Just back from the Somme having looked at the Battle from an Artillery perspective.

A few thoughts.

From 6 am 6pm on 1^st July 1916, the Royal Artillery expended 224,221 roundsof ammunition. Despite this expenditure,Artillery had failed to achieve the aims of the bombardment in many areas.

Counter Battery fire was not given its prominence, consequently British troops in the open suffered heavy casualties as the German gunners responded to the attack.The strong German defences were not destroyed; the deep bunkers meant the defenders were able to man their trenches once fire was lifted. In many areas the wire was uncut despite two extra days of firing.

One of the key factors regarding the ineffective fire was insufficient firing data and the actual effects of artillery fire were not known. The knowledge regarding the amount of Artillery to effectively destroy or neutralise the enemy defences wasdeveloping.

The quality of ammunition was poor. It is estimated that 30% of ammunition failed to explode as a result of faulty fuses.Shells were not consistent in their ballistics. Mass production had introduced shells of varying weights and even sizes, some 6 inch shells varied by 4 inches in length. This was coupled with the fact many of the heavy guns were old and worn, and the newer mass produced guns (18 pounder in particular) had variations in barrel sizes. Ballistic accuracy was a problem, whilst the infancyof survey and meteor meant computation of firing data was not robust.

Whilst the numbers of guns and the amount of ammunition was grater than any Battle so far,when compared with the Artillery in the Battle of Loos in 1915 it can be seen that the amount of guns and tasks across the frontage on the Somme was actuallyless in terms of fire concentration .

As theBattle for the Somme continued Major General N. Birch, Artillery Adviser at GHQwrote his report on the Somme Bombardment:

There is no doubt that if theArtillery—and the Artillery alone—had been consulted and asked how muchArtillery was necessary to attack the front in question they would have saidone howitzer, 6-inch or over, for every 50 yards for destructive purposes only;our Northern limit of attack would then have been about LA BOISSELLE with thenumber of howitzers available.

Whilst there were obvious failings in Artillery, where effective counter Battery fire was conducted, where heavy artillery was successfully targeted at defences,where the will to fight was reduced, and where fire plans successfully supported the infantry advance, Artillery won the day.