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WorldWar2.ro Forum > WW1 and Regional Wars (1912-1919) > Question regarding Romanian Army equpiment

Posted by: Agarici January 22, 2006 10:40 am

Hello everybody! 1. Does anybody know when did the French model Adrian helmets enter in use in the Romanian army? More specifically, were they in use before the retreat of the troops and administration in Moldova (and the reorganization of the army from the beginning of 1917)? Kiritescu, in his extensive book about WW 1, presents some regiment-level comparative table with the organization and equipment of the Romanian, German and Austrian armies. He points out that before 1917 Romanian army had “very few, if any” helmets. 2. In the Second Balcan War (and if I’m right in 1916 also) the Romanian soldiers’ uniforms were khaki (light khaki, dark khaki?). When did the (light)blue-grey uniforms enter in use? Why was the color changed? 3. During 1915-1916, before Romania’s entering in the war, France delivered a number of Nieuport 11 fighter planes to Romania. Does anybody know how many? I red somewhere that in the initial stages of war they were not armed, the machine-guns (Lewis?) being delivered later. Could anybody confirm that information? And if it’s true, when were the machine-guns for the planes delivered? 4. The same question for the Farman 40 reconnaissance-bombers: were they armed in the beginning of the war? And if yes, what type of machine-guns did they use? How many of them were in service in the Romanian aviation in 1916? 5. And finally a more general question: does anybody have any kind of statistical situation with the types of weapons and equipment delivered to the Romanian army between August 1914 - August 1916? Thank you in advance!

Posted by: dragos03 January 22, 2006 11:19 am

I can help you with question number 5. However, the list is too long to type it here. Are you interested in something specific from the list?

Posted by: Agarici January 22, 2006 11:41 am

Thank you Dragos! I’d say that the entire list could be useful for the site and for the members interested in WW 1 history, but I don’t want to abuse of your goodwill and free time. So I’m mainly interested in rifles (caliber, model and provenience), pistols/revolvers (caliber, model and provenience), swords (provenience), helmets, gas masks, cars/trucks, machine-guns (caliber, model and provenience), artillery (caliber, model and provenience) and airplanes (type) - too many things I guess. But I think any kind of information would be useful. Note: I’m interested in almost every item provenience because I want to see if (and in what degree) the Central Powers continued to be the main weapon& equipment suppliers for the Romanian army after the country’s neutrality declaration from 1914, or their place was taken by the Triple Alliance countries.

Posted by: dragos03 January 22, 2006 11:56 am

Ok, here is some info. Weapons from Germany and Austria (supplied in 1914): - 24 Maxim MGs, cal. 6.5 mm - 102806 Mannlicher rifles, cal. 6.5 mm - 29535 Mannlicher carabines, cal. 6.5 mm Weapons from the Entente countries (supplied until 15 August 1916): - 4 French 75 mm AA guns - 4 French 75 mm Deport guns - 12 French 120 mm short guns - 12 French 120 mm long guns - 88 Scwartzlose MG (i don't know the origin, but not from Austria) - 178 Chatellerault MG (French) - 9982 Lebel rifles (French) - 82000 pistols (of all types, from various countries) - 100 trench mortars, 58 mm - 240000 artillery shells - 16235600 bullets for rifles and MGs - 5295000 bullets for pistols - 10000 shells for trench mortars - 80 airplanes

Posted by: dragos03 January 22, 2006 12:01 pm

As for questions 3 and 4, you will find this report useful: http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1620

Posted by: mihnea January 22, 2006 01:05 pm

QUOTE (dragos03 @ Jan 22 2006, 11:56 AM) Ok, here is some info. Weapons from Germany and Austria (supplied in 1914): - 24 Maxim MGs, cal. 6.5 mm - 102806 Mannlicher rifles, cal. 6.5 mm - 29535 Mannlicher carabines, cal. 6.5 mm Weapons from the Triple Alliance countries (supplied until 15 August 1916): - 4 French 75 mm AA guns - 4 French 75 mm Deport guns - 12 French 120 mm short guns - 12 French 120 mm long guns - 88 Scwartzlose MG (i don't know the origin, but not from Austria) - 178 Chatellerault MG (French) - 9982 Lebel rifles (French) - 82000 pistols (of all types, from various countries) - 100 trench mortars, 58 mm - 240000 artillery shells - 16235600 bullets for rifles and MGs - 5295000 bullets for pistols - 10000 shells for trench mortars - 80 airplanes Romania bought the Mannlicher m93 rifle and carbine that used the rotating bolt compared to the Mannlicher m95 that used the strait pull bolt.

