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Royal Marines Commandos Demonstrating the Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle

These photographs show two Royal Marines from 45 Commando demonstrating the new 84mm Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon. The photos were taken in August 1963 during a War Office demonstration for senior officers of the Middle East Command.

The demonstration took place at Little Aden, a peninsula in the port city of Aden, then a British protectorate. The 84mm Carl Gustav eventually replaced the American 3.5 inch rocket launcher which had been adopted to replace the PIAT in British Service in the late 1940s.

These photos show the M2′s optic on the left side of the barrel, the rifling inside the barrel (in the first photograph) and the blast after firing which can be seen to kick up a great deal of sand in the second photograph.

Carl Gustav M2 Recoilless Rifle (source)

The first photograph shows Marine Chris Pow, of Plymouth, preparing to fire the new anti-tank gun while the second shows Marine Eric Pearson, of Salford, Manchester, just after he’s fired the M2 Carl Gustav. The Swedish anti-tank weapon fired a fin-stabilised 84mm (or 3.3 inch) high explosive anti-tank round among other types of ammunition. The Carl Gustav, or ‘Charlie G’ remained in service with the British army into the late 1980s when it was superseded by the LAW and Javelin systems. The new and improved M4 may be considered for adoption again.

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