A variety of rare and unique German selfpropelled guns can be found at a United States Army base. Craig Moore tells us all about them
Just north of Lawton, Oklahoma is the United State Army base Fort Sill. It was originally a wooden fort built during the American Frontier Wars when the US Cavalry fought various American First Nation tribes. Wellknown figures like Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, Ben Clark and Jack Stilwell operated from the Fort along with the 7th Cavalry, 19th Kansas Volunteers, 10th Cavalry and a group of African American cavalrymen known as the ‘Buffalo Soldiers’. It was initially called Camp Wichita but was renamed in honour of Brigadier General Joshua W. Sill, who was killed during the American Civil War.
The first artillery battery arrived at Fort Sill in 1902 and the current US Army Field Artillery School was founded in 1911. Fort
Sill is also considered to be the birthplace of US combat aviation as it is here, in August 1915, that the 1st Aero Squadron began trials. It used Curtis JN-2 planes together with field artillery with a view to act as reconnaissance scouts to find the enemy and direct artillery barrages onto their positions.
Alongside its role in training recru…
