Crusader ARV and Sherman

Home Guard operating a Northover Projector, July 1941.  This "cheap and cheerful" anti-tank weapon was put into production on endorsement from Winston Churchill during the artillery famine that followed the expulsion of the BEF from France.  About 19,000 had been issued to British Army and (mainly) to Home Guard units by end-1942.  The weapon fired 2.5 inch grenades, propelled by a small charge of black powder (old-fashioned gunpowder), to a distance of 100-150 yards.  Ignition was by means of a percussion cap of a type designed for childrens' toy cap guns.  Like the Smith Gun, this Home Guard weapon was really not much use.  Apart from the short range, the high profile for such a light weapon (it had to be fired from its tripod), and the use of toy caps and black powder (not a wonderful feature in damp British weather) there was the nasty tendency of the Northover's rather fragile grenades to break and ignite in the breech.  This latter characteristic caused burn injuries to many crews but, unlike similar incidents with the Smith Gun, it was (relatively) unlikely to seriously injure or kill its users.  The Northover was phased out and replaced by obsolete two-pounder antitank guns redeployed from the Army in the later part of the war.  Best regards, JR.

Another of Churchill's Home Guard terror weapons.

Here's another  Crusader.This one with a 40mm Bofors AAgun.Greetz,Brummbar