There is something odd going in in Post-WWI Austria, but nobody really seems to notice. Unlike their northern neighbour, they actually pay their reparations. There are no violent fascists rising to power, no socialists winning any civil wars. And yet, unlike the other countries in Europe, they seem to actually come out of this war, out of a shattered empire not weakened, but growing stronger. They could have stayed neutral, prospering, forgotten, but even they have actors that have decided that they have irredentist that need to be reclaimed. A political assassination over nationalist ideas will once again focus the worlds attention on Austria.
Tu felix Austria... (Interwar Austria)
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"Italy crosses Brenner Border"
So I've finally managed to get some words to (digital) paper again. This is something that rattled around in my mind for a while, and mutated heavily in that time. Yet, I've written this with just some quick fact checking on Wikipedia, not the stack of books I usually have by my side. I'll just post it anyway, and I'll see if it gets readers, and for the matter, fact checkers.
I'm going to (mostly) tell this from a detached perspective, newspapers, letters, books, etc. Since this will seriously change the world as we see it, some of the perspectives will be alien even to me, but I'll give it a try. I'll try to be mindful of topics that might be uncomfortable to people and give warnings.
If you want to be at least a bit spoiled, then read here:
I'm going to (mostly) tell this from a detached perspective, newspapers, letters, books, etc. Since this will seriously change the world as we see it, some of the perspectives will be alien even to me, but I'll give it a try. I'll try to be mindful of topics that might be uncomfortable to people and give warnings.
If you want to be at least a bit spoiled, then read here:
This isn't a straight up ISOT of any variation, no SI and certainly not history just going a different path. There is a MacGuffin behind it, on what was at one time a quasi-crossover between a Science Fiction Universe and real History, but for this at least I'll mostly file the serial numbers off.
If you want to be spoiled as to the origin, keep reading.
There was a timeline on AH.com over a decade ago. lordroel's 'Kingdom of the Netherlands : a alternate star trek timeline'. Well this is similar, a advanced future space ship gets dropped via negative space wedge/asb/whatever into what could have been our universe, giving a single individual access to teleportation, matter creation, advanced computing, advanced (far in excess to current) sensors and most important of all, future would be knowledge. And being an 1918 (German-)Austrian there are a couple of things he learns he'd rather avoid. But since space plays no real part in this, nor do I need Q or Star Trek replicators in exactly that configuration, I filed off the serial numbers, even more so since I do not intend on showing the ship with less than two degrees of separation - in TTL it's the conspiracy that just nobody believes, but happens to be true, because there are layers and layers of lies to protect it.
Also, as some might notice: the MacGuffin is dropped in in 1918, first "story" bit is more than a decade later. A lot of things happened during that time, and while there will be later chapters that fill in some gaps, some will remain unfilled.
If you want to be spoiled as to the origin, keep reading.
There was a timeline on AH.com over a decade ago. lordroel's 'Kingdom of the Netherlands : a alternate star trek timeline'. Well this is similar, a advanced future space ship gets dropped via negative space wedge/asb/whatever into what could have been our universe, giving a single individual access to teleportation, matter creation, advanced computing, advanced (far in excess to current) sensors and most important of all, future would be knowledge. And being an 1918 (German-)Austrian there are a couple of things he learns he'd rather avoid. But since space plays no real part in this, nor do I need Q or Star Trek replicators in exactly that configuration, I filed off the serial numbers, even more so since I do not intend on showing the ship with less than two degrees of separation - in TTL it's the conspiracy that just nobody believes, but happens to be true, because there are layers and layers of lies to protect it.
Also, as some might notice: the MacGuffin is dropped in in 1918, first "story" bit is more than a decade later. A lot of things happened during that time, and while there will be later chapters that fill in some gaps, some will remain unfilled.
The Times, London, 12th April 1929
Italy crosses Brenner border
Claims Austria responsible for unrest in Venezia Tridentina
Matrei am Brenner burned out, Troops expected in Innsbruck by tomorrow
War has begun. After renewed unrest in Bolzano during the inauguration of the new Victory Monument yesterday, Italian Alpini crossed the border at the Brenner pass in the early morning. The border itself was unguarded by Austria, after previous incidents, to prevent provocations. When the border garrison engaged seven miles from the border outside the village of Matrei, Italian troops shelled the village to destruction. Austrian troop retreated afterwards, protecting a caravan of displaced villagers. Italian troop are expected at the city of Innsbruck by tomorrow.
Our correspondent in Vienna tells us via telegram, that he has been informed of Italian attacks towards Lienz and Villach as well.
Our correspondent in Milano tells us, that Italian troops have been moved north in order to ensure the protection of the King and the Duce even before the inauguration of the new monument. He reports, that further troops have moved north from Milano barracks overnight.
Reports of Street fighting in Bolzano and Merano have not yet been confirmed.
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"Flashpoint Tyrol"
Gamper, Hans (1988): Introduction to Twentieth Century Austria, Bozen: Tyrolia Verlag
Flashpoint Tyrol
It should not come as a surprise that South Tyrol became one of the flash points of the collapsing treaties that were created after the Great War. While the Trentino held a majority of Italian speakers, north of Trient the population was overwhelmingly speaking Austrian-German. This wasn't inherently a problem, but italianization efforts created a lot of them. Even before Mussolini took power in 1922, there had been several bloody attacks on German speakers in Tyrol by Italian Fascists, but after it it became enforced by law. German in schools and government was outlawed by 1923, and efforts spread from there. By 1927 even gravestones were rewritten with Italian given and family names.
Added to this came economic considerations. Austria very quickly recovered both from the war and the splitting of their Empire, white Italy floundered. While people point to the reopened silver mines at Schwaz and Silbertal, as well as the gold mines at Rauris for Austrian economic success, this is just the tip of the iceberg. A large range of chemical, mechanical and agricultural companies grew, especially in the west of Austria, taking progress made during the war and finally using them for peaceful means. While this led to mainly internal migration, people from the former Empire also received favourable terms for temporary employment in Austria. When Mussolini's government learned of this, they quickly cracked down on this practice with new taxation, something that was unpopular not just with German speakers, but Italian speakers from the area as well.
Added to this was propaganda and weapons flowing into Italy from Austria in large numbers. It is known today, that it wasn't just war stocks of Mannlicher Modell 1895 that were smuggled there, but additional new build ones. Bloody clashes between the increasingly numerous Blackshirt and Army units and armed local started to become common in the late 20s.
Early 1929 was a powder keg waiting to go off. Sabotage the previous spring had damaged the planed victory monument in Bozen. The monument had since it's inception been controversial. There had been several protests before construction even began. Yet it was high profile enough, that both the Duce as well as the King were announced to be present for the inauguration.
Additionally on March 29th Josef Noldin had been executed without trial.
Noldin had been sentenced several times for teaching German language in so called 'catacomb schools'. In 1926 he was then, again without trial, sentenced to banishment on the island Lipari.
When he fell sick he was released in late 1928. Once back in Bozen, he resumed teaching German in private lessons, despite them being forbidden. When a groups of Blackshirts took it upon themselves to conduct an inspection, they happened upon one of those sessions. The same evening Noldin was shot in the courtyard of the local barracks.
Riots the day after cost at least three lives, two Tyroleans and a soldier from Sicily. Several others vanished during the fights, and it is assumed that at least a few of them were murdered and disposed off. Order, for a given value of order had been restored at the barrel of a lot of guns, and then not even two weeks later the high profile inauguration was to take place. Rescheduling would have been seen as weakness, so it was to take place.
And so it happened that 19 year old Andreas Pircher fired a single shot from a roof some 200 meters distant on the other side of the river Talfer, hitting Mussolini in the chest. The Duce died five days later of the wounds.
Flashpoint Tyrol
It should not come as a surprise that South Tyrol became one of the flash points of the collapsing treaties that were created after the Great War. While the Trentino held a majority of Italian speakers, north of Trient the population was overwhelmingly speaking Austrian-German. This wasn't inherently a problem, but italianization efforts created a lot of them. Even before Mussolini took power in 1922, there had been several bloody attacks on German speakers in Tyrol by Italian Fascists, but after it it became enforced by law. German in schools and government was outlawed by 1923, and efforts spread from there. By 1927 even gravestones were rewritten with Italian given and family names.
Added to this came economic considerations. Austria very quickly recovered both from the war and the splitting of their Empire, white Italy floundered. While people point to the reopened silver mines at Schwaz and Silbertal, as well as the gold mines at Rauris for Austrian economic success, this is just the tip of the iceberg. A large range of chemical, mechanical and agricultural companies grew, especially in the west of Austria, taking progress made during the war and finally using them for peaceful means. While this led to mainly internal migration, people from the former Empire also received favourable terms for temporary employment in Austria. When Mussolini's government learned of this, they quickly cracked down on this practice with new taxation, something that was unpopular not just with German speakers, but Italian speakers from the area as well.
Added to this was propaganda and weapons flowing into Italy from Austria in large numbers. It is known today, that it wasn't just war stocks of Mannlicher Modell 1895 that were smuggled there, but additional new build ones. Bloody clashes between the increasingly numerous Blackshirt and Army units and armed local started to become common in the late 20s.
Early 1929 was a powder keg waiting to go off. Sabotage the previous spring had damaged the planed victory monument in Bozen. The monument had since it's inception been controversial. There had been several protests before construction even began. Yet it was high profile enough, that both the Duce as well as the King were announced to be present for the inauguration.
Additionally on March 29th Josef Noldin had been executed without trial.
Noldin had been sentenced several times for teaching German language in so called 'catacomb schools'. In 1926 he was then, again without trial, sentenced to banishment on the island Lipari.
When he fell sick he was released in late 1928. Once back in Bozen, he resumed teaching German in private lessons, despite them being forbidden. When a groups of Blackshirts took it upon themselves to conduct an inspection, they happened upon one of those sessions. The same evening Noldin was shot in the courtyard of the local barracks.
Riots the day after cost at least three lives, two Tyroleans and a soldier from Sicily. Several others vanished during the fights, and it is assumed that at least a few of them were murdered and disposed off. Order, for a given value of order had been restored at the barrel of a lot of guns, and then not even two weeks later the high profile inauguration was to take place. Rescheduling would have been seen as weakness, so it was to take place.
And so it happened that 19 year old Andreas Pircher fired a single shot from a roof some 200 meters distant on the other side of the river Talfer, hitting Mussolini in the chest. The Duce died five days later of the wounds.
Mixing truth and fiction here. Laws are mostly as was. Obviously no new mines and industry OTL. Also no smuggled weapons as far as I know, prior to WWII. Victory Monument was contentious, but was only target of attacks between 1960ish-1990ish. Noldin OTL died of his sickness, caused by his imprisionment. And obviously Mussolini wasn't shot.
"Italian Defeat at Bergisel"
Innsbrucker Nachrichten, Innsbruck, 14th April 1929
Critical Italian Defeat at Bergisel!
Liberate Tyrol Now!
After the Italians burned Matrei, they faced our troops at the historical site of Bergisel. The regulars were once again aided by several units of local Schützen, who in small groups, with their hunting rifles, answered the call to all men in defence of our country. Also present was a significant unit of students under the banner of the Akademische Legion.
The Italians were obviously surprised at the resistance, only having expected to face the small number of professional soldiers. But in the end those made most of the difference. Under fire of the dug in machine guns and pre-sighted artillery the Alpini quickly started to retreat. In a last measure of spite their artillery turned their guns on the city, before they abandoned them to to flee.
By now our troops will have driven them back beyond the Brenner, and soon enough we will have driven them south of the Salurner Klause!
Landeshauptmann Franz Stumpf called up all Schützen to rise to liberate Tyrol. They should, among the Heimwehr, and yes, even the Schutzbund, serve as a cadre to facilitate a quick expansion of the army in the face of Italian aggression. He announced that there will be a general muster as soon as it can be organised.
Vienna has been silent on the issue of general mobilisation, but existing units are quickly brought forward. Troops from Salzburg have already been involved in the fighting, and the Garrison in Landeck, backed by troops from Vorarlberg has already started their own counter-attack over the Reschen.
Critical Italian Defeat at Bergisel!
Liberate Tyrol Now!
After the Italians burned Matrei, they faced our troops at the historical site of Bergisel. The regulars were once again aided by several units of local Schützen, who in small groups, with their hunting rifles, answered the call to all men in defence of our country. Also present was a significant unit of students under the banner of the Akademische Legion.
The Italians were obviously surprised at the resistance, only having expected to face the small number of professional soldiers. But in the end those made most of the difference. Under fire of the dug in machine guns and pre-sighted artillery the Alpini quickly started to retreat. In a last measure of spite their artillery turned their guns on the city, before they abandoned them to to flee.
By now our troops will have driven them back beyond the Brenner, and soon enough we will have driven them south of the Salurner Klause!
Landeshauptmann Franz Stumpf called up all Schützen to rise to liberate Tyrol. They should, among the Heimwehr, and yes, even the Schutzbund, serve as a cadre to facilitate a quick expansion of the army in the face of Italian aggression. He announced that there will be a general muster as soon as it can be organised.
Vienna has been silent on the issue of general mobilisation, but existing units are quickly brought forward. Troops from Salzburg have already been involved in the fighting, and the Garrison in Landeck, backed by troops from Vorarlberg has already started their own counter-attack over the Reschen.
Well, the likes tell me that at least someone looks at this.
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"Franzerl des Panzerl Pt. 1" + "War without declaration"
So part of this entire thing is to write something every day - part of why those are short. Though part is also that my mind currently rapidly wanders off if I try anything longer. Still I got a bit more than one of those together a day since Saturday, so today two snippets instead of one
Moss, John (1944): Memories of the Austro-Italian War, or Franzerl des Panzerl, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
14.4.1929
When I heard about what the Italians did I deliberated for a while, then approached a guy I knew. I had spent the winter drinking and gambling my life away, but I still introduced myself as a journalist. It surprised me at the time, the guy that I knew got me a meeting with a very distracted Oberst. He asked me if I wanted to tag along with the regulars, or if I was more interested in something special. I was shocked, here I was a foreign journalist, and they offered me more, far more than my own government would have. Than again, I considered that they didn't know a thing about me. So I told him I'd be up for something special, the adventure appealed to my younger self.
The next night I was woken while it was still pitch black outside. Two soldiers in white winter uniforms led me outside, where I joined a couple other in the back of one of the seemingly ubiquitous small trucks. We first moved not south, but up the Inn valley, then through the Öztal. Our drive ended with the asphalt road in the tiny hamlet of Gurgl, seemingly surrounded on all sides by massive mountains covered in snow.
There we met with three local guides. Sepp, the only local to speak something different than an incomprehensible variation of the local Austrian, explained that usually he would consider the conditions too dangerous, but that there had been enough snow recently so they were willing to make the trek. The next question was if I've ever skied. While my best memories of holidays in Montafon had been of long nights playing illegal poker with the local chief of police, I did confirm that I knew how to.
As it turns out I wasn't aware what I was talking about. My companions in the meantime had unloaded some of the fuel cans the locals used and some boxes, one of them I quickly decided was a radio, and started strapping them to their backs. Sepp meanwhile fashioned me with a pair of skis, odd ones with come kind of textile strapped to the bottom. It turned out this allowed me to walk upslope on the skies. At one point during our trek our guide informed me that we had now arrived on the glacier. During mid April this high in the Tyrolean mountains I couldn't have told where anything was beyond a lot of snow. When I asked how he knew he gave me the puzzling answer that he used to help herd sheep over it for them to graze on the north side during summer.
Our guides had us take several detours around dangerous areas I couldn't have told the difference from any other patch of snow. At one point we halted for half an hour for one of them to deliberately set of an avalanche in front of us. It was early afternoon by my clock, but the sun was setting already as we again descended on the other side.
We then arrived at a small collection of huts that I've been told were called Pfelders. I was told that normally at this time of the year it wouldn't be occupied, but since they had stashed some gear here, local fighters were here and expecting us. And our fuel apparently, since they were short.
The welcome was hearty and we were given some Schnaps and tea to warm up. It was then that one of my military companions asked why they were short on fuel, they had expected to just need to bring ammunition. Ignaz, one of the locals then answered that they had used Franzerl to move some lumber that had fallen last fall during a storm.
