The Ordnance BL 9.2-inch howitzer was a heavy siege howitzer that formed the principal counter-battery equipment of British forces in France in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It equipped a substantial number of siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery. It remained in service until about the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

The origins of a British heavy "siege" howitzer lie in advances in technology and the 21 cm howitzers used by the German field army. UK had purchased Skoda 9.45-inch howitzer from Austria in 1900 for service in South Africa. A practice camp in the 1900s showed this howitzer's high minimum elevation was a major problem. In due course Britain decided to develop its own heavy weapon, but retained the Skoda transport technique of moving it in three loads on wheeled trailers (either horse- or tractor-towed). A trial gun was received in 1913 and fired at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

and Shoeburyness during the winter. In July 1914 it was sent to the tactical firing range at

Rhayader Rhayader (; cy, Rhaeadr Gwy; ) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, within the historic county of Radnorshire. The town is from the source of the River Wye on Plynlimon, the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains, and is locate ...

with a siege company. The assessment was "This equipment is a vast improvement on any other in use in the siege artillery, and is worth taking with an army." Major General von Donop, Master-General of the Ordnance, immediately ordered 16 guns and a further 16 were ordered in October 1914. The prototype gun, "Mother", was in action in France on 31 October 1914 and production guns entered service in 1915. The gun was transported in three loads – body and cradle, bed, barrel – towed by either heavy horses or a Holt tractor. The equipment featured a segment shaped ground platform assembled from steel section and bolted to a holdfast sunk flush with the ground. An earth box fitted above ground to the front of the holdfast, with (Mk 1) or (Mk 2) of earth prevented it "bucking". On soft ground, extra beams were used under the holdfast. The carriage was mounted on the platform, it was pivoted at the front and traversed up to 30 degrees left and right by a spur gear engaging a curved toothed rack at the breech end of the platform, with the weight of the carriage on rollers. The tubular cradle pivoted by the trunnions supported the barrel – a wire bound ''A tube'' – and connected it to the hydro-pneumatic recoil system with a floating piston (the first British use of this) and hydraulic buffer. However, the initial design suffered from excessive recoil and was modified in 1916. In 1917 the recoil was further improved by addition of a recoil indicator and cut-off gear.Official History of the Ministry of Munitions Vol X The Supply of Munitions Part 1 Guns, Sect VI Other Modifications in Design, (g) 9.2-inch Howitzer Full recoil (40-inch Mk I, 44-inch Mk II) was allowed at lower elevation, hence absorbing most of the horizontal (i.e. backward) force. A shorter recoil (23-inch Mk I, 20-inch Mk II) was allowed at high elevation where the ground itself could absorb much of the vertical (i.e. downward) recoil force. This prevented the breech from hitting the platform. The barrel had to be depressed 3° for loading, as can be seen in the photograph, shown below, of a howitzer of the Australian 55th Siege Battery.

Mark II

The Mk I's range was relatively limited and in June 1916 the senior Artillery commander in France, Major General Birch,The MGRA, Major-General, Royal Artillery requested among other artillery improvements an increase in range to ''"even if an increase of the weight of the equipment is entailed"''. This resulted in the Mark II gun in December 1916, with a heavier maximum propellant charge, a longer barrel and an increased range of . However, combat experience showed the higher-velocity Mk II barrel had a reduced life, estimated at 3,500 rounds. The average barrel life of a Mk I gun was estimated from combat experience to be 6,000 rounds.

Combat use

A disadvantage of the dismantling system was an inability to fire directly from the travelling carriage the way the BL 8-inch howitzer could. Thirty-six hours were normally required to dismount a gun from its travelling configuration and set it up for firing. This disadvantage was offset by the stability of the siege mounting which made it "the most accurate of heavy howitzers". In World War I British service, the gun served only on the Western Front with 36 British, one Australian and two Canadian batteries. Batteries increased in size from four guns to six during 1916–17. Initially, batteries were in Heavy Artillery Groups – usually a single battery of 9.2-inch with the other four batteries being differently equipped. Mid-war Groups were renamed Brigades RGA, and there were different types but the pattern of a single 9.2-inch battery in a brigade was retained. During

, some guns went to France with the British Expeditionary Force, but their main deployment was in the United Kingdom as anti-invasion defences. According to the post-war memoirs of comedian

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

, who served in the Royal Artillery's 56th Heavy Regiment, 9.2-inch howitzer ammunition was so scarce in the early years of the Second World War that gun-crews in training were reduced to shouting "bang" in unison, as no shells were available to practice with.

US service

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

was already contracted to manufacture 9.2-inch howitzers for Britain before the US entry into World War I in April 1917. The order was to be completed by July 1917, but they failed to meet the contract timescale and a year later deliveries had not been completed. As British manufacturing capacity increased, guns became available for export. The US government ordered 100 from Bethlehem and 132 from Britain to equip the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

building up in France. One source states that Bethlehem did not reach production on the US order but that 40 were delivered from Britain by the end of the war. The US Ordnance manual of 1920 describes its current stock of Model of 1917 (Vickers Mk I) and Model of 1918 (Vickers Mk II) as being built both in Britain and the USA. The US-built guns may have been British orders to Bethlehem which were redirected to the US Army. One source describes the US acquisition of the 9.2 as based mainly on the need at the time to utilize immediately available manufacturing capacities, and that development of a 240-mm howitzer based on the French Schneider 280-mm mortar for its super-heavy artillery was the main US goal.Brown 1920, pp. 68–69 This view is supported by the 1920 US Ordnance manual which describes the 240 mm howitzer as far superior to the 9.2. The US 65th Artillery Regiment,

Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...

