www.passioncompassion1418.com
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SURVIVING GUN FILE (# 240)
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Great Britain
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Trench artillery
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Contributor :
Bernard Plumier      http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
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Location :
Belgium Zillebeke Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood) Museum
Coordinates :
Lat : 50.83690 / Long : 2.94590
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General comments on this surviving gun :
Identical items in the same location :
1
Items covered by this file : 1 |
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This rare weapon is not so well preserved in this rich museum |
Zoom on the ball hinge and elevation mechanism wheel |
View on the damaged bomb, showing its wall thickness. |
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Historic and technical information
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Denomination :     2-in. medium trench mortar | Origin :       ( Royal Ordnance Factory)           | ||||
Historic context :
After more than one year using improvised trench artillery weapons, most of the time dangerous and not so efficient, the '2-inches Medium Trench Mortar' designed by the Royal Ordnance Factories at Woolwich inspired by a pre-war Krupp design appeared on the frontline from the end of 1915. Manufactured by numerous contractors, this weapon threw a football-size sperical projectile weighing 39 to 43 lbs, filled in with explosive (amatol or ammonal), smoke making material, or more rarely toxic gasses (chlorine and phosgen), and equipped with a long tubular tail. The characteristic shape of this projectile gave way to this weapon nicknames : 'Toffee apple', 'Tadpole' or 'Plum pudding' ! |
Technical data :
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Sources
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