Cable Wagons in the Royal Artillery

[Lee Smart]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Further to earlier questions on the provision of RE Signals Line detachments and their bespoke cable-laying wagons,where  we have discussed the break-down of Signals (specifically Line-laying capabilities) in Infantry Units below Brigade and whether the Battalions themselves might have had any similar cable wagons...to which we were not able to provide any evidence (including asking the Royal Signals Museum) beyond the usual Signals Section with perhaps a GS transport wagon for simply carrying the heavy load of cable reels that they would require. I was hoping you might be able to help me revisit the issue:

Having recently read G H F Nichols' 'Defiance!: Withstanding the Kaiserschlact' (Pen & Sword) the memoirs of a Royal Horse Artillery Officer (Regimental Adjutant ) in 1918, he frequently mentions the Signals section/platoon deploying their cable wagon to provide  line between the RHQ and the seperate Battery locations. This would suggest that the RHA may have had similar cable-laying wagons to those of the RE Signals Units.

I was wondering if anyone has access to Gunner Regiment Equipment Tables for 1914 -18 which might detail the holding of any such specialist wagons?...or where I might find such things.

To me it makes sense that they should - particularly the RHA (less so the RGA and the RFA with their heavier guns and slower movement) and the expected speed of their deployments: - the Kaiserschlact and our rapid retreat actions there probably provide a rare example of that beyond the first few months of the war in 1914.

The fact that the cable-laying limbers shown above are very similar to the RHA gun limbers means they would easily be able to train on these - there are some different less 'articulated' (and therefore intended for slower line laying) wagon types in the Royal Signals Museum and perhaps these might have been the sort provided to Infantry Units  - sadly the Royal Signals museum weren't able to help answer questions about the other Arms.

It might be useful if anyone has any quick contact with the Royal Engineers Museum for their opinion.

One fascinating fun fact I have gleaned is that these wagons had a terminal set (telephone/telegram) built in to the limber (in the top picture youcan see the chap with a telephone in his hand) and were able to communicate on the move!! - obviously as long as somebody was connected to the initial start point at the other end of the line/cable!.

Telephone/telegram cables in those days were originally single lines with the return loop provided through the earth... these wagons had a complex earthing connection from the limber to the iron sleeves on the wheels!! Desciption below (courtesy of the Royal Signals Museum):

The line terminal of the Vibrator Telegraph of the wagon office set (3rd class office) is wired to the terminal, placed underneath and at the rear of the limber on the nearside. From there it is connected by the flexible lead (cable DV) to a single way plug, which is inserted into the Jack in the nearside of the trail. From the Jack four separate circuits are wired to the metal plates of the drum bearings. These are insulated from the wagon frame. The circuit then passes through the bearings, the spindle and the metal case of the drum on one side of which a terminal is placed. The inner end of the cable on the drum is passed through a hole in the drum cheek and joined to this terminal. The circuit is then though from the wagon instrument to the base office at the beginning of the line. The earth terminal of the wagon office is wired to the terminal, which is situated under the limber near terminal. The earth circuit from terminal is wired to the axle of the limber and also to the limber hook and passes through the bearings of both wheels. The hubs of the wheels are wired via the spokes of the wheels to the iron tyres, thus picking up earth from the ground on which the wagon stands or is in motion.

Additional earth connection is made through the limber hook and the metal frame of the trail to the rear wheels, which are also wired to the tyres so that earth is picked up through all four wheels. With the foregoing arrangement communication is maintained while the cable is being laid. In very dry weather it may be necessary to draw the wagon on to grass and apply water to the ground under the wheels
 

 

[WhiteStarLine]

1 hour ago, Lee Smart said:

whether the Battalions themselves might have had any similar cable wagons

Hi Lee,

I've reread that thread quickly and I didn't see any discussion on that aspect.  The establishment for an infantry battalion has appeared several times on this forum over the years and the idea that they also had a specialist team of horses, trained to lay cable at a canter, together with Royal Engineers able to control them in battlefield conditions is not plausible.  The cable wagons were unsuitable for traversing ground roughed up by artillery, or muddy ground.  Battalion HQ could be as close as the next trench, or within a few hundred metres, so not much room to navigate a team of horses in view of German machine gunners, trench mortars, artillery.  Plus, in 1917, a cable section was around 75 men!

The closest mention is individual carts with cable and in muddy conditions substituting skeys for wheels.

To answer your next question you need to read the definitive Work of the RE in the European War, 1914-19 The Signal Service (France).  It is a free download and has everything you need to research your question.  Priestley describes the allocation of signal assets, including cable wagons to Infantry, Cavalry, Machine Gun, Tanks, Air and Artillery.  Also the command and control, which was different in the Infantry and Artillery.  Plus, he has the establishment tables that will answer your question.

