Book Review - Do Unto Others: Counter Bombardment in Australia’s Military Campaigns

Written by: Alan H Smith, 

Big Sky Publishing, Newport, 2011,

9780987057440, 448 pp, 

Reviewed by: Major General Tim Ford (Retd)

When launching the book Do Unto Others, Major General Paul Symon, Deputy Chief of Army and the senior Gunner serving in an Army appointment today, said that Alan Smith ‘not only discusses the history of Australian campaigns utilising the practice of counter battery fire—it also seeks to make the technical aspects of this complex science understandable’. Not an easy task, but something the author has achieved.

This book not only fills a gap that existed in the record of Australia’s military campaigns by clearly describing the history of counter bombardment—the location, destruction or neutralisation of enemy artillery and mortars—and its impact across campaigns involving Australia from before the First World War to South Vietnam, but it also catalogues the fascinating military science behind the development and application of artillery and counter bombardment.

Over some twenty-two chapters, the author methodically takes the reader from the first use of artillery and indirect fire, through the technical development of the associated survey and locating practices, principally by the Royal Artillery on the Western Front in 1915–18, to its use in other theatres during the First World War. A most interesting statistic is how advances in science and artillery tactics contributed to a very significant drop in Western Front casualty rates in 1918. The story goes on to describe counter bombardment’s major contribution during the campaigns of the Second World War, and subsequently in Korea, Borneo and South Vietnam. The author concentrates on the involvement of Australians in the process and the impact within Australia’s operations; however, due credit is given to the principal role played by Britain in the development of the skills and techniques, and to the contribution of other allies such as Canada, France and the United States, as well as the responses by opposing armies.

The book is very well researched and laid out. It is replete with photographs, maps, charts, tables and diagrams that amplify the description. In addition to well developed endnotes, bibliography and index, it includes ten appendices that clearly describe artillery procedures, organisations and structures that assist the reader to appreciate the intricacies of artillery and locating practice. The work would have benefitted from a glossary listing the many abbreviations and acronyms throughout the book—although always described initially, their use is prolific and such a list would have been a helpful reference, even to those familiar with many of the terms.

What is so interesting about this publication is the manner in which the various contributors to the counter bombardment battle over the years are identified and explained. For example, I found the description of how the relationship and procedures developed in 1916–17 between the observers from Royal Flying Corps (and later the Australian Flying Corps), the air liaison officers at the airfields, and the Counter Battery Staff Offices, intriguing. How this was then converted to doctrine was of even further interest. The continued development of these techniques over the years to the procedures that were carried out within the Fire Support Coordination Centre (FSCC) at the 1st Australian Task Force in South Vietnam some fifty plus years later is also explained.

Over time, the counter bombardment process has involved many different disciplines—survey, flash spotting, sound ranging, artillery intelligence, radar, air observation, communications, calibration of guns, meteorology, camouflage and concealment, and even the use of unattended ground sensors. All these skills and many of the Australian units that have employed them on operations are addressed in Do Unto Others.

The importance of neutralising the enemy’s offensive capability remains critical on today’s battlefield. Here Gunners still provide key force protection and locating capabilities such as surveillance and target acquisition, and counter rocket and mortar capabilities. Today’s warriors and military historians would gain much understanding of the battlefield by considering counter bombardment developments and processes detailed in this publication. This is not a book that will be picked up and read in a single sitting. Packed with information, the reader will need to concentrate to gain full value.

The author, Alan Smith, describes himself as an Army historian. This manuscript is obviously a labour of love. Smith has drawn upon his service as a Reservist with the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) and on attachments with the Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Artillery to build his extensive knowledge of artillery history and heritage and to subsequently research and publish on Gunnery. In addition to editing several RAA biographies, he has published a manuscript in 2008 titled Gunners in Borneo – Artillery during confrontation 1962–66 and he is currently the editor of the RAA Historical Company’s periodic journal Cannonball.