all, I am researching for an article on the Pozit fuse. I am looking for information on how it was developed and its use at The Battle of the Bulge. Any help is appreciated. Would anyone have access to "Employment of VT fuzes in the Ardennes Campaign" "The VT Fuze" Army Ordinance
I can't tell you any specific instances of when they were used but I can give you some general information. The fuses worked on the Doppler principal and would explode a round if it came within a certain distance from something. They were used in two ways: on 90mm and heavier AA guns and in the field artillery. In the latter role they were supposed to explode about 60ft over the terrain. My guess is that there weren't used much in the AA role since the LW wasn't very active at that point. The exception being that last big attack on Allied airfields on Jan. 1, 1945 and I think I've read they did good work then. They were a big improvement over time fuses since time fuses weren't all that precise. Besides that it took a lot of trial and error to get time fuses to go off in the right place at the right altitude. With VT, once you got the rounds hitting where you wanted to, you just raised the barrel enough so that the rounds would pass over the target area at bursting height and they would go off almost exactly the right altitude! The fuses did have some limitations. You couldn't fire them if they were going to pass through rain, hail or snow storms. Nor were they to be used if there was any chance of the rounds trajectory came anywhere near friendly forces. Like time fuses, they were useless if the enemy was under a tree canopy; the rounds would go off 60ft. above the tree tops and the trees themselves would soak up the splinters. It was better to shoot contact fuses into the tree tops above the enemy positions. You may already know this but I thought I'd offer it anyway.
By the time they were in service, the Allies were doing far more bombing and air strikes than the Germans, so the Germans learning about the proximity fuse would have altered the balance significantly in their favor. Even the term 'proximity fuze' was secret, it was called VT (Variable Time) so as not to suggest that a fuze activated by proximity to its target was feasible. They were used in defense of rear areas, in Britain against the V-1s, or by ships over the ocean; but it was prohibited to use them where there was a chance of them landing in enemy hands. Using them in the Bulge was a major decision, necessitated by the crisis of the German offensive.
I think you are overlooking the V1 cruise missile offensives launched against London and Antwerp during 1944-45. There was an extensive AA deployment protecting Antwerp and Brussels which is why there were US AAA ready to redeployed to the Ardennes. I suspect it would have been 90mm AAA that fired the VT missions against ground targets. I don't think am not sure you could simply fit a proximity fuze to any old 105 or 155 HE shell. VT fuzes went far deeper into the shell than other fuzes because they had a battery that was activated by the shock of firing. This meant the fuze recess had to be deeper, so to enable shorter non-VT fuzes the deep recess was filled with removable supplementary HE canisters, known as the "exploder" Post war HE rounds came with the removable charge. I am not sure when the manufacture of these started.
You're overlooking the fact that the OP wanted info related to the Ardennes Offensive and my remarks were in that context. The Germans were thinking about proximity fuses but came to the conclusion that we would figure out they were using them early on and easily be able to thwart them by sending out signals to explode them prematurely. They tried to make some using ultra-high frequency sound but that didn't work out.
Do you know which field artillery units were issued proximity fuses? Or was it the AAA transferred from defending Belgium from the V1 campaign.
According to a WIKI article, they were used during the Bulge, against infantry targets, but didn't state which units got them. I suspect all the arty units got them about the same time.
I doubt it. Let us assume that the proximity fuse exists in Dec 1944 ready for issue to all field artillery. If so; Factories manufacturing HE shells have been retooled to manufacture shells with the removable cut out. 90mm, 105mm ,4.5", 155mm, 203mm Stocks of Fuzes and suitable HE rounds are in theatre and stockpiled ready for use. Manuals have been amended and issued with the drills for maintaining and firing Proximity fuzes. Field artillerymen have been trained or briefed. This would mean lots of equipment and stores and information in forward areas about a weapon that won't be used in case the Germans find out. Did the Germans capture proximity fuzes when they overran First Army Artillery units in the Bluge? IRRC there was a shortage of artillery ammunition in 12 Army Group. At one point some field artillery units are equipped with British 25 pounder guns for which there was more ammunition. This doesn't stack up. My working hypothesis is that AAA 90mm were about the only source of artillerymen with the equipment, training and ammunition ready to fire proximity rounds in December 1944. It is an interesting historic point and I will do some digging. Is there an index to Field Artillery Journal?
Bradley in A Soldier's Story mentions 90mms being deployed in an antitank role in Normandy, so there was precedent for using them to support ground troops.
I met a descendant of one of the soldiers from one of the AAA units that deployed against KG Peiper. They KO'ed a panther but lost a couple of guns, demonstrating why AAA wasn't used for anti tank except as a last resort.
From 1 January to 8 February 1945, 10.9% of 75mm and 105mm howitzer HE expended was with the T80 POZIT fuze and 10.9% of 155mm, 8", and 240mm howitzer HE was expended was with the T76 POZIT fuze. As of 8 February, 17.5% of 75mm and 105mm howitzer HE was available with T80 and 7.6% of 155mm, 8", and 240mm howitzer HE was available with T76. 90mm T74 POZIT was authorized for use 9 June 1944 for the protection of the MULBERRY harbors.
According to my research on The 270th FA Bn (240mm Howitzer), they first used a Pozit fuse Christmas Day 1944 @ 1830hrs ISO the Ardennes campaign. Attached is a snippet from the Unit's Dec '44 AAR.
