Railway Gun 1940 photo

Discussion in '1940' started by morrisc8, Jul 20, 2017.

  1. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    I have two photos of a railway gun that might be German, can any one ID the area that it is at.
    I have a air recon photo of one near Calais in 43. The two photos has a Morris PU in the background. i was told the photos were taken in 1940.
    Keith
    railway gun  and morris pu. kb jpg.jpg railway gun  and merc.jpg railway gun  info.jpg Calais west railway gun.jpg
     
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  2. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    There were three guns in the Calais, Wimereux area ,two K5 survive one which I saw three years ago at the Atlantic Wall Museum the other is in America at the Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Centre Aberdeen USA (Anzio Annie is actually made from parts of two guns salvaged from Italy.).
    During my holiday we visited the Cathedral Bunker for 280mm Railway Gun, at Calais it was a Leger tour so Paul Reed may be able to give the original location?

    Railway Gun Batteries by Calais

    Regards

    Kyle
     
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  3. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I don't know much about the whole 1940 Calais thing but for what it's worth there was a cable (wire?) at Sangatte that went to Dover for comms.
     
  4. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Here are some shots I took at Aberdeen in 2008. Pretty poor quality as we were in a big rush but it shows that it was in a much prettier setting than it is now after the move to Fort Lee.

    upload_2017-7-20_18-21-36.png
    upload_2017-7-20_18-24-5.png

    Train watchers were on their game and got some nice videos of the barrel being transported up to Ft Lee. Rest of the components went by truck. Would have been great to see the whole thing being coupled to a locomotive in one piece. I'm sure all kinds of railway regulations prevented that (current brakes might be one tiny item :) )




    Here's the atomic cannon they had. Only warrantied for one shot ;)

    upload_2017-7-20_18-39-32.png
     
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  5. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    You can see the defence of the area around the gun and coast.
    Good photos you guys have put on. Thanks.
    Keith
    calais railway turntable for gun .jpg calais railway turntable.jpg
     
  6. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    Last edited: Jul 21, 2017
  7. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    I stand to be corrected but this canon looks like a 28cm Kanone 5 (Eisenbahn) or 28 cm Canon (Railway)
    of which development started in 1934 and first tested in 1937.
    To February 1940 eight were in service and up to 1945 25 were manufactured in total.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  8. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    As it is now on Google maps. Bottom right of photo now with water in it.
    Calais railway gun photo.png
     
  9. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

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  10. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    One more photo i have , German railway gun .
    Keith
    german railway gun ww2.jpg
     

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