The Enfield designed BOYS ANTI-TANK RIFLE in .55 calibre

It will have been seen that the practicality of an equivalent conveyor system for the 15mm BESA gun was also under consideration,

and its future would rest on the success, or otherwise, of the system for the Boys ATR.

The comprehensive Trials' Reports memorandi can be viewed separately from this link. These letters date between April and August 1940.

A North American equivalent to the Parker-Hale conveyor was manufactured in Canada by the Cooey Machine & Arms Company.

In his reference book "The Lee-Enfield Story", Ian Skennerton refers to that company producing "77,000 aiming tube conveyors which enabled .22-in. R.F. ammunition to be used in the Boys anti-tank rifle for training". Actually, the Cooey conveyor was not strictly speaking an aiming tube system, which might also have afforded magazine-fed firing practice, and such a sleeve would have been a full-length rifle barrel in its own right, with an outside diameter of a nominal half-inch, that remained in place in the parent barrel during loading.. However, the difference between the Boys' adaptation and the "303" cum 22" conveyor was that the Boys' model had a rifled bore instead of a smoothbore one, and the .303 conveyor for the SMLE fed the .22 bullet into a .22 barrel, although the .303 P-H conveyor for the Vickers machine gun did fire the .22 bullet straight down the .303 barrel - at very short range though. So, what's in a name?.

To recap', the Cooey conveyor - shown right - closely resembled the Parker-Hale design, which also fired the .22 round through the .55 barrel, the bore-length of the conveyor being sufficiently great to approximate the accuracy of a short-barrelled .22RF pistol, perfectly adequate for miniature range use. Although Parker's much earlier version of their ".303 cum .22" conveyor, when used for miniature range practice with the Vickers or Lewis Machine Guns, utilised no tube or sleeve, merely firing the .22RF round through the .303CF barrel's bore; not the most accurate system, even at the twelve yards range at which it was normally used, but most useful for the training and assessment of budding Machine Gun operators.

We illustrate both a drawing of the Cooey conveyor, and a mocked-up sectional representation showing the .22RF cartridge at the approximately correct scale. It will be seen that, like the Parker-Hale version, the Canadian version used a separate firing-plug with double firing-pins to distribute the striker pressure evenly across the rim of the .22RF cartridge. In the past, similar rimfire adaptors have been bored eccentrically to permit striking of the rim by a centre-fire firing pin, but this necessitates constant radial orientation of the adaptor in the parent chamber.

Image by courtesy of the late E. Molyneux

Image by courtesy of the late A.O. Edwards

Another little known training arrangement for Canadian use of the Boys ATR was the adaptation of two obsolete .303 service rifles to replicate the ATR. The first rifle so adapted was the Canadian's own design of straight-pull Ross rifle the bolt action of which bears a realistically close relation to that of the Boys ATR - each being of straight-pull action with a helically operated rotating bolt-head utilising a forward-locking interrupted thread. The second rifle so adapted was the Magazine Lee-Enfield - otherwise long out of service on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Again, these training rifles would have permitted comparatively realistic practice on standard military ranges either at the very few hundred yards at which the real ATR would be employed, or on the short 30 yard practice ranges. The use of these converted obsolete rifles would also have prevented the retention of genuine Anti-Tank rifles for training when they were urgently needed elsewhere. This is a factor that, early in the War, may have played a part in the fairly restricted employment of both the .22 adapters and the proposed .55/.303" CF practice round discussed further down this page.

Below is a facsimile of the drawing for the Ross rifle's adaptation, with apologies for the poor and distorted reproduction

reconstructed from a badly torn and crumpled document, and on which we eventually hope to be able to improve.

