1/35 Bofors 37mm Anti-Tank Gun
Introduction - by Erik Ahlström
37mm Pansarvärnskanon m/38.
After WW I The Swedish Army realized the need for an Infantry support gun as a response to the threat of modern armoured vehicles. Bofors AB developed a gun ready for trials 1932, it was now redesigned as an Anti tank gun. This gun eventually ended up as Bofors “37mm Anti-Tank gun L45”. In the Swedish Army it received the name “37mm Pansarvärnskanon m/38”. It was not only supplied to The Swedish Army but also offered commercially by Bofors. It proved to be very popular and were bought by many countries, including Great Britain, Finland, Poland and many others. The gun was produced not only by Bofors but licences were sold to several countries since Bofors production
facilities were unable to meet the demands. (Bofors supplied In total 1251 guns to the Swedish Army, including guns for tanks) The largest other producer was Poland, who produced over 1000 guns, including guns for tanks. The difference between the different countries guns can mainly be seen in the wheels, Sweden having its characteristic HOHO pattern tyres, Denmark traditional “truck” hubs and the Polish and British guns shared a very “jeep like” wheel. Another difference is the Swedish guns gunshields that are uneven. These were individually cut with a blowtorch and doesent follow any pattern. Germany captured many guns during the 1939 campaign in Poland and these, just like many other captured guns from Denmark fex were supplied to Germanys allies.
Great Britain ordered 250 guns but the order was annulled after 80 guns were delivered, Sweden now in desperate need of all of Bofors production capacity. It seams like all of these British guns were sent to North Africa were they were carried portee on the small Morris-Comercial CS8 15 Cwt trucks. A small
number was also allocated to the LRDG and mounted on their Chevrolet WA and Ford F30 trucks. These LRDG guns were not carried Portee style, these guns were permanently mounted minus parts of the carriage and wheels. The most famous battle the Bofors gun took part in was the Battle for Beda Fomm where they were part of Comb Force. The small Bofors 37mm Atk gun was used by many countries, the first use was by the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War, these guns most likely came from Polish production. During WW II it was used by many countries on both sides, sometimes captured samples.
1/35 Bofors 37mm Anti -Tank gun
-2 plastic sprues with 50 parts
-accurately reproduced to the highest detail standard
-PE detail sheet
-2 painting options
