Artillery in Canada: 2-pounder QF anti-tank Gun

2-pounder QF Mk. X Anti-tank Gun

(IWM Photo)

Ordnance QF 2-pounder Anti-Tank Gun, UK, ca 1940. It was a 40 mm (1.575 in) British anti-tank gun and vehicle-mounted gun employed in the Second World War. In its vehicle-mounted variant the 2-pounder was a common main gun on British tanks early in the war, as well as being a typical main armament of armoured cars, such as the Daimler, throughout the war. As the armour protection of Axis tanks improved, the 2-pounder lost effectiveness and it was gradually replaced by the 57 mm QF 6-pounder starting in 1942. It equipped infantry battalion anti-tank platoons replacing their anti-tank rifles until in turn replaced by 6-pounders but remained in service until the end of the war. (Wikipedia)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3616609)

2-pounder AT Gun training, Perth Regiment, England, 11 June 1943.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607969)

Universal Carrier with 2-pounder gun, Camp Borden, ca 1941.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 339038)

Ordnance QF 2-pounder Anti-Tank Gun mounted on a Universal Carrier, on display alongside a Fairey Swordfish at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, 29 Sep 1944.

(IWM Photo, H 23836)

2-pounder anti-tank gun of 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment, Scotland, 3 September 1942.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3613160)

2-pounder AT Gun manned by Canadians training in the UK, ca 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3613165)

Jeep towing a 2-pounder AT gun in the UK, ca 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3608072)

Canadian solders training in the UK, ca 1940, with a 2-pounder AT gun towed by a jeep in the UK.

(Author Photo)

Ordnance QF 2-pounder Anti-Tank Gun, Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 517, Petawawa, Ontario.

The 2-pounder Mark 4 and 4A carriages were split-trail 6-pounder anti-tank gun carriages, with the cradle, slipper, and recoil system adapted to mount the 2-pounder Mk. 10 gun.  This allowed the 6-pounder carriage to get into production, while still using the 2-pounder gun.  Both Canadian General Electric and Regina Industries, Ltd, manufactured these carriages in Canada, and they were issued to training centres in Canada starting in December 1941.  The 5th Anti-tank Regiment, RCA, received 2-pounders on Mk. 4 carriages in April 1942.  British production of the 6-pounder was delayed after Dunkirk because they had to keep the 2-pounder in production, so Canada began manufacturing its own first (by a month or so).  We went straight to the 6-pounder carriage and adapted the 2-pounder to it as a temporary fix.  (Doug Knight)

Tank, Infantry, Mk. III, Valentine

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3195889)

An Army trooper and one of the workmen discussing the firepower of a Valentine tank built in the Angus workshop in Montreal, 23 May 1942.

More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production. It was built under licence in Canada, most them being supplied to the USSR. Developed by Vickers, it proved to be both strong and reliable, which was unusual for British tanks of the period. To develop its own tank forces, Canada had established tank production facilities. An order was placed in 1940 with Canadian Pacific and after modifications to the Valentine design to use local standards and materials, the production prototype was finished in 1941

Canadian production was mainly at the CPR Angus Shops in Montreal and 1,420 were produced in Canada, of which 1,388 were sent to the Soviet-Union. The remaining 32 were retained for training.

The use of local GMC Detroit Diesel engines in Canadian production was a success and the engine was adopted for British production. British and Canadian production totalled 8,275, making the Valentine the most produced British tank design of the war.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3195884)

Workman finishing assembly of a Valentine tank at the Angus Workshop in Montreal, 23 May 1941.

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(UK Govt Photo)

Valentine Infantry Tank Mk. III.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 31925884)

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Valentine Infantry Tank Mk. III, under construction in Montreal, 23 May 1941.  (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 31925884)

The Valentine Infantry Tank Mk. III built by the CPR Angus Shops in Montreal, Quebec, was designed for the support of infantry in attack.  It entered production in England in 1940 and in Canada in 1941.  The first examples of this tank with a three-man turret went to the Canadian Armoured Fighting Vehicles Training Centre at Camp Borden where they were used for gunnery and tank commander training.  1,390 Canadian produced Valentines were sent to Russia, while 30 remained in Canada for trials and training.  Valentines were powered by a General Motors 6-cylinder, 2-cycle Diesel Engine and equipped with three-wheel Bogie assemblies.  Its main armament was an Ordnance QF 2-pounder Mk. IX gun and a .30-calibre Browning M1919A4 machine-gun co-axially mounted on the mantlet.  War department numbers for the 30 Valentines in Canada ran from CT-138916 to CT-148945.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3192517)

Brigadier Kenneth Stuart, D.S.O.,M.C., and others inspecting the first Canadian-built tank, the Valentine Tank, at the Angus Shops of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Montreal, 27 May 1941.

(Balcer Photo)

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(JustSomePics Photos)

Valentine Mk. III Infantry tank, Base Borden Military Museum, CFB Borden, Ontario.

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(Author Photo)

Valentine Infantry Tank Mk. VII, (Serial No. WD T1445), recovered from the Ukraine. Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario.

Ram tank

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3554045)

Ram Mk. I armed with the early 2-pounder gun in 1941  This was the first of these tanks built at the Montreal Locomotive works.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3525210)

Ram I tank with a 2-pounder gun and crew, 5th Canadian Armoured Division, Aldershot, England, 24 Dec 1942.

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