You are bidding on a great one photo from 1916 out of Bouchavesnes (France).

Bouchavesnes-Bergen is a French commune with 284 inhabitants (as of 1. January 2020) in the Somme department. Until 1920 the municipality was simply called Bouchavesnes. Completely destroyed in the First World War, it was partially rebuilt at the expense of the Norwegian entrepreneur Haakon Wallem and the city of Bergen. Out of gratitude, Bouchavesnes changed his name to its current form.

Motive: defective 10.5 cm light field howitzer 16, which was in use from the summer of 1916. -- Pipe burster at the end of September 1916, canal position in front of Bouchavesnes.

Regiment: Field Artillery Regiment No. 112, 5. Battery.

In the foreground a sign painted with chalk: "Somme 1916."

The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles on the Western Front of the First World War. It started on the 1st. July 1916 as part of a major British-French offensive against the German positions. She was born on the 18th. It was canceled in November of the same year without having brought about a military decision. With over a million soldiers killed, wounded and missing, it was the worst battle on the Western Front during the First World War, with losses close to those of the Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front. (Source: wikipedia.)

With margin label: "10.5 cm field howitzer // Feld-Art.-Rgt. 112/5 Batt. // Pipe splitter // End of September 1916 // Canal position in front of Bouchavesnes."

Inscribed on the back by a soldier, dated 8. November 1916.

Excerpts: "My dear Nuppes! I have just received your package with lumps, egg substitute and string. [...] Here's a photo of the pipe burster, which I told you about. Currently wrote. Do you also keep my war correspondence? When I get home, I would like to use it as a diary since I don't keep one here. [...] greetings and kisses, your Ulrich."

The passage mentioned (dated 27. September 1916) can be found on the back of a photo offered at the same time; it reads: "Today was unfortunately an unlucky day for our battery. At 3. The gun had a barrel failure, the barrel was completely torn open, like a torn bag at the front. Uncle Hermann can explain to you what a non-starter is. A man from Radense named Hoffmann, a locksmith by trade, had his left leg completely shattered, but he might be fine if he escaped with his life. He reminds me so much of Leo, a quiet, quiet man of 42 who was involved everywhere. He remained completely conscious, I have him on the stretcher with 3 more men" [here the report breaks off; quote for information only, card is offered at the same time!].

Format: 8.8 x 13.8 cm (image area 7 x 10.1 cm).

Condition: Card slightly bent, slightly stained on the back. bPlease also note the pictures!

Internal note: Krst 23-11-12 in folder Orange Military Militaria

About the 10.5 cm light field howitzer 16 (source: wikipedia):

The 10.5 cm light field howitzer 16 was a light field gun. It was used by the German army in the First World War, adopted by the Reichswehr and partly also used by the German Wehrmacht in the Second World War.

Testing and preliminary series: At the latest after the introduction of the sFH13 with a firing range of 8.5 km was ordered, it was clear that the 10.5 cm light field howitzer 98/09 did not meet the requirements of a modern field howitzer in terms of its firing range more was enough. In the spring of 1914, the Artillery Testing Commission asked the companies Krupp and Rheinmetall to develop a successor model that would have a firing range of at least 7.5 km with the same caliber and a maximum weight of 2.1 tons in the driving position and 1.2 tons should be in firing position. Before this could happen, war broke out and it turned out that the lFH 98/09 was a very useful weapon, but had too short a firing range. So, at the beginning of 1915, the Supreme Army Command scheduled a high-level meeting with representatives of the Krupp and Rheinmetall companies in Charleville, at which the company's own artillery equipment was discussed. Among the participants was the chief designer of artillery material for the Rheinmetall company, department director Karl Böller. At Rheinmetall it was decided to use the parts of the lFH 98/09 that were in production, particularly when it came to the carriage design, in order to keep the effort involved in changing production as low as possible: calculations had shown that the older carriage was stable enough to accommodate a considerably longer pipe. At the same time, the weapon was based on the findings from the development and production of the 10.5 cm L/22 howitzer cannon: the decisive change compared to the lFH 98/09 was the extension of the barrel from the caliber length L/11.9 to L/22 . An experimental battery equipped with lFH16 was ready in the summer of 1916 and was tested at the front and performed well.

