DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 942, 8 October 1910, Page 12

DEFENCE NOTES.

[Edited Bt Echelon.]

THE CANADIAN ARMY. SERVICE MATCHES AT ALDERSHOT. Lieutenant Edward AVynne Chapman, from 2nd Regiment North Canterbury Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Forces, has been appointed second-lieutenant (on probation), 3rd (Prince of Wales's') Dragoon Guards.—"London Gazette." : "- — ■The 12th R.F.A. (Howitzer). Brigade recently made excellent practice with . the new 4.5 howitzer. These weapons are to replace the 5.7 howitzers, and the men speak highly of them; The guns can be fired at any angle up to 45 degrees, and on an average each gun can discharge ten. ■rounds a minute.. ' '■ i ~ — ~ ' '■ '. ■.'. It has been definitely decided by the (Var Office authorities to form an Army. Aeroplane Corps, with" headquarters- on. .Salisbury Plain. The members of . the corps will have an opportunity, of-ex-perimenting with all types of machines; 1 with a view to'finding one which';- will meet the requirements of the War Of- ■ SceV Should a;;satisfactory type.be procured the Government will begin to manufacture, a fleet at the airship fac-. Tory at Farnborough...

"-■ "Considering- the precision of the weapons used and the accuracy of range-find-ing instruments, the. recent Territorial, gunnery .'competitions ... in the. Isle : ,-of v lght proved, to be rather, disappointing so far as the actual - scores were concerned (remarks a writer in the . "Military '■iVorl'd"). ' Allowance must,: however, be mode for the. fact that shooting-with big guns, is: an, extremely complicated...busi-: ness, and opportunities;for.practice .are not too freely .available. ..The-men are, indeed, to.be congratulated on-.the progress they have made under .not very favourable conditions; -but this is not .-'■ sufficient: war takes- no heed' of the best intentions and demands efficiency, with dis-. aster as the price of failure. :(The story of the Territorial gunners is the story of the Force as . awhole; (the men are expected to achieve. the impossible.' Sooner or later, ,perhaps, it' will be realised by,the country generally, that the modern soldier must be a very highlytrained individual."

Commenting on, the value of the. reconnaissance work during'recent manoeuvres at' Salisbury, Plain, Major-General Allenby makes : the following -observa-' tions:—"lt was'noticed that,most of the reconnoitring. detachments used' cyclists for the purpose of; ;scouting. :,This is a. misuse of the.cyclist. : Asia scout in war he; is of' comparatively little value,, and the closer and, .the uneven the country'. the more certain' he is to fall into ambush. . So long as the enemy 'are not met, with,he is an excellent , scout. " he' meets ' the' enemy'.he;'is far more likely to ibe killed' or-captured'than the Norseman.;. The practice 'of using cyclists as scouts is one of the many that are based on peace conditions,'"and one which the-realities of war will probably soon dispel. During.the; reconnaissance scheme, of the ; prisoners: captured bicyclists were in : a strikingly,high.proportion "as compared: with' mounted 'men.' ''JJhe, mounted cavalry 'soldier is the best scout to.employ; he can leave the road when -he p likes; he.canijump : ovor obstacles, he .can. turn much quicker: than, a' cyclist, and for. a "short-distance;- or up hill,: ho easily, outpaces: the ; latter,; Tif surprised he-has a ; weapon for:immediate use, which, the: cyclist, with 'his : rifle strapped to his'bicycle,. has not. -On the , other hand, for "carrying messages.-Belong ; roads,' cyclists are comparatively:-,- quicker, ;and their use .for, this: purpose means 'economy. both,\in : - men , and,.'horses. Cyclists accompanying: reconnoitring, del tachments ■ should, therefore, almost.-al-ways 'be kept'solely.for the transmission' of messages. To use them as' scouts,' while- the. horseihasv-fe carry'ithe'.fflessage, .is "-wrong." ,-rv.': ■','■■...:.-'?"-•;.? !'■:■..'■

