FO's or On Map Guns?

[Dog Soldier]

Seeing a US 105 would mean the Germans are overrunning the defenses.

I would agree if it were a towed American 105mm. Many of these guns were mounted on tracked chassis and used in a direct fire assault gun role. A 105mm gun pointed at a German position had the effect of removing the infantry, either by fire or by them leaving before the shooting started. Bunker busting, or tearing up buildings to get at the enemy infantry was their role.

This was far more common after the Normandy breakout. The terrain in Normandy did not offer sufficient fields of fire for the 105mm in a direct fire role. Same for Salerno and Anzio until the eventual breakout from those beachheads. These mobile 105mm guns had insufficient armor to take on Axis armor. They did fire on enemy tanks if such tanks were coming at them. A 105mm HE round would rattle and have a good chance of damaging vulnerable areas of most German tanks. They did not go hunting for armored actions, IIRC.

Dog Soldier