German WW2 17cm-95mm shell casing with stamped plaque.

[RAFcolumbo]

Hi folks, recently started collecting shells and other items purely by accident starting with the following item that was handed to me a few months ago that i would like some answers too.

My grandad caught someone throwing this shell into the rubbish tip and managed to save it, its a very large brass shell standing at roughly 4ft, the size is stamped on the bottom as auxE 17cm 95, there is also a stamp of the Nazi eagle and swastika, the roman numeral 1 and the number 42, there is also a small plaque mounted to the side of the shell which reads, German 7, Calais-Dover, 1944 (i will try to get pictures uploaded asap for ease of identification).

Could anyone help me in trying to identify what she was fired from and the significance of the plaque possibly.

Cheers

[big ned]

Hi there,

The case size and brass plaque appear to point to this as coming from one of the German coastal artillery batteries that were spread between Calais and Griz Nez during the D-Day invaison in 1944.

The case could be from one of the 14 17cm L40 guns that were shared between artillery batteries 717 and 718 that were divided into four smaller sub batteries M1, M2, M3 and M4. They regularly shelled Dover throughout the war lobbing over 2,250 rounds of H.E. weighing over 60lbs a piece. Generally these were harrassing fire and the good folk of Dover got so used to them that the practice of 'Keep calm and carry on' evolved early on during this time.

The gun itself was an obsolete casement gun designed before the 1st war for use in the pre-Dreadnought 'Deutschland' class of warship. Many were manufactured and by WW2 they were being used as coastal and mobile heavy artillery and as railroad guns in most theatres of the war including for a very short time, North Africa.

Of the 14 guns in the Calais area, some were in fixed concrete casements operated by the Kriegsmarine and some were on large mobile gun carriages.

It would be great if you could put up some pic's of your shell case, thanks!

Regards, Ned.

[RAFcolumbo]

hopefully these pictures will help

[big ned]

That's right. Here's a couple of photo's of the weapon they were used in. The one on the gun carriage is preserved at the Aberdeen proving grounds in Maryland U.S.A.

Regards,Ned.

[RAFcolumbo]

Thankyou very much for that, is that the 17cm kanone made by Krupp ??. Do you think the plaque refers to it's location, german 7 (a particular battery in Calais at the time perhaps) and the places and dates are obvious.

[RAFcolumbo]

I found an article that says the 17cm krupp naval gun barrels were mounted onto railway guns, being 10 in total. Around the Calais area and the Atlantic Coastal defence area and were used as a mobile form of boosting up the Coastal defence.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but I have some pre WW1 37mm shells with the letter M and a crown on them that I have been informed is german navy, now I have only just noticed that if you look at the picture with the eagle and swastika you can see the letter M below it, could this refer to it being one of the train mounted guns using a naval round that would fit the barrel, or am I just getting a bit over exited.

I thought If there were only 10 17cm train mounted kanones fitted, and the plaque says german 7, I can only think it perhaps refers to gun number 7 of 10.

[RAFcolumbo]

One35th presents - 17cm KE other similar type of German railway guns

Just one of the articles I found about the train mounted version with the naval fitted barrels.

[lebus12]

Hello, hard to find pictures...From a French book:

[philip]

Hi , just discovered this (old ) thread about the 17 cm gun - shell
This is a very rare item , except in the neighborhoods were these guns were fired during WW II , and I'm talking about the railway guns in particular.
The guns that were saved from Allied destruction after the Normandy landings were brought inland by the German Army , as has been done in my hometown in Flanders (Belgium) , about 35 Km from the coastal line.
I heard this story by elder people , whom saw it all happen , over here .Locals were warned when they would fire , so that doors and windows could be opened to avoid breaking of glass. At the liberation of our town by Canadian and Polish troops a 17 cm railway gun was left intact at our trainstation and was used to make publicity for war bonds. I'm looking out several years now to buy a 17 cm (E) shell , no succes so far but on the other hand I've found a large munition crate which holds 2 shells . The wooden box was found in a remarkable condition , stencilled , paper label inside and racks as well . I hope , one day , to fill it with the right contents. The crate was found on an upper ceiling near the train station !