"David" high-velocity anti-tank gun

[Tony Williams]

A paragraph from Ian Hogg's "British and American Artillery of World War 2":

"An interesting derivative of the 2pdr was the Canadian "David" high-velocity gun. This was designed in 1942 and was essentially a 2pdr with an enlarged chamber and a 6pdr breech firing a round which comprised a 2pdr shot and a 6pdr cartridge case. Development was slow, because of problems in ammunition design. A gun and ammunition were sent to Britain for trials, but there were still in progress when the war ended. The project was finally abandoned, but it had yielded much useful information on high-velocity guns which proved useful in other applications".

You can see photos of the ammunition here.
The cartridge case is significantly wider and longer than that of the 40mm Bofors, which itself was slightly bigger than the cartridge for the British 2 pdr tank/anti-tank gun.

Does anyone know of a source of information or photos of this gun?

[rob love]

There was a "6 pounder" sitting in front of 2PPCLI when it was in Winnipeg, When they moved to Shilo, it too came to Shilo, located in front of the HQ area of their complex. As it turned out, it was on loan from the RCA Museum.
They had a large anniversary in 2014 , and wanted to tow it behind one of three carriers at displays that summer that they were attending. The tires were well past their prime, and they asked if we could install new tires. I was not full time at the museum yet, so volunteered to bring the old tires home, remove and sandblast the rims, install new tires and re-install them. Next thing they wanted it painted up. I offered them a 20 footer (looks good from 20 feet away) so I recovered the gun and gave it a quick sandblast. It was then that I noticed the bore was closer to 40mm rather than the 57mm of a 6 pounder. Also, a 6 pounder muzzle break that I had picked up off MLU was way too large for the end of the barrel. Also, the forward barrel clamp was too large. Looking at the barrel, it almost looked hodge-podged.....something was a little off about the area where the barrel tapered.

Anyway, I queried Doug Knight here in Canada. and he pointed out that it was likely "David".

PPCLI did not want it back, and I had intended to use it for some parades and displays with the museum myself, but it was sent out to the golf course to full-fill a request by them for lawn ornaments.

I sent some photos of it to Harold Skaarup, who has some terrific pages showing all the monuments in Canada. You will find it on this page, although it will be somewhat confusing since it is shown on the page as a "David" 2pr, and just below that entry it is still shown as a 6pr.

http://silverhawkauthor.com/artiller...useum_423.html

According to Doug Knight, it had a barrel life of about 150 rounds. if I recall. He has a paragraph or two about it in one of the Service Publications booklets on the 2pr.

[Tony Williams]

Many thanks Rob, that's great information - and a great site you've linked to!

[rob love]

Looking at the thread on BOCN that you linked to, I see there still exists an original round for this gun. I am not sure that we even have a round for it.

Could you imagine trying to identify something like that in the days before the internet?

[Ed Storey]

Here is a photograph of "David" when it when it was still parked beside the parade square at CFB Winnipeg in 1997. I wonder what happened to the brass plaque that was on the gun shield?

C317-25 (David).jpg

[rob love]

No idea about the plaque.....if you look at the photos of the gun on the link I gave, there is one with a plaque of some form sitting loose on the breech ring. That photo was taken here in Shilo before I worked on the gun, so if that was the plaque you were talking about, then it appears to have found it's way loose.

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by rob love

Looking at the thread on BOCN that you linked to, I see there still exists an original round for this gun. I am not sure that we even have a round for it.

Could you imagine trying to identify something like that in the days before the internet?

There are some paper data files available on the dimensions of 20+mm calibre cartridge cases, the best known being one by Bob Hawkinson in the USA. Even that doesn't include this round though - too rare. So yes, I have to admit that the internet is marvellously useful to those of us with obscure hobbies!

Do your sources say anything about the muzzle velocity achieved with different weights and types of projectile?

[rob love]

I have nothing on them. I guess Doug Knight would be the guy to get a hold of. I am guessing he got his information from Archives Canada.

Not sure if we have any information in the museum's library. It's a different building than the one I work in, so I don't have much to do with that stuff.

Perhaps if somebody has Doug's booklet on the 2 pounder in Cdn service, they could relate what information is in there.