Английская Википедия:Boys anti-tank rifle

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Infobox weapon

Файл:Swedish Winter War volunteers.jpg
Swedish volunteers in the Winter War carrying Boys anti-tank rifles
Файл:ARMY TRAINING 001 013-0.55 inch Boys Anti-tank rifle.jpg
British soldiers training with the Boys anti-tank rifle
Файл:THIS MAN IS YOUR FRIEND. ENGLISHMAN - NARA - 515792.tif
American World War II propaganda poster featuring a British soldier carrying a Boys anti-tank rifle.

The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes") was a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the "elephant gun" by its users due to its size and large Шаблон:Convert bore.Шаблон:Sfn

There were three main versions of the Boys: an early model (Mark I) which had a circular muzzle brake and T-shaped monopod, built primarily at BSA in England; a later model (Mk I*) built primarily at the John Inglis and Company in Toronto, Canada, that had a rectangular muzzle brake and a V-shaped bipod; and a third model made for airborne forces with a 30-inch (762 mm) barrel and no muzzle brake. There were also different cartridges, with a later version offering better penetration.Шаблон:Citation needed

Although adequate against light tanks and tankettes in the early part of the war, the Boys was ineffective against heavier armour and was phased out in favour of the PIAT hollow charge weapon mid-war.

Design and development

The firearm was developed by Captain Henry C. Boys, Assistant Superintendent of Design—1885-1937, who was a member of the British Small Arms Committee and a designer at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield. It was initially called Stanchion but was renamed after Boys when he died a few days before the rifle was approved for service in November 1937.[1]

A bolt action rifle fed from a five-shot magazine, the weapon was large and heavy with a bipod at the front and a separate grip below the padded butt.Шаблон:Sfn In order to combat the recoil caused by the large Шаблон:Convert round, a muzzle brake was fitted on the barrel while the receiver was allowed to slide along the frame with a shock absorber attached to the rear of the rifle. The Boys had been designed with numerous small narrow-slotted screws of soft steel set very tight into the body of the weapon and its repair and maintenance proved difficult.[2]

The .55 Boys cartridge was an adaptation of the .50 BMG[3] with a belt added firing a Шаблон:Convert bullet. At its introduction, the weapon was effective on light armour Шаблон:Convert thick at Шаблон:Convert.[4]

Two main service loads were used during the Second World War: The W Mark 1 a Шаблон:Convert AP projectile fired at Шаблон:Convert, and the W Mark 2 ammunition, Шаблон:Convert AP at Шаблон:Convert. The W Mark 1 could penetrate Шаблон:Convert of armour at Шаблон:Convert,[5] about the thickness used on the frontal armour of a half-track or armoured car, or the side or rear armour of a light tank. Later in the conflict, a more effective round was developed, the W Mark 2, which fired a tungsten-cored projectile at Шаблон:Convert. The Boys' effective range against unarmoured targets (for example, infantry), was much greater.

Despite its recoil slide and rubber-cushioned buttpad, the recoil of the weapon (along with noise and muzzle blast) was said to be painful, frequently causing neck strains and bruised shoulders. Consequently, the Boys was almost never fired as a free weapon (that is, not affixed to a support) except in emergencies.[2]

Operational use

The Boys rifle was used in the early stages of the Second World War against lightly armoured German tanks and combat vehicles. Britain also supplied a large number of Boys anti-tank rifles to Finland in 1939 and 1940 during the Winter War with the Soviet Union. The weapon was popular with the Finns because it could deal with Soviet T-26 tanks, which the Finnish Army encountered in many engagements.[6]

Although useful against early German and Italian tanks in France and North Africa, as well as in the Norwegian campaign, such as the Panzer I, Panzer II and early models of Panzer III, increases in vehicle armour during the Second World War left the Boys largely ineffectual as an anti-tank weapon. A shortened version was deployed in 1942 for issue to airborne forces and saw use in Tunisia, where it proved completely ineffective because of the reduced velocity caused by the shortened barrel.[7] A further limitation was that the Boys rifle was relatively heavy and unwieldy to carry.

The Boys' reputation after the Battle of France was such that the Canadian government, through the Directorate of Military Training, The Department of National Defence and National Film Board of Canada (NFB) commissioned a training film, Stop That Tank! (1942), from Walt Disney Studios to counter the rifle's "jinx" reputation.[8]Шаблон:Efn

Nonetheless, in the European theatre, it was soon replaced by the PIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) in 1943, which first saw service during the Allied invasion of Sicily. In other roles, the Boys saw some use against bunkers, machine gun nests and light-skinned vehicles but was rapidly replaced in British and Commonwealth service, as quantities of the latter weapon became available, by the U.S. .50 BMG calibre M2 Browning machine gun.Шаблон:Citation needed

