Military Mutterings With Jack & Kevin - Episode 4: QF 25 pounder

In this video, Jack and Kevin discuss the 25 pdr artillery and anti-tank gun.
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Sources Used:
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[@chrism7969]

Chamberlain knew war was likely, that's why most of the pre war rearmament programme took place under his premiership. He also knew the British electorate were largely in favour of appeasement. He gave the British public what it wanted, whilst at the same time preparing for the war he thought was likely to come. I'm old enough to have had a friend who was an engineer in a weapons factory at that time and to quote him "As soon as Chamberlain came back from Munich we were all on overtime".

[@colinmason2708]

My favourite field piece - trained on it in 1979/80 and it was still used in field use training in the early 80s in the UK. Last field use in UK I believe was 1992 by the HAC. And I understand it is still out there in the hands of various forces with, I vaguely remember hearing, Pakistan still producing ammunition quite recently. HE117 No 1 load!

[@user-vz2ph1dg7p]

Multiple charge bags were used to allow the weapon to "lob" shells howitzer fashion (high angle) as distinct from firing direct (like a gun) - hence the designation gun-howitzer. One factor in determining the characteristics was the weight of equipment. It had to be light enough to be pulled by a six hose team (or 30 cwt = 5600 lbs = 1524 kg). This assisted in determining the calibre)

[@currawongee1]

Thanks for your informative video.

[@prof_kaos9341]

Decades ago i chatted with an arty officer who took a troop of 25pdrs to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe & fired 100s of rounds to calculate the effect if barrel wear on accuracy. Like most ex- arty crew he was partly deaf

[@petethebastard]

8.8cm guns were used an an anti-tank role in Spain.

[@prof_kaos9341]

It's funny how most think Rommel saved the day at Arras, 1940, with the 1st use of the 88 as an ATG, where did he get the AT ammo if he'd just "invented" the tactic? From the planned anti-Maginot Line tactic using half-tracks mounting 88s firing solid-shot ATG ammo at fortifications

[@COLINJELY]

Baby 25pdr. I am sure it could dispatch a Japanese tank. Presume this was the gun that was broke down and flown into Wau in a DC-3 and also manhandled up to the start of the Kokoda Track

[@pd4165]

The 2pdr was giving Japanese tanks a hard time until the end of the war, but was solid shot so not 100% lethal. 6pdr was definitely up to the task. A standard 25pdr was overkill for AT duty in the east - but has the advantage of being properly dual purpose, having a proper HE round and indirect fire capability. A short barelled version would give, via a HE round, a Japanese tank a very upsetting day - if you read Spike Milligan's autobiography (he was a 25pdr gunner) he describes repelling a tank attack with HE rounds with indirect fire in North Africa. A mid war German tank was definitely tougher than any deployed Japanese tank (though the Italian tanks were roughly equivalent) but, as we have seen from Ukraine, a top attack is very effective and even a near miss would give the sides/rear of most Japanese tanks a very hard time.

[@COLINJELY]

@@pd4165 The 25pdr the Aussies deployed on the Kokada Track was used in an anti Infantry Role. Before it was manhandled up the Aussies were outgunned by the Japanese who had deployed mountain howitzers

[@COLINJELY]

Why was the Quad Tractor shaped like it was?

[@robertsolomielke5134]

The truck body was expected to need scrubbing after gas/chemical attacks to decontaminate it.

[@iatsd]

jesus H Christ, talk about skipping over the facts: 2 basic types of HE, 2 types of smoke and 2 colours available (white & orange/red) for each, a practice round. 2 AP rounds - an APC round (most common) and a APBC round, a canister round - which saw a *lot* of use in Italy and the Korean war, a star shell, at least 2 chemical rounds - produced, but never issued, and the HESH round. There were a couple of others that were somewhat "standard" in that they were known and used, but weren't factory produced. eg. the leaflet round used late war in Italy and Germany for dropping propaganda leaflets into defended positions.

[@davidgifford8112]

Listened to 90” you seem to be petty ignorant on the period Chamberlin was buying time in 1938 while winding up arms production and research and introducing conscription!

[@pd4165]

Going to agree with this - throwing Czechoslovakia under the bus achieved the goal of pushing back the war by a year. Whether this changed the course of the war is another matter but I'd contend that the most important thing was that the USA was much more isolationist at the time and needed to be whipped up into an anti-Nazi fervour....plus they were woefully badly equipped in 1938. It was probably inevitable that they'd join the war on the 'correct' side but withour Pearl Harbor when would that have been? If Leningrad and Moscow had fallen the war would have been very different - we know Stalin had packed his bags and maybe the psychological boost of knowing the USA was about to 'lend' them arms made the difference in his decision to stay.