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''The War Office and Inventors'' is a letter written by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] first published in [[The Times]] on 22 february 1900.

== The War Office and Inventors ==
[[File:the-times-1900-02-22-p10-the-war-office-and-inventors.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[The Times]] (22 february 1900, p. 10)]]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir, — the coming reform of the War Office there is one
department which will, I trust, undergo a complete reorganization
— or rather I should say organization since it does not appear to
exist at present. I mean the board which inquires into military
inventions. I have heard before now of the curt treatment which
inventors receive it the hands of the authorities. As I have
had a similar experience I feel that it is a public duty to record it.

The problem which I was endeavouring to solve was how to
attain accuracy — or approximate accuracy — for a dropping, or
high angle, rifle tire. It appears to me to be certain that the actions
of the future will be fought by men who are concealed either in
trenches or behind cover in the present war it has been quite
unusual for our soldiers ever to see a Boer at all. Direct fire is under
these circumstances almost useless. The most of your opponent
which shows is only the edge of his face, and his two hands. When
he is not firing he is entirely concealed. Under these conditions
except at close quarters it appears to be a mere waste of
ammunition to fire at all.

There is only one side upon which the man in the trench or
behind the rock is vulnerable. That side is from above. Could a
rain of bullets be dropped vertically all over the enemy's position
your chance shot has the whole surface of his body to strike, while
the direct chance shot has only a few square inches. There is no
escape from this high angle fire. No trench or shield is of any avail.
Human life can be made impossible within a given area.

In this system it is not the individual at whom you shoot, but at
the position, the ridge, the kopje, whatever it is that the enemy
holds. If you search this thoroughly enough you will find the
individuals. For example, suppose that a kopje occupied is 1,000
yards long and 100 yards deep, 100,000 bullets falling within that
nothing — only the contents of the magazines of 10,000 men. It can
be judged then how untenable a position would be, if only fire of
this sort could be made at all accurate.

But at present there is no means by which it can be regulated. If
you were to say to the best marksman in the British Army "Drop
me a bullet on that kopje 500 yards off" he would be compelled to
look helplessly at his riffle and confess that there was nothing to
enable him to do this. He might hold his gun up at an angle and
discharge it, but it would be pure guess work, and the probability
is that he would be very far out, nor could he correct his error,
since he would have no means of knowing where his bullet fell.

My experiments have been in the direction of affixing a small
simple, and economical apparatus to the rifle by which a man
would know at what angle to hold his rifle in order to drop a bullet
at any given range. It would weigh nothing, cost about a shilling
take up no space, and interfere in no way with the present sights,
so that the rifle could be used either for direct or high-angle fire at
so discretion of the officer. Having convinced myself that my idea
was sound, I naturally wished to have it examined at once in order
that, if it should be approved, the troops might have the use of it. I
therefore communicated with the War Office, briefly stating what
my idea was, and my letter was in due course forwarded to the
Director-General of Ordnance. I have just received his reply:—

"War Office, Feb. 16, 1900. 
"Sir, — with reference to your letter... concerning an appliance for adapting rifles to high-angle fire, I am directed by the Secretary of State for War to inform you that he will not trouble you in the matter. 
"I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
(Signature illegible) 
"Director-General of Ordnance."

Now, Sir, my invention might be the greatest nonsense or it
might be epoch-making, but I was given no opportunity either to
explain or to illustrate it. It may be that the idea has been tried and
failed, but, if that were so, why not inform me of it? I have shown it
to practiced soldiers — one of them with a Mauser bullet wound still
open in his leg — and they have agreed that it is perfectly sound and
practicable. And yet I can get no hearing. No wonder that we find
the latest inventions in the hands of our enemies rather than of
ourselves if those who try to improve our weapons meet with such
encouragement as I have done.

Yours faithfully,

A. CONAN DOYLE. 
The Reform Club, Feb. 19.

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* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:Complete Works|Back to Complete Works]]
* [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Back to Conan Doyle]]

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TCDE-Team at 15:09, 22 July 2017