Humbers of 3" Mortar Platoon, Royal Sussex Regiment in familiar German weather!
From time to time we would go to the live firing ranges, for training purposes with the mortars. This was sometimes carried out in conjunction with the Royal Artillery, who operated a mortar location system, which I believe to have been the forerunner of Green Archer. This device was radar-based and enabled the gunners to pin-point the the precise position from which bombs in flight had been fired. They could then bring their weapons to bear on that spot. Better for the mortar crews if they were packed up and gone!
In our practice sessions it worked like this. The officer commanding the mortar platoon would be in radio contact with the Royal Artillery unit, with whom he had already synchronised watches. He then selected a suitable firing site and made a note of the precise map reference. The aiming party would then go in and prepare firing lines, whilst the four mortar detachments waited a short distance away, in the vehicles and in whatever concealment was to be found.
This is where I and my fellow drivers came into our own. A despatch rider would then wave us in and we would go, like bats out of hell, screeching to a halt at the spot set out for our particular weapon. The mortar men unloaded the three parts, barrel, baseplate and bipod, along with the boxes of mortar bombs and, whilst they got on with the business of assembling the weapon, aiming it and firing a given number of rounds, we would drive off at full tilt, back to our hiding place. We then watched for the “don R” to signal us back in, to pick up our chaps, with their now dismantled mortar. Men and mortar were scrambled aboard, and we “got the hell outa there”, driving as fast as we could possibly manage, across whatever terrain we encountered.
Meanwhile the locating unit radioed to our unit commander, giving him the map reference and the precise time that an artillery barrage would fall on that spot! We were told, on more than one occasion, that we were the only unit in B.A.O.R. who could consistently beat the Royal Artillery radar system, and be clear of the map reference before the theoretical shells came down! This was enormous fun and, not surprisingly, we loved it. I’m not sure it would have been as enjoyable if it had been the real thing, though!