QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer

(Redirected from 3.7-inch howitzer) Mountain gun

Ordnance QF 3.7 inch mountain howitzer
A 3.7-inch QF mountain gun.
Type	Mountain gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1917–Present
Used by	Nepal (The Nepalese Army still has 90-100 in Service)
Wars	First World War Second World War First Arab-Israeli War First Indochina War Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
Production history
Produced	1915–?
Specifications
Mass	1,610 lb (730 kg)
Barrel length	3 ft 7.5 in (1.10 m)

Shell	Separate-loading QF 94 x 92 mm R
Shell weight	20 lb (9.1 kg) HE, Shrapnel, Smoke, Star shell, HEAT
Calibre	3.7 in (94 mm)
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic, variable, 17.5–35 inch
Carriage	Wheeled, split trail
Elevation	−5° to +40°
Traverse	20° L & R
Muzzle velocity	973 ft/s (297 m/s)
Maximum firing range	5,900 yd (5,400 m)

Ordnance, QF 3.7-inch howitzer is a mountain gun, used by British and Commonwealth armies in the First and Second World Wars, and between the wars.

History

The British Indian Army first requested a modern mountain gun in 1906 to replace the BL 10 pounder Mountain Gun, which had been hastily developed after the Second Boer War, but had several shortcomings. In particular, the shell weight was seen as too light and the gun lacked any recoil absorber or recuperator, meaning the gun had to be relaid after every shell was fired. However, financial constraints delayed production of the 3.7-inch weapon until 1915. As a stop-gap, the barrel of the 10-pounder gun was mounted on an updated carriage to produce the 2.75 inch Mountain Gun.

First World War

The 3.7-inch howitzer was first introduced in 1917, and was used in action in that year in the Mesopotamian Campaign (modern Iraq area).

The 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. They appear to have re-equipped from the 10-pounder mountain gun to the 3.7-inch howitzer while in East Africa, and first used the new weapon in action in an attack on German positions at Medo, 11 April 1918.

Interwar years

Indian gun crew firing, India, circa. 1930

The 3.7-inch howitzer superseded the 2.75-inch mountain gun following the First World War. It was used by mountain artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery and the Indian Artillery, and saw much service on the North West Frontier of India between the wars.

Second World War

During the Second World War, the weapon equipped artillery units engaged in the North African Campaign (Tunisia), the Italian Campaign, the Kokoda Campaign, and Burma Campaign, and was also used in the Netherlands and Ruhr fighting in 1944–45 by units originally destined for mountain warfare in Greece. In the latter theatre, on occasion the gun was dismantled and manually hauled up to the upper floors of buildings to provide close support in urban fighting. A lightened version was used briefly by airborne formations. Several were supplied to the French Army after 1945; one is on display at the Vietnam Army Museum in Hanoi while another is displayed at the Zone 5 Military Museum, Danang. It was also used on Close Support versions of the A9 and A10 Cruiser Tanks in place of the standard 2 pounder, though mostly to fire smoke shells.

During the war the gun, and its ammunition, were also manufactured in other Commonwealth countries, including South Africa, by the ISCOR (Iron and Steel Corporation of South Africa), and India. South Africa also produced modified versions of the gun.

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

Post War

After the war, the gun was used by French forces during the First Indochina War and by India during the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971. The "Mujib Battery" of Bangladesh used this gun in 1971's Bangladesh Liberation War. They were provided by India to the Mukti Bahini.

Details

The weapon was designed to be broken into eight mule loads, for transport over difficult terrain. The heaviest single section is the interrupted screw breech, which weighs 247 pounds (112 kg). Given an open gun position, a practised crew could have the guns unloaded from the mules, reassembled and deployed ready for action in about two minutes. The 3.7-inch howitzer's adjustable suspension system allowed it to be deployed on almost any position, even those too uneven or with too steep a gradient to allow field artillery to be sited. The process of removing the howitzer from a position and reloading it onto the gun mules involved much more lifting and securing loads than deploying it, but could be accomplished in three minutes in favourable conditions.

The howitzer has a split trail, the first British weapon to do so, which allows firing at very high angles (a useful feature in mountainous terrain). It also has a large rectangular shield to protect the crew from small-arms fire, but this was often omitted to save weight. When it was first introduced, the howitzer had two wooden wheels and was light enough be towed by two horses. Later marks have 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 four", to prevent premature detonation of the shell. The Australian Army did employ charge five in Papua New Guinea in emergencies – the gun crews referred to it as "O'Hara's charge".

Ammunition

8 oz 9 dram cordite cartridge
Shrapnel shell
Mark I HE shell
Mark I gas shell

Surviving examples

QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer at Bangladesh Military Museum used by "Mujib Battery" in 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London
1942 Mk I Barrel on Mk II Carriage, at Imperial War Museum Duxford, UK.
Bangladesh Military Museum, Dhaka
Israel Defense Forces History Museum (Batey ha-Osef Museum), Tel Aviv
Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand
Vietnam Army Museum, Hanoi
Zone 5 Military Museum, Danang
The War Museum of Athens
Example at GEM Homes, Johannesburg South Africa, to be restored shortly (pictures to follow)
Example at Lenz Military Base, Johannesburg, South Africa, to be restored soon. (pictures to follow)
Outside the Military Police Brigade HQ at Camp Cropper Iraq. (as of Jun 2008)

Notes and references

"Victory Day: Enrich knowledge through exploration". The Business Standard. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
^ Hogg & Thurston 1972, p. 91
"78- MM CALIBRE CARTRIDGES". www.quarryhs.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
Farndale 1988, p. 338
Farndale 1988, p. 351
British Artillery in the Second World War: The 3.7-inch howitzer
Windrow, Martin (20 September 2018). French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh Insurgent: North Vietnam 1948–52. Combat 36. Osprey Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 9781472828910.
Singh, Jagjit (1994). Indian Gunners at War: The Western Front-1971. Lancer International. pp. 48, 50. ISBN 978-1-897829-55-4.
Imperial War Museum (2013). "QF 3.7in Mountain Howitzer Mk I (ORD 137)". IWM Collections Search. Retrieved 10 March 2013.