Above, the .303 Ross Service rifle has been given a butt-extension with a curved butt-plate akin to that of the .55 calibre Boys ATR. A bridled sheet-steel support plate for the extension also carries the required pistol-grip behind the trigger-guard of the Ross. A Boys style wooden cheek-piece has been added over the support plate on the left-hand side of the butt-stock, the new extension for which has the hand-hold for the firer's left hand bolted underneath. A Boys-like mono-pod has been fitted to an additional barrel-band forward of the barrel reinforce. Regrettably, the sighting arrangements are not entirely clear in the drawing, and may, or may not, accommodate the left-hand offset to be found on the issued .55" Boys ATR, on which the large top-mounted Bren style magazine interferes with an over-bore sight-line.

A separate cross-sectional side-elevation of the butt, on the right of the drawing, shows "part J" as being a glued wood joining-piece locating the butt-stock extension to the Ross's original butt.

The second adaptation of the Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle. The conversions were undertaken, in early 1942, in the Ordnance Workshops at Esquimalt, the Canadian Forces coastal Base in British Columbia. By the 23rd. of January that year, just five of the converted rifles had been shipped, off issue order reference number 4-2861, to the District Ordnance Officer for the Military District No.7 at Saint John.

As the letter above declares, other more pressing matters in the Pacific theatre were then delaying production of these obscure training rifles. 

Should you hold any information relating to these rifles we would be delighted to hear of it in the interests of our readers.

Please contact 

Miniature-Calibre-Rifles@rifleman.org.uk

A little known modification to some Boys anti-tank rifles was undretaken in 1940. Both the Allied and Axis forces held significant stocks of various poison gas weapon agents, including the Japanese, who had used mustard gas against the Chinese in Manchuria between the mid 1930s and early in WWII. With the distinct possibility of the deployment of poison gas during WWII, despite their use being banned by the Geneva Convention, many protective systems had been developed. Mustard gas, or its updated version, Lewisite, were the most likely to be used; indeed, even Britain had last resort plans to deploy mustard gas on the coast in the event of an invasion.

Apart from the obvious need to protect personnel from an attack by the use of specialist breathing apparatus and clothing, an ongoing problem was the subsequent decontamination of equipment, which could not be safely handled until washed with a chlorine based solution. Such equipment particularly included small arms, and a specialist neutralising paint was prepared which could be painted onto weapons. The main ingredients were probably chloride of lime and magnesium oxide which provide both absorption and neutralization properties, and were also used as a finely ground decontamination powder for spreading onto polluted articles. One weapon, originally coated in this way, is a Mk.1 Boys anti-tank rifle which is held in the National Firearms Collection. The rifle (ref: PR.1549; serial number B7399) still carries remnants of this unusual green paint.

The US Marine Corps "Raiders", the American equivalent of the British Commandos, carried the British Boys ATR in their clandestine campaigns against and behind Japanese lines in Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands and other Pacific theatres of World War II between 1942 and 1943. Subsequent to the high-level decision to set up 'special' service raiding units for the Pacific theatre, during mid 1941, two US Officers were sent to observe British Commando units, their training and equipment. The Marine Corps' weapons inventory, as well as their own standard issue Springfield rifle, Thompson sub-machine gun in .45 calibre and the ubiquitous Browning automatic rifle (BAR) became inclusive of the Boys ATR Mk.1* of Canadian issue and Inglis manufacture. Another interesting addition to that inventory, probably directly as a result of that time spent with the Commandos, was their own licensed manufactured Fairbairn-Sykes British Commando dagger to complement the Bowie style knife already issued

One notable action, in which a pair of Boys anti-tank rifles were employed, involved the destruction of two troop-carrying Japanese flying-boats bringing opposition forces to Butaritari to counter the US Marine Corps raid on Makin Island. Both were hit on landing just off-shore, one bursting into flames and the larger four-engined Kawanishi aircraft " made a desperate attempt to take off again, but was riddle by fire as it rose from the water, staggeed and crashed "*

The Boys rifle was also used in early sniping trials by the U.S military, involving examples converted for use with .50 calibre ammunition, presumably because the rifle's configuration was considered possibly to be suitable as a heavy caliber sniper rifle. The conversion involved the fitment of an M2 barrel and a telescopic sight. In his book "Sniper one-on-one", Adrian Gilbert wrote "Reasonably accurate shooting at ranges over a thousand yards was possible" .

