Post by lordroel on May 2, 2023 16:46:24 GMT
- The SMLE battle rifle is derived from the 1930s work of Dieudonné Saive (of @'s Belgian Fabrique Nationale), specifically what would become the @ SLEM-1 and FN Model 1949. The .303" British is 7.7 x 68mmR rather than 7.7 x 56mmR, with ammunition production focused on rounds analogous to the Mark VIIIz.
- Accompanying it in infantry sections is the Enfield automatic rifle and the Bren. The latter is very similar to the @ LMG, whilst the former is a magazine fed automatic rifle with a similar role and raison d'etre as the FG-42
- The Sten is broadly similar, save for many of them being in .455" Webley Auto; the 9mm production is for the SOE/Resistance models for the Continent
- Perhaps the biggest difference in the armament of infantry sections and platoons is the addition of the Vickers general purpose machine gun, which was developed in the 1930s from a marriage of the Vickers K and Vickers Berthier. This belt fed gun is normally assigned at platoon level, but the Commandos, Paras, Rangers and Royal Marines all frequently field it at section level
- The Vickers HMG is based on the historical Vickers Gun, but chambered in .625" and air cooled; the evolution is similar to the M1917 to the M1919 Browning. There is also the Vickers MMG or MG, which is the same gun design in .303" from the 1920s and 1930s and remains in stores and supporting service
- The PIAT is described as a recoilless rifle deliberately, whilst the A-W rocket launcher is a 3.75" weapon developed along similar lines to the bazooka
- The Maxim Gun is a 1"/25mm automatic cannon that serves as an all rounder for the British armed forces, in service with the infantry, AAA and armour on land, in the light short range AA/GP role at sea and various RAF aircraft
- Lighter mortars are very similar to the @ late WW2 era weapons, whilst the 4.5" is noticeably longer ranged than the ML 4.2", with a range of 7000 yards. The 32lb shell is slightly lighter than the German 12cm Granatwerfer 42, which is not yet in German service. Rather than being operated by the Royal Engineers, the heavy 4.5" are directly attached at battalion level
- The QF 25pdr field gun-howitzer is one of the key weapons of the British Army, with each division fielding three regiments of 32. They are not the @ 87.6mm weapons and have a rather interesting developmental history:
Historical 25pdr
The 25pdr emerged from the historical need to replace the 18pdr field gun and the 4.5" howitzer in the 1920s. This resulted in testing and development of a variety of weapons - a 3.9" gun and a 4.13" howitzer being the main ones competing in 1924. The primary requirements were weight and a range of 15000 yards, which later dropped to 12000 yards. The 4.1" howitzer came out in front and proceded with trials. At the same time, a 3.3" experimental field gun to range not less than 12000 yards, be capable of AT fire and be towed by a motor vehicle emerged between 1926 and 1928, with a request sent to Vickers in June 1929 for production of a design. There were discussions of the concept of a gun-howitzer from 1928, and a proposal was put forth in October 1933 for a 3.7" gun-howitzer firing a 25lb shell. This was followed by discussions with the General Staff in which the 25pdr was proposed as the sole field artillery equipment in place of the other two proposed models. This was reduced to 3.45" to make it possible to use 18pdr jackets, breech ring and mechanism and carriages.
DE 25pdr
A requirement developed in the early 1920s to replace the WW1 24pdr and 4.5" howitzer. This resulted in testing of a number of experimental weapons, including a 4.13" howitzer and a 3.7" field gun. The primary requirements were a range of 18,000 yards and a 'field weight'. Competing experimental designs were prepared by Vickers and Armstrong-Whitworth from 1925, with the Soviet War Scare of 1926-27 greatly boosting the Army budget and driving the development of certain new weapons. The range requirement was increased to provide a means of matching the (at the time) concerning Red Army 107mm field gun. A decision was made for the dual requirements to be filled by a gun-howitzer in late 1927, refined in 1928 as a 3.75" weapon firing a 25lb shell. Additional operational lessons from the 1920s militated in favour of a flexible, long range gun capable of secondary AT fire; this lead to it also replacing the Great War era 64pdr. From the beginning, it was envisaged that the weapon would be both towed and self-propelled, the latter being based on the experimental 24pdr Birch Gun.
The project continued at high priority despite the circumstances of the Great Depression and production began in late 1932. It had an L/50 barrel of 15.5ft, a crew of 6, a weight of 5624lb and a range of 20,000 yards (24,000 yards with supercharges and long range shells was the norm from 1937/38). Perhaps the most striking feature of the 25pdr was its high maximum manual rate of fire of 12rpm (some highly trained crews were capable of 16 or even 18 rpm), which was driven in part by the need to counter the high rates of fire of rumoured Soviet 3" field pieces of the late 1920s and the established capabilities of the French 75mm; it was substantially higher than comparable German and American 105mm howitzers. By 1943, there were HE, AT, Smoke, Incendiary, Chemical, HEAT and HESH shells available; the HEAT/hollow charge round only began production in June.