Posted by: SiG January 22, 2006 05:47 pm

For the sake of historical accuracy I must point out that the "Triple Alliance" reffered to an alliance between Germany, Austria and Italy (Romania's previous allies). You guys must mean the Triple Entente (Russia, France, Britain)

Posted by: Dénes January 22, 2006 07:35 pm

QUOTE (SiG @ Jan 22 2006, 11:47 PM) For the sake of historical accuracy I must point out that the "Triple Alliance" reffered to an alliance between Germany, Austria and Italy (Romania's previous allies). For the sake of historical accuracy I must point out that back then Austria was not a self-standing country, but rather part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Gen. Dénes

Posted by: Kepi January 23, 2006 09:08 am

QUOTE (Agarici @ Jan 22 2006, 10:40 AM) 1. Does anybody know when did the French model Adrian helmets enter in use in the Romanian army? More specifically, were they in use before the retreat of the troops and administration in Moldova (and the reorganization of the army from the beginning of 1917)? Kiritescu, in his extensive book about WW 1, presents some regiment-level comparative table with the organization and equipment of the Romanian, German and Austrian armies. He points out that before 1917 Romanian army had “very few, if any” helmets. 2. In the Second Balcan War (and if I’m right in 1916 also) the Romanian soldiers’ uniforms were khaki (light khaki, dark khaki?). When did the (light)blue-grey uniforms enter in use? Why was the color changed? 1. The Adrian style helmet were ordered in summer 1916 and they started to arrive in Romania, through the long Nordic way (Archangelsk harbour), at the end of that year. These helmets were actually distributed to the troops in spring 1917, so all units were equipped with this headgear during the battles of summer 1917. 2. By the Royal Decree nr. 500 of 4th February 1912, Romanian army adopted a new campaign uniform, influenced by the austro-hungarian model, but made in grey-green (in fact a mixture of grey, green and blue threads of wool) cloth. The predominant colour of these uniforms was green. During the Second Balkan War, most Romanian troops were equipped with M.1912 uniforms. However, many reservists still had M.1895 uniforms and equipment and, in many cases, even the officers wore a mixture of old and new, grey-green, uniforms. Between 1914-1916, during the neutrality period, Romanian army was deprived from its main sources of supplies, so the original colours to dye the cloth were not available anymore. Romanian authorities tried to use other paints but the result was not satisfactory. From 1915 in the Romanian army rose a great variety of models of uniforms, with different cuts, made in different types of cloth, from light-blue (horizon blue) to khaki. In 1916 the Allies (Russian, Italians) sent different quantities of their uniforms cloth in Romania, so, the Romanian army appearance became even more variegated. During the 1917-1918, the shortage of cloth was so severe that every piece of tissue was used to make uniforms. Many officers converted civilian clothes into military tunics, heaving civilian bone buttons. For the other ranks, the uniforms were made in un-dyed cloth, as for the Confederacy troops of the American Civil War. Hopefully, in autumn 1917 romanian army captured great stores of Russian equipment in Moldavia and Bassarabia, so this gave a respite to the Romanian military authorities. During the intervention in Hungary against soviet Hungarian forces, Romanian troops were equipped with British khaki uniforms and web equipment, delivered by the Allied Danube Army troops, but carried French style Adrian helmets and long Berthier rifles, which gave an unique appearance to the Romanians soldiers.

Posted by: Cristian January 23, 2006 10:31 am

You can get more info regarding small arms reading this topic http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1998

Posted by: Agarici January 26, 2006 02:06 pm

Thank you all for your feed-back. Now I have another question, for those of you with specialized knowledge in weapons and armament. And a warning, the question might sound silly… I wonder why, after choosing a revolutionary small caliber for the rifles and after launching special orders in Germany for a special version (6,5 mm) of the German-made Maxim machine-gun, the Romanian military turned, by the end of 1912, towards an 8 mm MG (the Austrian Schwarzlose), ordered, surprisingly, in parallel with new batches of 6,5 mm Maxims (according to dragos03, the last 24 Maxims were supplied in 1914). Why didn’t they persevere in buying MG with the same caliber (either Maxims or modified Schwarzlose), since they bothered to order a special “Romanian” 6,5 mm variant of the Austrian Mannlicher rifle? Where is the logic in that, and moreover where is the logistical logic? EDIT: apart from the "Romanian" Maxims, weren't there other 6,5 mm MG's availble?