It is known that the Boys ATR was used against German midget submarines near the Belgian coast during WWII, where one, returning to base part-surfaced along a canal, was fired on from adjacent cover. The vessel submerged, but the pilot/skipper was found further upstream floating in his lifejacket having

One of the last recorded combat uses of the Boys ATR was noted by Michael Haugen in his piece entitled Hard Target Interdiction. He wrote

"Another weapon to come out of the Korean war was the Boys Anti-tank rifle converted to .50 caliber by Ralph Walker of Selma Alabama who was stationed on Formosa (Taiwan). The .55 caliber Boys rifle was fitted with a M2 barrel and tested with varied results (mainly due to ammunition). These rifles were used against the Chinese throughout the war with decent results at ranges up to 1100 yards. "

The Mk.I brake was the circular device shown here, with three slots on its circumference at sixty degree spacing. One shortcoming of this design was that it required disassembly for thorough cleaning, needed oiling when not in use, but thourough wiping-out before use. The main problem, however, was that the efflux gasses were direct downwards as well as up and to the side. Whilst dust or other matter could inconveniently be blown into the face of the firer, the fact that a dust cloud could give away the firer's position was even more likely to give him cause for concern. The muzzle-brake of the Mk.I* was a rectangular block with the rear-ward slanting gas vents directed horizontally either side. We hope shortly to be able to bring you images of the later mark.

The image right shows the original .55-in. calibre,

proof an inspection marks on the barrel reinforce,

and below are the marks on the receiver.

This rifle appears to have been originally manufacture in 1939, and refurbished in 1943.

T

he BSA Piled Arms logo is just visible low left, with a number of factory inspector's identifying stamps being present.

The rear-sight mounting dovetail in

the LHS of the receiver is clearly

evident.

Left, the rifle's designation "R.B.Mk 1" (Rifle, Boys, Mk.I) is heavily stamped into the left-hand frame rail along with its serial number. The magazine release lever is in the upper right of the image with the raised bolt-handle showing behind. The lever is sprung rearwards and only requires a thumb-push forward to release the magazine, which has to be lifted at the rear to remove, it being fitted with locking lugs at the front which engage under a ledge in the receiver's magazine well.

Instructions are cast into the bottom of the receiver to remind armourers not to cramp the action across the open base of the receiver, through which empty cartridge-cases simply drop clear after extraction on opening the bolt after firing.

Below are shown the Boys' bolt, with a .50 calibre Browning round held in the extractor, and a Lee-Enfield No.4 rifle bolt with a .303in. drill-purpose round for comparison. The magazines for both rifles are also at top and bottom of the image. The large ringed cocking-piece permits a good pull to be applied by a finger to counter the considerable weight of the striker spring. It is just large enough to accommodate the finger of a lightly gloved hand, along the lines of the Schmidt-Rubin Swiss service rifle.

It is also worth comparing the bolt-head of the Boys rifle with that of the .303 'straight-pull' Ross rifle, which is similarly configured with an interrupted-thread forward bolt-locking arrangement.

Note the B.S.A. 'Piled Arms' logo stamped into the lug of the bolt-head spacer.

and the specific instructions stamped into the ejector bar - "REMOVE FIRST - ASSEMBLE LAST"

A Mark II rifle was also produced for use by airborne troops, and one can read differing reports as to its calibre. One describes the rifle as using the same .55 calibre case necked down for a .303 calibre armour piercing bullet to increase velocity and penetration, whilst another report states that the .55/.303 round was not developed in an attempt to increase velocity, but as a means to permit training use of the ATR on the great number of standard .303CF rated ranges available. The latter is certainly true, and the subject is covered in detail on the page for the .55/.303 calibre Boys anti-tank training rifle. Whatever the truth of the matter regarding the airborne model's calibres, the Mark II barrel was shortened to 30 inches and the "harmonica" muzzle-brake lightened, but being still of considerable weight, and with even more horrendous recoil, this weapon was practically excluded from advancement into full service. We have made available a page illustrating the Lightened Airborne model of the Boys anti-tank Rifle.

