Holy Artillery | The M7 Priest

The M7 Priest Howitzer Motor Carriage, distinct from traditional tanks, merged a formidable 105mm howitzer with the Sherman tank platform, resulting in a highly mobile artillery vehicle. Serving as a versatile artillery platform on the battlefields of WWII, it played a pivotal role in America's mechanization of modern warfare, demonstrating unparalleled adaptability and firepower. Its second iteration, the M7B2, was also used successfully during the Korean War.
1. 105mm howitzer: The M7 Priest was equipped with a powerful 105mm M2 howitzer, providing it with significant firepower on the battlefield.
2. Mobility: Built on a modified M3 medium tank chassis, the M7 Priest was highly mobile, allowing it to maneuver across various terrains and keep pace with advancing troops.
3. Crew Composition: The crew typically consisted of a commander, driver, gunner, loader, and assistant driver and radio operator, each with specific roles in operating the vehicle and its artillery.
4. Versatility: The M7 Priest served multiple roles on the battlefield, including direct fire support for infantry and armored units, artillery barrage against enemy positions, and even as a mobile command post.
5. Artillery Support: With its howitzer capable of firing high-explosive shells, smoke rounds, and even anti-tank rounds, the M7 Priest provided crucial artillery support to ground forces, suppressing enemy positions and fortifications.
6. Adaptability: As the war progressed, the M7 Priest saw various modifications and upgrades to enhance its performance and address evolving battlefield needs, showcasing its adaptability to changing circumstances.

[@laughingowl7896]

"If there's ever a Priest in your area, you'd best say your prayers." Nice. I'm an Infantry vet, and while we'd sometimes dust it up with the gun bunnies at the bar, I never forgot "A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets." -William Tecumseh Sherman

[@DB-yj3qc]

In my youthful infantry days, "we" mainly kept on friendly terms with the gun bunnies... they would be running P.T. with 155 training rounds. Great to have your back in a fight.... especially when it was with D.A.T's n scouts or M.P.s. 😂

[@johnmcguigan7218]

The artillery was the one branch of the Army (not counting the Army Air Force) that excelled above anything the Axis powers had. Artillery spotting and coordination was excellent, the 155mm Long Tom was unparalleled, and the advent of the proximity fuse at the end of 1944 put our artillery in a class that belonged to the future. Time and again, our ground forces were saved by timely and accurate artillery fire that the Germans couldn't hope to match.

[@gsr4535]

Artillery's importance is often overlooked. 👍

[@doughudgens9275]

For brevity, he skipped who did the calculations on which direction and elevation to point the tubes to fire. The howitzer should never see the enemy, the forward observers do. They give a target location, and the Fire Direction Center knows where the battery is located so it can compute the data needed to get rounds on target. I suspect the battery FDC did the calculations and the battalion FDC managed who gets support. They would say infantry company X gets direct support from artillery battery Y. This means the FO with X calls directly to Y’s FDC with targets in need of servicing. One of the US Army’s strengths in WWII was the ability to mass fires from multiple Battalions with very little effort. A division commander could decide he wanted all his artillery to support one objective with their fires. So something like 70-odd tubes of his Division artillery could fire on one target with a few radio calls (assuming all are within range). If Corps Artillery assets were used, you could almost double that number. The mobility of the Priest is what allowed this massing of fires.

[@Chilly_Billy]

Excellent video. Armor and Infantry get most of the glory and history books, but Artillery remains the God of War.

[@pauld6967]

You absolutely nailed the motif. 😎 I have long thought the M7 didn't get the attention and love it deserves. Thank you for covering it.

[@DougthebearRichards]

Lot of vehicle for a 105mm weapon, and wasn't particularly good in direct fire against point targets, and didn't have a radio. The M3/M5 light tanks should have been adaptable for the 105mm howitzer role, as the Germans did with the Wespe.

[@pauld6967]

@@DougthebearRichards Not having an integral radio would be a drawback if it operated independently but that is not how they were employed doctrinally. Other vehicles received and passed along targeting information to them. As for direct fire, well that isn't their intended role. Howitzers and mortars are designed to do indirect, arcing fire.

[@kellywright540]

My Dad was a scout for the 66th Armored Field Artillery Battalion in Patton's favorite Armored Division, the 4th. I used to think that he was a tanker when I was younger because that's what comes to mind when you think of Patton's Third Army. Needless to say that when I asked him what type of tank he rode around in, he said that he mainly traveled around in a jeep paired up with a tank, which for a kid in grade school sounded pretty boring. Later on I understood the part he played in the 4th Armored Division and as my uncle said, "The whole damn world was at war and there's your Dad, driving around in a jeep, looking for trouble!" He fought in the breakout of Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, the Rhineland with a stop at the Buchenwald concentration camps and then into Czechoslovakia at the end of the war.

