109th Field Artillery Battalion (Honest John), Joh. Postkazerne, Havelte, 1970
119th Field Artillery Battalion (Honest John), t Harde
19th Field Artillery Battalion M-110 at Tonnetkazerne, 't Harde, The Netherlands, in the 1970s; A, B, Hqs & Svc Btry
107th Field Artillery Battalion M-107 at 't Harde, late 1960s, 1970s; Hq & Svc Btry, A, B Btry
129th Field Artillery Battalion (LANCE) - 1st Firing Pltn (1e lanceer plt);

At this time, I BE Corps consisted of two divisions: the 1st Infantry Division (Bensberg, Germany) and the 16th Armored Division (Neheim-Hüsten, Germany). The 20 Arty Bn (designated "20ème Régiment d'Artillerie" in French or "20de Artillerieregiment" in Flemish) was the nuclear-capable, direct support artillery battalion assigned to the 16th Armd Div. Thus, 3 Arty Bn was most likely assigned to the 1st Inf Div and supported it with its nuclear capability. Each of these mixed artillery battalions appear to have consisted of a headquarters battery, a battery of Honest John rockets (two launchers) and a battery of M-115 (203mm) towed howitzers (four howitzers) [1].

[1] The M115 8in (203 mm) howitzer, which was replaced by the M110 self-propelled howitzer, was a towed weapon developed prior to World War II as a heavy artillery weapon. The weapon used NATO-standard 203mm ammunition. In NATO service, its primary mission was to fire nuclear rounds.
[2] Wiener, in his 4th edition of Die Armeen der NATO-Staaten, states that each missile battalion at corps consisted of two batteries. However, that information was correct for the early 1970s. Did it also pertain to the organization in the mid-1960s?
[3] According to Dreifke, there also existed - until the 1980s - a nuclear-capable reserve unit, the 72A in Elsenborn, Belgium which was configured as a heavy artillery battalion equipped with M-115 towed howitzers.
[4] Source: History of the 1st Engineers, Belgium web page - http://mitglied.lycos.de/pclaeys/Historiek.htm.

I was in the Belgian Army back in 1964 and stationed in Germany with the 75th Artillery (Battalion) of the Belgian Forces. The warhead custodial support of our Honest John rockets was provided by the 33rd Missile Detachment, US Army (at least in 1964). We were located in Köln-Dellbrück; Bergischgladbachstrasse - the name of the barracks was "Quartier Moorslede."

The 75th was composed by two "batteries"; one administration and the other "field" (firing). We went several times to a place named "(Bergen-)Hohne" (major training area) for night shooting exercises (located near Bergen Belsen, the former SS concentration camp) and occupied by the British army until 1958/59.

The following information regarding the unit history of the 75th Artillery Battalion was provided by Lt Col Roger Lothaire, Belgian Artillery School, via Col. Jean-Pierre HAUSMAN, Chargé de mission:

The 75th Bn Aie was formed on April 20 1959. That battalion was located at Köln-Dellbrück and was the first Belgian artillery unit to be equipped with the new 762mm Honest John rockets with nuclear capability. The battalion was composed of a headquarters battery and a firing battery.

THe equipment was officially handed over to the battalion on October 1, 1959. King Boudouin of Belgium presented Lt Col Gravy, the commanding officer of the 75th, with the unit colors (organizational flag) in a ceremony held on April 1 (1960). The colors were new and had no lineage. The flag and crest of the battalion were designed by unit members.

On August 20 1959, the battalion was assigned to the 1st Artillery Group. The Group was composed of the following artillery battalions:
71st Artillery Bn (155mm & 8in, towed)
72nd Artillery Bn (155mm & 8in, towed)
73rd Artillery Bn (155mm & 8in, towed)
74th Artillery Bn (155mm & 8in, towed)
75th Artillery Bn (Honest John)

This group was considered as the corps artillery of the 1 BE Corps.

All tests where passed succesfully by the battalion.

In July 61 this bataillon received new equipment that would be used to create a second firing battery, the 3rd Battery.

Battalion commanders:
Lt Col Gravy, April 20 1959 to September 1 1960
Lt Col Masset, October 3 1960 to October  15 1962
Lt Col Wibin, October 16 1962 to ??  ( I guess 1964 )
Lt Col Bem FRANKIGNOUL, from 1964 - to ??

The battalion was inactivated on March 3 1969. The unit's colors were transferred to the Royal Army Museum on February 19 1969.

In 1986, the 73 Arty of the 1st BE Corps was reinstated, as a support unit for special weapons, mostly strategic nuclear weapons but also chemical and biological ammo that was to be fired with a modified M-109A2 howitzer 155mm.

After six weeks of boot camp in Belgium, we received march orders to Soest, Germany. There was no 73 Arty Co yet, and everything was very hush hush about it. We had to train in parade marching every day sometimes even twice a day for the big event, the parade marching was not something I liked. I remember we all had sore feet from hacking with our combat boots on the concrete parade ground to get that chap-chap noise when marching. After weeks of training, the ceremony and the parade finally came to pass and there was a reasonable good party, Belgian Army style with lots of good food and of course plenty of beer…

At first our barracks in the kasern in Soest were nearly empty with only our platoon present when we arrived, but every month more recruits came and slowly it filled up till we were discharged.

