[517] The company ammunition wagon carries 9,450 rounds of ammunition, packed in seven compartments. It consists of a body and a limber, has a width of track of 1.13 m., and is supplied with eight sacks which serve to carry ammunition to the troops. During the day its position is indicated by a red flag, and at night by a green lantern.
In attack, it will, as a rule, only be possible to replenish ammunition until troops get within about 1,000 paces (750 m.) of the enemy. From this point on, however, it will be extremely difficult to supply ammunition. Every lull in the fight must be taken advantage of to replenish ammunition. The firing line receives a fresh supply of ammunition through reinforcements or through small detachments under non-commissioned officers sent forward from the reserves. These detachments, after distributing the ammunition they have brought up, remain with the firing line. The companies engaged in the fire fight later take advantage of every opportunity to replenish and to redistribute ammunition.
In defense, all the ammunition wagons may be emptied before the action begins, and sent to the rear to be refilled. The ammunition should be deposited in the vicinity of the firing line. The subsequent replenishment of the supply should be managed as in an attack. If ammunition is very urgently needed by the firing line, and when no other remedy suggests itself, a part of the ammunition of the reserves may be turned over to the firing line. Special detachments should be detailed to remove the ammunition from the dead and wounded. Wounded men who are able to walk to the dressing station, turn over their ammunition to their comrades.
If another organization requests to be furnished ammunition, the entire amount required, or a part thereof, depending upon the urgency of the case and the amount available, should be turned over to it.
[518] In each battalion, the ammunition wagon of the 2nd company carries 108 explosive cartridges, weighing 200 g. each, and that of the 3rd company carries 48 fuzes.
The ammunition carried in the cartridge boxes of the men may prove insufficient during an action. On open ground the ammunition wagons, assembled by regiment, accompany the regimental reserve, and in covered terrain, they are assembled by battalion, and follow the battalion reserve. When practicable, their position is to be indicated during the day by red flags placed on their flank, and at night by green lanterns. In defense, an adequate supply of ammunition should be deposited in rear of the firing line, or should be at once distributed among the men. In attack, the ammunition supply of the firing line and of the supports is to be replenished when they enter ranges under 700 m. The best means of preventing shortage of ammunition is to husband it at long ranges. Ammunition wagons are not to be emptied and their contents distributed before an action begins; on the contrary, the ammunition is to be issued during the fight, one wagon after another being emptied. Ammunition may be sent forward from the reserve to the firing line, the men who carry it remaining with that line. On the other hand—and this seems to be the method most frequently employed—men from the firing line may be sent to the rear for ammunition. The men of the reserves at once turn over one-half of their cartridges to these men, who are then assembled and sent forward under the command of a non-commissioned officer. The ammunition is carried forward in sacks—so-called “bashlicks.”
Each company has one ammunition wagon, which is a part of the combat train (train de combat), and carries 16,384 Lebel cartridges, and 36 intrenching tools. It can carry 19,000 rounds of the new “D” ammunition,[519] So long as any ammunition remains in the ammunition wagons, they remain under all circumstances with their battalion. They are assembled in battalion groups on the left flank of their battalion. When the battalion is broken up for advance, flank, rear guard, or outpost work, they remain with the main body of the battalion. When the companies are separated for a protracted period, the battalion commander decides whether or not the ammunition wagons should accompany their respective companies. The ammunition in the wagons is, as a general rule, to be distributed before the commencement of an action. If this is impossible when the force is taken by surprise, the commander of the group of ammunition wagons must bring them up as close as possible under cover, and the battalion commander must supervise the distribution of the ammunition. In quarters and on the march, the ammunition is to be replenished by taking the ammunition from the sick, from the men detailed away, or from the supply carried by the baggage wagon.[520] The ammunition in the baggage wagon is only to be used when all these other sources are exhausted. When an encounter with the enemy may be expected, and only a short march is anticipated, the ammunition carried in the baggage wagons may be distributed before starting.
[519] The company ammunition wagon Model 1893 weighs 287 kg. when empty, and 770 kg. when filled. It carries 14,400 rounds of ammunition (net capacity 48%) or 66 rounds per rifle.
