Eighth Army Gunners Beat General Weather And General Kesselring. An elevated view of 25 pdr. guns of the Royal Artillery in Action. During heavy rains in their mountainous terrain 8th. Army batteries of medium and heavy artillery have had extreme difficulty in finding suitable emplacements. Many guns have to be moved by tractors to new sites as they have sunk in the mud so much as to hinder operations. In spite of this soldiers of the 8th. are breaking the last known defenses of the Kesselring Line, advancing steadily on a 25 mile front. December 02, 1943. (Photo by British Official Photograph).