7.5 Cm L/45 M/32 Anti Aircraft Gun - Service History and Fate

Service History and Fate

The M/32, first issued to units of the Norwegian Army in 1936, was well liked. First used at the anti-aircraft school based at Stavern, guns were also issued to the units responsible for defending Oslo and Raufoss. It remained in Norwegian service until the Germans invaded Norway on 9 April 1940.

At Raufoss, a total of four M/32s were installed in two batteries. After observing several aircraft out of the guns' range, one of the batteries was sent to Elverum to protect the Parliament and the King. These two guns were destroyed and abandoned when the battery retreated. The remaining two-gun battery at Raufoss fired at aircraft in the evening of 9 April, with no visible result. After several days the battery was moved to Dombås, where one of the guns was damaged while being set up. At Dombås the last M/32 was used to engage German paratroopers on the ground, leading to the surrender of the German force, as well as firing at German bombers with unknown results.

In Oslo, the M/32 was installed in four batteries of three guns each. The batteries were well equipped, by contemporary Norwegian standards, with central sights, range and height finders. When the Germans attacked Oslo, the batteries all took part in the defensive battle. In spite of lack of ammunition, unreliable fuses, electrical batteries that discharged too quickly, central sights that fell apart due to the shock waves from firing, lack of training and more, the batteries claimed to have shot down five or six German aircraft. However, after reviewing the Luftwaffe's own reports and the number of wrecked aircraft in the Oslo area on 9 April researchers have concluded that probably only one German aircraft was shot down by ground-based air defence. A number of aircraft were hit, some very seriously, but only one seems to have crashed as a result. The batteries and the guns were abandoned when Oslo surrendered due to the threat of German bombing of civilians.

The fate of the M/32s after the Germans captured Norway is unknown, but the Germans probably used them for air defence in Norway. Today one is preserved at the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum in Oslo.