I've been looking at some of the old guns that France used in the early part of WW1 mostly out of desperation.
About 1916 there seems to have been an assessment of the old guns and at least a couple had upgrades so they
remained at least somewhat useful. Anyone know if this was a deliberate policy by the French Army, that is, to survey
and identify the types of gun which could be upgraded?
In particular I know of the upgrade of the 100mm Mle 1897 coastal defence guns to 105mm - these guns were on Mle 1877 de Bange carriages
and the 155mm Mle 1877 de Bange underwent an upgrade with new barrels and modifications for vehicle towing.
Regards,
Charlie
I think many artillery people would have seen the comment that a new batch of barrels for the Mle 1877 was ordered in 1916 to replace shot out barrels from the original guns. The 1916 barrels were also used in the 120 155mm L Mle 1918 guns built. I've was reviewing images of surviving Mle 1877s and concluded that there was quite a lot of work done to the guns aside from replacing the barrels and that not all the 1916 barrels were made in France. The barrels from the 1916 order can be easily identified because the lifting eye is set across the barrel unlike the earlier barrels where it was aligned along the barrel.
I think many artillery people would have seen the comment that a new batch of barrels for the Mle 1877 was ordered in 1916 to replace
shot out barrels from the original guns. The 1916 barrels were also used in the 120 155mm L Mle 1918 guns built. I've was reviewin
Finally answered the question about French Army mid-war artillery policy. Yes - there was a revision of artillery policy towards the creation of many more
units of heavy long-range artillery. This was a direct consequence of the German's use of this kind of artillery at Verdun and the French Army's inability
to counter German fire power. As well as the creation of many more heavy artillery units improvements were made in existing old guns, mainly to increase their
range, to tide the army over until French Industry could supply the new heavy weapons. In fact, it took until almost the end of the war to get anywhere
near the target numbers of guns.
See Page 343 & 353 of the translation of General Herr's book "Field Artillery: Past, Present and Future" - this was serialised in the Field Artillery Journal in the
