question Polsten Mount

Hi All,

One of our members has recently purchased what he believes to be a Polsten mount, in need of some TLC, but he hasn't been able to locate an ID plate for it, and I can't find anything even remotely resembling what he has:

• All of the single gun towed mounts I can find details for are much more lightly built and lack gun shields
  
• All of the single gun naval mounts have gun shields, but they are flat and have a different mounting setup
  

I'll try and get some more photos and details, but does anyone have any more info about it?

Cheers,

Terry

Some more pics:

Cheers,

Terry

Terry,

Gordon Edwards has one restored, try him through the VMVC.

Regards Rick.

Thanks Rick,

A bit of Facebook stalking tends to indicate that Gordon's is a lot like the standard towed Polsten that one of our members has and is very different to the one in this thread:

Cheers,

Terry

The one on FB looks either partially or totally reproduction. The wheels and carriage in particular do not look like the normal British pattern. Either this or one of the many post-war patterns.

The presence of a shield on a single 20mm mount also looks a bit unlikely on the discovered one.

I'm fairly sure that the Facebook one is an Australian variant, like this one made by GMH (General Motors Holden). The wheels appear to be from a Jeep. I believe that the owner of that one is a reenactor, so some artistic license is to be expected.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]101743[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101746[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101745[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101744[/ATTACH]

Aside from naval mounts, I haven't found any single Polsten mounts with a shield, but it seems to be a lot of effort to go to for a flight of fancy...

Cheers,

Terry

Interesting.

I've done a fair bit of research on Polsten mountings, its little known that the pre production single airborne mount did actually have a shield but looks nothing like this one and I've not seen this type before.

What makes you think its specifically for the Polsten? Its quite different to the more common British Universal single mount but as stated there were Australian variations usually on a flat round base and large balancer springs.

The high round pedestal base does seem to scream Naval mounting. Is the 'ladder steel' its sat on part of the mount or is it just from the round pedestal upwards?

Carleton

The only thing that tells me it's a Polsten mount is the owner

I've not seen it yet, but I'll be going to the museum on Saturday and will hopefully remember to get some more photos then.

It looks naval to me too, although all the naval mounts I've seen are used standing up from a pedestal mount and have simple, flat shields.

It's got me stumped, but I guess that we shall see.

Cheers,

Terry

Good stuff keep us posted.

Some more pics:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]101701[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]101703[/ATTACH]

 

Cheers,

Terry

The thing I do not understand is the size of the tubes that the seat frame mounts on, and one has a strange 'coupling' on the end, almost as if they were recuperators originally. To my rather inexperienced eye it kind of looks like two different things cobbled together.

trevor

I'm afraid that I'm still none the wiser about this. The owner has taken it home, so I still haven't seen it, but he tells me that it has a pintle ring on it for towing, but no axel or wheel assemblies in place. Apparently there is a photo of them being assembled by workers in the Holden factory in Adelaide, during the war, but I am yet to see it.

Cheers,

Terry

Well, I finally got to see this today, after it had been blasted and primed and it is a strange beast indeed. We have it at the museum parked next to a standard (Australian) towed Polsten, so it was interesting to make some comparisons...

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos, but I can describe a few things.

First off, the actual gun cradle is the same as that of the other Polsten mount. If the gun on that one were free, I'm fairly sure that it could be removed and installed on this one.

Secondly, the heavy seat tubes contain compression springs and are used to counterbalance the weight of the gun and sighting equipment - they are connected to the elevation mechanism via a pair of steel cables and pulleys at the forward end of the tubes (or would be if those parts weren't corroded out and damaged).

The shield setup is a proper job; they have quick release mountings and are just too well made to be anything other than factory.

It is currently fitted with a towing eye and 2 mounting legs, but it looks like there should be at least one more leg, possibly more. There is a provision for an axle but it is not present.

It is marked with GM-H on a few parts, but the ID placard is missing.

My hypothesis is that it was built late-war, or possibly as a prototype for use on merchant navy vessels. There are a number of photos of them having standard towed single mount guns setup on their decks for self defense and this may have been built as a more seaworthy option that could still easily be moved into place and not require a fixed mounting point.

Thoughts?

I'll try and remember to get some better photos this week. Depending on when I get to it, it will be either grey primer or fresh green paint.

Cheers,

Terry

GM-H = General Motors-Holden?

I look forward to seeing some more photos

Do you think that this could be something related to coastal defence?

trevor