Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901

Swedish-Norwegian artillery committee With the background of the rapid development of the artillery arm in the late 19th century and the invention of the quick-firing field gun, a Swedish-Norwegian artillery committee was established in 1899. The committee was to facilitate the procurement of new artillery for the Swedish and Norwegian armed forces. The new weapon was to solve the old time-consuming problem of the gun being pushed out of position by recoil with each shot. The committee consisted of six officers, three Swedish and three Norwegian. One of the Norwegian officers was Captain Georg Stang, the future Norwegian Minister of Defence in 1900–1902 and 1902–1903. The Swedish-Norwegian committee reached only a single conclusion; that the calibre of the new weapon was to be 7.5 centimetres, based on tests with a French Schneider-Canet Model 1898 field gun. Four Schneider-Canet had been delivered to Norway at that time, and 16 more were on order. While the Swedish members of the committee wished for a conclusion to be reached in the shortest possible time, the Norwegians wished to bide their time and study the issue to the fullest. The reason for the Norwegians' lack of haste was probably that breech-loaded rifled guns had been introduced to the Norwegian Army only in 1887, and with the last of the Krupp 8.4 cm Model 1887s delivered in 1896 the Norwegian guns were still comparatively new. The Swedes on the other hand had replaced their rifled muzzle-loaders already in 1883 and were more ready for a replacement. The Norwegian Ministry of Defence, now under the leadership of Georg Stang, chose the artillery system over protests from the opposition Conservative Party of Norway, which demanded that a new system from Krupp be tested before the new gun could be chosen. This criticism was brushed aside by the Ministry of Defence, stating that the military assessment had found the Model 1901 to be the best gun. ==Procurement of the Model 1901==

in 1904. In all 138 Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901s were manufactured, the type being delivered only to Norway. The Norwegian experience with the new system for quick-firing led to the major arms factories in Europe all adopting the same type of recoil system for their own artillery systems. Norwegian companies also modified the Armed Forces' older guns with the new recoil system so they could remain in service longer. Components that could be manufactured in Norway was produced under licence at Norwegian factories, with Norwegian labour organizations pushing for the creation of new jobs for the work force. The Ehrhardt Model 1901 was designated 7,5cm feltkanon M/1901 in Norwegian military service. ==General characteristics==

The new artillery pieces consisted of a core tube and mantlet with a mechanism retainer, 28 rifles, Nordenfelt eccentric screw and hydraulic brakes with a spring system for returning the tube to position. This made the Model 1901 Norway's first quick-firing gun. The gun shields of the Model 1901 were detachable. ==Further development in Norway==

In the first years after 1901 the Model 1901's full potential could not be exploited due to a lack of effective aiming systems. The artillery pieces were delivered with open sights and could only be used for direct fire. New aiming systems were only introduced in 1911, when the field guns were modified at Kongsberg Armaments Factory and fitted with Goerz panoramic telescopes. This, together with other technical advances and the introduction of forward artillery observers, allowed effective indirect fire to be carried out. Ammunition Up until 1921 the ammunition used by the Norwegian artillery was the black-powder case shot and the high-explosive case shot. A high-explosive artillery shell with significantly longer range was introduced in 1921, but not put into regular use. A gas shell was also designed and approved in 1921, although never put into production. Modifications During the 1920s complaints about the performance of the gun started coming in to the authorities. Wear and tear was beginning to have an effect on the guns, and soon people were suggesting that the type should be replaced with a new field gun model. The demands for a new artillery system was rejected, and instead the old guns were sent to a full maintenance overhaul. The maintenance solved the problems with the Model 1901, some guns also being fitted with rubber tires and rebuilt for motor transport during the 1930s. ==Second World War==

Norwegian Campaign . On 9 April 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Norway, capturing ports along the Norwegian coast from Oslo to Narvik. The main field artillery piece of the Norwegian Army that faced the invasion forces was the Ehrhardt Model 1901. During the two months of fighting in the Norwegian campaign that followed the Norwegian field artillery arm suffered greatly from organizational difficulties. The difficulties originated in part from the fact that very few artillery pieces had been mobilized during the seven months of neutrality that preceded the invasion. The units that had been activated to guard Norwegian neutrality had been equipped mainly with rifles and light and heavy machine guns. In the confusion and chaos that followed the German invasion most Norwegian units were only mobilized on an improvised basis, with limited supplies and little time to get properly organized before going into battle with the Germans. Only in Northern and Western Norway did the units (the 6th Division in Northern Norway and the 4th Brigade in Western Norway) have time to mobilize in an orderly fashion. Due to the complete lack of dedicated anti-tank guns in the Norwegian Army, Model 1901s were pressed into service in an improvised anti-tank role during the fighting in Eastern Norway. The field guns were used in direct fire mode at close range against German Panzers. All 12 of the Model 1901 field guns that had been converted to motorized transport were deployed to Northern Norway at the outbreak of war, with four in Troms County and eight in the eastern parts of Finnmark. Seven of these guns saw action on the Narvik front, supporting the Norwegian counter-offensive against Eduard Dietl's Gebirgsjägers. In Finnish service . As part of its covert support for Finland during the 1939–1940 Winter War, the Norwegian government donated a field artillery battalion to the Finnish Army in February 1940. The 12 guns were delivered with 7,166 shells via the Swedish Bofors armaments company. In Finland the guns were given the designation 75 K 01. During their 1940–1945 occupation of Norway the Germans rebuilt at least 17 Model 1901s as anti-tank guns. ==Post-war use==

After the end of the Second World War the 7,5cm feltkanon M/1901 was quickly replaced with more modern types in the Norwegian Army. The last time the artillery system was used for sharpshooting exercises was with the concluding exercise of the Field Artillery's Officer School in August 1947 at Hjerkinn training area. The gun had a central role in the 2005 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. ==Notes==

• Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ==External links==