artillery gun crew positions

[Khaki]

I have read a number of memoirs that refer to crew positions as number one or two or three and so on. Can someone give a plain english interpretation of what those numbers mean and did they vary according to whether one is referring to field or heavies etc.

Sorry if this has been done before, I couldn't find it.

khaki

[Ron Clifton]

Hello khaki

Gun Drill for 18-pounder field gun

Positions when mounted:

1 and 10 on their horses, and when limbered up usually on the left of the gun and wagon leaders respectively.

2 and 3 on the gun limber.

4 on the wagon of the firing battery.

5 and 6 on the wagon limber.

7 and 8 on the first-line wagon limber.

9 on the first-line wagon.

2, 4, 6 and 8 on the near side.

3, 5, 7 and 9 on the off side.

Positions in action:

1 kneels on the right side of the trail, just in front of the trail handles.

2 sits astride on the seat on the right side.

3 sits on the seat on the left side.

4 kneels behind 3, or behind 2 if the wagon is on the right of the gunor at limber supply.

5 kneels in rear of the wagon on the side nearest the gun.

6 kneels in rear of the wagon on the side farthest from the gun.

7, 8 and 9 remain with the first line wagon. They assist in the supply of ammunition and replace casualties in the firing battery as ordered.

[10 is the corporal, who remains with the wagons rwady to replace no.1 if required.]

General duties in action:

1 is responsible for the entire service of the gun.

2 attends to the breech mechanism, range indicator, clamping gears and brake, lowers and raises the shield, attends to the fuze indicator on the shield when required, and mans the right wheel forward when the trail has to be lifted.

3 lays, fires, attends to the releasing lever of the brake, and assists 2 to raise and lower the shield.

4 loads, assists in setting fuzes when required, attends to aiming posts when in use, and mans the left wheel forward when the trail has to be lifted.

5 sets fuzes and supplies ammunition.

6 attends to the fuze indicator, and assisats in supplying ammunition.

Gun Drill for 4.5-inch howitzer

Positions when mounted:

1 and 10 on their horses, and when limbered up usually on the left of the gun and wagon leaders respectively.

2 and 3 on the gun limber.

4 on the wagon of the firing battery.

5 and 6 on the wagon limber.

7 and 8 on the first-line wagon limber.

9 on the first-line wagon.

2, 4, 6 and 8 on the near side.

3, 5, 7 and 9 on the off side.

Positions in action:

1 kneels behind 2.

2 kneels between breech and wheels on the right side.

3 kneels between breech and wheels on the left side.

4 kneels behind 3.

5 kneels in rear of the wagon on the side nearest the gun.

6 kneels in rear of the wagon on the side farthest from the gun.

7, 8 and 9 remain with the first line wagon. They assist in the supply of ammunition and replace casualties in the firing battery as ordered.

[10 is the corporal, who remains with the wagons rwady to replace no.1 if required.]

General duties in action:

1 is responsible for the entire service of the gun.

2 attends to the breech mechanism, clamping gears and brake, and locking gears when necessary. He assists 3 to lower and raise the shield.

3 lays, fires, attends to the releasing lever of the brake, and assists 2 to raise and lower the shield.

4 withdraws safety pins, loads, attends to aiming posts when in use, and sets fuzes if necessary.

5 sets fuzes and supplies ammunition.

6 attends to the fuze indicator, removes lids from cartridges, prepares charges, and assisats in supplying ammunition.

Gun Drill for 13-pounder field gun

The detachment:

The detachment consists of nine men, together with two horse-holders, Nos. 10 and 11. In each section an extra horse-holder, numbered 12, is required for the section commander. The senior non-commissioned officer is 1, and is in charge of the sub-section. He rides on the left of the lead driver of the gun, except at “Detachment Front”, when he is on the right of the detachment.

The next senior is 7, and is the coverer. The active numbers are Nos. 1 to 6, and are mounted men. The reserve numbers are Nos. 8 and 9. They are dismounted men and are carried on the limber of the first-line wagons.

I don't have details to hand of the duties in action, but the 13-pounder was very similar in operation to the 18-pounder.

Heavier guns gererally had similar manning arrangements although I don't have details of those to hand either.

Ron

[daggers]

Comprehensive indeed!

For a sight of the 13 pdr in action, watch the King's Troop in action on Saturday. I bet lttle has changed over the years.

D

[Khaki]

Great stuff, many thanks Ron, exactly what I needed.

regards

khaki

[Ron Clifton]

Glad to help!

Purely by chance, I transcribed the information into a Word document only a couple of weeks ago, from old copies of the gun drills and some notes I made about twenty years back, so it was treadily to hand.

Ron