Following the tragedy of World War I (WWI), the French Government presented to the Australian Government, weapons of the war to serve as a lasting reminder of the ‘Great War’.
The ‘Australian War Trophy Committee’ was assigned the task of allocating these memorials across Australia. The method used was to allocate the weapons in accordance to the proportion of enlistments to population, in each area.
Childers in Queensland, was awarded the 210 mm Howitzer Mörser M10 (known as ‘der Mörser’), which was manufactured in Essen, Germany in 1916 – numbered: ‘Nr. 406’ – ‘Fried. Krupp A.G. Essen 1916′.
The canon has been restored and is situate, under cover, at the ‘Isis District War Memorial & Shire Council Chambers‘ as a monument and tribute to all those who sacrificed unimaginable tragedies, heartache, horror and loss due to this dreadful war.
Sadly, mankind’s tradition of war and destruction never ceases on this beautiful planet we are honoured to inhabit . . .
.
210 mm Howitzer Mörser M10 Specifications:
Year of Design: 1910
Calibre: 211 mm
Firing Range: 9.4 km with short shells – 10.2 km with long shells
Elevation Range: +6 / +70 degrees
Direction Range: 4 degrees total range
Weight in Firing Position: 6,630 kg (7,380 kg with trackpads)
Weight for Transportation – 3 Wagons: 3,720 kg (with tube), 3,713 kg (with carriage) and 3,345 kg (with accessories)
Tube Length: 12 m (total tube length)
Grooves: 64
Projectile Weight: 120 kg
Muzzle Velocity: 367 m / second
During WWI, Krupp AG gained international recognition due to the design and manufacture of heavy guns such as the 420 mm Howitzer known as ‘Big Bertha‘, which, at Loncin Fort, Liège, Belgium – following 11 days of resistance against the German invader, the Fort suddenly exploded on the 15th August 1914, following a hit from the “Big Bertha” canon. A 420 mm shell weighing 800 kg destroyed the Fort, thus burying 350 people – only 150 brave souls escaped alive . . .
The following excerpt from ‘Database of the WWI Surviving Artillery’ describes the evolution of the 210 mm Howitzer Mörser M10:
” . . . Germany pre-war invasion plans induced the quick conquest of numerous fortified towns both in the West and in the East. The necessity of a powerful and mobile heavy siege artillery therefore had been recognized early, and transformed into several calibres weapons, including the famous 21cm, efficient against bricks and concrete fortifications.
The 21cm M 1899 mortar did not have a recoil recuperating system, at the detriment of its fire precision and rate. Answering to the APK request, Krupp started in 1902 the design of a modernisation. It took not less than 3 prototypes (’21cm Versuch Morser’) and 7 years of design to issue the new 21 cm morser, presented in 1909. But the result was worth the long delay, since the ’21cm Morser M10′, also kown as ‘der Mörser’ instantaneously became a major weapon of the German artillery, and accumulated brilliant victories from the the very first weeks of the war.
This new weapon overclassed the old 1899 mortar on all the dimensions, with a modern hydro-mechanic recoil recuperation system improving the fire rate and the precision, an elongated barrel (from 10 to 12 calibres) allowing an almost 2000 m range increase, and a very good manoeuvrability on the battlefield.
The 21cm M 10 was delivered to the army units from 1910, and 216 such guns were available to the German corps at the war outbreak. The first victories soon came, it is rocognized that the fall of Liège, Namur and Maubeuge forts in 1914 is mainly due to these mortars fire, while the use of the terrifying higher calibres only destroyed some of these targets, but received much more propaganda advertisement.
This gun heavy weight needed its decomposition into three ‘cars’ for transportation: the carriage transportation car (‘Lafette mit Protze’), the barrel transport car (‘Rohrwagen’), and the accessories transport car (‘Gürtelwagen’) including the wheels belts.
A total of 474 such mortars were produced by Krupp before this company switched its production to the 1916 version. 219 of them were still fighting in November 1918 . . . “
The information that surrounds the canon is wonderfully informative and a tribute to all those who have contributed to making sure that the horrors of war are not forgotten.
Helpful Hints:
– Within Town Centre – obtain Directions here
– Car Parking off Lord Street
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