British artillery

“ It is to the eternal credit of the Army, and especially to that of the artillery, that men thus placed have never once failed to do their duty nobly, and the present war has already afforded more than one instance of single men sticking to their guns to the last. Desertion of the guns has never yet been charged against British artillery, nor is it ever likely to be. ”

“ With the ever-growing importance of artillery has gone, of course, a constant increase in artillery personnel, and in the proportion of gunners to infantry. The Third Battle of Ypres in the autumn of 1917 was "one of intense struggle for artillery supremacy," says the Field Marshal. Germany had put out all her strength in guns, and was determined to beat down the British artillery. ”

“ They know now that they have not only the will to conquer, but the means of conquest. Their, artillery has become conspicuous for its efficiency. It is the ceaseless artillery fire which has turned the issue of the war for the British forces. The work of the infantry is beyond praise. They "go over the top" with superb courage, and all who have seen them are ready to say with my son, "I'm hats off to the infantry." And in this final efficiency, surpassing all that could have been thought possible in the earlier stages of the war, the British forces read the clear augury of victory. ”

“ The sight of the battle-field with its utter and universal desolation stretching interminably on all sides, its trenches battered out of recognition, its wilderness of shell-holes, débris, tangled wire, broken rifles, and abandoned equipment, confirms the opinion that no troops, whatever their morale or training, can stand the fire of such overwhelming and concentrated masses of artillery. With a definite and limited objective and with sufficient artillery, complete success may be reasonably guaranteed. ”

“ Never, so far as Hal and Chester could remember, had the fire of the heavy German batteries been so terrific. The very earth quivered under their feet from the shock. While the Allied artillery was returning the German fire, the guns had not been concentrated upon the foe’s positions; but the activity of the French, British and American artillery was soon to equal that of the enemy and the two, combined, were speedily engaged in what was to prove the greatest artillery action in history. ”

“ We know now that for any serious attack on an enemy who has plenty of machine-guns and plenty of successive well-wired positions a great mass of heavy and other artillery is absolutely indispensable. And over ground deliberately wrecked and obstructed such artillery must take time to bring up. And yet—to repeat—how rapidly, how "persistently" all difficulties considered, to use the King's adjective, has the British Army pressed on the heels of the retreating enemy! ”

“ The obvious necessity, therefore, is the highest development of the most mobile portion of the artillery—the R.H.A. Flank movements must necessarily be the tactics of the future. Battles will be, as they always have been, won by strategy, but for modern strategy and modern tactics the great necessity will be the greatest mobility of the greatest force. But the British Army, as it certainly possesses the finest material for infantry in the world, also possesses, I feel sure, as fine an artillery as any. I am not talking now of guns, but of the men who work them. ”

“ If you attack on a wide front, your artillery is bound to leave some of the enemy's machine-guns unharmed. And when you have to mop up the small points that are left, and attack on [Pg 84] a small front, he gets you with his artillery—you get it one way or the other." One took it for granted that the head of this attack had been turned.
Suddenly, out of the mist, came the sound of a few rifle shots. Then bursts of a machine-gun. It could only be the Germans firing on advancing British infantry. ”

“ At the time of the assault, the British infantry displayed an indomitable courage, and captured several important positions, but, for the want of a proper concentration of the fire of their artillery on the points to be destroyed, their heavy losses in men were too big a price to pay for the gains they made. The British artillery has since modified its methods, and, assisted by an unexcelled service of aviation, it has, over all its Front, impressed the Germans with the power and accuracy of its guns. ”

“ It was vital, therefore, for the future operations of the British Armies, that this important ridge should be captured and kept in our hands.
Preparations were accordingly set on foot, and artillery of all calibre was silently concentrated from all parts, and proceeded to dig itself in for the coming fray. For a long time this sector had been free from any serious operations, and was considered a kind of resting place for exhausted troops, but soon the peace and quiet of the neighbourhood was to receive a rude awakening, when the tide of battle broke out upon it once more. ”

“ More than thirty years were to pass before Horse Artillery should form part of the British army, and show what mobility it was possible to attain; and more than a century ere Field Artillery should reach the perfection it now possesses, a perfection which treads closely on the heels of the more brilliant branch. ”

“ Horse artillery was introduced into the French army in 1791. The last step was made in 1800, when the establishment of a driver corps of soldiers put an end to the old system of horsing by contract.
10. British Artillery, 1793-1815.—Meanwhile the numbers of the English artillery had increased to nearly 4000 men. For some five centuries the word “artillery” in England meant entirely garrison artillery; the field artillery only existed in time of war. When war broke out, a train of artillery was organized, consisting of a certain number of field (or siege) guns, manned by garrison gunners ”

“ Here are four or five thousand artillery, and a regiment or two of dragoons; and what with cadets and engineers, the fighting population must be close on seven thousand men. The heath spreads its smooth hard surface in front of the parade-ground, and scattered all over the place are cannons and carriages, and mortars and implements of warfare enough to exterminate the human race in half-an-hour. There are no such fine intelligent-looking men as the artillery in the British service. Great care is taken in the selection of recruits ”

“ All the foot artillerymen are armed with a short straight sword; all who serve on horseback carry cavalry sabres. The guns are horsed by country-bred horses—compact, strong brutes, not particularly attractive to the eye, but useful, and well able to stand any climate. If the French Artillery were placed on the war establishment, it would number 60,000 strong, with 49,000 horses and nearly 1200 guns. The Commissariat troops and the indispensable Engineers, in their blue tunics, come next, and while they pass before us we may offer a few words on the army in general. ”

