Mortaio da 210/8 D.S.

The Mortaio da 210/8 D.S. was a siege howitzer which served with Italy during World War I and World War II. It was an old-fashioned weapon when introduced around 1900. It was mounted on a timber firing platform and lacked a recoil system of any kind. It was mounted on a De Stefano carriage which attempted to handle the weapon's recoil by mounting the weapon on a series of inclined ramps. The barrel and cradle had their own inclined ramp as did the carriage. When the weapon fired the cradle would move up the inclined ramp while the carriage would also recoil up an a set of inclined rails. Gravity and springs would return the howitzer to its firing position. Despite the name the weapon was not a mortar, but rather a short-barreled howitzer (a Mörser in German terms).

Some of these were still in service during World War II, but played little part in the war, never leaving Italy.