The Last WW1 Trophy Guns
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- Опубликовано: 15 май 2024
- Just after WW1 ended, thousands of German artillery guns and other weapons were distributed to cities, towns and villages all over Britain and the Commonwealth for public display as war memorials. Today, less than a dozen remain in the UK. What happened to all of these guns? Find out here.
Very special thanks to the following people who kindly gave up their time to go out and photograph and film many of the guns that appear in this video - I cannot tell you how much I appreciate their wonderful assistance. They are: Paul McCanny; Andy Sykes; Captain James Street, RM; Norman Hewitt; Andrew McKay; James Masters; Rhys Thomas; Max Blondeaux; Andrew Packham; Arthur Alberti; Matt Lord; Gary Brindle; Nigel Henderson - Great War Researcher at History Hub Ulster; Adam from Belfast; Pierce Clarke, and James Bullock.
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA, is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
Visit my audio book channel 'War Stories with Mark Felton': • One Thousand Miles to ...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Other Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Imperial War Museum; Bundesarchiv; Kevin Ryder; Ross; Aubrey Dale; Andy Dingley; Oxyman; Iridescent; OlivierCotton; WellKnownSID; Wernervc.
Sources:
- 'The Gift That Kept Misgiving' by Rob Langham, Key Military, 18 December 2021
- 'Great War Trophy Guns in Northern Ireland' by HHUlster, History Hub Ulster, 23 May 2018
There are around 55 villages in England called the 'Thankful Villages' where no one was killed serving in WW1, and a very few lost no one in WW1 or WW2. I have read that there are NO villages in France where no one was killed serving in WW1.
Pleased to see Dr. Felton has liked your comment. It’s a good subject for a video.
@@anderspedersen7488 indeed it is, would make for an excellent historical analysis, the sheer loss french culture experienced alas.
@@Matt67012French culture is on its knees 5 times a day praying to mecca
@@ottoskorzeny9805They do the same in the UK or haven't you noticed.😮
Where'd you read the latter?
There's a 4.7 cm gun in my local park that recently there was a petition to have removed because it "promotes violence." Luckily, the petition failed, so it remains in memorial. There is a plaque on it that states, "Nothing signifies peace more than a silenced gun." Those that forget history.
“Promotes violence”? 🤦♂️🤦♂️ yes because whenever i see a field gun I am overcome with the urge to be violent against others….
What a load of shite that is eh!? Glad the petition fell through
yeh it only takes 3 generations to forget the horrors of war
@@Rusty_Gold85 isn't it more like, 5 generations?
Depends on the nation I guess, my family always had children in their early 20s/at 19 years old.
My great-great-great grandfather was born in 1899 and fought as an ordinary rifleman, basically just young cannonfodder, he was shot in 1915 (no idea which battlefield, and we can't ask him anymore) through both cheeks, losing all but his front teeth, after which he was captured, given first aid by the germans and sent to Romania.
He and his borther in law escaped execution at 19 years old, after being in captivity for almost 2 years. They dug out of their barracks/holding cell the day before they were scheduled to get shot. The building was on sandy soil and they dug the ground with their ration spoons (I know, very cliché, but they had to act fast and used whatever they had on hand), while observing for guards and being downwind from the guards, as to not get caught in the act.
Then they snuck back to Hungary, going through the forests undetected, sleeping rough or being welcomed by Transylvanian homesteads for the night. He and his brother in law ate berries, stolen crops, kernels from horsedung or whatever the welcoming families gave them for the night.
He and his girlfriend, later wife, then out of celebration, made my great-great grandfather the night after he came back home. They went on to live until 1986, brother in law I think until late 1970s, very long lives for an average hungarian male from a poor, farming family.
Long story I know, but I'd like to leave a lasting story on the internet of him, since I don't want to forget how important history and stories from individual people are.
It sounds entirely reasonable to me not to display the weapons that slaughtered your children. That has nothing to do with forgetting history. No one is suggesting that the memorials be removed, just the glorification of war. If you want to see weapons, there are plenty of museums displaying them.
@@bugsygoo "[...] in my local park that recently there was a petition to have removed because it "promotes violence.[...]" Did you even read the comment? And no, to remember isn't meant for museums, yes it is one of their purposes, but it is mainly for study, knowledge and discovery of the past.
That's why displaypieces in public spaces are there, to remember. And "slaughtered your children"? Even the grandkids of those who fell are themselves dead by now.
This is just a political agenda by the left to remove all violence, even if that violence never has been a problem. There's a chapter about that in the great book 1984 by George Orwell. There is an audiobook version here on RUclips, you should probably listen to it in a while. It changed my stance on the world and definitely not in the wrong direction.
