Bofors Guns (& Morris-Commercial C8-AT Portee / Bofors SP / Predictor)

Thanks for those pics. I am still not sure if that is how my father told me about it. I always assumed that the guns were towed.

 

Thanks for those pics. I am still not sure if that is how my father told me about it. I always assumed that the guns were towed.

The guns could be dismounted via ramps and towed by the trucks. However portee does indicate that they were carried and fired from the backs of the lorries. A very useful hit-and-run tactic employed in the desert.

 

Thanks for the clarificatioin.

 

Found this picture the other day. From 'The truth about our Tanks' by Ivor Halstead (1942)

 

found this on you tube

YouTube - MORRIS 40mm S P Bofors

YouTube - A history of the C9/B, part 2

 

And I'm having difficulty tracking down a shell case from of these beauties.

Any suggestions!

Thoroughly enjoyed the refurb job. What an effort that guy made.

 

Hello Ramacal

a great piece of kit simple design but very iconic( well i think so)
re the case
yes im after one
keep trying ebay and all the usual suspects

have asked the lads at work to keep an eye out ( yep they said what? but they know what im like so they werent that suprised)
if i track any down i will pm you
regards
Clive

 

Looks like a very usefull piece of kit and well used for ground work. Good luck with the shell case hunt as well.
In an old thread Za came up with an SP for the 3.7/4inch AA.
Rob.
picture posted by Za Rodinu
http://tbn0.google.com/hosted/images/c?q=46d811f9535f4666_landing


Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Egyptian soldiers manning 4-inch, anti-aircraft as 3 soldier operate the gun's rangefinder, at training camp in the desert. - Heliopolis, Egypt; July 1940 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Try this place

www.antiques-storehouse.co.uk

I could have spent all day browsing when I was there in July.

Unfortunately 20mins was all I got.

 

And I'm having difficulty tracking down a shell case from of these beauties.

Any suggestions!

Thoroughly enjoyed the refurb job. What an effort that guy made.

Next time you meet my Dad ask nicely and I'm sure he'll be only to glad to get the two empty cases out he has. The only problem is the tops were machined out to turn them into vases for the side board after the war

 

When I was a kid, my dad had a 40mm bofors shell casing that he brought back from the Pacific. He was an AA gun crewman on a CVE.

Of course, I lost that damn thing somewhere around 1965-1966.......

tom

 

Dear All
many thanks for the comments and help

regards
Clive

 

My father was in 6LAA Battery (The Coleraine Battery) and came back from Europe (1945) with four shells. Two had been cut down and that was a mystery to me as a child. He always said the short ones were from France and the fulll length pair were from Germany. That was as much he ever told me about his war.

What I didn't realize as a child that because he was in France first, he cut down a pair and then went on to Germany which became a lot closer to home as the war ended.

They are not for sale.

 

another interesting link

truck MC c9B

 

I have the base of a 25 pounder that was made into an ashtray for a BSM from WW2 and which had a RA button soldered into the base. My Brother has a used WW1 25 pounder shell which we were given by a WW1 RA Gunner who was a family friend. It's languishing in his loft, so I must get my hands on it soon. It originally had a certificate indicating it was used to fire as a salute at the end of WW1 (sadly now missing).

Thanks all for your suggestions on getting my hands on a 40mm Bofors shell.

Regards - Robert

 

yes Ramacal

i can remember the sixties there was loads of kit around but didnt think the magpie way

 

We called them 40/60s in the navy. Maybe because the round is 40mm and the cartridge casing is 60mm?.

I real swine to aim with the slightly delayed action of an electric steering column and the rolling and pitching of a minesweeper in even moderate seas.

 

I was pleased to see some of the guns were from the 92nd LAA. The one shown on a ground shoot with the RA mark 47 and F4 was from our Fox Troop, which landed on D-Day and defended Pegasus and Horsa Bridges with 17 kills. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm told they preferred not to use the Stiffkey Stick.

 

The Bofors SP is not a very photogenic weapon.

These photos were taken of the 6 LAA Battery as they travelled through France and onwards as part of the Guards Armoured Division, the spearhead trying to punch their way through to relieve the Airborne on the Arnhem Bridge.

At the time they were under the command of 27th LAA Regiment RA until they were disbanded in 1946.

 

thanks for posting