artillery

May

22

1943

A surprise from the US 7th Division artillery

In this picture men can be seen carrying 105 howitzer ammunition to supply the guns already going into position. In the background, blanketed by the fog, can be seen other landing barges coming into land. This picture shows to a degree the weather conditions in which the landing was made. Holts Bay, Attu, Aleutian Islands May 11, 1943

A great flash ripped out of the very center of the tiny group, followed almost instantly by three other flashes, totally engulfing the five figures in a heaving mass of flying hunks of muck and smoke and rocks. The smoke hung in a big puff over the ripped area of our base point, and we could see five little piles of fabric lighter than the black holes over which they were scattered before the boom! baroomboom! of the explosions reached our ears.

Apr

8

1943

Gunner Milligan survives a German artillery ‘stonk’

A soldier escorts captured Germans bringing in a stretcher during 6th Armoured Division's attack on the town of Pichon, 8 April 1943.

Behind him a stiff, bitter-faced Afrika Korp Oberlieutenant marched with all the military dignity he could muster, none of his men looked like the master-race. As they passed, our lads stood up in their fox-holes farting, and giving Nazi salutes; recalling the ritual of ancient conquerors riding on a palanquin and parading their prisoners of war behind them. Here there were shouts of ‘you square-head bastards’ and ‘I bet we could beat you at fucking football as well.’

Mar

21

1943

The Tunisian ‘Left Hook’ goes in

The gunnery officer has given the range to No 1 at the gun and the 4.5 inch gun fires on the target. This picture was taken 4 miles from the enemy lines.

We would cut them up for dog`s meat, All around, our anti-aircraft guns and automatic fire opened up. One plane crashed immediately. I had time to watch only one other lumbering towards us on fire. A parachute blossomed, then another appeared but tangled on opening. As the poor devil, apparently on fire, hurtled earthwards and thumped into the ground to burst near us, we all cheered, and cheered again as the bomber with the rest of the crew inside also hit the ground, exploded into flame and in a single ‘whoosh’ incinerated the crew.

Mar

16

1943

Under shellfire during attack on the Mareth Line

Close-up view of the revolving drum and chains at work on a Matilda Scorpion flail tank, 17 April 1943.

I don`t know what time it was when we crossed the Wadi Zeuss and got into the gap in the enemy minefield. Time lost its ordinary values, even tho’ I did check it frequently on the luminous face of my watch. The minefield gap lay just the other side of a marsh and was a thin lane marked by white tapes and lighted by tiny lights which seemed to shine like beacons.

Feb

26

1943

155th Battery R.A. hold German attack at Sidi Nsir

Another view of the group of German soldiers shown beside the halftrack.

Lieutenant Taylor and Sergeant Henderson (both of F Troop) in particular stood out by reason of their undaunted offensive spirit and the inspiring example they set. Sergeant Henderson was the No 1 of No 1 gun, specially placed on the top of the slope to deal with enemy tanks trying to use the Mateur-Sidi Nsir road. Taylor was the only officer on F Troop position, and he fought there until he was killed.

Jan

19

1943

Welcome to the British Army in North Africa

The Axis retreat and the Tunisian campaign 1942 - 1943: Anti-aircraft fire over Algiers during a night raid.

It was a vast concrete arena. We queued for an hour. When that had passed we queued for blankets. Next, find somewhere to sleep, like a football stadium in North Africa. We dossed down on the terraces. After ship`s hammocks it was murder. If only, if only I had a grand piano. I could have slept in that.

Jan

16

1943

Royal Artillery open up for another attack

A Chevrolet FAT (Field Artillery Tractor) towing a 25-pdr leads a column of other vehicles on a road during the 8th Army's approach to Azizia, south of Tripoli, 27 January 1943.

The Jocks (ours are Gordons and Black Watch) are I suppose forming up, and somewhere a few thousand yards ahead, Germans and Italians know something is in the wind but not that an hour from now a curtain of steel and an armoured wall will move in to destroy them. The enemy guns are nervously banging away all the time. We are completely silent.

Dec

24

1942

A grim ‘Heilige Abend’ in Stalingrad

The Stalingrad Madonna

A little later, the crackly loudspeaker transmitted a Christmas message from the Forces’ radio station in Germany. It was being broadcast everywhere from the North Pole to Africa. At that time an enormous part ofthe world belonged to us.
When Stalingrad was called we began to tremble though we were indoors in the warm that evening.

Dec

1

1942

The Red Army noose tightens around Stalingrad

Soviet artillery located in the German military cemetery, firing at German positions in Stalingrad from 76-mm divisional gun model 1942 ZIS-3.

Our mortarmen saw to it that the enemy did not sleep at night. By day, we would zero in on a ravine, where various Nazi service units were concentrated, and make a detailed plan of their positions. Then, as soon as darkness fell, we would begin firing at regular five-minute intervals. This was called ‘wearing out the enemy.’ The Germans were shelled all night long, but we managed to get some sleep at least: each crew worked for an hour, firing some 100 bombs, before scurrying back to burrows, kept warm by sleeping comrades.

Nov

23

1942

Navajo code talkers join the Guadalcanal battlefield

Cpl. Henry Bahe Jr. (left) and Pfc. George H. Kirk, Navajo code talkers, operating a portable radio on the island Bougainville, in December 1943

There was no room for error in a maneuver like that. The old Shackle communications system took so long to encode and decode, and it was so frequently inaccurate, that using it for the transmission of on-the-fly target coordinates was a perilous proposition. Frequently, in the midst of battle, instead of using the Shackle code, the Marines had transmitted in English. They knew the transmissions were probably being monitored by the japanese, so they salted the messages liberally with profanity, hoping to confuse the enemy.

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