My town had a P-47 in the park. Some kid fell off it and broke his wrist. Before anyone knew what was going on the city sent it to a scrap yard. This was in the 60s. fast forward the same concern rose about an intact 4 gun naval 40mm mount. Again, it disapeared to the scrap yard, but the scrapper was suspicious. All of these items technically belong to the armed forces, in this case the US navy. They are "on loan." I started working my way through gate keepers and finally spoke to an admiral at the Pentagon. Stern letters were sent to the city, which forced the issue of what to do with that bit of park space.
American Legion, VFW, and the city got together and came up with a plan to refurb the site and now we have a really nice memorial.
The city officials are fucking criminals seriously what the fuck were they thinking i do hope they got thrown out of office in the nexted election
they should have been sued
One person can make a difference. Thank you for being that person.
@@istoppedcaring6209 the Navy doesnt care.
@@istoppedcaring6209 Didn't require that. Between an admiral chiming in, the realization that it wasn't city property to be disposed of as they wished, a timely letter to the editor that I penned, it started the ball rolling in the right direction.
Sometimes you just need to rattle the right cages, LOL.
Interesting enough, I saw a lot of old WW1 artillery pieces in Iraq when I did my first tour there with the US Army in 2004. A lot of them were at Ar Rustamiyah, the site of the Iraqi Military Academy. They were in pretty good conditions. The Iraqis do a good job of preserving weapons, vehicles, and equipment from earlier wars.
In the artillery park on Taji I took pictures of four German WW2 LeFh 18 10.5cm howitzers. They were Krupp dated 42-43. I'm guessing they came from Russia as they had Russian road wheels?
@@mikebrase5161 I was at Taji Military Training Base (TMTB) also in 2004. They had the big boneyard there were they had all the tanks, AFVs, and self-propelled artillery pieces from the Republican Guard divisions parked there. They even had a WW2 Sherman tank there and it was in good condition. Who knows where the Iraqis got all their stuff from but, I have to commend them, they kept everything in good condition.
@@eltonjohnson1724 yep 2004 was with 1st Cav. I also remember a US M-8:armored car over on the same road the tank school was on. We rat fucked one of those warehouses we got brand new Mah Deuce barrels still in the wrap. Another building was full of Swedish made artillery and Mortar aiming circles, yet another had Spanish 120mm mortar tubes baseplates and bipods stacked to the ceiling. 04-05 was a hoot.
not sure if its that they are good at preserving or more the dry conditions that preserve the stuff. Google the RAF P40 that was found in the desert in 2012 crashed 70 years before and that's a light Figher airframe
Dry environment
There is a 1915 Krupp 77mm field artillery piece in my hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut that's been on display in public parks there since the 1920's. It's currently under restoration. I understand that 5000 men from the local area served in the armed forces during WWI, including my great uncle.
Yea theres quite a few artillery cannons in Connecticut the place were i live i by Pequot hospital and that Walmart there a navel cannon i think.
ive seen it a few times
When I did ww2 reenacting, one of my old units guys lived in Waterbury and got a PAK40 that had been in a park for years, but the liberal city government got rid of it...I think the guy has the other one too, he's got a metal shop there in town. I know in Monson, Massachusetts, there's a german trench mortar on display.
Woollen knitted poppy on the aiming wheel of the Honing mortar was left by me in June 2022.
Was following the East Anglian WW1 pillbox trail, leaving a knitted poppy at each location.
Had a few extras with me and it seemed right to leave one here.
Found it a moving experience to pass this German mortar on that trip quite by chance.
Best wishes, enjoy your videos very much.
Here in the US there are buildings in many small towns and cities that were built by the Veterans of Foreign Wars fraternal organization, which was very large after WW1. Many of them had, and still have, either a German 77 or a French 75 out front, commemorating WW1. They usually exist under about 50 coats of paint of various green and gray shades, and are sometimes found missing major pieces. Most have the barrels filled with concrete and have the breeches welded shut, although I think filling the barrels had more to do with keeping birds from nesting in them and trash and debris out than making them safe. Most now sport a chain on stands around them and signs telling people to stay off. Still it's pretty cool to run across a French 75 with a 1915 build date outside the VFW hall in some sleepy little town.
One in Fowler, Indiana, county west of me.
I can corroborate this.
There's still a gun on display in a park here in town, and yes, the paint was very thick the last time I looked closely.
Greeley Park, Nashua NH
There was a French 75 on display in the city park of Madelia Minnesota when I used to visit in the 1950s. Great fun to play on. A veteran’s group would show a box car full of WWI machine guns every fall at the Minnesota State Fair.
Yeah, at some point after WW2 these german weapons were also demilled. As if somebody was going to turn up with ammunition for this artillery and start shelling a nearby neighborhood with it. Just the actions of some more terrired small brained people with too much time on their hands.
