333 Seige Battery

[chris basey]

From local memorial:

277068 CORPORAL James Henry HARPER. 333rd Seige Battery, R.G.A. Died 21st March 1918, age 30 years.

Could one of our 'Gunner' experts please describe the role of Seige Batteries and comment on whether the rank of Corporal is correct.

Many thanks.

[Jonathan D'Hooghe]

Siege Batteries RGA were equipped with heavy howitzers, sending large calibre high explosive shells in high trajectory, plunging fire.The usual armaments were 6 inch, 8 inch and 9.2 inch howitzers, although some had huge railway- or road-mounted 12 inch howitzers. As British artillery tactics developed, the Siege Batteries were most often employed in destroying or neutralising the enemy artillery, as well as putting destructive fire down on strongpoints, dumps, store, roads and railways behind enemy lines. (source LLT)

Surprisingly Chris, the LLT does not list a 333rd Siege Battery. A bit more detective work required!!

[sotonmate]

cb

Corporal seems to be a regular rank in the RGA,as does Bombardier (when I was Arty Army cadet the Corporal was called Bombardier,so what the difference was may be in what was required of him in duty perhaps ?).

Seen this page from the Long Long Trail ?

http://www.1914-1918.net/siege-battery-index.htm

Sotonmate

[Jonathan D'Hooghe]

I believe the rank of Bombardier came into being in 1920. So corporal was correct for the 14-18 period.

[sotonmate]

JD

...and yet the title appears regularly in WW1 !

Sotonmate

[ororkep]

Chris,

333 Sge Bty had armament of 2 x 12 in Hows Mark iii on Rail Mts that went out to the WF 24.5.1917.

At the time of his death 333 were Army Troops and had been from Jan 1918

In reference to the above debate, it is recorded that L/Bdr 123376 Robert CRAMMOND (333 SB) was promoted to a/Cpl, vice Cpl J H HARPER died of wounds 21.3.1918. This was for the RX.

Rgds

Paul

[pjjobson]

In 1920 the rank of Bombardier in the Royal Artillery, then denoted by a single chevron, was upgraded to replace that of Corporal, the latter being abolished. Prior to that date the rank fell between that of gunner and corporal, and was denoted by a single chevron. At the same time the rank of Lance Bombardier was introduced. Thus from 1920 the Lance Bombardier wore a single chevron, whilst the Bombardier wore two chevrons.

This rank of Bombardier was introduced in into the artillery in 1686, the rank being so named because he was trained in the use of the mortar which fired bombs and bombarded its targets.

The position was introduced owing to the substantial number of mortars added at that date to the to the equipment scales, the King approved the appointment of one Chief Bombardier (a commissioned rank) and 12 Bombardiers who were to be specialists in the use of mortars.

From that time whenever mortars formed part of any artillery train a proportion of Bombardiers accompanied them. Although the Bombardier was created to specialise in mortars it was not long before he added guns to his repertoire. By 1697 the guns of a long train were in general worked by ordinary troops of the line under the direction of Bombardiers, Petardiers, and Gunners. Bombardiers also served on Royal Navy bomb vessels which were equipped with a main armament of two heavy mortars.

Both the ranks of Corporal and the Sergeant appeared in the Royal Artillery after the Bombardier. (The Corporal first appeared in 1692 on the same rate of pay, and the Sergeant in 1702 on 6d more, but did not achieve their status as layer and Number One respectively until much later.) The Bombardier is therefore the oldest existing non-commissioned rank after Gunner and Master Gunner.

Phil

[chris basey]

Many thanks for the replies - just what was required.

[Tom Goode]

Hi Chris,

Some info on the 333rd Siege Bty you may possibly already have. The War diary of the 59th ABGROC records the company working the rail guns of the 333 Siege Battery at the Trois Tours gun spurs north of Ypres during May to December 1917

Regards

Tom Goode