the
Malaxa blockhouse in Crete, at which I was present, the united squadrons
of the European powers in Suda Bay suddenly opened fire on the hill and
the village at its foot. In ten minutes from eighty to one hundred
shells came screaming up from the bay and burst amongst the insurgents
and their Turkish opponents. We all of us--on the hill and in the
village--bolted like rabbits and took what cover we could. The total net
casualties from these missiles--some of them 6-inch shells--were, I
believe, three, all told.

Some of those amateur critics at home who write indignant letters about
the War Office labour under a twofold delusion. They frequently ask
indignantly how it is that our guns have been outclassed by those of the
Boers? As a matter of fact in almost every engagement of the present
campaign our artillery has been superior to that of the enemy; but, of
course, the artillery of a defending force, well posted on rising
ground, possesses enormous advantages over that of the assailants, who
have frequently to open fire in open and exposed positions easily swept
by shrapnel fire from guns, which, hidden amid trenches and rocks, are
often well-nigh invisible.

Another fundamental error in many of the indignant letters about the
alleged defects of our artillery arises from a misunderstanding of the
real value of guns in attacking a fortified position. The most sanguine
officer never expects his shells actually to kill or disable any very
large number of the enemy if they are protected by deep and
well-constructed earthworks. Of course, if a shell falls plump into a
trench it is pretty certain to play havoc with the defenders, but, when
one considers that the mouth of a trench is some five or six feet wide,
it is easy to realise the difficulty of dropping a shell into the narrow
opening at a range, say, of 4,000 yards. Moreover, some of the more
elaborate Boer trenches are so cleverly constructed in a waving line
like a succession of S's, that even if a shell does succeed in pitching
into one bit of the curve it makes things uncomfortable only for the two
or three men who occupy that portion of the earthwork. No, the real
value of artillery in attack is to shake the enemy and keep down his
rifle fire. If shells are accurately fired the tops of trenches may be
swept by a constant rain of shrapnel bullets, under which the enemy's
riflemen will of necessity suffer when they expose their heads and
shoulders to take aim o