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About this blog

Royal Artillery topics

Information and topics relating to the Gunners of the Royal Horse Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, and the Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War. 

As I meander through research, battlefield tours and contributions to the GWF Forum, certain topics arise an interest which I record here. 

 

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Artillery Operations

Trench Mortar Development

A post from @new3.2 regarding Trench Mortars lead to some research I had meaning to do for while, understand the development of Trench Mortar capability. The initial arrangements were very much ad hoc, both in terms of the ordnace and the organisation,  as the British Expeditionary Force transitioned to positional warfare. The ordnace and the organisation developed over the period of the war.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mortars were firs
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Artillery Operations

Mechanisation of the Royal Artillery

Moving the Guns - Mechanisation of the Royal Artillery 1854 - 1939 by Philip Ventham and David Fletcher. Moving the Guns - The mechanisation of the Royal Artillery 1854 - 1939 traces how the Royal Artillery transitions from it's guns being moved by horses, to the mechanised force that began the Second World War. I was supprised that the story began in 1854, though with the advent of the Railways from 1825 onwards, the thought for steam traction engines had been considred for some time.
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Artillery Operations

9.2 inch Howitzer Deployment

Whilst researching the  first ever 9.2 inch howitzer 'Mother'  9.2 inch Howitzer "Mother" - Northumbrian Gunner meanderings - The Great War (1914-1918) Forum (greatwarforum.org) I realised that whilst one had seen many pictures of the 9.2 inch howitzer, read accounts of their deployment and it being the weapon system that is on the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park, I must admit I was not sure how this multi-part howitzer actually fitted together. 9.2 inch howitzer Royal
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Artillery Operations

Artillery Narrow Gauge Transport

A visit to Beamish Open Air Museum revealed a Simplex 40HP Armoured Locomotive. The locomotive, LR3098, never saw war service having not been completed until 17/12/1918. Over 900 locomotives would be manufactured between 1916 and 1918 for use within the UK and on the Western Front. Simplex 40HP Protected Loco Beamish June 2022 The Motor Rail & Tram Company won a tender in January 1916 and produced narrow gauge locomotive for use on the Western Front. A protptype proved succesf
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Artillery Operations

Chillwell National Shell Filling Factory No 6

Staged through Chillwell, near Nottingham,  en route to and from Salisbury Plain on a number of occasions with out realising it's contribution to the war effort during World War One. It was a vital part of the artillery ammuntion production for the Western Front and the location of the the worst accidental munitions explosion of the Great War in Britain. Chillwell was the location of National Filling Factory No 6. Information Source: Historic England Research Records National Filling F
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Artillery Operations

Chapperton Down Artillery School

An intersting film I came across on the Imperial War Musuem collection features the Chapperton Down Artillery School.  "Taken at the school on 9 March 1916, this film shows in detail the firing procedures for the 6-inch 26cwt howitzer, the 8-inch Mk VI howitzer and the 9.2-inch Mk I howitzer with the new Type 106 graze fuse (not shown). It shows the effects of the fall of shot, giving the distance and line of camera to the point of impact with the direction of wind for each firing. In each
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Artillery Operations

British Gun Carrier

The British had 48 tracked carriers for moving guns as prime movers. They were not self propelled artillery, they were designed to transport guns. . http://en.wikipedia...._Carrier_Mark_I During 1916 it became clear that in case of a breakthrough, the very purpose of the first tank, the Mark I, artillery would have great trouble following the advancing troops. Any successful offensive would therefore be in danger of stalling immediately. To solve this problem Major Gregg, an engineer w
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Artillery Operations

Heavy Artillery Serviceability

Whilst  researching activities in the Nieuport sector in 1917, I came across a graph in the XV Corps Heavy Artillery War Diary for November 1917 (WO-95-927-3 - page 10) recording the serviceability of the guns attached to Corps. Reports and returns are an essential to the logistic system to ensure the availability  of resources to conduct operations.    The graph covers the period from 22nd June through to 30th November 1917, the period XV Corps occupied the Nieuport sector in preparat
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Artillery Operations

WW1 Artillery Combat Footage

Montage of British Artillery. Siege guns, Field guns and Anti-Aircraft guns.   4.7 inch firing / 18 pounder barrage / 8 inch howitzer / Ammunition supply using wheeled ammo carriers / 9.2 inch howitzer / Air Observation / Anti-Aircraft guns / 6 inch howitzer / 8 inch howitzer / 18 pounders   Source: Combat Archive    
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Artillery Operations

Chinese Labour Corps Ammunition Logistics

Whilst on my last trip to Ypres I visited the Chinese Memorial  at Busseboom which commemorates the part played by 140,000 Chinese Labourers employed by the British and French  during the Great War.   Their contribution and role is outlined by the National Archives;  National Archives - Chinese Labour Corps on the Western Front     CHINESE LABOUR CORPS MEMORIAL BUSSEBOOM   Adjacent is another memorial to 13 Chinese labourers killed in a German air raid on
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Artillery Operations

Lesson on accuracy of artillery

An interesting extract from a letter sent by 2nd Lieut. Humphrey Arden (RGA) to his old school which was published in the school magazine.   Humphrey Arden attended the Dragon school, then   Radley and went on to Queens College Cambridge. He was about prepare for holy orders when war broke out. He was commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1915. He died of wounds near Messines 6th June 1917 whilst serving with 156th Heavy Battery RGA. He is buried Bailleu Communal Cemetery
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Artillery Operations

From: Moving RGA Siege Battery Positions

Hi folks, Something I've been pondering for quite a while, and I wondered if any of the artillery experts on the forum might have any ideas. On the western front (particularly), in instances where a RGA siege battery moved to a new position (let's use 6" howitzers as an example), apart from the actual movement of the guns and ammunition, I was wondering exactly what other work and logistics were involved? Presumably if a battery was taking over a position from another battery (i.e
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Artillery Operations

Royal Garrison Artillery - Heavy Batteries.

Heavy Batteries were initially part of the Divisional Artillery, each Regular Amy Division being allocated a Battery of 60 pounders, Territorial’s 4.7" gun. Some coastal artillery defended ports had a Heavy Battery where no fixed coast defences were in place. The Durham Heavy Battery, for example was, deployed on mobilisation in 1914 to cover the River Wear. Territorial Batteries were also tasked to raise a second battery at the start of the war. With the formation of New Army Divisions, additio
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Artillery Operations

Royal Garrison Artillery - Siege Batteries

There are many requests on the GWF for information about Siege Batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery. By the end of WW1 there were at 401 Siege Batteries ranging from 60 pounder guns to 12 inch railway guns, yet in 1914 only 5 Siege Companies existed, of which 2 were in India. In 1914 the RA doctrine was very much based on mobile warfare, recognition being there would be times when a town would be laid to siege. The Western Front changed that, it was not a single location that was
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Artillery Operations

18 Pounder Orbat

An 18 pounder detachment had 6 men actualy manning the gun. An additional 4 men were back in the wagon lines where the horses and first line ammunition was held. There were 7 drivers for the gun and ammunition limbers. In addition to these 17 men (commanded by a Sergeant) there would have been 15 horses. This slide may help: Source: RFA
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Artillery Operations

Artillery Brigades

The principle fire unit prior to 1898 was the Battery. At the end of the 19th century , the improved command and control of Artillery, particularly to allow greater concentration was seen as being vital to the effective tactical deployment of Artillery. General Marshall's Committee of 1898 declared that the tactical unit "now be called the brigade-division, and that all other matters should give way to the full development of the Lieutenant Colonels command". So the concept of a tactical unit of
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