Begian artillery 1940

[gebhk]

Of course if a tank of the 1940 period happened to be hit directly by say a 150mm HE shell it would not do the tank much good!

No need for a direct hit. Most armour of the period could be easily penetrated by shell frgaments. On the few occasions in the Polish Campaign when the Germans charged Polish artillery with tanks without adequate artillery support of their own (to silence the Polish guns) the results were unfortunate for the Panzers. Probably the best example is the battle of Ruszki on 16th September. Pz regt 35 attacking Polish positions lost 23 tanks out of 88 effectives inside an hour or thereabouts, 22 of them to indirect fire from 4 100mm howitzers. Casualties confirmed by records of both sides (the knocked out vehicles were turned into scrap metal by Polish engineers the following day). A direct hit by a 75mm field artillery piece, never mind 150mm, did not leave much to salvage even from a Pz 4. Photos of the aftermath of the night of 10/11 September in Mszczonow are plentiful in the Internet to demonstrate the point!

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

Belgian artillery turret of Eben Emael Fort:

Image from EBay
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

A Eben Emael bunker gun:

Image from EBay
Sturm78

[Sturm78]

Hi all,

A found this interesting image on Ebay.
I think an AA gun with an old 75mm Mle 1897 barrel on a modern and unknow for me AA mount. Any idea ??

Sturm78

[Manuferey]

Sturm78,

Your ebay picture actually appears in following site on Belgian armed forces on May 1940. https://18daagseveldtocht.wikispaces.co ... uchtafweer
(this site contains amazing pictures of all kind of guns operated by the Belgian Army in 1940 ).

The gun is called C 75 DTCA SF which is based on French abbreviations:
C = canon : gun
DTCA = Défense du Territoire Contre-Avions [Country Defense Against Aircraft]
SF = [plate-forme] semi-fixe: semi-static platform.

Emmanuel

[Sturm78]

Thanks, Emmanuel

It would be interesting to know more information about this mount....Year of introduction, number manufactured, ....
It seems a very modern mount for using on it a Mle 1897 gun barrel, with so poor performance....

Any idea about the stretch marks on the front of the barrel ??

Regards Sturm78

[Manuferey]

Sturm78,

It looks like the mounting and platform of the 75 mm A.A.S. Schneider ( A.A.S. = Anti-Aéronef Schneider) used by Belgium in WW1 but "modernised" with a 75 mm Mle 1897 barrel, a modified mounting and the addition of targeting equipment similar to the French 75 mm Mle 17-34, Mle 30 and Mle 1933 i.e. PCDT Mle 1934.

Here is the 75 AAS:


Emmanuel

[Sturm78]

Thank you, Emmanuel

I did not know this AA gun... Do you have any information about it?

Sturm78

[Manuferey]

Sturm78,

Here are some information on the 75 AAS gun from a 1917 Schneider catalog ("“Schneider & Cie - Matériels d’artillerie mis en service sur les fronts alliés – 1914-1917”):

Caliber: 75 mm
Weight of standard projectile: 6.5 kg
Initial velocity: 550 m/s
Range: 9000 m
Weight: 2760 kg
Barrel length: 31.5 caliber
Traverse (on platform): 360°
Elevation: + 15° to +70°
Platform weight (in two parts): 1175 kg

The gun itself seems to have characteristics similar to the 75 mm Mle 1914 Schneider exported to Belgium also used by France (initial velocity: 513 to 560 m/s depending on projectile weight - barrel length: 31.4 caliber).

Regarding the WW2 gun and your question:

Any idea about the stretch marks on the front of the barrel ??

They look like reinforcing rings to provide higher strength to the 2nd half of barrel possibly in order to be able to use higher charges and obtain higher higher initial velocity.

Emmanuel

[Sturm78]

Thank you very much for your information, Emmanuel

Regards Sturm78