In forwarding the reports on the Artillery practice at Bulford, I came on one or two interesting points within the personal knowledge of Colonel Parsons (now Lieut.-General Sir Laurence Parsons). One was that on February 22nd, 1900, thirty-eight shells fired by a single Boer gun burst between the centre section of the 78th Battery, i.e. within twenty odd yards, and without hurting anyone. Another interesting point was that when firing at the balloons which I got lent to me for practice on Salisbury Plaint at the first unknown range, 3,300 yards distant, and 500 yards in the air, the balloon was struck the first time, but it did not fall till forty-six other shots had been fired at it. The Battery then came into action at 4,400 yards, when the balloon was 200 feet higher in the air. The officer in command tried what is called the "long bracket," i.e. firing one over and one under until he got the range, and in six minutes he brought the balloon down. This indicates that the aeronauts of the future will have a bad time. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 115 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com