[@Blutgang]

I like the use of Rhinos in your table talk. Epic choice.

[@rhietpas]

Loved the dry sense of humor. Great work

[@elijahschwindt7403]

Love the various vehicles! Looks like they'd be packed in tight. Also, the 40k Rhinos made my day 😊

[@brianwynne6835]

Lol I use half tracks in my 40k guard army as open topped chimeras

[@alankjosness2093]

My father was an early draftee because, I think, his secondary schooling in a polytechnic highschool. In early '42 he began learning the trade of artillary observation involving the M7. This was at Camp Roberts in the Mojave Desert. His unit - the 62nd Armored Field Artillary Battalion - boarded ship for North Africa in November 1942. From there the unit travelled through North Africa, Sicily, England, D Day on Omaha Beach, across France, Belgium and into Germany. The M7, (known as the Priest to one of our allies), and her crews, served with destiction throughout the Second World War.

[@KA-dx2kz]

The Americans had a priest while the British grabbed a bishop

[@hulkkrogan420]

Smack my bishop!

[@davidk7324]

Well done, Mr. Wilcox. Thanks to you and your team.

[@philbosworth3789]

Hello again sir. @davidk7324

[@davidk7324]

@@philbosworth3789 Hi Phil!

[@ScottBerrier-ir3pw]

Look for the Book “Honor Untarnished” by GEN (R) Don Bennett. He commanded a SP Art Bn on D-Day; equipped with the M7 Priest. His chapter on D-Day is a must read for everyone. He was also one of the youngest Bn Commanders during the war. Inspiring leader for sure.

[@itsmethelauri1183]

HANS GET MOVING! THE M7 VIDEO IS HERE!

[@Kottery]

Hmmm, those little "Priests" sure look like METAL BAWKSES

[@ajstephen3977]

Great video and i definitely approve of your hat.

[@greymatter6834]

I like the buffalo cap. Good show. 07

[@MagicalMuffin12]

Another great video! Feels conversational and I understood what was going on, which is great since I’m not a history buff!

[@patrickmcintyre8023]

I just found one of these at the Tennessee National Guard in Union City. I meant to get back to it to take some pictures, but that's going to wait for my next trip out there.

[@kevinkelly6524]

This was so informative and educational. Well done

[@Legitpenguins99]

Man, I've found a gold mine with this channel. I hope and think your channel starts to blow up considering there have been a couple of popular videos

[@cameronhilburn5628]

Incredible video! Looking forward to more fantastic content from your museum

[@thurin84]

this was fascinating. never saw a video about this subject. bravo!

[@larryselkirk426]

That you for that overview of the Priest.

[@yannichudziak9942]

Epic rhino’s for the win ;)

[@longrider42]

Yep, we folks living in Wyoming, of which I am one. Are proud of where we live, and we want others, specially those we intend to Un-Alive, to know it :) Yep, SPG's very useful things.

[@TheJimmyplant]

Wow, the writing is exceptional. Very welld one.

[@akman1947]

We need a video on that quad 50 with an/m2s that is terrifying!

[@Salamandra40k]

Jeez you guys need more subscribers. Amazing videos

[@davidholtz6590]

Thank you for a solid understand of M7s.

[@misterstanley6161]

Great video, super informative and easy to listen to as I was making my breakfast this morning! 😊

[@davidlavigne207]

Excellent descriptions of the M7 and its variants. I also appreciated the breakdown of how the batteries were organized and how they operated during both in offense and defense. The best part was the duties of the crew as described by the host. Artillery in WW2, as it was in WW1 was the largest producer of enemy casualties by far. It was the one arm that the U.S. Army got right overall.

[@philbosworth3789]

Hello again @davidlavigne207

[@Minirafter0002]

Where are the other 7 Hanks for reference? I need to see it fully crewed.

[@ryanknott7562]

We had one of these in our local park. I grew up playing on it.

[@kalaharimine]

Excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@Sethoates101]

Great video

[@kmoecub]

Hold on.... Do my eyes spy Warhammer Epic 40K (now Horus Heresy) minis?!

[@yoface2537]

Why did the Canadians make the kangaroo, that sounds like an Australian thing

[@sailordude2094]

Thanks, great channel! These were featured in the TV show, The Rat Patrol (as German tanks, lol).

[@DB-yj3qc]

Thanks for a informative video

[@philbosworth3789]

That was a very informative episode again.

[@matthewrussell9417]

Superb!

[@rgriffinRETIRED_SHEEPDOG]

Great video!

[@chrispierdominici3891]

Great stuff, thanks for an interesting and engaging video!

