Identify German 8,8cm Flak 18 Pzgr. 39

[PearceHD]

Hi All,

New member and new collector here, I've purchased my first large ordnance piece which I believe to be an original German 8,8cm Flak 18 round with Pzgr 39 projectile from Finnish post-war inventory. I've done a little research but would like some confirmation from those more in the know.

Starting with the Pzgr. 39 projectile, it has the two smaller driving bands with an S stamped between them, the AP Cap and ballistic cap are still in place, on the AP cap there is a shield stamp with letters bye and number 45 underneath which I believe to be Hanomag's ordnance code dated 1945, this surprised me as I thought Hanomag concentrated on armoured vehicle production, not munitions. See images of the projectile below, would love to know I'm correct or not.



Finally, the biggest anomaly for me is the case, it's a 1944 steel case stamped with manufacturer code ljy. I've searched numerous ordnance code pages and data but cannot find the ljy prefix, the only reference I have is from an auction in Germany where a similar steel-cased 88 shell was sold with the description "German markings and original Stahl 3 letter code LJY". The only company with a similar name was Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG which was the German United Steelworks, again searching for them in the ordnance codes reveals nothing. Unfortunately, there is no waffenamt marking either, but where it should be there is a small number 5 which could be part of a faded waffenamt, the markings on the case are not well stamped but one thing for sure is that the case has been fired three times. I think it's from Finnish inventory due to the missing primer and grey colouration.



Thanks in advance for your help!

[Granatwerfer]

The ljy code is for Huttenverwaltung Westmark G.m.b.H. der Reichswerke "Hermann Goring", Hayingen/Westm. Werk, Ebingen.

Also the bye code is for Hanomag.

[PearceHD]

Excellent, thanks Granatwerfer! I've done some research into Huttenverwaltung Westmark GmbH and found their formation records in the Bremen archives. Commercially registered on 13th May 1941 in Hayange (German: Hayingen) France with controlling shares transferred to the Reichswerke. WirtA BS NWA 6 NWA 2 Nr. 5023 - Huttenverwaltung Westmark G... - Arcinsys Detailseite

Interestingly Hayange was liberated on September 10th 1944, which puts this 88 case as a later production, either way, it's cool to know this is French-made during Nazi occupation!

[CSW]

It certainly is a Finnish-refurbished casing imo. Are there any ink markings on the side of the case? Great find!

[PearceHD]

Thanks Nordlicht44, nope no ink as on the German originals, that and the case colour are the giveaways for me and I guess you also. But yes it was a cool find and sits nicely in my hallway with my 17pr and 35mm.

[CSW]

Thanks for the quick reply mate! Yes, the color definitely matches the depressing standard Finnish shade of grey. Many of these tend to have Finnish stamps from the late Cold War period (and even later) on the side, however not all retain them of course. Surely a fine piece for display! Cheers