M1 Bofors gun (US541) At the beginning of WWII the US army’s Anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) was the poor relation of the armed services. Much of their equipment was a mix of obsolete 3” guns and single barrel water-cooled .50 cal machine-guns. The success of the German army in 1939-40 cause the US army to re-evaluate much of its AAA equipment and capabilities.   This product is no longer currently available for sale...

During 1940-41 the AAA arm, originally part of the Coastal Artillery, was extensively expanded. It was proposed in September 1942 that 881 AAA battalions be formed (619,000 men). Some units were later converted to artillery when the Allies had wrested control of the air from the Luftwaffe.

In 1943 the AAA regiments were split into separate battalions. AAA battalions were either gun (with M1 90mm AA gun) or automatic weapons (with initially the M1 37mm gun, but more likely the M1 40mm Bofors and the M51 or M55 quad-mount .50 calibre machine-gun). Some battalion were designated mobile and were equipped with tows and others self-propelled armed with M15/T28, M13 or M16 MGMCs.

Each Automatic Battalion was equipped with four batteries. Each battery had eight M1 40mm Bofors guns and eight quad .50 calibre towed or self-propelled weapons. Some battalions however, due to a short fall in quad .50 cal production, had only four quads and four single .50 cal mounts. One AAA Automatic battalion was attached to each Division, self-propelled versions if it was armoured. Model Designed by Carl Crew Designed by Evan Model Painted by Kelly Gay