Haubitze M1

It saw service in the Battle of France and spent the rest of the war on the Eastern Front, saw action in Operation Barbarossa, the siege of Sevastopol, the siege of Leningrad and helped to put down the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

• Name — 35.5 cm Haubitze M1 • Origin — Germany • Type — Super-heavy siege howitzer • Is Explosive — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Service — 1939–45 • Used By — Nazi Germany • Wars — World War II • Designer — Rheinmetall • Design Date — 1936–39 • Manufacturer — Rheinmetall • Production Date — 1939–44 • Number — 8 • Weight — 75 t • Part Length — 8.05 m • Cartridge — separate-loading, cased charge • Cartridge Weight — 575 kg • Caliber — 356 mm • Rate — 1 round per 4 minutes • Velocity — 570 m/s • Max Range — 20850 m • Breech — horizontal sliding-block • Recoil — Hydro-pneumatic • Carriage — box • Elevation — +45° to 75° (firing) • Traverse — 6° (on carriage) 360° (on platform) • Filling — TNT and wax • Filling Weight — 7.94 kg

During the Battle of France one howitzer equipped Super-Heavy Artillery Battery (schwerster Artillerie-Batterie) 810 under the command of I Corps, Army Group B. It bombarded Belgian fortifications of the PFL I Line after the fall of Fort Eben-Emael on the first day of the battle. The battery was absorbed by Heavy Artillery Battalion 641 as its first battery on 27 July 1940 and it fought with that battalion on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa where it initially was assigned to the 9th Army, Army Group Center. In 1942 it participated in the assault on Sevastopol under the command of 11th Army of Army Group South. It accompanied that army north to Leningrad during the summer of 1942 so that it could participate in the siege of Leningrad. Soviet efforts to relieve the siege frustrated several German attempts to consolidate their positions there, but the battalion remained there through the beginning of 1944. It participated in the German efforts to suppress the Warsaw Uprising in August—September 1944. Surviving records identify no more than one howitzer in service at any one time even though five were delivered in 1942 and a few others in the following years.