5 ms·

I just want to throw this in here for some more context: "During The Somme, the British bombardment consisted of 1,537 guns firing over 1,500,000 shells over a

I just want to throw this in here for some more context: "During The Somme, the British bombardment consisted of 1,537 guns firing over 1,500,000 shells over a period of 168 hours averaging 8,929 shells fired per minute." That is just... staggering. I can't find a source for it, but I remember some factoid stating that on average it took several hundred shells to kill one soldier. That's not to say they had to take several hundred hits, but that on average that's how many shells it took to rack up one kill. (from: http://www.tommy1418.com/wwi-facts--figures--myths.html http://www.tommy1418.com/wwi-facts--figures--myths.html) *Edit for caps only

dang 10y ago
Could you please edit that quote to not use all caps? (per https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  Sure, sorry about that, it was direct from the source.
  - dang 10y ago
    Thanks!
    - Aelinsaar 10y ago
      No sweat, thanks for the heads up.
jschwartzi 10y ago
It seems like the purpose of a bombardment like that isn't to kill the soldiers outright, but to crush their advance and keep them out of your territory.
- ams6110 10y ago
  The purpose of a military bombardment is to kill people and destroy infrastructure, thus neutralizing the ability and will of your enemy to continue fighting.
  - eropple 10y ago
    Create casualties, not necessarily kill people. Injuries are expensive to a military power.
- Khaine 10y ago
  It is also due to the creeping barrage, where you would inch your artillery fire forward with your troops behind its shield as the enemy took cover during a barrage and therefore it stopped them from being able to gun down your troops. "In late 1915 / early 1916, Commonwealth forces began developing a new form of barrage. Beginning close to their own lines, the 'creeping' barrage moved slowly forward, throwing up dirt clouds to obscure the infantry who advanced close behind. The barrage would reach the enemy lines and suppress as normal (by driving men into bunkers or more distant areas) but the attacking infantry would be close enough to storm these lines (once the barrage had crept further forward) before the enemy reacted. That was, at least, the theory." From http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb.htm http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb....
  - lostlogin 10y ago
    What could possibly go wrong? I know it's Wikepedia, but the concept that 10% casualties on your own side could be expected when done correctly should be a clue that this is another crap WW1 technique. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery)
spatulan 10y ago
The Germans fired nearly as many shells, 1,100,000, in just the first five hours of the 1918 Spring Offensive.
- Aelinsaar 10y ago
  It just represents a vast amount of energy, and human endeavor, literally blown away.
- xufi 10y ago
  Interesting fact, I do remember reading they were trying to make a last minute siege near by the end of the year.
maxxxxx 10y ago
One goal was to destroy the barbed wire barriers so the infantry soldiers could reach the opposite trenches without getting stuck in the wires.
JshWright 10y ago
And yet, more than half of the combat related deaths in WWI were from artillery/mortar fire.
Someone 10y ago
There also were mining operations at enormous scale (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_on_the_first_day_of_the_Somme https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_on_the_first_day_of_th...) About a year later, the battle of Messines (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_in_the_Battle_of_Messines_(1917) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_in_the_Battle_of_Messi... ) saw larger mines, some of which with over 40,000 kg of explosives. Five of them weren't detonated. One of those exploded in 1955 after a lightning strike. Most likely, four others are still lying below ground. It's anybody's guess whether they still are dangerous and might detonate one day.
- camtarn 10y ago
  There's a good BBC article on it here, with a lot of detail about the people behind the tunnelling schemes, and the horror of digging in complete silence, listening out for enemy miners who might be just inches away: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36685270 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36685270
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Glad you posted that, didn't know where I'd read it. Good read on an aspect of the trench war I hadn't heard about before.

dang 10y ago

Could you please edit that quote to not use all caps? (per https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

Aelinsaar 10y ago
Sure, sorry about that, it was direct from the source.
- dang 10y ago
  Thanks!
  - Aelinsaar 10y ago
    No sweat, thanks for the heads up.

jschwartzi 10y ago

It seems like the purpose of a bombardment like that isn't to kill the soldiers outright, but to crush their advance and keep them out of your territory.

ams6110 10y ago
The purpose of a military bombardment is to kill people and destroy infrastructure, thus neutralizing the ability and will of your enemy to continue fighting.
- eropple 10y ago
  Create casualties, not necessarily kill people. Injuries are expensive to a military power.
Khaine 10y ago
It is also due to the creeping barrage, where you would inch your artillery fire forward with your troops behind its shield as the enemy took cover during a barrage and therefore it stopped them from being able to gun down your troops. "In late 1915 / early 1916, Commonwealth forces began developing a new form of barrage. Beginning close to their own lines, the 'creeping' barrage moved slowly forward, throwing up dirt clouds to obscure the infantry who advanced close behind. The barrage would reach the enemy lines and suppress as normal (by driving men into bunkers or more distant areas) but the attacking infantry would be close enough to storm these lines (once the barrage had crept further forward) before the enemy reacted. That was, at least, the theory." From http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb.htm http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/worldwar1/p/prcreepingb....
- lostlogin 10y ago
  What could possibly go wrong? I know it's Wikepedia, but the concept that 10% casualties on your own side could be expected when done correctly should be a clue that this is another crap WW1 technique. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_(artillery)

spatulan 10y ago

The Germans fired nearly as many shells, 1,100,000, in just the first five hours of the 1918 Spring Offensive.

Aelinsaar 10y ago
It just represents a vast amount of energy, and human endeavor, literally blown away.
xufi 10y ago
Interesting fact, I do remember reading they were trying to make a last minute siege near by the end of the year.

maxxxxx 10y ago

One goal was to destroy the barbed wire barriers so the infantry soldiers could reach the opposite trenches without getting stuck in the wires.

JshWright 10y ago

And yet, more than half of the combat related deaths in WWI were from artillery/mortar fire.

Someone 10y ago

There also were mining operations at enormous scale (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_on_the_first_day_of_the_Somme https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_on_the_first_day_of_th...) About a year later, the battle of Messines (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_in_the_Battle_of_Messines_(1917) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_in_the_Battle_of_Messi... ) saw larger mines, some of which with over 40,000 kg of explosives. Five of them weren't detonated. One of those exploded in 1955 after a lightning strike. Most likely, four others are still lying below ground. It's anybody's guess whether they still are dangerous and might detonate one day.

camtarn 10y ago
There's a good BBC article on it here, with a lot of detail about the people behind the tunnelling schemes, and the horror of digging in complete silence, listening out for enemy miners who might be just inches away: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36685270 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36685270
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  Glad you posted that, didn't know where I'd read it. Good read on an aspect of the trench war I hadn't heard about before.