German designations of foreign artillery in World War II

During World War II, Germany maintained comprehensive lists of enemy weapons which were given designations in German in a system that matched that of German weapons. When these weapons were captured and put into use with German forces they were referred to by these designations.

Background

Before the war began the German armed forces Heereswaffenamt compiled a list of known foreign equipment and assigned a unique number to each weapon. These weapons were called Fremdgerät or Beutegerät ("foreign device" or "captured device") and their technical details were recorded in a fourteen-volume set that was periodically updated. The Germans also captured large amounts of foreign equipment during WWII that they tested and cataloged using the same system. The Germans sometimes referred to these weapons as Kriegsbeute ("war booty") and the Fremdgerät numbers are sometimes referred to as Beutenummern ("booty numbers"). See also Glossary of German military terms.

Designation format

The format for these designations is made up of the following elements:

• Calibre expressed in centimetres
• The type of weapon
• A model number (e.g. M23) or year (e.g. 1934)
• In the absence of a model or year number, a unique number was assigned.
• A subvariant is indicated with a number after a "/".
• A letter indicating the national origin of the weapon.

As an example, "9 cm Flak M12 (t)" is a Czechoslovakian 90mm anti-aircraft gun Model 12. ^[2]

Anti-aircraft guns

**Converted to use 88 mm ammunition. ^{[4][page needed][5][6][7][8][3][9][10][unreliable source?][11]}

Anti-tank guns

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Coastal artillery

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Field guns

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Fortress guns

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Infantry guns

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Medium and heavy artillery

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Mortars

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Mountain guns

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Railroad Artillery

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Tank guns

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See also

• German designations of foreign firearms in World War II
• List of World War II weapons
• List of prototype World War II infantry weapons
• Allies of World War II
• Axis powers
• Neutral powers during World War II

References

Bibliography

• Hogg, Ian (1997). German Artillery of World War Two. London. Greenhill. ISBN 1853672610
• Chamberlain, Peter; Gander, Terry (1975), Light and Medium Field Artillery, WW2 Fact Files, New York: Arco, ISBN 0668038209
• Chamberlain, Peter; Gander, Terry,. (1975), Anti-aircraft Guns, New York: Arco, ISBN 0668038187{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Chamberlain, Peter; Gander, Terry (1974). Anti-tank Weapons. WW2 Fact Files. New York: Arco. ISBN 0668036079. OCLC 1299755.
• Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Infantry, Mountain, and Airborne Guns. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. ISBN 0668038195
• Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Mortars and Rockets. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco Pub. Co. ISBN 0668038179

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:D 50 Kennblätter fremden Geräts.

• Kennblätter fremden Geräts, German designations of foreign material in World War II (including artillery).

This page was last edited on 5 December 2023, at 09:26