Part 4

SKETCH SHOWING GERMAN FIXED RIFLE REST FOR FIRING THROUGH LOOP HOLES.

(Captured at the Bluff.)

NOTE.—Both lateral and horizontal movement is given and the rifle can be very firmly clamped when the required aim is found. ]

CASE (B).

HORIZONTAL CLOCK FACE SYSTEM (USED WHEN TARGETS ARE VISIBLE). ]

┌─────────────────────┬─────────────────────┬─────────────────────┐ │ SYSTEM. │ EXAMPLE. │ EXAMPLE. │ ├─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┤ │1. Announce direction│Target 2 o’clock │Target 11 o’clock. │ │2. Announce objective│A hostile patrol │A hostile patrol. │ │3. Announce range │Range 1,000 │Range 900. │ └─────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴─────────────────────┘

PROCEDURE.

1. All look along the line pointing toward the indicated o’clock of a horizontal clock face whose center is at the firing point and whose 12 o’clock mark is directly perpendicular to the firing line.

2. Look for the objective at—

3. A point on this line at a distance equal to the designated range.

NOTE.—The clock here represented must be considered as horizontal, not vertical as shown. For the purpose of illustration perspective was not considered. The observer occupies the center of clock.

CASE (C).

VERTICAL CLOCK FACE SYSTEM (USED WHEN TARGETS ARE SMALL OR INDISTINCT). ]

┌──────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┐ │ SYSTEM. │ EXAMPLE A. │ EXAMPLE B. │ EXAMPLE C. │ ├──────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤ │1. Announce the │Reference point │Reference point │Reference point │ │ general │ at 12 o’clock │ to our right │ to our right │ │ direction of the│ │ front │ front. │ │ reference point │ │ │ │ │2. Announce the │Single house │High peak │High peak. │ │ reference point │ with 2 │ │ │ │ (the most │ chimneys │ │ │ │ prominent object│ │ │ │ │ in the zone │ │ │ │ │ indicated) │ │ │ │ │3. Announce │Target at 8 │Target at 5 │Target at 4 │ │ position of │ o’clock │ o’clock │ o’clock. │ │ target with │ │ │ │ │ respect to │ │ │ │ │ reference point │ │ │ │ │4. Announce the │Machine-gun │A hostile patrol│A hostile │ │ objective │ │ │ patrol. │ │5. Announce range │Range 1,000 │Range 900 │Range 800. │ └──────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┘

PROCEDURE.

1. All men look in direction indicated by 1.

2. Reference point is found in the indicated direction.

3. A clock face (vertical) is imagined centered on reference point and look along the line through the indicated o’clock, and

4. Find the objective at —

5. ...... yards from the firing line.

CASE (D).

SIGHT LEAF, FINGER, OR UNIT SYSTEM.

(When targets are indistinct or invisible, and to define sectors.) ]

┌──────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┐ │ SYSTEM │ EXAMPLE A. │ EXAMPLE B. │ EXAMPLE C. │ ├──────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤ │1. Announce │Reference point │Reference point │Reference point │ │ direction of │ at 12 o’clock │ at 1 o’clock │ at 1 o’clock. │ │ reference point │ │ │ │ │ using horizontal│ │ │ │ │ clock system if │ │ │ │ │ necessary │ │ │ │ │2. Announce │House, with │Distant hill │Distant hill. │ │ reference point │ fence around │ │ │ │ │ it, on hill │ │ │ │3. Announce │Target, 8 │Target, 8 │Target, 5.30 │ │ position of │ o’clock 2 │ o’clock 4 │ o’clock. │ │ target with │ units │ units │ │ │ respect to the │ │ │ │ │ reference point │ │ │ │ │4. Announce the │Line of │Skirmish line, 2│Skirmish line, 2│ │ objective │ intrenchments,│ units │ units. │ │ │ 3 units │ │ │ │5. Announce the │Range 900 │Range 800 │Range 1,000. │ │ range │ │ │ │ └──────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┘

NOTE.—“Units” mean 50 mils = finger = sight leaf. It is usual to indicate in this system the point of the target nearest the reference point.

When he is fairly familiar with the use of the horizontal and the vertical clock system for indicating directions, and with the use of fingers and sight leaf for measuring lateral distances from a reference point, work him up from simple to difficult examples of target designation.

With case (d) as an illustration, call the direction of the reference point. See that all look in the right direction. Name the reference point. Require it to be indicated on paper, at the center of a clock dial. Call, “Target 8 o’clock.” Have a line drawn from the center of the dial in the proper direction. Announce, “Four units.” Have these estimated by fingers and with the sight leaf in the proper direction and endeavor to then locate some object that should serve as a check on the work. Continue similarly with the actual announcement of the character of the target: “Skirmish line, etc.”

It may sometimes be advantageous to indicate the range and have the sights set before describing the target, as men frequently lose the target while their eyes are off it in sight-setting.