At that point I simply asked, maybe my tongue loosened a bit by the alcohol, "Franzerl?"
Iganz grinned across his whole face, and told me to follow. We moved outside and then to a building I had pegged as just another barn. Inside however, inside was a Renault FT, a red eagle lovingly painted on the front.
Since I lack the skill to imitate and the motivation to read a lot of Hemmingway, welcome to discount Hemmingway. He's even managed to get the same publisher! We'll see more of him. Franzerl is there because I find it funny. Nothing more, nothing less. I also await first protest about historical accuracy. Some might have reason, others, well reminder that the POD is over a decade ago.
Heilbronner General-Anzeiger, 16th April 1929
War without declaration
Austrian Chancellor claims there has been no formal declaration of war
Claims that actions speak clearly enough, and they will presume that a state of war exists
Calls upon League of Nation and signatories of Geneva Protocols to interfere
Austrian Chancellor Ignaz Seipel has addressed his nation and the world yesterday in a radio broadcast. He stated that even after four days of fighting they have yet to receive any declaration of war. Yet he, as well as the Austrian parliament, were convinced that their mere actions constitute such a state existing. He therefore called upon the League of Nations, reminding them of Part I, Article 11 of the Treaty of St-Germain-en-Laye, to interfere and bring an end to the fighting.
Further he announced, that due to the current crisis he had reached out to his Social-democratic counterparts and has arranged for a government of national unity, until the end of the crisis. Details for this will be announced in the coming days.
Additionally he proclaimed a general conscription, since even with the aid of militias and volunteers, the 50000 strong professional army isn't expected to be able to deal with all Italian forces.
Further he announced, that the situation in North Tyrol was under control. Italians troops had been pushed south of the Brenner pass, fighting was currently happening at Sterzing. A second thrust had crossed the Reschen and liberated Schlanders, with minimal resistance of the Italian garrison.
Meanwhile elsewhere the situation was worse. Lienz was occupied by Italians, and elements were pushing north along the recently finished Glocknerstrasse.
In Carinthia, Italian forces were moving more slowly. Thörl-Maglern is after less than five years once again occupied by Italy. However despite the short distance, only scouts have yet to move further than Arnoldstein. A reason for this could be the use of the rail yard in Fürnitz as a mustering point for troops.
Italian officials are silent on all this. Official word of Benito Mussolini's hospitalisation was only provided today.
I've got to read up on Austrian interwar social democrats and socialists. Again. I've done it before. Three times. I've forgotten all about it again. It's getting worrying. Maybe I should get rid of the last alcohol in my flat before I start? Also: Shots fired at undeclared wars and the League of Nations. Fun fact to take home: Seipel was an ordained catholic priest. He was also the Austrian Chancellor twice. Make of that what you will.
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"Da ist Gold in den Bergen" + "Various headlines, Böhmische Arbeiterzeitung"
So I wrote less today, but I've still got enough ready-ish. So two pieces today again.
Da ist Gold in den Bergen – Feierliche Festschrift zu 50 Jahren Tauern Gold AG, Lienz (1969), translated from German
That there is gold in the Alps has never been in doubt. According to some estimations by the mid-fifteenth century about ten percent of mined gold in the known world came from the Tauern area. However by the early twentieth century known deposits had become uneconomically to further mine out.
During the Great War however there was a lack of just about everything in Austria-Hungary. An enterprising individual in the k.k. Handelsministerium therefore ordered a new survey in the hope of finding sources for needed metals. While reports of their work are mostly lost, it is known that they reported a new gold vein near Rauris.
We started work to exploit this deposit started in early 1919, providing a much needed influx of cash to the post war economy. At the same time silver mines at Schwaz and in the Silbertal area were reopened.
In the first year most of the metal mined was used for food imports, allowing the new nation to feed itself.
In 1922 then the treaty parties of St-Germain met in Geneva. The Treaty of St-Germain had pegged Austria as unable to pay as it was in 1919. The treaty said, that future payments were to be adjusted to similar proportional rates as Germany paid. However Austrian economic stability compared to German hyper-inflation, in the wake of the Ruhr occupation, caused lenient negotiations. Getting Austria not just to pay, but to pay on schedule would be another weapon against German reticence in doing so.
Still Austria was burdened with a staggering 9 billion Goldkronen, to be repaid over thirty years. In exchange there were some minor modifications made to the Treaty of St Germain. Notably it amended limitations on the Austrian Armed Forces. They also reaffirmed a ban on unification with Germany, in exchange for guarantees of territorial integrity.
After the Geneva Protocols were signed, negotiators approached British, French and Yugoslavian negotiators, about the possibility of paying off some of the debt early. Yugoslavia, at the time always starved for cash, agreed quickly to payment then and there. While a good part was in gold from the Tauern area, according to legend the Yugoslav Foreign Minster signed backdated agreements on infrastructure as payment right there in the vault of a Swiss bank on top of a stack of gold bars. While France and Britain did not have any state property on annexed territories that could be put up as partial payment, they were willing to grant rebates and trade agreements in exchange for early payment. Among other things, our gold allowed Britain to return to the gold standard soon after.
The biggest debt holder however, Italy, found Austria to be more difficult. They often argued, that Italy had already been paid in goods, properties and infrastructure in the annexed areas that had been insufficiently regulated in previous treaties. Arbitration of the value of the defunct k.u.k. Navy alone took nearly four years in the Reparation Commission. Other times they tried to tie payments to better treatment of the Austrian minority in Italy. By the time of the Austro-Italian war, less than five percent of reparations to Italy had been repaid.
Who's that there around the corner? Oh, it's the ghosts of Spanish Treasure Fleets? Whatever are they doing here?
No seriously, I looked into just how much reparations Germany actually was supposed to pay. With the reduced rates they finally agreed to they were still expected to pay yearly rates of (though in various means) more than the yearly world wide gold production at the time. For forty years.
Even with me avoiding hard numbers, the amount of gold the "new found" vein provided doubles world gold production in the 1919-1922 period. Again just having done some rough estimates in my head for the numbers, the lump payments mentioned here might have been worth up to 2% of existent worldwide mined gold up to that point. I have no idea where I'd start on value already provided in government assets, since OTL that process wasn't even started. Also I haven't really looked into what France and Britain would consider a nice infusion of cash during a time I know they had loan repayments and expanding social programs.
No seriously, I looked into just how much reparations Germany actually was supposed to pay. With the reduced rates they finally agreed to they were still expected to pay yearly rates of (though in various means) more than the yearly world wide gold production at the time. For forty years.
Even with me avoiding hard numbers, the amount of gold the "new found" vein provided doubles world gold production in the 1919-1922 period. Again just having done some rough estimates in my head for the numbers, the lump payments mentioned here might have been worth up to 2% of existent worldwide mined gold up to that point. I have no idea where I'd start on value already provided in government assets, since OTL that process wasn't even started. Also I haven't really looked into what France and Britain would consider a nice infusion of cash during a time I know they had loan repayments and expanding social programs.
Böhmische Arbeiterzeitung, Pilsen, 18th April 1929
Austria opens additional Guest Worker slots
With full mobilisation in our Southern Neighbour expected to happen very soon, the Austrian government has expanded their usual limited guest worker slots significantly. While we do not usually support exploitation of workers and anti-internationalist measures, even we have to admit that limited work permits had kept both wages for Austrian workers high, and to a lesser extent also in the new nations in their outdated former empire. One only has to look to Germany or Poland, where guest worker slots in Austria are much harder to acquire and what pittance workers have to live there.
While we do not support war, we know that at least the local war profiteers will continue to have to pay wages one can actually live on. Thousands of Krona have been spent for further war materials, and our labour will be in high demand. Already yesterday night train after train left the local Skoda factory, carrying more than hundred of their newest war machines south.
Austrian railway worker pressed into forced labour
While our comrades to the south had spend many an hour working tireless at the great projects that are bringing together worker from all corners of the world, we must now hear their plight. By the hundreds they and their materials had been pressed into service of the Austrian capitalist Army.
And then they were not even armed and trained, preparing them for the inevitable struggle where we will overthrow the capitalist order, but they were plucked from their projects, their wages cut in half, and then assigned to repair rails that the Army had destroyed just days earlier.
We must protest this treatment of our brothers in the harshest terms.
Capitalist Leaders Hypocritical
While there had been numerous denunciations of war, no leader of any of the greater powers truly care how many workers are fed into the fires of war.
Our own government already has the blood of workers on their hands, having agreed to extensive arms deals, that will be used to kill and suppress workers. Our neighbours haven't yet agreed to similar deals, likely only to not appears to be not too much of war profiteers.
We observe with sadness that only the United States had announced that they will embargo all war parties so far. It isn't the capitalists blood that will run in rivers, it is workers fighting for causes not their own.
I've rewritten this one several times today. And I'm still certain I missed some of the vocabulary that I should have used... Oh well.
"Franzerl Pt. 2" + "Germans in America"
Two pieces again. Not 100% happy with them, but that's for the dreaded re-write that dies halfway through.
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 2
15.4.1929
The next morning we again started moving early. All of us capable skiers we were able to move further down the valley quickly. The tank barely managed to keep up, even if the driver obviously was used to the dangerously winding path. When we arrived at Moos, it first occurred to me how different the villages over the mountains were. The street further down valley was barely more of a track than the one we've followed down from Pfelders. The small trucks you found everywhere in Austria were missing. Equally the tractors, that some farmers owned even in mountainous areas to the north. A lone motorcycle stood leaning at the front of the church, but no others were there. Not even their muscle powered imitations were to be seen. To be honest I always thought the locals in Austria mad, to take those contraptions that far into the mountains, but their absence was still something that stood out to me.
At the time I simply though that Moos was a backwater, a place so high in the mountains that civilisation had barely even reached there. We moved further down valley, finally leaving the snow behind to make the skis more of a hindrance than a help. I managed to hitch a ride on Franzerl for a while, but mostly was stuck walking. As we moved through the mountain, men appeared amongst us. It seems that at every building we passed, one or two joined up, each with their own rifles, in hardy brown and red clothing, that gave them something of a uniform look. The only things truly uniform however were the red-white armbands Ignaz passed out from some seemingly infinite storage in the tank. It was quite clear to me, that the locals had been waiting for this day, and were prepared to fight for their country.
We finally arrived in St Leonhard, and stopped there for a while. As we waited colourful standards were unrolled, and carefully mounted so that they could be seen from afar. A couple of people were conferring with the Austrian liaisons in the thick accent of theirs. Several times they consulted with someone else over the radio we had brought with us over the mountains. I was treated to some hearty soup, as we waited.
Finally everyone gathered in front of a pub, spread out into squads. Standards front, they listened to a speech. While at the time I had considered my German to be quite good, I only understood some of the words, so thick was the accent of the locals. I gathered that they were appealing to those gathered to fight for their freedom. They then swore an oath of some kind, and then as they started to move out, started singing "Zu Mantua in Banden".
Johann told me afterwards that the pub had been the Sandwirt, birth place of the Tyrolean freedom fighter Andreas Hofer. Most of us, including Franzerl, moved up another valley. A smaller group meanwhile moved down valley. I've been told that they would meet up with others, living further down the Passeier, and would block the Italians from moving north from Meran. We meanwhile were going north, towards Sterzing, where fighting had already started.
Kinda surprised that South Tyrol didn't resonate more with the US in OTL - on the other hand ITTL here we do have a well armed militia rising, instead the troubles starting with destruction of infrastructure. Searching for "Feuernacht" should give you an idea of the start of the OTL post-WWII conflict.
Miller, Franz; Smith, Heinrich and Hintergruber, Kenneth (1948): Germans in America – A pursuit of Liberty, Cincinnati: Steinlage
By 1919 there was a significant resurgence of the German language in the US. While this was watched with some trepidation in US government circles, there was no longer a war going on. Several News papers were quickly closed down for a wide range of reasons, but at least some didn't offer too many weaknesses for legal complaints or operated in states where angering the German vote wasn't seen as practical. Investigations showed that most operators that remained had an impeccable record during the war, and many weren't even originally from Germany, either having been born in the US, or hailing from Switzerland, France or the nations of the former Habsburg Monarchy.
However the return of German language newspapers was mostly accepted as a return to normality after the Great War. A seeming unspoken agreement amongst the German publishers towards objectivity didn't really hurt this. With low prices, wide ranging contacts and at least in some cases a simplified German language, such as the Cleveland Tagblatt or the Milwaukee Arbeiterzeitung, some papers gained a readership even outside of German-American circles.
After the Supreme Court ruling in Meyer v. Nebraska, and the ruling against bans on language teaching, German made a return in schools as well. The Society for Multi-Lingualism was supported by people very much in the same circles as many German newspaper publishers, but also received money from European industrialists. Via various fronts it is estimated that as much as a quarter of the funding came from the Austrian government. However the Society offered and supported a large number of second language courses all over the US, as well English courses for migrants, and didn't limit themselves to German. French, Spanish, Russian and Swedish were the most commonly taught languages aside from German in the 1920s.
The Society, as well as others, also lobbied for expanded second language courses in the official school curricula in the US. This was strongly opposed by several influential people of an English-Protestant background.
Very much the same people opposed the return of German language books into public libraries. During the Great War on several occasions it had come to book burnings, mainly to destroy German language book in libraries. While there were some libraries that did not return German books to their shelves, many more did. They couldn't very well deny donations too often. Even today most libraries have at the very least the canon of great German literature, most often in the bi-lingual version, with the German original on one page and the English translation on the other one.
That's sort of a companion to a piece I haven't written yet, concerning media on a larger scale. The authors of this piece in my mind those people came from very specific milieu, one that was pretty much was dead in the US by the 30s OTL and is dead in Austria and Germany today as well, because they got awfully close to the Nazis.
Mentions of French born Germans might trip some up - well Alsace is a thing. It leads to interesting things when people do not keep border changes in mind. OTL US government had several blunders in that direction. Also thought long and hard about using the term WASP in there, but then decided against it.
Mentions of French born Germans might trip some up - well Alsace is a thing. It leads to interesting things when people do not keep border changes in mind. OTL US government had several blunders in that direction. Also thought long and hard about using the term WASP in there, but then decided against it.
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"Franzerl Pt. 3"
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 3
15.4.1929
It was a steep climb up the mountains, even on the winding road. As we arrived at the top of the Jaufenpass Ignaz informed me that his father had actually taken part in constructing the modern road, back before the Great War. He told me that while people on foot, or on skis, would have managed just fine, he'd doubt that we'd have gotten a tank over it in mid-April. As it was, tracks proved themselves in an environment where I'd doubt a wheeled vehicle would have managed.
A large part of the locals had taken their skies with them and were soon dispersing down the two northbound valleys. I meanwhile stayed on the road leading down the ridge between the two with Franzerl.
On the north side the road slowed downhill far more gently than to the south of the pass. We quickly moved from the empty height of the pass downwards, trees quickly appearing in ones or twos, and before you knew it, it was dense enough that there were points where snow hadn't gathered in the undergrowth.
It was there that Johann took me aside. He told me that the tank would obviously take fire, and it'd be dangerous to follow with it directly and recommended I'd vanish down into the woods with one of the groups of Schützen. He also offered me his machine pistol and an armband, telling me that while they hoped that the Italian regulars expected at Sterzing would respect a journalist embedded at the front line, he could by no means confirm it. Then he grimaced and told me that the same certainly couldn't be said for the blackshirts.
I seriously considered it for a moment, but ultimately decided against it. I hoped that without the brown-and-red jackets most of the locals seemed to have scourged up or the white winter uniforms of the Austrians, my camera and binoculars would give the Italians pause before shooting me out of hand. Still, it was the moment I realised that this certainly wasn't just some adventure. I hadn't been old enough to fight in the Great War, but I certainly remember the stories I heard, or more tellingly my uncle George who'd just go silent when the war came up. And I certainly understood that moment that'd my mother would certainly be mad at me, traipsing around with soldiers behind enemy lines. But this was also a line I drew in my mind. I'd be a journalist, sure a journalist moving along with soldiers and rebels – freedom fighters – whatever you'd call them, but I wasn't a soldier in a war.
