Bulgarian Artillery in WW1

[MCP]

Serbian War tropheis in 1912-13

According with KUTSCHBACH, Die Serben im Balkankrieg 1912-1913 und im Kriege gegen die Bulgaren, Stuttgart 1913, pp. 95-96, during the Balkan War the Serbian Army captured from the Turks:
- 39 855 magazine rifles and carbines,
- 8 machine guns with 33 barrels,
- 126 field guns (Krupp 75mm QF),
- 6 mountain guns (Krupp 75mm QF),
- 30 field howitzers (Krupp 120mm),
- 47 403 cases with infantry ammunitions,
- 16 977 shrapnels and 4852 shells for field guns,
- 919 shrapnels and 1811 shells for field howitzers,
- 216 ordinary shells.

According with the same book, p. 127, during the Intrallied War the 1st and 2nd Serbian Army captured from the Bulgars:
- 5 000 magazine rifles and carbines,
- 7 machine guns,
- 11 QF field guns,
- 30 Krupp not QF field guns,
- 7 mountain guns,
- 2 Gruson 57mm QF turret guns,
- 30 ammunition wagons.
As for the artillery, these numbers are different from those published in 1914 in several newspapers and taken from a report of the Bulgarian Inspector of Artillery, maj. gen. Panteley Tzenov. His report stated that the Serbs captured only 20 QF and 12 not QF field guns. Since the Gruson guns were not listed, it is possible that the fortress guns lost at Belogradchik (2 Gruson and 30 Krupp guns according Kutschbach) were not taken into account by gen. Tzenov.

[MCP]

The growth of the Bulgarian Artillery : 1885 - 1891

In 1885, at the beginning of the war against Serbia, the Bulgarian artillery was mainly composed by old Russian guns reinforced by a handful of short range guns of various patterns taken from the Turks in 1877-78. The only available modern guns were 18 – 87mm and 29 – 75mm long range guns, manufactured by Krupp. They were assigned to the three first batteries of the two existing artillery regiment, while the other three batteries were armed with the old 9 pdr Russian steel and bronze guns M. 1867.
The 9 pdr guns, however, were regarded as unfit for field service. They were too heavy, weighting twice as the 75mm and one time and a half as the 87mm field gun, whereas the topographical conditions of the Bulgarian borders required that artillery was light and mobile. In addition the muzzle velocity of their shells was too small, and consequently the slope and accuracy of their fire were inadequate. If their range was sufficient and their blasting charge was great – twice as the 87mm and even three times as the 75mm gun – their effectiveness was inferior, since the shell exploding produced less fragments, that scattered in a more little area. Being weighty, slow and unable to operate in the probable theaters of operations of the Bulgarian Army, the 9 pdr guns could be effectively employed only as fortress and siege guns, where their powerful fire could be still useful. Actually they were removed from the line units, but were employed as position guns even during World War I.

The replacement of the outdated Russian artillery with modern guns became a priority for the Bulgarian Army. Already at the end of August 1885 a contract with the German firm Krupp had been signed to provide 48 – 75mm and 87mm field guns with 24 000 shells (500 per gun) and the equipment required to form 6 new batteries. Unfortunately they were not received in time to take part in the war. Part of the shells arrived on 10 November, while the others only after the armistice. The first batch of the guns (16 pieces) arrived on February 1886, while the remaining 32 at the end of August. After the war the Bulgarian Army purchased another 6 field and 3 mountain batteries, with 76 Krupp guns in all. They were used to replace the 9 pdr Russian guns and to equip the 3rd artillery regiment. Consequently the Russian guns, both the 9 pdr and the 4 pdr, were assigned to the fortress artillery. After the delivery of the last guns, the Bulgarian artillery were composed by 3 regiments, each with 6 eight-guns batteries. In peace however only 4 guns were horsed. In every regiment 1st, 2nd and 3rd battery were armed with 75mm guns, while 4th, 5th and 6th battery with 87mm guns.

The decision to adopt German guns can be easily explained. After the Franco-Prussian war, the Imperial German Army was regarded as the most powerful army in the world and Krupp, taking advantage of this favorable situation, became the most important exporter of guns and heavy weapons. At that time almost all the Balkan countries choose Krupp guns for their artillery : Turkey already in 1873, Greece in 1878 and Romania in 1881. Only Serbia preferred the French 80mm guns system De Bange.
Among the powers that adopted Krupp field guns there was also Russia, that in 1877-78 had seen its bronze artillery outraged by the steel Krupp breechloaders employed by the Turks. Already in 1877, at the beginning of the war, it was decided to change the system from bronze to steel and 1500 guns were ordered from Krupp’s factory, while preparations were made to construct the same guns at the Obuchov factory, near Sankt Petersburg. The Bulgarians, that had received their first Krupp guns in 1884 by the Russian Army, decided to follow the exemple of their liberators.

All the long range guns were manufactured by Krupp and were very similar, nevertheless there were some minor differences among them. The old guns, dating back to the Russo-Turkish war, were “built-up guns” (Ringkanone) made of several layers of forged steel. They were composed by the liner, the tube, the jacket and the hoops. The liner was a single piece which extended the length of the bore and was intended to contain the rifling and the powder chamber. It was inclosed by the tube, which was too in one piece, surrounding the liner throughout its length. On the outside of it there was the jacket, made in two pieces and shrunk on the tube. Over the jacket lied six hoops, which, like the jacket, were shrunk on. The trunnions were carried on one of the hoops.
The new guns, bought from 1885 onwards, were known as Mantelkanone. The tube without reinforce, was encircled by a single band or mantle (Mantel, in German) shrunk on and carrying trunnions and fermature. The object of this was to substitute for the thick walls of the old models, thinner metal, susceptible of compression by the mantle, thus increasing its strenght, and obtaining greater resistance with less weight. The shot chamber of the 75mm gun was rifled and conic, while the chamber of the 87mm gun was smooth and cylindric.

