Africa campaign – Picture without caption?

[Tanzania]

Africa campaign – Picture without caption?

I could still explain why the man is waving around so hectically, but what is that at the other end of the lanyard?

Picture without capture.png

Online Source (Page 17):
https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/nl ... 18_1_2.pdf

Cheers Holger

[danebrog]

The man isn´t waving, he pulls a lanyard. With the piece in the background, I would guess an early mortar, probably Schneider or St. Chamond.
Compare the german counterpart in DeS

[Tanzania]

The man isn´t waving, he pulls a lanyard. With the piece in the background, I would guess an early mortar, probably Schneider or St. Chamond.
Compare the german counterpart in DeS

Hi Oliver,
The translation for the German word “Abzugleine” is also a bit difficult to transfer into English.

Here a Belgian trench mortar in East Africa; - but looks a little different though.

Belgian unknown Mortar East Africa.png

Cheers Holger

[danebrog]

Ach, Holger...
Do I really have to remind you now what a motley mix of weapons all the colonial troops entered the war with?
Or what kind of effort we both made to determine the almost 80 or so pieces of artillery of the imperial Schutztruppe in DOA?
Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do the same for the Belgian Force Publique...although that could certainly be very exciting..

[danebrog]

The similarity with the Krupp mortar is striking, however.

Krupp.png

[Tanzania]

Hi Oliver,
Sorry for late reply; -haven´t seen that you send a 2nd post on the same day.

The similarity with the Krupp mortar is striking, however.

I do not know this mortar; do you have details about this antique?
Cheers Holger

[danebrog]

Hi Holger
That's all the visual material I've been able to gather so far:
viewtopic.php?p=2184995#p2184995

The mortar was in DeS since at least 1902 and was captured by the British in 1916.
The caliber I would classify somewhere around 10 - 15cm

regards
Olli

[Tanzania]

Good Morning Oliver,

Thanks for the hint; - I can still faintly remember it. There is certainly a similarity.
The story of this German mortar, however, actually excludes that it is of Belgian origin.

Cheers Holger

[danebrog]

I think this might be the mortar we're looking for:

Mortier de Forteresse de 8.7cm
http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Fi ... lgique.pdf page 18
also designated as:
Mortier de 87mm Krupp/FRC (FRC = Fonderie Royale de Canons)
https://landships.activeboard.com/t3054 ... 1587985991
There the Belgian artillery is listed with status from 1914, partly also what the Force Publique received

but actually I didn't want to look for it, darn it

Maybe interesting for you as a collector of old books:
Furst, Gaston Adolphe: "L'artillerie coloniale" Paris , Nancy , Librairie Chapelot , 1917. - 249 pp

[Tanzania]

Hi Oliver

That is the type Mortier de Forttresse de 8,7-cm (- -)
I see we searched parallel

This homepage gives also a deep view into French artillery-systems
http://www.fortiffsere.fr/index_fichiers/Page1918.htm

This mortar-types locks similar, but doesn’t match with the calibre.

Mortier de 220 L modèle 1881
http://www.fortiffsere.fr/artillerie/in ... age875.htm

mortier de 270 modèle 1884
http://www.fortiffsere.fr/artillerie/in ... age895.htm

Cheers Holger