British Paratroops in WWII

[Griefbringer]

Somebody in the British Army must have been fond of the humble 2 in mortar, considering that it was kept in use for quite a while.

A lot of militaries adopted various "mini-mortars" in 45 to 52 mm calibres in the inter-war era: German 50 mm, Soviet 50 mm, Polish 46 mm, Italian 45 mm (Brixia) and the Japanese 46 mm. Even the French intended to introduce 50 mm platoon mortar in 1940, but this plan got aborted by the German invasion.

Other than the 2 in mortar, few of these saw deployment after the end of WWII. Common issue with these designs seems to have been limited range and limited power of HE round - apparently larger mortars like various 81 mm designs were found to provide better use of resources.

Maybe the British emphasis on using it primarily for smoke and illumination missions helped to keep it in use for longer?