Vanguard British Anti-Tank Artillery 1939-1945 Osprey Books

The rapid development of the tank as an offensive weapon after World War I had given cause for thought amongst artillery theorists between the 1920s and 1930s. By the beginning of World War II most anti-tank guns had started off at around 37mm and 2 pounds in weight of shot. By the end of the war monster anti-tank weapons were being developed intended to penetrate thickness of armour up to 200mm at a range of 1,000 yards. Muzzle velocity varied from 762m/s to 950m/s and the size of the shot had risen from 37mm to 130mm. The main theme of this book is to explore the British efforts to keep up in a war of development, which saw heavier and more powerful guns eventually replaced by experimental ideas. The story of British anti-tank weapons really begins with the 2-pounder gun. Envisaged as a reliable weapon with no need for replacement it became quite obvious that the 2-pounder was rapidly obsolete when faced with German armour in France in 1940. Stopgap measures were tried by supplying French and Swedish AT guns but the only real answer was a larger bore, high velocity gun. In 1941 the 6-pounder anti-tank gun was introduced into the British army and fought in most of the battles of the Western Desert campaigns. Alongside it the 2-pounder continued to be produced because the 6-pounder took such a long time to come into production. The 17-pounder was the natural successor to the 6-pounder, which was unable to deal with very heavy German tanks, this weapon saw wide use in the campaigns in Northwest Europe. Other technologically advanced experiments, such as the development of recoilless rifles will also be covered.