120mm Battalion Anti-Tank Gun L2
 

I have just been lucky enough to acquire this very original and complete L2 BAT to add to the post war part of my collection, it is not restored but as it has a great patina to it I don't intend to do much too it apart from dressing it up.
My reason for posting on here with this is to find out if they were used by the Australian and Canadian Artillery and if so how long were they in service before being replaced by the Mobat.
Any info appreciated.

Rob.................rnixartillery collection

Hi Rob,

The L2A1 BAT had a rather odd service career in the Australian Army as a training weapon, and was never elevated to the position of the 'deployable' A/T weapon due to the limitations of the ammunition in tropical conditions. The L2A1 was superseded by the M40A1 106mm RCL in 1960. The BAT was then sent to store, and eventually disposed of.

The M40A1 (upgraded to A2) went on to serve the Army until the mid-1990s.

The MOBAT and WOMBAT were not used in the Australian Army, although at least one Aust BAT was converted to a similar configuration to a MOBAT.

Mike

Thanks for that Mike, it just paints a bigger picture to the guns service history.
I would be interested to find out if the L2's were used in Canadian service or were they using the American recoilless rifle ?

Cheers :cheers:

Rob.....................rnixartillery.

I never heard of them in Canadian use. We did use the 106 recoiless rifle from the 50s until the mid 80s. I was told there was an attempt to prolong their life into the 90s as a computer controlled weapon capable of indirect fire, however the project was scrapped.

I thought the Canadians adopted the American recoilless system but wanted someone in the know to say so, does the museum in Shilo have an example of the BAT Rob ? Its quite amazing to think that this was the replacement for the 17 pdr although it was down to the ammunition.

Thanks again

Rob....................rnixartillery.

No bats in the museum that I know of. There are a few variations of American recoiless rifles though.