"LESSONS OF THE WAR."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 5 (Supplement)

"LESSONS OF THE WAR."

DR. CONAN DOYLE ON MILITARY CONDITIONS. SCATHING CRITICISMS. De. A. Conan Doyle, writing from firsthand information and observation, contributes " Some Military Lessons of the War" to the October Cornhill Magazine. In a style direct and unafraid he presents the many lessons that were taught in battle and skirmish, and presents them in a way that makes evasion impossible. At the beginning Dr. Doyle declares that the first lesson of the war is " that the defence of the Empire is not the business of a single warrior caste, but of every able-bodied citizen." Hard training and rigid discipline are not needed now, as in the clays of complicated evolutions upon the field of battle. " Our professional soldiers have not shown that they were endowed with clear vision. In the face of their manifest blunders and miscalculations a civilian need not hesitate to express his own opinion." The war has taught that the invasion of England bugbear is an absurdity. "A country of hedgerows would, with modern weapons, be the most terrible entanglement into which an army could wander." The war has taught that it is better and cheaper to have fewer highly-trained soldiers than many of a mixed quality. Pay a better wage and secure an army of marksmen. "One man who hits his mark outweighs ten men who miss it, and only asks onetenth of the food and transport.' The infantry " was as good as ever it was," but the old training as for pikemen made the advances "mediaeval and dangerous." STRAIGHT SHOOTING ESSENTIAL. " Straight shooting alone wins modern battles," and men who are not marksmen " should be cast from the Army as useless." If musketry has been neglected, covertaking has been ignored. " All through the war our trenches have been the merest rabbit scratchings compared with those of the amateur soldiers opposed to us." In one place the sides of loopholes in a barricade were defended by jampots. Officers must take their profession more seriously. They "treat their work too lightly/' Cavalry is so much in need reform " that the most effective reform would be one which would abolish it altogether." Lances, swords, and revolvers " belong to the museum." There is but one weapon—the magazine rifle. Despite its lack of training, the mounted infantry more than held its own with the cavalry. Mounted men should carry a rifle, and know how to fight on foot. In a word, "Boer tactics with British courage" is the invincible combination. At present the cavalrymen carry 7st useless weight, and this fact explains many Boer escapes. The artillery was too closely grouped, and never concealed. The Boers fired from cover, and sent guns here and there.

GIVE US NEW GUNS ! The British batteries again and again fired on their own infantry. Long range quickfiring guns, handled under common-sense tactics, are a necessity. " The engineers in every branch have done splendidly in the war." " Our transport and our commissariat have been among the few pleasant surprises of the war.'' The Medical Department had to deal with a frightful state of affairs in Bloemfontein. " Speaking roughly, there could not have been fewer than 6000 to 7000 cases of enteric, of which 1300 died." It had been arranged to care for all the Regular troops, but not for the Irregulars and colonials. "It is, therefore, unjust to blame the Medical Department" for being unprovided for an unforseen thing. In conclusion, Dr. Doyle says that the Army should be drawn from a higher class than peasants and unskilled labourers. The men should be well paid and trained into perfect marksmen. Teach the volunteers and militia how to shoot and they are reliable soldiery. " But above, all, let the Army become a serious profession; let us have done with the furs and feathers, the gold lace and the frippery which were needed to catch the ploughboy, but are repellant to catch the reasonable man. Let us have done also with the tailoring, the too luxurious habits of the mess, the unnecessary extravagances which make it so hard for a poor man to accept a commission. If only this good came from all our trials and our efforts, they would be well worth all they have cost us."