[5] The Stokes mortar was a simple weapon, consisting of a smoothbore metal tube fixed to a base plate (to absorb recoil) with a lightweight bipod mount.

The bomb was fitted with a modified hand grenade fuse on the front, with a perforated tube containing a propellant charge and an impact-sensitive cap at the rear.

[10] A modified version of the mortar, which fired a modern fin-stabilised streamlined projectile and had a booster charge for longer range, was developed after World War I;[11] this was in effect a new weapon.

Light mortars portable by one man had already been in use centuries earlier, but had fallen out of general usage since the Napoleonic era.

Stokes's design was initially rejected in June 1915 because it was unable to use existing stocks of British mortar ammunition.

Stokes received a knighthood[17] for inventing the modern mortar, and was given several forms of monetary reward by the Ministry of Munitions.

[22] This, used solely by the Special Brigade of the Royal Engineers,[23] should be considered a separate weapon from the standard "3-inch" version used by the infantry—with an actual bore of 3.2 inches (81 mm)—firing high explosive rounds described in this article.

[24] The Stokes mortar was used in the Banana Wars and helped American forces defeat Sandinista rebels during the Second Battle of Las Cruces on 1 January 1928.

[25] The Paraguayan Army made extensive use of the Stokes mortar during the Chaco War, especially as a siege weapon in the Battle of Boquerón in September 1932.