The 10.5 cm leFH 18 (German: leichte FeldHaubitze “light field howitzer”) was a German light howitzer used in World War II.Generally it did not equip independent artillery battalions until after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943Anyone who has talked to WWII veterans or seen many of the documentaries on the “History Channel” are aware that more often than not when they discuss being shot at by the Germans “we were pinned down by Kraut 88s” is the usual statement. This was probably never true, as the 8.8 cm guns were more likely used for antiaircraft or antitank purposes, not field artillery.
More often than not, the culprit was the 105mm Light Field Howitzer Model 18 – leFH 18 10.5 cm in German. This gun was developed in 1928-29 by Rheinmetall and after testing entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1935. It could fire an HE fragmentation projectile weighing 14.81 kilograms to a range of 10,675 meters. The basic gun was produced in four different towed versions, the leFH 18M with muzzle brake and increased propellant charge (giving this gun a range of 12,325 meters) being the most common other variant (a later variant used this barrel and upper carriage on the carriage of the lighter Pak 40 7.5 cm AT gun to reduce its bloated weight). The gun was built with both pressed steel and spoked wheels, all with rubber tires, and came in both horse-drawn and mechanized versions.The version produced here is the leFH 18M with muzzle brake with the spoked wheels.
The same gun was used in the SdKfz 124 Wespe), also known as Leichte Feldhaubitze 18 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (“Light field howitzer 18 on Panzer II chassis”), seeing combat from February 1943 until mid-1944.
