Recruits at musketry: 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, Aldershot, August 1907

Photograph, Aldershot, 1907.

According to the 'Musketry Regulations' of 1909 the purpose of musketry training was to render the individual soldier proficient in the use of small-arms, to make him acquainted with the capabilities of the weapon with which he was armed, and to give him confidence in its power and accuracy. The recruits' course of instruction included a general description of the rifle and ammunition used, the care of arms, the theory of rifle fire, aiming and firing, visual training and judging distance.