Vickers C.O.W. 1½ pdr Armour Piercing Cartridge

It is a bottle-necked tapered case of drawn brass fitted with a steel armour piercing projectile. The case and projectile are highly polished and all headstamp and manufacturer's markings have been polished off.

Cartridge for the COW 37 mm gun which was a British automatic cannon that was developed as a heavy calibre aircraft weapon. It was trialled in several installations and specified for the Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter for attacking bombers. However the gun did not yield adequate results and the weapon did not enter general service except on a few flying boats. During the Second World War COW guns were used as the armament for the Mk III version of the Armadillo armoured fighting vehicle. The COW gun was fitted with an attached shield and placed on the rear part of a flatbed truck. These vehicles were used by the Royal Air Force for airfield defence and were also issued to the British Home Guard.