Posted by: dragos03 January 26, 2006 03:16 pm

The answer is simple: they were trying to buy as many MGs as possible, any kind of MGs. The machinegun was a weapon with great potential and all the countries were reluctant to sell them, they wanted to keep them for their own armies. That's why the Romanian Army didn't succeed in buying enough of them and started the war with a catastrophic shortage. There was also a shortage of cannons. At the start of the war, a Romanian battalion had 0-2 machineguns, no mortars, 3-4 light guns and 0-0,5 heavy guns. For comparrison, a battalion from the 1st Austrian Army had 6 MGs, 2 mortars, 6 light guns and 1 heavy gun. A battalion from the 9th German Army had 6-8 MGs, 4 mortars, 6-7 light guns and 1-1.5 heavy guns (medium numbers). This difference in firepower explains the heavy defeats in 1916.

Posted by: Agarici January 26, 2006 04:43 pm

QUOTE (dragos03 @ Jan 26 2006, 03:16 PM) At the start of the war, a Romanian battalion had 0-2 machineguns, no mortars, 3-4 light guns and 0-0,5 heavy guns. For comparrison, a battalion from the 1st Austrian Army had 6 MGs, 2 mortars, 6 light guns and 1 heavy gun. A battalion from the 9th German Army had 6-8 MGs, 4 mortars, 6-7 light guns and 1-1.5 heavy guns (medium numbers). This difference in firepower explains the heavy defeats in 1916. Now I might not be brilliant but I have a problem with that number of MG allocated per regiment conforming with most of the historical sources. The same sources give a total number of around 460 MGs available for Romanian army in 1916. So dividing 400 to the 40 active infantry regiments, the result is 10 (supposing that the rest of 60 were used for the 10 or so cavalry regiments). So the exact fraction would be 3,3 MGs for each of the three battalions which form the Romanian infantry regiments. Are those figures (2-6 MGs per regiment) accurate, it’s my arithmetic faulty? And if they are accurate, how were the rest of the MGs used?? Any suggestion why they were not distributed to the active (as opposed to the reserve) infantry units?

Posted by: Victor January 26, 2006 08:30 pm

I bought Kiritescu's book on WW1 today, so I might as well put it to use. The Romanian army had more than 40 infantry regiments after the 1916 mobilization. There were in total 378 battalions and 104 cavalry squadrons. The divisions 1st to 10th had each three infantry brigades (each of two regiments) and one vanatori regiment, plus one artillery brigade. These were best units in terms of training and equipment. They had a machine-gun section for each battalion (two pieces), so a regiment from these divisions had in total 6 MGs. The divisions 11th-15th were created between 1914-16 by transforming the territorial commands. They had only two infantry regiments. There was only one machine-gun section per regiment. The divisions 16th-23rd were created from the fourth battalion of teh regular regiments and were the worst equipped and manned. They had no machine-guns. So dragos03's 0-2 machine-guns per battalion can be explained in the following manner: - 1st-10th Division: 2 MGs/battalion - 11th-16th Division: 0.67MGs/battalion - 16th-23rd Division: 0 MGs/battalion

