28cm Haubitz L/12 in Räderlafette (i.R)

The 28cm Haubitz L/12 in Räderlafette was Krupp's first attempt to produce a mobile siege howitzer, and was an early stage in the development of the 42cm M-Gerät.

The L/12 was a fairly standard large howitzer, loosely based on a 20cm howitzer produced for Austria in 1907. It could be split into two loads for transport - barrel and carriage with cradle, and could fire 15 rounds per hour to a distance of 9,700m. It's recoil system had three recoil cylinders. There was a shell lift running along the top of the carriage to bring the heavy shells to the breech. It took three to four hours to emplace the howitzer.

At the start of the First World War the 28cm L/12 i.R was allocated to battery SKM 7. In September and early October 1914 it was used during the bombardment of the barrier forts south of Verdun, but only one of these fell, and the French line held. In 1916 the battery took part in the siege of Verdun, firing on the smaller fortifications in the French chain. This time the siege artillery had little impact, and even the 42cm guns were unable to inflict critical damage on the modern fortifications. In July 1918 it took part in the last major German offensive of the war, serving with the First Army at Reims. In the autumn of 1918 the battery exchanged its single siege gun for long range field howitzers and joined a Landwehr artillery battalion.

German Artillery 1914-1918, Wolfgang Fleischer. Covers over 100 guns used by the German Army and shore detachments of the Navy during the First World War, a conflict largely dominated by artillery. Each one gets a brief description, a set of technical stats and a good picture. Shows the wide range of gun types and sizes used by the Germans during the First World War, and the way in which they evolved to deal with the unexpected challenges of trench warfare. [read full review]

Books on the First World War | Subject Index: First World War

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