NEW BRITISH TACTICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16669, 13 October 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEW BRITISH TACTICS.

.1 . IRRESISTIBLE ADVANCE. BT IIECT.-COL. A.. A. XJRACE, N.Z.F.A. 8E3.; ; Tffiß;Grown Prince of Germany has been uniformly; unsuccessful. v , His ; record at Verdun is well known. If, as reported, he is in command of those German armies which have been so signally defeated eastward of Ypres,' then it would appear'that his bad fortune follows him wherever . he ftjes. The : cause vof this--latest; defeat is U»,be found in the preponderating militoy strength of the British, in immensely superior artillery, in their superior military material, ';. and- in their hew.' and astonishing ' system.. of .* offensive tactics. That system t of tactics is, l based primarily upon -the! possession of; an effective preponderance of artillery and of munitions,' but it also involves . immense : i. reserve armies, extraordinary preparations-on the lines of communication, commapd ■' of the air,'and the greatest : fortitude' in the in-fantry-making the assault.;."*.: -

Work of the Artillery.

The artillery employed consists of fieldsuns5 uns firing 18 pr., shells, .howitzers .of •sin and I Sin calibre, and heavy , guns, of 6in, 12ihjj. and probably of 17in :or 18in calibre, The strength of the; artillery em-, 1 ployed would depend ,oh 1 the artillery strength':.! of ; the Germans ...on- the ; sector to be. attacked, but:' it ; would certainly comprise hundreds of batteries, thousands of guns, and millions of shells. The task of the artillery would first ■be : !to destroy o? silence the enemy's artillery, next to devastate the' zone over which the infantry must advance, and finally to; help ;to smother the •,- counter-attacks ; which the enemy would certainly develop „; with '. a view to annihilating .our victorious infantry before they could consolidate the advanced positions they, had won. To these ends, therefore, the 'airmen/, would i first make reconnaissances, f reporting • the exact position of , the . enemy's guns, the nature of his.: lines of communication, the situation , and. strength' of his reserves) besides.; of course, the ■, features of his ehtrenched line and the strength 1 ahd.'nature of the forces holding tihat line. .In the nest place our artillery,.would;• moved, , if necessary, as far focward as jpossiblo— in the first lino the field-artillery and lighter j howitzers, in the second heavy guns of medium calibre, 'in I the third line the guns of 12in to lSiri calibre, These : last would be placed on carefully' prepared positions, and part of the preparation, for attack would include the selection of similar positions' well,forward, to'which these great ■ guns could he ; moved after / the infantry nad advanced, and it was necessary to. protect them in their new positions against ; ; the enemy's heavy guns. 'ii{ Beads, ; rwlwaySj communication ; trenches, telephone lines innumerable would / have to ; be. established! 'in order to enable the reserves and the guns,to % advance quickly, so soon as the assaulting infantry had' secured possession of /the positions ito be won. V Finally , everything - would "? be' arranged '; by '. time-table—the ;,;,'■!■ artillery, to begin its tornado of steel and explosives upon; the enemy's gun 'positions 1 at such atime, and to be prolonged l till.; such a time; such ;a . length of , time ;' to be given: to .'-. devastating ; the , enemy's entrenched line; such a time for the assaulting infantry to advance; the'.reserves to advance at ; such a time; the artillery to reopen fire upon the enemy's reserves from' new positions at such a;time., - A very; complicated and intricate: system of • tactics' mdeed,'- c and % one demanding the highest' training in all branches of toe service and' in the Staff,