When you see the million plus subscribers Mark Felton has it makes me feel good as I now know Im not the only military history nerd in the world.
Nice to see you! We have a wonderful community here. The Comments are fascinating, educational, and sometimes heartbreaking, as we are speaking of war, mostly.
There are at least two of us. 💯
@Bigga Nigga mate whats your point you don’t have to have a phd to enjoy history
Bordering on 2 million
Good to know I’m not the only Mark Felton nerd in the world
A fascinating video. In 2008 me, my wife (at the time😂) and my kids were on holiday in Crete and while out on a drive through a small village, we came across a Bofors anti aircraft gun, clearly positioned as a memorial. I was intrigued and while my wife was totally disinterested, me and my kids decided to have a play. It was fantastic, it still traversed and elevated and the foot pedal trigger was pushable. Can't imagine this in UK... My kid's loved it and I had to lever them off it... 😂
Imagine if there had been one in the spout, you fired and down comes a Lufthansa flying overhead
This has amazed me. Here in Australia, it is actually rather unusual for an Australian town or city to not have a captured German gun from World War One. About 20 years ago a friend conducted a survey of artillery still standing as memorials in parks around Australia. She was surprised to discover over 2,000! That is because here the Commonwealth Government of Australia distributed more than 5,000 of these trophies to suburbs and towns throughout Australia. The first gun captured, and the first to be turned into a memorial, was a gun from the German raider Emden, captured by HMAS Sydney in 1914 and placed at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park in Sydney.
Mark mentions the hostility of members of the public in Britain to trophy guns as war memorials. We had that here as well but to a far lesser extent. Some communities refused to accept the guns on the grounds that they would not display objects that had been used to kill Australians, but some communities felt slighted when they were offered a small gun and asked for more guns or larger caliber guns so to better reflect the degree to which their community contributed to the war effort.
A large (for WA, so 2000 people) country town in my neck of the woods has a colonial era cannon, Krupp 7.5 artilery, minenwerfer and bofors all in one small park. I joking call it the Western Australian strategic artillery reserve.
@@PlasmaDavid Which town is that?
I once saw something about guns captured in South Africa during the Boer War. Do you know of any of those?
That Hyde Park gun from SMS Emden was acquired from that ship during WW1 after it had beached damaged on Cocos Island after losing to HMAS Sydney 1 on 9th November 1914. Cocos Island is now Australian territory.
Emden was not sunk, so several items were able to be retrieved from the ship, including two other similar guns, one now in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, and the other at Sydney's Garden Island naval base.
@@Cubic5 There is a Krupp 75 mm field gun (1897) captured during the Boer War at the Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia.
In Brisbane, Australia there is a WW1 trophy tank, the Mephisto. The sole surviving German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen tank in the world, is displayed at the Queensland Museum.
I don’t think this tank counts as it’s in a museum.
it is a great piece of history, and a tribute to the souvenir collecting abilities of Aussie diggers !..
on a related note, in the Australian Aviation Museum in Oakey on the Darling Downs (west of Brisbane), is a pristine U.S. Cessna Bird Dog from the Vietnam conflict, which was "liberated" by mechanics from the Australian Airforce, repaired, and shipped back to Australia in pieces, only to be re-assembled for the museum.
@@kdegraadespite it being in a museum, it was actually sent over to AUS as a trophy by the unit that ran across it. So it would still count as a trophy tank
There is also a German WW1 field gun on public display outside the old Treasury building in the heart of Brisbane.
Just remembered there is an Austrian-Hungary 10.4 cm Feldkanone M. 15 field gun that was captured from the Ottoman Army in 1918 and donated to the Brisbane Grammar school by an old boy as a memorial.
Growing up in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, my brothers and friends and I used to get inside the WWII Sherman tank on display at the 28th Division Shrine; the name on the side was "Sweet Sioux". Even as pre-teens, we could barely fit inside of it, and would often bang our heads when trying to move around at more than a sloth's pace. That lone vehicle gave us enormous appreciation for what WWII Soldiers endured, much more than a textbook would have imparted.
Wow, I lived in Campbeltown and walked passed that piece so many times during the 80's and 90's, didn't realise. Even now, in my 50's, every day is a learning day.
It is such a shame so few of these are left on public display.
There is a German field gun on display in my home town of Milton Ontario, Canada. It was captured on September 27th 1918 in the Arras Cambrai road northwest of Raillencourt. The gun was firing against Canadian 3rd infantry battalion, 1st brigade, 1st Canadian division.
The gun is displayed in our park, dedicated to Queen Victoria, Victoria Park. The gun number is 9563. And yes, kids of all ages play around, on top under and around the gun. Also it serves as a gathering place on Nov 11, Remembrance Day.
