The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) modèle 1917 was a WWI-era French-designed 155 mm gun used by the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the first half of the 20th century in towed and self-propelled mountings.

History

155mm GPF Garden Island WA 1943 AWM 054026

The gun was designed during the

First World War 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 ...

by Colonel Louis Filloux to meet an urgent need for modern heavy artillery and became the standard heavy field gun of the French Army from 1917 until the

Second World War 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 ...

. It was also adopted by the United States as the M1917 and a close derivative of it was made in and used by the US as the M1918 through the Second World War. The design adopted the split trail invented by French Colonel Deport in the early 1910s (see Cannone da 75/27 modello 11), and unlike the previous pieces, which had their carriages riveted from machined and/or pressed steel parts, utilized very large steel castings. The gun was also manufactured in the United States from 1917, after the US switched to metric artillery based on French patterns. The castings became the main technological difficulty, with the work done by the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company. It was used by the

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

as their primary heavy gun as the 155 mm Gun M1917 (French-made) or M1918 (US-made) until 1942, when it was gradually replaced by the 155 mm M1A1 Long Tom. US Army forces in the Far East ( USAFFE), including the 301st FA Regiment ( Philippine Army), the 86th FA Regiment ( Philippine Scouts) and also US Coast Artillery units ( 91st and 92nd CA Regiments, Philippine Scouts), used this gun against the Japanese in the

Philippines campaign (1941–1942) The Philippines campaign (, , ), also known as the Battle of the Philippines () or the Fall of the Philippines, was the invasion of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Philippines by the Empire of Japan during the Pacific War, Pacific Theater ...

. Some of the guns were originally emplaced in " Panama mounts" on Corregidor, Caballo and Carabao islands at the entrance of

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

. Some guns were dismounted and used as roving batteries and gave effective counter-battery fire. The gun was later mounted on the M12 Gun Motor Carriage and saw action in 1944–45. During the Second World War, some US-made guns were used for coast defense of US and Allied territories, such as Australia and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, typically on "Panama" mountings - circular concrete platforms with a raised centre section, with the carriage tires pivoting around the center section and the split trails spread out on rails at the edge of the platform.

''Grande Puissance Filloux'' (GPF)

This gun was designed by Colonel L. J. F. Filloux to fill a vital French Army requirement for a heavy artillery piece. The design proved a success and became the standard heavy field gun of the French from 1917 to the end of World War I. The weapon was pressed into service quickly, to remedy the shortage of such weapons in the French inventory. This weapon became the "Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux mle 1917", named by French Army as the Canon de 155mm GPF (Model of 1917). The guns were produced by Atelier de Puteaux (APX),

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

and Atelier de Bourges (ABS). During the First World War, the gun was eventually taken on by the American Expeditionary Force as a standard long-range artillery piece. At the beginning of the Second World War the French guns were still in service and more than 450 guns were operational in May–June 1940.

GPF-CA

The GPF-CA was a variant of the GPF that used a longer chamber (''chambre allongée'' or CA). It was produced by Puteaux from 1918 to enable the firing of heavier shells.

M1918 155 mm GPF

The US M1918 155 mm GPF was a copy of the French 1917 field gun and used by the US Army, Philippines and US Marines up to 1945. The United States Army paid for and subsequently copied, the Model 1918 (M1918) gun. During the Second World War the 155 mm guns were taken out of storage and used for coast defense on American shores and in Allied territories such as the Philippines and Australia. They were also used in the Philippines, Guadalcanal and North Africa campaign until more modern artillery was available. Ultimately, both the US Army and Marine Corps phased out their M1918 guns for the 155 mm M1A1 "Long Tom" beginning in 1942. The M1918 was also fitted to the M12 Gun Motor Carriage as a self-propelled gun (SPG) and used from 1943 to 1945.

GPF-T

In 1939, Captain Touzard, French Army, proposed a new 6-wheel carriage for the GPF-T. It improved the mobility but also reduced the preparation time. The GPF-T was heavier () but could be towed at a speed up to . Around 60 guns were in service in May 1940.

15,5 cm K 417(f), 418(f) and 419(f)

Many of the guns fielded by the French in 1940 were captured and used by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for the rest of the war. In German service, the standard GPF version was known as the 15,5 cm K. 418(f), the GPF-CA as the 15,5 cm K. 417(f) and the GPF-T as the 15,5 cm K. 419(f). It served with heavy artillery battalions in the Afrika Korps and on coast defense duties. On D-Day in 1944, the German Army had over 50 of the 155 mm French guns in sites on the northern French beaches. A battery of six of these guns near four empty emplacements for larger guns was the cause of the actions at Pointe du Hoc in June 1944.

