ARTILLERY

History

Motto

UBIQUE - Everywhere

The traditional motto of artillery is UBIQUE (Everywhere). This relates to the fact that it has been deployed all over the world and to its ability to provide fire in depth over a wide front.

Employment

The SA Army Artillery Formation accepts the following as being the principles to which its functioning and employment should conform:

• Concentration of firepower
• Offensive action
• Surprise
• Flexibility
• Simplicity
• Maintenance of morale and discipline
• Manoeuvrability
• Economic employment of effort, means and manpower
• Intelligence
• Cooperation
• Logistic Support
• Maintenance of reserves at all levels
• Security
• Safety

Guiding Principles

The SA Army Artillery Formation requires, in addition, that the following guiding principles be adhered to in the performance of artillery-related tasks:

• Sense of urgency
• Simultaneous action
• The independent act

Artillery Traditions

The Artillery is very rich in traditions. Here are some of our proud traditions:

Introduction

• Tradition is born of many things. It usually consists of tales, beliefs or practices handed down from generation to generation.
• Regiments are like families. As men come and go, so customs are handed down, sometimes odd customs which might now seem almost meaningless, but which made sense when they originated. These traditions hold a unit together and instill in it a pride and esprit de corps unique to the unit.
• Gunners are particularly fortunate in having almost world-wide tradition to weld them into a unique body of men - men who are proud to be known as gunners. The forerunners of today's gunners were not soldiers in the accepted sense and, for well over a century, by virtue of its origin and characteristics, the artillery developed as something of a distinct entity - almost a separate force. Consequently, its members have always felt themselves somewhat superior to the ordinary soldier.
• These traditions have led gunners to develop a justifiable sense of superiority over the ages, for they serve the Gun, which bears the title of Ultima Ratio Regum - the last argument of kings and which provides firepower far beyond the capacity of all other weapons.

The Bore

In 1739, an innovation made it possible to cast a gun in a single solid mass and bore the chamber afterwards (hence the term "bore").

The Piece

Early cannon had no special carriages. A Scottish Act of Parliament in 1456, for instance, speaks of "Carts of War" for conveying light artillery. Guns were known collectively as ordnance, and cannons were thus individually called pieces of ordnance hence the word "piece" as applied to the gun today.

Spiking the Guns

When all efforts to prevent guns from being captured by the enemy failed, such guns were spiked. Spiking is an artillery term dating back many years and it refers to the old method of driving a spike or wedge into the touch-hole or vent so that the gun could not be fired, rendering it completely useless to the enemy.

Naming of Guns

• Guns were originally named after various kinds of monsters, according to their size and individual features. Mortars, used extensively by the artillery, were named after the German "meerthier", meaning "sea beast".
• In Germany, heavy guns (bombards) gave way as early as 1385 to lighter ones mounted on wood and supported by a fork or hook, hence the name "HakenbUsche", corrupted by the English to "Hackbutt", "Hagbush" and finally "Harquebus". The piece was later improved by the fitting of a stock, and the whole weapon was reduced in scale and made small enough to be carried by hand. Thus the rifle was in fact developed from the gun although the reverse might commonly be supposed.
• The name "Howitzer", derived from the German "Haubitze", came into use in about 1750 and provides another example of the process described above.

Bombardier

The rank of Bombardier is exclusively an artillery rank. It was created in 1686, and holders of this rank worked directly under the fire-workers, performing specialised duty with mortars. Until 1920 the word "Corporal" denoted the artillery rank between Sergeant and Bombardier.

First Permanent Force Artillery

Henry VII, King of England (1485 - 1509), was keenly interested in artillery and formed the first permanent force of gunners when he appointed a "Master Gunner" and twelve paid "Gunners" at the Tower of London. It was their duty to look after equipment and to train partly-paid civilians in the art of gunnery. When artillery was required for a campaign, it was organised as a "trayne" to which certain pieces of ordnance were allotted, together with "Master Gunners", "Mates" and Mattrosses", the latter being "Gunners" Assistants. Wherever the "trayne" went, it was followed by wagons carrying all the equipment and comforts of life, including camp followers. The phrase "Son of a Gun", originally a term of abuse, is supposed to have sprung from this practice.

