Mike Royden's
Royden Family History Pages
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Mike Royden'sRoyden Family History Pages
Royden - Cheshire/Wirral/Liverpool Branches |
It is likely that given the battalion that Charles was with and the action he saw, he was trained and operational on 4.5" Howitzers. This is a brief note on their use.
Introduced into service in 1909, the shell fired by this howitzer was 4.5-inch calibre (114mm); the shell weighed 35-lb (15.9 kg). It had a maximum range of 7,300 yards (6.67km), with this distance being covered in a little under 22 seconds. The gun could elevate to 45 degrees above horizontal, which meant that its shell plunged onto target - an ideal way of delivering high explosive onto a trench or fortification. Design Mark II came into service in 1917, with a modification that improved wear against the actions of the sliding block breech. (This design stayed in service until withdrawn in 1944!). The howitzer weighed 3,010 pounds (1.362 tonnes).
Return to Charles Royden (1881-1918) - Biography
The Big Push was a strategy to end the war at the Somme. An artillery barrage was to wipe out the enemy so Allied troops could walk across no-man's land. On June 24th, the bombardment began. So many shells were defective, the 4.5" Howitzer crew called themselves, 'The Suicide Club.'The 36th (Ulster) Division was assigned a fortified German entrenchment including a bunker 20 or 30 feet deep, where German troops sheltered from the bombardment. Awaiting 'The Big Push,' in Thiepval Wood,
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