Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-22
'SAMMEES ARE
APT PUPILS IN
FIRE
French Teachers Have AL
ready Passed Them Out
of Primary Class
SOON READY FOR BoCHEs
BY HENRI BAZIN
Bfp0 CoTrespondent Of the EveHin0 Ledger
y Tia A laricnM Af.llM IN Ernnca

~ 3Ss 1MsrScGa ITn1 Ar VS'T n EToNeS Iss'' '
F1ELD HEADQUARTERS OF THE
AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, Sept
All through that portion of this war that
I.have Witnessed have seen much artillery
fre without realizing the intricacy of de-
tall involved in It. l remember upon one
occasion seeing a long line OF concealed 75's
belching forth shells, and from my obser-
walton point witnessing the havoc caused TO
The Boche trenches. And now, after few
days 9ife in an artillery training camp,
where / see sturdy young Sammees and
earnestly conscientious officers on the job,
] have learned something Of the modus
operandi Of this important branch of the
service.
There is very much for these artillery
SRmmees to learn before they are ready
for the fight. They have a good long road
to travel before that day arrives, but they
are On the way Under instruction of French
officers, they are moving with more than
ordinary rapidity toward their goal.
This war has relegated to the scrap heap
the obsolete methods of former artillery
warfare, when field piece dashed up TO a
poir. in the open and, without unhitching
horses. blazed away in general direction.
Now Il Ia maps and tangents and geOmetri-
cal calculation, coupled with meteorolog-
ical observation-all entering into the solv-
ing Of a specific problem. That problem is
aimple--to get the other fellow and to get
him quick. Here is how it is done
There are four guns to battery, be they
s-inch or rs, or It's or 6. There are seven
men to a gun crew. No. 1 works the range
bubble, No. 2 pulls the lanyard, these men
sitting at right and left of the guns rear I;
No. sits at the caisson, always to one
side OF the gun, and keeps the fuse setter
ut the proper point for the essential dis
tance in length the fuse is to be clipped,
80 u
tance Nos. and are placed right and
left of the gun behind their fellows and
take the ammunition out of the casson for
transmission to the fuse cutter, while Nos.
and pass the shell to the breech as
required. Each gun squad is known as a
section and consist of sixteen drivers and
eighteen men, including the gun crew and
Timber drivers. These men interchange as
gun crews so that each and all receive
the same instruction.
So much for the merely mechanical work,
which is directed by telephone from the
observing stations in messages given aloud
by a soldier receiver to the officer in COM
mand, always a lieutenant, who tranJmits
them aloud to the sergeant in charge of
the crew. The actual command to fire is
given in a sign, the lowering in quick mo-
tion Of an uplifted arm being the signal to
pull the lanyard. The range is anywhere
from TO - meters (igures deleted
by censor) and the objective is always out
OF sight of the gunners.
The target is an objective that may be
hidden behind trees or thick growth, visible
only to the observer who is in the air, either
In a sausage balloon or an airplane. His
signals are transmitted to the officer COM
iaanding the battery, who makes his cal
culations therefrom, and as he is generally
a considerable distance away from the gum
relays his own commands by phone, par
ticularly when directing concealed fire,
which Is here described.