Portée (military)

Portée describes the practice of carrying an artillery piece on a truck which can be fired from the vehicle or quickly dismounted and fired from the ground. The term is most often used to describe anti-tank equipments used by the British, Commonwealth and imperial forces in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Modern terms for mounting weapons on vehicles are technical or gun truck.

US Cavalry
portée cavalry was horse cavalry – horses and riders – carried in trucks or other vehicles. The cavalry is thus mechanized for strategic and operational movement and horse-mounted for tactical deployment. Portée cavalry units were briefly tested in the American army during the interwar period change from fully-horsed cavalry to fully-mechanized cavalry but were generally found to be overcomplicated and not worthwhile.

2-pounder anti-tank gun portée
An Ordnance QF 2 pounder (40 mm) anti-tank gun mounted on a Morris CS8 15 cwt truck, Chevrolet WA or WB 30-cwt truck, Canadian Military Pattern Ford F30 or Chevrolet C30 trucks and fired over the tailboard.

6-pounder anti-tank gun portée
An Ordnance QF 6 pounder (57 mm) anti-tank gun mounted on a Bedford QLT 3-ton lorry or Austin K5 3 ton lorry. Both vehicles had a special frame-only body carrying the gun, crew, ammunition and the rarely used side shields. A F60 or C60 with cut down number 13 cab was similarly used. The size and weight of the new gun led to it being dismounted before going into action more often than the smaller 2-pounder.

20 mm anti-aircraft gun portée
An Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft gun mounted on a Morris 15 cwt truck

25 mm anti-tank gun portée
A 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun mounted on a Morris 15 cwt truck

37 mm anti-tank gun portée
A Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun mounted on a Bedford MW or Morris CS8 15cwt used by 106 Royal Horse Artillery during Operation Compass at Beda Fomm.

Deacon
The AEC Mk I Gun Carrier "Deacon" introduced in 1942 in the Desert War was a more sophisticated successor to the portée. The 6-pounder gun was mounted within a three-sided and roofed armoured shield on a turntable on the back of an armoured AEC Matador chassis. The limited traverse of the gun was mitigated by the Matador driver turning the vehicle. A battery of Deacons were issued per anti-tank regiment as a mobile reserve but by the end of the North African Campaign in May 1943 were obsolete and were replaced by US M10 tank destroyers before operations began in Europe.

Sidi Rezegh
On 21 November 1941 at Sidi Rezegh in Libya, during Operation Crusader, J Battery, 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery with its 2-pounders resisted a German counter-attack by Panzer IV tanks. The engagement has been cited by modern historians as an epic example of leadership and courage under fire. Second Lieutenant George Ward Gunn fought with his (A) troop until it had only one gun left in action. The battery commander Major Bernard Pinney MC ordered Ward Gunn to remove the dead crew on a serviceable gun and get it back into action. In a short space of time the gun caught fire so Pinney, exposed to enemy fire, got up to put out the fire. Firing around fifty rounds, Ward Gunn destroyed two German tanks while the portée was burning. When Ward Gunn was killed, Pinney pushed his body out of the way to continue single-handed until it was eventually put out of action by direct fire. Pinney was killed by a stray shell the following day. Both men were recommended for the Victoria Cross and Ward Gunn received the award (posthumous).

105th Anti-tank Regiment RA
Changes of equipment from 1941 to 1944.


 * 1941–1942: Western Desert, 2-pounder portée
 * 1942–1943: Western Desert and Tunisia, 2 batteries 6-pounder portée, 2 batteries Deacon
 * 1943: Sicily, 2 batteries 6-pounder towed, 2 batteries 17-pounder towed
 * 1944: Italy, 1 battery 6-pounder towed, 1 battery 17-pounder towed, 2 batteries M 10 (12 guns per battery)