Please Help with information on WWII German artillery limber for leFH18

Please help me with information or links to sites providing such info on WWII German artillery limber for leFH18.

I am very interested in its official name and description of its parts.

Thank you very much for your support.

 

heres a link for you.

10.5 cm leFH 18 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Here is another one. Lovett Artillery - 10,5 cm. leichte Feld Haubitze l.F.H. 1916

 

The German army had chosen the calibre of 105 mm for its standard field howitzers wel before World War I, and then stuck with it. During World War I the standard field howitzer had been the 10.5-cm leFH 16 (leichte FeldHaubitze, or light field howitzer) which used the same carriage as the then-standard 7.7-cm FK 16. After 1918 numbers of these howitzers remained with the rump of the German army and were used to train the generation of gunners who were to be the batter commanders and NCOs of World War II.

The operation analysis carried out by German war planners during the 1920s indicated that in future conflicts a 105-mm projectile would be far more effective than the 75-mm equivalent for no great cost in delivery system weight, that is the artillery piece involved. Thus they plumped for a new 105-mm howitzer, and design work started as early ats 1928-9. Rheinmetall was the project leader, and the result of the efforts was ready for service in 1935.

The new weapon was the 10.5-cm leFH 18, a conventional and sound howitzer with a useful projectile weight and adequate range. If there was a fault with the leFH 18 it was that it was so soundly constructed that it was rather heavy, but as a motor traction was expected to provide the bulk of the pulling power that was no great disadvantaged, at least in theory. The leFH 18 became a valuable export item and numbers were sold to Spain, Hungary, Portugal and some South American nations; large numbers also came off the production lines to equip the expanding German forces.

As ever te gunners were soon asking for more range, and as a result an increased propellant charge was introduced for the leFH 18. This dictated the introduction of a muzzle brake which meant a change of designation to 10.5-cm leFH 18(M), the suffix denoting Mundungbremse, or muzzle brake. The introduction of this muzzle attachment meant that a special sabot sub-calibre 88-mm projectile could not be fired until a new revised design was introduced slightly later.

Thus the leFH 18 series went to war and proved itself efficient enough until the winter campaign in the Soviet Union took its toll i 1941-2. During the thaws involved in that campaign large numbers of 105-mm howitzers were lost because the weights involved were too great for the available towing vehicles to drag weapons clear of the all-prevailing mud. Thus the overweight howitzers showed their disadvantage with a vengeance, and a hurried search for some form of alternative carriage then began.

The result was an unsatisfactory improvisation. The carriage of the 7.5-cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun was simply taken as the new mount for the leFH 18(M) gun, its associated cradle and large shield. The result was slightly lighter than the original (but not very much), and improvised arrangement gave constant problems that were never properly eradicated. It was intended that the new howitzer/carriage combination, designated 10.5-cm leFH 18/40, would become the standard field howitzer for all the German army, but this never happened and in 1945 even the old leFH 16 was in the line.

 

Thank you very much to all for the information provided.
What I am interested in is information related to the horse limber which towed the leFH18.

I think its official name was leFH Limber 18 and was pulled by a six horse team grouped on three pairs. According to KStN, such a team was formed by two light and four heavy horses.
Except four leFH 18 crewmen travelling in the limber, KStN provided for that three other members of the crew to ride the horses. The procedure in force stated that soldiers should have ridden the left hand horse of each pair, the application of the norm being also sustained by the greatest amount of references on the matter.

Information on this vehicle are pretty scarce and I lost my book on the topic....

So I am very interested in its official name, description of its parts in English (I have them in German) and related to the horse harness, controll of it by the riders and as many information available....

Thanks a lot for your support.

 

I did a thorough search and could not find any such specific info. Sorry could not be of more help. Good luck

 

Thank you very much PzJgr, I know that, unfortunately, information on the topic are scarce. I thik such limbers were much more numerous than any tank or other WWII German motor vehicle, but the information on the topic are almost inexistent. For instance Wehrmacht invaded Russia with 750,000 horse-drawn vehicles comparing with 600,000 motor ones...
At presence I write a brief research related to this artillery limber, so I need any information, even if I had some....

 

Well I even looked under WWI German Artillery but no specifics about the limber.