I am aware that some officers maintain that it is a mistake to risk the chances of a night attack, because, even if the attack is successful, the want of light will prevent it being followed up. This may be a sound argument against making a night attack, but it is obviously no argument against training men for night fighting. Whether we attack by night ourselves or not, it is quite certain that our enemies will sometimes attack us, and, unless we are prepared to be taken at an enormous disadvantage, we must train our men to meet them in the dark. Besides, even the opponents of night-fighting do not dispute the value of an attack delivered with the first appearance of daylight, and an attack at dawn necessitates an advance during what are often the darkest hours of the night, with the possibility of its interruption by a counter-attack at any moment. To carry out such an operation with any prospect of success, even in the most open country, it is essential that both officers and men should have the highest possible training. In our Army, with men enlisted for a term of seven years with the Colours, we have far greater opportunities of accustoming our troops to night-fighting than most nations have, and, if we choose to do so, we can bring our training to a high state of efficiency. It seems to me to be folly to ignore our situation, and not to take every pains to train our men to carry out operations by night, since, in view of our comparatively weak numbers, efficiency in night-fighting may be of the utmost value to us in any future war. It is with the object of inducing officers to pay closer attention to this branch of their men’s training, that I put forward a few hints on a progressive method of instruction, which I have personally proved to produce useful results. In order that it may be made clear that training for night operations is a normal and necessary part of the soldier’s education, a training which is to be carried on continuously throughout his whole service, and not confined to the short periods of company and battalion training, I advocate the commencement of the elementary instruction while the recruit is still at the depôt. CHAPTER II. ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION. The first thing to be done is to accustom the soldier to darkness, to teach him to overcome the nervousness which is natural to him, and to train his powers of vision and hearing to suit conditions which are strange to him. _Training of Vision._