Loading an 8-inch howitzer, 1917

Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1917.

Four men have brought the shell up to the breech in a carrying cradle. The gun is mounted on the Vickers firing platform, with the traversing rail visible beneath the end of the trail. The Vickers platform was adopted after problems with the gun's stability on very hard or soft ground following its introduction in 1916.

One of 193 British and Allied official photographs.