This is my first attempt at a TL, it won't be particularly in-depth or thorough, but I think it's at least a small, plausible change that could have interesting consequences. My apologies, of course, for yet another newbie AH World War 2...
As Britain began rearming in 1934, the spectre of what was then called the Great War loomed over defence planning. The dire losses of fighting men in the trenches of northern France would be totally unacceptable - one crippled generation was bad enough, without the prospect of a second. Armoured vehicles were, of course, a major outcome of this perspective; though the difficulties experienced by British infantry, and especially cruiser, tanks are well documented, the remarkable Universal Carrier line resulted from the desire to provide infantry with some degree of mobility protected against shell splinters and machine gun fire.
The question of neutralising enemy strongpoints, particularly machine gun nests, continued to present some difficulty. The standard Mills bomb was entirely adequate to the job, true - but it had to be thrown, requiring a rifleman to close within fifty feet. Fitted with a launcher cup, the Lee-Enfield rifle could project the grenade to about 200 yards, allowing engagement from a comfortable range; one man in an infantry section carried this device. Despite the convenience of using a service grenade and rifle, the high angle of fire made accurate range estimation essential and allowed wind to push the grenade off course.
More convenient would be a weapon with a similar warhead but a flat trajectory, able to be fired directly against a bunker or dugout and with no more difficulty than a rifle. Initial thoughts were for a light infantry gun firing a one-and-a-half pound high explosive shell, somewhat in the vein of the Vickers 1.59-inch Q.F. Mark II - better known by the misnomer 'Vickers-Crayford Rocket Gun'. Whilst certainly feasible, this weapon was hardly any more mobile than a medium machine gun, by no means suited to the expected mobile nature of modern warfare.
Something lighter was sought; this implied a lower pressure charge firing at a lower speed, hardly likely to propel a Mills bomb or something like it to the required range. It is unclear who first proposed the use of a rocket, but the idea clearly had merit. It could be launched from a lightweight tube, allowing a soldier to carry a rocket launcher and a few rockets without difficulty. The Ordnance Department set to work, producing the prototype Light Infantry Assault Rocket, or L.I.A.R., in 1937.
Troop trials were promising; the 2.5-inch calibre rocket was effective to a range of 175 yards, and delivered similar firepower to a Mills bomb. Alternative warheads were soon developed and tested to supplement the conventional grenade, with smoke and incendiary rockets tested successfully before the first units were delivered to the Army in early 1938, the objective being to provide each platoon with a two-man rocket launching team equipped with a launcher and six rockets.
One of the first units to recieve the weapon in general service was the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and it was these that gave it its' now universal nickname. Offically designated L.I.A.R. Mk I, the Londoners quickly - and inevitably - dubbed it with the rhyming slang 'Dunlop Tyre', or 'Dunlop' for short. By the time war broke out in September 1939, the Dunlop rocket was widespread. Though few battalions yet had the desired twelve launchers, the rocket still offered the British army's infantry formations an enviable level of integral fire support.
As Britain began rearming in 1934, the spectre of what was then called the Great War loomed over defence planning. The dire losses of fighting men in the trenches of northern France would be totally unacceptable - one crippled generation was bad enough, without the prospect of a second. Armoured vehicles were, of course, a major outcome of this perspective; though the difficulties experienced by British infantry, and especially cruiser, tanks are well documented, the remarkable Universal Carrier line resulted from the desire to provide infantry with some degree of mobility protected against shell splinters and machine gun fire.
The question of neutralising enemy strongpoints, particularly machine gun nests, continued to present some difficulty. The standard Mills bomb was entirely adequate to the job, true - but it had to be thrown, requiring a rifleman to close within fifty feet. Fitted with a launcher cup, the Lee-Enfield rifle could project the grenade to about 200 yards, allowing engagement from a comfortable range; one man in an infantry section carried this device. Despite the convenience of using a service grenade and rifle, the high angle of fire made accurate range estimation essential and allowed wind to push the grenade off course.
More convenient would be a weapon with a similar warhead but a flat trajectory, able to be fired directly against a bunker or dugout and with no more difficulty than a rifle. Initial thoughts were for a light infantry gun firing a one-and-a-half pound high explosive shell, somewhat in the vein of the Vickers 1.59-inch Q.F. Mark II - better known by the misnomer 'Vickers-Crayford Rocket Gun'. Whilst certainly feasible, this weapon was hardly any more mobile than a medium machine gun, by no means suited to the expected mobile nature of modern warfare.
Something lighter was sought; this implied a lower pressure charge firing at a lower speed, hardly likely to propel a Mills bomb or something like it to the required range. It is unclear who first proposed the use of a rocket, but the idea clearly had merit. It could be launched from a lightweight tube, allowing a soldier to carry a rocket launcher and a few rockets without difficulty. The Ordnance Department set to work, producing the prototype Light Infantry Assault Rocket, or L.I.A.R., in 1937.
Troop trials were promising; the 2.5-inch calibre rocket was effective to a range of 175 yards, and delivered similar firepower to a Mills bomb. Alternative warheads were soon developed and tested to supplement the conventional grenade, with smoke and incendiary rockets tested successfully before the first units were delivered to the Army in early 1938, the objective being to provide each platoon with a two-man rocket launching team equipped with a launcher and six rockets.
One of the first units to recieve the weapon in general service was the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and it was these that gave it its' now universal nickname. Offically designated L.I.A.R. Mk I, the Londoners quickly - and inevitably - dubbed it with the rhyming slang 'Dunlop Tyre', or 'Dunlop' for short. By the time war broke out in September 1939, the Dunlop rocket was widespread. Though few battalions yet had the desired twelve launchers, the rocket still offered the British army's infantry formations an enviable level of integral fire support.
