Imperial Russian Navy had adopted 75-mm Canet gun to its use in 1891. During World War 1 antiaircraft guns were needed and Russians considered 75-mm Canet guns basically suitable as a static anti-aircraft guns. However, existing mounts didn't give enough elevation, so new Meller-mount (named after its developer Captain Meller) was designed for antiaircraft-use. First guns with Meller mount were delivered in autumn - winter of 1914. In Russia/Soviet Union 75-mm Zenit-Meller antiaircraft-guns were manufactured until late 1920's and presumably some were still used in World War 2.

The Finns captured few of these guns in Civil War of 1918. The unofficial starting point of antiaircraft artillery practices in Finnish Armed forces started from Captain Åke Törnroos of Finnish coastal artillery taking command of coastal fort in Kuivasaari Island outside Helsinki. In Kuivasaari Island he noticed two 75-mm Zenit-Meller coastal guns that Russians had left behind there in 1918 and got interested about them. Finnish military knew that the guns been intended for shooting zeppelin and aircraft, but not much else. At that time Finnish military didn't have antiaircraft weapons or methods for shooting air targets. This got Captain Törnroos excited, the idea of having two weapons but no information how to use them simply didn't suite for him. Törnroos started gathering information from all possible sources, combining the information with his own mathematical skills he developed the first rudimentary method for shooting air targets and tested it with the guns. Soon he got support from Väinö Valve, who was Commander of Coastal Artillery at that time. This was the starting point for developing antiaircraft-weaponry and methods for shooting air targets in Finnish Coastal Artillery and later lead to establishing of first Finnish antiaircraft-artillery units. In 1920's Finnish Coastal Artillery had 18 of these guns and Navy had 10. The guns saw some use against air targets also during World War 2, but their main influence to history was to be weapons, which started development of antiaircraft-warfare in Finland.

During World War 1 French had developed several antiaircraft-guns based to their 75-mm Schneider M/1897 field gun. Static guns of this type mostly located around Paris. By World War 2 French had modernised quite a large number of these guns, but even then they still had bit over 900 unmodified guns of this type in their use when German invaded in 1940. The Germans captured large number of these guns and pressed them in their own use. However as the guns were as old they were they later transferred the guns as weaponry of their Atlantic Wall.

The Finns bought 24 of these guns from Germans during Interim Peace and they arrived 13th of June 1941. They were used to arm six 4-gun coastal AA-gun batteries and remained in use until end of Continuation War. Quite little is known about these guns in Finland. The guns were all static and considering their elevation their mounts likely were not of the oldest version, but still quite old-fashioned. It seems likely that these guns had sort of a double role: While they offered some air defence capability they were more useful against surface targets. The guns proved outdated and unsuccessful in Finnish use also. Mechanical fire control computer system that Finnish military used with these guns was French Aufiere, which was also quite outdated. Modern aircraft were mostly too fast for it to track them successfully. As Continuation War ended so did also using these guns in Finland.

Only ammunition Finnish military seems to have used with these guns for anti-aircraft use was French made "75 itpkr 24/31-Ra" high explosive (HE) shell. This HE-round weight 5.8 kg and contained 675 g of picric. The round came with two varieties of propellant charge - one producing 580 m/sec and another one with 575 m/sec muzzle velocity. However in the role that the coastal artillery used these old anti-aircraft guns shooting surface targets were at least as important and this reflected to their ammunition inventory. Besides that one anti-aircraft round these guns used also the same ammunition as 75 K/97 field gun, this gave them variety of HE, shrapnel and APHE shells. Only ammunition of 75 K/97 field gun, which may not have been used with this anti-aircraft gun were AP-T and HEAT. While these two projectile types were good for antitank-work they were not as good for anti-ship use as HE and APHE, at the same time HE and shrapnel rounds were useful for beach defence against infantry.

PICTURE: 75-mm Bofors M/30 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Suomenlinna). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (68 KB).

Bofors developed this static 75-mm gun as dual-use gun for submarines. As dual-use weapon it was very capable to be used both against surface and air targets. Their basic structure was quite typical to heavy guns used during World War 2 with jacket-tube barrel, liquid buffer and spring recuperator. Guns breech mechanism was semiautomatic sliding breechblock and gave gun good rate of fire.