In essence, R.E. Signals supplied & replenished personnel & equipment.  Within a Division, they had 2 separate command systems.  Artillery Brigades had a captain of the Divisional Signal Company and a sub-section, but command, including technical command was the responsibility of the artillery Brigade signal officer.  Infantry Brigades, like the one my grandfather served with, also had a captain of the Divisional Signal Company and a section and he exercised technical command.  At Le Hamel, they were tasked with supplying communications to the Brigade as they attacked.  On following, they were fired on by a machine gun team and it was their responsibility to kill the gunners and continue.

Searching the book for artillery brigade will give you the detail you want - there are 9 results.  Searching the book for cable wagon should give you give you how they operated and what conditions were suitable for their deployment (28 results).  The detail you want on unit establishment should convince you that a cable wagon was a specialist asset held at Division or Corps but readily deployed to brigades.  Appendix I on Page 334 has 19 pages on establishment across the Army, Corps and Division.

Cheers, Bill

[Lee Smart]

Bill,

Many thanks, I will take my time to read it mow that you have pointed me at it.... my previous searches two years ago looked at the classic cable wagon - I'm very familiar with it as its been the Royal Signals RHQ Officers Mess' stunning Centre-piece of silver.

This statement kind of confirms my perception that the other Arms slowly took on some of the tasks as the demand increased..."The subaltern with the R.A. signal sub-section was responsible for all the signal communication between Brigade headquarters, the Brigade O.P. or O.P. exchange, and the batteries ; forward of the batteries the signal system of each was controlled by an officer of the battery and the work carried out by R.A. personnel."

The positional warfare of November 1914 - March 1918 closed down the need for fast deployable line...especially the cable limbers due to the impediment of trenches but the RHA in Captain Nichols book seem to manage to keep the capabilities....much to read.

Thanks again

[FROGSMILE]

This is an interesting subject I agree.  For what it’s worth I’ve never seen or heard of any infantry provision of line laying wagons or equipment on the scale you describe.  Nor does anything like that appear in any of the infantry equipment tables that I’ve seen.  Had they done so they’d have been a responsibility of the Transport Section for maintenance, and draught animals, as opposed to the Signals Section.

In general my understanding is that the infantry battalion’s responsibility for line laying was limited to what was necessary to go forward from battalion headquarters to the organic company positions, and that only when in a defensive posture.

Similarly, signals units assigned to support infantry brigade headquarters were responsible for laying line forward to each of the battalion’s headquarters whenever it was required.  The principles for laying seem to have been forwards rather than rearwards oriented.

Within infantry battalions some men from the Signals Section integrated with each rifle company were told off for the duty of line repairs, a constant requirement due to routine bombardment in and around the trench lines.  These repairs were done on foot, so there was only limited opportunity for cable laying using drums.  When the latter was done accounts suggest that it was usually at night in order to present less of a target.

Edited 11 December , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[RobertBr]

 

A limber could move with a RFA Battery ie much easier than a Cable wagon.

There are also records form 1916 of plans for Power Buzzers to be taken forward during attacks to provide some communications.

The Canadians had the foresight to disband their Signalling Companies early in 1918 and integrated them with the Infantry. This greatly aided their communications during the Advance to Mons.

[WhiteStarLine]

8 hours ago, RobertBr said:

The Canadians had the foresight to disband their Signalling Companies early in 1918 and integrated them with the Infantry

Hi Bob,

The Canadian Army is rightly perceived as being innovative and Priestley singles them out as the first to use deep cable buries in 1916.  Later he cites their flexibility, together with Australians, in adopting the loop wireless set to carry communications between battalion and brigade during the 1918 mobile phase.  This was in place of the power buzzer and amplifier.  Priestley also cites the Canadian Corps allocating a wireless lorry to support divisional advances in 1918.

I'm very familiar with the Australian Divisional Signal Companies, based on the British Army model where they were allocated to infantry brigades.  The Signal Company was a Divisional Engineer asset and their signal sections were permanently allocated to Brigades.  Fifth Division AIF signallers described repairing line right down to front lines and being targeted by 77mm artillery as they ran.  My grandfather's section attacked a machine gun team with bayonets at Le Hamel and during the August offensives captured 8 prisoners hiding in dugouts.  At Mont St Quentin he wrote that "it is impressed on you that a body is only a body".

Sounds like pretty tight integration with infantry to me.

I checked the Canadian Expeditionary Force Research Group which gave me the impression that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 6th Canadian Divisional Signal Companies were disbanded / demobilized in Canada in 1919.

