Landships II

Tks Tim R,

On internet I've read that in "Napoleonic" armies they used "rockets", they even had a "Rocket Corps" and later (late 19th century) they were used at least in Africa (see picture), did they were used in trenchwarfare too?

DJ

Hi Tim heres whats in the books theres probarbly more...

dynamite bombs were used

"As the hand grenades proved so efficacious it
was natural that both parties should wish to
extend their sphere of action to longer ranges,
and consequently the Russians first, and the
Japanese shortly afterwards, constructed wooden
mortars, from which the bombs could be thrown
distances up to a couple of hundred yards. The
Japanese mortars were constructed of two half-

cylindrical pieces of wood of about one and a half ins. thick-
ness, held together by strong bamboo hoops, so
as to form a barrel about 2 ft. 2 ins. long, with
an inner diameter of about 5 ins. The barrel was
fixed to a wooden bedplate, at a constant angle of
45 degrees, and the different ranges between 50
and 200 yards were obtained by changing the
weight of the powder charges by which they were
fired."

it seems to have been a regular thing to place them in the front line in saps nearest the forts..

and the russians used theirs to harass the japanese sappers or attackers

"It goes without saying that the Russians had
not allowed the Japanese to carry out these works
undisturbed. Besides their ordinary means of
harassing their enemies, surprise parties and
sorties, shelling, sniping, and throwing of dyna-
mite bombs from their small mortarsthey had
invented a new device for impeding the progress
of the sapping works."

"On the morning of the 31st, a force of about
eighty men was sent across and succeeded in
reaching the parapet, where half of the men at
once prepared to entrench themselves, while the
other half kept the Russians at bay till the trench
was completed. This force met a very tragic fate.
The Russians brought a mountain gun into their
caponier gallery and shelled the bomb-proof pas-
sage across the moat to pieces, setting fire to the
timber and the bags, thus cutting off the little
party's retreat. On the parapet the men had
dynamite bombs fired at them from small mortars,
and were constantly attacked by the Russian
infantry. To recross the moat was out of the
question ; the few who tried were instantly killed
by the Russian sharpshooters, or by the machine
guns down in the caponiers. To bring up
supports was also impossible."

"While the operations against Sungshuh and
Erhlung forts were proceeding as described, the
sappers of the 11 th Division were slowly carrying
saps up towards the high East Kikuan fort. It
had been very difficult work. The higher they
progressed, the steeper became the hill, and the
more difficult was it to guard their men against
the shells and dynamite bombs thrown from the
small mortars."

from Wilson

"The dynamite bombs were of all devices the most terrible ; where they did not kill they inflicted appalling wounds, and they rained incessantly upon the Japanese. To throw them the Russians employed small wooden mortars as well as hand-power. Discovering this, the Japanese adopted the same expedient, and employed some hundreds of wooden mortars, which were stationed in the front line. As it was vital to give the troops in the saps protection against these bombs, every kind of device was tried, but finally nets of spring wire, like wire-mattresses, were placed to cover the workers. From these the Russian bombs rebounded and exploded without effect. But in the hand-to-hand encounters such contrivances could not be used, and the slaughter was then appalling. Few on either side came out alive from such affairs ; when the smoke of the bombs lifted it disclosed a sea of human wrecks
swimming in blood."

Very effective I think...

Cheers

Tks all for the information and Pic's

DJ