Trophies of War Presented to Skegness Council
Update 27th May 2009 – After appealing for information about the German Gun below, it has been brought to our attention that the gun was actually sold to local scrap dealer, Sid Dennis, in the early 1930s. We are making further enquiries about this and will update the page as soon as we hear more.
Trophies of the Great War were presented to Skegness Council and we want to know what has happened to them!
In 1920, the British Government War Office presented Skegness Council with a captured German gun and other ‘trophies of war’ as listed below:
1 Machine Gun, Heavy
1 Mounting Trench
1 Machine Gun Belts Ammunition
1 Machine Gun Belts Carrier
6 Rifles
3 Carbines
2 Sword Bayonets
1 Helmet
1 Body Shield
1 Wire Cutter
1 Water Bottle
The Gun may have been a 9.2 Howitzer similar to the one in our picture. The picture is of a 6in Howitzer and is taken from Wikipedia (CC).
Perhaps you could ask elderly relatives or friends who are old Skegnessians, whether they remember seeing, or their parents talking about these ‘trophies of war’ in Skegness.
The Captured German Gun once sat near the old pumping station on Richmond Drive, Skegness.
Any help would be appreciated.
Help us find out what happened to them!
German Gun
Just out of interest, the 9.2 inch howitzer was a large British gun and could not have been the one to which you refer. Also, the picture you have published here is of a 6 in howitzer – again British and could not be the gun you are seeeking either.
Regards
Thanks for that, Andrew. The picture is to give a rough illustration of the gun in question. It is from Wikipedia (CC), which describes it as a 6in howitzer, as you have stated. I have amended the text to make this clearer.
The reference to a Howitzer 9.2 is taken from this post http://skegnesshistory.com/2009/02/efforts-to-win-a-captured-german-gun/
which appeared in a local newspaper.