HISTORY
of
THE 306th Field Artillery
The "HOWITZER"
THE Camp Upton
weekly, Trench and Camp, was dazed to find a competitor
and contemporary bursting in on its field of vision late
in November, 19 17. After giving the newcomer the double
00 and up and down, it made the following comment: "
The Howitzer has sent its first boom reverberating over
the camouflaged area occupied by Upton's artillerymen. It
claims the honor, which it undoubtedly deserves, of being
the first regimental journal to appear in camp-a
well-arranged assortment for news, stories, regimental
and personal, poems, roster of officers, and editorial
utterances comprises the first issue."
Similar words of commendation soon came from scores of
other sources and a large mailing list became a necessity
to meet the requests for sample copies from other
military organizations, welfare organizations, libraries,
etc.
Since that time The Howitzer has steadily improved its
range and extended its field of fire. Ammunition has been
regularly furnished by an able staff of news
correspondents who have worked hard to make the paper
worth while. It has been the only regular regimental
paper in the division and one of a very few in the A. E.
F.
Five sparkling issues saw the light of day at Camp Upton
and just as Volume 1, Number 6, was being finished by the
printer, we -were hustled on board the Leviathan and sent
overseas without having a chance to read it in America.
It followed us across, however, and gave us pleas-ant
recollections when we were just beginning to get homesick
at Camp de Souge, France.
Meanwhile the editorial staff had issued Volume 1, Number
7, entitled The Howitzer of the Rolling Sea, while we
were on board the transport. It was a mimeographed sheet
prepared on a machine obtained through the courtesy of
the naval executive office of the Leviathan. Although
small in size, it contained "Shell Fire" from
each battery and was quickly sold out. Extra copies were
made at Bordeaux which served as souvenirs to be sent
back home.
A French printer in Bordeaux managed to decipher our copy
for Volume 1, Number 8, and gave us a fine overseas
edition in June, 1918.
Then for the next five months printing facilities were
hard to find, but the news correspondents continued to
scribble even while the shells were whistling with the
result that by the end of October copy was ready for an
edition with the heading " Published on the Front
Line of the Battlefield, France."
A printer was
finally located in Paris who had the issue ready for
publication in December. We called it the "Victory,
Anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Number," it
being the first anniversary of The Howitzer's birth at
Camp Upton, as well as of other important world-renowned
events.
This eight-page edition was an elaborate one, containing
a partial list of the complements in all three sectors.
Our "Roll of Honor" was accompanied by Fisk's
effective sketch of "The Lone Sentinel." The
" Shell Fire" section was more complete than
ever before.
The next task for Editor-in-Chief Lozier and the
editorial staff was the preparation of the "Welcome
Home " edition, copy for which was mailed to the
States in advance of our home-going, and aided materially
in the celebration of our welcome. Volume 2, Number 2,
came out just before that, while we were on board the
homeward bound good ship Agamemnon.
So long as our
regimental spirit exists, which we believe will be till
the end of our lives, just so long will there be the need
of The Howitzer to appear at least once in a while to
inform us of each other's welfare, location, business,
changes, etc. The Howitzer will meet that need.
The 155 Schneider Howitzer, 1917
The 155 millimeter Schneider Howitzer is a short
-barreled gun, which may be used for direct fire, but is
especially designed for indirect, high-angled-plunging
fire. On account of its high trajectory, it can be used
to drop shell into deep ravines and well -defiladed
positions, which a rifle with a flat trajectory could not
reach. Because of the same advantages, the Howitzer
itself can be hidden in deep valleys and behind steep
slopes. By varying the powder charges the projectile may
be caused to strike at varying angles at any given range.
The maximum range of 11. 2 kilometers is obtained with a
" 00 " charge, a 4 'shot fuse," and a
" semi-steel shell."
The gun carriage and its limber (a limber serves the same
purpose that a front axle and wheels serve on a wagon)
are drawn by eight horses. The gun usually goes forward
at a walk, except with the best roads, or in great
emergencies, when a trot is sometimes taken up, but only
for a short distance. Hurrying the guns out of a shelled
road-area is an example. The gun and caisson are supposed
to cross any country suitable for other field artillery.
