September-October - Air Defense Artillery

e parts and quantity of work for the means available.
owe,'er, all the Ordnance personnel worked cheerfully
uring long hours in order to keep the guns firing. Other
rsonnel, such as the postal service, finance section, and
detachment of the 32d Special Service Company.of enertainers
did well under the constant bombardment. The
ldier and officer knew that he had an important job to do,
d he did it well. Each member of the command of Ant-
-erpX deserves the highest praise for his courage, fortitude
nd unceasing efforts to get the job done.
Not only did the stamina of the personnel get a thorough
ting, but also the equipment received a thorough workut.
It was necessary to put a fourth set of tubes on some of
e guns. No set number of rounds was taken as a criterion
pr changing the tubes. Generally the lands near the
arcing cone started to deteriorate between 1,500 and 2,000
unds. YVhen this occurred the tubes were promptly
hanged. Six breech rings blew off during this period. This
ually occurred after about 100 rounds had been fired
am a new tube. Considerable difficulty was e};perienced
. maintenance of the M-7 power plants. This was par-'
'cularly true until white gasoline was supplied. The fuse
tters often wore loose and were difficult to keep in adustment.
Difficulty was e:-..'perienced with some of the
coil systems after approximately 3,000 rounds had been
red from a mount .
All batteries were equipped with the M-9 directors. All
f these were modified with proper potentiometer cards to
provide the ballistic corrections as shown in IT 90AA-B-3.
Somedifficulty was experienced in adjusting the computer
in a few cases after this modification was made.
The ordnance maintenance was of the highest order.
All of the equipment held up well under the severe test of
constant use and unfavorable weather conditions. It is be-
Iieved the American gun equipment is superior to any
antiaircraft equipment in the world.
f The battery CP was usually set up near the computer.
I Future fuse range was taken from the computer. Thus the
I courseof
\
the target could be plotted and a decision made as
to its engagement if it were approaching the vital area.
Jvl\lt:. SIDELIGHTS ON ANTWERP X 13
The story of Antwerp X would not be complete without
mentioning the excellent spirit of coOperation and teamwork
between the British and Americans. Frequently units
of the two nations worked side by side. The British were
most helpful in assisting the Americans in every way possible.
Only the best of relations existed between the two
armies during the entire period.
It may be of interest to record a few lessons learned during
deployment of antidiver defense of Antwerp X.
1. Best form of defense is concentric belts about fifteen
thousand yards apart.
2. Gun batteries should be about one thousand yards
apart on these arcs.
3. Guns should not engage until target has a present position
of 10,000 yards, thus giving a flak free zone and allowing
computer output data to smooth before engaging.
4. Visual direction and angular height with radar slant
range is the most accurate method of fire control, if visibility
permits ..
5. Volley fire (often erroneously referred to as salvo
fire) proved more effective because of the elimination of
dead time errors and helped eliminate personnel errors on
fuse setting.
6. All fuses should be precut to three or five seconds to
prevent ground bursts of improperly cut fuses.
. 7. Revetments saved many lives from explosion of
bursting bombs.
I 8. At least four batteries on each belt should engage a\
[single target. I
Many more pages could be written on the experiences
encountered in Antwerp X, but space in this article forbids.
The antiaircraft troops received very little publicity (because
of security reasons) during the actual battle, but the
port personnel and the people of the city of Antwerp knew
well the work they were doing. It is an important fact that
all during this long-range bombardment not once did the
port close because of the diver attack. It was only the antiaircraft
artillery that kept off the By bomb, as there were no
fighter planes nor balloons used in the defenses. The men
and the guns were there and they performed their mission
well. All praise to General Clare H. Armstrong and his
Antwerp X.