The Tactical Notebook

The Tactical Notebook

Indirect Fire with Bofors Guns

40mm anti-aircraft guns against ground targets

Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson's avatar
Bruce Ivar Gudmundsson
Jul 28, 2025
∙ Paid
A 40mm anti-aircraft gun guards an air base (US National Archives)

General

Two platoons of this battalion recently completed their first successful mission employing indirect fire against ground targets. Our previous missions against ground targets had been fired by emplacing the guns on crests to permit direct fire. The casualties ran as high as 16 per cent of the gun crews. Use of defiladed positions was difficult because of the extremely flat trajectory of the 40mm Bofors gun and the lack of sighting equipment for indirect fire.

Two four-gun anti-aircraft platoons

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