From pictures ive seen of the 57mm gun it looks like it could be elevated but i havent read or seen anythinhg that could suggest if the gun was traversable. can anyone help?
The 57mm gun (and all MG mounts) could traverse through an arc of 90 degrees (i.e. 45 degrees either side of the centre-line - see diagram by Strasheim in German Tanks in World War I, Schneider & Strasheim). Near the bottom of the article on Landships (http://www.landships.freeservers.com/emhar_a7v.htm) is a photo of a casemate without the 57mm gun (the section labelled 'Gun Mounting') - the casemate shield is clearly traversed to the right. And in the same article, in the group of colour photos of Mephisto in Australia, around half-way down the page, the 57mm gun can be seen to be traversed to the right as well.
If you have a look at the article I did on the one from Schnuck you can see the control for elevation and traverse. There were two wheels on the left hand side of the breech; the one with a handle turned a rod with a worm at the other end that engaged a cog. As Roger says, this allowed 45 deg to l or r.
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Looking at the images does not clearly show how the recuperator and recoil cylinders are attached to the gun and assume that the rear sections of the cyliners are so fixed just in front of the breech.
Am I right do you think, or has anyone got better references for this detail?