That was clear to thoughtful observers at the time. The approach from the beginning was to build a better system and it worked. American artillerymen did not try to combat the enemy’s artillery by building bigger guns. Any analysis that does not examine all components of the system, and acknowledge that interference with any part of it can sharply reduce its effectiveness, is incomplete.Ī component by component examination of American and German artillery shows that almost from the beginning of America’s participation in the conflict the U.S. The gun is the most visible part, but the whole system must work well to make the gun effective. In other words, artillery is a system with a number of interacting components. Finally, the guns must be protected from counter-battery fire or other interdiction. There must be a sufficient supply of all of the above to meet the needs of the maneuver units or other forces the batteries are supporting. The guns must have effective prime movers or be mounted on tracked vehicles. Those fire direction centers must be able to co-ordinate with other artillery units to mass fires as needed. Effective artillery requires fire direction centers that can accurately place fires and rapidly shift them from one target to another. It must have a good means of identifying and accurately locating a target and needs well-schooled forward observers who are in close contact not only with the batteries, but with the troops they are working with. There must be a sufficient supply of standard guns so that the units being supported can know what fires they can expect. To be fully effective, an artillery arm must be well supplied with suitable ammunition. Nevertheless, evaluating an army’s artillery requires a good deal more than looking at the standard guns that it deploys. Army to equip two of its field artillery battalions with captured German pieces to take advantage of the enemy ammunition stocks captured in France. The German 105mm was sufficiently similar to the American 105mm howitzer, and there were enough similarities overall between each army’s guns to allow the U.S. The American guns were a bit heavier than their German counterparts and generally had a longer range. Army and German Wehrmacht in World War II. (National Archives)Īt first glance, there seems to be little difference between the artillery branches of the U.S.
ground forces entered combat in 1942, both of these pieces were being replaced by modern and much more effective guns.
Army’s primary field artillery pieces were the French-designed M1897 75mm gun and M1918 155mm howitzer (above). Dennis At the beginning of World War II, the U.S.
So read on, to see the 10 best tanks of WWII, and what made them so good.Written By: William G. But, what makes a tank a good tank varies based on their purpose, in general though, a good tank will stay ahead of enemy developments and offer a competitive edge against such enemies. This rapid development led to some incredible military machines, many of which are legendary today as icons of the tank world. By the time the conflicts of WWII broke out, many nations were forced to rapidly develop new types of tanks in order to stay competitive on the battlefield. Between WWI and WWII, tank development was rather slow for most of the world. Updated September 2021: If you're a war history buff, or just interested in classic tanks, you'll be pleased to know that we've updated this article with additional entries as well as more info about the various tanks that were already on the list.īut the tanks of WWI were horrendously crude, and in practice were death-traps for anyone who got into one. Initially not much more than a rolling box of metal, tanks quickly proved their worth on the battlefield, mowing down infantry lines while (mostly) protecting their occupants from returned fire. Born in the madness that was WWI, tanks emerged as a crucial new type of weapon for a new world.