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 Czechoslovak 90mm anti-aircraft gun Model 12.
German artillery types
Sort by Letter Code/Country
(a)/United States
(b)/Belgium
(d)/Denmark
(e)/United Kingdom (British Empire)
(f)/France
(g)/Greece
(h)/Netherlands
(i)/Italy
(j)/Yugoslavia
(n)/Norway
(ö)/Austria
(p)/Poland
(r)/Soviet Union
(t)/Czechoslovakia
Sort by weapon type
Anti-aircraft guns
Anti-tank guns and recoilless rifles
Artillery guns
With number designation
Artillery howitzers
Costal artillery
Fortress artillery
Infantry guns/howitzers
Mountain guns/howitzers
Field, infantry and mountain howitzwer
With number designation
Without number designation
Other howitzers
- Note: This is a general desgination to a variety of howitzer; except for infantry, mountain, and field howitzers.
With number designation
Without number designation
Mortars
With number designation
Without number designation
Railroad Artillery
Tank guns
Tank guns with number designation
Tank guns without number designation
See also
Notes / References
Footnotes
Barrel length notes
Ammo notes
References
Citations
Sources
External links
- , German designations of foreign material in World War II (including artillery).