I had lived in the states for 6 years previously and was one of the few Belgians around that spoke “American” fluently, and I was somewhat the oldest private around with 27 years of age, I had good map reading and navigation skills, due to my yachting and sailing experiences, also I had a steady hand, controlled my breathing and that made me a good shot. Those skills are appreciated in the Army and they gave me two stripes, a brigadier or corporal status.

The training was extensive, there were maneuvers all the time, it seemed that the army was in a high state of readiness at all times. There was a no-nonsense attitude about it. Our main duties were to guard several of the nuclear ammo depots. Training in the transportation of the nuclear ammunition to the forward howitzers. Training in destroying the nuclear weapons with explosives (to keep them out of enemy hands, most likely a suicide mission in real time we were told). Training as a light infantry (lichte infantrie) soldier, with the FN FAL 7.92mm caliber NATO ammo, the Vingeron 9mm (“grease gun”, terrible jamming weapon!), FN GP 9mm sidearm. FN MAG 7.62mm caliber machine gun. LAW disposable anti tank weapon and other anti tank weapons. Handgranades etc. Close combat training. There was also repeated NBC (Nuclear, Biologic and Chemical) training.  

Don’t let the term “light infantry” fool you, (it had fooled me at first) there was nothing “light” about it, we carried all our weapons and gear so there were no heavy mobile weapons about really. The most heavy and hardest to haul around was the MAG, about 30 pounds by itself, that weapon had a gunner and a feeder. The gunner carried the weapon and the feeder the ammo and a spare barrel. The barrel would heat up red hot during firing that after a while it needed to be replaced to cool off in the soil or snow, to use again for the next box of ammo. I used it several times during training and it is a powerful weapon and kind of fun to shoot with, with the tracers bullets, rather than aiming, you guide the bullets to target.

We learned “guerilla” tactics with the American Army. They played the enemy (Russians) to steal the special weapons from us. For us it was more hide and sneak, digging fox holes, hiding the trucks mostly MAN 4x4 and other vehicles like the Mercedes Benz Unimog with camouflage nets and bushes. Making dummy sites that would give away their position if they went for them. Americans would track us with all they had, helicopters, APC, infantry even tanks. We would usually sneak away during the night. It seemed like they really enjoyed hunting us down. If it would become a real war, the nuclear weapons were American property, we the Belgian Army were only the delivery boys, so they expected the very best, and therefore our training was also very extensive. We had to do it over and over again till even our Belgian superiors got frustrated (that was a while after us). Now I also realize that the Americans knew more about the reality of a nuclear war than we did. Recently it was revealed that if the Russians would have attact at the time the use of Nuclear Tactical Weapons (NTW) would have been a certainty and the only way to keep the Russians put, with their overwhelming amount of rolling equipment.

One day we had the experience to see howitzers fire, the firing explosion really goes through your whole body, I understand what “shell shock” is by that experience. Neighboring trees lost all their leaves from the air expansion. First a shell is loaded in the barrel with a piston, then several bags of explosives, a fire cap is placed and then the gunner pulls the firing cord and kaboom. The front of the thirty ton machine lifted like a rearin stallion. The howitzer has a bulldozer blade on the back so it can “dig in”, otherwise it would just slide back several meters every time it fires and loose its position. Our first sergeant or gunny was also a tank commander and he claimed that they could hit a  “zakdoek” (handkerchief) with it. They have forward scouts that report every shot back to the gun crew, by computing triangulation they claim the fourth or fifth shot is always a bull’s-eye. Reality is that to kill a bridge at 15-20 km distance, it takes more than 10,000 100-pound shells in average, and that is one of the reasons they would have used NTW to take the bridges out with one shot. Tthe linear implosion plutonium weapon had a yield of less that 0.1 kiloton. Detonation by mechanical time-delay or proximity airburst, or contact. Remember this was before the “stealth air planes” and “smart-bombs” came about, those could do the job now more effectively with conventional weapons as proven in the Gulf wars.

By winter time Germany wasn’t a fun place to be in a field camp, we had only the basic clothing, compared with the American Army, they had luxury winter gear and even anti-freeze filled boots! ABL gave us long underwear knickers. It was very cold, I remember once it was minus 15 Celsius about the same temperature as in a deep freezer, and we could not make fire to give away our position until the maneuvers were over. We had to sleep with our MAG or FAL wrapped in a cloth against dampness, in our sleeping bag so our body temperature would prevent it from freezing solid and unable to fire. On maneuvers we fired blanks. The weapons were inspected freaquent on cleanliness and readiness. Ususally the Americans would attack at night, too. I told my platoon comrades to use newspapers in their clothing, a trick I also used when motorcycle riding in the winter, cheap but very effective paper is an excelent insulator. Now years later I look at it as a good time, but sometimes I remember the not so good times too, and realize having being so close to it that we were lucky that the “Cold War” stayed Cold or else we would not be here after a nuclear holocaust. Something that still hangs above all our heads like a sword.

I (British) Corps, NORTHAG - Nuclear-Capable Artillery and Support Units:
Unit History/General Information
24 Missile Regt RA
27 GW Regt RA
39 Missile Regt RA
45 Medium Regt RA
47 GW Regt RA
50 Missile Regt RA
1st Surface-to-Surface Missile Btry RCA
8 Regt RCT
Warhead Custodial Units (US Army)