By 1937 it had become clear to the Finns that situation in Europe was getting more hazardous and the same that developing of Finnish air-defence had been neglected. Because of this Ministry of Defence sent circular letter to factories and communities offering them possibility to finance purchases of anti- aircraft equipment with promise to issue the financed antiaircraft-equipment to military units protecting the particular locality of factory or community. The circular letter included attachment with estimated prices of antiaircraft-weaponry and accessories (like rangefinders and searchlights).

Siam (nowadays known as Thailand) was among countries that had ordered these guns from Bofors. Siamese Royal Navy had intended the guns for their submarines. When Winter War started Finland needed immediately all antiaircraft-guns it could get. That time Swedes had 9 of these guns, which Siam had ordered, but they had not yet been delivered. In city of Turku the circular letter from Ministry of Defence had inspired citizens to form "Turun Kodinpuolustustoimikunta" ("Home-defence committee of Turku"), which started organising acquiring of anti-aircraft weaponry to defence of their city. Besides official channels the committee was blessed with some serious unofficial contacts. These unofficial contacts included wealthy industrialist Hans von Rettig, who was personal friend with Swedish King Gustav V. The King stopped the delivery of these nine guns to Siam and after some diplomacy they were sold to Finland instead. The 9 guns arrived in February of 1940 and were issued in air-defence of Turku, but only two (60th and 61st Heavy Static AA-Gun Batteries) of the three planned (3-gun) batteries were ready for action when Winter War ended. The third battery (62nd Heavy Static AA-Gun Battery) was completed few days after Winter War had ended in March of 1940. Two of these Heavy antiaircraft-gun Batteries remained in Turku also whole duration of Continuation War. Also the third Battery spent most of the war in there. Summer of 1944 it was relocated to Santahamina military base in Helsinki. As they had been intended for submarines, when the guns arrived they had sights intended only for shooting surface targets, something which the Finns fixed immediately. Originally these guns arrived with Swedish M/30 Äldre mechanical fire control computer, but this Äldre FC-computer proved so outdated that during Continuation War Finnish made Juhasz-Gamma were used with them instead. After World War 2 the guns were used first used by air defence, then by Finnish Navy and finally transferred to coastal artillery in early 1970's. With the coastal artillery they remained in training use until year 1978. The three 76/48 28 LT naval guns, that Finnish Navy had in its submarines Vetehinen, Vesihiisi and Iki-Turso, were otherwise similar but were in 76.2-mm calibre. However, also 75 ItK/30 guns ended their career with Finnish military in 76.2-mm calibre, as they were modified to that calibre for ammunition compatibility after World War 2.

Besides typical TNT-filled high explosive (HE) shells designed for anti-aircraft use this gun had also armour piercing tracer shells (AP-T). The HE-shells used with these guns originated from Finland and Sweden. The Finnish made TNT-loaded version of HE-shell had electron (mix of magnesium containing 95 % of magnesium, 4.5 % of zinc and 0.5 % of copper) added to it for enhancing flash of the exploding shell - the purpose was to make barrage of anti-aircraft guns look more dangerous. The AP-T round was called "75 psa B Vj4", its projectile weight 6.5 kg and like rest of the round it was Finnish made.

PICTURE: 75-mm Skoda M/37 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (70 KB).

Skoda (Skodovy Zavody Plzni) started its work with anti-aircraft guns in typical way - by modifying existing field guns to anti-aircraft guns during World War 1. Year 1919 the factory started manufacturing copy of German 7,7 cm Flak 18 in co-operation with Schneider. Skoda kept manufacturing guns for Czechoslovakian military and for export in 1920's and 1930's. Year 1937 Skoda introduced new 75-mm anti-aircraft gun, which was based to its earlier model 1932 design. When Germans invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938 they naturally took over the guns taking them to their own use, but sold most of them to Italy. German military knew the guns as 7,5 cm Flak M.37(t) and the Italians knew them as Cannone da 75/49 or 75/50. They were quite modern mobile AA-guns at that time. Two-axle 4-wheeled trailer was used for transporting them. After Mussolini lost his power in Italy German troops took some of the guns earlier sold to the Italians to their own use.

