BL 7.2-inch howitzer

The BL 7.2-inch howitzer Mk.I and subsequent marks were a series of heavy artillery pieces designed by the United Kingdom at the start of World War II.

Background
The 7.2-inch (183 mm) was not a new design, but instead a re-lined version of the 8-inch (203 mm) howitzers dating from World War I. The carriage was a modernized version of that used on both the 8-inch howitzer and World War I, 6-inch gun. The weapons were a stop-gap measure to meet the urgent need for heavy artillery faced by the Allies early in World War II.

History
They managed to perform relatively well and were kept in service by the British until the end of the war, in their AGRA Units as parts of "Heavy" regiments to provide heavy fire support for British and Commonwealth troops. In action, each gun would be served by a crew of 10 men except for the Mark 6 versions, which required 12.

The BL 7.2 howitzer was unique, in that it was one of the few artillery pieces used by any side throughout World War II that relied on a triple mechanism of conventional hydraulic recoil tubes; brakes on the wheels; and wheel recoil ramps, to dampen the enormous recoil pressures when fired. Other artillery pieces still using this recoil mechanism were outdated leftovers from World War I.

Marks

 * Mk 1
 * Mk 1*
 * Mk 2
 * Mk 3
 * Mk 4
 * Mk 5
 * Mounted on a modified US 155 mm Long Tom carriage. Not introduced into service


 * Mk 6
 * Used a US 155 mm Long Tom carriage and a lengthened barrel; introduced into service in 1945. Retained until the early 1960s.



Operators
''See: "7.2-Inch Howitzer". British Artillery in World War 2.''
 * Newfoundland


 * Royal Artillery
 * 1 Heavy Regiment
 * 32 Heavy Regiment
 * 51 (Lowland) Heavy Regiment
 * 52 (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Regiment
 * 53 Heavy Regiment
 * 54 Heavy Regiment
 * 55 Heavy Regiment
 * 56 Heavy Regiment
 * 57 (later 166) (Newfoundland) Field Artillery Regiment
 * 58 Heavy Regiment
 * 59 (Newfoundland) Heavy Regiment
 * 60 Heavy Regiment
 * 61 Heavy Regiment
 * 75 Heavy Regiment
 * 171 Heavy Regiment
 * 171 Heavy Regiment