Both the models were provided with a round backed wedge, which was pushed in from the side of the breech, and forced firmly home by a screw provided with handles. The face of the wedge was fitted with an easily removable flat plate, which abuted against a Broadwell ring, let into a recess in the end of the bore. A friction primer placed in a vent on the top of the ring ignited the propellant charge. On firing, the gas presseed the ring firmly against the flat plate, and rendered escape impossible as long as the surfaces remained uninjured. When they became worn, the ring and the plate could be exchanged in a few minutes.
There were other minor differences between the two models of gun, introduced according with the lesson learned of the Russo-Turkish War and present also in the Krupp guns adopted by the Russian Army. The breech-block and the sight were improved, while the elevating gear consisted on an arc divided into 16 partitions and was connected with the sighting gear in order to allow to change the sighting angle simply working on the handwheel. The back of the carriage was reinforced and its link with the limber changed. The gun was hooked through a trail eye fixed by two screws and it could be easily removed and replaced when it was damaged. Previously when the trail eye wore and its diameter increased owing to the continuous friction, it could be replaced only in the Arsenal.

The first modern mountain guns were purchased in 1886. Initially they were provided with a carriage similar to those of the 75mm Krupp mountain guns M. 1877 adopted by the Swiss Army. The weight of barrel and shell was almost the same, but the muzzle velocity of the Bulgarian gun was greater (294 m/s against 256 m/s), so it was unable to withstand the force of the recoil to such a degree that sometime it overturned. Therefore in 1892 these carriages were removed, sent back to Essen, and replaced with more strong ones. To be more stable they had longer trails and a low wheelbase.
In order to arrest the recoil both the old and the new carriages used a rope brake. On the recoil, the rope was tied between the brake beam and the hub and the brake beam were thus pressed against the wheels. When the gun moved forward, the rope running from the hub was relaxed and arrest stopped. In such a way the recoil, that in a flat and solid ground was more than paces, could be reduced to only 2-3. But the recoil strength had another negative effect. After the shot, the elevating screw fell down owing to the recoil, and the aimer wasted much time to lift up it again at the same position where the shot had been fired.
As a consequence of all these disadvantages the rapidity of fire of these guns was not very great. They were however employed during the Balkan Wars and even in the early stage of the World War 1, when 24 of them were still on duty. With these gun at the beginning of 1888 every artillery regiment raised one pack artillery section, and at the end of the same year they were expanded into half batteries.

In 1886 the units that had taken part in the military conspiracy that had forced Knyaz Aleksandar Battenberg to leave Sofia and to sign his abdication, were disbanded, and new units were raised to replace them. Also the artillery was involved in the turmoil, and on 26 August 1886 1st artillery regiment was disbanded, and a new 4th regiment took its place, in Sofia. During troubled years of the regency the development of the Bulgarian Army suffred a temporary setback, and in 1888, after the arrival of Knyaz Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Bulgarian artillery was in a great disadvantage compared to its neighbours, since Serbia had recently ordered 270 field 80mm guns system De Bange, while Romania had 300 Krupp field guns and Turkey, not including the artillery placed in Arabia, Lybia, and in the islands, had 1068 Krupp field guns, 642 of them deployed in Europe. To fill the gap and reach the right ratio between guns and bayonets, which at that time was fixed in about 3 guns every 1,000 bayonets, the Bulgarian Army should double the number of its guns. Therefore in 1889 three new artillery regiments were raised. The problem was how to arm them.
The best thing seemed to adopt only the 87mm gun. In fact Turkey and Romania had the same Krupp guns of Bulgaria and in the same proportion – half of the light and half of the heavy model – so it was desirable to have the most powerful guns in greater proportion. As for the Serbian guns, they were heavier and less moving of both the Bulgarian field guns, but their fire, although inferior to the 87mm, was more effective than the 75mm. Furthermore the light gun was not only less powerfull, but its shell was also so light (4.3 kg) and its blasting charge so small (100 g), that even at the distance of about 1000 m, the the explosion could be hardly observed, since the smoke and the dust raised by the fall of the shells could not be clearly see for their small size.
But to arm six artillery regiments entirely with 87mm guns, Bulgaria had to bought roughly 250 guns, with all their attachments : ammunition wagons, tool carts, field forges, spare carriages, ammunitions, and so on. Such an amount of military hardware could not be purchase in a single settlement with the restricted budget of the Bulgarian War Minister. The only effective solution was to advance by degrees. In 1888 major Konstatin Nikiforov, who had been War Minister in 1885-86, proposed to reduce the number of the guns in the battery from 8 to 6 and to assign 2 batteries armed with 75mm guns to every artillery regiment, while the remaining 4 batteries should be equipped with the more powerfull 87mm guns. In this way with only 72 guns, the Bulgarian Army would have six artillery regiments with 36 guns each. Major Nikiforov thought that such units would be more powerful not only than the Serbian ones, armed only with 80mm guns, but also than the Turkish and Romanian ones, having a higher proportion of 87mm guns (66% against 50%).

The proposal of major Nikiforov nevertheless was not entirely accepted : the contract signed with the German firm Krupp provided for the delivery of 72 - 87mm guns, but the batteries remained with 8 guns, and the new guns were uniformly shared among the existing unitss. At the beginning of 1888 every artillery regiment raised a 7th battery, followed by an 8th battery at the end of the same year.

During the 1889 three new regiments were raised, simply dividing in half the existing ones :
- the 4th regiment (Sofia) raised the 1st regiment at Samokov,
- the 3rd (Plovdiv) raised the 6th regiment at Sliven,
- the 2nd, that was trasferred to Vratza, raised the 5th, that remained at Shumen.
The mountain artillery batteries were attached to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th artillery regiments. Every regiment had only 4 eight-guns batteries, and were assigned to the Infantry Division as follows :
- 1st artillery regiment to 5th Dunavska Division,
- 2nd artillery regiment to 6th Bdinska Division,
- 3rd artillery regiment to 2nd Trakiyska Division,
- 4th artillery regiment to 1st Sofiyska Division,
- 5th artillery regiment to 4th Preslavska Division,
- 6th artillery regiment to 3rd Balkanska Division.

