Picking thru a long book by a Wehrmacht artillery crewman (20th Motorized Div) I found twice mentioned a technique for obtaining airbursts without time fuzes. I'd never encountered this technique & am naturally a bit curious
In simple terms: the howitzer (15cm in this description) was fired at a charge/elevation combination that would cause the projectile to strike at a low angle & bounce back into the air. By making the aimpoint at a few meter short in range and setting the fuze to the delay setting it was expected the projectile would explode over the enemy position, gaining a more effective airburst vs a surface burst.
As an artilleryman I can clearly see the theory behind this, but am wondering if anyone has any knowledge of this technique. A Russian did make the following remark about it
"This was a common tactic in the Red Army. Since the most common artillery piece was the 76mm divisional gun, which couldn't get very well to entrenched infantry, they had to rely on ricochets.
Why you'd need to do it with a howitzer is a mystery. "
Anyone else ? |