The Confusion of British 2pdr & 6pdr HE in WW2

Over the years there has been a lot of confusion around British HE for 2pdr and 6pdr guns – especially in the early part of the war. e.g. The 2pdr didn’t have HE, yes it did originally in 1940 but they stopped making it, no it didn’t, yes it did and they even had 11,000 rounds of it siting in storage at the outbreak of World War II – they just never issued it to the troops! Anyway I thought it might be useful (for my sanity and anybody else’s) to collate the facts as known (at least as I now know them), given a lot more information has come to light in the last 10-15 years on the subject. This was partly sparked by a recent YouTube video I watched (on the Matilda) that quoted quite inaccurately the claim that the British had 2pdr HE (in storage in 1939-1941) and never issued it, either through incompetence or criminal negligence!

First of all we need to clarify some terminology – when the 2pdr OQF (Ordnance Quick Firing) Gun was accepted into service April 1937 by the British Army as both it’s new tank gun (to replace the existing lower velocity 3pdr 47mm) and as a towed Anti-Tank Gun it was arguably the best anti-tank or tank gun in service (and arguably still so at the start of 1940 until the appearance of the French long 47mm towed ATG and German 5cm PaK 38). Part of this is because in it’s original design it was supplied with what we now call APHE (Armour Piercing High Explosive), a round very similar to the German Pzgr.39 (PanzerGranate 39 – that was in use with their 3.7cm and later guns). This was fairly advanced for the time and was the standard anti-tank round for the British 2pdr in 1937-1940 and along with the gun’s velocity, accuracy and overall performance this made it clearly the best performing ATG at the time leading up to 1940.

However back to the subject at hand, the key point is this APHE round was referred to in the British Army as either “AP Shell” (an armour piercing round with an explosive filler) or more colloquially as “HE” (High Explosive – because it was an anti-tank round with a HE component, i.e. APHE) – but it was clearly not the type of projectile you would normally expect someone referring to a ‘High Explosive‘ round to mean.

In 1938 it was however decided to improve the penetration of the 2pdr by providing “AP Shot” (basically a solid AP round – what we would think of as simply AP – armour piercing). The reason for this is that a solid AP round will always have a slightly better armour penetration versus one with a bursting charge inside (because the latter necessitates a thinner shell casing at the sides, degrading the penetrative power); although the APHE is more destructive once it penetrates and then explodes (on paper at least). In theory the 2pdr “Shot” (AP) penetrated 6mm more armour at 100 yards and 4mm more at 500 yards than the “HE” or “Shell” (APHE) round.

By the outbreak of war there were about 900,000 rounds of 2pdr ammunition available, and 62% of it was “HE” or “Shell” and the balance “Shot” – it was obviously all (technically) anti-tank ammunition. Production of the “HE” or “Shell” round actually ceased in 1939 prior to the war commencing – one reason being that all the ammunition previously was being manufactured by Hadfields’ using a proprietary process that was exceedingly complex and they alone couldn’t manufacture more than about 950,000 rounds per year – although their production quality was extremely high apparently. This obviously provided at least 3 high-risk aspects for the British Government (only 1 manufacturer so no redundancy and couldn’t scale up volume, secret process no-one else knew, very complicated to produce). As Britain rearmed manufacturing was ordered expanded to more companies pre-war and difficulties were then found making the “HE” or “Shell” rounds at those other companies, so it was much easier to just manufacture the solid “Shot” rounds (and even this appears to have had some complexities). In early 1941 a new process was devised (presumably for just the “Shot” rounds) and production increased rapidly, peaking in February 1942 with reportedly just under 1 million AP rounds produced that month (c.f. with Hadfield’s maximum possible annual production of about 950 thousand). Anyway no more AP “Shell” or “HE” rounds were manufactured after about mid-1939.