[MCP]

The growth of the Bulgarian Artillery : 1891 - 1904

In 1891 the Sixth Ordinary National Assembly passed the “Law for the organization of the Armed Forces of the Principality of Bulgaria” preparared by the War Minister, colonel Mihail Savov. It lay the foundations of the Bulgarian Army and provided a remarkable strengthening of the artillery, that should be composed by :
- 6 artillery regiments with 6 four-guns field batteries in peace, and 6 eight-guns batteries in wartime (six guns for the mortars batteries);
- 6 mountains half batteries in peace, that should be expanded to 6 six-guns batteries with the mobilitazition;
- 3 fortress artillery battalions with 3 companies each in peace, and 4 in wartime;
- 6 reserve artillery batteries with 4 sections each, that should be expanded to 4-6 six-guns batteries with the mobilization;
- 6 four-guns mountain batteries, that should be raised at the mobilization;
- 6 four-guns field replacement batteries, that should be raised with the mobilization.
This meant that in wartime the Bulgarian artillery would have all together 78/90 batteries with 504/576 guns (408/480 field, 60 mountain, and 36 mortars), not counting the fortress artillery. All the field batteries of the active army should be armed with 87mm guns, while the 75mm guns should be assigned to the reserve batteries (2nd, 3rd, 5th), along with the old 9 pdr Russian guns (1st and 6th) and the short range 9cm Krupp guns (4th). Later all the reserve batteries would be re-equipped with modern guns. They brought the number of the Infantry Division at whom they were attached, and not of the relative artillery regiments. In order to have also some artillery pieces that could fire at high elevations with the curved trajectory, one battery in every regiment should be armed with 120mm field mortars.

Some changes were introduced by the law passed by the Tenth Ordinary National Assembly in 1897, when the War Minister was colonel Nikola Ivanov. The reserve artillery regiments were disbanded, and gave their gun to the active regiments, that were then composed by 3 active and 1 reseve division, each with 3 six-guns batteries. Only the active batteries, however, were horsed in peace. Finally, after a debate lasted many years, the batteries were reduced to 6 guns, and new units were raised with the surplus guns.
The mortars, now designed howitzer, were attached to the fortress artillery. A 5th company was added to each fortress artillery battalion. The mountain batteries were detached from the artillery regiments and formed 3 independent divisions, with 3 six-guns batteries each, garrisoned respectively at Berkovitza, Samokov and Plovdiv. Later with an Order of 3 June 1899 they were administratively grouped into a mountaining artillery with headquartes at Sofia, while the division kept their previous garrison.

In order to arm the new units, the Bulgarian War Ministry should purchase a great number of artillery piece. In 1891 an order was planned for 192 – 87mm field guns (24 batteries), 30 – 75mm mountain guns (5 batteries), and 36 – 120mm mortars (6 batteries). But it was not made in a single settlement, since the military Budget did not allow a so considerable expediture, expecially because at the same time it was necessary to a modernize also the heavy artillery, required to attack the fortress of Odrin, in the event of a war against Turkey. Therefore such order was divided between different financial years.
In 1891 a contract was signed for 72 – 87mm field guns with 24 ammunition wagons, 18 – 120mm mortars, and 6 – 75mm mountain guns. The same year two other orders were made : to Krupp for 26 – 150mm and 120mm heavy guns, and to Gruson for 30 – 57mm light quickfiring guns in armoured housing. all the guns were delivered between 1892 and 1893.
Later another 12 field guns, 6 mountain guns, and 12 mortars were ordered in Germany. It seems that at least one field battery was armed with 75mm guns, that should be assigned to the 1st battery of the 4th artillery regiment at Sofia, to be attached in wartime to as horse artillery to the Cavalry Division. The last mortar battery, that should have been assigned to the artillery regiment was never bought, and was replaced by another field battery.
The last big order before the introduction of the quick-firing artillery came in February 1897, when 108 – 87mm guns with 10,000 shells were ordered to Krupp, while an order fo 18 mountain guns and 48 heavy artillery pieces had been signed with the French firm Schneider-Canet only a few days before. This was the first time that the Bulgarian artillery purchased French guns, and it happened after a long debate, and under the conflicting pressure of the French and German governments.
In fact the Bulgarian War Ministry was not satisfied with the Krupp mountain artillery adopted in 1886 regarded the Schneider guns superior to the Krupp ones. In addition the French diplomacy threatened to refuse the loan of 30 million franks, vitally important for the Bulgarian economy. Above all the Bulgarian Army was traying to free itself from the dependence on the factories of a single country, thinking that it could be very dangerous if it adopted an hostile politics towards Bulgaria. On the other end, the pro-German party, supported and endowed by the Krupp agent at Sofia, Kaufmann, was still very powerful within the Bulgarian officer’s circles. In February Friedrich Krupp himself wrote to Knyaz Ferdinand emphasizing that an order given to a French firm should be regarded as an attack against his own reputation.
The solution was a sort of compromise. The main order was directed to Krupp, to keep the uniformity of the field artillery batteries. In fact Schneider equipped its guns with a different breech mechanism, and at that time had not an 87mm gun, therefore adopting French weapons the Bulgarian Army should change entirely the features of its artillery matériel. The heavy artillery, regarded as more moveable than the Krupp ones, and the mountain guns were purchased in France, also because Schneider made significant concessions to the Bulgarian Government with regard to the price and terms of payement of the weapons.

The field guns were the standard Krupp 87mm Mantelkanone adopted already in 1885, with only little changes and updates. The Schneider mountain guns was similar to the Krupp ones, bought after the war against Serbia. The calibre, weight and ballistic performances were almost the same, and they could fire the same ammunition of the Krupp guns. The only difference was that were fitted with a screw breech block with a plastic obturator, instead of the cylindro-prismatic wedge breech mechanism, peculiar to the German guns.
The 120mm field howitzers, at first designed mortars as in the Russian Army, had been intesely tested in the Krupp proving ground at Meppen in 1886-1888 with positive results, popularized by the official report of the firm Krupp Nr. 80 published in 1890. Besides Bulgaria, also the Turkish Government was favourably impressed by this piece and ordered 72 howitzers to arm two artillery regiment, with 6 six-guns batteries each, attached to the II and III Army Corps, both deployed in Europe, at Odrin and Monastir.
These howitzers however were regarded as poorly mobile, both for the excessive weight and the peculiar features of the piece in marching order. This fault clearly appeared during the march that the mortars of the 3rd artillery regiment without ammunition wagons made from Plovdiv to Shumen and back in 1893. The movement of the whole battery, equipped with all the carts and wagon required in wartime, was even more difficult.

