Classic Military Vehicle – September 2019

would be completed by the armistice of which

the French War Department would sell just two

to the AEF, but they did lend them a further 16

along with the corresponding Auto Caisson

trucks. This would be enough to equip two AA

battalions which had four batteries of two guns

each.

The AEF was split into two armies with one

mobile AA battalion assigned to each. The

batteries were completely independent and

able to pack up and change location very

quickly. They were assigned the tasks of

protecting potential targets (such as supply

dumps, headquarters, observation balloons etc)

from enemy aerial activity.

As they were operating within the range

of enemy artillery they might be required to

relocate shortly after going into action. For

protecting the rear areas where mobility was

not considered necessary the French provided

some of their 75mm artillery pieces. No AA

mounts were available for these guns, so the

trails of the gun were dug into a large round

hole with the wooden wheels raised up onto

a rotating wooden platform in the middle.

Although the gun could be elevated, and it

could be traversed by rotation the sites were

completely inadequate when aiming at a

moving target.

Desperately requiring munitions of all types, the

American arsenals were overloaded with orders

and AA guns were not considered top priority.

Despite this, a gun carriage was developed to

mount the 3in Model 1902 gun. In order to speed

up the delivery of this weapon it was improvised

to take the French 75mm Model instead and a

total of 50 of these were shipped to France for

assembly but having only open sites they were

considered to be almost useless. The idea of a

3-inch gun carriage mount was not abandoned

though and 612 of an updated four wheel

carriage were under construction to mount them

on when the war ended.

Other adaptions for the 3in gun mount were

quite innovative. Five examples of a front-

wheel drive motorised gun carriage were built.

Designed by the highly regarded Walter Christie

it had a four-cylinder 60hp transversely

SPECIFICATIONS

Make De Dion-Bouton

Model FZ

Nationality France

Year 1913 to 1918

Used by Great Britain, United

States and France (up until 1940)

Production Run 196

Engine V8 cylinder

Fuel Petrol

Power 60hp

Transmission Manual

Gears Three forward,

one reverse

Suspension Leaf spring

Brakes Drums on rear

Wheels Cast metal spoke

Tyres Solid rubber

Crew/seats Four

Dimensions(overall)

Length 5.85m

Width 2m

Wheelbase 3.3m

Weight Approximately 6 tons

fully loaded

Additional Notes

Fitted with a 75mm gun which

could fi re a 14.3lb shell at a velocity

of 1,830ft/sec to a maximum range

of 10,595yds.

‘Five examples of a front

wheel drive motorised

gun carriage

were built’

Photographed in January 1919 at the New Britain

Machine Co factory, these newly completed White

TBC gun trucks would never see active service

The White Model TBC was the American-built competitor

to the De Dion-Bouton. Just 51 examples were built