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Northover Projector
Northover Projector
Northover Projector
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The Projector, 2.5 inch—more commonly known as the Northover Projector—was an ad hoc anti-tank weapon used by the British Army and Home Guard during the Second World War.

Key Information

With a German invasion of Great Britain seeming likely after the defeat in the Battle of France, most available weaponry was diverted to the regular British Army, leaving the Home Guard short on supplies, particularly anti-tank weaponry. The Northover Projector was designed by Home Guard officer Robert Harry Northover to act as a makeshift anti-tank weapon, and was put into production in 1940 following a demonstration to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

The weapon consisted of a hollow metal tube attached to a tripod, with a rudimentary breech at one end. Rounds were fired with the use of black powder ignited by a standard musket percussion cap, and it had an effective range of between 100 and 150 yards. Although it was cheap and easy to manufacture, it did have several problems; it was difficult to move and the No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenades it used as one type of ammunition had a tendency to break inside the breech, damaging the weapon and injuring the crew. Production began in late 1940, and by the beginning of 1943 nearly 19,000 were in service. Like many obsolete Home Guard weapons, it was eventually replaced by other weapons, such as the 2-pounder anti-tank gun.

Development

[edit]

With the end of the Battle of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the port of Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940, a German invasion of Great Britain seemed likely.[1] However, the British Army was not well-equipped to defend the country in such an event; in the weeks after the Dunkirk evacuation it could field only twenty-seven divisions.[2] The Army was particularly short of anti-tank guns, 840 of which had been left behind in France, leaving only 167 available in Britain; ammunition was so scarce for the remaining guns that regulations forbade even a single round being used for training purposes.[2]

Given these shortcomings, any modern weapons that were available were allocated to the British Army, and the Home Guard was forced to supplement the meagre amount of outdated weapons and ammunition they had with ad hoc weapons.[3] One such weapon was the Northover Projector, the invention of Major Robert Harry Northover.[4] Northover, an officer in the Home Guard, designed it to be an easily manufactured and cheap anti-tank weapon, costing just under £10 to produce, excluding the required tripod.[5] The Major wrote directly to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, with his design and arranged for Churchill to attend a demonstration of the Northover Projector. The Prime Minister approved of the weapon and gave it his personal endorsement, ordering in October 1940 that the weapon be mass-produced on a scale of one for every Home Guard platoon.[5]

Design

[edit]
Practice ammunition for the Northover Projector
Northover Projector diagram.[6]

Key:

1: Base
2: Pivot
3: Spades
4: Leg sockets
5: Breech ring
6: Breech locking lever
7: Breech block handle
8: Firing hammer
9: Barrel clip
10: Barrel
11: Trigger bar
12: Operating handle
13: Legs
14: Primer

The Northover Projector—which was officially labelled the "Projector, 2.5 inch" by the War Office[7]—was formed of a hollow metal tube,[8] resembling a drain pipe,[9] mounted on top of a cast-iron tripod.[5] It weighed approximately 27.2 kilograms.[10] A simple breech was attached to one end of the tube, and rounds were fired from the Projector with a small quantity of black powder[10] ignited by a "top hat" copper cap as used in muzzle loading rifles <Curtis (HBSA)2014>;[5] any recoil from the weapon was absorbed by the legs of the tripod, which were also hollow.[10] It had a maximum range of approximately 300 yards[10] but was accurate only to between 100[5] and 150 yards[5] Home Guard units often added their own modifications to the weapon, which included mounting it on carriages or even the sidecars of motorcycles.[10] It was served by a crew of three.[5] Ammunition for the weapon consisted of the No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenade,[5] a glass bottle "containing a phosphorus mixture which burst into livid flames, giving off quantities of suffocating smoke upon exposure to the air",[9] as well as normal hand and rifle grenades.[10]

The Projector had a number of defects. It was difficult to move, the tripod had the tendency to damage itself if it was dropped, and its discharge pressure has been described as "feeble."[5] The phosphorus grenades exhibited a number of faults when used in the Projector; they could often explode inside the weapon if too much black powder were added, or fall short if too little were used, or even fail to explode.[5] They could also break inside the barrel when fired[10] which often led to the weapon being damaged and its crew injured.[9] Even when fired properly, the Projector gave off a large cloud of smoke which could take up to a minute to clear and revealed the weapon's position.[5] Bishop argues that its anti-tank abilities would have been 'doubtful' when it fired hand and rifle grenades, although he considers that the phosphorus grenades might have been more successful.[10] To make handling easier, a lighter version of the weapon, the Northover Projector Mk 2 was developed in 1941, but few were produced.[10]

Operational history

[edit]
A Home Guard unit in Kent with their Northover Projector.

