How many 60mm mortar rounds were man carried?

[LineDoggie]

AGAIN still not humping the load a Engineer or 81 crewman had to hump. Rangers are by nature Light Infantry forces trained to move fast, and a M1928 Haversack is not todays Large Alice ruck or MOLLE pack

[Carl Schwamberger]

With out knowing what the actual load of the rangers was that night either one of can be certain. They executed five to six hours of continuous attacks supported by their own 60mm mortars & MG, & intermittent clean up actions until mid afternoon.

During the march Ingersoll acquired the feeling that the engineers leaving packs behind was a mistake. Trying to carrying their rations, extra ammo, & other bits in the pockets and attached to web gear he felt was a lot more awkward and was a extra drag or slow down factor. The Rangers lightened up for combat by dropping packs & keeping everything in one easy to grab pile, the engineers had pockets full of extra M1 ammo boxes, chocolate bars, grenades, socks, MG ammo cans, and mortar rounds they could only leave scattered about under the Cactus. My own experience with the WWII pack and haversack, still standard issue in the 1st Marine Div 1975-1976. We got used to using the dozen plus attachement thingys. I still have one of the discarded packs & haversacks amount the camping gear.

[Sheldrake]

Maybe it is just an British thing but the words "Light infantry" were always a cruel joke as commandos and paratroops or anyone else working as light infantry carried the world on their backs. Typical loads in the Falklands were around 100-120lb per man.

The big difference between Rangers and EngineersI suspect was phyisical and mental fitness. A ranger undertook an arduous course similar to the British commando course, with a big empphaiss on fitness and rapid marches.. Engineers spent their time learning technical skills, but they were the go to people if you needed to build a bridge or breach a minefield. No surprise the engineers fell behind in the march.

[McDonald]

Light Infantry is a state of mind, not a state of being. It is a place where the individual rifleman is trained, and believes, he can dominate any place, any time, anywhere. To do this he is mentally and physically prepared to do what needs being done, regardless of the fact that he has much less to work with than his brothers in arms. He is determined to succeed.

So, if what I said is true, then anything he is asked to do, any load he must carry, anything he must endure, is just part of the days work. Give the Light Infantryman his head, and clear direction, and he can and will do things not found in any book. He is the ultimate weapon.

[Felix C]

I am guessing in the Ingersoll example Engineers were attached as they were available and to aid carrying the load for the mortar crew. No jeeps being available or terrain not jeep passable.

[Carl Schwamberger]

I am guessing in the Ingersoll example Engineers were attached as they were available and to aid carrying the load for the mortar crew. ,,

Possibly. This particular company was the "assault" company of the engineer bn. They had spent more training time practicing assaulting defense positions than setting in water points, or putting up Bailey bridges. There were substantial road blocks in the pass, and mines. Ingersoll hints removing those was part of the engineer companies mission.

[Felix C]

thanks and poor fellows still got stuck carrying mortar gear. I can image in the griping.

[yantaylor]

I am currently building three 60mm mortar teams in 1/72 scale, got the figures and the mortars but no ammunition containers, I am going to try and source some from other kits but I don't know what to go with, should I use wooden boxes? did they have metal containers? or did they use tubes?

What do you think is the best.

Ian

[Gary Kennedy]

Hi Ian,

Initially, 60-mm mortar rounds were issued in 'bundles', each with three 'outer' containers. Each outer container had six 'inner' containers, with a 60-mm round per inner container, total 18 rounds per bundle. Latterly there looks to have been a change to a single container holding 10 rounds.

There's a nice display on G503 forums of a re-enactment 60-mm -

https://forums.g503.com/viewtopic.php?t=286158

And a few more pics here;

http://www.questmasters.us/Crates_Page_2.html

Gary

[yantaylor]

Hello Gary, great to hear from you and many thanks for the links.

I have a few wooden crates from a 1/72 M4 half-track kit, which look very similar to the crates in the links, I have northing really which matches those tubes though, which is a shame. I could try and chop up a few British mortar round containers or Piat round tubes, maybe they would do. I will see what I can find, maybe use both.

Thanks you.
Ian