RGA guns and their defence

[Khaki]

Were infantry units permanently assigned to provide a defensive line for siege guns, to prevent them from being overrun, if so were they fusilier units?

khaki

[rflory]

'No'

[bill24chev]

I believe each Battery had a number of Rifles and later Lewis Guns for their self defence and some Pistols for personal self defence and of course officers had their own Revolvers as part of thier equipment.

[Khaki]

I find it 'odd' that large guns that were relatively speaking immobile compared to other RA units were not heavily defended.

khaki

[squirrel]

Something to do with the distance that they were sited behind the front line perhaps?

[Old Tom]

The longer range of such pieces implies they are not likely to be overrun unless there is a major breakthrough, like the German offensive in early 1918 when 500 guns - I do not know the split between field and heavy - were lost. In such a situation defended gun positions would be isolated and both defenders and detachments and guns would be lost.

Old Tom

PS The 500 were on day one, over the period Mar to Jul some 900 were lost of which about 300 were RGA.

[Khaki]

As the overrun did happen with the loss of many guns perhaps in hindsight it should have been considered.

khaki

[calibre792x57.y]

The lost guns were replaced in a surprisingly short time, probably from the artillery parks. The loss of trained gunners was more serious. - SW

[nigelfe]

Some RGA batteries were deployed reasonably far forward, these were the ones assigned to CB which needed to reach further into German ground, not least because the German artillery tended to have a range advantage.

[tony paley]

Lots of myths regarding distance that heavy and siege batteries were 'behind' the lines. The history of one 6" siege battery states that it was never further than 2 miles from the German line. Most heavy units had ranges between 10,000-13,000 yards. during the Germans March offensive in 1918 a siege battery in 84 Heavy Brigade in VI Corps was issued with small arms and had men from a Guards Battalion digging in just ahead of them, a matter of yards.

tony P

[Khaki]

For the purposes of counter battery fire, would it be fair to say that the closer they were (British) to the Germans, the more accurate the firing?

khaki

[nigelfe]

As a generalisation I'd say both accuracy and dispersion are better the shorter the range is. The problem was that most German guns had a range advantage over their Brtish equivalents, although of course for CB guns did not just fire at their equivalents. Of course for destruction against HBs air observation was essential, although sound ranging was an alternative. Unobserved fire provide neutralisation, at least once map shooting became passably accurate.