Quote:
Originally Posted by cbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by gila
Are not the 7.5 IG's for only direct fire infrantry support?
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The two German infantry guns - the 15cm and the 7,5cm were used in much the same way as mortars would later be. Their design was based on WWI experience with mortars - "Minenewerfer" - and the two guns were called Minenwerfer early on in their development. |
It may be prudent to explain here that the WW1 German
Minenwerfer were breech loaded and rifled unlike modern Stokes-Brandt type mortars, which are muzzle loaded, smooth-bore and fire fin-stabilized projectiles. So, while the Germans adopted the 81mm Brandt type mortar (
Granatwerfer in 1930s German nomenclature*, meaning grenade thrower), they didn't abandon the
Minenwerfer principle completely.
* After WW2 Germans started to call Brandt type weapons
Mörser (
i.e. mortars), which at one time was reserved for heavier siege artillery pieces. Although by Anglo-Saxon usage most WW1 heavy
Mörser such as the famous Big Bertha were actually short-barreled howitzers. Confused yet?
