The Bofors 75 mm Model 1934 was a

mountain gun Mountain guns are artillery pieces designed for use in mountain warfare and areas where usual wheeled transport is not possible. They are generally capable of being taken apart to make smaller loads for transport by horses, humans, mules, tractor ...

produced in Sweden by Bofors and sold abroad widely. The Model 1934 was used by Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and China in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Germany bought a small number of guns (12) for evaluation and training before the war and designated them as the 7.5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 34. Belgian guns, known by them as the Canon de 75 mle 1934, captured by Germany were designated as 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone 228(b). The later model 1936 was purchased by Bulgaria.

Design

The Netherlands purchased a pack loadable version for their colonial-army in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, a region covered by thick forests and mountains. The pack loadable version could be broken down into eight mule loads or towed by a four horse team, with a further six mules to carry ammunition and other supplies. The Dutch guns were used briefly during the

Dutch East Indies campaign The Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–1942 was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Forces from the Allies attempted u ...

in 1941–42. Many of these went on to serve with the Imperial Japanese Army after the Dutch East Indies fell. These were used by the IJA until ammunition stocks were depleted. The model purchase by Belgium was not a pack gun and was equipped for towing by motor transport. The Belgian model had a one-piece box-trail that was hinged to fold upwards to reduce towing length and was equipped with steel disc wheels with rubber tires.Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II

Users

* * * * * * * * * * * * Canon-p1000760

References

Sources

* Chamberlain, Peter & Gander, Terry. ''Infantry, Mountain and Airborne Guns''. New York, Arco * 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 * Bishop, Chris, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II''. New York, Barnes and Noble, 1998 Artillery of Sweden Bofors World War II mountain artillery 75 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1930s {{Germany-WWII-stub