Active 1925 - 1939 Allegiance Royal Albanian Army Headquarter Tiranë | Country Albania Branch Artillery | |
Size 95 (officers)+ 26 (batteries)+ 64 (personnel) | ||
The Royal Albanian Artillery (Albanian: Forcat Mbretërore e Artilerisë) was from 1928 till 1939 and was part of the Royal Albanian Army.
Structure
In 1939 the army had eight of nine planned batteries (x2) of 65mm L/17 mountain guns (3 days ammunition), four batteries mountain guns (2x of Skoda 75mm L/13) (3 days ammunition), and two batteries of field guns (4x Krupp Model 1906 75mm L/27) (one horse-drawn, one nominally motorized)(1 day's ammunition) (Note that in Italian practice, a day's ammunition for light artillery was 250 rounds)
There may have still existed in 1939 a "school battery" of unknown composition There was also one battery of mountain guns (4x Skoda 75mm L/13)(horse-drawn) with the Gendarmerie and another (also 4x Skoda 75mm L/13 mountain guns) with the Royal Guard. At Durrës there was in 1939 a coastal battery ("Prandaj", Cpt. Gjergj Mosko) of four Krupp Model 1906 75mm L/27, covering the port, in casements presumably built by Italian engineers. Also at Durrës were two Turkish-era forts which had in 1912/1913 three light guns each, of unknown status in 1939. Possibly under the artillery arm was the "Artilërisë Kunder Ajrorë" (AA Artillery) established in 1931 (in 1939, commanded by Major Rauf Fratari). This comprised "small caliber" batteries at Durrës, Shëngjinit and Sarandë. The army possessed 18 Schwarzelose MG (1 day's ammunition) ceded by the Italians, and since these ex-Austrian weapons existed in an AA mount (of which the Italians had acquired several hundred), possibly each battery comprised 6 of these. Sources mention a formation called the "Grupi i Artilërisë Divisionalë" (Maj. Ahmet Rrojte ?). If this was the designation for the field/mountain artillery under army command, it comprised
The number of all batteries that were with the army were: