Image size: 1600 x 1294 pixel. 592 KB
Date: Tuesday, 20 March 1945
Place: Niederschlettenbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Photographer: Leibowitz (war correspondent)
New M-12 tank, attached to the 103rd Infantry Division, U.S. Seventh Army, was called upon to blast pillbox defenses in the Siegfried Line. The M-12 was conceived especially for this job of direct fire on enemy strong points. The official nomenclature is the self-propelled M-12. It is a 155mm rifle mounted on an M-4 modified tank chasis. The M-12 could carry 10 rounds on board. Besides those 10 rounds, it was designed to work in tandem with an accompanying M-30 cargo carrier, which could carry an additional 40 rounds plus the gunnery crew for the M-12. To keep it from tearing itself apart, the M-12 came with a big spade which was to be lowered into the ground at the rear of the unit, to absorb the recoil. By the way, the M-12 was built on an M-3 chassis. The M-40, which didn't see service until the very end of the war, was built on an M-4 chassis. It came in handy in Korea a few years later. This picture was taken in Niederschlettenbach, Germany, in 20 March 1945 and released by Field Press Censor three days later in 23 March 1945. Note the smaller bore protection in the foreground!
Source:
Signal Corps Photo ETO-HQ-45-22003
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633057
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