After the 1940 campaign it was felt the “HE” or “Shell” rounds were inferior (because their actual penetration in combat was believed significantly poorer than the “Shot“, not just a few millimetres worse; and because the HE charge reportedly burst prematurely before they had adequately penetrated the armour into the space beyond – defeating the purpose – according to users in the field). So many “HE” or “Shell” rounds had their explosive filler subsequently removed and replaced with either lead or sand later in 1940 and 1941 (and then reissued as AP “Shot“). It should be noted that Hadfield’s had very high quality production standards, so its been suggested the issue with premature detonation of the bursting charge was related to poor manufacturing of the “HE” or “Shell” rounds by the subcontractors prior to the decision to concentrate solely on “Shot” as noted above.

Note: As an aside regarding effectiveness of APHE ammunition in general a similar discussion happened with the U.S. Army in England in May 1944 concerning 75mm, 76mm and 90mm APHE concerns; see my post U.S. Army 1944 Firing Test No.1 (and refer outgoing message at the bottom).

So – taking all this into consideration when we hear certain comments or read in reports or memoirs about 2pdr HE; if it is prior to mid-1942 it does not mean what it appears to mean, it’s always talking about a type of anti-tank round. For example these (below) are all common references or comments I have come across and originally I and many others had interpreted them wrongly:

Small amounts of HE was available and used in France and Egypt in 1940…

…this is commonly interpreted as actual HE and proof the 2pdr had it pre-war – but it’s not – it is referring to the APHE round, the “AP Shell” colloquially referred to as “HE” above. So this just means there was a small portion of APHE rounds as well as AP, and why you might see references to their usefulness against trucks and soft vehicles (as both APHE and actual HE would be useful in this circumstance due to the explosive charge).

2pdr HE performance is poor…

…again this is referencing the “AP Shell” or anti-tank “HE” round in 1940, versus the solid AP “Shot” round; not an actual High Explosive HE round (and certainly not the actual HE produced from late-1942 onwards).

Large amounts of HE was available pre-war but never issued to the troops…

…again a reference to the APHE “AP Shell” or anti-tank “HE” rounds, as the issue around penetration concerns had originated pre-war, so despite the majority of ammunition available being this type it was issued to units in a much smaller minority than the solid “AP Shot” rounds. And there is some (anecdotal) suggestion it was envisioned to be used only when firing at armoured targets at close range (inside 300 yards); and solid AP “Shot” was to be used whenever firing at targets past 300 yards – but this isn’t definitively verified in documents.

So, as can be seen the issue is easily confused by people referring to reports from pre-war through to early 1942 that use this uniquely British terminology for the 2pdr ‘anti-tank’ rounds. And understandably so, when reports and war diaries refer to ‘HE’ ammunition (which no one would immediately assume was an anti-tank round) – hence the confusion! So when did the 2pdr actually get an proper conventional explosive HE round?

New 2pdr Ammunition Types

One of the problems appears to be that British records don’t always distinguish exactly what types of AP rounds are being produced and/or shipped – at least not unless they are fairly distinctive such as APCBC or APDS or you have access to the actual original shipment documentation. In general terms these are the key dates as I know them for new 2pdr Ammunition production and appearances:

September 1942 – At this time a supercharged APC round was provided “AP HV Shot” to endeavour to gain extra penetration (unknown if this was when production started, first deliveries arrived in theatre or it was first issued for use to combat troops). The penetration improvement over standard “AP Shot” (or it’s APC variant) appears minimal on paper – but may have been greater under real life conditions. The original uncapped rounds had had major problems with German Face-Hardened Armour in North Africa in 1941 until the APC round appeared (about early 1942 I think), so the “AP HV Shot” may have provided a more significant improvement again over that original APC round.

Late 1942 – The actual HE (High Explosive as we know it) rounds appear – I have always understood the first ones were issued in very small numbers just in time for 2nd El Alamein (i.e. late October 1942) but it may actually have been later (near the end of 2nd Alamein) and/or not been used in combat until Late November or December (so post-Operation Torch Landing date). Only 40,000 rounds were produced in 1942, so must have only been in production for a couple or so months in 1942 even assuming it took time to ramp up.

