FRENCH 120mm CANNON Mle 1878
At the outset of the Great War, the rate of loss exceeded all calculations, for all involved, including the French Army. This forced them to use older or even obsolete guns, in a desperate effort to fill the gap, and to provide the troops with much needed heavy Fire Support. And that is the reason why the 120mm Cannon Model 1878 was used, despite it's obvious age, shown primarily by it's large wheels and heavy, rigid, "Napoleon-style" mount. But although the carriage was definitively old-fashioned, the gun barrel itself of the 120 Long was - like it's old counterparts the 90mm Model 1888 and the 155mm L Model 1877 - quite functional. The cannon could use eight different types of shells, including shrapnel, HE, gas and incendiary. The charges were bagged - which was an advantage, as it saved on the brass or copper used to shell cartridges.
The Breech was of the De Bange screw type, and the gun was fired using a Friction Device. Note that this of course was not a Field artiller piece: initially it was organized in batteries that were used as Heavy Artillery assets at the Army level. (In the early days of the war each army had between 3-5 groupes with 120mm L, its counterpart the 120mm C and the advanced but overly complex 155mm Rimailho, each groupe consisting three batteries with 4 guns each, i.e. 12 guns.) The gun was either pulled by horses - it required six of them, with the ammunition caisson transported by another six - or by a truck - in which case the caisson was pulled together with the gun.
The Model
comes from a fine kit made by FSF, mentioned in the Review section. The shape and outline is good, but there are a lot of small details missing, including elevating wheels, hooks on the trail and the small platform used for laying the gun. All these have been added. I have also added "Wooden Feet", or as they were called in the French Army "Ceinture de Roues", which in fact was a sort of primitive Caterpillar Feet. Also, the Breech has completely rebuilt, in an effort to capture the peculiar layout of the Debange breech.
Technical Data
|
Weight of Gun |
|
|
Calibre |
|
|
Maximum Range |
|
|
Weight of Shell |
|
Guest Book | Vote! | Links | Back to Index | Contact