Canon de 120 mm long modèle 1878

The Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 was a French piece of siege and field artillery which was widely used during the First World War and despite its obsolescence, it was still in use by some nations during the Second World War. The Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 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 1878 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. The 120 mm L mle 1878 was a breech loaded gun with a de Bange obturator and used separate loading bagged charges and projectiles. It had a box trail carriage, two wooden spoked wheels with steel rims and an unsprung axle. The 120 mm L mle 1878 was lighter and more mobile than its heavier brother the Canon 155 mm L mle 1877. It had roughly the same range and rate of fire as the Canon 155 mm L mle 1877, but it fired a lighter projectile. The 120 mm L mle 1878 was classified as a siege et de place (stationary siege gun) for the defense and attack of Fortifications. In line with this mission, the carriage was tall because it was expected that its barrel would project out over a forts parapet and use its range to provide counter-battery fire against enemy artillery. 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.