A SURREY GUIDES' FIELD DAY.

OUR readers have shown no small interest in the effort which is now being made in Surrey to organize the local knowledge of byways, bridle paths, and cross-country tracks in such a way that it may be instantly available for troops moving through the county. That being so we need not make any apology for describing a " Guides' Ride " or " Field Day " which lately took place in Districts Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of the Sixth Division of the Surrey Guides, at which the Secretary of State and several Army officers were present. Before dealing with the ride in detail it may be premised that the object of the Divisional Guide of the Sixth Division, who, acting under the orders of the Chief Guide (Colonel Watney), was immediately responsible for the proceedings, was (1) to show to the Secretary of State and the officers present the nature of the Surrey Guides' organization and of its personnel ; and (2) to test how far it would be possible to make a. reconnaissance, by means of the ancient pack roads and sunk lanes of Surrey, which would not be observed by aeroplanes or dirigibles engaged in patrolling the air. In order to test this latter part of the scheme to the full, an aeroplane and dirigible were to have flown over the ground, and to have reported whether they were able, and if so at what points, to pick up the Guides and note their movements. Unfortunately, however, on the day chosen the wind was blowing some fifty miles an hour. Further, the ground, owing to its wooded nature, was very unfavourable for descents. Accordingly it was found necessary to abandon this part of the scheme. In such a gale and under such conditions serious damage might have been done to the air craft.

With so much of preamble we shall set forth the scheme and the Orders issued to the Guides. Reference to a one-inch map will enable the reader to trace the course of the operations, as the places named are marked thereon.

GENERAL IDEA.

The enemy have in led at and around New Shoreham, and hold Mid-Sussex in force south of the line Midhurst, Petworth, and Horsham, Their advance patrols have not penetrated into Surrey, but their aeroplanes and dirigibles are constantly flying over West Surrey and reporting all military movements.

A British force to the north of the North Downs occupies the line Woking, Stoke d'Abernon, and Epsom.

The General Officer commanding the British force has informed the Chief Guide of Surrey, Colonel Watney, that he wishes to examine in detail the area between East Horsley and Leatherhead on the north ; Leatherhead and Capel on the east ; Capel and Ewhurst Windmill on the south ; and Ewhurst Windmill and West Clandon on the west; in order to see whether it will be possible to move troops through that area without being observed by the enemy's air patrols.

Arrangements are to be made (1) to guide the G.0 C. through the above area in such a way that his reconnaissance will be unobserved from above ; and (2) to show him what covered routes are available for troops, and generally the nature of the ground.

ORDERS TO SURREY GUIDES, —Tit OCTOBER, 1912.

The Divisional Guide of the 6th Division, Mr. — is ordered by the Chief Guido to furnish the Guides required and to make the necessary dispositions within the Sixth Division.

The following Orders are issued by Divisional Guide No. 6 to the District Guides of Districts Nos. 2, 3, and 4.

District Guide No. 2, Mr. — —, will be on Hackhurst Downs at the point where Coldkitchen Lane crosses the Drove Road, at 9 o'clock on the morning of the — of October. He will be prepared to show the G.O.C. British force the chief wood paths and sunk pack roads in his District, in order that the G.O.C. may be able to judge of the possibility of moving troops unobserved by air scouts. He will then guide the G.O.C. through Deerleap Wood to Westlane Barn, which point will be reached by 11.30.

District Guide No. 4, Sir — —, will be at Westlane Barn at 11.30 and will guide yid Wotton and Pasture Wood to Holmbury St. Mary, which point will be reached at 12.20.

District Guide No. 3, Mr. — —, will be at Holmbury St. Mary, at a point opposite the Royal Oak Inn, at 12.20, and will guide to Ewhurst Windmill, which will be reached at 1.15.

At 2.45 District Guide No. 3 will guide the G.O.C. through the Hurt Wood to the Clump of Firs on Shere Heath, which will be reached by 3.45.

District Guides will bo mounted, and should be accompanied by at least one mounted Local Guide. In no case must any path or road be used which is easily open to observation by air patrols, and special care must be taken to cross metalled roads or railway lines at points where there is least chance of attracting notice. If it is necessary to move for a short time in the open, such movement should be at a rapid pace.

Newlands Corner, (Divisional Guide). Merrow, Guildford.

As a footnote to this scheme it may be mentioned that the Secretary of State for War, who honoured the proceedings by his presence, was assumed to be the General Officer commanding the British Force.

We cannot in the space at our disposal give a full and particular account of the Ride, but we may mention certain features of what proved an interesting day. Before actually reaching Hackhurst Downs the Secretary of State and the officers who accompanied him had their first opportunity of inspecting a body of Local Guides, i.e., those of District No. 1. This District was not strictly speaking included in the day's operations, but as the party actually passed through a portion of it on their way to Hackhurst Downs, the District Guide with a body of Local Guides " stood by " in case of need at the point where Staple Lane cuts the Drove Road on the ridge of Chalk Down which runs between Guildford and Dorking. The point in question is not far off seven hundred feet above the sea. The Local Guides in this case were not mounted, but they were all men who knew the district thoroughly and were prepared to guide troops through it by night as well as day. When District No. 2 was reached, the nature of the District and of the organization was well exhibited. District Guide No. 2 was accompanied at the appointed place by only two or three Local Guides, but at each important point in the district a mounted man who knew that particular section with special intimacy was met and picked up by the party, and acted as Guide until another section was entered. It was a very impressive sight, whenever divergent paths were reached or some special topographical feature disclosed, to see a mounted Guide slide out of a woodland path or round the corner of a sunk lane or old pack road, ready, as it were, to put in his special link in the chain, and prepared, from his minute local knowledge, to answer any questions that might be put to him by the General Officer Commanding.

