Field Artillery Journal - Mar 1927

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VOLUME XVII NUMBER 2

MARCHAPRIL

THEFIELD ARTILLERY

JOURNAL

EDITED BYHARLEIGH PARKHURSTMAJOR, FIELD ARTILLERY, UNITED STATES ARMY

THE UNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION1624 H STREET, N. W.WASHINGTON, D.C.

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COPYRIGHT, 1927, BYTHE UNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION

The U.S. Field Artillery Association,

1624 H St., N. W., Washington, D. C.

Gentlemen:

Please change my address

from __________________________________________________________

to_____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________(Signature)

______________________________________________________________

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Contents, March-April, 1927

Dan IV by Ex Veto out of Deihadarra ......................................... Frontispiece

French Artillery .......................................................................................... 113By Major Emmanuel Lombard, French Artillery.

Six Months with a Japanese Artillery Regiment...................................... 121By Major William C. Crane, Jr., F. A.

Gaits (Poem)................................................................................................ 128By Fairfax Downey.

Sub-Caliber Firing in Training Field Artillery ........................................ 129By Major Francis T. Colby, F. A.

The Reserve Officers' Training CorpsMission and Methods ............. 138By Major John N. Hauser, F. A.

The 83rd Field Artillery Constructs New Quarters................................. 146By Major Robert S. Donaldson, F. A.

A Miniature Range and its Operation ...................................................... 149By Lieutenant William P. Blair, F. A.

Letters ......................................................................................................... 158By Martin Gale.

The International Legal Status of Chemical Warfare............................. 162By Captain Geoffrey Marshall, C. W. S.

Regimental Notes ........................................................................................ 168

Foreigen Military JournalsA Current Rsum .................................... 199

Current Field Artillery Notes .................................................................... 210New Ration for Horses and Mules.Classification of Our Battle Casualties in the World War.Machine Gun Caisson Mount.76th Field Artillery Football Team.

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THE UNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATIONOrganized June 7, 1910

OFFICERS

PRESIDENTMajor-General William J. Snow, U. S. Army, Chief of Field Artillery

VICE-PRESIDENTBrigadier-General Geo. Le R. Irwin, U. S. Army

SECRETARY-EDITOR AND TREASURERMajor Harleigh Parkhurst, Field Artillery, U. S. Army

EXECUTIVE COUNCILMajor-General William J. Snow, U. S. ArmyMajor-General Fox Conner, U. S. ArmyBrigadier-General Churchill Mehard, Pennsylvania National Guard

Colonel Leroy W. Herron, Reserve CorpsColonel Robert L. Bacon, Reserve CorpsColonel Daniel W. Hand, U. S. ArmyLieutenant-Colonel J. Craig McLanahan, Maryland National GuardLieutenant-Colonel George P. Tyner, U. S. ArmyMajor George R. Allin, U. S. Army

THE FIELD ARTILLERY JOURNALEdited by

Harleigh ParkhurstMajor, Field Artillery, U. S. Army

PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY FOR

THE UNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATIONBY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

227 SOUTH SIXTH STREET

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

LONDON OFFICE: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, 16 John St., Adelphi.

EDITORIAL OFFICE: 1624 H Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.Entered as second-class matter November 20, 1915, at the post office at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under

he Act of March 3, 1879t

Published without expense to the government.The Field Artillery Journal pays for original articles accepted.

Subscriptions to The Field Artillery Journal:Domestic, $3 per annum.Single copies, 75 cents.Canada, $3.25 per annum.Countries in the postal union, $3.50 per annum.

Checks from the Philippine Islands, Hawaii, the Canal Zone, and Canada, should include 15cents for collection charges.

Subscribers should notify us promptly of changes in their addresses, and of failure to receiveThe Journal.Subscriptions and communications should be addressed to

THE UNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY ASSOCIATION1624 H Street, N. W. Washington, D. C.

