RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. RAIL-BORNE ARTILLERY AGAIN

RAILWAYS AND WAR before 1918. RAIL-BORNE ARTILLERY AGAIN

Methods of siting heavy rail-borne artillery (France)

With the static nature of World War One all the belligerents found some use for super-heavy artillery to shell the enemy rear areas. The French in particular found themselves embarrassingly short of purpose-built weapons and had initially to round up a motley collection of naval and coast defence barrels (so far as super-heavy artillery was concerned, the important part was the gun barrel with its associated breech and recoil mechanism. The mounting could be fabricated to suit the task in hand). The problems of mounting these guns on mobile platforms were twofold. For calibres above about 155 mm. (c. S'S in.), the gun could only be fired at a comparatively small angle to the railway track unless supported by elaborate sponsons; and the recoil of such huge pieces was very difficult to absorb without damage to the track. This last problem was often worsened by the need to fire howitzers especially at near-maximum elevation. The motley nature of the early French artillery-on-rails (A.L.V.F.—artillerie lourde sur vioe ferree) enables us to illustrate several of the ways of installing such weapons for firing.

(a) 400-mm. calibre howitzer, ex-French navy, was mounted on a high, revolving platform, since it was normally fired at maximum elevation and thus most of the recoil shock was downwards. Its stability was assured by what amounted to spring jacks bearing down on transverse beams and anchored amidships to a shallow pit. The vehicle was self-contained and had a semi-automatic loading mechanism allowing it to fire a shell every three minutes or so.

(b) 240-mm. gun, 1884 model. This, mounted on a massive chassis, required a special pit to accept the elevation and was a coastal defence gun mounted on rigid trunnions. Its recoil was countered

by what was termed the 'glissement' or slippage method, the shock being transmitted to the chassis which in turn recoiled several feet along the track. It was restrained by inclined springs and was winched back into position manually while being reloaded.

(c) This 285-mm. weapon was also rigidly mounted, using massive platform blocks to support the weight of the weapon but did not require special pits. It took about one and a half hours to set up on special track.

(d) This late model 400-mm. howitzer was typical of the more complicated heavy equipments. It was fired from a specially constructed firing platform which took all the weight off the rail wheels and required 12 hours to build. It had an arc of fire of only 120 across the centre line.

370-mm. gun on rail mounting (France)

Those unfamiliar with the metric system of measurement may not at first realise the full massiveness of the heavier railway guns, or their destructive capabilities. Perhaps this view of one of the heaviest weapons used by either side will give a better impression of what mounting these huge pieces involved. This particular one is a 370-mm. naval gun equivalent in calibre and power to an English 15-in. gun of the type normally mounted only in the heaviest warships. As with certain other examples of railway artillery, the barrel was actually a smaller calibre weapon bored out to size; in this case the original was a 305-mm. weapon. It was mounted on two 4-axle bogies each with an axle load of 20 tonnes, a precaution needed since some of these big guns on their mountings weighed in excess of 150 tons. The carriage was fitted with a recoil recuperation system which, linked to recuperators on the gun mount itself, enabled the weapon to be used from any firing curve without special track preparation. The actual mounting was pivoted and the gun had an arc of fire 6° each side of the track centre line. Rate of fire was theoretically one round every three minutes and a ^ ton shell could be fired over a maximum range of nearly 16\ km.—-just over 10 miles.

320-mm. rail-borne cannon (France)

This shows a typical A.L.V.F. piece, a 320-mm. ex-coastal defence gun in firing position on what was known as an 'epi' (lit: sword) or firing curve. The principle was the same as in the British Boer War artillery; the gun could not be fired more than a few degrees each side of the railway centre line so it was installed on a specially built curved siding along which it could be shunted to provide a different arc of fire. The '320' was a rigidly mounted weapon employing the 'glissement' principle to absorb recoil. In this case the rearward motion was absorbed by braked wheels or shoes running on longitudinal guides on each side of the track. The weapon took one and a half hours to set up on an already laid epi and could theoretically fire at a rate of one shell every few minutes.

240-mm. T.R. gun on 60-cm. gauge trucks (France)

Almost incredibly, guns of calibres as large as 240-mm. could be hauled by the 60-cm. gauge artillery railways. This shows the method of carrying the specially adapted 240-T.R. weapon (Schneider, le Creusot) on special 6-wheeled bolster wagons. The barrel went on two trucks and the massive mount (affut) on two others with trunnion sockets uppermost. Needless to say the gun could not be fired from the 60-cm. gauge in this condition nor could any heavier artillery although long 120-mm. and short 155-mm. pieces were carried complete on special trucks.

240-mm. T.R. gun on 60-cm. gauge (France)

The older models of 240-mm. gun used by the French artillery could not only be transported over the 60-cm. gauge tracks but, when mounted on special trucks, could be fired from it. These trucks were massive girder-frame affairs mounted on two, 6-wheeled bogies and were apparently gauge-convertible (standard gauge buffers and drawgear were fitted). The gun was rigidly mounted and the truck was jacked up onto sleepers when firing was to take place.

12-in. howitzer on rail truck (U.K.)

France was not the only country to produce specialist railway guns. Most of the heavy British howitzers were at one time or another mounted on rail trucks and a typical fitting was the standard 12-in. howitzer shown here. Unlike most of World War One railway guns this was capable of a 360° traverse and its mountings show signs of direct descent from the 6-in. rail-borne artillery of the Boer War. It was self-contained and capable of being fired from unprepared track. Hydraulically actuated sponsons with adjustable feet were simply swung out on each side of the track and locked into position. The gun itself had a recuperator, and springs took the remainder of the recoil.

12-in. Mk IX gun on rail mounting (U.K.)

Typical of the heavier long barrel guns operated by the British was this 12-in. Mark IX weapon operated during the Somme battle in 1916. Both the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Marine Artillery operated the heavy weapons and this R.G.A. one shows features common to many. In particular note the massive bogies—with what amounts to a match-truck at the front—the girder frames to support the main gun-trunnions, and the framed canvas and metal cover over the rear portion where shells were brought up for loading. The gun is shown here in travelling condition but could be fired from any suitably curved stretch of track; unlike the French equivalents it was mounted high enough for the breech to clear the ground at full recoil when at firing elevation.

28-cm. long barrelled gun (Germany)

Very similar in general concept to the British guns is this typical German weapon, a 28-cm. cannon. The bogies appear to be made from old locomotive frames and wheels, and it displays the same pattern of deep girder framing to support the weapon weight. Quite normal for German guns was the

shrapnel-proof iron sheeting over the ammunition loading bay; it should perhaps be explained that these guns did not normally carry their own shells. These were stored in a van at the rear and carried up to the breech by some form of hoist, very much as in naval practice. The canvas awning shown is a camouflage and weather cover to drape over the barrel.

30-cm. captured railway gun (Germany)

Displaying all the main features of such guns is this 30-cm. German weapon captured by the Australians late in 1918. These big guns were extremely vulnerable to a sudden advance since it took some time to make them ready for travelling; in addition they could be easily 'bottled up' by a break in the track or, as happened on more than one occasion, a lucky shell landing on their locomotive. Their captors were always disproportionally proud! This one shown clearly the bogie mountings, the heavy girder frames and the rear shell-hoist. As was common in German practice, the protective roof and side shielding was of metal plate where allied weapons normally used removable canvas awnings.