Artillery

Archived Content

Archived information is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Transcript

The 18-Pounder Field Gun weighed almost 1,300 kg. It was the main field artillery weapon used by the Allied army. With a good crew and conditions, it could fire a shell over a distance of 6 km in a little over 12 seconds.

Mr. Wood describes the role of the 18 pounder artillery piece and its variety of ordnance.

Transcript

We used to be in with an eighteen pounder, we used to be in the first line, you know. Because you could roll them up and put them in, you see. Oh, an eighteen pounder, it depends on the shot you were firing. It could be shrapnel, it could be high explosive, it could be anything, you see, in them days. It depends how far away you were. We were, half the time we were about maybe a hundred yards away from the Germans. That’s why we used to have the eighteen pounders right on the front line pretty near. And it depends on, if it was a battle scene that was coming up, well, you had everything there, way back to the six pounders, and the eight pounders, eighteen pounders, forty-fives. Well Vimy Ridge, there is Petit Vimy and Vimy, you see. Petit Vimy is right on the canal bank there, just sort of a bank, you know, a railroad and everything else there, you see. Well, that was the largest, at that time, that was the largest barrage that was ever fought in any battle, you see. We had them going, we had them shooting from about 21 miles away... from the front line I’m talking about now, you see. And they used to, oh God yes, and that’s why we won the Vimy Ridge, you see, just through that. We had so much artillery back of us, see, it was just out of this world. Just out of this world.