- The self propelled version in production as of the time of transition, the Sexton, is characterised by a 360 degree traversable turret and a markedly increased average maximum rate of fire; some experimental production had begun on a clip fed version that would later confuse the Germans in Normandy where, in concert with the doctrine and ability to concentrate massed numbers of guns on targets, it seemed as if a fully automatic field gun had been developed by the British.
- The same factors that drove the shorter development period and earlier production of field artillery also lead to development of a new generation of medium and heavy artillery a lot earlier than January 1939 (5.5") and 1940 (the 7.2" stop gap). Development of 6"/40 and 8"/35 gun-howitzers began in 1927 in the aftermath of the Soviet War Scare, resulting in weapons entering production in 1931 and 1932 respectively; a 6"/50 heavy field gun began production in 1936
- The heaviest ordinary weapon produced for the DE British Army prior to the Second World War was the BL 9.2 inch superheavy howitzer, firing a 360lb shell out to a range of 32,000 yards, which began development in 1929 and entered production in 1935/36
- In anti-tank artillery, the 17pdr is being replaced by the 25pdr/90mm L65 anti-tank gun. This has a performance somewhat superior to the US 90mm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90_mm_gun_M1/M2/M3 and is capable of penetrating the DE German Panther (100mm) and King Tiger tanks (185mm)
- The QF 3.75" AA gun has been used as a field piece and anti-tank weapon by the British Army during WW2 not infrequently, but also not as often as the German 88mm was pressed into service. This is because of the availability of purpose built weapons
- From the History of the Tank:
1.) 'The Crusader medium tank had its roots in a 1937 requirement for a new, heavier armoured tank to counter reported new German and Soviet designs. It was to be capable of carrying the improved anti-tank gun that was projected as replacing the QF 12pdr (itself an bored out version of the QF 6pdr) then entering service. A prototype was produced in June 1938 and the Crusader entered initial production in October 1939. With a top speed of 36mph powered by a 625hp Rolls Royce Meteor, it was substantially faster than any previous medium tank in British Army service. It was protected by up to 4” of sloped armour and armed with a QF 17pdr, a Vickers 0.5” heavy machine gun and two 0.303” machine guns.'
2.) 'The Churchill heavy tank entered service in February (1940) with home based regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was exceptionally heavily protected and extremely reliable, with over 5” of sloped frontal armour and had a steady speed of 25mph over all types of terrain and carried an improved QF 120mm gun along with four machine guns. 12,564 Churchills would be built between 1940 and 1946, seeing service on every continent and with a variety of Allied armies.'
3.) 'The 79t Cromwell superheavy tank, which sported a QF 32pdr adapted from the famed 3.75” anti-aircraft gun, had a top speed of 18mph and was protected by over 6” of armour. It was an unwieldy, hulking brute of a vehicle, but proved extremely useful for leading urban assaults and heavy infantry offensives. It would only be built in comparatively small numbers due to the complex nature of its manufacture and just 1053 were built between 1941 and 1945.' (Modified TOG-2)
4.) 'The Iron Duke assault gun entered service in 1942, based on a Churchill chassis and armed with a 7.2” gun-howitzer. Independent regiments were attached at corps and army level, being attached to divisions in Italy, France and Germany for additional firepower as needed.'
5.) 'The Black Prince tank destroyer was equipped with a 5.25” naval gun and entered production in mid 1942. It was designed to engage and destroy Nazi heavy tanks from beyond the range of their 105mm and 128mm guns as well as providing overwatch for advancing medium tank regiments. It was capable of a longer range than any other direct fire weapon in service with the Royal Armoured Corps.'
- The Catapult multiple rocket launcher is a halftrack with 32 4.5" rockets
25pdr Production
1932: 156
1933: 428
1934: 525
1935: 634
1936: 687
1937: 713
1938: 832
1939: 1026
1940: 2194
1941: 4925
1942: 5276
1943: 4529 (to August)
6" production
1931: 84
1932: 135
1933: 159
1934: 210
1935: 244
1936: 297
1937: 328
1938: 356
1939: 597
1940: 1214
1941: 1642
1942: 1785
1943: 1247 (to August)
8" production
1932: 52
1933: 87
1934: 96
1935: 102
1936: 108
1937: 125
1938: 156
1939: 234
1940: 420
1941: 503
1942: 524
1943: 367 (to August)
Does DE Britain going to use 1940 tech if they find it useful, if there is anything.