Dora Railway gun question
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
Epoch,
First I'd like to say thank you for posting the pictures of the abandoned Dora/Gustav railway gun, a lot of them I've never seen before.
Second, I believe you may be on to something. I've been a long time proponent of the idea that only 1 railway gun existed and was known by both names. I've been examining the pictures you posted and it appears that the identification markings are different. If you observe the circled areas, the marking on the left is lower in one picture than the other. Initially I thought this may just be an illusion caused by the slightly different angle but if you observe the marking in the bay next to it (also in the circled area) that marking has not moved while the other is lower in relation in the photo in the shed. Also, in the circle on the right, that marking is completely different in the two photos. It looks in the shed photo that it may have been painted over and a new marking applied. Why would you change markings on it if you were going to scrap it? Also notice that the handrail appears in the shed photo above the right circle but isn't present in the other photo.
I still need to do some work to confirm that the photos show the exact same area.
First I'd like to say thank you for posting the pictures of the abandoned Dora/Gustav railway gun, a lot of them I've never seen before.
Second, I believe you may be on to something. I've been a long time proponent of the idea that only 1 railway gun existed and was known by both names. I've been examining the pictures you posted and it appears that the identification markings are different. If you observe the circled areas, the marking on the left is lower in one picture than the other. Initially I thought this may just be an illusion caused by the slightly different angle but if you observe the marking in the bay next to it (also in the circled area) that marking has not moved while the other is lower in relation in the photo in the shed. Also, in the circle on the right, that marking is completely different in the two photos. It looks in the shed photo that it may have been painted over and a new marking applied. Why would you change markings on it if you were going to scrap it? Also notice that the handrail appears in the shed photo above the right circle but isn't present in the other photo.
I still need to do some work to confirm that the photos show the exact same area.
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
Cameronforester
Anywhoo, it would be tough to say that the movement/ minor variation of "stencils" on a piece of heavy military equipment is conclusive unless you can find pictures known to be taken at the same time. Re-painting could have been done numerous times, and stencils do kinda move around and even can change their specifications on the same piece of equipment. More weight/less weight /dimensions/ SOP change/etc.
For example I believe we added another layer of armor( a.k.a paint ) on my tank in Germany about 5 times in a two year period. And the stencils often moved a little depending on who did it, and how specific the SOP was, or was adhered to..
Anywhoo, it would be tough to say that the movement/ minor variation of "stencils" on a piece of heavy military equipment is conclusive unless you can find pictures known to be taken at the same time. Re-painting could have been done numerous times, and stencils do kinda move around and even can change their specifications on the same piece of equipment. More weight/less weight /dimensions/ SOP change/etc.
For example I believe we added another layer of armor( a.k.a paint ) on my tank in Germany about 5 times in a two year period. And the stencils often moved a little depending on who did it, and how specific the SOP was, or was adhered to..
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
Thanks for the warm welcome Christopher, glad to be here.ChristopherPerrien wrote: Cameronforester
Anywhoo, it would be tough to say that the movement/ minor variation of "stencils" on a piece of heavy military equipment is conclusive unless you can find pictures known to be taken at the same time. Re-painting could have been done numerous times, and stencils do kinda move around and even can change their specifications on the same piece of equipment. More weight/less weight /dimensions/ SOP change/etc.
For example I believe we added another layer of armor( a.k.a paint ) on my tank in Germany about 5 times in a two year period. And the stencils often moved a little depending on who did it, and how specific the SOP was, or was adhered to..
You make a valid point, normally the movement of a stencil wouldn't prove much. However, the photos EPOCH posted show the railway gun(s) after capture. The photos in the shed do not show any allied soldiers but another one shows an allied soldier examining the barrel outside the shed. For the sake of argument, let's say the gun was captured on the spur line and moved to the rail yard. Why would you paint over one stencil and paint the exact same stencil in a slightly different location and paint out another one to put a different stencil on?