At the end of the 19th century the Bulgarian artillery was also provided with optical devices. In 1892 the Russian Army tested at Officers Rifle School at Oranienbaum a great number of rangefinder in order to choose the best device for equip its infantry units. On 5 August 1892 finally the Commission decided to adopt the prismatic pocket rangefinder invented by the French captain Souchier in 1888 (brevet 186052 du 20 octobre 1888), instructor at the École normale de tir at Châlons. That device was judged strong, light, extremely reliable and portable, accurate and easy to use, and above all very cheap. It was assigned to every infantry company, cavalry squadron and Cossak sotnia. On 1 May 1894 it was adopted also by the French infantry battalions.
It could be employed only for infantry, since its accuracy decreased for ranges up to 1000 m. The Russian captain Eroguin, however, invented a simple device to adapt the rangefind to the Army field glass. In that way, the rangefìnder could easily measure ranges from 5 km to 8 km, being utilizable also by the artillery.
The Bulgarian Army followed once more the Russian exemple and adopted the jumelle-télémètre Souchier (далекомер Суше) for its artillery, while no rangefinder was introduced for the infantry units. At the end of the century every battery received a rangefinder and the rules issued in 1902 stressed that firing at medium and long ranges, the distance should always determined by rangefinder.
It is interesting to notice that sometimes the western sources called the rangefinder adopted by the Russian and Bulgarian Army “Suchet” (Handbook of the Bulgarian Army, p. 36, Streffleurs militärische Zeitschrift, 50 (1895), p. 49) or “Souchet” (Rivista di Artiglieria e Genio, IX/4 (1892), pp. 298-303), but this was only a transliteration mistake of the cyrillic Суше.

In 1903 the Thirteenth Ordinary National Assembly passed a new “Law for the organization of the Armed Forces of the Principality of Bulgaria”, that provided for a radical reform of the Bulgarian Army. On the basis of the Russian “Provisional state for the field direction of the army and the organization of the rear”, the Army Corps was adopted as main battle unit. Therefore the infantry divisions should expand in army corps, and the brigades in divisions. As for the artillery, in peace every infantry division should have an artillery regiment with 6 six-guns batteries, and in wartime it should add a third artillery division with 3 six-guns batteries. With the introduction of the quick-firing gun, instead of a regiment with 54 not quick-firing guns, the infantry divisions should receive two artillery regiments, each with 6 four-guns batteries. In addition the law planned the creation of a mountain artillery brigade with 18 six-guns batteries grouped into six independant divisions, and 3 fortress battalions with 8 companies each.
Unfortunately a great number of the units planned in 1903 remained only on paper. The Army Corps were never established and both in the Balkans wars and in World War I the main battle unit of the Bulgarian Army remained the Infantry Division, that, although composed by only three brigades, had as many infantry battalions as the army corps of most of the great powers (France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain).
Especially the artillery could develop very slowly, both for the restrictions on the budget of the War Ministry, and the need of replacing the existing artillery pieces with new quick-firing guns. Therefore in 1904 only 3 artillery regiment were raised, and, instead of 9 brigades with 18 regiments, the Bulgarian artillery could deploy only 9 regiments, of whom 6 with 9 (6 horsed), and 3 with only 6 batteries, while the mountain artillery had half of the planned artillery divisions (3 instead of 6). Still at the beginning of the War against Turkey every Bugarian Infantry Division could mobilize only one quick-firing artillery regiment, while the second was armed with the outdated not quick-firing Krupp guns.

[MCP]

Adam and Eve

I'm looking for informations about two big guns nicknamed Adam and Eve, that were placed during the WW1 near Burgas. I would like to know wether they were operative, since I read that they were without breech-block, but I was not able to understand when they were removed (during the war by the enemy, or after the war by the Allied Commission for the disarmament of the Bulgarian army)?
If I understood correctly they were two 150mm L/40 Krupp guns. Are they the same guns displayed in the Varna naval museum?

MCP

[MCP]

