Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has seen a diagram of the 17-pounder gun identifying its various parts? Ideally for the Mk II, but I suppose even the Mk I would be useful. As always I am looking at this through the lens of the Archer; one issue reported was that when the gun was at maximum elevation the recuperator was very exposed. This was supposedly corrected. I've noticed a small part added in a number of photos of Archers and I'm wondering if that was the fix, but without knowing where the recuperator was and how it would be positioned when the gun was elevated, I don't think I can really figure this out for sure.
I've uplioaded a diagram of what I believe to be the recuperator on the Archer 17 pounder below: The recuperator is the red part. I actually think there were two recuperators, one on each side of the breech ring, with the hydraulic buffer above the gun. These were not exposed external to the vehicle, although I would guess they would be vulnerable to small arms fire or shrapnel entering through the opening in the front shield when the gun was elevated. You should already have this basic diagram by the way - it is in report EL 45. If I get an opportunity before you publish, I might see if I can take a better picture of it.
Thanks Don Juan! Well that means that what I was looking at may have been intended to protect the hydraulic buffer. Here's the unmodified gun aperture: But some Archers have a triangular plate across the top, like so: I swear I have a better picture somewhere but I can't find it at the moment. I'm not sure if this plate could be easily swung aside for when they needed to elevate the gun for indirect fire.