An American 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 from the US Navy fires at Japanese defensive positions in the jungles in the Battle of Peleliu Island. Pacific Theater of Combat Operations, Second World War.
Location: Peleliu Island, Solomon Island, Pacific Ocean
Time when the photo was taken: 1944
The 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 is a towed howitzer from the United States Army and Navy during World War II. The development of a pack howitzer to replace the obsolete QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun of the same caliber, intended primarily for use in mountainous and other difficult areas, began in the years preceding the First World War. As a result, in 1920-1927 a howitzer was created, which was put into service in 1927 under the designation M1. Due to a lack of funding during the interwar period, production of the howitzer was initially carried out only in small quantities, and only in 1940 did production of a modernized version of the howitzer, designated M1A1, begin.
In the 1930s, the 75mm Pack Howitzer M1, in addition to its main role, was adopted by the Marine Corps, and during the Second World War, on a modernized carriage, it was adopted by the airborne troops. Production of the 75-mm pack howitzer continued until December 1944; during this period, a total of 5,030 guns of this type were produced in several versions. In addition, a howitzer on a heavier non-pack carriage with sliding frames was adopted by the cavalry as a field artillery weapon (eng. 75mm Field Howitzer M1A1), but its production, which lasted from January 1941 to May 1943, was limited to a relatively small series of 349 units.