Description
Physical description
gun, pedestal
This First World War 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt gun is mounted on a pyramid or sockle mount (called a Sockellafette), and was removed from a German A7V Tank.
Label
This gun was removed from a German A7V Tank nicknamed "Schnuck", which had been captured at Bapaume on 30 August 1918.
The German A7V Tank was an armour-plated box on overhung tracks, and was 26ft 3in long and 10ft wide, with a crew of 18. It first saw combat on 24 April 1918, and was armed with one 57mm Sokol Gun mounted in the centre of the front of the tank, with 6 additional Spandau or Maxim machine guns. The weapon is technically a 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt, and two mountings were made for these, namely a buck or trestle mount called a Bocklafette and a pedestal, pyramid or sockle mount called a Sockellafette. This example is the latter type, and was always termed by the British as a "Sockel" gun (but in fact, strictly speaking, this only refers to the mount itself).
The only surviving German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen tank is "Mephisto", which is on display in Queensland Museum, Australia.
History note
The German A7V Tank "Schnuck" was "deposited" with the Imperial War Museum on 20 March 1919, and subsequently disposed of in February 1922. The Gun was the only item salvaged from the Tank.
This gun was removed from a German A7V Tank nicknamed "Schnuck", which had been captured at Bapaume on 30 August 1918.
The German A7V Tank was an armour-plated box on overhung tracks, and was 26ft 3in long and 10ft wide, with a crew of 18. It first saw combat on 24 April 1918, and was armed with one 57mm Sokol Gun mounted in the centre of the front of the tank, with 6 additional Spandau or Maxim machine guns. The weapon is technically a 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt, and two mountings were made for these, namely a buck or trestle mount called a Bocklafette and a pedestal, pyramid or sockle mount called a Sockellafette. This example is the latter type, and was always termed by the British as a "Sockel" gun (but in fact, strictly speaking, this only refers to the mount itself).
The only surviving German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen tank is "Mephisto", which is on display in Queensland Museum, Australia.