BEF 1914. Marksmanship, Musketry and the Mad Minute

[stiletto_33853]

Wonder if the Germans were doing the same thing as most of the early 1915 battles injuries I have picked out the vast % were upper thigh wounds. Have been going through a 2nd Rifle Brigade officers diary recently and thought this entry might be of interest.

 

Andy

 

30/11/1914

Edited 8 June , 2017 by stiletto_33853

[squirrel]

FWIW laying prone or standing with your head just above ground level when firing you would usually aim low at a standing or walking/running target coming towards you.

Hence I suspect the wounds in the areas mentioned.

 

[David Filsell]

Since the primary objective of the mad minute was to "brown the mass", not primarily individual expert target musketry the target would have been the central body mass. Riflemen firing low by accident or design? 

[squirrel]

Difficult to aim high from a prone position or with your head just above ground level - and the closer they come the lower your aim becomes.

Edited 8 June , 2017 by squirrel

[Guest]

Was it called 'ball' ammunition in the Great War? It was in my day. 

 

If one thinks of the cone described by the aimed shots and the beaten zone, the cross section is ovoid in shape with the eccentric 'points' along the vertical axis. It stands to reason if a man is firing from the prone position or in a trench with his rifle near ground level, the lower part of the cone at any distance beyond a several hundred yards is likely to hit the ground. Anyone who has spent endless hours on rifle ranges will be familiar with this and the signature scarring of the berm that protects the men in the Butts doing the marking - reflecting the low shots. To my mind the fact that most men appear to have been shot near the groin area simply suggests that is where the highest concentration of aimed shots should be within a cone when fired by a decent shot. We know that the British Army spent more rounds and more time practising musketry than any other Army. I am not sure we should be surprised by the outcome. In my day the centre of a Figure 11 target was centred pretty close to the 'essentials'. Put another way, where else would they be aiming?

 

 

 

An image from 1904:

 

 

 

Edited 9 June , 2017 by Guest

[johnboy]

If men were attacking across fairly open ground they would most likely be leaning forward. A man of 5ft 6 ins. would possibly only pressent a target of maybe 4ft. hence the shots to the the essentials.

[Derek Black]

2 hours ago, johnboy said:

If men were attacking across fairly open ground they would most likely be leaning forward. A man of 5ft 6 ins. would possibly only pressent a target of maybe 4ft. hence the shots to the the essentials.

This was my thinking also. Bent forward, leaning into the advance.

 

Derek.

[stiletto_33853]

The rear of one of the postcards in my collection, Ouch!!

[rd72]

Hello all,

 

For those that might like to see details of what the Musketry Program of 1914 was like in a different medium, might I draw your attention to this series of videos?......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Edited 28 June , 2018 by rd72

[dansparky]

thought i would share this