Month: December 2013

Giant German Wooden Trench Mortars! Be Afraid…be very afraid.

This Australian War Memorial image of an Albrecht likely depicts the largest variety (45cm bore) of this odd weapon. (AWM E 02902)

This Australian War Memorial image of an Albrecht likely depicts the larger (35 or 45 cm bore) type of this odd weapon. (AWM E 02902)
Though they would seem to be the product of a deranged cooper, not a highly industrialized nation that produced Krupp super guns and mortars on mass scale, these were terrifying weapons in the trenches. They lobbed a massive explosive tin dubbed a “coal scuttle” by allied troops. It was a very simple cylindrical tin packed with explosives and iron bits. The weapon normally had a maximum range of about 600m. These came in 25cm, 35cm, and 45cm barrel sizes.  The bottom photo shows an erdmorser (buried trench mortar), which was usually buried in the ground with the rails propped against an embankment or trench wall to roughly aim it at an enemy trench.  The other photos are Albrecht mortars, whose barrels are constructed of wooden staves and reinforced by wire wound round them. 
Albrecht 25cm mortar
Albrecht 25cm mortar, Canadian War Museum (Author’s photo)
albrecht barrel with metal sleeve
albrecht barrel with metal sleeve, which should be along the lower interior of the mortar (courtesy Brome County Historical Society)
Erdmorserspeciallowres
This strange mortar was not an Albrecht, but an erdmorser (another type of wooden mortar whose breech end was buried in the ground, the long trough was then propped up to fire on the target). This appears to have been placed on a standard Albrecht mounting, but whether this was done in the field or for convenience by archives staff here at the War Trophies Annex is unknown. (LAC photo)

Trench mortars offered artillery support to troops near the front lines, and they were sited close to the firing line, making rapid communication and fire tasking possible (unlike fixed artillery located in the rear).  At the outbreak of war, the Germans could draw on many more well-designed mortars than Allied powers, which scrambled to adapt and improvise close-support weapons. Still, the Germans felt the need to produce these unusual wooden mortars.  In Canada today at least two of these rare and strange mortars exist: The Canadian War Museum had a nice example, and the Brome County Historical Society has an un-mounted barrel in the corner of its displays.  Both these are the 25cm varieties.

Shine on you crazy searchlight!

120cm Siemens Schuckert Searchlight This mostly-intact Siemens-Schuckert unit (shown from rear) was captured on the Western Front by Australians near Roy, Belgium. Photo by Author

One of the more unusual trophies brought back to Canada was this 120cm Siemens-Schuckert German Searchlight captured by Australians near Roy, Belgium (possibly the 14th battalion). It would have been used for anti-aircraft defence at night. This light was put on display in the war trophy exhibits, kept by the public archives in their trophies shed, and today is in the Canadian War Museum’s collection. It is in decent shape but won’t be lighting anyone up any time soon! Below is a photo of it in the Public Archives’ War Trophies Annex building along with a massive SN 1650 lb. British bomb (also now at the CWM) intended for bombing raids over Germany by heavy bombers such as the Handley Page 0/400. There was a similar or identical Siemens-Schukert large searchlight captured by the 31st Battalion (Alberta) during the Amiens Offensive, but this light was described as having not been brought in, and does not seem to have ever been recovered by a Canadian unit (from the War Diary report on Ops. here). The last postcard here also shows a very similar unit (from an Austrian searchlight unit) being towed by mechanical transport with its crew.

War Trophies Annex display, 1920s of large bombs and German Searchlight. War Trophies Annex display, 1920s of large shells (probably naval) and the searchlight. War Trophy records indicate only one large searchlight and several smaller signalling lamps were brought to Canada. (LAC photo)