FIREPOWER - The Museum of Royal Artillery, Last Chance!

For those who did not know Firepower closes this July.

The museum is to packed away and moved to a new home in Wiltshire which will hopefully be ready in around 2020. You therefore only have a few months left to visit this exceptional Museum.

The museum is much more than a regimental museum as the RA has been involved in most British actions for over 200 years. It was originally established to preserve Royal Artillery (RA) history and as a training collection. Over two million men and women have served in the RA since its formation and human stories of bravery and sacrifice are told throughout the museum.

I visited a few weeks back and took these images:-

 

2). British 6 Pounder (57mm) Anti Tank Gun.
The 6-pounder first saw action in May 1942 at Gazala. It made an immediate impact on the battlefield as it was able to penetrate any enemy tank then in service. However, over the next year the Germans introduced much heavier designs into service, notably the Tiger I and Panther. The standard 6-pounder shot was ineffective against the frontal armour at any range, but proved effective on the less armoured sides and rear armour.

 

3). 25pdr Field Gun, stalwart of the Royal Artillery in WW2. (And Beyond) This example is highlighting El- Alamein and includes a selection of Ammunition and the Limber.

 

4). 3.7 inch QF mountain howitzer
Introduced in 1918 the 3.7 inch howitzer could be divided into eight mule loads of 113kg each. The gun had a maximum range of 5.5 km and was especially suited to hilly or mountainous terrain where it could reach areas denied to a normal howitzer. It could fire shrapnel or high explosive projectiles. For this reason it was sent to many of the Far Eastern theatres of war especially Burma during WW2.

 

5). The QF 3.7-inch AA was Britain's primary heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II. It was roughly the equivalent of the German 88 mm FlaK and American 90 mm, but with a slightly larger calibre of 94 mm. The gun was produced in two versions (mobile and fixed) and in considerable numbers.

 

6). The QF 40 mm Mark III became the Army's standard light AA weapon, operating alongside their 3-inch and 3.7-inch heavy weapons. The gun was considered vital to the defence of the UK after the fall of France in 1940.

 

7).

One of the earliest attempts at designing a recoilless artillery piece was the 7.2 inch RCL gun, - It was proposed a series of guns that would adopt the principle whereby the momentum of the projectile was counteracted by the momentum of the expelled propellant gases at the rear of the gun.

This particular gun was manufactured by the War Department in 1944 to see if the idea could be developed as an assault gun for the invasion of France. Several of these guns were built but were never used in action.

 

8). British 4.2 inch heavy mortar
Normally lighter mortars were attached to infantry units for fire support while heavy mortars are usually artillery weapons. The 4.2 inch mortar was originally designed to fire gas projectiles and was then converted to fire high explosive shells. It was first manned by members of the Royal Engineers and then the Royal Artillery.
This mortar was the type used in the Korean War where gunners were required to provide fire support against the Chinese. 170th Independent Mortar Battery, (45th Field Regiment) Royal Artillery, used this type of weapon in the Battle of the Imjin River, for which they received an American Presidential Unit Citation.

 

7). The 40mm 2-pounder could outperform a typical 37 mm piece, such as the German 3.7 cm PaK 36 or the Bofors 37mm. As the war progressed it became increasingly ineffective against better armoured German Tanks.

 

8). Entering service in September 1943, the Sexton SP mounted the 25-pounder gun on the Canadian Ram chassis and was built at the Montreal Locomotive Works. The Sexton was driven from the right-hand position, as were all vehicles produced for the British and Canadian armies. A number of gun modifications had to be made to fit the 25-pdr to the Sexton, such as limiting of the recoil system so that the gun could be properly elevated. Sextons were widely used within 21st Army Group during the campaign in Northwest Europe after July 1944.

 

9). In January 1939 a specification was issued for a gun to replace the 6 Inch Howitzers in use with most medium batteries. The first units were equipped in UK in the summer of 1941 and in North Africa a year later, 20 guns equipped British and Free French batteries at El Alamein. Subsequently it also equipped Canadian, Australian, South African, Polish and Indian regiments, and after the war, it was also used by New Zealand. In the Second World War the normal organisation was a regiment of 16 guns organised into two batteries.

 

10). British 12 Pounder 12 cwt Mark V Gun 1941.

 

11). The 9.2-inch calibre Costal Defence gun from Gibraltar.

 

12 A few from the Great War.

 

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17). A couple of other not to miss highlights.

English 17th Century Falconet Civil War Canon.

 

18). British ‘Wolf’ Siege of Mafeking Gun 1900.