SHELLING THE ENEMY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 414, 25 January 1909, Page 6

SHELLING THE ENEMY.

D BATTERY AT PIGEON BUSH.

A'SPLENDID SPECTACLE.

CANDID REMARKS BY COLONEIJ DAVIES.

■ The utraost : diplomacy'of'the European Em'i bassies' had failed' to smooth the ruffled fea-; .tilers/of,..'ascertain; great* Power, whose hypersensitive :propre people, had been wounded byj Groat ~Britain,'''and so''if camo to pass that blood was being spatijn.various parts of our; great and-glorious;Empire; A cruiser squadron; .with'.; transports,'had swooped upon New Zealand, and landed' trob'ps near Palliser Bay, .whjle■.the i /advooatesi,of ..universal military training .said,-;witji"-much vehemence, "Wetold'yoaspl'^. /i|eanwhiie the enemy.had: thrown ;a- force across, the country from the .western shores of Lake Wairarapa to a commanding ,'.p'psitiori'';6n ■ the hills.'above. Pigeon' Bushj.and cut.the railway.lino just in time to preventa: strong, re-eriforcing party from.the : north 'from/advancing to the assistance of. Wellington'!!/whiah^ It was ■ not: an occasiori'i'ibr- elaborate deployments and/ . protracted',■..■•manoeuvres—Wellington; ,was 'in bxtrenlis. J : The 'situation called for prompt Sctibu,'sq : themain body of infantry was. diverted to"niake.'a,,striking attack upon' the. onejny!s / left; j •, ; small:, detachments skirmished along .the;hills..on7the. right,: and also engaged4he>;erierriy^s..front; while the artillery, ;cpnceal6d'/among' the iinanuka on the plain; was ordered to' cover the, infantry advance,- arid^ incidentally .make the hills so uncomfortable 'for the entrenched hostiles that the; situation 'tvould be "reduced tea siinple , a ? te ™atiye—".e.v l ap.uate,;orbe; killed!" //. .- ■ ■'.' :: : 7 'lnfantry Offioers? .■:,';:■;.■■/.• ■:_This; simply; plan , ' of operations, underlying :the annual class-firing of' the D:. Battery.of .Field Artillery Volunteers'! at Pigeon Bush,' Lower/Wairarapa,'on Satur-' day.;, ,Of::cpurse,,..there...w^s. no. war; except type-wr,itten war; devised.in the Defence Office;. deep peace- still lay upon Europe, Asia,Africa, North and South America, and. Aus- ! tralasia. 'Therefore; there was no enemy,•Wellington was .not in. extremis; and there:.was , no, infantry with' the,artillery 1 , although/it ; i'might; have/been a- very good ,plan to Ka.v.e/funtheibiittalion up in a special tram;for, the,.purpose-of• learning something the' field, or, if notvthe-batta]ion,/certainly.the battalion of-'; ficers, who- conspicuous by their absence. ■ One must remember,. charitably,, that there were; perhaps ,other ; attractions of a compelling ,-kind, .but ..this /subject need not be pursued. '.; ■•'■ '•'. ■■:■■-•. ' - : '. ■ .;... ,; Horses, Men, and Cuns. Rer.erions a "iios, mbutp'ns! To return'. to the battery, which left its. camping-ground' at the Hutt:p-ark;.on'.Thursday. last—about one hundred. ofl all ranks, with four guns, and .eight; , of the-Royal New. Zealand. Artillery liorses;,(knowing old rascals', these), and came up by special ■.■train whereV they encamped. Meantime, Captain G.S. RicliaMson,. Chief Instrtctpr'of Artillery,; had arranged with Mr.. for a suitable area of shooting ground;"and from Mr. Yel-' :verton,_; of Featherston,' the. hire of •..horses' wherewith tb fully equip' the battery. . The" tiorses .were'.a motley herd, each good, in- its own ;plass,:.T)ut:'all comparatively under /the requirements—exacting the iorse £ arti!lery,,service... : There'were; a -few hacks'for. .the;- officers and. "non-coms.," but' somehow the: hacks and; the gun-horses' got mixed;';; and there, were several- exciting' .'jicidents. : One outraged animal, snorting and disgusted; was. hustled:into a,gun-team, be-mndifche-two;staid artillery'horses which were in:the'.lead;(to -sdt-a' good;'example),■ and lib irotested. ;Down/went/his'head, up went , his heels, \ and with a>jurnp and/a, wriggle,-' divested.himself, as an artiireryman expressed it, ."bf.everystiteh of his'clothing, "'after which'ho sat down/under,'the/.limber-.of the gra,:.and refused, to budge, .v However, by Saturday morning/they/had all.settled down o the.noveltyof the sitttation, andtheliattery .presented "a' splendid: : appearance■• as it >araded for inspection before Colonel' R.