It’s very similar in Australia with memorial guns in many towns. In 1914 the Australian population was around found and half million, and 416,809 enlisted, just under 10% of the pre war population and about 40% of the total male population aged between 18 and 44. Casualty rates for ANZACS were amongst the highest in the empire. Pretty much every town and suburb lost men
Thanks for sharing just the other day i learned their were 26 million Aussies now and Australia is the 6th largest country in land mass, something i never knew. Many thanks for all those who served and paid the ultimate price for our freedoms we enjoy today. Australia will never be forgotten ! 💝 from the United States.
lest we forget... Fellow Aussie here... WW1 sure did affect us bigtime...
in a corner of Sydney Hyde park , facing Whitlam square there is a gun from the Emden cruiser which was destroyed in 1914 by the HMAS Sydney
I've travelled extensively around Australia and almost every small town has a WW1 digger memorial with many names of the fallen. I've been to places where the towns have gone but the memorial remains. Sadly many have additional plaques for WW2, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The most surprising one was a park on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere that had a memorial and a Canberra bomber. The bomber was high on a pylon but the crew hatch looked serviceable. I always planned to go back with a ladder to have a look but never did. It was in remarkably good nick too.
It's true, back when I was a kid even the smallest country town got a good turn out come Anzac day.
Very pleased to have played a small part in providing some footage for this video. We need more engaging historians like Dr Mark Felton who make history Accessible!
By contrast, in the US there are many American Civil War (1860-65) cannon that survived and often sit in the open on various battlefield parks. Admittedly, smaller than WWI or WWII guns, these pieces survived both the war and devastation encountered in the southern US.
Yeah. I was going to say that you can barely drive through a old Southern or Northern town or village where there isn't a Civil War gun and memorial.
And you know what? The bronze Civil War cannon can still be used today! Some show up at Civil War re-enactments. One original piece is used for firing demonstrations at the Petersburg VA battlefield park.
The iron ones can still be used too if you're conservative with the powder charge.
When I was in Tennessee we went to a public park where there were bronze cannon all over the place. The field carriages were replicas but the barrels were original. Those bronze barrels would not last five minutes in the UK without being stolen for scrap.
@@dp-sr1fd You know, when I was in the Petersburg park and saw all the bronze cannon on outdoor display I asked one of the park rangers if they were concerned about theft of the guns, considering the scrap value. What he told me was:
"Well, not really. First off those barrels weight over 1,000 pounds so bringing in the equipment to steal them would make you pretty obvious.
However, every once in a while someone comes in here who doesn't realize the guns are on welded steel carriages that can't be towed. How do we know this? Ususally we find a car bumper chained to one of the cannons when we make the rounds first thing in the morning! Someone tries to tow away one of the gun and loses a part of his car!" 🤣🤣🤣
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 The Pykies over here will find a way ,don't you worry about that. If they can steal war memorials and sculptures made of bronze they would make short work of those barrels believe me.
The town I live in in the US has 2 captured guns in their WW1 memorial. The next town over has 4 in theirs.
..and you only came in 1917, imagine Central Europe and France, Russia..
There are many German guns throughout Australia displayed in cities and towns...Not far from my home in Sydney there is a spectacular German field gun raised on a plinth at a crossroad on Canterbury Road....At most RSLs (Ex servicemans Clubs) there are 25 Pounders...Bofors...Tanks.. Etc...Thanks for your great Videos Mark...Lest We Forget.
For the past 100 years my local park has had on a stone plinth a WW1 trophy - a German trench mortar. It was recently restored by some preservation experts.
Worthington Park, at Canadian Forces base Borden in Ontario, Canada is a very large collection of trophy guns and tanks. It's on an army base so it's not really public, but I think there is public access. It's a combination open air museum and war memorial, named after the founder of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
Technically it is public, the gate guards at most only ask if you are there to see the museum. The museum itself is also amazing.
Mark, you never fail to astound me, more snippets of history missed over my 66 years of interest in both world wars, absolutely loved learning about trophy guns, thank you so much. Actually, it's only about 60 years as I was pretty dumb until I was about six.
Its crazy how a lot of the old equipment is still used today in certain wars
I know! There are WW2 tanks, even WW1 era machine guns being used in Ukraine! It just shows how well these weapons were manufactured, build to endure hardship.
@Bigga Nigga You keep track of that?
@@starzkream my 1903 pockethammerless, manufactured in 1917, still in excellent working condition.
@@petershen6924 Colt? That is a nice piece!
Any gun or armoured fighting vehicle is better than nothing.
A 7.7 cm field gun is preserved near the railway station in my home town of Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia. It was relocated there in 2001 from the original site on a hill overlooking the town. There was also a German machine gun in the town museum (not sure if it's still there) and *possibly* a big gun in Victory Park, which was created from a portion of the town market square which had fallen out of use by 1920.
