artillery fuse setting

[Khaki]

How did artillerymen set the fuse during night firing, the settings seem hard enough to see even by day,

khaki

[squirrel]

I would hazard a guess and say that night firing would be on preselected targets for SOS or barrage fire so fuzes would be preset in daylight.

I stand to be corrected, of course...

This begs another question - apologies for going off the thread - once a fuse had been set, could the setting be changed?

[nigelfe]

Torches (n modern terms), and the fuze markings were a lot clearer on a fuze 'out of the box'.

Powder burning fuzes were a problem once they were out of the packing, powder and damp don't go well together. Can't remember about re-setting.

[Ogilwy]

Torches (n modern terms), and the fuze markings were a lot clearer on a fuze 'out of the box'.

Powder burning fuzes were a problem once they were out of the packing, powder and damp don't go well together. Can't remember about re-setting.

Time Combustion Fuzes, (Correct Technical Name ) are pretty well sealed. They do suffer from some ingress of moisture but only after prolonged exposure. Unfortunately during WW1 ammunition husbandry was not always upto the task and some variation in time and blinds did occur, but determining that it was not manufacture which was equally as slipshod would be difficult. Charge bags were (and still are) much more likely to be affected by the elements, (I dealt with one last week!).

Rod

[nigelfe]

Actually they were correctly called igniferous fuzes. The packaging was for a good reason, once out of it for any time, particularly in damp conditions the chance of malfunction went up quite noticeably. It wasn't a problem limited to igniferious fuzes in WW1.

[Khaki]

How did artillerymen set the fuse during night firing, the settings seem hard enough to see even by day,

khaki

I thought I would revisit this one, as I am still in the dark (no pun intended) was there perhaps a concealed red night light or similar used, having watched the rate of fire especially by RHA and RFA by day it wouldn't leave a lot of time to set shrapnel fuses at night.

Any further thoughts ?

khaki

[nigelfe]

Engaging opportunity targets at night was a tad unlikely. Night firing would mostly be against planned targets, eg DFs or the pre-first light serials in a major fireplan, although I don't think that the fuzes would have been set in daylight the previous day.

Using hand held lights on a gun position is perfectly OK, not least because gun positions should always be out of sight of .the enemy (one of the reasons for the use of indirect fire). Furthermore, in gun pits using lights to check fuzes on shells in the gun pit are even less likely to be seen. You also need some light to set data on the dial sights and elevation scales of each gun, and to illuminate the graticules in the dial sight so that you can lay precisely. Should you need to do an orientation check then the dial sights are going to need to be illuminated so that they can be seen from the director (and obviously if you are deploying by night, although I think this was extremely rare in WW1 because it needs good training and regular practice). I've a vague memory that WW1 military torches had selectable coloured filters, which made them less obvious than using white light, but perhaps these were post WW1.

[Khaki]

Thanks Nigel,

You certainly have a good 'grip' on artillery issues, I have no real practical understanding so your responses are valuable. My thoughts are based on imagination for example, repelling a night attack and field artillery having to shorten the range quickly.

khaki

[ianjonesncl]

Just checked the 18 Pounder manual and the stores list includes Lantern Siege x 2.

With the development of meteor during WW1 one would assume that first light serials would be set during the dark to ensure accuracy. Setting fuses for illuminating rounds I would think would be done in the dark.

The points about the rate if fire and the need to illuminate instruments are very valid as my recollections was night firing was a slow business.

[Khaki]

Thanks Ian,

I don't know how common a large scale night attack was in the Great War, perhaps 1918 dawn attack, more common in later wars (Russian front Korea, Vietnam) where gunners had to continually shorten their fuses*. Once direct fire guns had opened up, their positions would be revealed by muzzle flash so the light issue would only be for the fuse setters ( to prevent a short or instantaneous discharge)

Feel free to dismantle my unqualified thoughts

thanks

khaki

* Of course by then (later wars) I presume most 'guns' were howitzers

[MikB]

The empty powder-fuze I once dismantled (admittedly only a 37mm) looked as if it could be re-set any time. As far as I could see its time was set by the relative angular positions of the segments, and the first setting wouldn't open any septum or do anything else irreversible.

[Chasemuseum]

Just checked the 18 Pounder manual and the stores list includes Lantern Siege x 2.

With the development of meteor during WW1 one would assume that first light serials would be set during the dark to ensure accuracy. Setting fuses for illuminating rounds I would think would be done in the dark.

The points about the rate if fire and the need to illuminate instruments are very valid as my recollections was night firing was a slow business.

The siege lamps were the lights for the aiming posts for indirect fire at night. These are a candle lamp, where the candle is on a spring loaded plunger to continuously hold the top of the candle at a common point of the lamp. The lamp has a flip down cover to give a narrow slit of light. With the cover up much more light was given and it could be used as an ordinary candle lamp. They continued in use and manufacture into WW2 until fully replaced by battery powered electric lamps. These have been previously featured in the forum and some good photos should be found with a search.

Cheers

Ross

[battiscombe]

while more relevant to some much older post relating to fuzes I note this RA guidance note issued 100 years ago [4th Jan 1916] - drawing attention to problems encountered with damp.. another complication for night firing on a cold wet [winters] night ..

2nd Division CRA Order .1231. FUZES. (a). Fuzes issued for 18-pr .H. E .Shell can now be used either as “Time ” or as “Percussion”. (. It has been found that damp particularly affects No. 100 Fuze and even gives rise to prematures. Special precautions must therefore be taken to keep these fuzes and shell fitted with those fuzes as dry as possible. (4th Jan 1916)

https://captainmowbray.wordpress.com/january-1916/

[Khaki]

Fascinating replies all round, thanks guys

khaki