In his book "British Small Arms of World War II" (ISBN 0 949749 09 5) Ian Skennerton quotes figures indicating that the Birmingham Small Arms Company produced justy two experimental Boys ATRs in .55/.303 calibre. One was manufactured in December 1942, and the other in July of the following year (although he comments on the possibility of these being one and the same rifle). Additionally, as related in the previous paragraph, a "Boys .55/303 sub calibre rifle" had been produced considerably earlier, in mid December 1938. We have recently been able to record the form that this took, on our new page for the Boys .55/.303 calibreTraining Rifle. On the same date, an "Air rifle device for the Boys rifle" was noted to have been produced but details of this unit have yet to be discovered in the Royal Armouries archives, and an example has not been identified in the National Firearms Collection. Should you have any information about this, please contact us.

The very earliest (pre-amendment) 1937 edition of the Small Arms Training Pamphlet No.5 for the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle carries a paragraph on page 6 stating that

We are able to show the image below of the .55/303 cartridge by courtesy of (the now late) A.O. (Tony) Edwards, author of several publications on British military cartridges and small-arms, to whom we are also indebted for other cartridge data given on this page. (see Bibliography)

At a date yet to be confirmed, but presumably prior to the issue of the Mk.I* rifle, two experimental Boys rifles were produced by B.S.A. in 13.2 mm calibre (at 0.7mm less than the original Boys calibre, this was the same calibre in which the original German Mauser Tank-Gewehr Model 1918 was manufactured, thirty years earlier, to counter the introduction of the First World War tanks of the British Army to the French and Belgian battlefields). Of these two rifles, not put into production, one remains in the collection of the Imperial War Museum and the other is in private hands. We are grateful for the permission of the owners (Conjay - Collectors' Weapons) to illustrate this extremely rare Mark I rifle, marked with the calibre 13.2mm. This particular example was passed by B.S.A. to the Kynoch Ammunition Company for testing of the 13.2mm ammunition, more of which we hope to be able to write at some time in the future. It is believed this 13.2mm round was an offshoot of the 15mm BESA Machine Gun ammunition. We have heard reports that the round was being developed for use on aircraft of bomber command, perhaps in conjunction with the Mk.II air-portable rifle (although any prospect of firing the rifle accurately from an aircraft is extremely doubtful). There has been a suggestion that, with German fighters having armour fitted behind the pilots seats, it was proposed that an ATR be mounted somewhere on the Lancaster, to provide retaliation against attacking fighters departing after a pass or perhaps even in head-on attack when the engine block was most vulnerable. Such stories often have an element of truth, because almost every angle of improving or adding to defence and attack capability was investigated in war-time, and although many bright ideas never left the drawing board, many also reached prototyping and trialling, although impracticalities or economics subsequently caused them to fade into obscurity. As practicalities go, using a single-shot rifle for such a purpose seems fairly extreme....... but war can require extreme measures. Tony Edwards has kindly provided an image of what is believed to be the 13.2 round's head-stamp, the calibre marking of which is clearly shown, above right, as being 13.3 M/M. There is no record, in Ian Skennerton's quoted figures, of separate BSA production of these 13.2 or 13.3mm calibre trials weapons, although there is note of an unusual experimental Boys smoothbore barrel being manufactured in mid 1945. There is just a possibility that this may have been for testing a saboted round, as examples of such a round exist; whether these would have proved sufficiently accurate when fired from an unrifled barrel is questionable, but the range distances at which the Boys was most expected to be used were usually between only 100 and 400 yards.

Above image by kind permission of Conjay - Collectors' Weapons - Newport, Gwent.

Production of all marks of Boys ceased in the Autumn of 1943 with the introduction of the new infantry anti-tank projector. The P.I.A.T (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) was only a few pounds lighter than the Boys, which weighed in at close on 39 lbs. with a full 5 round magazine, but nearly two feet shorter at 39 inches. The shaped charge projectiles, whilst bulky and heavy compared with the .55 calibre ammunition for the Boys, were dramatically more effective, particularly on heavy armour. Compare the PIAT's near 100 mm maximum penetration against the Boys' 23 mm, both at 100 yards. The figures for the Boys can be found in the manual - linked below.

