Smith Gun

Smith Gun and limber at The Royal Armouries, Fort Nelson.
Type	Artillery
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1940–1945
Used by	British Army, Home Guard, RAF Regiment
Wars	Second World War

The Smith Gun was an ad hoc anti-tank artillery piece used by the British Army and Home Guard during the Second World War. With a German invasion of Great Britain seeming likely after the defeat in the Battle of France, most available weaponry was diverted to the regular British Army, leaving the Home Guard short on supplies, particularly anti-tank weaponry. The Smith Gun was designed by a retired Army Major named William H. Smith as a makeshift anti-tank weapon, and was put into production in 1941 following a demonstration to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

The weapon consisted of a 3-inch (76 mm) smooth-bore barrel approximately 54 inches (1,400 mm) long mounted on a carriage and capable of firing both modified 3-inch mortar anti-tank and anti-personnel rounds. Despite the promising-sounding nature of the weapon, which at trials in ideal conditions achieved a maximum range of 1,600 yards (1,500 m) (attempts to increase maximum range to 3,000 yards (2,700 m) having been abandoned due to excessive recoil and consequent instability), it was generally regarded as a short-range weapon with an accepted maximum range of only 500 yards (460 m) and an accepted effective range of between 100 and 300 yards (90–270 m). Furthermore, it was heavy and awkward to manhandle, not simply to move around but also to tip over onto the correct wheel on firm level so it lay in, and remained in, the correct firing configuration.

It was also alleged to have developed 'a terrifying reputation for killing its crew' when finally issued in 1942, following production difficulties. When it was issued (mainly to Home Guard units and those units in the regular Army tasked with point defence, such as guarding airfields, ammunition shortages meant that on average these units only had six or seven modified mortar rounds per gun. Despite these limitations many Home Guard units developed an attachment to the weapon, some later claiming it was 'one of the best pieces of equipment ever issued to the force'.

With the end of the Battle of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a German invasion of Great Britain seemed likely. However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could only field twenty-seven divisions. The Army was particularly short of anti-tank guns, 840 of which had been left behind in France, and only 167 were available in Britain; ammunition was so scarce for the remaining guns that regulations forbade even a single round being used for training purposes.