net and take it in their hands, throwing the rifle away. Another
danger is that men will fire their rifles down an enemy trench and
these high-velocity bullets will pass right through the bodies of the
one or two of the enemy in front of him and frequently kill his own
comrade beyond. Remember, in a fight in a trench friend and foe are
mixed up together and many of our men have been unconsciously shot by
their fellows. In every regiment a small squad of picked marksmen only
should have these long-range rifles, with the addition of telescopic
sights. The average man does not take exact aim before firing, and
nearly all the shots go high. If it were not for bombs and
machine-guns the enemy could always succeed in getting to our trenches
with very little loss. It should be remembered, too, how closely, in
an attack, we follow our own barrage--it is impossible to see to fire
through it.

The system of barrage fighting that we now use has made warfare as much
a hand-to-hand business as it was in olden times and we must go back a
good deal to old-fashioned weapons, as we have to a great extent to
old-fashioned armor. The picked snipers or sharpshooters could be
placed in points of vantage to pick off any of the enemy who exposed
themselves and a score of them in each company would get very few shots
in a day.

Another weapon that infantry should be armed with is a hand-bayonet as
there is no advantage whatever in the long reach that our present rifle
and bayonet gives. As a matter of fact, many of our men have been
killed through driving their bayonet too far into the body of their
opponent, not being able to draw it out, thus being helpless when
attacked by another of the enemy. It is no use telling men not to
drive their bayonet in more than three or four inches, for in the speed
and fury of a charge they will always drive it in right up to the hilt,
and while we retain this out-of-date weapon we should certainly put a
guard on it not further than six inches from the point. I have used a
hand-bayonet which sticks out from the fist like a knuckle-duster and
is about six inches long. The shock of the blow is taken on the
forearm which also has an iron plate running down it on which to
receive the thrust of one's opponent. This is the natural weapon for
the Anglo-Saxon, as the fist and arm is used exactly as in boxing. If
an enemy comes at you with a bayonet it is the natural and easy thing
to throw up your arm