As you mentioned, Canada received over a thousand. Of which, where I've lived for 13 years, we have a WW1 Era German Field Gun (might be an Artillery piece, though it looks a bit too small to be in) in Redcliff, Alberta next to the Redcliff Legion.
Always love WW1 content. A fine video as always.
My great-grandfather, John Jessop, fought with the KOYLI at the Battle of Passchendaele and I imagine he was subjected to bombardment from these very guns. He not only endured mustard gas but was shot through one cheek and the round went clean through the other side. The wound remained for the rest of his relatively short life. My nan recollected that she and her siblings would poke at it as he sat in a chair reading or smoking. He found it quite humorous, apparently, especially when considering how he cheated death by mere inches. He died prematurely, when my nan was still young. We think the gas finally took its toll. I think about him often and even wrote a story about him and his unit in an Advanced Composition class at University.
There is a gun from the Boer War in Devonport Park, Plymouth known locally as the Doris Gun.
My old school Ridley College in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada also has a trophy gun. It is a 7.7-cm Feldkanone 16 captured by Canadian soldiers. It was sent to the school in 1924 to commemorate the 61 Old Ridleians killed in WW1. We have a wall with their names on it and we hold a memorial service in their honour annually on Remembrance Day.
Dr Felton, the fact you continue to produce top tier historical content this regularly is nothing short of astounding. You’re videos always deliver, being simultaneously entertaining and informative. You are second to none in this genre on RUclips…
Thank you for all your hard work, it’s much appreciated 👏🏻🤝🏻
Totally agree, with your comment!
Mark, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra has a large warehouse building in a industrial area in a outer suburb, anything that cant be displayed or stored at the AWM is stored there.
In this warehouse is stored many large items, some aircraft, helecopters, a V2 rocket but the most numerous item on the floor, maybe a 100. is WW1 field pieces, some of them have information sheets telling which Regiment captured item.
Some of them were lost to the enemy and later recaptured.
This building is open to the public maybe once a year.
Hey Mr Felton. There is actually a couple of German field guns from WW1 near where I live in Esquimalt, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I was very surprised when me and my friend saw them on display in a park. It is so cool that history has made it all the way to Western Canada.
Oh great it's History lesson time with Dr. Felton, on a Friday non the less.......Thank you Mark for a great early Father's Day present.
When is Father's Day? (hoping I'll be celebrated for once)
@elvenkind6072 this Sunday mate.
@@wilhelmvillagracia9670 Thanks! I should start flood the inbox of my son with "poor old dad" msg's
JK!! 😀
Thanks for the feedback mate! 🙂
Always a good time when we get a new Mark Felton upload! 🙌🏼😁
How nice to see a WW1 video for a change ;-)
I'm from the Netherlands and a big fan of your RUclips channel, although we stayed neutral during WW1 we have the most beautiful War Trophy ever. A stern piece of The Royal Charles which was taken back to Holland after The raid on the Medway, 356 years ago. It's on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
There were a handful of villages that didn't lose anyone in World War one and thus never had memorials to the dead. . Fifty three of them, known as 'Thankful villages.' Fourteen of the English and Welsh ones became 'doubly thankful' villages because they didn't lose anyone in the second world war either. This includes Langton Herring in Dorset. I went there once, in 2012. It's a strange little place, because without a war memorial at the centre, it feels so oddly laid out.
When it comes to kids climbing on things; Growing up in the 70's, in Poole in Dorset, the local shopping centre had three wooden animals on display. A fish. A tortoise. And one other. They were big enough you could climb on them or crawl through them. Used to enjoy those. But as the years went by they got put in storage after renovations. They are now back where they were, but blocked off so nobody can get on them.
I'm a qualified health and safety inspector, and I'd allow it. Sometimes you have to let kids be kids. So long as parents take responsibility. And why do I have a horrible feeling that, despite the keep off signs in the video, people are getting on those guns anyway and taking selfies?
Not a gun, but St James church in the centre of Poole does have the first union jack to be flown over Paris after it's liberation.
Thanks Mark. My great-uncle served with the 38th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Forces in France during WWI. He died, aged 24, on September 10, 1918 of machine gun fire while crossing the Arras-Cambrai Road during the Canada's Hundred Days Offensive between 8 August and 11 November 1918. He's buried in Terlincthun British Cemetery, Wimille, France.
Outside the Headquarter of U.S Fleet Activities Sasebo, there is a pair of WW2 Japanese Type 94 Mountain Guns on display. Not sure they were captured during battle or acquired during occupation.
You’re absolutely right about these trophy guns disappearing. There were two trophy field cannons in front of the headquarters building at Canadian Forces Base Greisbach in Edmonton. They could be clearly seen by traffic driving down the nearby main road. In time the base was closed and turned into a housing development and the cannons…well…who knows?