The Gunner Officer

• Many years ago, officers were always wealthy young gentlemen of nobility who were able to purchase commissions in the regiments of their choice.
• They could pay their way up to Captain or even Lieutenant Colonel before the age of twenty-one, giving the barest minimum of attention to military duties.
• From the start, it had been the custom to promote artillery officers from the ranks because of the specialised knowledge required of them. Even in the 18th century, gunnery was a science. Gunner officers had to be prepared for really intensive study in order to acquire a grounding in mathematics, ballistics, chemistry, personnel management and horse management, as well as many other subjects.
• As a result, the artillery tended to attract men of a different stamp from those of the dashing and socially conscious cavalry and infantry regiments.
• In the social climate of those days, artillery officers, and gunners in general, given the cold shoulder.
• Distrust of the artillery as a body of pampered specialists persisted until the early 20th century. This prejudice may have encouraged the gunner's feeling of superiority.

Batmen or Servants

Unlike cavalry and infantry officers, the artillery officer has always preferred to look after himself without the help of a servant. An order of 1740 provided that "no subaltern officer is for the future to have a servant out of one of the companies".

Discipline

• The dangerous nature of the early gun power necessitated strict discipline in order to avoid accidents, although discipline in general has always been strict in artillery units.
• A tradition unique to gunners is that they never walk but run, elbows bent and arms held against the chest.

Artillery Colours

• The gun symbolises battle. It makes a loud noise, spews out flames, and kills men by the score. As a sculpture in metal, it strikes the eye with a sinister impact. All bodies of fighting men rally upon some object - an eagle, a banner or the colours - which gradually starts to possess magical and totemistic value. To carry the colours or to die in their defence was an honour, and to lose them was a disgrace. Gunners of all nations invest their pride and trust in the gun itself, upon which they rally and which, as a point of honour, must be prevented at all costs from falling intact into the hands of the enemy.
• The guns are the standards or colours of the artillery and other arms are to treat them in the same manner as infantry colours. Troops on guard duty should present arms whenever a troop of manned and dressed guns is towed past them.
• The gun is thus treated with veneration and respect. It is cleaned, polished, oiled and looked after with care. No effort is to be spared in the duty of maintaining the gun: even in the heat of battle. the gunner will maintain it and keep it clean, for to him the gun is the symbol of his superiority to all other corps in the combat services.

Lanyards on the Right Shoulder

• "Why do gunners wear lanyards on the right shoulder and not on the left?" This is a question often asked.
• Like all mounted corps and regiments they used to wear their lanyards on the left shoulder, with the jack-knife on the end housed in the top left pocket. This continued until a few years after the end of the Great War (1914 - 1918).
• The Depot Royal Artillery (RA) was formed at Woolwich in the early 1920s for the training of recruits, a task previously carried out in other, smaller depots.
• In command of the Depot RA was Major General Geoffrey White, an individualist with strong ideas about turn-out and smartness based on practical reasoning. He noticed that recruits unskilled in rifle drill were apt, when ordering arms from slope, to disarrange the lanyard as the rifle passed down the left shoulder. This also shifted the bandolier.
• In 1924, therefore, he ordered that the lanyard and bandolier be worn over the right shoulder. Gunners generally adopted the lanyard change, and on the right they have since remained; but, since bandoliers had to be altered by a saddler if so worn, they were left unchanged. It is probable that the left shoulder was originally favored for the wearing of such accoutrements in order that the sword arm, also used for saluting, should be free from encumbrances such as lanyards and cap-lines.

Code of Conduct for Artillery Soldiers

"The status now conferred on me, as an Artillery Soldier, carries a special responsibility and demands of me a special sense of duty. I will, therefore, also be held accountable by law and the Code of Conduct, for the manner I carry out my duty.

I, as an Artillery Soldier, solemnly take the following pledge:

• I will, at all times
  • apply the three golden rules of the Artillery:
    • Do an independent check on all technical work
    • Think and plan in advance
    • Ensure that simultaneous actions take place
  • have a sense of urgency
  • protect my launcher at the risk of my own life
  • ensure that all Artillery equipment remains serviceable and maintained according to doctrine
  • ensure that Artillery teamwork is done professionally to enhance comradeship and the sharing of Artillery common goals and values
  • ensure that my physical fitness is up to standard as required for an Artillery Soldier
  • obey and apply the "SA National Defence Force Code of Conduct"

"This is my solemn pledge, so be it"