The sound of cannon fire from the Western Front: Heard in the South Downs?

[ngood77]

Hi all,

Reading a novel at the moment that references being able to hear the rumble of Western-front cannon fire from the South Downs.

Never come across this suggestion before so I was wondering if this was common knowledge, and what examples you may have of similar ? Just never crossed my mind that this would be possible.

Thanks,

Nick.

 

[AlterEgo]

The Lochnagar Mine was heard in London. This sort of thing was part of my GCSE History module some 20 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochnagar_mine

 

[nlogax]

On a similar theme but with a peacetime slant, the 2005 Buncefield oil depot explosion could be heard in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

 

[Gloster]

There is evidence that on rare occasions the guns could be heard in South London, probably a barrage before another major attack that would cost a thousand or more lives for a gain of a few hundred yards. (*) This would all depend on just how many guns were firing and the weather, particularly the wind direction. It should be remembered that in those days the countryside at night was almost completely silent unless you were close to a town with a noisy industry or running water. I have come across mention of it in novels, usually with a comment on the lines of, “Another big push tomorrow.”

* - Blackadder’s ‘asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping’ is too near the the truth.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Just how far can the firing of the one o'clock gun (previously was a cannon) at Edinburgh Castle be heard?

 

[gg1]

All these are a gnats fart compared to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which was heard 2,000 miles away in Western Australia.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

All these are a gnats fart compared to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which was heard 2,000 miles away in Western Australia.

Reputedly, the pressure wave / sound wave from Krakatoa, reverberated around the Earth some four times, albeit growing increasingly inaudible as the hours / days passed !

 

[221129]

Just how far can the firing of the one o'clock gun (previously was a cannon) at Edinburgh Castle be heard?

Not very in my experience.

 

[DarloRich]

Just how far can the firing of the one o'clock gun (previously was a cannon) at Edinburgh Castle be heard?

that is hardly charged the same as a major assault/bombardment during war! it is just a pop for show.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Just how far can the firing of the one o'clock gun (previously was a cannon) at Edinburgh Castle be heard?

Not very in my experience.

Mind you the standing joke always used to be that locals in Edinburgh City centre would merely casually check their watches at or around one o'clock, whereas tourists would invariably jump out of their skins!

 

[PeterC]

On a similar theme but with a peacetime slant, the 2005 Buncefield oil depot explosion could be heard in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

I slept right through it a couple of miles west of Bovingdon

 

[Ediswan]

I slept right through it a couple of miles west of Bovingdon

It woke me up in Stevenage. I initially suspected SS Richard Montgomery had blown up. Let's hope in it never does.

 

[Trackman]

that is hardly charged the same as a major assault/bombardment during war! it is just a pop for show.

I listened out for it on the royal mile once, as you say it was just a pop.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I slept right through it a couple of miles west of Bovingdon

My cousin and his wife slept right through it despite the place being just outside the back of their garden... the first they knew about it was when my aunt rang them to ask if they were OK; they said yes and asked why and then she told them to undraw their curtains and look out of their window...!!

 

[Busaholic]

I felt, rather than heard, the April 1990 5.1 on scale earthquake in Shropshire from my home in west Cornwall, though nobody would believe me at the time including my family. In those days, only able to check some hours after it happened that it was centred near Clun in Shropshire. So when the same thing happened only months later, but this time much smaller and very much closer (under Mounts Bay) I felt vindicated in both feeling and hearing it.

 

[DarloRich]

It woke me up in Stevenage. I initially suspected SS Richard Montgomery had blown up. Let's hope in it never does.

if it does it might take Stevenage with it!

 

[adc82140]

Sound can travel further when there's a temperature inversion. It was a foggy day when Buncefield blew up, so the sound carried to France and Belgium. It's the same with radio waves. Next time there's a foggy morning, have a play about with an FM radio and see what distant stations you can receive.

 

[Tracked]

In the right conditions I can hear announcements from Doncaster Station, just over a mile away from me, fairly clearly (there's a thread about how far you can hear railways from somewhere on here).

8/9 years ago there was a gas explosion in a pensioners flat that ripped out a substantial bit of the buildings' side and broke a few windows in the surrounding area, not even half a mile from me, and I didn't hear a thing (was up and about well before 06:30)

[edit] it was in June 2010, so 11 years ago, with a pic: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10303314

 

[JB_B]

Certainly it was considered common knowledge when I was young that the sound of shelling on the Western Front could be heard in parts of Southern England. ( That was at least long enough ago for some of those around at the time to debunk the idea if it wasn't true.) It sounds fairly plausible to me (given the right atmospheric conditions).

This article from East Sussex county archives and archeology service has some relevant info:

The Sound of Guns

Britain may have been at war but most of the population could maintain distance from the fighting. In East Sussex, however, it could not be ignored. Historically, the English Channel has done more than simply divide Britain from mainland Europe. It had proved a difficult defensive obstacle to...

www.eastsussexww1.org.uk

 

[Strathclyder]

All these are a gnats fart compared to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which was heard 2,000 miles away in Western Australia.

The final phase of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption was borderline apocalyptic, and overall was one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in modern recorded history (barring the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption).

