Tom W. Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 I've been told it may be French. Any ideas? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Tom It is an Aasen mortar, designed by a Norwegian and patented and produced in France, adopted by the Russians in 1915-16. Google 'Aasen' and there is plenty of info including diagrams. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 As Mike has said, this looks like an Aasen Mortar. Here is some info, and a technical drawing. LF " The Aasen mortar (Mortier Aasen) was a 3.5-inch (88.9-mm) gun-mortar (or bomb thrower under classification of the time). The Aasen was invented in France in 1915 by Nils Aasen, an arms designer of Norwegian descent. It was adopted by the Russian Empire in 1915-1916, and was used during the First World War. The barrel of the mortar was steel. Aasen mortar was a breech loading weapon so a shell was loaded separately and the bolt action discharging a blank rifle round connected to a barrel. This device was a modified form of the obsolete Gras rifle, which was transferred to Russia by France in substantial numbers. The hoisting mechanism was made of two slats, attached to the rear of the barrel, and rod folding rack. The weight of the mortar in firing mode was approximately 1.5 pood (54.2 lbs)". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Photograph of Aasen Mortar, showing the bolt action on top of the Mortar, which the Russian soldier is using in photograph # 1. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 17 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Excellent. Thanks very much for your answers. I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Some different views of the Aasen Mortar. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Interestingly the Soviets were using a very similar looking bomb thrower in 1941/2 except that it was mounted on a tripod very like that of the Northover projector beloved of the British Home Guard. I wonder if this was the Aasen left over from WW1. Used by 2nd line troops to lob improvised AT grenades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 17 July , 2012 Share Posted 17 July , 2012 Only MkII Northover Projectors were mounted on tripods, the Mk I was on a four legged table. Here's mine. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Nils Waltersen Aasen, born Norway in March 1878, died December 1925, was also an early designer and manufacturer of Hand Grenades. They typically had small fabric fins attached to them. Attached are photographs of his Hand Grenades, a technical drawing of one of the types, and a photograph of a French soldier throwing one of the grenades. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Only MkII Northover Projectors were mounted on tripods, the Mk I was on a four legged table. Here's mine. G Very nice item! is it classed as a Mortar or a Gun ? LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 18 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Nils Waltersen Aasen, born Norway in March 1878, died December 1925, was also an early designer and manufacturer of Hand Grenades. They typically had small fabric fins attached to them. Attached are photographs of his Hand Grenades, a technical drawing of one of the types, and a photograph of a French soldier throwing one of the grenades. LF Interesting. The concensus here was that the parachute model was a German grenade. http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181896 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Very nice item! is it classed as a Mortar or a Gun ? LF As a projector (hence the name!) which was a sort of catch all term for unconventional 'artillery' including some steam and compressed air weapons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Interesting. The concensus here was that the parachute model was a German grenade. http://1914-1918.inv...howtopic=181896 Tom, The references I have seen, and the photographs above, indicate they are Aasen Hand Grenades used by the French, it is possible that the Germans may have had a similar grenade ? Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 As a projector (hence the name!) which was a sort of catch all term for unconventional 'artillery' including some steam and compressed air weapons centurion, Many thanks for the answer. Here is a photograph of a French compressed air weapon. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 centurion, Many thanks for the answer. Here is a photograph of a French compressed air weapon. Regards, LF Ah but that's a mortar! But the Livens Projector worked like a mortar but was called a projector. In general (but not always) a projector tended to be used to project an unconventional projectile so that the Northover was used to project glass petrol and phospherous bombs. The PIAT was a spigot mortar but stood for Projector Infantry Anti Tank but just to confuse they were sometimes strapped to the back of Universal Carriers and used as mobile batteries of mortars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Another French compressed air weapon. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 The French Compressed Air Mortar shown in #14, is apparently a Boileau-Debladis 86mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Another type of Pneumatic Mortar used by the French - The Brandt Mortar. LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 18 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Tom, The references I have seen, and the photographs above, indicate they are Aasen Hand Grenades used by the French, it is possible that the Germans may have had a similar grenade ? Regards, LF This is from M.C. Ortner's book on Austrian assault troops. It's riddled with errors and sloppy phrasing, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 This is from M.C. Ortner's book on Austrian assault troops. It's riddled with errors and sloppy phrasing, unfortunately. Tom, It is obviously the same drawing as the that shown in post # 9 with a German text. The top photograph in # 9 shows a display of Aasen's various " Assen Hand Grenades ", and the ' C type ' is the 3rd from the left, which the French describe as a " Grenade a Parachute Aasen type C Mle 1915 ". I have found reference book errors, and photographs with the wrong text attached to them. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 18 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Tom, It is obviously the same drawing as the that shown in post # 9 with a German text. The top photograph in # 9 shows a display of Aasen's various " Assen Hand Grenades ", and the ' C type ' is the 3rd from the left, which the French describe as a " Grenade a Parachute Aasen type C Mle 1915 ". I have found reference book errors, and photographs with the wrong text attached to them. Regards, LF Funnily enough, the author of the book referenced above refused to share photos or information with me when I was in the processing of writing my own book on German assault troops. Now I'm glad he chose to not "help" me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 Tom, I was able to find 2 versions of the ' Thevenot ' WW1 grenade referred to in the Ortner drawing. The first is a cannister type grenade ( photograph attached ), hand thrown, and used also extensively by the Italians. The second is the ' Excelsior Thevenot ' ( photograph attached ) which is a mortar type bomb, with fixed fins, which Ortner may have been confusing with the Aasen C type ? I am sure Ortner's drawing is of the Aasen C type. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieBris Posted 18 July , 2012 Share Posted 18 July , 2012 The Aasen mortar was also used by the French Army as "Obusier Aasen de 86mm". According to "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918" Vol.3 more than 2000 Aasen mortars were delivered. The data from Russian (?) sources is at odds with the quoted data - assuming the French data is more accurate - the Aasen mortar was a fairly short range mortar - max. range 310m with a 1350g projectile fired at fairly low velocities 50 - 55 m/sec. Regards, Charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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