9.45" shell or 240 mm shell

[marc coene]

Hello,

Do somebody have a photo of a German 240 mm gun shell (or 9.45" like the British soldiers named it) used in first world war in Ypres region?

In a war diary I read 7 gunners of 180 SB died at the same time by the explosion of such a shell near the entrance of their dug out or sap. I would like to know how such a shell looks. I could not find how it looks on the web. Perhaps some members have photos of such shells. thanks.

Regards, Marc

[johnboy]

There are some pictures on the web of 9.45 and 240mm Mortars.

[Michael Haselgrove]

Hi Coemar,

The German 24 cm were naval guns used in land warfare. Attached are a couple of photos of the two types of shell illustrated in Notes on German Shells 1918 in case this helps.

Regards,

Michael.

[marc coene]

Hi Coemar,

The German 24 cm were naval guns used in land warfare. Attached are a couple of photos of the two types of shell illustrated in Notes on German Shells 1918 in case this helps.

Regards,

Michael.

Thanks for your info. Kind regards, Marc

[centurion]

There are some pictures on the web of 9.45 and 240mm Mortars.

Those are French/British/American weapons not German

[centurion]

The Germans had three types of 240 mm Railway guns the SK L/30 SK L/35 and SK L/40 as Michael says all ex naval pieces. They all fired a different weight shell though so there were at least three different shells although I don't expect that anyone on the receiving end was taking measurements

[marc coene]

The Germans had three types of 240 mm Railway guns the SK L/30 SK L/35 and SK L/40 as Michael says all ex naval pieces. They all fired a different weight shell though so there were at least three different shells although I don't expect that anyone on the receiving end was taking measurements

The Germans had three types of 240 mm Railway guns the SK L/30 SK L/35 and SK L/40 as Michael says all ex naval pieces. They all fired a different weight shell though so there were at least three different shells although I don't expect that anyone on the receiving end was taking measurements

Hello,

Indeed the on the receiving end they will not have taken measurements. But in the diary text I have of 180 SB, RGA, they said they were shelled with 9,45" shells, so at once 7 members of 180 SB were killed by a shell. That is reason (also because I lived a long time in that region, just near the Bluff) I wanted to see image of such a shell type. I never saw such a shell (24 cm diameter). Thanks.

[centurion]

The basic point is there were at least 3 different 240mm shells and we'll probably never know which one did the damage

[marc coene]

Hello,

As I said I lived for years on a farm in the region where the 7 soldiers were at once killed by the German 7.45" shell.

I remembered suddenly I had still some German shell pieces and fuze head of probably more heavy German shell with the fuze in back of the shell.

Perhaps these were also of the same time and days that 180 SB was shelled?

Somebody know which shells the pieces come from? Perhaps indeed of the 9.45" shells? Thanks for info. Regards, Marc