75mm pack howitzer



The 75mm pack howitzer was a versatile artillery piece. It came in three versions, the most common one seen here, the M8 (Airborne).

The pre-war vintage M1 had a "box trail" and wooden wheels and was design to be pulled by a cavalry horse or the artillery crew over friendly ground. Or, it could be broken down to be packed onto six mules for moving in rough terrain, as in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters and mountainous Italy.The M8 (Airborne) was the M1 box trail design with rubber wheels for jeep transport.




It could be apportioned into seven "paracrates" and dropped from the skies with paratroopers, or come in on glider and transport planes. It weighed 1,339 pounds, had a range of 9,600 yards, and the crew of four could manage a prolonged rate of fire of three rounds per minute. They were phased out at the end of WWII, replaced by the 57mm and 75mm recoilless rifle




The 75mm pack howitzer was one of the most versatile artillery weapons of the Second World War. It served in almost every campaign that Marines fought in and was nicknamed "Little Dynamite," because of its size and ability to deliver a high volume of fire. Marine artillerymen employed this weapon under conditions that made use of heavier artillery pieces either impractical, or simply impossible.


Throughout the war, the pack howitzer battery was equipped with four guns. Crew drill in training helped crews to perfect their skills. The diagram at left, extracted from FM 6-78, shows the pack howitzer crew formed for action. The crew was called a section and was commanded by a sergeant, titled the section chief. He was responsible for all actions by his Marines, all commands executed, and safety.

The gunner, a corporal, depicted by the "G", set the sight, deflection and elevation. All other section members were non-rated Marines. The assistant gunner, depicted by the 1 in this diagram, opened and closed the breech and fired the piece. Number 2 acted as the loader. Number 3 operated the fuze setter and set fuzes. Number 4 held rounds for number 3 to set fuzes, passed rounds to the assistant gunner for loading, and assisted number 5 in preparing charges. Number 5 prepared ammunition and shifted the trails.