Tarkastad World War I gun
Description
Tarkastad isn’t a big town with many monuments even though there is a lot of history attached to the town. On the corner of Murray Street and Queen Street, a block away from the Tarkastad War Memorial stands an old gun with the following inspection.
CAPTURED IN THE GREAT WAR
1914 – 18
BY THE ALLIED FORCES
AND PRESENTED TO TARKASTAD
BY THE GOVERNMENT
We haven’t been able to find any information on the gun, where it came from, what battle it was captured in or why it came to Tarkastad. A quick Google Lens search told me that it could be 7.7 cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art field gun used by Germany in World War I.
The gun combined the barrel of the earlier 7.7 cm FK 96 with a recoil system, a new breech and a new carriage. Existing FK 96s were upgraded over time. The FK 96 n.A. was shorter-ranged, but lighter than the French Canon de 75 modèle 1897 or the British Ordnance QF 18 pounder gun; the Germans placed a premium on mobility, which served them well during the early stages of World War I. However, once the front had become static, the greater rate of fire of the French gun and the heavier shells fired by the British gun put the Germans at a disadvantage. The Germans remedied this by developing the longer-ranged, but heavier 7.7 cm FK 16. As with most guns of its era, the FK 96 n.A. had seats for two crewmen mounted on its splinter shield.
Contact Info
- Corner of Murray Street and Queen Street, Tarkastad