We passed down into the forest, over patches of snow and some signs of a regular path leading somewhere. We were a small group, the only one I'd have spoken regularly before was Ignaz, guided by a boy who couldn't have been fifteen. He had joined us just south of the pass and obviously knew the terrain very well. We moved slowly downhill, and as the wind turned I understood why. What had been distant and scattered growls of thunder beforehand now was a regular thumping coming from the north. Every now and then you'd even hear the sharper cracks in between, rifle fire of some kind.
As we arrived at the edge of a glade, we were ushered into a small hut. At first glance it was obviously not meant for winter habitation, but it provided shelter anyway. A small fire was crackling, and I was offered some tea, being told that food will have to wait a bit more.
There was also a radio in operation in a corner, and we soon learned that during the later afternoon fighting had escalated from just some skirmishes to dug in infantry in the narrow north of Sterzing.
The Italians had in addition to that dug in artillery not just in the city, but also in the mountains around it, including somewhere downhill from us.
After I had received some food I moved out again. I stayed in the tree lines, to avoid being seen, but quickly noticed that light was too low for good photos. I did however see a lot of tiny pinpricks of light to the north, and even the east of us, predating distant thunder. The battery below us seemed to be silent yet, but since we had been ordered to leave them alone for now I was uncertain why.
Finally Sepperl, the young guide, came to find me, only to inform me that'd I'd have an early morning tomorrow.
Part 3
15.4.1929
It was a steep climb up the mountains, even on the winding road. As we arrived at the top of the Jaufenpass Ignaz informed me that his father had actually taken part in constructing the modern road, back before the Great War. He told me that while people on foot, or on skis, would have managed just fine, he'd doubt that we'd have gotten a tank over it in mid-April. As it was, tracks proved themselves in an environment where I'd doubt a wheeled vehicle would have managed.
A large part of the locals had taken their skies with them and were soon dispersing down the two northbound valleys. I meanwhile stayed on the road leading down the ridge between the two with Franzerl.
On the north side the road slowed downhill far more gently than to the south of the pass. We quickly moved from the empty height of the pass downwards, trees quickly appearing in ones or twos, and before you knew it, it was dense enough that there were points where snow hadn't gathered in the undergrowth.
It was there that Johann took me aside. He told me that the tank would obviously take fire, and it'd be dangerous to follow with it directly and recommended I'd vanish down into the woods with one of the groups of Schützen. He also offered me his machine pistol and an armband, telling me that while they hoped that the Italian regulars expected at Sterzing would respect a journalist embedded at the front line, he could by no means confirm it. Then he grimaced and told me that the same certainly couldn't be said for the blackshirts.
I seriously considered it for a moment, but ultimately decided against it. I hoped that without the brown-and-red jackets most of the locals seemed to have scourged up or the white winter uniforms of the Austrians, my camera and binoculars would give the Italians pause before shooting me out of hand. Still, it was the moment I realised that this certainly wasn't just some adventure. I hadn't been old enough to fight in the Great War, but I certainly remember the stories I heard, or more tellingly my uncle George who'd just go silent when the war came up. And I certainly understood that moment that'd my mother would certainly be mad at me, traipsing around with soldiers behind enemy lines. But this was also a line I drew in my mind. I'd be a journalist, sure a journalist moving along with soldiers and rebels – freedom fighters – whatever you'd call them, but I wasn't a soldier in a war.
We passed down into the forest, over patches of snow and some signs of a regular path leading somewhere. We were a small group, the only one I'd have spoken regularly before was Ignaz, guided by a boy who couldn't have been fifteen. He had joined us just south of the pass and obviously knew the terrain very well. We moved slowly downhill, and as the wind turned I understood why. What had been distant and scattered growls of thunder beforehand now was a regular thumping coming from the north. Every now and then you'd even hear the sharper cracks in between, rifle fire of some kind.
As we arrived at the edge of a glade, we were ushered into a small hut. At first glance it was obviously not meant for winter habitation, but it provided shelter anyway. A small fire was crackling, and I was offered some tea, being told that food will have to wait a bit more.
There was also a radio in operation in a corner, and we soon learned that during the later afternoon fighting had escalated from just some skirmishes to dug in infantry in the narrow north of Sterzing.
The Italians had in addition to that dug in artillery not just in the city, but also in the mountains around it, including somewhere downhill from us.
After I had received some food I moved out again. I stayed in the tree lines, to avoid being seen, but quickly noticed that light was too low for good photos. I did however see a lot of tiny pinpricks of light to the north, and even the east of us, predating distant thunder. The battery below us seemed to be silent yet, but since we had been ordered to leave them alone for now I was uncertain why.
Finally Sepperl, the young guide, came to find me, only to inform me that'd I'd have an early morning tomorrow.
There will be another part in the evening, or even two. I do have some buffer stored up after all.
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"Flight" + "Regierung Seipel IV" + "Franzerl Pt. 4"
Technically 3 pieces, but two are pretty short
Flight, London, 13th September 1928
Airisms from the Four Winds
Altenrhein Flugzeugwerke
The Swiss manufacturer started delivering the successor to their AR.1 passenger aircraft. The AR.2 as produced seats 20 and is powered by two Rhomberg Destrier engines. Swiss Air, the first of certainly many operator has already announced that they will be extending their regular air service, owning to the better speed and range of their new aircraft.
(advertisement on the opposite page)
Fly Swissair!
With new services from Geneva and Basel to London we now offer three attractive destinations in Switzerland. Fly with the most modern planes, to see the Alps in less than three hours, and enjoy a stay in the mountains!
Note the date, it's more than half a year before the war.
| Regierung Seipel IV (Am 17.4.1929 angelobt) | |
|---|---|
| Bundeskanzleramt | Bundeskanzler Ignaz Seipel (CS) |
| Vizekanzler Richard Schmitz (CS) | |
| Bundesministerium für Justiz | Bundesminister Josef Resch (CS) |
| Staatssekretär Heinrich Steinitz (SDAP) | |
| Bundesministerium für Unterricht | Bundesminister Otto Glöckel (SDAP) |
| Staatssekretär Kurt Schuschnigg (CS) | |
| Bundesministerium für Soziale Verwaltung | Bundesminister Karl Renner (SDAP) |
| Staatssekretär Theodor Innitzer | |
| Bundesministerium für Finanzen | Bundesminister Viktor Kienböck (CS) |
| Staatssekretär Hugo Breitner (SDAP) | |
| Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft | Bundesminister Vinzenz Schumy (LBd) |
| Staatssekretär Rudolf Buchinger (CS) | |
| Bundesministerium für Verkehr | Bundesminister Robert Mehr (SDAP) |
| Staatssekretär Friedrich Schuster | |
| Bundesministerium für Heereswesen | Bundesminister Carl Vaugoin (CS) |
| Staatssekretär Julius Deutsch (SDAP) | |
| Bundesministerium für Äußeres | Bundesminister Alfred Grünberger |
| Staatssekretär Helene Polanyi (SDAP) | |
| Bundesministerium für Handel, Gewerbe und Industrie | Bundesminister Franz Odehnal (CS) |
| Staatssekretär Hans Schürff (GdP) |
That bit took far more time than it should have. And the Formating was a pain to put together. Those politicians without a party mentioned are all not official members of one, but all close to the CS. And yes, this cabinet will do interseting things to the social democrats primarily, but also to a lesser extent the other parties.
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 4
16.4.1929
At one point during the night I was woken by the noise of an angry god crushing mountains. Orange light spilled though gaps in the wooden walls of our shelter. Then it was silent again, just broken up by the droning of aircraft engines. I joined Sepperl at one of the small windows. He excitedly pointed east said: "Look, they've got the one over in Gospeneid too." And indeed you could see a fire flickering, where you had seen flashes in the evening. Though it seemed to have avoided the spectacular explosion of the one downhill from you.
Michael, the leader of the small band of Schützen, checked his watch and then told you that while the strike had been early, you'd better get ready anyway. On reflex you checked your own watch, it reading just shy of four o'clock. Early morning indeed.
I then once again listened half hearted to the briefing. Italian defensive lines at the Brenner had been overrun in a combination of speed and concentration they hadn't expected. Similarly defensive lines near Brennerbad and Gossensaß never really managed to be set up, the motorised transport giving Austrian troops unexpected speed. Around Sterzing however the local garrison managed to set up on pre-planned lines. This was aided by trainload after trainload of re-enforcements. Re-enforcements that weren't available to move into the side valleys to quench a general uprising there.
Some other Schützen had moved through the night and were supposed to neutralise the battery stationed halfway up the Rosskopf. Franzerl was supposed to rush east, and cut the railway line below Schloss Spechtstein.
We then started moving downhill, to do out part. On the way we were joined by several more squads of Schützen, as well as several indvidual ones. Apperently they had come from the surrounding mountenous farms, or snuck out of Italian held Sterzing. They all were in their colourful jackets and wore the red and white armbands. We then crossed the Mareiter Bach, seemingly a tiny stream, but I was informed that it'd swell significantly in the afternoon and was prone to violent and destructive floods.
We then moved uphill through the woods, avoiding the street that barely deserved that name, up to Thuins. I was still moving uphill when the people in front threw themselves to the ground as bullets whipped over the next edge. "Blackshits!", someone shouted.
I kept my head down, but the firefight was over surprisingly quickly. As I then moved over the edge myself, I could finally see a small collection of buildings myself, several of the local style farmhouses and a church. There were blackshirts in their name giving clothing lying around, a handful kept at gunpoint by Schützen that obviously hadn't moved with our group. A women just then threw out a blackshirt out of a second story window, and for his sake I hoped, that he was already dead.
Michael moved up to join the Schützen already there and greeted them as old friends. He then quickly organised his man, who moved through the village and took up positions amongst the trees and scattered buildings with a view towards Sterzing.
Sepperl took it upon himself to follow me and point out some things. You could obviously see the Zwölferturm, the town's landmark, but also the newly built barracks south of the city. While there were some features that gave some defensiveness as with every barracks, it wasn't built for a siege. And with maybe seven hundred feet distance, and a quarter that in elevation the Schützen with their hunting rifles should be able to hit often enough to be dangerous. Behind the barracks, between it and the railway station you could see artillery. It might have been further away, but even then some might be able to make a shot.
The Blackshirts in Thuins showed that they hadn't discounted enemies taking advantage by outflanking the defensive position north of the city, but they certainly hadn't expected several hundred Schützen pouring out of the valleys.
Not happy with the fighting, but oh well. Currently considering putting together a data sheet for the fighter bomber we didn't quite see this chapter. It's not the AR.1 or AR.2. Also not sure how far to go into the weaponry. I know some people are into that stuff, others aren't. My mind currently goes in all directions, so I certainly could write something up at some point. Not sure how much however.
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"Franzerl Pt. 5" + "Volunteers"
Wasn't too productive today. Question, anyone got easy access to tables of organisation of the Italian army or at least the Alpini units prior to the 1935 organisation? Otherwise I'll simply use the post-35 ones and pretend that there were butterflies escaping their temporal nets. Figuring out what units were the "Pre-WWI" ones they returned to is a hassle.
Part 5
16.4.1929
The fighting around Sterzing didn't last. Schützen coming from the Zillertal had taken out artillery batteries at Schmuders and Schloss Sprechenstein. From there they were threatening the Italian troops in the narrows and the railway. Not that the railway needed much threat, Franzerl had taken out a locomotive with a single shot, even before crossing the Eisack and capturing a trainload of ammunition. Add the Schützen threatening barracks, railway station and artillery south of the city, the regulars of the Italian army retreated towards their barracks. Even when they learned that their retreat was cut off, some kept on fighting, but most of them quickly surrendered as artillery started ranging in on the barracks.
Meanwhile the attached Blackshirts dug in in the city itself. The Austrians responded by sending German Brownshirts to do most of the fighting, proving that fascist neighbours would not be able to cooperate.
As I walked through the cobble stone streets, Sepperl at my side, the mood was sombre. There was blood in every street crack, rubble on the streets, bullet holes in the facades. Near the iconic tower someone had started stacking up Blackshirts and Brownshirts, not making too much of a distinction.
Hastily assembled barricades were negligently brushed to the side, some timber and sand sacks obviously having been prepared previously, others ripped from whatever source was at hand. In one case window shutters had been nailed to some long planks right in front of the house that still sported the same ones on the upper floors.
Further down the street people were poking at the burned out ruins of a building. By some miracle the neighbouring ones were only lightly charred, but otherwise intact. As an outsider not wearing one of the right uniforms I got some hostile glances, but my camera and my escort kept anyone from doing anything.
Even taking this detour I soon arrived where I had been requested. There was a big truck parked there, carrying one of the big boxes many were build for. This one was painted the drab olive that seems common amongst military vehicles. It was open in the back, but a heavy black curtain had been put in place.
A guy was leaning on the back of the container, a cigarette in his mouth, machine pistol hanging from his belt, and notably in the patchy green field uniform, instead of the far more common white winter uniform the Gebirgsjäger wore.
"You that Brit with the Passeier Schützen?", he asked me nodding at Sepperl and then continued not even waiting for an answer, "Right, I'm Holzmeister, Media Liaison officer. We've got darkroom in there, if your interested. We also provide postal and telegraph service with a higher priority than Feldpost, so you can send whatever you like to your publisher."
I started to explain that I didn't have a publisher, that I'd been in Austria on my own dime, but he wasn't interested in talking. So I shrugged as well, and offered to teach Sepperl how to develop a photo.
Since postal service was provided free of charge, I sent pictures and reports to several people I knew fleetingly. I didn't expect my pictures to become one of the leading impression of the war.
I threw together a shitty paint map for Sterzing, if I figure out how to upload it I'll add it at some point.
Meierhofer, Gebhard (1979): Militia and Volunteer Fighters in the Austro-Italian War, Vienna: Amalthea
The idea of Austria as part of a Greater Germany had cooled within the country in the years following Saint Germain and the Tyrolean vote to join Germany in 1921. While a lot of this was economical, a shift of reporting by media and especially in the fledgling radio broadcasts were equally important. Even Chancellor Ignaz Seipel was noted to have said that: 'Joining a Prussian led [...] increasingly anti-catholic Germany would not currently be in our best interest.'
Yet when Italy attacked it was the German far right that was quickest to send aid to their 'Southern Brothers'. A mixed group of Stahlhelm and Strumabteilung members from Rosenheim arrived in Austria in full kit, just in time to participate in the Battle at Bergisel. Those two paramilitary organisations provided most foreign volunteers during the first few critical weeks.
In private Austrian Army officers weren't too complementary about their far right supporters. In reports it was often noted, that they were undisciplined, easily distracted and prone to excess. Yet they were, one has to assume from records deliberately, fed into the worst fighting, especially city fighting. Adolf Hitler, leader of the NSDAP, would later state: 'While fighting in Austria [sic!] our Sturmabteilung took in excess of 90% causalities, and yet we were stronger for it, all weakness having been purged from our rows.'
As individuals or as groups, veterans and youths, with their own equipment or just their cloths on their backs, over the whole duration of the Austro-Italian war German volunteers arrived in Austria. At best estimate at least half a million Germans served in arms during the conflict, not counting those providing support in non-combat roles.
…
Yet Germans weren't the only volunteers. Czechoslovakia didn't just provide aid to it's citizens if they decided to volunteer, but sent entire army units as thinly veiled volunteers. This expeditionary force included among other things, an armoured regiment. Nationalism seemed to play a role again. A significant majority of Czechoslovak volunteers were Sudeten-German.
A similar pattern held true for other territories of the former Habsburg Monarchy. Significant number of Germans and Szekelys from Romania volunteered in significant numbers, and returned home well armed and trained. While to Romanian government had been tentatively supportive of volunteers during the war, the fact that they brought their weapons back with them was far less welcomed by them.
Yugoslavia was generally supportive of volunteers as well. However high level considerations about becoming an active participant in the War led them to hold back many potential volunteers, with an eye on forming volunteer into their own units. Still the Gottscheer Regiment, though being less than half ethically Gottscheer-German, became one of the media darlings of the Austro-Italian War.