A maximum rate of fire of four to five rounds per minute
may be attained, but the heating of the gun, and the
difficulty of preparing and transporting the ammunition
by the -regular gun-crew of eight men, render such a rate
impossible for more than a few minutes. The normal rate
for rapid fire is two shots per minute. The gun is fired
resting on its wheels. The recoil and the recuperator
mechanism consist of an arrangement of cylinders
containing nitrogen or air, water, and glycerine. When
the gun is fired this mixture is squeezed from one set of
cylinders into another, providing a cushion to take up
the shock of fire. Were this not scientifically
calculated, the gun would wreck itself with the first
shot. The gun may be elevated from 0 to 42 degrees, and
may be swung in a horizontal plane three degrees to-the
right and left of center,
In firing, the propelling charge and the projectile are
inserted into the breech of the gun separately. The
powder comes in bags, each containing the maximum charge,
the reduced charges being made by opening the bag and
removing a specified number of marked packets of
explosive. Thus, from "BG5" a green bag,
charges 00, 0, and 1 are made. From " BSP," a
white bag, charges 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are obtained. 00 is
the strongest charge, and 5 is the weakest.
In loading, the fused shell, greased to facilitate
passage through the bore, is rammed into the breech. The
powder bag, properly prepared, is placed into the
breech-recess at the base of the shell. The breech is
closed, and the primer is set into a device called the
"primer-leaf." When the piece is fired, the
primer ignites the powder charge, which expels the
projectile. Into the nose of the projectile, a fuse has
been screwed. When the shell strikes its target, the
concussion releases a catch in the fuse which fires the
powder in the projectile, causing it to burst into
fragments, some large enough to batter down walls, some
as small as rifle bullets.
The fuses are made for various purposes. Some allow the
shell to penetrate its target several feet before
exploding; others cause it to explode instantaneously on
contact. The former are effective for the work of
demolition-the blowing up of dugouts and fortifications;
while the latter are used against open and wooded
positions, where shell fragments are counted upon to
damage personnel. In conjunction with a long, or
instantaneous, fuse, a cast -iron shell, cheaper to make
than a steel shell, is used; while where the object is
demolition, a steel shell is used with the delayed fuse.
To most people, the firing of a gun consists of pointing
it in the general direction of the enemy, and letting
loose. But the demand for accuracy, and the grave
consequences following lack of it, have elevated
artillery-firing to a science that embodies nearly all
the natural phenomena.
Wind will blow the shell out of its course. So then, the
wind for the particular time that the shell is fired must
be taken into consideration, and a calculation of its
effect must be set down in terms of range and deflection.
Shells travel at various speeds through various air
pressures, with consequent effect on the range. The
temperature of the air, the temperature of the powder
used, the weight of that particular lot of shell to be
fired, the variation of the lot of powder from the
normal, inaccuracies due to the constant wear of the gun,
the effect of all these must be calculated before the
first shot is fired. Fortunately, a set of tables
perfected for use with the howitzer simplifies all the
operations to the work of a few minutes.
The gun is directed on the target by a process called
"laving." This is done with specially designed
instruments. In working with a map, the gun is usually
first laid in a known direction, and from there is
directed upon its target by a system of angular
calculations. While the gun itself is placed out of view
of the target, in order not to betray its position, an
" Observation Post" from which the target is
visible is established as close as practicable to the
target. The position of the observation post may be in a
front-line, support, or reserve-line trench, or on any
promontory that affords good observation of enemy
territory. From this vantage-point, the effect of fire is
noted, and corrections are made.
The howitzer is most often used as part of the make-up of
divisional artillery. It not only participates in the
barrages fired by the 75's and in harassing roads and
areas, but it demolishes designated strong-points which
stand in the way of the infantry's progress. These points
are often too well-fortified to yield to the firing Of
75's. In stationary warfare, the average position of the
155 howitzer is about three miles behind the front-line,
but in the open warfare of the latter war days, howitzers
were used much closer and sometimes immediately behind
the infantry.
THE HOWITZER
Data
Length of Barrel, inside 2.332 meters
Width-Distance between Wheels 1.520 meters
Diameter of Wheels 1 -330 meters
Width of Iron Tires 150 millimeters
Total Length between Pole-end
and Rear-end of Carriage 10.05 meters
Minimum Turning Room 11. 238 meters
Weight of Gun, Ready to Fire 3300 kilograms
Weight of Gun, Carriage, and
Limber 3715 kilograms
Weight of a Wheel 134 kilograms
Weight of Limber 415 kilograms
Weight of Caisson, empty 800 kilograms
Weight of Caisson-limber, empty 700 kilograms
Weight of Caisson, loaded with
Long Steel Shell 1815 kilograms
Weight of Caisson-Limber,
loaded with Long Steel Shell 1265 kilograms
Average Weight of Projectile 43 kilograms
Note: One Meter is equal to 39-37 inches
One Kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds.