British Artillery in World War 2

BRITISH ARTILLERY IN WORLD WAR 2

The field artillery organisation, tactics, gunnery methods and regiments of the Royal Artillery and the artilleries of British Commonwealth

Welcome to this site

The information here is for those with an interest in 20th century artillery.

You might be:

A war gamer seeking fidelity

A military historian trying to escape the limits of the direct fire horizon (it can be difficult to make this escape)

A modern Gunner interested in some background to the business

A student with a history project

Someone with an interest

A veteran going to tell me where I'm wrong

You're all welcome.

This site comprises many pages about the field artillery branch of the Royal Artillery, mostly in the first half of the 20th Century and primarily World War 2. It provides comprehensive and reliable information from reliable sources

The World War 2 information consists of a main account the Royal Artillery's Methods in World War 2 and other linked pages covering many areas in more detail. These are listed on the Directory page. Most of the information applies to the artilleries of Commonwealth countries, at least until the 1960's, with little or no change.

The Fire Control information divides the 20th Century into six eras, with a page for each and five pages covering specialist aspects across all the eras. World War 2 is one of the eras.

Pieces cover topics outside the scope of World War 2 or Fire Control, although some cover several decades including World War 2. In particular they cover the evolution of counter-battery and artillery intelligence during the 20th Century.

Introduction provides a short description of the key features of the British artillery system that differentiates it from those of other nations.

The Royal Artillery included anti-tank artillery for a decade including World War 2. However, anti-aircraft, coast defence and maritime artillery are not covered on this site. Around one million people served in the Royal Artillery in World War 2, but the only people mentioned are a small number of distinguished artillery officers. There is also a set of pages listing all British and Commonwealth artillery regiments (less AA and Coast but including AGRAs and Air OP Squadrons) with dates, superior formations and whereabouts.

To fully explore this site, which has around 75 pages, it's best to enter through the Directory page, which will enable you to navigate around the site. It lists the key pages and summarises their content and provides Search and hints on how to use it. Alternatively you could start at the list of Main Features of British artillery in this period and follow the links.

Do note that this site uses the artillery terminology of the period, which sometimes differs from modern usage. Equivalent modern terms are given in the Glossary where appropriate.

This site is the product of extensive research in official documents and publications and a few other reliable sources. It keeps getting updated and expanded so you'll need to revisit. Don't forget to bookmark.

Site history.
This site was first launched in February 2001, with additions and revisions throughout 2001 - 2016.

Material from this site may be copied for free distribution providing acknowledgement of this source is given.

The author welcomes comments and questions CLICK HERE FOR CONTACT FORM

Nigel F Evans asserts his moral rights to the authorship of this site.