Quote:
Originally Posted by PatG
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I've replied to his post there, but I'll reproduce them here.
3.7 HAA guns SHOULD be in the British Staff Tables (TO&E for those using Yank Military speak). They were a standard unit of the British AGRAS and were placed at the Corps level. If the 5.5 and 4.5 BL type guns are included, so should the 3.7 HAA gun.
Direct fire sights WERE fitted a as a standard component on SOME mounts. There are photos of 3.7 HAA gun crews firing the guns at practice targets at Malta. The Fittings are clearly purpose built. You'll note that the 88 has the Traverse and Elevation crewman facing the gun mount to the side of the gun mount (facing the trunnion side from the left). Under director control they did this and under direct fire control they did this, that's where the controls were. Adjustments MUST be commanded by the Gun Captain. The 3.7 has the T and E crewman sitting in seats facing the Directer dials with their backs to the target. BUT, when under direct fire control they move around to the other side of the director dial and can still reach their T and E controls (not wheels, but two handles fitted like a sort of bicycle pedal arrangement (look at a 40mm Bofors).
Direct fire shoots were RARE early on in the war. The Tobruk example is one. In one case a Tiger unit was able to penetrate british lines back to the area of where a 3.7 HAA unit was still setup, they did NOT survive the encounter. The 3.7 Vickers gun outranged the Tigers and the battery was able to dispatch them completely.
Later on, prepatory to D-Day, various units conducted direct fire shoots AND the mounts along the coast of England also had Direct fire sites fitted for both AA defense AND for surface defense.
The final MK VI mounting WAS too big for mobile use however mobile mounts were used in mobile form earlier on. There were multiple types of mounts for mobile and fixed use with inland fixed mounts not having the direct fire sights (or left in units stores).
The next interesting thing that's missing is that the 3.7 guns that DID go to Normandy were in fact MORE used for indirect fire roles than direct or AAA roles. Why? They could fire under director control, had a VERY good time fuze system that could be set preceisely and FAST allowing airbursts with a more substantial rate of fire than other artillery could effect (fixed ammunition, automatic fuze setting on the gun mount, a higher rate of fire as designed and in some mounts, a power rammer).
The reason we don't hear about very many 3.7 HAA engagements against german ground forces is because the size of the 3.7 mandated that it was treated as a weapon for the AGRAs and NOT to be pushed down to the lower front line battalions. The range that they had also meant (They're guns of course) that to engage indirect targets, they're NOT going to be near the front line. Since they were to the rear, they didn't see themselves confronted by local german heavy counter attacks AND the germans never had any breakthroughs into British rears in teh later part of the war, more or less being on the defensive most of the time. We don't see them in North Africa much, because in the early part of the war, North Africa was the red headed stepchild to British forces deployments, defense of the home front had priority.
Re: WinSPPWW2 Large caliber Anti Aircarft
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