More on Trophy WW1 German Artillery

Lats Friday, our National Guard returned the third and final trophy WW1 German gun after refurbishment.  See http://colcampbellbarracks.blogspot.com/2010/05/figurehead-and-some-guns.html for the first two that were returned.  I thought that it was being kept for the Mississippi Military Museum at Camp Shelby, but evidently they decided it wasn't needed there.

In my original post (above) I identified the guns as two 150mm and one possible 105mm.  But actually they are two 105mm and one 77mm.

The refurbishment of the three guns consisted of complete reconstruction of the wooden wheels, repair or reconstruction of various components, cleaning and repair of rusted portions, and a complete repaint.  I was involved a little bit in the discussions on what to paint them.

First here are a couple of pictures sent to me by the National Guard maintenance officer who oversaw the refurbishment.  Please click on all pictures to see an enlarged version.

Reconstructed wheels for one of the 105mm guns.  They are made from hard yellow pine and were painted and lacquered for protection against the sun and weather.

The 77mm gun in its coat of red lead base paint.

 

One of the 105mm guns being stripped down prior to a light sandblasting to remove surface rust and corrosion.

The 77mm gun was brought up to Jackson from Camp Shelby on a trailer and was off-loaded by a M984 HEMTT wrecker.  Then the guardsmen muscled into position on the concrete pad.  The first two pictures are by one of my co-workers, a newly retired National Guard special forces sergeant.  The rest are by me.

View from one of our building's windows as the gun is being off-loaded.  [Photo by Joe W.]

A closer look as it is being muscled into position.  [photo by Joe W.]

View of gun from a window in my office area.

Close-up of front right of gun.  From this close, the new rusty areas are very apparent.  The gun must have sat outside since it was refurbished.  Sure doesn't speak well of how it will fare here.

View from left rear quadrant.

 The next three pictures show the detailed engraving on the barrel of the gun.  Unfortunately it was very bright the day (Saturday) I took these pictures so the engraving is not as distinct as it should be.  See http://www.lovettartillery.com/7.7cm_leichte_Feld_Kanone_%28l.F.K.%29_1896_n_A.html for a more detailed description of the gun including a partial translation of the engraving, although that gun's barrel isn't as ornate as ours.

 And finally, a picture of the breech block, clearly showing the serial number (4859), manufacturer (Fr. Kp. - Friedrich Krupp), and the date (1907).

Well, that's all for now.  I'll post more on these three guns if and when I develop more data.