V18908
This image is courtesy of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University and may be freely used for non-commercial purposes. Please give attribution to L. Tom Perry Special Collections, MSS P 72, Brigham Young University.
CHARGING HUGE 270 mm. HOWITZER
Howitzers are guns ranging from five to sixteen inches in diameter the muzzle and firing shells which drop almost vertically upon their target. They were used to demolish trenches and smash concrete shelter. The 270 mm. Gun was a great favorite with the French who became wonderfully expert in its use. Owing to the tremendous recoil it was necessary to mount the gun upon a solid foundation, usually built of concrete.
In loading, the gun was raised to a horizontal position, the shell raised by block and tackle in the open breach and thrust into place by the gunner. The breach block was then closed, the muzzle of the gun tilted upward to the angle desired, and the piece was ready to be fired.
The target was usually miles away and beyond the range of vision of the gunner, who determined the direction in which the gun was to be pointed and the angle at which the muzzle was to be raised, by mathematical calculations based upon data furnished by airplane observers or sent from headquarters. In the scene before us the shell has just been thrust into position, the breach block is ready to be closed, and a member of the gun crew stands ready to turn the wheel which will elevate the muzzle.
We are looking at a section of the Argonne Forest which, contrary to that section our boys stormed so gallantly, is free from underbrush. No American can ever forget the Argonne, that “bloody angle” of the German line, bristling with death traps of every type which human ingenuity could device, for the Argonne took heavy toll of our young manhood, and in the Argonne the American army acquired imperishable renown.
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WWI in Stereo 