An Independent Army For An Independent Nation: The Four Inch Mortar

 

 

Picture: Sergeant A.E.Lemon,Number Nine Army Film and Photo Section,Army Film and Photographic Unit,© IWM SE 4463

 

The Four Inch Mortar shall be the standard medium mortar in the British Army,the Home Guard and the Royal Marines and shall equip platoons or troops held at the battalion level.

 

 

Picture: Sergeant A.Stubbs,Number Nine Army Film and Photo Section,Army Film and Photographic Unit,© IWM SE 2143

 

The Four Inch Mortar shall be issued on the scale of one section of two mortars to every light infantry company,medium infantry company,cavalry squadron,reconnaissance company,reconnaissance squadron and Royal Marines company.

 

 

Picture: Corporal Gary Kendall,Royal Logistics Corps,Crown Copyright

 

The Four Inch Mortar shall have a smooth bore,be muzzle loaded and fire twenty pound fin stabilised bombs,to a range of five miles,at rates of up to twenty bombs per minute.

 

 

Picture: Unknown British Army official photographer,© IWM CT 1241

 

The Four Inch Mortar shall use the same indirect fire sight as the Three Eighths Inch Machine Gun.

 

 

Picture: Lieutenant Ernest Brooks,Ministry of Information First World War Official Collection photograph,© IWM Q 1375

 

The Four Inch Mortar shall fire a variety of bombs including,but not limited to,High Explosive,High Explosive Anti Tank,High Explosive Penetrating,Thermobaric,Flechette,Illuminating,Obscuring,Practice and a family of rocket assisted toffee apple bombs.

 

 

Picture: Unknown photographer,National Army Museum Study Collection photograph

 

The Four Inch Mortar bombs shall be able to be fitted with proximity,impact and delay fuses,stand off probes and a variety of terminal homing systems including,but not limited to,active radar,passive thermal,semi active laser and television guidance.

 

 

Picture: Unknown photographer,Number One Army Film and Photo Section,Army Film and Photographic Unit,© IWM E 127

 

The Four Inch Mortar may be carried by it's crew of five men when operating on foot.

 

 

Picture: L. (Phot.) Will Haigh,Crown Copyright

 

The Four Inch Mortar crew of five men may be carried in the Ox vehicle,with one mortar and it's ammunition being towed in it's unprotected trailer.

 

 

Picture: Dan Davison

 

The Four Inch Mortar section of ten men may be carried in the Mule vehicle,with two mortars and their ammunition being towed in it's unprotected trailer.

 

 

Picture: Visual Information Specialist Markus Rauchenberger,United States' Army photograph

 

The Four Inch Mortar section of ten men may be carried in the Pony vehicle,with two mortars and their ammunition being towed in it's protected trailer.

 

 

Picture: Sergeant R.Gregory,Number One Army Film and Photo Section,Army Film and Photographic Unit,© IWM E 31736

 

The Four Inch Mortar section of ten men may be carried in the Matilda vehicle,with two mortars and their ammunition being carried in an armoured box above the rear door.

 

 

Picture: Unknown photographer,Israel Defense Forces' Spokesperson's Unit photograph

 

The Four Inch Mortar section of ten men may be carried in the Charger vehicle,with two mortars and their ammunition being carried in an armoured box above the rear door.

 

The Five Reconnaissance Vehicles: Ox,Mule,Pony,Matilda And Charger

 

 

Picture: Richard Ellis,Ministry of Defence,Crown Copyright

 

Despite the predictable failure of the Tetrarch,Harry Hopkins,Alecto and Locust air mobile light tanks during the Second World War (bad ideas never die),and despite the fact that the then planned fleet of Hercules aircraft did not have the capacity to rapidly fly a significant armoured force to anywhere outside of Europe,and that there was little need to fly one to anywhere within Europe,shortly after the United States' Army had ordered the M551 Sheridan Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle,British generals decided that a new family of,highly fashionable,air mobile reconnaissance tanks called Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance Tracked (which was a remarkably good design considering the constraints placed on it's engineers,being far superior to it's American counterparts) would be absolutely transformational.

 

 

Picture: Unknown British Army official photographer,© IWM CT 1204

 

In true British Army fashion,thousands of these,lightly armed and lightly armoured,air mobile vehicles were then issued to units which had no need for air mobility but which did need heavy armour and heavy armament,because they were sitting in West Germany waiting for the Soviet Army to roll over the Inner German Border,since then generations of British Army cavalry troopers have been taught that reconnaissance is all about sneaking around the battlefield like ninjas (because they were equipped with vehicles which lacked the protection and firepower needed for anything other than sneaking around the battlefield like ninjas),an approach which may be appropriate when screening a defending light infantry division but which is not viable when reconnoitering for an armoured division advancing in to enemy held territory at a rate of tens of miles per hour,in contrast,elements of the proposed An Independent Army For An Independent Nation may use any vehicle they have been trained on which is appropriate to the situation and herein we shall list the vehicles which they shall typically use for reconnaissance.

 

 

Picture: Unknown Second Commando Regiment Multimedia Technician,Australian Army,© Commonwealth of Australia

 

The Ox vehicle family shall not typically be used by any reconnaissance element but may be used all of them when operating in confined spaces.

 

 

Picture: L.A. (Photographer) Si Ethell,Crown Copyright

 

The Mule vehicle family shall typically be used (for sneaking around the battlefield like ninjas) by army reconnaissance regiments.

 

 

Picture: Corporal Ben Beale,Crown Copyright

 

The Pony vehicle family shall typically be used by army reconnaissance troops,corps reconnaissance regiments,light infantry division reconnaissance battalions and light infantry division reconnaissance platoons and troops.

 

 

Picture: Corporal Andy Benson,Royal Air Force,Crown Copyright

 

The Matilda vehicle family shall typically be used by infantry division reconnaissance regiments and infantry division reconnaissance platoons and troops.

 

 

Picture: Corporal Roei Fux,Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit,Israel Defense Forces photograph

 

The Charger vehicle family shall typically be used by cavalry division reconnaissance regiments and cavalry division reconnaissance troops.