All Topics  
BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun

 
BL 5.5 Inch Medium Gun

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun
 
 
  Topics BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun Topic Home

The BL
British ordnance terms

This article explains terms used to describe the British Armed Forces' ordnance used in World War I and World War II. Note that the terms may have slightly different meanings in the military of other countries....
 5.5 inch Field Gun was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
 gun introduced during the middle of the Second World War.

anuary 1939 a specification was issued for a gun to replace the 60 pounder guns and 6 inch 26 cwt howitzers in use. The first units were equipped with the new gun in May 1942, and the first actions were in the Western Desert Campaign
Western Desert Campaign

The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the initial stage of the North African Campaign of World War II.From the start, the Western Desert Campaign was a continuous back-and-forth struggle....
. Initially the range was disappointing, but a new shell 20 pounds (9 kg) lighter solved the problem.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun'
Start a new discussion about 'BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The BL
British ordnance terms

This article explains terms used to describe the British Armed Forces' ordnance used in World War I and World War II. Note that the terms may have slightly different meanings in the military of other countries....
 5.5 inch Field Gun was a British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 artillery
Artillery

Artillery is a military Combat Arms which employs any apparatus, machine, an assortment of tools or instruments, a system or systems used as weapons for the discharge of large projectiles in combat as a major contribution of fire power within the overall military capability of an armed force....
 gun introduced during the middle of the Second World War.

History

In January 1939 a specification was issued for a gun to replace the 60 pounder guns and 6 inch 26 cwt howitzers in use. The first units were equipped with the new gun in May 1942, and the first actions were in the Western Desert Campaign
Western Desert Campaign

The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the initial stage of the North African Campaign of World War II.From the start, the Western Desert Campaign was a continuous back-and-forth struggle....
. Initially the range was disappointing, but a new shell 20 pounds (9 kg) lighter solved the problem. A companion piece with a 4.5 inch calibre barrel and longer range was also introduced but demonstrated poor lethality due to low grade steel used in its projectiles (a problem shared with its US equivalent) and was retired shortly after WWII.

The 5.5 survived after the war until replaced by the FH-70
FH-70

The FH-70 is a towed howitzer in use with several nations....
 155 mm towed howitzer in service as L121. The last 5.5 rounds were fired in UK in 1995.

The gun was known as the G2 in the South African Defence Force
South African Defence Force

The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957....
 and was extensively used in the early stages of the South African Border War
South African Border War

The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, refers to the conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 in South-West Africa and Angola between South Africa and its allied forces on the one side and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's Organisation , and their allies mainly the Soviet Unio...
, including Operation Savannah
Operation Savannah (Angola)

Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force's 1975?1976 covert intervention in the Angolan War of Independence....
.

In use, the 5.5, like the 4.5 before was generally teamed with the AEC Matador
AEC Matador

The AEC Matador was an artillery tractor built by the Associated Equipment Company for British and Commonwealth forces during the Second World War....
 artillery tractor
Artillery tractor

Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights. The first such devices were designed prior to the outbreak of World War I, often based on agricultural machines such as the Holt tractor....
. From the 1950s in British service, the 5.5 was typically towed by an AEC Militant Mk 1 6x6 truck an subsequently the FV 1103 6x6 Medium Artillery Tractor built by Leyland.

Variants

  • Mark III
Model in use in WW2
  • Mark IV
Appeared after WW2


External links