It has been commented upon in an unidentified article that the Boys ATR was considered obsolete by 1943, and, at a time when morale was deemed to be at an ebb within the Home Guard, 100,000 of these rifles were issued to these units for use in the event of an invasion; although any such threat had by now much receded. In his fine reference book " The Lee-Enfield Story", Ian Skennerton quotes the British total figure of Boys units manufactured in the U.K. between 1941 and 1945 as 50,611. For the Home Guard issue figure to be correct there would have needed to be well in excess of 50,000 manufactured between 1937 and 1940, unless Canadian production was included in that issue. It also should not be forgotten that considerable numbers of these rifles remained in Northern France and on the beaches around Dunkirk, along with huge quantities of other matériel, after the mid 1940 evacuation.

Links to the BOYS ATR - MANUAL .................. SAT PAMPHLET No.5 ......................... RANGE COURSE

The pull-out colour sheet below was included with the Gale and Polden Manual for the Mk.I rifle.

Below are the D.D.E. ( Drawings) for both the Mk.I Rifle and its accessories. Click either image to view at a larger scale.

The BOYS ATR Mk.I*

Below is shown the later Boys ATR Mk.I* with the bi-pod support replacing the inverted "T" mono-pod,

..........................................................................and the "Harmonica" muzzle-brake replacing the Mk.I's circular type.

The rifle shown below is of Canadian manufacture at the Inglis Works. It was for this rifle that the Canadian Government asked Walt Disney to produce a training film.

The video clips of this can be viewed at the bottom of this page.

This new muzzle-brake had five apertures angled backward to direct expelled gasses against the recoil of the rifle on firing. The early circular version expelled gas all round its periphery, including at the ground, where it would create a dust or other cloud of debris that could both give away the firer's position and drive grit or mud into his eyes. The new 'brake' directed the gas horizontally left and right.

The .55 calibre ammunition was available as the main purpose armour-piercing round with a tungsten-cored bullet, as well as with a tracer bullet. There was also an aluminium-cored bullet for training where the butts on a range would not take kindly to the AP ammunition.

In addition to the AP rounds, there were also three marks of ball ammunition, and these were intended for both training and for use against “soft” targets such as vehicles not carrying armour. Even this was too dangerous to use on most ranges, so two marks of practice ammunition were introduced, the Mark I in 1937 and the Mark II in 1938. The Mark I was a down-loaded ball round with a lead-cored Mark I ball bullet and it was the Mark II that had the aluminium cored bullet.

The AP bullet weighed 926 grains (although it has also been reported as weighing 47.6 grammes = 735 grains), compared with the 146 grains of the Lee-Enfield .303" calibre Service Rifle bullet. Reloaded non AP ammunition is we hear currently being assembled in the U.S. with 480 grain bullets for 'plinking'.

Muzzle velocity with the original AP round is 3250 feet/sec. (990 m/s). For the training rounds, Tony Edwards provided the data following.

Mark I   - 

  Mark I ball bullet with lead core, weight 930 grns, charge 103 grns Cordite MDT 5-2, MV 1729 fps.

Mark II   -

  Aluminium cored bullet, weight 425 grns, charge 128 grns Cordite MDT 5-2, MV 2650 fps.

The belted case head can be seen clearly in the image to the right.

To the left is the cloth pouch with a light-weight looped carrying-strap (out of picture).

This pouch held two clips of five rounds each - two magazine fills.

To the right are basic maintenance and cleaning tools. The oil-brush shows its threaded wooden top which screws into the underside of the metal lid for the oil-bottle integral with the butt-plate. The box spanner is for the recoil-spring retaining nut in the frame rear covered by the butt-plate, shown below right. The gauze cleaning pad is used with the folding cleaning-rod or a pull-through. These will be seen in the manual for the rifle as will details of the penetrative capabilities of the Boys bullet and other relevant information.

