‘Guerre Europeene, bataille de la Somme’, 1916 (b/w photo)

‘Guerre Europeene, bataille de la Somme’, 1916. Postcard photograph, World War One (1914-1918), 1916. This postcard depicts a battery of French 75 mm field guns in action on the Somme. The 75 mm gun was the French Army’s main artillery piece on the Western Front. Introduced in 1897, it was the first fully integrated quick-firing gun. It also had an innovative recoil system that made for a smoother operation. By the end of the war, the French had produced 17,000 of these excellent guns. One of a collection of 33 postcard photographs, some taken from official photographs, 1916-1918.