The Northover Projector was issued to both Home Guard and regular British Army units,[10] and by August, 1941 over 8,000 Northover Projectors were in service.[5] This number had increased to 18,919 by the beginning of 1943.[11]

Initial reactions to the Northover Projector were varied, with a number of Home Guard volunteers uncertain about the weapon's unusual design, and some officers never accepted that it could be useful. However, most Home Guard units came to accept the weapon and have confidence in it, aided by large amounts of what Mackenzie terms "War Office propaganda"[5] which cited the positive qualities of the weapon, such as its simplicity of use, ease of manufacture and low maintenance requirements. It was, as one Home Guard volunteer put it, "something to be accepted gratefully until something better arrived."[5]

Like many of the obsolete weapons designed for the Home Guard, the Northover Projector was only taken out of service when it could be replaced with "marginally less ineffective"[5] weapons provided by the Army, such as the 2-pounder anti-tank gun.[12]

See also

[edit]
  • Ampulomet – (Soviet Union) — similar weapon of World War II
  • Smith Gun – (United Kingdom)
  • Blacker Bombard – (United Kingdom)

References

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Northover Projector

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Northover Projector, officially designated as the Projector, 2.5 inch, was a simple, improvised anti-tank weapon developed by the and during the early stages of . Designed by Major Robert Harry Northover in as a low-cost emergency measure against potential German , it consisted of a basic steel tube barrel mounted on a four-legged cast-iron stand, functioning primarily as a rather than a true . Production began in October 1940 following a demonstration to , with over 8,000 units manufactured by August 1941 and a total of approximately 18,919 by early 1943, each costing less than £10 (excluding the tripod mount). The weapon fired standard British grenades, such as the No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenade—a phosphorus-filled akin to a —along with fragmentation types like the No. 36 or No. 68, propelled by a small black powder charge. With a caliber of 64 mm, a barrel length of about 0.91 meters, and a total weight of 27.2 kg, it had an effective range of 100–130 meters and a maximum of up to 275 meters, operated by a crew of two to three personnel. Despite its widespread issuance to units, the Northover Projector proved unreliable and ineffective against armored vehicles due to issues like grenade breakage on launch and limited penetration power, earning nicknames such as "Bottle Mortar" or "Pipe Gun." A lightened Mk II variant was introduced in small numbers in 1941 to address weight concerns, but the weapon never saw combat and was phased out by in favor of more advanced anti-tank systems. Its development highlighted the desperate improvisation in British defenses during the threat of invasion, underscoring the resource constraints of the era.

Development and Production

Origins and Design Process

Following the in late May and early June 1940, Britain experienced a critical shortage of conventional weaponry after the loss of much of the British Expeditionary Force's equipment on the continent, heightening fears of a German invasion and necessitating improvised defenses for the civilian-militarized (initially known as the Local Defence Volunteers, formed on 14 May 1940). This dire situation spurred the rapid development of low-cost, easily producible anti-tank weapons using readily available materials, as traditional armaments like artillery and anti-tank guns were in short supply for home defense units. The , tasked with protecting against potential landings, required simple tools to counter armored threats without straining industrial resources already committed to frontline needs. In 1940, shortly after the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers, Major Robert Harry Northover, an LDV officer, invented the weapon that would bear his name as an emergency response to these shortages, drawing on basic engineering principles to create a makeshift for incendiary projectiles. Prompted by equipment losses at , by the end of May 1940, Northover had constructed a functional prototype from rudimentary components, including a steel tube barrel and a black powder cartridge for propulsion, emphasizing simplicity and minimal manufacturing demands to enable quick assembly in workshops or even garages. This design reflected the nature of the era's innovations, prioritizing immediate utility over refinement, and positioned the projector as a stopgap measure for untrained volunteers facing mechanized invaders. The approval process accelerated through direct political intervention, with Northover demonstrating the prototype to Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the summer of 1940, who, amid the invasion panic, endorsed its adoption without rigorous testing to expedite arming the Home Guard. Churchill's order for production followed in October 1940, bypassing standard military evaluation protocols due to the perceived urgency, with an initial cost estimate of less than £10 per unit (excluding the separate tripod mount). This marked the Northover Projector as the last black powder weapon to enter British service, underscoring its archaic yet pragmatic role in a modern conflict and its embodiment of desperate improvisation during Britain's darkest hour of World War II.

