Ordnance QF 25 - pounder Short The Ordnance QF 25 - pounder Short was an Australian variant of the British Ordnance QF 25 - pounder field gun / howitzer . The gun was developed by modifying the 25 - pounder ' s design to improve its mobility during jungle warfare . Development began in 1942 , and the weapon first entered service with the Australian Army the next year . It was used by several Royal Australian Artillery regiments during fighting in the South West Pacific Area , before being declared obsolete in 1946 . The development of the Ordnance QF 25 - pounder Short was an important achievement for Australia ' s defence industry , and provided the Army with a weapon suited to conditions in the South West Pacific . Nevertheless , the gun ' s performance was inferior to that of the standard 25 - pounder , and it received a mixed reception from artillerymen . Background . The Australian Army began to be equipped with British - built 25 - pounder guns in 1940 . The gun proved successful , and was the standard equipment of Australian field batteries by 1943 . In January 1940 , the Australian Government approved a proposal to build 25 - pounders in Australia . A Government - owned factory was constructed at Maribyrnong in Melbourne and commercial industry was contracted to produce additional guns . Almost all the guns ' components were manufactured in Australia , with almost 200 firms providing parts . The first Australian - built 25 - pounder was completed in May 1941 and 1 , 527 guns were delivered before production ceased at the end of 1943 . The 25 - pounder was well suited to the open conditions the Army experienced in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres but proved difficult to deploy in jungle terrain . While the developed road network in Malaya allowed it to be moved by vehicles during the Malayan Campaign , the rugged terrain and limited transport infrastructure in New Guinea meant that the guns could only be moved away from coastal plains and airfields by manhandling . As a result , Australian infantry often had no artillery support heavier than 3 inch mortars during the New Guinea Campaign in 1942 . Design . The difficulty of deploying artillery in New Guinea led to a need for a gun which could be broken down into light parts and transported by aircraft or jeeps . The Army had only a small number of British 3 . 7 inch Mountain Howitzer s , and Australia ' s request for United States M116 75mm pack howitzers was not immediately filled . In September 1942 , the Army ' s Director of Artillery , Brigadier John O ' Brien , suggested that a variant of the 25 - pounder be developed to meet this requirement . This proposal was agreed to , and all development work was conducted in Australia by the Army , the Ordnance Production Directorate and Charles Ruwolt Pty Ltd . The process of designing the gun began in September 1942 , and an acceptable weapon was ready by January the next year . The three agencies cooperated well as they were strongly motivated to provide the Army with a useful light artillery piece as quickly as possible . During this period , the Army received thirty - eight 75mm pack howitzers , and deployed some of these guns to New Guinea . The new gun used as many standard 25 - pounder parts as possible , but included a number of major differences in order to reduce the weapon ' s weight . Modifications included shortening the gun ' s barrel and recuperator , making the trail lighter , and incorporating the new recoil system which had been developed to allow 25 - pounders to be mounted in the Australian - designed Sentinel tank . The guns weighed 1 . 25 tons , had a long barrel and a maximum range which was approximately 87 percent that of the standard gun . The QF 25 - pounder Short could use three standard charges to obtain a range of up to . This range could be extended to if a super charge was used , though standing instructions warned against doing so except in emergencies due to the strain these charges placed on the gun carriage . The gun could fire the same variety of ammunition as the standard 25 - pounder ; namely high explosive , armour piercing , smoke , gas , propaganda and illumination shells . While the prototype gun was fitted with a gun shield , this was later removed and not incorporated into the production weapons . The QF 25 - pounder Short incorporated a number of design features which sought to increase its mobility . The gun could be broken down into 13 or 14 parts in under two minutes , allowing it to be air dropped from aircraft or packed into Jeep s . Of these parts , only the recuperator and front trail weighted over . Assembled guns could also be towed by a Jeep , which was advantageous as it was possible to transport these vehicles inside of aircraft . The gun carriage was very different to that in the standard 25 - pounder , and included a new cradle , trail and axles . The guns were initially fitted with stabilisers to reduce stress on their wheels when firing , but these were later removed as they caused problems when reversing or running up the guns in action . Initial testing of the prototype QF 25 - pounder Short was completed in early December 1942 . The 2 / 1st Field Regiment also trialled the gun in New Guinea during early 1943 . Large - scale production began in early 1943 , after minor modifications were made to the design , and the Army placed an initial order for 112 guns . A second order was later placed for 100 more . This lot incorporated the Mark II carriage , which had larger wheels and tyres to prevent the problem with wheel bounce encountered by the first lot . Altogether , 213 guns were manufactured by the time production ceased in 1944 . As completed , the gun ' s full designation was Ordnance QF 25 - pounder Short ( Aust ) Mark I , but it was nicknamed the ' snort ' by Australian soldiers . Service . QF 25 - pounder Short guns were first issued to Australian Army units in August 1943 , and one of each field artillery regiments three batteries was re - equipped with the new guns . Field batteries equipped with the guns normally consisted of a headquarters and two troops each with four guns , seven jeeps and a D6 tractor . Like the standard 25 - pounder , each gun had a crew of six men . The commander of New Guinea Force ' s artillery , Brigadier L . E . S . Barker , preferred the 75mm pack howitzer to the 25 - pounder Short , and tried to prevent the new gun being issued , but was overruled by Brigadier O ' Brien . The guns were first used in action by the 7th Division during the landing at Nadzab , when a detachment of the 2 / 4th Field Regiment was dropped by parachute with two guns . One gun was assembled and ready to fire within an hour , but the buffer and recuperator of the other took two days to locate in the long grass . The QF 25 - pounder Short continued to be used by some Australian artillery units in New Guinea , the Solomon Islands and Borneo until the end of the war , and was declared obsolete in 1946 . The QF 25 - pounder Short received a mixed reception by the Army . Some artillerymen complained about the gun ' s sharp recoil , and the short barrel and absence of a shield meant that its crew were exposed to a heavy blast effect when it was fired . Guns were sometimes put out of action by damage caused by the absorption of violent recoil . The gun also had a tendency to tilt at low elevation ; this was remedied by its crew standing on the trails , an expedient that had previously been used with the QF 4 . 5 inch Howitzer . Other limitations included a low rate of fire ( three or four rounds per minute ) and difficulties towing the weapon . Concerns were also raised over the quality of workmanship , and the commander of the 2 / 4th Field Regiment rejected a batch of Short 25 - pounders sent to his unit before the Nadzab operation in the belief that they had been poorly manufactured . Inspectors subsequently concluded that most of his criticisms were unfounded , however . The most important deficiency compared to the regular 25 - pounder was the shorter range . As a result of its experience with the gun , the 9th Division recommended that they be pooled and reserved for their special role rather than be employed in a day - to - day role alongside the regular 25 pounder . Post - war assessments of the gun ' s performance are generally positive . The Australian official history acknowledged the QF 25 - pounder Short ' s limitations , but argued that these were the result of it being developed to perform a specialised role for which some trade - offs in performance were needed , and that on balance it was a successful weapon . Historian and retired Major General Steve Gower has assessed the gun as being " undoubtedly one of the more significant Australian weapon developments of the Second World War " as it represented a success in adapting a foreign - designed weapon to meet the Australian Army ' s requirements . British historian Chris Henry has also written that the gun " gave good service , and was robust enough to survive life in the jungle even though many modifications were needed " .