Structurally the gun was rather typical heavy anti-aircraft gun of its time. It had cruciform gun mount and breech system vertical sliding breechblock. As usual the breech mechanism was semi-automatic in that sense that after firing a shot it removed used cartridge case and remained open for the next cartridge, which was inserted to breech by hand. Recoil system had hydraulic buffer, gas recuperator and spring stabilisers. The gun was unusually low as the mount didn't contain the usual column-like part under the actual gun. Another unusual part of the design was muzzle brake, which was quite similar as in 105 H/41 howitzer, which was also Skoda design. Transporting equipment for the gun was the typical axle with tires-type. Its maximum towing speed was 60 km/h. The gun had been designed to be towed with motor vehicles, but if needed could also be towed with horses. The gun had been equipped also for direct fire use against surface targets.

PICTURE: 75-mm Skoda M/37 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (72 KB).

Finland bought 20 of the Skoda anti-aircraft guns from Germany during Interim Peace and they arrived 20th of November 1940. The guns were used but in relatively good condition. They were used to arm 5 heavy antiaircraft-gun batteries (which each had 4 guns) during Continuation War. The guns proved to be not quite as good as heavy Bofors guns and especially old-fashioned fuses with gunpowder channels used in their ammunition decreased effectiveness as because of dispersion in their burning time fuse settings didn't function accurately. The 5 heavy batteries armed with these guns moved around a lot during Continuation War and they took new positions over 100 times. Three out of five batteries even served also in Lapland War. The guns were used with M/37 Skoda T 7 n mechanical fire control computer. The Skoda-guns nowadays remaining in Ilmatorjuntamuseo (Finnish Antiaircraft Museum) were used to shoot fire salutes in funeral of Marshal Mannerheim.

This gun had high explosive (HE) shells loaded both with TNT (trotyl, trinitrotoluene) and amatol for anti-aircraft use. The HE-ammunition used with it contained both Finnish and German made ammunition. HE-shells contained 640 g of explosive and Finnish made TNT-loaded version contained also electron (magnesium-mix used to enhance flash produced by exploding shell and make them look more dangerous). In addition to these its ammunition inventory included also armour piercing tracer (AP-T) ammunition "75 psa Sk Vj4", which had 6,5 kg projectile and muzzle velocity of 775 m/sec.

PICTURE: 76-mm Putilov M/14 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (69 KB).

First guns Russians used as antiaircraft-guns during World War 2 had been 76-mm model 1902 field guns installed to AA-platform, the platform were static wood structures that on top of which the whole field guns was place. The mounts allowed circling the whole point around central point giving the gun 360-degree traverse and higher elevation adjustable with field guns own elevation adjustment system. The system was rudimentary and had little chance of hitting anything but slow moving zeppelin or static observation balloon, so better anti-aircraft gun was desperately needed. During World War 1 the French developed anti-aircraft gun version from their 75-mm model 1897 field gun, that gave idea to Russians for developing similar kind of weapon. In other words: This gun, called model 1914 Putilov, has basically Russian 76-mm field gun m/1902 barrel equipped with half-automatic breech with sliding breechblock and installed on top of column mount suitable for antiaircraft-use. Even ammunition of this gun used same cartridge cases as Russian/Soviet field guns of this calibre. Designers of the gun were by Captain V.V. Ternovskij and Engineer F. F. Lender, after who Soviets later called these guns also as "Lender's guns". It was manufactured in Putilov artillery factory (later renamed as "Kirov artillery factory" by the Soviets) starting March of 1915. However Russians also soon developed improved version already that same year. Official Russian/Soviet name for the gun was 8-K. They installed it to static gun positions, ships, horse-drawn carts, on top of trucks and also to railway cars of armoured trains. Soviets also modernised their 8-K guns in 1920's were still using them during WW2. During that war the Germans knew these guns as 7.6 cm Flak M1915 L/30 Behefsflak.

