INERT DEACTIVATED. Rare, German WW1 Early, First Pattern (Pigeon) Granatenwerfer 16 High Explosive (HE) Fragmentation Trench Mortar. - O 1735 INERT DEACTIVATED. Rare, German WW1 Early, First Pattern (Pigeon) Granatenwerfer 16 High Explosive (HE) Fragmentation Trench Mortar. - O 1735 Other Ammunition

INERT DEACTIVATED. This is a rare first pattern German WW1 high explosive fragmentation Granatenwerfer 16 that was nicknamed the pigeon. The weapon was first introduced into the Austrian army in 1915 and adopted in a modified version by the Germans in 1916 as the Granatenwerfer 16. The small size of the trench mortor made it easily transportable giving indirect fire in the trenches. The Granatenwerfer is a type of spigot mortar where the hollow tail of the mortar fits over the spigot of the launcher. Ammunition came in various forms including smoke, high-explosive, illumination, and propaganda mortars. This is a first pattern with a conical segmented projectile as opposed to the later parallel sided one, high explosive fragmentation mortar with a segmented body. The fin assembly of the mortar consists of a turned steel tube with three sets of thin pressed steel fins riveted to it. Later Granatenwerfers had 4 fins. The nose has a small brass impact fuse screwed into it. The price includes UK delivery and no licence is required to possess this mortar in the UK if retained as part of a collection or display. O 1735