Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a device that was supposed to clear the opposing side from attacking through no man’s land. This is the Bing Brothers Granatenwerfer 16 Spiget Mortar. This 60mm mortar was produced to replace an earlier Granatenwerfer 15 design that was a bit more complicated and expensive. The new Granatenwerfer 16 was simple to use, simply made, and cheap. It was different from other mortars of the day and others that would come in that it used the spigot mechanism rather than a tube with a fixed firing pin at the bottom. These would be loaded onto the spigot and the “warhead” for lack of a better term would be primed. After this, the user would pull a cord that would set off a 7mm blank, sending the mortar on its way.
“Manufactured by Gebruder Bing, a firm known for it’s wartime production of Artillery Luger drum magazines, and it’s pre-war business of making model trains. One inert round (no filler, no propellant charge) is included. Mechanically good, exterior fair.”
Lot 4990: Bing Brothers Granatenwerfer 16 Spigot Mortar, with Inert Round – Bing Brothers Granatenwerfer 16 Spigot Mortar with One Inert Round. (n.d.). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1032/4990/bing-brothers-granatenwerfer-16-spigot-mortar-with-inert-round.
