[Mike Cecil]

Anyone interested in British artillery is probably aware of the book published by Frontline Books in 2017 by Stig Moberg titled 'Gunfire! British Artillery in World War II'. Overall, a very interesting book with a considerable amount of explanation and information on the principles of gunnery as used during WW2, British regimental, Corps and Army artillery unit structures, and other fascinating information. Some excellent analyses of various battles that the British Army's artillery played a role in including the Battles for France and Norway, El Alamein, Normandy, Arnhem, the Rhine Crossing and Burma.

Unfortunately, the translation of Stig's original 2013 work in Swedish into English has left some pretty cumbersome sentences that make reading a bit difficult. There are also some technical errors, such as stating that the 25-pdr charge 1 was the blue propellant bag whereas it was the red bag. He also continues with the commonly-used abbreviated nomenclature of 18/25-pdr for the Mk.1 25-pdr gun, but I was pleased to see the direct quote from General Auchinleck about the Norway campaign wherein the gun is referred to as the 25/18-pdr.

An intriguing aspect is the publisher's choice of dust jacket illustration. The Frontline books version which I have shows a colourised image of a medium BL howitzer during the Battle of El Alamein - a good choice. However the Pen & Sword version of the book has a dust jacket with what I assume is a colourised image of an Australian 25-pdr Short. It's an excellent image, as you can see below, but has nothing to do with the contents of the book.

Overall, the book has lots and lots of good info, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in artillery, especially British artillery.

Mike