The British supply and manufacture of artillery weapons was controlled by the Board of Ordnance. The Master General of the Ordnance was very powerful military, and political, figure. They included such names as John Earl of Chatham (1801-1806, 1807-1810), Francis Earl of Moira (1806-1807) and Henry Earl of Mulgrave (1810-1816).
Born in 1761 Henry Shrapnel was to invent, in 1784, an anti-personnel weapon which he called 'spherical case' shot. The hollow spherical shell of cast-iron was filled with a mixture of balls and powder. With the use of crude timing fuses the shell would break open, either in front of, or above the intended target, releasing the musket balls. His invention increased the effective range of canister shot from 300 to approximately 1100 meters.
It was not until 1803 that the British artillery would adopt this weapon. During the war with France, French infantrymen were apparently so frightened by the casualties this weapon caused, they would often surrender lying down.
British Artillery Rockets
In 1805 Sir William Congreve invented what would be known as Congreve rockets. The rockets came in six different calibers, starting at 3 powders and ending at 24 powders. They consisted of a steel case, which had a conical or spherical head, filled with black gunpowder. The heads were attached to guide poles and launched in pairs.
The rockets could out-range the guns of the time, but they were slow and notoriously inaccurate.
They were also known to prematurely explode. They did however make an impression on the enemy.
In 1807 large number of rockets, approximately 25,000 were used against the sea port in Copenhagen, burning hundreds of buildings. The rockets continued their use in the war in America.
In 1813 the Russian monarch, Tsar Alexander, was apparently so impressed by their performance that he decorated the British officer with his own badge of Order of St. Anne.
Rifles and Machine Guns in the British Army
In 1792 the “India Pattern” version of the Brown Bess musket came in to use, having an effective range of 100 yards. It was designed to deliver a large bullet at low velocity. The year 1839 saw the introduction of the percussion musket. It had fewer misfires, better accuracy and rate of fire. Then in the 1850’s British troops were using the Minie muzzle loading rifle and Enfield rifle.
In 1865 the snider breach loading Enfield rifle was introduced. The standard British rifle was the bolt action Lee Enfield Rifle, No. 4 Mk I and would outmatch the standard German rifle of the war, the Karabiner 98k. World War I would see the use of the 12 inch Howitzer. Bombardment with the Howitzer would precede an infantry attack.
The German use of sub-machine guns took the British by surprise but, not to be outdone, the Sten gun came in to use, and between 1941 and 1945 some 3,750,000 were produced. The British Bren light machine gun, firing 500 rounds a minute would come up against the German MG 42.
The Artillery and Tanks
Sir Winston Churchill had championed the development of the tank.
The British Infantry tank used in World War I was faster and lighter than the Cruiser tank introduced in World War II. The Cruiser tanks were intended to operate independently of the slow moving infantry and their heavier Infantry tanks. By 1942, these tanks had a 75mm gun, and the ability to fire high explosive and anti tank rounds, making them better than any other tank in British service.
The development of the Sherman Firefly allowed the British to effectively defeat German Panther, Tiger I and Tiger II tanks. The Comet tank entered service in late 1944 with a 77mm HV. It remained in British service until 1958, seeing further combat during the Korean War.
Following the use of tanks came anti tank weapon. The British Ordnance QF 2 pounder had three times the range of the Germans’ anti tank guns. With the development of the 17 pounder anti tank gun in 1943, the artillery had the ability to knock out Tiger tanks at a maximum range of 1 mile (1.6 km).
This is by no means a complete listing of the types of early artillery in use in the British army’s early history, in does however show how the relationship between tactics and artillery design lives in a close marriage, each one directly affecting the other. Where once close contact and hand to hand tactics were the norm, new design and invention sees warring countries able to engage one another from great distances. Such is war in present day.
Wendy Getchell - I am a retired Registered Nurse writing articles on health as well as many other areas of interest. I have taken the life of a freelance ...
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