A photo from the NARA. Caption reads: "Ninth U.S. Army Ordinance men inspect Howitzer-like gun captured by 30th Infantry Division units as Allied Armies drive into Germany. The gun fires a rocket-type shell 15 inches in diameter and weighing about 1500 pounds. "30 Inf. Div., Nuna, Germany" Date: 2 April 1945 Photographer: Tec 5 Harry E. Boll, 168 III-SC 205714, Credit NARA. Dave
New info: "The weapon is a 24cm Skoda H39t carriage trailer. This howitzer fired a 24cm Gr39t shell (166kg) with a range of 18000m. Th weapon was transported in three loads: base, carriage and barrel trailers." Dave
OK so it doesn't fire a rocket. Further prove that one should read all wartime publications with a grain of salt.
After spending some time looking at photographs, I come to the following conclusion: It's not the skoda 24 cm since it's mount looks entierly different, and it (the 24 cm) had two mounting points for gun trunnions so that also the 38cm howitzer could be used from the same lafette. Also it is a piece not towed using the Porshe BE-train, which means it was none of the 24cm, 38cm or 42 cm guns/mortars/howitzers of the old Austrian Hungarian Army. (the form of lafette shows clearly though that it is of Austrian-Hungarian pedigree) But i found a perfect fit: manner of transport, form of lafette and the fact that apparently an outer gun barrel tube is transported with the lafette. It's a (in German nomenclature) the 21 cm Mörser 18/19(t). This gun was build near the end of the first world war by Austria-Hungary To fill in the "gap" it had between the 150 mm mortars and howitzers, and the next size mortars/howitzers of 305mm. Few were build before the end of the war, and they ended up in the Tchech army and were taken over by the Germans. The "gun barrel" you see in the pic is only an outer barrel into which a smaller , longer barrel of 21 cm caliber would be fitted on taking fiiring position. So this outer barrel might be of 38 cm calibre , hence the confusion Many greetings, Aglooka