Distribution of the artillery units on 16 June 1913

1st QF art. rgt.
1st div. : 3rd / 5th Infantry Brigade
2nd and 3rd div. : 5th Dunavska Division
4th div. (4th and 6th bts. / 1st not QF art. rgt.) : 5th Dunavska Division
2nd QF art. rgt.
1st and 2nd div. : 6th Bdinska Division
3rd div. : 1st / 10th Infantry Brigade
3rd QF art. rgt.
2nd Trakiyska Division
4th QF art. rgt.
1st and 2nd div. : 1st Sofiyska Division
3rd div. = 3rd div. / 10th art. rgt. : 2nd / 10th Infantry Brigade
5th QF art. rgt.
1st and 2nd div. : 4th Preslavska Division
3rd div. : 2nd / 4th Infantry Brigade
6th QF art. rgt.
1st div. : 1st / 3rd Infantry Brigade
2nd and 3rd div. : 3rd Balkanska Division
7th QF art. rgt.
7th Rilska Division
8th QF art. rgt.
8th Tundzhavska Division
9th QF art. rgt.
1st and 3rd div. : 9th Plevenska Division
2nd div. = 1st div. /12th art. rgt. : 12th Infantry Division
1st not QF art. rgt.
1st div. : Serska Brigade
4th and 6th batteries = 4th div. /1st art. rgt. : 5th Dunavska Division
5th battery : Cavalry div. (rearmed with ex Turkish 75mm QF guns)
2nd not QF art. rgt.
1st div. = 2nd div. / 10th art. rgt. = 1st div./13th art. rgt. : 13th Infantry Division (1st and 2nd bts. rearmed with ex Turkish 75mm QF guns)
2nd div. = 3rd div. / 10th art. rgt. : Odrinska Brigade
3rd not QF art. rgt.
11th art. rgt. : 11th Infantry Division
4th not QF art. rgt.
1st Sofiyska Division
5th not QF art. rgt.
4th Preslavska Division
6th not QF art. rgt.
3rd Balkanska Division
7th not QF art. rgt.
1st div. : Dramska Brigade
2nd div. : 8th Tundzhavska Division
8th not QF art. rgt.
1st div. : Indipendent Infantry Brigade
2nd div. : Makedono-Odrinsko Opalchenie (rearmed with ex Turkish 75mm QF guns)
9th not QF art. rgt.
1st battery : Dedeagach garrison
1st div. (2nd and 3rd battery) : 7th Rilska Division
2nd div. : 7th Rilska Division
10th art. rgt.
1st QF div. = 1st div. / 2nd not QF art. rgt. = 1st div./13th art. rgt. : 13th Infantry Division (1st and 2nd bts. rearmed with ex Turkish 75mm QF guns)
2nd div. = 2nd div. / 2nd not QF art. rgt. : Odrinska Brigade
3rd div. = 3rd div. / 4th art. rgt. : 2nd / 10th Infantry Brigade
11th art. rgt.
= 3rd art. rgt. : 11th Infantry Division
12th art. rgt.
1st div. = 2nd div. / 9th art. rgt. = 12th Infantry Division
2nd div. = 3 – 75mm not QF bts. : 12th Infantry Division
13th art. rgt.
1st div. = 2nd div. / 10th art. rgt. = 1st div. / 2nd not QF art. rgt. : 13th Infantry Division (1st and 2nd bts. rearmed with ex Turkish 75mm QF guns)
2nd div. = 2 – 87mm and 1 – 75mm not QF bts. : 13th Infantry Division

1st mountain art. rgt.
1st QF div. (2nd, 3rd bts.) : 9th Plevenska Division
1st QF battery : 3rd Balkanska Division
2nd QF div. (4th, 5th Bty.) : 5th Army
6th QF battery : Serska Brigade
7th QF battery : Dramska Brigade
4th not QF div. (8th, 9th, 10th Bty.) : 5th Dunavska Division
2nd mountain art. rgt.
1st QF div. (1st, 2nd, 3rd Bty.) : 7th Rilska Division
2nd QF div. (4th, 5th, 6th, 9th Bty.) : Makedono-Odrinsko Opalchenie
3rd QF div. (7th, 8th Bty.) : Makedono-Odrinsko Opalchenie
4th not QF div. (10th, 11th, 12th Bty.) : Makedono-Odrinsko Opalchenie
3rd mountain art. rgt.
1st QF div. (1st, 2nd, 3rd Bty.) : 5th Army
2nd QF div. (4th, 5th Bty.) : 2nd Trakiyska Division
3rd QF div. (6th, 7th Bty.) : 2nd Trakiyska Division
4th not QF div. (8th, 9th, 10th Bty.) : 5th Army

1st QF howitzer div. 5th Army
2nd QF howitzer div. 2nd Army
3rd QF howitzer div. 4th Army
1st not QF howitzer div. 1st, 2nd and 3rd battery : 3rd Army
3rd not QF howitzer div. 4th and 5th battery : 3rd army

Sofiyski fortress battalion
1st div. (2 - 150mm how. bts.) : 3rd Army
1 – 150mm how. bty. : Seres garrison
2nd div. (3 - 120mm L/28 guns bts.) : 3rd Army
1st and 2nd – 15cm L/30 guns bts. (4 guns) : Dedeagach garrison
15cm L/30 guns div. (4 guns) : Odrin?
12cm L/30 guns div. (6 guns) : Odrin?
120mm L/25 guns battery : 3rd Army

Shumenski fortress battalion
1st div. (2 - 150mm how. bts.) : Dedeagach garrison
1 – 150mm how. bty. : ?
2nd div. (3 - 120mm L/28 guns bts.) : 2nd Army
3rd div. (2 – 150mm how. bts. and 1 – 105mm L/30 guns bty) : 3rd Army
15cm L/30 guns div. (6 guns) : Odrin ?
12cm L/30 guns div. (6 guns) : Odrin ?
3rd 5.7cm turret guns sections : Vidin

Vidinski fortress battalion
1st 6 inch [152.4mm] mortars battery : Sofia (desarmed, the gunners assigned to 2nd div. / 12th art. rgt.)
2nd, 3rd 6 inch [152.4mm] mortars battery : Vidin
1st, 2nd 24 pdr [152.4mm] long guns batteries : Vidin
1st, 2nd 24 pdr [152.4mm] short guns batteries : Vidin (desarmed)
3rd 24 pdr [152.4mm] short guns battery : Vidin (desarmed)
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 9 pdr [106.7mm] guns batteries = 2nd div. / 12th art. rgt. : 12th Infantry Division (rearmed with 75mm not QF guns)
105mm L/30 gun battery : 2nd Army (armed with ex Turkish 105mm QF guns and with gunners coming from the 9 pdr [106.7mm] guns batteries)
5th, 6th 9 pdr [106.7mm] guns batteries : Vidin
7rd, 8th 9 pdr [106.7mm] guns batteries : Vidin
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5.7cm turret guns sections : Vidin
1st, 2nd, 3rd 75mm not QF batteries : Vidin

Remarks:
As for field artillery, mountain artillery and howitzers the list should be correct, probably there was at least another not QF battery rearmed with Turkish QF guns (the Austrian chief of General Staff, gen. Conrad, in his memoirs, stated that in 1913 the Bulgarian Army had 88 QF field batteries, that means 81 Schneider batteries and 7 batteries rearmed with Krupp guns - it seems that according Войната между България и другите балкански държави презъ 1913 г. also the 1st division of 8th not QF art. rgt. was rearmed with ex Turkish guns, but I'm not sure and the regimental history of the 8th art. rgt. states that only the 2nd division received QF guns).
As for fortress artillery, I have detailed data only for Vidinski fortress battalion, so there are many gaps in the list of the remaining two battalions.
Any addition/correction is welcome.

