The 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 (''10.5 cm le.FH. 16'') was a field

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

used by Germany in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Description

The 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 was introduced in 1916 as a successor to 10.5 cm Feldhaubitze 98/09, featuring a longer

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

and hence longer range. It had the same carriage as the 7.7 cm FK 16.

Post war

The

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

limited the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

to only 84 light field howitzers, with 800 rounds of ammunition per gun. The leFH 16 remained the standard German howitzer until 1937, when the 10.5 cm leFH 18 began to replace them in the artillery battalions. Guns turned over to Belgium as reparations after World War I were taken into

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

service after the conquest of Belgium as the 10.5 cm le.FH. 327(b). Romania acquired around 64 pieces from the German Army following World War I, and put them into service during the interwar years.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. ''Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz''. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974 * Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979 * Hogg, Ian V. ''German Artillery of World War Two''. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997 * Jäger, Herbert. ''German Artillery of World War One''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire: Crowood Press, 2001

External links

German 10.5cm leichtes Feldhaubitze 16 Walkaround at Landships
World War I howitzers Field artillery of Germany World War I artillery of Germany World War II howitzers World War II artillery of Germany 105 mm artillery {{artillery-stub