artillery

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Fallujah artillery fire , 2004
Striking artillery, around 1900
Military symbol of NATO for an own / friendly artillery land troop unit.

Artillery is the military collective term for large caliber guns and missiles , and also the name of the branch of service that uses these weapons. Their relatives are known as artillerymen.

Terms

Demarcation

The name artillery , borrowed from French in the 17th century, goes back to the old French artill (i) er (to equip with equipment), probably a derivation from the old French tire (order, row).

The artillery is a branch of arms in many armed forces, especially in the army branch . The demarcation based on the type of weapon - large-caliber barrel weapon - is no longer clear after the advent of rocket artillery.

The definition of branch of service is largely replaced by a functional point of view. In general, those troops are counted as artillery in the army who fight enemy ground targets with large-caliber guns and rocket launchers with steep fire .

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) defines the term “artillery” in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) of November 1990 in Article II as follows: “Artillery” refers to large-caliber systems that primarily target ground targets be able to fight by shooting in indirect judging. Such artillery systems offer units of combined arms the indispensable support through indirect aiming fire. Large-caliber artillery systems are cannons, howitzers and artillery weapons, which combine properties of cannons and howitzers, and mortars and multiple rocket launcher systems with a caliber of 100 millimeters and above. In addition, all future large-caliber systems for shooting in direct aiming, if they are secondarily suitable for shooting in indirect aiming, fall below the upper artillery limits.

The anti-aircraft artillery fighting flight targets counts in many armies as a separate type of service or is part of the air force, where mostly no service types are divided. The naval artillery is a career use but not a branch of service, as the navy usually does not define it. It is divided into ship artillery , which is seen as an organic part of a ship class, and in earlier times into coastal artillery .

Subdivision

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

Historically , the artillery of the land forces is divided into:

  • Throwing machines used from ancient times to the 16th century.
  • The tube artillery has been used since the 15th century. It is armed with guns and has formed various subgroups throughout history:
    • Fortress and siege artillery ,
    • Field artillery as a historical military group with
      • Foot artillery (the guns were drawn, i.e. drawn by horses; the artillerymen walked and were armed with bayonets and rifles in Germany around 1900 ) - subordinate to large infantry units
      • Moving artillery (the crew had their own seats on the limber and gun carriage ; armed with bayonet and pistol, but no rifle) - subordinated to large infantry units
      • Mounted artillery (also known as flying artillery ; more maneuverable than the mobile artillery, artillerymen fully mounted; armed with cavalry sabers) - subordinate to large cavalry units
  • Missile artillery (developed in China, used against and adopted by the British in India).

in the Navy

in the air force

  • Flak artillery with short and medium range flak
  • FlaRak air defense units with short and medium range missile systems

Modern army artillery is divided into

In modern armed forces , only tank artillery , rocket artillery with medium artillery missile systems up to medium range, reconnaissance artillery and, to a lesser extent, mobile field artillery, especially as airborne artillery , are of importance in modern armed forces . Until the end of the Second World War, the infantry was still supported directly by infantry guns from units subordinate to the regiments. These were replaced by mortars in the battalion's mortar companies and field cannons for immediate fire support.

ammunition

In addition to the artillery shells, artillery can have rockets and missiles as an effective means. The MARS rocket launcher can u. a. Firing missiles with explosive / fragmentation effects, bomb submunitions and anti-tank mines . The Bundeswehr today has explosive, light, fog, exercise and excise projectiles.

commitment

Use of artillery flares at the foot of the Fletschhorn

In modern combat

Indirect fire is an element of combined arms combat , in which fire and movement are coordinated by their own combat units so that the enemy’s ability to scout, act and move is minimized. Direct firing weapon systems (such as battle tanks , anti-tank weapons , rifles) work closely together with indirect fire from archery weapons ( mortars , artillery pieces) and means of the air forces (combat helicopters and ground attack aircraft) in close combat. At the same time, the artillery is the active agent in deep combat at a medium distance into the depths of the enemy space in order to wear off the enemy as they approach and make them more difficult.

