‘Artillery -Advances in Technology and Tactics’ by Tim Kidwell

At the start of the First World War, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)’s artillery 
was trained and equipped to fight a limited war.  Although the South African Campaign, 
Balkan conflicts and the Russo-Japanese War had influenced military thinking and procurement, 
little had changed since Waterloo.

As trench warfare took hold, it became clear that the BEF, and its artillery in particular, 
was not fit to fight at an industrial scale.  Technological innovation offered some solutions 
to the Wrstern Front stalemate, a return to mobile warfare and German defeat.However, with the 
BEF at war, harnessing new technologies took time and required significant change.  Although 
there was significant technological innovation in the BEF’s artillery between 1914 and 1918, 
the true cutting-edge advances were in its organisation, tactics and training.  

In this talk, Tim explains the state of the BEF’s artillery in 1914, looking at the people, 
processes and technology.  He follows up by identifying the key changes in these areas and 
concludes with an outline of the artillery’s capability at the end of the war.