Range drum of German anti-aircraft gun, damaged by shell fire 7 August 1918 : 2 Pioneer Battalion, AIF

Large circular drum consisting of an external brass cylinder, with two vertical rows of engraved ranging measurements (1 to 45 and 2 to 108), attached to a smaller internal steel drum which incorporates a heavy-duty central pivoting point and a line of cog teeth along the left hand circumference. A very large screw-bolt secures the two together. The internal base of the brass drum is impressed '563'. There are two large impacting tears and a spray of smaller impact damage marks on the external drum, which is also dented. Dried mud is evident in the teeth, and corrosion inside the steel drum and on the screw-bolt.

Damaged range drum from a German anti-aircraft gun salvaged from the Warfusse-Abancourt area by members of 2 Pioneer Battalion on 15 August 1918. For the week prior to this date, 2 Pioneer Battalion had been involved in active support of the 8 August Offensive, having been tasked with clearing and repairing roads in the wake of the advance; A and B Companies were detached to 3 Division to assist in clearing the roads of obstacles and wire, filling shell holes and (in the case of Lieutenant Henry Edwin Rich's platoon, from A Company), capturing three German machine guns and 40 prisoners as they found themselves working closely with the mopping up parties. The purpose of their work was to ensure that the guns of 13 Artillery Brigade could be moved up rapidly to enable them to continue supporting the assault as it moved east. C Company cleared the way for general wheeled traffic, while D Company opened an overland track towards Warfusse.

On 9 August, 200 men from C and D Companies were loaned to the Canadians to assist in pushing forward a broad gauge railway line from the south of Villers-Bretonneaux. By 15 August the companies were repairing roads to the north of Warfusse-Abancourt, which is where this damaged range drum was recovered. This is one of seventeen items collected by 2 Pioneer Battalion in the week following the 8 August Offensive and handed over to the Australian War Records Section on 27 September.