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Units of distance used in British War Diary?

  • 19-02-2016 5:24am
    #1
    The Chieftain
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 298 ✭✭


    I was lust looking at the entry for 27/10/1914 in the war dairy of the 56th (Howitzer) Battery, 44th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. It states:
    "Took up a position about 1500x (superscript x) east of HOOGE where the battery remained till 3.11.14"

    My question is this - what is the likely unit of distance used here - feet, or yards, or (as this is in France) meters?


Comments

  • #2
    Pat Dunne
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,015 ✭✭✭Pat Dunne


    The Chieftain wrote: »
    I was lust looking at the entry for 27/10/1914 in the war dairy of the 56th (Howitzer) Battery, 44th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. It states:
    "Took up a position about 1500x (superscript x) east of HOOGE where the battery remained till 3.11.14"

    My question is this - what is the likely unit of distance used here - feet, or yards, or (as this is in France) meters?

    Good old Imperial Feet and Inches. SAH!


  • #3
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    Yards.

    RFA and RGA (and latterly the RA) operated in yards. Batteries also tended to be sited within 1000 to 2000 yards of one another to facilitate surveying, supply and communications.


  • #4
    tac foley
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,500 ✭✭✭tac foley


    The British Army operated in imperial measurements right up until the late 1960s' when interoperability with the rest of NATO became a vital part of the organisation.

    Until then, even the UK's standard battle rifle, the FN FAL, was license-built in UK in imperial dimensions, and called the SLR so as not to get the two confused.

    The change-over cost a genuine fortune since all artillery and everything connected with it had to be changed to MILs and metres for a start. Handbooks for EVERYTHING had to be re-written, too.

    It cost the US government about twenty times as much as the British.

    Measurements that have NOT changed include speed at sea - knots - depth at sea - feet - flying heights and speeds - feet and miles per hour.

    tac


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