Nice German metal transport container for 76.2mm anti tank gun shell with markings recovered in German ammunition storage bunker used by SS Nordland Division,1944 Narva Battle in Estonia, untouched until recovered in 2022+dig pictures
This is a part of a group of items recovered in 2022 from an old German ammunition bunker site which was blown up by the Russians after it was captured this is why most of the items are battle-damaged. This is a German complete metal transport container for a German 7.62cm pak [36]r anti-tank gun shell.This tube which still has its lid attached with its carry handle in place and the hing does work properly but the lock on it has broken and does not work the tin still has lots of original green paintwork the complete tube is 42 inches long and is rare to find from the battlefield as they are only thin metal and normally rotted away.The tube still has a lot of its original green and black paintwork and colour there is some original white stamped markings on the side that can be seen faintly the lid and tube are rusty in places with some smaller size rust holes and damage nothing to bad the tube is still very solid and not braking up or falling apart and on the inside it has its wooden rail remains still in place and a shell would go in if you wanted to it has been very well cleaned it would clean up more with effort but it still has lots of original colour it is perfect for display or any collection. The item comes with 2xA5 laminated information cards with many pictures.
The complete tube was recovered from a German ammunition storage bunker which on the information cards you can see what one of these bunkers looked like being made and the plans for one also on the cards are photographs of the recovery of some of the items as they were recovered from the bunker complex this year. The ammunition dump site around Udria was the location of multiple bunkers which were blown up by the Russian Army after capture. Originally used by SS artillery Regiment 11 of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland. Originally a rear area storage area for Narva itself, the battle of February-June 1944.This was also the rear area of the German Panther line from July until August 1944 it was part of the battlefield in front of the Tannenberg line on the Northern coast of Estonia from the Narva battlefield in Estonia.
The German 7.62cm pak [36]r anti-tank gun this designation was the captured Russian 76.2 mm zis 3 anti-tank gun. Which the Germans rebored the barrel to a larger size to use a pak 40 shell case along with the German made [36]r projectile to give the gun more penetrating power against tanks.
The Battle of Narva took place from February 2, 1944 - August 10, 1944. Basically, the only reason for this battle was Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin wanted the area around Narva (Estonia) for an air base and an entrance for the invasion of Prussia. However, things didn't go as Stalin planned. The German Army hit the Soviets fast and hard resulting in 480,000 casualties compared to Germany's 68,000. The German forces involved the battle were III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps XXVI Army Corps XXXXIII Army Corps Eastern sector, coastal defence. The 3rd (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps their order battle as of the 15th June 1944 was 103rd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, SS Nordland Division also 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 1st Estonian and 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands.