Quote:
Originally Posted by Pibwl
As for captured Italian guns, they might have been 100/17 howitzers, which seem popular at that time in North Africa.
To finish with 1939 armoured cars:
569 Wz.29 Ursus - they were built and given to the Army in 7/31 (now 1/30).
Speed could be 12 (35 km/h - now 11) - same for units 574, 671.
Armament of all wz.29 cars should be IMO reduced to gun and one TMG only.
The car officially had three MGs in the beginning, but a BMG was rear-facing, what made it useful in peculiar combat situations only.
Michal
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The 100/17 was the standard divisional howitzer of the
Regio Esercito since the 1920's. The Italians received a very large number of them as war reparations from former Austro-Hungarian countries and some were captured already during the war. They also made spare parts (including barrels) for them and during WW2 a number were possibly upgraded to longer L/22 barrel (at least ex-Polish 100/22 were used, but the information on the upgrade is inconclusive). So, it was common pretty much everywhere the Italians fought, so indeed it is quite likely that many were captured in North Africa by Allies.
The 100/17 was a little short-ranged by WW2 standards, but otherwise had good qualities (like most Skoda designs, one might add) and was well-liked by Italian artillerymen. The Italians liked the piece so much that it was upgraded twice after WW2, the second time in 1961 with a 105mm L/22 barrel capable of firing standard NATO ammunition. They were scrapped only after the end of the cold war. It must have been one of the longest lasting if not THE longest lasting WW1 artillery pieces anywhere.
Sorry about getting a little carried away; about the rear facing MGs of the wz. 29: such weapons were very common in the 1920s and 1930s armored cars. The rationale seems to have been that armored cars were likely to run into ambushes while reconnoitering and would be required to fight their way out with enemies on all sides. The rear driving positions, often with additional driver, were based on the same doctrine as well. Turning the cars around on narrow dirt roads was often impossible and going cross-country difficult with a 4x2 drive. Even the Italian AB 40/41 still retained those qualities out of inertia, while it was a modern design with much better cross-country mobility, and probably did not have much use for the rear driver in practice other than as an extra help in maintenance.