January 7, 1918.

Problem 5a

My dear Dick,—

I will set you another problem.

The force to which you belong has made a night march. Your platoon now forms part of a new outpost line. You halted in a ditch at line marked D, with a thin hedge on the enemy’s side of it, which gives you good cover from view. Your idea was to use this place as the headquarters of your picket, and as soon as it was thoroughly light to throw groups out in front. Your platoon consists of forty men and a Lewis gun. Soon after dawn and when your men are still in the trench at D, you see what you take to be a strong platoon of the enemy advancing straight towards you from the north; a couple of groups of men are fifty yards in front, and the remainder of the platoon is advancing in fours along a country road, which passes close to your position. You see the platoon when it is at A about 1,000 yards off.

What action will you take?

Action considered Correct.

There seems to be every chance of your being able to ambuscade this party, and you should let it advance until the groups which the main body has in front of it are within fifty yards of your picquet. You should tell off a few men on the flanks to deal with these groups, and turn the fire of the whole of the rest of your platoon on to the main body. You must be careful to see that all your men lie down, that no one but yourself has his head above ground level, and you must camouflage yourself. The suspense in such a situation as this makes great demands on the men’s discipline, and they are apt to look up and be seen by the enemy, thus destroying all hope of surprise.

Problem 5b

The situation is exactly the same as in Problem 5a, except that instead of a platoon advancing towards you, there is a whole company marching in fours, with four groups 100 yards in front of it.

What action would you take?

Action considered Correct.

Exactly the same as in Problem 5a. The enemy is in this case four times as strong as you are, but the effect of surprise should more than make up for this, and the first minute after you open fire should decide the action in your favour.

Problem 5c

The situation is again exactly the same as in 5a and 5b, except that a whole battalion with eight groups 200 yards in front of it is advancing.

What action would you take?

Action considered Correct.

In this case the situation is changed. You are an outpost, and your first duty is to warn your main body in case of an attack and to give it time to prepare itself. It is just possible that if you allow the battalion to approach to within 300 yards you might deal it such a blow as to almost destroy it; but if, on the contrary, the covering groups were composed of really good soldiers and the companies were well commanded, there would be a great chance of your being rushed, and this is a risk which you ought not to take, for it would compromise the whole situation. In these circumstances you should therefore take steps to open a rapid fire on the enemy immediately with your men and your Lewis gun. Your object in doing this would be to keep him at arm’s length and delay his advance as much as possible so as to give your supports and reserves time to prepare themselves.

Your affectionate father,
“X.Y.Z.”

---