In SP the 17 Pounder ATk gun becomes available in Sept 1943, which may be about the right for the Mk I on Mk I carriage, but one hundred 17 Pounders (hastily mounted on 25 Pdr carriages) were rushed to North Africa in early 1943, and saw action in Feb or March 1943.
These ad hoc guns were called “Pheasants”.
Apparently these guns went on to serve in Sicily and Italy. But I also read that their rate-of-fire was lower than the regular 17 Pounders.
Do you think we should have 17/25 Pdr Pheasants in the British OOB; and if so perhaps they should have a lower RoF than the regular 17 Pdrs?
17-pdr Mk 1, design of this 3-inch gun started in early 1941 and deliveries started, covertly, to N Africa at the beginning of 1943. The first 100 guns were mounted on 25-pdr carriages and called carriage 17-pdr Mk 2.
http://nigelef.tripod.com/anti-tank.htm
The Anti-tank Regiment also underwent numerous modifications. From early 1943 it had thirty two towed 6-pdr and sixteen towed 17-pdr guns.
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http://www.bayonetstr...0to%201945.htm
A prototype production line was set up that spring, and with the appearance of Tiger I tanks in North Africa, the first 100 prototype 17-pdr anti-tank guns were quickly sent off to help counter this new threat. So great was the rush that they were sent before proper carriages had been developed, and the guns had to be mounted in the carriages of 25-pounder gun-howitzers. These early weapons were known as 25/17-pounders and given the codename Pheasant. They first saw action in February 1943.
http://anonymous-generaltopics.blogs...7-pounder.html
Royal Ordnance factories received an order for 100 prototype guns and a small production line was set up. But with the appearance of the German Tiger tank in the Fall of 1942, -efforts were speeded up. As the gun was ready before the carriage, the first weapons were mounted on the 25 Pounder carriages. These entered service in North Africa in February 1943.
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.co...o/cb35024.html
In response to the appearance of Tiger I’s in Tunisia, 100 17 Pdr guns were flown to North Africa and mounted on 25 Pdr field gun carriages. They first saw action during the Medinine battles in March 1943. Surprisingly, the somewhat worn out field gun carriages held up amazingly well to the additional pounding of an AT gun.
http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/...pmpheasant.htm
Cross