NOTES ON VOLUNTEERING.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2599, 5 August 1882, Page 3

NOTES ON VOLUNTEERING.

No. 3,-MOSKHTRY INSTRUCTION.

Bt Urban V. Richards, Captain N. Z. "Volunteer Force, and lata Lieutenant H.M. 87th, Royal Irish Fusiliers.

In Colonel Scratobley’s able memorandum on the New Zealand Defence Organisation, published by authority of the Government, the following occurs:—"The chances ol attack appear to be so remote that the risk not only has been, but is now being, deliberately luonrred in some of the colonies, notwithstanding the repeated remonstrances of the military and naval authorise i who have been called In to advise. It appears hopeless to persn.da people that defence preparations are nothing more than an insurance against the danger of attack." We have, unfortunately, had of late. In South Afrca, an illustration ef what oan be achieved by a comparatively small number of men, armed with rifles only, but masters of their weapons, sgalcst troepa of all branches of our regular and volunteer servicer, with all the appliances cf me darn warfare at hand, I, of course, allude to the Boers. The cause is not difficult to find. It is simply that our system of musketry instruction for the last five and twenty yeais has been, more or less, of a mistake, and that during that time our tmops, never having encountered enemies who were even moderately good shots, imagined that they rather excelled than otherwise as riflemen, until so roughly undcC3ived at Laing’s Neck and Maiuba Hill.

In tho " Musketry Handbook" used about the time I went through a course of instruction at the School of Musketry it was laid down, as an axiom, " that a soldier who could not shoot was on encumbrance to the bittalion.y This has been omitted in more recent publications. It was thought rather too farfetched, but it was, nevertheless, true in the main, for a man who cannot make use of the weapon he is armed with is surely worse than useless—he is an encumbrance. The latest edition of tho 11 Muiko’py Handbook” still contains the following :—“ A soldier being a good shot at a fixed mark is of no use if he cannot hit an enemy in the field, which is the object of ail his training.” It has always been a mystery to me how the savants at Hythe could ever expect our men to be able to bit an enemy in the field, if they only conformed to tho Hythe course. The handbook informs us that “ The rills is placed into the soldier’s hands for the destruction of his enemy; his own safety depends upon his h’s efficient usd it; it cannot therefore bs too strongly inculoateu, that every man who has

□o defect in his sight may be made a good shot ; and that no degree of perfection he may have attained in the other parts o£ his drill can, upon service, remedy any want of proficiency in this ; in fact all his other instruction in marching and marceumng can do no more than place him in the best possible situation for using his rifle with effect.” Now this is all very excellent, but lot us see how the idea is worked out. The recruit's musketry cmne in the regular service lasts for sixteen days. Of this time eight days are devoted to preliminary drills, under the heads of “ Theoretical Principles,” “ Cleaving Arms,” “ Aiming Drill,” “ Blank Firing,’’ and “ Judging-distaaoe Drilland eight days are devoted to practice, in which the reorpit fires thirty rounds at known distances, from ICO up to 600 yards, ten rounds volley fi.'iog, ten rounds independent firing at 300 yards, and ten rounds skirmishing at distances between 400 and 200 yards. He also goon through judging-distance practice, between 50 and 600 yards. After this short course he is considered, in a musketry sense, a trained soldier , and for the future is only liable to an annual course of twelve days, four of which are for preliminary drills and eight for target practice and judging-distanos practice—the latter being, however, only held three days out of the eight. The trained soldier has to fire at a fixed mark and at known distances, namely, 200, 300, 500, 600, 700, and 800 yard*. He fires ten rounds at each distance, viz., five at volley firing, five at Independent filing at 400, and twenty rounds skirmishing between 600 end 200 yards. That is to say, he only actually preetLes for eight days in the ye.r, and in that time he fires off the ni'.ety rounds allowed him for the year’s practice. Yet we are quietly informed that that all other drill Is useless unless combined with good shooting. How In the name of wonder we ever were expected to tarn out good shots with this very limited practice 1 cannot imagine. Then we must recollect, though a good deal was said about killing our enemy in the field, we were never given even a faint Illustration of what an enemy in such a position might be like, and It is hardly reasonable to expect that onr enemies should pa'nt themselves over with bullseyes, centres, and outer,?, and remain standing still to bo shot at. Joking apart, however, In onr very short course in the regular service, too much time was taken n? in the hopeless attempt to explain the theoretical principles of musketry to the Tommy Atkinses (general niokname for the rank and file), who, as a rule, were fearfully puzzled by the theories propounded. I will relate an Instance that oama under my personal observations. The musketry Inspector was examining my company in the theory of musketry, and amongst other questions asked—“ What Is air ?” Ama o who hailed from the land o’ cakes answered Wm thoughtfully, “ Ayr, sir ? It’s just a am*’ toon aboot thretty miles from Qlasgle.” The poor fellow was quite under the impression that he had answered correctly, un‘-il startled by the irrepressible roar of laughter that greeted his remark. Colonial Volunteers, I fancy, as a rule, know little or

nothing about the theory of musketry or preliminary drills. I think this matters little, but it becomes a serious consideration when we have to complain of having no facilities given to us for practice, even at fixed marks. Surely the authorities could afford to give tree railway passes to the nearest rifle range, say once a week, to parties of Volunteers, under an officer or non commissioned officer, for bona fide rifle practice ; and surely a range might be found within reasonable distance of our volunteering centres of the requisite length. And could not onr colonials invent something In the shape of a movable target on rails, that could be shifted to the right or left, or advanced or retired for short distances ; or a target made to show and disappear; and whicu would somewhat resemble in appearance a hnman being Or, if this cannot bo done, lot tho distances from the targets be unknown; let men be marched up ac-d instructed to fire, judging their own distance; and also let them practice judging distances by pacing it after giving their answers, If a “ range finder ” is not to be had. When district prize firing comes off, let answers in judging distance count towards prizes. By these means, combined with strict discipline, I feel confident our Volunteers would become a credit to any country.

Before closing this paper I wish to say a few words on onr modes of firing. I consider independent firing the most objection able. During the Abyssinian war It was found that the men emptied their pouches when engaged with tho enemy and firing independently in a most reckless manner, and, more or less, regardless of aim. I do not think that the regiment with which I was serving at the time of the assault on Magdala, In which operation it took the lead, succeeded in killing one Abyssinian for every 500 rounds fired. Rapid firing soon degenerates into reckless firing. Infantry fire should always be under the control of the effijers, who should give tha distance, except in skirmishing, or in the comparatively new attack formation in extended order. Volley firing, uadsr o.her circumstances, is infinitely preferable to independent firing. Well aimed volleys poured in by battalions, half battalions, oompanies, hi If companies, or sections, will be mot e effective in checking the advance of an enemy than any amount of aimless hide pendent firing. Of course, some will say that the number of rounds to be fired independently are also stated by the officers. But, in action an officer cannot keep his eye on individual men to see (that they do l#: exceed the number of rounds ordered, and he cannot open ranks and examine pouches. In firing by volleys, however, an officer always knows the number of ball cartridges his men have left. Men firing independently cannot pay the same attention to the words of command of their officers, and the result is snre to be confusion. The space allowed will not admit of my writing more on this | subject in this paper, bat on a future oosa 5; on 1 intend taking it up again.