Your own combat troops are supported with indirect fire by restricting an opponent's freedom of movement and thus hindering his fighting activity. Artillery fire makes a significant contribution to barriers, obstacles and flank protection. In addition to its function as a support weapon, modern artillery can to a certain extent compensate for its own inferior troops by acting with rapidly deployable fire in rooms where there are no troops of its own.

Indirect fire with archery weapons is used not only by state armed forces, but also by non-state armed groups, for example with unguided rockets, mortars or individual artillery pieces.

Indirect fire support at short range

Combat units of the tactical level ( battalions ) fight targets at short distances (up to 10 kilometers) with mortar systems. Due to the steep trajectory, they are particularly suitable for use in built-up areas. They make it possible to quickly put heavy fire weights (e.g. on troop gatherings or vehicles). With intelligent ammunition, single targets can also be fought with pinpoint accuracy.

Indirect fire support at medium distance (up to approx. 50 km)

The main weapon for fire fighting at medium range, i.e. within the operational area of ​​a brigade , is the artillery. It should force the opponent into cover or reduce his fighting strength so much that he can no longer continue the fight. By making it possible to respond effectively to enemy fire and to eliminate enemy means, the artillery contributes significantly to the protection of one's own forces. Associations that are supported with indirect fire are also better able to break away from opposing forces.

Artillery is used against armed forces organized by the military in order to combat opposing facilities, deployments and massings in storage spaces, as well as to eliminate enemy command, communication and reconnaissance equipment and stationary, often uncovered key vehicles. Artillery fire can also prevent the approaching of reserves. Often the artillery is the only permanently available far-reaching means that allows opposing artillery units to be combated (counter-battery fire). The artillery is also suitable for directly supporting the combat of the combat units in their operational areas.

Combat operations nowadays often take place at a very high speed and in large operational areas. Modern artillery formations are geared towards this: their operational procedures make it possible to shoot almost while driving (hold - shoot - drive on) and to move to new firing positions immediately after firing the shot. With autonomous vehicle navigation and flight path computers on every gun, it is also possible to fight several targets at the same time with the fire of a formation.

Artillery is also used in battlefield lighting across the spectrum of military threats. With smoke shells, the artillery can also be used to restrict visibility and to disguise one's own movements on the battlefield.

Long-range indirect fire support

Either extensive ground-to-ground systems (modern tubular artillery or rocket launchers) or air force equipment (combat aircraft, combat helicopters and armed drones) are used over long distances (over 50 km). In modern armies or coalitions, these means are integrated at the operational level: The body responsible for fighting the target should be able to use the most suitable weapon available in the operational area as soon as a target is recognized, regardless of which armed forces (army, air force or navy) she is subordinate.

In the case of archery weapons, the greater the operating distance, the greater the spread for physical and meteorological reasons. However, many armed forces strive to fight targets precisely at distances of up to 50 km with ground-to-ground systems. However, thanks to so-called intelligent artillery projectiles, only the armed forces of the United States, Australia, Canada and Sweden have this capability in 2016; developments are underway in Germany, Italy, Israel and Russia.

development

In 2016 there was no army in Europe that did without indirect fire - and thus also with artillery. The ability to support combat troops with fire at different distances is being developed practically everywhere, although the number of guns has been reduced in many countries. There is a tendency to increase the efficiency of the overall artillery system. Improved reconnaissance, fire control, mobility, rate of fire, range and precision make it possible to achieve the same or greater effect with fewer resources.

Single topics

Lineup

Königstein Fortress , Saxony : Kartaune on wall mount

Artillery pieces were originally set up in the open and aimed directly (with a view of the target) and usually fired at core range . As the artillery continued to develop, which led to greater range and accuracy, open artillery positions became easy targets for enemy artillery. For this reason, during the Russo-Japanese War 1904/05, the Japanese set up their artillery for the first time in covered positions (e.g. behind a mountain or hill) from which they could no longer directly observe the battlefield and the target sector. The European armies quickly followed this approach of indirect judging.

