The M-19 Maschinengranatwerfer is a German 50 mm
mortar which was used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The mortar was developed in 1934 for the purpose of defending permanent military bases. It had a maximum
rate of fire
Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...
of 120 rounds per minute and a range of 750 metres.
Design
Created by
Rheinmetall-Borsig
Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...
, it is a very heavy and complicated weapon system, with its barrel and base alone weighing 220 kg.
This automatic 5 cm mortar could fire a maximum of 120 bombs a minute, and was electrically operated with manual backup. The firing rate of 120 bombs/minute was seldom used as it caused much stress and wear on the construction. It was loaded with clips of six bombs by two crew members. Several other crew members prepared the clips. One gunner aimed and fired the weapon.
It is unknown how many units were built, but it is estimated that the number could hardly have been much more than 150. Some mounted in the West Wall (Westwall) in Germany were removed and positioned on the Atlantic Wall.
The idea was that the M19 mortar would be used in conjunction with
machine guns, especially those mounted in
armoured domes. The mortar was to fire into "dead zone" or "blind zone" areas that were out of range and direct sighting for the machine guns, such as low spots in the terrain and the far sides of hills and ridges. In this way enemy soldiers seeking cover from direct fire would be flushed out into the open, so that the machine guns could engage them. The 5 cm projectiles possessed small amount of high-explosive filler and generated only a small number of fragments. It required a significant number of rounds to have effect on troops in prone positions and seeking cover.
R-633 bunker
The R-633 bunker was designed to protect the M19.
Fewer than 100 R-633 were built.
[ Where possible the entire construction was to be buried underground, leaving just the flat armoured opening on the roof to fire through. Access to the bunker was by way of a trench.
The automatic feeder for the mortar required a ]three-phase
Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...
electricity supply to power the lift, otherwise ammunition had to be passed up. Earlier versions were manually fed using a flywheel. The bunker held 3,944 mortar rounds. A 24 V battery system provided lighting. Bulbs illuminated to show the rate of fire, 40, 60, 80 or 120 round per minute.
Each R-633 was built to the standard B strength, with 2 m thick walls and roof. If, as was standard, it was to be completely buried, 1,900 m3 had to be excavated. Each bunker required 845 m3 of concrete, 40 tonnes of steel rebar and 6.3 tonnes of other steel items.[ The weapon was installed in an armoured dome weighing 39 tonnes.
Two armoured turrets were designed:]
* 34P8 ''Panzerturm für 5cm M19 Maschinengranatwerfer mit Schachtring'' B strength designed in 1935
* 49P8 ''Panzerturm für 5cm M19 Maschinengranatwerfer'' was A-1 strength designed in 1935
''(The 34 and 49 refer to the type of design, the P stands for Panzer or armoured, the 8 is the sum of the last 2 digits of the year (3+5=8))''
The R-633 had a crew of 14 men, half working with the mortar, the remainder providing local defence.[ A video of an exploration of an automatic mortar bunker can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1mIVX2XOTk This is a relatively pristine example with the mortar itself in place along with the dome.
]
M-19 locations
* Alderney
Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide.
The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...
- 2
** Bonne Terre Valley (Widerstandsnest Mullerhof)
** Longis Bay (Stützpunkt Steinbruch)
* Belgium
** Harbour of Oostende - 2[
* Denmark - 20
** Stütspunkt Agger-Dorf (Mortar No 135 is on display at Hanstholm fortress)
** Stütspunktgruppe Blaavand, Esbjerg
* France - 48][
** Saint-Nazaire submarine base (not in R633)
** North of Utah Beach][
** Oye-Plage][
** Wn Lo25 Le Locmiquel, west of Lorient
** Ra230 Fort de la Cite d'Aleth, ]Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany.
The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...
* Germany - 32
** B-Werke of the Westwall
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defense_line, defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the bor ...
- 32
* Guernsey
Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...
- 4
** Chouet (Stützpunkt Krahennest)
** Fort Hommet
Fort Hommet (or Fort Houmet) is a fortification on Vazon Bay headland (or '' houmet'' in Guernésiais) in Castel, Guernsey. It is built on the site of fortifications that date back to 1680, and consists of a Martello tower from 1804, later addi ...
(Stützpunkt Rotenstein)
** Fort Saumarez (Stützpunkt Langenberg)
** Grandes Rocques Stützpunkt Großfels
* Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
- 1
** La Corbière (open to the public)
* Netherlands
** Breskens
** Kernwerk fortress (Forteiland) - 2
* Norway
** Kristiansand S - 2
** Fjell - 3[
** U-boot Bunker BRUNO, Bergen (installation on UBB never finished) - 1][
** Ørland - 1
** Storfosna - 1
** Kristiansund N - 2
** Bodø - 1
** Kirkenes - 1 (maybe 2)
* Poland
** Ostwall defence line
** Festung Oder warthe Bogen, ]Międzyrzecz
Międzyrzecz (; , , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Obra (river), Obra and Paklica river, with 17,667 inhabitants (2020). The capital of Gmina Międzyrzecz and Międzyrzecz County. Since the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998, it ha ...
with 49P8 turret with a 438P01 turret for observation - 2
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Museums Center Hanstholm
M19 museum Jersey
World War II mortars of Germany
50 mm artillery