Finns captured 2 guns used in Red armoured train during Finnish Civil War of 1918. After 1918 war the artillery railway car armed with them had been dismantled and the guns had been forgotten to Fredriksberg Engineering Works. 26^th of July 1926 they were found from there and become first AA-guns issued to first Finnish AA-artillery unit, which had been established 18^th of June 1926. The ammunition used in these was the same as in 76 K 02 field guns, so there was very little problem in getting ammunition for them. During Winter War Finns still used them as AA-guns and for that their aiming system was also improved. During Continuation War they were used by Coastal Artillery and in 1945 they were finally warehoused for possible further use, which never came. The two guns now belong to collections of Anti-aircraft Museum and Coastal Artillery Museum.

PICTURE: 76-mm ItK/02/34 OH AA-gun in the bushes. This isn't the guns standard colour ;-) (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (87 KB).

Finnish defence funding in 1930's was terribly tight and getting funding for new weapons was very difficult. At the same time decision about making 76.2-mm as standard calibre for heavy AA-guns was made by Major General Nenonen. In usual Finnish spirit of improvisation Finnish military decided to try developing gun suitable for antiaircraft-use from existing weapons. 75-mm Canet coastal/naval gun barrels available in large numbers offered good starting point and could be modified to 76.2-mm calibre, but where to find the needed mounts? The Finns had captured few 152-mm sea howitzers with very short (L/9.5) barrel in 1918, they had been intended for shooting submerged submarines, but the whole contraption simply didn't work. Typically special ammunition designed for these sea-howitzers either exploded mid-flight or bounced off from sea surface. As sea-howitzers were worthless their column mounts were available and were used in these improvised AA-guns.

PICTURE: 76-mm ItK/02/34 OH AA-gun. Breech of this gun is obviously missing lock mechanism. (Photo taken in Kuivasaari). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (76 KB).

Inventing the name of this new gun also gave reason for some thinking: 02 came from the production year of oldest 75-mm Canet found from Suomenlinna fort - it was from year 1902. When manufacturing the improvised guns started in 1934 that gave "/34" second part to the name. And as the mount were believed (mistakenly) to have been manufactured by Obuhov factory the letters OH (Obuhov Haupitsi = Obuhov Howitzer) were added to the name. This made whole name for this new gun "76 ItK/02/34 OH".

Only 8 of these guns were made and they were all finished before Winter War. As the barrels had been modified to 76.2-mm calibre the same ammunition as in 76.2-mm Bofors guns could be used. During Winter War the guns were used to arm 2 heavy AA-batteries (4 guns each), from which one were located to Suomenlinna islands of Helsinki and another to town of Jyväskylä. The resulting design was unsuccessful, but due to shortage of heavy anti-aircraft guns remained in use anyway. The guns had screw breech, which allowed considerably lower rate of fire compared to half-automatic sliding wedge breech typically used in heavy anti-aircraft guns. The aiming system was also quite primitive and the guns had no mechanical computer for counting the correct fire control data. During Winter War they were used with 3T shooting method, which was also slow and needed lot of people, but didn't demand the mechanical fire control computer. In Continuation War two of these guns were shortly used in Finnish armoured trains before being replaced with 40-mm Bofors. Later during Continuation War they were issued to coastal artillery and remained to be used there until being declared obsolete in 1967. During World War 2 only two aircraft were downed with these guns. Even if constructed in 1930's these guns were among the worst anti-aircraft guns used by Finnish military during the war - making them one of them one the least successful Finnish weapons modification ever.

Ammunition inventory for these guns contained three kind of high explosive (HE) shells intended for anti-aircraft use: "76 ittkr 53/60-B", "76 ittkr 53/60-TS/38" and "76 itetkr 53/60-TS/38". All these three shells were Finnish made and filled with TNT (trotyle). The first of these three contained 440 g of TNT while the other two had 470 g of the same explosive. Last of the three ("76 itetkr 53/60-TS/38") had also electron (magnesium-mix) added into it to enhance flash of the exploding shell. In addition to these the gun had also armour piercing tracer (AP-T) ammunition "76 psa Vj4", which had projectile that weight 6.5 kg with 4 second tracer and muzzle velocity of 775 m/sec.

