at least one large group of 
cartridges. Palliser: ingunemplacements. Shell: A group in No. I. 
shell store. B groupin No. III. shell store, leaving No. Il. shell store 
empty for reception of empty cylinders. C group in No. V.shell store, 
+ Conditions excluding chain lifts with clips, 
