Night Operations for Infantry Compiled for the Use of Company Officers

THE IMPORTANCE OF CAREFUL TRAINING IN NIGHT OPERATIONS.

Although in recent years there has been a marked increase in the practice of night operations, yet I doubt if the majority of officers have realized that the changing conditions of war tend to make night fighting a much more common occurrence in the future than it has been in the past. A brief study of the accounts of the Russo-Japanese War shows that, as time went on, both combatants evinced a growing tendency to resort to night attacks, and to employ in their execution forces of considerable strength; it is, therefore, reasonable to assume that in future wars similar circumstances will compel the adoption of similar methods. Moreover, if we consider the results which are likely to follow from the facilities for the acquisition and the rapid transmission of information offered by airships and wireless telegraphy respectively, and from the increased efficiency of fire-arms, we are compelled to realize that in all future wars operations carried out under cover of darkness, not only for the purpose of massing troops in a favourable position for further action, but also for the actual assault of particular localities, will become a matter of constant occurrence. Indeed, as a French officer, from whose book[A] I have gathered many hints on night training, points out, night fighting can no longer be regarded as something abnormal and exceptional, but as the power of fire-arms increases, so will combats in the dark become more frequent and necessary.

[A] “Guide pour le Chef d’une petité unité d’infanterie opérant la nuit, par Le Commandant Breveté Niessel.”

For this reason it seems to me to be most important that we should establish a systematic method of training our men. It is an axiom that in order to master any subject properly the student must first be instructed in its elementary details, and it is in this respect that at present our system fails. During the annual course of training a few night operations are carried out by companies, by battalions, and by brigades, but during the rest of the year little attention is paid to night work, and, in many units, at any rate, no attempt is made during the winter to give the soldier that elementary instruction which is indispensable to fit him to take an intelligent part in operations in the dark.

It must be remembered that many of our men up to the time of their enlistment have passed their lives entirely in large towns, and have rarely been beyond the range of street lamps. Such men, when first taken out in the dark, are helpless; they start at every shadow, stumble even on level ground, make a terrible amount of noise, and are generally in such a state of nervous excitement that they are hardly responsible for their actions. Yet these same men, by a short course of careful, individual instruction, can be trained to work together with confidence on the darkest night, and when once they have gained confidence their further instruction is comparatively easy.

If in daylight the moral is to the physical, as three is to one, there can be no question that at night the proportion is many times greater. Indeed, I doubt if the true ratio can be estimated at all. History furnishes many instances of night fighting, in which the success achieved has been out of all proportion to the number of the victors, but it also teaches us that, in most cases, at any rate, the defeat of the beaten side was due to disorganization through panic. Now it is unquestionable that the best troops, if suddenly called on to face conditions to which they are not accustomed, are liable to panic, and it is to make sure that night fighting shall not be a strange occurrence in our Army that I advocate closer attention to training in it.

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.