Colour photo of Canadian 3 inch mortar crew

colourphotoofcanadian3inchmortarcrew.jpg

In this posed shot a 3 man mortar team demonstrate how a round is hung over the tube prior to dropping. The third man stands by with another round. An operational mortar position in a prepared position would be dug in a pit, or surrounded by sandbags. Even a hasty position would soon be cluttered with the remains of storage containers used to transport rounds.

The 3 inch mortar provided fire support organic to infantry and motor infantry battalions.

This mortar is labelled with a 6 on the tripod, and the aimer is carrying a box labelled M6 indicating that is Mortar 6 of a 6 tube platoon, each transported by a Universal Carrier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnance_ML_3_inch_Mortar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Carrier