Ordnance QF 25-pounder

The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or the 25-pounder, was a British howitzer. It was used during the Second World War. It started being used right before the war started, and was better than previous British howitzers. The gun was better because it could fire at both long and short distances, and could be moved easily. It was the British Army's main artillery gun until the 1960s. Some groups used it for training up until the 1980s. The guns were produced slowly, but 12,000 were made by 1945.

The 25-pounder.

Design

The 25-pounder was made because the British Army wanted to replace the 18-pounder and 4.5-inch howitzer. These artillery guns had been in use for a long time, and were too old to be useful against new guns. The 25-pounder was made when the British Army made a weapon that combined the best features from both older weapons. The resulting idea was a gun that could fire howitzer rounds as fast as the 18-pounder. The shell for the 25-pounder was planned to weigh about 30 pounds, and be about 3.75 inches thick.

Making the 25-pounder before the Second World War was hard, because there was not enough money to fund building new guns. The British Army made the decision to change the barrels of the 18-pounders into new ones, and then change the rest of the gun later when money was available. This barrel fired shells that weighed about 25 pounds, and were 3.45 inches thick. It was placed on the carriage (a platform that could be rotated) of newer 18-pounders when it was fired. This made the gun put most of the recoil force into the ground, making it more stable when it fired. The platform gave the gun a smooth surface to rotate on when it was firing, which let soldiers operating it move the barrel faster.