DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 894, 13 August 1910, Page 10

DEFENCE NOTES.

[Edited By Echelon.] THE BULL'S-EYE CONTROVERSY ENTER TWO, DISPUTANTS. If the present controversy on tho subject of bull's-eye shooting prodjiccs tho simple, result of setting the relationship of fixed target practice to service shooting in its true perspective, tho basis will be laid for such reforms in musketry training as will lead to higher idenls, and settle- for ever the rivalry which at present exists between the rifleman puro and simple, and the military tactician, who, in the end, can best prove his theories in tho deadly theatre of war itself.

Enter two disputants:™ "Offence Before Defence." "I would like," writes a correspondent who signs himself "Offence Before Defence," "r.o add a few lines in regard to the question of the value in war time of target practice in peace. "liohin Hood" does not smn to grasp the situation, to realise war conditions, and wiat occurs nowadays when two forces come into action. Ho evidently only regards war from a defensive point of view, a not uncommon error among the public, and prevalent even among partly-trained soldiers. This error arises from the idea tha-t our Navy and Army for defence purposes only, and; not for-offence. The fact is not realised that a force trained orJy' for defence may not be able to attack, but a force prepared to take tho offensive can always ho rolied on to defend itself. The error is also enhanced by the volunteer motto, 'Defence, not defiance.' Our- own forces are called tho 'N.Z. Defence Forces'; niuch better to call them the N.Z. Territorial Forces, a suggestion which I gratis to the powers that be. ■ It is so much easier, too, and more comforting to think of sitting' Safely in a trench and taking pot shots at the enemy. It is not generally recognised that all nations jolyihg only .on defence are invariably beaten and conquered in war. England'has not been .invaded foi sumo 900 years, At that time the Saxons,, acting on the defence at Hastings,'. Marly won,'but were lured from their strong position and thoroughly beaten. Having, no offensive army loft, England- was easily conquered. The Boers, strong in defence,' were utterly useless for attack, and after a brave struggle had to succumb to better trained and disciplined . War Not a Drawing-room Affair* "In time of battle the rifle clubman must fail because, instead of acquiring war training, discipline, and drill, he has devoted all his energies in peace to maTcing bull's-ey«. . To accomplish this worthy enough object, he is most careful of himself—no hurry, no noise, 'please-speak-iii-a-whisper-at-tho-firing points,' careful diet, sunshades, head protectors, delicate virniers and' gauges, etc., etc. It is under these circumstances that 'Robin Hood' scores his bull's-eyes, and all the more calmly and cheerfully, because ho knows that the. bull's-eye is not hitting back at him. . In action, .however, it is another story, for even in the security of a trench, 'lie-bin . Hood's' untrained nerves are assailed and shaken , ; his ears by the roaring of cannon, tho bursting of •shells, and the'shriek of the shrapnel in front, behind, and above, and all round him; then the buzzing of.' millions of bees humming everywhere; the pit-pit-i patter-patter-pit-pit of bullets striking the ground and throwing .the,-dirt in his face;, the thud of the bnllnt. hitting one of, liis comrades; the jells mid cries, of the wounded; eyes blood-shot with excitement; vision, blurred by smoke and acrid,gases. Under these' , circumstances 'Robin Hood' would do well indeed if lie touched the target at, all. Bull's-eyes -would be impossible. Again, let him picture to himself his condition when, after marching'several'miles, he'is doubled up a , hill and told to defend it and open out of breath, perhaps in pouring rain, his nerves rattled: 'Fire.!' Fire? Fire at what?