Ferenc Gebauer (25 June 1888–1958) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

-born Hungarian

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

designer and

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life and career

Gebauer was born as Franz Gebauer on 25 June 1888 in Velké Heraltice , (Groß Herrlitz in German) in

Austria-Hungary 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 ...

to Wawra Józefa. From 1901 to 1911 he worked as a plant manager for a car factory in Germany, then went to work for the Puch motorcycle factory in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

from 1911 to 1914. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the Austro-Hungarian Air Force (KuK Luftfahrtruppen) as a car courier officer of the army headquarters (August 21, 1914 to March 1915), a field pilot on the Italian front from May 25, 1916 to September 3, 1917, a factory pilot at the Aspern Phönix Flugzeugwerke aircraft factory from September 3, 1917 to September 1918 and finally served as a gunsmith at the Fischamend Air Base in 1918 until the war ended. In 1920 he worked, in an unofficial capacity, for the Technical Experimental Weapon Division of the

Royal Hungarian Honvéd The Royal Hungarian ( hu, Magyar Királyi Honvédség) or Royal Hungarian (german: königlich ungarische Landwehr), commonly known as the (; collectively, the ), was one of the four armed forces (german: Bewaffnete Macht, links=no or ) of ...

, tasked with developing weapons in secret from the Allied forces. In 1924, Gebauer went to work for

Danuvia Danuvia, known fully as Danuvia Engineering Industries Rt. ( Hungarian: ''Danuvia Gépgyár'', lit. ''Danuvia Machinery Factory''), was a Hungarian manufacturer founded in 1920 that produced firearms, munitions, machine tools and motorcycles fo ...

until 1936. He became a citizen of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and changed his name from the German Franz to the Hungarian Ferenc on February 17, 1930. He worked for the József Nádor University of Technology and Economics (now Budapest University of Technology and Economics) starting in 1939, but was forced to flee from

during the German occupation of Hungary. In March 1944, with the invasion of Hungary by the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, Gebauer fled to Sweden to work for Bofors, where he worked as the chief designer of the Bofors arms factory until his death in 1958. He was awarded the following medals during his lifetime: * Knight's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit * Hungarian Crown Bronze Medal on an emerald green ribbon * Silver Medal of Valor, First Class * Silver Valor Medal, Second Class (Awarded twice) * Károly Team Cross * Camp Pilot Badge * Knight's Cross of the Order of the Italian Crown

Firearms design

Noting that the model 07/12

Schwarzlose machine gun The Maschinengewehr (Schwarzlose) M. 7, also known as the Schwarzlose MG, is a medium machine-gun, used as a standard issue firearm in the Austro-Hungarian Army throughout World War I. It was utilized by the Dutch, Greek and Hungarian armies duri ...

was prone to freezing up in the higher altitudes above the Italian Alps, Gebauer decided that the current practice of adapting standard infantry machine guns was outmoded, as the propeller synchronization only controlled the timing, and not the operation, of these weapons. He decided that an aircraft machine gun needed to fire based on the propeller shaft so it was not dependent upon gas-operation. Colonel Uzelac of the K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen – Fliegerarsenal ( Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops) was impressed by the inventor's ideas and pushed through plans for three prototypes to be created over four months. Trials started in 1917, and in June 1918 the test pilots gave favorable results to the third prototype. This resulted in the creation of the Gebauer Machine Gun 1918.M (GMP 1918.M), of which 100 (later 500) were ordered from the Öfam-Sollux Company. While the 1918.M was developed too late for practical use in World War I, was tested on various types of aircraft, including the Albatros D.III,

Halberstadt D.II The Halberstadt D.II was a biplane fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by German aircraft company Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke. It was adopted by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Army Air Service) and served through the period ...

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

, and WKF D.I. The 1918.M led to further designs and refinement, eventually culminating in the Gebauer GKM Machine Gun 1940.M. Gebauer held 20 firearm patents, some in his name and others with Danuvia.

Notable weapons

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebauer, Ferenc 1888 births 1958 deaths Gunsmiths People from Opava District