Firefighting

“ The fire fight begins when the attacking infantry have got as far forward as they can without having to reply to the enemy’s fire, and it is quite distinct from the preceding phase of passive endurance. Success in the fire fight is an absolute necessity for a successful assault. Possibly your enemy has prepared your success before war broke out by abstaining from training his men in musketry, but even if his shooting is inferior, the fire fight will call into play all the qualities and skill of which your men are possessed, both individually and collectively. ”

“ There was a display of devil's fireworks such as few men have ever seen or could imagine. Sizzling, crackling, and roaring, the blinding flames leaped into the jet-black sky, lighting up the camps of both armies, where thousands of soldiers watched these engines of death sweep down on the fleet. Each of the seven ships was full of mines, blowing up and hurling shot and shell in all directions. The crowded mass of British vessels seemed doomed to destruction. But the first spurt of fire had hardly been noticed before the men in the guard boats began to row to the rescue. ”

“ A more fearful spectacle was never witnessed than by those who, without the power to aid, beheld their heroic countrymen rushing to the arms of sudden death. At the distance of 1200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth, from thirty iron mouths, a flood of smoke and flame through which hissed the deadly balls. ”

“ The smoke, drawn backward to the horizon of distant hills, shows that the artillery preparation for the attack is over, while, at the bottom of the descent, yonder grim rows of tenements are the forlorn hope of the escalade. ”

“ To enable the attack to be prosecuted it is clear that from this moment the hostile fire must be met by fire of greater power, its intensity and duration being dependent on the effect produced. Moreover, from this point forward movement will, as a rule, be contingent on the mutual fire support afforded to one another by neighbouring bodies, and on the effects produced by the covering fire brought to bear on the enemy’s line whenever the ground admits of such action, by supports, reserves and the troops specially told off for this purpose. ”

“ It requires further, taking advantage of the ground; care in setting the sight and in delivery of fire; an increase of fire by individuals whenever the targets become more favorable, and a cessation of fire when the enemy disappears; finally, economy of ammunition.
The decision is prepared by the fire of infantry, supported by machine guns, field, and heavy artillery. The fire of troops pushed to within short range of the hostile position will in many cases suffice to induce the enemy to give way, so that the assault encounters nothing but evacuated or feebly defended works. ”

“ The attack was a little late, as we heard after from prisoners—perhaps the Night Bombers, and their upsetting of road and rail transport timetables with high-explosive bombs and showering machine-guns, had some word in that lateness—and our fire caught it in the act of deploying. And when such a weight of guns as was massed on that front catches solid battalions on the roads, or troops close-packed in trenches, the Lord ha' mercy on the men they catch. ”

“ The rattle and splutter of rifle fire swelled to what one might have thought an alarming nearness when the road twisted in towards the firing line, or a falling away of the ground or change in the wind allowed the sound to carry better, dropped away again to no more than a distant crackle as a belt of wood shut it off or the road ran wide out from the battle line. ”

“ When the flames, mounting above the tops of the trees, were roaring and crackling with intense fury, the workmen, blackened with smoke and wild with the excitement which a vast conflagration always creates, began to pitch into the burning mass kegs of powder and boxes of ammunition. ”

“ At night the fire is directed against the larger targets, such as communications and covers, rather than upon the guns; but the fire against the interior of the place (especially a city) is kept at about the same rate day and night. ”

“ The complete cessation of fire at intervals enables the leaders to observe the progress of the engagement, to change their target, to economize ammunition, to select the ground for the next rush and the next burst of fire, and to regain control-of the men, whom prolonged fire-fight hypnotizes and rivets to the ground, The chief use of “slow” fire, which is generally employed by skirmishers working in pairs, is to keep the enemy under ”

“ The fire attack commences when the infantry in the firing line first opens fire and it usually ends with the charge. A charge is sometimes not necessary because the enemy withdraws from his position. The fire attack does not start until the firing line cannot advance without ruinous and demoralizing losses. It should not be over 1200 yards from the enemy. ”

“ The defence is thus getting into reasonable limits and so long as our attacks are confined to what they have been up till now, we may really pull through. Incendiary fires round the outer lines, lighted by means of torches stuck on long poles, a heavy rifle-fire poured into the most exposed barricades by an unseen enemy, and very occasionally a faint-hearted rush forward, which a fusillade on our part turns into a rout—these have so far been the dangers with which we have had to contend. ”

“ Every one fires at the command FIRE. It is used at funerals and occasionally in the first part of an action when the enemy presents a large, compact target.
(2) Fire At Will. In this each soldier fires, loads, and fires again independently of the others. He fires fast or slow as the occasion demands.
(3) Clip Fire. The soldier stops firing when he has finished his clip of five cartridges. This assists in preventing an undue expenditure of ammunition and in abating excitement. ”

“ The latter advances under cover of the supporting fire of infantry, machine guns, and artillery. Fire of position is considered necessary. Fire at will is from now on used. This is to vary in intensity according to the character of the target, and the range. It is to increase to special violence when the attacking infantry advances over level ground or encounters obstacles. The fire is to be discontinued when the advancing skirmishers reach cover. The firing line is to advance as close to the enemy as it can without suffering excessive losses. ”

“ If the fires are very numerous and lighted successively, and if soon after being lighted they go out it is probable the enemy is preparing a retreat and trying to deceive us. If the fires burn brightly and clearly at a late hour, the enemy has probably gone, and has left a detachment to keep the fires burning. If, at an unusual time, much smoke is seen ascending from an enemy's camp, it is probable that he is engaged in cooking preparatory to moving off. ”

