Livens Projector

• Name — Livens Projector • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Mortar • Is Ranged — yes • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Is Uk — yes • Service — 1916–1918 • Used By — British Empire United States • Wars — World War I • Designer — Captain William Howard Livens, Royal Engineers • Design Date — 1916 • Number — 140,000 projectors 400,000 bombs • Cartridge — Gas drum • Caliber — 8 in • Max Range — 1640 yd • Elevation — fixed • Traverse — fixed • Filling — phosgene, flammable oil • Filling Weight — 30 lb • Detonation — Impact

The Livens Projector was created by Captain William Livens of the Royal Engineers. Livens designed a number of novel weapons, including a large-calibre flame thrower, to engulf German trenches in burning oil, that was deployed at the Somme in 1916. One of these weapons was partially excavated in 2010 for an episode of archaeological television programme Time Team, having been buried when the tunnel in which it was being built was hit by a German shell. In the Second World War, he worked on petroleum warfare weapons such as the flame fougasse and various other flame weapons. Prior to the invention of the Livens Projector, chemical weapons had been delivered either by cloud attacks or chemical-filled shells fired from howitzers. Cloud attacks at first were made by burying gas-filled cylinders just beyond the parapet of the attacker's trenches and then opening valves on the tanks when the wind was right. Later British practice was to bring up flatcars with gas cylinders on a line parallel to the front to be attacked, and open the cylinders without removing them from the railway wagon This allowed a useful amount of gas to be released but there was danger that the wind would change and the gas drift back over the attacking troops. Chemical shells were much easier to aim but could not deliver nearly as much gas as a cylinder. Livens was in command of Z Company, the unit charged with developing and using flame and chemical weapons. Flame throwers and various means of dispensing chemicals had proven frustratingly limited in effect. During an attack on the Somme, Z Company encountered a party of Germans who were well dug in. Grenades did not shift them and Livens improvised a giant Molotov cocktail using two 5 impgal oil cans. When these were thrown into the German positions they were so effective that Harry Strange wondered whether it would be better to use containers to carry the flame to the enemy rather than relying on a complex flame thrower. Reflecting on the incident, Livens and Strange considered how a really large shell filled with fuel might be thrown by a mortar. Livens went on to develop a large, simple mortar that could throw a 3 impgal drum of oil which would burst when it landed, spreading burning oil over the target. Livens came to the attention of General Hubert Gough who was impressed by his ideas and "wangled" everything that Livens needed for his large projector. On 25 July 1916 at Ovillers-la-Boisselle during the Battle of the Somme, Z Company used eighty projectors when the Australians were due to attack Pozières. Since the early versions had a short range, it was necessary to, first, neutralise German machine gun nests, and, then place the projectors forward into no-man's-land. Z Company rapidly developed the Livens Projector, increasing its range to and eventually an electrically triggered version with a range of used at the Battle of Messines in June 1917. The Livens Projector was then modified to fire canisters of poison gas rather than oil. This system was tested in secret, at Thiepval in September 1916 and Beaumont-Hamel in November. The Livens Projector was able to deliver a high concentration of gas a considerable distance. Each canister delivered as much gas as several gas shells. Without the need to reload, a barrage could be launched quickly, catching the enemy by surprise. Although the projectors were single-shot weapons they were cheap and used in hundreds or even thousands. The Livens Projector was also used to fire other substances. At one time or another the drums contained high explosive, oil and cotton-waste pellets, thermite, white phosphorus and "stinks". Used as giant stink bombs to trick the enemy, "stinks" were malodorous but harmless substances such as bone oil and amyl acetate used to simulate a poison gas attack, compelling the opponents to don cumbersome masks, which reduced the efficiency of German troops),on occasions when gas could not be safely employed. Alternatively, "stinks" could be used to artificially prolong the scale, discomfort and duration of genuine gas-attacks i.e. alternating projectiles containing "stinks" with phosgene, adamsite or chloropicrin. There was even a design for ammunition containing a dozen Mills bombs in the manner of a cluster bomb. The Livens Projector remained in the arsenal of the British Army until the early years of the Second World War. Over 25,000 Livens Projectors were produced for the defence of Great Britain between 1939 and 1942.

• Illustration — Phosgene bomb unearthed on the Somme, 2006 • Illustration — Two projectiles and a launcher displayed at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life As a rule, the projectors were sited out in the open some little way behind the front line so that digging, aiming (either by direct line of sight or by compass) and wiring up the electrical leads were easier. When camouflaged the positions would be unknown to the enemy so that although the enemy was able to recognise the direction of the location by the discharge flash he would be uncertain of the range. As such these installations could only be carried out at night. The digging of the narrow trenches did not involve much labour and later in the war the projectors were only buried to a depth of about 12 in, instead of up to their muzzles. The projector was somewhat unreliable. To safeguard friendly forces from 'shorts' an area immediately ahead of the projector battery was cleared of troops before firing. This area allowed for the possibility of drums reaching only 60% of the estimated range and veering 20 degrees from the central line of fire by the wind or from some other cause. The projectors were also inaccurate: It was distinctly laid down as a principle that, owing to the inaccuracy of the weapon, the most suitable targets were areas which were either strongly held or which contained underground shelters in which the occupants were safe against artillery fire. A British training manual of 1940 described it as,...a simple weapon which does not aspire to great accuracy. Its range is limited to about 1,800 yd; the noise of firing is very loud, and at night is accompanied by a vivid flash..... Projectors are the principal armament of C.W. companies, RE. The projector's unreliability and inaccuracy were more than made up for by the weapon's principal advantages: it was a cheap, simple and extremely effective method of delivering chemical weapons. Typically, hundreds, or even thousands, of Livens projectors would be fired in unison during an attack to saturate the enemy lines with poison gas.

• Illustration — German 18 cm Gaswerfer The Livens projector provided the Germans with inspiration for a similar device, known as the Gaswurfminen. Over eight hundred of these were used against the Italian Army at the Battle of Caporetto.

• Several barrels with bases are displayed at Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62 Zillebeke, Belgium • Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke • Several barrels in the ground at the Yorkshire Trench & Dug-out in Ypres • In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres • A barrel and two projectiles are displayed at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life, Lincoln, United Kingdom • A barrel and base are displayed at the Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre, Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex, United Kingdom.

* * * * * * * * * • United States Department of War (1942). Livens Projector M1 TM 3-325 * *