M7 Priest

The 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled gun vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the official service name 105 mm Self Propelled Gun, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring, and following on from the Bishop and the contemporary Deacon self-propelled guns.

Design and development

During the early stages of World War II, US Army observers realized that they would need a self-propelled artillery vehicle with sufficient firepower to support armored operations. Lessons learned with half-tracks (such as the T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) with a 105 mm howitzer on the M3 Half-track chassis) also showed that this vehicle would have to be armored and fully tracked. It was decided to use the M3 Lee chassis as the basis for this new vehicle design, named T32.Bishop, p. 120. The pilot vehicles used the M3 chassis with an open-topped superstructure, mounting an M2A1 105 mm howitzer, with a machine-gun added after trials.

The T32 was accepted for service as the M7 in February 1942 and production began that April. The British Tank Mission had requested 2,500 to be delivered by the end of 1942 and a further 3,000 by the end of 1943, an order which was never fully completed.

As the M4 Sherman tank replaced the M3, it was decided to continue production using the M4 chassis (the M4 chassis was a development of the M3). The M7 was subsequently supplanted by the M37 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage (on the "Light Combat Team" chassis that also gave the M24 Chaffee light tank).Chamberlain & Ellis ''British and American Tanks of World War II'' 1969 p. 138

Operational history

A total of 3,489 M7s and 826 M7B1s were built. They proved to be reliable weapons, continuing to see front-line service in the US and other armies well past the end of World War II.

North Africa

During the North African campaign, 90 M7s were received by the British Eighth Army in North Africa, which was also the first to use it, during the Second Battle of El Alamein, alongside the Bishop, a self-propelled gun based on the 87.6 mm calibre Ordnance QF 25-pounder gun-howitzer.Bishop, p. 121.

The British Commonwealth armies had logistical problems in supplying the M7, as it used US ammunition that was not compatible with standard British artillery pieces or tank guns, and had to be supplied separately. Whereas the Sexton – a rival self-propelled gun developed in Canada - featured the standard British QF 25-pounder (on an M3 or M4 chassis).

Despite supply problems, British Commonwealth forces used the M7 throughout the campaigns in North Africa and Italy.

North-West Europe

During the invasion of Normandy, from June 1944, the artillery regiments of the British 3rd and 50th divisions, and the Canadian 3rd Division were equipped with the M7; however, these were replaced by towed 25-pounder guns in early August.

During the Battle of the Bulge, each US armored division had three battalions of M7s, giving them unparalleled mobile artillery support.

Pacific War

The M7 was also used by US and British forces in Pacific and Asian theaters.

During the Burma campaign, the Priest played a significant role, in particular, at the Battle of Meiktila and the advance on Rangoon (1945).

From early 1944 it was used in the South West Pacific theater, by the US Sixth Army in the later stages of the campaign in New Guinea and surrounding islands. The M7 also saw action in the Philippines campaign, with the US Eighth and Sixth armies.

After World War II

Korean War

M7 Priests remained in use during the Korean War, where their flexibility, compared to towed artillery units, led the US Army on the path to converting fully to self-propelled howitzers. The limited gun elevation of the M7 (35 degrees) hampered its ability to shoot over the tall Korean mountains, so 127 M7B1s were modified to permit the full 65 degrees elevation in a model known as the M7B2. After the Korean War, many of these were exported to NATO countries, notably Italy and Germany.

Israel

Israel acquired a number of M7 Priests during the 1960s and employed them in the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War where three M7 units, the 822nd, 827th and 829th Battalions in the IDF Northern Command, supported the occupation of the Golan Heights.

West Germany

The new West German Bundeswehr received 127 Priests as its first self-propelled artillery vehicle. They entered service in 1956 and were used until the early 1960s.

Surviving vehicles

* Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster (German Tank Museum, Munster).

* Australian Armour and Artillery Museum, in Cairns, in a World War II US Army paint scheme.

* Vermont National Guard Library and Museum, Colchester, Vermont

* General George Patton Museum of Leadership, For