Battle Artillery

World War II had many battles in it. Each battle Artillery was always a key factor whether defending or taking the offensive. One of the Battles, was the Battle of the Bulge. It really paved the way for how modern artillery is conducted. Artillery tactics were improvised and pushed to send rounds down range and eliminate the enemy in extreme conditions and terrain never before implemented on the battle field. During World War II the Battle of the Bulge became a huge factor in new developments and techniques, and incorporating munitions that we use in today’s modern artillery. Techniques such as Time on Target missions, Observer teams, Fires Direction Center was also refined thus changing the artillery tactics and techniques.

In December

16, 1944 Hitler with over 200,000 troops started an offensive towards his last efforts to win the war. Which was to become known today as the “Battle of the Bulge”. Germans would call this “Operation Watch on Rhine”. Spreading across Ardennes, Luxemburg, Germany, and Belgium covering 75 miles of land making this the largest battle that United States Army has ever fought. Minister Sir Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister at the time stated this about the battle “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as ever-famous American victory” (January 18, 1945). The positioning in the terrain was important to both sides. Hitler had 30 divisions cross the front cutting through the lines making Ally units cut off. The battle of the Bulge was looking good for the Axis power until the matching weather and Patton counter attack eating away at the Operation. Beginning days the 128th, 212th, and 231st all from the 5th infantry division made a major impact on Hitler’s offensive. The initial attack was launched December 31, 1944 firing and astonishing three thousand two hundred seventy two rounds in to Bastogne, Wardin, Margaret, Arloncourt and Oubourcy. Neutralizing the artillery positions, pushing the German lines in to the woods due to devastating and accurate fires. The continuous fire was maintained throughout the night accumulating rounds fired of 3272 on German lines. The 101st and 3rd corps artillery suppressed the southern flake of the German offensive on the 1st threw the 8th of January. Making a wall of fire for the 101st infantry division to gain ground alongside the 6th armor division. All the while fighting through the intents cold weather and the harsh blistered conditions, also driving through numerous German artillery and Luftwaffe bombers. Effective fires where hard to execute due to the elements fighting through treacherous enemy positions attempting to gain eyes on enemy positions. While the Batteries responding to the high volume of fire missions, they were shooting in all directions covering a full 3200 mils. During 7 days of battle and intense fighting Bastogne was littered with over 53,000 rounds fired into the German lines, while eliminating the enemy artillery fire was also consecrated to protect Ally lines; “The artillery literally saved the day, not once, but on numerous occasions.”(Fredrick B. 2 Mar 02)

The Battle of the Bulge had many days of intense fighting and extreme cold weather trying the battle into a fight of attrition.

The war was going south for the Nazi’s and Hitler had to improvise a new offensive to push back the Allies. The battle took over a month of fighting in the dead of winter. Artillery was a very important piece in the winning of the battle. Countless times fire missions came down and eliminating the enemy assaults, providing counter attacks and key positions of movement up the line. Artillery on the German side was consistent fire missions on the Allie’s positions disrupting supply lines and creating havoc on the Ally front. The Germans used survivability moves with batteries, causing devastating losses to the Allies. Boresight was a big important step in positioning the howitzers on the battlefield. It gave the Gun crews to capability of using direct fire on the approaching enemy, which was used very frequently during the battle. Towed howitzers were key in offense and defense in the battle. During the weather with frozen mud and elements of terrain made artillery easy targets for both sides positioned and in transport. Most of the guns were fired upon and fired on due to terrain, both sides had large amounts of artillery fire power to knock out enemy guns. Track vehicles were easy to trace and eliminated adding obstacles on the terrain. The increasing devastation to the land changed the terrain and was hard to maneuver around in both track and towed howitzers and easy targets on both sides of the battle. Transporting ammo was a big factor in how effective the howitzers were in the battle. Difficulty in the supply lines to move ammunition to the gun line was a battle in its

self.

The intense fighting caused some difficulties for gun crew. Firing so many rounds and with quick repositioning made some gun vulnerable to cook off. Cook off is when the round is in the tube of the howitzer and setting it off the round, exploding from extreme heat inside the tube. With cook off comes destroyed equipment and is useless to firing missions down range. Re-tubing is very important to making sure the howitzer does not have a round explode inside the howitzer. Tough terrain and weather conditions, with enemy fire almost made this impossible to do. Conditions of the weather also made an impact on the effectiveness in firing the howitzers. Extreme cold weather can freeze hydraulic oil and lowering the recoil system to cause the gun to be inoperable for rapid firing. Rate of fire we use today is a key method we use in today’s artillery to cease the possibility of cook offs with rounds inside the tube. With the blizzard impacting the battle, many units used camouflage to blend into the environment. Gun crews used this method and at times were in effected due to consist firing and overheating to tube waring off the paint.

In Conclusion With nearly 82,000 German soldiers killed in battle, it came with a heavy price from the American army losing 77,000 men all to put a stop Hitler’s last offensive push. Being outnumbered four to one in artillery pieces and two and a half times as many soldiers. It’s easy to see how much of an impact well trained soldiers in their respective artillery pieces can be against an overwhelming force. Yes, there were things learned in the heat of battle such as, kneading forward observers to fight threw smaller groups of enemy towards bigger and more threatening targets, using time on targets to maximize the impact of their weapon systems, including a surprise factor with as many as forty-four artillery pieces hooting in unison. All thanks to the ever-changing Fire Directive Center. Shoot, move, and communicate was easily developed and revised during the Battle of the Bulge. Artillery has played a major role in every American conflict and continues to be modernized on the battlefield.