German 9cm C73 Captured by Royal Horse Artillery

[Ralph Lovett]

Over the last few weeks I have disassembled, sand blasted and Osphoed (chemical coating to neutralize rust) my German 9cm C/1873 Kanone. Sheet metal parts with rust-through were also replaced. The breech is a replacement made from an original as a pattern. The wheels are the wartime 7,7cm lFK 96 n/A type. The piece is now reassembled and largely restored. It is capable of live fire but since the paint is hardly dry I have not gotten to this stage yet.

While sand blasting the tube I noticed an interesting mark. Written on the barrel is “T Battery RHA”. This appears to have been scraped onto the barrel through the original paint. Presumably, this exposed area then rusted. The result is a bit of graffiti from the British capturing unit that has stayed intact. T Battery Royal Horse Artillery was a part of XIV Brigade in the Middle East. It seems unlikely that a third echelon reserve gun of this type would have been sent with German Artillery for their own service so more likley this 9cm C/73 was a Prussian/German gun later sent to the Ottoman Field Artillery. Many of this type weapon were in Ottoman service but they often have the Sultan’s crest etched into the barrel. This one has the King William I of Prussia scroll and the Prussian Eagle so perhaps it was sent during the wartime period and never altered with the new owner’s crest, as would have been the practice pre-war.

I am now looking for references to T Battery Royal Horse Artillery, XIV Brigade and any mention of captured artillery in their WW1 history and the Ottoman (or even German) units that may have lost it to them.

I have attached photos of the restoration plus a good one of the “T Battery RHA” graffiti.

Ralph Lovett
http://lovettartillery.com/