[@NMMV_USA]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robertmorey4104]

Very cool, queen of battle. Artillery. Nice and detailed, well done.

[@PavewayJDAM]

Infantry Queen of Battle. Artillery is KING.

[@thomasmitchell7645]

A very informative video! Thanks to your videos "advertising" the museum, I'll be visiting there this fall. Only one small point. Dice is the plural, die is the singular.

[@lyleslaton3086]

Artillery: King of Battle.

[@darylnelson3026]

I believe the Canadian Army of World War 2 was the first Army to be fully mechanized .The Saxon was Canadian made , based off the Ram tank chassis that based off the M3 Lee chassis

[@robgleadall-cc8gn]

The Sexton and Kangaroo are actually based on the Canadian Ram tank... A fascinating bit of tank history in itself. Great video I have always found the M3/M4 and it's variants fascinating.

[@mearalain3006]

Bien joué. Greetings

[@Thirdbase9]

King of Battle!

[@mtstans]

Great stuff! Was that the same gun that was also used on the 105 sherman dozer?

[@phil20_20]

In the beginning, there was the self-propelled slinger!

[@AydenHassebrock]

What were casualties like in this field? I’d imagine later in the war the rate must’ve been pretty low as they weren’t retreating all too much

[@jean-francoislemieux5509]

they did shoot a lot in korea! how long would the barrel survive?

[@ErickSowder]

How heavy was each complete shell?

[@kellywright540]

I do have a question, could the gun be lowered enough to be used for direct fire for, let's say, a pillbox or a house?

[@JENKEM1000]

Towards the end, he contrasts the US HMCs that were used for mainly indirect fire, with direct-fire assault guns such as StuG and SU-122... completely ignoring the soviet "triplex artillery" concept that the SU-122 fit into. Soviet SPGs of that era were not just assault guns, they did plenty of indirect fire missions as well, in addition to being an antitank weapon.

[@DougthebearRichards]

The Birch Gun comes to mind long before the M7 Priest.

[@nickraschke4737]

US war history..never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

[@Panzerkampfwagen_Tiger_Ausf_ll]

Question, am I aloud to enter the tanks on display without being an employee please answer

[@curtisbryce5096]

Weren't the majority of military deaths caused by artillery and mortar fire?

[@Chilly_Billy]

Not among submarine crews. 😉😆

[@maxstr]

Still is

[@curtisbryce5096]

@@Chilly_Billy Wasn't depth charges and the famous Hedgehog a naval form of mortars?

[@kmoecub]

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. Forgive them not, for they have done far worse.

[@richardmeyeroff7397]

I suggest that you slow your delivery it will allow the people listening to better follow what you are saying.

[@craigmorris4083]

Sorry, but I believe it was logistics that won the war.

[@chelseachelseaboy]

Sorry...did I hear you say America was the first to have mechanized artillery ....didn't the Germans have Wespe & Hummel ??

[@stephenbritton9297]

No, logistics won the war.

[@stevenyouel8614]

He makes a claim that the US was the first country in the world "to mechanized their artillery." Germans used their own self-propelled artillery in the Battle of France 1940 (Bison sig 33 using a 15 cm infantry gun on panzer 1 chassis).

[@itsmethelauri1183]

That’s crazy, I’ve seen a lot of pictures of horses dragging German artillery through just about all parts of the war. Don’t know if I’d call that “fully mechanized” but hey, I’m not the one working at a museum.

[@chelseachelseaboy]

Wespe & Hummel as well.

[@davidk7324]

Interesting. Wikipedia indicates that just 38 of these were produced by the Nazis and they were last deployed in 1943. Horses (~2.5 million) remained widely used for transport by the Germans throughout the war, I believe.

[@johnfrench1239]

Slooooooow down buddy! Good content but exhausting to listen to!

[@videodistro]

Actually it was nice not to have to run at 1.25 speed. A little more white space can be nice, but the pace didn't waste my time, either.

[@2serveand2protect]

PS. GREAT STUFF! Thank You for uploading! ;) :)

[@2serveand2protect]

What do you mean by "BASE" charge ?? ...as in "BASE-BLEED" or just "BASE" as "REGULAR" ?? ...and what the hell's a "25-pounder" ?? What caliber would that be??

[@2serveand2protect]

Gotta give it t the Americans! ...while 70-80 % of the "pack" of the German artillery was still relying on HORSES (even by '44) - and the same went for the Soviets ... Americans had EVERYTHING (100%) MOTORIZED! The vehicle in itself might not look as something particularily "great" ...but it gives you a good idea about how much POWERFUL the "industrial muscle" of the US Army was!

[@buttslane4491]

When you say 'fully mechanise' its artillery, what do you mean exactly? The US Army used plenty of towed artillery, so not all was SP guns.