On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 03:12:31 +0100, "Paul J. Adam"
wrote:



No insisting - the two-pound AT was a very good gun for its time and
could handily kill any Panzer that met it in 1940.

Of course.

Still doesn't excuse the lack of a HE round.

IIRC the kiwis worked around this by putting a US 37mm shell into a 2
pounder case.

And at this point,
tanks either used MGs for anti-infantry work or

Not much use against anti tank guns or their crews.

put howitzers in hull
mounts (M3 Grant/Lee, Char B, early Churchills)

Which of course meant one to be there at that moment in time to deal with a
threat which required HE rather than solid shot.

or else armed a
proportion of the fleet with low-velocity large bore HE guns

Which AIR carried 30 odd smoke shells and 2 HE.

It wasn't a contingency foreseen by that many, as shown by policy of the
time.

It was a silly decision, one which didn't take hindsight to see it for what
it was.


greg


--
"vying with Platt for the largest gap
between capability and self perception"