The Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP was a French infantry gun and was intended to serve as support for the destruction of enemy machine gun positions.
After the front lines on the western front had hardened and the war of movement had turned into a war of positions, the leadership of the French army had to look for new possibilities to destroy the strongly fortified German positions.
For this purpose the order was given to develop a gun which would support the infantrymen in attacks and destroy the enemy machine gun positions. The caliber chosen was 37 mm, since the Hague Convention of 1899 allowed this to be the smallest caliber for explosive ammunition.
The company Atelier de Puteaux then developed a small gun which could be mounted on a tripod. Two wheels could also be attached to the tripod so that the gun could be pulled. Alternatively, the gun could also be divided into two parts and then carried by 4 soldiers.
A smaller version, from the 75 mm standard gun already used in the French army, served as the breech. Some of the 37 mm guns also had a shield to protect the crew from enemy fire.
Only two soldiers were needed to operate the gun, one for loading and the other for firing. A removable APX rifle scope was used for accurate shooting. The firing rate was 35 rounds per minute.
Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP during the battle
In addition to the French Army, the 37 mm guns were also delivered in large numbers to the US Army after the USA entered the war against the German Reich.
After the first deployments on the Western front, however, it quickly became apparent that these guns were completely inadequate for the destruction of the German positions and that this task could be performed much better with heavy mortars. Although the gun remained at the front until the end of the war, it was rarely used.
The USA, on the other hand, experimented with these weapons in order to be able to use them as armament for their M1917 tanks. With the armistice and the surrender of the German Empire these weapons were no longer used.
American soldiers are trained on a French 37 mm gun
American soldiers at a French 37 mm gun in combat 1918
American soldiers wait with their French 37 mm gun in their position
After the First World War, both the French and American armies retained large stocks of guns, which were only gradually exchanged for newer weapons or only used for training purposes.
In the Second World War the US Army used the 37 mm guns partly still in the fight against the Japanese army, while most French guns could be captured by the German Wehrmacht after the defeat of France.
Data sheet:
| Designation: | Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP |
| Manufacturing country: | France |
| Introductory year: | 1916 |
| Number of pieces: | unknown |
| Calibers: | 37 mm |
| Tube length: | 0,74 meters |
| Range: | Max. 2.400 meters |
| Weight: | 160,5 kilograms |
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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