Lancashire Fusilier Posted 21 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2014 Here is a photograph of a 12 inch Mk V Railway Howitzer at the manufacturer's ( Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd. ) Elswick, Newcastle factory, probably taken while the new Howitzer was being tested, which clearly shows the large steel jacks with the ' webbed feet ' deployed. LF This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSM Posted 22 November , 2014 Share Posted 22 November , 2014 Also an interesting set of images and a very different application of rail transport LF. Do you know if an example survived or were they all reduced to scrap as most of the similar captured types were? Nothing lightweight with one of these so the troops were probably fit for age etc. Witnessing one of these or similar being brought into action would have been quite an experience! Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 22 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 22 November , 2014 Do you know if an example survived or were they all reduced to scrap as most of the similar captured types were? Rod, We know that 12 inch Railway Howitzers remained in service with the Royal Artillery throughout WW2, however, sadly none of the 81 12 inch Railway Howitzers that were manufactured seem to be still existing today, and as you say, they were probably all scrapped for their metal sometime after WW2. Attached, are two photographs of these great examples of British engineering in service with the Royal Artillery during WW2. The first photograph shows a 12 inch Railway Howitzer Mk III of 14th Super Heavy Battery, Royal Artillery, at Wareham in Dorset on 26th February, 1941. Regards, LF IWM7568 This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 22 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 22 November , 2014 Three 12 inch Railway Howitzers of the Royal Artillery, photographed at Catterick on 12th December 1940. In the foreground is a Mk V, showing how by relocating the loading platform to the revolving gun mounting, which on the previous model Mk III was fitted to the railway wagon, now allowed 120° of traverse, and by overhanging the opposite side, provided the crew access when the gun fired to the side (90° traverse) and also helped to balance it. The other 2 12 inch Railway Howitzers shown, are Mk IIIs. LF IWM6123 This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 23 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2014 In post # 2768 we can see the large steel jacks used to support/stabilise the Howitzer when in action, stowed against the body of the railway mount ( see attached photo details ), and in post # 2777, we can see those steel jacks deployed. Also attached, is a photograph showing details of the Howitzer's jacks, and the unusual ' webbed feet ' on the jacks which both helped spread the weight load on the jack's feet and also helped to prevent the jack's feet sinking into the ground. LF Details from post # 2768 showing the Howitzer's jacks stowed. IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 23 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2014 Details of the 12 inch Railway Howitzer's deployed jack, showing the jack's distinctive ' webbed ' feet. This particular photo is showing the jack fitted to an early Mk I 12 Inch Railway Howitzer, and the jack's ' Webbed ' feet on this earlier model are a different design to the jack's feet on the later Mk V 12 inch Railway Howitzer, although being the same ' webbed ' foot type. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 23 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 23 November , 2014 From the Imperial War Museum's model collection, a superb scale model of a 12 inch Railway Howitzer Mk V. This wonderfully detailed scale model was made by workers at the Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd., ordnance factory at Elswick, Newcastle, who manufactured the eighty-one 12 inch Railway Howitzers built during WW1. Amongst many details shown on this scale model, are the Howitzer's deployed jacks, and we can also clearly see the revised design for the Mk V's firing platform, which was attached directly to the gun rather than the railway gun mount as in the previous Mk I and Mk III models. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 24 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2014 Three photographs, showing 3 different views of a 12 inch Railway Howitzer Mk V in the ' travelling position ' with its barrel supported. LF This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 24 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2014 2. This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 24 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 November , 2014 3. This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghchurcher Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 (edited) This is another print from an album, suggesting they are British wounded.... http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=173218&hl=tank&page=69 I'm still trying to make out what is chalked on the front of the tank. Any suggestions? Edited 25 November , 2014 by Geoffrey Churcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 25 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2014 This is another print from an album, suggesting they are British wounded.... Geoffrey, Many thanks for the follow up post, and as is sometimes the case with WW1 photographs, we can see different captions being used. After that original post, there was some discussion as to who was in that photograph, and the men lying in front of the ' Whippet ' were thought to be captured Germans, as the man lying on the far left, is wearing German boots, and the man of the far right looks to be wearing a German peakless cap. Since posting that photograph, I did find another version from the Australian WW1 photo archives, the caption from which is as follows :- " Wounded Australians of the 15th Brigade, and wounded German prisoners, all unidentified, sheltered beside a British Whippet tank. This tank was one of the new mobile type which had made a successful first appearance in the battle of Hamel. Note the two soldiers standing beside the tank are wearing their gas masks in the alert position in front of their chests." Also attached, is that Australian War Memorial photograph. Regards, LF AWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 25 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2014 An interesting photograph taken by a German War Photographer, showing 2 captured British 12 inch Mk III Railway Howitzers being manned by German troops. The Howitzers, have been repainted in a German camouflage pattern. Unfortunately, there are no details given as to the date or location the photograph was taken, and I have not seen any records showing how many 12 inch Railway Howitzers were captured by the Germans during WW1. