QF 3.7-inch mountain howitzer

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–Present (The Nepalese Army still has 90-100 in Service)
Wars	World War I, World War II
Production history
Produced	1915–?
Specifications
Weight	1,610 lb (730 kg)^[1]
Barrel length	3 ft 7.5 in (1.10 m)^[1]

Shell	20 lb HE, Shrapnel, Smoke, Starshell, HEAT
Calibre	3.7 inches (94 mm)
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic, variable, 17.5–35 inch^[1]
Carriage	Wheeled, split trail
Elevation	−5° to +40°^[1]
Traverse	20° L & R^[1]
Muzzle velocity	973 ft/s (297 m/s)^[1]
Maximum firing range	5,899 yd (5,394 m)^[1]

Ordnance, QF 3.7-inch howitzer is a mountain gun, used by British and Commonwealth armies in World War I and World War II, 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 itself 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.

World War I

Indian Army battery, probably 39th, at Jerusalem, December 1917

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

Interwar years

Indian gun crew firing, India, circa. 1930

The 3.7-inch Howitzer superseded the 2.75-inch Mountain Gun following World War I. It was used by mountain artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery and the Indian Artillery, and saw much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.

World War II

In action in Burma, 3 November 1944

During World War II, the weapon equipped artillery units engaged in the North African Campaign (Tunisia), the Italian Campaign, the Kokoda Campaign, and Burma Campaign, and it 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.

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.^[4]

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

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 practiced crew could have the guns unloaded from the mules, reassembled and deployed ready for action in barely 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

Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich, London
1942 Mk I Barrel on Mk II Carriage, at Imperial War Museum Duxford, UK.^[5]
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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hogg & Thurston 1972, p. 91
↑ Farndale 1988, p. 338
↑ Farndale 1988, p. 351
↑ British Artillery in World War II: The 3.7-inch howitzer
↑ 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 0-642-89688-7.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to QF 3.7 inch mountain howitzer.

Handbook of the q.f, 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, mark I, 1921. Hosted online by State Library of Victoria, Australia
W L Ruffel, QF 3.7-in 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

British Empire Small Arms & Ordnance of the First World War

No. 1
No. 2 Hales Pattern
Nos. 3, 20, 24, 35 Hales rifle grenades
Nos. 5, 23, 36 Mills
No. 6
Nos. 8, 9 Jam Tin
No. 13 Battye
No. 14 Pitcher
No. 15 Ball
No. 16 Oval
No. 17 Opera hat
No. 18
No. 19
No. 21 "Spherical"
No. 22 Newton-Pippin
No. 25 Sangster
No. 27
No. 28 Chemical
No. 29 Gas
No. 31 Day Signal
No. 32 Night Signal
No. 32 "Spherical E"
No. 34 Egg
No. 37
No. 39 Steuart Pattern

Artillery

Tank guns	QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss QF 6 pounder 6 cwt

Infantry guns	1.59-inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II ("Vickers-Crayford rocket gun")

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

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

Howitzers, medium, and 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

Coastal artillery	QF 4 inch naval gun Mk I – III BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX–X RML 9 inch

Mortars

Grenade launchers

Smoke and chemical weapons

Railway guns

Anti-aircraft guns

Foreign weapon designs
in British Empire Armies use

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 95 mm Howitzer

Anti-tank guns	QF 2 pounder QF 6 pounder QF 17 pounder

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 2inch 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 18 inch railway howitzer

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