Third Battalion 13th Regiment Heavy Field Artillery, Fourth Division, in rest camp on hillside near Andelot. 155-mm. gun

[Pat Holscher]

August 25, 1918.

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"Third Battalion 13th Regiment Heavy Field Artillery, Fourth Division, U.S. Army, in rest camp on hillside near Andelot. 155-mm. guns can be seen in the foreground almost hidden by camouflage and harness. Andelot, Ste. Marne, France"

[Couvi]

155mm Howitzers, Model of 1916. Transportation was eight horses pulling the howitzer and a limber, and eight horses pulling the two caissons, one of which served as the limber. These were converted to pneumatic tires and air-brakes after WWI and were still in combat service in WWII. They were still in service in Brazil in the 1980s.

[Pat Holscher]

Thanks!

All the way into the 1980s? Wow.

I guess something like this serves to show how "horsepower" in World War One remained very much that.

[Couvi]

The problem was that the loads were getting too heavy for the horses to handle. The 4.7-inch Guns and 155mm Howitzers were just about the limit of what horse traction could handle. 155mm guns, 21cm howitzers and 240mm howitzers took a great deal more tractive power than horses were capable of providing. The 240mm howitzer, Model of 1918, required a ten-ton Holt tractor and four trailers to transport and assemble it. Another vehicle was required to carry the equipment, ammunition and the remainder of the crew.











http://couvisblog.blogspot.com/

lf I recall correctly, the Triple Entente purchased all the available horses in England, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain and Italy, so the availability of horses was dropping. The United States, Canada and Argentina sent 650,000 horses to France in one year to make up the losses in the French Army for that year.