Technical description: The guide shaft lock of the lFH98/09 was initially retained as the lock, later a slide crank lock was used for manufacturing reasons. Compared to the lFH98/09, the mount, pivot bearing and pivot pin, tooth arch and outer elevation shaft were reinforced. The same applied to the recoil and compensating springs. With a shooting range of 8400 m regular (and 9700 m with C bullet and 9. Charge) the gun was a very modern design when it was introduced. The weight of 1380 kg in the original version was not too high for off-road movement.

When the C bullet was introduced in 1917, the 9th bullet increasingly appeared. Load sleeve and breech clamps. This was particularly true if the cargo space had already been filled. The reason was, among other things, that steel sleeves had to be used instead of brass due to a lack of raw materials. An attempt was made to remedy the deficiency by limiting the use of the C bullet to long distances and by specifying that the 9th Charges could only be used on worthwhile targets in urgent cases.

Ammunition: As with the lFH 98/09, the grenade and shrapnel ammunition listed there was available. There were also gas grenades:

Grünkreuz: The grenades contained phosgene, diphosgene and chloropicrin

Yellow Cross: The grenades contained S-Lost and N-Lost, which was also known as mustard gas

Blaukreuz: The grenades contained diphenylarsine chloride, a throat irritant.

In 1917, a more aerodynamically shaped bullet, the so-called “C bullet”, was introduced, which enabled the firing range to be increased to 9,700 m.

Use in the First World War: After testing was completed, production of the lFH 16 began in the summer to fall of 1916. In addition to Rheinmetall, the state gun foundry in Spandau, as well as the companies Henschel in Kassel, Hanomag in Hanover, Borsig in Berlin, Hartmann in Chemnitz, Thyssen in Hamborn and the Bochum Association, took part in the production of the lFH16 as a successor gun to the lFH 98/09. Only Krupp built its own gun, the 10.5 cm light field howitzer Krupp. It is not possible to determine exactly how many lFH 16s were manufactured, as the available statistics only show the monthly production of all field howitzers together (lFH98/09, lFH16 and lFH Krupp). Assuming that of the approximately 500 field howitzers built from September to December 1916, around half were lFH 16,

so we have for 1916: 250 pieces

In 1917 a total of field howitzers were built: around 4,600

A total of around 9,300 units were built from January to the end of October 1918.

and it is estimated November 1918 to the beginning of 1919 completion of the remaining 500 pieces (or more)

This results in a total of 14,650 pieces.

720 lFH Krupp must be deducted from this, leaving around 14,000 lFH16s manufactured from autumn 1916 to the beginning of 1919.

According to the strength verification for the field artillery from November 1917, the strength of a field howitzer battery in the western theater of war was 6 officers (1 battery commander and 5 lieutenants), 20 non-commissioned officers (including 3 trumpeters, 1 flagsmith, 1 San-Uffz.) and 114 teams, on vehicles 4 guns (six-horse), 1 observation car (six-horse), 7 four-horse vehicles: 4 ammunition, 1 supply, 1 feed and 1 food wagon; there is also a small field kitchen with two horses. Including riding and supply horses, the battery had 90 horses. Because of the poor road conditions, the ammunition wagons at the Ostheer were driven by six horses, so the battery had 10 more horses.

From the beginning of 1917 at the latest, each infantry division had a department with 3 batteries of light field howitzers (as well as two departments of field cannons), with the older lFH 98/09 constantly being replaced by the new lFH 16, especially in the Western Army. At the end of the war, 751 batteries were equipped with lFH 16, resulting in a total of 3,004 lFH 16s in the field army.

Comparable guns from other countries: those in the Russian army in 1909 or 122 mm howitzer M1909 introduced in 1910 or The M1910 had about the same weight in the firing position as in the driving position, but its firing range was considerably shorter at 7.5 km. However, the Russian lFH was not part of the division artillery, but of the corps artillery.

The British QF 4.5-inch howitzer Mk.II, introduced in 1917, weighed about 100 kg more than the lFH 16, but only had a maximum firing range of 7.5 km. The bullet weight was about the same as that of the lFH16, so despite the larger caliber the effect on the target was about the same.

Austria-Hungary introduced a new field howitzer, the 10 cm M. 14 field howitzer, in 1915.[12] This very modern field gun was approximately the same weight as the German lFH 16 in the firing and driving position, but had a slightly lower caliber, so the grenade had less effect on the target. The maximum firing range of 8 km was shorter than that of the lFH16. The advantage of the Austrian gun was that it had the same barrel as the 10 cm M16 mountain howitzer.