[Гост]

http://www.lostbulgaria.com/?cat=244

A gallery with some pics about history of Bulgarian Artillery,from 1878 till 1950.....Very interesting place indeed!

[MCP]

Siege and fortress artillery

In 1885, after the defeat of Serbia and the union of the Eastern Rumelia with the Principality of Bulgaria, the main aim of the Bulgarian policy was to liberate the brothers living in Macedonia under the Turkish yoke. But a war against Turkey meant to face the fortress of Odrin, which could be regarded as the most powerful strongpoint in the Balkans. At that time the Bulgarian Army had only a little number of old Russian heavy guns delivered in 1878, after the end of the liberation war. Besides 12 – 6 inch mortars and 17 – 24 pdr short guns, the only quite modern guns were 6 – 120mm L/25 Krupp guns, for which however there were no shells available. They were stored half in the arsenal of Ruse and half in a museum in Pleven, and only in 1896 they were assigned to the Sofijyski fortress artillery battalion, after having purchased the required ammunition.
To equip the artillery with modern weapons, in 1890, on request of the Prime Minister Stefan Stambulov, the government announced funds to buy 150mm Krupp long guns. The order was assigned to the Artillery Inspection that sent to Essen a commission to test the heavy guns manufactured by Krupp. The commission suggested buying also 120mm long guns. The government approved the report of the Military Minister and on 23 March 1891 a contract was signed with the German firm Krupp to obtain 14 – 150mm L/30 guns and 12 – 120mm L/30 guns with their equipments and ammunition. They were delivered between the autumn of 1892 and the beginning of 1893 to be employed as siege weapons against strong earthworks at long ranges.
These guns were intended for use on a wooden platform, the carriage being connected to a pivot plate on the platform. The platform consisted of three layers of posts connected by bolts, on which also a shield was fastened. Even if they were not true quick-firing guns, a recoil buffer was connected from the platform to the trail and wooden wedges behind the wheels were used for counter-recoil. These wedges both took up the recoil and made the task of manhandling the howitzer back into position easier. According with some Western sources, two of these guns were later equipped with steel wheels type Bonagente, in order to increase their mobility and allow them to fire without being mounted on the platform. This is confirmed by a picture.

In 1891 major Nyagul Tzvetkov was sent to the German firm Grusonwerk at Magdeburg to test the 57mm fahrbare Panzerlafette (“movable armour carriage”) or Fahrpanzer (“mobile armour”). It was a quick-firing gun mounted in a mobile armour housing especially designed as fortress weapon, being regarded by as “very advantageous for use in the construction of temporary fortifications or entrenchments”. It was introduced by Grusonwerk in 1886 after the design of Maximilian Schumann (patent n° 367,617). It would be mounted on a narrow gauge railway track protected by being in a shallow trench or behind a low parapet. It would be located at one end of the track concealed by stone, concrete or earth works. As and when needed (say to repel a storming attempt) the Fahrpanzer could be trundled out of hiding (using cables) to bring its gun to bear. For the transport of the gun on the road, the export version had a horse-drawn limber carrying two smaller wheels forward, while the German Army used a two-wheel cart.
This kind of guns were sold in significant numbers to various countries (Romania, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Chile) both in 57mm, 53mm and 37mm calibre. In summer 1891 Grusonwek started a tour aimed at publicizing their new guns in the Balkans. Exhaustive tests with a 53mm gun were carried on at Belgrade in May, and on 22 and 24 June at Sofia. They were repeated on 8 and 9 December at Hademköi, near Istanbul, with a 57mm gun, the results being always excellent, as reported by the European artillery journals (Revue d’Artillerie, Reichswehr, Militär Wochenblatt, Mitteilungen über Gegenstände des Artillerie-und Genie-Wesens).
On 25 May 1892 the Artillery Committee and the Committee for the defence in a joint session considered what kind of quick-firing gun was most suitable for the close defence of the forts of Slivinitza, Belogradchik and Vidin. As for the ballistic characteristics, the 75mm gun was superior, being effective even at a range of 2000/2500 m, but the 57mm was more movable and could concealed more easily. Then, since its fire was very effective at a range of 1500 m or lesser, and it should be employed mainly in close combat, the 57mm was choosen and 30 Fahrpanzer were bought. They arrived in Bulgaria in 1892-93, after the firm Grusonwerk had been purchased by Krupp, the takeover agreement having been signed on 10 December 1892.
In the same years major Kalin Najdenov was sent in Germany, France and Great Britain in order to test the new artillery weapons produced by the most important European firms. On his return he published on the Военен журнал some detailed articles, where he reported his opinion about them. Another important member of the Commission for the adoption of modern weapons in 1893 was lt. Vladimir Vazov.

