Mystery field gun

[stripeyman]

As I have a 1929 Morris Empire I take the 'Morris Monthly' magazine this month there is photograph of a Morris Ten Tourer that was on demonstration for the Oxfordshire Police.

What's all this to do with the Great War ? Look behind the driver and you can see a Field Gun behind the park railings. Does anyone know what the gun is a where the park is, very likely in Oxfordshire.

[Spaceman]

Almost certainly a German 7.7 cm Feldkanone 16 which was basically a longer barrelled version introduced in 1916 of the field gun they started WW1 with. This was obviously a trophy gun presented to Oxford City and what interests me is where exactly the photo was taken and what happened to the gun? First guess is that the photo was taken outside the University Parks close to the town centre and it wouldn't surprise me if the gun ended up shortly afterwards in the River Cherwell which runs the other side of the park?

[Spaceman]

A number of German guns were paraded in St. Giles in Oxford in Dec 1918 but it is possible only one was kept as a trophy gun which was subsequently pushed into the River Thames by undergraduates at Folly Bridge in Oxford in Nov 1919. If that was the same gun as in the picture, it's possible the picture was taken outside Christ Church Meadow not far from the Thames and Folly bridge and also close to the Police Station in St Aldates.

There were 4 pictures in the Oxford Journal from that date of the German Gun being retrieved from the River Thames and, for my own local interest, I have now asked for a digital image to be generated of these. It will be interesting to see whether it was the same gun as in the above pic?

Edited 28 March by Spaceman

[Spaceman]

In trying to trace the history of a German trophy gun in Oxford, it now looks as though the gun thrown into the Thames at Folly bridge was put on a barge and then transported down river and then possibly up the River Cherwell (Oxford is sandwiched between the Thames on the west side and the Cherwell on the east which meet just down from Folly Bridge). By the 1920's, at the time the above picture was taken, the gun could well have ended up in the University Parks off Parks Road (the Cherwell borders the east side of the park). Interestingly, Keeble College adjacent to the University Parks reported having to remove a German gun from their gardens during the 1920's when they redeveloped them. 

My best guess is therefore that the picture was taken of the gun in the University Parks and, as with most trophy guns, nobody probably wanted it especially the Oxford University students and it ended up being moved to somewhere more out of the way until eventually disposed of. If the gun in the digitised photo I have ordered appears to be the same one then the above history of the gun is probably about right? 

[RobertBr]

2 hours ago, Spaceman said:

it's possible the picture was taken outside Christ Church Meadow not far from the Thames and Folly bridge and also close to the Police Station in St Aldates.

There is no metalled road alongside Christ Church Meadow. South of Folly Bridge is Brasenose Sports Ground which is a possibility but I favour University Parks which has the Cherwell on its East side. There could be a building the right hand side of the picture which fits with the current plan of the park. the car on Parks Rd facing towards the city.

Also it looks as if the picture is posed with the car parked facing traffic on the right hand side of the street. It would be on Parks Rd facing towards the city centre.

Bob

[Interested]

And are the sidelights "blackout" versions, or special Police Issue?  Never seen their like before.

[stripeyman]

I am afraid the 1920's is out  as the car was registered on25th January 1933

[Spaceman]

The gun could have been moved to the location shown in the picture anytime before 1933. If it is the same gun, Keble College could well have got rid of it from their gardens into the park sometime during the 1920's.

 

[Spaceman]

The picture I've just retrieved from the local paper shows a German trophy gun being retrieved from the River Thames at Folly Bridge in Oxford on 19 November 1919 after undergraduates had pushed it into the river. In fact, I believe they must have pushed it off the Abingdon Road that passes over the bridge and down the slip way that led to the lock that used to be under the bridge. The crane is actually retrieving the gun from the remains of the lock.

The gun appears to be a 7.7 cm FK 16 and in all probability is the same gun as in the picture above. I assume that after retrieving the gun from the Thames, it must have been taken back to where it was being displayed. It's possible that this was outside Carfax which is where St Aldates (Abingdon Road leads into this) meets the High Street and from there the students would have only had to push the gun 500 yds down hill to the river.

At some time later, the gun may well have ended up in Keble College Fellows Garden and, when that was redeveloped sometime in the 1930's, may have then been moved across the road through the original Keble Gate into the University Parks where the above picture was probably taken. Although I visited the area this morning, unfortunately, that part of the park no longer exists as such because it was built on by the Clarendon Laboratory around 1939.

Edited 3 April by Spaceman