British Mortars of the Second World War |
Written by David Boyd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thursday, 01 January 2009 15:16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
British MortarsAs 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" Mortar characteristics
2" Mortar production by year (UK only)
2" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only, filled only)
3" Mortar
3" Mortar characteristics
3" Mortar production by year (UK only) *No figures from June onwards
3" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only)
4.2" Mortar
4.2" Mortar characteristics
4.2" Mortar production by year (UK only)
4.2" Mortar ammunition production by year (UK only)
Sources - Various Handbooks, AVIA 22 456-514 |