75MM PACK HOWITZER

It was precisely for this purpose that the 75mm Pack Howitzer, or M1, was devised. The gun was conceived to be lightweight & highly transportable – while still packing a formidable punch.

You certainly can’t fault its characteristics. It weighed just 653kgs & was broken down into 6 packing sections.

It could sustain a rate of fire of 3-6 rounds per minute & the weapon itself was adapted to serve in the M8 GMC & LVT fire support vehicles.

One of our favourite stories about the M1 is how a group of partisans in Italy in the last months of World War Two used a Pack Howitzer to deadly effect.

One was used by a group of partisans in the Reggio Emilio district. This disparate band of guerilla fighters was led by SOE agent Mike Lees.

Lees identified a German Divisional HQ behind the frontline & put in a request for assistance as well as permission to attack. Sure enough, it was answered with a greenlight. SAS hero Roy Farran arrived soon after with a small contingent of SAS to plan the daring attack. The weapon he had parachuted to their mountain hideout was a Pack Howitzer – as well as a handful of heavily-armed Jeeps – dropped from Halifax bombers!

Even though the howitzer wasn’t used in the raid itself – codenamed Operation Tombola – Farran used it to devastating effect in the weeks afterwards to bombard enemy garrisons & outposts along communication routes throughout Reggio Emilia.

In these lightening raids, the compact nature of the gun came into its own, as Farran & his men tore around the countryside in their Jeeps towing the gun from one firing position to another.

As a homage to this operation, we thought we’d show you some reference shots in the hope it inspires you to build a model of this powerful but portable gun.