ARmy Rumour SErvice

**Scorcher68** · 08-03-2012, 17:08

Any idea what caliber those guns are 5.25inch ?

**azimghur1990** · 08-03-2012, 18:24

Originally Posted by Scorcher68

Any idea what caliber those guns are 5.25inch ?

20mm its written on the brass plate

**Scorcher68** · 08-03-2012, 18:29

Oh sorry bout that I meant the ones at Wanstead doh !

**Pteranadon** · 09-03-2012, 09:54

Originally Posted by Scorcher68

Any idea what caliber those guns are 5.25inch ?

If tyou mean the Wanstead battery they look like 5.25" guns in a single mounting, unlike the light AA cruiser turret on top of Primrose Hill. The AA Command order of battle in the EH book only lisst 5.25" and 3.7" guns in the IAZ, so they are not some weird RN gun. The 5.25" were roughly comparable to the 128mm guns in the German flak defences.

**Scorcher68** · 09-03-2012, 10:07

Yep of course the light aa cruiser turret atop Primrose Hill are the same type as the dual purpose turret on a kgv battleship .Thanks for clearing that up for me I knew I recognised them from somewhere.

**AlienFTM** · 09-03-2012, 11:32

Originally Posted by Pteranadon

Great how the photographer caught the round coming out of the barrel. However, interpolating the round's track back to the gun then extrapolating it forward, it don't think that round is going to travel far enough to bring down any aircraft.

**the_boy_syrup** · 09-03-2012, 11:39

<Wha shield on > Is it firing Barrage Ballons or has my eysight gone?

What would the RAF Regiment be using then?
I thought they took alot of the AAA kit over on their formation.

**Pteranadon** · 09-03-2012, 12:47

Originally Posted by the_boy_syrup

<Wha shield on > Is it firing Barrage Ballons or has my eysight gone?

What would the RAF Regiment be using then?
I thought they took alot of the AAA kit over on their formation.

The RA had responsiblity for AA and took over the RE searchlight units early in the war. AA Command had 330,000 + troops at one point - and well before the RAF Regiment were formed. Barrage Balloons were aircraft and were operated by the RAF. The RAF Regiment provided LAA - 40mm and smaller calibre.

By the time the twin 5.25" Guns were installed the RAF regiment was being run down. The RAF Regiment were formed after Crete to deal with the threat of attacks on airfiuelds by airborne troops or raidrers. By 1944 the need was for trained infantry and the threat to airfields had diminished. At Monte Cassino the RAF Regiment hold a part of the line - but well away from the main action. They provide a lot of individual infantry replacments for Normandy. The RAF Regiment's finest hour is probably in Burma where they defend Mektila. By the end of the War they had "a fighting force of over 85,000 men serving in some 170 LAA and 70 field sqns." (RAF Regiment site)

**ugly** · 09-03-2012, 12:53

My Late Gt Uncle was Recce Pln sgt in the Cdn gren Gds (Armd) and described a british tank hull with an AA mount fitted, It was given to him after D Day and hed didnt like it!

**OllieReeder** · 09-03-2012, 15:18

With regards to the original question about self-propelled LAA, worth remembering that before the 20mm Crusaders were introduced, there was the Mk VI Light Tank modification with a quadruple 7.92mm Besa mounting. Doubtless sod all use, but...

I'm not sure that Wanstead ever actually upgraded to 5.25" HAA - not listed as such in Colin Dobinson's book, referred to by previous posters. There were only three twin 5.25" sites, each with a single turret: Primrose Hill, Wimbledon and Coldharbour Farm, and they were in service by early 1942. (So actually around the time the RAF Regiment was being formed.) The rest of the Admiralty weapons, single-barrelled, started coming on stream in 1943. What I had not appreciated was that one of the HAA Regiments, 131, was actually a dedicated concrete construction unit.