Another media darling was the Liechtenstein Regiment. Jokes were told about a Company of men leaving Liechtenstein and arriving on the front as a Regiment. Switzerland was careful to be seen as strictly neutral, but a large number of Swiss-Germans did volunteer. Most of them were however assigned to Austrian or German formations, or mentioned Liechtensteiners, leading to them having relative little recognition.
A number of volunteers came from further afield. Italian socialists in exile managed to convince a significant number of volunteers to participate in the war, leading to several instances of fascists and communists fighting fascists side by side.
This one was in the pipleline for a while, being rewritten several times. One of the reasons I held it back was because I knew blackshirt on brownshirt action would turn up sooner or later.
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"Hussarenritt Pt. 1"
Just the one for today
Der Hussarenritt, Part 1/4
17.4.1929
Hans Haidacher looked at his copilot once again, though he only shook his head. They'd talked about this often enough, back when it was only an outlandish possibly, but added some nice extra pay. Enough extra pay in fact that he now owned enough rental property that his wife and children would be taken care off even if this mission went awry.
A week ago he flew his tour thrice a week. Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Berlin. That and the extension every Friday further to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki, and back on Saturday. And then the thing he'd been paid extra for every other week. Flying in that other machine, the training machine. Having more cockpit crew, but non of the usual passengers. Keeping on course on commands of someone else but himself as the pilot. Training drills he'd tough he'd never need.
And then in that backwater in the mountains someone had kicked off another round of riots, as usual. Other as usual however it seemed someone decided to react to it with more than just a few idiots bleeding out in the streets. And so instead of his sharp airline uniform he wore the drab field uniform of the army. While their parade uniforms looked decent enough as well, he hadn't even received one of those. Nobody who wasn't officially part of the Bundesheer had one. And he had only been part of the secret reserve. Good money at the time, but if he backed out now the only thing waiting for him would be an execution squad.
Looking back he saw just how much work a squad of technicians had done in five days. Gone were the seats for 22 passengers, the kitchen, the steward and the cook. Instead the belly of the plane now held dozens of incendiary bombs, a bomb sight and of course, the giant radio navigation device. He didn't know how it worked, and the very clean instruction on how to destroy it if they for some reason had to ditch didn't make him want to question it.
"Right, let's get moving," Benjamin told him, nodding to the soldier outside, wildly waving his signal batons.
The lead aircraft was already rising into the sky in front of them, so Hans simply took a deep breath and agreed: "Let's go."
At his command the aircraft slowly surged forwards. Sluggish, he noticed. Not like usual. Then again, he rarely ever had a full load of passengers, let alone enough cargo to even come close to the limits on his usual flights. This time however, he was operating right on the limit.
He had overheard some of the others, civilian pilots like him, or worse hobbyists, not the madmen who flew fighters full time, talk about things like rocket assisted take-off or in-flight refuelling. He like everyone in the profession, understood the basic calculus what that'd do for cargo loads – bomb loads – but it still was very clearly madness. An aircraft as is was dangerous enough, no need to bring rockets into this when one could already expect to be shot at anyway.
Then finally, far further down the runway than usually his plane finally took off. Usually he would have informed the tower via radio, but this mission was to happen under strict radio silence. So all he did was nod at Benjamin and followed the aircraft in front of him into the clouds, as four others behind him did the same.
Number of pieces in this one might still change, but for now it's planed as five total. Some hints in there, most importantly probably the ones pointing to the shadow army - Austria had been buildling up one when certain interest groups pulled the trigger early. At all? All the conspiracies don't have a common opinion on that one.
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Yes and no. The Austrian Army is a scary customer, but it's small. Treaty limit is 50.000 man, but if you count "civilian" support personal and various other tricks it's closer to 90.000. The shadow army at the time - less well trained if nothing else - doubles that.
The Italian army at the time has 1.500.000 man.
Volunteers are all good and well, but even if many of them come with their own rifles, the Czechoslovak "volunteer" force are the only ones that come with integrated artillery.
In the struggle to get conscripts trained up and equipped, the paramilitary forces, both foreign and domestic (~450.000 man, further depleting the conscript pool) are still deployed as a stopgap measure.
I really should get my notes on Intelligence into a readable format - they will offer some insight into the current successes.
(But yes, this is all Austria wank in the end, so the conclusion isn't in doubt)
The Italian army at the time has 1.500.000 man.
Volunteers are all good and well, but even if many of them come with their own rifles, the Czechoslovak "volunteer" force are the only ones that come with integrated artillery.
In the struggle to get conscripts trained up and equipped, the paramilitary forces, both foreign and domestic (~450.000 man, further depleting the conscript pool) are still deployed as a stopgap measure.
I really should get my notes on Intelligence into a readable format - they will offer some insight into the current successes.
(But yes, this is all Austria wank in the end, so the conclusion isn't in doubt)
- Location
- Perth
How much of the Italian military is loyal at this point in time? Like Mussolini comes to power in a coup, but he's not universally popular.
At the same time isn't this the time period where Italy is developing all their new weapons? Or is it too early for that? They fell into the trap OTL of upgrading too early, which meant by WW2 their equipment was out of date. Particularly armoured vehicles and ships.
At the same time isn't this the time period where Italy is developing all their new weapons? Or is it too early for that? They fell into the trap OTL of upgrading too early, which meant by WW2 their equipment was out of date. Particularly armoured vehicles and ships.
It's a professional military that had seven years to quietly or not so quietly leave if they objected too much. As is, most of the troops immediately engaged are "elite" formations and/or blackshirts formations. And even then quite a few members of the regular army surrender quickly once they know that they are in a very bad position.
OTL while I'm not too knowledgable about Italian upgrade cycles, I can confirm that a lot of gear was updated the the 1930-1935 period. TTL there are a number of developments that appear early - some I might not even change the name for simplicity's sake. For example they have something very much like the OTL CR.30 in service three years early. It's basically just an evolution of the CR.20 and CR.1, so a more powerful engine should allow for a development very much as OTL.
Ships aren't too relevant in this. Though I might throw in a few paragraphs on Austrian brown water navy at some point. Though from current plans the Lake Garda Navy will not be resurrected. Before someone lit a fire under the South Tyrol conflict, the inner circle conspiracy was mostly worried about about a not so peaceful Anschluss. A small number of boats on Lake Constance and the Danube is the result of that.
Armoured vehicles... There wasn't too much. OTL basically all they had in 1929 was the Fiat 3000, and an upgraded model was designed that year. They then developed a number of tankettes until 1935. They weren't all that big on tanks to be honest. TTL isn't too different in that regard, though coming up against what Skoda produces changes a few minds.
OTL while I'm not too knowledgable about Italian upgrade cycles, I can confirm that a lot of gear was updated the the 1930-1935 period. TTL there are a number of developments that appear early - some I might not even change the name for simplicity's sake. For example they have something very much like the OTL CR.30 in service three years early. It's basically just an evolution of the CR.20 and CR.1, so a more powerful engine should allow for a development very much as OTL.
Ships aren't too relevant in this. Though I might throw in a few paragraphs on Austrian brown water navy at some point. Though from current plans the Lake Garda Navy will not be resurrected. Before someone lit a fire under the South Tyrol conflict, the inner circle conspiracy was mostly worried about about a not so peaceful Anschluss. A small number of boats on Lake Constance and the Danube is the result of that.
Armoured vehicles... There wasn't too much. OTL basically all they had in 1929 was the Fiat 3000, and an upgraded model was designed that year. They then developed a number of tankettes until 1935. They weren't all that big on tanks to be honest. TTL isn't too different in that regard, though coming up against what Skoda produces changes a few minds.
"Hussarenritt Pt. 2"
Der Hussarenritt, Part 2/4
17.4.1929
Hidden in the clouds as they Benjamin once again called out heading and airspeed, allowing the navigator to calculate their position once more. It was a nervous habit that showed up every now and then, but under the circumstances Hans was far more indulgent than usually. Even if they had their fancy navigation equipment, there was something soothing about confirming it with your own mind.
Usually under these condition they'd flown lower, but this wasn't a civilian flight. They had orders to avoid being spotted, even if nobody should expect any bombers, let alone ones striking so far south. Should, would, we have sources. Hans didn't trust them.
Gently they travelled south. Hans kept an eye out, because despite the fact that no sane person would fly in these clouds, he knew that five other planes should be in them, and a collision would be embarrassing. Still, it was Benjamin who first spotted something through a gap in the clouds.
"There's a coastline down there.", he said and pointed forwards.
"Got to be Istria." Hans answered. He had flown on Balkan routes occupationally, even once or twice via Triest. Usually however they didn't fly via the coast. They'd land at Leibach, Marburg or Agram, then Hermannstadt or Belgrad, and onwards towards Sofia or Bukarest and then Constantinople or Athens. Benjamin on the other hand had until now always stayed north of the Alps.
Kosmas craned his neck to get a glimpse of the land as well, then turned to the navigation equipment, checking the twin oscilloscopes, the clock and the map. "Right on target" he announced.
Hans frowned, his own quick calculations had them some 10 kilometres further north, but it seemed they had a bit more backwind than expected.
"Half an hour to Ancona" Banjamin reminded everyone.
Hans simply grunted affirmative. Somedays it surprised him still just how fast an AR.2, an AR Drache he corrected himself, was. Two hours to their target, two hours for those who could afford a flight, for a distance that took days not long ago. Weeks for the average traveller a century ago he reminded himself. He lived in a marvellous age.
"Think the weather report will hold up? Or did the meteorologists misread their tea leaves again?" he asked Benjamin.
"No chance in hell." came the answer "Even if they did seem to get better at it the last few years."
-
Weather had held up surprisingly well, however as they approached the Italian coast the clouds became more and more ragged. Enough so that every now and then you'd see another aircraft in the distance, leading all six of them to form up with each other again. Nobody had become lost, nobody developed a fault and the navigation equipment had been working perfectly.
With the port of Ancona to their right the squadron gently banked and crossed over enemy territory. Even as the mountains quickly grew in front of them, nerves started to lay blank. They all had flown in training exercises against the F-S 25 and more recently the F-S 28. If the Umpires were right, those little planes were deadly with their Oerlikon canons. Hans had his doubts about that, but had heard the lecture often enough to carefully keep an eye out. Even the faster F-S 28 had problems keeping up with an AR.2, especially if one could trade attitude for speed, and supposedly the Italian fighters were slower. Still better not to need it.
As they passed over the Apennines they carefully adjusted course a couple of times, before Benjamin called out: "There, the Tiber."
And right there, just as the sun broke through the late afternoon clouds, was the glittering, meandering band of the river. Hans pulled out his sunglasses to ward off the glare, then checked on their flight leader. When he saw the turn he followed it in, leading them toward the sun. It wasn't ideal, but it had been judged that circling around would be more dangerous.
They followed the river for five minutes before once again Benjamin's eyes proved superior: "There's the airport, just left of the river. That means..."
"Over the park, find the museum and then due south..." Hans muttered as he pushed the plane into a shallow dive. Airoporto del Littorio to the lefe, follow the right edge of the Parco di Ada…
All the while their aircraft sank lower, as did their companions. The airspeed indicator had risen to nearly 360 km/h, though hard data on the new Fiat fighters had been lacking in their briefing. Who knew what they really could manage? The intelligence guy who had briefed them was certain that they were in service, but admitted that they had no idea where and in what numbers.
As he reached 500 meters attitude, he spotted the Villa Borghese right ahead. He levelled out, and the ordered: "Kosmas, your up."
No flak, no fighters, a straight run. Even he could have hit the target easily in those conditions, so it rankled double that he would have to hand over aiming to Kosmas' mechanical wonder. In his mind he counted down the seconds as they flashed over the city, due south from their last navigation point. The bomb bay doors in the back dropping open caused the wind to howl though the opening. He was counting down, counting the seconds, until just as he reached sixteen, there was a lurch as they dropped their deadly load.
"Confirm bombs away." he demanded. There needed to be visual confirmation.
"Bombs away" Kosmas confirmed.
Hans pushed the button that allowed the small electrical motor to close the bomb bay, then dropped them further towards the city, even as four of his five companions started to climb sharply. They'd, barring any incident, would meet up again over the Adriatic. In the mean time, everyone would scatter and run on their own.
As they reached the roof height the airspeed indicator had exceeded 370 km/h and was still slowly rising. Hans didn't think about it too much, he knew that the wings were rated to keep up to that much stress. If non of the so called technicians had messed anything up during conversion, that is. As he curved their flight path to the right he dropped them another couple of meter, following the railway tracks out the city.
They were moving faster than anything had any right to be, they were untouchable. There was nothing in the skies that could keep up with them. And when they were out of range of the military airports around Rome, they'd climb again, gain energy, and lose any potential pursuer in the clouds.
For a second Hans regretted that his was simply flying his converted AR.2 instead of the purpose build Drachen that had been announced to arrive soon. Those had machine guns, and didn't just rely on speed for safety.
"Train ahead." Benjamin warned. Hans had noticed, and jerked the yoke rising a bit and moving to the right. Just then it seemed as if the entire train erupted in gun fire.
17.4.1929
Hidden in the clouds as they Benjamin once again called out heading and airspeed, allowing the navigator to calculate their position once more. It was a nervous habit that showed up every now and then, but under the circumstances Hans was far more indulgent than usually. Even if they had their fancy navigation equipment, there was something soothing about confirming it with your own mind.
Usually under these condition they'd flown lower, but this wasn't a civilian flight. They had orders to avoid being spotted, even if nobody should expect any bombers, let alone ones striking so far south. Should, would, we have sources. Hans didn't trust them.
Gently they travelled south. Hans kept an eye out, because despite the fact that no sane person would fly in these clouds, he knew that five other planes should be in them, and a collision would be embarrassing. Still, it was Benjamin who first spotted something through a gap in the clouds.
"There's a coastline down there.", he said and pointed forwards.
"Got to be Istria." Hans answered. He had flown on Balkan routes occupationally, even once or twice via Triest. Usually however they didn't fly via the coast. They'd land at Leibach, Marburg or Agram, then Hermannstadt or Belgrad, and onwards towards Sofia or Bukarest and then Constantinople or Athens. Benjamin on the other hand had until now always stayed north of the Alps.
Kosmas craned his neck to get a glimpse of the land as well, then turned to the navigation equipment, checking the twin oscilloscopes, the clock and the map. "Right on target" he announced.
Hans frowned, his own quick calculations had them some 10 kilometres further north, but it seemed they had a bit more backwind than expected.
"Half an hour to Ancona" Banjamin reminded everyone.
Hans simply grunted affirmative. Somedays it surprised him still just how fast an AR.2, an AR Drache he corrected himself, was. Two hours to their target, two hours for those who could afford a flight, for a distance that took days not long ago. Weeks for the average traveller a century ago he reminded himself. He lived in a marvellous age.
"Think the weather report will hold up? Or did the meteorologists misread their tea leaves again?" he asked Benjamin.
"No chance in hell." came the answer "Even if they did seem to get better at it the last few years."
-
Weather had held up surprisingly well, however as they approached the Italian coast the clouds became more and more ragged. Enough so that every now and then you'd see another aircraft in the distance, leading all six of them to form up with each other again. Nobody had become lost, nobody developed a fault and the navigation equipment had been working perfectly.
With the port of Ancona to their right the squadron gently banked and crossed over enemy territory. Even as the mountains quickly grew in front of them, nerves started to lay blank. They all had flown in training exercises against the F-S 25 and more recently the F-S 28. If the Umpires were right, those little planes were deadly with their Oerlikon canons. Hans had his doubts about that, but had heard the lecture often enough to carefully keep an eye out. Even the faster F-S 28 had problems keeping up with an AR.2, especially if one could trade attitude for speed, and supposedly the Italian fighters were slower. Still better not to need it.
As they passed over the Apennines they carefully adjusted course a couple of times, before Benjamin called out: "There, the Tiber."
And right there, just as the sun broke through the late afternoon clouds, was the glittering, meandering band of the river. Hans pulled out his sunglasses to ward off the glare, then checked on their flight leader. When he saw the turn he followed it in, leading them toward the sun. It wasn't ideal, but it had been judged that circling around would be more dangerous.
They followed the river for five minutes before once again Benjamin's eyes proved superior: "There's the airport, just left of the river. That means..."