They are in storage at CFB Edmonton
I'm from a small country town in Queensland, Australia and we have a War Memorial with a 1903 75mm German 'Krupp' Field Gun on display. 270 men from the surrounding area fought in World War 1. A sacrifice I hope we will never have to make again. Lest We Forget.
Remember
...That freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it - Pericles (A quote from our War Memorial)
Do you mind if a fellow Aussie asks Where? Because I know a local town that has a gun that looks somewhat similar to some of the German field guns mentioned, but I don't know if it is actually German.
I believe a 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 was in Clarinda Iowa (USA) for many years at the national guard armory. We played on it as kids in the 60s. I think sometime in the 1970s it was sold off to a private collector. Not sure but I never saw it again.
There are quite a few here in New Zealand. Among them a pair of submarine guns at the Auckland War memorial museum sitting outside, so also free to view.
I believe there is a WWI trophy Germany artillery piece (replete with bullet holes) in the town square of my little town in North Carolina.
My small country town in Australia is lucky enough to have three German WWI guns - a 77mm, a 100mm and a 150mm.
Another very small town called Beechworth has a Greek artillery piece from the same war
The American Legion post in the small Illinois town my mother grew up in has a German WW1 15cm Krupp Field Gun and barrel carrier, along with a 1913 German Howitzer. We climbed all over them in the 1980's and 90's.
Hey Mark Felton I found an interesting story in Australia that might interest you, a grandson of a WW1 vet found a family heirloom that is the compass in the only remaining WW1 German tank left
excuse my cusiosity, but how would you use a compass on a magnetic steel tank?
Great way to start the weekend Dr Felton! Thank you 🎉
In Placer County, CA we have only U.S. manufactured cannons, 37mm Pom Pom guns and other smaller guns from WWI, usually secured at the two (2) Veterans halls. None are found at the National Guard Armory. Thanks Mark for explaining this business of displaying the weapons of the "Great War."
Excellent subject Professor Felton! This is another of those rare instances where my own experiences run parallel to the videos subject matter. When my family arrived in the United States we first found temporary accommodations on what had been Camp Meade. During WWI almost a half million soldiers got their first taste of Army life, and Cavalry life here. After WWI the Yanks brought back many a souvenir, on Camp Meade they brought two of these cannons shown in this video. They sat at one of the base entrances, this particular entrance was the eastern end of Rt. 198. Because we went to middle school on base, for three years our buses past by those cannon every school day. Thanks to you I now know something of their back story. (As a kid I fantasized taking the cannon home to play with!)
BTW, many years after WWI, Camp Meade became Ft. Meade, and on the 4th of November 1952 the
National Security Agency found its permanent home there. Incidentally in March 1929 Camp Meade became Fort George G. Meade. (How the name changed is an interesting political story!) Thanks again Mark!
Thank you sir! You give a perspective that most overlook. I have relatives that served in WWI as well as WWII from both sides is the conflict. I am jealous that you get to explore history as I cannot. Thank you for your channel from the bottom of my heart! You are the reason that we will not ( hopefully) repeat history. Huzzah!
Another great video from Dr Felton! Great stuff
I took a New Jersey Transit Bus from Somerville, NJ to the Port Authority building in New York City, and (I don't know where) saw an FT-17 tank on display in front of a VFW building. This bus route was the local not the express route. Many of the VFW and American Legion buildings display weapons but I think are mostly American.
In front of the Somerville, NJ courthouse, I believe are two 57mm Anti-tank guns (British 6 pounders).
I grew up in Canada in a small town a hour south of Montreal and all the small towns had German WW1 field guns of some sort in them, usually outside the legion. In one town, Knowlton, Quebec, there is a very small historical society that had a few on display and inside they had one of only a few surviving original Fokker DIIV. I remember learning a lot about the Great War in our Canadian history classes. It was always something Canadians were proud of. Great video!
Love the videos man! Each one amazes me with something new!
In Canada most military bases have "gate guards", guns or vehicles at the entrances but are often Commonwealth equipment. However along the roads inside the bases themselves are often far more vehicles, guns or aircraft on display and anyone can go and view. Usually they are owned and taken care of by one of the units at the base or sometimes by a small museum there. Anything outside like that is free to view. For example in Petawawa 2RCHA has a French 75 and WWII German 15cm sFH18 outside regimental HQ. CFB Borden has a fare sized museum and has tanks scattered all over the base such as a Hetzer, Sherman flail, and a Wirblewind which I understand to be going through a complete to operational restoration.
Absolutely fascinating, Dr. Felton. Thank you.
Thanks again Dr. Felton for your time and efforts to record history. I'm a big fan!
