Canadian Heller Rocket launcher for British Army in 1962? Info needed

[uk 75]

An old book of mine about the British Army mentions that the Army in 1962 were looking at the Canadian Heller Rocket launcher and the Carl Gustav 84mm from Sweden to replace its bazookas. The UK chose the Carl Gustav. Does anyone have any info and pictures of the Canadian contender?

UK 75

 

[Rickshaw]

I remember reading about this in the book, "Men Against Tanks" - the name of the author escapes me at the moment. My brother has my copy, as well so I can't check. What I remember was that it looked like a 3.5in Bazooka, basically but the interesting thing as that it had a short stereoscopic range finder on it, above the barrel. However that also killed it because it was more expensive than the L35 Carl Gustav. Interesting the Carl Gustav added a similar range-finder in one of its later versions in the 1970s, when range and accuracy improvements were needed. Cheap laser rangefinders killed that plan and I believe only the Swedes adopted it. I'll see whtat I can dig up.

 

[Apophenia]

John Weeks, Men Against Tanks: History of Anti-Tank Warfare by John Weeks, 1975, David Charles Publisher

According to an old discussion on army.ca, there's a photo of the Heller anti-tank rocket on page 124.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=s41svjbbabuoi1m8ehttem4no7&topic=29832.0;wap2

A bunch of rememberances on the RCR Assn message board
http://xsorbit27.com/users5/thercrassociationmessageboard/index.php?PHPSESSID=140bd4609c08d1028a62e9b84f3214b4&topic=3255.msg18246

There was a small image of the Heller at DRDC Valcartier but the site seems to be down.
http://www.valcartier.drdc-rddc.gc.ca

 

[Rickshaw]

Yes, John Weeks, thats the author!

 

[ammocat]

UK 75

I was doing some research and accidentally came across your post about the Heller. I don't have any actual photos of the weapons system, but I have a manual for it. The quality of the photos might not be too good, my scanner is dead so I had to photograph the pages of the manual. Hope these are of interest to you.

Cheers,

 

[uk 75]

Ammocat

Brilliant, thanks for closing a gap I have wondered about for years
ever since I bought the Ian Allen book by R Smith on British
Army vehicles and equipment which mentions the Heller as being
the candidate that lost out to the Carl Gustav 84mm to replace
the US 3.5 bazooka in British Army (and presumably later Canadian)
service

I also have a book on what-if battles of the Cold War (Pivna or similar)
which describes Canadian units in a battle in the 60s equipped with
Canadian tracked vehicles which were never ordered.

Many thanks

UK 75

 

[Petrus]

I also have a book on what-if battles of the Cold War (Pivna or similar)
which describes Canadian units in a battle in the 60s equipped with
Canadian tracked vehicles which were never ordered.

I can assume that these 'tracked vehicles' depicted in the book you've mentioned are of the Bobcat family. Could you please post here (in a new thread rather than this one) some of their pictures as well as other info?

Regards,
Piotr

 

[Apophenia]

[Added]
Piotr, Just saw your post on Maple Leaf Up ( http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2633 ). You already have way more than I do! :-[
---------------------------------

A 4-view drawing by George Bradford and the preserved Bobcat at Borden.

See Clive Law's Service Publications for more: http://www.servicepub.com/

 

[uk 75]

My memory is going. I now have the book and its title courtesy of
Amazon:

Cold War Hot: Alternative Decisions of the Cold War
Peter Tsouras Hardcover 5 April 2003

There is a chapter in the book on a Canadian civil war in the 60s
which mentions Canadian units and their equipment.

Thanks for the pics of the bobcat. Tsouras also mentions some
other stuff. I must find my copy and check.

UK 75

 

[Petrus]

Piotr, Just saw your post on Maple Leaf Up ( http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2633 ). You already have way more than I do! :-[

Well, the Bobcat is definitively one of my favourite might-have-beens, so for a long time I have been looking for any info on that. And from time to time I share what I know with others. ;-)

Back to the Heller, do you know its specifications, esp. weight and dimensions? I would be grateful for any input.

Best regards,
Piotr

 

[Petrus]

Everyone interested in the Heller may have a look at http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,29832.html.

Best regards,
Piotr

 

[Apophenia]

Cheers Piotr.

For those who don't check that link...
from the Canadian Army Manual of Training Infantry Platoon Weapons Launcher Rocket A Tk 3.2inch CDN. 1956

Launcher - 54 inches long (137.2cm)
Launcher with tripod - 28.5lbs (12.9kg)
Rangefinder Sight - 5lbs (2.3kg)
HE A tk rocket - penetrate 11 inches of homogeneous armour at 90 degrees and approximately 5 inches at 64 degrees
Maximum Range - 2860 yards (2615m)
Operating Range - 300 yards (274m)
Maximum Effective Range - 450 yards (411m)
Maximum Rate of Fire - 5 rounds/minute

 

[Grey Havoc]

Everyone interested in the Heller may have a look at http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,29832.html.

Best regards,
Piotr

Updated link: https://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/heller-anti-tank-weapon.29832/