Bibliography

Farndale, General Sir Martin (1988). History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base, 1914-18. London: The Royal Artillery Institution. ISBN 978-1-870114-05-9.
Hogg, Ian V.; Thurston, L.F. (1972). British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914 – 1918. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1.
Gower, S. N. (1981). Guns of the Regiment. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. ISBN 978-0-642-89688-9.

External links

Handbook of the Q.F., 3.7-inch Mountain Howitzer, Mark I, 1921. Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
Gun Drill for 3.7-inch Q.F. Howitzer Mark I Carriage Mark I 1921,1923 Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
W L Ruffel, QF 3.7-inch howitzer
British Artillery in World War 2, Data Sheet - Ordnance, Q.F. 3.7-inch Howitzer
ra39-45.pwp
3.7-inch mountain howitzer at Landships

v t e British Empire artillery of the First World War
Armoured vehicle guns	QF 3-pounder Vickers QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss QF 6-pounder 6 cwt
Infantry guns	1.59-inch breech-loading Vickers Q.F. gun, Mk II
Field artillery	BL 12-pounder 6 cwt QF 12-pounder 8 cwt QF 12-pounder 18 cwt QF 13-pounder BL 15-pounder BLC 15-pounder QF 15-pounder QF 18-pounder QF 4-inch gun Mk III BL 4-inch gun Mk VII QF 4.5-inch howitzer
Medium & heavy artillery	QF 4.7-inch gun BL 5-inch howitzer BL 5.4-inch howitzer BL 60-pounder gun BLC 6-inch siege gun BL 6-inch gun Mk VII BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer BL 8-inch howitzer Mk I – V BL 8-inch howitzer Mk VI – VIII
Siege artillery	BL 7.5-inch Mk III naval gun BL 9.2-inch howitzer BL 9.2-inch Mk X naval gun BL 12-inch howitzer BL 12-inch Mk X naval gun BL 15-inch howitzer
Mountain artillery	RML 2.5-inch mountain gun BL 10-pounder mountain gun BL 2.75-inch mountain gun QF 2.95-inch mountain gun QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer
Mortars	Garland trench mortar 3-inch Stokes mortar Vickers 1.57-inch mortar 2-inch medium mortar Newton 6-inch mortar 9.45-inch Heavy Mortar
Smoke and chemical weapons	4-inch Stokes Mortar Livens Projector Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector
Anti-aircraft guns	QF 1-pounder pom-pom QF 2-pounder "pom-pom" Mk II 75 mm AA gun QF 12-pounder 12 cwt QF 13-pounder 6 cwt QF 13-pounder Mk IV QF 13-pounder 9 cwt QF 3-inch 20 cwt QF 18-pounder QF 4-inch Mk V
Coastal artillery	QF 12-pounder 12 cwt QF 4-inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval gun RML 9-inch
Railway guns	BL 9.2-inch railway gun BL 12-inch railway gun BL 12-inch railway howitzer BL 14-inch railway gun

v t e British Commonwealth artillery of World War II
Tank guns	QF 2-pounder QF 3-pounder QF 6-pounder QF 75 mm QF 3-inch howitzer QF 17-pounder 77 mm HV QF 25-pounder Short QF 95 mm howitzer QF 32-pounder
Anti-tank guns	QF 2-pounder QF 6-pounder QF 17-pounder QF 3-inch 16 cwt
Field guns and howitzers	75 mm Gun M1917 QF 18-pounder 25-pounder Gun-Howitzer 25-pounder Short QF 4.5-inch howitzer
Medium and heavy guns and howitzers	BL 4.5-inch medium field gun BL 60-pounder gun BL 5.5-inch medium gun BL 6-inch howitzer BL 6-inch gun Mk XIX 155 mm Long Tom BL 7.2-inch howitzer BL 8-inch howitzer BL 9.2-inch howitzer 240 mm howitzer M1
Mountain guns	75mm Pack howitzer M1 3.7-inch mountain howitzer
Mortars	SBML 2-inch mortar ML 3-inch mortar ML 4.2-inch mortar
Anti-aircraft weapons	Z Battery 20 mm Oerlikon 20 mm Polsten QF 1½-pounder Mk III QF 2-pounder naval gun Bofors 40 mm QF 3-inch QF 3.7-inch QF 4.5-inch Mk II QF 5.25-inch Mk II
Coast defence	QF 6-pounder 10 cwt QF 12-pounder QF 4.7-inch Mk I–IV BL 6-inch Mk VII & Mk XXIV BL 7.5-inch Mk VI BL 8-inch Mk VIII BL 9.2-inch Mk X BL 14-inch Mk VII BL 15-inch Mk I
Railway artillery	BL 9.2-inch Mk XIII railway gun BL 12-inch Mk V railway howitzer BL 13.5-inch Mk V railway gun BL 18-inch railway howitzer

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