The issued spanner is specifically marked

for the " Rifle, Boys, Mk.I* "

   They were to add distinction to the ANZAC reputation for bravery and endurance, 
                    

   I had one other difficulty with them. Months later a letter arrived <from the Game Warden's Office, 
                    saying that they had shot, without a licence, a giraffe with a Bren gun and an elephant 
                    with a Boys anti-tank rifle.  The fine was 5.14 [pounds sterling].
                    

                    It was the success of these Operational Centres  that led to them being 
                    the modus operandi of the SOE in the Balkans and Italy.  "
                

The Boys anti-tank rifle was unsurprisingly employed in armoured cars very early in the Second World War. The surprising aspect of this was that they were to be found fitted in the manually rotated turrets of Rolls-Royce armoured cars such as those famously used by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in the desert campaign during the First World War. These armoured vehicles were put into use by the 11th. Hussars, doing similar scouting and very occasional raiding work to Lawrence, but mainly against the Italians in the Egyptian desert.

Such armoured vehicles were late and post WW1 models modified to the 1922 and 1924 patterns, some of which had their turrets modified in Cairo to add the Boys ATR and Bren LMG, either to, or in place of, their Vickers MG armament.

A well publicised German propaganda photograph depicted Rommel viewing a 'knocked-out' RR armoured car at Antelat in Cyrenaica as late as January 1942. The AFV was originally built in 1922, and Rommel appears to be showing amazement that such an obsolete vehicle could still be in use by British Forces. Another photograph of the scene shows one of the rear tyre still in flames.

By 1940, the new Morris CS9 armoured car had already been introduced, with a similar weapons fit, and is was not long after this photograph was taken that the outdated Rolls-Royce models were withdrawn. A small number did remain active back in the U.K. with the Home Guard for anti-parachutist patrol work.

The Morris Light Reconaissance Vehicle also carried the Boys ATR, but often unmounted.

The well-known Long Range Desert Group -or "Desert Rats" - used the Boys ATR in addition to their Bren, Lewis and Browning machine guns. They operated, as 'Desert Raiders', in comparatively small patrols in the Libyan Desert covering thousands of miles in sorties lasting weeks at a time, without outside support, and using a number of especially prepared vehicle types and configurations.

On patrol, their only means of communication with the outside world was by radio, and that was subject to enemy direction-finding pinpointing their positions.

Above left, the Boys ATR is mounted on a Bren-gun carrier, ......................................

...................... and right, The radio operator keys in a morse message via the radio set on his truck, shown above descending from the brow of a sand dune.

The images above are from a War Office Ministry of Information booklet detailing the "Destruction of an Army"

- The First Campaign in Libya September 1940 to February 1941

This refers to the defeat of the Italian Army in North Africa and the capture of over 80,000 troops.

Links to the BOYS ATR - MANUAL .................. SAT PAMPHLET No.5 ......................... RANGE COURSE

The above details are taken from 'Military Small Arms in Finland 1918-1988' by Markku Palokangas, Vol 3 1991, Suomen Asehistoriallinen Seura oy, ISBN951-25-0519-3.

It is stated that the Boys ATRs were first used by infantry units (there is a picture of ski troops with the Boys carried muzzle-down on a back-pack with the pistol-grip just below the nape of the neck. The carrier would have had to keep an eye out for low branches, and, if it was slung on MY back whilst I was on skis I'd simply fall flat on my back - or face - depending on whether I was facing up or downhill!: Ed) By comparison, a US marine is pictured in the USMC Raiders book* carrying a Boys on his shoulder in a 'sloped arms' position, whilst Tommies - apart from the one in the wartime propaganda poster shown left - are sometimes to be found pictured carrying their ATRs at the trail, but with some manner of carrying strop or handle) The photograph shows some sort of canvas or leather cover for the action. If canvas, it could well have been the standard British issue canvas and webbing item shown in the SAID Drawing of the Boys Accessories).

