WAR NOTES FROM LONDON

Lake County Press, Issue 979, 12 September 1901, Page 7

WAR NOTES FROM LONDON

i [F rom tho Evening Star’s Correspondent j July 26. | THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS. ! If the Government had any backbone they I Mould not have yielded to the blatant erics | of the pro Boers and have appointed a | committee of ladies to visit the coneenlra- ; lion camps in South Africa and co-operate i with the local committees. All the evi- : deuce of those people who know something . of South Africa and the Boer methods of j living lends to show that every possible ! consideration is extended to the coiieen--1 (rated, and that many of them arc far better eared for than ever before in their lives. Whv thousands more of the nation’s money

should he further expended in throwing a hone to the pro-Boers to stop their snarling ; why six ladies should be appointed when one or two, at most (say, Mrs Fawcett and a woman doctor), would suffice; and why, if a commission is appointed, it should not inquire, first, into the plight of our own loyalist refugees, and then into that of our enemies, are questions that the intelligent tax payer is putting to himself ami to his fellow-bearers of the war burden. Moreover, be would like to know what practical rc-nll is to follow the investigations of the Committee. If the Government supplied the mounted men required, and prosecuted the war vigorously, it ought to be over before the recommendations of the Committee could he carried into effect. Lord Milner’s warning, at the presentation of the freedom of the City to him last Tuesday -“Let us beware, in trying to win (as 1 believe we shall win), the hearts of enr former enemies, lest we alienate the confidence of those who have all along been our friends ’ —was certainly called for. There was much justification, too, for Mr Bartley’s question in the Commons on Tuesday. whether the inquiry would not be extended to our own loyal subjects, who have had to bear similar sufferings, and even worse than the Boers.

With the composition of the Committee no fault can be found, for they comprise Lady Knox, who has had considerable experience of South Africa before and during the war, and whose ministrations to the sick and wounded in Ladysmith did much to alleviate their sufferings; Mrs Fawcett, LL.D., who has taken a leading position in all movements for the improvement of the condition of working women ; Miss Lucv Deane, His Majesty's Inspector of Factories, who has very large experience in special investigation and in inquiries into matters relating to women and children; Miss Scarlett and Dr Jane Watherston, both medical graduates with considerable practical experience of work abroad, both now in South Africa ; Miss Brereton, who has been in charge of the Yeomanry Hospital in South Africa, and who has much administrative experience. The appointment of the two last-named cannot be completed pending further information as to the time which they can spare from their professional calls. Dr Watherston. who commands the deepest confidence throughout South Africa owing to her lifelong devotion to philanthropic work, and who has probably done more refugee relief work than anvbodv in Cape Town, is evidently the right woman in the right place. A White Book issued this week gives_ a return of the numbers of persons in the concentration camps in South Africa, in June last. The total number of white men. women, and children in the camps was 85,410. Natal 7,840, Cape Colony 390. Orange River Colany 32,715. Transvaal 44,465. The colored persons in camp numbered 25,489, 20 being in Natal. 20,590 in Orange River Colony, and 2.879 in the Transvaal. The deaths during the month were as follow : --Natal, 5 men. 15 women, and 84 children (all whites) ; Orange River (,'olonv. 34 men, 75 women, and 182 children '(all whites) ; Transvaal, 26 men, 48 women, and 310 children (all whites), and 5 colored persons. Total deaths, 782. It will be noticed that 576 of the deaths are of children, the majority, no doubt, being due to the epidemic of measles. -BOBS' ON BULLRTS AT BISLEY.— THE LESSONS OF THE BOER WAR. Not onlv in England, but in Germany is well, there are plenty of soldiers who maintain that the war in South Africa has taught us practically no new lessons in methods of warfare. This was the view taken by a distinguished German general in an article in (he ‘Deutsche Revue." replying to M. Bloch’s summary of the chailges in our training and organisation which the experience in South Africa had rendered necessary. The man in the street, who considers —and rightly —common-sense and marksmanship as the two main essentials for our army, has been feeling a little uneasy about the future, and wondering whether tradition and (onservatism would prove too strong for (he root and branch reform that is required in the armv. Earl Roberts’s speech at the conclusion’of the prize distribution at Bisley will cause a sigh of iclief throughout the Empire, for it proves that the Commander-in-Chief is not one of the stick-in-the-mud school, who can learn nothing from the campaign just closing. He sees that the Boer war, or rather, it would be more correct to say, the long-range magazine rille, has revolutionised warfare. The massed battalions and machine like movements have become obsolete. Extended formations and individual intelligence must take their place. " Bobs’s" speech is the most important authoritative military pronouncement of the century, and I therefore send you that part of it which refers to the lessons learned from South Africa.

