page_title: 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers
section_title: Menin Road Ridge
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers / World War I / 1/III London Brigade / Menin Road Ridge
caption_attribution_description: HAULING A GUN OUT OF THE MUD, ZILLEBEKE, 1917 British soldiers haul an 18 pdr field gun out of the mud near Zillebeke.
context_page_description: The 2nd Middlesex Artillery was a Volunteer unit of Britain's Royal Artillery. First raised in the Victorian era among Customs officers in the Port of London, it later became the 3rd London Brigade, Royal Field Artillery in the Territorial Force and saw action on the Western Front during World War I.
context_section_description: CCLXXXII Brigade stayed with XVIII Corps during the next comparative lull in the fighting, as 51st and 11th Divisions alternated in the line. 51st (Highland) was in the line for the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge on 20 September. There were significant casualties among the massed field batteries from CB fire in the days preceding the attack, but practice barrages were fired, and numerous trench raids were supported by the guns. Field gun barrages were fired at night to isolate German gun positions and prevent them resupplying. On the day of the attack the creeping barrage consisted of five belts of fire, the rearmost ('A', nearest the attacking infantry) being fired by half the 18-pdrs, of which one-third of the batteries were 'superimposed' so that they could be redirected to fire at targets of opportunity without leaving a gap in the barrage. The 'B' barrage line 200 yards (180 m) ahead was provided by the 4.5s and the rest of the 18-pdrs. It was impressed on the infantry that they were to follow the barrage closely, and despite the muddy conditions  the attack was a great success. The gunners were then able to break up German counter-attacks, even though they were close to exhaustion.
caption: 18-pounder being hauled out of mud at Zillebeke, 1917.
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