.-■General FrenohV l .report : rin the ' Canadian Forces makes,three cardinal representations—first'- that the peace - organisation and composition :6f. the Militia should be such that, in .the' event of the forces .would be- ready, to.'take the 'field 'forthwith; -second,- that--better, qualified and more effective staffs-should-be in command of brigade divisions;,, third, that 'the period of annual' training is wholly, inadequate to. produce satisfactory results.' General French; : urges.that instead of the' Present system : of.commands and military, istnets there should be'-divisional! organisation, ..and;,that this, desirable -.step should,,'not Bo: prevented by,' local .'influences.. He. states, that-.in- places where a;.cavalry- or' artillery ..unit, is. needed an infantry regiment has sometimes been established through-, local pressure. As regards ' the., annual. /period, General French 'suggests /that . the ' ar- . tillery should -'be in camp 21' .-days; the cavalry 16 days, and. the 'infantry. 12 days. He .finds that city, regiments devote too. much.:time to purely ceremonial movements,. and do: too ■, little ■: - practical work. : He - admits; that 'there , is -.good .rhaterialin' the Militia, but he emphasises the need of better qualified officers/and' insists that the present peace organisation could not prove effective "in the'event of hostilities;',;: ,',■:■■:' --■//,• ..-:'.

.. An interesting and extremely valuable competition' was introduced for the first time at;'the annual; Aldershot Command ■rifle meeting this year by Lieutehant-Gen-eral SiriH. L.:Smith-Dorrien. ! -The'. new competition, whichbears his nam?,, and for which he has given a. handsome challenge cup, was the outcome of a desire ho expressed:last year/to, see. a.contest arranged, in-which.surprise targets at un- ' known ranges ; 'oould be' introduced. So many -teams entered that two days:, were absorbed in -reducing -this competition down to a final in:which six teams remained. The teams (of 30), drawn" from companies or squadrons; had to: carry; out, an attack on Eompihg Downs, the targets ..being scenes:.'representing ■ infantry, v,in '.columns, infantry .in trenches, cavalrv ,'charging, and cavalry dismounted. All !the targets were 'at unknown "distances -and appeared and disappeared. 'Point?, were added, for /skill in conducting -the .attack, the use of cover, fire obntrol, and- ; handling' of the men. ; , Addressing,-tho competitors at the official, presentation <jf prizes, LieutenanttGeneral Smith-Dorrien made several interesting remarks'on the! use of the rifle, on targets, and the value of: machine-gun training. The' /■ troops were being gradually educated: to a standard to- use: the magazine rifle to its fullest extent. ' That and ■ firo control was: what was aimed at in the 'competition: for that cup presented by;; him. By.fire control he, meant the power of a ■ commandor to. direct a certain number of rounds or bring' sustained, fire to bear 'on' any particular spot, and only/those teams/whose officers were well.grounded '.in this subject'stood a chance in that competition. With regard to the targets he said he was pleased,to see how popu> lar the figure target was getting.' The 'bull's.' .eye target was: of ..no value, except to teach recruits, and as'ao amusement for those people who were interested in match -shooting. .It Was-: of no use. as. serious practice for an army which had to-make up for paucity of numbers by a very high state of.efficiency for war,!'lf was the army with the deadliest, rather than the heaviest firing-line,'which would win modern battles, and service targets at unknown ranges were the only means, of effectively training such troops. With regard to the machine-gun competition introduced this year, the general : said: that they had not yet reached a very, highstandard in handling that valuable modern weapon. The standard they had reached was about, that of the magazine rifle of four years ago. He outlined some training -practices ■ for the, future which, he hoped, would have the effect, of bringing up the present standard.. He congratulated the 3rd Rifle Brigade' on its extraordinary success throughout the meeting, which, he thought was due to the constant study of. musketry by the officers, and their never neglecting an opportunity of instructing their men in snooting under service conditions. . '.