20-mm, QF, Polsten Anti-aircraft Machine Gun

20-mm, QF, Polsten Anti-aircraft Machine Gun

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607616)

Polsten 20-mm Quadruple Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. I, mounted on a CMP truck.  The Polsten was a Polish development of the 20-mm Oerlikon gun, designed to be simpler and much cheaper to build than the Oerlikon, without reducing effectiveness.

It was used on a wheeled mounting that could be towed behind a jeep.  Various double, triple and quadruple mounts were developed.  John Inglis Limited of Toronto, Ontario, produced many thousands of guns and some 500 quadruple mountings that saw limited service at the end of the war.  These multiple mounts were both trailered and truck-mounted.

(Author Photo)

Polsten 20-mm Quadruple Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. I on a wheeled Mounting C Mk. I, (Serial No. 15939), Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario.

(Author Photos)

Canadian 20-mm Quadruple Polsten Anti-Aircraft Gun on a C Mk I mounting.  Swords and Ploughshares Museum, Kars, Ontario.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4233776)

Canadian 20-mm Quadruple Polsten triple-barreled Anti-Aircraft Guns in Normandy, June, 1944.

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