WHAT A MILITARY EXPERT SAYS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 21, 26 January 1911, Page 2

WHAT A MILITARY EXPERT SAYS.

It struck me as a very great pity " (says Lieut. -Colonel Burnett Stuart, director of the military operations) in a written review of the Wellington Rifle Battalion's manoeuvres at Karori last Friday — "that there were no umpires, and no arrangements for controlling the fight. Umpires should always be obtained, and I should think that officers of other arms would willingly lend their services for the sake of the instruction afforded." Colonel Stuart goes on to say: "I think the chief lesson to be learnt by all ranks from the morning's manoeuvres is the danger of dispersion and the necessity for keeping the men in hand as long as possible. Troops get out of hand in a modern battle quite soon enough without scattering them broadcast from the start. And the less thorough the training and discipline of the troops, the greater the necessity for keeping them together as long as possible. It is the natural tendency of most commanders of bodies of troops in an extensive and difficult country to try and cover too much ground. Nothing is more dangerous. Experience shows that the commander who keeps his force the longest in hand eventually controls the battle. I heard the ' cease fire ' blown early in the day. There is no such field call. The only -call that can be sounded during the operations by anyone except the director of the operations is the ' charge.' The operation orders were very well and carefully written. But I think it would have been better practice if orders had been written on the ground — after the troops had reached their rendezvous. The map used did very great credit to the officers who compiled it. It was clear i and accurate." !