units of fire

[Richard Drew]

Can you help with --What is a unit of fire, the amount of ammunition held for a gun battery.
Generalmajor Treipel says the guns on the Cotentin had 3 - 4 units of fire per battery.
Also if that is so where was the second line ammunition storage or how far away was it kept. I know the ammunition for Omaha sector was reduced prior to D-day and stored quite a way back and that lorries bringing up the ammunition resuply were hit by fighter bombers and they lost the whole lot.

My questions: -
What is a units of fire?
Where was the ammunition stored say for the D-day beach area?

Thank you

Richard

[jopaerya]

Hello Richard

This is what I found on the Unit of Fire

The unit of fire was defined by the U.S. Army as follows (Army Field Manual 9-6, "Ammunition Supply", 15 June 1944):

A unit of measure for ammunition supply within a theater from a tactical point of view, based upon experience in the theater. It represents a specified number of rounds per weapon, which varies with the types and calibers of the weapons. The unit of fire is not synonymous with the term "day of supply".... In general, it represents a balanced expenditure by the various weapons under conditions of normal action. The unit of fire prescribed by the War Department may be modified by theater commanders as necessary for each individual theater.

Source = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/U/n/Unit_Of_Fire.htm

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