ANTI-TANK GUNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 296, 13 December 1940, Page 4

ANTI-TANK GUNS.

MADE IN AUSTRALIA. ! i | RECORD INDUSTRY SPEED-UP 1l! V ; >- I M 1)N . 1),., -ember 7. II >- !I'v •i > lli.it tin- Hi'-t Au-ti.ili.ni I I' i' <-*l anti t.i iik 'j 1111 « ill mti kiit- .Ip|" •'« ru 11 -• • lniir ,iik| ,| 11.111 im i > 11111" •'lt'" lii-' receipt ..I drawing- . 111 • I speci-M-ation- ,i n,.u r .l I'mi | h'.'i 1 .111(1 I""" » "-ill's in \ll -1 r;i 11,11, , ,I,lm -1 i\ , \ u-i i .• li.in |„n,. |, - 1 r, ■:iI I \ in ,n 1.-,,-in hi -el-. in I' I " 'I't - "t til. 1 .1 -I 1 -1, I-111 Irj JII'I ,<_; |'e ~ . "'l'll 111 I " I'll 111.1.1'. 11l 111,. |. I I |-J, ~, I"i I' 111 li 11 t In- -i- .j ii 11 - In're. M.)II< It .1 <-• II ,i II \lls| |;l |i,| n i,||t | I- pa It of ,| \., JII'I .I' 11 11 i 1 |.|i.-i .1 IllllH' "I ol 11 | |;l in-,. hi, 1 In- l-'in |,ii r. All -1 i.i I i.i i- ,i| "'.nlv I -1111.11 n :i.7 .in.l :'>j 11 anti ainialt -in'-, ii Hi-- ,i ii, | in, | -|i i in' 1111 -. .i ml '"'t -'nil-, -in li ii 2.> |hi ml,, i , a ik| I»i' ii v 1111 ~. will t' • 110 w . >" i "in pr I i'ii i i- \ll -1 r.i li,i u workman -hip tli.it -on tin- -jiin-i now | ioii ri ii -j"'l' "I A ii-11 ii Ini ii \\oi'k-liops hre pre I■•' r I 11 I In- liiiti-li \ rin \ and l<'ov.il I' "i' l ' 1 i" -'in- "I' tin-' .>ii mi- t \ in.nil- Mi l.irj I.i nil. Deadly Weapon. I'll" •' til i I uik '.nil. t.,i \v 11 i,l i ii I m 1111 mi |nn,iti-l\ (i\\ 11 mi I fii in- in N'i-« South Wale*. \ n toriii ,in,| South \iMi'nlin nnI>ll - \ inn k i nir |init-, i- nn 111-1111-1 y powerlul mill dciidlv weapon of the latest Hi" i t ish Nrni.v model. It, fire* a -Hi -i'mi iirinoiii piercing shell. which is ' 1 1" "11 I" In- |>ii m 1111 i-i | in 1111:1111 it \ in Aii-I in I i.i ii in mi it i"ii filet ories. I hi- yim i™ so ni' w thiit it was |io - sible to '<111i|> tin- liiitish Army with "lily it -tmill number of I hem before tin- tli'iimins IkiMicli«-<I their olVen-ive in li-'i ii in lust .Mm \ . Indeed. Nt tli.it time tho only wetipon* the iufantrv |io--r<Hne<| in any mmibflV 1" oppose tanks wer« sjn-cial rifles ftiny lin lulllet-. A lift in lin m (h'ci-ioii to Imilil nntitnnk 'jiins of tin- new pattern vv.n (ir-t nii nowneetl by the .Ministry of Munitions Inmt June. According to a statetueiit. subsequently released hv the De part ment. of InforniH t ion. the plan en\ isuged tin? selection of n factory for assembling the jinn and the manufacture of the component parts in a large number of workshops spread over several States. 111 August the Prime Minister, Mr. Men/ies, announced that progress hud been so satisfactory that, there was every reason to believe that production time for these yrtins would constitute an Australian industrial record. Assembly in Adelaide. 'ieneral Motors-Holder*. Ltd.. wan appointed major eoordinnt contractor, with full responsibility for ensuring the manutacture of the yiin parts by snbcont rnctors in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Complete drawings of the «un readied Ml# firm in Oetober. by which time ati assembly plant had already been in stalled in Adelaide. About tit) linns were quickly allotted task*. and within a few weeks a great effort for the manufacturo of parts wan in full swing. The forging of the gun barrels got away from an even MUiier start. Large numbers of theui. turned out at an alloy steej work* in New South Wales, made their appearance several months ago, and the rate of output is now considered to be highly encouraging. Ihe gun is by no means ea»y to build. A few years ago it would have been thought beyond the manufacturing capacity of Australian workshops. It U a light weapon, capable of being moved into the firing line with great rapidity. Numbers of them have actually been transported from Egypt to Greece in heavy transport planes to oombat Italian tanks in Albania. The armour-piercing shell is fired at high velocity, with a flat trajectory. Painstaking attention had to he paid to the reeoil system. A buffer supplies th# braking action, and the gun is retiiiiicd to its original filing position after the shot by the recuperator.