According to this: http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1268 , 7.5 cm FK 249(j) is “ex-Yugoslav M-12 Skoda”.
I was absolutely sure this is wrong. There were Skoda M.12 export guns – 24 pieces, made for China, seized by Austro-Hungarian Army when WWI broke out. It is hardly possible that any of them survived war in usable condition, much less that Yugoslav Army inherited them in considerable numbers. In any case, these guns were L/29 barrel. Serbia before 1914 didn’t buy a single gun from Skoda – there is well known episode from history when Austro-Hungary impressed economical blockade on Serbia because they chose to purchase artillery from France (Schneider-Cresuot).
I obtained data/picture for FK 249(j) thanks to our member EPOCH3:
http://members.cox.net/oddessa_ss/75mm% ... 249(j).JPG
In Interwar Yugoslav army three types of 75mm field guns existed:
- 75mm M.07 & M.07A (ex-Serbian guns, Schneider L/31.4; small number)
- 75mm M.97 (French Mle 1897, obtained 1919 from “Armée de Hongrie”)
- 75mm M.12 (Schneider L/30 field gun, obtained from France at 1916 Salonica Front)
So, the most probable candidate for FK 249(j) is last one – except one crucial data don’t fit! Barrel length for FK 249(j) is L/25.4, but the manual from Yugoslav Military Academy in 1936 (author Brigade General Dragoljub Dinic) stated L/30 barrel for Mle 12 gun!
My friend Marco from Italy sent me a list of 75 mm non-Mle 1897 field guns used by French Army in 1914-18 (still in inventory of French Army in 1940)
- 75mm L/25 Mle 1912 Schneider (model for horse artillery).
- 75mm L/31 Mle 1914 Schneider (for export sales, but seized by French Army).
- 75mm L/30 Mle 1914 St. Chamond (for export sales, but seized by French Army).
(I found only one source which mentions these Mle 1912 & Mle 1914 guns in French armament: http://panzergeneral.strategyplanet.gam ... index.html )
This L/25 Mle 1912 (horse artillery model) became my most probable suspect. There is one Mle 1912 in Belgrade Military museum (see photos) with strangely short barrel (it also have odd label “Le Havre 1928” on breech) and seemingly identical to the gun from beute-book. Arming Serbian Army on 1916 Salonika Front with lesser-weight cavalry gun makes sense – they covered one of worst terrain. Similarly, 35th Italian division had only 65mm mountain guns (plus supporting French artillery units); Greek forces had 60:40 ratio of mountain/field artillery pieces. (Serbian Army 1918: 112 field (most of them French 75mm Mle 12, some Serbian 75mm Schneider M.07), 116 mountain guns – 108 x 65M Mle 06, 4 x 75M Mle 09, 4 x 70M Serbian Schneider M.07)
After finding this Czech source - http://www1.webpark.cz/rakuherarmada/zbrane.htm#top – I was now sure that Mle 12 in Serbian / Yugoslav armament must be L/25.4 barrel. Data from 1936 Yugoslav Military Academy manual must be wrong! So I found info – implicit proof – on next page, covering Serbian M.1907 gun – to save space, it is described shortly as “almost identical as Mle 12, except of barrel length, weight and range”. As mentioned, M.1907’s barrel was L/31.4; if Mle 12 did have the L/30 barrel, that is only 105mm difference, so – why bother? M.1907 was field gun – naturally, it is heavier than Mle 12 horse artillery model. Longer range of M.1907 (10 km) also suggests considerably longer barrel!
So, this is it! FK 249(j) is ex-Yugoslav Royal Army Schneider Mle 12 gun.
(To explain a little Serbian markings on beute-list: “ПОЉСКИ ТОПОВА“ should mean “field gun” – but grammar is not correct. Also, German “jug 12 S” designation means Schneider, not Skoda gun – remember famous Schneider’s L13S gun (105mm) ? )
Table and all color photos from author (Belgrade Military Museum). For FK 249(j) source is already mentioned.
Regards,
Edge / Antic
So I rest my case. 
