Sexton (artillery)

History

In 1942, the US supplied enough M7 Priest self-propelled howitzers to equip a number of British Army artillery units in North Africa. The Priest featured a small round cupola with a 50 calibre (12.7 mm) machine gun mounted for defence against aircraft. The cupola looked like a priest's pulpit and accounts for the vehicle's name. The British found the Priest to be an excellent weapon, which gave its artillery the same mobility as its tank units. However, the Priest used the American 105 mm howitzer rather than the British equivalent, the 25 Pounder field gun. Having to supply different ammunition for a few units caused logistical problems for the British Army.

The United Kingdom asked the United States to supply a 25 pounder (11 kg) version of the Priest. Although the US was willing to help design such a vehicle, it was unwilling to disrupt manufacturing vehicles for its own forces to make a relatively small number of vehicles for Britain. The British government then asked Canada to manufacture the vehicles for it and Canada agreed.

The Priest was created by mounting an artillery piece on the hull of the M3 Lee tank (a slightly modified form was also known as Grant in British service). The introduction of the M4 Sherman made the M3 obsolete and its hulls and production lines were available for other purposes. In the early part of the war, Canada had created its own Ram tank, based on the M3 hull but with the main gun moved from a sponson to a proper turret. Like the M3, the Ram was now obsolete and its hull formed the basis of the new self-propelled artillery unit. Thus Canada used a deritative of the American M3 to produce a derivative of the M7.

Between 1943 and 1945, the Montreal Locomotive Works manufactured a total of 2150 Sextons for the use of both Canadian and British forces. The vehicle entered service in September 1943. Sextons took an active part in the Battle of Normandy and the campaign in north-western Europe. In spite of its confused origins, the Sexton was a combination of proven parts and proved to be a successful design and remained in British service until 1956.

Unlike Germany, which often used its self-propelled guns in a front line direct fire role, Britain and Canada only used the Sexton for indirect supporting fire. They kept the Sextons well back from the front line and used forward observers to direct overwhelming fire on a target.

Characteristics

• Length: 20 ft 1 in (6.12 m)
• Width: 8 ft 11in (2.72 m)
• Height: 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
• Weight: 25.45 tons (25.86 tonnes)
• Speed: 24 mph (39 km/h)
• Range: 125 miles (200 km)
• Crew: 6, including driver
• Armament:
• * Primary: 25 pounder (11 kg) C MK II, with 112 rounds on board
• * Secondary: Two 0.303 (7.7 mm) Bren Machine Guns
• Power plant: Continental 9 cylinder radial gasoline engine, producing 460 bhp (343 kW) @ 2400 rpm

External links