-He can pee nothing to aim at—a man's head and shoulder are practically invisible , at 1000 yards—and yet these humming buzzing bees are 1 being launched at him by hundreds every minute, from a distance, perhaps, 2000 or 3000 yards away. In these days of smokeless powder there is nothing visible to aim at, nothing to see, only a rapid tat-tat-tat, like a number of busy telegraph operators hard at-work. Ho is required-to aim at a noise.! .How can be score a bull's-eye at a noise? The Bull's-eye for Recruits, All nations that have been seriously engaged in war have given up bull's-eye target practice, except for recruits. Tho Continental Powers will not even allow recruits to waste more than twenty rounds per man per annum. Japan only allows about twelve rounds. A recent writer remarks tUit only two nations are obsolete in the matter of bull's-eye target practice—one is Britain, the other China! A very distinguished officer, who was present at Majuba, surprised me by saving that the Boers were not good shots at targets. They wore very good sporting shots, at .movable objects, at close ranges, and excellent judges of distance, in these respects being far superior to tho British soldior, but at target practice—no. After the war was over, matches wore arranged at the butts, and Tommy Atkins beat the Boer every time. A few years ago I was talking to an artillery officer, who had seen much fighting in India. He was a celebrated sportsman too, and a crack shot witli either gun or rifle. He told me that on ono occasion in a fight against the Afghans our infantry were badly repulsed, leaving a number of wounded behind them. Tho enemy came out, and, according to custom, began to mui-uuie tho wounded. Ho dared not firo his guns for fear of hitting his own men, so he picked up a rifle, but was so excited with the battle and the yell of the wounded that, although they wore only a few hundred yards away, and it was by no means his first battle, he could not , hit a single one of the enemy, who continued their murderous work, until driven off by ono or two volleys from a reinforcing infantry company. Individual Fire Useless. "War experience teaches us that in battle 'individual' firing beyond COO and 700 yards is utterly useless, and its effect within those ranges is minimised by tho redoubled artillery firo sheltering its.own attacking infantry and driving the defendors to cover. At further ranges the firing must be 'collective,' under the word of trained officers and non-coms., greeted possibly by an engineer officer high up in a balloon, telenhoning tho ranges and direction to the G.O.C. below, whoso message might, for instance, run:— "The O.C. 21st Wellington Hangers will open rapid fire for five minutes, range 2150 yards; direction, S.S.W. i south.' Individual marksmanship of the kind that 'Kobin Hood' relies on does not decide the lot of battle's or of war. Neither does it determine the fate of nations. Useful enough, perhhps, in skirmishing or petty scraps, it generally resolves itself into 'sniping,' and snining is detestable, a species of cowardly nmn-murdor, at the best, ouly annoying and vexatious, and leading to severo measures of retaliation. The usual termination to the sniper's career, wlien caught, ■ and an invariable one when not in uniform, is at ono end of a rope, the other end attached to a branch of the nearest treo. It is , true enough that, owing to false' sentimentality, the Soers were permitted to fight in nlain clothes, a piece of sentimental folly that cost the British thousands of valuable lives and many millions of .money. I may romind 'Kobiu Hood' that as far back as the KussoTurkish AYnr, it is related that during one of the ■ engagements, outside • Kars, which lasted for several days over a front of, many miles, the opnosing forces only came within 1000 vurds'of each other on throe occasions, and the-slaughter was so ■ great on both sides that each had to retire. Tho combatants were not skilled marksmen either, and weapons have vastly improved since those days. . Firesido Theorists. "I do not like 'Robin Hood's' semisneer at tho 'Imperial Army man.' It is unworthy of 'Kobin nood.' He should remember that war is the special business of tho Imperial officer, his life's study, and that he has exposed himself and his men personally to Hardships, to tho actual risks of bullets, and speaks from

