The Škoda 10 cm vz. 38 was a light howitzer deployed in single gun defensive

casemates A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...

in the

Czechoslovak border fortifications First Republic of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovakia built a system of border fortifications as well as some fortified defensive lines inland, from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. The objective of ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

The Škoda 10 cm vz. 38 was developed and built by

Škoda Works The Škoda Works (, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century. In 1859, Czech engineer Emil Škoda bought a foundry and machine factory in Plzeň, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary that had been established ten ye ...

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

. Development of the howitzer began in March 1935 after an order was placed by the Czechoslovak Department of National Defense. The design was based on an existing field howitzer the 10 cm vz. 30. The howitzer was put into production during 1938 and fifteen were completed but never deployed to the Czechoslovak border fortifications. After occupation Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, the howitzers were seized and allegedly used by the German Army. After World War II all fifteen howitzers were scrapped. Today two wood and metal mock ups of the howitzers are housed in the museum of artillery at Dobrošov fort near

Náchod Náchod (; ) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and i ...

. The mock ups were acquired in 1973 from the museum of artillery at Hanička fort and used as props in the filming of ''

Days of Betrayal ''Days of Betrayal'' () is a 1973 Czechoslovakian drama film directed by Otakar Vávra. The film was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Diploma. It was also selected as the Czechoslovakian entry for the Best ...

'' by director

Otakar Vávra Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. Biography and career Vávra attended universities in Brno and Prague, where he studied architecture. During 1929–30, while still a stud ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 10 cm vz. 38 Howitzers Artillery of Czechoslovakia 100 mm artillery