Other countries in the First World War (especially France and the USA) did not have light field howitzers of their own production.

In view of this comparison, one can rightly consider the lFH16 to be the best light field howitzer of the First World War, a verdict that has been confirmed several times by domestic and foreign experts.

Use in the Reichswehr: The field howitzer, introduced in 1916, was adopted into the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic after the end of the First World War. The Peace Treaty of Versailles its implementing regulations permitted a maximum number of 84 lFH16, divided into 21 batteries. The 2nd, 5th and 8. Battery of each of the 7 permitted artillery regiments was equipped with lFH 16. A total of 800 rounds of ammunition were allowed to be kept ready for each gun - a supply that would have been used up in a maximum of a week in the event of war. Field guns with a caliber of over 10.5 cm were prohibited. Holding a “reserve” of 1/50 of the aforementioned guns, here 1 to 2 lFH16, was also permitted (Art. 168 of the treaty).

The battery had a target strength of 6 officers, 25 non-commissioned officers and 94 men, 34 riding horses and 58 draft horses, 13 six-horse vehicles (4 guns, 8 ammunition wagons, 1 observation wagon), a four-horse large field kitchen, and a two-horse light telephone car.

Given the fact that 10.5 cm caliber guns were the heaviest guns permitted for Germany, it was decided at the end of 1928 that the 10.5 cm caliber should form the focus of future field artillery equipment.[17] This was the birth of the successor model to the lFH 16, the 10.5 cm light field howitzer 18.

Use in the Wehrmacht: The maximum weapons limits granted by the victorious powers in the Treaty of Versailles were, however, significantly exceeded in Germany in Allen cases by storing weapons somewhere hidden from the control commissions of the victorious states in order to set up further formations in the event of an attack by a neighboring state To be able to equip weapons. The number of these "black stocks" is partly recorded in great detail; for the lFH16, a total stock (including the 84 "permitted") of 496 pieces is given for 1934. However, some parts of the lFH 16 were changed and modernized during this time, as a result of which the weight in the firing position increased to 1525 kg, and the maximum firing range is now given as 9,225 m. Until the introduction of the light field howitzer 18 in 1935, the light field howitzer 16 was the standard gun in the divisional artillery with four guns per battery.

At the outbreak of war the artillery of the 20 divisions of the 3rd The installation shaft was usually still equipped with lFH16 because the newer lFH18 was not yet available in sufficient numbers. This deficiency had been remedied by the start of the Russian campaign in June 1941, but the 8 infantry divisions newly formed at the beginning of 1941 were now 14. Wave (all of which performed security and manning tasks in the west) were equipped with lFH 16.[21] The thesis is put forward in English literature that the guns were later also used in the coastal defense batteries and remained in use there until the end of the war.[17] However, this cannot be verified based on German sources: a list from March 1944 names 8,337 guns used in coastal defense,[22] but not a single lFH16 among them. However, the divisions of the 14th that were equipped with the lFH16 took part. Since its formation in 1941, the wave has essentially carried out occupation tasks in the Franco-Belgian area, including defending against Allied landing attempts: this may be how the British theory of coastal protection came about. The guns are therefore likely to have been withdrawn from the stocks of the front troops in the second half of the war at the latest and were only used by the reserve army for training purposes.

variants

10.5 cm lFH16 on Gw Mk.VI 736(e)

The 227th ID, set up in the Rhineland, was a division of the 3rd Wave, whose Artillery Regiment (AR) No. 227 was equipped with lFH16. Battery chief of the 12th The battery of this regiment was Captain d.Res., born in Krefeld in 1899. Alfred Becker, holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and is a civilian employee of the company. Volkmann & Co. in Krefeld. Even during the western campaign, Becker, with the help of his battery's non-commissioned officers and men, was able to mount part of the lFH 16 in the AR 227 on the tracked chassis of captured British Light Tank Mk VI light tanks.[23] The vehicles ran under the German name Gw Mk.VI 736 (e), where "Gw" stands for "gun wagon", VI is an abbreviation for the English name "Mark VI", 736 is the identification number of foreign equipment, (e) stands for "English".

