PAK-36 Gun Deventer

This German gun of the type PAK-36 is set up at the Deventer Bridge in memory of the liberation of Deventer by the Canadians in 1945.

The German PAK-36, which is set up near the bridge in Deventer, has stood on the forecourt of the Boreel barracks for years. On the flyleaf are emblems of units (including II Canadian Corps and 2nd Canadian Infantry Division) and there are texts that suggest that these are feats of arms that were recorded along the route from Normandy to the Netherlands. There is speculation about the history of the cannon. It could just be that this captured cannon was dragged along the route as a trophy and eventually left behind in Deventer or handed over to the local authorities. But it is also possible that this cannon was captured in Deventer itself and provided with all additions there.

Together with a number of colleagues, the exhibitor Wim Rietkerk renovated the entire gun around 1982 and personally restored the emblems and left them exactly as they looked at the time. Even the mechanism was revived. Unfortunately, the condition of the cannon is no longer as it was at the time.

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Source

• Text: Kaj Metz & Wim Rietkerk
• Photos: Dick de Bruijne