THE TELEPHONE IN BATTLE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12537, 7 May 1915, Page 3

THE TELEPHONE IN BATTLE.

Describing the magnificent stand made by the forces under Ocu-'ial Sa frail against the Crow 1 Prince's army m the vicinity of Verdun, Dr Arthur Lynch, M.P., in the "Daily Chronicle" of l-'ebt till rv 19. incidentally refers to the General's wonderful telephone organisation. He says: "One might, compare the General—if it were understand a.- not disrespeclfui—to a spider who si I s in the centre of a network of threads-—the threads, the nerves of the organism, in this instance being the telegraph and telephone wires which converge to his bureau. lie is lodged in a village, at some distance from the lighting line, and there, in a quiet- and secluded old house which might have belonged to an abbe. < r to the old doctor of the locality, he has impiovised his headquarters. There are two or three secretaries or clerk's present, and two young men appointed to the telephone service. One of these, at least, wears all the time on his head the telephone appliances for listening. "With every point of the field the General is in contact, even while the light is raging. Even a.s the troops move forward to the attack telephone wires move with them, and telephone operators, say. three or four or more to a battalion, are in constant communication with an exchange station. That station, again, is in communication with a long circuit bv radiating lines, as, for instance, witli the bureau of the General and the quarters of the principal officers. Now we may begin to understand how it is that the officer' commanding an assault may direct the artillery, while in ignorance of its whereabouts.

"A.s the attacking party advances the ground in front of them i.s swept by the

shells of the. seventy-lives. As the soldiers continue to make progress they would, if the fire was not accurately adjusted, run into their own shells; but at- this point the telephone intervenes. The commander of the advancing force signals to the artillery to direct their (ire forward, towards any point of the compass, ami at any distance desired. The artillery obeys by adjusting the elevation 01 the cannon, and though the man in front may not be aware of the situation of the guns, nor the gunners know where their shells are falling, yet. the accuracy attained is such that it can be adjusted to i \ cry fifty or, at an yrate ,every hundred, yards of advance.

"This accuracy, however, depends mi a great many diffeernt factors, all of which must- have been adjusted and standardised long; beforehand with conscientious precision. hi the first- place., the mechanism of the gun must be as near perfection as possible. The sevontv-five lias in this respect attained a very high level, as compared with the tieiman aim, which nas to be adjusted after each shot- in a. manner which causes a relatively great loss of time. The French seventy-live can send about twenty shots a minute: the German gnu is much slower and less secure.

"Then the charge of powder for propelling the shell must have been adjusted with the utmost care, for any variation would affect the flight of the' projectile, and might bring about- as a result- that the shells fell upon the French troops. This adjustment involves the nicest measures of chemical components, and a long scries of experiments, to ensure depend ence of the trajectory (or flight of the shell) upon the amount of the charge of the- powJer. Here, again. Ihe French gun is superior. Finally. French shell bursts with more destrucive effect than the German gun, and ibis, again, has depended on a long series of exepeiimciits and scientific research.