At the outbreak of war, the QF 2-pdr was the standard anti-tank gun of the British Army. It was an adequate weapon for the time, being slightly more effective in terms of armour penetration then the contemporary German 37mm PaK 36.
Most Australian anti-tank teams were reassigned under the Jungle Division restructure.
Those few that remained formed ‘Tank Attack’ units and were equipped with both 2pdr and 6pdr AT guns supplied from Britain. As these were of very limited use in the jungle environment of New Guinea they only saw regular usage in Borneo from 1944 onwards.
The 2 pdr anti tank gun pictured above was used by the 2/21 Australian Infantry Battalion in the defence of Ambon in early 1942 and captured by the Japanese. It was recovered after the Japanese surrender.
The battle between the Australians and invading Imperial Japanese on Indonesian (then known as the Dutch East Indies) Ambon and the recovery of this 2 pounder Anti Tank Gun is a physical reminder of this particular theatre of the war.
I was not really familiar with the intricacies of the 2pdr gun so in order to put it together I downloaded the picture and instructions from the Warlord Games website.
Neither showed me how to attach what I assume is a counter-weight on the left hand side of the barrel, however a few pictures helped solved this and it was quickly assembled.
Tomorrow the Australian mule/horse limber and pack animal team.
Another great looking piece for your Aussies!
Nicely done, Dave! 🙂 I can’t even see a counterweight on the barrel so you’re doing better than me!
Great work on the gun. However the instructions made me laugh as they felt the need to tell you to put the heads on the gunners.
Yes but not the “more important” gun bits!
Wow mate you have out gunned me on this one,well done, the black and white photo of Sergeant C.J Parsons and his anti tank crew knocking out six of the nine Japanese tanks is one that I have been trying to achieve for over a year, maybe I’m to close to it and have spent to much time trying to get every detail down to spec , My dad was a 4th anti tanker but wasn’t there at this action , I stupidly asked one of the lads that was some time ago in my youth how there was a brave guy taking photos of a dangerous action!! He looked at me as if I was a dick ! and said “son that was way after the action had finished” AH just call me simple !
Thanks for the info. If the detail is important to you it is worth the time and effort getting it right.
👍🏻so true mate.