experience thereof, while TJobin Hood"et hoc genus omiie,' are theorising at their warm firesides. I am not myself an Imperial Army man, but have spoken, to many such, with battlo experience, and they all say they would rather lead into war fewer men well drilled and disciplined, but poor target shots, than double or treble the same number of men all excellent bull's-eye shots; but with inierior drill and discipline. 'As a sport, rifle shooting is excellent. I have always been fond of it. Like other pastimes, it makes for health,' amusement, • and bon 'camaraderie,' but as a means for offence and defence it is not worth- the money spent on it. I no not wish to be misunderstood as saving that all rifle club'shooting 'is valueless and a waste of money, hut I do venture to submit that if half the money now spent on rifle shooting at Bislcy and at the ranees in tho various dominions and colonies were spent instead on more and better boots,: blankets, overcoats, food, transport, commissariat, medical supplies, and nursing. We shSuld he better piepai'ed for war. It. would bo over quicker, thousands of lives and much suffering saved, to say nothing of tho saving in cost. War is a terrible necessity and a great calamity, but is inevitable sooner or later.. Peace is a great blessings, but what is peace? It has been well defined as- 'the interval between two wars.'. And although war is a great calamity, it is a.still greater calamity for a nation or a country/to bo unprepared for war. , ' ' '

"MANNLICHER-CARC/iNO" AGAIN. •'■ SUMS UP "KOBIN HOOD." By way of rejoinder, Mamilichei. '•' Carcano, referring to "■ Boliin Hood's "• last letter, writes:— ■• ■"'Robin Hood' has' forgotten that the subject matter of his fivst letter,' to which I replied, was his objection to tup use _of service targets on a collective training competition, viz., the Gordon Highlanders' Match ' and now he objects to my dealing-with, his .< letter largely from a collective stand--' point. The objects I had in replying to 'Kobin Hood' were:— ...' i',.' . . "(1) To defend Hie .military officers whom KobiA Hood' attacked, and- to show that in, their.desire to.reform rifle shooting they had the whole weight of • military history, and the oxample of all . great military nations to support- themj (2) to show that bull's-eye targets wore : quite unsuited'for collective 'or'-battlo" training, and should only be'used for elementary purposes; ' (3) to emphasise ■ the.fact that; rifle, shooting is a''.very' sacred duty, .incumbent upon every? citU . zen to learn, and one that cannot Iμ allowed to be solely controlled by those who have no higher aims than, those, of sport. '. . ' . , .'• --V, ■ "I have been arguing from a ppiritj of ". view of military training. ,'Rob'm ' Hood, I should imagine from his ' let- ' tens,'has consideVed his subject solely as ■' 0 sport. Had-he made this clear" in his first letter, I should not. have V troubled to have replied.to him except v to parry his attack on the officers of-\ the Gordon Highlanders. I am -.in .-. favour of riflo shooting as a sport, "so,, long as such. sport does not inculcate . false ideas of efficiency. This, however, could-bo 'overcome, in the future, by renaming the annual rifle mooting held'' under Tiobin Hood's' conditions, 'an-j ' nual rifle sports,' and ' then everyone' , would understand-that the various com-*-. petitions did not pretend to service conditions, any more than ,do .the bayonet •■;■ exercise competitions held ..at -niilitary, i tournaments. These rifle sports, could ': be arranged to suit tho sportsman,: and not the despised military officers, wlio'.' could then be informed thut 'military.'. wisdom'.was not required, , .and their presence, therefore, unnecessary. ! A Gentle Correction. '■-. • ■■•■' '■■?

"In conclusion I would; liko to correct 'Robin Hood'-on a few points:— ; '

"(l)Iri the, Boer. "War that ■ eido which ' Itad not been' solely trained at biill's-eyo ■ '.argets accounted for one casualty for ; every GOO rounds fired atYthe battle of ■ Magersfdntein. : Space prevents me from--' giving-details of 'many "cither similar" : : cases. Thi'j renson tlin Boors' shooting - was not very effective, at long range was ; owing. to the entire absence of fire con-., tro), . and consequent..: absence of; cpllec_- . tive efficiency. . , ..;■.' "(2) The sights.of all British rifles,are . very carefully icsUd before issue ■.. to fhe . service. , "(3) 'Robin Hood , is a little out of hia •. depth when he makes the statoment re- ' guiding.'the strategy; and taaining of, the German army. The culmination -of all' strategy aiid tactics .is fire. 'Fire is' , everything,. the'rest is nothing,' is a statement credited to the greatest .strategist that ever lived."" The Franco-Ger-man War was won by superior artil- . lery and collective musketry fire, the excellent control of which was the admira- - tion of all foreign military attachees, and an eye-opener to the world. ... ; .. "(i) The 'good old stand-by red book , was not used to combat llobin Hood's : -arguments.- . He will, however, find much i nsefvil information therein (unfortuniitoly,' opposed to bis views), representing the experiences' and- ideas of . Lord." Roberts. and those military officers whose ability he chooses to despise: ■•■ - "Finally, the science, of musketry hns progressed so • rapidly during the past few. years that it would be suicidal for-: us not to study not only red books, but;. ■also \Chat tho rest of 'ho world is doing, ■.; hiid I trust that those military oßicers;. ivho control our training, and our rifle ; ' meetings at Trenthhm will not allow . themselves to bo influenced by 'liobin Hood' and his antiquated, artificial bull's-eye . targets, but rather aim for proficiency in. a form of practical ; rifle shooting,. Which is. an absolute to the uetcnee of the Dominion." ■ [For reasons of space, a third contribution to tho discussion , has had to ■ be v held over.] . : . • ■