Paul Reed Posted 22 December , 2003 Share Posted 22 December , 2003 Playing around with my new scanner, thought I would share a few photos with you. These are taken from an album made by an officer of 218 Siege Bty RGA in 1918. The first one shows the entrance to the St Quentin Canal tunnel at Ricqueval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 22 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 22 December , 2003 This one shows the entrance to the 'Bone Factory' at Bellicourt; part of the same tunnel, it was said the Germans were melting down the dead here for HE shells. Pure propaganda, of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 22 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 22 December , 2003 This one shows a knocked out 77mm, KO'd by counter battery fire from the unit's 9.2-inch HOWs. All these photos are only 2x4 inches (or less) - shows what good quality they are. I will post some more, if of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salientpoints Posted 22 December , 2003 Share Posted 22 December , 2003 Very nice indeed Paul! Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 22 December , 2003 Share Posted 22 December , 2003 The close up of the tunnel entrance clearly shows the movable tunnel doors and the doorway into the area where the operating mechanism was. The doorway is still there and you can go through and look at the remains in the space. I believe that the story of the "bone factory" - that of melting corpses down for the fat has been explained as based on the extrapolation of gruesome fact. Allegedly a shell had hit the tunnel entrance and killed a handful of German soldiers around a large cooking pot in one of the chambers beside of above the tunnel. At least one was decapitated and the first British arrivals were appalled to see body parts floating in a fatty morass in a large pot Imagination ran riot and the story was born and sounded better than the truth. I am sure pals with have heard other explanations and Iwould be interested to hear them. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 I've heard a similar report to Martin. A few officers of the 30th Bn AIF went to have a look not long after it was captured and surmised that the gruesome scene was caused by a chance shell coming down a ventilation system and exploding in the kitchen which blasted body parts everywhere. Apparently a journo saw it soon after and the corpse or bone factory story started. Cheers Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 This one shows a knocked out 77mm, KO'd by counter battery fire from the unit's 9.2-inch HOWs. Interesting. This appears to show an undamaged gun in the open, probably just below the crest of a ridge. There are no shell holes visible The dead gunner is not wearing a gas mask and has no major external injuries visible. I have to say that it does not look like 9.2" HE shells have been in the immediate vicinity, certainly in the foreground. Whilst the gunner may have been killed by the blast of HE shell (landing nearby but out of view of the photograph), he may have been gassed. However, I am not aware that the 9.2" fired gas shells. Alternatively, the gun may have been caught in the open by some other means, such as infantry or air attack. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 23 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 23 December , 2003 Hi Robert, I also thought it unlikely the gun had been KO'd by a 9.2 (given the level of destruction they cause), but they did indeed have gas versions in 1918. One collector on the Somme I know found several of them unfired near Mailly-Maillet about ten years ago - they still had the lifting plugs in them. So maybe he was gassed? This was the caption below the photo, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 23 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 23 December , 2003 Here's another one; it shows an MG08/15 in an outpost line in October 1918. Given the nature of the ground it could well be on the Beaurevoir-Fonsomme line. I will try and scan some others later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 I also thought it unlikely the gun had been KO'd by a 9.2 (given the level of destruction they cause), but they did indeed have gas versions in 1918. One collector on the Somme I know found several of them unfired near Mailly-Maillet about ten years ago - they still had the lifting plugs in them. So maybe he was gassed? This was the caption below the photo, by the way. Thanks very much for the information about gas shells. It is possible the artillery man was gassed. HE counter-battery attacks were regarded as less effective, it being calculated that 300 HE shells would be required to eliminate (as opposed to temporarily suppress) an enemy battery. Despite the caption, I still wonder if the field gun was knocked out by some other means. If the photographer was in the RGA, he may well not have reached the gun until some time after it had been knocked out then bypassed by infantry advancing forward. An alternative springs to mind, based on the picture of the MG08/15. It appears to have been propped up on the parados (well equivalent of - the 'trench' looks hastily made), possibly for the photograph. I wonder if the field gun and gunner had been moved away from the scene of destruction? Just a thought. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 I wonder if the field gun and gunner had been moved away from the scene of destruction? Note how one boot has been 'removed'? Could the body have been dragged/carried? And there is not much detritus or evidence of any gun pit or camoflague of any description. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 23 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 23 December , 2003 Could be - it seems logical he went forward some time after the fighting to view what was going on, given which unit he was in. This one shows a knocked out 9.2 inch how. Whether it was KO'd by shell fire or was an 'own goal' because of an accident isn't clear. Unless it was a relic of March 1918, found after the Summer Offensives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 23 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 23 December , 2003 Last one for now, before I use up all Chris' web space! This shows a MG08 poisition, probably in the same, make-shift trench positions as shown in the other photo. There is another photo in the album showing the results of this guns work - a rather blurred photo of shapes that were once human beings. Couldn't have been taken long after the attack; which probably indicates he was an FOO at this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 This one shows a knocked out 9.2 inch how. Whether it was KO'd by shell fire or was an 'own goal' because of an accident isn't clear. Unless it was a relic of March 1918, found after the Summer Offensives? Or it may have been blown up by the gunners. The ground looks pretty ploughed up as if it was hit by CB fire, though the Germans tended to use gas for this. However, I guess a similar appearance would be created if the gunners ignited the ammo. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 December , 2003 Share Posted 23 December , 2003 Last one for now, before I use up all Chris' web space! This shows a MG08 poisition, probably in the same, make-shift trench positions as shown in the other photo. Please use up more space. The makeshift positions would be typical of German defenses in the Battle of Hamel, Battle of Amiens, and wherever the Germans took up after the Spring offensives. Ludendorff specifically banned the creation of permanent defences in case the Germans lost their 'offensive spirit'. Shades of Haig Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 24 December , 2003 Share Posted 24 December , 2003 Paul: Did the album have any photos of officers where they were identified by name? Regards. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Posted 24 December , 2003 Share Posted 24 December , 2003 Exellent pictures Paul! Where did you get the album from? From, Thomas McCall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 24 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 24 December , 2003 Dick - I am in the processing of scanning the whole album. If you email me your address, I will send you a CD of the scans. Several officers are named. Do any of your records show which weapon 218 SB had. I have a note I made many years ago it was a 9.2 inch HOW unit, but the album also has pictures of 60 pounders and 6 inch guns as well. I suppose they could be from units in the same HAG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 24 December , 2003 Author Share Posted 24 December , 2003 Exellent pictures Paul! Where did you get the album from? From, Thomas McCall Hi Thomas, I bought it many, many years ago in a bookshop cum junkshop I used to visit in Bexhill on Sea. Bexhill and Hastings were big retirement areas, where many WW1 vets went to retire and sadly faded away. The junk shops there used to be full of WW1 material, in the days when no-one wanted it. I managed to get quite a few albums like this over the years, but I haven't seen or bought anything like this for over ten years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 24 December , 2003 Share Posted 24 December , 2003 Do any of your records show which weapon 218 SB had. 218 Sg By went to the Western Front on 17 Nov 17 armed with four 8" Howitzers. On 16 Dec 17 it was re-armed with four 6" Howitzers (26 cwt) and was made up to six 6" Howitzers on 8 Aug 18 with the addition of personnel from one section of 509 Sg By. Thanx for the offer on the photos I will send you my e-mail off-list. Regards. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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