Germany has returned two cannons from the Second World War to the Netherlands. With a 10-tonner, 43 Recovery Company picked up the pieces in Emden, Germany, and brought them to the military camp near Oldebroek in ’t Harde.
During the mobilisation, which started August 29, 1939, the Dutch cannons also came from a depot at that camp. From there they went to Delfzijl to defend the city against the Germans who invaded the Netherlands on May 10th 1940.
War trophy
The deployment of the artillery reportedly lasted only five minutes, because very soon the order to withdraw came. Two days later it turned out that the guns had been brought to Emden as spoils of war. After that, the Germans only used them as decorative items: first as a war trophy and later as an ornament on the Karl-Von-Müller-Barracks.
They were too outdated for real use. They already were in the Netherlands. The German Friedrich Krupp in Essen manufactured the field guns in 1881 and 1882. The Dutch army put them into use as ‘cannon 8 cm steel’. With the mobilisation they were actually already 6 years out of armament, but for lack of better they were dusted and deployed. Now, 81 years later, the city of Emden is returning the cannons.
To a museum
After restoration, one of the guns will be housed in the Historical Collection of the Field Artillery Corps, also known as the Dutch Artillery Museum. The other will initially go to the National Military Museum (NMM). However, there is a good chance that it will eventually go to the historical museum of Delfzijl. The NMM already has another artillery piece of this type.
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Bron: Ministerie van Defensie
