Description

Great Book by Osprey Publishing. 48 pages
In 1914 the artillery of Britain's 'Field Army' encompassed those weapons judges to have sufficient mobility to keep up with troops in the field. At the upper end of the range were the 60-pdr guns of the heavy field batteries, perched somewhat uncomfortably on the cusp between field artillery and siege artillery, at the other extreme were the 2.75in. guns of the mountain batteries, almost toy-like in comparison. In between lay the bulk of the artillery of the Field Army: the 13-pdr guns of the Royal Horse Artillery, and the 18-pdr. guns and 4.5in. howitzers of the Royal Field Artillery batteries. It would be misleading, however, to suggest that Britain's park of light and medium artillery was restricted to these five equipments. The heavy field batteries of the Territorial Force were equipped with the 4.7in. gun, their horse artillery batteries with the 15-pdr. QF (the 'Ehrhardt'), and field batteries with the 15-pdr. BL and 5in. howitzer. There were, in addition, the various fortress companies of the Royal Garrison Artillery, who were expected to defend their landward approaches with a colourful mixture of field and mountain equipment, including 12-pdr and 15-pdr field guns and 10-pdr and 2.95in. mountain guns. Much British Artillery had been in service for a decade or more before the start of the First World War. Shortcomings had emerged and technology moved on, indeed specifications were issued for new field artillery in 1913. As the war progressed, the older equipment was relegated to a training role and eventually removed from service, while new versions of existing guns, such as later versions of the 18-pdr, entered service alongside new weapons such as the 3.7in. pack howitzer.