enigma
06-25-2007, 04:01 PM
I thought some of this information would be useful for you all…
The calibre of the British guns which used the term “Pounder” and some additional information regarding them.
One should note that the weight the guns are referring to is the cartridge, not the shell like I had once thought or as I’ve seen others suggest because they pounded the enemy or the most bizarre one the price of production per unit!
AT Guns
2 Pounder QF – 40mmL52
It was the British standard Anti Tank gun of the years leading up to the war and the early years of the war. The 2 Pounder was lethal in comparison to other AT guns of similar calibre and iirc at under certain ranges could out perform the German Pak38 50mm gun.
The gun, or at least some sort of modification of it was used in the early British tanks. These included the Cruisers (including the Crusaders) and the early Infantry Tanks (Matilda, Valentines and iirc the first batch of Churchill tanks).
The gun fails when compared to the long barrelled 50mm gun used by the up gunned Panzer IIIs (known as Panzer III Specials to us Brits) or the short 75mm gun as used by most MK IVs during the early to mid war years.
In comparison to the Italian tanks, this gun could eat through them no problem.
6 Pounder QF – 57mmL43 and 57mmL50
This gun had been designed basically on the outbreak of war and was ready for production by the time German attack against the West began.
However due to the loss of so much equipment at Dunkirk, the 2 Pounder was kept on the production line so not to halt production of AT guns while the factories switched over to making the 6 Pounder.
When this gun did enter service during the middle of the war (around 1942 iirc), the 2 Pounders where turned over to the infantry when the AT batteries received there new guns.
Again this gun was an absolute lethal killing machine in comparison to other AT guns, ive got no charts in front of me but I would not be surprised if the only gun to out perform the 6 Pounder in killing power would be the long barrelled 75mm gun and the 88.
The gun was also used in several of the mid war tank even though the American M3 and M4s were becoming more and more common.
Examples would be the Valentine Tanks, some versions of the Churchill, the Crusader III and the early variants of the Cromwell (Centaur etc).
17 Pounder QF – 76mm (or 76.2mm to be really anal about it)
This is the more famous of the British AT guns and probably the only one most people will know the actual size without having to go and look it up! :)
This was brought into service from ’43 onwards. I don’t have much information on the gun as I have been able to provide for the others.
What I can tell you is what you probably already know, a chopped up version of the gun was used in the Sherman tanks which were nicknamed “Firefly’s”.
Iirc it was a new version of the 17 Pounded QF, which they designed to be used in tanks. I also recall mention of the gun had to be turned on it side to fit in the turret of the Sherman.
With the Sherman they had to chop out the back of the turret and plonk on a massive box, which was where the gun recoiled into.
Several other tanks used versions of the 17 Pounder, there was the Challenger, a Cromwell tank chassis with a massive superstructure on it which the gun sat in.
We also had the Archer, which was a tank destroyer and sported the gun. It was built on Valentine chassis and had the gun facing to the rear and could not be rotated (ala the Stug).
The idea being that it would reverse into an ambush position, fire one or two rounds and would be able to dart on out of there faster then a more conventional tank or TD could do by reversing.
Arty
18 Pounder QF - 84mmL29
This was the British Army’s main artillery gun during the First World War coming into service during the early years of the century; it remained in service until 1942 when the last units were retired from service (although I’ve read that they had already been moth balled during the inter war years when the 25 Pounders started coming onto the scene).
It served in the North African and East African theatres during WW2 along side the new 25 Pounders but am not sure if it was used with the B.E.F. in France or elsewhere.
Some of the latter marks of the gun were converted into 25 Pounders by re-boring the barrels.
25 Pounder QF – 88mmL31 (87.something or other to be really anal again :p)
This was the workhorse of the Royal Artillery during World War Two and was brought into service pre war to replace the older 18 Pounder’s.
It was that well liked that it remained in service for years after the war until iirc it was retired from service due to it not being combatable with new NATO rounds (which the troops didn’t like one bit).
It would appear that our forces did have anything in comparison to the German or American 105mm guns. The next jump in arty size goes into the howitzers, which are measured in Inches whom were used by the Medium and Heavy Regiments.
