December 22, 1917.

My dear Dick,—

You have told me that you have once or twice temporarily commanded a company and have asked me whether I think there is any advantage in a young and active company commander being mounted.

In another part of your letter you ask whether I think a defensive position should be taken up on a forward or on a reverse slope.

This latter is a very big question and one on which many pages could be written, but I shall confine myself here to saying that it is imperative to hold the crest line in order to get observation, but that, owing to the crest line and forward slope being so much more vulnerable by artillery fire than is the reverse slope, there are many advantages in constructing the main line of defence well behind the crest.

I find now that I have tried in a few words to answer your second question before dealing with the first one. The object of giving you a horse is, firstly, to enable you to move about more rapidly, and consequently to do your duty better; and secondly, because a company commander’s work really begins when the march is over. It is infinitely more important that he should be fresh than that any other man in the company should be so. Again, by riding on in front and making proper arrangements for bivouacs or billets, he may save weary men much marching and counter-marching, and, what is even more important, he will on other occasions, by being able to push on in front, save half an hour by thinking out proper tactical dispositions before his men arrive. I will now give you a little problem which will, I think, illustrate the two questions which you have asked me. You must, nevertheless, remember that there can be no hard-and-fast rule as to where a position should be taken up. We cannot alter the ground to suit our formation, and therefore our formations must be made to suit the ground. The proper way to hold ground when the object is to fight a rearguard action is quite different from the way it should be held to fight a battle À l’outrance, and all I will commit myself to doing is to give my advice as to how a certain piece of ground should be held in certain given circumstances. I hope that the following problem will, to a certain extent, answer both your questions.

Problem 3

An advance guard, of which the company you command forms part, has been pushed forward to seize a position of which the ridge B-I forms a part. The main body should reach the position some eight hours after your arrival there. You have been told that your first object is to prevent the enemy’s cavalry seizing the position. The enemy’s cavalry, accompanied by horse artillery, may be expected in the proximity of the position within an hour or so after your arrival, but it is unlikely that his infantry and field artillery will arrive much before your own main body. The time of the year is July, the hour is 4 p.m. The soil is sandy, but covered with grass. You are riding at the head of your company, and are about two miles from the crest when a staff officer accompanied by the adjutant rides up to you and you receive the following instructions:

“Our cavalry have reached the crest of the ridge BCDEFGHI without encountering opposition. You will be responsible for the front from E to I, both inclusive, until the main body arrives, and must make immediate arrangements for securing it against attack by hostile cavalry and horse artillery. Not a minute is to be lost. You will also do your best to prepare the front allotted to you for defence against a strong infantry attack which the enemy will probably deliver, though it is unlikely that he will be in a position to do so before dawn to-morrow.”

Question 1.

What would you do on receipt of these orders?

Action considered Correct.

You should save time by handing over command of your company and yourself cantering on so as to examine the ground and carefully consider your plans before your company arrives. The line of argument you should adopt on arrival on the ridge should be: “My first object is to prevent cavalry, assisted by horse artillery, reaching the ridge, and not a single moment is to be lost in doing this.

“My second object is to consider carefully how the ground can best be prepared to resist a determined infantry attack early to-morrow morning. It is possible that the ridge may be subjected to shell fire soon after the arrival of my company, and I must make hay whilst the sun shines.”

The conclusions you would come to as a result of this reasoning would probably be: “It is improbable that I shall be able to entrench the whole of my company before the enemy opens fire, but at all events I will try to make emplacements for my four Lewis guns on the ridge between E and I. They will thus be about eighty yards apart.

“I will use intensive labour to get these emplacements completed quickly.” By intensive labour is meant telling off three men to each tool used and ordering the man to dig with all his might and main for a couple of minutes or until he is tired, and then to hand his tool over to another man who is ready to receive it. By this means more work can be done in half an hour than is usually done in an hour. For periods of under an hour, when men are working against time to achieve some important object, intensive labour is an excellent method to adopt, but it is not suited for long tasks where its use would wear men out. It is especially applicable where the task worked at is so small that only a very limited number of men can work simultaneously.

“I will, at the same time, construct trenches connecting these Lewis gun posts. It is possible that the arrival of the enemy’s guns will oblige me to relinquish work until the night, but the fact that the trenches have been commenced in the daytime will very much assist the men in their night work. I will afterwards construct supporting points at the farm L and between M and N on the reverse slope.”

Question 2.

If you concur with these conclusions, what principle will govern your action in putting the farm into a state of defence? You will notice that the farm shows a bigger front to the east and the west than it does to the north and the south. It is constructed of strong masonry and has two stories.

Action which is considered Correct.

You should use the southern rooms in the farm for your machine guns rather than the northern ones, as you will there be more protected from shell fire. You must keep your defence as much below ground as possible, using cellars if they are available, and otherwise digging trenches inside the walls so as to have your loopholes a few inches above the ground level.

Construct head cover with strong baulks close over your heads, so that in the event of the whole building being brought down, it will not affect you, but only give you more cover from high-angle fire. If possible put wire round the northern end of the building. Arrange to flank the work between MN, which should in turn protect your front.

Question 3.

What description of work will you make between M and N?

Action considered Correct.

The best form of work to construct will be one made on the principle of that shown in the annexed diagram. As will be seen, this consists of a series of island traverses strung together more or less in the shape of an “S.” The advantage of this is not only that it is suitable for all-round defence, but that the whole of the garrison can fire simultaneously in almost any direction, the weakest points being A and D. The work shown in the diagram would require a garrison of about forty men, but it could give cover to eighty. It is less vulnerable by artillery fire than almost any other form of work. It is an easy work to construct in so far that a large number of men can work at it at the same time without interfering with each other. The acuteness or obtuseness of the angles at B and C must depend entirely upon the ground, but it stands to reason that the more the angles approach right angles, the more is the work suitable for all-round defence.

The “crucifix” strong point is also a good pattern, but I think that the one that I have given you is better, as it is in every way a less satisfactory mark for the enemy artillery, and also gives you quite as good, if not better, opportunity of using all your rifles in every direction.

My next letter will contain a problem for a rearguard commander.

Your affectionate father,
“X.Y.Z.”

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