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DANIVBYEXVETOOUTOFDEIHADARRA,ACELEBRATED

STEEPLECHASERNOWSTANDINGF

ORSERVICEATFRONTROYAL.VIRGINIA

HEIGHT16.2HANDS,WEIGHT1250POUNDS,

AGE9YEARS.DONATEDTOTHEREMOUNTSERVICEBYMRS.GEORGESLOAN.WINNEROF

MANLYMEMORIALAT

PIMLICO,SARATOG

ASTEEPLECHASEATSARATOGA,GREENSPR

INGVALLEYSTEEPLECHASEATPIMLICOAN

DGRANDNATIONALATBELMONTPARK.

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THE FIELD ARTILLERY JOURNAL

VOL. XVII MARCHAPRIL, 1927 NO. 2

FRENCH ARTILLERYA LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE COMMAND AND

GENERAL STAFF SCHOOL IN MAY, 1924

BY MAJOR EMMANUEL LOMBARD, FRENCH ARTILLERY

THE general object of this lecture is to give a summary view of thematriel situation in the French Army.

Many factors are responsible for this situation. Among the mostimportant are:

The pre-war doctrine;The hasty and strenuous work of improvisation during the first months

of the war;

The emergency building program by which the French High Commandwas supplied with a powerful and modern artillery;The post-war doctrine derived from the study of the teachings of the

war.Consequently this lecture will be divided as follows:1. Conditions and ideas prevailing before 1914;2. Developments during the war;3. Situation at the armistice;4. The post-war doctrinesthe resulting matriel situation up to

1924.It is not within the scope of this very simple talk to discuss the tacticalprinciples which govern the assignment of certain weapons and guns togiven organizations and units. No reference will be made to tacticalemployment of artillery which has been studied thoroughly in this veryschool. To dwell upon this would simply mean a loss of time.

The principles on which we base the characteristics of our differentmatriels are identical to those which govern the building program in theUnited States. However, the application is sometimes different. Among the

reasons for these apparent discrepancies, the following are obvious: objectivesand military laws; the French political and geographical situation are quitedifferent from those of the United States. Here the tremendous development of

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THE FIELD ARTILLERY JOURNAL

the railroads and of the automobile industry, the relative scarcity of theroads, the nature of the coasts, and the relative isolation make the defense

problem a very different one. "Couverture" is a question of hours forFrance. Continuous entrenchments may still be found in the nextEuropean war. Without leaving his own territory, the eventual enemy ofto-morrow may deal deadly blows on vital and tempting targets such asbig frontier cities. The French may have to retaliate on similar pointsexisting within the enemy borders. Consequently the matrielscorresponding to such warfare and such objectives have to be built.

Therefore when, in this lecture, a discussion occurs concerning certaindesigns and the principle on which existing models have been built, it must

be remembered that such observations or criticisms, based on the opinionsof French experts, refer to French matriel only and relate to the Frenchproblem exclusively.

1. SITUATION IN 1914

Prevailing Ideas.On account of the prevailing principles ofoffensiveI mean tacticallymobility was required from the gun: 8kilometers an hour on roads was considered as the average speed formatriel not placed in an infantry column. Trotting behind

reconnaissance detachments and galloping to firing emplacements wasthe accepted rule. Fire had to be delivered a few seconds after gettinginto firing position. Such fire was instantaneous, torrential andspasmodic. The battery commander from a position of a few metersahead or on the side of the battery observed his own rounds at rangeswhich seldom were more than 3000 or 3500 meters. As soon as he haddelivered six or seven salvos for adjustment and ten for effect, he wassupposed to have obtained definite results (neutralizing effect at least).In a single day he could not expect to repeat many similar firings.

Should he do so, the following days would see his guns speechless onaccount of shortage of ammunition.

For it was required that guns not only be light, but that they beaccompanied by as limited a number of caissons and service wagons aspossible, so that artillery columns should not become too cumbersome.

Explosive shells were given to the field artillery in a very shyproportion. Nobody believed in field entrenchments, for our doughboy'sonly tool was a pelle-bche with which he was able to play with dirt aschildren do in public gardens.

The previous wars in the Balkans and in Manchuria had not taught adifferent lesson, for the lack of observers, the exceptional character ofthe wars and the heterogeneousness of the belligerent

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FRENCH ARTILLERY

nations prevented the stronger nations from deriving positive conclusions.We t