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Hiya Frenchy,
Great pics. The first photo is an excellent study of the engine bay.
In the second photo has that guy got jungle boots on?!
Thanks mate.
Joe.

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Green jungle boots were authorized up til just a few years ago; off the top of my head, maybe 2008? At the same time they killed the BDUs.

As for the guy in the sneakers, I had a battalion commander who wore tennis shoes in the tank and put on his wet weather boots when he got off. Real strange dude, to him, you did not wear your muddy boots inside the tank.

According to the references I've found, the M108 above and the one in the b&w picture I've posted belong to the 3d Howitzer Battalion, 6th Field Artillery "Centaurs", I Field Force, Vietnam (IFFV) :
Arrived in Vietnam June 17, 1966 ; stationed at Pleiku ; initially assigned to IFFV serving in the Central Highlands; then assigned to the 52nd Artillery Group ; departed for CONUS in 1970.

HTH

Frenchy

It's from 3/6FA attached to 4ID. The picture came from a vet who said he was in Pleiku in 1969. I'm not saying it's his photo, more than likely a DOD picture, but he said it was from his unit. Here is another picture he sent me.



I'm just going by what the guy told me.

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Except for maybe one, all the shells are brass and not too far away from the gun.

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Except for maybe one? I'd be curious how you came to that conclusion from a photo, Tony. All ammo is fired from the same lot, they are never mixed. Powder consistency is vital to maintaining a proper sheaf.
The steel shells I fired had an anodized appearance anyway, and were quite old. They do not actually look like they're made of steel.
Forgot to add earlier that one round (representative of where most of the ready rounds are) will be opened, and a thermometer will be inserted into one of the bags. As I said, powder consistency is vital, and changes in temp are calculated along with other factors such as ambient temp, barometric pressure, humidity...
I got that from experience as a 13B by the way, not some dude who emailed it to me.

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It's from 3/6FA attached to 4ID. The picture came from a vet who said he was in Pleiku in 1969. I'm not saying it's his photo, more than likely a DOD picture, but he said it was from his unit. Here is another picture he sent me.

I'm just going by what the guy told me.

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@Joe
I think I'd be more receptive to advice from Trickymissfit and Mike, than someone who relies on hearsay. Especially if that someone is a guy who has nothing better to do than stay up until almost midnight just to try to prove one of these vets wrong. But that's me.

The 105mm ammo boxes look like this:







Verlinden makes a pretty good 105mm ammo set.

I've had an idea for years, and since I'll never get around to it, you are welcome to it:

Most arty dios obviously feature the piece, usually a few ammo handlers, a number one man, a gunner, an AG, and assorted ammo components scattered around the gun. Other than that, one is pretty much like the others.
Now we know Joes have a way of making the routine a little more interesting, in combat or in training. A 105 crew is no different. There's always a little side action going on.
Number one man drops the casing out of the breech -- (yes, it is usually barehanded out of the breech right after firing) he owes the chief a beer.
Number one flips the casing out the back and it lands on end -- the chief owes him a beer. Naturally, someone must keep a tally. What I always wanted to do was show the number one man in the act of tossing the casing (or watching it as it lands) and have some sort of blackboard near the rear of the piece with "standers" written at the top left, with tally marks underneath, and at the top right "drops" also with tallies underneath. Then under that, "beers owed" with a few names, each with tallies next to their names. This would be in keeping with the finest tradition of the field artillery, and even St. Barbara would be proud.
By the way, the trick is not to try and toss the casing so that it lands on end, but to toss it in such a way that is lands opening first, angled slightly away from you, and then bounces up on its end. The primer tube inside the base gives it a surprising amount of weight, and getting three or four in a row to stand is not uncommon.

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Except for maybe one, all the shells are brass and not too far away from the gun.

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Why must everything be a point of contention with some people? Gary said they wouldn't be anywhere close to the gun, and they're not. They're plenty far enough away to prevent them from hindering the crew, which is always a good thing when you're carrying primed ammo around.

As for how aiming stakes work:
Make a knife edge with your hand and place it vertically against your nose. Now sight along your hand at two other nearby objects in your house or yard, all in a line. Those two objects represent the stakes, your hand and eyes are the gunsight. Now rotate your head. That represents a deflection right or left. Note that the your hand is no longer in line with the two objects. The far object appears to be between the near object and your hand. This is where the phrase "Hey diddle diddle far pole in the middle" originates. When you set a deflection on the Pantel (panoramic telescope) you turn the deflection wheel until you have the same sight picture, with the far pole appearing exactly centered between the near pole and the stadia lines. You'll need a large dio to do it by the book -- 50 and 100 meters, but terrain may dictate (and the book allows for) much shorter distance. The important thing is that the far pole is twice the distance as the near pole. When you paint them, make sure the alternating red and white are 10 cm in width. Some people have called these "ranging poles" and been called on it. They are correct however, because way back in the day, the known width of the bands on the pole was actually used to calculate the range to far registration points. It's not even taught at Ft. Sill any more, as its usefulness has long been phased out.
Hope this helps, and doesn't further confuse you.

Rob,
You are the man, my friend.
Thanks for the intel on the aiming stakes. I think I have the idea...mabye.
As to your idea regarding the dio, I'm going to do the blackboard scores just for you!
Give me a while, though, as I'm decorating my workstation & cant do any modelling for a bit.
I'll keep you posted on progress.
All the very best to you.
Joe.

Also, did the crew build their quarters (bunkers) next to the gun & what materials did they use?

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Also, did the crew build their quarters (bunkers) next to the gun & what materials did they use?

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Joe
Here's a diagram that may help. Just keep in mind that following the book on the battlefield is another story :


Frenchy

Gary,
Forgive my ignorance here but what are PD's?
Joe.

Fellas,
Does anybody have any photographs of the inside of a crews bunker?
I'd like to get a feel of the layout & what they look like.
Actually, it doesn't necessarily need to be an artillery crews bunker, any bunker will do. What was in there, how they looked, etc, etc?
Apprecietaed fellas.
Joe.