Night Operations for Infantry: Compiled for the Use of Company Officers — John Shaqi
Night Operations for Infantry: Compiled for the Use of Company OfficersDawkins, C. T.
History
Night Operations for Infantry: Compiled for the Use of Company Officers
Dawkins, C. T.
Infantry drill and tactics
Two or three men, under an instructor, should be taken out to ground
with which they are perfectly familiar. The instructor will direct
them to notice the different appearance which objects present at
night, when viewed in different degrees of light and shade; the
comparative visibility of men under different conditions of dress,
i.e., in khaki, in a tunic, in shirt-sleeves, etc., when viewed against
different backgrounds; the ease with which bright objects are seen,
especially if in movement. If there is rising ground in the vicinity
the difference in the visibility of men standing on the sky-line or on
the sides of the slope should be noted. Experiments in the distance at
which a match struck in the open and also under cover of some object,
or a man smoking, can be seen should also be made. Blank cartridges
should be fired, and recruits taught to judge the direction in which
the rifle was pointing and its approximate distance from them.
_Training of Hearing._
To train their powers of hearing, men, placed a few yards apart,
should be made to guess what a noise heard is caused by, and the
approximate position of it. The rattle of a mess tin, the working of
the bolt of a rifle, the movement of a patrol, the throwing down of
accoutrements, low talking, or any noise likely to be heard on outposts
may be utilised. Special pains must be taken to impress upon the
men the penetrating power of the human voice. The distance at which
men talking, even in a low voice, can be heard on a still night is
astonishing, and as it is a sound which cannot be mistaken for anything
else, and which disturbs birds and animals more than any other, it is
most important that the recruit should be shown the absolute necessity
of keeping perfect silence.
At this stage it is a good practice to post the men in pairs at
intervals along an alignment which the instructors endeavour to cross
unnoticed. The instructors should cross from both sides, so as to
compel the recruits to watch in every direction.
_Finding Bearings._
When the recruit has become accustomed to the dark, and entirely
overcome his nervousness, he should be taught to find his bearings by
the pole star, to check the direction of his advance by means of stars,
landmarks, or even the wind, and conversely by the same means to find
his way back to the point from which he started. He should also be
taught to recognise the phases of the moon, and to judge whether it is
rising or setting.
To test a man’s ability to keep a given direction when moving at
night, the following plan is useful. Having chosen a spot from which
no prominent landmarks are visible, the instructor, accompanied by the
recruit, will advance towards it from a distance of not less than 200
paces. While advancing the recruit must take his bearings. On arriving
at the spot chosen the instructor will turn the recruit rapidly round
two or three times, and then order him to continue his advance on the
same line as before.
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