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Fléchettes, French & German |
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Fléchette, 8mm, Air-Dropped, WWI, ca.1914 An early French weapon, made possible by the invention of the aircraft, was the Fléchette - a pencil-sized steel dart used in attacks on infantry and cavalry. The grandfather of the modern cluster munition, carried in canisters slung under an aircraft or just thrown out of an open cockpit. From 1,500 feet altitude these needle sharp missiles developed enough kinetic energy to go completely through the body of a horse. Effective enough for the Germans and Italians to copy the idea. There were about a dozen or so variations developed, of which three are shown here. Overall lengths are about 5 inches (12.6cm) long. At 9mm dia. / 30g, the narrow waist design proved more effective at penetrating helmets. The pencil shaped one, measures 8mm dia. / 22g. The image is from a period French postcard. Click through for a painting of an Italian plane as it showers an Austro-Hungarian Trench with flechettes. "Knights of the Air" Time-Life Books The Epic of Flight Series, 1980 |
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The 8mm ones are marked: INVENTION FRANCAIS (“French Invention”), FABRICATION ALLEMAND (“German Manufacture”). Another way to say: "What Goes Around, Comes Around". The 9mm ones are marked: "D.R.G.M." (Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster). The examples at left were lake-recovered, in deep mud and have remained in excellent condition. The two unmarked examples at right were identified as "Probably French", Royal Armouries, Leeds. |
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Lanz 91mm Mortar, German - WWI |
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Glatte Granatmine H.L. (“Smooth Grenade Mine”) In the early years of WWI Germany was late to embrace the idea of a small portable mortar for infantry and the Lanz Minenwerfer (“Mine Launcher”) was a quick answer to that need. The Minenwerfer is a class of muzzle-loaded mortar artillery which were not drop-fired, but had a trigger mechanism, and generally were smooth bore. Developed during the same period as the British Stokes Mortar, the Lanz was already obsolete as it was cumbersom to deploy. however it still saw widespread service. The Lanz was mounted on a frame chassis fixed to a wooden sled with iron reinforcements. The entire weapon was less than waist high. The firing mechanism was a locking bolt system (like a rifle) which accepted a special propellant cartridge. The gun was fired using a pull cord. It was put into production in 1915, manufactured in Mannheim by Heinrich Lanz. |
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Weapons ID (other than the Lanz) in the photo above: Two stick grenades, variations of the French Pétards Raquettes, Mle.1915. At left, two Hebel Model 1894 flare pistols (?) A Model 1895 'derringer' style flare pistol, action open. Another (right), held pointing down, could be a Mle.1915 French type. |
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The Lanz Glatte Granatmine was an unstabilized smooth bore design using an 'Allways' impact fuze.
The high explosive round is made of cast iron with a threaded base plate. The raised bands provide alignment with the tube, while reducing friction and providing a better gas seal.
It had a range of between 75 and 450 meters.
There are different variations of this shell, but share the same fuze style. | |||
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This one has a sheet metal twist-lock transport cover protecting the fuze.
To prepare for firing, the outer transit cover is removed and the safety
pin pulled, unlocking the set-back ring safety. The round is then placed in the tube and fired. |
Upon firing, inertia forces the set-back ring down releasing a spring-clip holding the safety cap.
Pushed off by a large spring, the departing cap frees a small safety bolt which falls away, arming the fuze.
Impact at any angle detonates the round. |
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The fuze type is known as an "all-ways" fuze. It consists of a brass cylinder containing the striker and primer pellet separated by a creep spring. The cone shaped ends cause the primer assembly to compress and fire regardless of the direction of impact. The brass safety bolt is a spacer keeping the firing pin from hitting the primer until after the round has been fired. |
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| Guidetti 77mm Mortar, French, 1915 | ||
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Proposed by French Army Captain André Guidetti in 1915, he saw a way to re-purpose obsolete bolt action Gras Mle1874 rifles.
An idea he actually proposed decades earlier, which apparently didn't get much attention until the demands of WWI.
This gave the French army a quick, easily produced indirect fire weapon with a range of 40 to 195 meters. The weapon has a unique appearance with a prominant external recoil spring over a large diameter reciprocating barrel. Mortar and carriage weighed about 35 kg. It also gave new life to the Foug grenade. The Foug's time fuze was responsible for many accidents in the field due to the weak spring holding its plunger in place. That defect was turned into a "feature" by designing a wood sabot to cradle the smaller diameter Foug to allow it to be fired from the Guidetti. The energy of the launch was enough to ignite the primer (inertial set-back of the striker.) without the need to remove the protective cover. Re-purposed ammunition for a re-purposed weapon. The Guidetti body is cast iron with a diameter of ~77mm. The circular tail fin attachment is made of sheet metal. There is a crude wooden impact fuze with a safety wire mechanism. |
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Brandt 60mm Pneumatic Mortar, French, 1915 |
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Trench warfare demanded short range artillery in the hands of frontline troops, capable of indirect fire support.