"Over the park, find the museum and then due south..." Hans muttered as he pushed the plane into a shallow dive. Airoporto del Littorio to the lefe, follow the right edge of the Parco di Ada…
All the while their aircraft sank lower, as did their companions. The airspeed indicator had risen to nearly 360 km/h, though hard data on the new Fiat fighters had been lacking in their briefing. Who knew what they really could manage? The intelligence guy who had briefed them was certain that they were in service, but admitted that they had no idea where and in what numbers.
As he reached 500 meters attitude, he spotted the Villa Borghese right ahead. He levelled out, and the ordered: "Kosmas, your up."
No flak, no fighters, a straight run. Even he could have hit the target easily in those conditions, so it rankled double that he would have to hand over aiming to Kosmas' mechanical wonder. In his mind he counted down the seconds as they flashed over the city, due south from their last navigation point. The bomb bay doors in the back dropping open caused the wind to howl though the opening. He was counting down, counting the seconds, until just as he reached sixteen, there was a lurch as they dropped their deadly load.
"Confirm bombs away." he demanded. There needed to be visual confirmation.
"Bombs away" Kosmas confirmed.
Hans pushed the button that allowed the small electrical motor to close the bomb bay, then dropped them further towards the city, even as four of his five companions started to climb sharply. They'd, barring any incident, would meet up again over the Adriatic. In the mean time, everyone would scatter and run on their own.
As they reached the roof height the airspeed indicator had exceeded 370 km/h and was still slowly rising. Hans didn't think about it too much, he knew that the wings were rated to keep up to that much stress. If non of the so called technicians had messed anything up during conversion, that is. As he curved their flight path to the right he dropped them another couple of meter, following the railway tracks out the city.
They were moving faster than anything had any right to be, they were untouchable. There was nothing in the skies that could keep up with them. And when they were out of range of the military airports around Rome, they'd climb again, gain energy, and lose any potential pursuer in the clouds.
For a second Hans regretted that his was simply flying his converted AR.2 instead of the purpose build Drachen that had been announced to arrive soon. Those had machine guns, and didn't just rely on speed for safety.
"Train ahead." Benjamin warned. Hans had noticed, and jerked the yoke rising a bit and moving to the right. Just then it seemed as if the entire train erupted in gun fire.
Two parts as one - the break between the two should be noticeable. This operation will lead a few people down a path most nations aren't ready for in terms of presicion bombing. For those into these things, The navigation device is in part built upon similar operational principled as Knickebein OTL - Though there are some tweaks based on ASB object that caused long dicussion about deploying them on enemy soil and caused some very strikt tampering protections and self destruction mechanisms.
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"Hussarenritt Pt. 3" + "Motor Industry"
Der Hussarenritt, Part 3/4
17.4.1929
"Go left," Benjamin ordered. Normally he'd never had listed to his inferior, but in this situation Hans threw the plane around, going left, nearly hitting a rooftop with a wingtip and escaping the already slacking fire completely.
"Anyone hurt?" he harshly asked, keeping his eyes towards the street he now moved along, mere meters from the ground.
"Gunsights hit, but not as if we need it anyone." Kosmas reported. Not what he had asked. But good enough. They wouldn't need it any more anyway.
Benjamin meanwhile patted himself down, then turned back and mustered their navigator, then looked at Hans for an equally long moment. "Everything seems fine." he answered.
Hans meanwhile couldn't get the howling of the wind though the bullet holes out of this mind, even as suburban villas gave way to truly agricultural land. To the right a river shimmered, the Aniene if he read and remembered the maps right.
Not even checking his the navigation, nor his watch he decided good enough and started climbing. The sharp climb cost more energy than he liked, but he liked the cover of the scattered clouds more. As they reached attitude he handed controls to Benjamin for the first time of the flight and then leaned back and closed his eyes. "That was too close." he exclaimed.
Half an hour later they crossed over the Adriatic again, sooner then expected. Quick checking with their navigation device and their maps showed that they were way off course, come 150km south of where they had planed, having passed south of Pescara.
They should have more than enough fuel to get home, but Hans recalculated the load anyway. Halfway through he stopped and re-read the fuel tank indicators. "We've lost fuel." he proclaimed.
"The tank are supposed to be self-sealing." Benjamin replied.
"We've still lost some." Hans proclaimed and then reached to switch on the radio the first time during this mission.
"Hussar two to mission control" he called out. And waited. He then repeated himself two more times.
They were a bit further south than expected, but as far as he knew from the commercial radio sets, this shouldn't have been a problem. So he tried something else: "Hussar two to all Hussar elements"
Again no answer.
"We were obviously luck." he finally concluded. No injuries, but a damaged fuel tank, a damaged bomb sight, a damaged radio…
He then rechecked the fuel gauge and did some quick calculations.
"Leaks worse than I thought. If this keeps up we'll make Fiume or Triest, maybe Leibach, but certainly not anywhere in Austria." he told them.
Kosmas eyed his tools warily. "You know what we were order to do with those."
"Burn the whole aircraft down if you can." Benjamin quoted the nasal tone of one of their instructors.
"You know..." Kosmas started then stopped, digging around in his tool kit.
"What?" Hans asked warily.
"I watched them install this, it's only three screws that hold it down". He answered, pointing at the cabinet containing their navigation device.
"Throw it out the bomb bay, let seawater take care of it even if someone finds it." Benjamin finished.
"I'll need help, to move it later." Kosmas told them, "Just hold her steady so it won't fall on me.
Gamper, Hans (1988): Introduction to Twentieth Century Austria, Bozen: Tyrolia Verlag
The Austrian Motor Industry
Austria had vibrant motor industry immediately after the Great War. Not only were established companies retooling for new peace time production, there was also a large number of newcomers to the market. Early government subsidies directed production towards work vehicles. Tractors, trucks and Pritschenwagen1 were the main products, while cars were seen more as a luxury.
New traffic concepts at the time saw large parts of traffic on rails. This meant both trams for passenger traffic, but also extensive investments into intercity rail traffic, passenger and cargo both. The cargo should, according to the planners, be then picked up by road vehicle at cargo railway stations and distribute the cargo locally. Standardised cargo containers are part of the strategy that was decided then, though they'd take a while to spread beyond Austria.
Even with leaps that companies such as Puch, Avis, WAF or Porsche made in the post war years in matters of comfort, safety and performance, there were sectors where they didn't publicly participate.
The Treaty of St Germain limited Austria's ability to develop tanks or aircraft. From the very beginning there were attempts to bypass these, and the inspections the victors conducted.
In the 1920s and 30s there were no tanks produced in Austria, but a number of other vehicles that skirted treaty lines were. Among them were various vehicles both low key armoured as well as build with a heavy enough suspension that after market modifications could be easily made. Gräf & Stift designed and produced most of the Austrian Army's trucks. Their Pritschenwagen were quickly nicknamed the Tatschanka after the war started, as they turned up with various heavy machine guns only days later.
Puch's contribution to the Austrian Armed forces might have been even more infamous. Their collaboration with Skoda led to several tanks that were each considerably ahead of what other nations produced at the time. While officially they only produced the engines for the LT vz 28 in their Pilsen factory, the company was deeply involved in the whole design.
Meanwhile aircraft production mostly happened in the Rhine valley. The existing wharf at Bregenz was expanded, officially to finally provide a way to build machinery for larger ships at the location. While this was at least partially true, a design team and more than half of the factory space was actually working on aircraft.
In 1924 a company was founded across the border, the Altenrhein Flugzeugwerke. It was a timely decision, since it soon became apparent that German aircraft designer Claude Dornier with backing of the German government was also interested in the same property. The first AR.1 aircraft were assembled the same year, and proved to be in high demand. In it's initial configuration it seated 14 passengers, and reached a cruising speed of 195 km/h over a range of 1600 km. Demand quickly proved enough that the Swiss assembly line was expanded into a full production line. Additionally it was produced all around the world in licence production.
It was four years later that the company announced it's successor, the AR.2. While once again it was considered a revolutionary passenger air craft, we now know thanks to stolen plans that it was planned from the ground up to be converted into a bomber. The AR Drache bomber variation would first make headlines with it's bombing run on Rome in April 1929, and if anything it would only increase international purchaser demand.
Meanwhile only a short trip up the Rhine river in Kriessern the company Frey-Schnyder Cie. was founded. While several members of the design team crossed the border each day for work, it was a mostly Swiss company, assembling mostly self produced fighter aircraft. However just as Altenrhein, they too sourced their engines from Rhomberg Motorenfabrik on the other side of the Rhine.
The F-S 25 would pass mostly unnoticed, purchased only in small numbers for both the Swiss and Austrian air forces, while the F-S 28 certainly would come to the worlds notice in the Austro-Italian war.
1Pickup trucks, basically
17.4.1929
"Go left," Benjamin ordered. Normally he'd never had listed to his inferior, but in this situation Hans threw the plane around, going left, nearly hitting a rooftop with a wingtip and escaping the already slacking fire completely.
"Anyone hurt?" he harshly asked, keeping his eyes towards the street he now moved along, mere meters from the ground.
"Gunsights hit, but not as if we need it anyone." Kosmas reported. Not what he had asked. But good enough. They wouldn't need it any more anyway.
Benjamin meanwhile patted himself down, then turned back and mustered their navigator, then looked at Hans for an equally long moment. "Everything seems fine." he answered.
Hans meanwhile couldn't get the howling of the wind though the bullet holes out of this mind, even as suburban villas gave way to truly agricultural land. To the right a river shimmered, the Aniene if he read and remembered the maps right.
Not even checking his the navigation, nor his watch he decided good enough and started climbing. The sharp climb cost more energy than he liked, but he liked the cover of the scattered clouds more. As they reached attitude he handed controls to Benjamin for the first time of the flight and then leaned back and closed his eyes. "That was too close." he exclaimed.
Half an hour later they crossed over the Adriatic again, sooner then expected. Quick checking with their navigation device and their maps showed that they were way off course, come 150km south of where they had planed, having passed south of Pescara.
They should have more than enough fuel to get home, but Hans recalculated the load anyway. Halfway through he stopped and re-read the fuel tank indicators. "We've lost fuel." he proclaimed.
"The tank are supposed to be self-sealing." Benjamin replied.
"We've still lost some." Hans proclaimed and then reached to switch on the radio the first time during this mission.
"Hussar two to mission control" he called out. And waited. He then repeated himself two more times.
They were a bit further south than expected, but as far as he knew from the commercial radio sets, this shouldn't have been a problem. So he tried something else: "Hussar two to all Hussar elements"
Again no answer.
"We were obviously luck." he finally concluded. No injuries, but a damaged fuel tank, a damaged bomb sight, a damaged radio…
He then rechecked the fuel gauge and did some quick calculations.
"Leaks worse than I thought. If this keeps up we'll make Fiume or Triest, maybe Leibach, but certainly not anywhere in Austria." he told them.
Kosmas eyed his tools warily. "You know what we were order to do with those."
"Burn the whole aircraft down if you can." Benjamin quoted the nasal tone of one of their instructors.
"You know..." Kosmas started then stopped, digging around in his tool kit.
"What?" Hans asked warily.
"I watched them install this, it's only three screws that hold it down". He answered, pointing at the cabinet containing their navigation device.
"Throw it out the bomb bay, let seawater take care of it even if someone finds it." Benjamin finished.
"I'll need help, to move it later." Kosmas told them, "Just hold her steady so it won't fall on me.
So yeah, wrong desicion from the start, made worse by bad luck... To be fair to Hans, he is an airline pilot pressed by greed into flying bombers, and in training he more often than not needed the speed more than the height, because fighters were already on him during the bombing run. And it was so close to a perfect mission. And I wouldn't have been able to write this sequence that I wanted, even though it didn't come out quite as I wanted it.
Gamper, Hans (1988): Introduction to Twentieth Century Austria, Bozen: Tyrolia Verlag
The Austrian Motor Industry
Austria had vibrant motor industry immediately after the Great War. Not only were established companies retooling for new peace time production, there was also a large number of newcomers to the market. Early government subsidies directed production towards work vehicles. Tractors, trucks and Pritschenwagen1 were the main products, while cars were seen more as a luxury.
New traffic concepts at the time saw large parts of traffic on rails. This meant both trams for passenger traffic, but also extensive investments into intercity rail traffic, passenger and cargo both. The cargo should, according to the planners, be then picked up by road vehicle at cargo railway stations and distribute the cargo locally. Standardised cargo containers are part of the strategy that was decided then, though they'd take a while to spread beyond Austria.
Even with leaps that companies such as Puch, Avis, WAF or Porsche made in the post war years in matters of comfort, safety and performance, there were sectors where they didn't publicly participate.
The Treaty of St Germain limited Austria's ability to develop tanks or aircraft. From the very beginning there were attempts to bypass these, and the inspections the victors conducted.
In the 1920s and 30s there were no tanks produced in Austria, but a number of other vehicles that skirted treaty lines were. Among them were various vehicles both low key armoured as well as build with a heavy enough suspension that after market modifications could be easily made. Gräf & Stift designed and produced most of the Austrian Army's trucks. Their Pritschenwagen were quickly nicknamed the Tatschanka after the war started, as they turned up with various heavy machine guns only days later.
Puch's contribution to the Austrian Armed forces might have been even more infamous. Their collaboration with Skoda led to several tanks that were each considerably ahead of what other nations produced at the time. While officially they only produced the engines for the LT vz 28 in their Pilsen factory, the company was deeply involved in the whole design.
Meanwhile aircraft production mostly happened in the Rhine valley. The existing wharf at Bregenz was expanded, officially to finally provide a way to build machinery for larger ships at the location. While this was at least partially true, a design team and more than half of the factory space was actually working on aircraft.
In 1924 a company was founded across the border, the Altenrhein Flugzeugwerke. It was a timely decision, since it soon became apparent that German aircraft designer Claude Dornier with backing of the German government was also interested in the same property. The first AR.1 aircraft were assembled the same year, and proved to be in high demand. In it's initial configuration it seated 14 passengers, and reached a cruising speed of 195 km/h over a range of 1600 km. Demand quickly proved enough that the Swiss assembly line was expanded into a full production line. Additionally it was produced all around the world in licence production.
It was four years later that the company announced it's successor, the AR.2. While once again it was considered a revolutionary passenger air craft, we now know thanks to stolen plans that it was planned from the ground up to be converted into a bomber. The AR Drache bomber variation would first make headlines with it's bombing run on Rome in April 1929, and if anything it would only increase international purchaser demand.
Meanwhile only a short trip up the Rhine river in Kriessern the company Frey-Schnyder Cie. was founded. While several members of the design team crossed the border each day for work, it was a mostly Swiss company, assembling mostly self produced fighter aircraft. However just as Altenrhein, they too sourced their engines from Rhomberg Motorenfabrik on the other side of the Rhine.
The F-S 25 would pass mostly unnoticed, purchased only in small numbers for both the Swiss and Austrian air forces, while the F-S 28 certainly would come to the worlds notice in the Austro-Italian war.
1Pickup trucks, basically
Austria had a lot of automobile companies immideatly post war. Most of them didn't make it to the depression. Here... Well the big ones make out better, but some of the smaller ones held on a bit longer too. Tank and aircraft production were mentioned earlier, and as you can see Austria wasn't alone in profiting from ASB.
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"Hussarenritt Pt. 4" + "AR Drache"
Der Hussarenritt, Part 4/4
17.4.1929
"That's Sibenning1 up ahead." Benjamin told Hans.
"You certain?" he asked.
"Yeah the harbour is pretty distinctive." Benjamin answered.
Hans considered everything. Fuel was low, but still some left. They could find a field somewhere and try to land. But they had some other options as well.
Turning back he asked: "So sink her?"
Kosmas looked back, then answered: "I ripped out a lot of parts, but well… There's still restricted parts in her. No Class A any more and Yugolavia is relatively friendly."
Hans nodded, as expected. While he had just received one short lecture as part of training, Kosmas, expected to operate some of those new gadgets, had been told quite a bit more. At the very least the boffins back home were convinced that a lot of their technology was ahead of anyone else in the world, and the military wanted to keep it hat way. They were probably full of themselves, but he'd rather not risk their wrath over something so small.
