Artillery in Canada: German Second World War Artillery - historic photos of the guns captured by Canadians

German Second World War Artillery captured by Canadians

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3396244)

German Second World War 8.8-cm FlaK 37 AA Gun captured near near Bayeux, France, 26 Aug 1944, being examined by Canadian soldiers.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3208583)

Canadian soldiers examining a captured 7.5-cm PaK 40 Anti-Tank Gun marked with 15 kill rings, ca. 1945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4233166)

German artillery examined by Canadians in France, ca June 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4233166)

German artillery examined by Canadians in France, ca June 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN No. 4233112)

German Second World War 10.5-cm LeFH 18/40 Howitzer being examined by a Canadian soldier, June 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3394488)

German Second World War 5-cm Nebelwerfer 41, six-barrelled Multiple Rocket Launcher, captured by Canadian troops near Fleury-sur-Orne, France, 20 July 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3720924)

German Second World War 5-cm Nebelwerfer 41, six-barrelled Multiple Rocket Launcher, captured by Canadians, 20 July 1944

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3229663)

German Second World War coastal artillery gun examined by a Canadian soldier from the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, Boulogne, France, 21 Sep 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3378347)

German 15.5cm K 418(f) gun captured by RCA, digging a breech pit, so it can be used to fire on Dunkirk. Adinkerke, Belgium, 15 Sep 1944.

The Canon de 155 Grande Puissance Filloux (GPF) mle.1917 was a 155 mm cannon used by the French Army during the first half of the 20th century.  n 1940, France fielded 450 of these guns.  Many of them were captured and used by Germany for the rest of the war.  In German service it was known as the 15.5 cm K 418(f); it served with heavy artillery battalions in Afrika Korps and on coastal defense duties.  On D-Day in 1944, the German Army had over 50 of the 155-mm French guns in sites on the northern French beaches.