The rifles were apparently later issued to coastal defence units, and is also possible that a few more were acquired, but the remaining 330 were sold off in 1956.

The Finns also had Polish Vzor 30, German T-Gew M18 (though these do not appear to have been issued for combat) and captured Russian PTRD and PTRS ATRs (both in very small quantities) .

In October 1942, Popular Science magazine included an article, typically heavy on propaganda for the time, on the Canadian Boys rifle manufactured by the Inglis company. We replicate this below.

"MOVIE CARTOONS SHOW HOW AN ANTI-TANK GUN WORKS

Walt Disney's Animated Art Quickly Teaches Soldiers Details of Caring for and Using Canada's MKI Rifle
•            •
In the field the MK.I can be handled by one man in combatting tanks. Cartoon movies of it in action, with close-ups of its working parts, do much to speed the training of the men who use it

...............................

A TWO-REEL moving picture, produced by the Walt Disney studios as part of Mickey

Mouse's war effort, is being used with great

success in training soldiers to operate the

famous Canadian anti-tank rifle, the Boys

Mk.I. Combining both live action and

cartoon animation, the film reveals every

important detail of setting up, camouflaging,

 

 

aiming., and firing the gun, with some sequences repeated for emphasis.

Canadian military authorities say that a

soldier can learn more from one showing of

the picture, which runs about twenty minutes,

than from a dozen lectures and

demonstrations.

 

The Mk.I, a portable one-man gun which fires an armour-piercing .55 caliber bullet, is regarded by ordnance experts as one of the most effective weapons developed during the present war. It can knock out light tanks at 300 yards, and under some conditions can stop medium and heavy tanks.

To impress the soldier with the power of his weapon, the Disney picture opens with a comedy se­quence in which a cartooned rifle is shown blasting tanks coming head-on, diagonally, and at right angles across the field of fire. This sequence also demonstrates that to hit an oncoming tank the gunner must lead it as if he were shooting into a flock of swift-flying geese or ducks.

In the remainder of the picture, the anti­tank gun is broken down part by part, and cartoon animation shows in detail the operation of each part, from the recoil reducer at the muzzle to the feeding and ejection of cartridge cases. Most of these sequences are repeated, so that the gunner can see how the gun is loaded, sighted, placed on the target, and fired. Details of the cartridges are shown, and of the muzzle and firing mechanism. In all of these sequences enough comedy is injected to keep the soldier amused while being instructed. At the end of the cartoon portion of the picture, a Canadian sergeant repeats in live action every lesson taught by the animated cartoons. Even civilians who witnessed the film were confi­dent that they could pick up an MK.I and blast a German tank out of existence. "

A lesser known aspect of the Boys anti-tank rifle development

was the ongoing wartime experimentation with specialist armour-piercing ammunition.

A round was tried with the same tungsten core, but with an air gap behind that core,

a "Tufnol" composite fibre nose, and an electroplated copper driving band.

One round is also understood to have had a lachrymatory compound in the gap behind the core,

to introduce tear gas into a penetrated vehicle.

At least two other types were tested, which were rounds to be fired using a miniaturised version

of the projectile adapter of the "Little John" design that was fitted to the 2-pounder anti-tank gun,

and which provided British Forces with their most effective light portable anti-tank artillery piece of the war.

The HE (high-explosive) shell for this latter weapon was not available until 1943,

and the adapter for the 2-pounder significantly improved muzzle velocity and penetration.

The adapter and projectile were the invention of a Czeck firearms designer by the name of Frantisek Janacek,

whose surname translated literally as the name therefore afforded to his squeeze-bore projectile system.

While the theory of squeeze-bore velocity enhancement had been first tried as early as 1903 by German inventor Karl Puff,

the design was developed between the wars by another German, Herman Gerlich.

However, the German weapons used purpose made barrels;

but Janacek's designs proposed that existing weapons could be adapted to fire similar armour piercing

projectiles by means of the addition of a squeeze-bore muzzle device,

meaning that the guns could easily revert to the firing

of their original HE or shrapnel shells if operations so required.

