US 155mm artillery in action, Cherbourg

us155mmartilleryinactioncherbourg.jpg

A 155mm artillery piece is shown in the full recoil position after launching a round towards German positions, 28th of June 1944.

The gun crew already have the next shell on a handling cradle ready for loading into the breech. The crew member to the bottom right seems to be preparing the bagged charges. The gun fired separate loading, bagged charge ammunition, with seven different propelling charges, from 1 (the smallest) to 7 (the largest).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M114_155_mm_howitzer