[520] The baggage wagon weighs 450 kg. when empty, and 1054 kg. when loaded. It carries 36 intrenching tools, and a tool chest. Its net capacity is 45%. Forty knapsacks may be transported on this wagon in lieu of the ammunition.
Any further replenishment of ammunition is to be ordered by the division commander. The empty company ammunition wagons are assembled in regimental groups and follow at least 1,000 m. in rear of the regimental reserve. At each halt, the wagon train is to prepare for defense. The regimental commander is to regulate the distribution of the ammunition sent forward by the ammunition columns.
When this distribution cannot be made for some reason or other, the wagons, assembled in groups of four, follow their battalions. It is the duty of the battalion commander to keep the firing line supplied with ammunition. The contents of the company ammunition wagons are not to be replenished from the ammunition columns during an action. The ammunition is to be removed from the dead and wounded.
The source of the ammunition supply is the corps ammunition park, which is divided into three echelons, as follows:
1st echelon consists of two infantry ammunition columns and marches at the head of the combat train of the troops engaged;
IInd echelon consists of three infantry ammunition columns;
IIIrd echelon carries artillery ammunition only.
Two infantry ammunition columns of the 1st echelon, which, as a rule, constitutes the “ammunition supply center” at the commencement of an action, march at the head of the combat train (train de combat). A half-filled infantry ammunition column must at all times be available at this “ammunition supply center.” Ammunition wagons of the infantry ammunition column are sent forward at the request of the division commander to the position taken up by the company ammunition wagons. The latter are generally posted not more than 1,000 m. in the rear of the fighting line, and parts of each infantry ammunition column (usually one ammunition wagon for each battalion) are posted by an officer not more than 1,500 m. in rear of these. The empty company ammunition wagons are not refilled, the ammunition being sent forward directly from the ammunition columns. As soon as the infantry ammunition columns are informed which organizations they are to supply, they send out non-commissioned officers to locate the ammunition wagons of those organizations and establish communication with them. The commander of the ammunition column directs where empty ammunition wagons are to assemble. In emergencies, wagons of the infantry ammunition column may also drive close up to the fighting line. In this case, empty wagons assemble near the groups of company ammunition wagons, and from there they are sent back in trains to the ammunition column to which they belong.
Every opportunity, such as a lull in the fight, or an abatement of the hostile fire, etc., must be utilized to distribute the ammunition of the company wagons or of the ammunition column.
It is prohibited to send wagons or men to the rear for the purpose of bringing up ammunition on the battlefield. All men sent forward with ammunition should remain in the firing line.
The British infantryman is usually provided with 115, and each machine gun with 3,500 rounds of ammunition. Each battalion is, in addition, provided with 8 pack animals, each carrying two ammunition chests containing 4,400 cartridges (77 kg.), and with 8 ammunition wagons.
On the march, the pack animals and half of the ammunition wagons follow immediately in rear of the battalion. The (16) remaining wagons form a reserve ammunition column at the disposal of the brigade commander, and march at the tail of the brigade. When an engagement is anticipated, 50 additional rounds (1.3 kg.) may be issued to each man before leaving camp. During an action, one pack animal and two ammunition wagons follow each half-battalion. Empty company ammunition wagons are refilled from the brigade reserve ammunition column. When the wagons of the latter are empty, they are replaced by filled wagons from the ammunition column. The teams are not transferred with the wagons, but remain with the organization to which they belong.
Ammunition wagons are expected to approach to within about 900 m. of the firing line, and pack animals to within 450 m. One non-commissioned officer and two or three privates are to be detailed from each company to bring up ammunition. Each man is to carry a sack containing 600 cartridges (16 kg.). That this method of supplying ammunition is practicable under fire is shown by the distinguished conduct lists for Paardeberg, where men were praised or decorated for endurance and fearlessness in bringing up ammunition. (See p. 371 supra). The men who bring up ammunition may be kept in the firing line when the ground is devoid of cover.
The division ammunition columns, although they carry both infantry and artillery ammunition, constitute an integral part of the artillery battalions.
