The RFA - what it was in WW1

18 pounder gun in action. courtesy of the Imperial War museum © IWM (Q 106737)

The Royal Field Artillery was a branch of the Royal Artillery during World War War 1. There were two other branches of the Artillery during The Great War, The Royal Horse Artillery, the so-called elite branch of the Artillery; and the Royal Garrison Artillery, which mainly used the larger guns and developed 'technical' Gunnery (qv). The heavy guns were crucial to the final victory, as they had longer range and carried larger shells which were needed to destroy enemy fortifications. The Royal Horse Artillery and the Royal Field Artillery were developed initially as battlefield units, operating at the front line, giving direct fire on the enemy lines, supporting infantry and cavalry attacks. Up to the First World War their mobility was considered to be one of their primary assets. Even in the Boer War, the ability to manoeuvre quickly was considered to be a primary tactical advantage. These ideas about how to conduct War were primarily based on the experience of the Army during the Napoleonic Wars. However, Field guns had two serious disadvantages, power and range, which were relatively low in both cases. In a static war such as WW1, which was largely fought in trenches, the ability to fire heavy shells long distances became a crucial factor. However, most of the warring parties had little idea that this was to be the nature of this war at the beginning, and were thus nearly all short on the so-called 'heavy guns', and the tactics needed to utilise them efficiently.

To illustrate the importance of the Artillery in bringing the War to victory for the Allies, the number of men serving in the Artillery grew from 93,000 in 1914 to 549,000 in 1918. In contrast, the Cavalry was reduced from a high of 132,000 in 1916 to 84,000 in 1918. These changes in personnel indicate that the command finally got to grips with the concept of modern industrialised warfare as the war progressed. The combined use of all the forces available (Infantry, Aircraft, Artillery,Tanks, Gas Poison and Cavalry) was finally adopted in 1918 and led to the so-called 'last hundred days' which finally achieved victory. The intelligent co-ordination of artillery with these other forces was crucial to that victory.(Information from: Learning curves and Opportunity curves on The Western Front by Mike Senior, from Stand To! No. 93, Western Front Association)
 

All members of the Royal Artillery are Gunners, from the highest ranking to the lowest. The rank of Gunner is assigned to the equivalent of Private in the Infantry, who is a member of a Gun crew; similarly,  Bombardier is equivalent to Corporal. A Driver sat astride the left  horse in a pair of horses within the team of six horses which pulled the gun. Therefore, there would be three Drivers per gun. All other ranks are similar to those of the Infantry, with a few additional trade specific ranks like Shoeing-smith, wheeler, and fitter. Officers needed to be clever rather than rich (as was the usual prerequisite for the more elite Regiments), as technical skills were required for accurate deployment of the guns; ability in Mathematics and Geography were valued more highly than social connections and skill on the hunting field (though these did help as well).

The Regiment was divided into Brigades, and were numbered to identify each functioning unit. At the beginning of the War each Brigade was attached to a Division (Henry's Brigade was the 277th Brigade of the 55th West Lancashire Division TF), but in 1917 the Royal Artillery was re-organised and many units became came under the command of a centralised Command structure. Brigades were divided into Batteries commanded by an officer (theoretically a Major, if one was available), each Battery having four, six or eight guns. There were normally (but not always) four batteries in each Brigade, three with 6 eighteen pounder guns and one  6 piece howitzer battery.

A Gun is the modern name for a cannon. It has a long barrel and is used for firing high-velocity shell. It's trajectory is relatively low. The eighteen pounder gun, common to most batteries, was designed to be a mobile offensive weapon, and thus it was transported between positions by being hooked up to the back of a Limber (shell carrying trailer), which was in turn, pulled by a team of six horses. Three of the horses of the team had a member of the crew on it's back, called a driver. They controlled the horse they were mounted on and the horse next to it.

A Howitzer is a short, large bore piece, tossing a heavy shell into a high curve. Most RFA batteries were equipped with a 4.5 inch Howitzer.

Remembrance Sunday

Today we remember all those who died in Wars. I think we should also remember all those who suffer injuries in wars; some so badly injured that they will never lead normal lives again. They and their families live with daily grief which does not lessen with time.

'At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,

We will remember them'

Laurence Binyon

The 277th Brigade RFA

The 277th Brigade RFA

Horses of an Artillery Brigade awaiting embarkation on a train. The whole of the army was dependent on horses for most of its transport needs. Each Field artillery gun was usually pulled by six horses.
Picture courtesy of the Imperial War Museum Collection Q3042

The 277th RFA started life as the 12th, 13th and 14th Lancashire Batteries and were originally attached to the 55th West Lancashire Division, Territorial Forces. These eventually were renamed the 277th Brigade in May 1916, after they rejoined the 55th West Lancashire Division (January 1916)

After the Boer War, the Government and Army realized that the small standing Army of the Empire was insufficient for modern needs, and in 1908 the Territorial Forces came into being, and trained and were equipped as the Regular Army. Though they were raised to serve on the home front only, at the outbreak of World War 1, many volunteered for service at the front. 

