Triple Polstens on a towed mount
 

Hello All.

Can anyone help with more info on this towed mount for the triple Polsten AA gun.

Attachment 132702 Attachment 132703

Here's a triple Polsten on a Crusader chassis - read more here https://flic.kr/p/29Fj8ap

Attachment 132794

'E' Troop, 321st Battery, 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery
 

And a famous, original colour photo taken in the JUNO Area, NAN WHITE Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer - read more here: https://flic.kr/p/28LCSjA

Attachment 132796

Triple 20mm anti-aircraft mounting on the banks of the Rhine, 25 March 1945.
 

Looks like this one was truck-mounted:

Attachment 132797
Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205203226

I think this is another truck mounted one: "A British triple 20mm anti-aircraft gun position guards the Bailey Bridge at Arnhem, 18 April 1945."
Attachment 132799
Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205207121


Your second photo of one on a towed mount: "Mobile triple 20mm Oerlikon gun during an anti-aircraft artillery demonstration at Sheerness, 2 July 1943."
Attachment 132798
Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205199053


And another tank chassis mounted one: "Crusader AA tank mounting a triple Oerlikon gun in a hull-down position, 19 July 1944."

Note that these guns are often erroneously called Oerlikons - why would that be?
Attachment 132800
Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/i...ject/205206079

One more on a CMP truck mount, The Netherlands 1944 (I think this is the bridge at Nijmegen):

Attachment 132801
Source: https://www.facebook.com/joelstoppel...nLaaTD7X9FZbul

Probably because they used the 20mm Oerlikon round? (It was a simplified and much cheaper development of the 20mm Oerlikon - I think there were problems with the springs used in the Oerlikon, which needed a particularly high grade of steel, and that caused production bottlnecks.)

The Wikipedia article has the parts count reduced from 250 to 119 and a cost reduction from £350 to somewhere between £60 and £70 without sacrificing effectiveness or reliability.

Chris.