In 1896 War Minister Racho Petrov along with some officers came to Bucharest to study the fortification works of the Romanian capital. Impressed by the steel cupolas built by Schneider, St.Chamond, Chatillon & Commentry (Montluçon) and Gruson, he inquired whether a French group would come to Sofia. Therefore the French Minister in Sofia, Maurice Michel-Schmidt, considered that a double effort by Creusot and Canet would possibly lead to an order of new war material for French industry, especially after the Bulgarian politician Nikolov had requested a study of gun from Creusot.
On 30 July 1896, a Franco-Austrian group composed by Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, Banque Internationale de Paris and Länderbank, issued on the French market a loan of 30 million franks on behalf of the Bulgarian government. In that occasion – end 1896/beginning 1897 – Eugène Schneider visited Sofia and designated an agent for Bulgaria, while previously the Schneider agent in Vienna had to take care also of the Balkan States. This decision clearly showed the intention to enter in a market until then reserved to the Germans. In fact, among the conditions imposed for the admission of the loan on the Paris bourse, the banks placed the demand that the French firm Schneider-Canet receive an order for 120 artillery pieces.
The Bulgarian government would have preferred to keep on buying Krupp guns, since they had served as the standard guns in use by the Army since the beginning. Nevertheless to appease the French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux, who had intervened directly in support of the French firm, it agreed to place a smaller order : on 10 February 1897 Schneider-Canet obtained a command for 24 siege guns, 24 heavy howitzers and 18 mountain guns for 1,250,000 levas. Schneider had to supply both the guns and their ammunition and equipments (cast iron shells, steel shells, steel shrapnel, propellant charges of black powder for guns, vent-sealing tubes of Bulgarian model, double effect fuzes for fortress guns and percussion fuzes for field guns).
It was only after that the contract had been signed, that the loan was issued in June 1897, and 3 million levas were made available for arms order. In this manner Schneider scored its first success in Bulgaria, and in April 1901 the first 23 guns arrived in Ruse, while the remaining ones were delivered within the end of 1902. Nevertheless Krupp still held the advantage, since in same year it received a larger order : 90 field guns with their ammunition, for the price almost double – 2,135,000 levas.

The planning and the manufacture of the French artillery pieces lasted from 1898 to 1900. They were tested under the control of some representatives of the Bulgarian Artillery Committee that required the introduction of alterations, when the pieces were still in the factory. To make the howitzers more movable, major Kalin Najdenov suggested to remove the platform planned by Schneider, and designed a special field wheeled carriage, which rendered them suitable for immediate service on any kind of ground without being necessary to construct a firing platform. In such a way the howitzers could be drawn by horses or oxen and placed in firing position quickly and easily. The carriage was provided with a trail spade that in ordinary ground prevented almost completely the carriage from recoiling. The recoil of the barrel in the cradle was absorbed by a hydraulic recoil cylinder, the return being secured by a compressed air run-out gear. Also the sight was improved, graduating it.

The innovative heavy howitzer resulted from the conversion was presented to the Paris International Exhibition in 1900. Unfortunately it was delivered hastily and without appropriate tests, and after being employed for two or three years the howitzers showed some major faults : in particular during the return in battery, the compressors let flee air and after 4-5 shots they broke down, forcing some pieces to interrupt firing. On 26 November 1904 the Artillery Committee examined the howitzers, suggested some improvements and subsequently commanded to Schneider the accessories required to modernize them on the basis of the Bulgarian plan. They were built in France, but were assembled in the Sofia Arsenal.
The improvements introduced were :
- the replacement of the air brakes with hydro-pneumatic ones, that prevented the leak of the air;
- the introduction of special gears for small lateral correction, that enabled to fire more easily and rapidly;
- the adoption of dual sights equipped with goniometers, that enabled to aim easily from covered positions;
- the introduction of elevating gears that enabled to put the barrel in horizontal position rapidly, when the howitzer was loaded;
- the addition of a movable trail spade and of devices to fixe the howitzer during the march and joint the traversing lever with the carriage trail.
In 1907, when the howitzers were finally fully upgraded, the fortress battalions carried several drills to test the weapons and train the troops. On the basis of the lessons learned, further improvements were introduced, this time to the 120mm siege guns. In order to increase their field of fire, an extension was added on the right or on the left side of the firing platforms. In addition to protect the guns and the crews from the shrapnel bullets they were covered and surrounded by a shelter, the so-called “veranda”, that proved to be very effective during the siege of Odrin.

At the beginning of the 20th Century the Bulgarian siege park could field 109 artillery pieces, including the outdated Russian guns and mortars. The general Staff intended distribute the fortress guns among Vidin and Belogradchik : each of them should receive 8 – 150mm, 120mm and 24 pdr guns and in addition some old 4 pdr guns, 12 Vidin and 10 Belogradchik. All the existing projectiles for them were collected in these two fortresses, since the supply of ammunition in wartime could be very difficult and it should be avoided the capitulation of a fortress due to the lack of ammunition.
In 1905 in order to strengthen the defences of the Odrin stronghold with a powerful mobile reserve of artillery, Turkey ordered 18 – 150mm heavy howitzers and 18 – 105mm long gun to the German firm Krupp. These modern artillery pieces outclassed the whole Bulgarian heavy artillery both in range and in fire power.
To manage this threat, in 1906 the budget of the Bulgarian War Ministry assigned a considerable sum to increase the amount of the heavy artillery. Then the Artillery Inspection proposed to buy 24 – 150mm heavy and 48 – 120mm field howitzers, but the Chief of the General Staff, major general Radko Dimitriev thought more urgent to buy mountain guns instead of heavy howitzers. The purchase of field howitzers dragged on, because the French firm Schneider-Canet at that time had not 120mm howitzers and proposed a 105mm light howitzer. In 1911, after a long debate, the Bulgarian Government ordered 36 howitzers instead of 72, as originally planned.

In 1909 MG. Georgi Vazov published a Brief instruction on the operation and the attack against fortresses (Кратко упътване за действие против крепостите и атаката им), where he presented a detailed introduction to the siege warfare and to the gradual or regular attack to a fortress. Unfortunately his text did not penetrate into the Bulgarian Army, and was somewhat studied only by the Engineers.
In the spring of 1911, lt.col. Stefan Slavchev, head of the Sofiyski Fortress Artillery Battalion, gave some lectures on the vital importance of the Odrin stronghold in a war against the Ottoman Empire. After a detailed analysis of the defensive works of the fortress and of the Bulgarian military equipment, he concluded that in order to attack Odrin successfully the Bulgarian Army should purchase 3 – 150mm heavy artillery batteries with 6,000 rounds each, 26 – 120mm howitzers batteries with 8,400 rounds each and 6 – 105mm long guns batteries with 500 rounds per gun, as well as 2,000 incendiary shells for 150mm and 120mm howitzers, 7 searchlights, 9 balloons and various engineers equipment. Lt.col. Slavchev thought that all this materiel would cost around 30,000,000 levas.
Unfortunately at the beginning of the Balkan War, nothing had been done to fulfil his plan. Also the request carried out jointly by the Artillery Inspection and the General Staff in 1910 to obtain funds to form a siege park composed of 300 modern artillery pieces was not accepted. To have an increase of its heavy artillery, the Bulgarian Army had to wait until the fall of Odrin in March 1913, when a large amount of fortress guns was captured and immediately adopted. Thus the major part of the fearful quick firing 150mm howitzers and 105mm guns of the Turkish Army became the top of Bulgarian Artillery.

