"THE HEAVIES."

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 18 July 1917, Page 3

"THE HEAVIES."

BRINGING UP THE GUNS. ON THE HEELS OF THE ENEMY. The Germans have found even our heaviest guns unpleasantly close on their heels in this retreat. The lighter guns still are pulled into position by horses but for the rest that wonderful organisation, the Army Service Corps, has taken over the task of moving our "heavies." Not that this pleases the Royal Artillery. It does not. They would far rather have the control of the drivers and their motors. But under the present system the artillery "four-wheel drives" and other waggons arei available for a multitude of jobs, such as bringing up supplies, road-making materials, etc., besides ammunition. When they are wanted for the guns they are always ready and in good order, and have not been standing idle. WAR MIRACLES.

There is nothing so wonderful among all the miracles Great Britain has performed in this war as the development of our heavy artillery, ranging from 60-pounders to 12 in. howitzers and even 15in. howitzers, though the latter are manned by naval ratings, of new design, and with a perfect recoil system, which makes them the finest weapons the British Army has ever possessed. The Gin. and Sin. are especially pleasing to handle. They will 'sit' on any ground, and their "sighting arrangements are unequalled, while they have a traverse on the axle of several degrees, like the French guns, which maks it unnecessary to shift the trail often. Hooked up to their motortractors, they go as easily as a field gun behind its team, and in the case of the heaviest natures the "caterpillars" will take them over ground that would be difficult, if not impossible, for horses

Behind the Germans column after column of these guns wore pouring on over the roads rapidly repaired by the labour battalions or by the men of the batteries themselves. Vast stores of road-making materials exist in the neighbourhood of the Somme and to the north. The great piles of slag from the mines—which about Loos, for instance, look like veritable pyramids—have been sensibly diminished by our

road-making activities. These mountainous spoil-heaps also furnish ballast for the light and standard gauge railways, which are advanced almost as fast as the troops.

THE USE OF LIGHT RAILWAYS. The light railway is everywhere bringing up stores and ammunition, to be afterwards carried right to the guns by motor-waggons, so that the stream of shells bursting on the Germans positions need never slacken except for the physical exhaustion of the gunners. A heavy gunner has to '' lather.'' Battery fire is, for a Gin. howitzer, at the rate of a Tound per gun per 10 seconds. One can imagine the surprise of the Germans that so quickly these guns, hurled high explosives to ranges stated in miles, should be on their heels pounding them out of their new elaborate defences, and catching them already with barrages, which make their retreat more and more perilous. With the guns go the means of repair. There are travelling workshops for the motors, travelling ordnance works for the guns, and, if the latter should be damaged seriously, fresh guns to take their places in a battery.