Captured WW1 German Field Guns on Display

Pictured to the left is a photograph of a flatbed train car carrying a collection of captured World War I German field guns which are on display in the United States at an unknown location for the public to view. The cannon in the middle has a sign labeling it as a "German Howitzer". Going from left to right the three German field guns pictured in the photograph include the 10cm Kanone 04, followed by the 17cm Mittlerer Minenwerfer in the middle, and lastly the 10.5cm Leichte Feldhaubitze 16 on the far right. This practice of touring captured enemy equipment was not uncommon and was done in all of the countries a part of the allied powers but it was most practiced in America. The American government both in the First World War and Second World War would travel around the country displaying captured enemy equipment to raise money for the war effort by charging a small fee to view the war trophies or touring them around to promote the sales of war bonds. Following the end of the First World War most of these captured field guns were donated to local towns and cities for use in memorials and much of the personal field equipment, especially that of the German pickelhaube helmet, were sold to the American public and veterans as war trophies and souvenirs from the war once again as another tactic to raise money.

On the back of this photograph a "6t" can be seen to the left which is likely left from the printer of the photograph and to the right two different prices can be seen from previous sales of this photograph. This particular photograph was obtained from an antique store in the Cleveland area in 2019.