Saturday 7 April 2012

Kettleby


Location:  N 44° 00.406 W 079° 34.086    Just off Kettleby Road, inside the front gates of the cemetery.


This cenotaph was erected, in 1920, by the citizens of Kettleby and vicinity to honour thier lost sons in WWI.

A small mortar is on display beside the cenotaph. This is a German 76mm Leitche Minenwerfer. It was a 400lb. model with recoil and a rifled barrel, capable of delivering a 1-kg charge a distance of between 325 and 1425 meters. It was also very mobile by using either the built in carrying handles or by wheeling it around like a wheelbarrow, by installing the wheels and two long horizontal poles as handles. The Leichte Minenwerfer was also used to shoot messages to the rear area by use of a special non- explosive message round. They were then retrieved by runners and delivered to the officer in charge. The German Army actually considered trench mortars to be demolition equipment rather than weapons, so they issued them to Pioneer Battalions (engineers).

A ceremony is held here each Rememberance Day. Found at the entrance to the Kettleby Cemetery.

Marker Text:
Front:
IN GRATEFUL AND EVERLASTING MEMORY OF

ERNEST TOWNLEY WATSON
STRATHCONA HORSE
KILLED IN ACTION MORIEUL WOOD
MAR. 31. 1918
AGED 26 YEARS

SHERMAN ROGERS BROWN
1ST C.M.R.
KILLED IN ACTION JUNE 2. 1916
AGED 33 YEARS

RUSSELL CLIFT
92ND HIGHLANDERS
KILLED IN ACTION JUNE 2. 1916
AGED 20 YEARS

ERECTED THAT THEIR GLORY MAY NEVER FADE
BY THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS OF KETTLEBY AND VICINITY

Back:
IN MEMORY OF
GNR. ROY E. BENJAMIN
R.C.N.V.R.
KILLED IN ACTION JULY 7, 1941,
AGED 27 YEARS.

F/O WILLIAM H. BOWLER
SHOTDOWN OVER SWEDEN,
SEPT. R, 1943.
AGED 29 YEARS.

TPR. DANIEL A. CASE
9TH LANCER IMPERIAL FORCES
1914 - 1918
DIED OF WOUNDS FEB. 27, 1937










1 comment:

  1. A very nice description; thanks for this. I was looking for some information on the mortar, and this was a very helpful start.

    This post led me to a U.S. Army publication describing in detail various German ordnance of the time, including these minenwerfers. However, many of the details (range, charge size, weight, etc.) are not consistent with what is written above. Well worth a look:
    There is a wonderful U.S. Army publication here, which has a great deal of detail about what seems to be the same thing (7.6cm minenwerfer) beginning on page 51 and nice drawings on pages 68 and 69 (figures 7 and 8). Note, however, that many of the details (weight, round weight, range, etc.) disagree with the description above:
    http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll9/id/133

    Description starts on pg. 51, nice drawings on pages 68 and 69 (Figures 7 and 8).

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