"Right, get your parachutes, we'll fly a curve and then let her sink off shore." he ordered them. The emphasis on relations to Yugoslavia had been on the relative, not the friendly. There had been that very heated incident in Belgrad a few years ago, when a group of Serbs and Bosnians took exception at an Austrian plane staying overnight. The result hadn't been all that pretty.
He guided the plane a short trip inland, turned into a curve over the large inland lake north of the city, and then out towards the sea again. Checking the compass and the one remaining map again, he judged the distance to Italy far enough, even if the plane should glide for a while. Bari was roughly 200 kilometres, so no danger.
Hans then ordered Kosmas and Banjamin to open the back door, parachutes already strapped to all their backs. He then set the auto pilot to a very gentle dive and followed them. Jumping out an aircraft certainly had it's danger. But so did landing on some field with battle damage. And the hills and fields surrounding Sibenning hadn't exactly looked suited to it. The closest airport was Zadar, however that one was Italian, so it wasn't a choice as well.
His copilot hesitated just for a moment until he turned up, then threw himself out of the door. Hans didn't hesitate and followed him. He had done this before in training, but didn't really appreciate the sensation. Benjamin, he knew actually enjoyed it.
His chute quickly deployed, the round canopy comfortingly above him. Kosma's and Benajmin's had deployed below him. His plane slowly moved along the coast to the south, until he lost sight of it behind the coastal hills.
Their chutes apparently had caught the attention of some of the locals, a group of boys wide eyed observed them coming down from the sky.
Kosmas took the lead on this, he spoke Czech fluently, and that was apparently enough to make himself understood even in Croatia. And so they moved towards the city, surrounded by happily laughing boys, munching down the chocolate from their survival kits. He had questioned their inclusion into the kit, but obviously they made for good bribes.
As they neared the harbour two man in dark blue uniform noticed them. They were very surprised, when Hans presented them with his service revolver.
1Šibenik, the old German name is quite obscure today
AR Drache
Role: Bomber
National Origin: Switzerland
Manufacturer: Altenrhein Flugzeugwerke
First Flight: April 1929 (bomber variant)
General characteristics
Crew: 3-5
Length: 20.00m
Wingspan: 30.00m
Height: 5.2m
Wing area: 92.4m2
Empty weight: 7.750kg
Gross weight: 11,750kg
Max takeoff weight: 12,500kg
Fuel capacity: 3800l
Powerplant: 2x Rhomberg Destrier, two row radial engine, 810 kW (1085hp)
Propellers: 3-bladed propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 350km/h
Cruise speed: 325km/h
Range: 2,200km
Service ceiling: 7,500m
Rate of climb: 6.1m/s
Armament
2x 20mm Oerlikon FF in the nose
1x twin 20mm Oerlikon rear turret
1250 kg of bombs
The AR Drache is a bomber variant of the successful AR.2 passenger plane. A way for quick conversion exists, however those usually lack the gun armament. A serious refit is necessary, especially to add the rear turret, leading to many operators not bothering. The nearly indistinguishable shape of many bomber conversions – often even keeping the passenger windows – have made them a serious threat in irregular warfare.
This is so easy, because the AR.2 had been from the very beginning been planned with such conversions in place. The Austrian government at the time insisted on keeping at least the perception of following the various post Great War treaties, while at the same time planning to be involved in heavy fighting. This would make it necessary to not just have quick access to bomber aircraft, but also to crews trained in flying them. One of the solutions to this was the AR.2/AR Drache. The large national air line operated many of the planes. Generous contracts meant that more pilots per plane were employed than anywhere else world wide. Added to this most of the pilots had agreed to be part of the "shadow armed forces", participating in regular combat training, in exchange for even more generous pay.
17.4.1929
"That's Sibenning1 up ahead." Benjamin told Hans.
"You certain?" he asked.
"Yeah the harbour is pretty distinctive." Benjamin answered.
Hans considered everything. Fuel was low, but still some left. They could find a field somewhere and try to land. But they had some other options as well.
Turning back he asked: "So sink her?"
Kosmas looked back, then answered: "I ripped out a lot of parts, but well… There's still restricted parts in her. No Class A any more and Yugolavia is relatively friendly."
Hans nodded, as expected. While he had just received one short lecture as part of training, Kosmas, expected to operate some of those new gadgets, had been told quite a bit more. At the very least the boffins back home were convinced that a lot of their technology was ahead of anyone else in the world, and the military wanted to keep it hat way. They were probably full of themselves, but he'd rather not risk their wrath over something so small.
"Right, get your parachutes, we'll fly a curve and then let her sink off shore." he ordered them. The emphasis on relations to Yugoslavia had been on the relative, not the friendly. There had been that very heated incident in Belgrad a few years ago, when a group of Serbs and Bosnians took exception at an Austrian plane staying overnight. The result hadn't been all that pretty.
He guided the plane a short trip inland, turned into a curve over the large inland lake north of the city, and then out towards the sea again. Checking the compass and the one remaining map again, he judged the distance to Italy far enough, even if the plane should glide for a while. Bari was roughly 200 kilometres, so no danger.
Hans then ordered Kosmas and Banjamin to open the back door, parachutes already strapped to all their backs. He then set the auto pilot to a very gentle dive and followed them. Jumping out an aircraft certainly had it's danger. But so did landing on some field with battle damage. And the hills and fields surrounding Sibenning hadn't exactly looked suited to it. The closest airport was Zadar, however that one was Italian, so it wasn't a choice as well.
His copilot hesitated just for a moment until he turned up, then threw himself out of the door. Hans didn't hesitate and followed him. He had done this before in training, but didn't really appreciate the sensation. Benjamin, he knew actually enjoyed it.
His chute quickly deployed, the round canopy comfortingly above him. Kosma's and Benajmin's had deployed below him. His plane slowly moved along the coast to the south, until he lost sight of it behind the coastal hills.
Their chutes apparently had caught the attention of some of the locals, a group of boys wide eyed observed them coming down from the sky.
Kosmas took the lead on this, he spoke Czech fluently, and that was apparently enough to make himself understood even in Croatia. And so they moved towards the city, surrounded by happily laughing boys, munching down the chocolate from their survival kits. He had questioned their inclusion into the kit, but obviously they made for good bribes.
As they neared the harbour two man in dark blue uniform noticed them. They were very surprised, when Hans presented them with his service revolver.
1Šibenik, the old German name is quite obscure today
As intended it's the last we'll see of Hans and his crew. I'm certain he'll enjoy his nice, safe internment, while still getting full military pay.
AR Drache
Role: Bomber
National Origin: Switzerland
Manufacturer: Altenrhein Flugzeugwerke
First Flight: April 1929 (bomber variant)
General characteristics
Crew: 3-5
Length: 20.00m
Wingspan: 30.00m
Height: 5.2m
Wing area: 92.4m2
Empty weight: 7.750kg
Gross weight: 11,750kg
Max takeoff weight: 12,500kg
Fuel capacity: 3800l
Powerplant: 2x Rhomberg Destrier, two row radial engine, 810 kW (1085hp)
Propellers: 3-bladed propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 350km/h
Cruise speed: 325km/h
Range: 2,200km
Service ceiling: 7,500m
Rate of climb: 6.1m/s
Armament
2x 20mm Oerlikon FF in the nose
1x twin 20mm Oerlikon rear turret
1250 kg of bombs
The AR Drache is a bomber variant of the successful AR.2 passenger plane. A way for quick conversion exists, however those usually lack the gun armament. A serious refit is necessary, especially to add the rear turret, leading to many operators not bothering. The nearly indistinguishable shape of many bomber conversions – often even keeping the passenger windows – have made them a serious threat in irregular warfare.
This is so easy, because the AR.2 had been from the very beginning been planned with such conversions in place. The Austrian government at the time insisted on keeping at least the perception of following the various post Great War treaties, while at the same time planning to be involved in heavy fighting. This would make it necessary to not just have quick access to bomber aircraft, but also to crews trained in flying them. One of the solutions to this was the AR.2/AR Drache. The large national air line operated many of the planes. Generous contracts meant that more pilots per plane were employed than anywhere else world wide. Added to this most of the pilots had agreed to be part of the "shadow armed forces", participating in regular combat training, in exchange for even more generous pay.
And the lazy part for today, basically something you could maybe see on Wikipedia (provided the butterfly nets hold out long enough for it to turn up... Oh who am I kidding). If someone sees any big problems with that, tell me and I'll modify it. It's just something I quickly threw together.
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"Military Intelligence"
This one existed, even written down digitaly, in one form or another, since before I posted the first piece of this here. Today I rewrote it three times, with different framing. I'm happy enough with it now, but it's certainly not perfect.
Austria certainly had learned a lot out of it's intelligence failures of the Great War. There would be no Oberst Redl during the Austro-Italian war, it's own vetting process much improved and with a Korpsgeist that talking about their former employment is unthinkable to nearly all of their ranks.
Yet as secretive as the members of the various Austrian intelligence services of the post Great War era are, they also practice an odd openness. Unknown to most Austrians, information collected by them start to be accessible to everyone after a mere 25 years. This is of course only the case for dead acts, and restrictions on information pertaining still living people still apply, but it means that nearly all foreign intelligence on Italy during the war is open to anyone with an historic interest.
Therefore it can be said, that while their human intelligence during the conflict was merely average, their signal intelligence was anything but. From declassified acts of the Evidenzamt we can see that Austria possessed the ability to intercept nearly all Italian military radio traffic and broke all known codes within 24 hours. Add to this that a large amount of civilian radio was recorded and that there were taps on some telegraph lines, the biggest problem must have been sifting though all this information. At best guesses of expert who did work themselves through that corpus of information Austria had access to over 90% of Italian Army military signal traffic at the start of the war. To the credit of the Italians, this fell to less than 70% by the end of the war, mostly due to use of couriers, but it was still more than enough for the Austrian Army to archive the successes they did.
Add to this, there are transcripts from private rooms of Italian fascist leaders as well as from their Ministry of War. With the most important offices in the Palazzo Baracchini wired up, one has to ask the question just why the Austrian military undertook their precision bomber strike known as the Hussarenritt on just that object in the opening week of the war?
Then Alfredo Biacchi published his meta-analysis of Italian military radio traffic and their actions during the war, and found that the accessible Evidenzamt data must be missing certain key orders. While this can be explained by coincident, especially the Italian counterpart data destroyed in an air raid one must assume that this might not have been by chance, but deliberately done by the Austrians, in order to hide an even bigger secret in the veil of openness.
In this context the memoires of Pietro Gazzera become more interesting. Gazzera was at the time of Mussolini's death Under-Secretary in the Ministry of War, leaving him the highest ranked member of said Ministry, since Mussolini held the office of Minister himself. He claims not to have given the order to invade Austria, instead blaming it on Italo Balbo. Balbo at the time would have been involved in the short and sharp power struggle within the fascist hierarchy, that led to his confirmation as Mussolini's designated successor. Interestingly enough, there is no archive data of any orders by him from these chaotic days.
With that information one has to ask, if Austria didn't use their near total knowledge of Italian radio signals offensively, in order to stage the war in the first place. Considering the military movements within the first two weeks of the conflict one can assume that this might have been staged to create facts on the ground, similar enough to what Turkey did, before the Treaty of Lausanne superseded the Treaty of Sèvres.
(handwritten note: That's the fourth student thesis in so many years. Have we still got something shiny enough to distract him?)
I considered putting in footnotes, but decided it's close enough to spoiler as is.
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"Franzerl Pt. 6"
So this is a bit late, I got a phone call for a thing I couldn't miss when I was going over what I was going over what to post today. So you'll get more of John Moss epic adventure from the backlog.
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 6
17.-18.4.1929
The next day we got moving again. Thankfully this time I could catch a ride on a small truck, apparently owned by the army, not pressed into service as so many other. It was still a tight fit, since I still had to share it's back with four Schützen, two regulars of the Austrian Army as well as a gigantic machine gun. It seemed to be a common feature amongst the army trucks, and Ferdinand insisted on riding the truck standing, the machine gun ready at any moment. His companion from the regulars, Sebastian confined to me that he though Ferdinand quite mad, but refrained from saying so out load.
Both Ferdinand and Sebastian, as well as the machine gun, apparently had been drawn from the Fortress Troops of the Austrian Army, since there was little expectation that their area would be attacked.
"And if the Swiss do, it's not as if we can do anything." Ferdinand cheerfully informed me.
We sped up the pass we had come down only two days earlier, to my surprise without any snow on the road, and then down the hairpin turns again. Considering the road and the speed, I'm not certain who was madder, Ferdinand or the driver. We once again passed through St Leonhard, the long climb from days ago, over in a flash. The route then gently ran down valley, through St Martin and onwards.
Finally we arrived at Riffian, where the infantry was already busy unloading their gear from their trucks. Ferdinand cheerfully waved with one hand, as he used the other to sweep his machine gun across the sky, as we dismounted as well. Michael and Sepperl quickly went off to find some other Schützen and I stood there, between cheerful Schützen uniforms, the white of the Gebirgsjäger and the splotched green of other Austrian soldiers, as well as a smattering of of colours of assorted paramilitary organisations. On the steps in front of one of the houses a group with particularly colourful jackets, with decorations remiscient of cavalry of old more than soldiers, were singing rowdy songs and passing around some bottles of wine.
I walked around a bit, got a few photos, and then finally found Michael again, amongst a large group of Schützen, several of whom sported bandages of some kind.
"Italians tried a push last night, probably heard about Sterzing and knew they wouldn't have much time." Michael told me.
He then told me that the Schützen had managed to hold one side of the small dip ahead, and the Italians the other. There hadn't been much movement in the two days before, accurate long range fire keeping everyones heads down. Michael grimly confined that the Italians had come out worse of those fights than it appeared at first. The Schützen were all trained hunters, trained to shoot the target. He said, that a soldier often would just aim in the general direction, while a hunter was trained to hit their moving target. I'm uncertain if there is anything to it, but the Schützen certainly had a certain reputation amongst Italians after the war.
I was then privy to quite a detailed briefing on the going ones on all fronts, as well as plans going forward. I think it wasn't that much of a problem, since a lot of action was shaped by geography and obvious in many ways, but it seemed a bit lax to me at the time. I hadn't yet realised that to the Passeier Schützen at least, I already counted as one of them.
-
Night had fallen. Several groups had fallen asleep. Some to get a nap in before they had to fight. Some because they were earmarked for fighting tomorrow. Some, like those singers in their especially colourful uniforms, because they passed out from drinking. I however had stayed up, and observed. Close to midnight, things had gotten relatively quiet, both on our side and over at the Italians. I couldn't see their guards, but had been assured that they had some in place.
Then regulars of the Austrian Army started to move. Several had long rifles, not their usual carbines, with bulky contraptions strapped to them. Then a motor started up, as had several times before. This time it was a truck with what seemed to be a searchlight strapped to the back. There was no light however. Then the regulars started shooting. Return fire was sporadic and usually ended quickly. The soldiers started to charge across the dip before us, and I quietly followed. As we crossed the dip and the small stream within I started to notice that there had been others ahead of us. They must have infiltrated the enemy lines during the evening. We quickly passed the ridge, some Italians dead or wounded on the floor. Medics were already tending to them. In the small wood behind the ridge it quickly became obvious that most of the Italians had been caught napping. While some soldiers tended to them, most quickly moved on, towards the village Tirol.
There was sporadic fighting in the village, though little near me. One of the Italians taken prisoner didn't even wear pants. This haste in a cold April night might explain why they weren't really fighting too hard. I later learned that the unit garrisoned in the village were from rural background near Bari – not the most loyal people to Il Duce.
There was however something they quickly told their capturers. The Blackshirts that had been sent to stiffen up their unit had fortified themselves in Schloss Tirol, ready to fight to the last men. As these interrogations happened one could hear shots fired down in the Etschtal and on the other side of the Passer. There was obviously more fighting going on in Algund, and as I later learned the Blackshirts across the valley had fortified themselves in Schloss Schenna as well, only for it to be placed closer to the route of advanced than Schloss Tirol on our side.
As I moved through the village I came upon some officers directing the regulars to the left, and some members of the German Stahlhelm militia to the right, followed by several troopers with machine guns and man portable mortars. Recalling the maps I had seen I quickly talked myself into a house with a good view.
