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Post Info TOPIC: A SKODA mountain gun
sandy1000


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A SKODA mountain gun
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In a small military museum in the Upwey / Belgrave RSL (Returned Serviceman's  League) there is a WW1 SKODA mountain gun. This is a WW1 War Trophy gun that I originally thought had been allocated to the City of Wangaratta. It is a 75mm gun, s/n216 captured by the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba in the Middle East. The number on the breech says 216. However a researcher of the Royal Australian Artillery Assciation says that it is actually a 75mm gun no: 2161 captured by 5 Bn on 23 Aug 1918 and was allocated to the Queensland city of Dreeite. However Bill Billett's book "War Trophies"shows the Dreeite gun to be an Austrian gun.  Would the Czech firm SKODA be considered to be Austrian in WW1?  Or is it simply that it was captured from the Austrians? The researcher says that there is quite a story to this gun. Hopefully this can be obtained shortly. Dreerite is over 1000 miles from Upwey whereas Wangaratta is only about 150 miles away, so if it came from Dreeite something unusual happened.





The number on the breech appears to read 2161 but the number 1 could also be a scar and in fact it could really read 216.


-- Edited by sandy1000 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 04:13:48 AM

-- Edited by sandy1000 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 04:16:21 AM

-- Edited by sandy1000 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 04:25:09 AM

-- Edited by sandy1000 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 04:30:35 A


The wheels look new and a little flimsy and perhaps not of the correct size.



-- Edited by sandy1000 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 04:34:35 AM

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CharlieC


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Billett's book is very useful but does contain errors - I don't think he checked the locations thoroughly or relied on the original records too much. Dreeite is just North of Colac in Victoria, not Queensland, so it's quite possible for the gun to wind up in a museum in Victoria.

One of the Central Powers in WW1 was the Austro-Hungarian empire which stretched from the Balkans to Southern Poland - the Skoda works at Pilsen was most definitely part of this empire. There were a large number of Austro-Hungarian manufactured guns acquired by the Ottoman empire before and during WW1. Some of these guns were captured by Australian forces in the Middle East and later returned to Australia. Examples of these are the Rohrhinterwagen at Brisbane Boys Grammar (see earlier thread) or the 10cm howitzer at Oakey. Austrian guns were also captured on the Western Front by Australian forces.

Billett says the gun was captured by the 5th Battalion on 23 Aug 1918. This unit served at Gallipoli and the Western Front.


Regards,

Charlie

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Guns1418


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Hi Sandy1000 (Geoff ?)

These pictures are just great, and I didn't know that surviving gun !

Would you agree I post them on your behalf on my blog and wesite dedicated to WW1 surviving guns inventory ?

http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Canons/english_CanonsIndex_Nation.html

http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/

Thanks

Bernard

-- Edited by Guns1418 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 10:37:24 PM

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sandy1000


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Guns1418 wrote:

Hi Sandy1000 (Geoff ?)

These pictures are just great, and I didn't know that surviving gun !

Would you agree I post them on your behalf on my blog and wesite dedicated to WW1 surviving guns inventory ?

http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/Canons/english_CanonsIndex_Nation.html

http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com/

Thanks

Bernard

-- Edited by Guns1418 on Sunday 13th of December 2009 10:37:24 PM



Of course Bernard, do you want me to post the photos direct or can you extract them off this site?

I will directly send photos of other WW1 guns also.

Regards,

Geoff

 



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Guns1418


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Hi Geoff

the best would be you send me the pictures, in the highest resolution at webmaster@passioncompassion1418.com

Thanks !

Bernard

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vasek resin


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Hello I followed your link on the Skoda 75 mm mountain gun and entered the number 2161, I request to archive the company koda Plze and this is the answer'::::::::::: :::::::::: ::::::. in registry works, which is stored in our archive is under serial number 2161 indicated 75 mm deck gun, l/30 sent to Holland on 24.4 1914th This contract contains a serial number 2157-2168. According to this document were not for Turkey in the years 1913-1915 supplied to any 75 mm mountain guns. To Turkey in this period were only shipped 105 mm field howitzer in the period October-November 1914. To add further indicate that the production was going on No 261 is a 44 mm cannon for the Austrian Navy delivered in 1897. """"""" """""""" End of quote from the archive, I live in the Czech Republic, where the company still Skoda Works

Best regard vasek resin

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Jilek
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