A Royal Field Artillery 18-pounder battery towed into position on the Western Front, 1914 (c)

Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1914 (c).

The 18-pounder was the main British artillery weapon of the First World War. With a crew of ten men, it could fire 18-pound shrapnel, high explosive or smoke shells up to six kilometres (over 6,500 yards). In August 1914 the British Army was equipped with 1226 of these guns. During the Battle of the Somme (1916) the British fired over 15 million shells. Of those, some 10 million were fired by 18-pounders. With an experienced crew and in good conditions, the 18-pounder could fire at a remarkable 30 rounds a minute.