38 cm SK L/45 naval gun Spanner : German

Steel spanner with straight handle and single spanner head. Hand painted in faded white on one side of the spanner is 'PRESENTED BY TASMANIAN SECTION 5TH AUST. FIELD. AMB. TO A.W.M.'
Stamped into the opposite side of the spanner is 'D. 220. Befestigungsschrauben und Verbindungsmuttern (Mounting screws, nuts and washers) / der Bremskolbender Wiege (the brake piston cradle)/ 38cm Brh. L.5/1913'

This spanner was part of the equipment of a 38 centimetre naval gun captured by 3 Battalion, AIF at Arcy Wood near the village of Chuignes on 23 August 1918. The gun had been used to shell Amiens, but to prevent it being used against them in their retreat the Germans destroyed the barrel before withdrawing from the area. Guns such as this were equipped with a large number of stores and equipment for adjustment, disassembly and repair.

When the gun was captured it was found that a heavy charge had burst the chamber and torn off the projecting muzzle end, which lay with its nose buried in the mud. The carriage was completely shattered and debris of the explosion scattered over the surrounding acres.

Too big to be readily moved, the gun was picked over for souvenirs. Eventually the Chuignes gun, as it became known, was decalared an Australian memorial. The whole site was finally cleared by the Germans for scrap during the Second World War.