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Personnel
of the 1st Canadian Corps examining
a German 88 mm anti-tank gun
captured during the breaking
of the Adolf Hitler Line near
Pontecorvo, Italy, 19 May 1944.
|
| Photo
by Frederick G. Whitcombe. Department
of National Defence / National
Archives of Canada, PA-168704. |
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The most celebrated gun in Normandy
was the multi-purpose German 88-mm anti-aircraft/anti-tank
gun. Although its contemporaries, such as
the British 17-pounder anti-tank (AT) gun,
compared well, the 88 developed a legendary
status due to its versatility-it could also
be used as a high-velocity field gun-and
the fact that the Germans had large quantities
available while Allied AT weapons of similar
quality were relatively few in number.
The first 88s entered service
in 1933 as the 88-mm Flak 18, an anti-aircraft
(AA) gun. Early models had a single-tube
barrel inside their jacket. Because AA guns
wear out faster, later designs (the Flak
36 and 37) had a 3-piece barrel (chamber,
centre, and muzzle). The advantages of this
sort of design were that higher-quality
steel could be used economically, in the
chamber area where the gun was subject to
the highest stress, and because the barrel
wears out faster in the first section of
the rifling, that part could be replaced
while the rest of the gun continued in use.
This newer design was put into production
in 1936.
The 88's AT capabilities were discovered
during the Spanish Civil War, and it was
in this role that the gun took on its mythic
proportions. When fitted into the Tiger
tanks encountered by the Western Allies
in Normandy, the Germans had a vast superiority
in fire power over the Shermans and Churchills,
which mounted 75-mm guns. The difference
was so great that the Tigers could destroy
Allied tanks at 2000 yards or more, while
the Sherman's gun had to be within 500-600
yards, and sometimes even then it failed
to penetrate the German armour. The 88 was
used in self-propelled as well as towed
versions. A final design, the 88-mm Flak
41, was produced later in the war and improved
on the earlier versions. It had a somewhat
longer gun, 90-degree maximum elevation,
360-degree traverse on a turntable mounting
that also gave it a lower silhouette than
pedestal mounts, and increased ceiling and
ground range. It could fire 20 rounds per
minute at 1000m/second (3281 feet/second).
| 88-mm
Flak 18, 36, and 37 |
| Ordnance |
| Weight
with breech mechanism |
4985 kg |
| Total
weight in action |
4930 mm |
| Calibre |
88 mm |
| Rifling |
one turn in 38
calibres increasing to one in 30 (1/40
increasing to 1/30 in Flak 36 and Flak
37) |
| Breech |
horizontal semi-automatic
sliding block |
| Elevation |
-3° to +85° |
| Traverse |
720° |
| Rate
of fire |
15 rounds per
minute |
| Performance |
| Type |
APCBC |
| Weight
of Projectile |
9.5 kg |
| Charge |
|
| Muzzle
velocity |
820 metres/second |
| Penetration
at 1000 m (30° impact) |
105 mm |
| Maximum
range |
14,815 m |
| Maximum
ceiling (anti-aircraft) |
9,900 m |
| Effective
ceiling |
8,000 m |
The German Army placed a high reliance on
mortars. As the British official historian,
L.F. Ellis, states, "In the latter stages
of the war German interest in conventional
field and medium artillery seems to have been
on the wane. Instead they were setting more
store by mortars and nebelwerfers,
of which they had large numbers in Normandy."
(L.F. Ellis, Victory in the West Volume
I, The Battle of Normandy, Appendix IV,
"Notes on the Organization and Equipment
of the Allied Armed Forces", pp. 521-551).
It was estimated that upwards of 70% of all
21st Army Group infantry casualties in Normandy
up to July 1944 were caused by mortars, which
were particularly troublesome because of their
high rates of fire, as well as the silent
approach of the bomb. German infantry divisions
used two main types:
| Mortars |
| Calibre |
81
mm |
120
mm |
| Projectile
weight |
3.4
kg |
15.9
kg |
| Range |
2400
m |
5500
m |
 |
|
French
civilians look at six barrelled
mortar "Moaning Minnie"
at Fleury-sur-Orne, Normandy,
20 July 1944.
|
| Photo
by George A. Cooper. Department
of National Defence / National
Archives of Canada, PA-132855. |
|
First-person accounts of the fighting in
Northwest Europe almost always mention two
very successful German weapons: the 88-mm
anti-aircraft/anti-tank gun and the Nebelwerfer.
Often referred to as a "Moaning Minnie"
because of the unnerving screeching noise
it produced, the Nebelwerfer was
a multi-barrelled (between 5 and 10) mortar
projector. Originally intended for use with
smoke canisters, it was adapted to accept
three sizes of rocket-type projectiles.
The 150 mm projectile weighed 35 kg and
had a range of 6700 m, the 210 mm fired
a 112 kg projectile 7800 m, and the 300
mm projectile weighed 125 kg with a range
of 4500 yards. Nebelwerfers and mortars
were used in large numbers, especially in
Normandy. German HQ troops had five regiments
of 60 to 70 Nebelwerfers each, and most
were permanently located opposite the 21
Army Group sector.
| Nebelwerfer |
| Calibre |
150
mm |
210
mm |
300
mm |
| Projectile
weight |
35
kg |
112
kg |
125
kg |
| Range |
6700
m |
7800
m |
4500
m |
In addition to the physical damage they could
cause, Nebelwerfers also had a significant
psychological effect on the soldiers against
whom they were used, which the Germans tried
to use to their advantage. In The Guns
of Normandy, George Blackburn relates
an episode in which members of his Field Artillery
regiment "capture" a Nebelwerfer
intact and with projectiles. Deciding to put
the weapon with which they have been often
harassed by the enemy to their use for a change,
they received a shock after firing an initial
salvo. The Germans had registered the location
of the abandoned mortar and waited until it
was put into action, at which time they returned
fire and killed a number of Canadian gunners.
|
Canada in WWII
