This nasty looking weapon is described in the original IWM accession register of 1917 as a ‘Casse Boche’ with the suggestion that it was used by the French in the 2nd Battle of Champagne in 1917. It is constructed from a naturally gnarled piece of wood, weighted with lead and fitted with iron spikes. It is too long to make an effective club if the leather hand grip is held. It may well be that it was intended primarily as an officer’s walking stick.
This nasty looking weapon is described in the original IWM accession register of 1917 as a ‘Casse Boche’ with the suggestion that it was used by the French in the 2nd Battle of Champagne in 1917. It is constructed from a naturally gnarled piece of wood, weighted with lead and fitted with iron spikes. It is too long to make an effective club if the leather hand grip is held. It may well be that it was intended primarily as an officer’s walking stick.
The mortier de 58mm type N°2 was a medium trench mortar designed around the last weeks of 1914 by commandant Duchêne. One of the first pieces of standard-issue trench artillery of the French army, it consisted of a heavy baseplate and 58mm mortar firing finned bombs ranging in caliber from 60mm to 200mm, which were fitted in the muzzle of the gun on metal poles containing the propellant.
French soldiers carrying another model of the Crapouillot’s projectile, with more accurate proportions than the above illustration.
Although a successful design issued to various Entente power, the Crapouillot mortar alone could not fill the army’s requirement for trench artillery and was complemented by a slew of improvised grenade launching weapons. By the end of the war and with a production run of three full years, the mortiers de 58mm made up 70% of all French trench mortars.
The mortier de 58mm type N°2 was a medium trench mortar designed around the last weeks of 1914 by commandant Duchêne. One of the first pieces of standard-issue trench artillery of the French army, it consisted of a heavy baseplate and 58mm mortar firing finned bombs ranging in caliber from 60mm to 200mm, which were fitted in the muzzle of the gun on metal poles containing the propellant.
French soldiers carrying another model of the Crapouillot’s projectile, with more accurate proportions than the above illustration.
Although a successful design issued to various Entente power, the Crapouillot mortar alone could not fill the army’s requirement for trench artillery and was complemented by a slew of improvised grenade launching weapons. By the end of the war and with a production run of three full years, the mortiers de 58mm made up 70% of all French trench mortars.