Posted by: Kepi January 28, 2006 10:51 am

QUOTE (Agarici @ Jan 26 2006, 02:06 PM) ... why, after choosing a revolutionary small caliber for the rifles and after launching special orders in Germany for a special version (6,5 mm) of the German-made Maxim machine-gun, the Romanian military turned, by the end of 1912, towards an 8 mm MG (the Austrian Schwarzlose), ordered, surprisingly, in parallel with new batches of 6,5 mm Maxims (according to dragos03, the last 24 Maxims were supplied in 1914). Why didn’t they persevere in buying MG with the same caliber (either Maxims or modified Schwarzlose), since they bothered to order a special “Romanian” 6,5 mm variant of the Austrian Mannlicher rifle? Where is the logic in that, and moreover where is the logistical logic? EDIT: apart from the "Romanian" Maxims, weren't there other 6,5 mm MG's availble? During the Second Balkan War, Romanian authorities saw that the 271,130 M. 93 Mannlicher 6.5 mm rifles were not enough to equip the whole infantry, including the reserve mobilized troops. A new order for 100,000 M.93 infantry rifles and 30,000 M.93 cavalry carbines was released for Steyr factories but the producer needed a year to get ready these particular weapons. An additional order of 24 M.1910 Maxim 6.5 mm cavalry heavy machineguns was also released for Deutschwaffen und Munitions Fabriken of Berlin. To equip its army during the Balkan War, Romanian government bought in a hurry, from its ally, Austria-Hungary, 60,000 Austrian M.90 and M.95 Mannlicher 8mm. rifles. Just before the European war started, by the 1st May 1914, Romania received 29,535 M.93/14 Mannlicher 6.5 mm. cavalry carbines (they were different from the M.93 model as they were equipped with bayonets), and the 24 M.1910 Maxim 6.5 mm cavalry heavy machineguns. By the 1st August, 102,806 M.93 Mannlicher 6.5 mm. infantry rifles were also delivered. Just before Romania entered war there were received some weapons from the Allied and neutral countries: 81,947 revolvers of different models (61,145 Bayard 8mm revolvers made by Dahetze (?), Spain, about 16.750 Smith/Wesson 11 mm revolvers, made by Dahetze (?), Spain and 4,052 M.1893 8mm. French revolvers), 9982 Lebel/Berthier rifles, 268 M.1907 Chattellerault 8mm heavy machineguns, 88 Schwartzlose 8 mm. heavy machineguns (probably captured by Russia and then delivered to Romania), Until December 1916 Russia also supplied Romanian army with 39,000 captured Austrian Mannlicher rifles. Does anybody knows something about the following Spanish private producers of weapons. The Romanian government ordered 1915 at Dahetze (?) company 61,352 Bayard revolvers and 18,850 Simth & Wesson 11 mm revolvers. A further order of 10,000 revolvers was released in 1916 to Antonio Erasti (?) and another 5,000 to Arismendi&Gohenaga (?).

Posted by: Kepi January 28, 2006 11:56 am

QUOTE (Victor @ Jan 26 2006, 08:30 PM) So dragos03's 0-2 machine-guns per battalion can be explained in the following manner: - 1st-10th Division: 2 MGs/battalion - 11th-16th Division: 0.67MGs/battalion - 16th-23rd Division: 0 MGs/battalion According “Romania in the World War 1916-1919”. Vol. I, Chapters I-VIII, Bucharest 1934, page 64, written by the Historical Service of the General Staff, “When Romania entered the war, the heavy machinegun endowment of the infantry regiments was very poor. Regiments nr. 1-40 had only one company with 4-6 M.1910 Maxim 6.5 mm heavy machineguns and the regiments nr. 41-80 and the rifles (Vanatori) regiments had a company of 4 heavy machineguns. The (IVth) territorial battalions and the militia battalions had no machineguns at all. A few days before the mobilization 170 (sic) French 8 mm heavy machineguns arrived in Romania, and were distributed to the head bridges of Turtucaia, Silistra, Cernavoda and to the 16th Infantry Division. The French and the Austrian heavy machine guns that arrived after the beginning of the war (sic) have been distributed to the units depots in order to organize and train the new HMG companies that will be send on the front. Until the beginning of October 1916, every infantry regiment received 2-6 french heavy machineguns and the IVth battalions, 2-3 french or austrian heavy machineguns. So, from October, every battalion had 2-4 heavy machineguns. …. Every (cavalry) regiment had 2 heavy machineguns….” These remarks are not quite correct as Romanian army lost great quantities of weapons during the first months of the campaign. It seems that in 1916 Romanian army lost 265 Maxim HMGs of the 449 existing in august 1916, and 50 Austrian Schwartzlose of the initial 88. So the number of the automatic weapons within the Romanian units remained inferior comparative with the enemy.

