British artillery and heavy guns at the Battle of Loos in 1915
The most commonly used gun was by far the 18PDR field gun, of which 304 were deployed during the Battle of Loos. This was also the most frequently used field gun of the British Royal Field Artillery in the entire First World War, followed by the 4.5- and 6-inch Howitzers. There was also a smaller number of naval railway-guns used to provide heavier fire and strategically targeted enemy roads and railways in order to disrupt their supply chain. The smaller guns and Howitzers were used not only to bombard the enemy, but also to destroy the masses of barbed wire that occupied no-mans-land and to clear a path for the soldiers (although this was not very effective during the Battle of Loos).