GUNS AT PRACTICE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2661, 5 January 1916, Page 6

GUNS AT PRACTICE

| NINTH ARTILLERY FIRING | SATISFACTORY WORK A deeper note drowned the rattle of rigo fire at Trentham yesterday afternoon, when tho 9th Artillery, with two guns, undor Lieutenant D. G. Johnson, fired six rounds of live shell from tho parade ground at a target on the hills behind the camp. Captain Bradley, artillery instructor, was at the observer's post and the firing, which was by indirect laying, was declared to bo most satisfactory. The 10th and lltli Artillery. and the officers and n.c.o.'s of the 13th Artillery, occupied a position on the hillside about 500 yards to tho left of the target, their presence there being for instructional purposes. The observer's position was also on tho parade ground about 500 yards to the left of the guns, tho line between the two positions being the shortest one of a trian'gle, of which the apex was the target. Laying the Gun, / Indirect laying means that the men at the guns do not sight at the target, but, by means of an angle-sight, take aim from the observer who has previously given them the angle at which to set the sight. In the field the gunners rarely see the target which is usually hidden by hills or other obstructions, while the observer chooses a position from which he has a clear view of the target. Sometimes tlie gunlayers may be actually sighting through the angle-sight at a point behind the guns, yet the shells will fall accurately upon the target. The First Shot. The range when tho first shot was fired was given as 2350 yards jiid the projectile was "time shrapnel/' The guns were.'lß-pounder auick-ficecs. At the discharge of the sliot, tho gun sprang back nearly four feet in tho recoil, and tlie crack of the cordite was stunning. There was a flash, but no smoke, though the cloud of dust which rose from the ground below the gnu muzzle looked like smoke. As the oilbuffers let tho gun come slowly forward on its carriage, the whine of the shell could be heard as it sped upon its way. Then, nearly a mile and a half away, above 'a bare hill-spur, a ! puff of smoke hung "and spurts of dust rose where the shrapnel bullets had scattered. Experimental Shots. The first shot was so accurately aim|ea tlint it would have been only a matter of pumping the succeeding ones into tho target. These fine shots were therefore made experimental ones, the corrector and fuses being altered for tho purpose of observing the results of such alterations. The officers and men on the hills were able to realise just what shrapnel fire would '■ be like in the field. One of those so situated stated that the discharge of the guns could hardly be heard, nor could the flashes be seen, though tho cloud of dust at each dischargo, clearly indicated the moment of firing. It iiay be said that on active' service it is often necessary to water the ground in front of a battery to obviate the dust, which would be an indication to the enemy of the position of tho guns.