The Birch Gun was the first practical British

self-propelled artillery Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...

gun, built at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

in 1925. Despite proving itself a practical proposition the Birch Gun was never highly regarded by the British High Command, not for any particular defect or capability issue, but due to the belief that such an innovation was unrequired, expensive and unnecessary. Named after General Sir Noel Birch, who was Master General of Ordnance at the time, the Birch gun comprised a

Vickers Medium Mark II The Vickers Medium Mark II was a British medium tank built by Vickers during the interwar period of the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. The Medium Mark II, derived from the Vickers Medium Mark I, was developed to replac ...

tank chassis originally fitted with a QF 18-pounder (83.8 mm) gun. This remained the armament in all the models, although the latest version, generally called the Mk III, had limited elevation. Birch Guns were used in the Experimental Mechanized Force manoeuvres of 1928, but by 1931 they had been removed from service and political pressure was applied to prevent any plans to complete the third revision of the weapon.

Armament

The armament for the original Birch Gun consisted of an Ordnance QF 18 pounder field gun (3.3 inch, 84 mm). The mounting and sighting arrangements varied in the various versions but the gun remained the same.

Powerplant

The

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engine was only moderately powerful by later standards, an 8-cylinder 90 horse power unit which gave a maximum speed of 28 mph/45 km/h, however, by comparison with tracked armour of the era – the Medium Mark A Whippet 'cavalry tank' of World War I was twenty miles per hour slower – it was considered more than adequate and had twice the Whippet's range.

Use

The Birch gun was tested as part of the Experimental Mechanized Force (EMF) in the 1920s. The Force undertook various experiments in mechanized warfare combining tanks and infantry with their own motorised transport. The components of the EMF were: *

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

group with

tankette A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.

s and armoured cars *

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

of 48 Vickers medium tanks * motorised machine gun battalion * mechanised

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

** including one battery of Birch guns * motorised field engineer company

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Self-Propelled Field and Medium Guns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch Gun Self-propelled artillery of the United Kingdom 85 mm artillery Abandoned military projects of the United Kingdom