In general it was the Field Regiments, which were armed with the 18 and/or 25 Pounders.
The calibre of the British guns which used the term “Pounder” and some additional information regarding them.
One should note that the weight the guns are referring to is the cartridge, not the shell like I had once thought or as I’ve seen others suggest because they pounded the enemy or the most bizarre one the price of production per unit!
AT Guns
2 Pounder QF – 40mmL52
It was the British standard Anti Tank gun of the years leading up to the war and the early years of the war. The 2 Pounder was lethal in comparison to other AT guns of similar calibre and iirc at under certain ranges could out perform the German Pak38 50mm gun.
The gun, or at least some sort of modification of it was used in the early British tanks. These included the Cruisers (including the Crusaders) and the early Infantry Tanks (Matilda, Valentines and iirc the first batch of Churchill tanks).
The gun fails when compared to the long barrelled 50mm gun used by the up gunned Panzer IIIs (known as Panzer III Specials to us Brits) or the short 75mm gun as used by most MK IVs during the early to mid war years.
In comparison to the Italian tanks, this gun could eat through them no problem.
6 Pounder QF – 57mmL43 and 57mmL50
This gun had been designed basically on the outbreak of war and was ready for production by the time German attack against the West began.
However due to the loss of so much equipment at Dunkirk, the 2 Pounder was kept on the production line so not to halt production of AT guns while the factories switched over to making the 6 Pounder.
When this gun did enter service during the middle of the war (around 1942 iirc), the 2 Pounders where turned over to the infantry when the AT batteries received there new guns.
Again this gun was an absolute lethal killing machine in comparison to other AT guns, ive got no charts in front of me but I would not be surprised if the only gun to out perform the 6 Pounder in killing power would be the long barrelled 75mm gun and the 88.
The gun was also used in several of the mid war tank even though the American M3 and M4s were becoming more and more common.
Examples would be the Valentine Tanks, some versions of the Churchill, the Crusader III and the early variants of the Cromwell (Centaur etc).
17 Pounder QF – 76mm (or 76.2mm to be really anal about it)
This is the more famous of the British AT guns and probably the only one most people will know the actual size without having to go and look it up! :)
This was brought into service from ’43 onwards. I don’t have much information on the gun as I have been able to provide for the others.
What I can tell you is what you probably already know, a chopped up version of the gun was used in the Sherman tanks which were nicknamed “Firefly’s”.
Iirc it was a new version of the 17 Pounded QF, which they designed to be used in tanks. I also recall mention of the gun had to be turned on it side to fit in the turret of the Sherman.
With the Sherman they had to chop out the back of the turret and plonk on a massive box, which was where the gun recoiled into.
Several other tanks used versions of the 17 Pounder, there was the Challenger, a Cromwell tank chassis with a massive superstructure on it which the gun sat in.
We also had the Archer, which was a tank destroyer and sported the gun. It was built on Valentine chassis and had the gun facing to the rear and could not be rotated (ala the Stug).
The idea being that it would reverse into an ambush position, fire one or two rounds and would be able to dart on out of there faster then a more conventional tank or TD could do by reversing.
Arty
18 Pounder QF - 84mmL29
This was the British Army’s main artillery gun during the First World War coming into service during the early years of the century; it remained in service until 1942 when the last units were retired from service (although I’ve read that they had already been moth balled during the inter war years when the 25 Pounders started coming onto the scene).
It served in the North African and East African theatres during WW2 along side the new 25 Pounders but am not sure if it was used with the B.E.F. in France or elsewhere.
Some of the latter marks of the gun were converted into 25 Pounders by re-boring the barrels.
25 Pounder QF – 88mmL31 (87.something or other to be really anal again :p)
This was the workhorse of the Royal Artillery during World War Two and was brought into service pre war to replace the older 18 Pounder’s.
It was that well liked that it remained in service for years after the war until iirc it was retired from service due to it not being combatable with new NATO rounds (which the troops didn’t like one bit).
It would appear that our forces did have anything in comparison to the German or American 105mm guns. The next jump in arty size goes into the howitzers, which are measured in Inches whom were used by the Medium and Heavy Regiments.
In general it was the Field Regiments, which were armed with the 18 and/or 25 Pounders.