| Original caption: “American howitzers shell German forces retreating near Carentan, France.” The United States Army Ninetieth Infantry Division “Tough ‘Ombres” consisted of the 357th, 358th, and 359th Infantry Regiments, and the 343rd, 344th, 345th, and 915th Field Artillery Battalions. All had 105 millimeter (4.1 inch) guns, except the 345th, which had 155 millimeter (6.1 inch) artillery pieces. Each infantry regiment had a cannon company attached, which used the 105-millimeter M3 Howitzer as its field artillery piece. The M3 was originally designed to meet a requirement for an airborne medium howitzer in 1941. The barrel of the 105 millimeter M2 Howitzer, which later equipped three field artillery battalions of the Ninetieth Infantry Division, was cut down and mated with the recoil system and split trail carriage of the seventy-five millimeter M1 Pack Howitzer. The initial design used the same two-piece ammunition as the M2 Howitzer, but incomplete burning of the powder in the M3’s shorter barrel led to the use of a different, faster-burning powder in a new shell just for the new gun. The shell itself remained the same. The M3A1 had stronger split trails. The gun was produced from February 1943 to June 1945, with 2,580 pieces made. The Dodge WC-62 six-wheel drive, one-and-a-half_ton truck was the prime mover for the M3 Howitzer and crew. The M3A2 added a shield to protect the gun crew. By early July, the United States Army Eighth Corps was deeply engaged in fighting across the bocage country, from Coutances to Saint-Lô. The Ninetieth Infantry Division fought through heavy Nazi German resistance to capture Mont Castre Ridge and advance towards Périers. On July 3, 1944, the Division attacked La Haye-du-Puits in coordination with three other infantry divisions; the geography forced a narrow front between Mont Castre Ridge and a swamp in Prairies Marécageuses de Gorges. The Americans made progress until a Nazi German counterattack led by three panzers. Both sides were depleted in heavy fighting. By July 10, the 358th Infantry Regiment was reporting that companies, which normally had hundreds of men, were down to their last scores of effective fighting soldiers. The Nazis had evacuated La Haye-du-Puits by July 12. The breakout and run for Paris was about to begin. During the month of July, the Ninetieth Infantry Division fired 13,974 rounds of M3 Howitzer ammunition, which was 13% of all artillery rounds used that month. “ | |
| Image Filename | wwii0431.jpg |
| Image Size | 871.32 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2924 x 2369 |
| Photographer | Franklin |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 11, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Carentan |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-191933 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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