Figure 1.-- The French 75mm Fieild Gun became a part of the French iconography of the World War I War. Miliary historians have described the gun as the "Saviour of France". This little boy has a toy 75. Any French boy at the time would have given his eye teeth for a toy like this. Interestingly this card was sent by a British soldier home to Jersey in 1916. The caption reads, "ça ne rate pas le canon français. Seul un boche peut le trouver mauvais." That translates as, "It does not misfire the French gun. Only a boche ( German ) can find it bad." Our French reader who helped wsith the translation hastens to add, "Boche is a peorative word to refer to the German people which is no longer commonly used in France."

The French 75 is the icomic weapn of World War I. The German were famous for their heavy artillery, especially Bi Bertha, named after the Bertha Krupp, heiress and owner of the Krupp heavy industrial empire. The French 75 had, however, a far greater battlefield impact. Miliary historians have described the gun as the "Saviour of France". No artillery piece was more praised than the French 75. Suring World War II it was the German 88 that was the most feared artillery piece, but unlike World War II, the other combatants especially the Germans had nothing comparable. The French 75 was feared by the Germans in open field combat. It was key to the French during the open mobile phase of the War when they managed to stop the Germans at the Marne. The 75 combined two key elements. It was not only fast firing , but it was realtively light and mobile. It could thus provide artilery support in a timely fashion, unlike heavier weapons. It was here that the Germans could have won the War. The Germans has an early advatage. The German Army was the best trained and the quickest to mobilize. Once stopped, however, the Germans were at a disasvantage in an extended war of attrition. And it was the French 75 that helped stop them.

Created: 3:31 AM 11/7/2009
Last updated: 7:03 AM 11/8/2009