Line (military)

“ In narrow grounds, where there are redoubled lines, and in many other situations, it becomes necessary for one battalion to pass directly through another, in marching either to front or rear. This must particularly happen, when a first line, which has suffered in action, retires through, and makes place for a second line which has come forward to support it ”

“ In the British service, the regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, volunteer corps, artillery, cavalry, etc.
Line. In tactics, a body of men in either one or two ranks; generally a body of troops drawn up with an extended front. To line, is to place troops in line (see Align) ; thus, to line hedges or walls, is to place troops behind them. To form the line, in land tactics, is to arrange the troops in order of battle, or battle array. ”

“ If brilliant, the troops are marching toward you, otherwise they are probably marching away from you.
Enemy in Position. (a) If an outpost line, the patrol locates the line of sentinels, their positions, the location and strength of the outguards and, as far as possible, all troops in rear. The location of the flanks of the line, whether in a strong or weak position, is of the utmost importance. Places where the line may be most easily penetrated should be searched for and the strength and routes of the hostile patrols observed. ”

“ The Troops march in column of squads until under the observation of the enemy. Platoon columns are used in crossing ground where there is cover. Squad columns are used across the artillery zone. At approximately 800 yards a skirmish line is formed. Thin lines may then be used to advance to the attack. Remember the Major has assigned each company in the firing line an objective. Be sure to watch out for flank protection. If the Major has forgotten to have combat patrols on the exposed flank or flanks, it is up to the flank company to send out a combat patrol. ”

“ Should the enemy appear in motion, the troops front that way, by wheeling to the right or left by divisions; and the artillery, which marches in a line with the columns, passes through their intervals, and forms at the head of the front line, which is formed of the column that flanked nearest the enemy, taking care at the same time that the baggage be well covered during the action. ”

“ It should hardly be necessary to place, in addition, a body of infantry at the end of the column, but, if desired, the remaining four companies of the battalion furnishing the rear-guard may move immediately in front of, or behind, the cavalry. The rest of the fighting force can march at the head of the main column, followed by the reserve ammunition, hospitals, B. echelon 1st line transport, with the 2nd line transport, and then the supply column. ”

“ Far behind the front line trenches the ramifications of the services extend; for though a brigade may be holding a frontage of a couple of thousand yards, its section runs back through miles of land crowded with reserves, with light and heavy artillery, with transport services, hospitals and depots, and all the paraphernalia of modern war. ”

“ At another message from the Forward Officer the Battery Commander called for Section Commanders. The Sergeant-Major clapped megaphone to mouth and shouted, and two young subalterns and a sergeant jumped from their places, and raced for the dug-out. The Major spoke rapidly and tersely. 'We are putting down a belt of shrapnel in front of our own infantry—very close to them. You know what that means—the most careful and exact laying and fusing, and fire as hot and heavy as you can make it. The infantry can't hold 'em. They're depending on us; the line depends on us. Tell your men so. ”

“ A conductor shall be appointed to each brigade, who shall have under his immediate care and direction a traveling forge and five or six armourers, an ammunition wagon, and a wagon with an arm-chest for each battalion, each chest to hold twenty-five arms, to receive the arms and accoutrements wanting repair, or of the men sick or absent; and when the arms delivered in by a battalion shall exceed the above number, the surplus shall be sent to the commissary of military stores. ”

“ At last, after some further wandering, we struck boldly out on a road along which we were told we should find our second line transport. I was a little uneasy as we left the village behind us and marched out into the darkness, for I knew we were going in the direction of the enemy, and it would be a never-to-be-forgotten episode in an officer's career to lead a draft of reinforcements fresh from England straight into the hands of the enemy instead of to their regiment. ”

“ Yet at the word that company of cavalry might be in the thick of it, at the point where they were wanted; the infantry rushing to the support of the firing-line; the motor transport facing around for withdrawal, if need be. It was only a little way, indeed, into the zone of death from the rear of that compact column. Thousands of such compact bodies on many roads, each seemingly a force by itself and each a part of the whole, which could be a dependable whole only when every part was ready, alert, and where it belonged! Nothing can be left to chance in a battle- line three hundred miles long. ”

“ Regimental and brigade fronts varied in size and in the way they were held. Often a regiment had but one battalion in front, sometimes two and rarely three, as in our portion of the St. Die sector.
There were three lines or systems of defense in this sector. First, the front or first line system of works and trenches, combat groups, dugouts, communicating ways, machine gun implacements, trench mortars, wire and, well, it would take a long time to even name them all. An entire evening easily could be spent telling about any one little phase of the thing. ”

“ Every night rations must be carried to the battalion in the line, and the roads and pathways along which the transport must travel were nearly always swept by machine gun and artillery fire, and the transport lines themselves came in for quite a little shelling by the German heavies. ”

“ You intend to sign your order yourself and you want copies sent to Lieutenants Kingsley and Lawrence, and to Brigade Generals Black, Dare, Evans, Colonel File, Major Glad, Captain Hume and your staff. You want your trains to follow your main body in order from front to rear: field trains, ammunition columns, supply columns, field hospitals, medical reserve, and pack train. You feel that the man in command of your signal corps should arrange to have radio connection between your independent cavalry and the advance guard. ”

“ The corps ranks after the Royal Engineers, and is classed as Mounted Infantry, the officers receiving infantry rates, and the men cavalry rates of pay. The men are armed with carbine and sword, but rather for defensive than aggressive purposes. Attached to each battalion are 166 horses, with proportionate wagons and ambulances. It is proper to observe that the Military Train constitutes the nucleus of a transport service for a large army, and that in time of war it would be expanded by the addition of thousands of horses or mules, and the incorporation of many hundred drivers, etc. ”

