In addition to finding out military details about a country, such as
its preparedness in men, supplies, efficiency, and so on, these agents
have to study the tactical features of hills and plains, roads and
railways, rivers and woods, and even the probable battlefields and
their artillery positions, and so on.
The Germans in the present war have been using the huge guns whose
shells, owing to their black, smoky explosions, have been nicknamed
"Black Marias" or "Jack Johnsons." These guns require strong concrete
foundations for them to stand upon before they can be fired. But
the Germans foresaw this long before the war, and laid their plans
accordingly.
They examined all the country over which they were likely to fight,
both in Belgium and in France, and wherever they saw good positions
for guns they built foundations and emplacements for them. This was
done in the time of peace, and therefore had to be done secretly.
In order to divert suspicion, a German would buy or rent a farm on
which it was desired to build an emplacement. Then he would put down
foundations for a new barn or farm building, or--if near a town--for
a factory, and when these were complete, he would erect some lightly
constructed building upon it.
There was nothing to attract attention or suspicion about this, and
numbers of these emplacements are said to have been made before war
began. When war broke out and the troops arrived on the ground, the
buildings were hastily pulled down and there were the emplacements all
ready for the guns.
Some years ago a report came to the War Office that a foreign Power
was making gun emplacements in a position which had not before been
suspected of being of military value, and they were evidently going to
use it for strategical purposes.
I was sent to see whether the report was true. Of course, it would
not do to go as an officer--suspicions would be aroused, one would
be allowed to see nothing, and would probably be arrested as a spy.
I therefore went to stay with a friendly farmer in the neighbourhood,
and went out shooting every day among the partridges and snipe which
abounded there. The first thing I did was to look at the country
generally, and try to think which points would be most valuable as
positions for artillery.
Then I went to look for partridges (and other things!) on the hills
which I had noticed, and I very soon found what I wanted.
Officers were there, taking angles and measurements, accompanied by
workmen, who were driving pegs into the ground and marking off lines
with tapes between them.
As I passed with my gun in my hand, bag on shoulder, and dog at heel,
they paid no attention to me, and from the neighbouring hills I was
able to watch their proceedings.
When they went away to their meals or returned to their quarters, I
went shooting over the ground they had left, and if I did not get a
big bag of game, at any rate I made a good collection of drawings and
measurements of the plans of the forts and emplacements which they had
traced out on the ground.
So that within a few days of their starting to make them we had the
plans of them all in our possession. Although they afterwards planted
trees all over the sites to conceal the forts within them, and put up
buildings in other places to hide them, we knew perfectly well where
the emplacements were and what were their shapes and sizes.
This planting of trees to hide such defence works occasionally has
the other effect, and shows one where they are. This was notably
the case at Tsingtau, captured by the Japanese and British forces
from the Germans. As there were not any natural woods there, I had
little difficulty in finding where the forts were by reason of the
plantations of recent growth in the neighbourhood of the place.