The French 120mm howitzer Schneider

During the First World War, the French Army employed a small number of 120 mm Schneider field howitzers, for which it published a provisional manual on their use. This is a well-known howitzer, originally built for Russia in a 122mm calibre as Obusier de 48” or 122-мм (48-линейнык) гаубицы обр. 1909 г. It enjoyed considerable success among the armies of the Balkan Peninsula, and was purchased by Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece. What is not easy to determine, however, is their origin and their final destination.

In June 1915, gen. Joseph Joffre, requested that the Minister of War purchase 11 batteries of 120mm Schneider howitzers, the components for which were already available at Le Creusot. This material came from an order placed by a foreign state, the production of which had been halted at the outbreak of the conflict. The question is to identify the state from which it came.

According to François Vauvillier, these were howitzers ordered by Bulgaria after the end of the Interallied War, and were seized by the French government in the autumn of 1914 while they were at Le Creusot, awaiting shipment to Sofia. It is not clear how many batteries were originally ordered by Bulgaria; 11 is the number of those that had already been completed at the time of the requisition.

Subsequently, they were assigned to the horse-drawn heavy artillery (ALH). The Ier groupe of the 103e RAHL (1re, 2e, 3e batteries – depot at Vernon) was raised in November 1915. It took part in the battles of the Somme, Verdun, the Chemin des Dames, and Saint-Quentin. In 1918, the howitzers were replaced by the canon de 105 L mle. 1913 TR Schneider. On 5 January 1916, the IIIe groupe (4e, 5e batteries) of the same regiment was formed and on 1 April 1916 it became the IIIe groupe of the 117e RAL. It fought on the Aisne, but it kept its howitzers only till August 1916. Later some of them were assigned to the Armée d’Orient and finally they were delivered to Serbian Army.

According to Guy François, the history is more complex. At the end of the Balkan War, Greece reportedly ordered 14 batteries of 120mm Schneider howitzers, similar to those previously purchased by Bulgaria and Serbia. In September the first two batteries In September 1914, the first two batteries were nearly complete at Le Havre, but when Greece requested their delivery, the French government requisitioned them, allocating them to Belgium along with their 576 shells. Actually, they were delivered to the Belgian Army on 27 October and in November 1914. Three more batteries were delivered to the Belgian Army in March and April 1915, while the completion of the remaining ones was suspended. So far, everything seems clear.

The account regarding the Belgian Army is essentially confirmed by Roger Lothaire. In October 1914, the Schneider factory provided four 120mm howitzers, originally intended for Greece, which were used to form 2 two-gun batteries, assigned to the 4e Division d’Armée. In the spring of 1915, another 22 howitzers were delivered, 20 from the Greek, and 2 prototypes (120 OC N° 2 and N° 3) that had remained unsold and were held in storage at Le Creusot. These howitzers were used to form six batteries – two of which consisted of only 3 guns each – assigned to the 2e, 4e, and 5e Division d’Armée. In January 1917, when the Belgian field artillery was reorganized, only one 120mm group with 3 four-gun batteries—remained in service, assigned to the 4e Division d’Armée. The only problem is that on page 64 in the first volume the howitzers are described as Greek, whereas on page 101 of the second volume they are identified as Bulgarian. In any case, Belgium received a total of 26 howitzers: 2 were from Schneider, while 24 were seized from Greece or Bulgaria.

Returning to Guy François, things get complicated now. On 11 June 1915, the Ministry of War ordered work to resume, with the intention of forming three howitzer groups, each consisting of two four-gun batteries. Up to that point, eight batteries had been produced, six of which had been transferred to Belgium. On November, three batteries were assigned to the 103e RAL. On 15 October, it was decided to transfer six batteries to Serbia, and on 30 November, the first three batteries were urgently loaded onto ships in Marseille. However, on 6 December, following the defeat of the Serbian Army, the delivery was halted and the howitzers were stored in Brindisi. The origin of these six batteries is unclear: if six batteries had been sent to Belgium, then only two would remain, unless another four or six were completed during the second half of 1915.

In January 1916, the seventh battery of the Greek order was completed (the two that seized in 1914 are probably not included), another three were finished in April, and the remaining two in July. However, starting from January, Guy François begins talking about eighteen batteries, to be divided between France and Serbia and states that on 28 January, the French Artillery Directorate finalized an order for six new batteries, with the intention of allocating twelve batteries each to France and Serbia. Anyway, in early February 1916, following lengthy discussions, the French Army’s Supreme Command decided to retain only two batteries in France and to transfer six batteries to Serbia. A plan to construct an additional 12 batteries, which would have brought the Serbian Army’s total to 18, could not be carried out, as the firm Schneider declined the order, being fully occupied with the production of a wide range of artillery equipment for the French Army.

Actually, on the Western Front, the French Army deployed only two batteries, formed within the 103e RAL and subsequently assigned to the 117e RAL. They operated along the Aisne and Somme fronts from 5 January to 27 July 1916, before being reassigned to the Armée d’Orient and, ultimately, to the Serbian Army that still had 33 of these howitzers at the end of the war.

In conclusion, many aspects of the story regarding the 120mm Schneider howitzers used by the French Army during the First World War remain unclear. In particular, it is uncertain whether at least some of these howitzers originated from an order placed by Bulgaria, as the sources available to me are confusing – if not contradictory – on this point. Further light could likely be shed on this matter through the Bulgarian Army archives.

Sources :

FRANÇOIS. Guy : “Les matériels d’artillerie réquisitionnés”. Histoire de guerre, blindés & matériel : 157 (juillet-septembre 2026), pp. 23-32 and 158 (octobre-décembre 2026), pp. 29-34.

LOTHAIRE. Roger : L’artillerie légère de campagne belge de 1900 à 1940, tome I and II. Liège-Bressoux : Editions du Patrimonie Militare 2011 and 2013.

VAUVILLIER. François : “Retourné contre son commanditaire : l’obusier de 120 Schneider”. Histoire de Guerre, blindés & Matériel : 76 (avril-mai 2007), pp. 79-80

VAUVILLIER. François – TOUZIN. Pierre : Les cannons de la victoire 1914 – 1918. Tome 1 : L’artillerie de campagne. “Les matériels de l’Armée Française” 3. Paris : Histoire & Collections 2006.

VAUVILLIER. François : “Retourné contre son commanditaire : l’obusier de 120 Schneider”. Histoire de guerre, blindés & matériel : 76 (avril-mai 2007), pp. 79-80.