The Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider was a heavy, French artillery gun, which was built only at the end of the First World War and was mainly used in the Second World War.
When in 1915 the War of Movement on the Western Front was transformed into the War of the Position, it became apparent that the French guns used had neither sufficient range nor the necessary penetrating power to destroy the fortified German positions.
Although the new Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider was introduced in 1916, the French military leadership continued to demand a heavy gun with a very high range.
The Schneider company then began to develop the Mle 1877/1914 further, focusing on increasing the range. The barrel of the gun was retained, but the case and recoil mechanism of the Schneider Canon de 155 C Model 1917 were removed. In addition, the breech direction was turned to the right and a counterweight was placed on the other side to keep the barrel more stable.
In April 1918 the prototype could be presented to the French military and used already starting from May. Altogether 120 of the guns were ordered, but by the end of the war only 4 had been completed and brought to the front.
Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider
Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider
After the First World War the production of the ordered guns continued. In 1920 the last guns were finally delivered.
After a few years in service, some of the guns were brought into the French fortresses or stored in depots. With the outbreak of the Second World War they were reactivated and used against the German Wehrmacht when they invaded France in 1940. After the surrender, the Wehrmacht captured some of the weapons and used them for the Atlantic Wall or for coastal defence.
Data sheet:
| Designation: | Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider |
| Manufacturing country: | France |
| Introductory year: | 1918 |
| Number of pieces: | 120 pieces |
| Calibers: | 155 mm |
| Tube length: | 4 meters |
| Range: | Max. 13.600 meters |
| Weight: | 5,53 tons |
You can find the right literature here:
Flesh and Steel During the Great War: The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare
Flesh and Steel During the Great War: The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare Hardcover – October 30, 2018
Michel Goya’s Flesh and Steel during the Great War is one of the most thoughtful, stimulating and original studies of the conflict to have appeared in recent years. It is a major contribution towards a deeper understanding of the impact of the struggle on the Western Front on the theory and practice of warfare in the French army. In a series of incisive, closely argued chapters he explores the way in which the senior commanders and ordinary soldiers responded to the extraordinary challenges posed by the mass industrial warfare of the early twentieth century.
In 1914 the French army went to war with a flawed doctrine, brightly-colored uniforms and a dire shortage of modern, heavy artillery How then, over four years of relentless, attritional warfare, did it become the great, industrialized army that emerged victorious in 1918?
To show how this change occurred, the author examines the pre-war ethos and organization of the army and describes in telling detail how, through a process of analysis and innovation, the French army underwent the deepest and fastest transformation in its history.
Breaking Point of the French Army: The Nivelle Offensive of 1917
Breaking Point of the French Army: The Nivelle Offensive of 1917 Hardcover – November 2, 2015
In December 1916 General Robert Nivelle was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French armies fighting the Germans on the Western Front. He had enjoyed a meteoric rise to high command and public acclaim since the beginning of the war - he was a national hero. In return, he proclaimed he ‘had the formula’ that would ensure victory and end the conflict in 1917. But his offensive was a bloody and humiliating failure for France, one that could have opened the way for French defeat.
This is the subject of David Murphy’s penetrating, in-depth study of one of the key events in the history of the Great War. He describes how Nivelle, a highly intelligent and articulate officer, used his charm to win the support of French and British politicians, but also how he was vain and boastful and displayed no sense of operational security. By the opening of the campaign, his plan was an open secret and he had lost the ability to critically assess the operation as it developed. The result was disaster.
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 Hardcover – May 19, 2012
This graphic collection of first-hand accounts sheds new light on the experiences of the French army during the Great War. It reveals in authentic detail the perceptions and emotions of soldiers and civilians who were caught up in the most destructive conflict the world had ever seen.
Their testimony gives a striking insight into the mentality of the troops and their experience of combat, their emotional ties to their relatives at home, their opinions about their commanders and their fellow soldiers, the appalling conditions and dangers they endured, and their attitude to their German enemy. In their own words, in diaries, letters, reports and memoirs - most of which have never been published in English before - they offer a fascinating inside view of the massive life-and-death struggle that took place on the Western Front.
Ian Sumner provides a concise narrative of the war in order to give a clear context to the eyewitness material. In effect the reader is carried through the experience of each phase of the war on the Western Front and sees events as soldiers and civilians saw them at the time. This emphasis on eyewitness accounts provides an approach to the subject that is completely new for an English-language publication.
The author’s pioneering work will appeal to readers who may know something about the British and German armies on the Western Front, but little about the French army which bore the brunt of the fighting on the allied side. His book represents a milestone in publishing on the Great War.
Artillery in the Great War
Artillery in the Great War Hardcover – May 18, 2011
Artillery was the decisive weapon of the Great War - it dominated the battlefields. Yet the history of artillery during the conflict has been neglected, and its impact on the fighting is inadequately understood. Paul Strong and Sanders Marble, in this important and highly readable study, seek to balance the account.Their work shows that artillery was central to the tactics of the belligerent nations throughout the long course of the conflict, in attack and in defense. They describe, in vivid detail, how in theory and practice the use of artillery developed in different ways among the opposing armies, and they reveal how artillery men on all sides coped with the extraordinary challenges that confronted them on the battlefield. They also give graphic accounts of the role played by artillery in specific operations, including the battles of Le Cateau, the Somme and Valenciennes.Their work will be fascinating reading for anyone who is keen to understand the impact of artillery
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