“ Any hostile squadrons that may attempt to pass through these intervals to take the line in rear, could be taken care of by the second line.
7. The best formation in respect to mobility is a line of regiments in columns by squadrons, doubled on the centre; corresponding to infantry double columns.
8. The mixed formation of lines and columns is more manageable than simple lines. Which of these two is preferable depends upon the ground, and upon all the other circumstances of the case.
9. The order in echelons is as good in attack as in retreat; since the echelons mutually support each other. ”

“ Then about a mile or two miles behind the front line, on a great crest or table of high chalk downland, was the second line, stronger than the front line, on even more difficult ground, where you cannot walk a yard without treading on dust of English blood. ”

“ These consist of officers and men left behind when the active corps completed with reserves takes the field, and they have (a) to furnish drafts for the front—and (b) to form a nucleus upon which all later formations are built up. The troops of the second line undertake minor work, such as guarding railways, and also furnish drafts for the field army. Later, when they have been for some time under arms, the second line troops are often employed by themselves in first line. A year’s training under war conditions should bring such troops to the highest efficiency. ”

“ When the column arrives in line with the advanced guard there is a busy interval getting the immense baggage-train into defensive position, pushing forward guns and cavalry, deploying the infantry into line of battle, and trying to obtain from the top of some sand-dune a better view of the enemy's position. ”

“ We all piled from the train and had half an hour's brisk march through the picturesque little city. But it was the railroad station that impressed us most. Permissionaires swarmed there in faded blue uniforms and battered helmets. Some were smiling and happy, talking with vivacity and wide gestures to civilians. Evidently they had just arrived. The soil of the front line still stained their clothing. Others, far neater and encumbered with equipment, did not have much to say. ”

“ But now by day, by night, it is the Americans who are passing through, their faces set toward the front, on troop-trains, in camions, on foot. Coming home from the canteen in the evening one hears the heavy rattle that means artillery on the move, and standing by the roadside peering through the darkness one can just discern horses and caissons, slat-wagons, supply-wagons and, looming ominously in the dim light, the formidable bulk of the great guns.
Night before last I was awakened by the sound of troops passing, a regiment of infantry on the march. ”

“ At least a quarter of each regiment was occupied in escorting its wagons, piled up with ammunition, provisions, tents, etc.; and long after the head of the column had settled in bivouac could be heard the loud shouting of the teamsters to their jaded and mire-bedraggled brutes, the clatter of wagon and artillery wheels, the lowing of the driven herds, the rattling of sabres, canteens, and other equipments, as the men strode along in the darkness, anxious to reach the spot selected for their uncertain quantity of rest. ”

“ To get up into the Line—that tortured strip of territory, some five miles wide, which winds from the North Sea to the Alps, and within which two solid walls of men have faced one another for nearly four years—there are two recognized courses of procedure. One is to be a member of an [110] armed party—an Infantry Battalion, say, going up to take over a sector of trenches. There is no doubting the bona fides of such an excursion.
The other course is incumbent upon solitary individuals like despatch-riders and unchaperoned civilians. ”

“ Shaking the ground as they came in carbine-range.
'Front into line! March! Halt! Front!'
Our Colonel cried; and in squadrons, to meet the brunt,
We too from the walk to the trot our paces change:
'Gallop, march!'—and, hot for the fray,
Pistols and sabres drawn, we canter away.
7
"Twenty rods over the slippery clover
We galloped as gayly as lady and lover;
Held the reins lightly, our good weapons tightly,
Five solid squadrons all shining and sightly ”

“ First Line Transport forms an integral part of each fighting unit; the unit provides its own99 drivers and superintendence for its transport, which accompanies it at all times. The First Line Transport carries on wheels (or by pack) all that the unit requires for fighting—namely: guns, ammunition, entrenching tools—besides signalling, medical, veterinary, and other technical equipment.
Second Line Transport for all units is provided by the A.S.C., to carry the baggage, supplies, stores, and water which the unit requires to have with it when at rest. ”

“ From here companies were employed ration-carrying to the front line and cleaning the trenches. Considerable activity continued to be displayed by the German artillery and aeroplanes, in each of which respect we lacked superiority.
The enemy retreat appeared postponed or cancelled.
Chapter VI. (p. 067) LIFE IN THE FRONT LINE, Winter, 1916-1917. Ignorance of civilians and non-combatants. — The front line posts. — Hardships and dangers. — Support platoons. — The Company Officers. — The Battalion relieved by the 182nd Brigade. ”

“ The cloud of dust proved to be two more battalions and a wagon train. These two battalions went into bivouac on opposite sides of this road at the crossroads and sent out strong patrols east and west on the crossroad. Five wagons went forward to the outpost battalion and the reserve built cook fires.
As Private Rush, here, was the only man I had left, we started back, sketching the valley, ridge and positions of the main body and outpost. Here is the sketch, sir. The fields are all cut crops or meadow. ”

“ The efficiency of the service of the railways which generally form the Lines of Communication is of the utmost importance to the Army, as on it depends the issue of supplies and ammunition to the troops at the front, and consequently their ability to move and fight. ”

“ At last the squadron commander took his place in his machine and rose with a whirr. The rest of us rose and circled round, getting our formation.
Crack! At the signal from the commander's pistol we darted forward, going ever higher and higher, while the cheers of the mechanicians and riggers grew fainter.
Across our own trenches we sailed and out over No Man's Land, like a huge, eyeless, pock-scarred earth face staring up at us. ”