Recently, there have been many major military events in the international community, such as the United Kingdom wanting to "sell Lafayette's aircraft carrier", India buying naval guns from the Americans, and Russia developing combat robots that look almost exactly like the "Terminator". But as far as the heavy snowfall in Beijing fell on Friday, none of this is a big deal! As a post-80s "Beijing native", I have not seen much snow in Beijing since I grew up, and I think I am drunk. Since the first snow of 2019 came earlier than usual, you have to write about some weapons related to the word "snow". After thinking about it, write a story about the "Snow Country of the North" Canada, a self-propelled gun called "Shexton" made during World War II. What do you think? The word "snow" is not quite a lot.
The "Shexton" self-propelled gun developed by Canada
For those who love snow and ice, Canada, known as the "Snow Country of the North", is a tourist destination, with some of the world's top ski resorts, facilities and pistes even more comprehensive than the Alps. And now such a tourist resort, during the Second World War, for the Allies can be said to be "out of people, money, equipment." Because it belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations, as early as before the outbreak of war, the United Kingdom sent part of the military industry to Canada, which made the country's military industry develop rapidly. This move by the UK proved to be very far-sighted. Because of its border with the industrially powerful and resource-rich United States, Canada was able to produce military products in large quantities despite the external blockade, which effectively supported the Allied anti-fascist war.
Throughout World War II, Canada developed and produced a large number of tank armored vehicles. For example, the Ram medium tank, the Grizzlies medium tank, the Kangaroo armored personnel carrier, etc., the "Shexton" self-propelled gun is also one of them, and it is a well-known battlefield support weapon in the Allied forces. "Shexton" is a transliteration of the English "Sexton", which is normally translated as "church clerk", referring to the person responsible for looking after the church and its surrounding facilities, ringing bells, etc. Therefore, some sources will also refer to the "Shexton" self-propelled gun as the "Church Priest" self-propelled gun, which is a matter of benevolence and wisdom.
The total production of the "Shexton" self-propelled gun exceeded 2,000 units
There are two types of "Shexton" self-propelled guns, of which the chassis is the "Shexton I" self-propelled gun. The chassis was used with the "Shexton II" self-propelled gun. A total of 2,150 of these two self-propelled guns were produced. Since the chassis of Type I and Type II are not much different, and the number of type I production is very small (only more than 100 units are produced), in general, the two self-propelled guns are generally not distinguished, collectively referred to as "Shexton" self-propelled guns. Here is a brief explanation, the reason why the "Shexton" will use the M4 chassis is because the tank was extremely productive in World War II, the deformation vehicle is also very large, and many tank armored vehicles produced in Canada are based on the M4 medium tank. Therefore, the "Shexton" self-propelled gun naturally adopted the "take-ism" and was directly manufactured using the chassis of the M4 medium tank.
The British 25-pounder gun that has survived to this day
As a self-propelled gun, the focus of the whole vehicle is naturally on that main gun. The "Shexton" self-propelled gun was equipped with a famous British 25-pounder gun, which can be said to be the greatest contribution to the British army in World War II, and almost everywhere there is a British army, there is a 25-pounder gun. The actual caliber of the British 25-pounder gun is 87.63 mm, which is also referred to as 88 mm, as a howitzer, its maximum range is 12250 meters. Interestingly, in order to conduct anti-tank operations, the British also developed a 9-kilogram solid armor-piercing shell of the same caliber for the 25-pounder gun. Although the 25-pounder barrel is shorter and cannot be compared with the professional anti-tank gun with the long barrel in terms of accuracy and penetration depth, it cannot withstand the mass of the shell, and only relying on the huge kinetic energy generated by the shell itself can destroy the German No. III medium tank, not to mention the various Japanese "light tanks" in the Pacific Theater.
The "Shexton" self-propelled gun parked in the museum
From the Normandy landings to the Battle of the Ruhr, the "Shexton" self-propelled gun can be said to have accompanied the Allies in most of Europe, which is why the Allies called it "the first-class gun car". Although its performance is not much outstanding, even the chassis is "copycat". However, its leather is durable, reliable, and the artillery is powerful, and it can complete the battlefield fire support task well, so it is deeply loved by Allied officers and soldiers. After the end of World War II, the Shexton self-propelled gun continued to serve in the British Army until the 1950s. In other countries, such as India, South Africa, Australia, etc., the "Shexton" self-propelled gun even entered service until the 60s and 70s of the last century. It is not difficult to see from this that the Allies at that time were absolutely well-deserved to be "first-class artillery vehicles".