Triple Polstens on a towed mount

[Ian Howes]

Hello All.

Can anyone help with more info on this towed mount for the triple Polsten AA gun.

[Neil Ashley]

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6473

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Here's a triple Polsten on a Crusader chassis - read more here https://flic.kr/p/29Fj8ap

[Hanno Spoelstra]

And a famous, original colour photo taken in the JUNO Area, NAN WHITE Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer - read more here: https://flic.kr/p/28LCSjA

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Looks like this one was truck-mounted:


Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205203226

[Hanno Spoelstra]

I think this is another truck mounted one: "A British triple 20mm anti-aircraft gun position guards the Bailey Bridge at Arnhem, 18 April 1945."

Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207121


Your second photo of one on a towed mount: "Mobile triple 20mm Oerlikon gun during an anti-aircraft artillery demonstration at Sheerness, 2 July 1943."

Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205199053


And another tank chassis mounted one: "Crusader AA tank mounting a triple Oerlikon gun in a hull-down position, 19 July 1944."

Note that these guns are often erroneously called Oerlikons - why would that be?

Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205206079

[Hanno Spoelstra]

One more on a CMP truck mount, The Netherlands 1944 (I think this is the bridge at Nijmegen):


Source: https://www.facebook.com/joelstoppel...nLaaTD7X9FZbul

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Note that these guns are often erroneously called Oerlikons - why would that be?

Probably because they used the 20mm Oerlikon round? (It was a simplified and much cheaper development of the 20mm Oerlikon - I think there were problems with the springs used in the Oerlikon, which needed a particularly high grade of steel, and that caused production bottlnecks.)

The Wikipedia article has the parts count reduced from 250 to 119 and a cost reduction from £350 to somewhere between £60 and £70 without sacrificing effectiveness or reliability.

Chris.