 In preparation for the bombardment the artillery was organised by weight and targets. Heavy artillery was aimed at enemy batteries, with some guns and howitzers shelling headquarters and telephone exchanges beyond the range of the field artillery, as well as places where the infantry advance was held up. One 6-inch Mark VII gun, three batteries of siege howitzers, and two 60-pounder batteries were able, without moving forward, to fire on the line from Et Tire to the sea. They could be reinforced by one siege battery and one heavy battery, which would be able to fire on the line Et Tire to the sea within two hours of moving forward, while one siege and one heavy battery were held in reserve. The field artillery targeted the German and Ottoman front line until the EEF infantry approached, when the 18 – pounders and the Royal Horse Artillery's 13-pounder batteries, lifted to form a creeping barrage in front of the advancing troops, eventually extending out to their extreme range. This creeping barrage lifted and moved forward at a rate of 50 yards (46 m), 75 yards (69 m) and 100 yards (91 m) per minute in front of the advancing infantry. The 4.5-inch howitzers fired on targets beyond the barrage, augmented by the guns of the two destroyers, firing from the Mediterranean Sea.