End of 1942 or Early 1943 – APCBC rounds which increased penetration about 15% on paper (at 500 yards about an extra 8mm ‘perforation’ over AP or APC) and probably was more pronounced in battlefield conditions. Production started end of 1942 so issued sometime early 1943 I expect (before end of Tunisian Campaign).

January 1943 – LittleJohn Mk.1 enters production; in May 1944 the Mk.2 replaces it in production. The LJ almost doubles the penetration of the 2pdr compared to the original “AP Shot” (or it’s APC variant).

So that’s essentially it – the reason for the confusion around the 2pdr ‘HE’ ammunition and the actual confirmed dates for the subsequent ammunition types. But it would be nice to definitively confirm the date the first combat units were issued with the HE, APHV (APCR), APCBC rounds and the LJ adapter (for completeness). And since a similar discussion has evolved around the 6pdr HE (to a lesser degree) I thought I would append the details of the 6pdr here as well, which you will find at the bottom of the page! But first some additional comment on 2pdr HE…

More 2pdr HE (Improvised)

A quick note on some other 2pdr HE ammunition – in the pacific both Australia and New Zealand improvised their own HE rounds. In Australia 40mm Bofors AA rounds had the projectile removed from the charge case and fitted to a 2pdr case that had had the AP projectile removed – creating a 40mm HE round. These were used by the Australian Matilda’s (and possibly 2pdr ATGs) in Papua New Guinea (from late 1942 I think). They did eventually get the official new 2pdr HE mentioned above – but not until late 1943 or early 1944 I believe.

In New Zealand, who had received large numbers of unusable M3 Stuart’s with mismatched turrets from the USA, the HE warheads off 37mm rounds were used; with brass spacer rings sweated over them to make them up to 40mm and then fitted to 2pdr cases the same as the Australian’s had done with their Bofors shells. These were used in the Solomon’s campaign by the squadron of NZ Valentines of 3rd NZ Division (and again possibly by 2pdr ATGs as well), plus the home defence tank brigade(s). Like the Australians the NZ Army in New Zealand did eventually get official 2pdr HE ammunition I believe, but it was even later in the war than the Australians, and possibly only in small amounts.

As an aside the Australians reportedly didn’t rate HE from 2pdrs or 3″ Howitzers in the PNG jungle – as it tended to prematurely detonate on the foliage while in transit. They apparently had a preference for using 2pdr AP Shot against MG Posts, log bunkers and similar. As a result they stripped the 3″ Howitzers off many of their Matilda CS tanks they had received and replaced them with Frog flamethrowers. Those redundant ex-Matilda 3″ Howitzers were then sent to New Zealand where the NZ Army found a way to mount them to Valentine tanks in modified 2pdr mounts; to create the only Valentine CS tank version used in the war. A couple of these Valentine CS tanks served alongside the NZ 2pdr armed Valentines in the Solomons in 1943-44.

6pdr Ammunition Types

6pdr ammunition is also very confusing and complicated, but for different reasons, as there were nominally 3 different barrel lengths or types of gun (basically 2 different calibers, each with a tank and towed versions, and the shorter one with and without a muzzle break nominally being the third different ‘length’); this totalling 5 marks of which a couple might or might not have muzzle brakes on the barrel; and then about 6-7 different anti-tank round types (and some of these with different variants for each gun barrel length due to velocity constraints). But ignoring that in general the 6pdr appeared initially at the end of 1941 with just a basic uncapped AP round like the 2pdr, then:

Sometime in second half of 1942 – HE (High Explosive) – about 5% of all ammunition production in 1942 was HE (the balance was APC) – but see note below. Likely only in production from about September or October given below notes. There is a small chance this may have entered service in very small amounts with the first combat units in Egypt nominally a few days/weeks before the 2pdr HE above did (depending on exactly when the latter did)…

October 1942 – Production of first APC ammunition commences. Possibly none delivered until 1943.

