OK, hands up who's heard of this one.......?

[grizzlymc]

I guess, also, by the time the invasion scare was over, they had plentiful 0.303 gear. The US 30 cal stuff was really for fighting Sea Lion 1940.

Mind you, one would be a bit non plussed to recieve the wrong ammo for one's small arms the night before a big push.

[RMD]

Yes, that absolutely correct. The absolute nightmare in the supply system caused by the array of 75mm and 3-inch rounds was what prompted the Board of Ordnance to give the designation '77mm' to the new 76.2mm gun attached to the Comet, in order to avoid confusion with the 76.2mm 17pdr and the 76.2mm gun attached to the Sherman IIa. So problems of that nature were definitely a matter of concern.

[grizzlymc]

Against that, besides 0.303, a brit armoured division would have Browning 30 - 06 and BESA ammo. I've been told that it was the Sovs who came up with the idea of changing calibre designations on the ammo (I think it may have been calling 122mm Katyusha rockets 120mm so as to avoid confusion).

[RMD]

Against that, besides 0.303, a brit armoured division would have Browning 30 - 06 and BESA ammo. I've been told that it was the Sovs who came up with the idea of changing calibre designations on the ammo (I think it may have been calling 122mm Katyusha rockets 120mm so as to avoid confusion).

Yes indeed. On a semi-related note, I was reading a few years ago about a trial Churchill tank that was sent to 254th Indian Tank Brigade in Burma in 1945. It was described as a 'Mk IV', which would be armed with a 75mm gun. But for some reason they couldn't find any ammunition for it apart from a couple of smoke rounds... That made no sense whatsoever, as the brigade was stuffed full of Lee/Grants armed with 75mm guns and Daimler Armoured Cars with Besas! I scratched my head about that for a few years until new research turned up, revealing it to be a Mk V, armed with a 95mm howitzer - no wonder they had trouble! That would probably have been the only 95mm howitzer East of Suez!


[Edited: Churchill Mk V, not VI]

[grizzlymc]

Bizarre, I don't think there was a weapon with a calibre remotely close to 95mm in the inventory. Well, that's what air transport is for.

[Norman D. Landings]

Good spot on the Besas.

They were well aware of the potential calibre discrepancy when the weapons were licensed for UK manufacture, but reasoned that as long as the Besas stayed AFV-only, there would never be a supply crossover with infantry weapons.

The Besa's parent weapon was a pretty good tripod-mounted MMG, but the UK never explored that option because they weren't going to let it paddle in the same pool as .303 kit.

[grizzlymc]

And hell, if you have the Vickers, why use an air cooled MMG?

[Wg Cdr Luddite]

And, of course, there was a fair bit of German 7.92mm ammo captured as the war progressed.

[grizzlymc]

Could BESAs fire that?

[RMD]

Bizarre, I don't think there was a weapon with a calibre remotely close to 95mm in the inventory. Well, that's what air transport is for.

It was the standard weapon for Close Support tanks from around 1943, when 75mm became the main tank gun calibre and made the 3-inch Close Support Howitzer obsolete. As fitted to the Centaur IV, Churchill V, Churchill VIII, Cromwell VI, Cromwell VIII & Alecto I. When the Australians got the Crocodile, they had the Mk VIII version - 95mm plus flamethrower.