Royal Horse Artillery Battery (2nd Edition)

At the end of the First World War, the British Army had begun to develop a light artillery piece that amalgamated the advantages of a howitzer with those of a field gun. Further analysis concluded the new design should be 3.7 inches in caliber, and fire a shell weighing between 20-25 lbs at ranges up to 15,000 yards. After testing several options, the War Department quickly concluded that the 25 pdr would be used to equip future units of the field artillery.

However, not wanting to scrap the large numbers of 18 pdr guns already in service, it was determined that the new gun should be developed using the existing stocks of the 18 pdr. One drawback of the 18 pdr was the barrel liner, relining the barrel meant the gun could only have a maximum caliber of 3.45 inches. This was a far cry from the desired 3.7 inches of the initial concept for the 25 pdr. Due to this limitation, in 1935 it was decided to adopt 3.45 inches as the new caliber for the 25 pdr.

The first versions of the OQF (Ordnance Quick Firing) 25 pdr Mk I were commonly known as the 18/25 pdr and saw service in during the opening stages of the Second World War in France and North Africa. However, most were lost on the beaches of Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of the Allied soldiers from France). This led to the design of the OQF 25 pdr Mk II which was fitted with its own dedicated carriage designed by Vickers and was designated as the OQF 25 pdr Mk II on an Mk I carriage.

The 25 pdr proved to be a highly effective weapon on the battlefields of World War Two; its High Explosive (HE) rounds were especially effective. The lethality of the HE round was estimated to be 1.5 times better than that of the American equivalent, the 105mm. During the North Africa campaign, the 25 pdr was often pressed into service as an anti-tank gun whenever the 2 pdr anti-tank gun proved inadequate. As World War Two ground on, the 25 pdr continued to be modified and improved and will go down in history as one of the most successful artillery pieces in the history of warfare.

Contents:

four 25pdr howitzers and 18/25pdr guns

four sets of gun crew

two Command Rifles teams

one Observer Rifle team

one Staff team