The 8 cm kanon vz. 30 (Cannon model 30) was a Czech
field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...
used in
World War II. Guns captured after the German invasion of
Czechoslovakia in March 1939 were taken into
Wehrmacht service as the 8 cm FK 30(t). It was used by a variety of German units during World War II, including I./SS-Artillerie-Abteilung 3 between 1939 and 1940.
[Niehorster, Leo W. G. ''German World War II Organizational Series, Vol. 2/II: Mechanized GHQ units and Waffen-SS Formations (10 May 1940)'', 1990]
Design & history
The origins of the 8 cm kanon vz. 30 began in 1930 at the
Å koda Works in
Pilsen. It was modified from an earlier Skoda design, the
8 cm kanon vz. 28
The 8 cm kanon vz. 28 (Cannon model 1928) was a Czech field gun used during World War II.
Design & history
The origins of the 8 cm kanon vz. 28 began in 1928 at the Å koda Works in Pilsen. The design attempted to combine the field gun ...
, which attempted to combine the field, mountain and anti-aircraft roles into one weapon. It proved to be fairly successful at the first two, but was a failure at the third. The Czechs only used the vz. 28 in limited numbers, but exported versions of the gun to Yugoslavia and Romania.
The Czechs decided to adopt the vz. 30 to replace their plethora of aged
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
field guns. They deleted the firing platform of the original design and used standard Czech 76.5 mm ammunition. It shared the same carriage that could break down into three pieces for transport a feature also shared by the earlier
10 cm houfnice vz. 28
The 10 cm houfnice vz. 28 (howitzer model 28) was a Czech howitzer used in limited numbers by the Yugoslav Army during World War II. The Yugoslavians ordered twenty houfnice vz. 28 guns which they referred to as the 100 mm M.28. Guns ...
and the later
10 cm houfnice vz. 30 guns.
References
* Engelmann, Joachim and Scheibert, Horst. ''Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945: Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern: Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, Einsatz''. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1974
* Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. ''Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945''. New York: Doubleday, 1979
* Peter Chamberlain and Terry Gander: Light and Medium field Artillery. New York. Arco Publishing. 1977.
Notes
External links
page on the two Czech vz. 30 weapons
World War II artillery of Germany
World War II field artillery
Artillery of Czechoslovakia
76 mm artillery
Military equipment introduced in the 1930s
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