(CAC), was in action with 9.2-inch howitzers in World War I. Also equipped with or slated for this weapon, the 72nd Artillery (CAC) was almost ready for the front and the 50th Artillery (CAC) was in France but had not commenced training at the time of the Armistice. Each regiment had an authorised strength of 24 guns. Following the war, the US stock of 9.2-inch weapons was moved to the US and placed in reserve; a total of 45 guns. In April 1919, 40 of them were placed at coast defence installations for gun loading training. In 1923, these guns, plus the five others and 45,000 shells, were withdrawn to war reserve storage. In 1926 the 9.2 was listed for disposal. Five gun tubes survive in the United States as war memorials.

Russian and Soviet service

Only four out of 44 9.2-inch howitzers promised by the allies ended up in the service of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. These four pieces were actually given by Japan in 1917. The Russian designation for the gun was 234-mm Vickers howitzer. An ammunition tally on 15 September 1917 showed 1,110 rounds per gun available in the Russian arsenal. There was however no local production of this ammunition, all had to be imported. Three of the guns were still in service with the Soviet 317th artillery battalion, part of the 13th Army in the winter of 1939-1940, when they were employed against the Mannerheim Line.

Ammunition

The primary ammunition was HE (high explosive) shells filled with Amatol,

Trotyl Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

(TNT) or Lyddite. The standard shell weight was . However, there were 19 variants of HE shell, some with sub-variants. Later marks of shell had a fill that varied between about of HE, and shell bodies varying in length between . There was also some use of Common Pointed shell filled with Shellite. Later fuses included various versions of No 101, 106 and 188. More than three million rounds of ammunition were expended during the war. Chemical shells were introduced in 1918, these were filled with mustard gas, a persistent chemical agent. However, only 7000 shells were produced.

Surviving examples

Imperial War Museum

The barrel of the original prototype, known as 'Mother' is preserved on a Mk I carriage by the Imperial War Museum. This howitzer was tested at

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, Wales in July 1914. Sent to France, it was operated by 8th Siege Battery from October 1914. The howitzer was visited by Field Marshal Sir John French on 5 November 1914 and by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on 18 November. Transferred to 10th Siege Battery in early 1915 it saw use during the battles of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 and

Festubert Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert. Geography A farming v ...

in May 1915. The weapon returned to Britain in July 1915 and was fired at the Shoeburyness ranges until worn out. With its barrel relined, it was reissued to France in 1917. Acquired by the Imperial War Museum, the howitzer was exhibited at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, from 1920 and at South Kensington from 1924. Around this time, the howitzer served as the model for the Royal Artillery Memorial designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger.

Australian War Memorial

A Mk I howitzer, probably used by 55th Siege Battery of the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Au ...

in 1917, is preserved at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra. The weapon was received by the AWM in 1939, later being used at an artillery range at Port Wakefield, South Australia for proof testing before returning to the AWM's stores in April 1949. It was later loaned to the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first ...

for display at

Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy Barracks is an Australian Army military barracks, located in the Heathcote National Park in Holsworthy approximately from the central business district, in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The barracks is part of ...

, returning to the AWM in 1998.

Charleston, South Carolina

A 9.2-inch howitzer barrel, manufactured in 1918 by the Bethlehem Steel Company, is displayed in

White Point Garden White Point Garden is a 5.7 acre public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina, at the tip of the peninsula. It is the southern terminus for The Battery (Charleston), the Battery, a defensive seawall and promenade. It is bounded ...

at The Battery in Charleston, South Carolina (32.76983, -79.93179).

Notes

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *Official History of the Ministry of Munitions Vol X The Supply of Munitions. 1922. Facsimile reprint by Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press, 2008.
"Counter-Battery Work" GHQ Artillery Notes No. 3 February 1918. Redistributed by US Army War College April 1918.
Provided online by Combined Arms Research Library *Sevellon Brown
"The story of ordnance in the World War". Washington, James William Bryan Press, circa. 1920.
*Dale Clarke
British Artillery 1914–1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005
*General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914–18. London: The Royal Artillery Institution, 1986 *Major General Sir John Headlam, The History of the Royal Artillery – From the Indian Mutiny to the Great War Volume II (1899–1914). Woolwich, 1934 * I.V. Hogg, Allied Artillery of World War One. The Crowood Press, Marlborough, 1998 *I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972 *United States. Army. Ordnance Dept
"Handbook of artillery : including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel", May 1920.
See "9.2-Inch Howitzer Matériel (Vickers)" pp. 283–299
United States War Department Service Handbook of the 9.2-inch Howitzer Matériel

External links

Gun drill for 9.2-inch B.L. howitzer Mark II 1920
at State Library of Victoria
Gun drill for 9.2-inch B.L. howitzer Mark II carriage Mark II 1923
at State Library of Victoria
Service handbook of the 9.2 inch Howitzer matériel model of 1917 (Vickers Mark I) and model of 1918 (Vickers Mark II). United States. War Department. Washington. 1922
at State Library of Victoria * * *

Media

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:BL 09.2 inch howitzer World War II artillery of the United Kingdom World War I artillery of the United Kingdom World War I artillery of the United States World War I artillery of Australia World War I howitzers Siege artillery 234 mm artillery Articles containing video clips