James Kerr - 25 pounders

Transcript

When I first joined the army I was in the artillery reinforcements, and I had final leave to join the 2/4th Field Regiment in Syria. But when we got back, half the draft had been cut, so I was left behind. Then, not long after, I had another final leave and sailed for Malaya and joined the, I was one of 50 reinforcements for the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment…the artillery are 25 pounders.

Big field pieces, those are only two-pound guns for tanks, short distances, which is a vast difference in training and the capability of the units, of course. And anti-tank units are front line troops, you're right up there with the infantry, whereas the artillery you're usually about 5, 6 or 7 miles behind the front lines, because they can project their shells that distance.

So we were always frontline troops we anti-tankers…we had to be up with the frontline infantry, so we had a clear line of vision if the tanks were coming down the road, or through rubber trees. Yeah, we had clear vision of sight so you can get a shot at them.