American Boomsticks: Part I

[Commander Waffle]

105mm... kinda big. But a nice hole in your backyard and help with that sandbox for your kids. Thats exaclty (without the sandbox part) what the allied engineers were thinking at the drawning tables. The American 105mm Howitzer M3 was their child. It could piece a few feet of dirt given that it didn't rain for 3 months.
The idea was from airborne commanders needed a prtable artillery unit for combat, but 75mm wasn't good enough for them. The early version was the T7 but than went into the M3 by taking the barrel of the M2 105 Howitzer and shorting it to 27 inches and than adding the recoil system of the 75mm. In March of 1942, the first prototype went Arberdeen Proving Grounds for testing trials. With a few problems with the shortened barrel and the proplent of the round burning incompletely, it was a success and officially named. Production went from Febuary in 1943 to May in 1944 and a few other from April to June in 1945. 2,580 units were produced in all.
The ammunition for the M3 varied to 7 different types. Blanks, HE, HEAT-T, WP, Smoke, SmokeII, and Drill cardiagdes. The HE (High Explosive) was for general use and contained TNT (Trinitrotoluene [just to show off]) OR Amatol. The HEAT-T which was used for shelling hard targets. Smoke(I) was use for marking a position, as the chemical (Sulfur trioxide in Chlorosulfonic acid) reacted and made a colored fog when mixed with air. The same was with smoke (II) which used a mixutre of zinc chloride and made a heavy white fog when in contact with air. Drill and blank rounds were just for training and contained no explsoves, but the drill round contained a shot, while the blank was just a pounder charge.
The M3 was used with glider battalions and airborne divisions ans used the jeep as the work horse to haul it around. The M3 was also used by artillery units and infiantry divisions and was spread out by 3 platoons, 2 in each platoon.