Historical information

The Germans bought some guns during World War I, but used them as infantry guns in direct support of the infantry where their light weight would allow them to move with the infantry. They complained that the guns were too fragile and didn't have a high enough muzzle velocity to act as an anti-tank gun. Considering that the guns were designed to be disassembled it's not too surprising that they couldn't stand the abuse moving through the shell-pocketed front lines on the Western Front.

Significance

This particular Gun was captured by Australian Soldiers at the Battle of ST Martins Wood near Ypres in the 3rd Battle for the Somme. The German crew were all killed as were a number of Australians

Physical description

The Skoda 7.5 cm Gebirgskanone M. 15 was a mountain gun used by Austria-Hungary in World War I. In German service it was known as the 7.5 cm GebK 15.

Its development was quite prolonged as the Austrians couldn't decide on the specifications that they wanted. Initially they wanted a gun that could be broken-down into no more than 5 pack-animal loads to replace the various 7 cm mountain guns in service, but prolonged trials proved that the 7.5 cm M. 12 prototype to be the best gun. The guns were delivered beginning in April 1915 instead of the planned date of April 1914. For transport, the gun could be dismantled into 6 parts, generally carried in 4 loads. In addition, there was a gun shield fitted on some (perhaps many) such guns.