Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881

The Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 - was a French howitzer designed by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange and employed by the French army during the First World War. The Obusier de 155 mm C mle 1881 was one of a series of heavy artillery pieces designed by Colonel Charles Ragon de Bange. On 11 May 1874 three de Bange heavy cannons (120 mm, 155 mm, 240 mm) and two mortars (220 mm, 270 mm) were ordered by the French Army. The mle 1881 was advanced for its time due to being built completely of steel instead of a steel liner and cast iron reinforcing hoops of the previous Canon de 240 mm C mle 1870-87. Unlike the earlier Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877, the mle 1881 was designed for short range high angle fire instead of long-range low angle fire. The mle 1881 used a distinctive looking gooseneck shaped box trail, was a breech loaded howitzer with a steel barrel and a de Bange obturator which used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. The mle 1881 was originally built without a recoil mechanism and in order to traverse the carriage needed to be levered into position before and after each shot limiting the rate of fire. For transport, the mle 1881 could be fitted with a set of removable wooden spoked wheels with steel rims at the front of the carriage. The tail of the carriage was then hooked to a limber and caisson for horse towing. Site preparation included creating a firing platform made of wooden beams which took 2.5 hours to build. Although the majority of combatants had heavy field artillery prior to the outbreak of the First World War, none had adequate numbers of heavy guns in service, nor had they foreseen the growing importance of heavy artillery once the Western Front stagnated and trench warfare set in. Fortresses, armories, coastal fortifications, and museums were scoured for heavy artillery and sent to the front. Suitable field and rail carriages were built for these guns in an effort to give their forces the heavy field artillery needed to overcome trenches and hardened concrete fortifications.