Original German WWII FlaK 88 Inert Projectile Converted to Drinking Decanter – Antigiftgasgranate Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This round is totally inert and was converted to store a clear glass bottle (photo of the glass bottle would not come out with a white background) with cork and four shot glasses in the base. Two shot glasses are missing. The top of the projectile reads:

Antigiftgasgranate (Anti poison gas grenade)

The lower reverse side reads:

Zur
Erinnerung
an die gemeinsame Kampfzeit
im S. A. IX
1940/42

(To the memory of the time of common fight in S. A. IX 1940/42)

This round is offered in excellent condition, complete with glass bottle and two shot glasses. The projectile is approximately 16″ tall and 3.25″ diameter at the base. The base is removable so one can easily remove the glasses and bottle (with original cork!).

The 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 is a German 88 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. It was widely used by Germany throughout the war, and was one of the most recognized German weapons of that conflict. Development of the original model led to a wide variety of guns.

The name FlaK 88 applies to a series of related guns, the first one officially called the 8.8 cm Flak 18, the improved 8.8 cm Flak 36, and later the 8.8 cm Flak 37. Flak is a contraction of German Flugzeugabwehrkanone meaning “aircraft-defense cannon”, the original purpose of the weapon. In English, “flak” became a generic term for ground anti-aircraft fire. In informal use, the guns were universally known as the Acht-acht (“eight-eight”) by Germans and the “eighty-eight” by the Allies.

The versatile carriage allowed the 8.8 cm FlaK to be fired in a limited anti-tank mode when still on its wheels; it could be completely emplaced in only two and a half minutes. Its successful use as an improvised anti-tank gun led to the development of a tank gun based upon it: the 8.8 cm KwK 36, with the “KwK” abbreviation standing for Kampfwagen-Kanone (literally “battle vehicle cannon”, or “fighting vehicle cannon”), meant to be placed in a gun turret as the tank’s primary armament. This gun served as the main armament of the Tiger I heavy tank.

In addition to these Krupp designs, Rheinmetall later created a more powerful anti-aircraft gun, the 8.8 cm Flak 41, which was produced in relatively small numbers. Krupp responded with another prototype of the long-barreled 8.8 cm gun, which was further developed into the anti-tank and tank destroyer 8.8 cm PaK 43 gun used for the Elefant and Jagdpanther, and turret-mounted 8.8 cm KwK 43 heavy tank gun of the Tiger II.