Max Posted 8 August , 2003 Share Posted 8 August , 2003 Hello Everyone Could someone please tell me what a minenwerfer is/was and what this weapon was specifically designed to do. Thanks Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 8 August , 2003 Share Posted 8 August , 2003 Andy, A Minenwerfer (Mine thrower) was a German Trench-Mortar. Try this link to the mother site for more details on Trench-Mortars Trench-Mortars Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 9 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2003 Cheers Ski I have just been reading a section from Lynne Macdonalds "1915 - Death of Innocence" that describes a Minenwerfer bomb thus "..it wasn't long before we heard a dull report from behind the enemy lines and, looking up into the sky, we saw the lighted tail of a minenwerfer bomb turning over and over, as it began to fall. It mad a noise like the rush of an express train.." This must have been a terrifying and awesome sight. Thanks Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Posted 9 August , 2003 Share Posted 9 August , 2003 Andy, I'd read a few times, in different places, about artillery rounds overhead sounding like an"Express Train" and it wasn't until recently whilst on exercise in Turkey and having accidently driven onto the firing range that i heard this sound first-hand! Hope you enjoy the Book, Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 9 August , 2003 Share Posted 9 August , 2003 Hello Andy, There were many different types of minenwerfer during the war but there were three main weapons, the light (7.6cm), medium (17cm) and heavy minenwerfer (25cm). The light weapons were used most often due to the size and ease of use. This weapon could be fired up to 20 times per minute at times of great need. The normal method was to load the weapon and use a lanyard to fire it. In times of great need the firing pin was left in the fired position and the operator would drop the shells down the tube that would fire on contact with the pin. This method was dangerous to the users and wore the weapon out quickly. The heavy minenwerfer shells could be easily seen in the air and the lit fuze was visible at night. If you were lucky you could determine the approximate point of impact and run the other way. This was necessary as the heavy minenwerfer shell was considered to be a direct hit if it landed withion 10 meters of the target since the blast zone was quite large. The heavier models were particularly effective against fixed targets, trenches, dugouts, etc. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Samson Posted 9 August , 2003 Share Posted 9 August , 2003 There's a bit in George Coppard's excellent With a Machine Gun to Cambrai about his first experience of this weapon (The 'Minnie' Terror, p39). "Very soon came a new terror for us in the shape of huge mortar bombs. Following a dull thud from close behind the German trenches, we saw our first 'minnie', fired by a mortar gun that Jerry called a Minnenwerfer (mine-thrower). The missile was made from a steel drum, packed with high explosive and scrap iron. When fired, the thing sailed up in the air to a hundred feet or so with a lighted fuse trailing from it, describing a graceful curve as it travelled towards our lines. Which way will it go? This way or that way? There was a couple of seconds in which to decide. The Lord be with you if you misjudged and ran the wrong way. At last it descended, hitting the ground with a smack. Maybe there was a moment to draw breath and tense up. The explosion was devastating and the concussion threatened to tear one apart." George goes on to say that it wasn't until "the appearance of the Stokes mortar gun, that our mortar gunners beat Jerry to the punch. A good crew on this revolutionary weapon could get nine bombs in the air before the first one struck the ground." Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted 9 August , 2003 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2003 Cheers Ralph (brilliant photos) and Gary The particular version in the image looks a very serious piece of kit. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Andy, The heavy model shell weighed approximately 200 pounds, of which 100 pounds was explosives. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Ralph I'm very interested in trench mortars of all types and would be grateful if you could give me a reference source for the 45 rounds per minute potential of the 7.6cm LMW. This seems quite exceptional for any mortar and even more so for a rifled mortar with ammunition which had pre-engraved rifling on the drive band requiring location in the rifling at each loading. The War Office publication SS624, a GHQ translation of a German Minewerfer Manual dated 1/7/1917, quotes a rate of fire of "up to 20 rounds per minute for short periods". Yours Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Mike, you are quite correct. I could have sworn I read the rate of fire at 45 rounds in a regimental history but for the life of me I cannot recall which one. My other sources give the normal rate at about 200-300 per hour and I did come across one particular reference to 20 rounds a minute in the history of the 109th Leib Grenadier Regiment. See what happens as ypu grow older. If I ever find that reference to 45 rounds I will certainly pass it along. Until then I am modifying the earlier one to read along the lines of what I can find. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Here is a shot of the light minenwerfer as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_H Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Ralph Many thanks for info Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Out of interest - is that Miraumont church, Ralph? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph J. Whitehead Posted 10 August , 2003 Share Posted 10 August , 2003 Hello Paul, I am not sure where this photo was taken, sorry. Ralph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 11 August , 2003 Share Posted 11 August , 2003 I know we discussed this on the chat room, Ralph, but thanks for replying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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