Close Column

Formation of troops in column, when the subdivisions are nearer together than the front of one subdivision. In the school of the battalion the distance between companies is eight paces. Whenever a subdivision takes its place, the file closers close to one pace from the rear rank, falling back to two paces whenever the full distance is again taken. IMG:content-0912.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0913.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] 7. Nimbus. Rain clouds. Dense ma es of dark formle clouds with ragged edges. 8. Cumulus. Woolpack clouds. Thick clouds whose summits are domes with protuberances but whose bases are flat. 9. Cumulus-nimbus. Thunder cloud, shower cloud. Heavy ma es of clouds, rising like mountains, towers or anvils, surrounded at the top by a veil or screen of fibrous texture ("false cirrus") and below by nimbus-like ma es of cloud. 10. Stratus. Lifted fog in a horizontal stratum.