“ Reader, try and imagine, if you can, some hundreds of guns and mortars firing in salvoes. For a time the guns would stop, to allow them to get a little cool; then they would burst forth again, the thunder being enough to shake the very earth to its centre; and [149] this lasted for hours. We were completely enveloped in flames, and covered with smoke, dust, and stones. An old adage says “Familiarity breeds contempt.” That it is true I can bear witness, for a number of our men were in groups playing cards in the midst of the firing, our own shot flying close above their heads. ”

“ While the ploughmen were thus creating a sort of breastwork to resist the flames, the others were placed at intervals in front digging earth with hoes and shovels, forming piles to be used as ammunition to be thrown on the flames, or spread over the fields as a further obstacle to the advance of the conflagration. The children, supplied with branches, were stationed on the leeward side of the burning area to beat down any blaze which might spring up, thus preventing the fire-line from widening. ”

“ The men fighting the fire in the city, largely colored non-combatants probably, would succeed in getting the flames somewhat under control. We could see them lower and lessen, then they would suddenly flare up bright and red again, telling us that the screech of one of our going shells had driven the fire fighters to cover. ”

“ Here and there a red fire glowed where the guards were posted; now and then a shower of sparks leaped up into the air as a fresh log was thrown upon the ashes; and a bright flame would glisten on the barrel of a rifle and make ruddy the dark faces of the watchmen. ”

“ I threw my waterproof over my head and struck a match, then cried: "It is time, my lads!" And in a few seconds a chain of fire flamed up round the forts, immediately followed by the rattling and crackling of the burghers' Mausers. The enemy was not slow in returning our fire.
(p. 290) It is not easy to adequately render the impression a battle in the dark makes. Each time a shot is fired you see a flash of fire several yards long, and where about 500 or 600 rifles are being fired at a short distance from you, it makes one think of a gigantic display of fireworks. ”

“ As soon as it becomes evident that superiority of fire has been attained, which is generally made known by movements to the rear along the enemy’s line, or by the decreasing accuracy and volume of his fire, the troops detailed to drive home the attack will close in on the firing line, and carry it forward to the assault. ”

“ The firemen fight with the flames as they close on the charms, like men determined to stand by their colours to the last, rushing into the burning houses, pulling them down, and drenching the blazing thatch, with great courage and endurance. ”

“ Bigger crowds ran to fires, big or little, in those days than now. The blaze which had well-nigh destroyed an old frame stable in Nineteenth Street that rainy Saturday afternoon before a single fire company reached the scene, and that drew to the spot in the course of half an hour at least twenty companies,—engine, hose, or hook and ladder,—would be handled now by one compact little battalion with one-tenth the loss, with no more than forty men, without an unnecessary sound, and in much less than half the time. ”

“ The fiery wave advances steadily; it advances faster than it can be run away from. The swiftest steed cannot cope with it. The all-embracing sheet of fire reaches first the soldiers whom the cavalry has thrown down and left wounded behind; it speedily envelopes the bulk of the army. In an instant the distracted cohorts are seen up to their waists in the midst of the flames. ”

“ There were soldiers of all departments of service; Zouaves, infantry, cavalry, artillery, fallen where they happened to be, without order, and all but a few still sleeping. These few had lighted large bonfires, where they warmed themselves. The light of the fires also attracted many women, children, and old men, who stretched toward the grateful warmth limbs stiffened by cold. The fires were fed with branches of trees, broken parts of wagons, anything ready at hand without too much effort to gather. ”

“ FIRE AND MOVEMENT.—It is thus seen that Fire and Movement are inseparably associated, and judiciously employed in combination they enable infantry to achieve its object in battle, to bring such a superiority of fire to bear as to make an advance to close quarters possible, so that the enemy may be induced to surrender or may be overwhelmed by a bayonet assault ”

“ Thus we had replaced the gallant few still lingering on the crest, and received that withering fire which nothing could withstand by throwing ourselves flat in a slight hollow of ground within pistol shot of the enemy’s works, and mingled with the dead and dying that strewed the field, we returned the fire till it reddened into night, and at last fell away through darkness and silence. ”

“ Always a splash of lurid light preceded the sound of the explosion, in most instances to be followed by the quick leap of flames against the skyline. Many of these fires died away quickly,—sometimes through lack of fuel, as in a stone-paved court; more often through being subdued by the firemen, scores of whose engines could be heard clanging through the streets,—others waxed bright and spread until the yellow shafts of the searchlights paled against the heightening glow of the eastern heavens. ”

“ FIRE TACTICS.—It has already been noted that the battle is the only argument of war; it is also the final test of training, and on the battlefield no part of the syllabus is more severely tested than that devoted to musketry. The fire tactics of an army, its combination of fire and movement, the direction and control by the leaders and the fire discipline of the rank and file, make for success or failure on the field of battle. The fire must be directed by the fire unit commander against an objective chosen with intelligence and accurately defined ”

“ If the opportunity be favourable, set fire to the outside of the enemy’s camp, without waiting for the fire to originate.
When fire breaks out on the windward side, do not attack from the leeward. Wind that rises in the day lasts long. Wind that rises in the night time quickly passes away.
If the peculiarities of the five burnings are known, and the almanac studied, then, when the army brings fire to the attack, victory is clear. ”

“ A flood of smoke and flame hid the opposing ranks, and shot and shell tore through the charging troops. Gaps were rent in their ranks, men and horses went down in rapid succession, and riderless horses were seen rushing wildly across the plain. ”