From there I could observe how some dark figures were carefully moving through the vineyards towards the historical castle. The first amongst them had made it nearly there when machine gun fire started up from the castle. I ducked myself, as while most was fired downwards, some of the Italian gunners weren't really careful with their muzzle rise.
Almost immediately machine guns from near the village started to reply, maybe with more fire, but certainly with more tracer amongst their ammunition. This seemed to be very effective at scarring the scattered rifle fire from the castle into silence.
Then there were several explosions in the inner courtyard of the castle. I was quite surprised, until now the Austrians had been very careful with artillery fire, especially near buildings, but I later learned that I had been somewhat mistaken. While they didn't relish damaging one of the very symbols of the country they were liberating, at Sterzing they had used mortars and artillery very sparingly, because there had been a civilian population in the city. Here however, best as they could tell everyone in the castle was an enemy combatant.
Still, most organised resistance soon ceased. When the mortar rounds hit, the first of the Stahlhelm had already been to the walls, soon after the gate was blown and then the Germans backed up by some squads of Gebirgsjäger took to the grisly task of digging the Blackshirts out of the castle.
Still not fully happy with the fighting, but oh well. Once again some German paramilitary get to play bait. Also: some Italian fanatics, and some who aren't so happy to die.
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"Mussolin Dead!" + "Dear Susanna Pt. 1"
Daily Mail, London, 19th April 1929
Benito Mussolini Dead!
A Great European Leader Has Left Us!
Italo Balbo confirmed Successor
Mussolini died of wounds sustained in an assassination attempt a week earlier. We mourn a great European leader, taken from as far too soon.
Mussolini spend the last decade stabilising an Italy wrecked by the Great War. He ensured that the socialists couldn't drag the country into civil war, creating a second festering wound in Europe similar to Russia.
Under his leadership deadwood and socialist unions were curbed, leading to economic recovery and even causing the trains to run on time.
In the uncertain times of his hospitalisation, rabble has taken up arms in Rome and other Italian cities, distracting the Italian army from it's pacification of it's northern province. While calls for an English intervention in this conflict are discussed in the halls of power, the Mail has to back up Labour MP Oswald Mosley, who stated that under no circumstances should the blood of English boys be spilled on a continental conflict again.
Balbo announced, that he would fight those who would dilute the Italian nation and international socialist interventionalism. He stated that justice would soon be brought to the Austrian government that supported terrorism on Italian soil. The Regio Esercito had already pacified the cities of Lienz and Spittal, giving them control of the remaining Austrian Alpine passed. Italian troops are pushing towards Salzburg and Graz this very moment.
Our correspondent in Rome witnessed the supposed Austrian air raid, stating clearly that it was staged by passenger aircraft, and that the damage must have been negligible.
Dear Susanna,
I know you will not receive this letter for a long time. Neither am I supposed to write this in any way, if we are caught it will cause us trouble. Still, I have to tell this to someone.
I know being a cavalry man was one of the things that attracted you to me. But I have to tell you we certainly aren't the knights in shining armour of old fairy tales. Nor are we the dashing young men riding into battle in tight formation of even twenty years ago. Far more we were selected for the type of man we were. Independent, thinking for ourselves, resourceful. And yes, even amongst my squadron I know of at least one thief, one conman and a forger. We were then trained not just in horsemanship, but as scouts and marauders, hitting behind enemy lines. While we all carry machine pistols, most of us carry explosives and a few even rifles with powerful scopes, we were tough from the beginning that our radios are our most powerful weapons.
Yet today we struck directly, after a week of nerve wrecking hiking. Local guides, people who have crossed those borders a thousand time before the Great War, and most likely again since in less than legal trading expeditions took us from Carinthia though the mountains. We have good maps of the area, and made good progress, even mostly avoiding the valleys, moving on logging paths and following game trails. While I wasn't told where, I know that it wasn't just my Zug, but that the rest of the Division had been deployed as well.
We had then spend three days overlooking the rail line through the Kanaltal. Samuel, who has a Magister in Geography, even went down into Pontebba disguised as a beggar. I have been told in the past, that his Italian sounds very Calabrian, and it seems the locals bought it. From what he told us, they weren't complementary about his cowardice, but still extensively informed his, that the only way to catch a train currently was by joining the army.
Well, that was then. Now, nobody will catch a train, unless the railway engineers work a miracle. We had since moved further south, travelling two days along mountain slopes that probably took less than an hour by train, until we arrived at a small stream south of Venzone. There the rail line crossed a small stream, though it looks like it will swell significantly with the spring melt. We had placed explosives at the bridge, and then vanished into the hills again. We never saw the detonation, but we certainly heard it. So did probably the whole valley. We since have ascertained ourselves with our scopes of a job well done.
Still I am writing this, because it has made me uncertain. All the training, all our skills, sneaking into enemy territory, calling in trainload, after trainload of soldiers and supplies. It all had felt so distant. And here we were, sneaking over open ground, towards a target that nobody guarded because they didn't even know it could be a target, and I felt vulnerable. I became afraid. And I wished from all my heart that I could be with you, back home in Baden, taking you out for a walk through the Kurpark, or even for a night out in Vienna.
Yet here I am, trapped by duty behind enemy lines. I hope I can return to you soon.
Always yours,
Alois
Benito Mussolini Dead!
A Great European Leader Has Left Us!
Italo Balbo confirmed Successor
Mussolini died of wounds sustained in an assassination attempt a week earlier. We mourn a great European leader, taken from as far too soon.
Mussolini spend the last decade stabilising an Italy wrecked by the Great War. He ensured that the socialists couldn't drag the country into civil war, creating a second festering wound in Europe similar to Russia.
Under his leadership deadwood and socialist unions were curbed, leading to economic recovery and even causing the trains to run on time.
In the uncertain times of his hospitalisation, rabble has taken up arms in Rome and other Italian cities, distracting the Italian army from it's pacification of it's northern province. While calls for an English intervention in this conflict are discussed in the halls of power, the Mail has to back up Labour MP Oswald Mosley, who stated that under no circumstances should the blood of English boys be spilled on a continental conflict again.
Balbo announced, that he would fight those who would dilute the Italian nation and international socialist interventionalism. He stated that justice would soon be brought to the Austrian government that supported terrorism on Italian soil. The Regio Esercito had already pacified the cities of Lienz and Spittal, giving them control of the remaining Austrian Alpine passed. Italian troops are pushing towards Salzburg and Graz this very moment.
Our correspondent in Rome witnessed the supposed Austrian air raid, stating clearly that it was staged by passenger aircraft, and that the damage must have been negligible.
This was fun to write. Very much not biased.
Dear Susanna,
19.4.1929
I know you will not receive this letter for a long time. Neither am I supposed to write this in any way, if we are caught it will cause us trouble. Still, I have to tell this to someone.
I know being a cavalry man was one of the things that attracted you to me. But I have to tell you we certainly aren't the knights in shining armour of old fairy tales. Nor are we the dashing young men riding into battle in tight formation of even twenty years ago. Far more we were selected for the type of man we were. Independent, thinking for ourselves, resourceful. And yes, even amongst my squadron I know of at least one thief, one conman and a forger. We were then trained not just in horsemanship, but as scouts and marauders, hitting behind enemy lines. While we all carry machine pistols, most of us carry explosives and a few even rifles with powerful scopes, we were tough from the beginning that our radios are our most powerful weapons.
Yet today we struck directly, after a week of nerve wrecking hiking. Local guides, people who have crossed those borders a thousand time before the Great War, and most likely again since in less than legal trading expeditions took us from Carinthia though the mountains. We have good maps of the area, and made good progress, even mostly avoiding the valleys, moving on logging paths and following game trails. While I wasn't told where, I know that it wasn't just my Zug, but that the rest of the Division had been deployed as well.
We had then spend three days overlooking the rail line through the Kanaltal. Samuel, who has a Magister in Geography, even went down into Pontebba disguised as a beggar. I have been told in the past, that his Italian sounds very Calabrian, and it seems the locals bought it. From what he told us, they weren't complementary about his cowardice, but still extensively informed his, that the only way to catch a train currently was by joining the army.
Well, that was then. Now, nobody will catch a train, unless the railway engineers work a miracle. We had since moved further south, travelling two days along mountain slopes that probably took less than an hour by train, until we arrived at a small stream south of Venzone. There the rail line crossed a small stream, though it looks like it will swell significantly with the spring melt. We had placed explosives at the bridge, and then vanished into the hills again. We never saw the detonation, but we certainly heard it. So did probably the whole valley. We since have ascertained ourselves with our scopes of a job well done.
Still I am writing this, because it has made me uncertain. All the training, all our skills, sneaking into enemy territory, calling in trainload, after trainload of soldiers and supplies. It all had felt so distant. And here we were, sneaking over open ground, towards a target that nobody guarded because they didn't even know it could be a target, and I felt vulnerable. I became afraid. And I wished from all my heart that I could be with you, back home in Baden, taking you out for a walk through the Kurpark, or even for a night out in Vienna.
Yet here I am, trapped by duty behind enemy lines. I hope I can return to you soon.
Always yours,
Alois
And yet another front of the war. Austria was allowed a cavalry divison according to the Treaty of St Germain. TTL it wasn't traditional cavalry.
If there is anything you few readers want to see specifically, tell me. I won't guarantee that my scatterbrain will produce something at all, but depending on how it fits in and how much research it is, there is a good chance that it will turn up sooner or later.
If there is anything you few readers want to see specifically, tell me. I won't guarantee that my scatterbrain will produce something at all, but depending on how it fits in and how much research it is, there is a good chance that it will turn up sooner or later.
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"Franzerl Pt. 7" + "F-S 28"
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 7
18.4.1929
Having spent most of the night watching the fighting I slept in the next day. And it turned out the world moved on without me.
"Have you heard?" my gracious host asked me. "Of course not, you've slept all day."
Sarah was, I quickly learned an incurable gossip, but then again it might have just been what I needed.
Meran, it turned out, had despite it's size and historical importance, escaped the worst of fascist attention. Now the politically very agile mayor had seen the wind blow in a different direction. He'd apparently been in secret talks, and when the Schützen moved in in the early morning, the locals helped them out. More than three thousand Italian soldiers had been taken prisoner, with barely a shot fired. More importantly, a significant part of the ammunition stock north of Trient had come with them.
I spent a couple of hours moving around, taking pictures, of battle damage, of columns of prisoners of war, of contrasting uniforms of the fighters involved, evoking more the colourful past of mercenary warfare, than the drab and muted ones of the Great War. One picture especially, that of Schloss Tirol with it's broken tower, seemed to somehow resonate around the world.
It was also then when I first saw the Regia Aeronautica participate in this war. Loud droning noise announced three of their Caproni light bombers approaching up the Etsch valley. Then four other specs in the sky started to grow larger. Four fighters, similarly single engines, yet far smaller and far faster, fell out of the sky upon their pry, leaving one to detonate in mid air, one to tumble downwards, lacking a wing and the last slowly descending, tail on fire.
It was in the early afternoon that Sepperl found me once again. He informed me that the Gebirgsjäger were already on the move again, but that some trucks had turned up to transport the Passeier Schützen. It amused me with what certainty he already counted me as one of their unit, but followed along nonetheless. The truck that waited for us still had the name of the construction firm it belonged to painted on the doors. The driver seemed similarly requisitioned, heavy clothing with brick dust and mortar sticking to them, a similar armband as the Schützen wore the only thing identifying him as a combatant.
We quickly left Meran behind us, the Etschtal widening around us, vineyards and rows of fruit trees became the norm, some even showing the first hints of new growth. After only twenty minutes of driving we stopped again, a congestion spreading out in front of us. I quickly noticed Michael jumping out of the drivers cabin of the truck in front of us and moving forwards. Tense minutes had most people around us fingering their rifles and looking around for anything out of place. Over the row of trucks I thought I already saw some building of what might have been Bozen.
When Michael came back, he simply told us: "There's trouble, one division moving up from Triest, another diverted south again moving through Bozen. There might be more, they've gotten more careful about using their radios. Call it up to thirty thousand Italians moving in on us."
F-S 28
Role: Fighter
National Origin: Switzerland
Manufacturer: Frey-Schnyder
First Flight: March 1928
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 8,11m
Wingspan: 12.40m
Height: 3.4m
Wing area: 24.4m2
Empty weight: 1.950kg
Gross weight: 2,600kg
Max takeoff weight: 2,900kg
Fuel capacity: 500l
Powerplant: 1x Rhomberg Lippizaner, radial engine, 480 kW (640hp)
Propellers: 3-bladed controllable-pitch propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 375km/h
Range: 1,000km
Service ceiling: 7,500m
Rate of climb: 9.3m/s
Armament
2x 20mm Oerlikon FF in the wings
or:
4x 8mm Solothurn-Steyr
Following the already excellent, but mostly overlooked F-S 25, the F-S 28 is in popular perception the best fighter aircraft of the 1920. It certainly outclassed it's Italian counterpart, the Fiat C.30, though the Breda Ba.27 outperformed it in certain aspects. After having operated 12 F-S 25, the Austrian Air Force was the first operator of the F-S 28, receiving six fighters even before the Swiss Air Force received the first of theirs. By the time the Austro-Italian War started Austria operated 60 F-S 28 fighters, with a further 200 ordered days after the war started.
It's excellent combat record is however at least partially down to superior doctrine, communications and the worlds first operational use of Funkmeß-Peilung1. Going up against planes developed later and without those advantages it's performance was less overwhelming in the hands of other operators.
Still, having a proven combat record, world wide sales, licence production as well as non-licenced copies rose sharply. It is estimated that over four thousand had been built.
1 Radar
Part 7
18.4.1929
Having spent most of the night watching the fighting I slept in the next day. And it turned out the world moved on without me.
"Have you heard?" my gracious host asked me. "Of course not, you've slept all day."
Sarah was, I quickly learned an incurable gossip, but then again it might have just been what I needed.
Meran, it turned out, had despite it's size and historical importance, escaped the worst of fascist attention. Now the politically very agile mayor had seen the wind blow in a different direction. He'd apparently been in secret talks, and when the Schützen moved in in the early morning, the locals helped them out. More than three thousand Italian soldiers had been taken prisoner, with barely a shot fired. More importantly, a significant part of the ammunition stock north of Trient had come with them.
I spent a couple of hours moving around, taking pictures, of battle damage, of columns of prisoners of war, of contrasting uniforms of the fighters involved, evoking more the colourful past of mercenary warfare, than the drab and muted ones of the Great War. One picture especially, that of Schloss Tirol with it's broken tower, seemed to somehow resonate around the world.
It was also then when I first saw the Regia Aeronautica participate in this war. Loud droning noise announced three of their Caproni light bombers approaching up the Etsch valley. Then four other specs in the sky started to grow larger. Four fighters, similarly single engines, yet far smaller and far faster, fell out of the sky upon their pry, leaving one to detonate in mid air, one to tumble downwards, lacking a wing and the last slowly descending, tail on fire.
It was in the early afternoon that Sepperl found me once again. He informed me that the Gebirgsjäger were already on the move again, but that some trucks had turned up to transport the Passeier Schützen. It amused me with what certainty he already counted me as one of their unit, but followed along nonetheless. The truck that waited for us still had the name of the construction firm it belonged to painted on the doors. The driver seemed similarly requisitioned, heavy clothing with brick dust and mortar sticking to them, a similar armband as the Schützen wore the only thing identifying him as a combatant.
We quickly left Meran behind us, the Etschtal widening around us, vineyards and rows of fruit trees became the norm, some even showing the first hints of new growth. After only twenty minutes of driving we stopped again, a congestion spreading out in front of us. I quickly noticed Michael jumping out of the drivers cabin of the truck in front of us and moving forwards. Tense minutes had most people around us fingering their rifles and looking around for anything out of place. Over the row of trucks I thought I already saw some building of what might have been Bozen.
When Michael came back, he simply told us: "There's trouble, one division moving up from Triest, another diverted south again moving through Bozen. There might be more, they've gotten more careful about using their radios. Call it up to thirty thousand Italians moving in on us."
