Our Krupp is a BL 75mm Feldkanone L/27 with limber.  This means:

BL stands for Breech Loading, where the cannon shell is inserted at the rear of the barrel, or breech.  This makes the gun faster to load than a muzzle-loading canon where the shell is inserted down the barrel.  Facing imminent capture, the Boer gunners removed the breech block of Gun No.4 and threw it into the Modder River.  The breech block closes the end of the breech for firing, like the bolt of a rifle, and without it the gun is unusable.  We plan to replicate and replace the missing breech block.

75mm identifies the bore size (interior of the barrel).  Loaded with a shell weighing 5 kilograms, the gun had a firing range of about 6 kilometres (or 3.7 miles).  A separate bag of black powder was loaded in with the shell.  When our gun was manufactured in 1892 this design was considered old fashioned.  Most guns were made to take the self-contained brass shell cased ammunition (like a modern cartridge) but the Krupp guns’ simpler design freed the South Africans from relying on imported ammunition, as they could make their own black powder at home, and the guns were able to be easily maintained by the Boer armourers.

Feldkanone or field canon was the name given by Krupp to this export version from the famous C73 family of guns.  In 1873 Alfred Krupp’s latest breech loader design was accepted for service with the German Imperial Army as Material C/73 (Model of 1873).  Taking advantage of the experience he gained in manufacturing guns for the German Army, Krupp was able to offer his guns for sale to other countries.  The export models differed only in the calibre (diameter of the bore) from the regular German artillery.  Our gun is the export model, with axletree seats fitted for field artillery use, of the German horse artillery 8 cm leichtes Feldgedchϋtz Material C/73.

L27 is the length of the barrel.  No. 4 is our gun’s identification number, found on the gun barrel.  Through this number the unique history of our gun is being uncovered.

Limber detachable carriage carrying ammunition that the horses pulled and that the gun was towed behind.  The limber arrived in Wanganui with our gun and was displayed for many years as part of the South African War Memorial in Cooks Gardens.  Sometime during the 1920s or 30s it was removed and lost.

Can you help? We need to know how the Limber was constructed to be able to build a replacement. If you have any information please contact the Krupp Restoration Team at kruppteam@wanganuilibrary.com