PICTURE: 76-mm Bofors M/27 static anti-aircraft gun. Many of the instruments are missing. Photo taken in middle of kite-flying competition, so there are two on the background. (Photo taken in Suomenlinna). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (58 KB).

PICTURE: 76-mm Bofors M/27 static AA-gun. Again many of the instruments are missing. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (75 KB).

In the typical World War 1 era fashion Bofors started its production of anti-aircraft guns by modifying existing Swedish 75-mm naval gun to anti-aircraft use in 1914. After this the company modified more 75-mm naval guns suitable for anti-aircraft use for Norway starting 1915. This was followed by deal to manufacture some earlier ordered but not delivered Krupp-designed anti-aircraft guns for Netherlands in 1919. But still in mid 1920's Bofors had no heavy anti-aircraft gun design of its own. Year 1926 the things started to change, when orders for test-guns arrived from Swedish Royal Ordnance Administration and Netherlands. However the biggest heavy AA-gun order for that year was Finnish order of eight 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns. From these 8 guns 4 were to be static guns (later named 76 ItK/27 BK) and other four were mobile guns (later named 76 ItK/28 B), which could be towed. All the eight guns were rather traditional and obviously based to earlier Krupp designs. However as these small production could well be considered test-series of sort, both gun models had some notable differences. Later Finland ordered second patch of four 76 ItK/27 BK and additional four mobile (towed) 76 ItK/29 B. The first purpose-build Bofors-designed heavy AA-gun was 75-mm anti-aircraft gun m/30, which was further development based to guns bought in small numbers by China, Finland, Hungary and Persia in late 1920's.

Lets now go back to 76 ItK/27BK. This gun was static version of heavy Bofors anti-aircraft gun, which had column mount bolted to concrete structures of ready fire-position. Breech mechanism of the gun was the typical semi-automatic (after firing the gun the breech would automatically remove cartridge case and stay open for loading of the next shell) vertical sliding block breech. The guns were also equipped with equipment for setting correct fuse settings fast. Well trained crew could achieve rate-of-fire as high as 25 shots/minute for a short while, but long-term rate of rate-of-fire was only about 12 - 15 shots/minute. Both buffer and recuperator of the recoil system were located above barrel. Finland bought eight of these guns from Bofors. The first four were ordered in December of 1926 and arrived December of 1927. The other four guns were ordered in June of 1928 arrived in September of 1929. During Winter War and Continuation War the guns were used with Vickers M/34 (subversion Vb) mechanical fire-control computer and were located in air-defence of Finnish capital Helsinki. 76-mm Bofors AA-guns proved very well and remained in use until end of World War 2.

The ammunition introduced for this gun before Winter War came it two basic varieties:

The only difference between these two rounds was in their fuses. As typical the ammunition was fixed type. The whole cartridge cased shot weighted some 11,8 kg. This included projectile (6,5 kg, with 0,45 kg of TNT filling) and its fuse (0,8 kg).

However during World War 2 their ammunition inventory became much more versatile containing:

(*) These the two shells, which had only 750 m/sec muzzle velocity could not be fired with larger muzzle velocity because of their structural weakness.

During World War 2 the ammunition chosen for these guns caused additional problems for their ammunition supply. The cartridge cases used for them were unique - in other words not used in any other guns or any other country anywhere. As the number of these cartridge cases had been rather limited to begin with once used they needed to be sent for reloading without delay.

PICTURE: 76-mm Bofors M/28 AA-gun. Again many of the instruments are missing. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (88 KB).

These guns were 76.2-mm antiaircraft-guns Bofors Ab manufactured for Finland. Just like static 76 ItK/27 BK and 76 ItK/29 B the belonged to number of small production series Bofors manufactured also for China, Greece, Hungary and Persia in late 1920's. Finland ordered 4 of these guns in December of 1926 (at the same time with four 76 ItK/27 BK), but they were not delivered until December of 1928. They were the first mobile heavy anti-aircraft guns in Finnish use. For transporting them a heavy one axle and two wheeled driving device was used. The mount type used is column mount with four legs (cruciform-mount) typical to mobile anti-aircraft guns of that time. The gun had semi-automatic (which after firing a shot removed the cartridge case and remained open for reloading) horizontal sliding wedge breech. In recoil systems of these guns both buffer and recuperator were located below barrel. Year 1931 these four guns were transferred to Helsinki Suojeluskunta (Civil Guard), which used them to train anti-aircraft gun crews before Winter War. During Winter War and Continuation War they were used in home front with Vickers M/34 (subversion Va) mechanical fire control computers. These guns proved very well and remained in use until end of World War 2.

