§ COLONEL ALEXANDERasked the Secretary of State for War, Whether it 739 is true that a Memorandum has been issued to the troops at Aldershot, dated 13th February 1882, directing them to practise a system of attack which is entirely at variance with that enjoined in the Field Exercise under the sanction of Her Majesty; whether this attack contains principles which have been rejected and condemned by all the armies of Europe after the experience of their recent campaigns; and, if such a Memorandum has been issued, whether it has received the sanction of the Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief?
§ MR. CHILDERSSir, no Memorandum has been issued to the troops at Aldershot directing them to practise a system of attack differing from that in the Field Exercises; and of course, therefore, my answer to the third Question must be in the negative also. A Memorandum has been issued, however, to one of the brigades requesting the officer commanding it to try experimentally a particular system of attack. It was issued on the 13th of February, and again on the 9th of March in a revised form. It involves no new drill, but only the application of drill already known. In reply to the second Question, I have to say that, allowing for certain differences of organization, the principles of the system tried are identical with those adopted in the German Army.