Manufacturing and Output

The Northover Projector was manufactured using simplified processes that relied on basic engineering facilities, enabling production to commence in late 1940 without the need for specialized or complex machinery. Companies such as the Bisley Clay Target Company and the Selection Manufacturing Company handled assembly, leveraging readily available materials like metal tubing and components to produce the weapon's core structure. This approach allowed for rapid scaling, with an initial order of 10,000 Mk I units, followed by additional production of Mk I and Mk II variants. Production figures grew steadily to meet Home Guard demands, reaching 6,630 units in service by July 1941 and over 8,000 by August 1941, peaking at 18,992 projectors by September 1942, before declining slightly to 18,980 the following month as more advanced weapons became available. By early 1943, inventories stood at around 18,919 units, with overall production estimated at approximately 19,000 before the weapon was phased out in 1943–1944. The economical design kept costs low at less than £10 per base unit, excluding the tripod mount which added further expense, making it far cheaper than conventional anti-tank guns that could cost hundreds of pounds. This affordability facilitated widespread distribution, primarily to battalions for local defense roles. Logistical aspects emphasized quick deployment to amateur volunteer forces, with the first 277 units issued to the London District in and broader rollout accelerating thereafter. The reliance on small-scale manufacturers and minimal quality oversight, however, led to inconsistencies in early batches, such as variations in barrel alignment and mount stability, though these did not halt the program's expansion. By August 1944, the projector was declared obsolete via Information Circular No. 53, reflecting shifts in wartime priorities toward more reliable equipment.

Technical Design

Structure and Mechanism

The Northover Projector was a lightweight anti-tank weapon constructed primarily from , featuring a steel barrel of 914 mm length and a calibre of 2.5 inches (64 mm). The overall mass of the system was 35 kg, making it portable yet substantial for its intended use by small crews. It was mounted on a four-legged for stability, which provided swiveling traverse and elevation adjustments, with the legs designed to absorb through their hollow structure rather than incorporating a dedicated recoil mechanism. The design functioned as a simple breech-loading , consisting of a tubular barrel attached to a rudimentary breech assembly at the rear. Key components included the barrel for housing the , a breech ring secured by a locking , a breech block with handle for loading, and a striker-type firing mechanism featuring a spring-loaded . To operate, the crew loaded a black powder cartridge into the breech chamber and inserted the into the barrel; the striker was cocked by pulling an operating handle, and firing was initiated by a attached to the trigger, releasing the pin to strike a on the cartridge base. The absence of ensured a straightforward launch, propelling the via gas expansion from the detonated cartridge, with the crew required to manually swab the barrel between shots to clear residue. Despite its simplicity, the Northover Projector's design presented operational challenges, including its cumbersome weight that limited mobility for units without vehicular support. The use of black powder generated significant smoke, exposing the firing position to enemy detection after initial shots. Additionally, the lack of a robust system increased the risk of breakage during launch, particularly with fragile incendiary grenades, due to the direct impact of gases. These elements prioritized rapid, low-cost production over refined or features.

Ammunition and Performance

The primary ammunition for the Northover Projector was the No. 76 Special Incendiary Grenade, a self-igniting phosphorus (SIP) grenade designed primarily for use against armored vehicles to start fires and produce smoke. This grenade consisted of a half-pint glass bottle filled with a mixture of 128 cc phosphorus compound, 21 cc water, 110 cc benzine, and a 3.5-inch stick of smoked crude rubber, weighing approximately 19 ounces (0.54 kg). When launched via a black powder charge ignited by a percussion cap, it achieved a muzzle velocity of around 60 m/s, with a maximum range of 274 yards (250 m), though effective engagement distances were typically 100–150 yards due to the weapon's smoothbore design and inherent inaccuracy. The projector was also adapted to fire the No. 68 , a hollow-charge intended for armor penetration, providing versatility beyond incendiary effects. The No. 68 featured a cylindroconoidal liner and could penetrate up to 50 mm of armor at close range, but its practical use was limited to about 50–100 yards owing to the low velocity and arcing trajectory, which demanded precise elevation adjustments to compensate for gravitational drop. Additionally, standard hand and such as the No. 36 and No. 36M could be employed for anti-personnel roles, achieving ranges of 150–200 yards with appropriate delay fuzes, though these were secondary to the anti-vehicle focus. Overall, the system's performance emphasized short-range incendiary attacks on soft-skinned or lightly armored targets, as the No. 76's glass construction risked premature breakage in the barrel, potentially creating a flamethrower-like backblast, while ballistic limitations restricted reliable anti-tank hits beyond 100 yards.

