Kennebunk War Memorial

I have driven past the Kennebunk war museum for about 3 years now. Never stopping, always noticing the vanilla colored gun and wondering what its there for. I have been to many war memorials. In France their memorials are celebrated even if there were only 3 men who had gone off and served. I have always wanted to stop and visit this memorial to see all that the people of Kennebunk gave to the National cause. So I did I read he names from the Civil War, and both The Great war, and looked at the statue of a civil war soldier and the German 150mm sFH13 Lang Howitzer placed a little to the side. You begin to wonder why there is a German Artillery Piece instead of an American or a reconstruction of one. Well that’s where I started with my research. I went looking and found a story from a sight called Old News From Southern Maine. The stories title says it all “A German Howitzer quietly pleads for peace in Kennebunk” It turns out that it was… “A June 7, 1924 Act of Congress provided for the distribution of captured enemy artillery as war memorials for American cities and towns. Maine was allotted its share of German WWI field guns and the Harold A. Webber American Legion Post was the first to apply for one. The request was passed over even though Kennebunk had sent more men into the World War per capita then any other town in Maine.” Kennebunk kept on fighting to receive the piece. After Years of letters to The War Department Agreed, the gun was delivered in early August 1928. The gun, which had survived the war receiving only minor damage, then survived the Second World War. The Piece was set to be contributed to the scrap drives however it was saved by the fact that the Biddeford junk man did not have an “acetylene torch hot enough to cut the cannon into pieces for smelting.” It was put into storage and then finally in 1977 it was donated to the Kennebunk War Memorial where it has remained ever since.

If you ever want to stop by and visit the memorial is located on Fletcher St. Kennebunk Maine and is open all year round.


New Story: http://www.someoldnews.com/?p=1030
Pic 1 http://www.someoldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Kennebunk-Howitzer-400.JPG
Pic 2 http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/332019077_2e8b698eb8.jpg