FRENCH MOTORISED ARTILLERY, FROM ITS ORIGINS TO 1919

Delivery from 13 October 2023

During the Great War, the French army went from a single motorised heavy artillery group comprising four batteries to a vast array of motorised equipment fitted with more than 2,000 field, heavy and high-powered artillery pieces, representing nearly 15% of the French artillery park.

Guy François traces the genesis of this remarkable revolution, from the 18th century through to the early years of the First World War, and recounts in detail its development from 1914 to 1919. From the development of tractor-drawn heavy artillery to the construction of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, by way of the mobile batteries of the naval gunners, this comprehensive history is complemented by a detailed study of both series-produced equipment and the rarest prototypes.

In this book, accompanied by 450 period illustrations and photographs as well as numerous previously unpublished documents, an entire facet of the world of artillery is revealed.

The author General Guy François, born in 1946, has been conducting research into the history of French artillery for many years, particularly with regard to motorised artillery in all its forms. The author of numerous articles in specialist journals, he has also written many reference works in the field. He is notably the author of Canons de la victoire, volumes 2 and 3 (2008 and 2010 respectively, Histoire & Collections), and of L'Artillerie lourde sur voie ferrée française des origines à 1945 (2022, Histoire & Collections).