John Leeson

 

My Grandad goes to war. 1916.

Gunner John Leeson RGA [96749].

He volunteered on the 10th December 1915, [age 27].  Conscription was introduced by law on 27/1/16.  Such was the flood of volunteers that he was not called up immediately.

He was not mobilised until 12-16th June 1916 at Fort Burgoyne, Dover, which was No.1 Depot Royal Garrison Artillery [RGA].  This depot processed about 1000 recruits per month.  He underwent four months training [16/6/16 to 21/10/16] in basic drill, gunnery and fitness.

He had vaccinations on 28^th July 1916 and 29^th August at Fort Grain in the Thames estuary.

This was the base for 18 Company, RGA under Major R. Keogh.

There is also a note in his pay book, ‘3 [B] Siege Depot Bexhill’, which is near Hastings, so he may also have been posted there during his training.

Prior to going to France he was at No:2 Depot, RGA, at Fort Brockhurst, Gosport.

 On 21^st October 1916 he was moved overseas to B. S/Bty (Base Depot, Siege Batteries), RGA at Le Havre, France and was placed on active service in the B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force). The next day he was issued with his pay book and he wrote and signed his will which was a section of that book.

Le Havre was a massive base for supplies, reinforcements and remounts (horses).

The RGA’s No:1 General Base Depot was located at Camp 12, approximately a quarter of a mile to the west of Harfleur station.

It was here that he was processed for the front and only now allocated to his unit.  He was there for 8 days till 29/10/16.  He was posted to 140 Siege Battery RGA on 30/10/16.

140 SB was then part of 36 [Australian] Heavy Artillery Group (HAG), in the II Corps, of the 5^th Army, in action at that time on the Somme, supporting the final phases of the battle that had started on 1^st July.

My Grandad goes to the front.

30th October 1916.

My Grandad leaves Le Havre to join his unit at the front.

He probably went by train to join 140 Siege Battery RGA on the Somme.
The battery was a modern, mechanized one of four, 6" Howitzers.

The battery position was at Authuille Wood, near Aveluy, just north of Albert.
The Battle of the Somme was by now in its fourth month.  Note: Reginald Groves had been killed near Le Sars on the first of the month.

Below is the exact location of the battery on a WW1 trench map.

The battery was part of 36 [Australian] HAG [Heavy Artillery Group] and contained the following siege batteries: 14 SB, 23 SB, 33 SB, 80 SB, 129 SB, 140 SB and 177 SB.

140th Siege Battery RGA.

A little back ground to the battery my Grandfather joined.

Battery History.

140^th Siege Battery, R.G.A. was formed on 22/5/1916.

140 SB was formed at Sheerness, one of ten new siege batteries formed in May 1916. This was a modern, mechanised battery [not horse drawn] and went out to the western front in August 1916, one of 25 new Siege Batteries sent out that month.  Its armament was 4 x 6” Howitzers of the new 26 cwt type.

140 SB was sent to the Somme to join 15 Heavy Artillery Group [HAG] on 7/8/16, it was moved to 36 [Australian] HAG 10/9/16 under the command of 2nd Corps and then joined 14 HAG on 21/3/17 under the command of 1^st ANZAC Corps.

The battery commander was Maj A.G.C.Smythe who was also the OC of 36 HAG at one point.

Battery Equipment.

4 x 6” Howitzers of the new 26 cwt type.

Rapidly developed at the beginning of the war, its combination of firepower, range and mobility (for its day) made it one of the British Empire's most important weapons in the war.

Over 3,600 were made and they were still in use at the end of WW2.

Crewed by 10 men, it could fire two, 100 lb shells, per minute, up to 5½ miles.  They fired over 22 million shells on the Western Front alone.

The 106E percussion fuse was introduced in 1917 - its sensitive 'graze' action allowed it to explode on the surface and clear wire entanglements effectively.

