Railway Guns of World War I

The First World War was the Golden Age of the railway gun. More railway artillery pieces were used during this war than in any other conflict, even though at the start of the war none of the armies had railway guns and the very idea of railway artillery was comparatively new. The impetus to build and field railway-mounted guns came from the stalemate of trench warfare. The first railway guns--fielded by the French army in early 1915 - were simple, improvised designs made by mounting surplus coastal defense, fortress, and naval guns onto existing commercial railway carriages. These first guns were fielded to primarily provide heavy artillery support to the frontline infantry. The British and German Armies followed suit and soon railway guns were employed all along the Western Front. The use of railway artillery expanded to other fronts too, with Russia fielding several guns in 1915 and Italy in 1916.

Even the United States--which developed its artillery in close cooperation with the French--employed several models of railway guns in the final year of the war. All told, hundreds of railway artillery pieces were fielded during the war and, at war's end, several models of super-heavy railway guns were in design for use in 1919.

This book details the design and development of railway guns during World War I from the very first basic designs to massive purpose built "monster" railway guns. Accompanying the text are many rare, never before published, photographs. Color illustrations depict the most important aspects of the railway guns.

Marc Romanych is a retired US Army combat arms officer, and the author of several books for Osprey on World War I artillery and fortifications. He has a BA in History from the University of Maryland and an MA in International Relations from St Mary's University. Interested in the Maginot Line since 1995, Marc has extensively explored its fortifications. He is a member of Association du P.O. de Sentzich, a Maginot Line preservation group. Marc lives near Baltimore, Maryland.

Greg Heuer is retired Chief Engineer and Program Manager for Raytheon Company. He has a BS in Electronics Engineering with a minor in Business Administration from New Mexico State University. Interested in the intersection between modeling, art and the history of manufacturing technologies, Greg has extensively researched, studied, and modeled super heavy and railway artillery. Greg lives near Newport, Rhode Island.

Steve Noon was born in Kent, UK, and attended art college in Cornwall. He's had a life-long passion for illustration, and since 1985 has worked as a professional artist. He has provided award-winning illustrations for the publishers Dorling Kindersley, where his interest in historical illustration began. Steve has illustrated over 30 books for Osprey.