Ordnance QF 75 mm, abbreviated to OQF 75 mm, was a British tank-gun of the Second World War. It was used instead of the Ordnance QF 6 pounder (an anti-tank gun) to give better performance against infantry targets in a similar fashion to the 75 mm gun fitted to the American Medium Tank M4. The QF came from "quick firing". The gun was also sometime recorded as ROQF from Royal Ordnance (the manufacturer) Quick Firing. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Polish paratroopers (1st Independent Parachute Brigade) manhandling 6 pdr AT gun The Ordnance QF 6-pounder 7 cwt, or just 6 pdr, was a British 57 mm gun, their primary anti-tank gun during the middle of World War II. as well as the main armament for a number of... General characteristics Length: 5. ... This article explains certain terms used for British ordnance during World War II. BL Bl stood for Breech loading. The shell was loaded and then the propellant after in cloth bags. ...

Development

Prior to the introduction of the ROQF 75 mm, British tanks had been equipped with guns such as the QF 2 pounder (later replaced with the 6 pdr that fired Armour Piercing shot) - good against tanks but ineffective against groups of infantry. Some tanks operating in the infantry support role were given guns firing HE shells, eg the Churchill tank and CS ("Close Support") versions of the Matilda II. The decision to equip British tanks with an HE shell firing gun for "soft" targets (like infantry and importantly anti-tank guns) was taken by the War Office. The QF 2-pounder gun was a British anti-tank gun. ... The Infantry Tank IV Churchill was a heavy British infantry tank of the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. ... The A12 Infantry Tank II Matilda (sometimes referred to as Senior Matilda or Matilda II) was a British tank of World War II. In a somewhat unorthodox move, it shared the same name as the A11 Infantry Tank I. The name Matilda itself comes from a cartoon duck. ...

An HE shell for the 6 pounder was in production by the time of the start of the Tunisian campaign and available in large amounts in the Italian Campaign. However, the round lacked sufficient explosive power. The power of the US 75 mm HE round used in the M3 75 mm was found to be markedly superior, and a number of Churchills in operation in North Africa had guns scavenged from Sherman tanks and fitted to their turrets to give the Churchill NA75. Approximately 200 were converted in this way. Instead of looking to take the American gun to be fitted en mass into British tanks, the Royal Ordnance modified the 6 pdr design by boring out the barrel and adapting the breech to fire the US round. The resulting gun was effective but in gaining the HE shell came the lack of an effective anti-tank round that proved troublesome against the well armoured German tanks. In the Battle of Villers-Bocage Cromwell tanks with the 75 mm were no match in battle with a lone Tiger tank. The Tunisia Campaign was a series of World War II battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the World War II, between forces of the German/Italian Axis, and allied forces consisting primarily of U.S., British and small numbers of Vichy French. ... The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war. ... A number of 75 mm guns were fielded for service by the United States in World War II, in both the Army and the Marine Corps. ... The Battle of Villers-Bocage (June 13, 1944) was an unusual clash between the British and Germans in northern France during World War II. Michael Wittmann, an SS-Obersturmführer, led a unit of six PzKpfw VI Tiger tanks of the 501st Battalion to secure the N175 road near Villers... The A27M Cruiser Tank VIII Cromwell, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and... First Tiger I tank captured near Tunis The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. ...

Service

The ROQF 75 mm was chiefly used on the Churchill and Cromwell tanks. The weapon was used in Italy and Normandy (and possibly in Burma against the Japanese) until the end of the war. While the 75 mm was a conversion from the 6 pounder, some units retained a number of 6 pounder gunned tanks, due to its superior anti tank firepower over the 75 mm, especially as the 6 pounder had APCR and APDS rounds available. The A27M Cruiser Tank VIII Cromwell, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and... Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Free France Poland Germany Commanders Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (absent) (Heeresgruppe B) Friedrich Dollmann () Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown, probably some 1,000,000... Polish paratroopers (1st Independent Parachute Brigade) manhandling 6 pdr AT gun The Ordnance QF 6-pounder 7 cwt, or just 6 pdr, was a British 57 mm gun, their primary anti-tank gun during the middle of World War II. as well as the main armament for a number of...

Externally the gun was nearly identical to the 6 pounder gun. The 14.9 lb (6.76 kg) HE shell fired at 2050 ft/s (625 m/s) was found to be the best available - superior to that of the 6 pounder, M7 76.2 mm and 17 pounder all chiefly anti-tank guns. However, against armour its AP shell was the worst, penetrating only 68 mm of RHA at 500 yards (460 m) and a 30 degree angle of attack, whereas the AP shells of the others penetrated between 87 mm and 125 mm in Normandy during 1944. The AP shell for the 75 mm gun was a 15 lb (6.8 kg) projectile with a couple of ounces (60 g) of HE filling propelled by a 2 lb (900 g) charge to 2,000 feet per second (610 m/s). In British service the AP shell was used without its explosive filling and as such was referred to as "AP Shot M61". 17-pounder in Batey ha-Osef museum, Israel. ... RHA is an abbreviation for Rolled Homogeneous Armour Royal Hibernian Academy Royal Horse Artillery This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

A much improved anti tank shell was developed. This was the APCBC shot (Armour Piercing Capped, Ballistic Cap). It had a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) as opposed to 2,030 ft/s (620 m/s) for the older M61 APC shell. US documents¹ showed the round as available for both the M3 75 mm and ROQF 75 mm. Other sources² indicate the shell saw use by the British only. The performance of the new shell was a vast increase: penetrating 102 mm at 500 yards (460 m) at 30 degree angle of impact. Actual availability and usage of this round is unclear. According to some British tables M72 AP had a penetration performance of 114mm at 100 yards and 102mm at 500 yards, so it is possible the 30 degrees angle of impact is a transposition error for 0 degrees. This is interesting as US M72 has a penetration performance of 101mm at 100 yards. A shell is a projectile, which, as opposed to a bullet, is not solid but contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large projectiles without a filling which are properly termed shot. ...

• Comparison with the other guns

Similar named guns

In the First World War some French 75 mm field guns used by the British forces received the designation Ordnance QF 75 mm Mk I. And in the early part of the Second World War some American 75 mm Gun M1897A3 field guns were purchased from the US. these would also have been referred to as Ordnance 75 mm. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... A field gun is an artillery piece. ...

External links

• Britwar.co.uk
• WWIIVehicles.com
• Minatures.de

References

1. US Document WO 219/2806, Appendix G to SHAEF/16652/GCT/Arty,
2. "Fire and Movement", Bovington Tank Museum

The Bovington Tank Museum is the foremost collection of armoured vehicles in the United Kingdom, and with almost 300 vehicles on exhibition from 26 countries it is the most wide-ranging collection of tanks and armoured vehicles in the world. ...

See also

• M3 75 mm /40,
• M7 76.2 mm,
• 90 mm M3 gun,