The effective solution that this reorganization provided for the
problem of divisional reliefs, and incidentally the necessity for
some such solution, are illustrated by the fact that in the pro-
longed Flanders battle of July-Oct. 1917 the average time spent
in line by divisional artillery (which moved in and out with their
infantry) was 33 days, while the average for units of the army
reserve field artillery was 72 days.
When fully developed at the end of 1917 the higher organization of the British artillery in France was as follows:
other had three " battalions " each of two four-gun batteries, making 24 medium howitzers. Thus, as in 1914, we find 72 guns per 12 battalions or six guns per 1,000 rifles, but the addi- tion of numerous heavy machine guns to the rifle strength makes the proportion of guns, in relation to fighting frontage, somewhat less. Each divisional artillery possessed a battery of 12 medium trench mortars.
The corps artillery (each corps had four divisions) comprised one regiment of medium guns (4-7 in.) and one of heavy guns
Army H.Q. and General Officer commanding Artillery in the Army.
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Army field artillery (pool)
I. Corps H.Q. and II., I general officer commanding artillery of I. Corps
1 1
II., etc., Corps (similar)
Army heavy artillery
(pool)
lered also Dntrols]
Anti-aircraft guns in army area. 1
2nd, 3rd, etc., H.Q. ist div. and divs. similar brig.-gen. 1st divisional artillery.
Brig.-gen. heavy artillery [if on I. Corps. c
(organized by areas)
1
Bdes. Otherwise allotted (varying in number).
1 1 1 Bdes. allotted Bde. Bde. Medium to ist div. (field guns trench (field guns and field mortars, and field howitzers howitzers). normally belonging to div.).
I 1
Heavy Heavy bdes. trench normally mortars. in corps area (num- ber and composition vary).
1 | Heavy brigades, or do. to temporary II., III., etc. groups heavy, corps operation, allotted to I. Corps operation, (number varies, also composition)
(Thick lines show organic system, thin lines special battle system)
(At this period the field brigades were composed of three gun and one howitzer battery each; the composition of heavy bri- gades varied considerably, a " mobile" brigade consisting of two 6o-pr. and two 6-in. howitzer batteries, while others contained 9-2 and 8-in howitzers in addition.)
German practice differed considerably from this, in that all artillery in a divisional area was under control of the divisional artillery commander, while in major operations the artillery of several corps together was controlled for the occasion by a " general of the artillery " who was often neither a general officer in rank, nor a permanent member of the army head- quarters concerned.
The average strength in batteries of a divisional sector (in the case of the German nine-battalion division) was the six field-gun and three field-howitzer batteries of the division, and five to seven batteries of medium and heavy artillery belonging to the sector, or, in pieces, 36 light plus 24 heavy (irrespective of trench mortars). Figures have already been given for typical artillery strength in battle (in terms of yards of front per gun).
The return to open warfare conditions in 1918 made further changes, chiefly in the direction of providing divisions with medium artillery of their own and separating what had formerly been " sector " heavy artillery into calibres suitable for in- corporation in mobile divisions and calibres best managed by corps headquarters. The Germans made a beginning with this process in permanently allotting a group of one io-5-cm. gun battery and two i5-cm. howitzer batteries to each divisional artillery. 1 But the best example of artillery organization as conceived in 1918 for purposes of the expected mobile warfare, is that laid down (though never fully carried out owing to the dose of hostilities) for the American Expeditionary Force. 1
The divisional artillery consisted of a brigade of three regi- ments, two being of field guns (75 mm.) and one of medium howitzers (155 mm.). The field-gun regiments consisted each of two " battalions," and each " battalion " of three four-gun batteries, in all 24 guns per regiment or 48 per division. The
1 This was never completed, but a large number of divisions had been so provided by the end of the war.
2 It must be observed that the American division was much strong- er in infantry than a British, French or German, having in fact 12 battalions besides a considerable machine-gun organization.
(155 mm.) both " motorized," as well as four batteries of heavy trench mortars. These artillery regiments were arranged, like the medium regiment of a division, in three battalions each of two four-gun batteries; thus in all, the corps artillery contained 24 medium and 24 heavy long guns. The two regiments formed a brigade.
Army reserve artillery (for an army of five corps or 20 divi- sions) consisted of four brigades (motorized) or 12 regiments of heavy guns (6-in.), organized as above, and containing in all 288 pieces, and five regiments of field artillery (organized in the same way as divisional field artillery regiments) with 100 pieces.
Lastly, under G.H.Q. direct was the Railway Artillery Re- serve, consisting of 42 batteries (i.e. pieces) grouped in " bat- talions," regiments and brigades.
Neglecting the last item, then, we find for an army of 20 divisions, about to be engaged in offensive mobile warfare and counting 291 battalions of infantry and pioneers and 120 regimental and divisional machine-gun companies:
Field guns.
Medium howitzers.
Medium guns.
Heavy guns.
240 batteries di- visional, 1 20 bat- teries in army pool. = 1,440 pieces
1 20 batteries in divisional artil- lery.
= 480 pieces
120 batteries in corps artillery.
= 480 pieces
1 20 batteries in corps artillery, 72 batteries in army pool. = 768 pieces
Total batteries 792; total pieces (excluding Railway Artillery and trench mortars) 3,168; or roughly 10 guns per 1,000 of infantry, pioneer, and machine-gun establishments, of which 4$ belong to divisional, 3 to corps and 2\ to reserve artillery.
In the British and American examples quoted, an artillery staff under a brig.-gen. or maj.-gen. is provided at the rate of about one per 90 guns (or including the field artillery pool one per 100). The German artillery staffs were in a smaller proportion. This question of higher artillery commands is still an open one, but it is clear that under modern conditions no reversion is possible to the simple method of 1914, in which there was no effective artillery staff at a higher level than the division. War organiza- tion will necessarily include some proportion of these higher artillery commands, and peace organization must provide, if not these executive posts themselves, at any rate the means of preparing the officers who may be called upon to hold them.
