REALISM ON DARTMOOR

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 8998, 9 November 1907, Page 1

REALISM ON DARTMOOR

There stood on Dartmoor recently the strangest village in England. It sprang up in a day or two and it disappeared in a few {hours, secriflcecl to the efficiency of the Royal Artillery. It was built of wooden frames and canvas on the brow of Oxtend hill, giving a spacious range, with a" fine sky line. All round was a wilderness of gorse and heather. The village was almost startling in ots realism. A chucrch and spire overshadowed the main street, says the Standard "Arcadianlooking cottages were relieved by the Oxtend Arms and a hospital flying the red cross flag, a windmill, the arms of which leisurely revolved in the warm wind, and a farmhouse. '' Smoke actually curled from one of the chimneys. But the most remarkable feature was the collection of dummy figures. Men, women, horses, and cattle were scattered about the silent street, supported by wires. The purpose of this elaborate preparation was to test the range and power of the new 60-ponnder guns. The artillery canie into action shortly after ten in the morning in ideal weather, and fire was maintained for three hours, at ranges from 1000 to 2000 yards. A most dramatic incidentwas a charge of dummy cavalry. The horsemen came skimming down a tramway line iu flue stylo, '' but as they entered the fire-swept zone they toppled and vanished like rotten apples from a gale-shaken tree. No more realistic bit of mimic warfare has surely ever been enacted. '' The State of Oxtend village after the bombardment was a splendid testimony to the terrible potency of the new guns. The church spire was like a sieve. Many corpses lay among the debris of tho cottages, and a little imagination conjured up a ghastly picture. The Standard's correspondent was iufomed that the result of the tost exceeded expectations. Nothing could live within 10,000 yards of a battery of tho new 60-pounder.