283mm Krupp K5(E) Eisenbahngeschütz

The 283mm Krupp K5(E) Eisenbahngeschütz – railway gun – is generally considered the most formidable and effective example of railway artillery in WWII.

First developed in 1934, twenty-five of these heavy artillery pieces were eventually fielded in France, Russia, the Netherlands and Italy. Enormously powerful, they fired shells weighing 550lbs out to a range of 53 miles (with certain ammunition types,) and were used to great effect against the heaviest fortifications and defensive strongholds.

Reaching 71 feet long, the barrel itself weighed 93 tons and was suspended between two purpose built railcars. The entire carriage weighed over 215 tons, and could be aimed only by turntable, or by advancing around a curved piece of track until correctly oriented in the direction of its target.

The K5(E) was most infamously used against Western Allied forces during the invasion of Italy at Anzio. Two of these massive cannons named ‘Leopold’ and ‘Robert,’ from Eisenbahnbatterie 712, were positioned north of the beachhead, where, from February 1944, they shelled Allied forces relentlessly. The guns earned the nicknames ‘Anzio Annie,’ and, ‘Anzio Express,’ from exasperated soldiers stuck on the beach, who compared the sound of their shells passing overhead to express trains roaring by.

By mid-May, after firing 523 rounds and with all available ammunition expended, the guns were evacuated to the rail yard at Civitavecchia; however, when it became clear they would have to be left behind, their crews sabotaged them to prevent them from falling into Allied hands. The US captured both guns on June 7, 1944. Leopold was shipped back to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in the US for evaluation, and is displayed at Fort Lee in VA today, while a second captured example (also confusingly labeled as Leopold) stands outside the Batterie Todt museum in Normandy.

This is a model of a German railway gun suitable for wargaming in 15mm scale. It has been designed to be printable on any standard FDM printer, such as the Ender 3. For rails, it is compatible with TT-scale 12mm gauge track, which is the same dimensions used by Battlefront Games’ railway scenery. Derivation from any real-world prototype has been done for ease of printing or durability in handling for tabletop wargaming.