Re: Dora Railway gun question
Hi, the pieces on the sidings in the south near Metzenhof (I think reports indicate that in the end, they found 3 segments of train spread out over about 50 miles of track) were there until sometime in the early 1950's being cut up gradually for scrap. There are quite a few photos of these pieces with kids and girlfriends etc in the photos. Keep in mind also that the damage is quite different on the various pieces at both sites. The photos at the site with the shed were in the Russian zone and can be dated to 1945. I have some of these photos which I will post showing the russian officer assigned to watch the US Intel team while they assessed what was there (both US and USSR officers in the pic). Interesting stuff. Regards
Re: Dora Railway gun question
As promised: Russian Officer at the Russian controlled site ("shed") during the investigation by US Intel team.
Regards
Regards
Re: Dora Railway gun question
Here a other Ebay picture of the other 80 cm gun at Germany , see also page 5 and 6 .
Regards Jos
Regards Jos
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
I`m from Oberlichtenau. Some years ago my grandfather told me (before he died), something about Railroad Artillery in Oberlichtenau in WW2.EPOCH3 wrote:Sorry, I accidentally double posted so I will put pictures for the following post here -
The building on the picture is a old Warehouse called "Altes Lagerhaus am Bahnhof Oberlichtenau".
Here is a picture (24.10.13) .
Maybe here an interesting link for you about Dora and Auerswalde (Auerswalde is next to Oberlichtenau): http://web.archive.org/web/201202232359 ... index.html
Re: Dora Railway gun question
Hello
Olipark
Thanks for the "Then & Now" picture - and the interesting link
Regards
Kurt
kstdk
Olipark
Thanks for the "Then & Now" picture - and the interesting link
Regards
Kurt
kstdk
- schwarzermai
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
hello, i think this was the unit in Oberlichtenau
Uwe
Uwe
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=223633
My Bookproject: "Organisationsgeschichte der deutschen Heeresartillerie im II. Weltkrieg"
http://balsi.de/Heeresartillerie/
My Bookproject: "Organisationsgeschichte der deutschen Heeresartillerie im II. Weltkrieg"
http://balsi.de/Heeresartillerie/
- Andrzej Ditrich
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
It's interesting to find info about Lehr- u. Ers. Abt. f. Eisb. Art. (mot) 100 which was in Rugenwalde -thanks!
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
Images from
http://lib.rus.ec/b/461338/read
In the article, It says they were stripped down and documented by soviet officers.
Too little information on soviet documents. Unlike maus tank which even has been released as books in russian.
I think we should start looking for them.
I really want to speak to EPOCH3.
Does anyone know his email address?
http://lib.rus.ec/b/461338/read
In the article, It says they were stripped down and documented by soviet officers.
Too little information on soviet documents. Unlike maus tank which even has been released as books in russian.
I think we should start looking for them.
I really want to speak to EPOCH3.
Does anyone know his email address?
- schwarzermai
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- Joined: 09 Mar 2013, 07:52
- Location: Germany
Re: Dora Railway gun question
axisartillery
for contact epoch3 please use the button e-mail at his post
uwe
for contact epoch3 please use the button e-mail at his post
uwe
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=223633
My Bookproject: "Organisationsgeschichte der deutschen Heeresartillerie im II. Weltkrieg"
http://balsi.de/Heeresartillerie/
My Bookproject: "Organisationsgeschichte der deutschen Heeresartillerie im II. Weltkrieg"
http://balsi.de/Heeresartillerie/
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
Thank you schwarzermai for informing me.
I'm currently looking for people who can translate russian and germany respectively.
Here is another photo from my collection.
Very high resolution. 8MB
This is trunnion part found in Auerswalde, Germany, near Chemnitz by 76th Division U.S. First Army
Which was occupied by soviet red army at that time. (Might be Gustav not Dora)
The photos from previous post show soviet troops transporting this in order to examine the structure.
Hope hearing from someone soon who are very interested in this.
I'm currently looking for people who can translate russian and germany respectively.
Here is another photo from my collection.
Very high resolution. 8MB
This is trunnion part found in Auerswalde, Germany, near Chemnitz by 76th Division U.S. First Army
Which was occupied by soviet red army at that time. (Might be Gustav not Dora)
The photos from previous post show soviet troops transporting this in order to examine the structure.
Hope hearing from someone soon who are very interested in this.
Re: Dora Railway gun question
Very interesting picture, thank you! I can translate german for you.
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Re: Dora Railway gun question
I have sent a private massage.olipark wrote:Very interesting picture, thank you! I can translate german for you.
Please check your pm box.