The spirits of our men, as we learn from all
the correspondents' messages, are at high-water mark. They were in suspense before the push as to what the new artillerymen could accomplish. Now they know that these new gunners have all the skill and daring which is necessary to create the indispensable feeling for infantry that they will be unfailingly supported. The troops see our air- men masters of the air. Finally, they feel within themselves that man for man they are masters of the Germans. One fact may be mentioned which makes it easier for gunners to be made more quickly than experts used to think possible. In the necessarily slow movements of trench warfare the new gunners are free to fix all their attention on the laying of the gun. What in the rapidly moving battles of former days required prolonged training in the gunner was the bringing of guns into action in the proper formation at high speed. Obviously this kind of skill is scarcely needed at the moment, and the miracle of our new artillery may be explained hi a small degree (though only in a small degree, for not an ounce of credit must be subtracted from their admirable performance) by the fact that they are able to specialize in what gunners need to consider was only one side of an artilleryman's training.
