Howitzers

Howitzers. . M-3. Equipping airborne forces in 1941 required combining the power of the M-2 105mm howitzer with the size and recoil system of the M-1 75mm pack howitzer. The M-3 was issued to airborne units and to the cannon companies of infantry regiments of World War II. In the airborne division, it was transported by CG-4 Waco gliders and towed by Jeeps. M-3s were used effectively in direct fire mode during the siege of Bastogne. , M-114. First produced in 1942 as the medium artillery piece of World War II and Korea, it was then known as the M-1 155mm howitzer. At Bastogne, it was used by the all-African American 333rd and 969th Field Artillery Battalions. Re-designated the M-114 in 1962, it saw service in Vietnam. , M-101A1. One of the most successful guns ever produced, the M-101A1 became the standard light field howitzer of the U.S. and many other armies. Originally known as the M-2A1 during World War Il and Korea, it accompanied the Division when it first deployed to Vietnam. In Vietnam, the M-101 also fired anti-personnel "beehive rounds." The beehive was filled with hundreds of tiny steel darts and acted like a shotgun blast when directed at North Vietnamese Army (NVA) or Vietcong (VC) Soldiers attacking the perimeter of a fire base. , Image captions , (left): M-3 in action near Carenten, France on 11 July 1944. , (center): 155mm howitzer providing support fire to the Division at Bastogne. , (right): 105mm howitzer from A/2-230 FA on a fire base in Vietnam.