Posted by: Cristian January 28, 2006 12:30 pm

Maybe Ruy will give you a full answer regarding Eibar gun manufacturers! As we discused on other topic, Dahetze seems to be a subcontractor, who selled guns from several manufacturers located in Eibar. Bayard and S&W revolvers were spanish copies of the belgian and american originals. Errasti and Arizmendi Y Goenaga were gun manufacturers in Eibar at the turn of the XX century

Posted by: Cristian January 28, 2006 02:08 pm

Here is the other topic http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1998&st=45

Posted by: Kepi January 29, 2006 07:34 am

Thank you Cristian for your information. There are many questions concerning the weapon private producers in WW1. As the state arms companies of the Allied countries were fully engaged to produce equipment for their own armies, the Romanian government turned to the small companies. For example, all the swords made in France during WW1 were produced by such small workshops: Balp & Fils of Saint Etienne for the M.1916/82, infantry officer swords, Horner (?) for M.1916/90 artillery swords or V. Gauguin (?) for the M.1916/82 cavalry troop swords. The state factory of Chattellrault produced only for the French army.

Posted by: Cristian January 29, 2006 09:01 am

QUOTE For example, all the swords made in France during WW1 were produced by such small workshops: Balp & Fils of Saint Etienne for the M.1916/82, infantry officer swords, Horner (?) for M.1916/90 artillery swords or V. Gauguin (?) for the M.1916/82 cavalry troop swords. The state factory of Chattellrault produced only for the French army. Regarding french swords, I have two "Manufacture francaise d'armes et cycles" catalogues of Saint Etienne from the turn of XX century. The french military swords are presented for sale for civilians by postal order.They are targeted for the romanian market also(" Spre a ne scrie..." is written in the opening page), and I think is possible that some romanian officers had ordered their swords as private order, following their personal desire and fashion, despite the official model design.

Posted by: Kepi January 29, 2006 12:59 pm

There were several orders for important quantities of swords. These swords had to equip the reserve officers, as they had no personal edged weapons, or the horse artillery and cavalry drafted soldiers. As from September 1914 the traditional supply sources of the Romanian army were cut off, Romanian authorities were looking for other producers. In September 1915 it was signed a contract with Balp & Fils company of Saint Etienne for 2,000 swords for foot officers and 500 swords for mounted (cavalry) officers. These swords were copies of the M.1882 french officer swords but with yellow metal hilts. They were delivered from April to November 1916. The cavalry officer swords were similar to the M.1882 french pattern. They were delivered in the same period as the infantry officer swords. On June 1916 another 1,000 cavalry swords were ordered to the same company. 640 swords were delivered in November 1916, the rest of them arrived after the war, in 1919. In October 1915 there were ordered 352 swords for cavalry troopers, similar to the model (M.1882) used in the French cavalry, to the company V. Gauguin(?). These swords were of poor quality. Because during the war cavalry fought mainly as mounted infantry (the M.1893 Mannlicher carbines were equipped with improvised bayonets), it was no further order for cavalry swords. In August 1915 romanian authorities ordered 6,000 artillery swords to be produced by Horner(?) company. These were unsuccessful copies of the austrian M. 1890/06 pattern. The hilt was similar but the blade was straight and was recovered from the old French M.1882 cavalry swords. These blades were shortened to be easy carried when the artilleryman was on foot. All these unusual swords were withdrawn from service after WW1.

