DEFENCE NOTES'

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 657, 6 November 1909, Page 10

DEFENCE NOTES'

I , r -» {Br UcbmokJ. t Tio Director off Military Training-met ifai accredited representatives of the press on th Saturday preceding tho recent grand manoeu vres in England, ana gave them informatioi concerning the scope and limitations of thi manMcvros. It was stated;— 1 Manotravres form tho culminating point o the training of the soldior. They are oft cially defined 'as ''oporations between oppos mg foicos or against a skeleton force, n which Iho commanders are allowed froedon of action -within tho limits of the scheme " The ideal aimed at in drawing up plani for manoeuvres is to oreate conditions anc set tasks resombhng those which would bi Blet with'in actual campaigning as nearly ai possible "War itself ib tho best training foi war, and the closer peace exorcises are assimi lated to the duties which troops would hav< ( to perform in tho field, tho greater tho instruc ( ■ tional value to he derived from thorn. Bui thero nro considerable obstacles m the waj of realising this ideal, and manoeuvres ha-vt their limitations There are'certain conditions of war which is iis obviously impossible to create in peace such aie, tho element of danger connects with/;bullets and bayonets; tho ravages ol disease consequent oa long-continued expo sure, insufficient food, and, perhaps, un healthy climate, the absence of a political "atmosphere," upon which so much of the strategy of a campaign dope ids, and other which will readily suggest themselves Bu( there 1 are i also , difficulties of another clas« r which, though Of a more ( commonplace na ■hire, are i,omotimes apt to bo overlooked or, ,more often, undor-estimatod. Chief amongst these is expense War is costly, and it follows that ll,e more closely manoouvres resemhlo war, the "reatei i tho outlay they entail tln fact, it may be said that tho financial difficulty is the parent of all tho others. These coulu practically be eliminated, if money were no object Ac it is, howover, they must be reckoned ith, and it is only by a recognition of them that it '' is possible lo form a just appreciation of the problems which beset those who framo manoeu vres schema;, and to understand the reason' , whioh set limits to the realism attain lblo in tho exercise*. ' ' i Thus, time is a difficulty. In peace, opera tions must ho compressed Rapid changes in tho'situation must be brought about .n order i l to brovide instruction m various brandies of I training. Weeks and months cannot, as is often the case in actual war, bo ipont in ' marching' nnd counter-marching, con:entca tions, flanking movembnts, attacks and re ' treats must bo made to follow closa noon each other; battles, which in war aro rare, in manoeuvres must bo frequent in order that commanders and troops may practise In largo formations what they have learned to carry out during, the training season in smaller hodieb i t •>* "•> ' ''» Space, is 'another-obstacle.' ifanoeuvro areas are restricted, and "although much has been done—thanks largely to tho patriotic attitude of tho landowners—there still remains the bugbear of trespass, which robs tha mimic campaign of some of its realism and value - With regard to supply and however desirable! it may Bo to approximate peace conditions to those of war, it is inevitable that financial considerations will impose'certain re strictiOns on the way in which'these sfcrncis carfy out their funoti6ns at mrinoouvreS. At '' the'satno time, however,'it has to be borne in mind that' the object for which paitictilar manoeuvres aro held must also bo taken into consideration when deciding upon, the airange- , merits to be made for tho supply and transport services. In ordinary manoeuvres the tactical straining of the troops is tho important factor, '/> i and tho extent to which it 15 desirable to ■• ditninish this training, either as regarvls nnm» •\ 1 bers trained or tirao devoted to training, by '" expenditure en supply and transport •, always , an important matter for consideration Henco ~ it is only when manoeuvres fall untler the i' heading',of special exorcises designed to test wan organisation as apart from was training, ' 1 that anangenionts can be made for supply and - transport on a war swilo ■<' ' ' I Yet another- difficulty is that of numbers Peace establishments, both of men and horses ire below war establishments In order to bring units to the strengths nt which they j would take the hold,' it would be necessary ; to call np the Reserve and requisition horses 1 The, objections to such proceedings, mdepend- \ * en£ly of the cost involved, are sufficiently ob> II vious, and need not.be enumerated, 5 £lsstly may bo mentioned tha difficulty of I 'information— a comprehensive teim which Is in'-'a military sense includes the employment j of -secret agents and spies, and tho 'fiensorship \u of,the press, the telegraphs and the post. At {<■ manoouvres there is genorally too much in ( Ji formation, and too little of the "fog of war." 1 It" IB only such con ], siuorations as tho above swell m view that it i ls'possibl) to extract the , maximum of, m , < struction Ifrom manoeuvres. .Given a sound, 'j logical, atid carefully prepared "general idea" 11 as a ,basi9, the gaps between the succession ijiof problerns set tho troops and their lcai'crs i* -TV-2E?,- filled*.«o 'by tho Directing Staff who, I * V ttttaisehos. demo benefit from the exercise, t 4 ( and iri this manner all who tako part in the li U oporations, share in,the practice fhoy afford, 1 V.!P« G«« 'hajt'experience which," though 1t If flails short of 'the stern lessons learned in j* uactual .war, is of ench inestimable value to 3 lan army which looks upon preparation for i l ,wa . r < ft 2 the , wno k oi i» framing. 1 <As has been already 'explained, the main »li J p ? T i ) .? SB of , manoeuvres is the tactical training llt of . aU ? aj[kß > an<l > ln conclusion, it may ba Of »f IS Jk to mention that, amongst others, one .1 ™, tne objects which it has been sought to l), 'attain in drawing Jup tho scheme for this M lw S n, * n . oew » 8 » ( « Vtho bringing about of (X (what u 0 termed "encounter battles," as op } 1 $ffiJ% m tf s S kxam £ r »l> lult y of decision on t-< «»ti P ar , t <? f i c6] iimancler9', and prompt and in fi- 1M Th?Sj n h ptctß ?°aS £ "A-a the pari t tllla nffoid"most useful