The German soldiers feared these fellows the most. The picture is of a single American 105mm howitzer crew, doing their thing. The 105 was the most common artillery piece, but the American 155mm howitzer was also quite plentiful.
The 105s were organized in 6 gun batteries, and fired predominately using observe target lines, rather than specific forward observers. Using the observer target line allowed every battery to fire, using the same observation commands, no matter where they were, in relation to the target. The smaller batteries could be more widely separated, but all fire at the same target.
When the American artillery opened up on their foe, the entire horizon would light up, making counter battery fire much more difficult, and minimally effective. US batteries fired in general support of the forward units, with direct support, or priority of fires, rarely used. That meant that every indirect fire battery, from battalion to corps, who could hear the request for fire, and if they were within range of the target, would fire for that mission, and easily shift to the next. With a multitude of vehicles (especially the 2.5 ton truck with 6 or 10 wheel drive), the American artillery was highly mobile, and supplied.
German soldiers would complain that when they fired upon an American advancing unit, infantry or armor, nothing would happen for a minute or so. Then the horizon lit up, the sky parted, and a horrible rain of high explosive shells burst everywhere, from multiple directions. American artillery never seemed to run out of ammunition.
Credit: Timothy Simons