When an encounter with the enemy is anticipated, the ammunition wagons are to be emptied, the men detailed to carry ammunition are to remove their packs, and each one of them is to carry ammunition weighing about 7.5 kg.
The packs are to be removed only in case of urgent necessity. When this is ordered, however, the soldier first removes all the cartridges and the emergency ration from his pack. The ammunition knapsacks, which are always to be taken along, are, however, carried in turn by all the soldiers of the company.
The advancing units that are in need of ammunition, may demand it from troops ordered to remain behind. They take along their own ammunition carriers. The latter, assembled in a squad, distribute the ammunition along the firing line, and remain with that line. In the first lull that occurs, they assemble again as a squad and take part as such in the action.
The empty ammunition knapsacks belonging to organizations in reserve are to be refilled as rapidly as possible from the ammunition wagons sent forward from the ammunition park to the fighting line.
The ammunition of the dead and wounded is to be removed ind distributed among the remaining men. During pauses in the fire, the ammunition is to be equalized in all organizations engaged in the fire fight.
The ammunition wagons of the echelons in rear are to approach the fighting line as far as the available cover permits. Their position is to be indicated by flags. The ammunition carriers are to come to these wagons to refill the empty ammunition knapsacks.
1. The contents of the ammunition wagons should be distributed at the commencement of an action. This should not be done too early as the packing and unpacking of ammunition takes time, and as the soldier will not march so well when loaded down at the wrong time with 60 to 75 additional cartridges (1.8 to 2.4 kg.), unequally distributed in haversack and pockets. It is also a good plan to issue as many rounds of ammunition to the non-commissioned officers as to the men. During a fight this ammunition can then be distributed to the men.
2. As soon as the ammunition wagons have been refilled from the ammunition columns, which have been brought up, they should at once endeavor to rejoin their battalions and should then follow as close as possible in rear of the latter. The expenditure of ammunition will never be equally distributed along the line; therefore, if the battalion commander retains all four ammunition wagons directly under his own orders, he will be better able to equalize the supply of ammunition than would be the case if each ammunition wagon, as soon as it is refilled, were to follow its own company, which, in many cases, it will scarcely find again.
3. It is the duty of the commander to assign a few ammunition wagons belonging to organizations held in reserve to bodies of troops which will in all probability need a greater quantity of ammunition.
4. The organization must be in possession of an adequate supply of ammunition on entering the zone of effective fire, i.e., at a distance of 600 m. from the enemy. The sending of individual men to the rear for the purpose of bringing up ammunition will only be practicable in rare cases. As a rule, the violence of the hostile fire will make this impossible. Only the best men can be sent back. It is asking too much to expect them to cross twice the zone swept by hostile fire. Moreover, the best men are needed in the firing line to encourage the weaker element, and to replace disabled squad leaders. Under no circumstances should the firing line be withdrawn to get ammunition from the ammunition wagons, as an attack made unexpectedly by the enemy might find the position unoccupied and thus cause its loss.[521] It is a general principle that ammunition must be sent forward from the rear.
[521] Examples: The loss of the park at Coulmiers (Helvig, Das 1. bayerische Armeekorps, p. 202). The engagement at Daix on January 21st, 1871 (Geschichte des Regiments Nr. 61, p. 174). Kunz, Loigny-Poupry, p. 77.
5. The ammunition can be removed from the dead and wounded only in defense, or in attack when the forward movement has come to a standstill. In an advance, it cannot be done without retarding the movement and without affording individual men an excuse to remain behind.
6. The bringing up of ammunition by individual men, left to their own devises, is not to be recommended, as it facilitates “shirking”; moreover, if one of the men is disabled, the ammunition he carries will never reach the firing line. Ammunition should either be sent to the firing line with each support, or it should be carried by detachments sent forward in thin skirmish lines under the command of non-commissioned officers. These detachments should remain with the firing line.
7. Whether or not signals for informing the troops in rear of a shortage of ammunition in the firing line will fulfill the expectations entertained for them, can only be determined by the test of war.