Soldiers at howitzer camouflaged with evergreen branches. The early 20th century saw the introduction of super-heavy siege howitzers. They were transported mechanically rather than by teams of horses and had to be assembled on their firing position. The onset of trench warfare after the first few months of WWI greatly increased the demand for howitzers that gave a steep angle of descent, which were better suited than guns to the task of striking targets in a vertical plane (such as trenches), with large amounts of explosive and considerably less barrel wear. The German army was well equipped with howitzers, having far more at the beginning of the war than France. The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during WWI when the concept of visual deception developed into an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, and camouflage was widely used to decrease the danger of being targeted or to enable surprise. Unknown photographer dated November 30, 1915.