Posted by: Agarici February 01, 2006 12:49 pm

QUOTE (dragos03 @ Jan 22 2006, 11:56 AM) Ok, here is some info. Weapons from Germany and Austria (supplied in 1914): - 24 Maxim MGs, cal. 6.5 mm - 102806 Mannlicher rifles, cal. 6.5 mm - 29535 Mannlicher carabines, cal. 6.5 mm Weapons from the Entente countries (supplied until 15 August 1916): - 4 French 75 mm AA guns - 4 French 75 mm Deport guns - 12 French 120 mm short guns - 12 French 120 mm long guns - 88 Scwartzlose MG (i don't know the origin, but not from Austria) - 178 Chatellerault MG (French) - 9982 Lebel rifles (French) - 82000 pistols (of all types, from various countries) - 100 trench mortars, 58 mm - 240000 artillery shells - 16235600 bullets for rifles and MGs - 5295000 bullets for pistols - 10000 shells for trench mortars - 80 airplanes I have few questions and observations concerning that list: First, according to “Istoria militara a poporului roman” (1988) the 4 French AA guns were Puteaux 75 mm, and the 4 Depport 75 mm were also listed as AA cannons, being purchased from Italy. Is that interpretation correct? And weather it is correct or not, were those guns maufactured in Italy? My second concern is about the Chatellerault MGs. I have searched on the internet and the only results found were about a light machine-gun, the Chatellerault model 1929; here are two links I found: http://www.gunsworld.com/french/fm2429_us.htm, http://ww2photo.mimerswell.com/vapen/fr/mg/m1929.htm . So could we presume that the 178 MGs were light MG, or that the “Chatellerault” designation is not correct or was used for something else (for a different type of MG)? And if the last version is right, what model could that be? What type of French MGs were in use in Romania during (the beginning of) WW 1? According to the same book mentioned above, Romania imported from France the Hotchkiss model 1914 8 mm air-cooled MG, the main French heavy MG in WW 1. You can find a short description here: http://www.gunsworld.com/gun_mg/Hotchkiss_M1914.htm What about the trench mortars, what model were those and from what country were purchased? Were they distributed to the troops before August 1916, and if yes how (what number/unit)? Why were so many pistols/revolvers bought? One should remember that in 1912 as many as 50.000 “automatic” Steyr 9 mm were imported from Austria (according to the same “Istoria militara a poporului roman”). I think the total number of pistols was by far exceding the total number of active and reserve officers and NCOs, the estimated losses from the frontline included.

Posted by: Kepi February 02, 2006 07:16 am

QUOTE (Agarici @ Feb 1 2006, 12:49 PM)   My second concern is about the Chatellerault MGs. I have searched on the internet and the only results found were about  a light machine-gun, the Chatellerault model 1929; here are two links I found: http://www.gunsworld.com/french/fm2429_us.htm, http://ww2photo.mimerswell.com/vapen/fr/mg/m1929.htm . So could we presume that the 178 MGs were light MG, or that the “Chatellerault” designation is not correct or was used for something else (for a different type of MG)? And if the last version is right, what model could that be? What type of French MGs were in use in Romania during (the beginning of) WW 1? According to the same book mentioned above, Romania imported from France the Hotchkiss model 1914 8 mm air-cooled MG, the main French heavy MG in WW 1. You can find a short description here: http://www.gunsworld.com/gun_mg/Hotchkiss_M1914.htm   What about the trench mortars, what model were those and from what country were purchased? Were they distributed to the troops before August 1916, and if yes how (what number/unit)?   Why were so many pistols/revolvers bought? One should remember that in 1912 as many as 50.000 “automatic” Steyr 9 mm were imported from Austria (according to the same “Istoria militara a poporului roman”). I think the total number of pistols was by far exceding the total number of active and reserve officers and NCOs, the estimated losses from the frontline included. It seems that the so called Chattellerault HMG were in fact M.1907 Saint-Etienne HMG produced by Chattellerault plants. Romanian army bought about 2,417 M.1907 Saint-Etienne/Chattellerault HMG (178 until the beginning of the war, 685 until December 1916 and 1,554 until November 1917). Romanian authorities named these heavy machineguns Chattellerault simply because this was the name of the producer. A similar situation was with the M. 1915 CSRG light machineguns. The French LMG was widely known as “Chauchat” but in Romania it was named “Gladiator” after the name of one of the (bikes) factories who produced them. Romania bought 4,495 CSRG LMGs in 1917. Romanian army also used the M.1914 Hotchkiss HMG. It seems that 248 weapons were delivered in 1916 and 456 in 1917. Concerning the French 58 mm. trench mortars, 100 weapons were received before Romania entered the war and 30 other until December 1916. I think they were used within the infantry regiments as a kind of support weapons. During the war several other types of trench mortars (Russian, captured German, Austrian or, even, Romanian) saw service. Unfortunately, this aspect is not very clear yet. In august 1916 romanian army had about 17,500 (active + reserve) officers and a similar number of NCOs. Not only the officers and NCOs carried pistols/revolvers. All foot and horse artillerymen were also equipped with revolvers. There were 25 field artillery regiments, 1 horse artillery regiment and 5 light howitzer regiments and several other fortress artillery units. The machine gun crews and a number of auxiliary units (transport, medical, logistic, aeronautics) were also equipped with revolvers. However is difficult to explain the whole quantity of about 143,000 small arms. (Source: Different tables of “Romania in the World War 1916-1919”. Vol. I, Chapters I-VIII, Bucharest 1934)