My town had many ww1 guns. But they were all scrapped in the late 1920s
Another fantastic video Professor, you never disappoint. We have here a Japanese 75 mm gun from WW2, I've played on it as well as my siblings, I have pictures of my own children on it and grandchildren. That gun is located in a park in Visalia, California, in Reedley, California at the cemetery there is a WW1 105 mm canon that was made in Germany and brought here as a trophy. Some where in a park here in California is a WW1 Renault tank but it's Ben so long ago I can't remember where. Also in nearby Lindsey, California in a park is a WW1 Navy gun, American, played on that as well. Very well done Sir and always enjoy your well thought out work. ✌️
This is one of your best presentations. Thank you, sir.
Ditto sentiments. Thank you all who helped Dr F with this. Means more than I can convey.
Was a tad surprised to hear my parents home town, Romsey mentioned. Never knew that the gun in Memorial park was a trophy gun.
They also have a statue created a few years ago in the same park, of a WW1 soldier and his horse, as this site was a Remount Centre, its quite a moving piece. Thanks so much for this interesting topic.
Grandfather died of his wounds when brought back home (gangerene) in WW1 (Warwickshire)
Always such brilliant & informative content, well done Mark Felton - keep it up! 👏🏼
My great grandfather fought with Canadian 1st Division,7th brigade,princess Patricia's Canadian light infantry
Very interesting bits of history. We visited Scotland in April, and were touched by the many statues standing in almost every small town and hamlet we drove through in honor of the fallen of The Great War. It was very sad really, especially when just 21 years later these same villages were asked to send more of their men to serve in yet another World War.
Lest we forget💔
There is a huge number of WW1 guns around in Finland. For example my high school has a 75mm/76mm/3inch howitzer, don't remember the exact model (maybe Brittish QF 18-pounder). Then at the artillery brigade at Niinisalo there were quite many different models on display. If I remember correctly, NCO school was responsible of a German 21cm m/17 which had been later used by the Finnish Army in WW2.
This was super informative and I really appreciated the upload, I was just looking for something to do! Thanks again!
In the city where I live, there were two German artillery pieces from World War 1. The left wing council in the early 1970s decided they glorified war, removed and buried them. A later council decided to excavate them and put them back on display, however when they went looking for them, they were gone. The general feeling is that they are sitting in someone’s shed.
Or sold to a scrap dealer.
Don't see how they glorify war. Not sure how many are getting nationalistic feelings of "Wow! We took these cannons from an enemy and defeated them!" Like some here are saying either.
Bless those who gave their last full measure in defense of their homelands.
Mark Felton my type of Historian, a unique man.Thank you.
Oooo @3:25 Has Always been one of my all-time favorites❕
Hey Mark big fan - not sure if you read these but I wanted send big thanks 4 all the content, most definitely appreciate all your hard work my brother.
When I was a kid in Australia most of the big country towns had trophy guns either outside the Returned Soldiers League (RSL) clubs or in local parks.
I can remember playing on some big naval guns (now removed) located at South Head on Sydney Harbour.
In Adelaide they were British 25 Pounders outside .I wonder if the same up there ?
@@Rusty_Gold85 Yep, I remember a 25 pounder outside the Rose Bay RSL and other Eastern suburbs RSL clubs.
There's a 105 mm K 17 in Quebec city which was destroyed by his crew. They put a round in the nozzle, one in the breech and fired it, killing at least two of them in the process.
There are 2 large field trophy guns from WW1 on the isle of Guernsey, opposite the fire station.
In my US Midwestern hometown there's an Austro-Hungarian field gun similar to the gun at 5:30. A friend of mine claims he fired it using match heads for gunpowder, a can filled with cement for a projectile, and a long hobby fuse out the barrel to ignite it. They loaded it up and lit the fuse and then ran into the cemetery next door to watch. When the gun went off with a bang people on the street couldn't understand what happened. Probably they are still wondering. 😅😅😅😅
There is a Krupp 210mm M10 Howitzer in Childers. A small town in Queensland Australia, which to my knowledge had the sad distinction of having one of the highest death rates of all Australian battalions.
It sat in the open until about ten years ago then was fully restored and is now sheltered.
I have photos of the gun if anybody would like them.
There is a 106mm Krupp gun on display in Gonzales, Texas. This is also the town where the first battle of the Texas Revolution occurred, in which Mexican soldiers came to capture a small cannon which the settlers were gifted several years before to fend off Native American raids. When the soldiers arrived in the town, the local militia responded by brandishing a white flag bearing the words “Come and Take it” with a depiction of the cannon below. The Texan militia routed the Mexican troops and later fought during the defense of the Alamo. This cannon is also on display in the museum in Gonzales.
