The first combat use was at Second Battle of El Alamein, when the 66th Mortar Company (RE) was attached to the Australian 24th Infantry Brigade. During the battle, 66 Mortar Company provided intense, effective supporting fire on the 24th Brigade's exposed right flank, as the infantry advanced, expending all of the 4.2-inch HE mortar ammunition in the theatre.
Around mid-1943, the Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies were disbanded as an emergency expedient and one heavy mortar company of each infantry division machine-gun battalion was equipped with the mortar. This company was organized with sixteen 4.2-inch mortars, in four platoons of four mortars each. In early 1944, divisions in Italy also held a pool of mortars for issue to other units as needed, usually troops in the divisional anti-tank regiment, some regiments even converted one or more batteries to mortars.
After World War II, the mortars were handed over to the Royal Artillery, the 170th Mortar Battery used them at the Battle of Imjin River in Korea. They were used during the 1950s, also by airborne artillery, deployed to Kuwait in 1961 and manned by soldiers from air defence batteries during the Confrontation in Borneo in 1965.[citation needed] The Ceylon Army had used durng the 1971 Insurrection until it was replaced by Soviate 82mm mortars. Reserve stocks of 4.2-inch mortar bombs were used by the Sri Lanka Air Force to drop from helicopters during the early stages of Sri Lankan Civil War.[6]
Descriptionedit
The 4.2-inch mortar entered production at the end of 1941 with a standard base plate and tripod. The normal detachment was six men and it was transported with ammunition in a 10 cwt trailer, usually towed behind a Loyd Carrier. There was also an auxiliary base plate that fitted around it, to increase its area for use on softer ground. Later an integrated trailer/base plate was developed, called the Mk 1 Mobile Baseplate. The wheels, which were on suspension arms, were unlocked and raised for firing; the Mk1/1 had detachable wheels and the barrel with tripod attached, was stowed on top for towing. The mobile base plate trailer mounting could be brought into action by 2 men.[5] Regarding rate of fire, one source reports a crew putting 23 bombs in the air before the first impacted.[7]
Ammunitionedit
Both HE (9.1 kg) and smoke (10.2 kg) ammunition was used. Smoke included WP and Base Ejection, and in World War II other types for practice. Two charges were available. In World War II, both streamlined and cylindrical bombs were available. Chemical munitions included the MK I chemical mortar bomb with Mustard gas (HS or HT fillings).
Pugh, Stevenson (1962). Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of the Modern British Army (First ed.). London: Macdonald.
Bidwell, Shelford (1977). Artillery of the World (1st ed.). London: Brassey's. ISBN0-904609-04-9.
Horner, David (1995). The Gunners – A History of Australian Artillery (1st ed.). St Leonards: Allen & Unwin. ISBN1-86373-917-3.
Maintenance Manual for ML 2-inch, ML 3-inch and SB 4.2-inch mortars
Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII. ISBN9781586637620.
Fendick, Rex F. Diary of a CANLOAN Officer (with the Middlesex Regt in NW Europe 1944–5) (self-published ed.). Saint John, NB.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar.
"British mortars of the Second World War". WWIIEquipment.
January 01, 1970
inch, mortar, ordnance, heavy, mortar, used, british, army, during, after, world, ordnance, ordnance, mobile, base, platetypemortarplace, originunited, kingdomservice, historyin, service1942, 1966, united, kingdom, 1942, presentwarssecond, world, warkorean, wa. The Ordnance ML 4 2 inch mortar was a heavy mortar used by the British Army during and after World War II Ordnance ML 4 2 inch mortarOrdnance ML 4 2 inch mortar on mobile base plateTypeMortarPlace of originUnited KingdomService historyIn service1942 1966 United Kingdom 1942 presentWarsSecond World WarKorean WarIndonesia Malaysia confrontationIndo Pakistani War of 1965Production historyNo built 3 800 1 SpecificationsMassMk 2 Barrel 92 lb 42 kg Tripod 112 lb 51 kg No 2 baseplate 120 lb 54 kg Auxiliary baseplate 318 lb 144 kg Mobile baseplate 602 lb 273 kg Barrel lengthMk 1 64 in 1 6 m Mk 2 68 in 1 7 m Shell weight19 lb 13 oz 9 kg 2 Calibre4 2 in 107 mm 3 4 Elevation45 80 Traverse10 Rate of fire20 for 1 minute15 for 3 minutes10 rpm sustainedMuzzle velocity730 ft s 223 m s 2 Maximum firing range4 100 yd 3 700 m Contents 1 History 1 1 Postwar 2 Description 3 Ammunition 4 Users 5 Gallery 6 See also 6 1 Weapons of comparable role performance and era 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistory editThe 4 2 in 110 mm mortar was a smooth bore weapon of the Stokes pattern and was designed by the Armaments Research and