Description
Object description
British officer served with 6th and 130th Btys, XL Bde, Royal Field Artillery on Western Front, 1916-1918
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as cadet at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, GB, 8/1915-2/1916: reasons for enlistment; nature of training and syllabus; instructors. Aspects of period as range officer with Royal Artillery at Okehampton Range, GB, 2/1916-7/1916: ammunition situation; role; question of air co-operation training. Recollections of operations as officer with 6th and 130ths Btys, XL Bde, Royal Field Artillery in Somme area, France, 8/1916-1/1917: question of adequacy of training; observation post duties; question of justification for Battle of Ancre.
REEL 2 Continues: staffing of observations posts; role of infantry liaison officer; role of Forward Observation Post (FOO) officer during attacks including communications problems; role of signallers in repairing telephone wires; question of use of visual signalling methods; problem with battery shooting short whilst acting as Brigade Forward Observation Officer (BFOO) at Falfemont Farm, 9/1916; opinion of Ordnance QF 18 Pounder Field Gun and use of shrapnel shells to cut wire; opinion of Ordnance QF 4.5 Inch Howitzer; problem with fuses until introduction of No 106 Fuse; question of faulty ammunition; relations with officers; colonel's role in securing his posting to artillery course rather than being returned to GB for being under nineteen years of age; winter conditions. Recollections of operations as officer with 6th and 130ths Btys, XL Bde, Royal Field Artillery in Arras area, France, 3/1917-6/1917: importance of preliminary gas shell bombardment in suppressing German artillery prior to attack, 9/4/1917; use of tunnels to get out into No Man's Land as Forward Observation Officer (FOO) .
REEL 3 Continues: use of gas shells; increase in effectiveness of German counter-battery fire during Arras offensive; effects of German air superiority and casualties suffered by 12 Sqdn Royal Flying Corps; organisation at corps level of counter-battery work; move into quiet sector at Havrincourt, France, 6/1917-9/1917. Recollections of operations as officer with 6th and 130ths Btys, XL Bde, Royal Field Artillery in Ypres area, Belgium, 9/1917-10/1917: reaction to posting; movements; use of pack horses to carry shells; muddy conditions; question of justification for Third Battle of Ypres; wet conditions; organisation of battery; conditions for drivers in wagon lines.
REEL 4 Continues: role of officers; improvised signalling arrangements; total destruction of two howitzers by direct hit prior to attack on Broodseinde, 4/10/1917; food and water rations; wet conditions and conditions for drivers in wagon lines; comparison of conditions on Somme. France and Ypres, Belgium; question of justification for Third Battle of Ypres; question of briefing prior to attacks and preparation for artillery barrages; opinion of various senior officers including General Herbert Plumer.
REEL 5 Continues: question of superior leave allowances granted officers rather than other ranks; value of experience in boarding leave boat. Reflections on developments in artillery techniques on Western Front, 1918: prior reliance on long preliminary bombardment before offensives; wire cutting role of tank; increased artillery available; improvement in registering techniques; British gun types.
REEL 6 Continues: German gun types and artillery techniques; creeping barrage technique; role of Royal Flying Corps air co-operation squadrons; method of communicating with aircraft during shoot, including use of clock code and question of effectiveness with field rather than medium guns.