That is why tube artillery has only been used in a covered position since the first months of the First World War at the latest, i.e. the target cannot be seen from the firing position . Despite the withdrawn installation, the location of the artillery can be located, as in the past, acoustically by means of sound measurement methods with triangulation , by radar recording the trajectory of the projectiles or by imaging reconnaissance as in the past CL289 . Therefore, the firing positions had to and must be changed often.

agility

Truck pulls an M-198 from an LCAC

In general, the form of self-propelled guns for tubular weapons (self-propelled howitzer) and unarmored wheeled vehicles for rocket weapons has established itself.

Due to the long range, the same target can be fired from several firing positions, and the focus of the fire fight can be quickly shifted. The range of the self-propelled howitzer 2000 is 30 km with the 155 mm NATO standard projectile and 40 km with the extended range projectile.

Since artillery positions are immediately fought by enemy artillery after reconnaissance by the enemy, most artillery systems today are self-propelled howitzers. On land marches, however, these can only be deployed over long distances like tanks with heavy-duty transporters , in air marches only to a limited extent and otherwise only by rail or ship.

Panzerhaubitze 2S3 on the low loader of an armored transporter

A more recent approach is self- measuring, protected, self-propelled artillery systems on a wheeled chassis, which can also be transported by air. Owing to the frequent and precautionary changes in the firing position, the risk of counter-artillery fire is lower and the ability to fight directly against enemy armored vehicles, which was previously required, is no longer necessary due to the long range. This is also no longer required for self-propelled howitzers in combination with combat and armored personnel carriers. (→ CAESAR )

The positions of the pipe artillery of the Bundeswehr are explored according to the one-third-two-thirds principle. The position areas should thus be a third of the mean combat distance behind the front . This leaves two thirds of the mean combat distance for fire missions.

Target reconnaissance

25 pound Canadian rapid-fire field artillery (87.6 mm), World War II

As a result of the transition from the open to the concealed position, directing had to be done indirectly, i.e. target reconnaissance with tubular artillery is usually carried out by forward observers (today: artillery observer) or with technical aids, the artillery observation radar ( M113 ABRA ), who determine the position of the targets and correct the instruction from the shooting result.

Nowadays, these observers mostly have technical means for measuring distance and direction (laser location); in some cases, these devices can transmit the target coordinates directly to the fire control computer via data link . The fire control computer uses the target coordinates and the position coordinates to determine the direction of fire, barrel elevation and the propellant charge to be used in a gun platoon. Depending on the target size, the fire of different gun trains is combined, the fire can be coordinated so that the first projectiles of the different positions reach the target at the same time. Furthermore, targets are also cleared up through technical means of the reconnaissance artillery or through reports from the combat troops.

If you only shoot according to the card, it is called splash shooting .

Air loading of an M777 by a CH-47

Due to the improvement of the technical reconnaissance it is partly possible to measure a projectile in flight and to calculate the coordinates of the firing position . Due to the higher risk that this creates, the guns are set up in the firing positions at large intervals (loosened firing position) and a firing position is quickly changed after a fire order has been fulfilled (change of position).

As a result of the requirement for high mobility, guns are almost exclusively used on self-propelled guns, if possible under armor protection (self-propelled howitzer ). For reasons of weight, light field guns are still used for special tasks ( air loadability ) such as the American M119 or, in the German armed forces, the model 56 mountain howitzer in the airborne artillery battery 9.

Lately people are thinking again of “light” artillery pieces, which have to be air-transportable due to the increased number of foreign missions of the Bundeswehr. The basic technology should correspond to the PzH 2000 ; However, due to the necessary weight restrictions (only approx. 50% of the weight of the PzH 2000), certain restrictions must be accepted. The Swedish protected self-propelled artillery system ARCHER , with which the need for brigade artillery in the infantry brigades could be covered, meets these requirements .

