The 4.5" howitzer - an overlooked workhorse

On a more serious note than my last thread! I spotted this in an interesting models/toys/memorabilia shop just off Ashton market square (if you are ever in Ashton, the Manchester Regiment as was has its regimental museum on the other side of the market square - reccomended).

This was the mainstay of British medium artillery regiments on all fronts in WW1. In fact, it wasn't just the British who used it: enough were made for it to be extensively exported, and many Commonwealth nations (Australia, NZ, Canada, South Africa) received this weapon. Also, a thousand were exported to Russia.

I knew nothing of the weapon or its history when I bought the set: at the time i had a vague idea that it was used as a mountain gun by the Indian Army and wondered about representing it as broken down into its component parts and carred by mules. It might make a good diorama, set in Italy or Burma. Almost right... that was the smaller 3.7". And it took eight mules to carry the bits, a skilled crew could re-assemble the weapon in three minutes flat...

Anyway, the 4.5" soldiered on into WW2 and went into France with the BEF in 1939. The intention was to progressively replace it with the 25pndr or the 5.5", depending on need, as the new weapons came into service: for now, this WW1 relic had to soldier on. A goodly number of guns were lost in France, and the rest were held back for home defence. It was progressively relegated to crew training, and declared obselete in 1944 when the ammunition stocks finally ran out.

Elsewhere in the world, the 4.5" was used by the Indian Army in the Japanese war.British and Australian artillery units used it in the Malayan war, and in fact, one of the few reverses inflicted on the Japanese Army in the Malayan campaign was brought about by sustained fire from a battery of 4.5"'s.

Australian and New Zealand artillery units used this weapon, in a limted way, until supplies allowed for its replacement with the 25pndr's tropical version.

As for those thousand guns exported to Russia, many were still operational in June 1941, but how many survived Barbarossa is open to debate. I'm still trying to discover if the Soviets rechambered their 4.5's to fit a local calibre of ammo - it's very probable that they would have done, as Stalin prized quantity over quality and would not have tolerated losing a few hundred guns, just because the original British ammo had all been used up.

And finally, a hundred guns were sold to Finland in 1939 and saw action in the Winter War. The Finns even used them to up-arm captured BT-series tanks, using the 4.5" in a locally designed turret. (now there's a conversion...)

So a very versatile little model here!

So what's in the box for your six quid?

You get four sprues of parts to make up four gun models - that's £1.50 a howitzer. No crew figures - but given the sheer variety of possible end-users, why tie yourself down?

Uniquely for HäT, the parts are actually cast in modeller-friendly styrene (hard plastic) which means normal modelling techniques and handling will suffice.

Only six parts make each gun, but they build to quite a nice little representation of the original. the trick, I think, will be in the painting!

Zhukov,

An interesting history and as you say, opens up very many possibilities....

Harvey

Assembly is simple, but I have to say the exploded illustration on the back of the box offers no guidance as to where to attach the sighting mechanism. After some experimentation, I discovered a notch in the upright part of the sight that correspnds to the protruding stem of the barrel's trunnion. But this could perhaps have been made clearer.

Another construction point to be aware of is the rather flimsy nature of the axles and wheel stubs. It is advisable to widen the mounting points in the wheel hubs with the point of a scalpel before attaching: and those flimsy axles suggest to me that the completed model will need to be firmly attached to a base if it is to take any sognificant handling.

And the next stage is adding paint...

Hi M .Z , good start. Will see how this will pan out.

Johnny

Researching paint schemes appropriate to times, fronts and end users!

current thinking inclines to the following:

i) Finland (Winter War or Continuation War): disruptive three-colour dazzle scheme in grey, green and brown;

ii) Soviet Union: Leningrad front, 1941, in dark grey and green disruptive;

iii) Australia: New guinea, 1942, deep jungle green;

iv) Great Britain, BEF 1940, dark earth overall.

Current progress: all guns cut from sprues and assembled. No real problems with assembly other than ensuring the wheels set straight and level. Gun barrels will be drilled out as soon as I can find an appropriate drill bit. Gun assemblies and shields kept seperate for now.

Edited By Marshal Zhukov on 05/08/2012 22:19:32

MZ

Nice job, interesting to see four builds in one box. You've got to go with some kind of battery dio, no?

Cheers

Tim

Hi MZ. Sure coming along. Good work.

Johnny

Thanks, guys!

drilling out solid-moulded gun barrels makes a kit artillery piece so much more realistic to the eye:

next stage; undercoating.

EDIT: and, drat, the photograph has spotted a slightly wonky wheel (left hand gun) that i didn't.  Isn't that always the way? Will straighten this.

Edited By Marshal Zhukov on 08/08/2012 16:48:23