4th (Uganda) Battalion, The King's African Rifles, field firing the 2-inch mortar, 1956

Photograph by Lieutenant Roger Perkins, 4th (Uganda) Battalion King's African Rifles, 1956.

The standard version of the 2-inch mortar had a barrel length of 21 inches and could fire a high explosive bomb weighing 2.25lb to a range of 500 yards. The barrel would be held at the correct angle by one soldier while the other loaded and fired the round. Introduced during World War Two, it remained in service until the 1970s.