German 105mm LeFH18 part ?? ID please? found in UK.

[ILH]

Hello again everyone,

Here is an item dug up at Coleshill House - Home of the Auxiliary Units 1940 - 44. Britain`s secret resistance organisation formed to fight behind the lines in the event of a Nazi invasion. yesterday- believed to be from a German LeFH18 105mm Howitzer?

Can anyone confirm or deny this, and which part is it exactly (geussing = elevation/range), please?
and what do the two symbols/manufacturer's-stamps mean?



cheers,
Jim.

[Matt L]

I suspect this is your piece here: Lovett Artillery - German WW2 10,5cm. l.F.H.18 Sight Mount - it's part of the sight mount. I don't see there being any doubt it's from an lFH18- it's marked pretty clearly and the Waffenamt stamps confirm it's German, so the abbreviation isn't someone else's that just happens to match a German one.

[ILH]

Cheers Matt, that's the one!
I was pretty certain, but needed scientific grade proof. Now I need to work out the markings winged-V and Eagle-SU(G?).... might help track down the piece's provenance (can always hope ).
thanks,
Jim.

[Richie B]

Jim

Looks like a perfectly legitimate piece to me.

The two stamps are military inspection stamps - the droop wing Eagle/SU9 marking is in fact from the Weimar period but these continued in use for some time I believe, possibly as late as 1938. You certainly see the Weimar mark on bayonets from 1934/5. The "SU" represents Spandau.

I believe the gun in question came into use in the mid 1930s, so the one that belongs to your sight component is probably pre-war based on the inspection stamp.

The big question of course, is how did it get to Wiltshire ? - I suspect we will never know !

Regards

Richie

[ILH]

Thanks Richie,
that's great info!
jim.

[Matt L]

I'd guess it was some sort of enemy equipment evaluation- captured during the early part of the war and shipped back to England to see what they were up against or some such thing; since it's an early model, I can see it being considered outdated and thus discarded and bits melted down or buried- it's my understanding that burying is a common way militaries dispose of stuff...