There is one in Andover, Massachusetts. The wheels were replaced in early 2000's and it sits in the town park next to the town hall. My father said it was there when he was a kid in the late 20's. It is around 7.7 cm. field gun made by Krupp.
It was a pleasure assisting you with the photos for this video Dr Felton, I'm so glad that the U-19 Deck Gun here in Northern Ireland got some recognition.
If I may, I'd like to offer some suggestions for topics that I would love to see covered from WWII.
1) The Bari Port Incident
2) The Sinking of the SS Thistlegorm
3) The Battle of Kerch
You're amazing Mark, I love your content. Keep up the good work.
In a small-town Alberta museum, there are two captured mg08/15s. Both have some writing on them, noting the units who captured them.
Thank you for this video.
I live in a village where twenty one men were called up to serve in WW1.
They all return to the village.
We are one of the thankful villagers in England.
Another great video. It made me think about the artillery pieces that are on display in Australia that i have often passed without giving them much thought.
Mark the Australian Armor and Artillery Museum on RUclips has several guns in their collection. One gun recently restored to museum-quality.
Their channel is a treasure trove for anyone interested in military equipment. If anyone is ever in northern Australia it’s an amazing museum to visit with a truely world class collection.
Couldn't come at a better time I love watching history Mark Felton number one on my watch list❤
Great video as always Dr Felton. And also great timing. About the same time as this was posted, here in Auckland NZ we had a Crimean War trophy cannon stolen. It was about to be moved due to it's location being renovated. But some low-lifes got in first. Probably melted down by now....
Keep it up Mark, love your stuff.
Fascinating history. I always wonder at the short sighted thinking that seems to affect decision makers when carelessly disposing of irreplaceable artifacts.
Let me be one of those braindead guys that scream out: FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!
But seriously, good job Dr. Felton, I'm honestly in awe of the things you mange you find, to make into educational subjects!
They have millions upon millions of subscribers for people that only fill RUclips with silly garbage, so I hope reasonable people can bother to press like and subscribe and make you someone more people will start listen to, instead of all the mindless blabber everywhere.
Have a great weekend everyone, from Alv and my cat, Norway. 🙂
Great video and a really good community!!! Very cool to get to see them, I doubt I’ll be in England anytime soon. ✌🏼
Another very interesting video thank you Mark Felton
Rotherham had a tank on display in Clifton park that was gifted to the town after the war for our contribution
Do you know what type of tank?
@@AtheistOrphan not 100% sure to be honest but looking at an image could be a MK1 male as the sponsons on the side are visible, im unsure what happened to it
@@craigbeaumont414 - Thanks for the reply. If it was a WW1 tank then it’s likely to have been a MKIV as there’s only one MK1 surviving (in the Tank Museum at Bovington). I’ll do some Googling.
i understand some 1st gulf war trophies (tanks and guns) have been picked over for spares for ukranie
This is the best channel on RUclips. His stuff is absolutely riveting. The channel never disappoints.
Fascinating Dr. Felton
❤🇨🇦🇬🇧🇺🇸
Three german WW1 gun that were formally trophy guns (two of them stood in Blairgowrie) are held by Historic Environment Scotland at Fort George but are not on public display. Another gun can be found in Scotland in rather unusual circumstances. At Millport on the island of great Cumbrae in the firth of clyde there were once two german guns. One was said to have been thrown into the sea but the other was used to shore up the seawall in a park. The gun is now partially exposed in the bank and is a 15cm. schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15cm. s.F.H. “02). It is possible the other suffered the same fate. The only other known gun to survive that I have come across in Scotland is in the Tomintoul musem. Pieces of a gun may exist at St Boswell in the Scottish Borders on the river bank of the Tweed but no one has been able to confirm the location. At least five WW1 british guns still stand guard on the coast of the Shetlands and St Kilda in their original emplacements having never been recovered after the war.
As a veteran, I can confirm we are often drunk.....
Great vid! Always a pleasure to watch
Very informative video and good insight in to ww1 trophy guns. Well done Mark
My great grandfather emigrated from Pomerania, Prussia in the late 1870s. How do I obtain a firearm from that period? Asking from the USA.
RIA auctions
Mark i don’t know if you know that here in Ashford (Kent) we have a Mk IV tank.
Here something from the Wikipedia page
A Mk. IV tank built in Lincoln and used in World War I was presented to the town on 1 August 1919 to thank the townsfolk for their war efforts. It is situated in St Georges Square near the town centre. For some years, electricity provider Seeboard fitted an electricity substation inside the tank, but this has now been removed; the substation is cited as the reason the tank was not reclaimed during World War II for its metal to be used, as happened with other tanks gifted to municipalities.[134] A protective cover was built over the tank in 1988.[135]
Hope you find this useful.