These guns used exactly the same ammunition as 76 ItK/29 B and 76 ItK/34 V. Early on these guns used the following two high explosive projectile types intended for anti-aircraft use:

Even if the cartridge cases of the ammunition used this gun were shorter than the ones used with 76 ItK/27 BK later during the war this gun used the same projectiles as listed for 76 ItK/27 BK. These similar projectiles included the same six types of high explosive (HE) projectiles plus the same anti-aircraft shrapnel round. Only exception to this was was "76 psa Vj4" armour piercing tracer (AP-T), which was not used with static 76 ItK/27 BK anti-aircraft-guns. The AP-T projectile weight 6.5 kg and it had muzzle velocity of 750 - 790 m/sec.

PICTURE: 76-mm Bofors M/29 AA-gun. As usual many of the instruments are missing. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (80 KB).

PICTURE: 76-mm Bofors M/29 AA-gun seen from another angle. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (85 KB).

Just like 76 ItK/27 BK and 76 ItK/28 B, Bofors Ab manufactured also these guns by for Finland. All the three gun models can be considered as part of the test-series manufactured by Bofors in late 1930's. Finland bought 4 of these guns and they were delivered in November of 1929. For transporting the guns a heavy one axle and two wheeled driving device was used. The mount type used is column mount with four legs typical (cruciform mount) to mobile anti-aircraft guns of that time. The gun also has semi-automatic horizontal sliding wedge breech (which after firing the shot removed used cartridge case and remained open for reloading). In recoil system of these guns the buffer was located below barrel and recuperator above it. During Winter War and Continuation War the guns were used with Vickers M/34 (subversion Vc) mechanical fire control computers. They proved very well and remained in use until end of World War 2.

These guns used exactly the same ammunition as 76 ItK/28 B and 76 ItK/34 V. Early on these guns used the following two high explosive projectile types intended for anti-aircraft use:

Even if the cartridge cases of the ammunition used this gun were shorter than the ones used with 76 ItK/27 BK later during the war this gun used the same projectiles as listed for 76 ItK/27 BK. These similar projectiles included the same six types of high explosive (HE) projectiles plus the same anti-aircraft shrapnel round. Only exception to this was was "76 psa Vj4" armour piercing tracer (AP-T), which was not used with static 76 ItK/27 BK anti-aircraft-guns. The AP-T projectile weight 6.5 kg and it had muzzle velocity of 750 - 790 m/sec.

PICTURE: 76-mm Vickers M/34 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (76 KB).

British War Office had first ordered and then rejected 75-mm Vickers aircraft-gun. As Vickers-Armstrong Ltd had the gun ready it decided to offer it abroad and achieved reasonable success by selling it for example to Belgium, Denmark, Holland, China, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and Lithuania in 1930's. In addition to this the gun was also manufactured under license in Denmark and the guns manufactured under license used by Danish military. They saw also relatively small-scale use with British (in barrage-units between 1940 - 1943), Germans (captured guns from Belgium, Denmark and Holland) and Soviets (captured guns from Lithuania) during WW2. As typical to mobile heavy anti-aircraft guns of that era their transportation equipment was one axle and two-wheel type, which allowed them to be towed.

