10.5cm SMS Königsberg Gun at the Imperial War Museum in London, England 1924
Photo © Imperial War Museum

Credits and Sources for the Information on this Website

The first credit must go to Holger Kotthaus, who did much of the background research for this project in German sources and often offered his helpful advice. This website would not have been possible without his work.

Many other people from all around the world also helped with bits of information, photographs or clues. These clues which may have seemed small at the time each contributed to the overall work. Thank you to:

Johan Bakkes,
Chris Boonzaier (of Kaiser's Cross),
Jean-Luc Ernst (of Stanleyville.be),
Per Finsted,
Bob William Green (the Grandson of Able Seaman WT Clegg of the HMS Vengeance)
Monika Hammond
Sarah Henning (Archivist at the Imperial War Museum, London)
Dominic Hoole
Mark E Horan
MC Heunis (of the Pretoria Gun Restoration Team),
Dietrich Köster,
Ralph Lovett (of Lovett Artillery),
Judy Middleton (of the Hove History Blogspot),
Phil Nix
Mirko Oelschlaegel
Kevin Patience (of the Mombasa Gun Restoration team and author of "Königsberg- A German East Africa Raider"),
Frank du Plessis,
Joe Robinson,
Arne Schöfert (of Traditionsverband),
David Smith (of the Brighton Metal Detector Society),
Albert Whitwell (formerly of the 4th KAR based in Uganda),
Johan Wolfaardt,
Vincent Wratten
...and the many helpful members of the Axis History Forum Discussion on the SMS Königsberg Guns and the Panzer Archiv Forum Discussion on the SMS Königsberg Guns in German

English Language Printed Sources
Patience K. Königsberg. A German East Africa Raider. Published by the Author. 2001

Brown J. A. They Fought for King and Kaiser - South Africans in German East Africa 1916, Ashanti Publishers, Pretoria, 1991

Hall D. D. German Guns of World War I in South Africa, S A Military History Journal, Vol. 3 No. 2, December 1974

Hoyt E. P. The Germans Who Never Lost, Leslie Frewin, London, 1969

Keble-Chatterton The Konigsberg Adventure. Hurst & Blackett. 1930

Miller C. Battle for the Bundu. MacDonald, 1974

Patience K. Zanzibar and the loss of H.M.S. Pegasus. Published by the Author. 1995

Patience K. Shipwrecks and Salvage on the East African Coast. Published by the Author. 2006

"The First World War in Africa" by Hew Strachan, Oxford University Press 2004

"C Smuts and JL van Deventer: South African Commanders-in-Chief of a British Expeditionary Force' by Ross Anderson, South African Journal of Military Studies 2003

"Army Diary 1899–1926" by Richard Meinertzhagen, Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1960

"The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud" by Brian Garfield, Potomac Books, Washington DC 2007

"Navy Everywhere" by Conrad Gato, EP Dutton & Co., New York 1919

"Blockade and Jungle" by Nis Kock, edited by Christen P Christensen, Battery Press 2003

"A Machine Gunner’s Odyssey Trough German East Africa: January 1916- February 1917"  by ES Thompson, South African Military History Journal

"With the Nigerians in German East Africa" by WD Downes, Meuthen, London 1919

Map from 'A Short History of the Great War' by AF Pollard, Methuen & Co, London 1920

German Language Printed Sources
"Die Operationen in Ostafrika im Weltkrieg 1914-1918" by Ludwig Boell, Verlag Walter Dachert, Hamburg 1951

"Kumbuke, Kriegserlebnisse eines Arztes" by August Hauer, Deutsch-Literarisches Institut J Schneider, Berlin-Tempelhof 1935

"Mit Lettow-Vorbeck durch Afrika" by Dr. Ludwig Deppe, August Scherl Verlag, Berlin 1919

"Meine Erinnerungen aus Ostafrika" by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, KF Koehler Verlag, Leipzig 1920

"Erlebnisse eines Matrosen auf dem Kreuzer Königsberg sowie im Feldzug 1914-18 in DOA" by Rudolf Viehweg self published with Buchhandel Krüger & Co, Leipzig 1933

"Kriegserinnerungen aus DOA 1914-1917" by Hermann J Müller, Privately Published

"Geraubtes Land" by Werner Schönfeld, Alster-Verlag, Hamburg 1927

"Lebensbericht 5. Die Schiffsgeschütze als Artillerie der Kaiserlichen Schutztruppe" by Hans Apel, unpublished personal memoirs

"Vierzig Jahre Afrika 1900-40" by Carl Jungblut, Spiegel Verlag Paul Lippa, Berlin-Friedennau 1941

"In Monsun und Pori Safari" by Richard Wenig, Verlag, Berlin 1922

"Kriegssafari , Erlebnisse und Eindrücke auf den Zügen Lettow-Vorbecks durch das östliche Afrika" by Richard Wenig, Verlag Scherl, Berlin 1929

"Fahrt nach Ostafrika" by Knud Knudsen, Otto Lenz, Leipzig 1918

Web-Forums
There are two forums where these guns have been discussed extensively with many photographs-

Web-Links
Essay on the Königsberg on the South African Military History Website by Pierre du Toit 2013
Traditionsverband Article on the SMS Königsberg and her Guns by Bernhard Buchholz
Article on the Königsberg Incident at Richthofen.com
Navy Weapons website at Navweaps.com
Lovett Artillery
Many of the German East African Campaign articles on the excellent Kaiser's Cross website
Place du Canon at Stanleyville.be
Article on the Bagamoyo Gun on the Hove History Blogspot by Judy Middleton
Information on the Königsberg Wreck at Richthofen.com

We have used Wikipedia (both English and German) to find basic facts and background information. This information has been cross referenced for accuracy elsewhere when possible. WikiCommons and WikiMedia have likewise proved to be very helpful sources of images,

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