History
The first attempts to give artillery a greater degree of manoeuvrability was in World War I. Although mechanical tractors had been used to tow some artillery, most were still towed by horses. The Gun Carrier Mark I was an artillery piece that was transported by and could be fired from a tracked chassis.
Between the wars, in the development of their armoured warfare tactics, the British put the Birch Gun into limited use. It carried an 18 pounder gun on a chassis derived from their then medium tank and as such was able to keep up and cross the same ground as the tanks it was intended to support. As well as use as a field gun, the gun could be elevated sufficiently for use against aircraft.
Read more about this topic: Self-propelled Gun
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