Unusual photo

[Stogieman]

This odd photo caught my eye. It's on eBay right now. Interesting from several perspectives.... The stand for the rifle to be used like a mortar and the construction techniques of the trench. Look how small rhe branches bracing the walls are. You can also see the duckboards in the bottom pretty clearly. I cannot even imagine what the men of both sides endured here........

[David Gregory]

Stogie,

An interesting trench picture indeed. Images of rifle grenades being fired from stands to hold the rifle sell for very high prices on German eBay.

Trench images tend to be expensive in any case. A postcard showing a group of men with hand grenades and cudgels sold for just over EUR 100 today in auction #6241636149. I think I have an example of the same card which cost me a couple of Marks at a flea market a few years back.

David

[Chip]

Rick,

These are pretty cramped quarters to be using that rifle rest/grenade laucher frame. I can't imagine trying to pick it up and maneuver quickly through such a narrow trench. These things weren't exactly lightweight either.

Depending on the location, there may have been a lack of larger timber in the area (perhaps already stripped away for other trenches or even blown away). You will notice that the vertical supports are metal bars.

These photos with various pieces of technical field equipment have aways been of interest to collectors, but recently the prices have taken off. Today, for instance, a photo I was watching of a Mastfernrohr sold for over $42.00. Granted, these photos show up only rarely, as the units were very small (1 NCO and four men). Units using this piece of equipment were discontinued in January of 1918. I have only seen two shoulder straps from the Mastfernrohrtrupps in over 40 years of collecting.

Chip

Edited January 14, 2006 by Chip