Fire control

Rocket from Kazimieras Simonavičius , Artis Magnae Artilleriae

The fire control takes place in shooting batteries with conventional weapon systems through the fire control center. (With the introduction of autonomous weapon systems such as MLRS / MARS and PzH 2000 , the measurement of the firing position and the determination of the shot values ​​in the fire control center are no longer necessary, as these systems have navigation systems and internal fire control computers.) Fire control takes place here by converting fire orders or fire commands into fire commands . This includes the assignment of the targets to the guns or rocket launchers and the definition of the type of target engagement: Since the weapon systems have no view of the target with indirect aiming, the fire control center determines the shot values ​​(direction and elevation of the gun or launcher) and transmits them in the standardized fire command together with further information on the weapon system. Today in the fire control center to determine the shot values are fire control use; In the auxiliary process, however, this can also be done manually using a fire control plan or command transmitter , shooting board and calculation slip.

By adjusting the tube elevation and the propellant charge, targets behind cover can be attacked or, if necessary, the impact angle of the projectiles can be made so flat that ricochets can be achieved.

In order to have a safe shooting basis for indirect aiming, the gun or the thrower must be in a measured firing position. The traditionally necessary measurement by surveying or directional circle teams is increasingly being replaced by GPS . The alignment of the weapon system to the respective direction of fire is carried out by a panoramic telescope with the help of fixing points. The fixed values ​​(basic direction or north direction) of the gun / launcher are highlighted when pointing over the fixing points and are the basis for the following fire orders.

Based on the firing position coordinates and the target coordinates

In the calculation i. d. Usually taken into account

a) the internal ballistic influences (tubular artillery only)

  • Powder temperature
  • individual correction factor for each pipe
  • Bullet weight

b) the external ballistic influences

  • Air temperature
  • Air pressure
  • humidity
  • Wind direction and strength
  • Twist
  • Rotation of the earth ( Coriolis force ).

If the above data is not available or only available to a limited extent, a corresponding correction factor is determined by zeroing in .

Since the calculation of trajectories was a considerable, time-consuming problem, the fire control department (in the German Armed Forces until the end of the 1960s) determined the elevation and the side correction manually with a calculation slip and a shot board . With the introduction of electronic fire control computing devices such as the analog " BUM artillery computer " and later the digital " FALKE artillery computer", the shot values ​​could be determined more quickly with the aid of computers.

Today's technical and tactical, cross-weapon system fire control takes place in the German artillery with the artillery, data, situation and deployment computer network (ADLER). This command and weapon deployment system (FüWES) was introduced into the German artillery from May 1995.

In battles at sea - with a moving gun and target - in addition to the internal and external ballistic influences, corrections for the course and speed of your own and the target ship must be made. In addition, the ship's movements must be balanced out by waves. Since the end of the 19th century, the fire control of the ship's artillery was carried out by "central control stations", which initially determined the target and shot data optically and later also using radar. After the Second World War, the automatic aiming of the guns by the central fire control was developed and introduced.

history

Overview artillery from 1741
Heavy field howitzer 18
(German standard artillery gun until 1945) caliber 15 cm; here without a protective shield

Artillery - in the most varied of variations: Arkeley, Artollerei, Archiley, Artellarey - was the name given to the medieval war machines even before gunpowder was invented . The first powder guns were used in sieges, where they found targets in the walls of castles and cities, the destruction of which it was hoped to be easier and more distant with their help than was possible with the previous war machines. Soon, however, the defender also made use of the artillery and made his walls suitable for their installation by adding an earth wall behind them. The pipes, without trunnions , were placed on wooden bases and their return was suspended by a picket behind them. This awkwardness in their movement naturally had to limit the use of heavy artillery. For this reason, lighter gun barrels were also manufactured, placed on trestles or in stores, these on supports that allowed the muzzle or the base to be lifted using the side horns. The trestle frames were then given wheels, so they were mobile, or the pipes were transported in their frames on special wagons and thus enabled their use in the field battle. The first proven use of firearms can be found in the Chronicle of Metz from the year 1324. The English are said to have used some (three or six) light cannons in open field battles at the Battle of Crécy as early as 1346 , but this information is often disputed.

