The quick-firing French 75mm field gun was based on a new long recoil hydro-pneumatic system. The French 75 was technically way ahead of its time. The German and British military did not produce a field gun of comparable performance until the eve of WW 1. The US Army adopted the French 75mm field gun in 1918 and had it built under license in America.
The French Army entered the War in 1914 with 1000 (one thousand) 75mm batteries of 4 guns each.
The Germans adopted a modern field gun with recoil brakes only in 1901: the well known German 77mm field gun. However, the shells and the time fuses of the French 75, particularly the shrapnel shell with a rear explosive charge that makes the shell behave like a huge shotgun at any distance up to 8kms, were not matched by the Germans until 1915.
[Return to Thumbnails]