That, mid-war, experimentation was undertaken to transpose the system to the Boys anti-tank rifle,

is evidenced by a number of drawings that survive.

It is by no means certain that this work was intended to provide

an improvement in penetration specifically for the Boys rifle in the field,

and it has been mooted in knowledgeable circles that the .55 calibre experiments may simply have been

an economical precursor in trials for the production of the Littlejohn adapter for artillery pieces.

By courtesy of the International Ammunition Association at www.cartridgecollectors.org

we are able to illustrate a Research Department drawing of the Little John projectile.

The drawing was prepared for the C.S.R.D.,

(Chief Superintendent of the Research Department of the Ministry of Supply) in December 1941.

It clearly shows the two folding flanges which drive the projectile into the reducing bore of the adapter,

being squeezed down, increasing back pressure and therfore muzzle velocity.

Thus far we can find no details of the adapter itself.

Should you have knowledge of this we would be grateful to hear.

As can be seen on the drawing, the lesser diameter of the projectile is .400",

leading to the round being described as the Janecek .55/.40.

The reduction in bore from .55 to .40 is considerable, representing a "squashing" of more than 20%.

Notes were added, three months later, on the weights of the two cores employed, either tungsten carbide or hardened steel.

The components of the projectile, and the complete unit, are shown below.

...

According to the amendments made to the drawings, in February 1942, there were three different

tungsten core weight options - 115, 175 and 290 grains, and an alternative hardened steel core in 90, 195 and 285 grains.

The cartridge, clearly showing the 0.062 inch (four equally spaced) gas venting holes in the front skirt,

the precise purpose of which we would be grateful to know.

Left: a comparison photograph between the standard AP (Armour Piercing) and the Littlejohn rounds.

Right: the two bullets; the standard AP one being sectioned to show its larger tungsten core.

........

Once it has left the muzzle, the flanges of the Littlejohn bullet have been compressed from .55inch to the .40 inch calibre of the adapter,

and, with the front flange flattening into the groove behind it,

the form of the departing projectile is effectively that of a reduced calibre standard AP bullet.

____________________________

We have been afforded, from official records in the keeping of the Royal Armouries,

and with the kind permission of the author of an article in the journal of the European Cartridge Research Association,

further details included in a contemporary report (December 1942)

on the trials of the Littlejohn with the Boys rifle,

'Static Trials with 0.55 inch Littlejohn bullets and muzzle adapters'

preceded by notes on the 2-Pounder anti-tank gun, 4-pdr, and 40mm Bofors.

Note: to which artillery piece the 4-pdr referred is presently unknown, but there is a possibility that

it related to the weight of a Littlejohn projectile for use in the 6-pdr anti-tank gun then being developed.

In the event, although trialled, the adapter was not introduced for that weapon.

A 40mm Littlejohn adapted weapon, the Vickers " S gun " was used on Hurricane aircraft, slung on under-wing pylons, as a "tank-buster"

The document is illustrated in the form of a text-searchable flip-page booklet.

We have no knowledge of the particular 'rifle' for which this next round was intended,

but the Imperial War Museum holds a cartridge in 20mm that was

"an extemely rare round for the Janacek/Littlejohn high velocity squeeze-bore anti-tank rifle

developed between 1939 and 1941 by BSA and Vickers Ltd.

This particular cartridge was manufactured at Radway Green in 1942"

But a 20mm barrel on a Boys type anti-tank rifle, while perhaps not impossible, sounds extreme;

although such a weapon did exist in the Swiss Solothurn S 18-1000 used by Axis forces.

Wartime squeeze-bore development was eventually outpaced by experimentation with saboted rounds,

which offered similar penetration improvement without any necessary modification to the gun firing them.

Below in video clips, are three training films made by Walt Disney during the war, at the expense of the Canadian Government,

and therefore the latter's property; and a 1940 newsreel of the Boys Anti-Tank rifle in training use.