It may be noted here, however, though with no die- paragement to the Guides, that practice in answering questions is required by Local Guides. It was curious to see men who knew the ground on which they were standing as a man knows the way to his own pocket, momentarily bewildered not by any difficulty of the ground, but by the nervousness that comes from a sudden question put by one in authority. St. Augustine said that he knew what time it was " when you do not ask me !" In the same way the Local Guides would, no doubt, have said that they knew a particular tower on the sky-line as well as their own names till anyone asked them. There are plenty of good spellers who cannot spell when suddenly confronted with the problem of " Are there three m's or two in Mummy ? " A little practice would, however, soon put this matter right.

It is generally considered that the one thing which amateur organizers, and especially of things military, cannot do is to keep a time-table. Whether by luck or by skill—we will not attempt to say which—the Surrey Guides certainly were not caught in this trap. Every place except One was reached exactly at the time named in the Orders, and without either dawdling on the one side or undue pressure on the other. The one failure was due to an unfortunate but quite unavoidable accident which occurred to the Secretary of State. When dismounted on Ranmore Common for the purpose of examining a map, he received a most painful, but happily not serious, injury to his band. A horse whose reins he was holding as well as those of his own horse became frightened and ran back with such violence as to cause a very bad tear between the thumb and forefinger. This particular form of injury is very rare indeed, but also very painful. Fortunately this did not occur till the Secretary of State had ridden twenty of the forty miles covered by the Ride, and he had thus had a good opportunity to observe the quality of the Guides. The rest of the Ride was not abandoned—the Secretary of State appointing one of the officers present to take his place—but continued to the end and without the omission of a single feature. Except that half to three-quarters of an hour was lost, the scheme proceeded as if nothing had occurred. By fast riding the lost time was made up, and the party reached Holmbury St. Mary exactly at 12.20 as in the Orders. The accident may indeed be said to have illustrated the advantage of local knowledge and local organization. In the first place a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, Surrey No. 10, who accompanied the Guides, had been ordered by the local Vice-President of the Red Cross to take out a bandage and sterilized dressing. Thus first aid of a very efficient kind was immediately rendered. Again the local knowledge of the Guides enabled a motor to be obtained from a neighbouring country house within some ten or twelve minutes of the accident. The injured hand was thus dressed at the local hospital and the necessary stitches put in within half-an-hour of the casualty.

In Districts Nos. 3 and 4 no attempt was made to exhibit the system of organization, owing to the pressure of time, but the party was simply guided by woodland and con- cealed paths directly to Ewhurst Windmill. Small groups of mounted Guides with special local knowledge were, how- ever, picked up at various points along the route, with the result that a party which at first numbered eleven had, by the time it reached Ewhurst Windmill grown to some thirty-five. And here we may mention that the mounted men all rode good and useful horses—some of them, as, for example, the Master, the huntsman, and various members of the local hunt, The Surrey Union, were exceptionally well mounted—and all showed that efficiency of horsemanship which is necessary for mounted Guides in rough country. As an example of the value of local knowledge it may be mentioned that on one occasion the question was asked whether the particular track up a valley which was being traversed in the Hurt Wood—the Andredswold of the Saxons—would be practicable for artillery or heavy transport. The District Guide was at once able to summon a Local Mounted Guide, who was a timber merchant, and bad repeatedly in the course of his business hauled out timber from the valley in question. He at once pointed out the track which he used, and which must be used for guns. It ran parallel to the track on which the party were, and did not look at first sight nearly as good going. It had, however, a much harder and firmer bottom.

The value of the Guides' organization will no doubt be discussed by experts, and very possibly it may be shown that the system adopted in Surrey could be im- proved. We are convinced, however, that the organi- zation of the topographical knowledge possessed by the people on the spot ought to be carried out in every county in England. Local guiding is always useful because it saves time, but the existence of air-scouting and air patrols has made it far more necessary than it used to be. Undoubtedly when troops want to move unobserved they will have in the future to move at night, or, if the country is wooded, through overgrown woodland paths. In both cases local guiding will be essential. Night movements would be enormously facilitated by the organization of a considerable number of men accustomed, as are game- keepers, and to a smaller extent hunting men and farmers, to move about the country at night. No doubt good maps and able officers can do wonders in an unknown country, but there always remains the fact that good local guiding gains time, as also does local knowledge. Imagine an officer perplexed with the question whether he can get his guns or his heavy transport up a certain track. Would it not be an enormous advantage to him to have a local guide by his side who can assure him that the timber wagons use the particular track he desires to use ? Next imagine a commanding officer in an out-of-the-way district who suddenly realises that the thing for him to do is to dig himself in, and at once. If he can put the question to a, Local Guide at his side : " Can I get an extra hundred picks and shovels within a couple of miles' radius from the point where we are standing ? " and know that he will get an answer based on knowledge, he will obviously be helped, not hindered. The Guides are required to know where are the proper places in which to find the picks and shovels in any district, that is, for the most part, in the yards of small builders and contractors and in country house gardens. Lastly, imagine a cavalry officer anxious to find water nearer than at the obvious places shown him by the map. Here local knowledge at his elbow may save his troopers and their horses many a weary mile. Two miles to water and two miles back is often the last straw to a beast that has already done fifty miles. But it will be said, perhaps " Admitted ; but the officer can get the information he needs without all this fussing and creating of a new organization. In case of war the whole countryside will turn out to help him—so why bother before guides are actually wanted P " Our answer is that which will occur to every man of sense. Nothing is ever ready when wanted, unless it has been prepared before- hand.