Development Establishment and produced by the Royal Ordnance Factories 5 It entered widespread British service in 1942 equipping chemical warfare companies of the Royal Engineers RE The Mark 3 became the standard model The first combat use was at Second Battle of El Alamein when the 66th Mortar Company RE was attached to the Australian 24th Infantry Brigade During the battle 66 Mortar Company provided intense effective supporting fire on the 24th Brigade s exposed right flank as the infantry advanced expending all of the 4 2 inch HE mortar ammunition in the theatre Around mid 1943 the Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies were disbanded as an emergency expedient and one heavy mortar company of each infantry division machine gun battalion was equipped with the mortar This company was organized with sixteen 4 2 inch mortars in four platoons of four mortars each In early 1944 divisions in Italy also held a pool of mortars for issue to other units as needed usually troops in the divisional anti tank regiment some regiments even converted one or more batteries to mortars Ordnance ML 4 2 inch mortars were slower to reach Commonwealth forces in the Pacific and Asia Australian Army units in the South West Pacific theatre were reportedly the first to receive them before forces in Burma citation needed Postwar edit After World War II the mortars were handed over to the Royal Artillery the 170th Mortar Battery used them at the Battle of Imjin River in Korea They were used during the 1950s also by airborne artillery deployed to Kuwait in 1961 and manned by soldiers from air defence batteries during the Confrontation in Borneo in 1965 citation needed The Ceylon Army had used durng the 1971 Insurrection until it was replaced by Soviate 82mm mortars Reserve stocks of 4 2 inch mortar bombs were used by the Sri Lanka Air Force to drop from helicopters during the early stages of Sri Lankan Civil War 6 Description editThe 4 2 inch mortar entered production at the end of 1941 with a standard base plate and tripod The normal detachment was six men and it was transported with ammunition in a 10 cwt trailer usually towed behind a Loyd Carrier There was also an auxiliary base plate that fitted around it to increase its area for use on softer ground Later an integrated trailer base plate was developed called the Mk 1 Mobile Baseplate The wheels which were on suspension arms were unlocked and raised for firing the Mk1 1 had detachable wheels and the barrel with tripod attached was stowed on top for towing The mobile base plate trailer mounting could be brought into action by 2 men 5 Regarding rate of fire one source reports a crew putting 23 bombs in the air before the first impacted 7 Ammunition editBoth HE 9 1 kg and smoke 10 2 kg ammunition was used Smoke included WP and Base Ejection and in World War II other types for practice Two charges were available In World War II both streamlined and cylindrical bombs were available Chemical munitions included the MK I chemical mortar bomb with Mustard gas HS or HT fillings Users editWorld War II nbsp Australia nbsp New Zealand 8 nbsp United Kingdom Postwar nbsp Australia nbsp Canada nbsp Ethiopia nbsp Greece nbsp India nbsp Laos nbsp Malaysia nbsp New Zealand nbsp Nepal nbsp Sri Lanka nbsp Turkey nbsp United KingdomGallery edit nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp See also editWeapons of comparable role performance and era edit M2 4 2 inch mortar US equivalent 107mm M1938 mortar Soviet equivalentNotes edit British mortars of the Second World War a b Chamberlain Peter 1975 Mortars and rockets Gander Terry New York Arco p 20 ISBN 0 668 03817 9 OCLC 2067459 Brassey s p 92 Maintenance Manual for ML 2 inch ML 3 inch and SB 4 2 inch mortar a b Pugh p 76 Lt Col PVJ Jayantha de Silva SL Light Infantry 1941 2023 The Island Retrieved 30 December 2023 Fendick Anti Tankers Form 39 Mortar Battery NZETC References editPugh Stevenson 1962 Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of the Modern British Army First ed London Macdonald Bidwell Shelford 1977 Artillery of the World 1st ed London Brassey s ISBN 0 904609 04 9 Horner David 1995 The Gunners A History of Australian Artillery 1st ed St Leonards Allen amp Unwin ISBN 1 86373 917 3 Maintenance Manual for ML 2 inch ML 3 inch and SB 4 2 inch mortars Bishop Chris 2002 The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII ISBN 9781586637620 Fendick Rex F Diary of a CANLOAN Officer with the Middlesex Regt in NW Europe 1944 5 self published ed Saint John NB External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ordnance ML 4 2 inch Mortar British mortars of the Second World War WWIIEquipment Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ML 4 2 inch mortar amp oldid 1192620991, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
