A 15-inch howitzer being prepared for action on the Somme, 1 July 1916

Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1916.

Howitzers firing heavy calibre shells on a high trajectory through a short barrel were the best type of artillery to employ against trenches and fortifications. These weapons were used by units of the Royal Garrison Artillery. The largest howitzers were often mounted on railways or fixed emplacements and consequently somewhat immobile.