casualties. It is instructive to compare the photograph of the 18-pounder gun in the open at the 1914 Battle of the Marne with that below of the gun almost hidden in a pit at the Second Battle of Bullecourt in 1917. 1915 With Britain now attacking on the Western Front from 1915 onwards, barrages were used to neutralize defenders during an attack (first used some 15 years earlier). 18-pounder fire was also used to cut enemy barbed-wire obstacles, and high-explosive shells to inflict damage on defensive works. From 1916, light and medium mortars were increasingly used to blow aside barbed wire obstacles. The 18-pounder continued to be used as a general-purpose light gun in other theatres, such as on Gallipoli where it was manhandled up onto the tops of steep hills such as the "400 Plateau", "Bolton's Hill" and "Russell's Top" because of the lack of a modern mountain gun and shortage of field howitzers. The 18-pounder could attack lightly protected troops by destroying the parapets of trenches, small houses, and barricades. But its relatively flat high velocity trajectory meant that it could not reach an enemy sheltering out of the direct line of sight, in dips in the ground, on reverse slopes (such as the Quadrilateral east of Ginchy on the Somme) or in deep trenches or cellars. It lacked the power to demolish fortifications. However, it could neutralize defenders with HE or shrapnel. Nevertheless, in the first 10 months of the war, 3628 18-pounders were ordered and only 530 4.5-inch Howitzers. Heavier guns were being collected from the farthest corners of the Empire and by June 1915 orders had been placed for 274 new heavy guns and howitzers from 60-pounder Gun to 15-inch Howitzer and a new 6-inch Howitzer designed. However, by June 1915 it had also become clear that Germany was reducing the proportion of field guns (to 3.5 per 1000 bayonets) and increasing that of heavier guns and howitzers (to 1.7 per 1000 bayonets), with one-third of their artillery being 15 cm or more. Britain had no choice but to increase the amount of heavy artillery, but did not plan to reduce the scale of field artillery because of the need for what would later be called "close support". Nevertheless, a de facto decrease had happened due to expansion limiting field batteries to 4 guns. British planners considered that they would need a 2:1 ratio for