Speaking in the previous article of the cycle that there were many interesting and instructive pages in the history of our artillery, even the word "detective" was used. We would like to introduce you to one military "almost detective". At least there will be plenty of spy problems in it.
The history of war knows many secret operations that were carried out by various armies. The Russian army did not differ from others in this respect. We, too, were famous for clandestine operations, the secrecy of which remained for many years. Today we will tell you about one such operation.
On February 20, 1916, an ordinary passenger train departed from Petrograd to Finland, of which there were a lot of them every day. Among the bustling passengers, two passengers with a distinctly military bearing, but in civilian clothes, stood out.
Passengers behaved like ordinary people who absolutely do not care about the world war and all the troubles in Europe. They went to rest. Therefore, the route of the trip was chosen "around the war." Finland, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain and beyond …
Apparently, to Spain or Greece. To the warm sea.
Sweden and Norway did not participate in the war. Therefore, the ships of these countries could quite safely pass the German (North in our opinion) sea. True, German submarines periodically stopped ships for inspection. And even suspicious passengers were detained.
But our heroes managed to get to London without incident. There they changed, more precisely, they changed into officers of the Russian army. Artillery lieutenant colonels. And in this form, they arrived at the Russian military representative. And from there they were already sent to a private military hospital for living.
And strange passengers like them began to arrive also in pairs on all the following ferries and ships. And again, the whole story repeated itself many times. The only difference was in the settlement of the arrivals. Some settled in a hospital, others in a soldier's hotel.
The strange, highly secret operation carried out by Russian officers and soldiers was in fact carried out at the behest of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, field inspector general of artillery.
But the control over the placement, nutrition and training of the team was carried out by another Grand Duke, Mikhail Mikhailovich. It is known that he personally visited not only officers in a private hospital, but lower ranks in a soldier's hotel. Such a strange Romanov …
Moreover, the fact of the conversation between the Grand Duke and the soldier remained in history. After examining the dining room and the rooms where the soldiers were housed, Mikhail Mikhailovich wished to talk to the soldier. Naturally, the topic of conversation was standard. Does a soldier like living in a hotel? Are there any complaints?
The rest is simply to quote the soldier's answer. "That's right, Your Imperial Highness! Only it hurts to change the sheets often. Before you have time to wrinkle them, new ones are given!" Even this episode clearly shows the attitude towards the soldier on the part of the command. And the attitude of the British towards Russian soldiers.
After the team was fully assembled, soldiers and officers were sent to the Large Hill Artillery School. Londoners have remembered this day for a long time. A Russian military unit walked across London with a parade, singing songs! The Russians went to the station to become diligent apprentices of the English gunners.
Memories of contemporaries show that applause accompanied our gunners all the way to the station …
Ten chief officers from mortar divisions and 42 lower ranks under the command of two headquarters officers, the commander of the 1st battery of the Mikhailovsky artillery school, Lieutenant Colonel Novogrebelsky and the commander of the 1st battery of the Konstantinovsky artillery school, Lieutenant Colonel Hertso-Vinogradsky, in fact were supposed to become instructors for the army to master the new Russian armament: 45-line howitzers of the 1910 model.
After two weeks of training, the Russian artillerymen not only perfectly studied the material part of the new howitzers, but also learned how to shoot guns, transfer fire and change positions no worse than the British. One of the officers of the British army in his memoirs highly appreciated the training of the Russian soldiers. Two complete, well trained batteries in two weeks!
During the training, one feature of the English howitzer became clear, which interfered with the Russian artillerymen. And it interfered strongly enough. The fact is that the methods of dividing the goniometer in Russia and the UK were different. On the British tools there was a protractor, traditional for them (two semicircles, 180 divisions each). At the insistence of the Russian artillerymen, the goniometers were replaced, in accordance with the divisions adopted in Russia.
Why did Russia so hastily began to buy British howitzers? We have already discussed in detail the reasons for this situation in previous articles. We will only recall that at the beginning of the First World War, only 11% of howitzers were part of the artillery in Russia. While in Germany this figure was 25%! And the very first battles of trench warfare showed the importance of such weapons.
In 1910, a 45-line (114-mm) Vickers howitzer entered service with the British army. Its main advantage was its increased rate of fire. She had a barrel, consisting of a pipe and a casing, and a wedge prismatic breech.
The recoil devices rolled back together with the barrel and included a hydraulic compressor and a spring knurler. To reduce the rollback of the howitzer, the opener and shoe brakes of wooden wheels were also used.
The aiming of the gun was carried out using a sector lifting mechanism and a rotary screw. The horizontal angle of fire of the howitzer was 6 °, and there was a rule for turning the gun by the forces of calculation to a greater angle in the trunk.
The shield cover provided protection for the crew from bullets and shrapnel. The ammunition consisted of howitzer grenades weighing 15, 9 kg and shrapnel.
The original front end was used to transport the howitzer and ammunition.
A special agreement was concluded between Great Britain and Russia, according to which we purchased about 400 British guns in 1916. Howitzers became part of the infantry and cavalry units.
But the First World War was only the beginning of the combat biography of these howitzers. Then there was the Civil War. He served in the Red Army in peacetime. In 1933, the Red Army had 285 such guns. True, by 1936 their number had decreased somewhat. Up to 211 pieces. It is possible that the guns managed to take part in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War, when everything that could shoot was used. We do not exclude this scenario either.
Tactical and technical data
Designation: Vickers 45-line howitzer
Type: field howitzer
Caliber, mm: 114, 3
Barrel length, calibers: 15, 6
Weight in firing position, kg: 1368
Angle GN, degrees: 6
VN angle, degree: -5; +45
Initial projectile velocity, m / s: 303
Max. firing range, m: 7500
Effective rate of fire, rds / min: 6-7
Projectile weight, kg: 15, 9
A total of 3,117 howitzers were produced.
More than 100 years have passed since these guns were fired at Coventry and ended up in Russia. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity to see this weapon with one's own eyes. A complete set of howitzer (as seen from the photo) is on display at the Museum of Russian Military History in the village of Padikovo, Moscow Region.
