Clook Posted 26 February , 2014 Share Posted 26 February , 2014 Hi all. I came upon this photo of a serious piece of engineering. The photo was taken by an officer of the DGR&E after the war ended. The soldier pictured may have been a driver but I cannot be sure. Has anyone any idea as to what is pictured and where it may have been? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobL Posted 26 February , 2014 Share Posted 26 February , 2014 Ruddy big gun mount, but I don't know what! Nothing British I'd say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Are you sure it is not a railway turntable? Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Are you sure it is not a railway turntable? Regards TonyE Very small/short loco if it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 I was going to suggest the base of a large crane, but I think tonyE has it, you can see tracks emerging on the left, possibly for the narrow gauge system used on the WF which did use small locos. Edit: NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Why build a railway turntable above the tracks, also the rails do not go across the whole platform, because you can see they do not go across the pivot point, look at the right of the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyE Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Agreed Centurion, but that looks like a light railway track at the back of the picture so that could explain it. It was just a suggestion anyway. Regards TonyE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
303man Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 There is Shell damage to the structure right hand side level with the mans arm. It is running on big ball bearings similar to a 15-18 inch Naval Gun Turret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Looks like the bedding for the German 38cm SK L/45 Railway gun see page 130 of Herbert Jȁger's German Artillery of World War One The narrow gauge tracks would be for the man pushed shell trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Other view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 That certainly looks like the beastie, Centurion. The caption writer's grasp of the metric system seems a bit off, though .... "The 38mm gun is being loaded" ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 And Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arie Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Hi, Centurion is right, it is the bedding for a German 38 cm SK L/45 EB Railway gun. This bedding was at the "Bois du Châtelet" and was captured by the French in july 1918. Regards Arjen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clook Posted 27 February , 2014 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Everyone, thanks for the work on this one. Centurion and Arjen was this a one-off item? I mean, can we say that this photo was taken at Bois de Chatelet or were there a number of similar firing points built for the gun barrel section? I am trying to re-trace the footstepd of the officer who took the photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arie Posted 28 February , 2014 Share Posted 28 February , 2014 Hi Clook, there were several of these firing positions along the Western front. I am at work at the moment so I can't look then up, will try this evening. The Germans build a total of 8 of the 38 cm SK L/45 railway guns. The site in your picture is Bois du Chatelet, it was much photographed by soldiers and civilians and appeared on a lot of postcards. Regards Arjen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st ANZAC Posted 28 February , 2014 Share Posted 28 February , 2014 The whole unit makes for some impressive engineering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clook Posted 28 February , 2014 Author Share Posted 28 February , 2014 Thanks again Arjen. My last question has to be is there anything left to see today? I've had a look elsewhere on the web at mainly French sites and this whole weapons system appears to be very impressive indeed. I can't help comparing the concept to the WW2 V1 weapons with regards to the long ranges and concealed and moveable firing points. Something which I knew nothing about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 28 February , 2014 Share Posted 28 February , 2014 Some of the SK L/45's survived the war and evaded the attentions of the Allied Commissioners (they were supposed to be destroyed) and were used for experimental trials in the 1930s. This in turn led to the K-12 railway gun with a range of 148 km (93 miles). Its shells may have been the first man made objects to enter space (albeit briefly). Two were built and were available for service in 1940 when it was found that there was nothing much for them to do. France had capitulated so there was no point in shelling Paris again. There were no big sieges in immediate prospect and in any case the Luftwaffe’s dive bombers had proved effective in demolishing fortifications. The current German military thinking was still on blitzkrieg with rapid movements of tanks and motorised infantry with close tactical air support. Gigantic railway guns didn’t really fit into this mind set. There was only one possible target, Britain, still holding out across the Channel. The K-12 was taken down to the coast and on two occasions unleashed its long range missiles of destruction on the unsuspecting British. Who remained unsuspecting.Shells landed in Kentish fields but appear to have been taken for bombs dropped during the Battle of Britain. It was only later analysis of shell fragments that revealed that artillery had been involved. K-12 was not used for anything else. By the time the German army was back in the market for very long range heavy siege guns (1942 when the blitzkrieg was slowing down in the Soviet Union) other solutions were available. It appears a monstrous waste of resources to build such a large and complex weapon and the only time it is used nobody notices. K12 jacked up for firing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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