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The Austro-Hungarian marched to war with 24 M11:s, using them at first not against the intended targets, the Italian border forts, but against Russian and Serbian targets. Also, the German Army, much impressed by this heavy gun, were able to lend 8 M11:s in 1914, and they used them with terrible effect against their enemies, especially the modern belgian border fortresses around Liège, that were condidered to be among the strongest in the world. (The Germans had their own Mörser, the M-Gerät of 42cm Calibre, the so called Dicke Bertha, but at this time only two of these monsters were available. The M-Gerät was also heavier and bigger and thus much less mobile than the Austro-Hungarian gun.) In the East, the M11:s were instrumental in breaching several key Russian strongholds, especially the modernized belts of forts around Lemberg-Lvov and Przemysl. Almost nothing could withstand a direct hit from a M11. A grenade from a M11 could slice through two meters of concrete, bursting in the a forts inners and killing and maiming people en masse. (Also, an unforseen consequence of these penetrations, were that the gas and smoke from the detonation filled casemattes and corridors, forcing the crew away, sometimes even to the surface.) Putting it simply: there was no real protection against the M11, unless you were some 3 meters down in solid rock or maybe reinforced concrete. A bursting grenade from a M11 produced a crater of some 5-8 meters in diameter: splinter from the burst could penetrate solid structures within 100 meters, and kill unprotected persons within 400 meters. Just the tip of the grenade of the M11 could create as much damage as would a complete 15cm grenade. During 1915, additional M11:s were issued to the Army, and at the end of that year, the Austro-Hungarian Army fielded 20 M11 batteries - with 2 guns each. After the end of the war the guns were used by the Czech, Jugoslav, Hungarian and Jugoslav armies. In 1938 the German Wehrmacht confiscated the 14 M11:s of the Czech Army, and used them in the early years of WW2. |
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is MGM:s nice kit. It has been built pretty much out of the box, with only some small details added here and there. (Notice that I have added the elevation drum, but no dial sight: I have an idea to use this model as a center-piece in a diorama, portraying the gun in action. And as it is portrayed in the loaded state, ready to be fired, I left the dial sight out, as in reality this was removed for each shot, to protect the optics.) The only really big addition is the addition of the four long handles that was used to operate the grenade loading tray. Click on the thumbnails to see more views of this model: |
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In the early stages of WW1 the Austro-Hungarian 30.5cm M11 Mörser was probably
the most feared weapon fielded by any Army, and it was used with telling effect
both on the Western Front as well in the East, both in the Balkans as well
against Italy.
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