Artillery
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Prince Liechtenstein and the modernisation of the Austrian artillery
Joseph Wenzel von Liechtenstein. On 8 February 1748, a distinguished group of senior officers met in Vienna to coordinate military reform. Under the presidency of Lorraine, the detailed work was to be carried out by Liechtenstein and Harrach with the support of Wenzel Wallis with two gifted officers, Daun and…
The trebuchet
Recent reconstructions and computer simulations reveal the operating principles of the most powerful weapon of its time. by Paul E. Chevedden, Les Eigenbrod, Vernard Foley and Werner Soedel Centuries before the development of effective cannons, huge artillery pieces were demolishing castle walls with projectiles the weight of an upright piano.…
WWI Artillery Firepower
8 inches (204 mm) heavy guns in battery on the Somme in 1916. 10.5cm leFH16 howitzer. 21cm / 24cm Paris-Geschutz (Paris Gun) – Long-Range Super Heavy Railway Gun. Map showing rolling artillery barrage for advance at Vimy Ridge 1917. The ‘fire’ component of the Allies’ advantage in fire and movement…
‘screw gun’
A mountain artillery crew from the British Indian Army demonstrating assembly of the RML 2.5 inch Mountain Gun, circa 1895. It seems the idea of a gun in two parts had its origin in Russia, having been proposed bin 1876 by Captain Kolokolzor, Director of a factory at Obuchow. In…
British Anti-tank guns in the Desert
The portee of guns is a pretty basic and, generally, an ad hoc technique. While it was often used in NA owing to the need for longer ranged mobility and lack of concealed gun positions, the British did use it in Europe. The first British portee weapons in WWII occurred…
Medieval Catapults and Trebuchets
Recent reconstructions and computer simulations reveal the operating principles of the most powerful weapon of its time. Scholars now generally agree that the successor states of the Roman empire in the early medieval West inherited two basic types of artillery from their imperial predecessors. The first of these consisted of…