At first there was no factual difference between field, fortress and siege artillery; whatever could be transported into the field was taken into the field, and as much as possible in order to bring down the knight with his heavy tank. The number of guns used in field battles had increased considerably at the beginning of the 15th century; the Hussites captured 150 guns in the battle of Riesenberg in 1431. The most profound and lasting impetus for the artillery came from the imperial cities, namely Nuremberg , which, when they flourished, saw their own defensive strength as the surest support for their independence. They had their piece caster , their master craftsman and built armories to store their supplies, which were extraordinarily large in Nuremberg around the middle of the 15th century. In 1445 this city had a main rifle weighing 519 hundredweight cast by its master Hans von der Rosen . Of course, every piece caster, many of whom belonged to the gunsmiths' guild, wanted to be independent and manufacture guns according to their own type, from which the countless calibers and special designs of the gun barrels and their mounts arose. Only the guns of the princes, of whom Charles the Bold of Burgundy devoted particular interest to him, were more uniform ; he is said to have had guns with trunnions and those made of cast iron. His carriages were also relatively easy to drive, which explains his significant artillery, because 400 guns fell into the hands of the Swiss in the battle of Grandson on March 3, 1476. Given their low mobility and the great importance attached to the preservation of the artillery, they were given cover from the bravest of the troops. Just as at that time a fight was only decided by the scuffle, so guns could only be won or conquered in a fight man against man, which in their brave defense brought the victor to special fame. That is why the guns were counted among the trophies of the battle, a use that has not yet expired.

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the French kings and the Habsburg emperors Maximilian I and Karl V. Maximilian created a system of calibers (6-, 12-, 24-pounders), which contributed to the development of artillery . that remained valid for the next centuries. He also had the carriage construction perfected by Martin Merz († 1501). On his train to Venice in 1509, he carried 106 artillery pieces with him on wheeled mountings, which were also given a marching camp towards the middle of the 16th century and stood on wooden beds when firing and therefore had a return movement, a pioneering innovation in the use of artillery. A separate artillery force was first created by Francis I , who organized the French artillery as a separate department under a grand master of the artillery. Nevertheless, the artillery remained a guild that rested on the shoulders of the gunsmiths. The gunsmiths were divided into fireworkers who knew how to handle throwing guns, how to make artificial fire and how to perform miners, gunsmiths who shot with cartoons and snake shooters; they loaded and straightened the artillery, while the rest of the operations were carried out by henchmen, the entrenchers. They were subordinate to the Schanzbauer captain and the Schanzmeister and carried out pioneering services (building jumps, paths and bridges) and belonged to the artillery from the beginning. The huntsmen sat as drivers on the draft horses of the guns. At the Battle of Renty im Artois (1554), Emperor Charles V used Protzen for the first time in the history of artillery , which allowed the guns to be transported more easily and quickly on four instead of two wheels and made a significant contribution to the mobility of the guns in combat.

In Elizabethan England around 1580, instead of the guns already used to support the warships, powerful long-range naval artillery was developed as the main armament. The resulting changed tactics of naval combat revolutionized naval warfare . The superiority of this concept was demonstrated for the first time in 1588 over the Spanish Armada : instead of the previous hand-to-hand fighting on boarded ships, often rowed in battle, and ramming - as it had been introduced by the Romans in the Punic Wars 1700 years earlier - from now on they were at sea fought in artillery battles under sail.

But it was left to the Thirty Years' War to raise the importance of field artillery in an extraordinary way in the technical perfection given by Gustav Adolf , its organization and tactical use. Gustav Adolf made the guns easier and thus their mobility, gave the infantry regiments the regimental cannons and combined the other guns into larger batteries on the wings of the troop positions, often masked so that they surprised the enemy with their fire, like the cavalry in the battle of Breitenfeld Isolanis . He forced the passage over the Lech with 72 guns in three batteries, and before Frankfurt an der Oder he brought 200 guns of all calibres into the fire. However, the French were the first to have a formally organized artillery corps, which in 1695 already consisted of 16 battalions. As in all branches of the war, Frederick the Great was also the reorganizer of the artillery. He had the regimental cannons operated by infantrymen, apart from that he separated the field artillery from the fortress artillery, formed the artillery into battalions, of which there were already six of five companies in 1762, and set up the first battery of mounted artillery in 1759 . The division into companies and batteries did not refer to a specific number of guns, as it is today; one of these only took place at the beginning of the 19th century by Prince August of Prussia, modeled on the French, with six to eight guns forming a battery; he disbanded the regimental artillery, formed the artillery into brigades, let the fortress artillery merge into it and the company alternated between field and fortress artillery, a facility that existed until 1852; he set up the artillery workshops, the artillery examination commission , the position of artillery officer from the square in the fortresses and introduced the artillery men (drivers) in place of the henchmen.

