In the last few days, I have gotten a French 75mm mle/97 Limber. This is the French designed and manufactured one not the US M1918 Limber for the French 75mm. It appears to be the only one in the USA now. This example is painted French horizon blue with what appears to be French WW1 Era camouflage painted over much of the box. The wheels are missing but I have located and bought a set in Germany. They are being imported now. My plan is to stop the rust in the few places it exist on this example and leave the original horizon blue and camouflage. Lint seed oil or waxing may be the best options here. At the moment my French 75mm mle/97 gun is at the MacArthur Memorial until the end of the WW1 Centennial but when I get it back they will be displayed together along with the US M1918 Limber, US M1918 Caisson and much more related support equipment. The French limber is also missing the pintle hitch and limber pole. I have a temporary pintle hitch but the limber pole will be a little more challenging. If anyone has good technical drawings of either of these, they would be greatly appreciated. The limber is marked to battery 66 and gun number 3. With the French table of organization in WW1, I believe there are multiple battery 66 units in each regiment, so no way to pin point which exact regiment, battalion and battery this is. If someone has a different (or better) understanding of the French order of battle for WW1 and see a way to pin point the unit please let me know. (This is also posted in the Landships Artillery section)
As I do more work on this limber I will update the web page:
Unfortunately I cannot help in providing the info, but I wanted to thank you for the enormous efforts you take in preserving all these pieces of history, and also for sharing the images with us. Much appreciated. Regards, Pat
