THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 25 August 1914, Page 2

THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN.

PACTS ABOUT TilE BRITISH. ARMY, , ' in only 'by means of a well-regu-lated standing army that a civilised country can be defended."—Adam Smidi. There is nothing to which she British Army can he compared with ho much accuracy as to a gwat machine Tile British Army can he dh'ided into what is commonly known as the three anus: rivalry, arKllery na.J infantry. The highest uhit recognised in the army is a division, which has a to'il 'strength of 1!),5G3 of nil rants, with 1203 horses. The infantry brigades th:• iso to form .a division consist of four battalion#, with a total strength of 41-10 all ranks and 313 'horses. It takes SS special train* to move a division at war sti-engt'h, while the road space occupied by such a body is 12'/. miles. The United Kingdom is divided into seven commands. These are divided into districts and again sub-divided into regimental district®. The British cavalry consist* of neai'lv SO regiments. Each regiment :..trie? two machine guns, wliicli (ire thsame cartridges as are used in tlie (jovc/iimicnt rifle. A cavalry man carries a rifle, a sword, revolver, and sometimes a lance. Lancer regiments were first organised | in the British Army in 1815. Since their establishment in 1710 not a battle or siege of any magnitude h.ts been conducted without ihe Royal Artillery. The artillery carry no colors The only projectile used I ) field gun-j 'is.tlhe shrapnel shell, but field howitzers and heavy guns carry both lyddite and shrapnel jjhell. ' The shell with which the Royal Field Artillery is anned contains 354 bullets, which have a striking energy up to 200 .yards from the point of hurst. . TJio guns w'hich form the defence ot .batteries commanding- important British harbors and rivers- have an exitreiue range of over ten thousand yards. At a distance of a thousand yards a shell from one of these guns will penetrate a depth of 20 inches of wrougat iron. If the atmosphere be clear, beliogr.i.>ii si<mß can be read at a distance of from sixity to seventy miles. Signalling bv flags is only visible by the naked eye sit a distance of two to four miles. 1 The howitzer is go constructed that it can be fired at almost any angle, it throws a projectile weighing over a hundred pounds, and lias u, range of S2W jardsl. A company of Britis i infantry co iaists of 120 on a war fi. cling. Eig't companies form a battalion and four battalions constitute a brigade. Brtiish Rifle Regiments utrrv 110 colors and instead of carrying their rill'i at the slope they carry Ilieir arms 1 at the trail. British infantrymen -a the present day are armed with Lie Fufield rifl?s, which will carry about Iwo miles. The ,rille also oo.rries a bayonet 17 inches lo ng. Each soldier on service- carries 1 iJ rounds of ammunition. The- Royal Engineers r.mk next after the artillery and in flout of the infantry. Tn war 'they to v.- charge of ail engineering apparatus ' : needed with the army in the field. They do iio'. coiTj colors. •Napier. Cordon and Kitchener in their early years were officers in tihe R<iy«l Engineers' C«'rps. The Army Service Corps arc t ,J butchers and takers' of the titin .-. In a campaign involving the -jraplocment of fifty tiiio'iisand men, ;.nd lasr.I ing for three montihs, the wcigJit. of food and forage required would lie about fifty thousand tons. I The Army Medical Corps lia,- • charge of the sick and wounded, and also everything appertaining to t''fc sanitation of (barmcks-, camps, wOti-r supply, etc. Ever siiiM 1418 an ordnanr-e depart. ment lias existed in the. British Ami v. lis principal duty consists in Uie ittH i" of stores and equipment of all kinds. Every man joining the Territorial Force becomes liable to attend camp at least eight days in each year. Military bands in flic British Army date from 1085. ' IClcctrif: K«ii-c:lilig'hts in the British Army are worked by the Royal Engineers. They are mounted on collapsable towers, which can be e'evated to a V'.ight of ,10ft. in a few minutes The King is the head of the British Army; his chief fomrtilnUonsil advi*«r is (the Secretary of State I'or War, who is responsible, to KlHiawent for tlie efficiency of the forces. / The Army Council eoi'si.-ts of four iinilitavy ami two civil members (not including the War Socffctary). The Maxim gun fires 450 rounds per inimite. It is fed by means of belts of earl ridges. Hngland was It'lle first nation to adopt horse artillery. A brigade of Royal Horse Artillery on Ihe march requires no small space, as in addition to 12 guns and limbers, theie are over SO waggons and carts. The number of horses required for a single brigade of Field Artillery would ii-rni a continuous double line nearly n.ilc and a half lonsr.