crewmen of a U.S. Army 40mm Bofors M1 Anti-Aircraft Gun, prepare to fire on enemy aircraft. The gun is dug in next too a 'liberated' section of the German Siegfried Line. All 40mm ammo for the Bofors consisted of fixed rounds, either armor-piercing with tracer or high-explosive. the gun was traversed and elevated by manually operated controls. (scanned by HOS Bandit)

40mm Bofors

US Army 8in Howitzer M1 firing on Japanese positions, Okinawa, Japan, April 19 1945.

Artillery

By March 1945, the U.S. Army in NorthWest Europe was made up of relatively few veterans and lots of replacements, many of them 1944 High-School Graduates. After a few days on the line, the replacements, if they survived, became veterans, capable of a high level of conbat effectiveness, such as this crew of a 105mm Howitzer in action outside of Erp, Germany, March 6, 1945. (scanned by HOS Bandit)