“ This first day's fighting on the Marne revealed one of France's chiefest needs—heavy artillery. The French light quick-firing gun was a deadly weapon, but France had neglected the one department of artillery in which the Germans had been most successful—the use of powerful motor traction to move big guns without slackening the march of an army. General von Kluck's artillery was impregnable to the French. Indeed, the Germans could not be dislodged from the Ourcq until the British Expeditionary Force sent up some heavy field batteries. ”

“ All along the battle line the great field and siege guns of the Americans, French, Belgian and British played havoc in the enemy ranks. The German artillery replied, but it lacked the volume and the fierce challenge of old. Then, too, the Germans had lost thousands and thousands of their guns, field pieces and machine guns. Factories behind the German frontier had been depleted of workers to fill the gaps in the fighting front, with the result that guns and ammunitions were not being produced so fast as they had been the year before. ”

“ Field Artillery
The proportion of guns to Infantry has in all armies been steadily rising during late years. It is now higher in the British than even in the German organization, and far higher than in other armies. ”

“ When war was declared the United States had sufficient light artillery to equip an army of 500,000 men, and shortly found itself confronted with the problem of preparing to equip 5,000,000 men. To meet the situation, it was decided in June, 1917, to allot our guns to training purposes and to equip our forces in France with artillery conforming to the French and British standard calibers. ”

“ It is to be feared that the guns did not always realise the position of the infantry, and that many of the 64th Brigade especially were hit by their own shrapnel. Such painful incidents seem almost inseparable from modern warfare. The artillery kept its place, and afterwards rendered good service by supporting the advance of the Guards. ”

“ The second part of the preparation, the gradual disintegration of the opposing line of infantry, has practically disappeared from the drill books. The next task of the guns, and that in which modern artillery asserts its power to the utmost, is the support of the infantry attack. The artillery and infantry co-operate, “the former by firing rapidly when they see their own infantry ... press forward, and the latter by making full use of the periods of intense artillery fire to gain ground” (British F.A. Training, 1906) . ”

“ The artillery holds the first rank in the army; it is better paid, its recruits are more carefully selected, and its period of enlistment is limited to twelve years. The gunners are distinguished from other soldiers by their excellent spirit. In battle they display judicious activity, a perfect coup d’œil, and stoical bravery.
The English got the start of the French in the formation of the artillery-train: the first trials of it were made in 1793, under the auspices of the Duke of Richmond, then Master-general of the Ordnance. ”

“ France has done nothing lately for the regeneration of its ordnance, and there remain but Great Britain and Italy to represent muzzle-loading artillery. But Italy, although she has adopted the British system for very heavy guns, is by no means a confirmed believer in it, and will doubtless hesitate before following our example very far, beset, as she is, with neighbors armed with breech-loaders. ”

“ These Lancers are followed by the Hussars, wearing tightly fitting tunics and trousers; and after that, thundering over the ground, the Artillery—an Artillery equal to that of any in Europe. The gun carriages and limbers are painted yellow with black wheels, and the men are riding on long jaunting cars, their uniform consisting of brown tunics with red cuffs and facings, light blue trousers, long grey cloaks, and felt hats with one brim turned up and fastened by a black and yellow tuft. Their belts are white, and they carry a short infantry sword. ”

“ Artillery in the field should be concealed from the enemy till the very moment it is to open; the guns may be masked by being a little retired, or by being covered with troops, particularly by cavalry. ”

“ A half-battery of the Royal Field Artillery, in a rather exposed position, greatly galled the Germans by the accuracy of its aim, and a combined attack was made on it by the enemy. One by one the British guns were silenced, and the men who had been serving them lay dead around. At last one man alone was left, and he went on working the gun steadily and calmly until he was called away by an officer. Similar instances of resistance to the last man abound in the history of the Royal Field Artillery. ”

“ When artillery is retiring along a road, or through a defile which is hilly, some of the guns should halt on the tops of the hills, and protect the retreat of those in the hollow. In these cases, round shot may be fired with safety to the troops retreating, and perhaps with good effect against an enemy. ”

“ Mountain artillery is not organized in brigades in the British empire. The unit consists, in the case of guns, of three batteries (18 guns, heavy artillery 12) , in the case of field howitzers of two batteries (12 howitzers) , and in the horse artillery of two batteries (12 guns) , and is commanded by a lieutenant-colonel. To each brigade is allotted an ammunition column. The necessity for such a grouping of batteries will be apparent if the reader notes that 54 field guns, 12 howitzers and 4 heavy field guns form the artillery of a single British division of about 15,000 combatants. ”

“ As to the French artillery at Helles, they could always reckon on being able to expend 40,000 to 45,000 rounds when their two Divisions attacked.
The complete absence of H.E. was severely felt, as shrapnel were of little use for destroying trenches, machine gun emplacements, etc. Therefore, in each and every British attack, success was jeopardized and our infantry exposed to cruel losses, because, firstly, there was not sufficient ammunition to prepare their attack, and, secondly, there was no H.E. (except for howitzers) to destroy the machine guns in their emplacements. ”

“ A most important point is the ever increasing [77] employment of artillery in the field and the greater value attached to it. Richard, Duke of York, is said to have had a great train of ordnance and so many as three thousand gunners with him at Dartmouth in 1452. Artillerymen were becoming far more common, and as a natural consequence bade fair to command a smaller price in the wage-market. From this time also it may be said that the duel of artillery tends to become the regular preliminary to a general action. ”

“ I think that all realised the impossibility of reducing the number of guns in front of the enemy, and one scarcely ever heard a word of grumbling, but it is well that the fact should be placed on record that the artillery practically never got a rest. ”