Chinese soldiers with field artillery (Siderius 47/75 cannon), Shanghai, 1937

Chinese soldiers with field artillery (Siderius 47/75 cannon), Shanghai, 1937

Notes

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: JM-s34. The cannons are Siderius 47/75 campaign pieces, developed in the mid-1920s and manufactured by the Dutch firm HIH Siderius. This hybrid design was conceived for armies with ‘tight’ budgets: the piece had a unique breech mechanism, to which two types of barrels could be screwed: one 47mm, for medium speed projectiles (for example, for anti-tank use); and another 75mm, low-speed, for infantry tracking (to fire HE and fragmentation grenades). This cannon was a two-in-one, with too many compromises, and unable to replace anti-car and campaign parts of quality. In this photograph, we can see the 75mm version (likely during exercises). The part could be disassembled into four sub-assemblies, it was transportable by horse or mule (which was an advantage for the sparsely motorised Chinese army of the time). It is possible that this photograph predates the start of the Battle of Shanghai.

Caption on photograph

43 / Chinese Guns in Action

Location

Shanghai

Estimated Date

August-November 1937

Material

Paper

Media

Black and white photograph

Repository

University of Bristol Library, Special Collections

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