There are at least two German flak guns that I know of, one in the Australian War Memorial (AWM)and the other at the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) until a few months ago.The French web site "canons survivants de la Grande Guerre"states that the Aberdeen gun is 8.8cm-it is most certainly not. I was at Aberdeen a few years back and out of mild interest breifly noted the nomenclature on the breech face,because this gun is the same as the one at the AWM.
AWM breech face:8cm K. Flak103,Fried Krupp A.G. Essen 1917
APG breech face : 8cm Flak 102, Fried Krupp Essen 1917
There is a way of distinguishing between the two calibers albeit a little imprecise.It is the length of the barrel protuding from the last sleve, on the 8cm gun the distance is 1 metre while on the 8.8cm gun the distance is about 1.36 metres further,that part of the recuperator sticking out from the shroud of metal work abover the barrel is about 550mm long therefore if one has a decent side view shot ,one can better judge the relative proportions of barrel length to recuperator length.
It would be of considerable interest if photos of any other extant flak guns by Krupp of both calibers were taken to compare with the APG equipment.
Firstly, I was not aware another system existed other than the example at Aberdeen. The numerics you cite ( 102 & 103 ) from the breach of the two guns are production IDs. Krupp built only 78 of the lighter 8cm variant.
I would like to correct a mistake ,it is not the recuperator stick out from the sheet metal cover but the first sleve or jacket,whose length is about 550mm longThis sleve is quite obvious and ends well before the cradle (or trough).I apologise for any confusion. Frupp may well have made 78 lighter flaks which would seem to negate the numbers 102,103 as being numbers of 8cm barrels.Frankly,I can not explain this apparent alomaly.If there were more examples of these flak guns one might have a better idea. There may be one of these klak guns tucked away in England somewhere,who knows.
Dont focus to much on the numbering of breech blocks. Artillery weapons were often delivered with spare barrels. No doubt they needed to replace some breeches now and then.
Also, dont count to much on "official" production or service figures. Is that figure of 78 reliable?
Or maybe there was another producer that got the first 50 or so numbers for its own 8vm FLAK?
[edit] This was your post Jack? Approved for viewing anyway.
-- Edited by Rectalgia on Saturday 29th of September 2012 07:02:25 PM
