Mike Pomakis Fires Mortar

Lance Corporal Mike Pomakis, your host, uses his left hand to guide the tail fins of the mortar round into the tube as he prepares to fire an 81mm mortar round from Hill 65. The Assistant Gunner (A-Gunner) is holding down the bipods.

The large binoculars at the top of the hill can be seen behind the command bunker which is behind the gun pit in this photo.

The give-away that this photo was posed for is the fact that the mortar round being prepared to fire is an illumination round and there is no need to fire an illumination round during daylight.

Illumination rounds were used to illuminate ground targets at night. They would illuminate an area of about 1100 meters for 75 seconds. This proved very useful during night time activities