Military Service

Operational Deployment

The Northover Projector was primarily issued to British battalions beginning in June 1941 as a key component of local anti-invasion defenses, with initial distributions including 277 units to and scaling to 6,630 by July of that year. It was operated by a crew of three personnel—a loader, firer, and spotter—allowing civilian volunteers to manage the weapon effectively despite its rudimentary design. Deployment was widespread across the , focused on static positions and sites to counter potential German landings, with limited allocation to units for supplementary roles, including some overseas deployments such as demonstrations by units in in 1941, but no notable exports. By early 1943, nearly 19,000 projectors were in service, underscoring their scale within the Home Guard's armament. Training for Home Guard operators emphasized basic drills integrated into standard instruction manuals, such as Home Guard Instruction No. 51 (1943) and provisional handbooks from the Chief Inspector of Armaments (September 1941), with teams providing demonstrations at sites like the No. 1 Training School in and local units in on 30 July 1941. Procedures highlighted rapid setup on tripods for enfilade fire along likely tank approaches and lanyard-activated firing to enable safe operation from cover during simulated anti-invasion exercises. Practice was constrained by ammunition shortages, particularly for specialized grenades, limiting live-fire sessions and relying on dry runs to build proficiency among part-time volunteers. Logistically, the projectors were stored in local armories under command for quick access during alerts, with their simple construction facilitating maintenance by non-specialists and transport via handcarts or platoon carriers to defensive positions. This approach prioritized ease of use for civilian forces, enabling rapid mobilization without extensive professional oversight, though pre-packaged charges were essential to sustain operations amid broader supply challenges.

Effectiveness and Limitations

The Northover Projector demonstrated certain strengths in its intended role as a low-cost, simple anti-tank weapon for the , enabling rapid mass issuance to minimally trained personnel. Its design allowed for straightforward operation without requiring expert marksmanship, and tests conducted in showed surprising accuracy, with demonstrations achieving high hit rates on targets at 150-250 yards using No. 36 grenades. In ambush scenarios, it proved effective against light vehicles, capable of disabling tanks with No. 68 anti-tank grenades or igniting fuel tanks at up to 100 meters using No. 76 self-igniting grenades, thereby smoking out or destroying crews. These attributes made it a viable stopgap for static defense, with over 18,900 units deployed by 1942. However, the projector's limitations significantly undermined its battlefield utility, particularly beyond short ranges of 100-150 yards, where inaccuracy became pronounced due to the fragility of its grenades and inconsistent propulsion. Grenades occasionally shattered in the barrel, producing unintended effects or misfires, while the launch of incendiary rounds generated dense white smoke that revealed the operator's position, compromising tactics. Against medium tanks, penetration was limited to around 25-50 mm under ideal conditions, rendering it ineffective for engaging heavier armor. Additionally, its total weight of approximately 134 pounds, including the mount, made transport challenging for units, often requiring modifications like wheeled carriages. User experiences with the Northover Projector were mixed, with many members viewing it as a dreaded but necessary tool that boosted simply by providing any dedicated anti-tank capability amid initial equipment shortages. Reports highlighted difficulties in handling its cumbersome design during training and patrols, yet some appreciated its simplicity as a temporary measure until superior weapons arrived. Overall, distrust stemmed from its unreliability and unconventional nature, leading to reluctance in relying on it for serious engagements. The began to be phased out from service in early 1943, with remaining units withdrawn by 1945, as the transitioned to more capable systems like the and 2-pounder anti-tank guns, which offered greater mobility and penetration. Post-war assessments regarded it as a symbol of British ingenuity under desperation, serving primarily as a enhancer and defensive expedient rather than a proven asset; no verified kills were recorded, owing to the absence of a German invasion.
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