C73 Krupp Field Guns

I am posting this on behalf of a former colleague who also worked at
the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich, London. He is happy to
discuss the query further and can be contacted at the email address
below.

Detlef Klein <detlef.klein [at] inspire__net__nz> writes

>I am the project conservator for the restoration of a C73 type field
>gun made by the Krupp, Essen works, Germany, in 1892. This one is
>the No. 4 marked gun of a batch of six delivered to the South
>African Republic in 1892. ...

    We had a very similar thing in Woolwich, captured from the
    Egyptians in 1885--a sort of C73 prototype built in 1871
    especially by Krupp for the export market. The tube was bright
    steel, but the carriage was a deep bronze green. I also wondered
    what the little box on the trail was for! Probably held vent
    cleaning implements or some such. The C73 was surprisingly
    primitive. Although it had a clever Krupp breech, the thing was
    actually fired in the traditional manner--via a friction tube
    stuck in the vent.

    The South Africans might also be able to help. When I was at
    Woolwich I used to get a newsletter from a SA Artillery
    enthusiasts group called the Orange Free State Artillery Corps,
    or some such, who really knew their onions.

    As for colour--well, the Germans will probably know. However,
    there is every chance that the Boers would have re-painted it
    themselves when they took delivery.

    Matthew Buck
    Supervisor, NZDF Archives Enquiries
    NZDF Archives
    Trentham Military Camp
    Private Bag 905
    Upper Hutt 5140
    New Zealand
    +64 4 527 5284
    Fax: +64 4 527 5275
    matthew.buck<-a t->nzdf< . >mil< . >nz

Nicola Christie
Head of Paintings, Paper and Frame Conservation
National Museums Liverpool
+44 151 478 4822
Fax: +44 151 478 4990


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:36
                 Distributed: Monday, December 15, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-22-36-007
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