With effect from the 7th In June 1940, with the help of these weapons, a superscheduled 5th division of the AR 227 was set up [24], consisting of a 1. Assault gun battery / AR 227 (15. Battery) with 12 of the GW VI 736 (e) with the 10.5 cm leFH and 6 vehicles GW VI 736 (e) with the 15 cm sFH 13. The department thus equipped arrived on the 16th. October 1941 for the 22nd Panzer Division.

10.5 cm lFH16 to Gw FCM 737(f)

Becker, now promoted to major, was released from front-line service in 1942 after he was considered a specialist in converting captured tanks into self-propelled guns.

Among other things, at Becker's instigation, 48 French FCM 36 main battle tanks were converted into self-propelled guns for the lFH16 in 1943. [26], according to another source only 12 or 24. The latter number seems more realistic: only 100 of the FCM tanks were built by the French in total , a certain proportion of which may have been irreparably destroyed in the fighting in May/June 1940, and in addition to self-propelled guns for lFH 16, others are said to have been equipped with 7.5 cm Pak 40s. The barrels of these now time-honored guns received the muzzle brakes of the lFH 18 in order to reduce the recoil of the gun and thus the force acting on the chassis. The official designation was lFH 16 on Gw FCM 737(f). The vehicles were grouped together in the reinforced assault gun department 200. In Oswald we find the claim that pipes made of lFH 18 were used instead of lFH 16. However, the tubular brake cylinders above the pipe that are typical of the lFH 18 are missing from Allen photos, so this claim is obviously incorrect.

Use in other armies

Bulgaria: Bulgaria, as an ally of the German Empire, received an unknown number of lFH 16s during the First World War,[29] estimated at between 50 and 100 pieces. These remained until after World War II. World War II in the arsenals of the Bulgarian Army, but in the end they received disc wheels made of steel instead of wooden spoke wheels, as wooden spoke wheels are unsuitable for the higher speeds that occur with motorized trains.

Turkey: The German Reich also delivered an unknown number of lFH 16s to Turkey as another ally. The Turkish guns also received steel disc wheels after 1945.

Belgium: Due to the Versailles Peace Treaty, Germany was obliged to either scrap or hand over all of the guns except for a very few that had been granted to the Reichswehr. In this way, Belgium received a number estimated at around 200 units, which were imported under the name Obusier de 105 GP. Each infantry division of the Belgian Army received, in addition to field cannons, a detachment of 12 Obusier de 105 GP. The guns for the two Ardennes fighter divisions had motorized trains and were therefore modernized with steel disc wheels and pneumatic tires. As part of the Western campaign, many of these howitzers were captured again by German troops and, as far as they were still usable, continued to be used in the Wehrmacht under the name 10.5 cm Feldhaubitze 327 (b). 15 cm quick-loading cannon L/45 “Nathan”

Lithuania:When the Baltic States were evacuated in 1919, the German troops left behind some guns. In this way, Lithuania may have come into possession of, among other things, lFH 16. In 1939, Lithuania had 4 artillery regiments, each with 2 battalions, in each battalion a battery of 4 howitzers with a 10.5 cm caliber. After that, Lithuania would have had around 40 light field howitzers with reserve and training guns. However, at least Niehorster states that the howitzers of the Lithuanian army were not German, but French guns from the company. Schneider-Creusot traded. All Lithuanian military assets fell into Soviet hands when the Russians annexed Lithuania in 1940. Nothing is known about its further use.

Poland: The state of Poland was created in 1918/19, among other things, in the territory of the previously German provinces of West Prussia and Posen. We can safely assume that there were a number of lFH 16s in the barracks, artillery depots and military training areas located in these areas, which fell into Polish hands in the chaos of the collapse of the German Empire in 1918. The new Polish citizens also included a number of soldiers trained at the lFH16. Kosar therefore cites Poland as one of the states in which after World War I World War II the lFH 16 continued to be used. On the other hand, there is no reference to the lFH 16 anywhere in the literature about the artillery equipment of the Polish army: the Polish army is said to have had the Austrian 10cm field howitzer M.14 as its standard gun in 1939. 15 cm quick-loading cannon L/45 “Nathan”

USA

The US troops captured numerous lFH 16s in 1918. They extensively tested what was probably the best field howitzer of the First World War in the 1920s, but did not introduce it into the American army. On the other hand, the gun was the inspiration for the development of the US 105 mm field howitzer M-2A1.