British Mortars

As with any army of the time, mortars played an important role in the British army, when war began the British army had two mortars available to them, the smaller 2" mortar and the larger 3" mortar. The 2" mortar was small and could be carried by a single man, range was limited to 500 yards and the high explosive bomb was quite small but the weapon provided a useful HE and Smoke thrower. Unlike the Germans the 2" Mortar remained in production throughout the war. The 3" Mortar was a much larger weapon and was usually carried with its ammunition on a truck, the weapon offered a much greater high explosive and smoke capability as well as over three times the range but the weapon was much heavier than it's 2" counterpart.

The 4.2" Mortar entered production at the end of 1941 and fired a larger round than the 3" mortar, it was also significantly larger and heavier. Both the 3" and the 4.2" Mortars were mounted on Universal Carriers which provided a fast and protected support tool.

A handful of 6" Mortars were also imported from Canada in 1940, the production numbers below do not do justice to the number of mortars available to the British army throughout the Second World War as a large number of mortars were produced by Commonwealth Countries and imported from the USA - mortars imported from the USA include 2", 60mm and 80mm mortars. Many millions of rounds for all types of mortars were also imported from the Commonwealth and the USA.

2" Mortar

2 inch mortar

2" Mortar characteristics

Calibre	2"(50.8)
Complete Weight	23.5lb
Max Range	500 yards
Weight of HE bomb	2.5lb
Weight of Smoke bomb	2lb

2" Mortar production by year (UK only)

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
2" Mortar	1,242	1,225	5,337	4,468	6,981	10,771	5,644	3,620
2" Tank Mortar	-	-	-	2,384	10,767	10,403	2,326	-
2" Tank Mortar (Campbell)	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,134	1,586
Converted to airborne	-	-	-	-	340	456	-	-
2" Mortar Parachute	-	-	-	-	-	443	2,326	-
2" Mortar Carrier	-	-	-	-	-	125	77	-

2" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only, filled only)

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
2" Mortar HE	179,855	112,482	1,257,721	1,136,700	12,636,000	3,457,000	2,944,000	1,035,000
2" Mortar Smoke	-	76,837	388,422	4,650,400	5,067,000	8,576,000	3,641,000	500,000
2" Tank Smoke	-	-	-	2,125,900	3,718,000	1,525,000	800,000	200,000
2" Tank Smoke WP	-	-	-	-	-	2,494,000	1,820,000	490,000

3" Mortar

3 inch mortar

3" Mortar characteristics

Calibre	3"(76.2)
Weight of base plate/sight	37lb
Weight of barrel/spares	34lb
Weight of bipod	44.5lb
Min range	250 yards
Max range	1,600 yards
Weight of bomb	10lb

3" Mortar production by year (UK only) *No figures from June onwards

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
3" Mortars	421	92	2,343	3,651	2,783	-	9,809	-
3" Mortar lightened	-	-	-	-	-	-	771	3,017
3" Mortar Airborne	-	-	-	-	-	627	-	-
3" Mortar Mountings	377	60	1,219	3,827	2,046*	-	-	-
3" Mortar Base Plates	482	158	2,360	3,892	861*	-	-	-

3" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only)

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
3" Mortar HE	90,057	5,546	480,301	3,609,600	6,585,000	2,113,000	961,000	1,266,000
3" Mortar Smoke	190,149	26,849	158,433	1,477,000	3,162,000	1,584,000	184,000	321,000
3" Mortar 10lb Smoke	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	58,000

4.2" Mortar

4.2 inch mortar

4.2" Mortar characteristics

Calibre	4.2"(106.68)
Mortar weight	90lb
Mounting weight	64lb
Base plate weight	117lb
Weight of bomb	20lb

4.2" Mortar production by year (UK only)

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
4.2" Mortars	-	-	-	-	1,034	2,719	-	-
4.2" Mortar Mountings	-	-	-	-	456	-	-	-
4.2" Mortar Base Plates	-	-	-	-	364	-	-	-
4.2" Mortar Wheeled	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26

4.2" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only)

	Pre-war	Sep-Dec 1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945(May)
4.2" Mortar HE	-	-	-	-	155,000	457,000	90,000	-
4.2" Mortar Smoke	-	-	-	-	121,000	340,000	-	-
4.2" Smoke Cylindrical	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7,000
4.2" Mortar Streamline HE	-	-	-	-	-	1,864,000	620,000	134,000

Sources - Various Handbooks, AVIA 22 456-514