manual for commanders of infantry platoons. - US Army Combined ...

170o IvIANUL FOR· OOM1~CBANDDE· RS OF IN~FANTRYZE PLATOEON)S.
Ride~s for~ f7iringC o: acr~czoplaaes.- (Niote : This runle as given app~lies
to Fr'1enchl r·ide.) Whilile the aieropI.lane is allpproach~ing use
an elevation of 2,600 yards. Fa'ce toadT5C~ the approachling a~eroplalne
and. open :~i~e~,when it appsears to be art a vertical angle of;
45~~ dinngtirectly at ·it. Continue ~firing wT~ith the sam~e elevat~ion
until thle aeroplanen is just ahout to pajss the vertica~l. Thl~-en
face! about- toward1c th~e aeroplanle an2d low7er the@sight; leaFf forward..
AftLer the aeroplane passes use an elevationz of 300 yanrdls,
aim at first about 10 aeroplane length~s in front of th~e aierop>lane,
aLntlkeep' this up for about 30 seconds, then atim dlirectly
ate it and continue firing until it r~eaches an apparent vertical
ang~le of 450* An applicat~ion of these rules xviii brings the sheaf
of bullets upon the aerop~lane once while it is appr~oaching nnd
twice after it passes. It is useless to fire on an aeroplane wIrhich
covers\ a visual angle less than 8 mils. It is f~orbiddlen to fire on
ain aer·oplane whlich is landiing.
EsTIMAlI~TION OF DISTAN~CES.
Pacia~g.--Everydne should knowT the numbler' of strides he
takes in pacing 1080 yards. Fexver mnistakes are mlade in counting
strides (tha~t is to say, the numhler of timles the left foot
comes to the ground) than in counting single paces. After
counlting the number of strides corresposnding to 100 yar'ds, a
majrk is ma~de on a piece of palper.or a pebble is: placed in -the
pocket andl countling is commlenced aga~in, 1, 2, 3, etc. ITo tut'n
into yardls the numhber~of strides over the Ilast hundrredl riecordled
it w~iill be close enougfh to douhie them-. F;or· instance, if xvke
have 6 pebhies a-nd 36 strides over, it; mlay bce put d~ownTas 672
yards. This mlethodl is useful in m-raking sketchles of positions
or rooad sk~etches.
Estimantingn distauccs by cge.--By pcr~sonol observation ~we
'learn, for examp~le, tha2t at about 400 yards wre can not mak~e
out a person's face but canl still distinguish: his am,clx that at 650
yardis we can distinguish the iies of a2 ommalu, and that a~t 1,100
yardis we canl distinguish as horse frloml t~he w~agon xvhjT~iCh he is
pulling, etc. WeT mu1st; be on1 our guardlC ag~ainst errlors wh~lich
comle fromt changes of light, from tlhe character of the 'backgroundl,
fr~om dust, from11the differelnt appearance of uniform ancl
variegatedl groundt, fromt folds in the ground, etc. This mietho~l