From 1920 to 1935, the army of the First Republic had brigade artillery divisions (BAA) in the brigade structure, which were expanded into light artillery regiments from 1935. Brigade Styria No. 5 also had such a BAA. This article will use the example of this troop unit to outline the development and training of the artillery in the interwar period.
Formation from 1920
The Styrian BAA No. 5 was formed in Graz in August 1920 after the dissolution of the Volkswehr artillery division, which had been formed with two batteries after the revolution of 1918, and was deployed in the military hospital barracks. It consisted of the detachment command, the mountain cannon battery no. 1 with four M15 mountain cannons and the mountain howitzer battery no. 2 with four M16 mountain howitzers and was formed in December 1921. The 3rd battery, planned as a 10.4 cm gun battery, was initially only a cadre battery with two guns for the training of recruits. The 4th battery, the mine launcher battery with eight launchers, was only set up in the summer of 1922, i.e. after the Burgenland operation.
In 1922, the measuring platoon was also set up, which initially had six men and was initially attached to the 3rd battery. As recruits were assigned to the platoon, its personnel was expanded over time. In 1926, this platoon became independent and in 1932 it was expanded into a measuring battery. This platoon was the nucleus of the infantry measurement system in the 5th Brigade. This enabled the heavy machine guns to achieve the best results in indirect aiming. Later, the infantry measuring platoons were also to ensure high accuracy together with the mine launchers. Further conversion and expansion of the artillery
In 1927, the 3rd battery was rearmed from 10.4 cm cannons to 8 cm field cannons and in the following year, the 4th battery was rearmed from mine launchers to 10 cm field howitzers. On May 1, 1935, the Brigade Artillery Division Styria No. 5 was renamed and from that day on it was known as the Styrian Light Artillery Regiment No. 5 (formerly Field Howitzer Regiment No. 3). Regimental commander Colonel Rudolf Jungwirth led the measuring battery and the command battery as well as the I. Abteilung with a field cannon battery and a field howitzer battery. The II. Abteilung consisted of two field howitzer batteries towed by motor vehicles. The III. division was divided into the mountain cannon battery on the one hand and the mountain howitzer battery on the other. https://militaeraktuell.at/die-bewaffnung-im-bundesheer-der-ersten-republik/ The artillery troop in Graz trained one-year volunteers every year from 1933, and in the summer of 1933 there was also a one-month course for assistant men. In 1937, as with the infantry, replacements joined the artillery for the first time. In March 1938, the history of the light artillery regiment came to an end with the invasion of the Wehrmacht and the annexation of Austria to the German Reich. The regiment was absorbed into the new Mountain Artillery Regiment No. 112 of the 3rd Mountain Division. Combat shooting in December 1933
This combat shooting in December 1933 is intended to illustrate the training of the mountain howitzers. Nowadays it is absolutely unthinkable due to strict safety criteria, but in the interwar period the artillery guns fired south of Graz along the Mur towards the south. Although the shells had a certain spread, they fired into a limited target field.
On December 19, 1933, Brigade Artillery Division No. 5 held a firing exercise in the Grazer Feld near Straßgang (near Graz), during which live ammunition was used. For this firing exercise, an extensive area had to be marked out by specially deployed soldiers. It was the Schachenwälder area between the villages of Seiersberg and Laa. It was strictly forbidden to enter the cordoned-off area, and local residents also had to follow the instructions of the cordon guards. Even though the army made sure that any unexploded ordnance was blown up or removed immediately, warnings were also issued to the surrounding communities. The population was asked not to touch such possible duds, but to mark them and immediately inform the nearest gendarmerie post The shooting began at 11.00 a.m. and the end was announced by a three-times horn signal. Before this special shooting exercise, the population was informed a second time in the Grazer Tagblatt about the cordons and dangers.
“Tschemm …” it snaps out of the field howitzer like a huge whip crack. “Sff…. Sff…. Sff…”, it sings through the air, “blaff”, a small white cloud appears in the sky and shortly afterwards you can see the explosive cloud of the impact growing upwards through the binoculars.
These are the words used by a journalist present to describe his impressions of the firing exercise and the effect of the shrapnel ammunition. Brigadier Pichler observed this extraordinary exercise, which was supervised by Lieutenant Colonel Jungwirth. Major Kramer was in command of the 2nd battery of the brigade artillery section. A large number of soldiers stood in the snow and observed (as well as) the firing performances and were instructed by their instructors about the mode of action of the artillery shells. The guns fired their shells at the rather short distance of 2,000 meters, and the effect of the fire was reported to the battery by telephone by observers in front. The guns were immediately adjusted and the battery once again fired at the predetermined target.
The journalist’s report emphasizes the psychological effect of the artillery, noting that “after such a live-fire exercise, one understands the feelings of soldiers [kann] who were under fire of destruction.” He was referring to the effect of drumfire on soldiers in the trenches of the First World War. Training grounds for the mountain artillery
It was clear to the responsible officers in the army that such exercises were not sustainable in the long term, so in the following years the Styrian mountain artillery carried out live firing at military training areas and firing ranges that were more suitable for this: at TÜPL Bruckneudorf/Kaisersteinbruch, TÜPL Dachstein and the Turracher Höhe firing range. While the former is still used by the army today, TÜPL Dachstein was closed in 2013. The firing range on the Turracher Höhe in the Styrian-Carinthian border region was no longer used for military purposes after the Second World War. In both cases, the focus is now on the touristic use of the former military site.
