German Foot Artillery - Puzzler

Steve Nick said:
Re. Tony's post . I think the gun in use here is a 77mm Field Artillery piece. Possibly taken at the same site as the initial photos.

I think there must be something unusual about the rounds they are posing with ? As an aside, if you look closely you can see the image of a girl in the lid of the box between the two artillery rounds.


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Steve, the reason the rounds look unusual, is because they are French 75mm rounds, and the gun mounted in the back of your picture is a captured French one. The famous soixante quinze. 75mm Canon de 75 modele 1897.
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Compare the muzzle, and objects beneath it. By the way, I have several 75mm fuzes, still with the tops they are on here, picked up at my battlefield trips in Ypres. Inert ones off course, they had been exploded, and all that remains then are the fuses and the top of the shell.
 
Coert:

Good eye! Thanks for the correction. The rounds don't look like any rounds appearing in the other photos in the album.

Probably also explains the presence of the "can can" girl in the box lid. ;)
 
Very interesting post....I would recommend the WW1 book written after the war, entitled “Fritz” by Fritz Negel. Fritz started the war in the field Arty as a OYV. He ended up commanding an anti aircraft truck mounted unit on the Wester front. This volume is extremely interesting as he talks about the August heat the, heavy kugel helme , the wool uniforms and heavy boots. One of the few volumes translated to English. iSBN 1-885033-15-X Regarding WW1 German photos......these were encouraged by the Imperial Government as a morale booster on the Home Front while the Brits/Commonwealth discouraged this practice.
 
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I have a copy of that book although it's been many years since I read it. I'm learning about the German Foot Artillery by going through these photos and with the help of forum members like Coert and Peter.

It's been very interesting scanning and photoshopping these photos none of which had been seen by my neighbour's wife. Her family on both sides are German, her father's family is from Hesse (Grandfather was in the Hessian Lifeguards) and mother's side was Prussian from Magdeburg. These photos were taken by her great uncle. Her father was in the Luftwaffe and spent several years as a POW in Russia. The war was never mentioned in her family and consequently she didn't know the album existed until they moved next door and began unpacking. Now her parents are gone and she knows nothing about her family's past. Sad really.

I've taken it upon myself to restore all the photos and provide her with a written commentary on each picture so she and her daughters will know what they mean. Makes all those hours poring over Imperial German militaria worthwhile. The album has photos from October 1914 to the summer of 1918.

Thanks to all for taking an interest.
 
Peter:

I think you provided the clue that solves the other piece of the puzzle.

I was wondering if the group photo was taken at a training school. I was so fixated on the identification of the gun in the picture you posted via your friend that I didn't notice the acronym at the bottom "BaK". These are the same letters that show up on the sign behind her great uncle. So, I think it's a good bet that he was on a training course when the group photo was taken. It might also be fair to conclude that the other group photo featuring the spotting/ ranging gear could be a graduation picture for the guys on the course.

Is this stuff fun or what?
 
Steve.

Just found this: "BallonabwehrKanone or BaK". Also: FlugabwehrKanone or FlaK. So this was an anti-balloon and general flak / anti-aircraft gun.

I think it is a course at a school as well as it doesn't look very tactical where the guns are - more of a training setup. He was probably on a course learning how to use that particular gun given he took the time as well to take two pictures of it.

Peter
 
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according to Wolfgang Fleischer in his book German Artillery 1914-1918,on page 92- he mentions the 9cm Flak C-73 as being used for anti-aircraft and fortress defence! Cheers Dick
 
That is amusing that I didn’t recognize the Canon de 75 modele 1897, when there are several cartridge casings here from that cannon. Oh well.

Steve my interest is in cartridge casings so no bagged charge cannons, but you will find details and information about every German cannon fired on the Western Front that used a cartridge casing here https://www.kaisersbunker.com/cc/

You will also find specs and images of the 21cm Mörser and 17cm L40 that your original posting Kanonier used.
 
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Fritz Nagel joined the 2nd Battery, 11th Hessian Field Artillery in October 1912.
 
Tony:

Here's a pretty interesting photo of a 21cm Mortar crew with the whole cast of supporting characters taken in Russia in June of 1916.

img004 21 cm mortar Crew Jun 16 Re-Sized.jpg
 
That is an excellent image of the cartridge casing for the 21cm Mörser. Note that much like our Government Public Servants on roadworks, one man in the Batterie rammed the projectile while the rest stood around and watched.


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Tony without Kaiser said:
That is an excellent image of the cartridge casing for the 21cm Mörser. Note that much like our Government Public Servants on roadworks, one man in the Batterie rammed the projectile while the rest stood around and watched.
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Good one ! Yes, most Canadians can certainly relate to that comment. ;)

Thanks for the picture of the cartridge casing. I was interested by the crew member holding the casing. I assume the charge is held in place by some sort of foil covering?
 
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Steve all Imperial cartridge casings for separate ammunition had a waxed cardboard cap over the charge, slightly down from the top edge of the casing. On fired casings, with larger calibres you can see the black line going around the interior circumference.
 
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