crawling on his belly presents a vulnerable surface of approximately the size of a breast plate 50 cm. high. In an advance made by a large unit, or over covered terrain (fields of standing grain) crawling would be difficult (difficulty of maintaining the direction of march and reduction of the rate of advance); it would also be difficult to get men to advance to the charge after they have crawled along in this fashion for some time. The supervision of a unit crawling forward would also be exceedingly difficult. The following results were obtained in experiments made under favorable conditions: A distance of 500 m. was covered by crawling in about 10 minutes; crawling tired the men, increased the activity of the lungs to such an extent that deliberate aiming and firing was out of the question and the motion produced a noticeable swelling of arms, hands and knees.[1] The Boers occasionally used the following method: One man crept forward once or twice his own length, raising his body slightly, while the man next to him fired; then they exchanged roles and this procedure was repeated uninterruptedly. In any case, troops ought to be able to execute both the advance by rushes and the advance by crawling with or without firing. On terrain devoid of cover a skirmish line will frequently be able to advance only by crawling.
Procedure: The man throws himself on the ground at full length,
head resting upon the bent left arm, right hand grasping the small of
the rifle-stock. The man moves forward by alternately bending and
straightening the right leg. When the right leg is straightened the body
slides forward without rising in the least from the ground, and the head
also remains in position resting on the left arm. The head is raised only
when the man fires his piece, the butt of which is placed against the
shoulder. Crawling on all fours is very tiring, the man offers a larger
target, and, in addition, is not immediately ready for firing.
In this manner the Boers succeeded in shooting the enemy out of his position. The firing line, while keeping up an incessant fire, slowly but steadily advanced. The advance of this uncanny crawling line is said
- ↑ During the engagement at Paardeberg (18th February, 1900), the fighting line of the British 9th Infantry Division was reinforced by troops crawling up into the line, and carried forward to within 450 m. of the enemy's position. An isolated assault was subsequently repulsed by the Boers.
