6/1/17 Very cold night, which greatly disturbed my sleep, weather still beastly, wet and muddy. Heavy artillery firing commenced in the late evening, cannot say however to what purpose or for what reason. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Other war news on this day in 1916: Western Front Big daylight raid by British south-east of Arras (Ancre). Eastern Front Stubborn fighting between the Carpathians and Focsani; some enemy progress, especially in the Susitsa valley and near Odobesti. Russian counter-offensive between Focsani and Fundeni; ground recovered near Obilesti. ----------------------------------------------------------------- British attacks in January 1917, had taken place against exhausted German troops holding poor defensive positions left over from the fighting in 1916; some troops had low morale and showed an unusual willingness to surrender. The army group commander Generalfeldmarschall Crown Prince Rupprecht, advocated a withdrawal to the Siegfriedstellung. The advance was still conducted in waves behind a creeping barrage, to ensure that the infantry arrived simultaneously at German trenches but the waves were composed of skirmish lines and columns of sections, often advancing in artillery formation, to allow them to deploy quickly, when German resistance was encountered. The organisation of artillery was revised according to a War Office pamphlet of January 1917, Artillery Notes No.4–Artillery in Offensive Operations, which put the artillery of each corps under one commander, established a Counter Bombardment Staff Officer, provided for the artillery of several divisions to be coordinated and laid down that artillery matters were to be considered from the beginning when planning an attack. The roles of equipment were standardised, the 18-pounder field gun was to be mainly used for barrages, bombardment of German infantry in the open, obstructing communications close to the front line, wire cutting, destroying breastworks and preventing the repair of defences, using high explosive (H. E.), Shrapnel shell and the new smoke shells. The QF 4.5-inch howitzer was to be used for neutralising German artillery with gas shells, bombarding weaker defences, blocking communication trenches, night barrages and wire-cutting on ground where field guns could not reach. The BL 60 pounder gun was to be used for longer-range barrages and counter-battery fire, the 6-inch Gun for counter-battery fire, neutralisation-fire and wire-cutting using fuze 106. The larger howitzers were reserved for counter-battery fire against well-protected German artillery and the larger guns for long-range fire against targets like road junctions, bridges and headquarters. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pictures: 1: British 18 pounder Mk II gun on MK I carriage, 2: 2 camouflaged British 4.5 inch field howitzers on the Western Front
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:51:00 +0000
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