Sailors

These French sailors are Navy gunners.
Armies often made use of heavy ships artillery, mounted on train undercarriages.
To handle these guns the navy had specialised gunners.

Naval Artillery Crews Serving on Land

These French sailors were specialist naval gunners assigned to operate heavy ship guns mounted on railway carriages. Their service shows how naval expertise and large-calibre weapons were transferred to land operations on the Western Front.

• Click on the picture to see the next one in this Color Photographs series, or click here to go back to the summary page.