methods of controlling indirect fire by
resection, base lines and observation from two or more points are,
like the use of an auxiliary aiming point, useless in trench warfare.
They are fine in theory and afford much interesting diversion on the
training ranges, but when you go to war, why, it can't be done, that's
all.

[Illustration: Highlanders with a Maxim Gun]

This is a common, plain, hard-headed business proposition: where the
only idea is to kill as many of the enemy as possible before he kills
you, it has been found that the oldest, crudest and most primitive
methods have, in many cases, proved the most effective for the
attainment of this end.

Never before has it been of such vital importance to train the
individual soldier, whether he be rifleman, bomber, machine gunner or
any other specialist, so that he can "carry on" without the direction
of an officer. The officer must plan everything in advance; he must
look after the health and comfort of his men, see that they are
properly equipped and supplied, must station them in their appointed
positions, make frequent personal inspections and, finally, lead them
in the advance. But in every engagement there comes a time when every
man is "on his own," when it is impossible for the officer, if he be
still living, to direct the action. The idea that an officer can
exercise "fire control" as taught in our service schools, or can
personally direct the fire of a number of machine guns, once the
action has started, is ridiculous. The limits of one man's sphere of
action, at such a time, are extremely small. If the men have been
properly instructed, beforehand, and then given a good start, they
will do the rest. It is just this ability to assimilate individual
instruction that has made the Canadian superior to the native-born
Briton. He is better educated, as a rule, has lived a freer and more
varied life and, as a result, possesses that initiative and individual
ingenuity which are so often necessary at the critical stages of a
fight. We have every reason to expect that the American soldier, for
these same reasons, will prove to be at least the equal of the
Canadian--the finest type of fighting man yet developed by this war.

CHAPTER VIII

GETTING THE FLAG

We soon fell into the routine of moving; from front line to support;
from support to the front line and back to reserve. For some time
these movements were uncertain but we finally settled down to a