15/02/2024
Battle of Canal du Nord.
A 60-pounder firing in the dawn barrage, near Moeuvres, 10 kilometres west of Cambra. 27th of September 1918.
Zero Hour was set for 0520 hours and at that moment the silence was broken by the roar of the artillery.
On the right horizon a field battery is moving forward, likely to become a direct-support battery or take up an advanced position to fire a later stage of the creeping barrage, something that was possible in 1918 but would have been suicidal in 1917.
After 1916, one of the main uses of 60-pounders was adding depth to the creeping barrage. With greater range than the 18-pounders, the 60-pounders could hit specific targets ahead of the main barrage, to suppress them, restrict the movement of German reserves, or destroy particular targets.
(Source - © Image IWM Q 9333 - 2/Lt D. McLellan)
(Colourised by Royston Leonard from the UK)
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