Quoting the Wikipedia article:

By 25 August, the Krakatoa eruptions intensified. At about 1:00 pm on 26 August, the volcano went into its paroxysmal phase. By 2:00 pm, a black cloud of ash could be seen 27 kilometres high. At this point, the eruption was almost continuous and explosions could be heard every ten minutes or so. Ships within 20 km (12 mi) of the volcano reported heavy ash fall, with pieces of hot pumice up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter landing on their decks. Between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, a small tsunami hit the shores of Java and Sumatra, 40 km (25 mi) away.

On 27 August, four enormous explosions occurred, which marked the climax of the eruption. At 5:30 am, the first explosion was at Perboewatan, triggering a tsunami heading to Telok Betong, now known as Bandar Lampung. At 6:44 am, Krakatoa exploded again at Danan, with the resulting tsunami propagating eastward and westward. The third and largest explosion, at 10:02 am, was so violent that it was heard 3,110 km (1,930 mi) away in Perth, Western Australia, and the Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 km (3,000 mi) away, where the blast was thought to have been cannon fire from a nearby ship. The third explosion has been reported as the loudest sound heard in historic times. The loudness of the blast heard 160 km (100 mi) from the volcano has been calculated to have been 180 dB. Each explosion was accompanied by tsunamis estimated to have been over 30 metres (98 feet) high in places. A large area of the Sunda Strait and places on the Sumatran coast were affected by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. The energy released from the explosion has been estimated to be equal to about 200 megatonnes of TNT (840 petajoules), roughly four times as powerful as the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever detonated. At 10:41 am, a landslide tore off half of Rakata volcano, along with the remainder of the island to the north of Rakata, causing the final explosion.

The bolded part is one of the best crystallizations of a volcano's raw power I've ever come across.

 

[contrex]

I wouldn't call the artillery used in the First World War 'cannons'. That makes one think of much earlier warfare. The bombardment during the battle of the Somme in 1916 was famously heard on Hampstead Heath, 165 miles/266 km away.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I doubt some reports of sounds being heard. When things are on people's mind, such as a war, it is likely that bombs would be heard, just as any parent has heard baby cries that aren't there, or how youngsters hear phone noises when nothing happened. At any rate there's no way someone in Kent could know a sound is from a battlefield instead of say a lightning bolt 20 miles away.

Best recent man-made explosion heard far away I can think of, is the Beirut Port blast, heard over the sea in Cyprus. That surely would surpass noise from the Western Front, and had a more open run with little land to dampen the sounds.

 

[Gloster]

I think the Western Front sounds were from a slowly rumbling barrage, not just one single sound. It was a fairly steady sound that would go on all night, or even for several days, before ending when the whistles blew. The actual contemporary reports, not the ones in works of fiction, that I have seen were persuasive.

 

[Cowley]

I think the Western Front sounds were from a slowly rumbling barrage, not just one single sound. It was a fairly steady sound that would go on all night, or even for several days, before ending when the whistles blew. The actual contemporary reports, not the ones in works of fiction, that I have seen were persuasive.

I would say that it was fairly likely that it could be heard bearing in mind the way sound travels across water.
Around the same time (1916) was the Faversham munitions factory explosion:

Faversham Munitions Explosion Memorial - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

That was reportedly heard as far away as Norwich, 100 miles away!

 

[AlterEgo]

It also helps that the relief of the land (and water) up to London and the South Downs from the WWI battlefields is very flat.

If the Alps were in the way you wouldn't have heard anything.

 

[Altrincham]

It’s a fascinating thought that the artillery bombardment taking place on the Western Front could be heard in parts of southern England.

The Met Office records from the beginning of the Battle of the Somme indicate that winds were south-westerly/southerly so the conditions were in place that would’ve helped the sound travel across the Channel.

It set me thinking as to whether or not there was any visible element to accompany the sound heard on the south coast (e.g. would it have been possible to see accompanying flashes from the bombardment at nighttime from somewhere along the Kent coast?). Especially along the northern parts of the Western Front.

 

[chipbury]

Living in Bath we regularly hear the artillery practice on Salisbury plain about 25 miles away.

 

[Gloster]

I have read of the flashes being visible on the South Downs, presumably out at their eastern end.

 

[TheEdge]

I wouldn't call the artillery used in the First World War 'cannons'. That makes one think of much earlier warfare. The bombardment during the battle of the Somme in 1916 was famously heard on Hampstead Heath, 165 miles/266 km away.

Cannon is still a term used to this day for modern weapons, mostly autocannons of 20 - 60mm calibre. So it's changed meaning but still exists

 

[contrex]

Cannon is still a term used to this day for modern weapons, mostly autocannons of 20 - 60mm calibre. So it's changed meaning but still exists

Yes, Rarden, Oerlikon, Hispano, etc, but they weren't around in 1916, and if they had been, it would take an awful lot firing at once in Flanders to be heard on Hampstead Heath. I will note that the first true autocannon, the British 37mm QF 1-pounder 'pom-pom', was in use in the trenches as an anti-aircraft weapon. The Germans had the same weapon, calling it the Maxim Flak M14.