.ui luo uituj. .;,.., , - :■■•■■ > The; German Tactics. • V " -':...-■'■■• ■".. .(- , '■ -■ .!»- ■ — ■■■ ■■ - - ■-.--■ ■■■■-.-<■ ■;.'.■ ..; ■;-"■ The ] '-■ Germans " rt ha ve "adopted .a new method" of resistance.. -They found that; when they held their advanced trenches heavily they lost'heavily. Therefore, so soon as they learn that a determined assault is ■- to/be - made upon their J positions they withdraw | most of I:their4 infantry ' from their ; advanced lines, which are left to 'the j protection |of a sprinkling of ; in- '. fantry and a great number of machineguns housed in cupolas of concrete and steel -No doubt they simultaneously strengthen their artillery /by:) bringing up all the guns and ammunition at their disposal. 'At the same time they assemble their; reserves and the infantry they have withdrawn I from their advanced lines, .in positions in rear of the guns from which they can' advance sto -• make . the, counterattack as soon as the British infantry may have pierced their advanced lines. Thus it; will be seen that their: method of resistance the Germans place their weakest forces >: in | front s arid their ¥ strongest forces behind. "They are : prepared; to lose their, advanced lines/ at least temporarily, if J their / advanced infantry arid : ; machineguns cannot repel the assault, and trust to rewinriing; what - they ■ have: lost: by ? means of- extremely strong counter-attacks. But at Messines, and now,(at,Zoririebeke; and Passendaelo, | their counter-attacks / have ; been broken by intense artillery fire and by the trifle, and machine-gun pre of the British; advanced 'infantry; strongly sup-, ported; and reinforced by/ reserve; troops brirried ;■; forward/ immediately /; after the great assault.

' ; :;..: Heavy Enemy ,; tosses.: ,: , -, -, <;:In one of their, recent defeats the Germans are reported to Z have / lost ;;' 22,000 men. V Along the ; Hollbeke-Passchendaele sector of eight miles they had placed four men to each yard, or 66,000 men, and of these ; troops they lost about .40 per cent. So it will be seen that their latest methods of ( defence are not only: futile • against the new British ' methods <. of' attack, but are extremely costly.?:. Their chief losses doubtless; occurred during 5 their endeavours to counter-attack, ;//when":'their. '. infantry masses, advancing in/ close formation, have been swept }} by t artillery, >V machine-guns, and 1 rifle : , fire. / It is difficult .to estimate the \ strength ,; of '■< the \ British engaged] in these assaults, and'in the task of consolidating the positions won, but it may safely /be placed much above that of : the German armies attacked. It is clear that victory/"was won' by concentrating such strength on the// Hollbeke-Passchendaele sector, as/ to establish control of' the air, : a preponderance of infantry, and an overwhelming ■• preponderance v of ■ artillery and : events seem to show that Sir Douglas Haig can establish such a superiority on any given 'sector of his line, at any time that he may, choose, y x- •';' '- : >'■■--■' -"; > v .' ,: Advance of British War : Machine. . The British advance in the great battle east of-Ypres on October 4 presents the most striking. result of '/the new/British tactics. It appears that the Germans had planned. to attack almost,at the; same time as the British had decided to .renew their offensive. Fortunately./ the, British got off, the mark" first, and forestalled their foes., Thus both /armies had fully manned their first-line trenches and their supporttrenches, and in the; struggle which followed the Germans, caught in the cyclone i British artillery. fire, suffered terribly. But that is riot/the point; which I wish to ; emphasize. I wish to point out the.extraordinary fact that, in spite of the unI looked-for preparation? of- the Germans, nothing could stop the '■ British wa,rmachine's advance, In other words, whatever the , tactics proposed to -be used by the.' Germans in attack they absolute- : ly futile against the , tactics of /the British. Such an '/elaborate and • tremendous, system of tactics must necessarily be inelastic and ■ ponderous, /but,. experience seems to show that it is irresistible, even in circumstances. calculated . to put it to the greatest test. -'At' the attack on- Messines Bidee it /.was/ used i experimentally, but with the greatest success.. In the'as-■ sault on the Zonnobeke-Lillebeke heights itswas' equally successful. Now, at the assault on the /Pbelcapyie-Passchendaele-, Broodseynde line'it .score's ; a third: arid even greater /victory, ins circumstances which emphatically,prove its-amazing use-, fulness. Wo in New Zealand- may well be proud that in the first and last of these triumphant operations the soldiers rof our. country; have, played , a consgicufius part.; l 'fictpb« ;B.|'. '■;•;,/;. • ~.', :•" .•" _:;■ • : ' ';,'/'■ ' jfe^v > /v^ ; '; ; /v : .-' '■?