-H. )avies:;, C.B. (Inspectpr^General/of :t]ie Forces), Lieutenant-Colonel Bauchop,' C.M;G: (Officer. Cbmmariding-the.. Wellington • Distriot);f'Major J. E; '• Hume, R.N.Z.A;, for inspection.i., O.thor visitingiofficers were Lieiiten- : ant ; Chesney/(Staff-Officer'to Colonel Davies) : . Captain.;Madigan.'(H;sßattery, Nelson), Captainl Mporhbuse (formerly M the D Battery) 1 ; Beattie v(E Battery s ..Christ .church),: Lieutenants Ellis,: 'Price, , and Robinson (Petone; Navals), ; and Lieutenant Hume: (formerly of .the battery). , .'■•, The battery ■was fdrawn up in-line of. sections, - under Captain; Petheripk,::O.C.; ; ; and- paraded 96 strong,/there being .only •four, absentees. : /',./y; ; ri;/-,;,; The Elusive-Target. , / , /; v «: Meanwhile, on the".Hill; slopes about three .jnjl.es.away, ;smaJJ ; khald targets,; invisible .tb'. the.naked eye,;and"discernible only with the. 'greatest i'difficulty.iby'.the ..officers with ; their powerful/glasses,.:bad ! been, cunningly, posted at'varibus'stages. It seems,a' funny.thing/tp-say thatthegun-layer's had to ' could riot , see,' b'nt •it "'is; a fact: nevertheless.. The firecommandgf'finds the/target," approximates the range, and ..'selects., some - 'conspicuous object -.which/the gun-layers can: see. -They then direct- them {to lay. : sp -many degrees right or' ■•left,,a's.'.tH6'case'"inay"btt"' But the principles ,pf;the'ar})illery''game'wi]l;iperhaps, be;better, fallowing/the battery into ':./:.: "■■.'.-.• .;..-■■ ~.,..; .... ■. •.,■-. '....-. -.-... ■- : x:^x'i':ik'fix in Actidfii / '.; : ■. / :, ; '.''/.. ./Tho": guns'■are I Hrawn..upj Waiting,, behind a screen , of''mariuka." are fluttering their.' signals/along, the chain of outposts which stret.ches v put,:from.thb base 'of operations to thelimits ofthe scouting line,, -while , ' along ..the. .groiind,. a dark; thread lies unobtrusively,; along the scouting, line—the field telephone. At the firing-point the officers are scanning the hillside for the elusive targets. : They are. picked; up-at 1 last.;. A shrill/whistle blows, arid from behind the screen come the shouts of.the,drivers,; the rattling '.ofvthe liiribertibains,: / and : .: the; 7 heavier. ■ springles's rattle_.of, the,,wheels./ .:Tho battery swings into view at the: trot; ' and ..wheels to the right ■ in sectipris. .'Haltl;; Again/the whistle.' The teams are unhooked,*; the guns unlimbered,-swung-rdund;': and'-'the trial ranges are given. ■-"No;'l^-two-oightihundred!' No. 2—two-nirie-huridred! ■ No./ 3—three thousand I No. •4—three-one-hnndr'ed!" , A different range .fpr.',each.:guri.'; '.'FireNo. 1 gun I". The section commander,holds up his hand. All ready.,/Then—'J Fire!"—the gunners spring back, one, of them: jerks; the lanyard, Bang flash, a roar, and the shell screams through the air."Fire No. 2 gun I— ":Kro;::No., 3,.gunlff—Bang—"Fire 'No. i glial'. —Bang j...;.;; Away ', on the. hillside ■"tho sharp eye discerns hero and thero spurts of dust/as, the projectiles-bury themselves in ,the ground. -The air reeks of cordite, and all along the, Tange echoes give back echoes, the sounds-recalling the rumbling of a railway train. :.'. '■:■■■■ ' : •', /,, '•: :: ; ~--v

