The Importance Of Artillery Warfare In World War One

Possibly one of the most significant innovations of World War One was Artillery. As said by World War One historian John Terraine, “The war of 1914-18 was an artillery war: artillery was the battle-winner, artillery was what caused the greatest loss of life, the most dreadful wounds, and the deepest fear.” Artillery warfare played a huge part in the First World War and its significance at the time was evident; artillery was mostly positioned on the front line, out of sight, to fire at enemy infantry. The point of artillery was to try and hit the target with great force and accuracy. At the start of the war a “register” method was used by both sides, this involved firing ranging shots which they could then observe and correct until they hit

The development of communication also helped the British to seek out the position of enemy guns as the ability to quickly communicate to a runner was very important as it meant they could calculate what their side needed to do to hit the enemy guns accurately and with great force. These developments made artillery more effective from then on and this was put into practise in the Second World War and made artillery a much more effective weapon of destruction. With its new developments it could shoot at enemy guns with accuracy, surprise and severe force, enough to neutralise them. This meant that enemies hidden in trenches were exposed to the constant fire from the other side, sometimes several rounds per minute potentially lasting for hours, destroying lines of trenches and injuring hundreds. Artillery barrages were also a development of the war used in infantry battle, immerging from their new ability to fire quickly and accurately, artillery could be used to create distractions from the area of attack, so that British infantry, cavalry and tanks could advance at a reduced