The 25pdr SP, tracked, Sexton was a Canadian-designed
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 ...
vehicle of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was based on Canadian-built derivatives of the American
M3 Lee and
M4 Sherman
The M4 Sherman, officially medium tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. I ...
tank chassis. Canada had set up to produce the
Ram tank
The Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for training purposes a ...
using the M3 chassis and
Grizzly
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
(a copy of the M4) to complement US medium tank production; when Sherman production in the US expanded and supply was no longer a problem, it was decided in 1943 to switch the Canadian production lines to produce the Sexton to give the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
a mobile artillery gun using their
Ordnance QF 25-pounder
The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, with a calibre of 3.45 inches (87.6 mm), was a piece of field artillery used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War. Durable, easy to operate and versatile, ...
gun-howitzer
Gun-howitzer (also referred to as gun howitzer) is a type of artillery weapon that is intended to fulfill the roles of both an ordinary cannon or field gun, and of a howitzer. It is thus able to convey both direct fire, direct and indirect fire. Mo ...
for commonality with towed guns. The Sexton could fire either
HE shell or an
armour-piercing shell.
It found use in the Canadian, British, and other
British Commonwealth
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire
The B ...
armies, as well as other countries. After the war, a number of Sextons and Grizzlies were sold to Portugal, which used them into the 1980s.
History
In order to better provide artillery support in the highly mobile desert warfare of the
North African Campaign
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...
, the British Army had quickly adapted the
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during World War II. More than 8,000 Valentines were produced in eleven marks, plus specialised variants, accounting for about a quarter of wartime Britis ...
into a self-propelled 25-pounder gun: the
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
. Introduced in 1942, the Bishop proved to have many problems in service. In particular, limited space meant that the turret had little elevation, requiring crews to use natural slopes, embankments or mounds to get the full range out of the gun.
As a stop-gap, the US-built
M7 Priest, with a
M101 105 mm howitzer, mounted on a
M3 Lee chassis, was soon replacing the Bishop, reaching service in October 1942.
[Chamberlain & Ellis, p176] In March 1942, the UK ordered 2,500 for 1942 with another 3,000 for 1943. The first M7s were rushed to Egypt for the
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
where they played an important part.
[Chamberlain & Ellis, p139] However, because the US 105 mm gun was not otherwise used by the British military, supplying ammunition to Priest crews was complicated and caused delays.
Simultaneously, two new self-propelled 25-pounder projects were being pursued by the British General Staff. Firstly, in the US, the 25-pounder Howitzer Motor Carriage T51 – a Priest adapted to mount the 25-pounder – was tested from July 1942. Development was delayed by issues including the destruction of the gun mount on the prototype, during the first live-firing trials.
[
Secondly, because US resources were increasingly devoted to equipping and upgrading the existing weaponry of US forces, the UK government inquired whether the Canadian government could facilitate rapid development and manufacturing of a self-propelled 25-pdr. The Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply asked the Canadian Army Engineering Design Branch to build such a vehicle.
A prototype was quickly built on the chassis of a Canadian ]Ram tank
The Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for training purposes a ...
, which was also based on the M3 chassis. The Ram had been sidelined by a decision that Canadian armoured units should standardize around the Sherman and variants using the same chassis. The prototype was completed on 23 June 1942. Following trials in Canada, the Canadian government ordered 124 vehicles in three batches. The prototype was shipped to the United Kingdom in early 1943, where it underwent further trials. In May 1943, it was formally accepted for use by the British Army and given the name "Sexton" (after the religious custodian and following in the tradition of the Bishop and the Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions.
Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
self-propelled guns).
A UK order for 300 Sextons was made in mid-1943, albeit built on the hull of the Grizzly tank (a Canadian-built variant of the M4A1 Sherman). The Ram-based SP gun became known as the Sexton Mark I, while the Grizzly-based variant was the Sexton Mark II. UK orders for the Sexton II eventually totalled 2,026 vehicles.
The Sexton was generally regarded as a successful project, unlike the Ram (which never saw combat in its original form). Between 1943 and 1945, the Montreal Locomotive Works
Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer that existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both Steam locomotive, steam and diesel locomotives. For many years it was a subsidiary of the American ...
manufactured 2,150 Sextons for the use of both Canadian and British forces. The vehicle entered service in September 1943. In spite of its confused origins, the Sexton was a combination of proven parts and proved to be a successful design that remained in British service until 1956.
Operational service
The vehicles were first used in combat in Italy by the British Eighth Army. Later, Sextons took part in the invasion of France and subsequent Battle of Normandy and the campaign in north-western Europe. During the D-day landings, a number of Sextons were ordered to fire from their landing craft as they approached the beaches although the fire did not prove to be very accurate. After the war a number of units were equipped with the Sexton as part of the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...
(BAOR).
The following units were equipped with the Sexton at different periods:
*1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the armoured field artillery role, and was equipped with the AS90 self-propelled gun, until it was retired from service ...
, Italy 1944-45, post-war (Sexton withdrawn in 1956)
* 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, Italy 1944-45, post-war (Sexton withdrawn in 1957)
* 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, post-war
*4/22 Field Regiment (South African Irish and Transvaal Horse Artillery), South African Artillery, 6th South African Armoured Division, Italy 1944-45 (January 1944 to August 1944 then replaced by the M7 Priest when the Division transferred to US IV Corps US 5th Army )
* 5th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, North West Europe 1944–45; post-war
* 6th Field (Self Propelled) Regiment, Royal Artillery, post-war
* 10th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, post-war
* 13th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
* 86th (East Anglian) (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
* 90th(City of London) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
* 98th Field Regiment (Surrey & Sussex Yeomanry Queen Mary's), Royal Artillery, North west Europe 1945
* 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
* 153rd (Leicestershire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, North West Europe 1944-45
British and Canadian forces used the Sexton for indirect supporting fire, keeping the Sextons back from the front line and used forward observers to direct overwhelming fire onto a target.
The India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n 1st and 2nd Field Artillery Regiments used Sextons after World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Variants
*Sexton I: The first 125 vehicles manufactured. Based on the Ram tank hull.
*Sexton II: It featured boxes added to the rear deck to carry batteries and an auxiliary generator to charge them. Based on the Grizzly (M4A1 Sherman) hull.
*Sexton GPO (Gun Position Officer): The 25 pounder was removed and an extra No. 19 Wireless was added along with map tables; this vehicle was used to control battery fire.[AFV Profile]
British self-propelled gun naming
A British self-propelled gun armed with the Ordnance QF 25-pounder
The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, with a calibre of 3.45 inches (87.6 mm), was a piece of field artillery used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War. Durable, easy to operate and versatile, ...
in design from 1941 was given the service name "Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
" as its appearance was said to resemble a bishop's mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...
. A replacement, the US 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was called "Priest" by the British, as part of its superstructure was said to resemble a priest's pulpit. Following this line of names, a 1942 self-propelled QF 6 pounder on armoured truck chassis was named "Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions.
Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
". A post-war self-propelled gun was called Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...
.
See also
* Yeramba – an Australian self-propelled 25-pdr, introduced in 1950.
Notes
References
Sources
* Chris Ellis, Peter Chamberlain - AFV No. 13 - ''Ram and Sexton'', Profile Publications, England
*
External links
World War II vehicles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton (Artillery)
World War II self-propelled artillery
World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Canada
World War II armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom
Self-propelled artillery of the United Kingdom
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944
M4 Sherman tanks