ARTILLERY FIRE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21336, 6 February 1941, Page 10

ARTILLERY FIRE

SHELL COSTS £IOOO DIFFERENCES IN RANGES EXPENSIVE TO BUILD In the early days of this war Hitler indicated something of the range of modern super-heavy artillery. “You will shell Freiburg and we will shell Mulhouse,” he said, and went on to name half a dozen towns and 'cities on either side of the frontier and all fifteen miles or more from the nearest possible enemy gun positions. Long range bombardments of this kind means the employment of very big guns of a type normally used in forts or as armament on capital ships. They are difficult to move, and can only achieve maximum accuracy with the aid of aircraft “spotting.” Large calibre ordnance weapons are, indeed, a necessity for siege warfare, particularly the howitzer, which is a low velocity piece dropping its shell at a steep angle, so that it will fall behind fortifications or drop on to, and batter in, armoured emplacements. Howitzers of 15.5-inch calibre, or bore, were used by the Germans in the siege of Antwerp in 1914. They threw their 20001 b shells to a distance of six miles, and completely crushed the Belgian forts, which had not been constructed to withstand such a battering. Each of these howitzers weighed 29 tons, and each required 13 traction engines to haul it into position. Actual Performances One of the modern howitzers throws a shell of 14.6-inch diameter, weighing 10001 b, to a distance of seven miles. The weapon can be ; easily hauled on a double girder truck driven by petrol engines. This is by no means the latest type of heavy howitzer used in the Allied armies. The actual performance of our guns and howitzers is naturally secret, but the following figures taken from official sources, British and foreign, about six years ago, give an idea of what can be expected, bearing modern improvements in mind: Guns Calibre Shell Range Inches lb. Miles 6 100 10 9.2 380 14 12 1000 19 14 1560 22 Howitzers 8 200 7 9.2 290 8 12 300 10 12.45 350 14 The longest ranging gun yet built was the famous “Big Bertha,” with which the Germans shelled Paris from a distance of 76 miles. It was not a very destructive engine of war, for its shell Ayeighed only 2651 b and had not a big bursting charge. It was, however, a remarkable achievement in gunnery. Height of 24 Miles The shell was given an initial velocity of 5000 feet a second, nearly twice that of a normal gun, and rose to a height of 24 miles, where the air is so thin that it offered little resistance to its passage. The gun wore out after about 30 rounds, and, at its best, and at extreme range, could only hit with sureness a target about two miles long and a mile wide. Increase of range is now obtained by tapering off, or “streamlining” the rear end of the shell, by which means the resistance of the air is much reduced. So far as is known, this expedient has not been applied, in any country, to guns larger than the field or medium type, j In theory a big gun with a normal 1 range of 20 miles would throw a j streamlined shell 30 miles without making any other change. A modern gun is a very expensive piece of apparatus to build. As a rough estimate it can be said to cost about £ISOO for every inch of bore. An 18-pdr. field gun with a bore of 3 inches costs over £4OOO. The new American 4-inch howitzers cost £SOOO complete with mounting. Ammunition for big guns is also a very heavy item in the total cost of war. Each time a 15-inch gun is fired with full charge. £IOOO has disappeared in flame and smoke. Method of Building: Field and medium guns are usually built by shrinking tubes of steel, white hot, one over the other. Big guns in Britain are built by winding ; “wire” over an inner tube. The wire , is actually steel ribbon, six-one-hun- j dredths of an inch thick and a-quar-ter of an inch wide. Nearly 200 miles of this ribbon is | required to wind a 15-inch gun and ! it is put on in one continuous length. j The wire weighs over 20 tons, and the number of turns wound varies ■ from 20 at the muzzle to 80 at the j breech. j The accuracy of the modern big j gun is remarkable. In ideal condi- j tions a 9.2-inch gun, firing at a tar- ( get 10 miles away, should put a senes of rounds fired with the same sighting into a circle 12 yards in diameter. | Roughly, the size of the group made by any gun is about 40 inches for i each mile of range. Modem gunnery is a business re- ; quiring great skill from every member of the gun crew as well as from the battery, gun-position, and other officers. Each gun has a personality of its own which has to be understood if good work is to be obtained from it. In the “Heavies” the men usually give their own gun a name, , which" indicates pride and affection, j “Chalking the gun,” that is, writing their names on breech or carri- i age. is an ancient privilege accorded ' to members of the ‘‘siege train, ’ but it has now spread to guns of smaller • tvpe. Members of anti-aircraft bat- ■ teries usually name their guns just as j is done in heavy and super-heavy • batteries. j Heavy artillery comprises 6-inch , guns and 8-inch and 9.2-inch howitzers. Super-heavy artillery comprises guns of 9.2-inch and over and howitzers of 12-inch and over.

A bomb exploded in the readingroom of the Anglo-Yugoslav club at Zagreb, in Yugoslavia, one floor under the British Consulate-General. It destroyed books and furniture. A woman was injured.

Russian and Hungarian technical commissions are planning direct railway connection with the object of furthering trade between {he two