US GRENADE LAUNCHER CREW

The American armed forces first encountered the use of mortars on a large scale only during World War I, and more precisely in its final period - in the years 1917-1918. In the 1920s, the US Army conducted tests and carried out theoretical work, which was to lead to the development of possibly consistent tactics and concepts for the use of this weapon in infantry units. However, the first modern mortars began to appear on a large scale in the American armed forces only at the beginning of World War II, when two basic types of mortars came into use: the 60 mm M2 and 81 mm M1 mortars. The first was treated as a company and platoon support weapon, and was seen as a kind of intermediate link between the hand grenade and the M1 mortar. The M1 mortar, on the other hand, was treated as a support weapon at the company and regiment level. Both these mortars proved to be effective and easy to use. They also remained in service after 1945. They were used in combat during the fighting in the Pacific, in Italy, as well as in Normandy and North-Western Europe.