plot those coordinates on a kind of map. The map showed the surveyed location of the guns and the perceived location of the target. Through a series of calculations the direction and distance of the target from the guns was calculated. The settings for the guns were then called to the Executive Officer (X.O.), who was directly responsible for relaying the settings and insuring they were set correctly on the guns. The gunners and assistant gunners and others in the team did that. They also prepared the rounds for firing and loaded the piece.
Once satisfied, the X.O. would fire one round from one gun (the base piece). Everyone would wait to see where the round landed. If it was a little off, the F.O. “adjusted fire” until a round hit within a certain area of the target (usually a junked tank or truck or something). Important note, the howitzer is an “area weapon.” You don't have to actually hit the thing directly. You just have to get near it. Within ten yards was considered successful. A Fire Mission would be pretty quick if you could make the adjustments and “hit” the target within two moves from the original call.
You can see how hard it was to do all this quickly. Of course, quickly was what it was all about. And accurately. A lot depended upon the responses of others. Like so much else in life, the results were not entirely in our individual control.
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