Item:
ONSV4626

Original WWI Trench Art Engraved French Artillery Shells - German, French, English

Item Description

Original Items: One-of-a-kind Set. This is a set of 4 World War One Artillery shell casings. The set includes the following Great War items:

- French 75mm Artillery Shell Casing that measures approximately 12 1/2" tall and 3 1/2" wide this is the classic French WW1 artillery casing in brass of the classic French 75 mm artillery piece. The outer surface has been fully decorated and features a flower and SOUVENUIR DE MONTFAUCON. The shell case is dated with its manufacture date of December 1918. Montfaucon-d'Argonne is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was the focus of a bloody battle during the Meuse–Argonne offensive and is now home to the Meuse-Argonne American Memorial.

- French M1916 37mm artillery shell with projectile and inert fuze. The casing is engraved with a Iron Cross and reads WELTKRIEG 14. 1918. The base is is marked PPDs for the factory, “Pouderies de Paris”, and 37-85 which means 37mm model of 1885 as well a 9.16 which is the manufacture date, September 1916.

- French M1916 37mm artillery shell with projectile and inert fuze. The casing is engraved with a name and Verdun France Nov. 11 - 1918. The base is is marked PPDs for the factory, “Pouderies de Paris”, and 37-85 which means 37mm model of 1885 as well a 1.18 which is the manufacture date, January 1918.

- French M1916 37mm artillery shell casing. The casing is engraved WORLD WAR 1914-19 with three initials. The base is is marked PPDs for the factory, “Pouderies de Paris”, and 37-85 which means 37mm model of 1885 as well a 1.18 which is the manufacture date, January 1918.
 
The M1916 37mm gun was developed by the French and used primarily by French and American forces in WWI for destroying machine gun emplacements. It was fairly good at this under fluid, mobile conditions, but inferior to mortars for static trench warfare. It was still in limited service by World War II, but generally relegated to training and use as a sub-caliber addition for larger guns.

The French 75 mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze (French for "seventy-five"). The French 75 was designed as an anti-personnel weapon system for delivering large volumes of time-fused shrapnel shells on enemy troops advancing in the open. After 1915 and the onset of trench warfare, other types of battlefield missions demanding impact-detonated high-explosive shells prevailed. By 1918 the 75s became the main agents of delivery for toxic gas shells. The 75s also became widely used as truck mounted anti-aircraft artillery. They were also the main armament of the Saint-Chamond tank in 1918.
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