Lately I have been finding a few artillery and mortar optics. I like them because they are precision equipment and are quite tactile. The optics viewfinder on this one is a bit different as it has a calculating mechanism for tracking a target traversing the field of view. This one was manufactured by Optische Werke G.Rodenstock in München and has their eso code. It is an Rbl.F.36, which stands for Rundblickfehrnrohr 36. It was used on the Pak-36, 38 & 40 as well as smaller artillery tubes.
Shrapnel and shell fragments accounted for a large proportion of those killed and wounded in WW1. Those blown into the ether by high explosive to one side, artillery accounted for around 70% of casualties. These six balls were recovered from the Thiepval Redoubt on the Somme and are German in origin. Thiepval was a slaughterhouse on the first day of the attack and, despite early success, took a savage pounding from German counter-fire.
The Battle of Thiepval. The view looking toward Thiepval on morning of attack and showing German barrage. (IWM)
You know if you are going to import the parts for a ballistic missile, you can’t beat Deutsche Post. This is the Oxygen Mixing Nozzle, from the burner cup of a V2 rocket. It came from a dig in Pennemunde on the Baltic coast of Germany, where these things were designed and built. Pretty much the smallest part but hey, it’s a bit of Vengeance Weapon!
In the middle of a reassembling of my K43 shooter, I found this K43 manual designed to be rolled up and placed in the butt cavity (ooh err) along with the oiler and spare firing pin parts. These are hard to find in good condition because they just were not made to last. This one has suffered from exposure to gun oil, but it’s all there where it counts.
This is an original paper transfer used on the head of a Panzerfaust round to provide basic instructions on use in the field. Many users of this weapon were untrained levies of youth and older men, so it was felt that providing these instructions on each individual tube would assist in getting a consistent result from the firing of what could be an alarming (to the user) weapon.
This is an RA-35 optical sight for the Granatwerfer 34 8cm medium mortar. The sight shows signs of post war use by the Austrians (the green over paint). The sight was manufactured by Hanseatische Werkstätten für Feinmechanik u. Optik, in Hamburg-Schnelsen and is marked with their CRN code.
I have always had an interest in the Indian Wars and especially the Custer Battlefield. This is a 45-70 Government round with a Winchester Repeating Arms headstamp.
This is a Walther PPK 7.65mm automatic pistol, manufactured in Germany by Walther in 1943 and issued as a police sidearm. The holster is marked Otto Sindel, Berlin, 1943. The two magazines are original to the pistol with matching serial numbers. The receiver and frame are marked Eagle N which indicates acceptance by the Wehrmacht post 1940 and the left hand side of the frame is marked with the Eagle and a C following, indicating police issue. This pistol was reputedly acquired in Normandy by a Lieutenant Stagg, adjutant of the Oxford Rifles, from the body of a German SS officer he had just shot. Well at least that’s the tale that came with it. However upon researching I discover that the Oxford Rifles didn’t get shipped to Europe until January 1945. This is not to say that Stagg could not have been in France in July 1944, just not as adjutant of the Oxford Rifles. This will provoke some further investigation.
Further snooping reveals a Major Kenneth Stagg, P38758, in the Oxford Rifles in 1945. He was born in 1899 which makes him 45 in 1944.
Remember Kids! Buy the item, not the story!
This little leaflet, interspersing rhymes about attacking tanks with a bloody Panzerfaust, was produced in 1944. Instructions fail to include bending over and kissings ones arschloch auf wiedersehn.
Kiwi Medals 