View Single Post
  #368  
Old 21-05-19, 21:20
JohnT JohnT is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Sweden
Posts: 2
Default Rob Fast's Bofors # 201

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Fast View Post
of Swedish made/ Finnish used Bofors guns. My Bofors is just that: M/38 1939 40ITK 38U, No. 201. Sweden. It is missing the big brass data plate, but this info is stamped onto the side of the breech. Any history on the gun? Thanks Rob
Im afraid I have to tell that Stelllan Bojerud passed away in 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellan_Bojerud

I had the benefit of talking with him about the Bofors guns many years ago and have continued my research in Swedish archives.

What I actually knows is that Sweden managed to get a contract for 68 guns from Hungary in spring of 1938.
Hungary needed Dollars to import other arms and thus expanded their licence production for export orders the years before the war. (as did Poland)

At the same time Bofors of Sweden produced more guns for export than for the small Swedish order with a Serial number range from 1 - 100.
Actually Swedish private donations accounted for more guns than the governmental orders in 1939.

This Hungarian contract was above and beyond the Swedish long term plan and budget.
But Swedish prime minister Hansson promised the Procurement agency they could count on new money for the next fiscal year, so they dared to sign the order.
The Swedish designation was 40mm Akan m/38 and at least in 1945,
the guns where branded as Bofors and not MAVAG.
Serial number range for those guns that remainded in Sweden Autumn 1939
where from 208 - 268.

On the other hand there where no planned organization for these guns
so the bottle neck on Swedish side was officers and trainers.
While we had enough Bofors guns to keep the trainers busy.
So a significant number of the new guns where stored waiting for a crew.

In 1937 Finland had started to set up their own licence production of Bofors 40mm at the state gun factory "VTT" but setting up a new factory took time and the optimistic plans where delayed numerous times.

A few months after the Swedes Finland also made an order in Hungary of 30 guns. These where to be delivered later and from Swedish experience the Finns wanted to start training as soon as possible.

Sweden passed over the first 8 guns to the Finns as a loan early 1939, and the Finns started training crews.
On the 23 September 1939 the first Hungarian guns from the Finnish order arrived in Sweden and instead of moving guns between the countries again.
Sweden took the new Finnish ordered guns with serial number 1 to 8 and
Finland kept the Swedish guns which I assume are numbered 201-208.

To confuse matters Sweden renamed gun number 1 to 8 to 201 to 208 in October 1940, So you have to look at the actual document from the period to make sense of it.

So in short - I feels pretty sure that your gun was bought by Sweden sent to Finland in spring 1939 and remained there until post war.

Kind Regards
/John T
Stockholm
Reply With Quote