The 277th did not go into action immediately, and when they did go off to France in late 1915, the West Lancashire Batteries were attached to the 2nd Canadian Division who were still getting their artillery up to strength and a suitable level of competence. Before embarkation they exchanged their rather out-dated 15 pounder guns for the standard 18 pounders (qv).

The 277th saw action on the Somme in 1916, but were moved again in January of 1917 to become an Army Brigade under the more centralized command of the newly re-organised Royal Field Artillery. Logistically, this made sense, because moving vast numbers of horses, guns and men to different sectors of the front (traditionally following their parent Division), on a fairly regular basis, did not make much sense as it was a highly dangerous and frequently complicated exercise.

The Brigade saw action in all of the major battles from October 1915 to the Armistice in November 1918, including The Battles of the Somme, the latter Battles of Ypres (Including Passchendaele).

In order to clarify what happened and when, I am going to start a page attached to this Blog which gives a transcription of the official War Diaries, the originals of which are housed in the National Archives and the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich. As these were handwritten, there may be some items which are difficult to interpret. These will be indicated by (?) sign. I hope you find them interesting and useful.

The War Diary Page will be updated, regularly. I hope to be able to post commentaries on the diary to show how the action of the Brigade fitted into the way the War was unfolding, as it progresses.
In addition, I will be producing a page about men in the 277th Brigade, and some notes on various technical issues such as map references and technical terminology.

Prepared for war?

Though those in power were perfectly aware that Germany had been building it's military capabilities for some time, to my mind, Great Britain and it's Empire seemed remarkably unprepared for War in 1914. 
The exception to this lax attitude was the Navy - it had been built up in response to the huge fleet that the Germans had constructed. Indeed there had been a very public competition going on between Britain and Germany for several years before the War. The Kaiser wanted to have an Empire to rival Britain's, and presumably, that would necessitate ruling the waves too, which up till the end of the 19th century had been Britain's boast.

It's when you look at the Army and the fledgling Royal Flying Corps (then a part of the Army) that you realize that somewhere along the way, someone was not thinking ahead. It seems hard to believe now that Britain's vast Empire was kept in it's place by a relatively small Army. It managed to do this by setting up small Garrisons in its Colonies (manned largely by local recruits), which really acted as a local police force. 

When you consider the million plus conscript armies of both France and Germany, the ninety odd thousand of the British Army seems a bit inadequate, by comparison. The Kaiser even had the effrontery to call it 'A contemptible little Army' (hence the phrase The Old Contemptibles, a phrase adopted by the rump of the Regular Army, which survived the slaughter of those first few months of war). The politicians and army chiefs, of course, were perfectly aware of these numeric imbalances - presumably they believed that the quality of the British soldier was sufficient to address this deficit. They must have done so, because we had not only guaranteed Belgian neutrality in the early nineteenth century, but also given guarantees to the French about defending their ports, just prior to the declaration of War.

Royal Field Artillery Cap Badge

Not everyone had been quite so confident, of course. After the Boer Wars, some had pressed for a reserve home Army to be formed. This became the Territorial Army, which had been set up in 1908. Trained and equipped as the Regular Army, this part-time force was to become vital to Britain's war effort once the War started. Though Territorials were raised to be there to protect the country at home, on the outbreak of War, the Territorial Divisions all volunteered to serve abroad.

The 55th West Lancashire Division was a Territorial Division, of which the 277th Brigade RFA (Henry's Brigade) was a part. They had been on annual manoeuvres at the outbreak of war, and it's various parts started to prepare for active duty almost immediately.
To be continued

Remembering Henry

On August 4th, one hundred years ago, we declared war on an increasingly militant Germany, and the whole horror of the Great War was unleashed on an unsuspecting generation. Most families will have at least one member who served in the First World War; most will have somebody who was either killed, maimed or injured during it. To this day, the wounds of that particular conflict are still raw, and it's effects echo down the generations. For sheer brutality and stupidity, some would would say it has never been equaled. 

Henry Hunt

My Grandfather, Henry Hunt served as a Bombardier in the 277th Royal Field Artillery. He didn't do anything that tens of thousands of others didn't do - he was just an ordinary soldier, serving his country. My Dad knew very little about his father's war service. He was only six when Henry died of pneumonia and heart failure. His lungs and health had been permanently damaged by mustard gas at a place called 'Wipers'. Dad told me all this when I was about seven or eight. I remembered it because I thought Wipers was an odd name for a place - we now know it as Ypres. Looking into the records, I think he was probably gassed at the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele (q.v.)

But, for now, I'd just like to remember Henry's war service, and his short life. He has no other memorial anywhere else, but here on the Internet. 

I shall be posting here regularly over the next few years about the Great War, the Royal Field Artillery, the 277th Brigade, and what I personally feel about the war. These brave men should not be forgotten.