3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer

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Ordnance QF 3.7 inch Mountain Howitzer
A 3.7 inch QF mountain gun. Dated from 1939
Type	Mountain gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1917 - 1960
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Produced	1915 - ?
Specifications
Weight	1610 lb^[1]
Barrel length	43.5 inch^[1]

Shell	20 lb HE, Shrapnel, Smoke, Starshell, HEAT
Calibre	3.7 inch
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic, variable, 17.5 - 35 inch^[1]
Carriage	wheeled, split trail
Elevation	-5° - 40°^[1]
Traverse	20° L & R^[1]
Muzzle velocity	973 ft/s^[1]
Maximum range	5899 yds^[1]

The Ordnance QF 3.7 Inch Mountain Howitzer was an artillery weapon, used by British and Commonwealth armies in World War I and World War II and between the wars.

1 History
2 Details
3 See also
4 Surviving examples
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Indian gun crew firing, India, circa. 1930

The Indian Army first requested a modern mountain gun in 1906, but financial constraints delayed production until 1915.

[edit] World War I

It was first introduced in 1917, and used in action in that year in Mesopotamia.

22nd (Derajat) Indian Frontier Force mountain battery arrived in the East Africa campaign on 18 December 1916, when they relieved the 28th Battery which returned to India.^[2] They appear to have re-equipped from 10 pounders to 3.7 inch howitzers while in East Africa, as Farndale reports they first used their 3.7 inch howitzers in action in the attack on German positions at Medo, 11 April 1918.^[3]

[edit] Interwar years

It superseded the 2.75 inch Mountain Gun following World War I. It was used by Mountain Artillery Regiments of the Royal Artillery and the (British) Indian Army, and saw much service on the North West Frontier of India between the wars.

[edit] World War II

In action in Burma, 3 November 1944

In World War II, it equipped units in the North African Campaign (Tunisia), the Italian Campaign and Burma Campaign, and it was also used in the Ruhr fighting in 1945 by units originally destined for Greece. A lightened version was used briefly by Airborne formations. At least one example was supplied to the French Army post-1945; it was captured by the Viet Minh and is on display at the Vietnam Army Museum in Hanoi.

The gun was finally declared obsolete by the British Army in 1960, although it had not seen service since 1945.

[edit] Details

The weapon was designed to be broken into eight mule loads, for transport over difficult terrain. The heaviest single section was the interrupted screw breech, at 247 lb (112 kg). Given an open gun position, a practiced crew could have the guns unloaded from the mules, reassembled and deployed ready for action in barely two minutes. The reverse process involved much more lifting but could be accomplished in three minutes.

It had a split trail, the first British weapon to do so, which allowed firing at very high angles (a useful feature in mountainous terrain).

When first introduced, the gun had two wooden wheels and was light enough be towed by two horses. Later marks had pneumatic tyres and could be towed by any light vehicle such as the Bren Carrier or jeep.

The propellant casing had five "charge zones", but HE was restricted to no more than Charge 4, to prevent premature detonation of the shell.