Leach trench catapult
The Leach trench catapult (sometimes called a Leach-Gamage catapult) was a bomb-throwing catapult used by the British Army on the Western Front during World War I. It was designed to throw a 2 lb (0.91 kg) projectile in a high trajectory into enemy trenches. Although called a catapult, it was effectively a combination crossbow and slingshot.[2] It was invented by Claude Pemberton Leach as an answer to the German Wurfmaschine, a spring-powered device for propelling a hand grenade about 200 m (220 yd).[1]
| Leach trench catapult | |
|---|---|
 29th Indian Brigade with Leach catapult at Gallipoli, 1915 | |
| Type | Catapult |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1915–1916 |
| Used by | United Kingdom |
| Wars | World War I |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Claude Pemberton Leach |
| Designed | 1915 |
| Manufacturer | Gamages |
| Unit cost | £6 17s 6d |
| Produced | March–October 1915 |
| No. built | 152[1] |
| Specifications | |
| Effective firing range | 200 yd (180 m) |
The design was a Y-shaped frame with natural rubber bands pulled taut by a windlass and held in position by a hook release. They were manufactured by the Gamages department store in Central London and cost £6 17s 6d to make.[1] In tests, the Leach catapult could propel a golf ball 200 yd (180 m), and a cricket ball or Mills bomb 120–150 yd (110–140 m).[1] However, with new rubbers it was reported to be able to propel a jam tin grenade or No. 15 ball grenade up to 200 yd (180 m).[3]
The first was produced in March 1915 and by October of that year over 150 had been made. Twenty were allocated to each division.[1] From the end of 1915 they were replaced by the French-made Sauterelle grenade launcher, and, in 1916, by the 2-inch medium trench mortar and Stokes mortar.[3]
Copies of the Leach catapult, made locally by the Royal Engineers, were used in the Gallipoli Campaign.[4]
References
- Gary Sheffield (2007). War on the Western Front: In the Trenches of World War I. Osprey Publishing. p. 201. ISBN 978-1846032103.
- Arthur G Credland. "The Crossbow and the Bow in Modern Warfare". Arms & Armour. 7 (1): 53–103.
- Hugh Chisholm (1922). The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes, Constituting, in Combination with the Twenty-nine Volumes of the Eleventh Edition, the Twelfth Edition of that Work, and Also Supplying a New, Distinctive, and Independent Library of Reference Dealing with Events and Developments of the Period 1910 to 1921 Inclusive, Volume 1. Encyclopædia Britannica Company Limited. p. 470. **Please note a wikilink to the article "Bombthrowers" in EB1922 is not available**
- Stephen J. Chambers (2003). Gully Ravine. Leo Cooper. p. 81. ISBN 978-0850529234.