Operators

* * * * * * ** Royal Italian Army * * * ** Free Poland *

Surviving examples

Many of these weapons survive as memorials. The following list is not exhaustive:Berhow, pp. 237–238 * One gun M1918MI (Bullard #161) on carriage M3, Presidio Army Museum, San Francisco, CA * One gun M1918MI (Unk. mfr. #906) on carriage M2 (Unk. mfr. #82), Fort Stevens State Park, Astoria, OR * One gun M1917 ( Puteaux #629) on carriage M1917 (Unk. mfr. #222) with limber, Anniston Army Depot, AL (may be at

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark a ...

, OK) * One gun M1918MI ( Watervliet #1073) on carriage M3 ( Minneapolis Steel #unk), Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, AL * One gun M1917 on carriage M3, Fort MacArthur Military Museum, San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA * One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #810) on carriage M1918, Pulaski Park, Pulaski, VA * One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #75) on carriage M1918, Odlin County Park, Lopez Island, WA * One gun M1917 (Unk. mfr. #1263) on carriage M1917, Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, North Aurora St., Seattle, WA * Two guns M1918MI (Bullard #314 and #209) on carriages M1918, Memorial Park, Lansdale, PA * One gun M1918MI (Bullard #149) on carriage M1918 with limber, 524 W. Hopocan Ave., Barberton, OH NB: As of 6/11/2025 this cannon is located by the Barberton veterans memorial to the west of Lake Anna. * One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #218) on carriage M1918, cemetery on Rte. 40, Indianapolis, IN * One gun M1917MI (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M3 (Unk. mfr. #473),

, OK * One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #920) on carriage M1918, Lake St., Lancaster, NY * One gun M1917 (Puteaux #959) on carriage M1918 (Unk. mfr. #208),

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Post 566, Akron, OH NB: As of 6/11/2025 this cannon has been removed to a military museum in Maryland. * One gun M1917 on carriage M1918, Lake St., Baraboo, WI * One gun M1917 (Puteaux #unk) on carriage M1918, Camp Shelby, MS * One gun M1918MI (Bullard #376) on carriage M1918, Cemetery on David Hwy., Saranac, MI * One gun M1918,

Charlotte, NC Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

* One gun M1917A1 (Puteaux #968) on carriage M1918A1 ( Rock Island #372
Fort Macon State Park, NC
* One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #806), Cherryvale, KS * Two guns M1918 (Unk. mfr. #747 and #627) on carriages M1918, Edgemont, SD * One gun M1917 (Puteaux #819) on carriage M1918, Rosebud County Courthouse, Forsyth, MT * One gun M1918MI (Bullard #171) on carriage, Mechanicsville, IA * One gun M1918 (Unk. mfr. #967) on carriage, Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA * One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #976) on carriage M1918, Quincy, IL * One gun M1918, Scotland, SD * One gun M1918MI, American Legion Post, Seattle, WA * One gun M1918, St. Louis, MO * One gun M1918MI (Puteaux #964) on carriage M1918AI ( Rock Island #633), Lockport, NY * Two guns M1918, Fort Walla Walla, Barrel No. 740, Barrel No. 602 Walla Walla, WA * One gun M1918MI, Grand Rapids, WI * One gun M1918MI (Watervliet #943) on carriage M1918, Milligan, NE * One gun M1918 on carriage M1918, Shrine of Valor memorial, Bataan, Philippines * One GPF gun on carriage at Fort de la Pompelle near

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, France * One GPF gun on carriage at Battery Moltke,

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

* One gun (ex-US) at Fort Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * one gun in marks Mississippi ( # 367 ) 1918-A1 Dodge Brothers

Gallery

File:Canon de 155mm GPF 1.jpg File:Canon de 155mm GPF 2.jpg File:155 GPF.jpg, At Fort de la Pompelle near

, France File:Gun at Battery Moltke, Les Landes, Jersey 02.JPG, At Battery Moltke,

File:A WW II US Howitzer 155 mm Cannon - panoramio.jpg File:US M1918 155 mm GPF.jpg, alt=Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) on display at the North 12th Street (East) gate of the Illinois Veterans Home complex in Quincy, IL., Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) on display at the North 12th Street (East) gate of the Illinois Veterans Home complex in Quincy, IL.

Citations

Sources

* van der Vat, Dan; Eisenhower, John S. D. ''D-Day: The Greatest Invasion—A People's History''. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, . * 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 *
155-Millimeter Gun Materiel, Model of 1918 (Filloux)
''Handbook of artillery: including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920)'' US Army Ordnance Dept, May 1920. Pages 229–245.

External links

* Cutler, Frederick Morse
''The 55th artillery (C.A.C.) in the American expeditionary forces, France, 1918'' (1920)

Handbook of the 155 mm Filloux gun materiel

FortWiki.com, lists all US and Canadian forts

Complete list of US forts and batteries at the Coast Defense Study Group

588th Field Artillery Battalion (155) European Tour, 1944-1945
{{WWIIUSGuns 155 mm artillery Coastal artillery Weapons of the Philippine Army World War I artillery of the United States World War I field artillery of France World War I guns World War II artillery of Germany World War II artillery of the United States World War II field artillery World War II artillery of France