| Place | Europe: Belgium, Flanders, West-Vlaanderen, Messines |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | RELAWM05072 |
| Collection type | Technology |
| Object type | Artillery |
| Place made | Germany |
| Date made | 1917 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
7.7 cm FK 96 n/A. on anti tank carriage (Germany)
Description
Light field artillery piece, on a steel box carriage, with horizontal sliding breech. The gun has a flat splinter-proof shield. The gun's recoil system is hyro-spring operated, with the mechanism mounted below the barrel.
This particular gun is highly significant as possibly one of the world's earliest known survivals of an anti-tank gun: its carriage is fitted with smaller wheels than the usual 7.7 cm guns to allow the gun to adopt a low profile for that role. The carriage allowed 6 degrees elevation and 5 degrees traverse. Elevation was by telescopic screw and the breech mechanism is of the sliding wedge type. The gun is currently on loan from the Australian War Memorial and is on display at the Miles RSL Club in Queensland.
History / Summary
This gun was captured from the Germans by the 10th Infantry Brigade in the 3rd Division's first big battle, at Messines on the 7th of June, 1917. The operation, thoroughly planned and prepared, was a complete success. The complete equipment, barrel and carriage, weighs 1 1/4 ton and is horse drawn. It fired 16 Ib. shell (HE, gas or anti tank ) at the rate of twenty rounds per minute and had an effective range up to 9,186 yards.