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British 2pdr AT gun


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#1 gregoryk

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Posted 16 February 2006 - 01:14 AM

Hey Britannica!I read on the web that the British 2pdr did not have an HE round. The equipment table confirms this for the British tanks, but then gives the ATG a -1 HE OV. Is this correct?Gregory

#2 Bob Benge

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Posted 16 February 2006 - 06:50 AM

Yes, it is correct. I was originally fooled by this too. But, the AT gun actually did have an HE round. The tank borne 2 pdr though did not have the HE round. Does seem odd, but is historically accurate. B)

#3 Trotsky

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Posted 23 March 2006 - 03:43 PM

Interestingly although the British did not supply HE for their AFV armed 2pdrs they did provide it for the tanks lend-leased to the Soviets. During the third protocol period from July 1943 to June 1944 the British provided the Soviets with the following rounds for AFV armed 2 pdrs:55,000 HE50,000 AP88,000 HVAP

#4 Bob Benge

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Posted 24 March 2006 - 10:40 AM

Hmmm... Very interesting. I will have to add this to the Russians Table. Thanks! B)

#5 Mark 1

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Posted 19 January 2009 - 05:06 PM

Trotsky wrote:

Interestingly although the British did not supply HE for their AFV armed 2pdrs they did provide it for the tanks lend-leased to the Soviets. During the third protocol period from July 1943 to June 1944 the British provided the Soviets with the following rounds for AFV armed 2 pdrs:55,000 HE50,000 AP88,000 HVAP

I am re-awakening a long-dormant thread, having just came upon it while looking for gems among the many old posts, and thinking I might expand on the issue just a bit.The British did have an HE round for the 2pdr. The problem was not it's existance, but it's issue.The round belonged to the Artillery, not to the Tanks. So during the campaign in the Western Desert it was issued to the AT guns (supplied through Artillery) but not to the tanks (supplied through Armoured Branch or the Infantry depending on the formation).There was a general presumption that firing HE was the perview of the artillery chaps, and that the tankers should be fighting at infantry ranges, not standing off to lob shells onto the bad guys.So also when the 6pdr was first issued, the HE round did not come with it. Clearly the rounds existed, as the 6pdr caliber had served as an HE-thrower in the MkI - MkV tanks of WW1.There was even great resistance to providing HE for the CS versions of tanks in the interwar and early-war periods. And so many of the CS tanks equipped with the 3.7in Howitzer wound up carrying only smoke and signalling rounds. By the time of the Tunisia, or perhaps the Sicily campaign, the issue of HE supplies to non-artillery guns seems to have been worked-out.It was not only the Soviets who received HE for their 2pdr- and 6pdr-equipped (Lend-Lease) tanks. So also the Australians used HE in their Mathildas in the SEA campagns, and British A/C units used HE in the MTO and ETO campaigns. -Mk 1

#6 Bob Benge

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Posted 20 January 2009 - 01:49 AM

Interesting. :)




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