Posted by: Agarici February 12, 2006 06:30 pm

QUOTE (Kepi @ Jan 29 2006, 12:59 PM) Because  during the war cavalry fought mainly as mounted infantry (the M.1893 Mannlicher carbines were equipped with improvised bayonets), it was no further order for cavalry swords. On the other hand, on many occasions during 1916 the rosiori and calarasi units were used as cavalry; too many occasions, one could say, and I’m not talking about mounted recon missions. The charges from Bazargic, Robanesti or Prunaru were, I think, among the last cavalry charges from WW 1. Scaled replicas to the British “light brigade attack” from the Crimean War (less the charge from Prunaru, which involved the entire 2nd Rosiori regiment, the colonel in the first row and among the 200 who were killed), they were meant to save the day… at least in theory.

Posted by: 21 inf July 26, 2008 03:58 pm

MEMORIAL REGARDING WAR PREPARATIONS OF ROMANIA BETWEEN 1914/1916 General conclusions 1. The troops At 1st January 1914 the number of soldiers available was less than 500.000. There were no reserves in the OOB. Between 1st January 1914-14th August 1916 the men available increase from 9.948 oficers (from which 5.696 were oficers in reserve) to 17.625 (from which 11.582 were oficers in reserve). Number of soldiers available for mobilisation increase to 1.080.313. 2. Equipment At 14 august 1916 there were at troops and in warehouses: -2.400.000 shirts -2.400.000 cloth trousers -1.200.000 coats -1.200.000 jackets -1.600.000 trousers -1.200.000 boots -2.000.000 knapsacks -1.000.000 tarpaulins 3. Food At 1 January 1914 the troops had 1.073.870 rations of canned beef, which were the remnants of 1913 campaign. They also had 230 stoves, which could bake a maximum of 230.000 breads daily. At 14 august 1916 the number of stoves increase to 649, with a capacity of 80.000 breads daily, plus 15.000 field kitchens. 4. Armament At the date of mobilisation the infantry had 376.636 model 93 rifles. From France arived after Romania entered war a number of 288.018 Lebel rifles with 108.000.000 cartriges. At the date war was declared the army had a number of 681 machineguns. At the begining of the year 1917 the army received an aditional number of 3.188 machineguns. Field artilery had 624 canons of 75 mm, 120 field howitzers of 105 mm, 100 trench mortars of 58 mm. Lately, from Bucharest Citadel and Focsani-Namoloasa-Galati the artilery was removed and used on the field. The total number of artilery pieces taken out from those fortifications was 330, equiping 55 bateries. 5. The Navy At 1 January 1914 the Navy had 99 oficers; 95 specialists, civilian employees and administrative NCO's; 57 cadets; 2.200 troopers. At 14 august 1916 the effectives were: 156 active oficers; 94 reserve oficers; 5.800 troops. The number of torpedoes is increased with an aditional number of 1.600 (Vislovky and Radulescu). 6. The horse power At 1 January 1914 the army had 23.388 horses. At 14 August 1916 the army had 281.000 horses. From this number, 9.928 were bought during 1914, 1915 and 1916, the rest were requisitions. 7. The air power At 1 January 1914 the papers spoke about 29 airplanes. From France was bought a number of aditional 80 planes. At the day the war was declared the number of able airplanes was only 37, due the accidents occured. 8. Sappers 9. Medical Service 10. Maps At 1 January 1914 at Topographic Service were a number of maps, diferent scales, insuficient in numbers for a war; same situation for Basarabia, very few for Bulgaria and none for Transilvania and Serbia. 11. Comunications 12. Budget Members of the Comision: viceadmiral V. Urseanu, general Cica, Bossy, N. Budisteanu President of the Comision: general I. Popovici --------------------------- Resume from: General D. Iliescu, Documente privitoare la rasboiul pentru intregirea Romaniei, Bucuresti, 1924, p. 3; 5-9; 141-144, apud, cited by Institutul de studii operativ-strategice si istorie militara. Comisia de istorie militara - Romania in timpul primului razboi mondial

Posted by: bansaraba July 26, 2008 08:26 pm

About airplanes: http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1147&view=findpost&p=66557

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