A friend in Connecticut sent this photo he obtained from the Bundesarchiv, in Berlin. It appears to be a Skoda100 L.24 Model14(or perhaps a Model 14/19?) of Republican forces during the Battle of Guadalajara. The question coms to mind: where did these guns come from?
-- Edited by Brunner88 on Thursday 16th of February 2017 07:40:07 AM
Italy seized a large number of 10cm Feldhaubitze M.14 after WW1 - these served in the Italian Army until 1943.
The origin of the piece in the image was probably Italian.
Skoda made large numbers of a modified type with a longer barrel the vz.14/19 - these were used by Greece, Poland, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Italy.
Charlie
Of course: but Mussolini would not have sold weapons to the "Republicans"-on the other hand, the National Forces in Spain received such weapons. Perhaps this piece was captured from the Italians,-because the soldiers look like "Republicans", whatever else, the men of the Corpo Truppe Volontarie (C.t.V.)didn't look this sloppy,.But Alcofar Nassaes's book on the C.T.V., if memory serves me right, does not list any 100 mm Skodas among the weapons captured from the Italians at Guadalajara....
According to Spanish sources, two separate batteries of Skoda 100mm served in the Republican People’s Army during the war. The first one was composed of 4 L/24 consigned from Poland, unloaded at Alicante, on Feb 2nd 1937, from the Dutch steamer S.S. Sarkani. They were attached to the Army of the Centre and fought at Jarama (March 1937).
The other battery (International Battery A. Gramsci) was formed from three L17 guns captured from the Italians at Guadalajara, the fourth gun in the battery was blown up during the battle.