GUNNERS IN THE WAR.

Taihape Daily Times, 15 July 1919, Page 5

GUN NERS IN THE WAR.

THEIR SHARE EXTOLLED.

No arm lnas been more thoroughly' justified its existence in the great war ! than the Royal Artillery, Hamperedi vzrt first by want of ammunition, handicapped by the enormous mass of fresh, . if not raw material fed to its person-I nel, horses, mules, and guns, the Royall Re-giment set aside, or avoided, all difficulties, overcame all obstacles, andl _finallly earnedthe sincere gratitude and; hearty praise of the Whole .r.r:ny Th; l shortage of ammunilticn { writes Irlaj»or- I General Sir Desmond O’Calla»gh-an in. the Daily Express) W.-IS u11~’:‘or:-.2nnte—l almost disastr-ous-—b'l: It was part and E parcel of the eheesepacing pmny lhl-ll] starved the Army and Navy before the 1 war. __ I It was sought to right it by abusing ofiicials and by the fevered cry of! ““Shells. More shells!” That thiscryfi ;did_ gelvanise the powers tlrat Were‘ ‘into action is indisputable, -but in its! {Wording it displayed a. widespreadl ignorance, for those who shrieked it} failed to realise stliat the shell was of; no use without the gun and its cor-2 dite charge and primer, and the bursting charge and fuse to make the shell 3 } efiective. ' ‘ ‘These two last were really the! ‘measure of supply. High lcxplosivei needed special plant, and extreme caution in its manu.fac.ture, and fuses ere of such delicate construction that they 1 {require llighly—skilled artificers not} only for their making and assembly,l but for the erection of the neccssaryl machines and for the production of countless gauges (this in itself is ai specialised handicraft) to govern their I fnanuijfacture. Shells were always I ’fall“e2:l:d"'of what are‘ known as eo:mpo1;1-vi *“e‘nts£'°""'Theii came the cry for high“-‘ex:-‘T; 1 plqsise ’ field‘ s’g"uns,'ii*t‘s'-advocates 3;-wlo'nvgl’y’;' oisiaiehsurgingg‘-thgt«l, its ‘shlovuldiifentifelyl t-érke r'he-:‘pl;a:e'e~ of-‘lp ‘ sbfapiiél, prm-dr=‘-iwhieh was :at '»l‘ast'~! ih 'ree‘ogni's‘ed}"' ‘biit none’. too?-‘ ‘so‘o?n.v A‘ ' " 3 . “THE.-ENEMY BATTE-RED. 93 .1

' ‘As ‘he *the‘role‘ played Iby the ‘Artillery if. isfilimpossinlnle in '2l short article to give due prominence’ to all its many "features. Among the more striking were the counter batteries of the enemy ’s heavy ordnance ?by -our howitzers, which r-anig§;d 'f'l"c'_>ni 6-inch to 15inch in calibre, ‘and iwzficre eifective up to nearly ten miles; " the “creeping barrage,” invented by General Sir Henry Horne, R.A.', which protected our infanhy when advancing over the top; andilfinzillyithc later st.age's'when in {he ’ipl;:-su_it'{ii’¢ field al*ti_llery was 'bl'_ougl.lt‘ the 'iirin'g“linc, and fil‘ccl'7:c‘ver_"d{’J:eri §ightf:s.'“ ?_ '3 ‘ ‘ L

Ezgtx-aofd:§na;i'y V‘aé‘c.ll‘l‘~a'éy of; Shodting‘ ys’as"_col‘lsft:a;i'tsl:xr ré’<'lli:ils}.3=t'l.;‘:alld is €llangoffihc‘ day”) renddfed it imposs'ible “go shoét by‘ map only, “spotting” by aolroplancs land capfivc or “kite” balloong solved the dif’ficulTy. The -gi'ati—tude for -the barrage often expressed by the infantry testified to the accuracy which was obtained. All England, and London in particular, has rc~cc)g;ni:<ed. «and is grateful, for the profmtion a.fl’ol'dod by the -.lnti-a’il'craft zn'tillory, Escaped from the old foolish Ginfum. “the. effect of artillery is only mcval,” the gunners can say with truth that they have come into vfheir CWl}.