Field service regulations for
quick-firing mountain artillery
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Field
service in mountain artillery was covered in the manual Устав за строевата
служба в
планинската
скорострелна
артилерия
(Field service regulations for the quick firing mountain artillery) published
in 1906 and adopted with amendments and additions
in 1909. It was an adaptation of the French Règlement de manovre de l’artillerie de montagne
published on 25 August 1905 that however referred to the De Bange not quick firing guns. The
Regulations dealt with the
quick-firing guns, but gave also some instructions about the employment of
the old not quick-firing guns on the new conditions, in order to allow
training for both kinds of mountain gun according with only one normative
text. However, initially it only dealt with the Krupp QF gun,
the rules relating to the Schneider gun purchased in 1907 were added later. The
text included both the gun and the battery training and in a series of
appendices, it briefly dealt with the signals and conventional signs used by the mountain artillery, how to compile a line report and how to
handle the sabre on horseback. Composition and subdivision of the units The
75mm QF mountain battery is organized as follows : – fighting
battery : 4 guns, 8 ammunition loads with two boxes with 8 shells each,
1 load with platoon bags, 1 load with entrenching tools – it is
divided into two platoons, whose commanders are two officers, the senior one
commanding the first platoon, or by feuerwerkers
(sergeants); – battery
reserve : 24 ammunition loads with two boxes with 8 shells each, 2 loads
with pack forge, 1 load with drugs and bandage for men and horses, 1 load
with horses equipment, reserve troops, reserve horses, hors rang troops – it
is subdivided in two platoons, the battery reserve commander is a senior feuerwerker, the platoon commanders are feuerwerkers; – transport
train : 3 loads for bags, 1 load for water flasks, 8 loads for forage, 2
loads for the officers baggage, 2 loads for field kitchens, 3 loads for food
supply, 1 load for spare horseshoes and boots, 1 load for carpenter and
saddler tools, 1 load for chancery, reserve troops, reserve horses – the
transport head is a feuerwerker. Every
battery carries 8 Linnemann spades, 8 picks, 8
hatchets and 2 axes as entrenching tools. In order to provide communication
between the units every battery has 4 field telephones with The
Q.F. mountain artillery piece (оръдие, pièce) is commanded by a NCO, the
gun head (оръдейния начанлик,
chief de pièce), and is attended by six gunners (прислужници,
servants): – two
shell-handlers (раклен, pourvoyeur),
standing near the second loaded hors, bring the boxes full of shells to the
firing position and take away the empty ones; – the
fuze-cutter (поставач,
déboucheur) sets the fuze and gave the cartridges to the loader; – the
loader (пълнач, chargeur)
is the deputy of the aimer and puts the cartridge into the
chamber; – the
firer (стрелец,
tireur) opens and closes the breech-block, fires and
removes the cartridge-cases with the brush; – the aimer
(мерач,
pointeur) points and aims the gun using the
different measuring devices: he must be able to arrange and remove the
measuring device from the gun, give the height of the bar sight, give and correct
the deviations on the dial plate and the drum, give the deviation on the
lateral adjustments mechanism, set the level and the vernier,
make the required corrections on the level, direct the gun line of sight at
the assigned mark, measure the angle of sight on the level, place the
extended joints of the bar sight, use the quadrant to measure the slope of
the axis and to take or give the angle of departure, when the level lacks. |
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The
gun head supervises the functioning
of the materials, the correct and timely action of the gunners, and the
constant replenishment of the gun with shells. He gives the initial and rough
direction of the gun by acting on the traversing lever and drives the spade
into the ground, doing the same even when changing targets,
when firing at moving targets, and when aiming them is impossible without
changing the trail. Furthermore, he puts the ring to the commanded
sight graduation. While shooting, he kneels behind the firer. Before
opening fire, the shell-handlers place two ammunition boxes on the left side
of the fuze-setter – one behind the other, with the
chains to the muzzle of the gun and then stand to one side of the gun. The
aimer places the bags with the measuring instruments to the right of the gun
head, who orders place them on the gun. |
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Route formation The
gun can be towed by two horses or transported by pack
animals dismantled in four loads. The mountain artillery moves only at
walk: 4 km in an hour on flat ground, in mountainous terrain the speed of
movement depends on the ground. During
the march, the gun and its six pack animals usually advance in succession,
one after other, and they are preceded by the gun head.
The detachment was composed by six horses drivers
and six gunners. The order of succession of the loads is :
carriage, wheels, barrel, cradle and the two ammunition boxes. Usually
the battery must be unpacked in a covered position and the gun
are carried to the firing line by the gunners. If the ground does not
allow the deploying of the guns in the prescribed way, every gun is carried to the best position separately. For
mountain artillery, usually native ponies are employed.
Mules are not much used in Bulgaria, being regarded
as vicious and troublesome. Donkeys are largely employed
for carrying light loads. |
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Battle formation In
battle formation, the guns are deployed side by side
at spaces of 40 paces (full interval), 20 paces (narrow) or 10 paces (close).
However, if necessary, the battery commander can also set different
intervals. The
gun and ammunition horses of the fighting battery are
placed behind some cover to the side or rear of the battery, no
further than 150 paces, the formation depending on the cover. Without good
and secure cover, they are placed 150 paces behind
and 50 paces to the sides of the flank of the battery. The platoon bags are left 20 paces behind the battery. The
battery reserve is in a covered position at 150 / 500 paces behind the battery
and the transport train is near this detachment. The
manual stresses that it is important to pay attention to have a good
observation point near the firing line, since the effectiveness of the fire
greatly hangs on it. |
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