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 For those interested in the specs and technical details of railway howitzers and diagrams of their mechanics. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092701766#page/n7/mode/2up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 I can only think losses of such behind the lines kit to have been suffered during the spring offensives, no other likelihood seems to exist during positional warfare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 25 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2014 For those interested in the specs and technical details of railway howitzers and diagrams of their mechanics. johnboy, Many thanks for the link, that is a superb book packed with excellent details and photographs. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRANVILLE Posted 25 November , 2014 Share Posted 25 November , 2014 For those interested in the specs and technical details of railway howitzers and diagrams of their mechanics. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092701766#page/n7/mode/2up Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 26 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2014 British Mk III ( foreground ) and Mk I, 12 inch Railway Howitzers supporting Australian troops near Ypres, 30th October, 1917. Also shown, is the Howitzer's supply wagon. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 26 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 26 November , 2014 Not often seen concealed, a British 12 inch Railway Howitzer in a heavily camouflaged emplacement, 22nd November 1917. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 27 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2014 The 12 inch Railway Howitzer's railway mounting had two possible positions, one position where the railway mounting was fully raised up in the ' travelling position ', and secondly, the ' firing position ' where the railway mounting was fully lowered so that the steel frame of the railway mounting rested firmly on the ground, which in conjunction with the jacks, timber beams or steel cables, gave the Howitzer stability during firing. In the attached photograph of a 12 inch Railway Howitzer Mk III, being inspected by the Maharaja of Patiala, we can see the railway mounting fully lowered to the ground in the ' firing position '. The photograph was taken outside the village of Borre, just to the east of Hazebrouck in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of Northern France on 20th August, 1918. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 27 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2014 This photograph of a Royal Garrison Artillery 12 inch Railway Howitzer Mk I and its crew, seen passing through the Allied railhead at Achiet-le-Grand on 22nd March, 1918, shows the Howitzer's railway mounting fully raised in the ' travelling position '. Note the Howitzer's equipment being carried, including the massive ramrod. The village of Achiet-le-Grand was 11 miles south of Arras on the Arras to Bapaume road, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of Northern France. LF IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 27 November , 2014 Share Posted 27 November , 2014 I wonder if the gunners knew how much damage and the amount of deaths they had caused at the time? They would have had spotters reporting back? But with the range of these guns maybe they did not know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 27 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2014 I wonder if the gunners knew how much damage and the amount of deaths they had caused at the time? They would have had spotters reporting back? But with the range of these guns maybe they did not know. johnboy, The average range for the 12 inch Railway Howitzers Mk I - V, was approximately 8 miles, and aircraft using Morse Code flew over the battlefield transmitting spotting and range information back to the guns. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 27 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2014 Witnessing one of these or similar being brought into action would have been quite an experience! Rod Rod, Here is the link to a great IWM film showing the 12 inch Railway Howitzer in action. It is interesting to note that despite the massive size of the Howitzer, the timber beams used to secure the railway mount, do an excellent job of dealing with the Howitzer's recoil. We can also see the shell loading process, including the use of the ' Shell Grab ' etc. http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008215 Regards, I wonder if the gunners knew how much damage and the amount of deaths they had caused at the time? They would have had spotters reporting back? But with the range of these guns maybe they did not know. johnboy, In the attached IWM film, we can see the aircraft spotters using a Morse Code transmitter attached to their aircraft's fuselage to send spotting and range information back to the Howitzers. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 27 November , 2014 Share Posted 27 November , 2014 I was thinking more of the fact that would the gunners have been aware of the damage and death caused by their weapon other than if they were on target or not. Front line infantrymen for example would be able to see the results of their actions. Do we know if howitzers suffered with duff shells that failed to explode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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