In early 1930's the Finns had exported butter in large amounts to Great Britain. By mid 1930's this export business had created quite a bit of debt. The British offered to pay this debt with modern Vickers made antiaircraft-guns and mechanical fire-control computers. Bofors Ab, who was bitter competitor of Vickers-Armstrong, tried its best to stop the Finns from buying these guns. It even tried spreading rumours and making false claims, but ultimately failed. The Finns agreed to British proposal and got 12 of these guns in year 1936. Due to Finnish decision for using 76.2-mm calibre as standard calibre of also heavy anti-aircraft artillery (as it already standard calibre of Finnish light field guns) Vickers delivered the guns in Finnish 76.2-mm calibre instead of more common 75-mm calibre, in which they were usually sold internationally. The ammunition that the Finns picked for this gun was the same as used in 76 ItK/28 B and 76 ItK/29B, which Bofors had delivered to Finnish military already few years earlier. The cruciform mounts for these guns were not Vickers standard materiel either, as Crichton-Vulcan manufactured them in Finland. Along the guns Finland bought also 9 Vickers M/34 mechanical fire control computers, which were first the fire control systems for heavy antiaircraft guns in Finnish use that really worked reliably. The Vickers M/34 (subversion Vc) mechanical fire control computers proved very reliable, but unfortunately these antiaircraft-guns were not as reliable and especially cold weather made them malfunction quite often. They were used with Vickers mechnical fire control computers and remained in Finnish use until end of World War 2.

These guns used exactly the same ammunition as 76 ItK/28 B and 76 ItK/29 B. Early on these guns used the following two high explosive projectile types intended for anti-aircraft use:

Even if the cartridge cases of the ammunition used this gun were shorter than the ones used with 76 ItK/27 BK later during the war this gun used the same projectiles as listed for 76 ItK/27 BK. These similar projectiles included the same six types of high explosive (HE) projectiles plus the same anti-aircraft shrapnel round. Only exception to this was was "76 psa Vj4" armour piercing tracer (AP-T), which was not used with static 76 ItK/27 BK anti-aircraft-guns. The AP-T projectile weight 6.5 kg and it had muzzle velocity of 750 - 790 m/sec.

PICTURE: 76-mm Breda M/16-35 antiaircraft-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (89 KB).

This gun was modernised version of earlier 76-mm gun model 1916. 76-mm Breda model 1916 had not actually been designed by Breda-company, but Armstrong (to be exact "Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell and Co Ltd." at that time) and had been used by Italians as coastal and anti-aircraft gun since World War 1. In mid-1930's they introduced this modernised version, which was more suitable for anti-aircraft use. The easiest identifying difference between the old version and this modernised version was the new column mount, which allowed the gun more elevation and was more practical to use. Unfortunately the modernisation didn't include guns breech, which was screw-breech type and lowered the rate of fire. They had hydraulic buffer and spring recuperator. Besides typical aiming instruments the guns had also optical sights for direct fire use against surface targets. Italian military used these guns during World War 2 in home front and coastal defence. Starting September of 1943 also some German units stationed in Italy used them. German military knew the gun as 7,62 cm Flak 266/2(i).

PICTURE: 76-mm Breda M/16-35 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (113 KB).

The new column mount used in these guns had cavities with which wind often made a whistling sound, this made Finnish soldiers to nickname the gun as "Posetiivi" (barrel organ). During Winter War Italy offered antiaircraft-weaponry to Finland and after some negotiations the deal was signed in January of 1940. The deal included 12 guns of this type and 24,000 shots for them. However transporting guns to Finland proved difficult as Germany following its treaties with Soviet Union didn't allow any transport of war-materials through its areas to Finland at that time. This delayed the transport and the guns didn't arrive until February of 1940. With the guns from Italy arrived also Captain C. Pignalle, who helped the Finns to press the guns in service by training first Finnish soldiers to use them. 76-mm Breda wasn't a success story in Finnish use. Early on the guns were used to equip for 3-gun heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries, two of which were located in Helsinki and another two in Tampere. During Continuation War 76-mm Breda of the two batteries in Helsinki were replaced with more effective Soviet 76 ItK/31 ss. Typically in Finnish Armed Forces the guns that Army no longer finds useful may be transferred to coastal defence. This is exactly what happened with these guns. Coastal Artillery received guns for one 4-gun battery already in 1944. Soon after the war it received enough guns to equip another two batteries. The guns were already old-fashioned when the Finns received them in 1940. In addition it seems that the Italians sold Finland also old-fashioned ammunition (international sources mention ammunition with 770 m/sec muzzle velocity), which further reduced their effectiveness. If the guns were not that good as anti-aircraft weapons their command devices (mechanical fire control computers) used them certainly didn't excel either. Gala-Borletti M/34 mechanical fire control computers, which Italians sold with these guns (and the Finns used with them) demanded 11-men crew to use while proving old-fashioned and complicated. These two less-satisfactory pieces of equipment combined were among one of the less effective air-defence weapons in Finnish use during World War 2. Coastal artillery found the guns quite useful as they could be easily installed to existing coastal fortifications. They remained in use of Coastal Artillery until 1972.