PS: I'm sorry, but I was sure that I had already posted this text, but thanks to Stug3 I notice that I had forgotten it.

[Гост]

PS: I'm sorry, but I was sure that I had already posted this text, but thanks to Stug3 I notice that I had forgotten it.

Didn`t mean You.....I mean that there isn`t any info for that order(contract) in the Contract list in the postings about Bulgarian armement ....

[Гост]

I have to say the same for the fourteen 15cm heavy howitzers that Bulgarian Army had in 1915. Since the howitzers that Turkish Army bought in 1905 and received 1908 are not Krupp M. 1902 I add here the data of the Turkish modell.


Gun model : Krupp 150mm QF Turkish
German designation : 15 cm Haubitze L/14
Calibre : 149,1mm L/14
Weight in action : 2290 kg
Tube Lenght: 2100 m
Shell Weight : 41 kg
Muzzle Velocità : 300 m/s
Max. Range : 6815 m
Elevation : + 43° / - 5°
Traversing angle : 5°
Remarks : Quick firing heavy howitzer with hydraulic recoil system, running-out springs, single-motion wedge breech mechanism, shielded.

some pics in addition...

[MCP]

Thanks for the photoes. At least at the beginning of next June I'll be in Sofia, and I hope I can make a lot of good photoes at the Military Museum.
BTW I greatly appreciated the scans of Krupp you had added to the Оръжейни и прочее доставки за Българската армия 1878-1945 thread. Have you by chance also a picture of ammunition wagon of the 87mm field gun? Till now I have not been able to find it.

Best.

[Гост]

Thanks for the photoes. At least at the beginning of next June I'll be in Sofia, and I hope I can make a lot of good photoes at the Military Museum.
BTW I greatly appreciated the scans of Krupp you had added to the Оръжейни и прочее доставки за Българската армия 1878-1945 thread. Have you by chance also a picture of ammunition wagon of the 87mm field gun? Till now I have not been able to find it.

Best.

ammunition wagon of the 87mm field gun

L=??

[MCP]

L=??

The Bulgarian one (L/24), or the Bulgarian 75mm L/27. I was able to find only a picture of the 120mm howitzer bought in 1892, that is said to be very similar to the ammunition wagons of the two field guns adopted by the the Bulgarian Army at that time.

[Гост]

hm,....I am not 100% sure that our 87mm SF guns are L24...neither that our 75mm is L27....any way.
Yeap, I have tham --Ammunition Wagon ,Spare-carriage,Store-wagon and Forge-Wagon.....but for my shame I don`t have a scanner here --My single option is to make a pic with my 3.2mpix Nokia gsm....




To 66 post:

On august 1916 Tutrakan fortified position was manned by the 17th Infantry Division, with 19 battalions, 66 machine guns, 29 batteries:
6 field artillery batteris with 23 - 75mm guns and 120mm howitzers with 17,088 shells;
23 fortress artillery batteris with 82 guns, howitzers and mortars (caliber from 75mm to 210mm) with 38,084 shells;
28 armoured turrets (some in a mobile armour carriages) armed with 53mm QF guns;
14 armoured turrets (some in a mobile armour carriages) armed with 37mm QF guns;
giving 55 - 53mm and 37mm light guns with 110,000 shell.
During the siege, on 4 and 5 September, the fortress received 4 batteries with 28 - 75mm and 105mm guns.

In order to defend the fortress from the attack of Austro-Hungarian Danube flottilla, along the Danube shore it was built the "Turtucaia Position", utilising naval guns from the decommissioned cruiser Elisabeth as well as her torpedo tubes. This strongpoint was armed with:
4 -150mm L/35 Krupp guns old pattern;
4 - 120mm Schneider-Creusot L/45 guns;
4 - 75mm Schneider-Creusot L/50 guns;
4 - 356mm torpedo tubes.
After the fall of Tutrakan, the Romanians were forced to abandon the "Turtucaia Position" under pressure from advancing and encircling forces of the Central Powers. The main guns were removed to Galatz, where they briefly shelled German batteries before being lost during the retreat on December 1916.

A verry good example of a rear view of 53 mm Romanian QF Gruson, But from these guns that were dismounted from their Fahrpanzer`s armoured turrets, and mounted on field carriage in a Bucuresti Arsenal ....

Pic is from site "lostBulgaria":

http://www.lostbulgaria.com/?p=530

[MCP]

hm,....I am not 100% sure that our 87mm SF guns are L24...neither that our 75mm is L27....any way.
Yeap, I have tham --Ammunition Wagon ,Spare-carriage,Store-wagon and Forge-Wagon.....but for my shame I don`t have a scanner here --My single option is to make a pic with my 3.2mpix Nokia gsm....

Thanks. Every kind of image is welcome!
As for the calibre of the Krupp field guns all the sources I could read agree that they were 75/27 and 87/24. For instace the official Krupp Archive listed them as : 8,7 cm Feldk. L/24 and 7,5 FeldK. L/27. At any rate the lenght of the barrel was reported as 2000 mm for the 75mm (=26.6 calibres) and 2100 mm for the 87mm (= 24,13) - see http://www.boinaslava.net/dibo/Nayde...ery%201888.pdfpage 417. The Krupp measure were probably rounded.
Best

[MCP]

A site about Bulgarian Artillery

After a work of some years, I have finally published my site about Bulgarian artillery (www.bulgarianartillery.it), developing and correcting what I have published here year after year. Of course without the continuous assistence of the members of this site I never could make it. Thanks for everybody. Since my knowledge and my skill is very limited, every suggestion, correction and addition is welcomed.

Best, Marco