"No. 1 gun—two-nine-fifty. No. 2 gun— three thousaridl,. N0..'3 gun—three-nought-fifty I No. 4 gun—three-one-hundred I" Another ■ inferno splits,the air and a sign of satisfaction escapes the battery i-ommander as/he- notes that No. 4 gun has picked up .the'ra.nge.\ r ■ '.:",- ."••: : ■ / -,- / ;.".' 'Range—three-one-hundred I fuse 10 seconds I"/Shrapnel'is to be used, with an explosive'' limit;, of; 10: seconds.- Again the inferno, ;'•'but -with'-' : prettier' effects. As the shells gain' the distant? hills, they burst in clouds of white smoke;/the dust.spurts up all about the ground j 1 and'after what seems many a:dull'bbom reaches the firing line/ "' .••■>'■•■-; ,r.;r:-. .;.- .. ... : • . ...

'."Range—tthree-one-hundred! fuse 15J seconds!" The shells have burst rather soon. i"No.':2"gun—3 degrees more left!"- And so on right through the. Eyries. ■ The battery is doing well—very _.well. Shrapnel V has an':'; effective;.;, radius/- 'at ■ tho . burstmg'V"' point,,; /'of.v 25. ...square yards. It .'under.a:shell when it burstfli ■i'Finally. i 'thV ; wliistlo blows again. 'Out gallop. thei teams.from' their cover point, the.;guns..lre.limb<sre'd' up, and: away they go:in'column of 'sections; ;■ ■ .;• The class-firing was continued from about noonuntil close on 5 p.m., and although onb of the "EcriesV was stated to. be bnlow the high average of the others, yet the general results were very much better than: those the grevioua jeai". -

_ Before the final series was fired, the operations wore suspended for about a quarter of an hour, and the battery paraded before Colonel Davies, who addressed some remarks to the men, in which praise was tempered with some friendly criticism. He . complimented tho battery on its excellent turn-out, its attendance, and on the work it had done generally, handicapped as it was by many disadvantages. The System to Blame. The system under which they had to train did not give them sufficient opportunity to do more than they did, and their efficiency did them the greatest credit. They did this too. at great personal sacrifice, while -the, bulk of the population was loafing about the streets, or attending the races, .ir amusing themselves .in other ways. He would like to see the volunteer batteries given more opportunities of doing field work; it was very necessary that they should do more field work, and that, too, they: should be taught to realise their tSrue function in war, by operating field in conjunction with the other branches of. tho service—the infantry and mounted men. The artillery was in the position that it could not act alone. It might be possible for an infantry force or a mounted ■ force - to put up a - good fight alone, but not bo with the artillery. The Artillery In War. / The proper function:of the artillery was to co-operate with these other branches, arid although,there might be occasions when.(during combined tactics) they might fret at being kept; in the background, and inactive, they should reflect that their officers were learning the principles of field tactics by studying the game as a whole. • .. . ,/'...-.

Criticism or Flattery 7 f

Colonel-Davies then went on to criticise certain aspects of their.work in the field that day, and prefaced, his, criticism by observingthat the man who habitually praised everything he - saw was ■ either a fool or a : liar. There was no prbgress/in a state of continual satisfaction. He wanted to say something of the principles of cover.. The difference between the garrison gunner and the field gunner was that the. latter had to choose his position—the former's position was fixed for him. In:the choice of position it was necessary that, the value, of cover: should be fully estimated! Now, in one of their rhanoeuvres that afternoon they. had taken ; up a position ; in'a yellow stubble field against, which the battery stood out black—an, excellent -target.'. The difference between, a' po'si-. tion like. that and. a well-chosen • position- be-, hind- cover was well illustrated by Colonql Caldwell in the simile of the last stud on the. carpet.".- On a plain ground the stud could be easily spotted, but on a. figured carpet.it might rest on the middle or the floor and never be noticed. He hoped to be able to spend,an afternoon with them some time in March, when they would do some tactics".together. ■/ ■'.■'■' '■■.

The Battery fired a further series yesterday, morning, and returned to Wellingtpn per special'train in the. afternoon. , / '■'.■•.