Black painted German Wooden ammunition crate for 15cm SFH18 artillery gun it held 3 separate propelling charge shell cases with maker markings and dated 1942 found in Dieppe originally used in the Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944

This is a black painted with nice white stamped markings German Wooden ammunition crate for 15cm SFH18 artillery gun it held 3 separate propelling charge shell cases. The box is in nice condition the wood still retains most of its original black paintwork finish there are few very small splits in the wood nothing to bad it has had woodworm at some point but has been treated the wood is still very solid not braking up or falling apart it is nice to find this nicely preserved crate.The box has original war time stamped white ink markings on the lid also red stripe and on one side it is maker marked and dated 1942, it also still has its shell holder brackets in place. Both the hinges in nice condition and work as does the lock and it still has its wooden carry handles a nice example of this famous ammunition crate. The crate came from a private collection in Dieppe originally used by the German Army in the Normandy campaign in the summer of 1944.The box comes with A5 laminated information card.

The sFH 18 was capable of firing 150 mm shells at a range of up to 12.8 kilometers. The sFH required a crew of twelve men in order to operate efficiently and could fire off rounds at a rate of only four rounds per minute.The gun was officially introduced into service on 23 May 1935, and by the outbreak of war the Wehrmacht had about 1,353 of these guns in service. Production continued throughout the war, reaching a peak of 2,295 guns in 1944. In 1944, the howitzer cost 40,400 RM, 9 months and 5,500 man-hours to make.