Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun
1930s towed 37 mm anti-tank gun by Bofors
The Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun was an anti-tank gun designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors in the early 1930s originally for Swedish use. It was exported to several countries during the 1930s of which several bought licences to produce it themselves. The gun was used in several conflicts but most of its fame comes from its use in the Spanish Civil War and the Winter War where it was used very successfully against light tanks and armored cars among other targets. Beyond its use as an infantry gun it was also used as the main armament in several armored cars and tanks such as the Dutch M39 Pantserwagen and the Polish 7TP to name a few. As the armor of tanks was increased during World War II the gun very quickly became obsolete as an anti-tank gun but was still used effectively as an infantry support gun for the entirety of the war, and well into the Cold War. This was due to its high fire rate, great mobility and effective high explosive shells.
Development history
The gun was initially designed by Swedish manufacturer Bofors, mainly for export purposes. It was likely derived from Rheinmetall's 3,7-cm Tak, the predecessor of 3.7 cm Pak 36. The first prototype was built in 1932; the development process continued until 1934. The Netherlands were the first to purchase the gun (order for 12 pieces was placed in 1935) and were followed by many other countries.
“Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun” enters the record as 1930s towed 37 mm anti-tank gun by Bofors. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bofors, anti-tank and 1930s can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.