Can Anyone ID an SP

[David Dunlop]

The current Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Canadian LEGION Magazine has a photo on the top of page 52 of a Canadian SP Anti-Tank Gun in action in Italy in 1944. Can anyone ID this vehicle who may have seen it in the mag?

I know...I should have bought the mag to scan but it was lunch time and I was in a rush to get to the bar!

[Roger Lucy]

The photo captioned "Canadian anti-tank vehicle fires at enemy positions across the Savio River, fall 1944."? It's a Valentine Archer 17-pdr SP.If it looks odd, it's because the gun fires over the rear deck.

[Ed Storey]

SP Anti-Tank, 17-Pdr mounted on a Valentine chassis. The gun points to the rear and fires over the rear deck, the driver is facing the front.

[Ed Storey]

Are fast at the posting. The trick now is identifying the unit....

[John McGillivray]

Originally Posted by edstorey

Are fast at the posting. The trick now is identifying the unit....

7th A/t Regt of the 1st Cdn Corps Artillery.

[David Dunlop]

Thank you gentlemen for clearing that up so quickly.

Must say, it's a very odd vehicle considering the ass of an AV is usually one of it's weakest points and one would usually try and avoid pointing it at the enemy.

Seems rather like it was designed for an Armoured Corp planning a campaign of full retreat!

[Kent Aist]

The driver can't be in his seat when they fire or he will lose his head to the recoil.

Kent

[David Dunlop]

Well now I have to go back to the magazine stand and have a closer look at that photo. I thought I saw someone in the area of the driver's seat while the gun was supposedly in action, unless it was the driver who had assumed a new position as part of the gun crew and that just happened to be in close proximity to the driver's position. I would think the crew would fancy him close to the vehicle's controls in case they had to relocate in a hurry.

Somehow, the German approach to SP Artillery seems so much more logical!