Cheers, Bill

Postscript:  I believe all signal sections were brave and dedicated.  The Third Australian Division included the 11th AIF Brigade.  Their signal section reflected tight integration with their Brigade and infantry battalions and this summary of their wartime experience is probably repeated many times:

Arriving in France in early in 1917, ten were killed in action or died of wounds and three bodies were never recovered. One of those killed was an officer who offered his sleeping position in a blockhouse to a tired digger and was later shelled outside. One died later in Australia, death attributed to war service. Nineteen were wounded and two of these received gunshot wounds to the head while eleven were from gas shells. The section killed 2 machine gunners and captured 13 prisoners, 8 of these when a runner single-handedly cleared freshly-captured dugouts. Almost all members were recorded as working in areas saturated with gas and many were individually targeted by shellfire / gas / machinegun fire or rifle propelled grenades. Two Military Crosses and Fourteen Military Medals were awarded. At least two additional recommendations were made but not actioned.

[ororkep]

You may be interested in the following images. The Cable Section of 58 Brigade (f: H.A.G.) RGA. The men are all named.

Rgds Paul

 

[ianjonesncl]

On 12/12/2023 at 23:21, ororkep said:

You may be interested in the following images. The Cable Section of 58 Brigade (f: H.A.G.) RGA. The men are all named.

Very interesting photographs and not surprised that a RGA Brigade / Heavy Artillery Group would have a Cable Section with a cable laying limber. The composition of RGA Brigades / HAGs and their positions would change. Units were re-grouped so it was necessary to establish the command and control through communications. With accounts of thousands of miles of cables being laid before the Somme and Messines one can see the need for  cable laying limbers. 

I do think that one of the developments in the use of artillery during WW1 was the establishment of comms between units and the the use of switchboards which provided the basis to concentrate fire and communicate with target acquisition assets.  A forerunner of modern artillery communications. Whilst prone to shelling and the lines being cut (hence the burying of line) it was a huge advance from the beginning of the war. 

One would expect the Cable Laying Section and their limber would be kept busy.

A sign in the Signals Section at the Royal School of Artillery instructed "No comms... no Bombs."

[Chasemuseum]

The cable laying wagon drawing in the first post is a very early model that was obsolete by WW1. The example in the photos of the post immediately above is the standard model used in the Great War and the drawing in RobertBr 's post shows the limber only for this wagon. 

I believe that there is a limber only, in storage at a museum in Australia. The Royal Signals Museum at Blandford has a complete limber and wagon, although their unit has had the No200 wheels replaced with No45 wheels.

The WW1 period handbooks for the 18pr and the 4.5-in howitzer each illustrate the cable wagon and limber in the handbook. Unfortunately just being illustrated in a handbook is not evidence that equipment was ever issued on that scale (at least for the Australian Army).

 

The RSig Museum used to have a short black & white film of the cable wagon in use on their website. A quick look at their website today and I could no longer find it. It may still be there. A pity if they have taken it down.

[ianjonesncl]

17 hours ago, Chasemuseum said:

The WW1 period handbooks for the 18pr and the 4.5-in howitzer each illustrate the cable wagon and limber in the handbook

Extract from 18pr manual

[Chasemuseum]

Drawing of the limber and wagon from the 18pr handbook

 

[Chasemuseum]

Additional notes from the manual. Note that the wheels are No 198a, not No200. The No198 is very similar to the No200 but a lighter construction with a lighter hub using cast steel plates rather than forged steel plates.

 

[Torridon1955]

On 10/12/2023 at 22:40, Lee Smart said:

Bill,

Many thanks, I will take my time to read it mow that you have pointed me at it.... my previous searches two years ago looked at the classic cable wagon - I'm very familiar with it as its been the Royal Signals RHQ Officers Mess' stunning Centre-piece of silver.

This statement kind of confirms my perception that the other Arms slowly took on some of the tasks as the demand increased..."The subaltern with the R.A. signal sub-section was responsible for all the signal communication between Brigade headquarters, the Brigade O.P. or O.P. exchange, and the batteries ; forward of the batteries the signal system of each was controlled by an officer of the battery and the work carried out by R.A. personnel."

The positional warfare of November 1914 - March 1918 closed down the need for fast deployable line...especially the cable limbers due to the impediment of trenches but the RHA in Captain Nichols book seem to manage to keep the capabilities....much to read.

Thanks again

In fact,  RE Signals took on more and more responsibility as demand increased, not the other Arms. The subaltern and RA Signal sub-section in the quote above belonged to the RE Signal Service

[RobertBr]

There was a short WW1 film of  a cable wagon being used to pay out cable at the trot on 'Flog It!'.

It is available on BBC IPlayer @

          'Flog It! (Extended Version):9 Highcliff Castle 8'

The sectionit starts at 13Min 7 Sec into the program.

The 'Flog It!' item was recorded at the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Forum and includes other WW1 & WW2 items.

Bob