Only ammunition type Finnish military used with this gun were two kind of Italian made high explosive (HE) shells designed to be used against aircraft. These shells were Italian made and had muzzle velocity of 690 m/sec. They each contained 480 g of TNT (trotyle).

PICTURE: 76-mm Vickers M/16 AA-gun. (Photo taken in Ilmatorjuntamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (83 KB).

Like all countries in beginning of World War 1 also the British had no real anti-aircraft weaponry when the war begun. This gun was first British gun originally manufactured as anti-aircraft gun. Originally it had been intended for the British Navy, but as Great Britain had no anti-aircraft gun at all in beginning of the war Churchill arranged the guns to be transferred to air-defence of London, which was threatened by German zeppelins. The first QF 3in 20 cwt were issued by the British in 1914. This gun was known as model 1916 after the one-axle trained introduced for transporting it that particular year. Several versions of the gun were developed, one of them was Mk 3 in question. Unlike earlier versions (which had sliding breechblock) it had interrupted screw breech. They had hydraulic buffer and spring recuperator. These guns were equipped with several mount types: The first and most basic was simple static mount for bolting the gun to ship, concrete floor or steel bed, later ones included two and four wheeled carriages and even installations on top of trucks. By end of World War 1 the British had manufactured 541 of these guns. During that war the guns saw lot of use in British hands, later during early part of World War 2 they were also used by several other countries. British military didn't declare them obsolete until year 1946. The Germans also captured these guns from several countries and called them "7.5 cm Flak Vickers (e)".

During Winter War Great Britain donated 24 of these guns and plenty of ammunition to Finland. Along these guns came 7 Vickers M/34 (subversions Va and Vb) mechanical fire control computers, which the Finns used with these guns during Wolrd War 2. As the guns arrived in March of 1940 they were not issued during Winter War. When Continuation War started they were used to arm 7 heavy AA-batteries, which were used in air-defence of home front. Age of these static guns was showing in Finnish use in amount of wear they had. Screw-breech limited rate-of-fire and old-fashioned ammunition, which had arrived with the guns limited rate-of-fire and caused large dispersion in detonation times of shells. As WW2 ended so did using of these guns as AA-weapons in Finland. Last of them remained in use of Finnish Coastal Artillery until late 1980's.

Finnish military used two ammunition types with these guns, both of these types were British-made. "76 itftkrv 51/61-199E" was high explosive incendiary (HE-incendiary) shell loaded with TNT (trotyl), but containing also 60 g of white phosphorus. Its projectile weight 6,15 kg and had muzzle velocity of 633 m/sec. "76 itsrv Vj8 - 51/61-199E" was anti-aircraft shrapnel shell with 8 second tracer. Its projectile weight 6.15 kg and had muzzle velocity of 637 m/sec. The whole concept of using shrapnel-like ammunition (shell containing metal balls which burst outside it when the shell exploded and did the damage) for anti-aircraft use was rather typical during World War 1, but was seriously outdated by World War 2.

PICTURE: 76-mm AA-gun M/31. Towing system visible behind gun. (Photo taken in Kuivasaari). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (77 KB).

distance	hitting angle	penetration
500 m	0 degrees?	78 mm
1000 m	0 degrees?	68 mm

Finnish live fire testing year 1943 ("76 psa - Vj4", Finnish AP-T, 828 m/sec):

distance	hitting angle	penetration
100 m	70 degrees	145 mm
200 m	70 degrees	145 mm
300 m	70 degrees	145 mm
400 m	70 degrees	140 mm
500 m	70 degrees	140 mm
600 m	70 degrees	135 mm
800 m	70 degrees	130 mm
1000 m	70 degrees	125 mm