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Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar
Mortar-batey-haosef-4-1
Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar on mobile base plate
Type Mortar
Place of origin United Kingdom
Service history
In service 1942–present
Wars Second World War
Korean War
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Production history
No. built about 3,800[1]
Specifications
Mass
  • Mk 2 Barrel: 92 lb (42 kg)
  • Tripod: 112 lb (51 kg)
  • No 2 baseplate: 120 lb (54 kg)
  • Auxiliary baseplate: 318 lb (144 kg)
  • Mobile baseplate: 602 lb (273 kg)
Barrel length Mk 1: 64 in (1.6 m)
Mk 2: 68 in (1.7 m)

Shell weight 19 lb 13 oz (9 kg)[2]
Calibre 4.2 in (110 mm)[3][4]
Elevation 45°–80°
Traverse 10°
Rate of fire 20 for 1 minute
15 for 3 minutes
10 rpm sustained
Muzzle velocity 730 ft/s (223 m/s)[2]
Maximum firing range 4,100 yd (3,700 m)

The Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortar was a heavy mortar used by the British Army during and after World War II.

History[]

The 4.2 in (110 mm) mortar was a smooth-bore weapon of the Stokes pattern and was designed by the Armaments Research and Development Establishment and produced by the Royal Ordnance Factories.[5] It entered widespread British service in 1942, equipping chemical warfare companies of the Royal Engineers (RE). The Mark 3 became the standard model.

The first combat use was at Second Battle of El Alamein, when the 66th Mortar Company (RE) was attached to the Australian 24th Infantry Brigade. During the battle, 66 Mortar Company provided intense, effective supporting fire on the 24th Brigade's exposed right flank, as the infantry advanced, expending all of the 4.2-inch HE mortar ammunition in the theatre.

Around mid-1943, the Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies were disbanded as an emergency expedient and one heavy mortar company of each infantry division machine-gun battalion was equipped with the mortar. This company was organized with sixteen 4.2-inch mortars, in four platoons of four mortars each. In early 1944, divisions in Italy also held a pool of mortars for issue to other units as needed, usually troops in the divisional anti-tank regiment, some regiments even converted one or more batteries to mortars.

Ordnance ML 4.2-inch mortars were slower to reach Commonwealth forces in the Pacific and Asia. Australian Army units in the South West Pacific theatre were reportedly the first to receive them, before forces in Burma.[citation needed]

Postwar[]

After World War II, the mortars were handed over to the Royal Artillery, the 170th Mortar Battery used them at the Battle of Imjin River in Korea. They were used during the 1950s, also by airborne artillery, deployed to Kuwait in 1961 and manned by soldiers from air defence batteries during the Confrontation in Borneo in 1965.[citation needed]

Description[]

The 4.2-inch mortar entered production at the end of 1941 with a standard base plate and tripod. The normal detachment was six men and it was transported with ammunition in a 10 cwt trailer, usually towed behind a Loyd Carrier. There was also an auxiliary base plate that fitted around it, to increase its area for use on softer ground. Later an integrated trailer/base plate was developed, called the Mk 1 Mobile Baseplate. The wheels, which were on suspension arms, were unlocked and raised for firing; the Mk1/1 had detachable wheels and the barrel with tripod attached, was stowed on top for towing. The mobile base plate trailer mounting could be brought into action by 2 men.[5] Regarding rate of fire, one source reports a crew putting 23 bombs in the air before the first impacted.[6]

Ammunition[]

Both HE (9.1 kg) and smoke (10.2 kg) ammunition was used. Smoke included WP and Base Ejection, and in World War II other types for practice. Two charges were available. In World War II, both streamlined and cylindrical bombs were available. Chemical munitions included the MK I chemical mortar bomb with Mustard gas (HS or HT fillings).

Users[]

World War II

  • Flag of Australia Australia
  • Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom

Postwar

  • Flag of Australia Australia
  • Flag of Canada Canada
  • Flag of Ethiopia Ethiopia
  • Flag of Greece Greece
  • Flag of India India
  • Flag of Laos Laos
  • Flag of Malaysia Malaysia
  • Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
  • Flag of Nepal   Nepal
  • Flag of Turkey Turkey
  • Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom

Gallery[]

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era[]

Notes[]

  1. British mortars of the Second World War
  2. 2.0 2.1 Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Mortars and rockets. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. p. 20. ISBN 0-668-03817-9. OCLC 2067459. https://archive.org/details/mortarsrockets0000cham/page/20. 
  3. Brassey's p. 92
  4. Maintenance Manual for ML 2-inch, ML 3-inch and SB 4.2-inch mortar
  5. 5.0 5.1 Pugh p. 76
  6. Fendick

References[]

External links[]



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