Using armour-piercing (AP), armour-piercing incendiary (API), and armour-piercing incendiary tracer (APIT) ammunition, the .50 Browning was just as capable in armour penetrationШаблон:Efn and more devastating when igniting thin-skinned vehicles using incendiary rounds than the Boys, and could also serve as an effective anti-aircraft weapon. The heavier Browning, however, was not "man-portable" at Шаблон:Convert without tripod and Шаблон:Convert with tripod. Even the British Special Air Service, which made much use of captured or cast-off weapons for their jeeps and reconnaissance vehicles, quickly got rid of their Boys rifles in favour of M2 Brownings or the Italian 20mm Breda cannon.Шаблон:Citation needed

The weapon was standard issue to British and Commonwealth forces which attempted to stem the Japanese onslaught through the Pacific theatre. At Milne Bay, the weapon proved completely ineffective.Шаблон:Citation needed It also failed to stop Japanese tanks in MalayaШаблон:Citation needed. Some accounts claim that the 1/14th Punjabi Regiment knocked out two light Japanese tanks at a roadblock.[7] During the Battle of Singapore, the 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regiment claims the Boys was very useful in knocking holes through walls during street fighting.Шаблон:Citation needed After the war in the Pacific, the gun was used by the Royal Malay Regiment to fight against communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency.[9]

The U.S. Marine Corps purchased Canadian Boys rifles prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. They saw limited use by the Marine Raider Battalions against enemy bunkers and aided in the destruction of two seaplanes off Makin Island.Шаблон:Sfn The U.S. Army's 1st Ranger Battalion was also equipped with Boys, but they were not used in combat. The other five Ranger battalions were authorized Boys, but were not equipped with them.Шаблон:Citation needed

The Boys rifles used by the Kingdom of Greece during the Greco-Italian War and Greek Civil War.1,786 Boys 14mm British anti-tank rifles were ordered from Greece for the direct anti-tank protection of the infantry. However, from the beginning and during the war, only 122 of them reached Greece.

The Boys rifles were also used by the Chinese Nationalist Army during the late Second Sino-Japanese War in both China and Burma.[10]

The Boys rifle was also equipped and used by the Philippine Army and Philippine Constabulary during the Second World War against the Japanese occupation and to aid the Allied liberation. In the post-Second World War era, it was operated during the Hukbalahap Rebellion against the Hukbalahap Communist fighters in Central Luzon[6] and by the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFTOK) against the North Korean and Chinese Communist forces.[6]

In September 1965, members of the IRA hit the British fast-attack patrol boat HMS Brave Borderer with a Boys rifle, crippling one of her turbines while she was paying a visit to Waterford, Republic of Ireland.Шаблон:Sfn

Performance

The contemporary training manuals for the Boys directed that it was for protecting the platoon against light armoured fighting vehicles: penetrating "their armour up to about 500 yards range" and "inflict casualties on their crew, although it may not seriously damage the vehicle itself."[11]

A manual on the Boys published for the Home Guard in 1944 gave the expected performance against armour ranging from 0.91 in (22.3 mm) at 100 yards square on to 0.35 in (8.8 mm) at 500 yards hitting at a 40 degree angle. The manual also noted that maximum penetration against other materials was Шаблон:Convert of brick walls and Шаблон:Convert of sandbags.[12]

Users

Vehicle mounting

The Boys Rifle was sometimes mounted on vehicles such as the Universal Carrier ("Bren Gun Carrier"), Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and the Morris CS9, Standard Beaverette and Rolls-Royce armoured cars.[1]


See also

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist Шаблон:Notelist

References

Citations

Шаблон:Reflist

Bibliography

Шаблон:Refbegin

Шаблон:Refend

External links

Шаблон:Commons category

Шаблон:WW2 Brit Comm Infantry Guns Шаблон:BritishEmpireWeapons Шаблон:Anti-Tank Rifles

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  1. ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 Шаблон:Harvnb
  2. ↑ 2,0 2,1 Шаблон:Harvnb
  3. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  4. ↑ Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок Boys Anti-Tank Rifle Training Manual 1942 не указан текст
  5. ↑ 1942 Pamphlet, Appendix, Table 1.
  6. ↑ 6,0 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6 Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок TanksEncyc не указан текст
  7. ↑ 7,0 7,1 Шаблон:Harvnb
  8. ↑ Шаблон:Cite magazine
  9. ↑ 9,0 9,1 Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок Malaya не указан текст
  10. ↑ 10,0 10,1 Шаблон:Cite book
  11. ↑ Small Arms Training Volume 1, Pamphlet No. 5 Anti Tank Rifle. 1937 (updated 1939), p. 5.
  12. ↑ Boys Anti-tank Rifle - Mark 1 1944. Gale and Polden Ltd., p. 7.
  13. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  14. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  15. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  16. ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb
  17. ↑ 17,0 17,1 Шаблон:Harvnb
  18. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  19. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  20. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
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