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British Artillery in World War 2

British Artillery Technical Fire Control

The main account: Royal Artillery Methods in World War 2 provides the main thread and has 5 main parts: Background, Organisation and Grouping, Operational Methods, Engagement of Targets, and Fire Planning.  it concludes with Issues and provides a Review of the essential characteristics of the British artillery system.   The Main Features lists what these were as a quick overview of British artillery methods.  Most of the points have links to other pages for more information. The more detailed accounts: Organisations - how the men and equipment were organised in regiments and batteries, it has links to detailed organisation tables for various types of regiment and has an outline of divisional organisation and its units. Associated with this page are pages about the evolution of artillery and divisional organisation and the higher organisation of the Army as it affected artillery. Fire Plans - describes the British way of fire plans, and explains what a 'barrage' really meant. Command & Control - a critical matter for artillery. Artillery Communications - indirect fire artillery is totally dependent on effective and efficient communications and field artillery used all the normal facilities plus its own special methods. Fire Discipline - the language of fire control, you need to speak the language to talk to the guns. Target Acquisition and Counter Battery - this is where artillery starts to get intelligence systems - sound-ranging, flash-spotting and radars - and the counter battery and counter mortar organisations. Ammunition - starting with explaining QF, BL and ML, covering propellant, projectiles and fuzes and fuze setting.  Comprehensively illustrated. The Guns - datasheets and pictures of the regiments' colours, and an explanation of the main components of guns and their construction. Sights and Laying - the technology and processes of aiming guns indirectly. Other Firepower - a summary of firepower from other types of artillery, mortars, naval gunfire and airpower. Weight of Fire - what happens at the target and how many shells to fire to get the results needed on the ground.  There's some real meat here for wargamers to chew on and it will help historians ask intelligent questions.  When did you last read a book that analysed the effectiveness of a fire plan? Mistakes and Errors - do you know the difference?  Statisticians love this stuff but don't be put off, particularly if you're a wargamer. Recruiting and Training - men, you couldn't have a WW2 army without them (apologies to amazons). Field Artillery Regiments - separate pages listing all the regiments of Australia, Britain Canada, Colonial Territories, India and New Zealand, outlining their origins, where and when they served and the formations they were with. Anti-tank Artillery - although it's not indirect fire and the methods were very different, anti-tank was the province of field artillery.

Introduction - to this area of this site. These pages are in two groups, first the thread of time over six eras, second, the evolution of five technical underpinnings. The six eras: Apart from WW2 matters related to the British Artillery in WW2 section, reading the eras as a story from beginning to end is the recommended approach. Before World War 1 - the beginnings of indirect fire. World War 1 - 4 years of incredible change that developed the foundations of modern gunnery. Between the Wars - consolidation and refinement of the methods developed in World War 1. World War 2 - after some initial hiccups the system matured. This page is also part of British Artillery in World War 2. After World War 2 - steady refinement and improvement of manual methods, and the impact of NATO standardisation. The Computer Age - the world changed when battlefield digital computers appeared. The technical underpinnings of indirect fire: These five pages include the relevant aspects of World War 2 methods but do not follow a single chronology. Maps and Survey - don't leave the gun-park without them. Meteorology - don't confuse it with weather forecasts. Calibration - just as important as meteorology. Ballistics and Data - without them the rest is meaningless. Laying & Orienting the Guns - how sighting and aiming systems evolved.

Common Elements

Glossary - hyperlinked from the terms used in the other pages.  This provides short explanations of many of the terms used and links to more information on this site.  Definitions include the modern equivalents. People - some of the most distinguished artillery generals and the artillery VC winners of World War 2. Field Artillery System - if you do not have a basic understanding of field artillery then you should start by looking at this short description. Introduction  - gives a brief description of the key aspect of the British artillery system that differentiated it from that used by some other nations, notably the US. The Basics of Gunnery - the basics of indirect fire - how the guns attack targets they cannot see. Useful Sources of Further Information - The sources outline the various types of official publications about artillery for the period as well as some other 'good reads'.  The sources are mostly concerned with World War 2. Links - to the main holders of information relevant to this site.

Pieces

The 105mm Light Gun - its origins and features. Concentrations of Massed Fire - its origins and evolution. Artillery Intelligence and Counter-Battery - describes the evolution and features of the counter-battery system that was developed in the BEF in France during World War 1. Artillery Intelligence and Counter-Battery 1919-1939 - describes the refinements to the counter-battery system and the problems that were developing. Artillery Intelligence and Counter-Battery 1939-1945 - describes the counter-battery system  during World War 2 in greater detail.

Search

Please read the following before trying the search dialogue box below
(lots of people aren't, please don't join them in their frustration!)

  There is a lot of information on this site.  However, there are some things you won't find.

• No more than a handful of very distinguished people are named here.  Over a million men served in the Royal Artillery in WW2, please don't waste your time looking for a relative's name.  However, you should be able to get an idea of what they did if they served with field artillery.
• This site concerns British and Commonwealth field artillery including anti-tank in World War 2.  Anti-aircraft (anti aircraft, ack ack or AA) or coast artillery are only mentioned when it was in a field artillery role, see 'Other Firepower'.  Maritime artillery and their RN comrades in DEMS are outside the scope of this site.
• Details of guns and equipment on this site are limited to items of British, Canadian or Australian origin.
• There are no pictures of or data about vehicles or uniforms.
• There are no accounts of particular battles or other actions - these are the field of more conventional histories.
• Very few specific batteries are mentioned.  
• Very few formations are mentioned except in the pages listing regiments.

This site generally uses the British terminology and spelling of the time and the 'Glossary' provides some translations to US or modern terms.  Other conventions are:

• Gun names use the style 25-pdr, 4.5-inch or 105-mm not '25pr', '25 pounder', etc, except in the gun data sheets where -pr is used instead of -pdr.  Most data sheets also have pictures.
• Unit names are abbreviated in the style - 5 RHA, 121 Fd Regt, 80 Med Regt, 56 Hy Regt, 4 Svy Regt, 55 ATk Regt.  Don't add 'st', 'th', etc, to numbers or use 'full' titles, eg not '80th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery' or regional/county names.  All artillery regiments (except Anti-Aircraft,  Coast,  Maritime, Defence and general duties) are listed by Country, Type and Number in the pages here.
• Lots of abbreviations are used and they don't have full stops/periods, ie it's HE not 'H.E.'.
• Armoured divisions are usually abbreviated to 'armd div', infantry divisions to 'inf div' and like regiments are abbreviated in the style 7 Armd Div or 51 Inf Div.
• Anti tank is anti-tank or ATk.

The search engine is nowhere near smart enough to 'mind-read' abbreviations so make sure you get it right!

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