M107, 175 mm Howitzer

Howitzer is an artillery piece that was used to bombard the enemy when something more powerful than rifle and machine gun fire was required.  Normally the smaller M102 Howitzer was used because of there convenience.  There were times however when more distance and power mattered.  Then the artillery battery would use the M107 Howitzer.

The M107, as you can see in the snapshot, was mounted on tank tracks so it could move itself around.  Even at this angle, the barrel looks long and it was.. 35 feet.  The bore was 175 mm or almost 7 inches.  It could shoot a 147 pound projectile about 25 miles.  The Army had a slightly larger 8 inch gun in its arsenal but it actually looked smaller than the M107 because the barrel was much shorter.  It took about six guys to load, aim and fire the weapon.  We affectionately called it a "one-seven-five".

This picture was taken on Firebase Candy, close to the Cambodian border.  The gun was used to soften up the enemy in Cambodia before we invaded in May 1970.  While I was on Candy, they pounded away with this gun day and night.  The bulldozer-like blade that you see driven into the ground at the rear, prevented the gun from being pushed backward when it recoiled.  The gun shook-the-earth every time it fired.  Sleeping was impossible if you were near the gun.  I was glad to leave the noise of it behind when we moved out into the jungle four days later.

How would you like to be on the receiving end of one of those projectiles you see in the foreground of the picture!  It always amazed me how enemy soldiers hung in there when blasted with all of the superior firepower we had.  All they had for weapons are what they carried.  No heavy artillery and no Air force.  How did they do it?  In the end, that's why they won the war.