January 1943 – First APCBC rounds enter production. Unknown when first combat units received them.

October 1943 – Composite Rigid (APCR) ammunition enters production. Again first use by combat troops not known.

January 1944 – APDS ammunition approved and enters production. Probably in Italy about March-April 1944 and is with units in Overlord (Normandy June 1944).

With regard to 6pdr HE the following unit diaries, official histories, and memoirs refer to the first appearance of it:

8th Army, Egypt, November 1942 – Officially first delivery of 6pdr HE arrives in theatre at this time (end of Second Alamein battle) – about 20,000 rounds. Likely Crusader III equipped tank units got first dibs after 2nd El Alamein, along with Royal Artillery 6pdr Anti-Tank units involved in the pursuit of Rommel.

7th NZ Anti-Tank Regiment, 2nd NZ Division – North Africa 7 January 1943 – First HE rounds arrive for 6pdr on this date and Anti-Tank Regiment immediately begin experimenting with 6pdr ‘indirect fire shoots’ over the next day or so. 2nd NZ Division was likely a fairly high priority to get these in 8th Army (after the above) as it was one of the leading pursuit formations.

25 Army Tank Brigade – UK November 1942 – Churchills of the North Irish Horse received their first 6pdr HE and test fired it for the first time 19th & 20th November 1942 at Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk – before shipping out to Tunisia. They landed in Algiers on 2 February 1943 and used 6pdr HE extensively in the Tunisian hill fighting from then on.

Note that in Tunisia 21st Tank Brigade (the other Churchill formation with 6pdrs) only arrived March 1943, had not been issued HE before hand, didn’t get any issued once in Tunisia, and only saw a few weeks action with 4th Mixed Infantry Division – so all without 6pdr HE (compared to 25th Army Tank Brigades 3 months in action above). From memory this is also the Brigade with Churchill I tanks (2pdr & 3″ Howitzer) as their CS tanks as they had not been issued the newer Churchill V (95mm) that 25th Army Tank Brigade had – so they had inferior CS tanks and no HE for their 6pdr Churchill III & IV tanks. Do all this is what led to them retrofitting their Churchill’s as NA75 types using ex-Sherman 75mm guns.

Sources / Further Reading

These are some of the sources I’ve used over the last 30+ years sporadically researching this – the ones here are the most recent and/or easiest to access online (I will edit this post to add references for the others as I get opportunity to dig them out):

1. British Equipment of the Second World War: 2pdr Anti-Tank Gun
2. British Equipment of the Second World War: 6pdr Anti-Tank Gun
3. The Crusader Project: 2-pdr HE rounds – again [an example of the pre-war “AP Shell” being referred to as ‘HE’].
4. The Crusader Project: Some views on the Matilda II [another case of pre-war “AP Shell” referred to as ‘HE’ in reference to 7RTR on arrival in Egypt in 1940 the tanks had some high-explosive (HE) rounds available].
5. Axis History Forum: 2pdr, 6pdr and HE shells? thread.
6. NZETC 2nd New Zealand Divisional Artillery – 7th NZ Anti-Tank Regiment receive first 6pdr HE ammunition (see bottom of page).
7. Jeff Plowman articles in 1990’s on improvised New Zealand (& Australian) 2pdr ammunition.

On a closing note I do have in transit a copy of “A15 Cruiser Mk. VI Crusader Tank – A Technical History” by P.M. Knight – and this reportedly covers both 2pdr ammunition in detail and early 6pdr ammunition. So if there is anything new to shed on the subject hopefully this will have it!

There can be few tanks that have proved as controversial in their deployment as the Crusader, a tank that was invested with high hopes on its entry into service in 1941. This book investigates in unprecedented detail the issues that impinged on its service life. Drawing extensively on original archive sources, a new perspective is drawn on both the employment of the tank itself, and on British tank development of the era. The complex story that unfolds encompasses many interwoven and sometimes contradictory threads, allowing the author to reach both perceptive and surprising conclusions.

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