155 mm Howitzer M1918A3
At the end of World War I, the US had 2,000 French designed 155 mm Schneider howitzers of both French and American manufacture. The Schneider had a high rate of fire and was accurate. The Schneider was a proven weapon and one of the best medium howitzers of World War I.
In the 1930s the Army began modernizing the 155 mm Schneider howitzers by replacing their wooden artillery wheels with rubber and steel wheels and converting the French built versions to American standards. The modernized 155 mm M 918 howitzer was an excellent weapon and standard in the Army when World War II began. Practically all Schneider's own hand were modernized by 1942. When the now 155 mm howitzer M1 was introduced, it and the M1918 were standard until 1945. The accurate and effective M1918 saw very heavy use and North Africa, Sicily, Italy and throughout the Pacific theaters.
By the end of World War II, the elderly World War I howitzers were practically worn out. The M1 55 mm M1918 howitzers were declared obsolete in 1945 and retired.
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.