Transport for a mechanised 6” Howitzer battery consisted of:-

4 x quadruple driven lorries [ 4 wheeled drive gun tractors]
13 x 3-ton lorries
1 x motor car
7 x motorcycles

This was broken down as follows:-
For the Guns and their equipment….4 quadruple driven lorries….8 drivers
For ammunition….8 x 3-ton lorries…..16 drivers
For baggage and stores….3 x 3-ton lorries….6 drivers
For personnel….1 x car….1 x driver
For personnel….7 x motorcycles
For supplies….1 x 3-ton lorry….2 drivers
Spare…. 1 x 3-ton lorry….2 drivers
Each battery was also supplied with one water tank.

Battery Personnel.

Major 1
Captain 1
Subalterns 4
BSM 1
BQMS 1
Sergeants 5
Smiths 2
Wheeler 1
Trumpeter 2
Corporals 6
Bombardiers 6
Gunners 100.  This includes 8 acting Bombardiers and 21 Signallers and Telephonists
Batman 6 [for the 6 Officers].

Total 136

Attached personnel............

Army Ordnance Corps [A.O.C.] Armament Artificer 1

Army Service Corps [A.S.C.] Motor Transport [M.T.]
Subalterns 2
Sergeants 3
Batmen 2
Drivers - lorries 34
Motor - car 1
Spare 15% - 6

Total attached 49

Battery Grand Total [including attached] - 185

Gun Detachments.

The 4 guns each had 30 men split into 3 shift rotas (10 men per gun per shift) of 24 hour working plus signallers.
Each gun was a sub-section comprised of ten men and the functions of each man in the sub-section was identified by a number from 1 to 10. The list below explains the basic functions for each member of the gun detachment. 

No.1 The gun commander, responsible for supervising the actions of all other members of the detachment and gives the order to fire.
No.2 Opens and closes the breech, puts the gun in and out of firing position, operates the right brake once the gun is laid and fires the gun.
No.3 With number 5 rams home the round. Uncaps fuses. Operates the left brake once the gun is laid.
No.4 Acts as gun layer with number 1.
No.5 With number 3 rams home the round and assists number 10 with cleaning and preparing fuses.
No.6 Prepares, fetches and loads shells
No.7 Carries shells to the gun. Assists number 10.
No.8 An NCO, prepares charges and keeps records of charges.
No.9 Carries shells to the gun. Assists number 10.
No.10 Issues shells and ensures shells are clean and fused.  

No.1 was a Sergeant, and commanded the sub-section.

A Subaltern commanded a section of two guns.

 6” Howitzers

 A quadruple driven lorry [gun tractor]

3-ton lorries

First Battery Move.

140 Siege Battery RGA moved on 25th February 1917.  Prior to that its tasks had been.

November 1916:
Mainly supporting 19th Division, firing about 200 rounds per day. Very muddy and under fire from gas shells.
December 1916:
The light railway supplying their ammunition was badly shelled.  Ammunition was then limited to 30 rounds per day.
January 1917:
Supporting the 11th Division, firing 30 rounds per hour all day [8th January] and nearly 500 on the 11th.  Very cold, -10C.  A German plane [an Albatross] was brought down and they captured the pilot and navigator.  More snow.
February 1917:
No:4 Squadron Royal Flying Corps [RFC] was spotting for them.

As the Germans fell back at the end of the Battle of the Somme, the heavy guns advanced to keep in range.  140 SB moved from the Authuille Wood position on 25th February 1917 to a new position, Mouquet Farm, not far from Thiepval.
The battery was still part of 36 [Australian] HAG [Heavy Artillery Group] and contained the following siege batteries: 54 SB [Australian], 56 SB, 115 SB and 140 SB.

Red flag marks the new battery position.  Map ref R33a07.

The battery move from grid 12 to grid 33, about a mile.

Second Battery Move.

140 Siege Battery RGA moved forward again on 15th March 1917.

With the Germans continuing to fall back the battery was almost out of range.  It was time to move forward again.  Two howitzers joined 115 SB at Le Sars and the other two were placed on the road to Le Sars.  This was an advance of just over 3 miles.  See the Somme map above for the position of Le Sars.  

The Corps Commander visited and praised them for their good shooting.  

More heavy snow.  

Lots of men were needed to work on the light railway, extending it to the new positions.

Lt Gen Claud Jacob. CO of II Corps.

The two positions are marked in red.