, Serbia. Eight Mörsers were loaned to the German Army and they were first fired in action on the
Western Front at the start of
World War I. They were used in concert with the
Krupp 42 cm howitzer ("
Big Bertha") to destroy the rings of Belgian
fortresses around Liege (
Battle of Liège), Namur (
Fortified Position of Namur) and
Antwerp (Forts Koningshooikt, Kessel and Broechem). The 305mm was used with great success at Namur, Givet and Maubeuge where it was noted that while the German 42 cm howitzer had the more powerful punch, it was limited to rail transport while the Škoda mortars could be set up elsewhere. While the weapon was used on the Eastern, Italian and Serbian fronts until the end of the war, it was only used on the Western front at the beginning of the war. In 1915, ten howitzers were used in support of the Austro-Hungarian-German invasion of
Serbia under the German General
August von Mackensen. One of these is restored in
Belgrade Military Museum. By the end of the war, 79 of the weapons of all three types were in service. Only 24 were destroyed. In the period between the world wars, large numbers of mortars were in service in
Yugoslavia (4
M.11 and 6
M.16), Romania, Italy (23
M.11, 16
M.11/16 and 16
M.16),
Czechoslovakia (17
M.16) and
Hungary (3
M.11 and 2
M.16). There were only two in Austria; one in the
Arsenal army museum in
Vienna, the second as a training weapon in
Innsbruck. In 1939, Germany seized all 17 pieces from Czechoslovakia and repaired the howitzer from the Arsenal Museum, designating them
30.5 cm Mörser 638(t). In 1941, they obtained five more weapons after the
defeat of Yugoslavia and placed them into service as the
30.5 cm Mörser 638(j). They saw service against
Poland,
France and the
Soviet Union in
World War II, where they served with Heavy Artillery Battalions (
schwere Artillerie-Abteilungen) 624, 641 and 815 as well as two Heavy Static Artillery Batteries (
schwere Artillerie-Batterie bodenstandig) 230 and 779. The 624th, 641st and 815th Battalions took part in the
Siege of Sevastopol (1941–42). It is unclear if the howitzers of the
Romanian Army were employed on the
Eastern Front and used against the
Red Army. At least one M.11 was seized from Yugoslavia and saw coastal defense service in the Adriatic as the
30.5 cm Mörser 639(j). It may have been upgraded somehow, as its Yugoslav designation was the
305 mm M 11/30. The Hungarian Army's five guns served in the 101. and 102. artillery groups from 1938 and were used against the Yugoslavians and the USSR. Today, four weapons survive; an M.11 is in
Rovereto, Italy (Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra), a second is displayed in
Belgrade's
Military Museum and a third is in
Bucharest National Military Museum, Romania, along with the only surviving M.16. == Gallery ==