Initially grenade throwers and catapults filled that requirement, but something less cumbersome and more effective was needed. The invention of the modern man-portable mortar is generally attributed to the British inventor Sir Wilfred Stokes. In 1915 he developed the Stokes Trench Mortar. It had a smooth bore and fired an un-stabilized cylindrical round. It was simple and easily deployed. The French responded with their version designed by Edgar William Brandt, which fired a more accurate finned projectile. The mortar was made of cast aluminum with a 40.5 inch barrel and was fired using compressed air. The mortar tube was set at a fixed elevation and range was controlled by air pressure. The advantage of pneumatic mortars was their light weight, silent operation and no muzzle flash. Range was limited to 600 meters however. The air-pressure came from manual pumps or tanks of compressed air. At left, is the Brandt round Type A, appearing very modern compared to the Guidetti -both introduced in 1915-, shows how rapidly technology was changing. This example is in exceptionally clean condition with original paint and impact fuze made of zinc. The zinc alloy fuzes are very susceptible to corrosion and not often found intact. The Type B, shown in the sectional diagram, is most easily identified by its blunt nose profile. In the vintage photos the rounds visible appear to be Type B. |
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| Erhard Gr.W.16 Spigot Mortar | |
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This is the 70mm Wurfgranate round for the Erhard Granatwerfer ("grenade launcher") Model 1916. It is painted dark grey, made of cast iron with sheet metal fins. The Germans came up with this spigot mortar design mid-war. The principal advantage was ease of manufacture. The precision tolerances required of the launching tube in a conventional mortar are eliminated. This is also true for the projectile. The main drawback is the bulk of the launcher. The Granatenwerfer 16 was manufactured by Stock and Co. AG in Marienfeld Berlin and other companies. It was valued by the front line troops because of its straightforward design and its excellent fragmentation effect of the shells. These were used with good effect until the end of the war in 1918. 
 A special blank rifle cartridge pressed inside a special pocket in the tail of the grenade to provide propulsion. This cartridge headstamp is: "2 16 S67 P" The firing pin protrudes from the spigot which the grenade tail slides over. A trigger mechanism fired the bomb. There is a simple impact fuze in the nose with a safety pin which was removed before firing. |
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 Five other observed types: |  |
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37mm Hotchkiss "One Pounder" |
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A light artillery workhorse for over 5 decades, the 37mm Hotchkiss and its derivatives were deployed by virtually every country. There were a myriad of guns and ammunition types devised using this design. Used for tanks, ships, light infantry guns and anti-aircraft cannon. A collecting field all to itself, these are just two examples. Invented by Benjamin B. Hotchkiss in 1872, the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, also referred to as the Hotchkiss Gun, operated similar to the Gatling gun in which the barrels would rotate by hand crank in order for each cartridge to fire. Primary use of the Hotchkiss revolving cannon was as navel armament, to defend large ships against smaller and much more agile torpedo boats. In this role, the Hotchkiss competed with other mechanical machine guns like the Nordenfelt and Gardner, but it was of a heavier caliber. The revolving cannon would eventually prove to be to excessive, in size, weight and efficiency. By the early 1900s, the revolving cannon was replaced by single barreled cannons, notably the ‘French 37’. Originally designated Canon d’Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP and later the 37mm M1916 when it was adopted by the US Army in 1917, this weapon used a rotating breech block with a hydraulic recoil absorption system coupled with a spring recuperator. Firing rates of up to 25 to 30 rounds a minute were achievable, impressive for a small single shot canon. Shown are the Hotchkiss 37x120R and the more common Hotchkiss 37mm x 94R. All are generally referred to as the "One Pounder" (1Pr), but the 37x94 is sometimes referred to as the 1Pr "Light" so as not to be confused with the 37x120 1Pr "Heavy" - terms adopted by the USN around 1900. The taller 37x120R shown is a General Purpose HE “Common” round, made by Winchester under the Hotchkiss patent “Nov.14-76". Marked: " Manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., New Haven,Conn.”, dated “9-91" and used a base detonating fuze. The shorter 37x94R Hotchkiss HE round is French manufacture. These rounds were used their M1916 Infantry Gun as well as early Renault tanks. The cast iron projectile has two copper rotating bands and a brass PD fuze (left hand thread). The projectile nose has some of the original maroon paint and is stamped with:" 3662 CC 55/1917. The brass case shows the following stampings:" 37-85 P.D.Ps 191 1.17" |
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| 23.04.02 | ||
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