German Artillery

[doogal]

Hi,

I have an account of a battle during the Spring 1918 Offensive. The British officer notes the presence of a mountain battery in the German Forces.

Now, this was on the northern end of the Somme - not known for its mountains.

Were such units deployed on the Somme, and was there a particular reason?

All I can assume is that during the renewed war of movement, such light guns may have been more easily moved around, and perhaps could keep up with assaul troops better, so offering some heavier support in certain cases (?). Either that or the British officer was mistaken.

regards

doogal

[Robert Dunlop]

Doogal

There are several possibilities here. Firstly, the British officer may have been correct. The battery may have been the 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone L/17 M08 for example, though there were not a lot of these manufactured. Some captured French mountain guns were used by the Germans. And Austria provided some as well.

Then there were the infantry guns. The captured Russian 76.2mm field guns were often put on lower carriages, with a smaller shield. Small numbers of purpose-built infantry guns were appearing in 1916, both 3.7 cm and 7.7 cm calibre guns.

In all cases, the guns were used as infantry support weapons. For mountain gun, read light guns that can be easily manoeuvered in support of the infantry.

Robert

[doogal]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for this

I've read the account once more, and it is possible he considered them to be "mountain", as he describes the artillery being brought forwards in combat still strapped on the back of a donkey. (my reading is that it was in pieces at this point).

But it surely must be a light gun because of this. Interestingly, there was only one, and I think he spent the time describing its arrival because of the damage it did the next day.

regards

doogal

[KONDOA]

Doogal I have reference to a gun described as a 9 pounder which given the location (up a ridge) would suggest some portability.

Roop

[Jack Sheldon]

The subordination of various types of gun to each infantry regiment began following the appearance of tanks on the Somme battlefield. Steel jacketed small arms bullets, originally designed to take on sniper shields were effective against tanks at close range, (Example Bullecourt April 1917 where some of the nine destroyed tanks were knocked out this way. One machine gun engaged a tank at 150 metres with 1200 rounds, 77 of which penetrated fully), but effective defence depended primarily on field guns firing over open sights in the direct fire role. The very first day tanks were employed, one gun of FAR 77 took out a tank at 925metres. So that was the first reason for the presence of guns - anti-tank defence. Calibres used were the 75mm light field gun and occasionally the 105mm light field howitzer.

The second reason was a realisation that in the advance there was a need for a heavy weapon to take out point targets such as machine gun nests, but bearing in mind that a German regiment was the equivalent to a British brigade in size, the odd gun was insufficient. As a result each attacking regiment was allocated a battery of 75mm light field guns. Anything heavier would have been difficult to manoeuvre. These sub-units were called 'Infanterie-Geschuetzbatterien' or 'Begleitbatterien' for short. The best translation to convey the task is probably 'Direct Support Batteries'. They were directly subordinate to the regimental commanders who mostly deployed them directly behind the leading waves of attackers, so that they could react swiftly to opportunity targets such as machine guns or strongpoints. Furthermore the guns were available immediately on reorganisation after an attack, ready to defend against counter-attack or tank assault. With each passing month, the necessity and value of these guns was underlined.

There was also a piece of equipment called an 'Infanterie- or Grabengeschuetze' [infantry Gun] With a calibre of 37mm and an effective range of 1200 - 1800 metres it was certainly used in specialised situations, but it use was limited, because of the need for accurate observation of fall of shot and so was its effect. The 'Sturmabteilungen' deployed them with success against machine gun posts, but they really cannot be compared to the guns of the 'Begleitbatterien'

[Old Tom]

Hello,

I have read that during the German offensive in early 1918 alpine units were deployed. I suppose they might have had mountain artillery. I suppose they might have been transferred to the western front from the east, perhaps Italian fronts.

Old tom

[doogal]

Hi All,

I wanted to belatedly thank you all for the the responses.

What was apparent from this field piece was that the Germans managed to outflank our troops, and when a company of our tropps were asked to move to a better firing position, this gun opened up on them from the rear at what looks like no more than 800yds (guess), and inflicted heavy casualties. Quite probably my Gt Grandfather amongst them.

If I can find out more on this gun and what it is, I'll post here

regards

doogal

[leigh]

Doogal,

The Brits were using mountain batterys in the front line in 1915. This included small artillery peices which could be broken down and moved on the backs of mules. They were used as described to have fire power much closer to the front. they were sent back to the middle east at the end of 15.

The British officer probably described it as a mountain gun as it resembled the ones/units we had.

Regards

Leigh