I've decided to add a German Mountain Gun to my German colonial and WWI armies. As with most projects I started my research in my library, then an internet image search, followed by hitting my usual on line hobby forums and websites looking for advice. However my research was contradictory and inconclusive so I reached out my friend Roy Jones Jr. whom in my opinion is the premier historian on German colonial topics that I know, especially the Herero Wars.
Roy directed me to a website that I’ve loved in the past for German colonial uniform references, but even this website wasn't 100% conclusive. Based on Roy's recommendations I went with a dull brass colored barrel and breach with the remainder in a light sand. As Roy says, it will give me more diverse usage.
If anyone has any additional data please contact me, I can always repaint the model.
The model I picked is from Askari Minis German Colonial range. Here's the link data from their website.
German Krupp 75mm Mountain Gun
This very versatile gun was manufactured by Krupp for export beginning in 1895, ironically not being bought (initially) by the German government. It was widely used until as late as 1939. Kitchener had them at Omdurman (being purchased by the Egyptian Army); they were also used by the Afghan army, the Spanish Army in the Spanish-American War and others. The German Army "requisitioned" some intended for export for use in the Boxer Rebellion.
This little gem comes in eight parts: gun barrel, barrel platform, carriage, two wheels, two handles for the rear of the carriage, and an optional spade.
I would suggest option (a), for reasons discussed below.
Reasons for the corrections:
(1) I neglected to read the following sentence in the description in German Colonial Uniforms:
"It is thought that they were originally painted in a sand colour when delivered to the Schutztruppen".
(2) Last night I received a new, hard-to-find resource from Germany: the war diary of a German artillery commander during the Herero and Nama Wars. It has a contemporary black and white photo from 1905 of a German Mountain Gun during the Nama Wars. The gun looks exactly like Gun No. 1, gun shield and all. It might even be Gun No. 1.
In that contemporary 1905 photo there’s no discernable difference in shading between the barrel and the rest of the gun (except for the back of the gun shield), just as there’s no difference in color between the barrel and the rest of the gun in the photo of Gun No. 1 (except for the black wheel rims, which are a modern touch).
More specifically, the barrel is NOT brass-colored. So, I would conclude that Gun No. 1 was originally all sand-colored. If it’s the same gun as in the contemporary photo, it would have been manufactured no later than 1905. If the numbering system aligns with date of manufacture, in fact it would have been manufactured in 1904.
For Gun No. 7, on the other hand, the barrel and breech ARE brass-colored. The rest of the gun is all another color. I would conclude originally sand-colored.
Gun No. 7 was manufactured in 1908 – too late to participate in the Nama Wars (the Nama Wars ended in March 1908, and no artillery accompanied the camel-mounted Expeditionskorps in that year). Whether earlier guns with brass barrels (e.g., Gun No. 4, 6, or 10) were used in the Nama Wars, I don’t know off the top of my head.
But Gun No. 7 was definitely deployed in WWI, as was Gun No. 4, 6, or 10.
So, I would suggest option (a) - paint the barrel and breech brass-colored, and everything else sand-colored – for maximum flexibility of use.