F-S 28
Role: Fighter
National Origin: Switzerland
Manufacturer: Frey-Schnyder
First Flight: March 1928
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 8,11m
Wingspan: 12.40m
Height: 3.4m
Wing area: 24.4m2
Empty weight: 1.950kg
Gross weight: 2,600kg
Max takeoff weight: 2,900kg
Fuel capacity: 500l
Powerplant: 1x Rhomberg Lippizaner, radial engine, 480 kW (640hp)
Propellers: 3-bladed controllable-pitch propellers
Performance
Maximum speed: 375km/h
Range: 1,000km
Service ceiling: 7,500m
Rate of climb: 9.3m/s
Armament
2x 20mm Oerlikon FF in the wings
or:
4x 8mm Solothurn-Steyr
Following the already excellent, but mostly overlooked F-S 25, the F-S 28 is in popular perception the best fighter aircraft of the 1920. It certainly outclassed it's Italian counterpart, the Fiat C.30, though the Breda Ba.27 outperformed it in certain aspects. After having operated 12 F-S 25, the Austrian Air Force was the first operator of the F-S 28, receiving six fighters even before the Swiss Air Force received the first of theirs. By the time the Austro-Italian War started Austria operated 60 F-S 28 fighters, with a further 200 ordered days after the war started.
It's excellent combat record is however at least partially down to superior doctrine, communications and the worlds first operational use of Funkmeß-Peilung1. Going up against planes developed later and without those advantages it's performance was less overwhelming in the hands of other operators.
Still, having a proven combat record, world wide sales, licence production as well as non-licenced copies rose sharply. It is estimated that over four thousand had been built.
1 Radar
Some more Franzerl and a datasheet. Kind feels like filler?
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"Franzerl Pt. 8"
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 8
18.4.1929
It didn't take too long for movement to resume. The Schützen packed their gear and moved up into the hills. Meanwhile artillery tractors started to flatten grapevines and small trees in patches all around the road. When we started to gain elevation, I could see that at least some of them had spread all over the valley, though they were more numerous north of the Etsch.
Batteries of artillery pieces started to appear, with a number of truck mounted mortars. The Gebirgsjäger had barely started to dismount their own trucks, when the barrage began. It took surprisingly long for the impacts to appear, great clouds rising into the sky from both sides of the Mitterberg, but also from the outskirts of Bozen. I was quite surprised by this, because until now they seemed to have avoided firing on Tyrolean cities.
From my elevated position I could tell that counter fire was sporadic and inaccurate. The intricate dance of the trucks and artillery tractors below me moving the guns every so often probably had something to do with that. Meanwhile the Passeier Schützen and a couple others that had grown up in those hills moved at a fast clip through them. My insistence to pause every so often to take pictures got me some ribbing, but to be honest, I needed them at the time.
By late afternoon Italian troop made a desperate attack. To this day I am not aware just why they did that, getting cut down by hastily entrenched infantry, backed up by heavy, truck mounted machine guns. Even some of the more hotheaded Schützen got into the game, despite the fact that the nearest Italians must have been a mile away. I saw no indication that any of them hit anything, and more reasonable men quickly put a stop to wasting ammunition.
The countercharge was successful. Very successful as I would later learn. The Bozen garrison might have shattered completely, if it weren't for troops returning into the city that had just hours earlier passed it towards a different front. On the other hand Austrian troops managed to take the Mitterberg, the mountain in the centre of the valley south of Bozen. While the west of the valley, beyond the Etsch, was still in Italian hand, the railway was cut by artillery fire. I would later learn that this left five Italian divisions between Bozen and Villach on very tenuous supply lines.
The Schützen meanwhile continued their monstrous hike. Some elements moved forwards, towards the Talfer, while most moved downhill, engaging the enemy in the village of Gries. I stayed to the back of the fighting man, and learned first hand about the coordination between the Schützen and the Austrian artillery. The radio man was constantly in contact, having a couple of spotters assigned to them. Whereever serious resistance mounted, would only a minute or two later receive very accurate fire. More so, with the commanding view from the hills over Bozen, the radio crew called in fire not just on troops engaged, but also on positions where they rallied.
When I then followed down into the valley, the mood was odd. There were no fearful faces looking from the windows in Gries, there were no people joining up the fighters, there were no celebration of Italians driven out. Gries was quite as a grave once the Schützen had moved through.
Part 8
18.4.1929
It didn't take too long for movement to resume. The Schützen packed their gear and moved up into the hills. Meanwhile artillery tractors started to flatten grapevines and small trees in patches all around the road. When we started to gain elevation, I could see that at least some of them had spread all over the valley, though they were more numerous north of the Etsch.
Batteries of artillery pieces started to appear, with a number of truck mounted mortars. The Gebirgsjäger had barely started to dismount their own trucks, when the barrage began. It took surprisingly long for the impacts to appear, great clouds rising into the sky from both sides of the Mitterberg, but also from the outskirts of Bozen. I was quite surprised by this, because until now they seemed to have avoided firing on Tyrolean cities.
From my elevated position I could tell that counter fire was sporadic and inaccurate. The intricate dance of the trucks and artillery tractors below me moving the guns every so often probably had something to do with that. Meanwhile the Passeier Schützen and a couple others that had grown up in those hills moved at a fast clip through them. My insistence to pause every so often to take pictures got me some ribbing, but to be honest, I needed them at the time.
By late afternoon Italian troop made a desperate attack. To this day I am not aware just why they did that, getting cut down by hastily entrenched infantry, backed up by heavy, truck mounted machine guns. Even some of the more hotheaded Schützen got into the game, despite the fact that the nearest Italians must have been a mile away. I saw no indication that any of them hit anything, and more reasonable men quickly put a stop to wasting ammunition.
The countercharge was successful. Very successful as I would later learn. The Bozen garrison might have shattered completely, if it weren't for troops returning into the city that had just hours earlier passed it towards a different front. On the other hand Austrian troops managed to take the Mitterberg, the mountain in the centre of the valley south of Bozen. While the west of the valley, beyond the Etsch, was still in Italian hand, the railway was cut by artillery fire. I would later learn that this left five Italian divisions between Bozen and Villach on very tenuous supply lines.
The Schützen meanwhile continued their monstrous hike. Some elements moved forwards, towards the Talfer, while most moved downhill, engaging the enemy in the village of Gries. I stayed to the back of the fighting man, and learned first hand about the coordination between the Schützen and the Austrian artillery. The radio man was constantly in contact, having a couple of spotters assigned to them. Whereever serious resistance mounted, would only a minute or two later receive very accurate fire. More so, with the commanding view from the hills over Bozen, the radio crew called in fire not just on troops engaged, but also on positions where they rallied.
When I then followed down into the valley, the mood was odd. There were no fearful faces looking from the windows in Gries, there were no people joining up the fighters, there were no celebration of Italians driven out. Gries was quite as a grave once the Schützen had moved through.
Cue ominous music.
I started this just over two weeks ago and managed to post once every day. The upcoming week however I'll be otherwise occupied. I'll try to continue the streak, but I can't guarntee it. We'll see.
I started this just over two weeks ago and managed to post once every day. The upcoming week however I'll be otherwise occupied. I'll try to continue the streak, but I can't guarntee it. We'll see.
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"Franzerl Pt. 9"
Moss (1944), Franzerl des Panzerl
Part 9
19.4.1929
The night was restless. We were camped out in the ruins of a bombed out apartment block. I've been told that most of Bozen west of the Tafer was made up of new built, Italian occupied buildings. To me at the time it explained a lot about why artillery fire was used far more liberally, but I later got access to documents that told me that this was only partially the truth. Far more important according to Austrian Army standard operation rules up to that point was that civilian were mostly evacuated.
I remember that the night was freezing cold. Seemingly every time I fell asleep artillery fire or a machine gun opened up again. Rifle fire was a sporadic, but constant background noise. But unlike at Tirol there were no night assaults, no trickery, just holding the line at the river. It was then early in the morning, the sun still hidden somewhere behind the mountains that I was woken up by engine noise.
It shouldn't have. Engines had been a fact of life the last few days, but something about these was different. I moved over to the window and looked down, and saw tanks. Now at the time Franzerl had been the only tank I had seen close up, with it's long tail and outrageous paint job. These however were different. They seemed sleek somehow. Modern. They lacked any sort of paint job, any insignia, seemingly uniformly painted grey.
I counted ten as they rumbled up the street, then turned around and woke Sepperl. We had scouted the roof in the evening, and I was certain that while dangerous due to damage, it allowed brilliant pictures of the bridge over that Mussolini had been shot.
As we arrived upstairs I could see that there were some people down in the riverbed, swarming around the bridge and mostly keeping out of line of side from the east. Obviously they had checked over the bridge in some way, before the tanks rolled over it. Machine guns were blazing, turrets were swivelling and every now and again they fired a round from their main gun at especially stubborn resistance.
Then trucks with armoured plates bolted on followed over the bridge, into the beachhead.. Some carrying man, but nearly as many with machine guns mounted on their beds.
Fighting quickly moved away from the river and I decided to follow along. I passed the bridge together with many soldiers in different uniforms. Looking down the alleys I could see dead, wounded and prisoners nearly everywhere. The dead weren't all Italian, but they seemed to dominate. It was obvious that not everything had gone in the Austrian's favour. Some burned out trucks were down one alley. A tank with a broken track down another.
As fighting petered out, I began to see more and more agitated Austrian officers, but I wasn't able to figure out what was going on. I joined up the Sepperl and several other Schützen who were going house to house, looking for any remaining Italians or civilians left behind. In one of the buildings in the old town we got lucky, an old woman was still in there, unharmed, though a bit dusty from a near hit on her house by a tank canon. While she could move with the help of a stick, she was neither fast, nor safe with it, but it was an old injury, not something from the fighting.
She spoke German with an accent I was later told was Italian, and was very agitated. I barely understood a word she said. Then Sepperl looked at me and told me a thing that will stick with me all my life: "The trains didn't leave empty."
Part 9
19.4.1929
The night was restless. We were camped out in the ruins of a bombed out apartment block. I've been told that most of Bozen west of the Tafer was made up of new built, Italian occupied buildings. To me at the time it explained a lot about why artillery fire was used far more liberally, but I later got access to documents that told me that this was only partially the truth. Far more important according to Austrian Army standard operation rules up to that point was that civilian were mostly evacuated.
I remember that the night was freezing cold. Seemingly every time I fell asleep artillery fire or a machine gun opened up again. Rifle fire was a sporadic, but constant background noise. But unlike at Tirol there were no night assaults, no trickery, just holding the line at the river. It was then early in the morning, the sun still hidden somewhere behind the mountains that I was woken up by engine noise.
It shouldn't have. Engines had been a fact of life the last few days, but something about these was different. I moved over to the window and looked down, and saw tanks. Now at the time Franzerl had been the only tank I had seen close up, with it's long tail and outrageous paint job. These however were different. They seemed sleek somehow. Modern. They lacked any sort of paint job, any insignia, seemingly uniformly painted grey.
I counted ten as they rumbled up the street, then turned around and woke Sepperl. We had scouted the roof in the evening, and I was certain that while dangerous due to damage, it allowed brilliant pictures of the bridge over that Mussolini had been shot.
As we arrived upstairs I could see that there were some people down in the riverbed, swarming around the bridge and mostly keeping out of line of side from the east. Obviously they had checked over the bridge in some way, before the tanks rolled over it. Machine guns were blazing, turrets were swivelling and every now and again they fired a round from their main gun at especially stubborn resistance.
Then trucks with armoured plates bolted on followed over the bridge, into the beachhead.. Some carrying man, but nearly as many with machine guns mounted on their beds.
Fighting quickly moved away from the river and I decided to follow along. I passed the bridge together with many soldiers in different uniforms. Looking down the alleys I could see dead, wounded and prisoners nearly everywhere. The dead weren't all Italian, but they seemed to dominate. It was obvious that not everything had gone in the Austrian's favour. Some burned out trucks were down one alley. A tank with a broken track down another.
As fighting petered out, I began to see more and more agitated Austrian officers, but I wasn't able to figure out what was going on. I joined up the Sepperl and several other Schützen who were going house to house, looking for any remaining Italians or civilians left behind. In one of the buildings in the old town we got lucky, an old woman was still in there, unharmed, though a bit dusty from a near hit on her house by a tank canon. While she could move with the help of a stick, she was neither fast, nor safe with it, but it was an old injury, not something from the fighting.
She spoke German with an accent I was later told was Italian, and was very agitated. I barely understood a word she said. Then Sepperl looked at me and told me a thing that will stick with me all my life: "The trains didn't leave empty."
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"Kampfpanzer Skoda/29"
Kampfpanzer Skoda/29
Role: Light Tank
National Origin: Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer: Skoda
Production: 1928-1938
Mass: 11t
Length: 4.7m
Width: 2.1m
Height: 2.35m
Crew: 4
Armour: 20-35mm
Main Armament: 3,7cm KPÚV vz. 27
Secondary Armament: 2x 8mm ZB vz. 26 machine gun
Engine: 6 cylinder water cooled Puch Sprinter 197 hp, 147 kW
Operational range: 200km (road), 130 km (cross country)
Maximum Speed: 46km/h (road) 16 km/h (cross country)
Skoda LT vz 28, or in Austrian service mostly simply Kampfpanzer Skoda/29, the 29 designation having only been added after the Austro-Italian war, was certainly a joint Austrian-Czech tank project. While at the time public perception was of it as a Czech tank, the use of a Puch engine should have been a clue. Contemporary Czech engines by Skoda or Praga simply couldn't provide a similar performance, and so it was overlooked at the time. Damning are however that by now proven direct payments to Skoda by the Austrian government. Those were directly funnelled into development of armament project, such as the 3,7cm anti tank weapons based on the German TAK 1918. This is not even mentioning the specialist employees that regularly moved across the border.
In the late twenties tank development hadn't attracted too much attention. Most militaries were still money starved after the Great War, not to mention sometimes beleaguered by anti-war sentiments. In this situation even close observers weren't surprised, that Skoda didn't manage to sell it's whole production run in one go. That however every now and again members of Austrias "Shadow Army" visited Pilsen and trained with the vehicles wasn't noted.
Estimates say that as many as 200 of the Skoda tanks saw service in the Austro-Italian war. Nearly 700 were produced and sold world wide, though the successor model proved even more successful.
A planned model with the 47cm Böhler anti-tank gun was never realised.
Role: Light Tank
National Origin: Czechoslovakia
Manufacturer: Skoda
Production: 1928-1938
Mass: 11t
Length: 4.7m
Width: 2.1m
Height: 2.35m
Crew: 4
Armour: 20-35mm
Main Armament: 3,7cm KPÚV vz. 27
Secondary Armament: 2x 8mm ZB vz. 26 machine gun
Engine: 6 cylinder water cooled Puch Sprinter 197 hp, 147 kW
Operational range: 200km (road), 130 km (cross country)
Maximum Speed: 46km/h (road) 16 km/h (cross country)
Skoda LT vz 28, or in Austrian service mostly simply Kampfpanzer Skoda/29, the 29 designation having only been added after the Austro-Italian war, was certainly a joint Austrian-Czech tank project. While at the time public perception was of it as a Czech tank, the use of a Puch engine should have been a clue. Contemporary Czech engines by Skoda or Praga simply couldn't provide a similar performance, and so it was overlooked at the time. Damning are however that by now proven direct payments to Skoda by the Austrian government. Those were directly funnelled into development of armament project, such as the 3,7cm anti tank weapons based on the German TAK 1918. This is not even mentioning the specialist employees that regularly moved across the border.
In the late twenties tank development hadn't attracted too much attention. Most militaries were still money starved after the Great War, not to mention sometimes beleaguered by anti-war sentiments. In this situation even close observers weren't surprised, that Skoda didn't manage to sell it's whole production run in one go. That however every now and again members of Austrias "Shadow Army" visited Pilsen and trained with the vehicles wasn't noted.
Estimates say that as many as 200 of the Skoda tanks saw service in the Austro-Italian war. Nearly 700 were produced and sold world wide, though the successor model proved even more successful.
A planned model with the 47cm Böhler anti-tank gun was never realised.
Okay, managed today... Also that thing is a moster in 1929 no matter what, even if the main armour they were up against weren't some Fiat 3000s.
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