War Trophies
 

The presentation of German guns to Amble and their eventual end in the quarry has been discussed before on the forum. The Council had a lively debate in 1919 when a gun was offered. By October the Council had already agreed to accept a war trophy but at their 28 October meeting a letter from the War Office was received which specifically said they would be given a German gun.
Mr Tulley didn't want any German rubbish; Mr MacAndrews said they'd already agreed and that 5 million men had been sent to capture Germans and their guns and historically a great price had always been placed on war trophies; Mr Sanderson didn't want to see anything in Amble that had caused the deaths of hundreds of men; Mr Earnshaw thought it would be a valuable monument to teach children the difference between right and wrong.
Mr Dixon, a new council member who had fought in France said he wouldn't vote for anything German and having been in close touch with these guns they always gave him a feeling of hatred for anything German.
The Council eventually confirmed they would accept the gun.
The people of Amble made their feelings plain and dumped them in the quarry.

The fate of the two German guns is reported in the Morpeth Herald of 1 October 1920.....dumped in the quarry on 15 September:

"The clerk read a letter from the inspector of police at Amble, with reference to the German guns, reporting their removal on the night of the 15th inst. About 9 pm a number of men proceeded to Newburgh Street, and there took from its position one gun that had been placed there. After attaching ropes to the gun, and drawn it down Panhaven Road to the Quarry, accompanied by a crowd estimated at about 300, composed of men and women (young and old), girls, youths and children. He (Inspector Spratt) got the gun stopped at the end of Panhaven Road, and asked if they were adopting the best means in having the guns removed from the town. He was answered with shouts of "Yes" and informed by one man, that "That was the gun that blew my leg off."...The gun was tipped into the water of the Quarry. The crowd then proceeded to the Wynd, and on the way up was continually increased. After some difficulty the gun was removed from its position, and drawn down the street accompanied by cheers. It was also tipped into the Quarry. No action was taken by the police.....He might state that the removal of the guns seemed to well suit the entire approval of the crowd, as there had been, to his knowledge, a great amount of feeling against them being there. Apart from the illegal action in removing the guns he must say the crowd was orderly and showed no sign of any desire to injure any private property. The presence of the police was tolerated with a great amount of good humour......"

war trophies
 

I have heard of the gun at the wynd,but never the one at newburgh street.
I wonder where it was positioned?

I was surprised when I read it, I'd always thought both guns were on the Wynd.

Shall I ask for the loan of a JCB on saturday Janwhin?

Great, are we going to dig up the paddling pool :D

Would be more towards bottom of Gordon Street ! I saw a post card pic of the Wynd one one time !!!!
deepest part of quarry when I was kid was corner of wall and rocket hill masses of barbed wire there .
The gun on Newbrough Street Was near the large house where new houses are now (Willie Wade Built) between end of Leases Street and Co op. I seem to remember mrs Thirtle telling me one time , she also told me of seeing a Zeppelin , that could be the one mentioned somewhere recently as seen over Coquet Island I have a 1915 original booklet of pics of the Damage done to the North East coastal towns by the Zeppelin raids ,(their Northeast , Scarborough Redcar Whitby !!!!) but very interesting though

It would make a great TV programme, 'Recovering the Guns' especially with the WW1 Centenary. Someone email the BBC quick!. Could they be identified with some of the modern ground penetrating radar? could you get past the bedsteads, chicken wire and corrugated iron?? :D

(if they find my old pram I want it back)

Here's the alleged Wynd gun. Is that the Wynd? don't think so. Yes it is, silly me.

One of these I think.

Looks like they were dishing them out to everyone as war trophies. The Ossies kept theirs:

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/german...45/#post393214

That looks as if on the area in front of houses on left hand side of wind the road behind west road,leading to cemetery The sapling next to it could be existing tree , I understand that that tree mature now of course, is only tree in Amble with a preservation order on it , so may have been planted same time as gun placed there as a living memorial???

You're right. seat and mature tree there now. I bet that is the same tree.

Talking to someone re these guns . was told the Warkworth gun was also put in the Quarry ,

Haven't found anything so far about the Warkworth guns but there is a reference in the newspapers to Alnmouth.

Morpeth Herald, 10 September 1920:

"The German howitzers recently accepted by the Alnmouth Parish Council as war trophies and which were to have been fixed shortly upon a cement base in the village, were removed with great enthusiasm last Friday night by the "lads of the village." One of the guns now lies on the Howle Kilne, one on the foreshore near the rocks, and another smaller gun has been run into the Aln."

In the book "Memories of Shilbottle" [Shilbottle Village Forum: Claire and Peter Brown, Sheelagh Hume and Elisabeth Haddow - Joint editors] it states for 1918:

"...The council wished to acquire a German trophy for Shilbottle. It was agreed that a captured German gun, if possible, one captured by the 'Northumberlands' would serve as a memento of the Great War". The book then shows an old postcard of "The Cannon" but this is an ancient muzzle loading cannon (with a goat next to it - don't ask me!) more familiar to castle battlements or 18c warship wrecks. The card shows the cannon* within sight of the church tower. Anyway, it's not a German field gun or howitzer that's for sure. So did Shilbottle get a WW1 gun? If they did that would make 7 we know about in the local vicinity?


[ *Must be an interesting story attached to ye olde Shilbottle cannon?]


edit: knew the photo was on-line somewhere

A photo of Amble Wynd Gun which appeared on fb tonight

September 20th 1920 Shields Daily news reported the Warkworth gun was taken to the quarry at Amble on a dark, wet night and dumped with the two Amble guns!!

I think we should get a lottery grant to get the experts in with ground penetrating radar to find them and dig them back up.

Any old bottles uncovered on the way are mine though. :D