Heres another of Andys Rubbish and Ramblings, apologies for the lateness of this offering! I started putting this together a week ago and came down with a nasty flu, so the last week has had me moping around feeling sorry for myself.
Adrienne and I attended a small show in the Waikato last weekend, It was a great little gathering and I believe I may have picked up that flu mentioned above (being the only thing I brought home).
One of the Towns we passed through was Otorohanga, a small rural service town that is close to some of the North Islands tourist attractions such as Waitomo Caves and the Otorohanga Kiwi House.
My first visit to Otorohanga was about 1981 with my parents when we passed through on the way to Auckland. Even then I was interested in military history and the sight of a field gun and a small Minenwerfer displayed in a park at the top of the Main Street warranted an inspection and photographs.
Today the Minenwerfer is gone, I believe it is undergoing restoration, the Artillery piece is still there and remains in rather good condition. This is an unusual gun, it is the only one of its type in New Zealand, of course this is one of the 129 artillery pieces that were allowed as NZ Division War trophies post WW1.This one is again “loosely” WW1 German, this is actually a M1892 12cm Howitzer, designed by Krupp and Captured by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles in Palestine which came to NZ from Egypt.
Around 72 of these guns were supplied to Turkey by Krupp in 1893, and depending on various sources, Turkey manufactured between 69 and 100 additional guns under licence. The gun pictured was made in 1907 by the Imperial Armoury in Istanbul.
The gun is well preserved, having had numerous coats of paint over the years, there’s a bit of rust showing through and a bit of restoration and a set of wheels would bring this very historic piece back to life. However, any such decision would be that of the relevant local authorities.
I recall this having a brass plate attached to the gun in the vicinity of the Breach bearing the Fr Krupp name, this has been removed sometime in the last thirty or so years. Im sure I will have a photo with this “somewhere” in my archives.