Landships II

Paratus23 wrote:

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Hi,

can anyone tell me what kind of sights were fitted to male 6 pdr guns?  I haven't been able to find a photo that shows the sighting arrangement clearly.

At the Bovington Museum, I recall seeing a free standing hotchkiss 6 pdr, with a clamp on its left for a sight, but no sight fitted.  Perhaps sights were handy souveniers?  

Sights usually removed when any gun is abandoned (lighter than a breech block and makes it impossible to quickly bring it back into action against you) and if the gun is to be left unguarded in any case (not just because of the souvenier problem but because sights are expensive and relatively prone to damage etc.) They'd normally be stored seperately from the gun (not just tank guns but artillery in general). One piece of the gunners' equipment was often a soft strong bag to keep the sight in when the gun was  not in action

I also wonder why the slot in the gunshield extends all the way to the top.  Even if the gun were at full elevation, would it have been necessary for the sight aperture to extend to the top of the gunshield? 

If the sight is mounted behind the trunnions then if the gun is elevated to hit a target that is relatively close but positioned higher than the tank or if the gunner is shooting forwards whilst the tank itself is tilted downwards then although the sight actually sinks  the line of vision must remain basically parallel to the barrel so that if the barrel goes up to full elevation the sighting slot must at least be of the same height (possibly higher if the sight is mounted slightly higher than the barrel).

Was this simply for ease of manufacture?  It obviously opened a vulnerability, but must have been necessary as the design remained constant through various marks of tank.

Dave

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