Said “Bobs”: “The two points that the war in South Africa brought forcibly to my mind are—first, the necessity for making our soldiers good shots ; and secondly, for developing their individual intelligence. In former days the men fought in close formation, and they were armed with a smoothbore musket, which could not be depended upon to hit St. Paul’s Cathedral from the bottom of Ludgate Hill, a distance of about 450 yards. Battles in those days were not won by skill in shooting or by the individual intelligence of the soldier. It was indeed impossible to be skilful with Brown Bess, and the tendency of military training at that lime was rather to stifle individual intelligence and to teach men to act and move together mechanically. The introduction of long ranges and accurate tiring weapons has changed all this, and instead of commencing the attack in close formation at, perhaps, half a mile distance, our troops have now to be in very extended order, and it would be merely courting death to venture in the open when within 2,500 raids of the enemy's riflemen in any of these formations. Kven in extended formations, which we. now adopt to advance across the open, it would always be most difficult unless assisted bv a very powerful artillery ami infanta y fire from one Hank or the other. On the morning of the battle of Waterloo the Duke of Wellington’s force, which consisted of about 50,000 infantry, 12,400 cavalry, and 136 guns, occupied a front of about three miles, and the greatest distance between bis troops and the French was 1.400 yards. In many parts they weie much nearer, and the outposts almost touched each other. Such a disposition is impracticable when shrapnel fire can be used with deadly force for at least six miles, and when an expert rifle-shot standing in Trafalgar square can make certain of hitting

the ball on the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, a distance of 2,400 yards, nine times out of ten. if he can only see it. More than once I during the war in South Africa a force loss than that which Wellington commanded at Waterloo was spread over a front of more \ than twenty miles, and had to commence its attack at a distance of quite six miles. Those changes have, of course, brought about alterations in our tactics, and have necessitated (he employment of a. much larger proportion of mounted men than we needed when infantry could he moved in a comparatively short space of time to any point in the field which might he seriously threatened. Then, again, with regard to musketry training, the war has made me fee! that certain modifications must he introduced into that course. For instance, vol-ley-filing, on which many of ns laid great stress, under (he idea that it would steady the men and prevent a waste of ammunition, is now practically impossible, except, perhaps, to cover an attack in advance at a i very great distance or when acting on the defence inside some carefully-entrenched position. Volley-firing entails a much longer exposure than is compatible with due regard to comparative safety, and it gives the enemy a good target on which to tire in return. Moreover, in fact, soldiers do not waste their ammunition under the excitement of battle, as it was expected that they would do, for they speedily found out that their own safety depended* upon their ammunition being most carefully husbanded. Then, again, while our style of shooting was most effective at the longer and medium ranges, it had no chance with the Boers at a distance of 150 yards or under, the extreme length at which it is possible to distinguish the head of a man when tiring from a trench or under cover; and in order to practise our men to be good shots at those closer ranges we must teach them to fire very rapidly, and to take most careful cover after each shot, s - o as not to stand long enough for the enemy to take a shot at them again. My belief is that the fate of battle in the future will he as often decided by this close-range fire as it has been by the bayonet charge in the past. The alterations which seem to me most necessary in rifle shooting have already been introduced into our musketry regulations, and in the new issue of the ‘lnfantry Drill Book’ more scope will be given to section commanders in order to develop the individual intelligence of the men. I trust that the British public will take to heart the dearly-bought experiences of the war, and will do all in their power to encourage our soldiers in rifle shooting. No other qualification will make up for inferior shooting, and men will he valueless as soldiers unless they are expert in the use of the rifle. I am aware there are great difficulties with regard to musketry training in this country; there are very few places where ranges can be found in the immediate vicinity of barracks, and there are still fewer where field tiring can he carried on. Much, however, can he done with Morris tubes, and miniature ranges seem likely to be a. great success ; hut, after all. the full-sized ranges are infinitely to he preferred, and I appeal to the patriotism of the British public not to raise any unreasonable opposition to the construction of full-sized ranges, for it is on the perfect shooting of our men that the efficiency of the British army will mainly depend.”