4.2-inch chemical mortar

Doug Knight · #1 13-01-11, 21:33

Hi

The Canadian War Museum has two 4.2-inch Chemical Mortars M1 or M2. They both have Canadian Forces Registration Numbers - CFR xxxxx.
Does anyone know when the CF used them? I know the British 4.2-inch mortars were used by the MG regiments in WW2 and the RCA light batteries used the US 4.2-inch M30 after the war.

Doug

rob love · #2 13-01-11, 22:24

If you post the CFRs, it is possible they may still show up on the EDR viewer. Mind you, most of the guns that had CFRs started with 00 for the year, I can't say about mortars, so it may not work out.

Dan Martel · #3 22-01-11, 14:53

Doug,

You may have answered your own question. The batteries of 4RCHA used the mortars beginning in 1964 until replaced by the L5 pack howitzer in 1969. I don't believe they were ever used after this.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Dan.

lynx42 · #4 23-01-11, 01:26

Part of the agreement between the winning parties of WW1 at the signing of the Armistice Agreement in Versailles in 1919 was that there would never be chemical warfare used ever again. This was because of the terrible suffering caused to those survivors of the gassing etc. during WW1.

I have a pair of 4.2" Mortar bombs, still in their original box, along with the fuze wrappings,rope carrying handles and packing slips. These are clearly marked for mustard gas and have CHEM-42 stamped into them. These came to me recently from a visitor to my collection who did not know what to do with them. I had to have them checked out by the bomb squad from Canberra before I was able to keep them.

My brother was part of an army bomb disposal team about 20 years ago who had the job of disposing of hundreds of mustard 4.2" mortar bombs up in the Northern Territory.

There was plenty of experiments carried out on soldiers in the NT during WW2, to see what effects the mustard gas had on them. These are well documented. The poor buggers were badly burnt and suffered on until there died many years later.

I find it interesting that both Canada and Australia, parties to the Agreement through the British Empire in 1919, produced and were prepared to use chemical warfare during WW2.

Lynn Eades · #5 23-01-11, 02:37

Rules are fine, but when the goal is to win, and its life or death. Then the rules get suspended. Thats why the gas came into WWI in the first place. It was a bit of new technology that was supposed to help break the impass.

Ed Storey · #6 24-01-11, 02:58

Here are a couple of images of the mortar in Canadian use.

Scott Bentley · #7 24-01-11, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob love

If you post the CFRs, it is possible they may still show up on the EDR viewer. Mind you, most of the guns that had CFRs started with 00 for the year, I can't say about mortars, so it may not work out.

I checked the EDR.

Nothing in the way of Mortars unfortunately.

Scotty