A new era began for artillery with the introduction of rifled artillery. Inspired by the attempts of Martin von Wahrendorff with a breech block for rear loading in 1840 and Cavallis, who combined a traction system and long projectiles, the experiments with rifled rear loading cannons and pressed projectile guidance began in Prussia at the suggestion of Prince Adalbert of Prussia in 1851, but only ten years later were introduced later. In the meantime France had hurried to arm its field artillery with rifled front-loading cannons according to the La Hitte system in order to secure its superiority over the Austrian army in the 1859 campaign in northern Italy, which was also achieved. As a result, rifled front-loading cannons based on Lenk's bow pull system were introduced in Austria in 1863. Here, in order to enable faster movements of the field artillery, the cavalry or mobile batteries were created, in which the service teams sat on sausage-like riding seats of the mounts and ammunition wagons (sausage wagons); In Prussia, where they sat on the hand horses and the limber box, the C / 64 system with its cast steel axles, cast steel tubes, wheels with bronze hubs and the axle seats etc. achieved such a degree of mobility that these guns could not only be driven in the The horses allowed the fastest gaits in which they could follow the cavalry, the flexibility between limber and carriage also made it possible to adapt to such considerable unevenness in the terrain that the artillery in general was able to get its guns to where cavalry could move . This technical improvement of the artillery material allowed a tactical use of the field artillery, which it placed on a par with the two main weapons of the fighting armies, the infantry and cavalry, as a third main weapon.

The explosive shells that appeared towards the end of the 19th century were able to penetrate most of the fortifications that existed at the time, rendering them practically worthless - the so-called explosive shell crisis ensued .

75 modèle 1897, exhibited in the "musée de l'Armée" ( Hôtel des Invalides , Paris)

In 1897 France put the Canon de 75 Modèle into service in 1897 (see photo). The first real rapid-fire gun in the world was created through the consistent use of various inventions, some of which already existed, such as low-smoke powder , cartridge ammunition or a powerful barrel return .

The “high point” of tube artillery was the First World War (1914–1918). All types of artillery were used here. As a result, the face of the war changed forever: the now particularly effective use of grenades made movement in open terrain very risky and forced the construction of trench systems. Nevertheless approx went  3 / 4 of the losses of the warring parties back to the artillery, as well as new artillery techniques and tactics (such as the " barrage "), as well as the increased use of explosive projectiles were tested and introduced.

In the First World War, the artillery of the warring parties together fired around 850 million rounds. After the First World War, increased mobility of the infantry and the expansion of armored troops limited the effectiveness of the artillery and made mobile warfare possible again. Accordingly, the mobility and armor protection of the artillery were constantly increased.

In the course of the Second World War, the rocket artillery was further developed in addition to the tube artillery used until then . In 1940 the “ Nebelwerfer ” (six tubes arranged in a circle and mounted on a carriage ) appeared for the first time in the German Army units . Similar developments took place simultaneously with the Japanese armed forces and the Allies. The Red Army used the Katyusha rocket artillery system, which was feared by the German troops, from the beginning of the war.

From 1952 to 1963 the United States was also in possession of guns with nuclear projectiles . The 280 mm M65 gun , also known as the Atomic Annie, was tested in the Nevada desert in 1953 as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole .

In the course of the troop reduction in the 1990s, artillery as a branch of arms was particularly badly affected, even though its reconnaissance component provides valuable information-gathering services, especially on missions abroad.

