Members of the Home Guard using a Northover Projector, 1 July 1941.
Type
Grenade launcher
Place of origin
United Kingdom
Service history
In service
1940–1945
Used by
British Army, Home Guard
Wars
Second World War
Production history
Designer
Major Robert Harry Northover
Designed
1940
Unit cost
£10 (1940)
Variants
Northover Mk 2
Specifications
Mass
27.2 kilograms
Barrel length
914 mm (36.0 in)
Calibre
2.5 inch
Elevation
free
Traverse
free
Muzzle velocity
60m/sec (200ft/sec)
Effective firing range
251 m (274 yd)
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.
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.
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