Artillery in the late Middle Ages

Artillery in World War I

Artillery of Austria-Hungary

Artillery in the Wehrmacht

Artillery in the Bundeswehr

Cultural and social aspects

Museum reception

Howitzer M1916 in the Army History Museum

The Army History Museum in Vienna has one of the largest artillery and barrel collections in the world. It includes around 550 guns and barrels, making it one of the most important collections of its kind. The range extends from the wrought iron gun of the Middle Ages, including the world-famous “ Pumhart von Steyr ”, to the M 1916 howitzer from the First World War.

war cry

German gun crew in World War I, 1914

Every German branch of arms has its own battle cry - so do the artillerymen: “At the same time!” In Germany it serves at the same time for recognition, fraternization and motivation. It is explained by the timing of the joint physical exertion of the gun crew, which is sometimes still necessary today, during various work. This is the case when loading the bullet (sometimes weighing more than 50 kg with the caliber 155 mm) with the rammer into the transition cone of the barrel, or when cleaning the barrel after firing, whereby a rod with a brush head is pulled through the barrel . There were also guns in which the barrel had to be retracted a few meters during transport and then pulled forward again to fire, which was done by hand . All of this is only possible with the joint and simultaneous effort of the operating team.

The call originally came from the time when the guns were still pulled by horses. If their strength was not enough, the gunners had to reach into the spokes and increase the horses' pulling power. The coordinating "Zu Gleich" corresponded to the well-known "Hau-ruck".

Patron saint

Saint Barbara of Nicomedia is the patron saint of miners and u. a. also patron saint of artillerymen.

Her name day on December 4th is traditionally celebrated with a Barbara celebration. The youngest officer of the association appears disguised as Barbara and usually leads through the evening. At the celebration, serious and not so serious incidents of the last year in the unit, the association or other facility (e.g. artillery school) are dealt with in a humorous way and especially the superiors are targeted. When the artillerymen drink alcohol, one speaks of “paying homage to St. Barbara”.

Famous artillerymen

Important military men began their careers in the artillery, for example. B.

See also

literature

  • Peter Voss: On the history of artillery. Excerpt from ders .: Forgotten fireworks published online . 4V Verlag, Hamburg undated (2015).
  • Franz Kosar: Artillery in the 20th century. Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-7637-6249-3 .
  • Hans Mehl: Ship and coastal artillery: naval guns from 500 years. Verlag Mittler, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0774-9 .
  • Martin Guddat : gunners, bombardiers, pontooners: the artillery of Frederick the Great. Mittler Verlag, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0383-2 .
  • Terry Gander, Hans Joachim Zurek: Artillery today. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1990, ISBN 3-7909-0405-8 .
  • H.Dv. 200/4 Training Regulations for Artillery - Book 4 Training of the Drawn Battery - From January 25, 1934, ISBN 978-3-7448-0927-6
  • Janice E. McKenney: The Organizational History of Field Artillery 1775–2003 , Publisher: CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY, UNITED STATES ARMY, WASHINGTON, DC, 2007 online digitized version , 6.51 MB, 415 pages also published as a hardcover book: Government Printing Office, 2007, ISBN 978-0-16-087287-7 (accessible via googlebooks )

Web links

Wiktionary: Artillery  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Artillery  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TREATY FOR CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE ( Memento of June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ a b c d e The text of this section is taken in whole or in part from the report “Future of Artillery” by the Swiss Federal Council of January 20, 2016. According to Art. 5 Para. 1 let. c of the Swiss Copyright Act as a report by an authority does not affect copyright protection.
  3. ↑ a b Reinhard Scholzen : Reconnaissance Artillery. In: Truppendienst 2, 2014, pp. 146–150.
  4. ↑ E.g .: "Fire command! 4. Charge, surcharge, HE, whole battery, partial ring 08-7-4, 465 dash, 1 group, report readiness for fire! "
  5. ↑ Colonel W. Speisebecher paperback for artillerymen 2nd episode , p. 95, 1974 WEHR UND WISSEN publishing house, ISBN §-8033-0231-5
  6. ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher (ed.): The Army History Museum in Vienna. Graz, Vienna 2000, pp. 93-95.
  7. ↑ Hansgeorg Leidreiter, Lieutenant Colonel Thoughts on the socio-psychological significance of the feast of St. Barbara for the officer corps of the artillery , TRUPPENPRAXIS 10/1983, p. 737f